by Myles, Jill
“I was looking at a map in the library, ” he’d said in an excited voice. “The world is so different now. I wonder what the changes are like – what marvels there are to be seen. Did you know they finished that tower in Paris?”
“The Eiffel Tower?” I’d replied thoughtfully. “Do you want to see it?”
His hand had caressed mine. “Only if you do. ”
The whip cracked over my tattered back once more, and I wondered if he would go and see Paris without me. I hoped he would. I thought of his handsome face, silvery eyes lit up with wonder as he stared up at the Eiffel Tower, the sun shining behind him.
Crack!
The whip sizzled across my skin again, and I bit down on my lip again. I’d bitten it so many times that it was likely as mangled as my back, but I wouldn’t give Aloysius or his lackeys the satisfaction of hearing me scream. The man whipping me left the room, shutting the door behind him, and I stretched in the handcuffs. My hands were tied over my head, leaving my back arched and exposed, my t-shirt in tatters, my bra close to it. It hung together by a mere thread. But the holy water was still tucked safely under my breasts, and it gave me a bit of hope.
“Has she cried out?” said a voice, muffled on the other side of the door.
“Not yet,” said the man with the whip. “She has incredible control.”
No, I thought. She is just really, really fucking stubborn and has played Aloysius’s games for over a hundred years. I knew this wasn’t the real punishment – this was the warm-up. Aloysius was going to think up something very special –and awful – to punish me for running away. This was just to keep his goons entertained while he slept. I’d save my screaming for then.
“Pull her down,” the other man said. “Aloysius is awake and wants her.”
I stiffened. Wants her could mean anything. Sex – which I hated but would endure – or torture, or something else. Anything else. I’d learned not to anticipate his moods or his thoughts.
The men moved to me and pulled me down, unhooking the handcuffs from where I’d been strung to a hook from the ceiling. I sagged to the ground as they released me – no one moved to catch me. Probably too scared of Aloysius.
“Get up,” the man said in a hard voice. “The master wants you in the main room.”
I ignored his command and remained where I was. “Tell the master to come and fucking get me, then.”
The man’s face mottled with anger, but he didn’t backhand me. Instead, he grabbed me by the arm and hauled me bodily down the hall and into the main hall.
The room was full of people once more, dressed as they had been the night before. Aloysius lounged in his chair, perking up at the sight of me, bloody and bruised. The men removed my cuffs and dropped me at his feet.
“Well, don’t you smell delicious?” He said, running his fingers down my back and leaving a sharp stab of pain in its place.
I batted his hand away, hating the revulsion that crawled through me.
He kicked me with a heavy boot. Fire spread along my back as I landed on my raw wounds. “Ah, Olivia. I have missed you all these years. We shall have a great time trying to catch up, shall we? I’ve brought some of your favorite toys along.”
He held out a goblet and shook it at me. Small metal things clinked inside it, and I felt a quiver of fear in my stomach. Razor blades. His favorite game.
I swallowed hard.
“But first,” he said, and waved a careless hand at me. “Fix me a drink. You know the way I like it.”
I did know the way he liked it – he liked a goblet of wine spiked with my blood. I trembled for a moment, thinking about the holy water in my bra. The compulsion dragged me to my feet and turned me automatically to the wet bar, and I moved like a jerky automaton, my limbs quivering with exhaustion but unable to resist. No one paid attention to me, though, and I methodically moved behind the bar, reaching for bottles. Aloysius liked Scotch mixed with a heavy dose of my blood, because he knew it bothered me. So I poured the scotch, neat, and then sliced my palm with a nearby knife, letting the blood pour into the cup.
I glanced up as I bled into the glass. Aloysius was playing with one of his human pets, fingering her hair as she stared up at him with a blankly adoring look on her face. It made me sick. As I watched them, I reached into my tattered bra and retrieved the holy water, uncorking it with shaking, bloody fingers. Any moment now, someone would see what I was doing. They would stop me, and then my punishment would be severe.
But no one stopped me. A few people wandered in and out of the room, laughing and talking. The one closest to the bar rubbed her forehead, as if she had a headache, and slipped out the back door. She was quickly followed by another man, and then another. No one was paying the slightest bit of attention to me – which was perfect. I tossed the vial aside and stirred the scotch until it blended. Keeping my face carefully neutral, I moved back across the room and offered it to Aloysius. He didn’t reach for it, so I placed it at the table beside him as he stroked and petted the woman that clung to his knees.
He gave me a dismissive look as I turned to leave, hoping to sneak away before my deception was found out. He pushed the human woman away, and she scuttled to the back of the room. Aloysius leaned forward in his chair. “Stop.”
I halted, hating him with every fiber of my being.
“Come and lick my feet, Olivia. Show me your appreciation.”
Fury rushed through me, even as I knelt on the floor and began to remove his shoes. I wanted to rip his black heart out. My hands were rough as I tore his boot off, exposing one smooth, corpse-pale foot. Compelled, I fought with every fiber of my being even as I knelt over his foot and touched my tongue to the arch of it, shuddering at the taste.
Fuck him, I thought as I licked his pale foot. As soon as I could, I’d torch him. Reduce him to nothing but ashes. Set the whole building on fire, even if I had to go down with it. Furious tears burned in my eyes, my humiliation complete.
“What’s the matter, Olivia? Not enjoying my taste? I thought you always enjoyed me, even when you professed hate.” His voice was mocking, cruel. “Isn’t that what your kind do? Get off on everything?”
I hated him. I hated him so much it hurt. I said nothing, giving his foot another tentative lick, as little as the curse would allow. I hoped the holy water gutted him like a fish.
“After this, I think we’ll get out the razor blades and have ourselves some fun. What do you think, my pet?” He kicked my face with his foot. “Lick harder. I want you to clean all the grime off of it from this filthy place.”
I clenched my hands, even as my tongue touched his foot again. My stomach roiled, threatening to throw up its contents—
“Stop,” said a furious voice. “Get away from him.”
The compulsion stopped seizing me and a mixture of hope and dread clutched at my insides. No. Please no.
Aloysius’s hand fisted in my hair, yanking me back against him. The wounds on my back flared with agony and the world flashed black in front of my eyes. I bit back a cry, blinking rapidly to try and clear my fuzzy vision.
A lone man stood in the center of the room, dressed in one of the white robes of the monastery Enforcers. He was alone, his expression barely containing his anger as he stared down at my bloody, humiliated form. In one hand, he clenched a necklace of bells, garlic, and dried objects that clanked as he approached. In the other, he lifted a white candle and blew it out, and I watched the flame flare a bright red with magic before extinguishing.
David. He’d found me somehow. Idiot. Couldn’t the man just let a woman trying to martyr herself for the damn cause and save his ass?
“Don’t you touch her, brother,” David said in a fierce voice. “Not one finger.”
“Brother…” Aloysius breathed, then stiffened in his chair. “How did you get in?”
David dropped the spell implements on the ground and stepped over them. “You’re not the only one that’s learned a little magic, Aloysius. Noah has a friend that k
nows a little voodoo, and she gave me a charm that repels humans. Handy little trick for clearing out a room, don’t you think?”
I looked around sharply. Sure enough, the room had emptied. I had seen a few people leave over the last few minutes but hadn’t put two and two together.
Aloysius stood as David approached, dragging me upright against him. “My brother,” he said in a low, pleased voice. “You’re here. I see my little pet finally awoke you.” Aloysius stroked my throat as David approached the two of us. “Welcome to the new world, my friend. You’ll find a few things have changed since we last spoke.”
David’s expression remained grim, his gaze on me. “Let her go. She has no stake in this.”
He leaned in and licked my cheek with his disgusting tongue. “I think she is what ties us together, do you not?”
“Olivia,” David said softly, his gaze on Aloysius. “Join me at my side.”
I stepped forward, only to have my head jerked backward by Aloysius’s hand again, ripping at my hair.
“Bad, bad little pet,” Aloysius sneered. “On your knees.”
I dropped to the floor, giving David a helpless look.
“She is not a doll, Aloysius,” David gritted.
“Isn’t she?” The vampire laughed and tugged at my hair. “Suck me off, Olivia. Let’s see that sweet mouth of yours move.”
The compulsion grabbed me and my hands automatically went to his belt buckle. Methodically, I began to remove Aloysius’s clothing, my mind screaming a protest.
Please, David, step in.
The men seemed to be engaged in a silent clash of wills, glaring at each other. Helpless, I moved slowly and methodically, unbuckling Aloysius’s pants and dragging them downward, exposing his groin. He was soft, which meant I’d have to work even harder to bring him to come.
Please, step in. Please. I reached out to touch Aloysius—
David touched my shoulder. “No,” he said. “Stop. He takes these games too far.”
Relief washed over me, so much that I didn’t even mind that he’d touched my raw, whip-marked back. I pushed Aloysius away with disgust.
“Poor David,” Aloysius sneered, hitching his pants around his waist again and redoing the button as if he didn’t have a care. “Ever the gentleman, bound by society’s rules. Don’t you realize how freeing it is to give yourself over to pleasure? To decide that you are done with their silly angel games? They’re not coming back for you, David. No matter if you’re a good boy or not, no one’s going to swoop down and rescue you and bring you back to Heaven.”
“That doesn’t give you any right to manipulate Olivia,” David said, his voice soft and strong.
“I made her,” Aloysius snarled. “She is my creation. I made her immortal, and she must serve me for it.” His eyes narrowed. “Unless you wish to offer something in exchange for her?”
David had nothing. What could he exchange other than his life? I reached for him, shaking my head. “No, David no—“
But David ignored my words and my grasping hands. “What do you want from me, Aloysius?”
For once, the vampire didn’t sneer or mock or laugh. “I want my friend at my side, David.” His pale hand gripped David’s shoulder. “Take up dark wings and be my brother again. We shall rule the night and regret nothing.”
My breath caught in my throat. A second vampire…? I could think of nothing worse.
But David shook his head and flicked Aloysius’s hand off his arm, the way someone would shoo a bug. His gaze was cold. “I will never do such a thing. If you wish to possess Olivia, you must duel me for her, brother. A fight to the death – winner takes all.
I gasped. “What? No!”
David didn’t look my way. Unease clenched in my stomach.
Aloysius’s smile was thin. “You would risk your life for hers?”
“I would,” said David calmly. “You stole a hundred years of my life and hers. It is up to me to correct this.”
Aloysius sauntered back to his throne, staring at his now-empty room, devoid of admirers and supplicants. “What if I don’t want your life, David?” he said in a tired voice. “What if I simply want my friend back? Join me instead. We shall be brothers once more.”
David shook his head. “We ceased to be brothers the day you betrayed me.”
Aloysius stared at David, as if trying to decide if he could break him down or not. His hand reached for the glass on the table, and I sucked in a breath.
“Olivia,” he said, and patted his lap. “Come.”
“No,” David said before I could move. “Stop. She is not yours.”
“No? She tastes delicious.” The vampire smiled, this time baring all of his teeth, and took a swig of the whiskey.
I laughed.
Slowly, Aloysius’s expression changed. He looked merely confused for a moment, and then pain – and fear – flitted across his debauched features. He dropped the tumbler, the glass breaking and scattering shards across the wooden floorboards. Smoke billowed from his mouth and his hands went to his throat.
“What’s the matter, master,” I said mockingly. “Cat got your tongue?”
Aloysius’s lip curled into a snarl, but his hand went to his throat, clutching it. No words came out. He staggered and fell back on his chair, writhing with pain.
“Olivia, what did you do?” David looked at Aloysius’s struggling figure, then back at me.
I couldn’t tell if he was upset with me or not. I shouldn’t have cared, but the look in David’s eyes was emotionless, and that bothered me. I wanted him to look at me with affection, not unease. I shrugged. “Holy water in his drink. It’ll burn him for a few hours from the inside out.”
Aloysius convulsed on his throne, his limbs jerking.
I watched with avid eyes. I shouldn’t have enjoyed another person’s torture, but…I did. It was delicious.
David tore his gaze from my gleeful expression and looked back at the throne. He shook his head. “I’ll get the stakes.”
I followed close behind, though I hated to turn my back on the vampire. Everything in my body said that was a mistake, and I would regret it. What if he got away?
But he didn’t, and David retrieved my bag full of stakes, holy water and crosses. He tried to hand it to me, a silent gesture to see if I wanted to do the honors.
I shook my head. “I would love nothing more than to destroy him, but you need to rid yourself of your Serim vow.” I didn’t add that Aloysius could recover, turn on me and force me to stab myself instead of him. That was obvious to both of us.
“Is this what you want to do, Olivia?” David said, looking at me. “There is no going back.”
I stared at him, not sure what he wanted me to say. Did he want me to change my mind, sigh prettily and let the man go? Aloysius had been my tormentor for a hundred and twenty years, I couldn’t even fathom how many awful things he’d made me do, how many times he’d tortured me only to let me escape, and then drag me back because he knew that was the worst torture of all, so close to freedom and yet so far. He’d destroyed everyone I’d ever loved.
“We could leave him in a spell like mine,” David said softly. “Let him sleep the next few hundred years away. I’m sure Noah’s friend has a spell if you want to show mercy.”
I couldn’t meet David’s eyes. No, I didn’t want to show mercy. Fuck mercy. How could he even ask me that?
But then I looked at David’s sad face, his eyes hollow with sorrow. This was his brother he’d be killing. A brother who had only turned a few short days ago in his mind, not the 120 years I knew of.
“I still want it,” I said in a hard voice, knowing that David would be disappointed. “I still want him dead. I can’t rest until I’m free of him. How can you even ask me that?”
He flinched at my anger, anguish showing on his face. “He is my brother.”
“He is my torturer,” I said furiously. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
His head bent with sadness, and he heav
ed a long, sorrowful sigh. “I know. I had simply hoped…but no.” David looked down at Aloysius with a mixture of betrayal and grief. “The man I thought I knew died long ago, did he not? And that is why we cannot allow you to live. I am sorry, my brother.”
“You fucking bitch,” Aloysius rasped, then gave David a bloody half-smile. “I have always thought of you first, brother. Even if you let this little whore come between us.”
David bent over him, his shoulders hunched. I watched him struggle with the grief and betrayal he felt. Would he choose me – an interloper – over several thousand years of exile with a man he had treated as a brother? A man who had betrayed him so recently in his memory?
I held my breath, waiting. Would he pick me over Aloysius? What if he thought the vampire was still worth saving?
But David was a good man, even if he was conflicted. He tilted his head back, eyes closed, as if seeking strength. Then he looked over at me, his eyes tortured. Not seeing salvation in my eyes, he took a long breath and leaned over Aloysius. He placed the stake at the center of the vampire’s heart and slammed it home.
* * *
Once the vampire was staked, we burned him and poured his ashes down the sink. It gave me a repulsive sort of pleasure to realize that his final resting place would be someplace so very ignominious. My tormentor had been destroyed forever and tossed into the garbage disposal. I liked it.
As the vampire’s body had been slowly destroyed by fire, I’d felt the connection – the leash between us – snapping and crackling inside me as if it was being burned up as well. I said nothing of my pain, enjoying it. The presence of it told me that I was close to being free, so very close, and I welcomed every moment of it. A succubus is tied to both her masters, and I welcomed the pain of the bond severing between the two of us.
Once he was ash and the burning shivers of pain receded, I felt nothing but a strange hollowness that I couldn’t quite place. I was thrilled Aloysius was gone – so what was wrong with me? Why did I feel that odd anxiety?