“What are you doing?” Charles whispered. “Your nose is bleeding.”
Angrily, she wiped up the blood while trying to understand what had just happened. “I’m fine. We need to move,” she hissed and led the way down the corridor.
It was empty as was the next one they turned down. The cells were close. She sensed Bastian’s enraged thoughts of murdering Antony the moment he was out of the cell. They would come for him soon and he needed to be freed before they did. Cell doors appeared in the walls to her right and she pressed her hand against each one, feeling the cold metal. Charles asked what she was doing, but she ignored him. Bastian was close, so close!
Her hand brushed against another door and stuck to it like a magnet, but it was not her doing. Bastian’s thoughts collided with hers and he whispered her name across her mind.
“Bastian,” she breathed, and stood on her toes to peer through the tiny slits in the top of the cell door. “Bastian!”
“Catherine?” he gasped then cackled darkly. “No, no this is another trick.”
“No Bastian, it is no trick!” she told him, and searched the door for the latch. It was locked, and no matter how hard she tugged on it or slammed against it, it would not budge in its frame. “The keys, who has the keys?”
Chains rattled behind the door and Catherine knew he stood on the other side, pressing his hand against the timber exactly where hers was. “Guard, black hair, scar on his chin,” Bastian called.
“Stay here,” she told Charles and turned away from the cell door. She focused on the description Bastian had given her, ready to track the guard in the crowd in the courtyard if she had to. Then a cheerful whistling echoed towards them and her eyes shot open.
She grabbed Charles’ arm and yanked him into an open cell just as the vampire she looked for strolled around the corner. Keys jangled and Catherine itched to grab them, but she forced herself to wait.
“Bastian, the Master is ready for you,” the vampire said with a dark chuckle.
“I will kill him this time,” Bastian snarled, and Catherine heard the groaning of the chains being yanked from the wall in his struggle to be free. “I will destroy him!”
“You had your chance and you failed,” the vampire snapped. “Tonight you will join the rest of us and from here, we will continue with our Master’s plans. Once he has your woman of course.”
The keys clanked against the cell door before Catherine heard them grate in the lock. The moment the bolt clicked free, she lunged out of the neighboring cell and pressed her hands against the vampire’s temples. He opened his mouth to scream, but not a sound could be heard, and his tongue twisted as pain coursed through the length of his body.
“You will remain silent,” Catherine commanded as she held him tightly. “You will not move, you will do nothing until I give you the command to move again.”
The vampire hissed, but the sound cut off when she pressed harder. Carefully, she removed her hands and the vampire stayed exactly as he was, arms halfway up as if to grab his head. Catherine stepped around him, leaving Charles’ staring open mouthed at the scene in front of him, as she moved to the cell door.
“I’m here, Bastian, just hold on,” she hissed, and fumbled with the keys. Once the door was fully unlocked, she tugged hard on the metal and dragged it open. The sight that met her eyes tightened her chest and she cried, “Bastian!”
He crouched on the floor, chains trailing from his wrists and ankles. Blood covered his face and his hands, even his feet, and when his dim red eyes met hers, she struggled to keep her rage in check. “You…you are not really here, you cannot be,” he whispered, and he backed farther into the cell. “It is a trick, another trick!”
“No, it is not,” she said calmly, and held out her hands to him. “I am really here, I swear it.”
“Hurry this up,” Charles snapped from the doorway.
“He is not exactly sane at the moment,” she hissed. Her eyes never leaving Bastian. “I cannot simply pull him out of here. He thinks I am an illusion.”
“Then make him believe you are not,” Charles said. “Quickly! Something is happening in the courtyard.”
Catherine’s hands brushed against Bastian’s and he flinched, but did not back away. His eyes studied her face and when she closed her fingers around his wrists, he gasped and fell back against the wall, struggling to escape, fighting against her. The chains clanked and rattled loudly. Soon it would draw the attention of others. Charles muttered from the doorway, but Catherine ignored him and focused solely on the man before her.
In despair, she gripped the side of his head, much as she had the vampire in the corridor, and closed her eyes. His mind was in shambles and a dark mist surrounded the man she knew, the one she loved buried deep within.
“Antony,” she hissed enraged.
The mist thickened and threatened to reach out and pull her down into it. It whispered her name and penetrated deep into her thoughts, down to her very soul, but she brushed the tendrils aside, refusing to let them take hold. Liam had asked her to have faith in herself, faith in the bond she held with Bastian and that was what she would do. Catherine delved deeper into the darkness until she saw a glimmer of light in the shadows.
“Bastian, come back to me,” she whispered, reaching for the part of him fighting to hold on. “Come back to me.”
Hands covered hers, pressing her harder against his head and she heard Bastian growl. He shifted, and for a split second she let worry enter her mind that something would go wrong, but then shoved it aside before it could take root. She trusted Bastian with her life. He had saved her more than once, and now she would trust herself to save him.
“Catherine,” he whispered, his breath against hers.
She sighed when his lips met her own and he dragged her fiercely against the hard planes of his body. The darkness in his mind burst free and surrounded them both, filling the cell. Charles cursed, gasping at what he saw, but Catherine was lost alongside Bastian as he broke through the last of Antony’s hold over his mind. She kissed him back, her hands running through his hair as his hands slid down her back, fisting in her blouse in his desperate need to feel her again.
They broke apart and she smiled to see the light returning to his eyes. He ran his fingers gently across her cheeks and kissed her again.
“I told you not to come,” he said, gazing into her eyes.
“And I told you I was not going to leave you,” she reminded him, and then turned towards Charles. “Charles, the keys.”
“Charles?” Bastian asked as Charles threw the keys towards her.
“Yes, we have much to discuss,” Catherine told him while quickly releasing the manacles at his wrists and ankles. The sight of his wounds tore at her heart, but Bastian gripped her shoulders and pulled her back to her feet. The moment his lips captured hers again, she sighed and let him surround her with his love once more.
“We have to leave,” she said quietly, not wanting the moment to end. “We are far from danger.”
“And him?” Bastian asked, letting Catherine take one of his arms and pull it over her shoulders until she was certain he could walk. “Who is this man? I smell malice on him…and death.”
Catherine began to explain when she screamed, buckling under the agonizing pain ricocheting through her mind. Bastian yelled and fell alongside her, holding tightly to her hand as the pain grew in intensity.
Look who has finally come to join me, Antony whispered in Catherine’s mind.
She gasped. This was it. They were finished. But at least she would die alongside her true love.
***
Bastian’s hand dug into the stone of the cell floor as he clung to Catherine with the other. He roared in rage and staggered to his feet, dragging Catherine along with him until he clutched her body to him tightly.
“We have to fight against him,” he hissed in her ear, gasping as another wave of pain abruptly jarred his senses.
“I cannot,” she cried out, sagging a
gainst him. “He is everywhere.”
When the cell door had first opened and Catherine stood there, he’d assumed it was simply another trick. Antony wanted to break him and using Catherine was his only chance at that, but then she held him and he knew it was she inside his mind. Only she could touch the deepest, darkest part of his soul and bring it to the light.
“Yes, you can,” he told her fiercely, and turned her to face him. His gaze locked onto hers and held it. When the next wave of pain hit, the intensity dulled. “He is trying to control us. We will not allow him to win.”
She did not say a word in response and her body weakened even more.
“Say it with me, love, say it. I know what you have done. I feel it inside you,” he muttered and cringed, though this time the ache lessened further. “You pulled me from the darkness. You did that, Catherine. I will not let you fall, not now.”
Her hands dug into his back as she nodded against his shoulder. “I believe you.”
She relaxed in his arms and they stared into each other’s eyes, riding the waves of pain as Antony pushed to gain control of their minds. He was strong, but together, they were stronger and they pushed back against him.
“Wait,” she said and gripped his arm. “Bastian, what if he believes he controls us?”
He held her harder against his body and frowned. “What do you mean? We simply need to leave this place. Run as far as we can.”
“You and I know we will never run far enough,” she whispered, and her gaze slid sideways over her shoulder. Bastian’s frown deepened, sensing the urgency in her words and the anger towards the man standing in the cell doorway. “Not from everyone. Trust me.”
Listen to me, she said in his mind, and Bastian was careful to keep his expression unchanged, and avoid alerting the man who stood impatiently at the cell door. He is of the Order. They have infiltrated the fort. They are our only chance of stopping Antony, but we cannot let any of them leave, not alive.
Subtly he nodded and tilted his head as if reacting to more pain. Tula and the others?
Only he and Kendi survived the attack from Antony’s men and the Order, she informed him and her furious growl echoed through his mind. Liam, they killed Liam!
Guilt assaulted him as he held her close and kissed the top of her head. For too long he had been trapped with Antony, unable to aid Catherine, keep her safe from a life of such violence and darkness. Now he was free and no one was going to take her away from him again. Blood flowed through his veins, fresh from the night before when he was fed again. That was Antony’s mistake, assuming he could so easily break every vampire he met.
“He fears us as much as he covets us,” he told her. “We will use that against him.”
Footsteps charged down the corridor and Bastian shoved Catherine protectively behind him, but she shook her head. “No, remember. We are his now.”
He nodded and let her stand beside him, completely and utterly still. Charles asked what the hell was going on, but they both ignored him. He raged and drew his sword as vampires rushed towards the cell door. With a fury, he attacked, but there were too many and his sword was no use in such tight quarters.
“Get your hands off me!” he yelled, but the vampires held him. His sword clattered useless to the ground at his feet and they dragged him kicking and screaming from the room.
Three more entered and glanced from Catherine to Bastian.
“The Master seeks your presence,” the vampire in front snapped, his eyes narrowing.
Bastian and Catherine bowed their heads in unison as he said, “We live to serve our Master.”
Saying the words aloud made his skin crawl, but they needed to keep up the pretense. The vampire smirked in approval and stepped aside so they could leave the cell. Bastian wanted so badly to take Catherine’s hand and run, but she brushed him away. Then he glimpsed Kendi and Tula still inside the fort, hiding with other men in the shadows. How she came to convince the Order to attack along with her, he had not the faintest idea.
Finally, he had Catherine back in his arms and yet he could do nothing to save them from the danger they were walking into.
The courtyard was eerily silent, just like the night when Bastian had killed Haddie, but this time he knew there was no illusion. Catherine’s emotions were too raw and familiar for it to be anything, but her standing beside him. The vampires parted when the pair approached. Where the post had stood the night before was now a small platform. Antony stood atop it and when he noticed who approached, he smirked and held his arms high above his head.
“Catherine, my dear sweet, Catherine,” he called out. “At last we meet face to face and my, how beautiful you are.”
Antoinette leered beside him, glaring at Catherine. Bastian’s hands clenched into fists, but Catherine muttered a warning in his mind. His hands relaxed, reluctantly, and he walked with her to the platform’s edge and stopped.
“Two more have joined us, my children,” he called out, and the vampires erupted in cheers. “Two more in our quest against those who seek to weed us out and destroy us all! Our army grows ever more powerful and it will continue to do so.”
The vampires erupted in shouts and jeers as Charles was dragged forward through the crowd towards the platform. He cursed them all as demons and monsters.
“I will kill you all! The Order is coming for you! They will not let you curse this world any longer!”
“This man,” Antony called as he raised his hands for silence. “This man is part of the Order. He is the son of one of their great commanders and he has come to kill me. To kill all of you!”
Charles spat at Antony’s feet and one of the vampires punched him hard in the gut. Catherine tensed, but otherwise did not move. Bastian watched Antony closely. He wanted the chance to be right beside him, to be close enough to end this.
He eyed the vampires at his side. One of them had a pistol tucked into his belt. All Bastian needed was to be close enough to snatch it up so he could shoot Antony in the head. It would not kill him, but it would stun him enough.
If we attack, Charles’ men will move in, Catherine told him.
Bastian worried Antony would hear her, but his focus was on Charles and he appeared unable to hear the communication between them as he had done before.
We need them to attack, he replied. We need a chance to kill Antony.
And Charles. We cannot let him leave here alive.
Antony was still ranting about the Order and the atrocities they’d caused over the centuries to all of inhuman nature. The vampires listened closely, hanging onto every word falling from his mouth, but Charles glared and cursed the vampire.
“You lie! We save those we take in,” he snapped. “We even tried to save you!”
Several gasps sounded around them and Bastian barley kept the smirk from his face. He wondered if any of Antony’s precious followers knew Antony was once a hunter for the Order; if they knew why he hated them, why he feared them ever capturing him again. Antony growled at Charles and wrapped his hand tightly around his throat.
“You insolent little wretch! I think I’ll keep you alive as my personal feeding trough for a few months,” Antony hissed, saliva dripping from his fangs in his rage. “Then I will turn you and send you to your father!”
Antony dragged Charles close and with a snarl, latched onto the man’s neck. Charles screamed and his hands went to shove Antony away as the other vampires released him, but he was powerless to break free. With each pull of the Master’s mouth, Charles’ attempts to escape weakened, until he sagged against the man greedily feeding from him. Pain etched across Charles’ face as Antony’s pull came free and Charles fell hard to the platform, his breathing ragged.
Bastian heard the faintest rustle of rushing steps, but they were not coming from the courtyard.
“That is what we will do to the Order,” Antony proclaimed, wiping blood from his mouth and holding his wetted hand up for the others. “That is what we will all do! Bring the new ones to me
. The time has come for them to join us!”
Catherine was led to the platform first, followed by Bastian. When he passed Antoinette, his eyes slipped briefly to her face and away before she noticed. Remorse poured from her body, and also jealousy. He understood the second emotion, but the first confused him. Catherine stood to Antony’s right and Bastian remained at his left. Bastian turned his body slightly so his hand would be able to reach the pistol when the time came.
Do you trust me? he thought, hoping that she heard him.
Her eyes flared darker for a moment as she met his gaze.
He nodded and sidled a little closer to the vampire with the pistol, who was oblivious to Bastian’s movements.
“After tonight, we move to the colonies,” Antony announced loudly. “The Order is everywhere and we must hunt them down and eliminate them! We will not stop until we reach the very steps of Rome and bring their house down around them!”
Amidst the cheering and the calls for death, Antony reached for Catherine and gently brought her to stand before him. Her gaze was fixed and her stare blank, but Bastian sensed the pent up rage coursing through her blood, lighting it on fire until an inferno burned within her core. He did not know how many men this Charles had brought along with him, or if they would be enough, but he hoped that when the moment came, they would attack.
This was his second chance at killing Antony. He doubted they would have a third.
“You and I were meant to be as one,” Antony told Catherine as he pushed her hair delicately from her face.
Bastian’s hands twitched, but he remained in his place. When Antony leaned closer and breathed her in, Bastian imagined all the ways he would tear that monster limb from limb before feeding his body to the sharks.
SV02-06. Slave to a Vampire Page 38