by K Loraine
I stood and strode to Lucas. “We have to go see Hector.”
“What?”
“The hunters know how to stop this. They started it, after all.”
“How do you expect us to find him, if he’s even still alive?”
I bit my lower lip and leveled my gaze on him. “He’s in the dungeon.”
Brows lifted, Lucas stared at me. “Pardon? I don’t think I heard you correctly.”
“I said, he’s in the dungeon. Cashel took him prisoner but didn’t tell any of us.”
“Oh, Cashel, one day your secrets will kill us all.”
21
Olivia
Lucas wouldn’t let me lead the way to the cell where Hector was being kept. He insisted I needed to keep my distance from the man who called himself my father. As we walked down the narrow stone steps, I tried to force my heart not to pound so hard and keep my hands braced against the wall to maintain some sense of composure. We had to save Cashel, and if Hector could help, I’d do whatever was necessary to convince him.
“I see you’re back, and you brought my son-in-law too.” Hector coughed on the last and I grimaced at the sound. It was deep and wet. Heavy. The sound of someone who was dangerously ill.
“What does he mean, son-in-law?” Lucas asked, turning his gaze to me.
“Didn’t she tell you about our blessed family reunion?” Hector shuffled to the bars of his cell and I could see the beads of sweat on his brow, the dark circles under his eyes, bruises on his jaw. Someone had been torturing him, but more than that, he was really sick.
“What happened to you, Hector?” I asked, stepping closer. Lucas’ arm wrapped around my waist and he pulled me backward.
“He’s refusing food and water. He’s sick and there’s nothing we can do for him.” Logan’s voice sent a dagger through my chest even as a wave of terror rolled through me. He was standing at the end of the hall, a bowl of something in his hands. It smelled like a rich broth. “I’ve done what I can, but he wants to die.”
“What are you doing here, Logan?” I couldn’t keep the confusion from my tone. I was equal parts happy and scared to have him here again.
“Making amends for everything I did under Anne’s influence.”
“You mean…”
“Everything I did was because Anne forced me. The same went for Eliana. Anne wanted you gone, she wanted Cashel ruined. She never thought it would backfire.”
I frowned and looked to Lucas. “She tried to kill all of us. Why?”
“Insanity?” He shrugged and focused his attention to Hector. “Tell me where the cure is and I’ll end this for you with no pain.”
Hector laughed, but the sound turned into an agonized cough. “None of you deserve a cure.”
“He said I have a brother. A twin who he took somewhere else at birth. Maybe…maybe it’s him?” Even as I said the words, guilt hit me hard in the gut. Had I just condemned my sibling to the same fate as mine? To be hunted by vampires and used for my blood?
“He’s not the cure. I’d have killed him if he was. He’s useless to me. That’s why I gave him away.” Hector’s words were laced with venom. “You’re the only one who’s worth anything, and you spread your legs for them all just like your whore of a mother.”
“What do you mean?” My skin crawled with terror.
“Your mother was fucking Elias Blackthorne. It’s why I killed her when I did. She’d given him her blood in exchange for her safety. She fell for him. She was going to give him everything he needed, everything I’d worked so hard not to let them have. So I slit her throat and planned to take you then and there. Except you ran and you hid. That was one thing she taught you.”
My stomach churned and everything I’d had to eat that day threatened to make an appearance. “You…killed her?”
“She deserved it. She was going to the witches to find a cure. She planned to ruin everything.”
“Witches,” Lucas murmured. “Of course. This all started in Salem with Sarah Good.” He locked gazes with me. “Let me kill him now? I know where we need to go.”
I glanced from Lucas to Hector. Would I be any better than Hector if I let Lucas kill him? But then I thought of my mother, dying slowly, suffocating on her own blood. I nodded. “Meet me upstairs when it’s done.”
Logan took my hand and I didn’t stop him as Lucas opened the cell slowly. We walked away to the sound of Hector begging for his life as Lucas approached. My chest constricted and panic raced through my blood. “Deep breaths, Liv. It’ll be over soon.” The door closed behind us and we were in the hall of the manor, the sounds gone, the dark and cold dungeon out of sight.
“He deserved it.”
Logan pulled me against his chest and held me close. “Damn right. I’m sorry. If I’d known—“
“It’s not your fault. I’m glad you didn’t know.”
“Is Cashel…” he didn’t finish, just looked up in the vague direction of the King’s rooms.
“Getting worse. All of my blood is gone, and I’m ruined because of my bond with Lucas.”
“You know Anne knew he was alive, right? She let you marry Lucas with hopes he’d bond to you and Cashel would have nothing to fight for. She wanted to destroy every last member of the Blackthorne family.”
“What about her hopes for an heir?”
“Utter bullshit. She wanted to create a weapon to use against any who opposed her. She promised Hector she’d let him rule by her side.”
The door opened and Lucas stepped into the hall, breaths coming in heavy gasps, eyes hooded, lips crimson. “It’s done. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to make a call I promised I’d never make.”
“Are you okay?” Logan asked, his hand hovering over my arm as though he was unsure if he should touch me.
“I shouldn’t be, but I feel…a sense of closure. The man who killed my mother is dead. He can’t hurt me now.”
“What about Cashel? Is he really that sick?”
“He’ll go insane and walk into the sun if we don’t find a cure.”
He bit his lower lip and that strong brow of his furrowed. “Lucas is working on it?”
I nodded. “That’s what he says. I don’t know how much we can do though. My blood is ruined, and Cashel drank every last drop of my donations.”
“That might not be true.”
My heart raced. “What do you mean?”
“Anne sent Sorcha with a gift for her wedding. A small supply of the blood of the sun for her new husband.”
“Do you know where they are? Surely they’ve arrived in Scotland.”
“I haven’t spoken to Knight,” he said, worry in his eyes. “He should have reported back.”
“How can we find them?”
He shook his head. “You can’t. But I will. I’ll go right now and find them.”
I wanted to cry. This man who’d loved me, almost killed me, and lost everything, was going to find a way to save his rival. “Thank you, Logan. Thank you so much.”
He pressed a soft kiss to my forehead and was gone in a blur of motion so fast I almost didn’t see him.
I was alone. The house nearly silent, save the ticking of the clock in the library. But a loud crash in the distance had my heart lurching. “Cashel,” I whispered, rushing up the stairs and cursing my humanity with every slow step.
When I reached the door to the King’s rooms, my chest ached from running and my stomach twisted. I had no way to pierce my skin. I couldn’t get in. I lifted my palm to my lips and bit down hard on the flesh between my thumb and forefinger. Tears sprang to my eyes as pain flashed through my hand. But it worked. Blood filled my mouth, the tang of copper biting at my tongue.
I shoved my hand against the door and waited the agonizing seconds for the magic to work. “Come on, come on,” I said, frustration curling in my gut.
The door opened and I came face to face with the vampire who owned my heart and soul. Cashel stood in the drawing room, near the fireplace. His wrists were still
chained, but the shackles were broken, no longer bolted to the wall, and the chains on his ankles were completely gone. “Cashel,” I breathed his name on a sigh.
“Little bird. Just the woman I wanted to see.” His grin was wicked and filled with longing. “I need you. Fuck, I dreamed of you. Where were you?”
“I…had some things to take care of.” He seemed to not care that his wrists were raw and burned, or that his clothes were tattered and stained with my blood.
He pulled me into his hold, and I stood stock still. He could kill me right now and I’d be unable to do anything to save myself. “You smell…like Logan. Why?”
Alarm bells went off in my head at the jealousy in his tone. “He helped me with something.”
“Why? He shouldn’t have touched you. He knew better.”
“Cashel,” I rasped. His hold on me was too tight. I couldn’t breathe.
“Did you give him what’s mine?”
“Cashel, please, I can’t breathe.”
His arms loosened enough for me to pull back slightly. “I’m sorry. Fuck. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I can’t…nothing makes sense.”
“You’re sick. You need to get back in bed. Lucas went to get something to help.”
He laughed. “What could he possibly bring that would help with this? I’m heartsick, Olivia. I can’t have my mate. I can’t be with you in the very way mates should be together.”
Those strong arms still had me held captive and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, if I said the wrong thing, the madness would take control. I snaked a hand upward, sliding my palm along his chest and up to the nape of his neck. I needed to distract him until Lucas returned. “Cash, I missed your lips. Kiss me, please?”
He growled low in his throat and dropped his head to bring his mouth to mine. “With pleasure,” he said against my lips.
Then he let go of me and brought his hands to my jaw, threading his fingers in my hair. I wanted this to be real and true, not colored by madness and threatened with violence. “Cashel, I want to try something. Can you trust me?”
He backed away and looked straight into my eyes. In his irises I saw love and lucidity. “I would give you my beating heart if I could to show you how much I trust you.”
I ran my fingers over the cuffs on his wrists. “I’ve always wanted to be the one to be in control. To tie you down and have you at my mercy.”
Panic flashed in his eyes, but he nodded. I knew he liked to be in charge, the dominant one in the relationship. It was his nature as a predator. I was the prey. But then he pulled me close and the hard line of his erection pressed against my belly. “I can’t deny that the thought of you taking your pleasure while I’m helpless to your whims turns me on.”
I grinned. “Good. Come back to bed and let me own you for a change.”
We walked together to the bedroom and I had to stifle a gasp at what I saw there. The bed was nearly destroyed. Mattress on the floor from where he’d broken the frame to pieces. Chunks of the wall had been pulled out and the chains had broken. If I could get him to play my game, I’d have to hope he didn’t try to escape. There was nothing I could do that would hold him.
“You made a mess in here,” I teased.
“It was worth it to get to touch you.”
God, what if we failed? What if this was the last moment we were able to truly be together before the disease took him from me completely?
My chest felt like it might burst with the mixture of heartache and fear pumping through my veins. “Lie on the bed, Cashel. Let me love you the way I want to.”
He did as I asked, and I walked to the wardrobe and opened the heavy wood doors. Inside, I found what I’d hoped for. Silver shackles. The Blackthornes were prepared. I wondered who else had stayed in this very room. The Queen? The King?
I stepped toward the remnants of the bed and tried to hide the shaking of my limbs as I fastened the shackles to his wrists directly under the broken ones. He hissed as the silver burned, but then looked at me and said, “A little pain for a great deal of pleasure.”
Swallowing hard, I nodded and straddled him. “No biting. We don’t want a repeat of last time, remember?”
“Agreed. I’m no good to you ill.”
My heart ached at the statement. He didn’t even remember how sick he truly was. “That’s right. Now, no talking. Close your eyes. Just feel.”
His lids fluttered closed, dark lashes against his cheeks, but his brows pulled together, a line forming between them. There was still a hook on the wall, a place he hadn’t destroyed. I grabbed the center of the chain and pulled it up until I secured it. It wouldn’t stop him if he really wanted to escape, but it might slow him down.
“You’re hard for me, Cashel.”
He moaned and nodded. “Always. It’s unbearable now.”
“Let me take care of you,” I whispered.
“Yes.”
Getting off him, I fought my body’s need to be with him and left the room. He called my name, but I said I’d be back in a moment. Directing him to wait under the guise of dominating the situation. I needed Lucas to come back and really secure him. There was no telling how long I had before Cashel lost control and tried to drain me again.
I opened the door, peering out into the hallway with my heart hammering. “Lucas,” I whispered, begging for him to hear me but for Cashel to somehow not.
Cool breath tickled the back of my neck as strong hands wrapped around my waist and throat. “You tricked me, little bird. I won’t have you running to him. I think it’s time to make you mine the only way I can.”
22
Olivia
“Cash, what are you doing?” I kicked and bucked, trying to get free of him. The man held me in his grasp, walking us forward until he finally caged me in the cradle of his arms to stop my flailing legs. He was strong. Too strong. And I didn’t stand a chance.
“I’m tired of this. Tired of watching you go to him, of waiting for Martin to find someone who’s likely dead. I’m going to turn you. You’ll be mine then. It’s not the bond I want, but it’ll do.”
I screamed for him to stop, begged him to remember that neither of us wanted that, but his jaw was set, eyes hard and trained in front of us, not on me. “Please, Cash, this isn’t you. The sun sickness has you. Lucas is coming back with a possible way to cure you. Please wait for him. Don’t do this to me. To us.” Tears streamed down my cheeks. If he turned me, I’d never forgive him. But more than that. I’d be infected and then neither of us would stand a chance.
We were already at the top of the stairs, heading where, I didn’t know. But once he turned to the hall I knew led to the throne room, I understood. He was caging me again. “Don’t you dare put me in that cage, Cashel Blackthorne.”
“It’s the only way to keep you with me. I’ll make sure it doesn’t hurt.”
He kicked open the heavy doors and strode into the empty throne room, shoes echoing through the cavernous space with each purposeful step. The fucking birdcage loomed in the corner like a tomb. That’s what it would be. I’d die in there.
“I love you, Cashel. I love you, and you’re killing us right now.”
In the span of a few heartbeats, we were in front of the cage. His bare hand burned as he touched the bars to open the door. Then I saw it, that glimmer of recognition, of understanding. It flashed in his eyes and horror replaced his stoic expression. “Fuck, little bird. What am I doing?”
“Please put me down. Please, Cash, don’t do this.”
He set me on my feet and stared down at his hands. The shackles still cut into his skin, the broken chain dangled from each cuff. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”
I nodded and fought the heartbreak swelling in my chest. “I…you almost tried to turn me.”
“No. You would have died. Sun sickness…it will have left me unable to turn you by now.”
“Lucas should be here soon. He’s trying to help.” I pressed the heel of my hand to my chest in a pointless effort t
o stop the racing of my heart. What would I do if he came at me again? How could I stop him? The weight of the pendant Sorcha had given me made my breath catch in my throat. Silver. Liquid silver. I’d kill him if I used it, but it might have been my only option.
“If you have to use that, know I forgive you.” Cashel’s words shattered the already weak wall around my heart. He’d heard me, heard my thoughts and knew my plan.
“I don’t want to.”
He winced and groaned, bringing his hands to his head. “My fucking head. It’s like fire.” Breathing heavily, he swayed in his spot before taking a step toward me. I backed away, tripping over my own feet and falling on my ass. Pain shot up my spine from the contact with the hard floor. At the same time, I heard the loud clank of the cage slamming shut. “Lock it. Lock it now, Olivia. It’s the only way to keep me from you when the madness takes me again.”
I scrambled to my feet and ran to the birdcage, closing the lock and taking the silver key. I closed my fingers over the bars and stared at him. How could I leave him like this? His gaze found mine, and the myriad emotions I saw in the depths of his eyes nearly broke me. My heart lurched as he rushed me, his arm shooting through the space between the bars and grabbing me by the nape of the neck. He pulled me against the metal, lips finding mine in a desperate kiss before he released me. In an instant, he was out of reach. He sat as far from me as he could get, knees drawn into his chest, eyes closed, focused on something that wasn’t me.
“I love you, little bird. Never forget that.” He opened his eyes and held out his hand. Sitting in the center of his palm was the pendant I’d been wearing. The liquid silver weapon I’d let him know I had. He opened the charm and pulled out the small glass sphere filled with death.
Panic needled at my veins, clutching my chest and stealing my words. Until he raised it over his head. “No! Stop!”
But it was too late. I knew he was determined to end this here and now. “Please, Cashel. Don’t give up on us.” I whispered the words, but I knew he heard me. He hesitated, regret flashing in his eyes.