Beautiful Eternity (The Bloodmarked Trilogy Book 3)

by Alicia Deters

The lady vampire to my right scoffed. “He may have bested us and only left us with those newly turned imbeciles to fetch our meals, but you are in no position to make such a promise.”

  Something occurred to me. My instincts had sensed something off about this whole thing for some time now. I had assumed correctly when Shane mentioned the kidnappings. My father didn’t do that for their benefit. Those newly turned imbeciles made a scene kidnapping the kids and attracted my attention, making the perfect lure to keep me well and distracted, while giving my father more time to decipher the books.

  I snorted. Misdirection was becoming a favorite tactic of his. Get a better playbook, Dad.

  Looking up into those bottomless pits, I smiled at her. “Actually, I think I am in the perfect position. I’ll start with you.”

  Her fist crashed into my cheekbone, stunning me for a second, and also giving me an opening.

  While my arm was free, I dug out my next weapon of choice, a modified lighter. Flicking the lid open, I lit the flame and as the two vampire’s guarding me jumped back, I added the WD-40. The burst of light sent shadows scattering in every direction. The two closest vamps joined the heat of my makeshift flamethrower, courtesy of Nick.

  The guy had a disturbing obsession with fire, but we loved him for it.

  I flashed over to the stunned vampire in the dungeon cell before he had time to hurt the boy. He saw me advancing and had only enough time to lift the kid and throw him toward me.

  The boy screamed, and I caught him with one arm around his midsection. Gently lowering him to the ground, I sprinted in the direction horse face fled. He was slow in his weakened state, and I caught up to him quickly, grabbing a handful of his long hair and yanking him backward.

  When he hit a wall, he tried fleeing again, but I planted my boot in his torso, sending him crashing through stone into another chamber. The dust created a cloud and swirled around me as I stepped through the large hole.

  I wrapped a hand around my throwing knife, and he crawled backward to avoid the sentencing blow.

  “Please, spare me. I will tell you about your father. I’ll help you defeat him.”

  I stopped in my tracks. “What about my father?”

  “He was planning to kill you if you didn’t tell him where the Sword was. He was getting desperate and nearly killed us all in his anger, but he didn’t. He simply left us to suffer. I want to see him meet his end as much as you do. He took our army. It was all we had left.”

  Choking back a laugh, I smiled in triumph. Here he was, one of the most powerful vampires in the world, and he was huddled in a corner, begging me for his life.

  I was starting to see the First for what they were. Their name alone was all they had left. It was the only thing to strike fear into others who thought to defy them. My father must have seen how pathetic they truly were when he met them and probably didn’t exert much effort to convince their army he was the stronger leader.

  I held up my knife and took another step forward, growing impatient. “Tell me something useful.”

  “There was a girl.”

  “A girl?”

  “Yes. He was traveling with a young human girl. He plans to use her as bait for you.”

  What girl could he be talking about? He didn’t have Sophie or Allison. They were safely tucked away at the lodge in Italy the last time I checked, and there was no way my father could have had either of them during his trip here. I just saw them this morning.

  Was it a random girl he picked up to play me? I wouldn’t be surprised.

  Taking another step forward sent horse face into a flurry of desperation. He hit the wall and shrunk into himself. So sad.

  “You are naïve if you think your destiny ends here. We are not the greatest evil to arise. What do you think will happen when you destroy us? Did you believe one of your troubles would cease? Because for centuries we were the only things the Shadowmarked feared. We created order, but what do you think will happen when they learn we are no more?”

  Chaos.

  A shiver danced up my spine. He was right. More problems would come out of this than resolutions. But I would deal with them when they came. I raised my hand.

  “Wait! I can help you.”

  I heard the children still sniffling and crying in the dungeon. “No. You can burn.”

  Whipping the knife, it cut through the remaining ten feet between us, heating the room with a burst of flames and flashing light.

  As the adrenaline left me, I picked up a putrid scent. Leaving the chamber, I turned farther into the belly of the basement, following the rot. Unease grew with every step. Resisting the urge to turn, I had to see for myself.

  At the end of the hall, there was a drop off, and what I saw at the bottom of the pit below me, crushed me. It was a mass grave, filled with bodies in all states of decay. Most of them were small bodies.

  I dropped to my knees and gagged over my sobs. They racked me as my eyes landed on dark hair fanning out over other victims. It was matted with blood, but I recognized the face, partially hidden by the dark locks. It was the girl from the newspaper in Italy.

  I was too late.

  Breaking in two, I struggled for composure as the fury threatened to find an outlet. It buzzed like a live wire, and I let it simmer until I could unleash it on the real enemy. I wished I could bring the First back to draw out their pain slowly, but I was relieved they hadn’t gotten to the other children. In this moment, I shared Gavin’s fascination with torture, inventing new ways to elicit agony in my mind.

  Death came with the territory of being a vampire hunter, but these were children. It was always harder to swallow when it involved innocents. They had no way to defend themselves, and the terror they must have felt ate at my defective soul. They had been too young to know true evil but were forced to live through something so far beyond any of their nightmares.

  I wanted to claw out my own heart to erase this feeling, knowing it would stay with me forever, leaving a bruised and blackened spot that would throb with every beat.

  One last tear fell when I looked at the girl, before a scream ripped through me, releasing a wave of guilt that blasted through the castle like a gunshot. I would make sure these poor souls had proper burials, but I couldn’t take them all with me when there were live victims to save.

  A rumbling noise filtered down the stairs from above, and I ran to the children, thinking the castle was coming down on us. When I approached, they huddled closer together.

  “It’s okay. I won’t hurt you. Let’s get you out of here. Follow me kids. Do you speak English?” I made my best attempt to mime my good intentions and motion toward the stairs, but they stared at me like I just told them Olaf melted.

  A girl stood up first. “Are the monsters all gone?”

  “Yes. They can’t hurt you anymore.”

  “What about the other kids? They took them away, but we don’t know where they went.”

  Acid clawed at my throat. Choking back another sob, I gave her a vague answer I thought she could handle. “We’ll come back for them, but we need to get you guys out of here, okay?”

  She turned to the others and nodded her head as she exited the cell to follow me. One by one, the others followed suit, deciding to trust me in favor of not staying in the cold, dark dungeon. Either way, we needed to vacate, like yesterday.

  The rumbling grew louder, and as we climbed the stairs, I noticed it wasn’t a rumbling sound at all. It was more of a beating or whipping sound. There were helicopters nearby. Thank the heavens my friends were so resourceful.

  At the top of the stairs, I stopped and counted each head as it passed. Thirteen kids were accounted for. We stepped carefully through the debris and made our way to the door. Halfway to freedom, I felt something I wasn’t expecting.

  Oh, crap. I was in big trouble.

  The kids and I moved down the alley and stood at the end as the search and rescue helicopter hovered in the clearing, blowing snow in giant gusts. Two of the search tea
m members hopped out to usher us into the belly of the aircraft. The kids were lifted to another person standing at the door, and when it was my turn, I almost told them I’d take the next one but didn’t think that would go over well.

  “Miss, are you all right?” one of the rescue members asked as he assessed my damage.

  “Oh, this? It’s just minor scratches. I’m fine.”

  He looked ready to argue, but I turned from him to face the impending argument. How was I going to calm the beast?

  Jumping on board, I met his hard stare immediately. He sat at the back with his elbows resting on his knees, trying to keep an air of cool authority.

  “Hi, honey. Any good inflight movies?”

  His jaw clenched but he remained silent. I moved to take the seat beside him, and he followed my path, tracking me.

  I stopped in front of my seat, which was extremely close to where he sat, meaning the side of my leg was pressed firmly against his. His shoulder touched my hip, and he glared at the contact like it offended him. His eyes roamed up my bloodied coat, but when they collided with mine, he saw the heat in them. The glacial blue of his eyes thawed as we both remembered the last time we saw each other. My chest heaved with labored breaths, and he cleared his throat.

  “Sit.” His voice was hard and scratchy, like his mouth was dry and he hungered for something.

  Resisting the urge to crawl onto his lap, I sat in my own seat and buckled in. I watched as the ground moved farther away and the trees looked more like a bunched up, jade rug that got stuck too many times in the vacuum. The rolling landscape wasn’t enough to ignore the tension in the cramped space. The wind and engine noises combined made it impossible for anyone else to hear, but Gavin spoke in a conversational tone.

  “I’m still so pissed at you, Ms. Masters. What the hell were you thinking going after them alone? I was dealing with a lot in Germany.”

  My heart clenched painfully at the sound of helplessness I put in his voice. I probably should have told him before I left, but it wouldn’t have changed the fact that I had to go, regardless. I turned to face him and wavered.

  “You’re right to be mad, but that’s why I didn’t tell you. They needed your help. I didn’t.” I hated etching even more lines of powerlessness into his expression.

  His lips thinned and the creases around his eyes deepened. He was angrier, but not at me. But there was something he didn’t understand.

  “Gav, I don’t need you to keep me safe from them. I need you to keep me safe from myself. You’re my humanity. Without you I’d have no reason to care. Leave my survival to me, sweetheart. You take care of my heart.”

  Because I needed to let him do that right now. I’d explain it to him later, but for now, I just wanted his love, not sympathy.

  His answering smile was a thing of beauty. He chuckled but it was a hollow sound that echoed with residual worry. “I can handle that. Just don’t ever get yourself killed.”

  “Noted. Hey, Gav…”

  “Yessss?”

  I smothered a laugh at his hesitance to hear whatever bad news he expected from me next.

  “How’s my hair?” I knew it was a tangled mess from the blood and fighting and, oh yeah, the two thousand mile run.

  He threw his head back in laughter, which earned us a few odd stares from the rescue team. The children were still too shaken to react to anything resembling joy.

  When his laughter subsided, he responded. “I love you.”

  “Love you too, sexy.”

  He groaned, and his tension ebbed. “Don’t start with me, woman. I miss you enough as it is.”

  I turned my gaze back to the rugged terrain to hide my smile, but he lowered his voice and proceeded to torture me with finite details of what he wanted to do when he got me alone again.

  My mouth went dry and my eyes were unfocused, not seeing the outside world anymore. Seconds spread into minutes as I regained my composure and pushed at the images threatening to override my senses.

  “Are you blushing yet?” I heard his arrogant, teasing smile.

  “No.” My voice was too sharp.

  “Liar.” He sounded way too triumphant.

  Damn him.

  I smiled despite myself. It was good to put true delight back in him.

  16

  By the time we got back to Moscow, the sun was setting, and I was ravenous. Conveniently, our helicopter landed at a hospital, where Gavin disappeared to work his magic, scoring me a few pints. I just couldn’t bring myself to ask how he was so good at obtaining them.

  I caught Gavin up on the events in Italy as I threw back a few pints. He grew the kind of stone cold quiet I’d become acquainted with in the past few months, but he didn’t interrupt. He was probably tucking that information away to use in an altercation later.

  We snuck away from the authorities before they could ask too many questions and hurried through the streets, coming to the first subway station we saw. I explained the mass grave to Gavin, and he nearly flipped his bad guy switch in the middle of the sidewalk. He promised he would contact the right people to handle it. Another pang of sadness twisted my insides, but I had to hold it together until we were alone.

  Hoping to avoid the crowds on our way out of the city, we realized our mistake when barging through the doors and coming to a stop in probably the busiest station in the city. People scurried all around us, bumping our shoulders until we moved with them. We quickly bought tickets and followed the direction of our departure, down the escalator and into the bowels of Moscow.

  I practically stumbled off the last step when I absorbed the scene that unfolded around me. “Are we taking in a show before skipping town?” I asked Gavin.

  He smirked. “We don’t have anything like this in St. Louis, do we?”

  “Not unless you count the Fox Theatre.”

  Old world extravagance oozed from the curved ceiling of the terminal. Literally. Chandeliers dripped gold leaf elegance while crown molding reached up to the highest center point from the edges, like creeping ivy, encasing what looked like some kind of crest or seal carved out of more gold.

  Moving toward our platform under archways that reminded me of the many arcades I saw in Rome, I bumped into someone and spun to apologize. He had already turned his back to me and hurried past, but there was something weirdly familiar about the dark curly hair that I couldn’t place.

  Brushing it off, I turned back to Gavin who was eyeing me up and down with pity instead of the longing I felt for him.

  “What?” I snapped, getting defensive.

  “Nothing, gorgeous. We just need to get you some new clothes as soon as we get off the train. You’re starting to draw attention and freaking out that nice elderly couple behind us.”

  I turned in time to see them averting their guilty eyes when they caught me looking. Glancing down, I cursed. The blood staining my jeans and coat was only darkening as it dried. The knife holes weren’t helping either.

  “Oops. I didn’t realize how bad it was.”

  “It’ll be fine. Let’s just find a seat near the back of the car.”

  “How is it fine if I need to hide?”

  He chuckled but otherwise ignored my very non-rhetorical question.

  When the train arrived, we pushed to the front and, as promised, Gavin found a seat in the back corner. I sat by the window. As we pulled away, I thought of being in the city just this morning. It brought memories of my conversation with Max and my twenty missed calls from the man sitting stoically beside me.

  “How did you find me? I know you couldn’t sense me from that far away, so how did you know where to look?”

  After a silence filled gap, I looked up at him. His face was forward and the strong edge of his jaw worked back and forth, but before I could prod him, he answered me.

  “It was simple. When I put you on my phone plan, I added a tracking app to your phone.”

  “Old stalker tendencies die hard, don’t they?”

  He looked down at m
e then and placed a warm hand on the top of my thigh. “So does reckless behavior apparently. I just wanted to make sure my girlfriend was safe.”

  “Uh huh. Can we talk about this whole me being on your phone plan thing? I’m really starting to feel like a mooch. I think I need to get a job.”

  “I don’t see it like that at all. I like taking care of you. A guy can start to feel inadequate when his girlfriend is perfectly capable of saving herself. Like you said before, I have to provide for you somehow or I’ll start to feel like the useless one in the relationship.” His thumb started rubbing soothing circles across the bare skin exposed by the largest of the knife holes.

  “Oh, well thanks for letting that title go to me.”

  “That’s not what I meant. You already give me everything I need. I just want to be able to offer you everything you deserve.”

  “Hmmm, I still think it’s highly unbalanced. Do you think Clint would take me back?”

  “Probably. The guy seems like a masochist.”

  “Hey! You’re supposed to be more charming.”

  He laughed. “I am. I’m pointing out what a difficult pain in the ass you can be. And that happens to be one of my favorite things about you.”

  I crossed my arms and a wicked glint flashed in his eyes. “In fact, it’s downright sexy when you argue with me. I love when your fire comes out. Maybe I’m a bit of a masochist too, but that pissed off look in your eyes only makes me want to get closer, see if I get burned.”

  He inched into my space, and I licked my lips, lining them up with his. “Mmm, that’s one of the things I love about you. You can always handle my heat.”

  His eyes melted as his lids lowered, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say he wanted to be consumed by my fire.

  His lips pushed against my mouth, and the barest brush of his tongue against mine sent me over the edge. I grabbed the back of his neck and opened fully to him.

  An obvious throat clearing broke us apart like two teenagers caught by their parents making out in a closed bedroom. My gaze shot to a pair of brown eyes topped with curly brown hair that fell past even darker eyebrows.