by K. Webster
Never again.
I’d rather die.
What about Mercy?
My heart aches. Laurent and Beck will take care of her. Or Jude. Maybe even Loey if she’s not dead. There are people who care about her and would love her. They wouldn’t let her forget about me.
I pull against my bindings, hating the way the rope burns into my wrists with each movement. He tied me up the first time I lost consciousness. Ever since, I’ve been trying to escape when I come to.
Pots clatter in the kitchen, which means he’s probably cooking. I use the time to work at my bindings. My hands are purple from what I can see because he tied the rope so tight.
I wish Laurent were here to help.
Each time I woke today, I realized with despair that Laurent didn’t dreamwalk. I feel like he would if he could, which means he can’t. I don’t know what to make of it. Did they make it back home before the sun rose? Did Beck fail in healing Mercy? I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t reach out to me. Rather than contemplate horrible possibilities that’ll only reduce me to tears, I try and devise a plan.
I’m going to have to lure Griffin back in here. Convince him to release me. Play the broken girl act and then run like hell. I can do this.
“Griffin,” I croak out. “Griffin.”
The clanging stops, so I call for him again. Seconds later, he appears in the doorway, a scowl on his face.
“I’m sorry,” I lie. “You’re right.”
He doesn’t move as he studies me. “You just want me to untie you.”
“Of course I want you to untie me,” I grit out. “I want to drink some water and eat. I want to talk this out.”
After a long, pregnant pause, he stalks over to me. “You can go to the restroom and clean yourself up. Dinner is almost ready. One wrong move and you’ll regret it, babe. Trust me.”
I give him a sharp nod. He sits on the edge of the bed and begins untying the complicated knot. Once my arms are free, I stretch and curl my fingers to encourage the blood to run through them. I allow his assistance to help me up and out of the bed. He walks me to the bathroom, but before he follows me in, I stop and shake my head.
“You’re not going to watch me pee,” I grumble.
He smirks. “I can if I want to. You can’t stop me, Casti.”
“How do you ever expect us to be a real couple if you don’t let me be me?” I snap. “You’re delusional if you think I’ll have anything to give you if all you do is take.”
His brows furl as he mulls over my words. “Fine. I can see the logic in that. There’s nothing in this apartment worth trying to use as a weapon. Trust me.”
Pass.
That ship sailed when he forced himself inside my body all those years ago.
“Whatever, Griffin. I’m tired and starving and weak. You’ve made your point. I understand that you can overpower me. I’m trying to play nice here.”
“Good girl.” He pats my head and walks off.
As soon as he’s gone, I shut the bathroom door. Quickly, I take a much needed bathroom break. After I wash my hands, I splash cold water on my face to keep me alert. My neck is purple and blue, swollen twice its normal size. Griffin is such a psychopath. I’m going to kill him. I just have to find a weapon first.
Quietly, I search all over the bathroom. There’s nothing of use in the drawers and cabinets, just like he said. It’s frustrating, but I accept my losses and move on. As stealthily as I can, I slip out of the bathroom into his bedroom.
His room turns out to be useless too. No weapons whatsoever. Crap. If I could get to my vest I grabbed before my quest to find Mercy last night, I could stab him in the throat with a stake, but he’s clearly taken it and hidden it away.
I creep out of his room and sweep my gaze over the living room. Unless I plan to beat him with a television remote control, I’m doomed.
“Have a seat at the table,” Griffin says, pointing at the two place settings.
There’s a fork at each place. I could use two forks for weapons. With a stiff spine, I sit down and casually rest my hand over the fork.
“Remember when we used to have sloppy joes every Friday night?” He grins at me as he sets a pot of sloppy joe meat on a hot plate. “They were your favorites. I used to love the way your eyes would light up at something as simple as food. Your eyes used to light up for me too.”
I grit my teeth to keep from saying something that’ll end up with me tied to his bed again.
“After we made love…” He trails off, a sad smile forming on his lips. “You stopped looking at me that way.” He snaps his head my way. “You glared at me with hatred and shivered with fear.”
“I was a child,” I whisper, unable to let this delusional bastard keep talking about what happened like it was a love story.
“You were mine.” He chuckles as he sets a bun on my plate and opens it. “Still are.”
I curl my fingers around my fork. “You destroyed my trust in you. You raped me, Griffin. It was the most painful thing I’d ever endured.”
He scoffs. “Give me a break. You gave birth. Lovemaking doesn’t hurt that damn bad.”
“I had to get stitches,” I say, my bottom lip wobbling. “They begged me to tell them who did it to me, but I was too scared to say a word.”
He slathers some sloppy joe onto my bun, ignoring my words. Once he places a piece of cheese on it, he covers it with the top bun.
“Eat, Casti, you’re wasting away,” he growls.
“Why did you do it?” I demand, a hot tear racing down my cheek. “Why?”
I had plans to escape this monster, but right now, my past is demanding answers from him.
“Because you loved me and I loved you,” he bites out. “It’s not my fault you were too small.”
A sob escapes me. “You were supposed to protect me.”
“I gave you Mercy!” he roars. “Jesus Christ, woman, give it a rest! It’s in the past. I fucked up. Okay? You happy? Why do you think I ran off? I felt like a piece of shit for what went down.”
“What went down?” I screech. “Nothing went down. You held me down and forced yourself inside of me! I begged for you to stop! And you didn’t want to hear it because you covered my mouth with your hand!”
Someone bangs on the door.
“Griffin, open up!”
Familiar. Family. Home.
“Jude?” I cry out and then I scream, “Jude!”
Griffin stands, yanking me up from my seat as the door crashes in. Jude storms in, his face red from exertion. I pull from Griffin, but then the point of a blade presses into my neck.
“Stay back,” Griffin warns.
“Man, you can walk away from this right now,” Jude says. “All you have to do is let Casti go. In about twenty minutes, you’re going to be swarmed by some very pissed off vampires. Might as well get a head start.”
“Fuck the vampires,” Griffin growls. “And fuck you.”
“Jude,” I sob.
“It’s okay, kiddo,” Jude assures me. “I’m going to get you out of here.”
A pinch of pain makes me gasp. Griffin inhales my hair. His body trembles with fury.
“She’s not going anywhere,” Griffin says in a dark tone. “If I can’t have her, you people sure as fuck don’t get to.”
“No!” Jude barks as pain rips along my throat.
An arc of blood shoots out of my neck, splattering Jude. Griffin drops me and I collapse to the floor. A gun fires and then a loud thud beside me.
“Stay with me, baby girl,” Jude says, his voice full of pain as he covers my wound with his large palm. “Stay the fuck with me!”
My body grows cold and fast. The blackness creeps in and the sounds grow muted. I can hear Jude yelling at me. When he says something about Mercy, my eyes focus on him and the wet streaks on his cheeks that are mixed with my blood.
“There you are,” he croons. “Stay with me. Mercy is safe, you hear? I got a call from Laurent. He’s too weak to travel. They
both are. But whatever they did worked. Mercy is alive and well. He called me to tell me Griffin had you. It took all motherfucking day, but I found you. You see? I’m here. I came for you. You’re going to be okay.”
I’ve never heard Jude sound afraid until now. Never heard him babble or seen him cry.
I try to speak, but my mouth won’t work. My eyes close again, but his yelling at me keeps me aware. The pain is intense and the blood is leaking too quickly from my neck despite his best efforts to hold it closed.
I’ll be gone soon.
Jude and Laurent will make sure Mercy is taken care of.
“About damn time,” Jude growls.
“Cool it with the attitude,” a familiar voice says. “Or you can kiss your little sister goodbye.”
“Oh, come the fuck on,” he snaps. “Quit with the games. She’s the best damn friend you have. Fucking heal her already.”
The beautiful blonde squats beside him, her blue eyes glinting. “She’s beyond healing.” She grins at me.
Another figure comes to squat beside her. “Not so tough now, little one.”
“Don’t make me regret calling the both of you,” Jude snaps. “Help me. I can fire your ass, Ricardo, just as quickly as I hired you.”
Ricardo shrugs. “Just stating the obvious.”
“Goddammit,” Jude barks out. “You’re wasting time. The both of you!”
Ricardo leans forward, but Loey digs her fingers into his bicep, stopping him. It feels like time pauses as they stare down at me, the sharpness of the world growing duller with each passing second.
“Look at her,” Loey says, stroking my hair. “She’s about to die.”
“So help me, Loey,” Jude snarls at her. “Do it already.”
“If she hates me for it, that’s on you.”
“I’ll deal with that shit later. For now, keep her here. Mercy needs her. I need her.”
Loey bares her fangs at me, hunger flashing in her gaze. I don’t fear my friend, though. She would never hurt me. I want to ask her where she’s been, but now’s not the time. All that matters is she’s alive and I got to see her one more time.
“This is going to hurt,” Loey warns, an evil flickering in her eyes. “Sorry in advance.”
Jude removes his hands on my throat and Loey pounces. My eyes roll back in my head when her mouth latches onto the gaping wound in my neck. Rather than lick it closed, she sucks hard, urging the rush of blood from my carotid to flow even faster, draining me of my life.
Maybe their plan was to put me down quickly so I wouldn’t hurt anymore.
My eyes flutter closed and I think about Mercy.
As long as she’s okay, it was all worth it.
I black out with my daughter’s beautiful face the last thing on my mind.
Castilla
Thirst.
Bone-deep.
Excruciating.
I need to feed.
My eyes pop open and I try to make sense of my surroundings. A dark bedroom with silky sheets. I can scent blood. I want it—no, I need it.
The pain inside me won’t go away until I satisfy my thirst. I crawl out of the bed, wondering how I got into one of my nightgowns, and prowl toward the door.
It’s locked.
I bang and scream and try to shred it with my nails to no avail. With a furious snarl, I stalk toward the curtains. Nothing but brick is behind them.
I’m trapped.
I’m going to starve to death.
A pained howl escapes me. I need to feed. I need to feed. I’m prowling back toward the door when I notice a table. A glass of wine—no, blood sits on top. I pick it up and greedily chug it down, going as far as to lick the glass after. Once it’s gone, I throw the glass in a rage.
The door clicks open. I rush over to it, snarling, but am blocked by Laurent. When I try to move past him, he captures my wrists and shoves me against the wall.
“Move,” I roar.
“No,” he growls, licking away some blood from the corner of my lips. “You’re going to let me take care of you and get you through this.”
I hiss at him, fighting his hold. “What did you do?”
“Nothing. This was all Loey. And without her, you’d be dead.”
“I’d rather be dead!” I yell. “Now let me go!”
My body seems to burn everywhere he touches me. The thirst for him is nearly outweighing the thirst for more blood. Nearly.
“You’d rather be here. With us. Your family.” He kisses my forehead. “With Mercy.”
The anger and frustration burning through me dissipates some as I remember my daughter. She’s here. She’s safe.
But not from me.
“I’m a monster now,” I bark out. “I’ll destroy her!”
“You won’t because I won’t let you,” Laurent assures me. “You’ll settle after a good fucking and when the maid comes for dinner.”
“I need to feed,” I whine. “Please.”
Based on the way I dig my heels into his ass and rub myself against his erection, my need to fuck is just as strong.
“Fuck first, dinner later.” He grins at me. “I’ll teach you how to curb that hunger inside you. Do you trust me?”
“It hurts,” I mutter. “So bad.”
“Then let me make you feel good.”
He reaches between us, freeing his cock from his slacks. I grab at my gown, lifting it up so he can access me. With a groan, he drives deep inside of me.
I want him to consume me.
Our lips crash together and a pleased moan escapes me when my newly elongated incisors pierce his tongue. Blood floods into my mouth and I greedily drink it from his tongue. His hips piston hard, fucking me against the wall hard enough it cracks along the mortar between the bricks. I suck on his tongue, blissed out on the pleasure he’s bringing me both by his blood and his dick. He reaches between us, rolling my clit between his thumb and finger in an expert way that has me climaxing. Heat floods inside of me as he comes. He wrenches his mouth from mine, a devious smirk curling up his bloody lips.
I’m numb and weak and so incredibly satisfied at the moment, high on him.
He carries me over to the bed and then strips me of my clothes. Once he’s naked too, he flips me onto my stomach and then fucks me all over again. This time, he bites my shoulder, sucking blood from me.
This goes on for hours until I’m unable to move. Then, a human with a pulsating neck walks in, reeking of pure, delicious blood. I salivate and snarl, but Laurent easily keeps me in his hold.
“Dara, feed my lovely girl, please.”
“Of course,” Dara says, sitting on the edge of the bed and offering her arm.
“You can learn to control your urges, my love,” Laurent says, stroking my hair. “If you want to see Mercy, you must learn.”
Flashes of Mercy her entire life from the moment I saw her on the sonogram until Beck carried her unconscious body away from me filter through my mind. I nod, hating the urge to kill this maid and trusting Laurent to get me through it.
“The maids are friends. Giving and well paid for their services. We don’t hurt them,” Laurent says. “I want you to count to ten inside your head once you latch on. No matter what, no matter how hungry you may feel, I want you to let go after ten seconds.”
I snatch the maid’s hand and jerk it to my face. Baring my teeth, I sink into her warm flesh. The burst of fresh, human blood nearly has me orgasming again. I moan as I greedily drink from the source.
I want it all.
I want all of her.
“Three, four, five…”
Laurent’s counting is annoying, but it clears the blood lust in my head. I count along with him, dreading every second closer to ten. When we reach ten, I groan but reluctantly pull away. I lick at her wrist, mesmerized by the way the wound closes up.
“Good girl,” Laurent praises. “You may go now, Dara.”
I whimper, still starved for more, but then Laurent’s mouth is on mine, praising me wit
h a kiss. Just when I think I’ll die of thirst, he spreads my legs and pushes his dick inside me again. My senses obliterate as I find my way from starvation to sexual need.
He fucks me right into a stupor.
I close my eyes and I see Jude.
He groans but smiles at me. Hades wags his tail, jumping up on Jude’s legs. He whines and cocks his head to the side.
“Is this a dream?” I ask, confused as to where I’m at.
“You’re already dreaming, baby vamp. I’d say I was proud, but that’d ruin my reputation here at E.V.I.E.” He leans forward and kisses my cheek. “Glad you’re still around, kiddo.”
The kiss doesn’t feel real, but it warms me nonetheless.
“I think you ruined your rep when you hired Ricardo,” I say, curling my lip up.
“Ricardo and I have similar goals. Besides, I need a strong replacement. I’m pretty sure I just lost my favorite one.” He sighs, but he’s smiling. “Hope retirement treats you well, kiddo.”
Retirement?
The idea of spending my days playing with Mercy and loving Laurent without vengeance dictating my every move sounds quite lovely.
“Come see me when you’re not naked, Casti.”
I look down, shocked to see my nude body. “W-What?”
“Take her home, Laurent,” Jude says, chuckling.
Strong arms wrap around me, pulling me back.
I’m suddenly back in the bedroom beneath the silky sheets. No longer a dream but in reality.
“I love you, Castilla.” Laurent always says all the letters in my name like they’re important to him. Reverent. And musical, like a song. He says you can hear music in everything.
I can hear the steady beating of the drum like organs inside all seven maids as they flit around the massive home that belongs to Beck. I can hear giggling from far away, the sound like tinkling bells. Wind whistles outside, soft and alluring. Laurent hums, somehow harmonizing to the sounds that I shouldn’t be able to hear but can.
“I can hear the music,” I tell him, grinning. “It’s beautiful.”
He kisses my lips. “And so are you.”
“Why do I feel sleepy?” I ask. “I thought vampires never slept.”