When will you learn, Ken Doll? I don’t run.
As if I would seriously leave him here, after everything he had helped me with.
The woman laughed. “Yes, run, little one. If you are smart, you will do as your little lap dog commands.”
I took a breath as I walked through the open doorway. “Constance, I presume?”
A smile spread across her crimson lips, allowing me to see her fangs emerging from her pink gums. I looked at her four groupies and my eyes fell on the bitch that had cut and run earlier. So, she had tattled, had she?
I stopped at Brendan’s feet and looked at Constance. “It is nice to finally meet the sick sadistic bitch who owns this whorehouse.”
She didn’t flinch at the remark; instead, she evaluated me from top to bottom. “And what a fantastic whore you would make, Heather. I will have to see if I can talk Michael out of killing you.”
Well, the fact that Michael wanted to kill me didn’t surprise me. Brendan and I did kill two of his Bloodlings on the same night, so I presumed he took a pretty hard hit, which didn’t feel so great.
My lack of surprise seemed to disappoint her.
“Easy enough, I think, since it will ruin certain...plans, if he were to end your life.”
My gut knotted. Luca had mentioned something about a plan, hadn’t he?
“Then there is Luca. Tut, tut.” Constance walked toward Brendan. “Marie shall not be happy you beheaded her son.”
That dick was her son? She needed to refine her parenting skills.
“Perhaps she would like to take your lover instead of you? Hmm?” She knelt down and ran her crimson-painted nails through Brendan’s hair.
He growled low in his throat.
My grip automatically tightened on my sword, but I forced a laugh. “He isn’t my lover. Besides, what would she want with him? He’s a dog. Can’t you smell that stink?”
Brendan growled louder.
“He never shuts up and he is irritating. It would be a waste of time even dragging his arse to her.”
“We shall see.”
“How would Michael feel if you brought a Pack of Werewolves to his door? That is what will happen if he,” I nodded at Brendan, “isn’t home by eleven tomorrow morning. His Pack will know something is wrong. They know where I reside; they will be here just in time for you all waking up tomorrow night.”
Constance stood straight and studied me for a moment. “You are lying.”
“I promise you I’m not,” I lied.
“You forget, Heather, that I can hear your heart beat; I can sense your fear.”
I hadn’t forgotten that, but when all else failed, spread the bullshit with the clear truth, as my Gran used to say. A person had to blur the line.
I snorted. “I’m not afraid of you, any of you. If I was, don’t you think I’d be hiding out at home? And in case you haven’t actually taken a good look around your whorehouse, we had quite a busy evening. I’m sweaty and dirty. My pulse is in overdrive because I’ve been running up, down, left, and right for the last two hours. I’m tired and I really don’t feel like playing any more of your sick games. Your money is downstairs. Send one of your pets to fetch it, and we will get out of your hair.”
She keeled over laughing.
That is not the reaction I wanted.
“Walking out of here is not an option. I am to take you to Michael.” She looked down at Brendan. “Both of you.”
“What makes you think I am going to let you do that?” I asked, taking three steps forward, swivelling my sword in my hand.
“Because it is you against all of us.”
“All five of you. I like my chances.”
“Five?” Her lips curled into a devious grin, and I followed her gaze, turning to see ten Vampires standing behind me.
She laughed. “How do you like your chances now, stupid Infected?”
“Honestly? I like them a little bit less than I did a moment ago.” I reached down to my drawstring bag.
“Tut, tut.” Constance waggled her right index finger.
Two male Vampires grabbed me; the one on my right took the sword from my hand and handed it to Constance.
“This is a beautiful sword.” She ran her gloved fingers along the edge.
“Isn’t it?” I smiled. “The view is even better when the blade swings toward your neck. It’s got a real nice shine to it. Give it back, and I will show you.”
I sucked in a sharp breath as the Vampire on my left punched me in the gut; my eyes swam with tears as the pain travelled along my entire left side.
“Time to go, I think.”
I watched through blurred vision as two of the Vampires behind Constance picked up Brendan. My two escorts pulled me around and dragged me out of the building, kicking and grunting.
Outside, a black van waited. A Vampire pulled open the doors and the two Leeches carrying Brendan threw him into the back. The van shook as his shoulders hit the far wall; my two Vampires pushed me forward, then climbed in after me. I crawled over to Brendan and saw two daggers embedded in his abdomen.
“Fuck.” I hissed at the feel of his burning flesh. His body was clearly trying to change, but he had way too much silver in him to heal, let alone transform. A single bead of sweat travelled down his cheek and onto his neck. “Brendan? Can you hear me?”
The engine growled and the van swayed as it began to move.
His eyelids flickered. The emerald in his eyes faded as he looked up at me through hooded lids. “T—Told you...you would n—need me...for something e—else.”
“Yeah, well, you have a rotten habit of being right.” I forced a smile, took hold of the first dagger, and pulled.
Brendan screamed.
“I’m sorry.” My hands shook as I watched his chest rising and falling heavily with each deep, ragged breath. I left the dagger alone and turned to the two Vampires who sat laughing on a bench near the door. They had changed back to their human forms.
“Stupid bitch. They are special daggers. Once embedded, hidden hooks emerge and latch onto the muscles. Pulling them out wouldn’t be a good idea. You could rip a hole in him or slice open some veins.”
“Why the fuck do you even have them? You arseholes are allergic to silver, remember?”
“Michael uses them to punish anyone who’s been naughty.”
I looked at their hands. They wore black leather gloves. Bastards.
I moved next to Brendan and leant against the back wall; he grunted as I lifted his head and placed it on my lap.
“You should h—have run,” he mumbled.
“I don’t run.”
“You ran w—when Carls—son—”
“I wasn’t running from him, you eejit. I tried to lead them into a more open space to give me a better advantage.”
“W—well, you should have r—run n—now.”
“Yeah, well, call me stupid, but I couldn’t leave you with these pricks.”
“You’re stupid.”
I pulled his damp hair off his face. “Yeah. I know.”
“I—I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“Not warning you, once I—I got up the stairs.”
“You think I would have listened even if you did?”
“N—no. I—I shouldn’t have let t—this hap—”
“Shut up.” I ran my fingers through his hair. “Neither of us sensed them.”
I looked at the two Vampires quietly watching us, then whispered, “You remember what I said to you on the roof? That my Gran would have warned us if something really bad lurked round the corner?”
He grunted.
“We’ll be all right. Somehow, we will. Trust it is the truth.”
“I—I do.”
He was burning up. His head was the only part of him resting on my lap, and yet my legs felt as though they were on fire. “You’re in pain and you’re still talking; something is wrong with you, Wolf Man.”
“S—stop talking t—to me—then.” He at
tempted to laugh but ended up coughing.
“Just stop fighting to stay awake. Relax and go to sleep, okay? It won’t hurt as much.”
“No, I n—nee—d—”
“Hey, the sword isn’t a prop, believe it or not.” I tried to gulp away the ball that lodged in my throat. “You’re safe with me.”
He coughed. His eyes slit as he stared up at me. “I—I didn’t know you c—cared.”
“I don’t. I’m just saying anything to get you to shut up.”
But I do mean it. I won’t let anything happen to you. You shouldn’t have been dragged into this mess in the first place.
He took a deep, ragged breath, then exhaled. I felt the tension in his body ease as he stopped fighting to stay conscious. “Do me a—a fav—our? B—be careful.”
“I will try,” I whispered as he finally collapsed.
Chapter Ten
Rope bound my hands and a blindfold covered my eyes. As they dragged me from the vehicle, I heard occasional, muted traffic in the distance. Warm air danced around me. I couldn’t smell car fumes like the inner city, and judging by the speed of the van and the time spent in there, we seemed, at the very least, an hour or so out of central London. But why is it so quiet?
A solid grip closed around my right arm. Someone pushed me forward. The air cooled and the distinct sound of heels on stone echoed around me. We had been brought to a building.
My escort pushed me down. My knees hit the gritty floor, and small jabs of pain shot up my thighs and back. I heard a thud to my right and suddenly felt heat pressing against my leg. Brendan.
“Remove her blindfold,” a cockney male ordered.
Someone pulled off the blindfold. A set of black, beady eyes evaluated me from beneath two extremely bushy, black eyebrows. The male who stood before me wore a crisp white shirt and a black suit. Seven other Vampires stood protectively around him, as if he were the most precious thing on the planet.
So this must be Michael.
“At last we meet, Heather Ryan,” he said sternly.
“You stole my opening line.” I let my eyes quickly trip over the packed interior of the warehouse. Somehow, I doubted he resided here. “Nice place.” My gaze returned to him. “I wouldn’t have taken you for a construction type of guy.”
His eyes narrowed. A stone-cold fist met my left cheek. I gulped back the rising tears and gagged as blood trickled across my tongue.
“You’re just as cocky as your whore of a mother.” Michael sneered.
“Oh, believe me, that wasn’t me being cocky.” I ignored the cheap shot at my mother. “I just made a simple observation. No need to get touchy just because you are getting your Italian leather shoes dirty, you prick.”
“I hear she died a few years back,” Michael continued, while my escort planted his fist into my kidney. “Took her own life, didn’t she?”
I ground my teeth, fighting through the pain that blasted through my body. My usual raging need to shoot my mouth off rose, but now wouldn’t be the time to dig a deeper hole for myself, even though, under the circumstances, I would probably end up in one.
“She held on for eight years; tough little thing. I’m told her sanity finally snapped, so she placed a gun to her head? Too bad you haven’t done the same, Heather. Instead, you continue to breathe, and that alone is an irritation to me, as well as the rest of my kind.” He stepped closer. “You’re in deep shit, little one.”
I spat bile and blood, pleased when the gob landed on his crisp white shirt.
“What’s wrong, Michael? Did I knock you on your arse for a couple of days by killing Carlson and Antonio?”
The back of his hand slammed into my right cheek. Heat flared and spread down my neck.
Carlson and Antonio had been fourth generation Vampires, and Michael’s first two Bloodlings. Killing them both in one night would have knocked him cold for, at the very least, a few days.
I laughed hysterically. “Did you just bitch-slap me? Dear God, you’re supposed to be the leader of a fucking Colony, of every Vampire within the United Kingdom, and you hit like a fucking little girl.”
“Enough!” He hissed through his growing fangs. He wrapped my ponytail around his hand and yanked my head up to meet his gaze. “You have killed two of my own. I am within my rights to rip your fucking head off.”
He gripped my throat with his left hand.
I sucked in a ragged breath as he pushed against my gullet and looked him dead in the eyes. “Then what’s stopping you?”
A smile emerged across his lips.
“You have guts, Heather, like your father. Do you know what I did to him?” He leaned down, his skin almost touching mine. “I tore his heart from his chest and drank from it.”
His breath skated over my face and I shuddered as the stink of fresh blood seeped from his parted lips.
“And then I let my Colony feast on his flesh, until only his bones remained.” He waited for a reaction.
I didn’t like to think about what my father must have gone through, how much pain he would have been in, but my Gran told me his death had been quick. I had to believe that was the truth.
I just looked at him.
He laughed and released my throat. “You killed Luca, and that was not a clever thing to do.”
He untangled his fingers from my hair and stood straight.
I sucked in a breath. “He has a thing for blondes. What can I say, he just wouldn’t take no for an answer,” I said with a forced smile. “In fact, neither could Carlson.”
I didn’t miss the twitch in Michael’s neck at the comment about his poor little Bloodling.
“Unfortunately, your fate is in neither my, nor Marie’s hands. At least, not for the present moment.” He stopped and smiled calmly. “There is a third party that has a much bigger interest in you, little one. He has been watching you for a long, long time and despite my argument, I have to listen to my elder.”
My gut went cold.
“Marko?” I whispered.
“Indeed, Heather. He is very aware of you. Aware that you seek him, that you wish to destroy him. Not that your family has ever made this ridiculous mission quiet, but considering they have all failed.... He has plans for you, Heather Ryan. He has had plans for you for almost a decade, and now that your grandmother has finally gone and cannot help you—” he laughed, “—time for you to dance with destiny. Marie will be very disappointed that she has not been well enough to fight her case. Luca was her son, you know. Her first Bloodling. His demise will have hurt her dearly.”
“Do pass on my regards. What about him?” I looked down at Brendan. “His Pack is expecting him home, and they will come looking for him if he doesn’t return.”
“Oh, don’t worry; he shall join you. He will be of some use, after all. As for his Pack, we shall deal with them now we know to look out for them. Thank you for warning us.”
Well, shit. That hadn’t been my plan. Man, I hoped Brendan’s Pack wouldn’t come looking for him. I didn’t want to drag more people into this. Fuck, why did my Gran send him? Why didn’t she tell me this would—?
When the cloth covered my mouth, I wriggled like some idiotic worm in an attempt to get away. My focus blurred as a strange scent filled my nose. Michael’s voice grew quieter as everything around me fell into darkness....
* * * * *
Lights spluttered above me, fighting with some relentless attempt to come back on, even though the battle appeared hopeless.
It is hopeless. I’m trapped.
Fresh waves of pain rippled around my skull and down my spine as I fought to see everything around me, but thick grey smoke flooded the corridors. It crawled down my throat; the taste and feel of ash coated my tongue, making me gag. The need to cough kept grabbing me while ash blocked my nose and stung my watering eyes. My head throbbed, pressure in my skull tightened, as I fought hard to keep my eyes open.
There has to be a way out.
The building was old. The elevator shaft had alread
y started to fall to pieces. How could they not have another entrance? Unless it had been placed somewhere I couldn’t reach?
There is a way out. There has to be.
I had been brought down this particular corridor. I remembered seeing the double doors ahead of me and feeling strange, like I had been down here before. We had passed a random door that looked new, compared to the rest of the facility, a wooden door with a long titanium handle; it stood on its own along this long wall.
I placed my hand against the wall and let my fingertips play across the smooth surface, waiting to feel wood instead of metal panelling.
The wall vanished from beneath my hand. I stopped and extended my left arm until my palm rested flat against the wood. I slid my hand lower until I reached the cool metal handle. One push and the door opened. I walked into the darkness of the new corridor.
I took a deep breath; the smoke hadn’t invaded the area just yet.
I walked down the hallway, the fingertips of my left hand pressed against the rough stone wall. Stone wall in a metal facility? I held my right arm out in front of me, my metal slingshot pressed into my arm, somehow steadying my growing panic, as did the weight of my sword and crossbow as they rested against my back.
My eyesight had clouded from the smoke; my nostrils burned with it.
The awareness under my skin blazed as hot as the fire that currently threatened to bring the entire structure down on my head, but I had to walk down here; every impulse in my body forced me forward. I had no idea what I hoped to find, but I knew in my gut that I could get out.
My right hand hit the uneven wall before me; my heart sank as I stood before the dead end.
My lungs burned as the smoke continued to consume my body.
I wasn’t supposed to die down here. She would have warned me, she would have made me do something different. She wouldn’t let me come back down here just to die.
I crouched and placed both my palms against the jagged rocks. I moved my hands over the small uneven wall; working my way up...I stopped as cold air tickled the fingertips of my right hand....
* * * * *
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