“Mina!” Gracie’s panic-filled voice floated to my ears.
I glanced around before I remembered it wasn’t her. It was another of Roman’s tricks.
“Mina, please! Help me,” Gracie pleaded.
I swallowed hard but kept my eyes on Roman. This wasn’t real. Gracie wasn’t out here. She wasn’t being hurt.
“Mina! Why aren’t you helping me?” Gracie’s words were softer this time. Almost as though she was close to death.
My heart knocked against my ribs, but I still remained where I was. Never did my eyes waver from Roman’s either.
The coppery scent of blood clung to the air.
“He’s draining me dry, Mina! Help!” Gracie shouted.
I blinked and she was locked in Roman’s arms. He greedily sucked her neck, spilling her blood down the front of her white nightgown.
The metallic scent intensified as another scream ripped from my little sister’s throat. It was a vision that would forever be burned into my mind. Real or not.
I closed my eyes tight. “Stop.”
“Mina! Why won’t you get him off me?” Gracie whimpered.
“Stop,” I whispered.
“She’s begging you for help,” Roman insisted. “Aren’t you going to help your little sister, Mina?”
I prayed he’d walk toward me. The bracelet needed to work. It needed to put an end to this sick vision he was causing to play out in my mind.
Leaves rustling let me know I was about to get my wish.
When I opened my eyes, Roman was stalking toward me. In his arms he drug his fake version of Gracie along with him.
“I assumed you’d be the type to want to kick my ass and save your sister all in one breath,” Roman insisted. Blood trickled down his chin. He wiped it with the back of his hand. “What’s the matter? Is it because this isn’t real enough for you?”
He stopped walking. I held my breath, waiting on him to take another step. Willing it with my mind.
But, it didn’t happen.
Instead, he gripped Gracie’s head roughly. She whimpered. Tears rolled from her eyes faster than the blood spilling from the wound on her neck.
“How about I amp this up a little? Make it more real for you?” he seethed.
I knew what he was going to do next. In one swift motion, Roman snapped Gracie’s neck. I struggled to keep my reaction hidden from him, but it was impossible.
When he tossed her to the ground as though she were trash, a visible shiver slipped through me and a gasp forced its way past my lips.
Someone moving through the woods behind Roman captured my attention next. Gran stepped into the thick area of forest we stood in. I swallowed hard as I shifted my gaze back to Roman. A sick smirk twisted across his face.
“What? Did you think I was finished?” His smirk grew. “Oh, I was only getting started.”
I took a step forward. It was small, precise, but it erased a little more of the space between us.
Roman laughed. “This old lady is going to get a better reaction out of you than your own baby sister did? Mina Ryan, you truly are an interesting character.”
I ignored him and took another step forward.
It wasn’t that Gran meant more to me than Gracie. It was that I couldn’t stand here and watch him hurt another person I cared for, fictional or not.
One more step and I thought I felt the bracelet begin to warm.
“What am I doing out here? Why can’t I turn around?” Gran asked. She was dressed in her blue robe and barefoot. A dazed expression was plastered onto her face. “Mina, isn’t that Roman Montevallo? Is he...controlling me?”
Another step forward.
“Mina, what’s going on? Why aren’t you helping to stop whatever he’s doing to me?”
For the first time in my life, I ignored Gran. My focus was on the bracelet. Nothing more.
“I like how you’re creeping toward me,” Roman said. “It’s cute.”
The bracelet ignited against my skin, and I couldn’t help the grin that formed on my face at the sensation.
“Oh, I’m about to show you cute,” I muttered.
Roman folded his arms over his chest and narrowed his dark eyes on me. Gran flickered behind him, but he didn’t notice.
I lunged forward.
The fictional versions of both Gracie and Gran disappeared.
“What just happened?” Roman asked. His gaze drifted to where Gracie had been, sprawled on the ground before him. “How did you do that?”
I didn’t speak because he didn’t deserve an answer. Instead, I continued to saunter toward him, feeling as though I was the one in power now.
“Were you holding out on me, Little Wolf?” Roman grinned. “Have some tricks up your own sleeve, do you?”
Nearly a foot and a half of space separated us now.
“Don’t call me that,” I seethed. “Ever.”
My fist connected with the side of his jaw. Pain radiated through my knuckles from the force I’d placed behind the blow, but it still felt good.
“What the hell?” Roman spat. He clasp his jaw as his gaze hardened on me. “How did you do that? I shouldn’t have felt that as much as I did.”
His last words were more for himself than me, but they still made me laugh. Fear bloomed through his eyes at the sound of it.
“No. This isn’t right,” he insisted.
My wolf snapped. She struggled to be set free again, but I held her back. If I let her go now, she’d kill him.
While I didn’t care for Roman, I did think of Julian as a friend. He’d saved Eli and Benji. I felt entitled to stay true to my word and not kill his brother.
No matter how badly I wanted to.
“Magic,” I whispered.
I reached for a large branch nearby and smacked Roman alongside the head with it, knocking him out. I’d wanted to snap his neck like he had Gracie, but I wasn’t sure he would survive. The bracelet did make him seem nearly human after all.
Roman fell to the ground with a thud. Adrenaline continued to flood my veins, as well as satisfaction. None of it stemmed from my wolf, though. She wasn’t happy with me. She’d wanted Roman dead. Not unconscious at my feet. Her vote had been to snap his neck and see if he survived.
In her eyes, he needed to pay for his sins.
Not just for what he’d done to me in the woods, but for all the lives he’d had a hand in ending. It took everything in my power not to give in to what she wanted because deep down there was a place inside me that wanted the same thing. Roman had hurt so many innocent people. He’d killed so many. He deserved to die.
It would be so easy.
It would. All I’d have to do is run a stick through his heart. Then, all of this would be over for good. There would be no worries he would turn into the Midnight Reaper again if he tasted human blood.
I could end this right here and now. I could end him.
Would anyone blame me?
Julian would. So would the pack when the Montevallos went to war with us to avenge their brother’s death.
Why did that matter so much to me?
Had they allowed us to avenge our alpha’s death? No. We hadn’t threatened them with war because of it either. In fact none of the Montevallos had so much as apologized for their brother’s part in our alpha’s murder.
Had they?
My hand flew to my head as the beginnings of a headache twinged dully. My wolf tried to take advantage of my lapse in control, but I reined her in before it was too late. She howled out her disapproval, and I screamed right back at her, sending nighttime animals around me racing away.
With my head in my hands, I continued to debate what my next move should be—call Eli and Julian to tell them I’d taken down Roman or put a stick through his heart and call it a night.
“Holy shit!” Tate shouted from behind me. “Are you okay? Is that Roman?”
He rushed to where I was and placed a hand on my back.
“What are you doing out here?” I
asked, ignoring his questions.
“I heard you yell. I was taking the trash out for Mom when I heard you.” He glanced around me. “Damn, you really cracked that bloodsucker over the head good. Eli will be proud...after he gets over being pissed you were out here all alone going head-to-head with him. You are a badass, Mina. Remind me never to screw with you again.”
The corners of my lips twisted upward into a smile at the same time as I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”
“Seriously though, Eli is going to want to hear about this.” Tate reached out and lifted Roman’s arm, then let it fall back into place. “Preferably before this guy wakes. I don’t feel like going up against him myself unless you and that bracelet are close by.” He reached into his back pocket and tossed me his cell.
I didn’t want to go against Roman again either, which was why I didn’t hesitate in scrolling to find Eli’s name. It rang three times before he answered.
“Hey, what’s up?” he asked, thinking I was Tate.
“It’s me. I got Roman. He’s sort of unconscious right now. In the woods. Behind our trailer. You should probably call everyone and let them know there’s no need to search for him anymore,” I said. My gaze was fixed on Roman.
“What? How? Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m good. The bracelet worked its magic on him, so it was easy.”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” The sound of his truck rumbling to life filtered through the phone. “Can you call Julian and let him know?”
I licked my lips. “Sure.”
“Are you positive you’re okay?”
“Yeah. I’m good. Glad he’s not on the loose anymore, honestly.”
“Me too.” There was relief in Eli’s voice I hadn’t expected to hear. “I’m ready to put all this behind us. I think the pack needs a break too. We’re all starting to feel the pressure.”
“I know.”
“So, what was the devastating blow?”
“Uh, I smacked him with a branch alongside the head.” The words were weird to say.
“Nice.” Eli chuckled.
“Yeah, I’m not planning on pissing her off anytime soon now that I know what she’s capable of,” Tate said loud enough for Eli to hear.
“Tell him I said good,” Eli insisted. “He shouldn’t be trying to piss you off anymore anyways.”
“He said good,” I relayed the message.
“I’m almost to the park now. I’ll see you in a second. Love you,” Eli said.
“Love you too.” I hung up and released a slow breath. Then, I found Julian’s number and hit call.
15
I sat sandwiched between Eli and Dorian as we followed Julian in Eli’s truck to his mansion. Tate was in the back. Out of the four of us, I wasn’t sure who was more eager to see what the Montevallos had planned for their brother. There was a sick sense of desire inside me to see Roman in an immense amount of pain. At least that’s how I hoped the process he would be going through would feel.
A small side of me wanted to see the version of Roman Julian and his sisters were so determined to get back. What qualities could he possibly have that they found so damn endearing? How could he right all of the wrongs he’d committed by simply being?
Eli pulled into the driveway behind Julian and cut the engine on his truck. The four of us climbed out as Julian and his sisters gathered Roman from the backseat of Julian’s car.
“I still don’t understand your need to follow us home. We can take it from here,” Octavia insisted. “Your presence is not needed.”
My guess was she was being such a bitch because she was still pissed about waking in the woods with bugs in her hair and dog piss on her dress. She could thank Roman for that, not me or Julian.
“I understand you’re more than capable of handling the situation, but we’d like to see where you plan on placing him. How secure the area is. It’s in our best interest to know there’s no chance he could escape and terrorize Mirror Lake again before this rehabilitation you’re putting him through is completed,” Eli insisted. He folded his arms over his solid chest and stared Octavia down.
“He will be kept in our basement,” Julian chimed in. “It’s more like a dungeon. Roman will be shackled to the wall, where we will bleed him until there is no human blood remaining in his system.”
It sounded horrific. Not just for a vampire but for anyone.
“Creepy,” Tate said. A smirk twisted onto his face. “I like it.”
“Afterward, he’ll be pumped full of animal blood again,” Julian continued.
“Where’s all of this animal blood you’re planning to use coming from?” Dorian asked.
The four of us followed the Montevallos to their basement as they carried a still unconscious Roman.
“We have a deal going with a local butcher,” Ivette said. “No one will be harmed. Animal. Shifter. Or human. You have our word.”
I trusted her. I trusted Julian. It was Octavia I had issues with. Something about her irked me.
Her attitude.
When we turned the corner and started down another long hall, I spotted a solid wooden door poised at the end. It looked as though it was the oldest thing in the house, which was probably saying a lot considering its inhabitants.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Julian asked. His eyes were on me. Obviously, he’d picked up on my sense of awe at the sight of the door.
“Yeah,” I said.
“It was the original front door to the house. Back when the place was built in the 1800s. Over the years, we’ve been forced to upgrade things here and there, the front door was one of them. The one currently in place gives the house a modern look, don’t you think?”
“I guess so.”
I tucked my hair behind my ear and continued down the hall with everyone. We went through the door I’d been gawking at and started down a set of creaky wooden stairs.
“Okay, this place gives me the creeps,” Tate whispered.
I noticed Octavia roll her eyes. It was an over-the-top gesture I found comical. Why the two of them were always so irritated with each other was beyond me.
I followed behind Eli down the wooden steps to the basement. A damp, musty stench made its way to my nose. Stone walls that appeared moist in places lined the stairway. The space truly did feel like a dungeon. When we reached the bottom of the stairs, I was surprised to see mundane junk taking up space and not cells with inmates being housed.
My gaze drifted around my new surroundings. Old storage trunks, a few rocking chairs, and various pieces of furniture took up the bulk of the space. The Montevallos had been around for a long time. I imagined this was where they stored all of the clothes and treasures they’d each gathered over time.
Julian and Octavia cut a right while still carrying Roman. My pack and I followed. The turn took us down a narrow, dark stone hallway. One that had my wolf feeling on edge.
At the end of the hall was a room no bigger than a closet. Inside was nothing. No bed. No toilet. Just bare walls stained with blood and a pair of rusted shackles.
This clearly wasn’t the first time someone had been held here. Was that someone Roman?
Julian and Octavia placed Roman on the floor and secured the shackles to his wrist.
“How are those rusty things supposed to keep him here?” Eli asked.
“Magic,” Julian insisted. He latched the last one and flashed a smug smile our way.
“You’re kidding, right?” Tate asked. “They don’t look like they’d hold a kid in place much less a freaking vampire.”
I couldn’t agree more.
“I’m not kidding, no. The Caraway witches aren’t the only witches we’ve stumbled upon during our time on this Earth,” Julian said. He wiped rust on his jeans and then adjusted his glasses. “Don’t worry. They’re much stronger than they appear. He’s not going anywhere. Not until we’re ready.”
“How will you know when that is?” I asked. More details in a situation such as this couldn’t hurt.
“How long does this usually take?”
I was sure they had a timeframe. They seemed to know what they were doing, and they’d acted as though this wasn’t the first time they’d been through something like this with their older brother.
“It depends on the situation,” Julian answered without meeting my gaze. “On how severe things were and how long Roman was on the rampage for.”
“Based off what you know, how long do you think it will take to drain him?” Eli asked. His eyes were trained on Roman as though he wanted nothing more than for the process to take an eternity.
“I’d say weeks to be on the safe side,” Ivette said before Julian could say a word.
Octavia stepped forward. She held a dagger in her hand. It didn’t take long for me to realize what she was about to do. I watched as she reached for her brother’s wrist and sliced it open without hesitation before moving on to his next one.
Blood trickled to the stone floor beneath him. Roman showed no indication of having felt the blade. He was still out of it. My blow to the head had been a good one. I was proud.
“Won’t he heal his cuts?” Dorian asked. “He still does have the whole vampire healing thing going on, doesn’t he?”
Octavia wiggled the dagger she’d used. “Again, magic. No vampire can heal from this dagger’s cuts.”
“Another purchase from a witch, I presume,” Tate said. “What other useful tools have you bought from witches over the years?”
Octavia shifted to glare at him. Her red painted lips quirked into a grin. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
Tate smirked at her.
“Now we wait until his blood runs dry,” Ivette said, drawing my attention away from whatever was happening between Octavia and Tate.
I glanced at Roman. There was already so much blood surrounding him.
“How will this not kill him?” I asked.
“There are signs to look for. Ones that let us know he’s on the verge of being bloodless,” Julian said. He leaned against the stone wall of the room and looked down at his older brother with sadness reflected in his features.
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