Chapter 8
Scarlett
I came to what felt like only a second later, thrashing and hissing violently, restrained by heavy iron shackles on my hands and legs. A shadow of others stood just outside the circle of light.
I smelled the tang of fresh dirt and the damp mold of ancient things long gone.
I rushed for the shadows, claws curved like blades. Screaming violently, I called for my sister to come aid me, but she was strangely silent.
“I hate you! I hate you all! I’ll kill you. Kill you!” Red descended like a haze over my eyes as my face carved even more into the monster. I could do it. I could end them all. I didn’t care who or what they were. I would kill them one by one and bathe in their blood when I was through.
“She’s still crazed. Bring the boy. Now!”
There was a quick shuffle of feet, and then one of the shadows broke away, kneeling and coming into the light just a little.
I was too gone on bloodlust to think, to scent them out. I was madness incarnate right now. All I wanted was to end the spread of agony that had lanced my blood and bones like a blade.
Glowing, familiar, liquid silver eyes stared back at me. A tight frown stretched his Glasgow grin into a hideous parody of a smile.
I rushed him, fingers itching to sink my claws into him and make him hurt as much as I still did.
But he was just out of reach.
“The shackles have been dipped in demon’s blood. Ye’re not going anywhere, Scarlett. I need ye to remember who you are, woman.”
His words were said low, steadily.
And for just a second, my heartbeat fluttered because somewhere beyond my madness, I recognized him. But then a flash of Mercer kissing that Campbell bitch sparked in my head, and I howled, shaking the shackles as I tried to rush him over and over. The manacles bit into my wrist, rubbing my skin raw and drawing blood. The coppery tang filled my nose, heightening my madness.
I tipped my head back and howled like a wolf, calling to my sister, demanding she kill them all. But she was gone, and I was so damn empty.
I don’t know how long I did that, but I came to a while later, scenting something else on the air, something sweet, crisp, and clean.
Timid footsteps stood just outside the circle of light. The shadows were so thick here that even I couldn’t make out who it was. But it was a smaller shadow, more vulnerable.
I laughed. I could kill this thing, this little bastard. I could exact my vengeance on the whole goddamn species.
“She won’t hurt me,” the little shadow whispered bravely. “I know she won’t hurt me.”
Instantly, my body stilled, all thoughts of vengeance vanishing like a puff of smoke in a strong wind. I trembled, heaving for breath, only now realizing that I was drenched in sweat and blood.
“Maybe we shouldn’t tempt fate. I’ve never seen her this crazed.” Blue’s words were low and urgent. “I know Scar. If she hurts him, she’ll never forgive herself.”
My nostrils flared, and I felt a portion of sanity coming back to me. I knew that little shadow.
My fingers curled, my claws no longer quite so long or deadly.
I felt the little shadow look at me. My heart quickened, and a longing so desperate mainlined through my veins.
I gulped.
“She won’t hurt me,” the little shadow whispered again, stronger this time. And before the others could stop him, he wiggled like a slippery eel out of the grip of the one holding him and stepped fully into my killing sphere.
For just a second, the madness came clawing back. I screamed, jumping to my feet as my claws extended again and the need for blood filled my throat with frantic aching.
The boy cocked his head, holding out his hands in a placating manner.
“Steven, no!” James stepped up, trying to grab for the boy, but Steven was quick and agile and side-stepped James’s heavy hands.
My eyes were for the boy alone, and suddenly, a memory cut through the madness. I saw this same little boy dressed in nothing as he ran wild with joyful abandon through trees. A monster that looked a lot like me gave chase as they laughed and laughed and laughed.
I blinked, and Steven shook his head.
Had that been... me?
“You won’t hurt me,” he said again, softly, warm brown eyes gazing unswervingly into my own.
A battle warred in my mind. I was a vampire. This boy smelled of wolf. Vampires hated wolves. I could scramble his brain. I could make him mine. Make him come to me and yield completely to my dark hunger.
I swallowed, drooling as I thought about the sweet nectar that flowed through his veins.
Steven swallowed, the whites of his eyes large and full of terror, but also full of other things—bravery, determination, love.
I would never hurt you, little pup... I love you...
Words I’d once said whispered through my mind like a ghostly echo, and everything inside me stilled.
The madness began to ebb, like a tide rolling back toward calmer, deeper waters.
I saw a sheen of wet rolling down his cheek, but he didn’t waver in his approach. The shadow behind him sucked in a sharp breath, and I could feel the anticipation in the air.
Memories moved through my mind like a blur. Playing. Laughing. Chasing and being chased. Then a night on a couch, just this little boy and me, holding each other tight, his tiny body pressed against my own. It had felt a lot like love. The madness of the vampire weakened further as I remembered that night when he’d seen me for the monster I really was.
I saw you, Scar. And I was scared. You weren’t... you weren’t... you.
No matter who I am or what I am, you will always be my little brother, Steven, and that’s never going to change.
I love you, Scar.
And I love you too, whelp.
I shuddered, dropping my head and staring at the dirt on the ground. There were long vertical slashes, like a rabid dog had gone mad digging a hole. My nails were broken, chipped, and bleeding.
That rabid animal had been me.
And as I realized that, sanity came rolling slowly back in. I felt my cheeks plump back up, felt the grip of vampiric madness lessen, but with that lessening, I remembered why I’d gone mad in the first place.
Mercer had kissed someone else.
Mercer had kissed someone else...
I moaned, heaving as sobs began to rattle through my pain-filled chest. I began to recall everything that had led up to my snap—the fury of the fight, the pain of seeing my mate kill a fallen and submissive wolf, and then his betrayal of all I held dear.
With the tears came clarity and pain so sharp that it was torture. James had broken my ribs, but they were healing already, and that was nothing compared to the wound to my heart.
I sobbed, heaving for a breath that didn’t hurt, but it did.
Then, a small body climbed into my lap. There were cries of alarm from the shadows, but Steven wrapped his scrawny arms around my neck, laying his head against my breast, and I clung to my little brother in desperation.
Without him, I would drown. Die. Little Steven was holding me up. He was the life raft keeping me afloat, stitching me back together again.
“I love you, Scar.” He whispered it over and over as if he knew just how badly I needed to hear it. I buried my head in the crook of his shoulder, breathing in his sweet, beloved scent.
At that moment, I wasn’t a vampire, but a wolf in every sense of the word. Steven’s love for me had done what only the strength of a kin’s bond could do for another wolf. He’d talked me down from the ledge of unreasoning madness. Vampires weren’t like that. When the switch flipped in us, there was nothing that could stop us, other than time. But by that point, we would have slaughtered whatever had wounded us.
He framed my face with his small hands. I looked at him, and there were tears shining in his gentle, brown eyes.
“You really do love me, Scar, don’t you?” he asked with reverent awe.
An
d all I could do was hug him tight and nod.
We were left alone for a bit, but soon, I felt the disturbance of someone trying to rush into whatever this place was.
There were low whispered voices, and then a heavy growl.
“Let me see her! Let me pass.”
Instantly, I recognized Mercer’s sharp growl, and I tensed. Steven tensed too, but I rubbed his shoulder and shook my head. The grip of vampiric madness was long gone from me.
“I won’t hurt you, little wolf. You know I never will,” I said in a broken, husky drawl still bloated with pain and tears.
He leaned against me, letting me know without words just how much he really did trust me.
“You fecking bastard. How could ye?” I heard a shove, and the dirt walls trembled with the ferocity of violence on the verge of exploding into a powder keg of war.
“No one keeps me from my mate, you hear me?” Mercer growled. There was one last echoing boom, and then silence, deep and unrelenting.
I broke out in a cold wash because I didn’t want to see him again.
His big powerful body broke away from the shadow, and there he was. Mercer stared down at me with blue-green eyes, the glow of the wolf completely gone.
I shook my head as tears fell in heavy waves again. I smelled her on him, and I couldn’t move. My soul fucking hurt.
He moved like a stalking predator, holding his hands up to me.
“Scar. Scarlett,” he murmured in his familiar drawl that pulled at parts down low on me even as I wanted to fucking kill him as he’d just killed me.
Tenebris, who’d been silent since witnessing Mercer betray us, blinked to awareness inside me. Her mood was dark, far darker than normal. I clung to Steven for whatever bit of reason and clarity I still had left to me.
“I know what that looked like, but you have... you have to listen to me,” he said slowly, a desperate edge to his words.
My nostrils flared, and dark, terrible thoughts filled my head. Tenebris fed me images of gore and viscera. My hands trembled, and I didn’t want to hurt my little brother. I never wanted to hurt him.
I kissed his head, inhaling his sweet, clean scent deep into my lungs for strength, and said, “Go, little pup. I’m okay now. I promise I’m okay.”
Mercer’s face tightened into a grimace laced with pain and sorrow, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to see that in him. Instead, I looked at the only Veiler who’d never betrayed me ever, my little brother, and took a deep breath.
For him, I would fight the beast within. I smiled crookedly at his worried frown. Finally, he sighed.
“You promise?”
Again, I kissed his head, nuzzling him just as a wolf would. He trembled visibly, and I felt the tension melt off him. Far more than any other creature in the Veiler world, shifters were the most tactile. Touch was life to them. It wasn’t sexual, necessarily. It was a way of conveying security and warmth. He was filling his lungs with me just as I’d filled my lungs with him. In my scent, he read the truth.
Steven’s tender love had pulled me back from the brink, and I wouldn’t fall prey to it again. Not this night. I nodded, and so did he.
Slowly, he climbed off my lap and to his feet, walking by Mercer and shooting his brother a betrayed look. For just a moment, I could see the budding man inside him.
Someday, Steven would be a force to be reckoned with, just as his father and brothers before him.
“Steven, I—” Mercer said as he reached for him.
But Steven slapped his hand away and melted back into the shadows. Mercer stared into the darkness, a haunted look in his eyes. And though he’d hurt me bad tonight, he was still my mate, and his pain was mine too.
I clutched at my breast, feeling the shrapnel of Steven’s rejection bloom through my heart. It was Mercer’s emotions I felt, but it was hard to tell where he ended and I began.
I lowered my head, staring at the dirt around me, seeing the mess I’d made, the mad grip of the monster I’d been under.
I heard him turn, felt the air quiver with his approach, but I refused to look up. I clenched my jaw and tried not to let him see how bad he’d hurt me tonight.
But he could feel it. We were feeling each other.
His gentle touch beneath my chin made me shudder.
“Look at me, Scar,” he whispered heatedly. “Please gods, look at me.”
I shuddered, squeezing my eyes shut. “I hate you.”
“You don’t hate me,” he said, voice breaking with what sounded like agony.
I hissed, pinning him with my hard glare, but keeping a firm grip on my sanity. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me hurt anymore.
“You’re dead to me, you fucking—”
He growled and dived in, stealing my words and my lips for his own, shoving his tongue down my throat almost brutally, whimpering and growling at the same time.
I bit his tongue and dug my nails into his chest as the rage of seeing him touch another consumed me like a bright flame. Moving with vampiric speed, I reversed our positions, slamming him against the dirt wall. He didn’t fight my attack.
Even as his blood pooled around my fingers, his touch on my wrists was gentle. I screamed, ripping my nails from his flesh as I started to pound at him with half my strength.
I didn’t want to kill him.
But he’d hurt me tonight. More than anything else he’d ever done, turning his passion on someone else had hurt me. I hated him for it. Hated that I still loved him and wanted him so badly.
“You fucking bastard!” I yelled, blinded by my tears. “You left me in that damn cabin alone. I didn’t know what had happened to you or Steven, then I see you with her and I could... I could... I could just fucking kill you!”
I raised my hands, wanting to claw at his pretty face and mangle that beauty so no one would ever want him again. He didn’t move to stop me. He just stared at me with passion and fire in his eyes.
“Do it, Scar. Do it. I fucked up tonight. You want to hurt me, I won’t stop you. Do it... do—”
“I hate you!” I screamed in agony and felt a moment’s regret when I saw his face crumple and tears start to glisten in his eyes.
“I’ll always, always hate you,” I whispered huskily and then moaned, reaching for him at the same moment he reached for me.
He tore at my gown as I clawed at whatever part of his anatomy I could reach. Our coupling was swift and violent. It wasn’t love that made us come together so violently.
It was heartache. It was pain. It was lust. And it was anguish.
I cried as he thrust into me, whispering my eternal damnation of him in one breath, then in the next, admitting to the damnable love of him that kept me here even though all I wanted to do was run away.
Tenebris was aware inside of me. Aware and tortured, too, both by her love and her burgeoning hatred of him. He hadn’t just betrayed my trust. He’d betrayed hers too.
A part of me wanted to shove him away and leave, but a bigger part of me knew I never could.
He was mine. He was ours. And I hated him for it.
We came as one, both of us roaring to the heavens. And with the release of the orgasm, my sanity finally returned.
I pulled back from him immediately and sat a few feet away, still bound in shackles but not really giving a damn one way or another. I felt empty inside. Hollow. Like something pure and good in me had been trampled on tonight.
The silence was vast between us.
“I missed you,” he whispered several minutes later, casting me a sad, soft look.
I snorted. “You have a fucking funny way of showing it.”
His long lashes fluttered, and though I knew our relationship had been forever changed tonight, I also knew that I was bound to him, soul to soul, for eternity. I wrapped my arms around myself, fighting the urge to crawl back to him and take him into my arms.
“Scar, you have no idea what’s going on here. I was trying... I am trying to protect you.”
He looked at me pleadingly.
I hissed. “By kissing that Campbell bitch?” Rage leaked out against my will. I curled my fingers into fists. “What if I’d done that to you? Huh? What if I took James, threw him against the wall, and shoved my tongue down his throat?”
The transformation in him was immediate. He jumped to his feet, strong body vibrating as he glared down at me with glowing neon eyes.
I smirked even as I wept inside. “Now maybe you understand, Mercer.”
Like taking a needle to a balloon, he deflated and shook his head, aging in front of my eyes, looking tired. He shoved a finger through his still-dirty hair, crusted over with another shifter’s blood, and sank to his ass, looking dead at me.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I thought... I thought if I did that, they’d believe my lie. That... that you mean...”
“Nothing to you, right?” I sniffed. “So clearly, they saw the mating mark.”
He hung his head, staring down at the ground with a cold, dead look. “Yeah, they saw the mark. There’s a technicality in the rules—mated pairs cannot do battle. Much as I don’t want this, Scar, I have to win this fucking thing. I have to take back Silver Creek. It’s the only way to keep Steven safe. It’s the only way to keep you... safe.”
I swallowed hard, hearing his words and knowing they were his truth, at the very least. He wasn’t lying to me.
But it fucking hurt, dammit. I rolled my eyes and looked to the side.
“You have to believe in me, Scar. You have to. If I don’t have you in my corner, if I think you’ve abandoned me or even for one second think me capable of loving anyone but you, I won’t last. I. Need. You.”
I laughed, even as my heart felt shredded to ribbons inside me. “Again, you have a fucking funny way of showing it. Why do they believe the mate’s mark isn’t as powerful between us as it would be for one of them?”
His shoulders slumped, and tension bracketed the lines of his mouth as he thinned them.
He didn’t need to answer, then. I knew. “Ah, because I’m a vampire, and one of you couldn’t possibly love a filthy fanger like me.”
I tried to act cool about it, tried to pretend it didn’t kill me to say it, but my damn voice betrayed me. It cracked, and I choked on a sob.
The Vampire Went Down to Georgia Page 12