“Soon, you will be mine completely and we will conquer the world together. You, Bastian, and me, with an army at our backs. You who remind me so much of my sweet Hanna.”
The desire in his words almost set Bastian off, but he held his ground. Antony’s sweet Hanna. His wife perhaps? Had he been loved once upon a time before becoming a monster? The idea was startling that so much pain and torment could turn a man so greatly, but then Antony lowered his mouth to Catherine’s neck and all sense of pity fled Bastian’s body.
His fangs caressed her neck and her ire rose to tangible heights. He did not simply bite her as he had done with Haddie. He took his time, held her body until it formed against the contours of his. Sweetly, he kissed her neck, finding the perfect spot, before he sighed and widened his mouth for the bite. His hands were fisted in Catherine’s hair and shirt and when he let out a growl of pleasure, Bastian lost all control.
Catherine winced as Antony moved to bite down, and turned to see Bastian’s face. Antony’s eyes widened in surprise and his mouth stilled at Catherine’s neck, staring down the barrel of the pistol in Bastian’s hand, aimed right at his forehead.
“Let go of my wife,” Bastian snarled and his finger tightened around the trigger.
Chapter 7
The resounding boom from the pistol echoed around the fort, but the bullet merely grazed Antony’s head. He ducked out of the way a split second too soon and Bastian cursed. Antony leapt from the platform.
Battle cries sounded around them and men rushed into the vampires, catching them off guard. In moments, the fort was in chaos. Antony grabbed Antoinette’s hand and dragged her into the mass of bodies, but he was not going to vanish so easily. Bastian called for Catherine and she nodded once before leaping off the platform, Bastian right behind her. They landed right behind Antony, and Bastian grabbed the back of his shirt, throwing him off his feet.
Antoinette screamed close by, raising her hands ready to strike Bastian, but Catherine wrapped an arm around her neck and dragged her back into the other vampires.
“You think you can kill me?” Antony roared, staring Bastian down as the wound on the side of his scalp healed. “You think you are strong enough to kill the one who made you?”
“If not for Haddie, I already would have,” he replied with a dark grin.
With a growl, Antony lunged at Bastian, wrapping his hands around his throat, but Bastian swiped his hands to the side and swung his fist wide, thumping Antony in the side of the head. Screams of terror and agony sounded around them, and Bastian zeroed in on the only one who mattered. Antony would die this night and Bastian would be the one to ensure his demise.
As with their earlier fight, they were evenly matched, but Bastian fought harder this time, not tainted with the fear of the Order taking him away. Antony was rampant with it and though he growled and snarled, grabbing Bastian by the throat and tried to throttle him, his attempt to dominate was weakened by the anxiety filling his veins as chaos raged around him. Men pushed the vampires back into the courtyard, killing those Antony had turned to serve in his precious army; an army he’d created to take down the very men destroying them. Antony’s eyes danced frantically around and Bastian punched him once, twice, before kicking him hard in the chest. Antony staggered back, holding his stomach as he pushed himself back up.
Bastian smirked and raised his fist to hit him again. A high-pitched scream shattered the air. It was not Catherine, but Bastian knew the sound. Antoinette. She was in trouble. So distracted by the two women fighting, he did not see Antony rush towards him.
***
Catherine screeched in rage as Antoinette slashed her nails across her face with a slap, drawing rivulets of blood, oozing on her skin. Wiping them away, she grabbed Antoinette’s hand hard in her grasp as she raised to smack her back.
“You think you can take my husband from me?” Antoinette snarled and struggled to pull free, but Catherine held her fast. “Bastian was meant to be mine! He will always be mine!”
“And where is he now?” Catherine hissed, dragging the woman close against her and snarling in her face. “He will not save you, not this time. He already gave his life for you once! You had your chance!” Catherine gripped harder and bone snapped within her grasp.
Antoinette screamed in pain and punched Catherine in the side of the head with her free hand. Staggering backwards, Catherine stayed on her feet and braced for the woman flying at her, shrieking like a crazed banshee. She was glad for the training Tula had managed to give her. Antoinette had none, and fought with an uncontained fury of flying fists and snapping jaws. Her attacks drove them deeper into the mass of bodies and Catherine worried Charles’ men would forget she was on their side and kill her. Many vampires lay dead in the courtyard, but when she misjudged a kick and Antoinette hit her hard enough to send her flying back into a wooden post, she noticed the number of living had dwindled.
Charles’ men were losing ground. She searched for Tula and Kendi, but there were too many, and before she could call out for them, Antoinette was on her again. She grabbed Catherine’s blouse and slammed her head into the post repeatedly as she growled.
“I will kill you,” Antoinette hissed in her ear. “Then I will take back the man who was meant to be with me!”
“No,” Catherine snapped and head butted Antoinette hard enough to break her nose.
Screeching with curses and holding her bleeding face, Antoinette fell backwards into the crowd, but Catherine did not let her slip away.
Driven by her rage, Catherine drew the dagger at her hip and held it steady before her. Antoinette’s eyes widened in fear and she held her hands out before her. “Please, wait. I can still help you.”
“How? You are nothing to me, nor to Bastian. You are of no use to us.”
“I am close to Antony,” she replied, but Catherine shook her head.
“He used you, just as he used all the others he turned. You are nothing, but a wench,” she snapped. This woman would have allowed a monster to take the man who died for her, just so she could have him for herself as well as hold onto the power she thought Antony let her have.
“Antony loves me,” she whispered. “He told me, every night. He loves me.”
“He turned you to get to Bastian!”
Antoinette shook her head furiously, running her hands through her hair. “No, no it’s not true.”
She muttered under her breath as Catherine moved closer, holding the dagger ready. Was Antoinette under Antony’s control, too? For a moment, she pitied the woman and was prepared to offer to aid her if she would help them kill Antony, but the scream of rage that erupted from Antoinette’s mouth did not give Catherine the chance. Antoinette flung herself like a wild animal and the dagger fell from Catherine’s hand, disappearing under the feet of those fighting around them.
A flurry of nails digging into her face and shoulders tore a growl from Catherine as she struggled to protect her face and get back to her feet, but Antoinette stopped her. She gripped Catherine by the hair and punched her until her vision blurred and Catherine wondered if this horrid woman would be the one to end her. The dagger, she needed to find it, but there was no looking for it. Antoinette punched her in both sides, cracking her ribs, the snap so loud it hurt her ears.
Then suddenly she was gone and Catherine grimaced in pain as she rolled to her stomach, trying to crawl away. Her hands fumbled through the mud, dragging her body along as agonizing pain shot down her sides. Close by, she heard Tula yell out an order, but the words were washed out by the screams of men as they were slaughtered. She’d warned Charles there were still too many. He should have listened.
We are all going to die here, she mused as she continued to pull herself through the fray. I was wrong, I was terribly wrong. Bastian, I’m so sorry.
“You think you can run from me?” Antoinette snarled, and Catherine grimaced.
Her hands spread across the ground, searching for purchase, anything to grab onto, when a weight landed on
her calf and she screamed. Pain exploded within her as Antoinette broke her leg.
“I will kill you and then I will show you to my Master. Bastian will have no choice,” she whispered, words frantic and shaky. “He will have to come back to me.”
Through the pain, Catherine realized something was in her hand, hard, and heavy. Antoinette grabbed Catherine’s shoulders in an effort to flip her over, all the while still raving about getting Bastian back. Catherine moved with her, gripping the item hard in her hand, and when Antoinette lowered her jaws to her neck, she yelled and raised her hand, plunging the dagger up and into her chest.
Antoinette gasped and released her. With a painful grunt, Catherine hit the ground and moved away from the woman as she glared at the dagger protruding from her chest. It did not quite reach her heart and she reached up slowly, ready to yank it free. Grimacing with pain, Catherine pulled herself to her feet, and letting out all her rage at Antoinette and Antony, at everything that had happened to her, she rushed for Antoinette and grabbed hold of the hilt. She used every ounce of strength that remained to shove it so hard into Antoinette’s chest that they both fell backwards, and the dagger along with Catherine’s hands, went straight through Antoinette’s body and out her back.
“Antoinette!” a roar etched with pain, erupted from the mass of fighting bodies. “Antoinette!”
Suddenly Catherine was in the air and landed with a bone-crunching smack on the ground. Her body screamed in agony, begging for it all to end. With ribs and leg both broken, an arm now too, she could barely manage to turn herself enough to see what had happened.
Vaguely, she became aware that the fighting around them had stilled. Charles stood with his men, holding a bloodied sword, and surrounded Antony as he crouched over the dead Antoinette. The vampires stood close by, but their number was smaller. It appeared that many had fled. Either Antony had not turned them all as he did Haddie and others like her, or he was not as powerful as he’d presumed. Those that remained stood frozen, uncertain of what to do, while their Master roared in pain.
“No, no I can save you,” he mumbled as he held her broken and bloodied body.
“She’s dead,” Catherine growled and could not hold back the strange sensation of joy she felt at seeing him suffer, after all the hurt he had caused so many others. “She has left you forever.”
As Antony clutched Antoinette’s body in his arms, she searched for Bastian, but could not find him. Chest tight, she tried to stand, but her leg had not healed enough and her body refused to support her weight. She cursed, ready to scream his name and pray. Then he abruptly appeared, pushing through the crowd of onlookers, and nodded once towards her. His face was badly beaten, but it healed even as she watched.
“You think you’ve won?” Antony hissed and dropped the dead body back to the ground. “You think you will have victory here today?”
He stood and raised his arms over his head. “Antony enough!” Bastian growled. “It is over. They will not die for you.”
But Antony grinned and a maniacal laugh issued from his lips. “They are mine to command.”
“You are not as powerful as you think,” Catherine said. “It is over.”
If he would stop fighting, it would give them the chance they needed to overtake the rest of the Order without worrying about him. Maybe there was a chance they could turn him from the monster he’d become, to the man he once was. Charles stepped closer, his men keeping watchful eyes on the other vampires, and aimed his sword at Antony.
“Surrender now, Antony, and your sins may yet be purged from your soul,” Charles ordered.
“You believe me weak,” Antony hissed. “That will be your final mistake!”
The vampires remaining screamed and cried out as they clutched their heads. Some fell to their knees, begging for it to stop, clawing at their eyes and ears as if trying to escape whatever nightmare they saw.
“Kill them,” Antony whispered. “Kill them all!”
Charles attacked Antony as the vampires turned on his men and chaos erupted once more, the soldiers desperately fighting to survive the sudden attack. Catherine watched Charles swing his sword high over his head, but Antony dodged the hit and kicked him hard in the stomach, sending him flying back to the platform. He did not move again and Catherine wondered if Antony had saved her the trouble of taking care of Charles later. She glanced back to find the Master, but he was gone. She cursed, her eyes searching, but she could no longer see Bastian either.
She turned, searching for Tula or Kendi, but then a hand grabbed her by the hair and yanked her painfully to her feet. She snarled, hissing and swiping her hands as Antony turned her to face him, seething with rage.
“You bitch,” he snarled and wrapped his other hand around her throat. “I would have let you be by my side, but you, you just have to fight me!”
He squeezed harder and the bones in her spine creaked, threatening to break. She clawed at his hand, but his grip did not loosen and her eyes widened. “You…will not…win.”
“Still you defy me?” he snarled and threw her by her hair across the courtyard. Her back slammed into the platform and she fell to the ground, shaking in agony. “I will tear you apart!”
Antony was before her again, but his body was thrown to the side as Bastian rammed into him. He stood before Catherine, growling continually, hands braced and ready to attack. “You will not touch her again, you bastard!”
“Bastian,” she gasped behind him and he turned, eyes shining a deep red with his fury. She held out her hand and he took it, hoisting her painfully to her feet.
“I can take him,” he whispered to her, but she shook her head and held his hand tighter.
“No, we face this together, no matter how it ends,” she hissed.
Standing on her good leg while the other continued to heal, the bone slowly melding together at an agonizing rate, they faced Antony as he blurred back to stand before them. He leered at their clasped hands and cackled.
“You believe you can destroy me? She is weak, too young. And you, you were made by me. You will not kill your Master.”
“No,” Bastian replied, and the pair moved forward. “But together, we will.”
Catherine glared fiercely at Antony as he stiffened and planted his feet. He pressed against her mind, trying to force his way in, but she held out, and with a smirk pushed back just as hard. Antony staggered backwards and flinched. Bastian and Catherine moved forward another step and Catherine opened her mind to Bastian’s. She knew the moment that Bastian felt Antony’s fear, pulled on it, dragging it out of him, and forced it back tenfold. Antony gasped and the glow in his eyes faltered as his worst fears crept forward in his mind.
She dug around his memories, even as he tried to keep her out, and focused on those he’d murdered, the ones he’d torn apart without mercy.
“You killed so many,” she whispered and forced him to hear their cries again, their final moments. “You murdered them without a care.”
Bastian joined her and drew on the pain and suffering of those dead and forced it on Antony.
Antony covered his ears with his hands. “No, no! You will not break me! I am the Master!”
“You are nothing, but a broken man,” Bastian snarled. “A cold blooded killer.”
Catherine and Bastian focused harder and Antony’s head flew back as though he’d been hit in the face by an invisible fist. She moved deeper into his mind, searching through centuries of memories, and found the first night he spent with the two vampires like her and Bastian. Warmth trickled from her nose and ears, but she ignored it, digging even deeper. He needed to remember that night, remember what it was to be powerless. Then, he manifested his own nightmare. She wanted him to do it again.
Antony tried to lunge forward, but another harsh flash of the cries of his victims sent him backwards instead, and they moved closer still. Catherine’s head grew light and she gripped Bastian’s hand tighter for support. Neither broke eye contact with Antony as they took
another step closer, and another.
“You will not win,” Antony hissed, clutching at his head as Catherine moved through his memoires. “You are too weak!”
“Perhaps,” she whispered, and her lips curled into a wicked grin when she found the exact moment she searched for. “But your mind is strong.”
When he had been with the Order, she knew from his thoughts he’d manifested his own nightmares of those he’d slaughtered. He saw them closing in around him. She could not do such a thing, but Antony could and using the strength remaining in her mind, in her connection to Bastian, she forced him to do so again.
Antony’s hands fell heavily to his sides and his face paled even more. “No,” he whispered and glanced around. “No…this is not…this is not real. You are not real.”
“But they are,” Bastian said quietly, and they moved until they stood just an arm’s length away from him. “They are real and they have come for revenge.”
Antony’s body trembled and he sank to his knees in the mud. “I will not go. You cannot take me…I am not ready…no!”
“Neither were they,” Catherine snarled. “You ruined their lives and now the time has come to pay for your sins, Antony. Time to be cleansed.” She ensured to use the same words as his previous tormentors. He sank even lower to the ground, swatting his hands at the invisible dead surrounding him.
Catherine’s body swayed, fighting to stay on her feet, but they had to finish this. Together, she and Bastian lifted their free hands and placed one on either side of Antony’s head. His body straightened on its knees and his face contorted in a silent scream of pain as they made him relive and feel every death he caused, every hurt he created, and finally, he experienced his undead birth, except this time he did not survive. Blood spilled from his mouth and eyes, his ears and nose as his body convulsed before finally falling to the side. Only then did Bastian take his hand from Catherine’s. He found a sword lying on the ground nearby, and with a harsh swing, relieved the Master of his head.
SV02-06. Slave to a Vampire Page 39