Chapter 13
Emma
* * *
I fell out of the mirror in Father’s office and landed on the carpeted floor with a dull thump. A wave of nausea rolled through me as I reorientated myself in my new surroundings. My gaze shot to Father’s desk.
Empty.
The only sound was my heart pounding in competition with the grandfather clock ticking against the wall. My heart pounded like a town crier yelling the announcement of my arrival.
She’s here. She’s here. She’s here.
Could anyone else hear it?
I lay paralyzed in place, waiting to be discovered, expecting to be found. When nothing happened for a good minute, which felt like a bloody lifetime, I forced myself to stand. My legs shook and adrenaline poured through me. I’d entered Father’s office without his permission.
Once I was sure my legs would keep me upright, I walked over to the desk and eased open the drawer I’d seen him put his Bible in. The book lay silent in the drawer just where he’d left it. It always had the starring role in Father’s rituals, but I’d never been this close to it before. So many painful memories were attached to that thing. Shouldn’t it appear more sinister? Vibrate with evil? Maybe give off a foul odor?
It looked like any old leather-bound book. So ordinary on the outside, but then, its power lay in the words it contained, words that were supposed to lead me into adulthood. Instead, I was discovering that it had really been leading me toward a darkness I didn’t want. I ran my finger over the cover. The words inside had the potential to reveal the secret of who I really was.
My legs wouldn’t hold me any longer and I sunk down into Father’s chair. My hand trembled as I reached in and took the book from the drawer and placed it on the desk in front of me. Then I closed my eyes and prayed to whatever deity in heaven would listen to me.
Please let it be there for Kristof.
I opened my eyes and looked into the bottom of the drawer.
A bronzed disc about the size of my palm lay nestled on a velvet cloth. In the center was a large red stone with symbols running around the edge. It was the medallion Kristof so desperately searched for. I hoped it would help heal some of the grief that scarred him so deeply, but at the very least, returning it would help in his battle to restore free will.
The fact that it allowed me to defy my father by returning it to Kristof and his pack didn’t enter my mind until I went to pick it up. I snickered. Father would not be happy.
I eased it from the drawer and held it in my hand. An involuntary shudder racked through my body and I tasted metal on the back of my tongue. I wanted to drop it. It was repulsive. Was this what true evil felt like?
I turned it over, looking at both sides. I tried to make out the words that ran around the outer circle. Evil crept over my skin and my chest burned. The hideous taint was attempting to enter me. My body’s instincts reacted. Fangs descended into my mouth and claws emerged from the tips of my fingers. I hissed at it and dropped it on the desk.
I shook my hands, flicking off the lingering effects of its contact. I stared at the medallion, willing it to explain my reaction. If I was part evil, why was I so repulsed? Why did I react like that? I studied the medal, then my clawed hands. I ran my tongue over my fangs. How odd, my body was treating the medallion like a threat. Shouldn’t my body see it as a kindred spirit or something? Father probably created us both. Something to ponder for another day. I’d loitered too long.
I grabbed a few tissues from a box on the desk and shrugged at the normalcy of the item. Guess even villains like Father needed to blow their nose once in a while. Taking great care to avoid any contact with the metal, I wrapped the medallion in the tissues and placed it in the pocket of Kristof’s jacket.
Now, how the bloody hell did I get rid of these claws and fangs?
I took a slow deep breath and calmed my mind, imagining normal fingers and nails. My fingers tingled in response. Then I did the same in my mouth, running my tongue over my teeth until they felt smooth. I was human again, or at least, I looked human again.
I returned my attention to the book.
I slipped my finger under the top of the cover and lifted the page open.
Experiment 565
21.6.1999. Summoning ritual performed (refer grimoire, pg. 1078). Blood Demon mated with Blood Sworn with the aid of 2.54ltrs Soul Guardian Blood—harvested from live source during the ritual.
The words blurred in front of me.
This wasn’t Father’s Bible. It was … a journal?
A journal of experimentation. Bile rose at the back of my throat as I frantically scanned each page. There were hundreds of notes and diagrams, each an attempt and each a failure ending in mutation and death until I read on.
21.7.1999. Blood Sworn female impregnation confirmed.
28.1.2000. Gestation ended at seven months, seven days. Female, 2.65kg 48cm. Infant emerged with fangs and claws, damage to mother extensive. Once umbilical cord cut, infant transformed and has since appeared human. As with Dubhán (experiment 564), initial findings indicate infant has a soul. To avoid the same issues, I will implement a method to control free will.
12.2.2000. Infant continues to appear human. Will attempt to trigger transformation by withholding food.
13.2.2000. Infant continues to appear human despite obvious distress. Have added isolation to help trigger natural instincts.
14.2.2000. Health is declining. Prolonged hunger does not trigger transformation. Food reinstated, will attempt again in six months. Have named subject Emma.
Emma.
The words swam up from the page and hit me like a cold punch in my stomach. That was me. I really was created.
The office around me dissolved from my awareness as I became engrossed in the pages documenting every milestone of my life.
When I turned the next page, a picture of the tattoos on my palm caught my attention. It showed the brandings, each with a detailed explanation of the Blood Demon associated with the sigil and the purpose of its location within the overall design. Ice lanced my stomach and I ran my fingertip over the rough surface of my scars. This was the method Father devised to control my free will. Tremors racked my body and a cold sweat broke out across my forehead as the words swam in front of me.
Once the final branding was complete, Father would have full control over me and my powers. I would be a puppet, trapped in a body completely under his control.
I swiped at the silent tears tracking down my face. He wasn’t even my Father, a demon was. Was the woman I thought of as my mother the Blood Sworn that had given birth to me? There was no mention of the effects of the ‘extensive damage’ I’d caused during my birth. Did she survive? He hadn’t documented it. Why bother? After all, she was obviously expendable, a vessel in his quest for power, just like me.
My vision blurred and I grabbed one of the tissues off the desk, wiped my eyes, and blew my nose. When I’d finished, Father was standing before me, watching.
“Well, this is an interesting development.”
My mouth wouldn’t work, it just hung open, and when I tried to say something, all that I managed was to move my jaw up and down like a fish gasping for air.
I needed to say something.
“Fuck,” I wheezed out.
He turned his head slightly toward the door and whispered words. A Blood Demon scuttled across the ceiling to cling above him.
“Emma,” he purred, “your ritual is due tomorrow. I’m glad you decided to come home. Now, we can do this the hard way, or the harder way.” He paused. “I think you need to learn the harder way.”
He whispered again. The words flicked out and stung me, and I stood and stepped back, stumbling into the chair and almost landing on the floor.
“No, stop,” I begged, but it was too late.
My palms burned with blazing heat.
“Ahh,” I screamed in pain.
Agony seared my mouth as my fangs descended. Ripped from inside my gums, th
ey did not want to emerge, but they had no choice. Father commanded their appearance, just like he commanded my claws to appear.
I hissed and the room became shrouded in a golden hue. Like night vision goggles, it revealed every detail hidden within the room’s shadows.
“Yes, there’s my little girl,” he crooned.
Panic engulfed my thoughts. His words wrapped me in a net I desperately wanted to escape, but the more I resisted, the more my palms burned, and the net dug deeper to entangle me in his web of control.
Power surged through me like a drug … addictive and sweet. Despite the singeing pain in my hands, I wanted to feel more. I wanted that power to fill me up. The euphoria of all that energy coursing through me became the center of my existence, and I forgot who was controlling it. I was invincible.
I was caught.
“Follow me so we can prepare for the ritual,” he commanded.
My body obeyed. I followed without a word of resistance.
Chapter 14
Kristof
* * *
She left me.
We’d agreed to work together, and as soon as she got the information she needed from me, she left me.
I growled, the sound vibrating around inside the empty car. My wolf snarled deep within my being, urging me to drive faster. The steering wheel creaked. I gripped it so hard, I thought it might snap off in my hands at the next bump in the road. I should slow down before I broke something under the car, but I couldn’t. The need to get to my mate was the only thing my brain was able to focus on. I couldn’t believe she left. She said we’d work together.
The snow I’d predicted must have started sometime toward the end of our talk. The brown earth was coated with a lace of white flakes. The weather was going to be cold tonight. At least Emma was wearing my coat. What a stupid thought. Her father was a monster, my coat wasn’t worth shit against him.
She needed my protection.
If her father had the ability to create her, then she wasn’t equipped to deal with someone with that kind of magic. What if he forced her to finish the branding? What did the branding even do? My fingers dug deeper into the leather steering wheel. I needed to be with her so I could protect her. He was an evil monster. I killed evil monsters for a living, Emma didn’t.
My heart skipped a beat at the thought of what he might be doing to her this very minute. I couldn’t lose her.
I glanced at my phone sitting in its dock—still no service. Stupid forest.
Why the heck did I bring her out here? I should have taken her to the pack, then at least if she’d run away, I wouldn’t be six fucking hours away.
I skidded off the dirt road, around a corner, and hit bitumen. The back tires lost traction and I almost lost it, but with my wolf so close to the surface, my reflexes were quick enough to whip the car back around under control.
Fucking snow.
Forty-five agonizing minutes later, my phone beeped. And beeped and beeped. It kept beeping as message after message of missed call notifications and texts came up on the screen.
Shit, of course Aric knew something was up. Even six hours away, he could feel my emotions through our connection.
Aric. My brother, he could help. He wasn’t stuck in the middle of nowhere.
I pressed call and waited for it to ring. It rang once.
“Kristof, where the hell are you? Are you okay?” Aric’s voice filled the car over the Bluetooth connection.
“I’m on my way back to Salzburg. I’ll be another five hours at least.”
“Five hours? What happened? I felt your confusion and rage and pain, then … umm, I cut the connection. What the hell, Kristof? Did you disappear for hours just to have sex with some random human?”
“She’s not a random human. And I can’t believe you’d spy on me during sex.”
I really hated my brother’s ability to sense his packmates’ emotions. We could all do it to some extent when the emotions were strong, and the shared connection helped us hunt together, but Aric was gifted. Even across long distances, he could focus his gift and feel if a packmate was safe or afraid. He could even use his gift like a compass, but that took a lot of concentration and energy. If he was worried about me, then he would have struggled to do that for long without exhausting himself.
“I stopped trying to locate you when I felt your anger cease and it was replaced with arousal. You clearly weren’t in any danger.”
I heard him draw in a slow breath. Aric didn’t like to show emotion, even if he was good at sensing someone else’s feelings.
“I was worried about you, Kristof. You’re my brother, something that doesn’t seem to mean much to you lately.”
The words were said so casually and without inflection. Aric was so good at hiding his feelings. Guilt stabbed at me. I wasn’t the only one that had been dealing with grief and loss. I’d been such a selfish bastard since Ferdie’s death, I never thought about how it affected Aric. We had some mending to do in our relationship. I missed the time when our conversations weren’t angry or forced.
“I’m sorry Aric. You’re right. I should have at least called and told you I was okay. It’s been a confusing day, but that’s no excuse.” I paused. “I need your help, brother.”
“Of course, what is it?”
And just like that, Aric was there for me. Or, maybe he always was, and I was just too caught up to realize.
“I found my fated mate.”
There was a long pause, and now it was my turn to feel Aric’s emotions, but before I could analyze them, he cut them off.
“That’s wonderful, but why didn’t you bring her home? Why did you run off?”
“It’s complicated …”
“Is that Kristof?” Gresham, our pack leader, growled. He must have snatched the phone off Aric. “Get your ass back here now. And expect to be punished. I’ve given you enough time to grieve, but your behavior is now affecting the pack’s safety.”
I had no idea how he’d come to that conclusion.
“I haven’t affected anyone’s safety but my own,” I challenged.
“What do you think happened when you disappeared for hours? Who do you think went looking for you? Hamish is supposed to be your hunting partner. He followed your trail and was lucky to escape a pack of Blood Demons alive.”
Cold dread rushed through my veins. I didn’t particularly like the old fossil, but I would never want him harmed.
“Is he okay?”
“He’s an experienced warrior. He’s fine. You, on the other hand, are another matter. Want to tell me why your scent, along with a woman and a Blood Demon’s, stop in the exact spot you park your car in when you go on your little solo hunts?”
Shit, how did he know where I parked my car?
“Of course I know where you park your car, Kristof. I’m your alpha, it’s my job to know.” Gresham answered my question, even though I didn’t voice it out loud. “Hamish said the Blood Demon smelled wrong. Now, if you’ve finished fucking the woman, get back here. I want a full explanation.”
He hung up.
Gresham didn’t even give me a chance to ask for help. He just hung up.
I tried to call back, but Aric’s phone went straight to voicemail.
“Schieße! Ahh!” I roared out my frustration and anger at the windscreen and snowy landscape beyond, but nobody heard.
I glanced at the clock.
Four hours to go.
Chapter 15
Kristof
* * *
I hid in the darkened alleyway across the street from Emma’s home as the sun disappeared below the horizon. So much had changed since I last stood here. The smell of Blood Demon permeated the air as I peered across the street at the mansion. There were so many Blood Demons together in one place, it was unnatural. They crawled over the mansion like bees swarming a hive. Was Emma their queen inside?
Shit. I had no hope of getting in there alive, let alone finding Emma and rescuing her. I needed to know she w
as okay before formulating a plan, which probably involved returning to Gresham and begging for his help.
I closed my eyes and focused on finding our connection.
I reached down, seeking, deeper and deeper. My wolf whined. We couldn’t find it. Then, in the depths of my soul, it was there, so faint I almost missed it. The colors were faded and muted, but it was there. That meant Emma was still alive, but in what condition? When I followed the thread toward Emma it came to a sudden stop. It was like it disappeared into a wall. I checked again. The bond was there, but where Emma should be was only … blackness.
I rubbed my face. My wolf wanted to howl and call the pack to hunt, but there wasn’t time. Emma was losing herself to the darkness, just as she’d feared.
I crouched down, preparing to shift.
“Don’t even think of going in there by yourself,” Gresham growled.
I spun around. Dominance blazed in my alpha’s eyes. They held no room for negotiation.
“What are you doing here?”
“I was just about to ask you that same question, pup,” Gresham’s deep voice rumbled, the threat of reprimand in his eyes.
And that was just another example of why I couldn’t stand this arrogant prick. Just because he had a few centuries on me didn’t make me a pup.
I swallowed my growl.
Gresham’s gaze bored into me, forcing me to dip my head and bare my neck as a sign of respect.
“Alpha,” I ground out, “my mate is in danger. I couldn’t come home.”
“He knows it was his order to come here.” Aric stepped out from the shadows.
Just who else was here? I was so caught up in searching out my connection with Emma I’d failed to notice that at least half my pack were here.
“What the hell are you wearing, Kristof?” He nodded to the tasseled leather jacket.
I frowned down at it.
“A coat. It was snowing in Hungary.”
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