E.V.I.E.: 13 Slayers, 13 Missions

by Lexi C. Foss

  I grab his arm and pull it from her mouth. She starts to pitch a fit, kicking and screaming and crying. Lucky for me, she’s a small child and can be overpowered.

  “Feed him,” I bark at the maid. “Now.”

  She rushes over to him, lifts her skirt, and straddles his head, offering her femoral to him. It takes some maneuvering on her part, but she manages to nick her flesh with his teeth. I can tell the moment when he comes to because his hands grip her thighs. Mercy continues to cry and howl. A terrifying growl I’ve never heard rumbles from Beck—protective and fierce.

  I need to keep her quiet.

  In his weakened state, there’s no telling what he would do.

  Softly, I sing to Mercy. I sing her songs that used to be her mother’s favorites and ones I made up about her mother. It doesn’t take long before she’s quiet, staring up at me with awe. I stroke her hair and kiss her forehead, thankful she’s alive. Only time will tell if this thing Beck did will work.

  “Where’s Mommy?” Mercy says, finally calm.

  “She’ll be here soon.” The lie on my tongue is bitter. Truth is, I don’t know if we’ll ever see her again. I left her with her worst nightmare. And I have to wait until dark to get her back. I just hope it won’t be too late.

  14

  Castilla

  Allowing Griffin to take me to his apartment was a bad idea. But I was too depleted of energy to run away. All I need to do is make it through twelve hours and then Laurent will be back for me. He’ll take me to Beck’s and I can see my little girl, who I hope to God is okay.

  “I could make you some breakfast,” Griffin says. “Are you hungry?”

  “Yes,” I lie. Right now I feel like puking. “Please.”

  He walks into the kitchen while I quickly glance around his space. I have my stakes, but those aren’t too effective on a human. I could run, but Griffin is fit and could easily outrun me. I need to be smart. Stalling is my best option until I can call for help or sneak away.

  “What’s wrong with Mercy?” he asks from the kitchen.

  Anger flashes hot through me. “There’s nothing wrong with her. She’s perfect.”

  He emerges from the kitchen, his features twisted into an annoyed scowl. “You know what I mean, Casti. Why is she dying?”

  “A blood disorder,” I snap. “The transfusions aren’t working anymore.”

  “What a shame,” he says, approaching me. “We can make another one, babe.”

  I blink at him in horror. “What?”

  “A child. We made one before and we can make another one. Maybe this one will do better being raised by both parents.” He shrugs.

  “Fuck. You.” I shove him hard. “You asshole!”

  His eyes narrow and his lip curls up. “Maybe next time, you can put up less of a fight. All that trauma during conception probably damaged our baby.”

  Rage explodes inside of me. I smack his face hard.

  “How dare you insinuate—”

  The words are knocked out of my mouth when he smacks me back. Harder. With more force. Before I can recover, he grabs me, yanking me to him. I scream and kick out, but he’s too strong. All the classes with Jude fly out the window. I trained heavily for this moment, but terror consumes me like a tidal wave. He carries me to his bedroom. I freeze as a despondent wail escapes me.

  No.

  I can’t do this again.

  Please, no.

  He flings me onto the bed. I scream, launching myself away from him, but he’s too quick. I’m dragged back toward him, my ass prone to him. He presses his body against mine, pinning me to the bed as his hand curls around my throat.

  Tears rush down my cheeks as I squirm. His grip tightens, cutting off my air supply. Sickness creeps through me at the realization his now-hard dick is rubbing against me through our clothes.

  Horrors of the past come flashing back.

  I cry hard, and unable to suck in air, I begin to black out. His free hand gropes me in all the places that aren’t his. The despair of my situation wins. I pass out in the monster’s arms.

  In and out.

  Out and in.

  I’m dizzied and confused as I blink my eyes open. It all comes rushing back. As the sunset blazes in through the window, I know I’ve spent all day in the monster’s clutches. Each time I come to, I rage at him until he chokes me out again. My throat is sore and swollen. It’s better than the alternative. Just thinking about him inside of me again has bile creeping up my throat.

  Never again.

  I’d rather die.

  What about Mercy?

  My heart aches. Laurent and Beck will take care of her. Or Jude. Maybe even Loey if she’s not dead. There are people who care about her and would love her. They wouldn’t let her forget about me.

  I pull against my bindings, hating the way the rope burns into my wrists with each movement. He tied me up the first time I lost consciousness. Ever since, I’ve been trying to escape when I come to.

  Pots clatter in the kitchen, which means he’s probably cooking. I use the time to work at my bindings. My hands are purple from what I can see because he tied the rope so tight.

  I wish Laurent were here to help.

  Each time I woke today, I realized with despair that Laurent didn’t dreamwalk. I feel like he would if he could, which means he can’t. I don’t know what to make of it. Did they make it back home before the sun rose? Did Beck fail in healing Mercy? I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t reach out to me. Rather than contemplate horrible possibilities that’ll only reduce me to tears, I try and devise a plan.

  I’m going to have to lure Griffin back in here. Convince him to release me. Play the broken girl act and then run like hell. I can do this.

  “Griffin,” I croak out. “Griffin.”

  The clanging stops, so I call for him again. Seconds later, he appears in the doorway, a scowl on his face.

  “I’m sorry,” I lie. “You’re right.”

  He doesn’t move as he studies me. “You just want me to untie you.”

  “Of course I want you to untie me,” I grit out. “I want to drink some water and eat. I want to talk this out.”

  After a long, pregnant pause, he stalks over to me. “You can go to the restroom and clean yourself up. Dinner is almost ready. One wrong move and you’ll regret it, babe. Trust me.”

  I give him a sharp nod. He sits on the edge of the bed and begins untying the complicated knot. Once my arms are free, I stretch and curl my fingers to encourage the blood to run through them. I allow his assistance to help me up and out of the bed. He walks me to the bathroom, but before he follows me in, I stop and shake my head.

  “You’re not going to watch me pee,” I grumble.

  He smirks. “I can if I want to. You can’t stop me, Casti.”

  “How do you ever expect us to be a real couple if you don’t let me be me?” I snap. “You’re delusional if you think I’ll have anything to give you if all you do is take.”

  His brows furl as he mulls over my words. “Fine. I can see the logic in that. There’s nothing in this apartment worth trying to use as a weapon. Trust me.”

  Pass.

  That ship sailed when he forced himself inside my body all those years ago.

  “Whatever, Griffin. I’m tired and starving and weak. You’ve made your point. I understand that you can overpower me. I’m trying to play nice here.”

  “Good girl.” He pats my head and walks off.

  As soon as he’s gone, I shut the bathroom door. Quickly, I take a much needed bathroom break. After I wash my hands, I splash cold water on my face to keep me alert. My neck is purple and blue, swollen twice its normal size. Griffin is such a psychopath. I’m going to kill him. I just have to find a weapon first.

  Quietly, I search all over the bathroom. There’s nothing of use in the drawers and cabinets, just like he said. It’s frustrating, but I accept my losses and move on. As stealthily as I can, I slip out of the bathroom into his bedroom.

 
; His room turns out to be useless too. No weapons whatsoever. Crap. If I could get to my vest I grabbed before my quest to find Mercy last night, I could stab him in the throat with a stake, but he’s clearly taken it and hidden it away.

  I creep out of his room and sweep my gaze over the living room. Unless I plan to beat him with a television remote control, I’m doomed.

  “Have a seat at the table,” Griffin says, pointing at the two place settings.

  There’s a fork at each place. I could use two forks for weapons. With a stiff spine, I sit down and casually rest my hand over the fork.

  “Remember when we used to have sloppy joes every Friday night?” He grins at me as he sets a pot of sloppy joe meat on a hot plate. “They were your favorites. I used to love the way your eyes would light up at something as simple as food. Your eyes used to light up for me too.”

  I grit my teeth to keep from saying something that’ll end up with me tied to his bed again.

  “After we made love…” He trails off, a sad smile forming on his lips. “You stopped looking at me that way.” He snaps his head my way. “You glared at me with hatred and shivered with fear.”

  “I was a child,” I whisper, unable to let this delusional bastard keep talking about what happened like it was a love story.

  “You were mine.” He chuckles as he sets a bun on my plate and opens it. “Still are.”

  I curl my fingers around my fork. “You destroyed my trust in you. You raped me, Griffin. It was the most painful thing I’d ever endured.”

  He scoffs. “Give me a break. You gave birth. Lovemaking doesn’t hurt that damn bad.”

  “I had to get stitches,” I say, my bottom lip wobbling. “They begged me to tell them who did it to me, but I was too scared to say a word.”

  He slathers some sloppy joe onto my bun, ignoring my words. Once he places a piece of cheese on it, he covers it with the top bun.

  “Eat, Casti, you’re wasting away,” he growls.

  “Why did you do it?” I demand, a hot tear racing down my cheek. “Why?”

  I had plans to escape this monster, but right now, my past is demanding answers from him.

  “Because you loved me and I loved you,” he bites out. “It’s not my fault you were too small.”

  A sob escapes me. “You were supposed to protect me.”

  “I gave you Mercy!” he roars. “Jesus Christ, woman, give it a rest! It’s in the past. I fucked up. Okay? You happy? Why do you think I ran off? I felt like a piece of shit for what went down.”

  “What went down?” I screech. “Nothing went down. You held me down and forced yourself inside of me! I begged for you to stop! And you didn’t want to hear it because you covered my mouth with your hand!”

  Someone bangs on the door.

  “Griffin, open up!”

  Familiar. Family. Home.

  “Jude?” I cry out and then I scream, “Jude!”

  Griffin stands, yanking me up from my seat as the door crashes in. Jude storms in, his face red from exertion. I pull from Griffin, but then the point of a blade presses into my neck.

  “Stay back,” Griffin warns.

  “Man, you can walk away from this right now,” Jude says. “All you have to do is let Casti go. In about twenty minutes, you’re going to be swarmed by some very pissed off vampires. Might as well get a head start.”

  “Fuck the vampires,” Griffin growls. “And fuck you.”

  “Jude,” I sob.

  “It’s okay, kiddo,” Jude assures me. “I’m going to get you out of here.”

  A pinch of pain makes me gasp. Griffin inhales my hair. His body trembles with fury.

  “She’s not going anywhere,” Griffin says in a dark tone. “If I can’t have her, you people sure as fuck don’t get to.”

  “No!” Jude barks as pain rips along my throat.

  An arc of blood shoots out of my neck, splattering Jude. Griffin drops me and I collapse to the floor. A gun fires and then a loud thud beside me.

  “Stay with me, baby girl,” Jude says, his voice full of pain as he covers my wound with his large palm. “Stay the fuck with me!”

  My body grows cold and fast. The blackness creeps in and the sounds grow muted. I can hear Jude yelling at me. When he says something about Mercy, my eyes focus on him and the wet streaks on his cheeks that are mixed with my blood.

  “There you are,” he croons. “Stay with me. Mercy is safe, you hear? I got a call from Laurent. He’s too weak to travel. They both are. But whatever they did worked. Mercy is alive and well. He called me to tell me Griffin had you. It took all motherfucking day, but I found you. You see? I’m here. I came for you. You’re going to be okay.”

  I’ve never heard Jude sound afraid until now. Never heard him babble or seen him cry.

  I try to speak, but my mouth won’t work. My eyes close again, but his yelling at me keeps me aware. The pain is intense and the blood is leaking too quickly from my neck despite his best efforts to hold it closed.

  I’ll be gone soon.

  Jude and Laurent will make sure Mercy is taken care of.

  “About damn time,” Jude growls.

  “Cool it with the attitude,” a familiar voice says. “Or you can kiss your little sister goodbye.”

  “Oh, come the fuck on,” he snaps. “Quit with the games. She’s the best damn friend you have. Fucking heal her already.”

  The beautiful blonde squats beside him, her blue eyes glinting. “She’s beyond healing.” She grins at me.

  Another figure comes to squat beside her. “Not so tough now, little one.”

  “Don’t make me regret calling the both of you,” Jude snaps. “Help me. I can fire your ass, Ricardo, just as quickly as I hired you.”

  Ricardo shrugs. “Just stating the obvious.”

  “Goddammit,” Jude barks out. “You’re wasting time. The both of you!”

  Ricardo leans forward, but Loey digs her fingers into his bicep, stopping him. It feels like time pauses as they stare down at me, the sharpness of the world growing duller with each passing second.

  “Look at her,” Loey says, stroking my hair. “She’s about to die.”

  “So help me, Loey,” Jude snarls at her. “Do it already.”

  “If she hates me for it, that’s on you.”

  “I’ll deal with that shit later. For now, keep her here. Mercy needs her. I need her.”

  Loey bares her fangs at me, hunger flashing in her gaze. I don’t fear my friend, though. She would never hurt me. I want to ask her where she’s been, but now’s not the time. All that matters is she’s alive and I got to see her one more time.

  “This is going to hurt,” Loey warns, an evil flickering in her eyes. “Sorry in advance.”

  Jude removes his hands on my throat and Loey pounces. My eyes roll back in my head when her mouth latches onto the gaping wound in my neck. Rather than lick it closed, she sucks hard, urging the rush of blood from my carotid to flow even faster, draining me of my life.

  Maybe their plan was to put me down quickly so I wouldn’t hurt anymore.

  My eyes flutter closed and I think about Mercy.

  As long as she’s okay, it was all worth it.

  I black out with my daughter’s beautiful face the last thing on my mind.

  15

  Castilla

  Thirst.

  Bone-deep.

  Excruciating.

  I need to feed.

  My eyes pop open and I try to make sense of my surroundings. A dark bedroom with silky sheets. I can scent blood. I want it—no, I need it.

  The pain inside me won’t go away until I satisfy my thirst. I crawl out of the bed, wondering how I got into one of my nightgowns, and prowl toward the door.

  It’s locked.

  I bang and scream and try to shred it with my nails to no avail. With a furious snarl, I stalk toward the curtains. Nothing but brick is behind them.

  I’m trapped.

  I’m going to starve to death.

  A
pained howl escapes me. I need to feed. I need to feed. I’m prowling back toward the door when I notice a table. A glass of wine—no, blood sits on top. I pick it up and greedily chug it down, going as far as to lick the glass after. Once it’s gone, I throw the glass in a rage.

  The door clicks open. I rush over to it, snarling, but am blocked by Laurent. When I try to move past him, he captures my wrists and shoves me against the wall.

  “Move,” I roar.

  “No,” he growls, licking away some blood from the corner of my lips. “You’re going to let me take care of you and get you through this.”

  I hiss at him, fighting his hold. “What did you do?”

  “Nothing. This was all Loey. And without her, you’d be dead.”

  “I’d rather be dead!” I yell. “Now let me go!”

  My body seems to burn everywhere he touches me. The thirst for him is nearly outweighing the thirst for more blood. Nearly.

  “You’d rather be here. With us. Your family.” He kisses my forehead. “With Mercy.”

  The anger and frustration burning through me dissipates some as I remember my daughter. She’s here. She’s safe.

  But not from me.

  “I’m a monster now,” I bark out. “I’ll destroy her!”

  “You won’t because I won’t let you,” Laurent assures me. “You’ll settle after a good fucking and when the maid comes for dinner.”

  “I need to feed,” I whine. “Please.”

  Based on the way I dig my heels into his ass and rub myself against his erection, my need to fuck is just as strong.

  “Fuck first, dinner later.” He grins at me. “I’ll teach you how to curb that hunger inside you. Do you trust me?”

  “It hurts,” I mutter. “So bad.”

  “Then let me make you feel good.”

  He reaches between us, freeing his cock from his slacks. I grab at my gown, lifting it up so he can access me. With a groan, he drives deep inside of me.

  I want him to consume me.

  Our lips crash together and a pleased moan escapes me when my newly elongated incisors pierce his tongue. Blood floods into my mouth and I greedily drink it from his tongue. His hips piston hard, fucking me against the wall hard enough it cracks along the mortar between the bricks. I suck on his tongue, blissed out on the pleasure he’s bringing me both by his blood and his dick. He reaches between us, rolling my clit between his thumb and finger in an expert way that has me climaxing. Heat floods inside of me as he comes. He wrenches his mouth from mine, a devious smirk curling up his bloody lips.