by Kailin Gow
“Well, well,” the tall, white-haired vampire said, stepping out of the group. “You’ve been holding out on us, brother mine. A human? And one so lovely…we haven’t seen a human for a long time.”
Barron glared back at the newcomer, his fangs extended. They were long, almost like a saber-tooth tiger’s. “Hold off, Marcus. All of you. She is Waltham’s daughter, heir to the throne of Palisor.”
“But she’s human,” Marcus pointed out.
One of his cronies appeared next to Briony with the speed of one of the old vampires, extending a hand out to touch her, almost as though he couldn’t believe there was a human in front of him. Or as if he simply couldn’t wait.
Barron was immediately at Briony’s side, his hand grabbing down on the other’s wrist with a crunch of bone. He pushed him back away from Briony, before reaching into his jacket and drawing out a stake. His arm blurred forward to impale the other vampire.
“I said hold off.”
Briony sat there in shocked silence at that.
Barron had just killed to protect her? Though from the looks that passed between him and his brother, there was no love lost there.
“No one touches her,” Barron repeated in a clear loud voice. “She is the heir to Palisor. She is human. She has the bloodline that will break the vampire’s curse.”
The white-haired vampire appeared in front of Briony, leaning down towards her. He kept an eye on Barron. “Don’t worry, I don’t plan to touch her, brother. Not yet.”
He stayed where he was, and Briony realized then that he was sniffing her, like an animal. He took a deep whiff of her and looked towards his brother once more. “She smells of human and Hugtandalfer both. Interesting. How, brother?”
Barron, Briony noticed, seemed to be on edge.
He clearly did not want to be saying any of this, but he did so anyway. “We underestimated Waltham, Marcus. He had more charm than us vampires, wooed the human woman who made it through the gate, and got her with child. Then, he hid the woman back in her mortal world where she raised the child as a human… with no knowledge of Palisor, the Hugtandalfer people, or the scepter.”
Briony listened as intently as Marcus. Did everybody but her know about her past?
Barron continued. “Waltham took it further than that, though. He had his brother’s daughter help raise the child, training her to hunt and kill vampires, without magic or supernatural strength.”
Several of the other vampires grimaced as Barron said that.
Marcus laughed, his reddening eyes peering closer at Briony. “The pathetic specimens in her world, perhaps. Maybe even those fools who follow you, brother.”
“Careful, Marcus.”
“But to suggest that this could hunt one of the true vampires here in Palisor?” Marcus leaned in so close to Briony that he could whisper directly into her ear. “You think vampires in your world are frightening? We are worse. I see you shuddering, little girl. I hear your heart grow faster and faster like a little bird’s. It would be so easy…so easy to squelch that. Hunter, ha.”
“Marcus,” Barron snapped, putting a hand on his brother’s arm, “would you think for a minute?Would you think about what this means?”
“Oh, I have thought, brother.” Marcus moved, twisting Barron around expertly, then putting his hands on either side of the vampire’s head. “And what I think is that, with this girl here, it is finally time to be rid of you. Goodbye, brother.”
Marcus twisted, and Briony heard the snap of breaking bone as Barron’s neck broke. Marcus caught the stake that dropped from his brother’s nerveless hands, and drove it up into his heart, pushing Barron away to die. In those last moments, Barron’s eyes reflected his shock, as he stared at Briony from the carpet until the familiar blue flames claimed his body.
Marcus turned around to look at Briony, tossing the stake aside. “Now,” he said, “where were we?”
Chapter 12
Briony watched Barron’s still body for the seconds that it took for flames to consume it. She wasn’t entirely sure why she felt anything at that death; after all, he had been the vampire who ordered her kidnapped from her father’s castle. Yet she did. Briony couldn’t help thinking of the sheer waste of a life there.
She was actually starting to understand him, she thought.
Not to mention what it might mean for her own safety. Marcus was still staring down at her with pure malevolence, after all, while even most of the vampires in his group were looking at Briony like she was nothing more than an interesting diversion.
Something to be used up and then discarded. It wasn’t a thought Briony liked at all. Even Pietre hadn’t killed quite so utterly without reason.
“You killed him,” Briony said. “You killed your own brother.”
Marcus shrugged. “You say that as though I should care, little human. Little princess.”
“He was your brother,” Briony insisted.
“He was weak!” Marcus moved to sit beside Briony on the red chaise lounge. He leant closer to her, one hand brushing Briony’s hair just barely. “Shall I tell you about the world we inhabited as humans, my brother and I? A world a thousand years before Rome was more than a cluster of houses? In that world, there was no room for the weak. It is a lesson my brother forgot.”
Briony shook her head.
“Oh, you don’t like that?” Marcus said. “It is true. Barron has been pushing his brand of weakness on us for years, telling us that we should hold ourselves back. That we should feed only on emotions and stay meek so that the Hugtandalfer would not hunt us down for taking their blood.” He stood, looking terrifying in his furs and leather. “Well, it stops today. We need to be strong.”
“For when you have the scepter?” Briony guessed.
“Ah, of course you would know about it.”
“I only know what Barron told me,” Briony said. “He told me what you wanted with it, nothing more.”
Marcus regarded Briony carefully, his hair falling across his eyes so that he looked even more barbaric than before. “You don’t know its location?”
Briony shook her head. “No. I swear.” She did her best to swallow her fear. “What do you plan to do with me?”
“Ah, what a question. What should I do with you?” Marcus was behind Briony then, his hand catching her hair, pulling her tight back against the chaise lounge. “Perhaps I should show you some of the things that my brother and I did with Roman matriarchs when that city finally fell. It would be a fitting tribute to his memory, don’t you think?”
Briony steeled herself, and did not respond.
“Such a brave one,” Marcus said, relaxing his grip just a little. “Trying to be, anyway. Your fear really is delicious, girl.” Marcus laughed then, letting go of Briony completely. “If you are truly Waltham’s heir, then you will be of use to us. If not, then I will wring every last drop of fear and pleasure from your body before I kill you. I will take your blood too. Thanks to my blasted brother, I have had to restrain myself for far too long there.”
“What about us?” One of the other vampires asked.
“Oh,” Marcus said casually, as though it was nothing. “You’ll all get your turns with her. Besides, I know you, Tribrand. You’ll be lapping up the waves of fear with the best of them while I feed.”
The other vampire shrugged. “Waste not, want not.”
“I am Waltham’s heir,” Briony said, trying to regain some control of the situation. “So, if you need the scepter, I can get that for you. You’ll have to let me go to get it, though.”
“Do you think I’m stupid, girl?” Marcus demanded. “You just told me that Barron told you what we planned to do with the scepter. Do you really think that I would believe Waltham’s heir would go along with that? It would go against everything Waltham stands for.”
“But we both want the same things,” Briony said. “I want to see peace among vampires and hugtandalfs, peace among vampires and human
s. If it makes you human, the scepter will bring that, right?”
At the very least, Briony thought, it would do something to weaken this terrifying vampire to the point where he wouldn’t be such a threat. He would merely be a muscular man with a bad attitude and worse taste in clothes. If anything, Briony was even more willing to help make Marcus human than she had been to help his brother.
To Briony’s surprise, Marcus began to laugh. It was a full -throated laugh, the kind of laughter that Briony could imagine coming from some barbarian warlord on the demise of his enemies.
“Barron, Barron, Barron. My brother amused me so much, sometimes.”
“Perhaps you should have kept him alive then,” Briony suggested.
Marcus moved back around until he was in front of her, kneeling before Briony, just inches away from her. “Did I ask for your opinion? Such a naïve vampire hunter, and she thinks to tell me what to do.”
“I don’t understand,” Briony insisted. “Isn’t getting the scepter a way for vampires to return to being human? That’s what Barron told me. He said that he didn’t want to have to fight constantly. He didn’t want people to see him as a monster anymore.”
Marcus reached up to wipe the beginnings of a tear from Briony’s eye. “As I said, my brother was weak. He and those that followed him might have wanted that, but no true vampire would. Why would any of us want to be mortal again? To grow old and die. Don’t be a fool.”
“Then what?” Briony asked.
“The scepter is power,” Marcus said.
“Generations of power. The power of each Hugtandalfer king and queen flows into it upon their death. Waltham’s will when we kill him. With it, I could do far better things than my brother imagined. I could open all of those irritating gates the Hugtandalfer insist on using, for one thing. My kind could come and go as they pleased. And of course, with so many new vampires flowing into Palisor, it would be easy to take control here. And the human world... well, that wouldn’t take very long at all.”
Briony shuddered. “Conquest? Is that all you can think of?”
“What else is there?” Marcus laid the gentlest of kisses on her forehead. It was, Briony knew, nothing more than a way of showing that he could do whatever he wanted to her. “Ultimately, sweet human, everything comes down to it.”
Briony shook her head. “I don’t believe you.”
Marcus smiled, and as he did so, his fangs extended. They were as savage and long as his brother’s had been. “You will.”
Briony tried to fight him, but it was useless.
Marcus had her arms trapped in an instant, and her neck pulled taut a moment after that. He hesitated just a moment, with his fangs poised above Briony’s skin, and Briony knew that he was drinking in the too rapid flutter of her heart, savoring the raw fear like the finest of wines.
Then he bit her. It was savage. It was worse than savage. With every other vampire who had bitten her, there had been pleasure. Even with Pietre.
Marcus’ gift, however, was fear. Fear, and more fear, and more still, heaped upon itself so that Briony could only scream in mute terror as he drained her blood, utterly paralyzed with it.
Marcus’s mouth stayed on her, taking more and more blood, until Briony thought that he might have lost control, that he might actually kill her with it. It was just one more thing to be terrified about. Traces of blackness began to appear on the outside of Briony’s vision, and she thought that she could feel her heart struggling to pump in her chest. A little more, and she was sure that she would die from it.
Marcus pulled back as though that was just what he was waiting for. He lowered Briony to the couch almost gently.
“Mmm. Of course, I could have done this without the blood, but why pass up the chance to taste such a rare type of blood? Human and Hugtandalfer both. Delicious.”
He left Briony there, sobbing in her fear, for several seconds.
“Hush. I won’t kill you yet, girl. I want you to get me the scepter, remember? You’re just drained to the point where we can be sure you won’t run off. Now, tell me where the scepter is, or as soon as you have regained a little of your strength, we will begin again.”
“I told you before,” Briony managed, the words coming out as a bare croak. “I don’t know where it is.”
“Liar!” Marcus leaned down until Briony was staring straight into his eyes. “You said before that you could get the scepter. How could you do that if you did not know where it was?” His breath, so soon after taking blood, was hot on her skin. “If you do not tell me, then I will drain you again, and again, and again until you do. I can make you feel whatever I want while I do, girl. Did you like your little taste of fear?”
“P-please,” Briony heard herself beg. “I don’t know where it is. I really don’t. I swear.”
Marcus stood, moving back to the other vampires. They looked strangely satisfied, and Briony realized that they had been feeding off the fear even as Marcus took her blood.
“I hope for your sake that you are lying to us, Briony,” Marcus said. “I really do. Since you are part hugtandalf, it will not take you long to regenerate blood, so you will not die from this. I will not let you. I will take your blood until you tell me, and I will do worse things. Do you believe me, Briony?”
“Yes.” Briony had no trouble at all imagining all the things that Marcus might do to her. Every one of them made her shiver with fear. And there would be no hope of stopping him. Marcus was right about that.
Even strong, she would have stood next to no chance.
As weak as this, all Briony could do was suffer.
“I will be back in an hour or three,” Marcus promised, his fangs returning to normal. “We will see how you do then. With your Hugtandalfer side, I believe that will be enough time. When I come in, I will ask the location of the scepter exactly once. If you do not answer me… well, then I will get to taste your blood all over again. Think about it until then, Briony.”
With that, Marcus turned around, heading for the door without so much as a backwards glance at Briony. His vampires followed in his wake, leaving her. Alone, all Briony could do was lie there, and shiver, and hope that something would happen in the next three hours. If it didn’t… well, she didn’t want to think about what would happen if it didn’t.
Chapter 13
Briony lay on the couch and tried to focus.
Tried to get a grip. She was not going to give in. Not like this. She knew that she had no hope of fighting Marcus or his vampires, but she could still think, couldn’t she? There had to be some way out of this, and Briony would find it. At least, she would if she didn’t want to end up drained again and again.
A thrill of fear went through her then, strong enough to make her physically shiver. Briony had thought that she knew about fear before. She had felt it so many times in the past few months. Yet just the thought of Marcus was worse than the rest of it put together. He was worse than Pietre. Far worse. At least Wicked’s master vampire had a bit of a soft spot for Aunt Sophie. At least he pretended to be civilized.
Marcus had killed his own brother without so much as a second thought.
He would do far worse to her.
Briony looked around, trying to think of something that would help her. Would the door be locked? Would the window? If she tried the window, would she be strong enough to make the climb down?
Briony knew without trying it that she would not. That was the worst part about Marcus. He had made her weak. Made her genuinely helpless, so that Briony really wouldn’t be able to stop whatever he had planned for her.
Briony felt a surge of anger then. She wasn’t going to allow this. Wasn’t going to allow Marcus to simply trample over the mortal world, spreading his fear so that he could feed from it. With a groan of effort, Briony sat up. Then, clutching the edge of the couch for support, she forced herself to stand.
She was on the floor. How had she gotten there. Dreamily, Briony recognize
d that she must have passed out from blood loss. She couldn’t help thinking of Fallon then, who had worked so hard not to bite her while they were together. He would never have done something like this. And Kevin… he was so strong, so comforting. He had always been there when Briony needed him. Always. Briony needed to get back to them. To tell them about Marcus, and to tell them… so many important things, too.. Like how she loved them….her mind drifted off to her memories of Fallon … his sweet devotion and earnestness with her. Then she thought of handsome, warm, and dangerously handsome Kevin. How she wished they were here now!
When Briony opened her eyes, she could feel strong hands pulling her up from the floor. A large figure loomed above her, and inwardly, Briony screamed. Marcus was back. He was here to take more of her blood, here to torment her, here to-
“Briony? Briony, can you hear me?” The figure sighed. “Honestly, dragon, I should never have let you talk me into this. My father’s stupid human daughter will be the death of us both.”
The figure resolved itself into the armored form of Prince Vigor. And besides him was Archer, looking down at Briony with obvious worry. He bowed as he saw Briony look at him.
“My Princess.” He knelt to examine Briony’s neck, where the wound from Marcus’ fangs lay. “Are you hurt badly?”
“More importantly, can you carry your own weight?” Vigor demanded. “I’m not about to have to carry you all the way back to the palace while fighting off all the creatures the vampires have let loose one-handed.”
Briony groaned. That was Vigor, all right. A more important thought popped into her head. “Did Marcus get the scepter? Has he already opened the gates?”
“Scepter?” Archer said.
Vigor looked down at her. “She’s babbling.”