The vampires in the courtyard sagged and fell to the ground, holding their heads and staring around wildly. Antony’s hold over them died with him and they were their own beings again. Charles’ men moved in quickly to cover them again, but so few soldiers remained after the final attack. Tula and Kendi moved out of them and stood beside Bastian. He embraced Tula tightly followed by Kendi, whispering to them before he turned to Catherine.
“My love,” he whispered, and his worried frown filled her vision as darkness descended and her body collapsed. “Catherine!”
“I’m…I’m fine,” she muttered, but could not find the strength to move.
“No matter. We will tend to her on the way,” Charles said loudly as he approached. “Men, gather supplies and chain them. We leave as soon as we are able.”
“Leave?” Bastian asked with a growl as he held Catherine in his arms. “What nonsense do you speak of? We are not leaving this fort with you.”
“I’m afraid you are, that was the agreement,” Charles told him sternly. “She used my men to save you and now I will take you all back to Rome so the Order can purge you for your darkness and use you to fetter out the rest of your horrid kind.”
Catherine pushed against Bastian’s chest as she told him to set her on her feet.
“You are not strong enough,” he growled and his hands tightened their hold on her.
“I am for this,” she said, and with a reluctant sigh, he set her down so she could face Charles. The vampires in the courtyard outnumbered his men easily and still he thought they would go willingly. They looked to her as Charles’ men moved towards them, ready to round them up. “Stop,” she yelled weakly. “They are not going with you.”
Charles whipped back around with a glare and stormed over to her. “What did you say to me?”
“I said, they are not going with you and neither are we.”
The vampires stilled and Catherine reached out to brush against their minds, whispering to flee or stay and fight.
“We have an agreement,” he insisted and shifted nervously as the vampires slowly backed into the shadows, away from his men. “Stand! Do not let them leave!”
But even his men appeared hesitant to move after the fight they had just barely survived. Many of their dead littered the ground and Catherine smirked to see fear in their eyes.
“I said hold them!” he snapped, latching onto her arm as Bastian snarled behind her, “and you are coming with me.”
“I would advise you to release me before my husband attacks you,” she said calmly.
“Him? I do not fear him, I do not fear any of you.”
He tugged on her, but she pulled back and his hand slipped. “I said I would go to Rome, Charles,” she told him loudly and when his angry glare met hers, he swallowed hard at the hate on her face. “But I did not say I would go with you.”
His mouth opened to protest, but Catherine attacked, gripped his shoulders hard, and latched her mouth onto his neck. It was her first time feeding straight from a human and the blood filling her sent her into a sudden bloodlust. She swallowed greedily, needing to drain him of every last drop. His hands beat at her feebly, but then stilled and his groan of pain faded on the wind. She sucked harder until he was completely drained. When her fangs pulled free of his body, she let it fall to the ground and snarled at the remaining men and the hungry vampires stalking towards them.
“Run,” she whispered and the men leapt into action, taking off for whatever exit they could find.
They were not fast enough.
“Catherine,” Bastian called her name as the world spun and she collapsed against him. “Open your eyes, love.”
“I saved you,” she told him, smiling weakly.
“Yes,” he said and his lips brushed her forehead as screams of the dying sounded behind him. “Yes you did.”
“Come, we will find shelter from the day,” Tula’s voice said close by. “We have nothing more to fear this night. The rest of the Order’s men, they are gone.”
Bastian picked Catherine up and she turned into his chest, fisting her hands in his shirt and breathing him in. As he walked and spoke with Tula, the timber of his voice vibrated through his chest to her ear and lulled her to the first peaceful sleep she’d had in many, many days.
The Master was dead, but she knew they were far from being free of danger.
The Order has eyes all across the globe, Charles’ words whispered in her mind.
Then we will hunt them down and destroy them all.
Boston 1682
Bastian watched Catherine from across the room as she glared out the window. Another sun had risen to find them wrapped in each other’s arms. Though they needed word from Tula, he thanked whatever prevented the man from arriving, giving him another day to love his woman. Since St. Augustine, they’d had little time to themselves and they both needed a chance to rest, if only for a day.
He pushed himself up from the bed and went to stand behind her. She leaned into him and he lay his chin on her shoulder, his hands resting on her stomach. “He will come when he is able.”
“I know,” she said. “But what if he and Kendi were discovered?”
“We would know,” he told her firmly. “We both can feel them enough to sense when something is wrong.”
Her worry flared and he kissed her cheek sweetly to calm her. Over the weeks and months of travel, the two were more connected than ever, able to sense and understand what the other thought, or desired, without ever saying a word. He nudged her hair aside and kissed her neck to her shoulder, lightly licking her and sending a shiver through her body and a ripple of intense need over them both.
But when his hands roamed higher, cupping her perfect breasts, he sensed it the same moment she did. The time for their plan had finally arrived. She started to pull away, but he turned her in his arms.
“Not yet,” he whispered against her lips. This night, if their plan failed, they might not live to see another and he would not leave this world without loving Catherine one final time.
Frantic with worry and the desperate need to feel each other, he captured her mouth hard as she hurriedly removed her breeches and he did the same. Once free, he lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. She ran her hands through his hair as he dragged his fangs along her neck. The moment his fangs bit into her flesh, he moved his hips and she gasped in his arms. Her nails left deep scores down his shoulders as he drank from her neck before his fangs came free.
“Catherine,” he whispered and the desire between them grew until he could hardly stand it. She smiled wickedly and flashed her fangs. He tensed, needing what she would give him and when her fangs broke skin, drinking from him hungrily, his arms tightened around her and he pressed her harder against the wall.
Their moans of release surrounded them as their love poured from one to the other. Bastian would never tire of this, never live a day without needing her embrace.
Tonight, however, they had other duties to tend to and could not remain in this room forever.
Once dressed, they quickly hurried to the main tavern room and waited in the same booth as the night before. It was busier tonight and Bastian glanced at the new faces. Tula had come through for them after all. His hand twitched when he sensed the man in question across the tavern. He raised his tankard and nodded solemnly.
“Where is he?” Bastian whispered to Catherine.
She closed her eyes and he couldn’t hide the worry of her pushing herself too hard again. The sight of her lips thinning told him she was aggravated by his concern as did the flare of annoyance she sent his way. A moment later her eyes opened.
“He’s just outside and he brought friends.”
The tavern door opened and a tall, broad shouldered man stepped in, shaking the snow from his shoulders and kicking it from his boots. Five men followed in behind him and they walked to the counter, chatting quietly. The same drunkard from the night before who regaled the patrons of the tavern with horror
stories from St. Augustine sat at the same stool. Bastian was not surprised when the first man patted him on the back and offered to buy him his meal for the night.
“I hear you bring tales from the south,” Paddy Torrin said loudly. “I would very much like to hear them.”
“You know about the fort?” the drunkard asked, and Bastian ducked his head to hide his smirk.
“I am in need of information pertaining to what happened, yes,” Paddy said stiffly. “And I will pay handsomely for it.”
As he pulled a hefty coin purse from his belt, Bastian and Catherine sidled closer to the counter. Several other patrons shifted in their seats and their conversations quieted. Tula drained his ale and set his tankard down loudly.
“Oh I think you are the one who has something I’m curious in,” the drunkard said and tapped his fingers on the counter.
“Is that right now?” Paddy asked, confused. “And what might that be?”
“Your life,” the drunkard announced and flashed his fangs with a snarl.
Paddy cursed and his men made to draw their swords, but they were too late. Only the barkeep and the maid were human and when the others erupted from their seats, daggers drawn and fangs flashing in the candlelight, they fled out the back. Tula casually pushed from his seat and latched the front door, leaning against it as he glowered at the men from the Order.
“How dare you? Do you know who we are?” Paddy snapped defiantly.
“You are the father of Charles Torrin,” Bastian growled as he lowered the hood on his cloak and stepped closer between the other vampires. “And you come with concern about your poor lost son.”
Paddy tried to lunge for him, but the drunkard vampire pressed a dagger tip to his neck and laughed, wagging his finger. “Wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
“What did you do to him? The full might of the Order will come down on your heads if you harm me,” Paddy roared.
“We are counting on it,” Catherine said with a hiss and lowered her hood as she stepped up beside Bastian.
Paddy’s eyes widened. “Catherine? You are one of them?” His face contorted in disgust and he spat at her feet. “Get away from me, you demon! You will burn in Hell for becoming one of them! All of you will.”
“Maybe, but you will burn first,” she said. “Wait, no I’m sorry, second. Your son is already there.”
Paddy cursed and roared. “You lie! The Order will hunt you down for this!”
“Not if we hunt them down first,” Bastian said and scratched his chin in thought. “I hear you have a ship here in Boston. A ship with sails and a flag dictating you as the Order. A free pass to sail straight into port.”
Paddy’s face paled.
“We would like to take that ship,” he said. “And you, well, sadly for you, we still need you, Paddy. You will help us destroy the Order, but your men, we don’t need them.”
The five men behind Paddy cursed and fought as they yelled, trying to get free, but the vampires quickly closed in around them and their dying screams filled the tavern as they were drained of their blood. Paddy swallowed hard, but glared at Bastian fiercely.
“You will die before the Order falls,” he swore.
Catherine took Bastian’s hand and together they approached Paddy, hands outstretched to reach his temples. “Your mind will not be intact to know,” she whispered, then the pair placed their hands on him and Paddy screamed into the night.
“The Order will fall,” Bastian whispered knowing no matter what the future may hold, he would face it with Catherine. If they failed, they would meet their end together, and be with each other for eternity.
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Table of Contents
Bastian
Victoria
Fighting for Love
The Master
The Final Battle
SV02-06. Slave to a Vampire Page 40