Antony held the babe and glanced down at its innocent, sleeping face. So tiny, so frail. He could have had a child like this, a babe to call his own. A son or a daughter. That monster took it all from him. He snarled and with the babe tucked safely in the crook of his arm, he lunged for her, but a sharp pain ricocheted around his head and he fell hard to his knees. Jocasta raised her head and glared at him in disappointment.
“One day you will thank me for what I do,” she said. “Drink, Antony.”
The babe stirred in his arms as his head lowered. There was nothing he could do to stop it. His fangs pressed into the soft flesh of the babe’s neck and shoulder.
“Drink!”
Eyes tightly closed against the sight, he bit down and drained the babe as quickly as he could. The blood was sweeter than wine and filled him. The woman screamed, but Jocasta’s cackle cut it off, as she finished the woman. When the babe was dead, a tear slipped down Antony’s cheek, falling onto the pale and cold skin of the tiny infant.
“Oh, my dear sweet Antony, why do you cry over a wee babe?” she asked, sauntering to him. “It is only human. Do not shed tears for such a thing.”
“You made me kill an innocent child,” he whispered, still holding the body.
Jocasta plucked the body from his arms and before he could move to snatch it back, she moved to the fire and dropped it into the flames. They hungrily consumed it and he snarled, rushing forward to try and save the remains, but Jocasta stepped in his way and threw him backwards.
“Do not think you can fight me and win?” she warned. “Burn the home. We are in need of shelter before the sun rises.”
She left in a blur and Antony crouched down by the flames, reaching out a hand to the burning body of the baby. He had to find a way to kill her before she made him harm another. He did not know of her plan or where she was taking him, except they moved farther south with each day. Rome was close enough, with his new abilities he could be there in two days, probably less if he pushed himself.
The territory here was dangerous for their kind. The Order patrolled heavily, sending Hunters out in groups instead of alone, as he had previously hunted himself. He was surprised they had not faced any Hunters yet, but perhaps they would soon. He was one of them, still had his insignia to prove who he was. If he could find them, there was a chance they would take him in and keep him, locked up, but alive, and he knew for certain they hunted Jocasta. He was the one sent to kill her and swore he had already done so. Swore he had watched her body go up in flames and yet somehow she lived.
There were many things about Jocasta he had yet to discover and knew it had to do with her ability to control his mind so easily. To get inside as if she were one with him. There had to be a way to either do the same or break her control, and give him the chance he needed to escape.
Antony grabbed a burning log from the hearth and quickly set the rest of the home alight, until the flames moved swiftly and ate everything in their path. He backed out of the hut and stood beside Jocasta, watching, the fire dancing across her wicked smile and her fangs hanging over her lip.
“Antony, I must warn you,” she whispered as they watched the flames reach higher. “If you betray me, you will regret it.”
She turned and disappeared into the night. Antony, transfixed by the fire, stayed for a moment longer, until he felt the familiar tug in his mind of her ordering him to follow. His feet dug into the ground in an effort to stay, to ignore her siren’s call and remain in that one place even if the sun rose up over the hills. He would let it burn his skin until there was nothing left. Jocasta ordered again and his feet moved heavily one at a time until he ran after her, his head hanging in despair.
The taste of the babe’s blood remained fresh on his lips throughout the rest of the night and the next day. He could not shake the sensation of it flowing sweetly into his mouth and down his throat, filling him.
If he could find no other escape, he would seek a way to meet the sun and end his life before Jocasta forced him to do something even worse than murdering a child.
***
The Master’s eyes narrowed as they searched the darkness and the last tendrils of the memory faded. “Catherine,” he whispered and glared into the shadows. “I sense you, child, I know you are close.”
He gracefully stood and moved deeper into the marsh, sensing her mind reaching out in hopes of finding Bastian. Her courage and determination were admirable, but foolhardy to risk herself for the man she loved. Though he could not see the path her mind took, he felt it pulsing close to him when it neared the camp, so close to finding the man she was after. The Master would not let her reach him. He closed his eyes and dragged her towards him until he enveloped her mind with his own and dragged her down to the dungeon awaiting her if she did not come willingly and join him. She struggled to break free, but he snatched her and did not let her go.
“My, you are strong,” he mused as he faced her in his mind.
Catherine glared at him as his fingers dug deeper into her shoulders. She spat in his face and head butted him, but he snarled and threw her aside. “Release him,” she snapped as she got to her feet. “Release him and I will not come after you. I swear it.”
He laughed as they circled, and he clasped his hands behind his back. “And you believe this terrifies me? A young thing like you coming after me? Do you even know how old I am?”
“I don’t give a damn,” she replied. She stopped her movements and her lips twitched as her gaze locked onto his. Her eyes flared red and the Master’s body stilled, a chill shooting down his spine. “Did Haddie not tell you of me?”
The Master did not understand her sudden change in mood, but the chill down his spine came again and moved to his chest. “Haddie is mine now. I broke her.” He smirked when he saw the anger flare in Catherine’s eyes, until it turned fierce and he no longer stared at a woman simply pining for her lover. There was a fire within her and she barely contained it.
“I was able to break free of her powers when I was still human. Imagine what I can do now,” she whispered. “Imagine what I can do to you.”
“You lie,” he said even as an inkling of fear filled his mind. “You have no power over me.”
“No? Whose mind are we in at this moment, yours or mine…” She trailed off and grinned widely. “Antony.”
The Master’s eyes narrowed as he took a step back. “What did you say to me?”
“Antony. Isn’t that your name and I see there is someone else with you…a woman,” Catherine mused and tilted her head as if listening to a voice close by. “Jocasta…yes, I see her name, too and darkness all around her—”
The Master lunged forward and wrapped his hands around Catherine’s throat, shaking her violently. “You know nothing!”
“I…know enough,” she muttered through a hiss. “I know enough to destroy you.”
A loud crack resounded around them and the Master fell to his knees standing once again in the marsh surrounded by trees and sounds of the night creeping in around him. Catherine was gone and he could not find another trace of her to latch onto.
He howled with rage into the night and Desmond, amongst others, rushed to his side to aid him, but he angrily shoved past them and headed for Bastian. He pushed through the tent flaps and glared at the man, chest heaving as he snarled at what Catherine was able to do to him so easily. Bastian stiffened and pressed himself back against the post, but fear was nowhere to be seen in his expression. That was something the Master would have to change, for him and for Catherine. They feared nothing, and carelessly did not fear him.
Soon though, they would. They would all fear him and then they would be his.
“You will tell me everything you know about your Catherine,” he whispered harshly, moving closer.
“I will do nothing of the sort,” Bastian replied. “You will get no answers from me.”
“There are plenty of hours remaining in the night for you to change your mind,” he insisted. “You only
need the right motivation.”
He rushed forward before Bastian could brace, and laid his hands on the man’s head. The Master closed his eyes and tore through the vampire’s mind, delving deeper and deeper until he found a memory of Bastian and Catherine, their first night together under the stars. He grinned as Bastian held her, kissed her passionately, but that was too sweet a memory to hold onto. With a few mental pushes, he twisted the memory until Bastian saw something much, much worse.
“No,” Bastian whispered. “No! Get out of my head!”
“You killed her,” he said sternly. “You murdered the woman you loved. Killed her in cold blood.”
The image shifted until Bastian held Catherine before him and lowered his fangs to her neck. She cried and beat against him as he bit down and sucked her blood in harsh pulls. Her screams echoed around them both and Bastian yelled for it to stop.
“This is not real, she is alive,” he muttered and pushed back against the Master.
“How can you be certain? You killed her. Catherine is dead at your hands and her blood is spilled because of you,” the Master said and forced his mind deeper into Bastian’s. He needed him to reach out to Catherine, to find the link between them so he could follow it. “She is dead. Gone from this world, forever.”
Bastian shook his head and snapped his jaws at the Master, but the image shifted again and he held a broken and bleeding body in his arms. Catherine’s eyes were frozen open in fear as blood covered her front. Bastian cried out in terror, holding her to him, shaking her as if he could wake her from a deep slumber.
“Catherine.” He smoothed her hair from her face, shaking his head. “Catherine, answer me!”
But her eyes remained closed and the pained howl issuing from Bastian’s throat resonated around the camp and deep into the marsh. His pain grew until it filled the Master, and he grinned, taking it in, knowing the man was close. All he needed was one small connection, the tiniest touch and he would find his way to Catherine and finally bring her to him.
***
Catherine told Tula what happened as they sat around the fire and planned their next move. She had been able to just break free of the Master, not even sure how she managed to get away. Then suddenly, pain consumed her and she fell to the ground screaming as she held her head.
“Catherine!” Liam yelled and rushed to her side. “Catherine what’s wrong?”
“Bastian,” she hissed. “He’s torturing him.” Tears slipped from her cheeks as another wave of pain struck her hard. Was she connected to him without knowing it? Images flashed through her mind, but they were too fast for her to focus on.
“Can you tell where they are?” Tula asked.
She shook her head and hissed against the pain. “I have to make him stop!”
“No, he’s doing this to draw you back in,” Tula argued and gripped her shoulders hard. He was in the midst of lecturing her for attempting to reach out to Bastian again, when the Master caught her. She tried to tell Tula she could learn something about the Master, but Tula argued it did not matter. “Catherine, you must make it stop before the Master finds you, finds us!”
“I can’t…make it stop,” she snarled and screamed, her back arching as the image cleared. “Oh no.”
“What?” Liam asked. “Catherine what are you seeing?”
“Not me…Bastian. The Master made Bastian think that he killed me…he thinks I’m dead!”
Tula dragged her to her feet and forced her to look at him. “You must break the connection!”
“I can’t, I’m not the one holding it, Bastian is,” she hissed and shoved back, trying to get away, but Tula held her tightly. She did not want them to find her, but Bastian’s fear latched his mind to hers and there was nothing she could do to make him let go. “Tula,” she whispered and gritted her teeth as she glared at him.
He nodded and drew his fist back. If she was unconscious then maybe the link would fail. Tula muttered a quick apology and then hit her hard. Catherine winced, before darkness took hold and her body sagged.
Bastian…her last thought was of him, followed by her prayer that he would last the night and not break as Haddie had done.
Chapter 6
Bastian’s body struggled against the manacles holding him, desperate to break free as his mind frayed and shattered. Catherine dead in his arms. She was dead, but he had to be certain. He would never harm her, but the Master, he might. As the other vampire turned away, Bastian closed his eyes and sank back into his mind, searching for the link to Catherine, needing to feel her presence, needing to know she still lived.
No, you can’t! He’ll find her, a voice argued in his addled mind, but he could not stop himself.
The pain tightening in his chest at her loss was too much and he had to know if she lived. His mind desperately sought out any connection it could to her, and when he found it, her love and warmth surrounded him. Alive, she was alive.
“Ah, there she is,” the Master crooned and wrapped his hand tightly around Bastian’s throat. “Thank you for finding her for me.”
“No! You leave her alone,” Bastian snarled, but the Master backhanded him hard enough to blur his vision.
“I’m afraid I cannot do that, not when I know the true potential within her.”
“I told you nothing,” he argued, but the look in the Master’s eye said differently. “If you touch her,” Bastian growled, “I will rip your head from your body!”
The Master leaned forward and smiled. “No, you will not.”
Smirking, he left the tent, calling for Desmond to gather the vampires and make ready for a hunt.
Bastian strained against the manacles until his wrists bled, all the while desperately trying to reach Catherine again, but her presence was absent. Worry consumed him, competing against the rage building inside of his body. The tent opened, but it was not the Master returning, instead Antoinette faced him. Her lip lifted in a snarl as she approached and saw the blood dripping from his wrists. A delicate hand reached out and ran her fingers through it before she brought it to her lips and swallowed.
“What do you want?” Bastian growled, hoping against hope she was there to release him.
“Curious is all,” she said quietly, running her hands down his chest as she circled around him. “What will happen when Catherine arrives at the camp?”
“Nothing because she will not be brought here, I will not let that happen.”
“She replaced me once,” Antoinette went on as if he had not spoken. “I daresay the Master is quite taken with her, so taken he has shunned me several times in the past few days alone, so focused on finding and collecting her.”
Bastian heard the worry in her words and the jealousy, but his Antoinette was long dead and gone. “If you fear her coming here then why not tell the Master? Or better yet, stop it yourself.”
“No, the Master needs her for her powers, but that does not mean I cannot torture her until she breaks,” she hissed and cackled darkly. “Though she is immortal, there are ways to scar the skin and the soul. The Master will never want her when I’m through, and neither will you.”
“You will not touch her,” he swore, rattling the chains until they bent and twisted. The manacles at his wrists grew slick with blood and he tugged even harder as Antoinette stood before him. “I will rip your heart out before you even get a chance.”
“You already did that once, remember?”
“I did not kill you!” he snarled and yanked so hard the chain snapped in two, and his hands fell to his sides. Antoinette’s eyes widened in surprise before Bastian smirked and charged after her. She screamed and rushed out of the tent, but did not get far before he tackled her to the ground, in the midst of the chaos of the camp. He quickly wrapped an arm hard enough around her neck to snap it and pressed his other against her chest, ready to drive it through and do exactly as he threatened.
“What do you think will happen?” the Master yelled as he pushed through the crowd. The guards stood close by
, swords level, but he waved them down. “You wish to kill a woman you claim to love?”
“Loved, a very long time ago,” he argued squeezing his arm tighter. “Before you killed her.”
The Master’s eyes flared. “You will not kill her, Bastian.”
“And why not? She is nothing to me. Let me leave here and I will release your lover,” he said, and dug his nails deeply into Antoinette’s skin, until she shrieked, struggling against him. “Refuse and I will rip her heart out before your eyes.”
Antoinette begged the Master to save her, but he simply stood there watching, hands clasped behind his back. After a moment, he lowered his head and told Bastian to get on with it then. “She is of no real value to me anyway. She has nothing but a pretty face and flawless body. Please, save me from disposing of her at a later time.”
Bastian hissed as Antoinette whimpered, sagging in his arms. “Please, Master, please…I do not want to die!”
“You should have considered that before you threatened his new love, pet,” he said sounding bored. “Come now, Bastian, we do not have all night. Finish her or let her go. The sun will not wait much longer.”
Bastian hissed and brought his hand back, ready to plunge into Antoinette’s chest. She struggled against him, but he did not care for her, not anymore. Too much time had passed and she was changed by the man who had turned him into a monster. He brought his hand back, ready to plunge through her chest. She screamed and he prepared to kill her, when his hand jerked to a sudden stop and every muscle in his body froze.
The Master sighed as Antoinette slipped out of Bastian’s grip and rushed to stand behind the other vampires. “You truly believe I care so little for those under my protection? You should know better or I would have killed you by now.”
Bastian fought to move his body, but his limbs did not answer his commands. “What have you done to me?”
“I have control of your body and soon I will have control of your mind. If you would simply give in, we would not have to go the painful route, but alas you appear to only accept the pain,” he muttered.
SV02-06. Slave to a Vampire Page 29