by L. E. Wilson
She wasn’t supposed to be back down here already! She NEVER came down twice in one night. Not in all the years they’d been here! Why now? Why tonight? She’ll know! She’ll know that she fed the vampire. Anyone with eyes could see the slight change in him, and vampire eyes were so much more perceptive. If Leeha had stuck to her schedule, had come down tomorrow, she wouldn’t have been able to tell. The signs would’ve worn off enough by then.
Keira’s eyes widened in alarm as Leeha leaned in towards Luukas, sniffing at him. She smiled bitterly, her head twitching to the side in that odd way. “You’ve had blood. I can smell it in you.”
Luukas didn't confirm or deny her statement, just continued to snarl at her, a low rumble emanating from deep within his throat.
“But it’s not the witch’s blood,” she guessed correctly.
She turned to the witch in question, red eyes seething with her displeasure. “How is this possible, witch?”
Keira swallowed hard, raising her chin. So, Blondie hadn’t ratted her out after all. She dared not look at him, or at Luukas. “I don’t know. I fell asleep. Maybe a rat got too close to his mouth.”
Blood, death, despair…they roiled around within those blood-red irises, drawing Keira in until she felt the pull on her very soul. She forced herself to look away just in time.
Leeha studied her for a moment longer and then turned back to Luukas. “Is this true, my love?” Not waiting for an answer, she started pacing back and forth. “I believe there is more going on here, for it doesn’t smell like the rodents who live here either. It smells like the bags of blood I give the guards when they’re on duty. Now, how, I wonder, were you able to get a hold of one of those? Hmmm?”
Keira jumped as Leeha suddenly appeared directly in front of her. “Do you truly believe me to be a fool, witch?" she spat. "Do you truly believe I am that naïve?” Grabbing Keira’s jaw with supernatural strength, she held her face still as she tried to catch her gaze. “Do you not remember our deal, witch?”
Keira’s stomach clenched in fear. The female vampire could rip her head off with nothing more than a flick of her dainty wrist. But she dared not use her magic against her. Even if she managed to kill the bitch, and her minions, and released Luukas, how long would it take for Leeha’s contingency plan to get to Emma? Days? Hours? Minutes?
Leeha was right; she’d never be able to get to her in time. She didn’t even have access to a phone to call her and warn her.
“Leave her be!” Luukas’s deep voice boomed through the small room.
Dropping her hand, Leeha spun towards Luukas, her sheer, forest green gown billowing out around her. “What did you say?”
Luukas’s black eyes burrowed into hers without fear, and his voice dropped a few octaves as he repeated, clearly and dangerously. “I said, leave her be, you fucking cunt.”
Keira would have laughed at the shocked expression on Leeha’s face if the situation hadn’t been so dire.
The shock was quickly replaced by a look of suspicion.
“So you like your witch now? After all she’s done to you? Isn’t this an interesting turn of events.” Her voice dripped with sweetness, scaring Keira more than her anger. “Maybe you need a small reminder of what she’s capable of?”
Keira was frantically shaking her head before she’d even finished speaking. “No! No. I won’t.”
“Oh, but I think you will.” Leeha smiled at her. “Josiah, come here.”
Josiah stepped forward eagerly, and Keira heard Luukas’ low growl at the same time she noticed the whip in his hands.
Without thinking, she ran over and planted herself in front of Luukas. Though her head barely came to his shoulder, she tried to use her body to block his. “Don’t touch him!”
This show of loyalty seemed to amuse Leeha to no end.
“And what are you going to do about it, witch?” she laughed out loud. “Are you going to stop me? Luukas needs to be taught a lesson. He isn't following the rules.”
Keira sneered at the redheaded beauty. “Follow whose rules? Yours? You claim to care about him, yet you enjoy all of this!” She pointed at the whip Josiah was unraveling.
“But at least he will know that I’m not a hypocrite. I don’t pretend to be something I am not. Now, step aside, before I decide that I don’t need you after all.”
Keira held her position. She couldn’t do this anymore. She couldn’t stand idly by and watch them torture the poor soul behind her. She sent up a quick prayer that Leeha would kill her quickly, and that somehow her sister would survive, if she were even still alive.
Without any signal between them that Keira could see, the guard, the same one who’d just fed from her a few hours ago, stepped up and lifted her bodily out of the way.
Leeha smiled her thanks at him. “You may begin, Josiah.”
Keira struggled in the guard's arms, kicking and punching him as hard as she could.
"No! No! You leave him alone!"
Josiah cautiously approached the vampire who'd lost it again at the sight of her struggling in Blondie’s arms. He didn't dare to get close enough to swing the wooden beam out. Instead, with a strong swing of his arm, he cracked the end of the whip across the front of Luukas' chest.
As Blondie took advantage of everyone’s attention being on the vampire to grope her, Keira managed to get an arm free. Raising her hand towards Josiah, she was just about to send him crashing into the opposite wall when Luukas caught her eye and subtly shook his head.
With a sob, she lowered her arm.
Chapter 7
Luukas
The whip whistled through the air, and snapped across the front of Luukas’ jean-clad thighs, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. Less than a second later, it tore across his cheek, slicing open a bloody streak of ragged skin.
Gritting his teeth, Luukas didn’t utter a sound as the leather shredded his flesh. He knew if he did, the witch would try to protect him, and he wouldn’t be able to do anything but watch as they killed her.
She had magic on her side, but the vampires had unnatural speed and physical power. She wouldn’t be able to take all three of them out before they got to her. Even in his muddled state of mind, he knew this.
He wasn’t sure how long the whipping went on. He lost track of the number of times he'd felt it tear into him. Lost track of the number of cries he heard from the witch every time Leeha urged Josiah on, her eyes glowing hot with blood lust.
After a while, he just got lost in the haze of the pain.
A few minutes, or hours, later (it was impossible to tell which), Leeha finally shrieked, “Stop!”
As Josiah lowered the whip with a frustrated snap, she stalked up closer to Luukas.
She was angry. Angrier than when she’d first come in.
Breathing heavily, Luukas blinked away the sweat and blood and lowered his eyes down to his stomach, where she was staring, and watched as the last wound healed itself within seconds.
Ah. That’s what she was so pissed off about. He was healing nearly as fast as they were tearing him open. He gave her a bloody smile, and spit on the front of her gown.
Her face turned nearly as red as her eyes. This made him nearly laugh out loud, to finally be getting one up on her. But his smile fell as she whipped around towards his witch.
“Release her,” she uttered calmly.
The blonde bastard who’d fed from Keira earlier abruptly opened his arms, and she fell onto her knees in the dirt at Leeha’s feet.
Luukas bared his fangs and hissed at the guard, memorizing his face. For that, he would be the first one he killed, directly after Leeha and Josiah.
“Rise, witch,” Leeha told her in that same placid tone.
He watched Keira push herself to her feet, yanking the blanket back up around her shoulders and neck, but she wasn’t quick enough.
Without a word, Leeha reached out and yanked it away, exposing the makeshift bandage around her neck. For a moment, she looked confused, but then her eyes fla
shed over to the guard.
His guilt was written all over his face.
“You’d betray me to drink from her? So she could feed HIM?!” she snarled at him. “Look at me!” she screamed when he kept his head down.
He tried to apologize as he raised his eyes to hers, but all he managed to get out was, “I’m so s…” before his eyes widened in horror, and he slammed his hands onto either side of his head.
Luukas watched as the other vampire, his gaze locked to Leeha’s, slowly lost his sanity, and his eternal life. Blood began to ooze from his eye sockets, nose and mouth, his jaw falling open in a silent scream.
Never taking her eyes from his, Leeha punched her hand through the guard’s chest. When she yanked it back out, his still beating heart was in her small grasp. She began to squeeze it in her palm, gradually adding more and more pressure until, with a wet popping sound, it finally burst.
As the dead guard crashed to the floor, she dropped the remnants of his heart on top of him, and with a weary sigh, looked down at her blood-splattered dress. “Now look what you’ve both done. This was one of my favorite gowns.”
Everyone in the room was frozen in place, afraid to make any sudden movements, as they watched her pluck at the delicate material.
Eventually, with a sigh of resignation, she lifted her head and looked around. “I apologize, I’m keeping everyone waiting, aren’t I?”
Luukas watched her warily as her attention was drawn back to him. Wandering back over his way, she asked, “Now, what should I do with you, my love? I think you know you need to be punished, as does the witch. But…what?”
Clasping her bloody hands behind her back, she paced back and forth in front of him with her head down, deep in thought.
Barely able to hold his head up after his punishment, Luukas risked a glance at Keira, but she stood unmoving, in a state of shock from what she’d just witnessed. She just stared down at the dead guard, her blanket pooled around her ankles on the dirt floor, forgotten.
He looked over at Josiah the Dog, baring his fangs when he caught his eyes on him, finding a bit of enjoyment in the flash of fear it incited in his eyes.
Finally coming to a halt, Leeha smiled up at him sweetly, but directed her words towards Joshia. “Get a torch down off of the wall, will you please?”
Josiah narrowed his eyes at Luukas, the fear transforming into a gratified smile that lifted the corners of his full lips. He hurried to do her bidding.
So, it was going to be fire again. Luukas fought to keep his eyes open. The whipping had taken its toll on him, and he hung limply from the chains again. But he couldn’t pass out. Only one thought kept ricocheting around his head: He had to protect Keira.
“Wait,” Leeha ordered Josiah as he came back with the fire and waved it in front of Luukas’ face. “We need to make sure he didn’t manage to convince the witch to remove her spell. He has a death wish, but I don’t want to actually kill him, after all.”
He sneered at Josiah as the fucker sulked in disappointment.
“Keira! Come here.”
As if in a daze, Keira lifted her head.
Anger flashed across Leeha’s face again. “I said. COME HERE!”
He saw her jump at the shouted order, and she inched over towards them, leaving her blanket where it was.
Luukas let his eyes rove over her small form. Even in the state he was in, he couldn’t deny that she was lovely. Her thick, dark hair tumbled over her shoulders and into her lovely face, nearly hiding her large hazel eyes. Petite as she was, she had full breasts and hips and shapely legs that tapered down to delicate ankles.
Was she thinner than before? He tried to remember. She always had that blanket pulled around her. Did they feed her down here?
He was jolted back into reality when he heard Leeha tell her, “Do not let him die.”
Keira blinked in confusion. “What?”
Leeha spoke matter-of-factly. “We’re going to burn him. Completely. I promised Josiah that he could.”
Luukas swung his head over to Leeha, an animalistic growl coming from deep within his chest. He didn’t need to see Josiah to know he’d be practically dancing with glee.
She smiled at him fanatically. “And I want him to feel everything, every tiny spark. I just don’t want him actually damaged.”
She placed a bloody hand on his chest. “We’re going to cleanse you, Luukas. Cleanse your soul clean. Burn away all of this treachery. And then, I will be able to forgive you.” Backing away, she gestured to Keira. “Go on, witch. You may begin.”
“Are you completely out of your mind?” Keira gasped.
Leeha narrowed her eyes at the witch. “Do it, or he will burn to ash, and our deal will be null and void.” She gestured for Josiah to step forward with the torch.
She won’t do it, Luukas thought. There was no way she’d do it. Not this. She’d helped him. She’d sacrificed herself just to get him a little bit of blood. Got him some water. Eased his pain. She wouldn’t do this. Not now.
Then why was he trembling?
Her eyes flew back and forth between him and Josiah, who was mere inches away from him now, a look of utter panic on her face. He watched in disbelief as her eyes began to overflow with tears, and she turned to him.
“Please, forgive me,” she pleaded anxiously. "My first spell isn't strong enough for this much at once. And I can't let you die!"
A surge of adrenaline rushed through him as she lifted her graceful arms and began chanting, sending him one last desperate look before she closed her eyes, shutting him out.
He threw himself from side to side as Josiah advanced on him, bellowing with rage as he tried to break free. He knew somewhere deep in his psyche, that he wouldn’t be able to come out of this with any sanity left. Not this, a vampire's worst fear. Not being burned alive. It would break him.
From what seemed like a great distance away, he heard Josiah cackle with glee, and he jerked his head around, a scream tearing from his throat as the first of the flames licked their way up his legs no matter how hard he tried to get away.
He could hear his skin crackling from the heat. He could feel it melting from the muscle. The smell of burnt hair and flesh filled his nose. His muscles began to cook like a thick steak on the barbeque, his blood began to boil, and through it all he heard her chanting in the background, her words background music to his screams.
The fire worked its way up his calves to his thighs, then upward toward his groin. His manhood retracted in a desperate attempt to avoid the ungodly heat…his balls shriveling up inside of him. But it was impossible. As the scorching heat licked between his thighs, Luukas forced himself to look down, made his eyes see that the fire wasn’t actually harming him. Tried to get his brain to convince his senses that this wasn’t really happening. But it didn’t make any difference. He could feel it! Could feel every inch of his body being burned alive.
His throat was completely raw now; his screams nearly soundless, but he couldn’t stop them.
Then, ever so slowly, the heat crawled up his stomach, the flames eating up the new flesh ravenously.
He thought he heard a girl crying, but he couldn’t be sure. He couldn’t focus on anything except the feeling of his flesh being incinerated from his bones.
The flames crept up his chest to lick at his face. He threw his head back, smashing it over and over against the wall. Trying to smash it open on the stone.
He couldn’t scream anymore.
Chapter 8
Keira
Keira was openly sobbing by the time Luukas finally lost consciousness.
“Get it away from him!” she cried, afraid to retract her spell too soon lest the flames actually ignite him. He’d be a pile of ash before anyone could react. “Get it away from him!!” she screamed louder.
Leeha shot her a look, but motioned for Josiah to remove the flames from his face.
“But I didn’t even do his arms yet!” He whined.
A sound of disbelief burst
from Keira, but she didn’t take her eyes from Luukas.
“Well, there’d really be no sense in it now, would there?” Leeha turned away, disgust at Luukas' lack of endurance written all over her face. “He’s lost consciousness.”
“I guess not,” he reluctantly agreed. With a sigh, Josiah pulled the torch away and took it back over to the holder on the wall where he’d found it.
Dropping the spell, Keira rushed over to Luukas’ deathly still form. Running her hands along his face, his chest, his legs, even squatting down to his booted feet, she checked him for any physical damage. But he seemed ok. Even his clothes were intact.
Thank the gods! Her spell had held.
She glanced over her shoulder to find Leeha’s eyes on her, a strange expression on her porcelain face.
Swiping at the tears running down her cheeks, she rose to her full height, and turned to face whatever her punishment would be for her part in all of this.
Leeha stared at her a moment longer.
“Wait outside, Josiah.”
She waited for him to close the door behind him before speaking again. “I returned here tonight to see how you two were faring together, which I see now was much better than I had anticipated; A mistake on my part. I also came to let you know that I will be receiving guests this evening, and so will not be able to visit with my Luukas while I am entertaining. But don’t worry; Josiah will be down to carry on here alone. No harm shall come to him while he is here by himself, witch, is that completely understood?”
She didn’t wait for a confirmation. “Also, I will need you to drop that cloaking spell tonight.”
Keira stared in disbelief. “You’re not going to punish me?”
“Are you not the least bit curious who my guests are?” Leeha smirked.
Her head was still reeling by everything that had just happened, what the hell did she care who was coming? Unless they were coming to rescue her and Luukas, which she highly doubted.
But ok, she thought, not knowing what else to say, I’ll bite. “By all means, tell me. Who in their right mind would be coming to visit you?”