by Ariel Marie
“Anything?” Adrian asked as Toma and Nicu came out of the apartment.
“Nothing. You?” Toma asked.
“No signs of Idris or Anika,” Adrian said as they ran down the stairs. “But we did find her cell phone.”
17
~Anika~
“Now what would be so special about you that Vladimir would put one of his vampire guards on you, not once, but twice?” a voice asked.
Anika blinked, coming out of a fog. Her head ached as if she had been out drinking the night before. She squinted as she took in the darkened room. She sat in a chair in the middle of the room with her arms tied behind her. A tingling sensation in her fingers let her know that her arms have been asleep for a while.
She gasped when her eyes landed on Idris, hanging from chains against the wall ahead of her. His eyes glowered their crimson vampire glow as he stared at something over her shoulder.
“Answer me!” the voice demanded, yanking her head back.
She let out a cry as tears formed in her eyes. One lone tear slid down her cheek as she caught a glimpse of whom the voice belonged to. This man was her attacker from her apartment. She would recognize the tall dark haired figure with amber eyes anywhere.
“I don’t know what you mean,” she whimpered.
“Don’t play dumb, bitch,” he said backhanding her across the face. “Why would the vampire king put one of his best guards on you?”
“I don’t know!” she cried out, feeling the right side of her face go numb. Growling could be heard from Idris’s side of the room.
“You are going to get me the princess,” her capturer snapped, grabbing her hair again.
“Xalak leave her alone,” Idris bit out around his clenched fangs. Anika shivered at the intensity that burned in his crimson eyes as he stared Xalak down. “Come bring that shit to me.”
Anika swallowed hard, tasting blood as she realized who had her.
Xalak was the son of Sodan, the necromancer king.
He was the reason that Cooper almost died, and because of this creature, Nadira had to turn Cooper from a human to a Vampire.
Her heart pounded in her chest. She would never give up her best friend to this monster.
“Oh don’t worry, you’re going to get your turn,” Xalak snarled to Idris before turning back to Anika. “Now human, since you want to play dumb, I’ll just get the answers myself.”
An intense burning sensation crept through Anika’s mind causing a scream to rip from her throat. Her body tensed as the feeling of nails scraping against her brain continued, her body jerking from the agony. Tears flowed freely from her clenched eyes as the pain finally began to dissipate. Her breathing was rapid, making it hard for her to catch her breath.
“Isn’t this great. I have a vampire’s mate sitting before me,” Xalak said as if pleased.
She opened her eyes, barely able to see from the tears that blurred her sight. Her head hung low, weak from the pain that he brought her without even touching her.
“What are you talking about,” she whispered. She barely had the strength to hold her head up.
“Surely you know,” Xalak snapped, irritation lining his voice. “You have been with the vampire Toma. I saw it in your memories and I must say, what fine memories they are.”
“Let her go!” Idris roared, fighting against the chains trying to free himself.
“Silence!” Xalak snapped, flicking his hand using his magic to cause Idris to instantly fall into an unconscious state. “The mate of the king’s son will give me what I want.”
She shook her head, staring in disbelief at Idris’s silent frame as it hung almost lifeless from the chains. She couldn’t be Toma’s mate. The queen had said that her sons were to mate with vampires. Xalak had to be wrong. Toma would have told her that she was his mate.
Wouldn’t he?
“Oh, now you’re confused, silly human,” Xalak said, pushing her hair away from her face. She tried to jerk her head away from him but he caught her chin in his hand. “You are going to help me get Nadira.”
“Why?” she asked as another tear slid out of her eyes.
Her whole body trembled in fear as she looked up at him. He was more powerful than she had ever imagined any person could be. She felt vulnerable and used, just thinking of how he entered her mind and ripped her memories from her brain. She would die before she helped him get his hands on Nadira.
His golden eyes held hers before he stepped away from her. “Nadira has something I need and I will get it.”
“Why don’t you just tell them what you want so they can just give it you,” she begged, whimpering as her brain began to tingle again. She couldn’t go through that pain again. She didn’t think she would survive that onslaught a second time.
“Because it’s not a something that she has. She knows the location of something I want. It’s buried deep in her psyche and if I have to rip apart her brain to get it, I will,” he said just as the pain intensified again in her brain, ripping another scream from Anika.
18
~Toma~
The sounds of Nadira’s sobs filled the room in Nicu’s office as they all sat around discussing what they knew. Cooper pulled her close to his chest where they sat on the couch.
Toma’s heart broke more and more as each hour continued to pass with no word from the necromancers about Anika. He would trade himself in a heartbeat to have Anika safely home.
“What did the fae find out?” Nicu asked Ronin interrupting Toma’s thoughts. When Nicu said get the necro to talk by any means necessary, Ronin went through great lengths to gain information from the necromancer. Ronin called on a powerful fae that he knew to extract the needed information.
“Aven was able to dig the memories out of the necro’s mind and let me tell you, it wasn’t pretty,” Ronin said, shaking his head. “The necro’s name was Netic and he was the right hand of Xalak. We have the location of where Xalak and his army of Versi may be hiding.”
“May be hiding?” Toma asked, confused. Either the necro had the memories or not. If he was the right hand man of Xalak, he should know everything.
“Well, the necros are very much aware that memories can be taken, as they too, can retrieve memories. So they must have implanted false memories in the event someone powerful tried to retrieve them from their minds. We couldn’t pin point exactly where they are hiding,” Ronin said. “But we have a place to start.”
“Let me in the room with the necro,” Toma demanded standing. “I’ll get answers.”
“He’s dead,” Ronin said sighing. “The fae’s method of memory retrieval was fatal. Aven understood the urgency of what we were looking for so was not gentle on the necromancer. He tore the necro’s mind apart.”
“He shouldn’t have gone easy on Netic. Pure evil deserves to be sent straight to hell,” Nicu growled. “How many locations are there?”
“Three,” Ronin answered.
“We’ll have to split up to try to figure out where Xalak is located,” Nicu said looking around the room.
This was top priority; all members of their Dark Shadows unit were present. Viktor, Khalid, Ronin, Gadiel and Phaelyn were spread out around the room along with Toma and his brothers, waiting for their orders.
“I’m going too,” Nadira spoke up just as the videoconference phone rang.
“Like hell you are!” Cooper spoke up next to her.
“He has her because of me!” Nadira shouted, causing everyone to pause at her explosion.
Toma felt as torn as Nadira did. Cooper grabbed her, pulling her into him resting her head in the crook of his neck. Toma’s chest tightened as he felt for the first time, envy, of his little sister and her mate. He wished he could hold his mate right now and comfort her.
Nicu stalked over to the television on the wall, pushing the accept call button on the wall. Xalak’s face came into view.
“Ah, Nicu, just the vampire I wanted to see. Oh wait, is that the entire Dark Shadows in the room with you
?” Xalak said with a cold hard laugh as his eyes traveled around the room. “Ah, Nadira and Cooper, I see you have joined the party as well. I couldn’t have called at a better time.”
“What do you want Xalak?” Nicu’s cold voice sent a tiny shiver down Toma’s back.
He knew that Nicu’s low monotone voice was his most deadly. It was almost like the calm before the storm. He slowly moved to stand near Nicu so he could see the screen. He wanted to memorize the face of the necromancer he was going to kill.
“Toma, I was hoping you were there,” Xalak said as his eyes landed on Toma. “I believe I have something of yours.”
“Let her go,” Toma demanded. His gums ached as his fangs begged to descend.
“What?” Nadira asked confused. “What is going on?”
“No one knew did they Toma?” Xalak asked with a smirk on his face. A smirk that Toma would be all too happy to wipe off of his face. “No one knew of all the times you went and had relations with this pretty little human, did they? Imagine my surprise as I searched her memories and found plenty of you and her fucking like wild rabbits.”
Gasps echoed around the room at Xalak’s announcement. Toma refused to show weakness by looking at Nadira. He could feel her eyes on him at his side. They would just have to discuss this later.
“If you’ve laid one finger on her, I promise you, I will hunt you down and gut you like the fucking animal that you are!” Toma growled, quickly loosing control.
“A finger? Tsk tsk Toma,” Xalak’s evil smile spread across his face as he shook a finger at the camera. “You should know me better than that. I don’t have to lay anything on a human to do any damage.”
The bottom of Toma’s stomach dropped as the image of Anika came onto the screen. Curses filled the room as the camera focused on her.
She sat in the middle of a large darkened room, in a chair with her arms tied behind her. Her head rolled to the side. His heart stuttered as he could tell she was barely conscious. Xalak stalked over to her grabbing her by the hair pulling her head back where they could see her bruised face.
Arms grabbed Toma as he jumped towards the television screen. His last bit of control snapped. That crazy fucker put his fucking hands on his mate!
“She’s beautiful,” Xalak murmured stroking Anika’s cheek. A small moan escaped her as she tried to shake his hand from her face. “Why don’t we do an even trade? Nadira for Anika? Hmmm..?”
“Where is my vampire?” Nicu cut in.
“Idris, oh, he’s hanging around,” Xalak said waving his hand nonchalantly. The screen zoomed in on their guard, unconscious, hanging from chains against the far wall behind Anika.
“So do we have a deal?” Xalak’s cold voice demanded across the television.
“No,” Anika moaned shaking her head.
Toma’s heart pounded in his chest at how helpless he felt at this moment. Even through the torture, Anika was telling them not to trade Nadira for her.
Toma knew they would never give up their sister to the deranged necromancer but yet, how could he save his mate?
“I’ll do it,” Nadira whispered coming to stand next to Toma.
“No,” Anika said again, this time her voice stronger.
Toma could see a trail of dried blood that ran from her nose to her upper lip. Her right cheek held the dark mark in the shape of a hand. Toma’s hands tightened into fists as he took in the damage done to Anika.
“Like hell you will,” Cooper whispered fiercely, grabbing Nadira’s arm. “There has to be some other way!”
“When and where?” Nadira said, flinging Cooper’s hand from her arm.
“Such bravery, Princess.” Xalak said tightening his grip on Anika’s hair causing her to wince. The arms holding Toma tightened as he jerked again.
“In two days time, the blood moon will rise. You will meet me in Pondview Cemetery when the moon is at it’s highest,” Xalak said as the camera focused directly on him. His golden eyes flashed as he focused on Nadira. “Only Toma and Nadira are to join me. If I sense one extra presence, I will kill your precious human.”
19
~Anika~
She squeezed her eyes shut as a painful tingling sensation crept through the base of her neck. After Xalak disconnected the conference call, she was thrown into a windowless room with only a mildew-smelling cot placed against a wall. She was not even sure how long she had been in the barren room.
Her stomach ached from hunger. Since being thrown into the room, she had not received any nourishment. She licked her dry lips, trying to get moisture to form inside her mouth.
She worried about Idris, not knowing what had happened to him as she curled up on the cot. Xalak woke him right before they moved her. Idris’s crimson eyes burned with fury as they dragged her out of the room.
She glanced at the door, seeing the back of the head of the versi through the dirty window. A shiver went down her spine at the thought that a dead person stood not too far from her. She drew up her legs as she stared at the bed remembering the call between Xalak and the Olaru’s.
She squeezed her eyes shut tight replaying the conversation in her mind. She prayed that Nadira would not trade herself to free her. Her friend had a whole nation of vampires that loved her and cared for her. She had a long life ahead of her while Anika prayed that she would have lived to see at least eighty years old.
Her thoughts turned to Toma and the floodgate of tears opened. She bit her lip to hold back the sob. She was his mate and he didn’t tell her. Couldn’t tell her because of the vampirian council requirement that the king’s sons mate with a vampire.
The door swung open causing her to nearly jump out of her skin. Through her tears she could see Xalak standing in the doorway. She quickly wiped her tears away watching as his amber eyes narrowed on her. A whimper escaped her as he walked into the room. She scooted back, trapped against the wall.
“It’s time, human,” he said as his eyes began to glow. She flinched as he raised his hand and everything went dark.
* * *
~Toma~
“Stay close,” Toma said to Nadira as they headed into the Pondview cemetery. Two days had passed since the videoconference with Xalak. Toma had been restless and unable to sleep, so he had spent his time working with his brothers non-stop to come up with a way to save Anika and not trade Nadira for her. His father was not pleased with the plan of letting Nadira tag along, but they had no choice.
“It will be okay,” Nadira said softly at his side as they walked down the darkened pathway.
Both of them were adorned with weapons. He still couldn’t believe that Nadira and Teague had been able to hide the fact that he had been training her all this time in combat.
“When?”
“When what?” he asked, hearing the hurt in her voice and not wanting to turn to her to see it in her eyes.
He knew one day he would have to tell her but never would he have imagined that he would be telling her about them late at night in a cemetery.
“You know what I’m talking about. When did you realize she was your mate?”
“The first day you introduced her to me,” he answered honestly, glancing in her direction. She stared straight ahead as they continued along the path.
“So that’s why you always acted like an ass when you were around her,” she said softly.
He couldn’t answer. He knew that he had been overly rude whenever Anika was around. His chest filled with regret. If he could do it all over again he would be honest with himself.
The pain of being separated from his mate was growing. He’d had to feed twice each day since Anika was taken to try to keep his strength up. He hadn’t let on to his family that he could feel the bond forming around them the last few times that they were together.
Even without the exchanging of blood, he could feel himself binding to her. Staying away from her had been the hardest thing he has ever done. He’d felt like a small part of him was dying the longer she stayed away from him.
He knew the dangers of not claiming his mate once the bond started.
Death.
“Are you sure she’s your mate?” Nadira asked as they came upon the largest lake in the cemetery. “You didn't even seem to be affected by her leaving when she moved in with her sister.”
“You just don’t know,” he said assessing the area. Not sensing any threat, he turned to his little sister. “Not a day has gone by that I didn't want to run to her and beg her to come back to me, to have her move back in our house.”
“So all that time at the house, you would act like you didn’t like her, didn’t really know her, but every night you would go to her bedroom?” Nadira’s eyes flashed crimson in her anger.
He nodded, unable to answer.
“No wonder she was sad, almost seemed depressed when she left. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was about her. She wouldn’t talk to me.”
“What are you talking about?” he demanded to know. He shifted the bag on his back as he tried to think back to the times when they were together and couldn’t remember a time she seemed unpleased.
“She was already self conscious about her weight. Her outgoing nature is her way of hiding her insecurities and you not wanting to acknowledge her to the family or anyone probably fed into it!” she scolded him, hands on her hips. “You should be ashamed of yourself!”
“She’s right Toma,” Teague’s voice came in through Toma’s earpiece.
He let out a curse. He had totally forgot that even though he and Nadira were walking through the cemetery alone, the Shadows still had eyes and ears on them.
“Now keep your eyes open, Naddy can kick your ass later. The full eclipse takes place in about forty-five minutes,” Teague said.
“Did he say exactly where we were to meet?” Nadira asked.