Almost Lovers

by Cassidy Raindance

  Nothing could turn an audience faster than if you hammed up a good bit of sass for them. I had learned that lesson a little late in past experiences.

  “This will be a full scale sweep,” said Sebastian, his hands shifting to his hips in a more assertive stance.

  I could tell his patience had already worn thin. He had never been good at politics. After all, I had had him wrapped around my finger for years.

  “For a human? Taken by only one unsuspecting vampire?” I asked loudly.

  Another ripple of murmurs sounded, much louder this time. I could see some turning to one another and whispering. There were some heads shaking and a barely audible ‘blasphemy’ from around the ceremony platform in the back. And I knew in that moment that I had what I had been looking for. A fully attentive audience primed for a royal lynching.

  But while I celebrated quietly to myself on the mood of the court so far I misjudged how sharply Sebastian’s patience had come to taper. He stepped up to me as I dangled above the carpet supported only by the guards that lifted me at my elbows and he let his hands curl around my neck. He began to squeeze. What began as a light grasp on my throat became a crushing steel force that threatened to break my neck at the slightest twitch or sneeze.

  “Like I said, don’t underestimate her importance,” whispered Sebastian just loud enough that I could hear him.

  I tried to keep a proud face as the court gathered around. But as he kept his grip around my throat I could feel the room closing around me gradually. The light came and went as though a flicker rolled through the room but I knew there was nothing wrong with the lights. I tilted my head higher in an instinctual reaction as though I were drowning and simply needed to surface from below the water in order to breathe.

  I thought I could call his bluff and hold out to show strength but my eyes gave me away. The desire to breathe became too strong and I had never expected him to take it so far for a human. It had been my mistake to assume he was bluffing. My eyes found his and I searched his face for any mercy, any love still there for me. And when I found none the hate in my heart for Prussia blossomed as a spark roars into a wildfire.

  I struggled against the grip the guards had on my arms and began to kick. I tried to kick out at Sebastian but didn’t manage a single blow. I heard one guard curse as my nails dug down deep until I felt blood flow from his arm. Only when my ears were loud with the sound of blood rushing by my ear drums did Sebastian finally release me. And he didn’t have a shred of compassion in his eyes for me as I looked at him, panting for every breath I drew.

  “Where is she?” he growled at me with rage thick in his voice.

  I paused to catch a breath, thankful I had my breath but wondering how far I could take this. At this point, I wanted to give Penelope every minute I could. But that pause looked to be all the mercy I had favored from my dear ex. Sebastian’s hand reached for my throat again. I pulled back as much as the guards’ on me would allow and I sucked in a terrified breath.

  “An abandoned warehouse. Three blocks west of my apartment,” I whispered as quickly as I could get the words out.

  As I heard the words come out of my mouth I knew that I had fooled no one. I had not one drop of dignity left and stood in an ocean of real fear. I had no idea how far Sebastian would have gone. And I wasn’t prepared to find out.

  Sebastian made a motion to the guards and they set me down on the carpet. Knowing I needed to save face as much as I could, the curious and judgmental eyes ripping me apart with every passing second, I pulled at the guards’ hold still on my arms and sent a renewed glare towards Sebastian who began turning to leave.

  “You’re not going to find her there. This is crazy,” I shouted louder than I had intended.

  Sebastian stopped and the room became quiet. He turned back around to look at me, taking the few short paces to close the distance, and he was so close I found his breath hot on my cheek .

  “When I find her, and I will find her, you will have the Queen to answer to,” he said, his words loud and echoing through the now silently but listening room, “And if I find her hurt I hope you would make peace with the idea of an eternal death because no one will be stepping in for you Lydia, certainly not me,”

  “This is illegal,” I said, my words were barely a whisper and I didn’t realize until they had fallen that hot tears were streaming down my face, “It’s illegal and you know it,” I screamed for the entire room to hear, my rage rushing through me.

  I knew he would find Prussia dead and that Penelope would be long gone. For him to disgrace me in front of the court in this way, for him to shame me over a human was not right. Anyone would see the wrong in this. And it hurt me that he had done it. It hurt me as deeply as a spear through the chest.

  I knew where my loyalties still needed to rest and my priorities were clear. The moment Sebastian left for the warehouse I needed to send Penelope a text and warn her to get out, to get out fast. She wasn’t safe with the Queen’s guards on their way knowing exactly where she was.

  “Long live the Queen,” said Sebastian, taking a step back.

  My rage dissipated into confusion quickly as I felt a dull pinch at the back of my neck and the guards let my arms go. Sebastian raised his head with pride. If I didn’t know any better I would have thought the Queen stood behind me. As a precaution I decided I should echo the same sentiments he expressed less I be accused of not expressing appropriate love for the Queen.

  “Long….live…the…” my voice trailed off as I sent a hand to investigate the pinch that had been at the back of my neck. I didn’t feel anything and even the pinch had disappeared quickly. But I turned enough to see who had been behind me. And why.

  Confusion turned to shock as I recognized Tommy. He worked with the Queen’s bloodroses but he also studied us, our blood, our species, and our genetic makeup. He held an empty syringe.

  “You’ve been given a light sedative,” said Tommy.

  I turned back toward Sebastian to express how unacceptable this entire treatment had been but he had already gotten what he had wanted. I only caught the fleeting glimpse of him leaving, a group of armed guards at his heels. Sebastian had gotten what he wanted.

  I looked around at the faces still watching, still judging, and still taking in my entire predicament. I had called them. I had wanted them to watch. The only question I had left to ask myself would be whether my performance had been good enough to garner favor from the court to overthrow the Queen. A moment later a remaining guard picked me up and tossed me unceremoniously over his shoulder as the room went black. My last thought - that I hadn’t had a chance to warn Penelope.

  CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN - Sebastian

  Picking up Prussia’s scent wasn’t difficult once I knew where to look. Though faint, I could smell her fear. It made my stomach turn that I smelled her in this way – as hunter smells prey. But I had to hunt her scent to find her. I didn’t have any other scent to go off of and while I couldn’t describe the way she smelled I could pick her out of a crowd in an instant.

  I found the building, not far from her apartment and the park and way too close for comfort. I imagined how Prussia must feel being inside. And it made me furious at what kind of pain a vampire might inflict in a building like this. Nothing good could be going on in a place like this.

  Abandoned, creepy, and rat infested. It’s what Lydia and I would have looked for if looking for a place to torture. And I could smell it from the street. I entered the eerie building. The smell of blood coated everything. Even if it had been wiped clean, the stench still permeated from every surface. This had the thick and unmistakable scent of a slaughter house for humans.

  I had brought a dozen of the Queen’s guards with me and hadn’t intended to use even half of them. But finding this building in the way that it was, I wondered if a dozen would be enough. I knew my team would work cohesively and they knew my intentions exactly. A clean sweep had simple instructions. Extract the target and kill anything else that bo
thered to move, run, scream, beg or breathe.

  The only thing I could hear as my guards moved through the building, starting from the top and working their way down, was the blood drops splatter to the floor. Each floor I heard another person extinguished by my men. My team made their way down the floors quickly. The clean sweep would be complete any moment.

  I walked to the center of the large main room of the building, right through the front doors and I could feel my adrenaline begin to surge. I needed to wait until my guards finished before I would know exactly where Prussia was and if she was alright. I needed to wait but I didn’t want to. I wanted to rip someone to pieces. And I wanted to find the bitch that took Prussia away, the one that intended to cause her pain. I wanted that one all to myself. My guards knew it and if they could, they would save her for me.

  I walked slowly with quiet steps. I didn’t want to give anyone a clue that we were there. But I also wanted a piece of the action. I waited for them to come to me, to stumble upon their own deaths and to find that they lacked in the moment it counted most. They had picked the wrong side. It would end here and I would end it for them.

  I turned in a circle as I reached the center of the room and waited, patiently, for any motion or movement towards me. Vampires were faster, stronger, swifter but I had been more closely descended from the Queen than any of these mouth breathers could ever dream and I would put them in the ground permanently.

  The room didn’t have much in it. The random dust covered furniture had been surrounded by uncomfortable looking chairs stacked high. Whoever had meant to come back for this stuff had abandoned it long ago.

  I continued to turn in a circle, looking for any sign of life or death after life. I looked for any signs that might point me to Prussia. My radio that connected me to my team remained silent and I continued to hear the distant splatter and drops of blood. But it became longer in between each death now. The sweep would be coming to a close in a matter of minutes. It concerned me because there had been no indication that we had found Prussia yet.

  When I heard the splatter on the ground floor, on the floor I stood, that’s when I knew that something had changed. I headed toward where I had heard the noise as fast as I could go. I wound my way through dirty, littered, dark hallways until I found the back of the warehouse.

  A great room with windows beginning at the top and reaching all the way to the ground floor meant that if they had processed meat in this building it had been done back here. I noticed random dry blood stains on the concrete floor. I scanned the open space and headed toward a backroom. It looked like a freezer space.

  I ran as fast as I could. I couldn’t wait on my team. They would have my back any minute and they would hear the noise too. Something told me that Prussia didn’t have any time to lose. They had had her long enough and there would be no telling what they had done to her.

  When I got near I could smell her perfume without any trouble. It was mixed with blood that smelled sweet. It made my stomach turn. The aroma made me furious with hunger and ashamed that it was Prussia that I craved. I didn’t wait another moment.

  I grabbed the metal riveted door and forced it open with all my strength in the event that it had been locked from the inside. It crashed open and I saw her – the woman from the park. Her face dripped with blood and the room wafted an intoxicating aroma of death towards me. I fought off my urges, all of them except one.

  When my eyes landed on the chair in the middle of the room, one vampire feeding on the blood drenched body, my rage consumed me. I gave a roar as I went for the one feeding on Prussia, glaring as though I were not invited to share. He ducked his head back down to take one last drink. My most base instincts took over and my rage had full reign.

  “Kill her! Now!” screamed the woman, blood foaming at the corners of her mouth.

  Her eyes were wide with fear. I took the few short steps to the vampire crouched to continue feeding on Prussia and I grabbed his head. His teeth were sunk into Prussia’s wrist and if I yanked him away he might rip what remained of her wrist out.

  She would bleed out in seconds, though from the looks of things she had died hours ago. Blood soaked her from head to foot. Her hair had become matted with her own blood. There were deep gouges all along her body and I didn’t have much choice on how to get his teeth out of her.

  I went with what I knew. I used both of my hands wrapped around his head to crush his skull. The bastard bit down even harder. I evened it up with the hardest flex I could manage. I knew he was about to ask for mercy. But before he could beg I felt his skull collapse in my hands. Large chunks of his head popped all over me, all over the room, and a large piece of brain splattered right on the blond woman’s chest with a streak of his blood slapping her in the face.

  I could see her face begin to register what had just happened but I didn’t wait for her response. I ripped off the vampire’s arm at the shoulder and chewed through the flesh surrounding the protruding bone. It took less than a second. My carnal instincts assured me that if Prussia really was dead – this would comfort me as justice. I used my hand to snap the end of the arm bone into a point and looked at the blond haired woman.

  Her face had turned into a twisted mess of rage. Perhaps I had killed someone that mattered to her. Or perhaps she just didn’t like having her party crashed. Either way, when I snapped his arm bone and looked at her she took a step back. The step back was a signal of retreat, the step that you can’t hide because your fear is too great which is exactly what I wanted her to feel. I wanted her to be more afraid than she had ever been in her life.

  No one came into the Queen’s domain to take whatever pleased them. The vampire with the crushed skull moved beneath where I stood, looking at the woman. The woman hissed at me, small particles of blood spattering out at me. I could smell the blood right before it hit my face. She had fed on Prussia.

  I roared back at her and without losing eye contact with her I plunged the sharpened point into the chest of the vampire still wiggling in small movements on the floor until the point slammed into the concrete floor underneath. I felt the heat as he burst to flames and turned to ash at my hands.

  The woman watched in horror as her fellow vampire disintegrated into flakes as I continued to watch her. I watched the pain wash across her face again and again, all passing in mere seconds. When she finally looked at me I knew that I had the fight I wanted and that she knew one of us wouldn’t make it out of this room alive.

  “Do you know how old I am?” she hissed at me.

  “How old you were,” I corrected, calmness and control in my voice, “Did I know how old you were is what people will ask…after I give you the eternal sleep,”

  That seemed to piss her off plenty. She leaped towards me and I jumped right into her path, wanting to stay between her and Prussia. I didn’t expect for a single blow to fall on me. Her hands moved swiftly and I knew after a few hits to the head and body that she had training of some kind. She knocked me on to my butt and I glared up at her from the floor.

  “You’ve been trained by the Royal Guard,” I thought out loud, realizing that she wasn’t as disconnected from the court as I had been led to believe.

  “You’ll definitely find out, now won’t you?” she taunted me.

  It made me think of Lydia but I had to push it out of my mind as I watched the woman reach for Prussia’s throat. Prussia sat perfectly still in the chair in the center of the room drenched in blood.

  I stepped between the woman and Prussia and she let go. She kicked her leg up over my head and I knew what she planned to do before she executed it but delivered it faster than I could react. She used her leg to leverage herself out of my grip by pushing on my throat with her calf and simultaneously kick me in the head as she pushed me backwards. She did a cocky spin and landed in a fighting stance, a smile across her face.

  I hadn’t fallen but she had managed to get the best of me easily enough. Her ability to fight had become problematic. I stood for
a moment to assess my next attack and my ears pricked up. The team had reached this floor. The look on her face suggested she realized I wasn’t alone and we would have company soon. She began inching her way towards the door. I decided now would be the best time, when she had other things on her mind like an escape.