by K. A. Jones
Carlos stood out in the hallway; I heard a set of keys jangle and then one turn in a lock. He flicked switches and the lights dimmed. Not that any light in the room would prevent me from slipping into a daytime comatose sleep. He removed his boots and tucked them under the edge of the bed and gestured to the space at the end of the bed. “Do you want to stretch out?” Was he for real? Getting comfy wasn’t on my agenda!
What I wanted was to be free of the duct tape and rip out his throat, but the reality was I had a couple of minutes left before sleep would claim me. I shook my head and attempted to roll onto my side. Not an easy feat when hog tied with tape! Carlos effortlessly lifted me onto my side and smoothed away the hair from my face. “Tomorrow, we talk. No more avoiding the subject, tomorrow we talk about Dario and how he has manipulated you.”
Wait, what?
My mind tried to catch up with what he was saying, but the sun was cresting the horizon and my body was slipping into its death like state. I felt the bed dip as Carlos climbed on and wrap himself around me and then nothing….
Chapter Ten
We woke at the same time, I didn’t have the luxury of jumping off the bed the moment my eyes fluttered open, Carlos however did, yet he chose to linger close to me. He leaned up on his elbow and his other hand touched my shoulder, rolling me back towards him. I fought to keep some of the limited distance between us, but to no avail. “Did you sleep well?”
So not what I was expecting!
The sun rose and sleep claimed me; there was nothing spectacular about sleeping. If a knight in shining armour had come and removed me from the training facility and taken me back to Dario, then yes, I would’ve considered it a good sleep. No wicked sex dreams with Dario as my leading man had caused me to sleep restlessly.
I was living a nightmare, one that I had no power as to how it would end! I quickly decided that a bitch fest wasn’t going to put me in good stead with Carlos, besides, if I bitched, who knew what he would do to me? I gave him a nervous smile and tried to look and sound a bit vulnerable. “Thanks for staying with me; I was a bit worried about how the day would play out if I’m honest.”
Carlos gave a slight nod of his head and smiled as he climbed off the bed. Obviously he was satisfied with my answer. “You are safe here Shyla, no one will harm you.”
Was he freaking kidding me? He’d sent a hunter to kill me. I wasn’t about to take his word for it, nor was I about to forget and get swept away with his hospitality and constant reassurances that I would be safe. I would feel safe once I was free of the facility and far away from the hunters.
“Come, there is much to discuss, but first we need to shower and get a bite to eat.” A couple of words fazed me and had my heart rate speeding up… The first being – we need to shower, and the second, get a bite to eat. Both of those things were a no-no. There was no-way I intended to take a shower with Carlos. I was Dario’s Consort, and they were things that we should be doing together, not his power-crazed-hunter brother and me! As for getting a bite to eat, I would rather starve to death than have to feed in front of him. Unless of course the opportunity arose to feed off Carlos, then I would take great pleasure in draining him dry before ripping out his throat. If I could find a knife I would be sure to decapitate him too, just to be sure that he was truly dead!
Sliding a blade from a sheath that was strapped to his calf, Carlos slid the blade through the duct tape that had secured my legs. I nearly groaned in pleasure as I changed their position. I watched as he slid the blade back into the sheath and made a mental note of where it he kept it hidden, which leg, how high up he wore it, that kind of thing. I was also wondering about where else he might be concealing a weapon. If I could get my hands on one, I might not feel so vulnerable.
I would deal with one problem at a time, first on the list, the shower! “I would prefer to take a shower… alone.” I didn’t have to put on a show of making him believe that I was worried about taking a shower with him, I really was.
Carlos surprised me by nodding and giving me a shy smile. “That was the plan Shyla.”
I heard Carlos muttering to himself as he unlocked the doors, I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but when he returned to the room he no longer wore his friendly-face. He wore a mask of steel. I began to back away from him, the sudden switch in personality made my hackles rise and fear spike.
He held out a hand and waited for me to take it. When it was clear that I wasn’t about to jump forwards and grab his hand, he whispered, “I have an image to portray to the hunters Shyla, I am their leader, if they saw that I was a regular guy, doing regular things, do you think they would respect me? Do you think that by being a no-body that I could ensure your safety?” This statement only confused me more.
I remembered what a hell hole the training facility had been, no one cared about you, you were here to do a job, fail – well, failure wasn’t an option for me, especially as I had no long term plans to become a walking womb.
His men that he used to put us through our paces were evil. The two men he constantly used to train us…. They were vampires. I was certain of this, but somehow despite the constant blood loss in the room, they had been careful enough not to show who they really were. Something snapped into place…. Hunter, Carlos, he was part vampire…. I could detect him as strongly as I could Marco and Dario. Just thinking Dario’s name made me reach for the bond between us. The emptiness that I felt nearly bought me crashing to my knees.
Carlos reacted quickly, scooping me up and placing me back on the bed. His face hovered inches over mine, concern evident on his face. I did battle with my fangs, making sure they remained in the gums, it was too soon to take him down, I was certain that I wouldn’t make it out of here alive.
Emotions crashed down all around me. The worst feeling of all was the hollowness, feeling as though I was reaching out to Dario through the bond and it searching endlessly to make the connection with him. My mind raced trying to find him, but all that greeted me was a nothingness that made my heart feel like it had been ripped from my chest. I could cope with physical pain. Physical pain was something that I was used to, but emotional pain was torture. It was consuming me, swallowing me up whole in a tide of grief. I felt the hot trickle of tears slide down my face as I turned away from Carlos. I saw understanding on his face and felt him tuck the blanket around me before he left me to mourn my loss.
Slowly I got myself under control. I stopped reaching for the bond when I realised that he wasn’t going to answer. Each time that I’d tried, my emotions took another battering. If I was to survive this, then I had to get my act together. Think like a hunter. Become the emotionless, uncaring assassin that Carlos had wanted to create. I sent one final thought across the bond, ‘I love you Dario. I will avenge your death and take his life as payment.’ As soon as I had spoken through our bond, I cut the connection. I didn’t want to feel the backlash from not hearing or feeling him through the bond.
I pushed up off the bed and paced the floor. I wasn’t confident enough to leave the room with my wrists strapped together with duct tape. I didn’t have to wait long before Carlos entered the room. I could smell that he had fed recently. My fangs bit into my bottom lip as he held up a bag of blood. It wasn’t his blood, but it would do to help me gain some of my dwindling strength.
Feeding from a bag of blood was a different experience to feeding from a person. For one thing, there was no guilt involved. The second, well, I didn’t have to play nice with someone, get them worked up into a state of sexual need and whilst feeding from them, make them forget that they were helping me with my little drinking problem. To be honest, I think I preferred the contact, I enjoyed getting them all needy; I liked wielding that power over someone – especially if they were hot! I always made sure that they remembered having a great time, and left them feeling satisfied. This was most unsatisfactory!
Sure I was getting the blood I needed, but there was no physical contact and no challenge. It was like walking to the fr
idge and taking a can of soda because you were thirsty. It was simply a means to an end. It tasted different too, it lacked oomph. I guess that’s because it had been sitting around in a fridge instead of being pumped about someone’s body. The obvious bonus to this type of feeding was the fact that I could do it on my own without Dario’s help. I let out a small groan of frustration and closed my eyes briefly to block out any emotions. I really didn’t need to have a melt down every time I thought his name!
Carlos gestured to the bag hanging from my mouth as I sucked the last few drops of blood from the holes that my fangs had made. “It takes some getting used to doesn’t it?”
I reluctantly pulled the bag away and nodded. “I could do with a whisky chaser.” I gave a nervous giggle and handed him the empty packet. Carlos tossed it into the bin and turned back to face me. “I’ve put a change of clothes and a few other items that I thought you would appreciate in the bathroom, how about you take a shower and I will see if I can find you some whisky?”
Following him from the room down a short hallway, he came to an abrupt halt outside of a door. He pulled his blade from the sheath that was strapped to his calf and tilted his head to one side, assessing me. I tried my hardest not to stare at the blade and imagine plunging it into his heart, but I guess he caught something in my expression. I felt his power amplify. It called to something deep inside of me and my body let out an involuntary shudder. I held back the whimper that was trying to escape and quickly clamped my thighs together and focused on getting my sexual urges under control. Jesus, if he carried on like this I would be powerless to deny him anything that he wanted.
Carlos smiled warmly, yet his eyes were calculating. “Take a shower and we will talk.” His blade cut through the tape with precision and just as quickly he’d returned it to his calf. I would have to be a magician to react quick enough to grab it without him seeing.
Feeling deflated about missing my chance to grab the knife, I headed into the bathroom. It was a basic bathroom, but I was pleased to see decent bathing products waiting for me. I peeled off the offending tape and gave my skin a gentle rub. It hurt like a bitch.
I let the water spray over me hoping that it would sooth me. It didn’t. I felt guilty for the way my body had reacted to him. I had just completed a ceremony binding me for all eternity to Dario and my traitorous body had reacted all needy to the nearest male who held power. All I could do was hope that Carlos had a good bottle of whisky that would help bring me some inner peace.
I expected to find a set of clothes that the hunters used as part of their uniform, but instead I found some underwear that was my correct size. I didn’t want to pay to much thought as to how he knew my bra size, but gladly put them on. There was a pair of low cut jeans, and a close fitting t-shirt folded up on a chair. I noticed that there was a lack of footwear and grumbled my annoyance whilst putting on the clothes. I was towelling dry my hair when the door opened. Apparently it’s okay to walk into a bathroom when a female is taking too long! Did he not know that women need to have private time?
“Good, you are dressed.” He stepped into the room and gathered up the towels I had used and dumped them outside of the bathroom. “I have been waiting for you to join me.”
I ran my fingers through my hair, had one final look in the mirror and smiled sweetly at him. “Thank you for letting me shower, I feel human again now.” I didn’t miss the shake of his head and the disapproval on his face at my chosen words. I followed behind, smirking as we went. He hated my reference to feeling human, good to know!
I could hear talking coming from a room at the end of the hallway. I felt my feet slow of their own volition. Carlos waited for me to catch him up before unlocking a door and ushering me inside. His face had taken on a fierce look and he spoke gruffly to me as he told me to wait in here for him.
I quickly assessed the room looking for a place to position myself. I needed to be ready for anything, and that included defending myself. Given how Carlos was acting, it might not be good for me to go on the offensive or defensive, I might have to look completely at ease and relaxed. He was a conundrum. I guess that’s because I didn’t really have any information on him as a person. I only had what Dario had told me about him. I also knew that Dario had still cared about his nephew.
There was a comfortable looking sofa that was positioned in front of a roaring fireplace and nothing else in the way of furniture. I was tempted to sit down to wait further instruction from him, but he had been offhanded with me and I wasn’t sure how to take his multiple personalities. If I sat and got comfortable, would it push him over some indefinable edge? I moved away from the door and stood to one side with my back against the wall. I would see him enter from here and have easy access to the door if I needed to run. I quashed down any uneasy feelings that were beginning to crowd my mind, I had to concentrate on keeping my breathing even and be ready for whatever was going to happen next.
I tried to listen to the conversation that was going on in the end room, but it was hard to hear anything other than a low mumble. It was frustrating. Carlos had told me that he had an image to portray – he wanted to appear fearless and strong to the hunters that were at the facility. Did that also mean the he was portraying an image to me? Dario had told me about Carlos’ intent to kill the King and Dario himself; I’d had a hit with his name on it so I knew it was true. Yet Carlos told me that he had sent me on the mission knowing that Dario would fall for me… Nothing made sense.
Standing in a statuesque state for over half an hour was not my idea of fun, but it was a necessary evil. I didn’t know who would enter, why they would enter and what they would do once they had entered. I gave myself a mental slap. I had never suffered with paranoia like I was right now … It had been ingrained into us, how to behave, how to react, what to do, what not to do from the moment we’d been born: the only difference now was that I was a vampire.
I could hear talking in the corridor. They spoke about meeting me and I heard Carlos tell one of the males that I had to answer his questions before he would allow anyone else to interact with me. A different male spoke, he was quite insistent that he wanted to meet me. Carlos spoke harshly, I could feel his power radiating through the wall; I heard the male falter and agree that it was best for Carlos to question me first. They departed quickly. I heard Carlos shout a name that I hadn’t heard in years. My blood ran cold at the memory.
I heard Thane; his voice sounded exactly the same as it had all those years ago. I was seriously starting to feel dread and panic rise inside of me. My fangs elongated ready to do battle. “Is everything okay sir?”
“Ensure that we are not disturbed for the rest of the night.” Carlos’ voice held authority. Again I felt his power radiating through the wall that was between us. I really didn’t want Carlos to come into the room and find me all hot and bothered. If he didn’t rein in his power that was exactly what was going to happen. “Thane, you will personally be held responsible if any member of the government makes it into my private quarters again. Do I make myself clear?”
Thane could’ve said anything and I couldn’t have cared. I was too busy trying to get my breathing and libido under control.
Carlos chose that moment to push open the door. His eyes fixed on mine the moment he came into the room. “Are you okay?”
Although his voice was carefully laced with concern, I had been hanging about males in general for long enough to recognise that I had affected him. He had a predatory look about him and it excited me further. Shit, what is wrong with me?
“Was that one of the questions that you need answering?” I could do bitchy – bitchy suited me better than horny. I stood tall and moved away from the wall towards the fire. If he decided to attack, I might stand a chance if I flung him into the open flames.
He watched my every movement and a small chuckle escaped him once I settled in front of the fireplace. “It’s good to see that you have retained some of the training that you received in the facility.”
I smiled and gestured for him to be seated. Carlos cocked his head to one side and grinned. “You are different to the others, why?”
I gave it a small amount of thought, I doubted that he was expecting an actual answer but I gave him one anyway. “I kept my humanity… Thane and Khalon tried to beat it out of me, but I guess there are some things that are just too important to let go of, no matter what methods they used.” He hadn’t moved, this was a power struggle. He wouldn’t sit because I had gestured that he should. I casually walked over to the sofa and sat at the far end but sat sideways on so that I could keep an eye on him.
“You have survived where others would fail, yet you claim to have kept your humanity. It is instinct Shyla, survival of the fittest. I put you in situations that were deadly. I put you against some of the worst criminals in vampire history, yet here you are, alive and well.”
I couldn’t help scoffing at his words. “I did what I was trained to do. It was either that or become a walking womb for you to build your hunter army, and for what cause?” The disdain in my voice rang out. “So that you could kill your uncles and claim your title as King!”
He folded his arms over his muscular chest and narrowed his eyes. There was something deadly in them as he pinned me with his look. “Let us pick up on the words walking womb… you completed the ceremony binding yourself to Dario… You let Carlos recite the incantation to bring forth fertility and produce an offspring… Why is what you have become anything different to what you would’ve become had you failed your training as an assassin?”
I swallowed hard and held my head high. “The difference is this, Dario loved me. He cared for me. He thought that I was worthy of being his life mate.”
Carlos shook his head. “No Shyla, my uncle never does anything because of love. He saw that you were different. You were strong enough both mentally and physically to withstand the change. You have become a walking womb, whether you want to admit it or not, that is your choice.”