Forever Stained Red
Odette Michael
Copyright © 2020 Odette Michael
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronical, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission from the author.
Cover design by: Sevahc
For my mother, who believed in me the most.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1 The Monster Unleashed
Chapter 2 Dehydration
Chapter 3 Alien Blood
Chapter 4 Guardian Angel
Chapter 5 An Offer Refused
Chapter 6 Renewed Vengeance
Chapter 7 Kiss Of Blood
Chapter 8 Betrayed
Chapter 9 Joining
Chapter 10 And I Ached
Chapter 11 Blood Frenzy
Chapter 12 In Blood And Wings
Chapter 13 Irony
Chapter 14 The Only One
Acknowledgements
About The Author
Books By This Author
Chapter 1 The Monster Unleashed
It took every ounce of control for Gabriel Arundel to contain his rage.
His fingers tightened on the straps of the backpack slung over his shoulders. The few people he walked by in Lystelle Park had no idea how lucky they were to not have their throats torn open. They eyed him warily, this black-clothed shadow who wore sunglasses in the dark of night.
If only he could rip into their necks and drain them dry. Maybe then he could forget his pain.
But if he resorted to who he used to be, if he tried to drown his sorrow in blood once again, what would Kara think? Would she forgive him? Would her hatred once again overshadow her love?
Was she still alive?
Not too long after Elias had taken her, their blood connection had disappeared completely. Gabriel had panicked to the point of hysteria, unable to move because he had lost so much blood. The blood frenzy had nearly been upon him, the truest nature of every vampire, the inner demon that lurked and waited to devour any in its path.
Thomas and Inola had come to him. They had been nearly killed themselves, and had Gabriel not been so consumed with his reunion with Kara, he would have heard their struggle. But they had killed their attackers—vampires working for Elias that had owed him their lives—and had reassured Gabriel that Kara was still alive.
Because even without a blood connection, you could feel it when your Eternal died after you blood shared. You could feel a piece of your soul gone.
One of Gabriel’s hands went to his heart. It was hard to tell amidst the storm of emotions cascading inside of him, but he still felt whole. At least, he believed he did. The other possibility was unthinkable.
He would know if Kara was dead. He would know. He had to keep that belief alive, or it would be impossible to keep moving forward.
Then he saw her. Emma sat on a park bench, her blonde hair perfect, her lips stained red with either blood or lipstick. She took off her sunglasses and stood up warily when she saw him.
Gabriel could barely contain himself. He couldn’t believe he’d once thought that Emma’s sly eyes were beautiful, or that she’d held the key to helping him come alive again.
Just seeing her made the world turn crimson. Had he been a younger vampire unaccustomed to the intense emotions, he would have killed her on the spot.
“Gabriel, thank you for meeting me to give me a chance to explain,” Emma said softly.
He nodded once. Contain it. Wait.
Emma held out her slender hands. “I know you are having a hard time right now, but I did this for you. I did this for us.”
Gabriel was stone.
Her brown eyes glistened. “She may or may not be your Eternal, but I am your love. I love you!”
Gabriel did not reply.
“She just wasn’t good for you. She made you turn your back on who you really are.”
A smile actually fell on Gabriel’s lips. Judging by the look on Emma’s face, it was not a reassuring one.
“So you know me, Emma? You know who I truly am?”
She nodded. “Yes. Yes, my love.”
“Strange. Because to me, it seemed like Kara was the one who helped me find myself again. She was able to do so without even trying.”
“She’s confused you, Gabriel. Now we can start over, just you and me.”
Gabriel’s hands went into fists. Searing anger coiled inside every single cell, and he was ready to burst.
“You really are stupid and blind, Emma, and Elias saw that and used you. Did he really fuel your madness to this degree?”
“Not madness, Gabriel. It is love! I refuse to believe you feel so little for me. . . . We have been intimate for decades!”
Tremors ran down his body. “And did I not warn you that I would not form an attachment to you? You said you were fine with our arrangement. I made it very clear to you, over and over again, that you and I were not together and never would be. You always said you understood.”
“I lied! I came to love you. How could you not see it?”
“I will not deny I cared for your well-being, enough that I was hoping you would be smart enough to stay out of all of this. And if I didn’t despise you as much as I do now, I might have pitied you,” Gabriel seethed, throwing the backpack at Emma’s feet.
She stepped back. “What’s inside that?”
His smile twisted. “Felicity’s head. I was hoping it would stay intact instead of turning to ash, but you will just have to take my word for it.”
Emma’s eyes widened. She turned and blurred into the night, and being older than Gabriel, was faster.
But it didn’t matter. Rage fueled his muscles, and he ran faster than he ever had before. He tackled Emma, pinning her to the ground.
“Where is she?” Gabriel asked, his voice laced with venom.
“Gabriel, she is only a human!”
His fingers dug into her skin, hard enough to draw blood.
“Where. Is. She?”
“I-I don’t know. . . .”
Two simultaneous cracks resonated throughout the darkness, and with it, Emma’s scream. Both of her arms now rested at unnatural angles against the grass.
“I r-really don’t know! I-I haven’t heard from Elias since he took her. He s-said he would get rid of Kara, and then I would have you all to myself!”
He knew her well enough to see the truth in her eyes, but something inside Gabriel had snapped since Elias had threatened Kara in the woods by the cemetery. Gabriel had been surprised by the amount of self-control he could summon when he consciously made an effort, and reuniting with Kara had made the dark feeling recede somewhat.
But then she’d been taken, and Gabriel hadn’t been able to communicate telepathically with Kara because she’d stayed asleep for hours after her abduction, most likely due to Control. Even so, it hadn’t stopped Gabriel from pleading and even screaming at Kara as she’d slept, desperately trying to wake her.
And then the blood connection had painfully evaporated, snapping like a rubber band against his temple and heart as it had left. He would never forget the feeling.
Ever since Kara’s disappearance, Gabriel’s willpower was draining, exposing the raw monster beneath the surface. He had thought himself a terrible person before; now he was no longer sure what he was ca
pable of, no longer sure of what lengths he would go to in order to get Kara back.
And to keep her alive? He would do anything. He would kill anyone who stood in his way.
Which was why he had no control over himself when he pulled back his fist. He could only watch as it smashed against Emma, breaking her collarbone. The crunch of bone against his hand made the monster inside writhe with satisfaction.
“Gabriel! Gabriel, please! It was for us! I did it for us!”
Gabriel leaned down until his nose nearly touched hers.
“Had you truly loved me, you would never have even dreamed of putting Kara into harm’s way! You didn’t do this for us! You did this for yourself!”
“Please!” Emma screamed.
He pulled a stake out of his black jacket and stabbed her in the heart. A single tear fell from her eye before her body melted to ash.
Gabriel got up off the ground and walked away without a backwards glance, the ashes drifting away in the wind.
Chapter 2 Dehydration
I didn’t want to open my eyes. I didn’t want to even be conscious. All I could picture was Gabriel’s blood and how much I had hurt him.
Inola and Thomas. . . Were they still alive?
I couldn’t feel Gabriel anymore. Just like those past three months, the longest months of my life, he was gone.
I made myself open my eyes; I at least needed to see what my surroundings were. Elias had Controlled me to sleep as soon as the car had taken off, so I had no idea where I was.
There were manacles on both of my wrists, and the manacles were connected to chains that were hooked to the ground. I had known that; I had felt them, but seeing the shackles made me nearly scream aloud with panic.
The room was large with wooden floors and wooden walls and no windows. It was completely bare except for two light bulbs on the ceiling and a single door on the far side of the room.
I stood up. I couldn’t even walk six feet because of the heavy chains. I tugged at them uselessly for at least five minutes before giving up.
I tried to slow my breathing, my heartbeat. It was all too familiar—waking up in an unknown place after being kidnapped, although Gabriel had not bound me. And this time, instead of a vampire who’d had extreme hesitations about killing me, the one who imprisoned me now held no qualms about my fate.
Gabriel had scared me nearly senseless, but at least with him, I’d had a fighting chance. With Elias, there would be none.
I looked myself over. I was still wearing my V-neck shirt, worn jeans, and running shoes. The shirt and jeans were heavily stained with Gabriel’s blood, making me dizzy with the memory. I was hungry and thirsty.
Why couldn’t I feel Gabriel? Could he not feel me either? How was it even possible? We had drunk one another’s blood at the same time, and blood sharing that way had increased our connection tenfold; it should not have faded so quickly. I was supposed to be able to talk to him telepathically, but I couldn’t reach him.
Maybe if I waited longer, I would feel him again. . . .
Then I noticed the needle marks on my arms, the skin around the holes deeply bruised in hues of purple and blue. I stared at them uneasily.
The door opened.
It took all of my willpower to not cower against the wall as Elias stepped into the room. He wore all black, and the dark color made his skin even paler.
I pressed my shaking fists against my sides, forcing myself to speak. “If you’re going to kill me, at least unchain me and give me a stake so I can go down fighting! Or are you too much of a coward to give me fair chance?”
Elias grinned. “And what makes you think you deserve to die a worthy death, little hummingbird?”
I swallowed fear. “Stop calling me that!”
Silver eyes swirled with sick amusement. “But just listen to your heart. How it flutters. How it flies.”
I stared at him icily. “Why can’t I feel Gabriel?”
He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. “I couldn’t take any chances of his blood being in your system. I want you dead, not a vampire. There are three ways that I know of to break a blood connection between a vampire and a human. The first is simple—kill the human or the vampire. The second is time. And the third way is not known to many vampires—all you have to do is give the human a complete blood transfusion. Don’t worry, I’ve tasted your blood, and I can tell the difference between the types. B positive. How fitting.”
The needle marks on my arms suddenly burned. Elias had drained me completely of my blood. . . .
Gabriel couldn’t feel me, so any clues I could have gathered to try to lead him to wherever I was being held didn’t matter.
Gabriel couldn’t help me. I was alone.
“At least tell me if Thomas and Inola are alive!”
Elias shrugged. “Maybe they are. Maybe they are not. In all honesty, I really do not feel like telling you. I’ll let you drown in your worry and guilt. It will be pleasing to watch.”
Ice and fire warred inside my body. Cold with fear, hot with anger.
I stared at him disbelievingly. “You can’t be this cruel. No one should be capable of it!”
Elias moved away from the wall very slowly. His gaze made the fire inside of me evaporate with absolute fear.
Even in our first darkest moments, Gabriel had never looked at me the way Elias was looking at me now.
“Listen to me very carefully,” Elias said. “You do not know me. You do not know the things I have done or the things I have seen. You think I am cruel? You cannot even imagine the evil things both vampires and humans desire. So I tell you this now—I am capable of the bloodiest acts. Humor me, and I may kill you quickly. Piss me off, and your mind will be consumed with only a longing to die to free yourself from the pain. Do you understand?”
I swallowed what felt like metal shards. “Yes,” I breathed.
“All right, then. No one can say I didn’t warn you.” Elias smiled to himself, like his words had been a mercy to me.
I gathered up the remnants of my courage before he left the room. Compassion for Gabriel had saved me. Maybe compassion could save me again.
“But I have seen bits of what you went through because of my blood connection with Gabriel, and it was awful. I’m sorry that you—”
Suddenly, he was in front of me, pinning me to the wall. His hands were very cold.
“Do not say anything like that again,” he said.
Anger briefly overshadowed my fear. “Lucy would hate you if she saw you now! She would—”
He moved blindingly fast.
Razor-hot pain in my right shoulder. I screamed.
He twisted the knife while it was still inside my shoulder and tore it free from my body, sending splashes of blood all over the wooden floor. I fell to the ground, leaving a long smear of red down the wall.
Elias ran his tongue over the blade. “The same knife that killed my Lucy. Sometimes, I can still taste her on it.” He looked down at me. He pupils had nearly swallowed the silver completely; it was like looking into the eyes of a demon.
“You have chosen your fate. Now die slowly, little hummingbird.”
I groaned, looking down at my shoulder. Blood was leaking out in a steady stream.
“Elias . . . don’t do this! It won’t bring her back!”
He turned the light off and left the room. The door closed, the sound of my fate resonating inside my bones. I was in complete and utter darkness.
To others, being in the dark would be nothing compared to the knife wound. But for me, it was worse.
Tears finally fell from my eyes. I began to hyperventilate, and eventually, the pain pouring from my shoulder sharpened my brain enough to help me focus.
“Have to stop the bleeding,” I told myself.
I pulled my shirt off, grateful for the black tank top I wore underneath it. The shirt stayed on the chains, but I was able to move it to my shoulder. I pressed down as hard as I could, crying out from the pain.
An unknown amount of time passed. The shirt became soaked through, but I was able to discern that the bleeding had slowed significantly. I leaned my head back against the wall, sweat saturating my hair and dripping from my temples.
Thomas. Inola. Please be alive. Please be alive.
Thomas couldn’t be dead. He was too vibrant. Too carefree. He was like a brother to me, and I loved him beyond words.
And Inola . . . Gabriel needed his mother. I needed her. Why did it take me until now to realize she was the closest thing to a mother I had?
Gabriel . . . There was a part of me that was glad you couldn’t feel me. You had enough guilt inside your heart, enough to cripple a lesser person. This would kill you.
And what could I tell you? I had no idea how long the car ride had been. I had no idea where I was. I could tell you I was chained inside a wooden room. That would be all.
It was better this way. I didn’t want you to feel me die.
And I was going to die. It was more certain than when Gabriel had taken me. To die alone in the dark . . . How ironic a fate for me.
At least Gabriel’s blood was no longer inside of me. When I died, it would be the end. I wouldn’t become a vampire. I loved Gabriel, but I wouldn’t willingly damn myself to an eternity of night for anyone.
But I loved him, and what I wouldn’t give to see him just one last time.
***
Eventually, I passed out, weak from trauma, fear, and blood loss.
I awoke when the light flicked on. Elias kicked me in the side, hard enough to crack a rib. I screamed bloody murder at the fire in my side, and only his threats of causing more pain made me stop.
He brought a key to the locks of my manacles. “I’m going to unlock these and take you to a bathroom. I despise the look and smell of waste—too many times my victims at Grace’s were covered in the stuff. Try anything, and you won’t get any of the food or water I’ve brought you.”
My eyes found the water bottle and the bagged sandwich that he’d left on the far side of the room. I swallowed uneasily, pain biting at my shoulder and side.
Forever Stained Red (Violet Memory Book 2) Page 1