“What’s her name?” My gut already knew the answer, but I needed to hear it.
“Ceyla.”
A murmur spread through the room at the name they all feared.
Damn it. I was familiar with the former Sabourin Coven and my father’s obsession with stamping them out over the years. I recalled how one of their family members had survived an attack, but last I’d heard she was at Dark Forest Reform School. How she had ended up here and risen through the ranks was a mystery, but it didn’t change anything. I had to defeat her to earn my status if I wanted any peace and quiet from the vamps who hated me.
“Consider me warned. Now, here’s my warning. If you think Ceyla is scary, come at me so that I can show you what scary really means.” I flashed them a quick smile and headed out of the dorm to grab some breakfast.
Walking towards the stairs, I caught Valene’s eye as I passed her.
“Marianela, I didn’t have a chance to give you the class schedule. If you have any problems with the schedule, see Mrs. Addams, the Studies Coordinator. I doubt she will do much to help you, but it’s worth a try.” She flipped her long blonde hair at me and turned to flirt with a tall vamp who was very eager to speak with her.
Staring at my useless schedule, I tried to determine my best course of action. I knew my options were limited, so I debated them carefully. I could fight my way out. I could potentially bribe my way out depending on the loyalties of those in charge. I could stage a coup and take over. Lastly, I could become the model student and earn my way out.
Laughing at the insanity of the last option, I decided on option number one, which meant I needed to learn as much as I could about the school and the higher ups.
Quickly making my way down to the blood room through the dreary hallways, I avoided anyone who looked like they wanted to fight or chat. The school was not in short supply of handsome vampires, but I wasn’t interested in their looks. I was interested in their strength, their loyalty and the reasons for their incarceration.
Sitting down at a table by myself, I tore open my blood bag and gulped down my breakfast. It was cold and stale, but enough to quench the thirst that had been building since last night. I would need more blood to replace what was lost on the floor of the great hall thanks to the wooden spikes, but I was used to surviving on less blood than the average vamp. Our campaign had taken more time than expected and the long days of traveling often led to a shortage of food. We had preyed upon the mortals and creatures we encountered, but the vast stretches of land didn’t always provide enough for my soldiers to eat.
Yelling to my left drew my attention to a fight at the end of my table. A body landed on the table and slid to a stop in front of me. An angry male bared his teeth at a broad-shouldered vamp, who was eager to continue their fight.
“Fuck you, Landon. I’m loyal to the Mielcareks. I refuse to join you. I only have two months until graduation. Then I can finally get back to my life.” The vamp laying in front of me popped to his feet and crouched down into a fighting stance.
“Fine, Garrick. If you’re so loyal to the Mielcareks, why don’t you bow to your queen?” Landon pointed to me and laughed. “Oh, that’s right. You don’t have a queen. You bow to her fuckwit brother.”
Garrick looked at me, confused by Landon’s statement.
And here we go… I expected a stunt like this at some point. This was exactly why my brother wanted me here. If the supposedly loyal vamps wanted to prove themselves to my brother, they would either injure or kill me to gain favor.
I stood up. “Sure. I bet you’ll get an extra blood bag tonight if you oppose your rightful ruler and proclaim your allegiance to Marcario. Or, I could tear out your throat to prove why I should be in charge. Decisions, decisions.”
Fear flashed in Garrick’s eyes a second before I drove my fangs into his neck and tore into him. Leaving Garrick clamoring to put pressure on his neck, I jumped on top of the table.
Landon smiled. “Are you going to take us all on, Marianela? Think about it. There are more of us than you.”
His smile sparked a forgotten memory buried in my head. I remembered Landon.
Putting a puzzle piece in its place, I smiled at him. “Oh, there’s no need to fight, Landon. I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to provoke a fight to please your master. How adorable. Does everyone know that you bowed to my father after you renounced your allegiance to the Sabourin Coven and joined the Mielcareks? You were our spy within Dark Forest Reform School. I’m assuming that’s how Ceyla, who was never meant to leave Dark Forest, ended up here. You helped her escape. Now that you’ve been reunited with the former heir, I’m sure she’s promised to give you everything you desire if she can overthrow the Mielcareks. There’s just one problem. Ceyla will never rise to power in the coven. She will die trying and take you and anyone stupid enough to follow her down into the fire with her.” Glancing at the students who were enjoying the show, I saw their hopes of escape under the Sabourin banner disappear as they assessed their odds of survival if they followed Ceyla. “I will leave here and reclaim what was stolen from me. That I guarantee. However, Ceyla will not be joining me when I take the high seat.”
Landon jumped up on the table and stared down at me. Turning to the crowd, he raised his arms. “Yet another cruel leader unable to show mercy. Personally, I’m glad they renounced her as the Mielcarek leader. She doesn’t care about anyone, just like her father. She plans to stand on your backs, accepting your sweat and pain as payment and give you nothing in return. You’re all here because of some supposed crime that the Mielcareks judged and passed sentence upon. Marianela is no different. She will either threaten you or fill your head with false promises to get what she wants. Regardless, she’s not fit to rule. No one should aid another despot so she can rule over us with an iron fist.”
Oh, Landon was good. The students quickly ate up his rabble-rousing speech and cheered for him.
I spotted Silvijn walking into the room with Valene trailing behind him like a puppy. He was listening to Landon challenge my authority. How I wished he would make an example out of Landon, but I couldn’t rely on him anymore.
I quickly switched tactics before I completely lost the crowd. “Like you, I have suffered under my brother’s cruelty and been taken advantage of. I’m not here because I bowed to him and pledged my allegiance. I am here because I challenged his authority. I wanted to advocate change instead of continuing with our barbaric traditions. My father and men like him have kept us down for too long. We are behind in technology and science, forced to continue a caste system where those on the bottom stay at the bottom and those on the top stay at the top. With me as your ruler, these things will change and your backs will no longer be broken under the weight of tyranny.”
A cheer slowly gathered around the room until a single noise cut it off. An arrow flew through the air and embedded itself in my rib cage, piercing my lung. An arrow wouldn’t kill me unless it pierced my heart, but I needed air to flow through my lungs so I didn’t lose consciousness.
I staggered backwards and stumbled off the table, landing on my back.
Fuck. While it was a momentary setback, it was still a setback.
I ripped the arrow out of my chest and tried to get to my feet. Nikkos jumped onto the table and pointed another arrow directly at my heart.
“That will be enough out of you, Marianela.” He sneered down at me as he motioned for three guards to grab my arms and secure me. He shot another wooden stake into my leg at point blank range, breaking the bone.
Gritting my teeth, I growled. That would take a while to heal, once the bastard removed the stake.
Seeing Nikkos up close, I smelled the bourbon on his breath. An old memory surfaced as I looked into his dull brown eyes. Sadly, it wasn’t a fond memory.
His men pulled me to my feet as he jumped down in front of me.
“Tell me, Nikkos, when you die, do you expect to be reunited with Henrick or have you found someone better to w
arm your bed?” Nikkos had loved a man who was arrested for spying for the Sabourin Coven in my youth. Henrick was put to death and Nikkos was interrogated. Nikkos was forced to watch his lover die before his eyes as he pledged his allegiance to the Mielcareks.
His fist slammed into my eye, blurring my vision.
“Take her to the box. It’s time for the former heir to learn some manners.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and blew me a kiss.
Nikkos tried to humiliate me by dragging me across the entire compound, making a grand show of how he injured the great Marianela.
Ignoring his smug face, I bit my lip and closed my eyes. I had to cut myself off from the pain before he started phase two of my torture. I wasn’t sure if he would interrogate me or just hurt me.
Reaching a building labeled, “Detention Center,” the guard pulled me inside and tossed me into one of the small metal cells.
Nikkos tapped on the wall. “I love this little beauty. I wish we had these back at the coven. In fact, I might write a quick note to your brother suggesting that he install them. We have enough witches at our disposal to make a few more of these. They’re a real time saver when it comes to torturing students. All I have to do is lock you in for a while and I can get some sleep or finish some reports. My arms won’t even get tired from lashing you. It’s a major improvement to be sure.”
I wasn’t sure what the “little beauty” would do, but I refused to let him see my fear.
He turned his back and left without a glance in my direction.
“Let me guess, you’re perfectly happy with Ceyla running this place since you were once loyal to her father.” I knew making a name for myself in this place wouldn’t be easy but overthrowing Ceyla would be an uphill battle depending on how much leeway she was granted.
“Oh, I don’t play favorites. I don’t care who’s at the top of the school as long as they don’t cause problems for me. Ceyla had no interest in fighting me. She just wanted everyone to hate you. I just sat back and let her do her thing. I knew it would make my job of breaking you easier.” Nikkos closed the door just enough to stick his head back in. “I do want you to feel right at home, so I’m going to give you a present. I figure you’re feeling homesick by now, so here’s a reminder of what you left behind.” He laughed gruffly as he shut the door.
I looked around the empty room, wondering what might come out of the walls to hurt me. A trickling sound made me look up at the ceiling.
Drip. Drip. Water fell onto my head and into my eyes. Hmm. It appeared that Nikkos thought he was clever.
A torrent of water spilled from the ceiling, soaking through my uniform in an instant. The water collected at the bottom of the cell, slowly filling up the small space.
Nikkos planned to drown me believing it would cause me to panic and relive my most traumatic experience.
As the water filled up the room, I thought about my last night in the Mielcarek compound. My father was dead, killed during skirmish with the Xenakis coven, and I was about to become the ruler in charge of all the covens. I went to sleep in my bed as I did every night, but this time, I woke up chained to the ocean floor and there I stayed for three months, alone and suffering.
I watched the water rise higher and higher, allowing me to float on my broken leg. The cold water eased some of the pain and swelling, making it easier to remove the stake. The frigid water also helped stem the blood loss a little, aiding my natural healing abilities.
Once the water was high enough for me to swim around, I closed my eyes and floated as the ceiling got closer.
Nikkos was a fool to injure me and leave me to heal without the pain of standing on a broken leg or breathing through a punctured lung. He had a lot to learn about torture if this was how he handled his troubled students.
By the time the water reached the top of the room, cutting off my air supply, I had mentally prepared myself for what was to come. Sinking down to the bottom of the cell, I settled in and slowed my breathing. I welcomed the familiar burn in my oxygen-deprived lungs. While I hated drowning, I was comforted by the fact that this wouldn’t last forever. Someone would come to release me, eventually, unlike the last time I had been in this position.
Thinking back to my first underwater prison, I remembered the hopelessness I had felt. I feared that no one would ever find me and I would spend an eternity in my watery tomb. Left with only my thoughts to fill the endless days, I learned to thank my brother and appreciate what he had done for me by revealing his true nature.
I had learned of his duplicitousness when I woke up drowning, which was far better than waking up to a dagger poised above my heart. I was grateful that he had betrayed me before I took control of the coven. If he had worked in the shadows to undermine my authority, he could have done a lot more damage than striking at me directly. At least I learned who he was before it was too late.
It saddened me that the brother who had cared for me and acted as if he loved me had been nothing but a liar. Every hug, every pat on the back and every smile had been fake. How had I missed the warning signs? Of all the people I expected to steal the high seat from me, Marcario wasn’t even a worry. Regardless, it taught me never to trust someone who believed in me and wished me the best. If Marcario could fool me into believing he loved me, anyone could do it. It was a hard lesson, but I learned to seek the truth behind someone’s words and not rely on their smiles and pleasantries.
Drowning taught me something else about myself. Though I had grown mentally and physically strong over the years due to my lessons and trials in preparing to lead the coven, I still worried that I didn’t have the fortitude needed to lead the coven.
After the first month under the water, I accepted that I was capable of fighting for what I wanted. Even though I considered giving up and finding a way to end my life during my darker moments, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Each day, I found renewed strength in my plan to seek revenge against my brother. That single thought made the following months pass in what felt like a few days. Plotting and scheming filled my days with meaning, while self-reflection and assessments of my life before the betrayal helped me through the nights.
Opening my eyes, I saw the water quickly drain from the cell and I crashed to the floor. I moved my leg around to find that it had healed, though my lung and chest were on the final steps of recovery.
Nikkos made a grand entrance and smiled at me. “Enjoy your little underwater adventure?”
I spit up the water that had accumulated in my lungs onto his filthy boots.
“There, now you don’t have to pay for a shoe shine.” I wiped my mouth and stood up. “At least I don’t have to wash my hair now. It will free up my entire evening. Thank you, Nikkos.” I tried walked past him, but he grabbed my arm.
“This isn’t a game, Marianela. If you can’t learn to be contrite and submissive, they will remove your head.” I wasn’t sure if he was threatening me or warning me.
I smiled and winked. “Is that how you convinced my father you weren’t helping Henrick to spy on my family? Did you put your head down and act contrite despite your guilt?”
He squeezed my arm so hard I thought it would break. “I watched the man I loved more than anything die. I could force you to do the same by killing Silvijn in front of you.”
Detaching myself from the pain in my arm, I laughed. “Good thing he doesn’t love me anymore. It makes it easier to say goodbye to him.”
I saw something flash across his eyes. I wasn’t sure if he was surprised by my comment or disappointed. Perhaps I had ruined his plans of hurting me by punishing Silvijn. “You believe you’re untouchable, Marianela, but no one can survive this place without shedding a lot of blood and even more tears.”
Twisting my arm out of his grip, I patted his shoulder. “Then I will give you a box of bandages and a sleeve of tissues for the long nights you will suffer in this place. While the others might fear you, I pity you, Nikkos. This is the bottom of the barrel for you, and your last ch
ance to make something of yourself. Kill me and my brother will never let you see the next full moon. He expects me to rejoin him as his Regent. I can’t do that if I’m dead. Think about that the next time you wish to make an example out of me.”
His lips curled into a cruel smile. “You don’t know, do you?”
Confused by his question, I stared at him. “Know what?”
Searching my face, he chuckled. “No, you don’t know, but I’m going to enjoy watching you figure it out, little mouse.” He pushed me out of the cell so hard, I nearly fell face first on the ground.
One of the guards in the hallway caught me by the shoulder and pushed me back up. I was marched out of the detention center and back to Vamp House.
Stunned by Nikkos’ reaction, my stomach churned. What vital detail had I missed? Was Nikkos screwing with me in order to scare me? Or had I truly misinterpreted something important?
Had my brother lied about wanting me as his Regent? I didn’t want the position, but I had taken his offer as a potential olive branch to exploit. If this was another betrayal, it meant there was no hope of a false redemption and no chance of returning home to drive a stake through his stone-cold heart.
Was I truly stuck in this hell with no way out except for a stake through my heart?
Chapter 4
Angry that I was expected to report to my afternoon classes despite being tortured, I downed a blood bag for lunch and headed to the second floor for an introductory class on morals and ethics. I was curious to see what they taught since the school embraced a complete lack of morality.
I was still trying to determine if Nikkos was lying to me or attempting to warn me. I considered any number of reasons why he would balk at the thought of Marcario taking me back into the fold, but all of them were too difficult to prove without more information.
Sitting in the first empty chair I saw, I assessed the tall, gawky teacher at the front of the room. He was borderline creepy and resembled a mass murderer who enjoyed making people suffer. He seemed like the perfect person to be teaching criminals how to behave, or helping them with their plotting.
Bloodlust: House of Vampires Page 3