“You’re sure that’s what he said?” He knew what he heard was correct, but needed to have it verified again. At Adrik’s grave nod, Aleksei cursed and stood to pace the floor. “Gather all available Breeds and meet in the training center. I will meet everyone down there shortly.” He grabbed his cell and dialed Lana’s number.
“Hello?”
Lana’s confused answer came through, and Aleksei let out the breath he hadn’t known he was holding in. “Lana, love, it’s me.”
“Oh, hi. Is everything okay?”
“Everything is fine, baby, but unfortunately I won’t be able to see you again tonight. Something’s come up that I can’t ignore. “
“Oh, okay. Is there anything I can do to help?”
Yes, let me make you mine for eternity so that I will know you are forever safe and don’t ever have to worry about your safety.
What he wanted to say made its way into the front of his mind, but he quickly pushed it away.
“No, love, there really isn’t anything you can do except stay inside tonight. I will call you as soon as I can.”
They got off the phone, and he contemplated what his course of action would be. He opened his desk drawer, pulled out his Glock, and shoved it at the small of his back. There really was no easy way to go about it—he would just have to round up the troops and do an all out search until they found a Bloodless that could lead them to the horde leader. He headed out the door and made his way to the lower training level to meet up with the other Breed males.
* * * *
After hanging up with Aleksei, Lana couldn’t help the disappointment that filled her. She really hoped to see him again tonight. She finished getting ready for bed, feeling lonely. She was just about to slip into bed when she heard pounding on her front door.
Her heart raced, and she couldn’t stop the smile that covered her lips or the excitement that coursed through her body. Aleksei must have found a way to get away from work.
She practically ran to the door, tripping over her own feet in the process. Once she reached the front door, she took a steadying breath and clamed herself. She unlocked the door and pulled it open.
She stood staring at her empty porch with her eyebrows knitted together. A cold draft of air pushed by her and caused tendrils of her hair to shift around her face. She lightly shivered and shut the door quickly.
Maybe the wind pushed something against the door and made it sound like a knock?
She locked the door and turned around…running right into a very large, very muscular chest. She slowly inched her gaze up until she looked into a set of familiar silver-colored eyes. She took a step back and felt the cool wood of her front door.
“W-What do you want?” Her words came out more like a whisper as her heart pounded loudly against her ribs.
“You.”
That one word was spoken so low it caused shivers to skate down her spine.
There was nowhere to go. She had the door to her back and his massive body blocking her way.
“Find your dog?” She swallowed when a smile covered his face, but it was anything but friendly. She kept her eyes locked with his as she slowly inched her way sideways. If she could just slip past him, she could make it out the back door.
“You can’t out run me, and if you did manage to slip by me, I would catch you before you even took two steps.”
She needed to stay calm, but when faced with abduction it was almost a fruitless attempt. She made herself relax and smile which she knew didn’t reach her eyes. “Okay, I’ll go with you.”
He arched a brow at her comment but then narrowed his eyes as if he didn’t believe her. He held out his hand for her to take, which she did. His other hand reached for the handle of the front door, and that was when she leaned her body into his and brought her knee up to where it counted.
He let go of her hand to cup himself, and she dashed around him and ran toward the back door. She heard his inhuman roar and didn’t dare look back as she heard his heavy footsteps behind her. She turned the lock on the back door and ripped it open—running across the grass toward the door on the fence.
She looked behind her and saw him standing in the open doorway, a blank expression on his face. One second he was by the back door and the next he loomed over her with an intense angry stare.
Mouth open in a soundless cry, she turned around so fast she lost her footing and fell sideways toward the ground. She heard a loud cracking sound as she went down and vaguely realized that the sound came from her.
A deep thrumming went through her head, and stars appeared before her eyes. Reaching behind, she felt the large, cool rock she fell on and the wet stickiness of her blood across her fingers. Her focus started to waiver, and right before she passed out, she saw the man loom over her and smiling menacingly.
* * * *
Lana came awake to the sound of soft music playing in the distance. Slowly opening her eyes, she winced as the pain on the side of her head instantly made itself known. She blinked several times, trying to get her eyes to focus on her surroundings. Pushing herself up, she fought the wave of dizziness that washed through her. She clutched her head, trying to stop the pain from bursting through her skull. Rubbing her temples, she closed her eyes as nausea assaulted her.
What happened?
Everything came crashing back, like a tsunami of memories. She looked around the room—nothing seeming familiar at all. A window was placed on one wall, thick drapes covering it and blocking out any light. Getting up, she stumbled into the bathroom on the other side of the bed. She felt around the wall for the light switch and turned it on once she located it. The bright florescent lights were not the most soothing and increased the pain in her head.
Looking at herself in the mirror, she noticed the dark circles under her eyes and her pale skin. Her hair was piled high on her head—the chignon intricately woven together with pearl clips slipped into the strands. She leaned in close, all of this like some bad Twilight Zone episode and she was the main character.
Looking down at herself, she noticed she wore a gauzy dress, not the pajamas she had about to go to bed in. The dress was sleeveless with a lace bodice that flared out from her breasts and pooled at her feet. Her head still felt disconnected as she walked over to the window. Pushing the heavy curtains aside, she blinked several times at what was revealed. There was no window behind the drapes, just a mural of the sun rising over the mountains.
She looked around the room, her brain working at full capacity now, thinking of a way to escape. Running over to a thick steel door, she tried the handle—of course it was locked. Pounding on the hard cold metal, she yelled at the top of her lungs.
“Can anyone hear me? Hey! Please, someone help me!”
Her palms ached and her head hurt as she dropped her hands and noticed the tray by her feet. Fruits, meats, cheeses, and breads littered the tray along with a glass of wine. She squatted and ran her hands along a rectangular drawer at the bottom of the door. There was no latch to open it, but she knew that was where the tray had slipped through.
Eyeing the food with disgust, she pushed it aside, not about to eat anything that was fed to her. The smells of the cheeses and meats wafted up to her nose, causing a wave of nausea to overtake her. Running into the bathroom, she barely missed the toilet as she heaved into it. She could still hear the distant music playing in the background, and all she wanted to yell was for them to shut the damn thing off. Rinsing her mouth, she went back into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the closed door.
Lana lifted her eyes open and realized she fell asleep. Sitting up in the bed, she rubbed her eyes, thankful her head didn’t hurt as bad as it had earlier. Ripping the pins out that held her hair together, she threw them across the room, pleased when they bounced off the door. She tried the door once more, defeated when it came up locked again.
“Who the hell are you?” Tears started to well up in her eyes but she forced them back. No way was she going to
give these monsters the satisfaction of knowing she was breaking down. Looking down, she noticed a new tray of food at her feet.
She bent and lifted the shiny silver lid, her mouth watering at the sight and smell of the food. Closing the lid, she reminded herself that the food was probably poisoned.
How long have I been here?
She knew it couldn’t have been that long since she wasn’t terribly hungry, but it had to have been long enough for them to give her two meals, right? Maybe not. Maybe they would just keep giving her food hoping she’d eat it and whatever poison they tainted it with. There was no way she could just sit here and wait for someone to rescue her. No one even knew where she was. Hell, she didn’t even know where she was. She wanted to break every damned thing in the room but thought better of it since she didn’t want to draw even more attention to herself. Lana walked into the bathroom to get some water out of the facet. After drinking a couple of handfuls of water, she dried her mouth and went back into the bedroom.
Her heart stopped at what lay on top of the bed. She looked at the closed door, fear strangling her that someone had come in without her knowing. She hadn’t heard anything, and the fact that they had been right behind her had her breath catching. A gown of dark blue silk was spread out across the duvet, a pair of slippers and some jewelry next to it.
Clenching her fist, she ran over to the door and started to pound on it.
“Let me the hell out of here!”
She kicked and pounded on the door until her feet and hands ached with pain. Walking back over to the bed, she grabbed the dress and threw it against the door. She did the same with the shoes and jewelry, screaming in the process.
“You can take your dress and shove it up your ass!”
Feeling deflated and hopeless, she went back to the bed and sat down, dropping her head in her hands. She thought of Aleksei’s brilliant blue eyes, his strong, masculine voice, and his body primed and ready for her. She lay down, buried her head in the pillow, and let her thoughts of him carry her away into sleep.
* * * *
Aleksei stood in the middle of the large room. Breed males gathered around him, fully armed and looking ready to kick some ass. Weight benches, punching bags, as well as many other pieces of workout equipment were scattered around the room.
Every male had enough firepower strapped to his body to blow apart a small town. Aleksei decided to do a thorough sweep of the entire city as well as the outer city limits. Aleksei called the Lykens in to monitor the surrounding forests and the outer ring of their territory. He hadn’t thought the Lykens would be up for helping him, but when Aedan agreed right away, he knew the whole Lyken clan was upset over one of their females almost being killed.
He paired the warriors up in twos and sent them on the hunt. They were to bring back any Bloodless and kill them if they had no information on the ringleader of this whole operation. The warriors filed out of the room, many of them juiced up about the hunt and slapping each other on the backs. Others had a hard look in their eyes and clear determination in their step.
As the last pair left, Aleksei gripped his chest and started to rub in a circular motion. Something didn’t feel right. His instincts flared up, and his senses became more focused. He didn’t know what brought on these sudden changes. Rubbing the spot over his heart, he knitted his brows in confusion.
“You okay?” Milo stepped beside him, worry on his face.
“Yeah, yeah. Just pumped about this whole thing, ya know?” He tried to push the strange feelings aside as he motioned for his brothers to follow him out into the night.
* * * *
Aleksei fell into his bed and just wanted to let his exhaustion take him away. He, along with all the warriors, canvassed the entire area of the city as well as the outer perimeter. The Lykens reported back that they hadn’t seen or heard anything suspicious in their area. He looked up at the clock—sunrise mere minutes away. He wanted to reach for his phone and call Lana, but knew it was too early and she would still be asleep. He had been itching all night to hear her voice and to know she was okay, but that wouldn’t be right of him to keep her up just to ease himself. He closed his eyes and willed his body to rest, an easier thing to think of than actually accomplish.
Aleksei opened his eyes to the sound of his phone ringing. He leaned over, fumbling on his nightstand for the damn thing. He looked at the clock, pissed he slept over half the day away. He only meant to rest for a short time, but he must have been exhausted. He picked up the phone, his thoughts immediately going to Lana.
“Hello?” His voice was hoarse from sleeping, and he cleared it as he sat up.
“Yo, Alek, are you coming up and eating with us?” Milo’s voice bounced through the receiver, and he could hear Luca and Aniya in the background. “Aniya made the works, bro.”
As Milo listed everything their sister made, he scrubbed a hand over his face. “Yeah, let me shower, and I’ll be up.”
He got up and stretched, checking his phone for any missed calls. He stared at the screen in confusion—not one call from Lana. He punched in her number, letting it ring until her machine picked up. He called three more times—all ending in the same result.
He set his phone on the nightstand and rubbed his chest again—hating the fact that something just seemed off. Maybe she’d just gone out for a while and forgot to take her phone. Yeah, but to not even call him, something didn’t seem right. He didn’t want to overreact, but his basic instincts were firing wildly at how wrong all of this seemed. It was still daylight, and as much as he hated it, he had to sit and wait to go to her.
* * * *
Lana slowly woke to the sound of shuffling feet near her. She tried to keep her breathing even so she didn’t alert whoever was in her room that she was awake. Cracking open her eyes, she was thankful for the hair that fell over her face and obscured the fact that she was awake. A small figure moved briskly through the room, her movement quick and silent. Maybe this woman was a captive like she was.
“Hey.” She said the word on a breath, hoping the woman could hear her. The woman stopped and turned slowly around to face Lana. She held a rag in her hand and a bottle with a blue solution that sloshed around in it.
She’s cleaning the room?
Lana pushed herself slowly up and motioned for the women to be quiet. It was clear that if the woman was cleaning the room she most likely was not a captive, but she still had hope that maybe the woman would have a little compassion and help her out. She smiled at the woman, or maybe she was a girl. She looked so young.
“What’s your name?”
The girl looked at the closed door and then back at Lana. It was clear she was scared of whatever repercussions might come about with speaking with her.
“It’s okay. We can be really quiet and just talk.”
The girl fiddled with a piece of her dress before looking Lana in the eyes. She had the clearest and brightest green eyes Lana had ever seen. Her strawberry blond waves poured down her back with a small clip holding one side up. Her eyes were huge as she continued to look between Lana and the closed door, fear obvious in her face.
“Kasia.”
“Kasia. What a pretty name.”
“Thank you.”
“What do you do here, Kasia?” Lana edged closer to the girl and offered a small smile.
“I cook and clean and do…other things.”
Other things?
She didn’t even want to think of what they made this poor girl do. “How old are you?”
Kasia played with the fabric of her dress in nervousness. It struck Lana as odd that they would have a maid wear something so elegant.
“Eighteen…I think.” Kasia looked embarrassed at the fact that she didn’t know exactly how old she was.
“Where are we?”
Kasia turned back around, her head shaking as she went back to cleaning the dresser.
“Kasia, please.”
“I’m not supposed to talk to anyone, especially not
you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I am not allowed to speak unless I am spoken to, and I was given orders not to speak with you.” She looked around the room and then turned toward Lana again. “If they find out I spoke with you, I will be punished severely.”
Lana’s heart broke for this small girl who was just as much a prisoner as she was.
“I can’t even tell you where you’re at because I don’t know.”
“Who took me? Do you know?”
“They’re monsters, all of them. Their eyes are soulless and black as the night.” Kasia walked toward Lana and placed her hands in hers. “I don’t know what they are. All I know is that they,” her eyes grew wide as her voice dropped to a small whisper, “drink blood. I don’t even want to know what they are going to do to you.” She dropped Lana’s hands and stared at the floor.
The only thing her frazzled brain could come up with was that they were the things—the monsters Aleksei told her were killing those women. What did he call them? She thought hard, finally remembering what Aleksei called them.
“Bloodless?” Lana looked at Kasia with dread growing inside of her. If those killers were the ones that kept her prisoner, then there was no telling what they would do.
“How did you know that? I have heard them talking and saying that name before. All I know is that they are real life monsters that have no compassion or heart. They’re evil.” Kasia suddenly grew quiet and still, her hand going up for Lana to be quiet. “Hurry, pretend you are sleeping. They’re coming back.”
Lana didn’t hesitate as she lay back on the bed. The door opened, and she willed her breathing to slow.
“Done?” The deep male voice boomed through the room and made Lana want to curl into herself with fear.
“Yes.” Kasia’s small voice seemed distant as Lana opened her eye and watched as an impossibly huge man walked up to her.
The Chosen: A Tale of the Blood Breed Page 15