by Dawn Kirby
Short blond hair and sharp brown eyes made him look more like a teenage boy than a man. I didn’t think he’d been any older than eighteen when he was turned. From what I could see, his build was average. There was absolutely nothing extraordinary about him.
“Who’s in there?” I asked, looking past him towards the casket. Talking was killing me, but I had to know.
“Unpleasant things can wait,” Michael said, waving the subject away. “For the time being, I would like to welcome you to your new home.”
“I have a home.”
He smiled coldly. “You had a home, Dearest. Your life as you knew it has come to an end. You now belong to me.”
“I am so sorry to disappoint you,” I gasped. I braced against the pain to finish what I had to say. “I belong to one man. Nothing will change that.”
“I see.” Michael took my chin gently in his cold hand and turned it first to one side and then the other. “You have no visible bite marks so I will assume your lover is not a vampire,” he said. “Which one could it be?” He put his finger to his temple and narrowed his eyes at me. “Is it the full were or the weaker one?” I didn’t answer. Physically I couldn’t. “Not that it matters anyway. Kale, I’m afraid, is incapable of a real relationship. Raine, I’m told, is a hard man for a woman to pin down. He has extremely high standards in that regard. Sadly, he won’t have the chance to find the one he is looking for. Dane’s mongrels are hunting him down as we speak.” He put his face so close to mine. I felt his soft blond hairbrush across my forehead. “If he is here, he’ll be dead before the sun comes up.”
I hoped Declan had managed to get Raine in the car and away from here. The last I had seen of them, he was on his knees trying to come after me and Declan was doing his level best to keep that from happening.
“Why am I here?” I asked, pretending not to care.
“Is it not obvious by now?” he asked.
“I know why you want me,” I spat. “Why am I tied to this chair? If you’re gonna do something to me, do it. Get it over with!” “You are so eager,” he said smiling wickedly.
“No, just tired of the secrets.”
“Very well. After Judith came to me, I had an associate call David to confirm her story. The man couldn’t deny his own daughter, but your dear father refused to give up your name or location. Even after his beloved was killed, he still refused. By then you were under Donovan’s protection. He is older than I, and I daresay much more powerful. If I crossed him, I knew I would pay with my life. That’s why I was forced to work with Dane and his mindless hoodlums.” He knelt down in front of me and ran his hand along my thigh. “A scenario was put into motion to lure you out. Dane had the funeral director place a call to David asking to sign some paperwork and intercepted him as he arrived. He felt bringing your mother’s remains would only entice you that much more.” His eyes cut to the casket. With that one glance I knew who was in there. Tears sprang into my eyes. Deep despair replaced my brave front. “The plan has worked, and here you sit. Your friend was simply an insurance policy. She has served her purpose and I give you my word that she will not be harmed.”
“Why are you doing this?” I yelled hysterically. My lungs were on fire, but I didn’t care. “We have done nothing to you.”
He stood up and looked at me. Fire burned in his brown eyes. “An example must be made, dearest. After this no one will defy me,” he said. “And after you see what I’m capable of, you will not deny me.”
My body shook. Agony, grief and anger were taking a toll. I had no idea what “this” was, but I knew it wouldn’t be the proper burial she deserved. Whatever he had planned would be cruel and inhumane. My mother deserved so much more than to be used as a pawn in his power game. But there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop it.
“Now we can’t send her off like this,” he said, clicking his tongue against his teeth. “We must have an open casket for proper goodbyes.”
His hands began to play with the lid on the casket. A wide grin spread across his face when he found the latch. Ever so slowly he opened the top to reveal my mother’s body lying peacefully inside. My heart felt like it was going to explode with grief when I saw her face.
She looked like a sleeping angel. David had bought her a soft, white dress with a high collar to hide the mess Judith had made of her neck. A generous amount of makeup had been able to conceal most of the cuts and bruises on her face and hands. The funeral home had even added some press on nails to hide the fact that most of hers had been ripped out or broken during her fierce struggle to live. The only thing missing from her hand was her wedding ring. That was tucked safely away in a drawer at home.
Michael gestured to two of the men standing beside me. They quickly disappeared into the house. They came back out a few seconds later with David between them. His hands were tied in front of his body with a stiff, thin rope of silver. The cruel bindings had already dug deep down into the skin on his wrists, leaving burnt skin and mangled tissue in its wake.
“Please don’t do this!” I screamed as loud as I could. “I can’t lose them both.”
David’s head snapped towards me. I could smell the sandalwood from across the courtyard. For the first time, I saw my father’s fangs.
“Your anger is at me, not her,” David yelled. “Is it not enough to have me? You have to beat an innocent woman too.”
“I have not laid one angry hand on your precious daughter,” Michael said calmly. “But, I can assure you, the one who did will be punished.”
David looked past Michael and saw Mom’s body. I sensed the deep sadness come over him. The angry light in his eyes went out. His sandalwood scent nearly vanished. Slowly, David’s fangs disappeared. Michael had known exactly how to hurt him.
“Arrogant” didn’t even begin to describe that man’s attitude. The self-satisfied grin on Michael’s face was sickening. He told the two men to let go of David. When they did, David ran to me. He knelt down in front of me and put his bound hands around my neck. All I could do was sit there and bawl in the crook of his neck.
“Leah, listen to me, darlin’. He will come for you,” he said quietly. “I can’t protect you anymore, but he can.”
“You can, too.” I wasn’t ready to lose him, not yet. “We can get out of this together. We just have to figure out how.” “No, we can’t. You can, and he’ll make sure you do,” he whispered. “I love you, Leah; I always have. Everything Mia and I did was to protect you.”
“I know that!” I cried, holding onto him as tight as I possibly could. He can’t just leave me. “I need you! You have to live. I need you!”
“Leah, you’re his to protect now,” he whispered. “His. Not mine.”
He stood up, looking completely at peace. Even when the two men tied him to a silver post on the other side of my mother, he never wavered. He looked down at her body lovingly and then at me; ready to face the inevitable.
“Judith!” Michael yelled. “You may have the honor.”
She twirled out into the courtyard, her long black hair wrapping around her shoulders like a cape, holding a lit torch. The wicked smile she wore on her blood red lips screamed self-satisfaction. In her eyes she’d won a battle. It didn’t matter that it had been a battle of her own making. At last, her lifelong goal had finally been achieved. She’d made my parents lives miserable, and now so was mine.
Michael came to stand behind me, his cold hands guiding my head toward my mother’s casket. I tried to shut my eyes, but they wouldn’t close. My head tingled at first and then I felt pressure bearing down. Michael was in my head and in apparent control of my body.
“Please,” I whispered. “Let my mind go.”
“No dearest, you must see this,” he said, kissing my ear softly. He snapped his fingers. I heard the shuffle of feet behind me. The smell of kerosene and gas washed over me as two men walked past me. There was no hesitation as they poured the accelerants, saturating both the casket and my mother’s body. “You must know wha
t I am capable of. Judith, proceed!”
Judith held the torch to the outside of the casket. The wood caught fire easily. As did the satin material inside. With a smile on her face, Judith threw the torch directly on my mother’s body. No matter how much I wanted to look away, Michael wouldn’t allow it. I was forced to watch as her body began to burn.
Seemingly convinced I’d seen enough, Michael released my head. He still wouldn’t let the mental hold he had on me go. That could only mean there was more he wanted me to see.
“Judith, did you put your hands on her?” he asked calmly.
“I did,” she sneered proudly. She looked back at the raging fire and laughed.
“I thought my instructions were clear. She was to be brought to me in one piece.”
He tilted my head up to show her the busted lip. Then my shirt was lifted to reveal the deep bruises covering the left side of my ribcage. My entire torso looked like a canvas of mottled colors. A perfect imprint of Judith’s fist was visible just above my belly button.
“She has sustained more than one broken rib and a severe blows to her face,” he said, dropping my shirt. “I know she is not a fierce woman. You would have come to me with a complaint had that been the case.”
His tone was getting dangerous. I leaned back into the chair as far as I physically could. There was no telling what her punishment would be, but I knew I did not want to be a part of it. Judith was a big girl and could take it all by herself.
Judith looked at David and grinned. He never took his eyes off my mother. “She deserved it,” she told him defiantly. “The same way Mia deserved what she got.”
Someone behind me handed Michael a dull wooden stake. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. She’d murdered my mother with no consequence. She’d killed JD and Deana on Michael’s orders with no punishment. Yet the minute she’d put her hands on me she’d signed her death warrant.
“Judith,” Michael said sweetly.
He raised the stake over her head. She tore her eyes away from David and turned around. Michael pushed the stake in just far enough to stun her. Dark red blood seeped out of her body. She was helpless to do anything but stand there and watch him slowly kill her. Tears welled up in her eyes.
“You disgust me,” he told her coldly, as he twisted the stake around in her chest.
Michael took his time killing her. Inch by inch he pushed the stake into her body. Every now and then he’d pull it out a little, wait for a little more blood to flow and then slowly push it back in. Twisting it like a screwdriver as he did it. He enjoyed the pain he inflicted on her. After several long minutes, her torturous death was over. She died as soon as the stake pierced her back. Her lifeless body fell at his feet and slowly disintegrated. No explosions of blood, no gore, just dust.
“Now, I must excuse myself. The sun will be up soon.” With a wave of Michael’s hand, Dane made his way through the courtyard. “Regrettably, I will not be able to see David greet the sun. Dearest, Dane will see that you are taken inside when it is over.”
“You are pure evil,” I said hatefully.
“I am a vampire. Evil is in my blood.”
Michael’s parting word sent chills down my spine. He went inside to sleep and left me to watch my father die. I tried one more time to get my hands loose, but they still wouldn’t budge. Dane saw what I was doing and came to stand in front of me.
No amount of time was needed to figure out his personality. Underneath the sweet smell of cherry tobacco was the scent of ash. To me, that said Dane was mean and uncaring. Knowing his history with the pack, it made perfect sense.
I saw a vague resemblance to both Kale and Raine. He had black hair like Kale, but his was a lot shorter. His eyes were Raine’s. Though they didn’t have the same light. I could see that he had once been built like the two of them, but he had really let himself go. The bulk of his muscle had turned to grizzle a long time ago.
“You don’t want to do that,” Dane told me gruffly.
It was a pointless and stupid move, but I kicked at him with my right leg anyway. He caught it and twisted it all the way around. I heard a few quick pops and then felt a sharp pain shoot through my shin. His blue eyes flashed when he came down on it with the palm of his hand. The pain was incredible.
“He’ll kill you, too,” David growled at him.
“Michael and I have an understanding. I have helped him get what he wants,” he explained. “Now he’ll help me get what I want. Her physical safety is not my problem.”
“It is if you kill her,” David told him. “If that happens, Michael will be the least of your worries.”
“Why?” he snorted. “Because she has a few bodyguards?”
“Because they are loyal to her,” he answered weakly. The sunlight had begun to creep into the courtyard. The night sky was being replaced with the soft, pink glow of morning. David turned his head to look at me. He was smiling. I was crying. “Leah, it’s okay,” he said softly. “Everything will be okay. He will come.”
He lifted his head up to the shining rays. Smiling and calm, David recited The Lord’s Prayer. Tears streamed down my face. Every word he said tore at my heart. By the time the prayer was over, his body had begun to smoke.
Flakes of ashen skin fell from his face and hands. His body started to give in to the light of the sun, his clothes slid off leaving the sensitive skin underneath exposed and vulnerable. I was terrified he would burst into flames, but he didn’t. His body morphed into ash and crumbled to the ground. Now both my parents were gone.
I cried harder than I ever have before. That monster had wiped both my parents off the face of the earth. The only trace left of them was me. If these people had their way, I’d be joining them sooner than I should. All Michael really needed was my blood.
“Who will come for you?” Dane demanded.
“What difference does it make?” I sobbed.
Even as the words came out of my mouth, I knew I would come to regret it. After he backhanded me across the cheeks a few times, I did.
“Tell me his name,” he demanded.
I glared up at him. He may hurt me, but I knew he wouldn’t kill me. Michael still had a debt to pay. If I died, he would lose whatever he was owed. I got the feeling Dane wasn’t willing to give that up, especially if it meant getting his hands on his middle son.
I braced myself when a vibrating red haze surrounded his body. His fist came down hard on the right side of my face and he immediately asked again. Even with a mouth full of blood, I refused to tell him.
Dane released me from the bindings, jerked me up by the collar of my shirt and pushed me into the house. The limp from the broken shin he’d dealt me earlier only added to his anger. As a punishment for my lack of coordination, he forced me to walk faster.
Pure willpower was the only thing that got me up the stairs.
Between the searing pain in my leg and the constant sharp pull in my ribs, my head was beginning to feel fuzzy. The blows I’d received earlier probably weren’t helping any either. A couple of times I’d nearly blacked out, but I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of watching me fall.
Mercifully, we came to a stop outside the room Drew had been. Dane pulled a silver rope from his pants pocket and tied my hands in front of me. Without warning, my feet were knocked out from under me and my legs were tied together at the ankles. If he was hoping for the same skin irritation David experienced, he was sure to be disappointed. Silver had no effect on me.
“Whoever your father was expecting to save you will have a hard time getting past us,” he said, looking fairly pleased. “But just in case, the silver should slow him down.”
“David didn’t say a word about the man being a werewolf or a vampire,” I reminded him. The longer I could keep doubt in his mind the better.
He shrugged his shoulders and stood up. “You’ve been in a house full of them. Your beauty,” he stopped, looked at my face and snorted. “Well, what once was anyway, has surely enticed one of th
em.”
“I hate to burst your bubble, but they all see me as more of a little sister than anything else.”
He laughed jovially and tossed me over his shoulder. His amusement continued the rest of the way down the hall. His jiggling shoulder dug painfully into my busted ribs. I could feel sharp points poking at the inside of the skin.
Four doors later, we came to our final destination. He pushed open the door and promptly threw me flat on the floor. Luckily, the back of my head landed on someone’s thigh instead of the floor. The rest of my body wasn’t so fortunate. Whatever breath I had left in me was effectively knocked out.
“I smell much more than brotherly love on you,” he said, slamming the door behind him.
Several minutes went by before I could breathe without an enormous amount of pain again. Slow, shallow breaths seemed to be the least painful, so I stuck with those. Other than breathing, I didn’t want to move. And for a while I didn’t.
I lay there motionless, for what felt like an eternity, and concentrated on trying to figure out who was in the dark room with me. The fresh scent of the ocean came to me, but I couldn’t trust it anymore. It was obviously a vampire I couldn’t hear a heartbeat. Finding out for sure would mean I would have to move.
Hoping it was Donovan; I slowly scooted up his body. I saw high cheekbones and silver hair and I let out a huge sigh of relief. It was Donovan. From the look of it, he’d been tied up for quite a while. The silver rope had already worn his wrists down to the bone. The skin around them was red and smoldering.
Knowing it was more than likely a lost cause; I did my best to wake him up. We had to think of a way out of this place as soon as possible. I had no intentions of letting Michael take anything from me. Blood or otherwise.
I wasn’t real sure how he would react when he woke up so I decided to take the gentle approach. Before I did anything else, I made sure he was facing me. I didn’t want him to bite first and see who I was after.
Talking to him didn’t work. I shook him by the shoulders as hard as I could and yelled. The harder I shook him the more determined I was to make him wake up. I needed help and he was the only one I could turn to.