“Antony, finally you return home,” she leered. “I have missed you.”
Through narrowed eyes, he studied the woman’s delicate features. Even with the snarl and fangs hanging over her bottom lip, she was an angelic beauty, but he knew she was far from God’s grace. She tilted her face and when the moonlight hit her red eyes and he saw the scar stretching along the skin of her neck, he blanched.
“You bitch!”
She cackled and dug her nails in deeper until Hanna flinched in pain. Antony took a step forward, but the woman’s laughter cut off abruptly. “Do not think I will not kill her, Antony. As much as I wish to torture her before your eyes first, I will kill her if you do not behave.”
Antony’s eyes went to Hanna, begging for him to save her, but he could not make a move. The woman was a creature of the night and she would kill Hanna before he even lifted his blade. Head hanging, he cursed and tossed his sword aside, hating the look of confusion and betrayal on his wife’s face.
“What do you want with me, woman?” he growled. He’d hunted this particular being for years and thought she had run off out of the Empire. He was certain she must be the woman who had stopped by the night before. “Release my wife and babe and you may do what you want with me.”
“Tempting offer, but I believe I will hold onto her for a few moments longer,” she crooned and lowered a hand to Hanna’s belly.
When she rested it flat against the bump, Hanna flinched, eyes rolling back in her head. The woman’s eyes slid closed too and Antony moved forward, needing to get closer. His sword was not so far he could not roll and snatch it up, but he could not risk Hanna or the babe. He would not. The woman moaned and Antony froze, blood turning cold, staring at her hand flat on his unborn child. What was she doing to him? To his wife? Never before had he seen such sorcery.
“I was right,” the woman whispered, still distracted with her eyes closed. “This child, this son of yours would grow into a man who would long be remembered by your Order.”
Antony froze at her words. “How do you know this?”
“Men, so simple minded,” she hissed and opened her eyes, glaring at him, the crimson flaring brightly in the night. “Move forward again, and you will end your wife’s life.”
Antony’s hands itched to wrap around the woman’s neck and snap it as his wife whimpered in pain, eyes fluttering open once more. “Hanna, love, all will be well, I swear it to you,” he whispered. “Hanna?”
The woman grinned wider and ran her fangs along Hanna’s neck. Antony’s body lunged forward, but the woman snatched Hanna farther back again, snarling in warning.
“Do so again and I will kill her.”
“Please,” he begged, eyes fixed on the blood trailing down his wife’s neck, soaking into the fabric of her dress. “Please, just release her and you can do what you will with me.”
“Antony,” Hanna whispered, eyes fluttering and not seeming to find his face. “Antony…I see him. I see our son.”
“No,” he snapped, hoping his anger would draw his wife out of whatever spell the woman had cast upon her. “No you do not. It is a trick, Hanna, nothing more. Come back to me, love. Please come back to me.”
“She can’t hear you,” the woman said quietly, running her fingers almost like a lover would, through Hanna’s thick black hair. “She will never hear you speak again and will die knowing you betrayed her in the worst way possible, hunter!”
Antony had no chance to brace before the woman threw Hanna to the side and lunged for him. She hit him hard, slamming him back into the side of the hut. He fought against her, but she was strong, so much stronger than the last time he had faced her, far to the south in the mountains. She had almost killed him then, but he had scarred her instead. This time though, he knew without doubt, she would kill him. Fear overwhelmed him, fear for his wife and his unborn babe. She wrapped her hands tightly around his neck, cutting off his breath and though he kicked and shoved her backwards to the ground, she easily took control, straddling him with a mad laugh.
“What hope did you ever have to beat us,” she hissed in his ear and licked a path up his neck. “You are nothing more than a man, but now…now you will know my pain, hunter. You will understand what it means to truly embrace the darkness you hunt.”
Antony sucked in a breath, eyes searching for his wife, but then the woman bared her fangs and bit down hard on his neck. His body seized with the pain and he gasped, hands struggling to push her away. But it was no use. She bit down more fiercely and he groaned, feeling the blood sucked harshly from his body with each pull of her mouth. His hands went numb first and then his feet, his body turning cold as she drained him. Her mouth pulled free as his vision darkened and he waited for the end, but she sat up and his eyes unable to look away, watched as she bit her wrist until blood welled from the wound.
His lips parted, trying to speak, but the words would not come forth.
She grinned madly and before he could attempt to pull away, she pressed the bloody wrist to his mouth. “Drink now, hunter, drink and discover what it means to truly enter the world of the damned.”
He choked on the warm liquid dripping into his mouth, but she held his head steady and it drained down his throat, filling him. With his mouth full of it, and too weak to resist, he found his lips clamping around the wound, sucking the blood from her as she had done to him. It disgusted him, but he could not stop, could not let go.
She sighed, running her hands through his hair and shifted her hips against him. “There now. Soon enough, you will see I have saved you.”
“Antony?” Hanna’s weak whisper hit him hard and suddenly he could drink no more. But it was too late.
His back arched off the ground and he groaned as pain coursed through his veins. Every muscle tensed and he struggled to breath, to stay conscious, but every piece of him was on fire. His nails clawed for purchase in the frozen ground and all the while, the woman stayed astride him, cackling into the darkness. Hanna’s voice faded into the background as his anguished screams shattered the night air. When he thought he could stand it no longer, his world went dark and his body collapsed against the frozen ground.
When you awaken again, you will be free, the woman’s voice whispered through the shadows. You will feed and then you will come to know what it means to feel pain. What it means to suffer!
Antony muttered, cursing as his body throbbed in pain. He rolled over, but the ground was no longer cold and the moonlight was gone. Light flickered around him, but he could not yet open his eyes.
“Antony,” a woman whispered above him. “Antony, please for the love of God. Please.”
Hanna. She was close by. He needed to go to her, see she was safe. He staggered to his feet, holding his head as he tried to focus. His wife, she was there and she was safe. How? The woman…she had been there, attacked them…
Feed on her, the words hissed through his mind violently and he stumbled. Feed and be strengthened.
“No,” he hissed and flinched to hear the sound issue from his mouth.
Feed on her! Do it!
“Antony? Please come back to me,” Hanna begged, whimpering in the glow of the firelight.
He whipped his head around to see her, tied to a chair by the hearth. Tears streaked down her face and his hands reached out for her, but the other voice hit him again and again until he snarled, a beast clawing its way up and out of him. Hanna screamed his name, called to him, but he no longer saw his wife. No longer heard her sweet voice in his ears. His throat burned and it needed to be soothed, his body to be filled with life. When his glowing crimson gaze narrowed on the woman tied to a chair, so close and so easy to take, he could do nothing to resist the insatiable hunger urging him on.
She shrieked as he lunged for her, but he heard nothing except the frantic cries of his prey. He yanked her head back harshly by her hair, bared his fangs, and sunk them in deep to the throbbing vein pulsing before his eyes. Warm blood gushed into his mouth and soon the screams fell
away until all he heard was the sound of the woman’s heart beating like a wild rabbit beneath her ribs. She cried and begged, but the words did not reach Antony’s ears. Blood was all that mattered, taking her blood, taking every last drop she had to give. When her heartbeat slowed and finally stilled, Antony leaned his head back and let out a satisfied roar, licking his lips of what remained.
He staggered back a step and the door to the hut swung open hard, hitting the inside wall.
“Now you will come with me,” a woman said, the same voice that echoed in his mind before. “Antony, come to me.” The tone was commanding, but Antony frowned, staring down at his hands, shaking.
“What…what have you done to me?” he whispered harshly. His gaze shifted to see the figure that the firelight lit up before him, and when he saw Hanna’s face, mouth agape in a silent scream and eyes wide with horror, Antony fell backwards. “No…no!”
It could not be true. He had to be dreaming, but when he reached out to touch Hanna, her body was chilled. A choked cry stuck in his throat as he quickly untied her and held her close to him, praying to God he had not killed his wife. But she did not awaken.
“Hanna, oh God no, Hanna!”
“I saw what your son would become,” the woman mused from the doorway, sounding bored. “He had to be destroyed before he could enter this world.”
Antony shook his head, tears pouring from his eyes as he smoothed back Hanna’s hair with a shaky hand. “Why…why would you do this?”
“You did it,” she hissed. “You murdered your wife and your unborn son.”
An animalistic cry of rage broke free of his chest as he pressed his wife’s pregnant belly against his body, holding her tightly. He had killed them both, killed the only things in this world he truly loved.
“Now come, Antony, there is much work to do,” the woman said, and turned.
“No,” he growled.
“No?” she snapped.
“I will not go anywhere with you, you wretched witch!” He set Hanna down and whirled upon the woman, but though he was the same as her, she was stronger still, and she pinned him up against the hut wall with an ear-shattering thud.
She bared her fangs in his face, her bone-crushing grip tight on his throat. Without even opening her mouth, her voice flowed through his mind like lightning, breaking his will into pieces that he could never hope to restore.
You are mine now, hunter, mine to control. Mine to torment on a whim. You have no choice, not any longer, she leered and kissed him hotly, and even as he tried to resist, Antony found that he could not.
“There now. It will not be all bad with me,” she said aloud and released him. “Now, burn this place to the ground and come with me. We are needed elsewhere.”
***
The Master paced around his tent, desperate to shake the memories of that night from his mind, but no matter what he did, they remained foremost in his thoughts, as if he had just murdered his wife and son all over again. The heat from those flames could still be felt on his skin even now.
But there was no time to dwell on his pain. He sensed the sun setting and he put on his shirt and vest, fixing his hair and making ready for the night. They would move quickly to their next encampment and then the entertainment would begin. Bastian could not hold out forever and the Master knew that eventually Bastian would lead him to Catherine, a woman he was so very anxious to meet. As he straightened the cuffs on his shirt, he called for Desmond, and the vampire appeared a moment later inside his tent.
“Sir?”
“I wish to feed,” he said curtly. “One of the new, young ones if you can, and then we will begin to move. Was there any trouble during the night?”
“The men reported no disturbances, sir,” Desmond reported.
“Good, very good. Get rid of the guards. We will seek out new ones before the dawn. That is all,” he said and waved the vampire away. He flicked his tongue over his fangs and waited impatiently for his meal, as the nightmares had created a deep thirst in him. The tent parted and a young girl was shoved inside, her whole body trembling. When she spotted the Master, she broke into fearful sobs and turned quickly back to the tent flap. But he was faster. He wrapped an arm around her middle and brushed aside her hair with his hand. “Do not worry child,” he whispered, “this will all be over soon.”
She whimpered until he bit down hard on her neck, then she screamed and writhed in his grasp. But he fed quickly and when her body hung limp in his grip, he sucked the last few drops from her veins and let her sink to the ground, dead at his feet.
“Pity,” he mused, stepping over her body. “She was quite lovely.”
Chapter 4
The journey to the next camp was quick, barely a few leagues, but it brought them closer to their final destination. The fort was visible through the trees and the Master watched the men patrol the top of the wall, back and forth, over and over again. So many souls resided behind those walls, souls he already possessed. When he arrived to the Caribbean, it was the first place he looked to, needing a place of stability and defense for when the time to fight came.
Soon the rest of his army would arrive by ship from across the great sea and he would be ready for them.
“Master,” Desmond said as he bowed his head beside the older vampire and waited.
“Are our guests settled in?” he asked without turning.
“Yes, Master, and we have procured fresh food for you along with guards for the night,” Desmond informed him. “The woman, she nearly killed one of your men, master. I fear she is too dangerous to keep so close.”
The Master raised his hand and Desmond fell silent, stepping back and away. Scratching at his chin, he contemplated Haddie and how resilient she turned out to be against his attacks. She was strong and though he did not wish to lose that aspect of her, he needed this woman to be on his side when the Hunters came, and come they would.
Turning, he waved for Desmond to follow him. “Let Bastian feed and then place him in the same tent as Haddie.”
“And what of your woman?”
The Master’s feet paused. “Antoinette? What of her?”
“She asked for you is all, but did not know of your mood. Shall I bring her to you?”
“Tell her to join me outside Haddie’s tent,” he said after a long moment. “She may find that she enjoys what happens next. The woman has quite the darkness brewing inside of her. Perhaps it is time to see what she can do.”
He dismissed Desmond and the vampire hurried through the new encampment to do as he was ordered. The Master breathed in deeply, the night air muggy and filled with the tangy scent of salt, flowers wilting in the marshes, and something else. Something much sweeter playing against his tongue. He sucked in another lungful and grinned as his mind reached out through the darkness falling in around them, as torches and fires were lit and built for the duration of the night.
“Catherine,” he whispered and closed his eyes to follow the faint trail he sensed moving ever closer to the camp. “You are stronger than I assumed, my pet.”
The link was faint, but he latched onto it and rushed with it back through the trees, searching for her location. He heard a mental curse and suddenly the link was gone. He faltered as his eyes shot open and his mind slammed back to his body. Hands reached out to steady him and he snarled, wrenching out of Antoinette’s grasp.
“I told you to wait by the tent,” he snapped with a hiss and backed away from her.
She studied his face quietly and did not reply.
“Wait for me by the tent,” he repeated, “or you will be the next to feel my wrath.”
Antoinette did not move, but bowed her head as she spoke. “She is strong, this new woman of his.”
The Master tugged at his vest and smoothed back his hair. “No stronger than I.”
“And yet she stopped you from following her; I felt it,” she whispered. “Please, I beg of you, be careful with her. I do not wish to lose you, or see your plans come to ruin.”
“What would you know of my plans, wench?”
Antoinette’s eyes flared red in fear and she took a hurried step back. “Only that you have planned revenge for many centuries. Do not let one woman be the end of everything you fought to gain,” she said. “Please, be content with who you have. I lost one man; I do not wish to lose another.”
The Master frowned as another beautiful face flashed before his eyes, a face filled with love that quickly turned to betrayal, as he drained her dry and left her for dead. He growled and fisted his hands at his sides. “Your worry blinds you to what is before you. Be warned, Antoinette, hold your tongue. This is my final warning. I wish to keep you by my side, but if you continue to question me, I will see you parted from that beautiful head of yours.”
He ran his fingers through her hair, bringing some strands to his nose, and watched the flicker of emotions glide across her face. When he spotted the fear, he leered and dragged her against his body to kiss her hotly before he set her aside and held out his hand for hers. Her hand trembled and the Master swelled with desire at the fear and want mixing in the woman beside him. Would she feel the same after he finally broke Bastian before her eyes? She might say she wanted to be with the Master, but everyone lied, and love was not an easy emotion to forget.
That was one lesson he knew better than most.
When they reached the tent, Desmond was there to pull back the flaps and let the Master inside. Haddie and Bastian were tied to two posts at opposite ends of the space. The latter growled when he spotted Antoinette, but she acted as if her late husband did not exist and focused only on the Master as he paced from him to Haddie.
“My dear sweet Haddie,” he whispered as he trailed his fingers across her collarbone, before gripping her chin tightly in his hands. He lifted her face and glared into her eyes, the color of which was fading every day. “You should give in. Save us this trouble of causing you so much pain each night.”
“Do not listen to him,” Bastian snapped and pulled against the manacles at his wrists, the clanking setting the Master’s teeth on edge. “He is nothing to you!”
SV02-06. Slave to a Vampire Page 27