by L. E. Wilson
He was truly in hell.
Chapter 16
Nikulas
“Keira? Keira?” Nikulas sighed heavily and flopped back in the chair. Dammit. She’d passed out again. Well, at least he’d gotten some food into her.
He wondered what was taking his brother so long. Pulling the blanket off of the back of the couch, he lifted Keira’s legs back up onto the cushions and covered her up before wandering over to the bedroom door.
Knocking softly, he announced himself before going in. “Luuk? It’s me.”
Cracking the door open, he peered inside. His brother stood with his back to the door, dressed in the clothes he'd laid out for him. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he was staring out the wall of windows at the lights of the city.
Walking into the room, he joined him there.
They stood in companionable silence, staring at the beautiful city of Seattle, until Luukas broke the spell.
“How long have I been gone?” His voice was rough.
Nik dropped his eyes to the floor, ashamed to say it out loud. “Seven years.”
Luuk’s sharp intake of breath was the only sign of emotion he showed. After a long moment, he said, “Seven years should be nothing to a vampire as old as I am. But it felt like so much longer than that. What they did to me…” he dwindled off, unable to finish the sentence.
“I didn’t know where you were.” Nik felt the need to defend himself, but the excuse sounded flimsy even as he spoke it. “As soon as we realized something was wrong, I got everyone together and we went to Leeha’s lair to get you, but you were gone.”
“I wasn’t gone.”
Nik’s eyes snapped over to his brother. “What?”
Not taking his eyes from the view, Luukas said in that same chilling tone, “I wasn’t gone. I was there. She had me chained in the catacombs.”
“That’s impossible!” Nik clenched his fists at his sides. It couldn't be!
“We were there! We searched the place! No one was there! And there weren’t any ‘catacombs’…we looked…all of us…” he stuttered to a halt.
Please tell me it isn’t true. Tell me I did not leave my brother there, right under my nose, all of these years.
“Luukas, how is that possible? We were there. We searched every inch of that place.”
Luukas shrugged. “I was there. She never moved me.”
Nik searched his brother’s profile, but it didn’t seem like any more information was forthcoming.
He risked another question. “How did she manage to keep you there?”
“The witch.”
Nik nodded. “Yeah, I know it was the witch, but how did she do it?”
“She took my power.”
“Keira can do that?”
“Yes. When the wolves came, she was chanting, and then we escaped. I have it back now.”
“Holy shit. I didn’t know there any witches left who could still do that.”
“Why now?” Luukas wondered aloud. “Why come for me now?”
“We recently found out Keira had gone missing right before you did by sheer luck. Put two and two together.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Soon as we found out Leeha was back in town, well…when we thought she’d just come back to town, I went to Pennsylvania to get her sister for leverage, and then we went to get you.”
“Where are the other Hunters?”
“I don’t know. They were supposed to meet us at the hideout. They never showed." He decided to keep the news that they'd all been cursed on the down low for now.
"Luckily, the wolves did. They just happened to be there of their own accord. What are the chances? Leeha had Marc for some infraction or another. Cedric wouldn't say much about it.” Nik frowned as he thought about the bit of fun the wolves had thought they’d have with him. A ‘bit of fun’ that had ended with Emma being attacked by those fucking grey monsters of Leeha’s after they’d kidnapped her from right outside the hideout in broad daylight, when Nikulas couldn’t follow them. Thank the gods he’d made it to her in time.
“And now she has Aiden, correct?” Luukas interrupted his thoughts.
“Yes. He was standing too close to her, as usual, and was overpowered. She ran off when the wolves showed up, and took him with her.”
A slight smirk turned up the corner of Luukas’ mouth. “Are you sure he was overpowered?”
Smiling, Nik shrugged. “Who knows with Aiden? It wouldn’t surprise me if he came waltzing in the door a few days from now, full of tales of how he took out the entire place all by himself.” His smile was gone as quickly as it’d appeared. “But I’d like to go look for him anyway, once you get settled again.”
His brother stiffened beside him. “I don’t know that I could help…that I could go back…”
Nik laid a hand on his shoulder, “You don’t have to, Luuk. I can do it. Besides, the wolves owe me, and,” he smacked him gently on the arm, “I need you here to keep an eye on that witch out there.”
Luukas visibly relaxed as he turned away from the window to look at Nik for the first time since he’d entered the room. “How is she?”
Searching his brother’s strange, black eyes for some remnant of the over-confident male he’d been before, he saw nothing but pain and uncertainty in the soulless depths. “She’s sleeping again, but she ate before she passed out.”
Luuk nodded. “I’ll need you to fill me in on everything that’s happened while I’ve been gone before you leave Seattle.”
“Do you want to do that now?”
“No. Not tonight. Soon.”
“Alright. Just let me know when you're ready. Will you be ok here by yourself?”
Luukas gave a nod, and turned back to the window.
Nik did the same. He was happy to stand there for a bit and just enjoy the fact that his brother was standing next to him again. He’d never admitted this out loud to anyone but Aiden, but he had been seriously scared that he’d lost him forever.
After a while, he heaved a sigh and turned to leave. Much as he’d like to hang around for the remainder of the night, he had a car to get rid of before dawn.
“I need to go down to my place, make some calls, see what I can find out about our missing Hunters, and get rid of our ride.”
“I’ll be fine.”
Nik almost smiled. Even after everything he’d been though, his brother was still a stoic son of a bitch.
“I’ll come back tonight. Check in on you guys, ok?”
Luuk nodded.
Not knowing what else to say, Nik headed for the door. “Alright then. I’ll see you later.” Leaving the bedroom door open, he checked on Keira and then headed down to his place.
Once inside his own domain, he leaned against the door and took a deep breath. Too many emotions were going on inside of him.
He missed Emma.
He missed Aiden.
He was worried about his brother and his witch.
Leaving Luukas here alone while he went to find the others was dangerous. If anyone found out he was here on his own, he’d be an easy target for someone to challenge his position. Especially in the condition he was in now. But luckily, as far as Nik knew, they had managed to keep his brother’s disappearance and rescue on the down low. As long as he stayed in the apartment building, he should be ok.
Wandering into the kitchen, he found some bagged blood in the fridge and threw it in the microwave. He nearly gagged trying to drink the stuff, but he forced himself to finish it. How the hell had he ever lived on that shit before he'd met Emma? Or rather, before he’d tasted Emma. But she wasn’t here, and he needed to keep up his strength as much as he could until he found the others. Once they were all home, he could let nature take its course.
He wondered what death would be like.
It couldn’t be any worse than what he was feeling now.
Tossing the now empty bag in the recycle can, he picked up the phone. He had a lot of calls to make.
At least Luukas appeared to be
somewhat in his right mind, and getting better all the time. Nik had been really worried about him for a while there.
Chapter 17
Aiden
Aiden enjoyed the sultry swing of Leeha’s hips as he followed her deeper into the interior of the mountain. She walked like that just to rile him up, he knew, and like the hot-blooded male he was, it worked brilliantly. He’d follow that plump derriere into the depths of hell itself.
And it appeared that that might be exactly where they were going.
Distracted as he'd been by the female’s voluptuous assets, he hadn’t been paying much attention to their surroundings. He really needed to work on his attention span.
“Are you quite certain we shouldn’t chain him, mistress?”
Apparently, he also hadn’t noticed that somewhere along the way, a young, dark-skinned vampire had joined them. He marched along beside Leeha, the stiffness of his spine indicating that the stick stuck up his arse was quite large.
Leeha gave him such a look that he immediately lowered his eyes and dropped back into step beside Aiden.
He glared at him out of the corner of his eyes. “I don’t like you.”
Aiden put his hand on his chest, his feelings hurt. “You don’t like me?”
“No.”
“But, you’ve only just met me. How can you not like me?”
“You need to leave.”
“Ah. But your mistress would be very upset if I were to do that, especially without saying goodbye. Besides, she promised that we would ‘wallow’ in our earthly pleasures before the wolves showed up. She owes me a wallowing and I’m not leaving until I get it.”
The young vampire clenched his teeth so hard, Aiden could practically hear the enamel cracking from the stress.
“If you believe for one minute that I would let you lay a finger on her, you’re sadly mistaken." He lowered his voice. "Leeha is mine.”
Aiden barked out a laugh, “Ha! Leeha is no one’s but her own. And if you think you’re male enough to change that, you’re in for one hell of a bloody awakening.”
Leeha's voice rang out angrily, "If you two are quite finished?"
Aiden gave him a look. See what you've done?
He glared back at him, but said no more.
They’d been walking for quite a long time. How deep did this bloody mountain go?
He’d just began to consider having a go at persuading Leeha into ditching her reeking guards and her boy toy, and finding a dark corner where they could be somewhat alone, when she took a sharp right and then a left.
Glancing up from the enticing female in front of him, he saw they were entering a small altar room.
“Aiden!”
Aiden’s head swung around, Leeha's ass forgotten. “Shea?”
He frowned at his hostess. She appeared none too pleased, although not surprised, to see his friend standing next to the altar in the center of the room, chained to the heavy rock.
“What’s she doing here, Leeha?”
Never taking her blood-red eyes from the female in question, Leeha tilted her head jerkily to the side. “I do keep asking myself the same question. She was to be…taken care of by this time. However, it seems that plan has been changed.”
“Are the other Hunters here also? Christian? Dante?”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean. Why ever would I have them?” She gave him a dazzling smile.
He eyed that smile with a good dose of distrust. It was never good when she was this bloody happy, especially after what had just gone down aboveground.
“What do you mean by ‘she was to be taken care of’?” he asked her warily, although he wasn’t certain he really wanted to know.
Her boy toy cleared his throat and stepped between them to gain her attention, ignoring Aiden completely.
“Mistress. What are we going to do with him?" he asked, tilting his head towards Aiden. "We can’t just let him have free reign in here.”
Aiden took offense at his tone. “Him?” he mimicked. “Is that some secret code word for ‘rival for my true love’s attentions’? I am standing right here, you realize.”
The vampire stiffened, and Aiden knew he’d hit a nerve. He grinned at the back of his head.
“There are no rivals for my mistress’s attention. Especially not from a swarthy, grey-eyed Brit like you,” the vampire gritted out between clenched teeth.
Aiden’s smile widened.
“Well, aren’t you a cheeky one?”
He was definitely jealous. This could work to his advantage.
But back to the question at hand: “Poppet, you haven’t answered me. Why is my mate here chained to this slab of stone, deep within the underground of your home? And why does this place in particular give me the heebie-jeebies?”
Leeha ignored both males, directing her question to Shea. “Where is he?”
Shea cocked an eyebrow. “He who, exactly?”
“Don’t get impertinent with me, vampire. You know whom I’m speaking of.”
Shea looked as if she was about to deny it, but then shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t know. He and his bird went off that way somewhere after he secured me here.” She pointed over her shoulder with her chin.
“Josiah, go find him,” Leeha ordered.
“Mistress, I don’t know if it’s a good idea to leave you here alone…”
“Go find him! NOW!”
His hands balled into fists, but he grudgingly left to carry out her order, throwing a warning look at Aiden on his way out.
“I can trust you not to do anything stupid, my love, yes?” Leeha purred as she ran her hand down Aiden’s large bicep.
“Yes,” he answered, curious as to what she would do or say next.
Shea sounded like she was choking on something.
“Good. Because I want to show you something.”
She grabbed his hand and gave him a tug to follow her, and Aiden took the opportunity to give Shea a wink of reassurance.
She pulled him over to the altar, excitement lighting up her features. “Do you have any idea what this is?”
Linking his hands behind his back, he strolled casually around the piece, unobtrusively checking Shea for injuries when he got to her. He didn't see anything obvious.
Good.
“Hmmm. Well, I would gather from the blood stains so artfully seeped into it that it’s an old, sacrificial altar of some sort.” He paused at the one end, his forehead wrinkling as an unpleasant thought occurred to him. “I do hope that’s not the reason Shea is chained to it.”
Leeha avoided his eyes, her smile faltering.
“Now poppet, you understand that I cannot allow that,” he told her sternly, like he would to a child.
With a pout, she ran her hand lovingly over the rough surface of the stone. “Don't be cross with me. It seems that’s not going to be possible now, in any case."
Aiden crossed his arms. “I am quite pissed with you right now, Leeha. But I would be more so if something had actually come of your plan. Is that what you wanted to show me?”
Her smile reappeared, blinding him with its brilliance.
Her Evilness was bad news, he knew, and pursuing her would only lead to heartbreak on his part, but for some reason, he couldn’t seem to resist her.
He smiled back, his anger forgotten.
“No. That is not what I wanted to show you, I didn’t realize she would still be here, but no matter.” She continued to lovingly caress the surface of the altar. “This is no ordinary altar, Aiden, but a link between the dark realm and our own. The “heebie-jeebies” you feel in this room are not just your imagination.”
Aiden and Shea both glanced around uneasily.
Leeha continued, her voice filled with reverence. “This altar is my greatest secret weapon, found quite by mistake shortly after I arrived here. It will enable me to become everything I’ve always aspired to.”
“Which is what, exactly?” Shea asked.
Leeha shot her an angry gl
ance for daring to interrupt, but answered the question. “Why, to become the Master vampire of this entire region, of course, to start with.”
Aiden scoffed. “Luukas is the Master vampire here. And being that he’s recently escaped your evil clutches…”
Shea gasped, “He did?”
Aiden continued, “And isn’t likely to allow you to one-up him again, how exactly do you think you’ll be getting away with this plan?”
“It’s quite simple, Aiden. This altar allows me to create my own army. An army that will be invincible once I work out a few…kinks.” Arms flung wide, she spun in a slow circle, flinging her head back with joy.
The hair on the back of Aiden’s neck stood on end, and from the way Shea’s eyes were shifting around nervously, she felt it too. The room suddenly felt…alive.
“This room, this room and this altar are doorways. Doorways that let the darkness through.” She came to a stop, her eyes maniacal, blood and shadows swirling within their depths. “There are demons here, tied to this altar by an ancient curse. The demons speak to me. They want to be of this world, but of course, they cannot, as they’re not corporeal. But I found a way to help them with that, quite by accident, when one of my vampires displeased me while in here. They whispered to me, told me what to do with him. I found a way to make them physical beings again, with the ability to leave this room, and in return, they give me their complete and utter loyalty.”
Aiden tapped his pursed lips with his index finger, brow furrowed as he thought on what she’d just told him. “So, what you’re jibber-jabbering about, basically, is that you’re giving evil demons bodies to possess, and in return they’re going to help you take over the world. Did I miss anything?”
Clasping her hands in front of her, Leeha nodded excitedly.
“And the stinking pack lined up in the tunnel out there, I take it they’re the results of the ‘kinks’ you need to work out.”
“Yes. But I believe I know how to keep that from happening now.”
He looked at her with new eyes, impressed. “That’s quite the diabolical plan. Even for you, sunshine.”
She preened beneath his gaze. “Thank you.”
Aiden allowed her her moment, and then clapped his hands together loudly. “So this has all been fun, but I really need to go now. And I’ll be taking Shea with me. Much as I hate to do it, we’ll have to postpone our ‘wallowing’ for another time. If you would be so kind as to show us the way out, luv?”