Hidden by Blood

by Laurie London

  A movement through a gap in the hedges caught her attention. A horse perhaps? She glanced around but didn’t see any horse fencing in this part of the estate. Could it have been a deer?

  It wasn’t as if she was in any hurry to get back, so she decided to investigate. Crickets chirped in the darkness as she passed through the narrow opening in the thick hedge. Just beyond it, moonlight illuminated a small field, but no deer or horse came into view. She was about to turn back to the barn when a faint breeze brought a familiar scent to her nostrils.

  She hesitated.

  That can’t be right.

  She sniffed again, and a knot of panic tightened like a noose around her internal organs.

  It was a tantalizing scent. One very familiar to vampires.

  Her gums ached as the tips of her fangs emerged. She twisted a strand of her hair and took a few deep yoga breaths. In through her nose and out through her mouth.

  It was human blood she smelled. But not just any human blood. Sweet.

  And a lot of it.

  Bloody hell. He’s back.

  Finn had to be delirious. Either that, or he couldn’t count. In the flickering light of a lone candle, he glanced at the series of hash marks he’d made on the stone wall over the past month. Fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven. Unless he’d miscounted, his captor wasn’t due for another three days.

  The sound of footsteps crunching on the gravel path outside grew louder. He held his breath and willed himself to think clearly.

  Did I lose track of time?

  After a week or so, the days had all seemed to blend together into one continuous nightmare. The guy would draw blood and leave, wait a few days to allow Finn’s body to replenish itself, then he’d be back to harvest more. He referred to Finn’s blood as Sweet, but he never said what he was using it for.

  “So you’re like a vampire drug dealer or something?” Finn had asked him once. “Is that what this is?”

  “Hardly,” was the flat reply. “Sweet is rare and very addictive to our kind, and therefore valuable, but I am not selling it.”

  The footsteps got louder, jolting Finn back to the present. For the thousandth time, he searched the tiny room, hoping that somehow he’d missed something—a hidden object, a regular item that could be used as a weapon—but as always, it was a useless waste of energy. There was nothing. Only this crappy stained mattress in the corner, a tiny commode, a cardboard box that held the week’s ration of food and a plastic water jug. His heart thudded in his chest as he stared at the half-full container. Something was wrong. If it was time for the freak to come back, shouldn’t he be almost out of food and water by now?

  In a fit of rage early in his captivity, Finn had demanded to know why the asshole used needles instead of fangs, since he clearly had a set of nasty-looking ones. Was the guy suffering from a vampire version of erectile dysfunction?

  Even as he’d had the thought, Finn had been tempted to pinch himself yet again to make sure this wasn’t all some sick nightmare. Before that night at the airport, he’d had no idea vampires actually existed, that they were more than just fictional villains in books and movies. Hell, when he’d gotten an e-reader from his aunt last Christmas, he’d actually downloaded Dracula, thinking it’d be interesting to reread the old classic.

  Fiction? My ass.

  With an unnerving calmness, his captor had merely smiled, waiting a moment before replying as if he were choosing his words carefully. When he spoke, his voice had been thin, tight.

  “Although I crave it beyond measure, I will not chance partaking of your blood. At least not now.”

  Finn had known the day would eventually come when the bastard changed his mind. And he had a pretty good idea that when it did, it’d be his own last day.

  The change in schedule could only mean one thing.

  Today was that day.

  An icy calm replaced his growing apprehension, crystallizing his thoughts into one single goal. To stay alive.

  With his legs positioned shoulder-width apart, he wrapped his forearm around the chain hooked to his ankle shackle. At any moment, it would be pulled tight, the slack disappearing through a small hole in the wall and locked, immobilizing him in the corner of the room. Then the guy would enter the cabin, replace heavy work gloves with latex ones and get to work. Finn braced himself. There was no way he was going down without a fight.

  Footsteps shuffled outside, then stopped, and the door inched open a crack. A surge of adrenaline shot through Finn’s veins—his captor had forgotten to tether the chain. This was the chance he’d been waiting for—the little freak had finally let down his guard.

  Finn was going to take advantage of the lapse even if it killed him. Trying not to rattle the chain, he moved as close to the door as he could. He reached for the water jug, silently cursing the fact that he felt so goddamned weak. There was a reason those blood-donation places only let you donate every couple of weeks, he thought, as he hefted the container over his head and tried to control his dizziness.

  He’d stun the guy, wrap the excess chain around his pencil neck, then choke the hell out of him.

  Slowly, the door swung open and a small hand closed around the edge.

  ’Tis now or never, baby.

  Mustering all his strength, he threw the gallon jug. As it left his hands, he caught a glimpse of one sparkly shoe.

  “What the—”

  The container bashed against the wall, water spraying everywhere, and Finn felt his knees give way.

  The last thing he remembered before hitting the ground was the sound of a female voice…calling out his name.

  Chapter Two

  There was something familiar about that deep masculine groan.

  Brenna’s eyes quickly adapted to the almost pitch-black darkness inside what had clearly once been a hunting cabin, its stone walls stained with grime.

  On all fours, the man swayed, biceps straining and flexing as he tried to keep from falling the rest of the way to the ground.

  Broad, powerful shoulders. Flaxen hair only a little darker than her own. The man lifted his head and his eyes met hers, right before he went down. Hard.

  It couldn’t be. No, it simply wasn’t possible.

  “Finn? Oh, my God.” She rushed to his side, barely aware that a seam in her tight gown ripped as she knelt beside him.

  She pressed three fingers to the inside of his wrist. His radial pulse was steady, but not as strong as it should’ve been. Patting his cheek, she tried to revive him.

  “What happened? Who did this to you?” she asked, though he was in no shape to answer her. Besides, she was terribly afraid she knew damn well what was going on.

  This man she’d once dated, whom she’d loved and lied to, was being held captive as someone’s blood slave.

  Just looking at him brought the memories rushing back. The sound of his laughter. The way his chestnut brown eyes glinted with mischief just before he proposed something outlandish. His enthusiastic support of her dream to practice medicine even though he’d had no idea she was a vampire. She’d hidden so many secrets from him, while he’d held nothing back from her.

  As their relationship had progressed, so had her feelings for him. No longer had he been just a romp between the sheets, and she’d felt herself falling for the last person on earth she should. He was a sweetblood, for godsake, and she doubted whether she could trust herself around him long-term. Six months ago she’d broken things off with him, not giving him much of an explanation. Just that she was too busy for a relationship after all.

  Seeing him here like this made her realize what a fool she’d been, thinking that she was his only threat. He could be in danger from any unscrupulous member of the vampire race. The problem was, she’d never considered him weak. Just herself.

  “Come on, Finn, answer me.”

  “Brenna?” Finn pushed himself up on one elbow and blinked as if he didn’t quite believe what he was seeing. “What…what are you doing here?�
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  Unruly pieces of hair hung over his face, giving him a half-crazed look. He clearly hadn’t shaved in days because a thick layer of stubble covered his chiseled jaw.

  “I’ll explain later. Come on.”

  “You…you need to get out of here. Go for help.”

  “I’m leaving, all right, and you’re coming with me.”

  “No. I’ll slow you down. I’m too weak. Who knows what he’ll do if he catches you here.”

  He had to be the vampire blood master. And Finn was right. No telling what would happen if the bastard found them here like this. The Council had no tolerance for the barbaric practice of keeping human blood slaves, which had been outlawed back in the Middle Ages. It was an offense punishable by death. The one responsible for this would be desperate to cover it up.

  Whose property was this anyway? She’d left the grounds of the Westfalen estate when she crossed through that tall hedge, hadn’t she? Was this state-owned land?

  There’d be time for speculation later, but first, she needed to get him out of here.

  Putting Finn’s arm over her shoulder, she tried to haul him up, but it was like tugging on a lead-filled rag doll. At six foot three, he was two hundred and forty pounds of pure muscle. Even though she was stronger than a human woman her size, he was still too much for her to handle on her own. He’d have to leave under his own power.

  “On your feet, soldier. Move!”

  Using her for support, Finn pulled himself up. “I’m not going to get far with this, Brenna.” He rattled a long chain affixed to his ankle.

  Hoping she could break a link, she grabbed it with both hands. A searing-hot pain shot through her palms.

  “Holy crap!”

  She let go and the chain clattered to the ground.

  “What’s wrong? What’d you do?”

  She stared at her hands. “It’s…it’s silver.”

  Although she had touched the chain for only a split second, faint burn marks already marred her skin. She staggered backward, feeling noticeably weaker already. Why would a vampire use a silver chain to hold a blood slave? It didn’t make sense unless…

  She swallowed hard as she came to the only logical conclusion.

  Unless his captor held more than just humans here.

  “Easy there,” he said, grabbing her elbow. “What are you talking about? Let me see.”

  She hesitated a moment before she held out her clenched fists. The whole time they’d been together, she’d never told him what she was, and she wasn’t about to do so now. Especially after what he’d been through. “I’m…highly allergic to silver. My skin immediately reacts when I touch it.”

  His hands were warm as they slid to her wrists and gently uncurled her fingers. “I wouldn’t look at your hands, if I were you. Wounds hurt worse when you see them.” Something he undoubtedly knew all too well thanks to his time here.

  She was careful not to pull in any of his energies, but with the hand-to-hand contact, the urge was difficult to ignore. Instead, she focused on the fact that his accent, normally so faint, seemed thicker than it had when last she’d seen him. He must’ve visited his Scottish cousins recently. Or maybe pain and exhaustion simply made it more pronounced.

  “Aye, there’s a little redness, but—” The cool air he blew onto her palms was soothing. “—it doesn’t look too bad.”

  She was touched by his concern for her in the face of his own suffering. “I’ll be fine. I heal quickly.” She pulled her hands away from him and glanced around the sparse room. “Is there anything we can cut the chain with?”

  “Believe me. If there was something I could’ve used within reach, I’d have found it. I know every square inch of this luxury suite and there’s nothing.” He paused, took a fortifying breath. “Look, Bren. You need to go for help. I’ll be fine a little longer.”

  There was no way in hell she was leaving him here. “Let me see if I can find something outside to break this.”

  Clutching the back of her torn gown with one hand, Brenna exited the cabin and spotted a small woodpile between two saplings about twenty feet away. Maybe she’d find a hatchet there.

  She stepped sideways over a small downed tree and thought about Lily back at the estate. A Guardian operative with the Governing Council’s enforcement agency, her friend investigated these sorts of crimes.

  “Damn cell phone.” She’d have to get Finn away from this place and hope for cell coverage along the way. Given that he was a sweetblood, she didn’t dare take him back to the estate. Even good vampires were known to make mistakes.

  The high-pitched screech of a bat caused her to jump, and she quickened her pace.

  Sure enough, an ax was buried in a piece of split wood. Because she was still a little weak from the silver, it took her several tries to loosen it. She returned to the cabin to find Finn leaning against the wall, a worried look plastered on his face.

  “Find something we can use?”

  She showed him what she’d found. “This should work, don’t you think?” He went to take it from her but she pulled it away. “I’ll do it. You need to conserve your strength. No overexertion.”

  He frowned, clearly not thrilled with the idea of letting her do the hard work—but given his condition, they both knew he had no choice. He stretched out the links to form a straight line on the stone floor and turned away slightly. She lifted the ax haltingly over one shoulder and swung down.

  It bounced out of her hand when the blade hit the floor, and she heard that telltale rip again. Damn. She’d completely missed the chain, tearing her gown further.

  “Jesus, Bren.” He let out a wheezy laugh. “That had about as much finesse as Hulk Hogan in a tutu.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You’ve never used an ax before?”

  “That bad, huh?”

  “Pathetic.” A spark of amusement flickered in his eyes as he retrieved the tool from the ground. Brenna was relieved to see he hadn’t lost his wry wit along with all that blood. “Now, stand back.” Using momentum, he tried to raise it above his head, but he could barely lift it to shoulder level. He was too weak.

  “Here, let me.” She stepped in front of him. “Put your hands over mine. I’ll hold it, and you guide it down, all right?”

  He didn’t argue, just positioned himself behind her like a golf instructor, his legs straddling hers. Heat from his body warmed her backside and she dimly realized it must be because of the torn seam. Pushing that embarrassing realization from her thoughts, she lifted the ax and he held it straight and steady over their heads.

  “One. Two. Three.” With a quick downward chop, the blade cleaved through one of the links. Except for about three feet of chain hanging from his ankle, he was a free man.

  The moment Finn straightened to his full height again, he felt dizzy, lightheaded. Screw that. He’d muscle through any physical shortcoming despite what his body was telling him.

  With the chain dragging behind him, he paused at the door. He stuck an arm out, blocking Bren behind him, his soldier’s instincts kicking in. Even though she’d just been out here, he was in charge now. Noise from the crickets surrounded them. Good. That meant no one had disturbed the insects recently. He took a quick survey of the area and saw nothing but pitch-black woods. His eyes would acclimate soon enough.

  “Gimme the ax.”

  “Why? What’s out there? Do you see something?” She moved closer and gripped his forearm.

  “I need a weapon. I’m not going to be caught unaware again.” He wasn’t about to tell Brenna that his captor was a vampire. Not only did he not want to freak her out, but she’d just think he was crazy anyway. He’d deal with that later. It was best to get out of here first.

  They made their way through the thick undergrowth, branches snapping loudly against their legs. Their pace wasn’t anywhere near what it should be. His chain kept getting caught in brambles and he had to stop every now and then to catch his breath.

  He leaned a hand on a tree
trunk. “So, when are you going to tell me what you’re doing clear out here? Especially since you’re not wearing hiking attire.”

  “About a half mile that way—” She pointed to the left. “—is the Westfalen estate. I was at an awards ceremony and stepped out for some fresh air.”

  “And?” He had the distinct feeling she wasn’t telling him everything.

  “And I decided to take a walk.”

  “Dressed like that? Alone?” Was she nuts? Didn’t she know how appealing she looked, how hard it would be for any human man who saw her to keep his hands to himself? Not to mention what a non-human predator could do. He shuddered at the thought.

  He’d had a lot of time to reflect on his life these past few weeks. And the person he’d thought about most was Brenna. He’d dreamed about her, endlessly pictured her face. Her easy smile. The lovely curve of her jaw. The silky feel of her hair. The breathless sounds she made as he moved inside of her.

  One of his biggest regrets was ever letting her go in the first place. He loved how she made him feel, asking his opinion on matters she knew far more about than he did. Around her, he felt strong, powerful. Invincible. Looking back on it now, he’d given in to her too easily, accepting her reasons for breaking up without putting up much of a fight. People fell in love all the time while pursuing their professional goals. He should’ve protested, but instead, he’d let her walk away. Maybe this was his second chance to get her back for good.

  “They have this pretty amazing horse barn that I wanted to check out.” She rubbed her nose, then twisted a piece of her flaxen hair around her index finger.

  Clearly, she was lying to him—though maybe not about the horses—but she was doing a terrible job of evading his questions convincingly.

  “So why aren’t we going that way?” he prodded.