Tainted Heart (The Tainted Series Book 2)

by Marie, Tarisa

  “Yeah, I know, but do you know how terrible I would feel if I accidentally killed you because I can’t gage my own strength since becoming a vampire? I would never forgive myself Ariella. What if it was your spine that snapped and not your ribs? You’d be dead!” he exclaims. “Then what would I do? You might come back alive, you did the last time you died, but what if you didn’t? Ariella, if I lost you that would be it for me. I’d be done. I’ve had such a shitty life, Ariella. Almost everyone I’ve loved has died. Your father, your brother, and you are the only people I have left and Jacob and Theenis could very well be dead right now, we don’t know.”

  If my mother’s protection spell has fallen, that means she has fallen and if my mother is dead, the chances that any of them are alive, declines significantly. If a billion something year old Tario has fallen, what’s that to say for any of the others who are basically only a very, very small fraction of that age, maybe besides Corra?

  “You have no idea what you mean to me, not a clue,” Daymon continues and looks as if he’s in distress. He runs his fingers through his hair and then starts walking towards what looks to be some sort of civilization.

  I’m silent as I follow him into what looks to be a decent sized city.

  “Where are we?” I ask finally after what’s probably nearly fifteen minutes of walking in silence.

  “This is where I was born. This used to all be miles and miles of open land. While we’re here, I’d like to show you something,” he says and leads me further down the streets until my legs are beginning to feel tired. He couldn’t have popped us to where ever we’re going?

  Finally, we enter a small grave yard which looks to have been here a very long time.

  I follow him to a grave which has the name ‘Daymon Thompson’, scrolled across it. This was Daymon’s pretend name when we were in Taverd I realize.

  “I should’ve been buried here hundreds of years ago,” he begins. “The name Thompson comes from Arianna and Marco’s father, my grandpa. He was human. When we moved from England we all put headstones down as if to signify our new lives. My siblings are there. My parents there. This entire graveyard is full of headstones for witches. Most of which are really dead, maybe not buried here but they’re dead. Every eighty to one hundred years we bury ourselves in an empty grave. It helps so that the humans don’t ask questions. Then we recreate ourselves with a new last name and get new papers made from some black market, sketchy person. Imagine the oldest person you know and time’s their life by three. That’s me. Bugs should be eating me right now in the ground.”

  “Why are you saying this? I know you’re old,” I wonder, confused.

  “I’m saying this because I really don’t think you understand. I actually don’t think that you can understand because you’ve only been on this planet for almost nineteen years and I want you to understand. I was alive before cell phones were invented, or internet, or-” he continues but I cut him off.

  “Daymon, I can’t understand because like you said I’m only eighteen. I will never understand. I can try to understand but I’ll never completely understand because I wasn’t there. I will listen, I will give you what advice I can, but I will never understand what you want me to understand. Not completely anyway,” I tell him, knowing that he should know this. “But, I have been through my own shit. You try thinking you’re human for the first eighteen years of your life then finding out you’re nothing but and then finding out that mythological creatures exist and you are one of them, your father is one of them. Try falling in love with your father’s three hundred-year-old best friend. Try being kidnapped by a crazy warlock and being made to kill people. Try finding out that the mother who you’ve thought was dead for over a decade, is alive and that she isn’t even close to the person you’ve been imagining her to be over the years. Try finding out that you have siblings you didn’t know about, try-” This time he cuts me off.

  “I’m sorry, we’ve both dealt with messed up shit, Ariella, and neither of us can understand what the other has gone through. We both grew up very differently and in many ways should be very different. We are very different, but we’re also very alike. We’re both competitive, we’d both do anything for the people we love, and we are both completely fucking sexy, Ariella,” he ends on a light note and I can’t help scowling at him.

  “I’m being serious!” I shout exasperatedly.

  “I am too!” he says, clearly meaning it. Just like that my annoyance with him dissipates and I want to kiss him.

  “Why are we yelling at each other?” I giggle, suddenly feeling stupid, why are we even fighting?

  “I have no idea, you have no idea how cute you are when you’re getting worked up. I mean, not when you’re attacking me but when you’re just slightly irritated.” He laughs.

  “Can we maybe get out of the graveyard?” I suggest, a little creeped out. “I’m kind of hungry.”

  “Why don’t we go for a nice dinner date?” he asks, enthusiastically.

  “I’m down,” I agree anxiously.

  “You seem to be handling this okay,” he states as we leave the cemetery.

  “Handling what?”

  “Uh, the fact that your mother is dead,” he answers obviously.

  “Oh, well, for fourteen years I already thought she was dead and I mourned her and…I guess I don’t know. I’m not happy about it obviously but I feel like if I let this break me then I’m going to be in for a whole lot more heartache when I find out that my father or someone else is dead or they’re all dead. I guess I’m just not really thinking about it.”

  “So what happens if they are all dead? Are you going to go nutso?” he asks, completely serious. “I’ve lost a lot of people, Ariella, I will be heartbroken but I will survive like I always do. As long as you’re around, anyway,” he explains.

  “I don’t know,” I admit truthfully. “Do we have to walk? My feet hurt. If you can’t pop us somewhere can we at least flag down a cab?”

  He laughs. “You’re too soft, princess. It’s just a short walk. Plus, earlier you were telling me how I shouldn’t be allowed to use my power for the entire day.”

  I glare at him as if this isn’t debatable. “Don’t call me princess.”

  He mock cringes and says, “You’re so scary.”

  “Shut up,” I groan and begin scraping my feet across the sidewalk dramatically.

  “Really?” he murmurs aggravated. “You really know how to get on my nerves, don’t you? Stop that.”

  “And if I don’t?” I challenge.

  “If you don’t, I’m going to have to carry you all the way to restaurant.”

  “You wouldn’t actually do that!” I shout challengingly. There is no way that he would actually carry me blocks. I mean I’m not that heavy but it’d be tough to carry a child that far let alone a grown woman.

  Suddenly my feet are off of the ground and I’m staring up at the sky. I let out a surprised screech.

  “Don’t ever challenge me, Ariella.” He laughs, thinking he’s pretty funny as he carries me in his arms down the street.

  “Put me down!” I demand.

  “Nah,” he disagrees. “Be quiet and enjoy the ride. I can’t stand you complaining any longer.”

  “I hardly even complained,” I argue. “I’m going to get too heavy and you’re going to drop me on my head,” I warn him.

  He snickers. “You’re light as a feather and I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’m pretty strong.”

  I struggle in his arms, trying to annoy him enough to put me back down but he only holds me tighter. I give up.

  When we get to the restaurant, he finally puts me down.

  He stares at the menu for nearly fifteen minutes, it’s as if he’s deciding the fate of the world and not what he would like to eat.

  “I should go use that payphone and see if I can get ahold of your father or Jacob on their phones. I left mine at your mother’s house by accident. They’re supposed to be sending updates when they can.
If the waiter comes, order me the chicken strip basket,” he decides, standing up.

  “The chicken strip basket? Real manly, Daymon,” I tease.

  “I don’t think it’s fair to judge my manliness on my lunch choice,” he contradicts with a laugh. Then he turns and walks towards the payphone at the far end of the restaurant. I didn’t even know that payphones were still a thing. I’m nervous to hear what he’s going to find out from the others. Is it really better knowing who has fallen or thinking that there’s a chance that they’re all still alright…except my mother that is? A pang of sadness runs through my chest and I try to push it away. I wish I could’ve gotten to know her better.

  My grieving is cut short when I hear Daymon’s chair scrape across the floor and someone slide into his seat. When I look up from the advertisement I’m staring at to ask him if he got ahold of anyone, I gasp. Nathan is seated across from me, a weary expression on his face.

  “Ariella,” he greets me with a nod.

  “How did you find us?” I spit, confused. Corra said we were protected from the witches and the Tario being able to track us. Could this mean that she too has fallen?

  “Well, you’re not doing a very good job hiding…” he trails off as if he’s missing something. “I’m sorry, Ariella, but you have to come with me. My father requests your presence.”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you or your father, Nathan,” I say sternly.

  “You don’t have a choice. He’s already taken Daymon. I told him that I’d fetch you.”

  I glance to the payphone and see that Daymon is no longer standing there. Shit.

  “I’m sorry, Ariella,” Nathan says truthfully. “I’m glad to see that you’re back to…yourself and all but I don’t really have much choice in this matter.” He grabs my wrist and then I’m in an unfamiliar place that smells absolutely disgusting, like rotting animals.

  “Where the hell are we and what is that terrible smell?” I wrinkle my nose and hold back my vomit.

  “This is my father’s dungeon, you don’t want to know what the smell is,” Nathan answers. “You get used to it after a while.”

  This is a dungeon? When I think about dungeons I think about cement walls and chains on the walls and people getting beaten. This is merely a modern building with regular white walls and doors every few feet. It kind of reminds me of being in a hospital only the doors are made from some sort of metal and there are no windows.

  I follow Nathan to the end of the hallway of doors and we make a left and then another left. Now there are windows. Every single one of the rooms has a separate viewing area on the opposite side of where the door is. Most of the rooms are empty but some of them have someone in them, sitting in the corner. All the people we pass are covered in blood, the white rooms looking like someone through water balloons full of blood around. It takes all I have not to gag.

  I so don’t have time for Marco’s bullshit right now.

  “Why are these people in here?” I ask Nathan.

  He shrugs. “Mostly for disobedience. Some of them are white witches and immortals who pissed my father off enough that he decided to keep and torture them rather than just kill them. Of course immortals can’t be killed so we just torture them.”

  “That’s terrible!” I cry, a little too loudly.

  “Ariella, do me a favor and play it like you did last time. I’m sure you’ve noticed that my father isn’t the brightest of bulbs. If you can act your way through this, you’ll be a lot better off than if you refuse to cooperate. I don’t want to see you get hurt,” Nathan whispers. “My father knows that you guys somehow removed the curses he put on you. He knows that you’re both on the light side of things. To him, you two are very powerful soldiers, he will do whatever it takes to make you go back to his side and have you stay there. Don’t act like you want to join him, he’s not that dumb. Just cooperate.”

  I don’t reply. What can I say? ‘Okay’?

  “Ariella, is it ever nice to see you again,” Marco’s all too familiar voice chides. He stands at the end of the hall, his hands clasped in front of him as if he’s just absolutely delighted to see me.

  I hold back a snarky remark and keep my expression blank.

  “Did you miss me?” he asks, meaning to irritate me. When I don’t reply he chuckles. “No? I missed you, my sweet girl.”

  I want to scowl at him but I heed Nathan’s warning and keep calm.

  “So, I have an idea. I have your lover Daymon…yes, I know about you and him…and I was thinking…what better way to make you pay for disobeying me than to torture him and have you watch?” Marco suggests in an eerie voice.

  I want to walk over there and punch him in the face or better yet, plunge a sword through his chest and kill him. The anger rises in me and I feel the darkness starting to creep in.

  “Now, now, we can’t have you going dark just yet, dear Ariella, we have all the time in the world for that. I know what makes you flip your switch this time around-anger. Anger can be prevented with something as small as a spell. Well, I won’t totally take it away because I want you to get angry, I’m just going to make sure that you don’t get….too angry,” Marco taunts me. “I want you to suffer for disobeying me.”

  Marco turns and motions for us to follow him.

  “Son, inject her with this serum my lab workers have created. It should control her emotions so she can take in every minute of what’s about to happen in this room,” Marco instructs and tosses Nathan a syringe. To top it all…I get a needle too?

  Instead of lightly pricking my arm like I assumed he would, Nathan jams the huge syringe into my neck and I scream out in pain. Marco seems to enjoy this and even laughs to himself.

  Nathan then pushes me towards a single metal chair in front of one of the viewing windows and harshly pushes me down into it. “I’m going to spell you so you can’t leave this chair, struggling to get up from it will only put you in pain.”

  Marco disappears and I notice that he’s in the room I am being forced to look in to. He pushes a man I all too easily recognize as Daymon into the room and slams the door shut behind them. I notice that there’s another person in the room, sitting the far right corner, looking terrified. It’s a young girl, maybe about the age of fifteen.

  Daymon falls to his knees when Marco kicks his knees out.

  “Ariella, do you know what Daymon’s switch is?” Nathan asks.

  “No,” I admit.

  “It’s murder. It’s mine as well I think it’s because we’re part vampire. My father is going to have him flip his switch right in front of you. You will not be able to speak once he begins and you could be seated here for a long time before he allows you to move. As hard as it is, you need to cooperate. I must leave now,” Nathan explains and walks away.

  I try to ask him something but the words don’t escape my mouth. Then my face is forced to face forward and watch what Marco is doing.

  I look to D and know that he can’t see me through this glass, it’s one way. It dawns on me then that the young, brunette girl with the wide eyes and torn clothes, is supposed to be Daymon’s victim.

  I know Daymon and there’s no way that he will murder the young girl. He wouldn’t even do it if his life depended on it and there’s no way that you can force someone to kill someone else.

  Before I have chance to finish looking over the girl and gaging her emotion, I hear a cry of pain from Daymon coming from a loud speaker above the window. When I look to him I realize that his throat has been sliced open and blood is running down his neck, down his chest, to the cement floor. I scream but no sound comes out. It’s so disgusting that I gag and try to close my eyes but I can’t. I’m forced to watch him bleed out. Will this not kill him? Why isn’t he fighting back? I glance over to the girl in the corner and has her head buried in her knees. Her body shakes and quivers as if she’s balling, I don’t doubt she is.

  Marco turns to the door and leaves Daymon bleeding on the ground. That’s it? He’s just going to
cut his throat and let him slowly bleed out and die in front of me?

  “Ariella, Ariella, Ariella,” Marco says in a melodic tone from behind me. I have so many things to say to him right now if only I could talk. “Are you ready to watch your boyfriend kill that girl? This shall be entertaining. I’ve missed dark Daymon, he’s so much fun, but you wouldn’t know that. You’ve never met him have you? You know, vampires are naturally dark and they have to fight so hard to hold onto their light every single second of the day. It’s so easy for them to just slip and give in to the dark. Daymon’s done well grasping his light but I’ve lost patience with him frankly. I need my right-hand man back. And don’t you think he will be so easily brought back to the light, Ariella, because he won’t. I control when he switches to the light. I have since I created him. That’ll be our little secret though because he doesn’t know that,” Marco explains harshly in a rough, uncaring voice. Is he saying that each time Daymon has brought himself back to the light, it’s been because of him?

  He continues, “In Denver, in that school, I let him push away his darkness. I had to so that your father or brother wouldn’t suspect anything strange about him. When he showed up to take you, I made him jump through hoops to gain my trust and show me that he was on my side. He jumped through every one of them and I had no reason to doubt that he was on my side, no one tortures people at will, not unless it’s for love. That’s what I was missing-love. He did it because he loved you. He tricked me. I shouldn’t have been so quick to trust him. When he killed my vampires and witches in Sweden, I pulled the light back into him again because you seemed to disappear and I needed both of you. Then you foolishly left the protection of your father and brother and I snatched you, knowing that it’d only be a matter of time before Daymon slipped up and killed someone, bringing him back to my side again. You see, Ariella, he doesn’t know any of this. He doesn’t even know that when he kills that girl he will be damned to an eternity of darkness, because this time, I have no need to bring the light back in him. I have you both and neither of you is escaping this time around.”