by Tara Brown
“Your dad said you were supposed to bring the blood. You never told him about me before we came?”
Whit shakes his head. “I didn't. Since we arrived I told him you are mine and that's that. There are plenty of witches in the world. The end of the Blackwater line is sad, but it’s not everything.”
Chills run up my spine. “You plan on still killing witches and taking their blood?”
His eyes dart to the wooden door. The movement is so fast that I doubt I would have caught it before I was changed. He shrugs, “I don't want to talk about this.” He scoops me up into his arms, carrying me to the ledge of the castle and leaping. My stomach lifts into my throat as we drop to the ground with a thud.
He grins again, smug and sexy like.
I roll my eyes. “Show off.”
“If I don't impress ya, ya might run off with one of my brothers. They’re better with the ladies than I am, by far.”
He has the run off part right.
He takes me to a side door that leads to the back stairs and carries me to our room. I have plans involving that wooden door but making him think I’m fine is the only way I’m going to get in there. If he doesn't think we’re good he’ll hover, and I’ll never get away.
He steps into his room, closing the door and putting me down. He leans against the door with his back, watching me like I’m the prey.
It dawns on me then, I am the prey. I back away with one thought adrift in my mind. He wants to feed off of me.
He loosens his shirt and walks to me, cupping my face and bending to press his soft lips against mine.
My stomach flutters. His fangs graze my lips as we caress, mixing my blood in our mouths. He pulls on my lip, sucking my blood as his hands lower to my back, pressing my chest into his stomach. His erection against my stomach fills me with worry. I don't want him like this. Especially not while his brother is begging me for my blood. No, it’s creepy. Even more than creepy if Whit’s kissing me just to get blood like the ghost said he wanted.
They all do. Her words drift through my mind.
Like Marcus said, I’m an unlimited supply of witch blood. It’s seedy.
I want to push him away but I don't. I tear my lips from his, turning my back to him and closing my eyes. If I push him away he’ll try harder. But I also don't want to see his face as he takes what he wants. I just want to pretend I’m somewhere nice and my life is amazing.
I pull my hair to the right, revealing the left side of my neck for him. I just want him to take what it is he wants and leave me be. He lifts me up, walking us both forward to the bed. He lays me down, still wanting to caress and kiss. I just want him to end it.
His body presses against mine, but as his lips graze my neck, he pauses. “What’s wrong, Lorelei?”
I shake my head. “Nothing.” But my voice cracks. Damn.
He pulls back, his lust is evident but the worry on his face stifles it. “Tell me.”
I shake my head. He sighs. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
I gamble with the possibility that if I make him mad he’ll leave me alone, instead of hovering and trying to patch things up—if I make him feel guilty enough. “You only want me for my blood. I’m the ultimate girlfriend. You can feed off of my magical blood while having sex but I won’t die from it. You can just keep taking and taking and taking.”
“What?” His body completely stiffens. “That's what you think of me? After everything?”
I point at the door. “Your brother attacked me in the bathroom because he wanted my blood. Your father told you to bring the blood and not the girls. What the hell am I meant to think? Every time we have sex, whether it’s in this life or the one before, you’re biting me.”
He pales, climbing from the bed and leaving the room. Leaving me to think about what I said.
As much as he says everything is for me and that he loves me, I just won’t ever be able to see it or believe it. He has too many motives for everything else. And deep inside of me, there is still a girl who ran across a field once, fleeing from the blood bath that was her family—running from the man who loved her so much he killed her. And that girl is still the longest life I have ever lived. That life as a girl running for fifty years, spending every day alone and every hour looking over her shoulder—she is still the biggest part of me.
She makes me get up from the bed, telling me what my next moves are. I run to Angie and Em’s room, knocking frantically while keeping the sounds I make to a minimum.
Angie opens it, cocking an eyebrow. “What?”
“I think we’re in danger.”
“Angie said his family didn't care about the whole freezing Rydal thing. He was the only one who was mad.” Em stands up from her bed, putting down the book she’s reading. When she sees my face, she scowls. “What kind of trouble? What’s happened? I sort of thought you and Whit were patching things up again. Did Momma come again? We gotta leave if she’s here.”
I shake my head. “They just wanted the magical blood of a witch. That's what we’re here for.”
“I’m a vampire, Lorelei. I don't have magical blood.” Em looks confused.
Angie nods. “Yeah, only you have magic.”
I shudder, realizing they aren’t in danger at all. I’m alone again. The thought makes my stomach drop.
“So, you think he brought you here to be the unending blood bag instead of as a girlfriend? Angie, you did say her blood is delicious.” Em pulls on her cardigan and walks to me. “What do you need us to do?”
Maybe not so alone.
Angie’s face is the same, she isn’t going to protest helping me. They aren’t going to leave me alone.
Thank you, dear lord.
“I think Whit lured me here to be a blood bag for him. Now that his brothers know, God knows what’s gonna happen. But I’m scared there are other witches here somewhere.” I nod. “There are ghosts here. I bet we could find one and ask if they can help free the other witches.”
“Ghosts?” Em’s eyes narrow. “Like Momma?”
“Yeah. Like Momma, but not evil. I don't think they are. They showed me a wooden door, and when Whit was talking about killing witches he looked at the door, real guilty like. I think we should go see what’s behind it.”
Em shakes her head. “I think we should just run.”
I can’t, I can’t just leave them there.
Fortunately Angie shrugs. “Beats sitting in this room. I’m ready to go squirrely sitting here, waiting for someone to tell us it’s fine to walk the grounds. Their dad got real angry when Rydal had a fit, and the dad told us we had to stay in our rooms.”
“How did they thaw him?”
She shrugs and looks at Em who shakes her head. The thought that they can break my magic isn’t very comforting. Especially, if they’re planning on draining me. “My blood is something special to them. They get something from it. I want to know what.”
We turn and sneak down the empty stone hallway. The castle has many walls made of bricks and stone. It’s eerie in an enchanting sort of way. There are trickles of water when you get close to the outside walls and whistles where the wind creeps in. The lights flicker and the shadows dance with yours.
Em whispers, “This is exactly like a Nancy Drew Mystery. I feel like we’re gonna find dead bodies and have to escape the vile count who lives here. But then, of course, they’ll all be unmasked and it’ll be nothing but a crime ring.”
Angie snorts but I agree. “This does feel like Nancy Drew, the fangy version.
When we get back to the stairs, I sneak ahead, waving them to follow when I see the way is clear.
The wooden door sits alone.
We tiptoe to it, listening for the people of the massive castle to find us snooping. God knows what they’ll do if they find us.
“What are we gonna do if we find something bad? I think we should run and leave them other witches to deal on their own.”
I look at Angie, almost ashamed, but the dark and creepy place could in
spire that level of gutlessness in me too. “We are gonna run as soon as we find no one down here. If there are no witches trapped below as blood bags then we are gone.”
“We gotta get Tessa first, then we run.” Em shakes.
“Well, we might actually stand a chance,” Angie whispers, making the hair on my neck stand on end. “They all seemed real occupied after they thawed Rydal’s sexy ass. The dad was saying he needed to discuss business, and I swear I heard the sister getting mad at Whit. She kept saying he should never have brought us here.”
“I tend to agree with her. His motives are just getting clearer and clearer.” And it doesn't make me feel better at all. I look back at them. “Where is Tessa?”
“Knitting in the garden room. She’s been doing it since dinner ended with the manhunt for you and Rydal,” Em speaks softly, glancing over her shoulder as I take a breath and squeeze the old-fashioned handle on the door.
It’s a heavy door, like it’s made of concrete, but it’s clearly wood. When I pull it back its hinges groan. I only open it as wide as we need it to be and slide through. They follow, and when Em’s through, she drags the door back.
When we turn back we all hesitate, staring down at the long dark staircase. It’s creepy as sin.
“This is real spooky, Lorelei.”
“Just keep chanting that it’s a game, a Nancy Drew game.” My arms are covered in goose bumps and my stomach is actually aching, but I force my feet to move. The stairs are short and narrow, making them awkward to walk down without falling to your death.
A gust of wind, that same cold wind, blows up the stairs at us. Angie and Em both grip to me, like I have some kind of sway over the dead. Or they plan on pushing me and running.
At the bottom of the stairs I smell candle smoke to the left. To the right is a dank, dark hallway with nothing tempting me to go that way, but I do. My feet turn and walk, against my better judgment.
“Why you gotta take the scary way? There’s a bit of light to the left.”
I ignore Angie and walk toward the darkest hallway I have ever been in. It lightens at the end, or I think it does. I think it’s another doorway or something for about one second. Then I cup my hand across my lips as I realize a quivering, white woman stands at the end of the hall.
Angie squeaks and Em grips tighter to me. I pause but the cold wind is there, pushing me forward. I stumble along, making small scuff noises on the stone floor.
The woman is in a white gown with bright-blonde hair and pale skin. Her eyes glow with a blue light and her lips are moving, but there is no sound beyond the whispering wind.
I pause, fighting the pushing of whatever force is behind us. I don't dare look.
“Holy hell. Holy hell. Is that a gh-gh-ghost?”
I nod. It’s ironic Em sounds like she’s about to pee her pants, and she is still the scariest ghost I know of. “Em, don't be scared, you were way worse than her.”
She sighs as I take a step closer to the floating apparition who is lighting up that end of the dark hallway.
“You came for the midnight coven?” Her words are ice on my spine.
I shake my head. “What’s a midnight coven?”
She laughs and suddenly she’s gone.
Chapter Two
“I can’t believe you made us come down here.” Angie is pulling me backward, dragging us from the dark tunnel that is meant to be a hallway.
“Let’s just go see what the lit side of the hall has and get the hell out of here,” I whisper harshly. “That damned ghost wasn't helpful at all. She just made more questions. I want to know what the ghost meant.”
Em grips my hand and pulls me. When I look at her she shakes her head. “Everything you said before was a 100 percent true, wasn't it?”
I nod and she winces.
When we get back to the stairs we tiptoe again. The candle smoke is thick and heady. The light is dim, and as we round a corner we hear a noise, causing us all to stop. Em gives me a panicked stare. I know that noise, the one drifting down the hallway. I was making it yesterday.
I shake my head, pointing my finger at them both and lifting it to my lips. They nod and step to the side, letting me pass. I creep along the wall, coming to an entrance. The door is open, and from the looks of it, it’s where the light and smoke are coming from. I peek my head around the corner, staring through the crack in the doorframe. My skin shivers instantly at the depraved sight.
Ollie, the youngest-looking brother, and Inger, the eldest, have two young women tied to a table with their arms and legs spread eagle. The women are moaning and writhing from the disturbing sex acts being inflicted upon them.
Inger has two of his meaty fingers pumping wildly in and out of one of the young girls’ sex. She’s whimpering and wriggling. He’s laughing at her and stroking his massive cock with his other huge hand. I watch as her body convulses and Inger nods his head. “Told you I could give her four in a row, ya wee Nancy. You need to admit, you’re all about the lads—you have no skills with the ladies. You won’t ever do either.” He climbs up onto the table, lifts her pelvis in the air and thrusts into her. Inger bends forward, biting into her wrist and pumping as hard as I have ever seen done. The girl is either delirious with pleasure or passing out from the pain.
Ollie is in a different position altogether. He’s on the table over top of the other girl, with his pelvis in her face and his head dipped between her thighs. I can see blood on his lips from where he’s biting her thighs.
I’m pulsating between the legs, witnessing something so intensely wrong, and yet so amazingly erotic and stimulating. Vampires, blood, and sex are my weakness, there’s no denying it.
Inger shortens his thrusts but sucks harder on her wrist until I can tell he’s erupting inside of her. He jerks and moans, circling his hips and nodding his head. He lets go of her wrist, dropping it to the table with a thud. The girl is dead.
My insides clench.
Ollie, the sweet-looking little brother, pumps into the girl’s face, making her choke on his long cock. She’s gagging as he pushes it farther than she’s comfortable with. He pulls out and by the look of things has finished his orgasm.
The girl is twitching from blood loss, obviously not dead. He spins around, biting down on her throat and ending her life with several short gulps.
I don't wait to see what else happens. I turn and hurry back, grabbing Angie and Em’s hands and dragging them both to the stairs. “We gotta go. We gotta go right now. We gotta run now.”
We hurry to the wooden door, to go back to our rooms. My insides are burning. But when they open the door, I can’t get past the threshold of it. I’m slammed back onto the stairs and nearly fall down the long dark flight. “I can’t get past. I’m stuck. There must be a binding spell on the doorway, so the witches can’t escape.” I shudder. “Oh, dear lord. Oh no. I’m next. Oh God, help me.”
“Shhhh.” Em strokes my cheeks. “Calm down. Tell us what you saw.”
“Witches.” I gasp. “I could sense their magic. They were raping them but not—it was like the girls wanted to do it. It was sex until they became food. Then they killed them.”
Angie’s eyes are huge. “WHIT?”
I shake my head, gagging a little. “Inger and Ollie.”
“The young one?” Angie’s nose wrinkles and her eyes narrow. “Holy hell. We gotta get you outta there.” She pulls on my hand but I cannot get past the doorway.
“Yeah. They screwed them and ate them, so the sooner we get me out of this friggin’ staircase, the better.”
“You sure they were witches?” Em swallows hard.
“Yeah. Real sure. I could feel their magic and then I couldn't.” I slump down on the top step, taking heaving breaths and trying to think about everything. “You know how confusing this all was until ten seconds ago? Marcus told me Whit made me his unlimited blood bag of the good stuff. Ramón told me that Whit was good and Marcus was bad and that my magic would make me be able to tell when something wa
s off. Whit told me that he had taken off the love spell he’d put on me for my protection. But none of it made sense, and it all contradicted itself, until I saw that room. Now I know. Ramón was wrong. Marcus was right and Whit is a son-of-a-bitch devil.”
I glance at Em and Angie, both pale and worried, standing in the light of the moon. “Maybe the midnight coven has answers. I bet those ghosts are the dead witches, unable to leave ‘cause they died here and the spell on the tower traps them.”
Em shakes her head. “Oh, dear sweet baby Jesus. They died here because they got murdered by rapey vampires. This is not a fate I see myself digging in for. Rapey is last on my list of attractive features in the opposite sex. I’m sixteen. No one wants to die from sex assault at sixteen.”
Angie nods along but I sigh. “They can’t kill you. You’re vampires too and you would serve no purpose dead. They won’t have an issue raping though. So before they realize we know more than we should, we need to get away from them. I’ll find out if there are other witches we need to free.” I look around. “Since I’m already stuck here and not going anywhere until midnight when I see the coven, you two go and find Tessa and get out of here. Walk to the right when you get away from the castle.” I hold my hand out. “Give me your hands.”
They both look nervously at the invisible barrier, like putting their hands through it might get them stuck too.
“NOW!”
They lurch forward, giving me their hands. I close my eyes, holding both hands in mine and mutter the first thing that comes to mind. “Mark them both for me to find. Wherever they go, leave a trail of glowing breadcrumbs behind.”
My eyes open to find both their hands glowing red, like there is lava beneath their skin. It fades as they pull them back.
Whit’s words about the Roses spring into my mind. “I know of some people who might be able to help. They stop this kind of criminal behavior from happening, in this underworld of undead, blood suckers, and witches.”
Angie gives me a doubtful look. “Who?”
“The Roses. They are the law as far as our kind are concerned. They kill vampires who go rogue and murder innocents. If we don't feed off bad people, we get sniffed out by the Roses and killed ourselves.”