“Utterly,” he said. “That will be nothing to my state if you leave my territory.”
Oh, brother.
“One hour, Kyros. You can’t control yourself for one hour? I thought you were meant to be powerful.”
“I know what you’re doing.”
“Hmm?”
“That won’t work on me, Basilia.”
I frowned at my reflection. Yuck, hair was plastered to my cheeks. I tried to pull it off, but the strands had fused to my face via the ice cream medium. “What would a property in Black mean for the game?”
I didn’t have any trouble properties from Black.
“Fyrlia owns the majority of that suburb. They’re the preferred realtor there,” Kyros admitted.
Interesting. “And why are you playing the game, Kyros?”
He didn’t answer.
He didn’t have to.
“One hour,” I pressed. “I’ll have ten Indebted with me. I’m happy to take more as long as they keep out of sight so my clients don’t die of fright. I’ll be in and out.”
I heard his inhale.
“Kyros, I have a good feeling about this or I wouldn’t push you during the thrall.”
“You constantly push me, Basilia.” He sounded resigned.
Clever boy was learning.
I turned away from the mirror. “What are your terms?”
“Will there be a male on the property?” The words sounded physically painful for him to utter.
“No.” I lied. “The property is owned by lesbians. They like women.”
Laurel covered her trembling lips.
There was no chance of Kyros buying that, but perhaps all he needed was a lie to cling to so he didn’t break the toys in his cot.
I listened closely as Kyros listed the terms of our agreement, and a wide smile spread over my face.
The house in Black was mine.
31
Was the Madame President visiting? Was Beyoncé in town?
Nope, just me—with a four-car convoy. Talk about overkill. Twenty Indebted escorted me. More were sent ahead before I left the tower. Another group followed at a distance in a perimeter around me.
Half the Indebted had to be guarding me right now. But Kyros let me out—he’d listened. That meant something to me.
Laurel sped us down the freeway, and even though part of my mind registered that it was lingering thrall symptoms, my eyes were glued to my outfit. Black leather. Every bit of it. From the jacket and ass-hugging pants to my kickass boots.
Every trace of ice cream, beer, and glue had been removed from my body.
All in all, I felt pretty fucking sexy. Just like Jessica Alba.
Why didn’t I wear this stuff more often?
“Are you nervous?” Laurel asked, glancing at me in the rear-view mirror.
“Not really. Doesn’t make much of a difference to me if I secure the house or not—apart from the commission.” Which wouldn’t go amiss at all. The property was in Black. Even selling at the top valuation price, I’d come away with a butt-ton.
A thought occurred to me. “What happens to the Indebted working for the losing clan?”
“Nothing. Still Indebted. Still alive.”
Huh.
That was good to hear. Kind of. Not the slave part.
“Ingenium allows us to pay off debt much faster.” Laurel continued. “Without it, our sentences will last longer. The end of the game doesn’t bode well for our kind.”
I never thought about it that way. “What are the Indebted working for Clan Fyrlia like?”
“Like us,” she replied after a beat. “Not as lucky. Their mortality rate is 25 percent higher.”
Shit.
“But they take the risk to shorten their sentences?”
Laurel dipped her head.
“That’s really crappy.”
“It’s our life.” Her eyes told another story. As did the pregnant silence of the other Indebted in the car.
I licked my lips. “What is Kyros like as a… boss?”
“One of the better ones.”
Part of me loosened—just a smidgen because Kyros still kept Indebted, and that wasn’t okay with me.
The vampire pulled the car over not long after. “Your turn to drive, Miss Tetley. Make sure not to run over their plants when you pull in.”
It happened once. I did well on the freeway but tended to lose focus in the suburbs and veer off course.
Three of the Indebted left our car, blurring away. Laurel would stay in the back with two others, out of sight behind the tinted glass.
Shoving the gear into drive, I bunny hopped down the street. What the hell was wrong with this car? The brake was way touchier.
“Left,” Laurel hissed. “You’re going to curb the tyres.”
That’s what I’ve been doing? “I’m good at that.”
I yanked the wheel left and directed the car into the sweeping driveway of 102 Victoria Avenue.
Mrs and Mr Fenton swung open the front door.
“Where’s the handbrake?” I said, trying not to move my lips.
Cursing under her breath, Laurel reached a hand forward and flicked a switch up.
“Not my fault they keep changing things around,” I said defensively, grabbing the file. “See you gals soon.”
I slid out of the SUV onto cobblestones, fixing a smile in place as I strode to the porch.
“Mr and Mrs Fenton? So nice to meet you. My name’s Basilia Tetley. We spoke on the phone an hour ago.”
Whoa, nice place.
Houses always looked better at night when their lights were switched on, but the gardens were well tended to. The place looked brand new—though that was unlikely. Most of the houses in Black had existed for nearly as long as the estates.
Mrs Fenton’s eyes nearly popped from her skull as she took in my outfit. Couldn’t blame her. Not everyone could pull off this get up.
“Sorry,” I said breathlessly. “I was about to head out on my motorbike when you called.”
Her expression cleared.
“You’re much younger than we expected,” Mr Fenton said sternly.
Ha!
He was a mosquito compared to Agatha Le Spyre. She told vampires to get the fuck out of her way.
I met him head-on. “Young and keen to carve a lucrative career for herself.”
Mrs Fenton flicked him a frown. “How old were you when you were promoted to CEO, Walter?”
His ears tinged pink, but his lips twitched under his thick moustache. “Spouses always keep you humble, Miss Tetley. Are you married?”
Funny story, I’m actually in the throes of a sexual thrall with a vampire. There’s blood exchanges and mindless passion.
I shoved down the sarcastic narration and smiled. “Not yet. My career takes up most of my time.”
“As it should,” he declared. “There’s no rush.”
Mrs Fenton peered heavenward and gestured me inside. “Stop grilling her, Walter. I do apologise, Basilia. Won’t you come inside?”
I held up the file and both of their gazes tracked the movement. “I’d love to.”
“Did they go for it?” Laurel asked as I peeled the SUV away from 102 Victoria Avenue.
I glanced back at the Fenton’s in my rear-view. They were smiling at each other. A good sign. “I left the contract with them. Guess we’ll wait and see what suburb we land on.”
My gut proved true. There was never any way they were going to sign the same day. If Sundulus landed on Black tonight, we were in with a shot for a signing tomorrow. “I said I’d have to apply for the top valuation contract for their property. Just in case I have to drag it out.”
“Where did you learn to talk like that?” an Indebted called Kelsea asked. “All their questions. You knew exactly what to say. Or do you enjoy it?”
Me? Enjoy Ingenium? “I don’t like games,” I told her seriously. “But people are people at the end of the day. I aim to treat them like that.” I paused before addin
g, “Plus, my grandmother is a force to be reckoned with. Sometimes I feel like she was training me to be a hardass from the moment I exited the womb.” I laughed despite the miserable twinge in my stomach.
“Pull over up here,” Laurel instructed.
I ripped to the right, shouting as I accidentally mounted the curb. I slowed and flicked the handbrake button. “Sorry about—"
Glass shattered as a vehicle slammed into the passenger side.
My head snapped back as the airbag exploded. Stars filled my vision and I barely registered the side-door bag exploding after.
Movement. Rolling. Crunching. Whining.
I choked on a scream, feeling blindly for my head as the SUV settled with a lurch.
The seat belt cut into my breasts, supporting my weight.
The car was on its side?
Where was everyone? Were they okay? I couldn’t hear anything!
I’d pulled right off the road. I was up on the curb. How did this happen?
Oh god, was everyone alright?
“Laurel,” I croaked.
Through the cracks on the windscreen, I saw a man approaching the car. He shoved his hands through the cracked windscreen, puncturing two holes, and yanked. With a high-pitched whine, the glass came away from its fixings.
I studied the almond shape of his eyes. His olive complexion.
Vissimo. Not the kind I wanted to meet.
Where’s Laurel?
The ringing in my ears from the bags exploding obliterated everything else. I feared looking around in case my fragile grip on consciousness failed.
“Go away,” I mumbled.
He slashed through my seat belt, and I fell onto the driver door, on top of the deflated airbag. I screamed as glass shards speared into my body, my voice swelling into panic as the vampire seized my wrists and dragged me over the dashboard and what remained of the bonnet.
He hoisted me in his arms, and agony ripped another scream from my lips. Grunting, he yanked a jagged length of glass out of my outer thigh.
White filled my vision.
I retched, jolting violently. Pain blanketed my mind, obscuring my surrounding.
But gunfire. I could hear gunfire. There was fire. Smoke. Sirens.
I retched again as the Vissimo holding me broke into a run. Bile surged through my throat, and I didn’t manage to choke it back this time. Acidic vomit poured from my mouth down my front and onto the vampire carrying me.
He didn’t stop.
The Vissimo ran. Blurred. And I clung to the scraps of my consciousness, trying to catalogue the passing buildings to keep my bearings. The colours—Grey, Blue, Purple registered.
Yellow.
I’d missed some suburbs.
Was I fading in and out?
Red.
Cold water poured over me, and I jerked awake for what felt like the fifth time.
Spluttering, I sat and knocked my head on the top of a—
A…
… Dog cage?
The taste of stale bile soured my mouth. Water dripped from my bloodied hair. I blinked droplets from my eyes, looking for the source.
A man held an empty bucket in his hand. The Vissimo who’d taken me hostage.
He wasn’t alone.
There were ten of them in the basement. Half were female.
Three of the men I couldn’t fail to recognise. I stared at the triplets who murdered Rhys, clamping down on a fresh urge to vomit.
I shifted, and my shriek at the sharp agony in my side was more surprised than anything.
“Fucker,” I hissed, hands trembling over the wound beneath my ribs.
Glass jutted from my body through my leather jacket which was covered in bile. Other glass shards littered the right side of my stomach and thigh—smaller pieces the size of my thumbnail. But the one right next to my belly button was the size of my palm at least.
I stared at it in horror, swaying on the spot.
“Well done, Callum,” a triplet said to the man with the bucket. “Casualties?”
“Just Indebted, brother. A small band tracked me as far as Red. I altered the route to shake them.”
Laurel and the girls had come after me. I knew it. I could only recall gunfire and smoke at the crash scene though. How the fuck did Fyrlia get through my personal convoy and the perimeter guards?
The shaking of my hands intensified as I contemplated the glass again. Should I yank it out? Would that sever something important?
“She’s still in the thrall with Kyros. Perfect. There’s no way he won’t come. Is everything prepared?” another of the triplets asked.
“Yes, brother,” Callum said, lowering his gaze.
I listened in mounting terror, nearly forgetting the piece of glass embedded in my side as I strained to hear. They intended to capture Kyros?
Fuck, that meant I was bait.
They’d hurt him. I had to get out of here.
“She’s not much to look at, is she?” one of the women said, sneering. Or maybe her face was always like that.
Another, the smallest of the ten Vissimo, threw her an amused glance. “Jealous, Vera?”
“No,” she snapped back.
“Then I’m not sure this job detailed remarking on the human’s appearance.” The short woman faced me.
I peered out at the female who’d come to my defence. She could be a potential ally.
She met my gaze and frowned, reaching into her pocket.
“What?” she snarled into the phone.
Sliding the phone away a moment later, she smiled. “He’s left the tower alone. They’ve certainly exchanged blood twice?”
The ten Vissimo turned to me and inhaled in unison. My heart hammered. They could smell Kyros on me?
“Yes,” she purred. “He will feel her location. He’ll come directly here.” Her eyes snapped to the triplets. “He should be mindless with the urge to protect her, but there are measures in place if this isn’t the case?”
My mind tripped over the feeling her location part, but I didn’t have time to contemplate it right now. I needed to get all the information I could and escape.
The middle triplet rolled his eyes. “What do you think, Gina?”
Telling the three apart was impossible.
She approached him, showing fang. “I think you know better than to disrespect me, little brother.”
Whoa, little brother?
Was everyone in this basement related?
He schooled his features, and I darted looks between them. Okay, so she was in control, but also seemed the nicest. Which probably meant I shouldn’t trust her one bit.
Listening to their conversation, I dropped my gaze to the glass embedded in my stomach. If I had to run, this thing could do more damage. Until I had to move, it could stay put.
Peeking through my lashes, I studied my prison.
The cage was large enough to sit back on my heels. The four corners were bolted down. There wasn’t any door.
Shit.
If Kyros was coming now, there was no time to wait for a tidy plan. Waiting—though it catered to my fear—felt like a big, six-foot-deep mistake.
“I need a doctor,” I slurred. It wasn’t all an act. I was bizarrely grateful to be wearing leather. Who knew how much glass would have embedded in my body otherwise.
One of the triplets smirked. “Your heartbeat is strong.”
Fucking vampire senses.
Escaping the basement while surrounded by ten vampires was unlikely for a human, but maybe I just had to mess with their plan to capture Kyros. Undo one part of their strategy so the rest imploded.
I scanned the basement. The floor was polished concrete, but otherwise followed the recipe of most underground storage spaces. Shelves lined the walls, odds and ends—buckets, boxes, tools, were strewn across the floor. A short set of wooden stairs led to a white door. Exit.
The walls were formed of heavy concrete blocks.
Only one exit.
I inhaled and stil
led at the acrid smell.
Petrol.
Gripping my side, I leaned forward onto all fours and located the source. Two huge cans of the stuff sat around a cleared area directly in front of me.
Vissimo could be killed with fire. Kyros said the stronger the vampire, the longer they took to burn. Which meant he’d suffer unimaginably.
Swinging my hair forward, I studied the cleared space between the petrol cans. It was irregular with the rest of the flooring. I took a second look at the strewn items throughout the basement.
My eyes rounded.
They weren’t strewn!
The items were a funnel to the cleared space. And that area was positioned directly in front of my cage. I had no idea what to expect from Kyros. He hadn’t seemed mindless while I was in the tower. Though he’d said that his condition would worsen if I left his territory. If the female vampire here expected him to be mindless, I was inclined to listen. And that meant Kyros would run for me without hesitation.
That couldn’t happen.
Decision made, I sat up, channelling my grandmother’s strength. Gripping the glass shard in my stomach carefully, I yanked it out.
I tossed the glass aside, hunching over as I swallowed my scream. I pressed my shaking hands to the burning wound.
“What the fuck is the crazy bitch doing?”
My head spun, and I choked on a laugh—not having thought past the ripping out the shard part.
Time to act.
“You thought you had it all figured out.” I panted. “Didn’t you realise I’ve been a fucking prisoner in that tower? Watched around the clock. I’m not going back there.”
I reached for the glass shard. It was slippery with my own blood.
Fumbling, I slowly lifted the shard to my throat.
“Stop her!” someone shouted.
Please stop me.
I moved the glass shard in a sweeping motion.
One triplet ripped the entire cage off its bolted foundations. Another ripped the shard from my hands while the third wrenched me upright.
My knees shook, but I couldn’t have these vampires on suicide watch. Then they’d really truss me up.
I pursed my lips, pressing my hands against the pouring wound. “I can’t believe you guys fell for that.”
The Vissimo in the basement froze, and the grip on my arms slackened.
Blood Trial: Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers Book 1) Page 38