by E. S. Moore
“Everything will be fine.” Adrian’s voice came from somewhere deeper in the basement. A chair creaked as he stood, and I could hear his heavy tread as he moved. There was a clink of glass on glass and then the slosh of a liquid.
Try as I might, I couldn’t see him. I couldn’t move my head at all, meaning as long as he stayed where he was, I would have no idea what he was doing. All I knew for sure was that whatever he was planning couldn’t be good.
I listened, but Adrian’s movements were the only sounds I could make out. If there were any other wolves down here, they were being awfully quiet. It was more than likely we were alone together.
A shudder ran through me and I closed my eyes. They still burned from the silver dust, probably would until I washed them out with water. I still had some of it in my nose and I wished I could just sneeze it out. If the stuff stayed there, it would take days, if not weeks, before I would be able to move properly.
Another clink of a glass brought my eyes open. I strained to see what Adrian was doing, but it was impossible. The fact that I couldn’t see him just about drove me crazy. I whimpered, a sound barely audible in my paralyzed state.
This was a man, a beast, who had wanted me to become his mate. I was now completely under his power, unable to move a single muscle to stop him if he decided to take advantage of the situation. There was nothing I could do. I was trapped. He could take his time with me, do whatever he pleased, and I would feel every damn second of it without being able to do anything but watch it happen.
Bile rose in my throat and I frantically swallowed it back. It didn’t want to go and I nearly choked on it. I managed a weak cough and some of it bubbled into my mouth before slipping back down my throat.
“You don’t need to get so worked up,” Adrian said. “Everything will be fine.”
The sound of his voice made me want to scream. I fought against myself, tried to get my muscles to cooperate. A finger twitched, but that was all.
“Things could have been easier for you.” He sounded completely indifferent, as if he didn’t care how he got me, as long as he did. “You could have come to me, arms open, and I would have taken you in. We could have done much together.”
I groaned something that was supposed to be a curse.
“But these things take time. I understand why you cannot bring yourself to trust me yet. Your mind has been tainted by others, turned against me before we could be properly introduced.”
Another clink was followed by a heavy sigh. What was he doing back there?
I became aware that my coat was missing. He’d taken my shoulder holster and belt off as well. He probably had them back there with him, if he wasn’t wearing them. If I made a move, he could easily stab me with one of my own weapons to put me down again. I was defenseless.
I thought frantically. Adrian wanted something from me, so it was unlikely he would kill me. He might rape me, might torture me, but he wouldn’t kill me.
I wasn’t sure if that was such a good thing. If he were to touch me like that, I would want to die. I couldn’t live with myself. If he didn’t kill me when it was over, then I’d be sure to find a way to do it myself.
“All those things were in my past. They are but mere memories of a life I once had. Nothing I’ve done has been harmful to you. I’m sure you see that by now.”
I wasn’t so sure where he’d gotten that idea, but I was in no position to argue. I tried to move my finger again in the hopes of gaining some strength by it. Nothing happened.
“I really did try to let you come to me on your own. I hoped you would see past the lies and would realize how much I could benefit you.” He sighed again, which was a lot more emotion than I usually heard out of him. “I may not like how this will be done, but I will get what I want.”
My blood ran cold. I knew right then and there he wasn’t going to kill me. There was absolutely no doubt about it. He already thought of me as some sort of prize. He would take me however he wanted and what could I do about it?
But my clothes were still on. If he was so intent on making me his mate, he would have stripped me down before strapping me to the table. He could have already taken what he thought was his, but he hadn’t.
I held on to that slim shred of hope, prayed I would find a way out of this before things went too far. Just because he hadn’t torn my clothes off yet, didn’t mean he wasn’t planning to do so later.
“I want much from you. Some, I will take by force. Others, I will let you come to me. I still need a mate, but I will not stoop so low as to force myself upon you. You will come to me eventually. There is no doubt in my mind that we will reach that point. For now, I must be content with having your loyalty.”
I started to breathe a sigh of relief, but Adrian walked into view carrying a syringe and the breath caught in my throat. He waved the syringe into my field of vision before setting it aside.
I went into full-fledged panic mode. I didn’t have to see it to know what was inside the syringe. I’d thought back to when we’d captured The Left Hand woman months ago that Adrian might have taken some of her things for his own use.
Now I knew for sure. He already had me paralyzed, but now he was going to inject me with something that would keep me completely at his mercy.
But that didn’t make sense. Why would he need it since I was already as immobile as I was going to get?
My mind flickered to the serrated blade the woman had been about to use to cut my throat and I whimpered. He could cut me and bleed me out if he so desired. Was it some sort of threat? Was he going to make me pledge my loyalty to him or he would kill me?
“I’ve learned much while you’ve been missing,” he said. “There are things I never knew were possible until recently.”
I managed to clench my jaw. My tongue moved slightly in my mouth. If I wasn’t careful, I could block off my airway and start choking on my own spit. My mouth was dry now, but it wouldn’t stay that way forever.
“I’ve always assumed I would have to convince you that I’m the greater good. I had no idea how I would go about it because you are, let’s admit it, quite stubborn.”
I blew out my nose, hoping to dislodge some of the silver dust. It tickled and I fought the urge to sneeze. I needed to get out of here but had no idea how I would ever manage it.
“But that won’t be necessary anymore. I do wish for you to trust me, and I will do what it takes to make sure that happens. I won’t give up on you. You will eventually be mine and we will rule this House, will tear down the vampire empire one Count at a time.”
I struggled harder against the silver keeping me down. My brother had overcome the effects of silver a lot quicker than he should have the day he died. I didn’t know if the demon had anything to do with it and I didn’t care. I had to break free of my paralysis. If I didn’t, I knew something terrible was going to happen.
I kept seeing the syringe in my mind’s eye. My heart was hammering in my chest, my head pounded. Adrian had set the thing down near me. I couldn’t see a table or anything nearby, so it was likely he placed it on the table with me. If I could just move my arm, get just enough of a grip on it so I could stab him with it, I had a chance.
But no matter how hard I fought, I just couldn’t get my body to obey. A twitch of a finger was hardly enough to get excited about.
“I cannot do what I wish alone,” Adrian went on, oblivious to my futile attempts at movement. “Even just the two of us would struggle. I needed another, and who better to recruit than the man who told me how to accomplish what I wished?”
As if on cue, the basement door opened. Light footsteps warned me that someone else was coming down the stairs. The stride was weak, faulting, as if they were having a hard time walking.
I wracked my brain, tried to figure out who Adrian could possibly mean. His men had been in Mephisto’s territory. Had he somehow managed to ally himself with the Count?
“Lady Death.” A face peered down at me and a groan escaped my lips. H
is face was thin, almost to the point of emaciation. It was a skull, eyes sunken deep, skin pulled tight, straggly, dirty hair hung in his face.
No, it wasn’t Mephisto or Baset or any other vampire Count.
It was Davin.
He smiled at me, exposing his missing incisors. He poked his tongue through one of the holes and waggled it at me.
“The Oath is a strange thing,” Adrian said. He moved beside me, but I couldn’t stop staring at Davin. The vampire looked healthier than the last time I had seen him, but that wasn’t saying much. He still looked like shit, and there seemed to be a madness to his eye that hadn’t been there before.
Davin glanced up at Adrian and then moved away. It was then that what Adrian had said hit me.
The Oath—the magic bond between vampire and werewolf. It only worked one way and one way only. A vamp could bind a wolf, but that was all.
Had Adrian sworn the Oath to Davin for some reason? I remembered how he had told me he would swear to me, though I’d never even considered taking him up on the offer. It would have helped keep him from directly harming me, but it wasn’t as strong as some vamp Counts thought. Just ask Count Tremaine how the Oath had turned out for him.
I tried to remember if a wolf could be sworn to more than one vampire. As far as I knew, it wasn’t possible. It didn’t make sense for him to swear to Davin, especially if he still had his sights set on me.
My entire left leg twitched. A surge of hope ran through me, but it died quickly as Adrian spoke.
“I see you are regaining control,” he said. He lifted the syringe and held it up to where I could see it. “It is marvelous stuff, but like your silver dust, I do not like to use it. If I knew I could trust you not to fight, I wouldn’t bother, but we both know that is unlikely. I cannot have you thrashing about during the ritual.”
My heart just about stopped. What ritual?
“There is no need for you to worry,” he said. “I want you to trust me, and for that to happen, I must prove to you I deserve that trust. I will do nothing to harm you in any way.”
I growled at him. I thought I caught a flicker of a smile flash across Adrian’s face, but it was gone in an instant, if it was ever there at all.
“If you do not believe me when we are through, I invite you to return and test it. I assure you, Davin has tested this himself, and he is quite incapable of harming me.”
My mind raced. What was he talking about?
“The Oath,” he said, as if reading my mind. “We’ve always been told it works only one way, that a were can only be bound to his vampire master, forcing us to be servants to those who would abuse us.”
Davin took over, leaning over me with that mad grin on his face. “For a long time it might have been true,” he said. “But there is a reason I was so valuable to the Counts who took me in. I know things, can discover much that others thought impossible.”
He cackled. Saliva dripped from between his teeth and he sucked it back with relish. “The Oath can be changed. I can force the binding the other way and it is so very easy.” His eyes flashed in delight. “Many have tried before, but they didn’t have my spark. No one else can do this, of that I can assure you.”
My stomach dropped. I wanted to shake my head in denial, but I was trapped there, forced to look up into Davin’s sickly face. He might be a madman, but he was still smart in his own way.
And that made him dangerous.
I knew it was impossible, but listening to the certainty in both men’s voices, I was afraid I was wrong. The Oath was supposed to work only one way. Not even Davin could change the laws of magic.
Could he?
“You will not be able to harm me,” Adrian said. He sounded satisfied, which frightened me more. There usually was never any emotion in his voice.
“And while you might be able to make my life hell, you won’t. If you go after my weres, after Davin, I will be forced to bring in those you care about. If you leave me and mine alone, I will let Jonathan and the Luna Cult live. I will not add them to my ranks. I will not go after your other friends.”
I couldn’t help but think that this was where having friends got me. Everyone was using Jonathan against me, whether we were friends or not.
A tear slid from the corner of my eye. I managed a strangled, “Fuck you,” but it took all the effort I had to squeeze that little bit out.
Adrian’s voice didn’t change in the slightest as he continued. “As much as I would love to take that as an offer, I will not. You will eventually come to see things my way and the prospect will not be so . . . sickening for you. I will wait for that day.”
He took a deep breath and looked through the glass of the syringe. “This will not only keep you down throughout the process, but it will knock you out. I cannot risk having you find a way to interrupt the ritual. I regret having to do this, but it is necessary for both our sakes.”
The syringe dropped below eye level and I felt a pinch in my arm. Heat swarmed through my body, leaving me breathless.
“Thankfully, I do not need you awake for this,” Adrian said. “Swearing the Oath is a magic process, involving blood, as you well know. No words are needed, though they are often spoken.” He rested a hand on my cheek. It was rough and calloused. “I will speak them for you.”
I tried to jerk away from his touch, but even the thought made me tired. Black dots swam in and out of my vision, and my stomach flipped a few times.
“When you wake, we will be bound.” He leaned close, whispered in my ear. “And you will discover I have given you another gift, one so valuable you will know how much I desire you.” His lips brushed my earlobe.
I screamed inside, thrashed in my mental cage. My lips barely moved; no sound was uttered from my throat.
The light flickered above me, once, twice, and on the third, my consciousness flared out, leaving me easy prey to the monsters all around me.
30
Pain brought me screaming awake. My hand immediately went to my throat. I could feel the slice of the blade as it bit into my skin, could almost hear the mad laughter of the woman as she left me to bleed out.
My fingers were wet, but not from blood. The pain wasn’t coming from my throat at all.
I reached down and felt the hilt of a knife sticking out of my thigh. I groaned as I grasped it and yanked hard. It came free with some difficulty, and it was all I could do to keep from screaming again. Blood oozed down my leg, onto the soft snow beneath me.
I started shivering, confused. Where the hell was I?
I looked around, trying to get my bearings. There were trees all around me, familiar trees. It took only a quick glance to realize I was in the woods near my house.
It hurt to swallow as I took that in. Adrian had brought me most of the way home. That meant he had to know where I lived. After all this time thinking I was being careful, he’d discovered where I lived. That meant not only does the Cult know, but now Adrian and most likely Baset, if she was to be believed.
A weight at my chest told me my shoulder holster was back in place. I checked the gun and found it to be still loaded. I hadn’t counted my shots from earlier, so I wasn’t sure if all the bullets were there or if Adrian had taken some for himself. My belt was back around my waist and my coat lay on the ground. I’d been using it as a pillow.
I stood and shook my coat off before throwing it over my shoulders. My leg throbbed and my head swam, forcing me to lean up against a tree for a few seconds before I could start walking. There was blood on the ground from where I’d bled, but it wasn’t much. I couldn’t have been there long.
I turned the knife over in my hand and it finally sank in what I was holding. I stared at it incomprehensively for a moment, unsure I was willing to believe what I saw.
The blade had my blood on it, but I could still see the silver beneath.
And it had been in my leg.
And you will discover I have given you another gift . . .
I dropped the knife as if it h
ad burned me. I checked my belt and sure enough, one of my knives was missing.
This couldn’t be right. Adrian and his wolves were immune to silver. He wouldn’t have given that to me.
Or would he?
I drew my other knife and looked it over. It was definitely mine, not some fake. I drew it down my palm, cutting deep into the flesh.
It hurt like hell, but I didn’t collapse from silver poisoning.
I was immune.
I didn’t know how long I stood there, just staring at the blood oozing from the cut. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I knew the knife was mine, knew it was pure demon-forged silver. There was no doubt in my mind that he hadn’t exchanged my weapons.
“Holy shit,” I said. Out of all the things I expected from him, this was the least likely. He’d just made me immune to silver. While that might not help in my everyday hunts, it would help me against those vamps who didn’t care about their own laws and used the illegal metal, not to mention those that would use my own weapons against me.
I sheathed my knife and picked up the one I had dropped. My blood still stained the blade, so I wiped it clean in the snow before sheathing it.
Numbly, I started walking. I trudged up the hill, using the trees for support. Each step hurt. I was still weak from the injection, and my head felt like someone had hit it with a hammer a few thousand times.
But I was alive. Adrian had kept his word in that regard. I could vaguely feel him behind me even now, miles and miles away. We were bound. I knew it without having to test it. I was sworn to him, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.
I sagged against a tree as the realization set in. I was bound to Adrian. The Oath had worked without me being conscious for it.
But that wasn’t the worst of it. I was sure I would find a way out of the Oath eventually. I just needed to find a way for Adrian to die without me being the one to shoot him.
I couldn’t use Jonathan. If I told him what Adrian had done, he would surely go after him, he and Nathan both. And what then? It was unlikely the few wolves Jonathan had at his disposal would be enough to overcome Adrian and his weres.