by Nashoda Rose
I recoiled. Guise was saying something, but I couldn’t hear him as I blocked out everything except Drake’s voice.
“Did you fuck him, Breanna?”
“Don’t kill him.” Jasper was alive. He still had a chance.
He chuckled again. I remembered the sound so clearly and a thread of fear sliced into me. Because I knew what came next. And I’d do anything to save Jasper’s life; that was why Drake hadn’t killed him yet. “You know what I want. Don’t make me chase you . . .” he paused and I could hear him breathing in my mind. “There will be consequences for leaving me and for lying to me, you know that. But I will make it easier on you if you stop running.”
“And Jasper?”
“Max!” Guise’s hands gripped my arms and shook me, trying to get my attention.
“Jasper?” I repeated.
“He’ll live if you come to me. I’ll even be generous and let you heal him. But he leaves and you come back with me. To where you belong, Breanna.”
I had one chance and if I failed . . . I wouldn’t fail. I was stronger now, and if my plan worked, I’d have help. I knew Drake better than anyone. He’d kill Jasper. He’d never let him walk away no matter what he said. His acid-laced lies spilled so easily from his mouth. “I’ll meet you. But if Jasper isn’t alive, I will never heal your Ink.” I had no intention of ever healing his Ink even if my idea didn’t work.
“As my slave you will.”
“Know this, Drake. If he dies, I will never drink your blood. And I will spend each and every day fighting you. I know how you hate it when I fight.” My chest swelled at some of the power I had over Drake. It was no longer fear but determination. It was no longer submission but rebellion. He could torture me and hurt me and mentally destroy me, but what he couldn’t do was take my will away. In order to become a vampire and his slave, I had to willingly drink his blood and I wasn’t the little ten-year-old girl anymore who had no one.
I had something to fight for—Jasper.
“And I will torture him until you do,” Drake said confidently.
“No, because I will heal him and then you will let him go. He walks away first. So, you better make fucking certain he stays alive, Drake.” He hissed, knowing I had the upper hand. “And the blades I hold to my throat. I’m not afraid to die. You made sure of that. Don’t fuck with me, Drake.”
He was quiet, and for a second, I thought he’d left my mind, but the cold, cruel blackness still lingered and I knew he was deciding how far he could push me.
“There is a white house by the road across from the hotel where you stayed . . . with him. Find a way to get there. You have less than two hours. Remember your house burning with your mother inside? That is what will happen to him in two hours if you don’t show—alone Breanna.”
And then he was gone.
I WAS PICKED UP UNDER my armpits and forced to stand. I hung limply between two vampires and I could barely lift my head; I was so fuckin’ weak. Blood soaked the wound in my chest and it was only a matter of time before it flooded my lungs and I took my last breath.
But she got away. I knew she did otherwise the bastard wouldn’t be standing here with me.
I ground my teeth as Drake grabbed my chin and forced me to raise my head. “She wants you alive. Enough to sacrifice herself for your wretched, pathetic life.”
Fuck, no. No. Jesus. My heart and lungs seized and my stomach revolted. I had to swallow continuously to keep the bile from rising. I tried to hide my reaction, but inside, it was a roaring agony of horror. What’d she do? Why would she ever risk her life for mine? She knew there was no chance in hell Drake would let me walk away. She knew the consequences of healing Drake’s Ink, of its re-birth.
She wouldn’t do it. She was smart. Even as a child, Max hid her ability from Drake. Six years of torture and pain and whatever the fuck else he did to her that I couldn’t even think about. But what scared me most was knowing Max wouldn’t do it. She’s tried to protect everyone by hiding herself and her ability, so there wasn’t a chance in hell she’d heal Drake’s Ink. No, she’d kill herself or have someone else do it before she did that.
Jesus, Max.
“I’d have killed you already just for touching what’s mine if you weren’t needed—for now. Bring him.”
My head dropped forward as he let go of my chin and I used what little strength I had left and raised my head again. Drake had already turned and was walking to a black SUV. “She’s not the same girl you broke.” I forced out each word. “And no matter what you do—she’ll never belong to you. She never did.” Because Max was stronger now and I knew no matter what Drake did to her, she’d fight and that terrified me.
In death or life, the connection we had was undeniable and unbreakable.
I’d been hers for months, watching her, falling for her every day a little more and yet denying it. Fighting it. And Max . . . maybe she didn’t love me yet, but I’d felt inside her, been in her thoughts and she gave me all of her. She gave me the pieces of her that she hid from everyone.
Drake spun on his heel and came striding toward me. I kept my eyes on him, his fury raging in his eyes as they blazed red. But he wouldn’t kill me. It would risk too much and despite Drake being a fucker of a Scar, he was intelligent.
I tensed as his fist flew toward me and pummeled into my chest. My breath sucked from my lungs and I keeled over, but the two vampires hauled me upright, making the pain worse. Blood rushed violently through my veins and my knife wound pulsed and throbbed brutally. I finally caught my breath then started coughing and gagging as the pain ripped through every part of my body.
“We’ll see about that when I have you begging to end the pain while she watches.”
I clenched my jaw, my stomach rolling in a battlefield of determination to fight, and surrender so I could take another breath just to love her for one more moment.
But surrender wasn’t in me. And it wasn’t in Max. Both of us had once surrendered in different ways and it led us each down a different path of destruction.
My legs dragged out behind me as I was taken to the SUV and then tossed into the back. It was only minutes before the agony of the vehicle bouncing down the mountain road finally blurred my vision and my mind became a haze just before I passed out.
I had no idea how long I was unconscious but I woke up with my arms tied behind my back around a wooden beam in what looked like a basement. No windows. Like a large wine cellar but most of the wooden slots for the bottles were empty.
I shook my head to clear my vision as everything swayed back and forth as if I was drunk. But I knew it was from the blood loss. I tested the chains around my wrists and winced as they pulled the muscles around my wound.
Fluid slowly filled my lungs and each breath became raspier. I was surprised I’d lived this long, however long it had been.
Fuck. I couldn’t stop the trembling as my body could no longer maintain warmth and was barely functioning. I’d been like this before. Weak and unable to do anything but slowly die.
I heard her before I saw her. The subtle beat of her heart that matched her light steps—a fawn; a fawn entering a slaughter house.
I waited for it, the moment I’d see her. It was crushing knowing she’d come and at the same time—fuck, I wanted to see her. But not here. God, not fuckin’ here like this.
Jesus. I closed my eyes as her steps drew closer and with them—his.
The doorknob turned and then the door clicked open.
I couldn’t stop myself from looking and it was a mere heartbeat before her eyes found mine.
“OH, GOD.” THE WORDS SCORCHED my throat as the strangled cry emerged the second I saw him. I tried to wrench free of Drake, but he jerked me back. “Rebirth to my Ink first, then I will allow you to heal him.”
I held back the tears that threatened to fall and make me into the weak little girl who broke under the man who now held me in his grasp. But I wasn’t that little girl anymore. I’d fought to keep my secret hidden
. I’d fought to stay alive and now I was fighting for Jasper’s life. That was more powerful than the nightmares of six years with Drake.
I raised my chin and met his red flashing eyes. “No, Drake. I heal him first.”
He hissed revealing his fangs and looking scary as hell, but I refused to waver, knowing our one chance was if I could get to Jasper first.
I thought I’d be more terrified of him, but I wasn’t. He was a pitiful disgrace to the Scars and what they stood for. There was no honor in him and he was weak. He used vampires and a little girl to get him here. He was a monster who destroyed others in order to make himself feel better.
I didn’t dare look over at Jasper again. I needed Drake to believe he had no choice here. If he thought for one second I would break, he’d kill Jasper and take me away and wait until I gave in and drank his blood. But I knew Drake. He wouldn’t want to wait. He wanted his Ink alive now and that was what I was banking on.
Finally, Drake nodded and his hand slowly slid from my arm. I took a step toward Jasper when Drake grabbed me by the back of the neck, his fingers squeezing as he pulled me into him so hard I slammed into his chest. “Remember who you belong to, Breanna. Don’t do anything foolish.”
I knew exactly what he was saying. I was not to touch Jasper except to heal his wound. “I belong to no one, Drake. I’m your prisoner.” I shoved at his arm, gritting my teeth as the pressure on my neck increased before he let me go.
It took everything I had to walk slowly and steadily toward Jasper when all I wanted to do was run and throw my arms around him. My heart thumped erratically, and my blood rushed through my body like a torrential rainstorm.
I knew the Scars had to be looking for me by now and I planned on it. I hadn’t known at the time how I’d get away from Guise, but when we went into the hotel bar to wait for Xamien and Waleron and hopefully Holden, I knew it had to be then or I’d never have a chance. I waited ten minutes and even that was a struggle as I kept glancing at the clock up above the bar. I had an hour before Drake blew up the house Jasper was in. And there was no question in my mind he’d do it. He had nothing to lose if I didn’t show up.
Luckily, Guise was a Visionary and not a Reflector because I was betting no shield I put around my emotions could stop what I was feeling from being read. This meant I had to leave before Xamien arrived. He’d see right through me and know what I was up to.
My opportunity came when the waitress asked if we needed anything in French. She switched to English when neither of us answered her. She looked me up and down, frowned then glared at Guise who glowered back. I was a mess and suspected I had more than a few cuts and scrapes from our mad run through the bush.
She offered her hand. “Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up. Men.” She shook her head, her lips pursed together as she sneered at Guise. “It’s always the hot ones who are such assholes.”
Guise snorted and stood when I did. “Where are you going?”
“I’m calling the police if you don’t behave yourself,” the waitress, I glanced at her name tag, Vee, said. “Your girl here has dirt and cuts all over her. You want to explain to the police what happened to her?”
Guise’s scowl grew fierce, but he sat back down. “Don’t go far. We’re leaving the second they get here.”
The waitress flicked her hair over her shoulder and then tugged me to the washroom in the far corner of the bar. It wasn’t that difficult to get rid of the waitress saying I needed some time alone and then she smiled as if in understanding. I waited a few seconds and then peeked out the door and saw her serving a couple at the bar. Guise was on his phone. I snuck out in the shadows of the hall and went out the back fire exit door.
Then I ran. I suspected Guise and the others would track me pretty damn quickly to the house, but I just needed enough time to do what I had to.
And now . . . seeing Jasper again, I knew I did the right thing. I could do this. I had to. I wanted to.
The beam Jasper was chained to stood from floor to ceiling and was thick and solid. I’d need to find a way to undo the chains. Not now, Drake would be watching everything I did but when the time was right . . . after I killed him.
There was a good chance that I couldn’t. That my plan would fail, but this was the only way to try and save Jasper. Drake would’ve killed him if he had a hint of any Scars with me.
I stopped in front of Jasper, our eyes having never left one another since I began to make the ten agonizing steps toward him. “Sunshine.”
I pursed my lips and frowned, hoping he understood what I was saying. Drake was an ancient Scar and I’d learned to barricade him from my thoughts, but now he was also vampire and he might be able to intercept our telepathy. I couldn’t take the chance that he’d hear us. I just hoped Jasper would understand what I was doing.
My instinct was to scream and cry and hold him in my arms, but if I did, it would destroy all I had to do in order to save us both.
I couldn’t tell him I believed him. That I trusted him.
I put one hand on his left shoulder as if to steady myself and slid it back slightly, so my fingers were touching his shoulder blade. His brows drew together and his body stiffened, but he didn’t say anything. I called to my healing ability and put my other hand on his chest just below his heart.
I shifted all my healing to his shoulder, instead of his chest. Jasper must have felt it because his breath quickened and his eyes widened with surprise.
I closed my eyes when the images hit me and I saw it all. Jasper hung by his wrists from a tree, the tips of his toes just able to touch the ground. He had chains wrapped around his shoulder to keep him from calling to his Ink and there were bruises all over his body, yet he wasn’t bleeding or wounded. The stars shone down on his naked skin as he trembled so violently the chains rattled.
There was a ravaged expression on his face, rage pulsating through him as he hung helpless to the elements. I moved a little closer to him as I heard the screams of the girl echoing in his mind. The little girl’s screams that were tearing him apart as he dangled, unable to do anything but listen to her.
His sister. Beth.
The images came quicker like a movie played in fast forward and I weakened, just as Jasper had with each day they left him there. His body began shutting down and then . . . his Ink. Its strangled cries begged to be released from the chains the vampires had thrown over the tattoo to keep it trapped.
But it was locked in his body as he grew weaker.
I heard Drake’s footsteps walk toward us and knew if he came close enough, he’d notice the wound on Jasper’s chest hadn’t been healed and my hand on his shoulder was the only one burning with heat.
I had to take the chance Drake couldn’t hear us. I needed Jasper’s help. I moved both my hands to his shoulder blade and used everything I had to bring his Ink back to life. I had seconds. “Rise. He needs you. Breathe.” An Ink couldn’t be called upon if the Scar was wounded. But I could. At least I think I could. I communicated with my mother’s Ink many times. If I brought Jasper’s back to life, then I could call to it without him.
The burning in my hands was so intense it was as if I was holding them in the flames of a fire. But I’d couldn’t stop. I’d never stop. “Jasper, what’s your Ink’s name? I need to call to it.”
“Baby, what are you doing? My Ink . . . he can’t . . . he can’t come to form when I’m wounded.”
“By you he can’t. But I can call him. Jasper, there’s no time, tell me. Now.”
I knew Drake was behind me and then . . . he hauled me backward so hard I fell on my ass. I heard Jasper’s roar and the chains as he struggled to break free.
“Groar. It’s Groar.” He stopped moving and I saw him close his eyes and knew he was trying to help me call Groar to life.
I had no choice. I needed to say the words aloud as they were more effective than telepathically. “Rise Groar. Jasper needs you. Live and fight for him. Protect him.”
“What did you do?”
Drake grabbed me by the hair and I winced as he pulled me to my feet. “You bitch.” He raised his fist and I braced for the pain, knowing if he knocked me out, our chance was lost. Jasper’s Ink would be sluggish and even worse was that it would weaken Jasper further.
But his fist never connected as something crashed into the both of us. I landed hard on my side and I was dazed for a second before I looked for Drake. He was on his back with a snarling wild boar-like monster, with silver skin covered in tattoos, on top of him. There was blood splattered all over Drake. I scrambled toward them and saw the damage the Ink had done with its first leap. Its razor-blade horns were covered in Drake’s blood that had penetrated his chest.
But he’d heal. He was a half-vampire and within minutes, he’d heal again. Drake grabbed the Ink by the horns and as soon as he did, his palms bled as they cut into him. Ignoring the damage, Drake tossed Groar across the room. There was loud squeal as he hit the wall and fell on his side and then he was on his hooves again and tearing for him.
I scrambled to my feet and ran for Drake at the same time
“Max. No.” Jasper’s words were lost to me as Groar leapt on Drake again but this time Drake was ready and dove to the right and then whirled around and grabbed Groar’s leg and yanked so hard I heard the crack as the bones broke.
But Ink’s never gave up and that was what I depended on. Groar would fight until death or until his master called him back.