“What do I do with this?” Alex asked as Kai picked up the box. “Where’s the weapon?”
“There’s nothing in this thing but a weird looking bracelet,” Kai said showing them the box. Purple silk covered the inside. Nestled within was a metal bracelet with a glass tube embedded in it. She thought she recognized it, but she didn’t have time to figure it out.
“I don’t understand,” Alex said to the creatures. “What was all this for, if not to tell me what the hell to do with it?”
“I was just testing you,” they giggled. “I wanted to see if you still remember what I taught you. You need more practice.”
Alex glanced at the book as David held it up in the dim light of the moon. The language was unrecognizable to her—or any of them, for that matter.
“I don’t understand,” she huffed.
“You will,” they replied with a deep bow to them all.
Another flare went off above them. When the light died, the Cantu were gone.
“Now what?” Xavier sighed as they walked back toward the main house again.
David flipped through the book, shaking his head. “I don’t even think this is a real language. Looks like bullshit to me. I think this is skin, not paper,” he frowned and closed the book.
When they reached the pool, Alex took the book from him.
Well, at least she didn’t have to come up with their payment. It was the Mistress who chose them to deliver the gift, so she would handle that. Alex was sure Ashblood Manor had a good supply of fresh human blood on hand. Leave it to the Mistress to send her something so powerful she couldn’t even figure out how to use it. Maybe Alex should have asked before she let the Mistress cash in her debt.
“Too late now,” she mumbled.
Chapter 5
He was glad for the silence. His tormentors had been called away, suddenly, which meant he wouldn’t be on the menu tonight—hadn’t been for almost ten days now. That Sasha chick had gone missing, and it was all hands on deck to find her. Ben secretly hoped the bitch was dead, but they hadn’t found any proof one way or another.
The change in him was coming slowly, but it was coming—he knew that. What he would eventually become was a mystery. The doctor told him, early on, that he was among a rare few who couldn’t be turned. At a cellular level, the virus would mutate into something but not vampire. He wasn’t sure if he still had enough of the supplement in his system to fight the assault, but he prayed that he did—harder than he ever had in his life.
On a positive note, if the search for Sasha took longer, maybe his body would have enough time to heal itself—reverse the damage. When he had taken the last of the pills he managed to squirrel away before being abducted all those weeks ago at the cabin, Ben hoped it would be of some help in that process. If not, he wanted Alex to be the one to end his life.
His hands, fingers elongated and almost skeletal, reminded him of a dead body. He didn’t have the balls to look at his own reflection anymore. The last time he looked, he smashed the mirror anyway. Their constant feedings drained him and left him looking barely human. His dark wavy hair was dull and brittle. Once strong and white, his teeth felt loose, soft, and coated in something grainy and sour tasting. His lips were cracked and it hurt when he licked them. The dried blood caked in the corners of his mouth was hard now. His skin was leathery and pale green, unless his vision was failing him too.
Ben was still too human to take his own life, no matter how much he wanted to die. He still clung to his mother’s Catholic faith. “Suicide is a sin,” she had said. “You won’t get into heaven if you do that.” That was the last piece of advice she’d given a sixteen-year-old Benjamin Palmer. The next week, she was gone—accidental overdose is what the official report said. Ben knew better. She’d struggled with addiction all of her life, or his life, to be more precise.
His father had left her because of it. His grandparents had taken him in and treated him very well. But he missed his mother more than he thought possible.
One bad memory was replaced by another—the loss of another woman he loved, but it was his fault that time.
Ben’s memory of her as she sat by the barred window of the visitors’ lounge was still very vivid. She flipped cards on a small wooden table. The two Marine guards looked bored at the sight. Everyone else sat on one side of the massive waiting room probably wondering the same thing Ben was wondering—what the hell?
When the guards had spotted him, one approached Ben, stopped, and offered a perfect salute. Winnan, his name tag reflected, was a Lance Corporal according to the bars on his left shoulder. Since he had saluted a civilian-clothed Ben, he must have already been briefed.
“Sir,” Lance Corporal Winnan announced as he snapped his hand down again. “I have to make sure you’re not armed. Sorry, sir.”
“No problem, Marine,” Ben replied as he raised his arms and allowed LCpl. Winnan to pat him down.
It was a little embarrassing—being patted down in front of everyone in the lounge, but Ben played along. Once he was done, he asked Ben to remain where he was until the room was cleared.
Everyone was politely ushered from the room in an orderly fashion. They were being taken to a smaller waiting area. Ben watched in confusion. Then he turned back to Alex. The other guard, a Private First Class Hayes, stood just behind her at attention. She shook her head and shrugged at Ben.
“Clear,” he heard Winnan bark. “Go ahead, Colonel.”
She stood slowly as the guards stepped back to a safe distance. At least that’s what it looked like to Ben. Alex looked small and fragile in faded blue scrubs, white Keds, and a grin. He could tell that she’d lost weight. Her dark hair hung down to her shoulders, limp and dull. Hair tucked behind her ears, she looked like the little girl he’d met all those years ago.
Ben began to walk toward her; his arms went up as he got closer. But Pfc. Hayes stepped up quickly, pushing his arm out to stop Ben. “Sorry, sir,” Hayes sniffed.
Ben saw her roll her eyes again as he stepped into Hayes’s personal space with a smile.
“Really? What do you think I’m gonna do Private? Stuff her in my pocket and run?”
Winnan stifled a chuckle as he gave his partner a quick nod. “It’s fine, Hayes. I’m sure it’ll be okay, right, Colonel?”
“Of course,” Ben replied with a grin at Pfc. Hayes as he pushed past him.
When Alex was in his arms, he felt a quick prick of electricity. She squeezed him back then stepped out of his arms politely. Waving him to the empty chair opposite hers, they sat down together. The game of solitaire was gathered up by LCpl. Winnan. He tapped the table twice, then left the deck stacked neatly in the center.
“We’ll be over there, sir,” he said to Ben, “just in case.”
Ben winked at him and they walked away. At the exit, they stood at parade rest. Ben could see them in the mirror on the far wall as they watched them. Winnan shot Alex a nasty look.
“Damn,” he grinned, “what the hell’d you do to him?”
She grinned back, “Beat him at poker.” She rubbed her neck as she cut a glance at them. “Lost a month’s pay to me last night.”
Ben laughed, “Sucker.”
She laughed too, but it seemed different. Hollow and weak, her eyes didn’t reflect her humor. They didn’t dance the way that Ben remembered. He didn’t like what he saw in her eyes at all.
“So,” he sighed, “when you gettin’ out of here?”
“Not sure,” she rubbed her neck.
“You look fine to me,” he lied.
“I feel fine,” she answered. He figured she was lying too.
Ben leaned in slightly. She stayed where she was. He could see the Marines tense a bit through the mirror.
“Your . . .” he paused when she frowned at his near mistake. Alex and her father didn’t have what could be referred to as a “fa
ther/daughter” relationship. “Dr. Carlisle would have been here, but something came up in Washington,” he lied again.
“The program always comes first, right?” she sighed.
“I’m sure if he thought you really needed him, he’d be here,” Ben replied and felt the pang of disgust at his insensitive words. She clearly thought her father would be here instead of him. He thought the same until Dr. Carlisle told him something came up at the last minute.
“Guess he thinks I’m alright then, huh?”
“You’re not?”
She took another quick glance at the Marines. When her eyes met Ben’s again, he felt another jolt of electricity. She shook her head as her eyes filled with tears.
Ben’s temper ticked up. The muscles in his legs tightened as he prepared to stand and yell at the guards. If one of them had touched her, he was going to kill them both and take her from here. Her cold hand landed on his arm. With a vice-like grip, he stayed seated.
“Alex,” he whispered, “if someone tried to hurt you, tell me. We can get you out of here now.”
One tear slid down her cheek. Then he felt it again—that shock, but this time it actually hurt a little. The table wobbled too.
“No one can hurt me, can they?” she whispered. “Not really, right?”
“Hell no,” he replied as her hand trembled in his. “What’s wrong?”
Her grip tightened on his hand. “I’m perfect,” she continued to whisper. “I’m perfectly human. Tell me I’m perfectly human, Ben.”
Ben’s knuckles rolled as her grip locked on them. Any more pressure and he was sure she would break his fingers.
“Alex,” he said in the calmest way possible. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know, as long as I get to keep my fingers.”
Without taking her eyes from his, she released his hand. He stretched his fingers out, wiggled them around to get the blood flowing again. She placed her hands in her lap.
He noticed the Marines had gotten closer. Maybe under the circumstances, that was best.
“What do you want to know?” he said to her.
Ben could remember the look on her face, even now. The smoldering anger in those brown eyes. Back then he thought he imagined them turning a light amber color, but now he knew he didn’t.
“Am I human?” she whispered.
“Yes,” Ben replied.
“Completely?”
The feeling of his lungs tightening in his chest came on suddenly, just like it did back then. He could still feel his heart race and his palms sweat as his mind refused to formulate a lie good enough to fool her. His mouth went dry in an instant.
“Not—” he started, but the end was cut off when her hand clamped around his neck.
The memory felt as real now as it did when it happened all those years ago—his body as it rose from the chair, then being pulled over the small table like a paper doll. He even remembered the cards as they spilled to the floor in slow motion. All the while, her expression never changed. Calm, cool, and collected, Alex’s grip on his throat trapped air in his lungs that wanted to get out.
“How long?” she hissed in his face. “How long have you known?!”
Ben scratched and pulled at the iron claw as it closed off his windpipe, but it didn’t move. As one Marine tried to help remove her hand, the other put her in a choke hold.
“Let him go,” Pfc. Hayes barked, but to an almost unconscious Ben, it sounded watery and distant. And, just like that, she let go.
But Hayes found that challenging someone like her wasn’t covered in Marine boot camp on Parris Island. She forced her elbow into his solar plexus twice, then donkey-kicked all two hundred solid pounds into the far wall. He shattered the mirror on impact.
Winnan dropped Ben, who was still gasping for air, behind him then drew his side arm on her. Alex stopped, raised her hands, and grinned at them.
Before Ben could form a single word, Hayes hit her from behind, taking them both to the floor. He forced her arms behind her and cuffed her quickly. What surprised Ben most was that she wasn’t resisting. She could have killed both of them in record time and been out the door and off the property before anyone knew what had happened.
“Don’t fucking move,” he barked down at her as his knee kept her pinned to the floor. Blood streaked down his neck, staining his starched collar. When he saw it on his hands, Hayes cursed and dropped his knee in her back again. A small grunt of air came out, but she still grinned.
“You alright, sir?” Winnan puffed.
Ben just nodded. A commotion broke out behind him as two orderlies rushed in, followed by a nurse. Hayes held her down as the nurse gave her some sort of injection. When she was jerked up from the floor she winked at Hayes and he cursed at her.
“Sir,” Winnan said as he looked him over. “We can drop her crazy ass back in solitary, if you want.”
“Back?” Ben cleared his throat. “What do you mean back?”
“She goes there a lot,” Hayes grumbled as he smirked at Ben and Winnan. “I think she likes it.”
“No,” Ben croaked. “It’s fine.” They let him step closer to her, but Winnan warned him to stay at a safe distance. “You need to talk to your father.”
Her grin faded. “Run,” she said in a clear voice, “fast. When I catch up to you, I’m gonna put you both in the same box.”
As they led her away, she didn’t struggle.
All of his calls and requests for another visit were denied after that. He never stopped trying though.
Coming back to the depressing present, Ben felt a weird sting on his face. His fingers came back wet from tears, real ones.
“Well,” he sighed, “at least I can still feel.”
That gave him hope. If human feelings were still possible, then maybe he wasn’t as far gone as he thought. Rolling into the fetal position, Benjamin Palmer thought hard about Alex Stone. So hard, his head began to pound.
It took years for her to speak to him again; a couple more for her to trust him. Maybe not fully, but still. After they started working together to fulfill her contract, he knew he would give his life for her. Right now, he hoped that feeling was mutual.
“She’ll find me,” he said to the dark, stale air around him. “She’ll save me—I know she will.”
Adam watched as the volunteer stumbled from the room, barely able to stand without help. The guards he had assigned to their prisoner nodded at him as they passed. When he entered the room, he could still smell fresh blood in the air. If there were a window, he would have opened it to release that stale stench into the night.
A young woman sat up in bed, then licked her lips with a grin. “Thanks for the snack,” she said in a breathy sigh. “I’ll take a ginger next.”
Adam didn’t respond. He just stared at her with disgust in the pit of his stomach. Her drunken stumble toward the small bathroom filled him with anger. She washed her face and hands, then returned to the bed as he waited.
Some of her wounds were almost healed. But the worst of them would need more time and blood. Unfortunately for her, they were out of time and Adam would not give her any more human blood. She had to look as if she were tortured when she returned to her master.
“How do you feel?” he asked when she was settled again.
She stretched out on the bed and tried to strike a seductive pose. Adam thought it was just some ridiculous notion she conjured in the moment. He’d rather be burned alive than touch her for any reason but to cause her pain.
“Silly child,” he said as she stroked the rumpled bed sheets.
“I could use something with a little more kick,” she giggled.
Giving the mattress a pat, she grinned. Adam checked the urge to strike her. He had no desire to indulge her juvenile attempt at seduction. He crossed through the room and sat down in the chair instead.
&nb
sp; “Maybe your sire will accommodate that request when you return,” he said.
“So we have a deal?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes danced when she smiled and sat up straight and tall. “You won’t be disappointed—I swear! I’ll be the best spy ever!”
“I’m sure, my dear,” Adam replied.
“But,” her smile faded, “what will I tell him? He’s smart. He’s gonna wonder where I’ve been all this time.”
Adam shook his head as he held his hand out to her. She rose from the bed then knelt in front of him with a smell of fear. Her hand trembled in his.
“You’re not going to tell him anything, really,” he replied. “You won’t have much to tell.”
He took her face in his hands as he smiled at her. Now she was confused and afraid. She had every reason to fear what was coming next.
“Tell me what to do,” she whispered, “what to say so that I can please you.”
Her dull brown eyes closed. When she tightened her grip on his thighs, he entered her mind. A tangled mess of memories greeted him. He made his way through the chaos easily. She was so young and weak that it hardly took any effort. At the memories he wanted to erase, Adam felt the slight tremble of her body become a full on shake.
“It hurts,” she moaned and tried to force him from her mind.
She couldn’t, of course, but the effort amused him. Just as he was about to erase everything from the last two weeks, which would include the fight, he stopped. In that moment, he decided to leave it there. Maybe it would prompt Tristan to come out and play. He liked the thought of using Alex as bait.
When she groaned and squirmed in his grip, more pressure on his thighs brought him back to the task at hand. Her eyes were shut tight against the pain. Her fangs dropped to fine points out of instinct. The pain caused her body to react to protect itself.
As he pulled her closer, Adam tightened his grip on her head.
“It’s the only way, I’m afraid,” he grinned as she struggled against his mental assault. “I could lessen the pain, but . . .”
By Blood Sworn Page 6