“As fun as that sounds, I believe my efforts are best served in aiding my King on keeping his Chosen One safe.” His response came with a slight bow of his head and a thankful change of subject when discussing newly recruited souls in need of training.
This conversation lasted some time, including a tour of the new training grounds and barracks Carn’reau had commissioned for my growing army. Meaning that it was a few hours later when I was making my way back up into my tower and making the next fucked up discovery. One that had me close to tearing my fucking bed apart when I found an important piece of it missing…
Amelia was gone.
“Amelia!”
I yelled her name after fisting the sheets and tearing the material in my hands, making it come apart like paper. Then I roared her name again,
“AMELIA!” I scanned the room, looking for any evidence of her and saw some clothes lay over the back of one of the chairs, telling me that she had at least woken and got dressed. Could it not be as bad as I first thought, could she have just woken and found herself needing to freshen up in my pool?
I closed my eyes and tried to locate her presence. But without partaking in the blood exchange between us since the day the Hex tried to claim her, then it took me longer and even then, the results weren’t what I wanted. Yet, something was there and lingered, almost as if it were too far away to be sure. I felt a snarl rip from me before my eyes snapped open and I stalked down to the last place I felt her. Another furious question penetrated the anger and had me cracking the crystal beneath my feet,
Where the fuck was Nero?
“You’d better have a good fucking excuse, witch!” I snapped as I reached the bottom step, and only came to a dead stop the second I looked up. I frowned the moment I scented blood in the air and my relief was only from the fact that it didn’t belong to Amelia.
“What the fuck?” I muttered as my mind tried to make sense of what I was smelling. Because if I had walked in here blindfolded and relied on my other senses, then I would have sworn upon opening my eyes to find myself surrounded by a pile of mortal body parts after a massacre occurred.
It was a mix of different blood types all watered down which brought my footsteps to the cause. The pool of water in front of me, even though it was now clear, I suspected it hadn’t been this way the entire time. A crimson residue remained around the edge of the pool that had spilled over onto the tile. I looked behind me sniffing the air, knowing that with the lack of blood behind me it had obviously originated here.
It didn’t take me too long to realise where I had seen evidence like this before. For once more it became a moment in time that all centred around Amelia. It had been after stepping back inside Dom’s vault when looking for clues as to what had happened. That was when we had both seen it, for like now there had been blood and water on the floor.
What did it all mean, and more importantly…
Who in Hell was Amelia?
I took a deep breath and in doing so released it quickly, for I could now sense what else was missing from this space. Meaning that yet another panic quickly merged with another.
Amelia wasn’t the only one missing.
The Eye of Crimson was gone.
This was when I didn’t take another moment before I was diving into the water, only half surprised to find the hidden archway was there without needing to call for it. This could only mean one thing…
The Eye had called out to Amelia.
I pushed myself through the water, only taking breath again once I was through to the temple on the other side. I pushed my body up from the surface, ignoring the way my clothes clung to me and only shaking away the gathered water in my gauntleted hand. I stormed through the archway the second I felt that her presence was stronger through there, knowing that she had found something she shouldn’t have.
Had my brother been right, had she woken and been drawn to the Eye because of my actions? I may have used it only once, but I had done so with her blood on my hands. Had this now acted like some calling card to her, tapping into her conscious state the moment she woke?
“Fuck!” I hissed through gritted teeth before emerging out of the tunnel to the other side and once I did, I was again struck rooted to the spot as ice filled my veins. Then, as if in some kind of trance, I walked over to a spot next to the altar and put one knee to the ground before digging my hand into the black sand.
This was because in this room there were two distinct scents and this time the blood only belonged to that of two people. One of them was a witch. And the other was what I was looking down at now. The agonising sight of large droplets of blood lay nestled in the sand in my hand,
The blood of my Chosen One.
I felt every muscle in my body turn to stone, and one glance at the top of the altar to find the Eye missing and my hand fisted. Black sand poured from between my fingers just before I hammered that fist into the altar next to me, twisting my torso into the punch with a roar,
“RRRAAHHH!” The pearlescent figures of Gods crumbled on impact as I cursed every fucking one of them! Because the horror of what had happened hit my mind in nothing short of an attack! A rage that destroyed not only the altar but the archway when my demonic form erupted through it!
Whoever had taken my girl would pay and, unlike the McBain brothers, this time they wouldn’t just hear my rage, they would feel it.
They would…
Pay with their life!
Chapter Nine
Amelia
Another Draven Damning
Present Day in Hell…
I walked into my apartment after what felt like a long shift at the museum, with only one thing on my mind, Pj’s and food, in that order. This bra was coming off and getting flung across the bedroom in protest the second I stripped off. And as for the trousers, I mean who wanted to stuff themselves stupid with frozen pizza whilst wearing a tight waistband…no one that’s who. I let the door slam behind me, knowing that Ben would be out at this time on a Friday night.
I also had a Firefly marathon with my name on it, thank you Aunty Pip for that boxset in the mail. I threw my bag to my shabby sofa and went straight to the kitchen to grab the pizza, so it could be cooking while all this stripping was going on. Then the nightmare thing happened to any single, hungry girl who lived alone, the freezer was empty. My usual back up pizza was gone, along with the back up to my back up. Great, crunchy nut it was then.
I grabbed the box and strangely the second I pulled it from the shelf the box disappeared, and I saw myself somewhere else. I was now staring at shelves filled with cereal boxes instead of my bare cupboards and I was also no longer alone.
“What seems to be the dilemma?” Lucius suddenly asked me, startling me when his voice suddenly hummed next to my ear. I turned to find him stood behind me. I looked down at my empty hand and frowned.
“They are all out of Crunchy Nut, Chocolate Clusters Cereal,” I whispered in confusion as if I were suddenly playing a part in some strange play and didn’t need to think of the script. I heard him chuckling and when I looked up, I found myself asking him,
“What?”
“It’s nothing,” he answered with a shake of his head, done in such a way, it was as though he didn’t know what to do with me. But again, I found history pouring out of my mouth,
“No, go on, what’s so funny?”
“Alright, it’s just that you had three men show up and try to kidnap you. Then you had a Hex try to claim you after which you collapsed in my arms, then only days later for you to be taken, and now you are here with me, having a conversation about cereal…” Lucius paused a moment with that handsome smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. Then he leant down so his face was next to mine and those perfect lips were now smiling at my ear. Then I heard him say,
“So, don’t you think you should wake up now and deal with that?” At this I swallowed hard, feeling it push down my throat as if I was pushing down a piece of hot lava.
Then I asked fe
arfully,
“Deal with what?” This was when his voice got hard and unyielding. It was one that commanded Hell and did so as a demon. It was one that was furious and spoke only of revenge. It was one that was a threat and warning all wrapped into one. And more importantly, it also turned out to be one that had the power to…
Save me.
“The fact that you’re tied up in a fucking cell about to die?” I immediately woke up, snapping from my dream and instantly moving into action the second I saw the threat coming towards me. A blade flashed in a demon’s hand and I yanked my hands down with little result. This forced me to glance up, quickly noting that they were shackled above me.
Well, that was just great, I thought with a grimace. So, with no other option at my disposal, I curled my fingers around the chains, gripped on tight, and lifted my whole body the second the unknown enemy lunged. I kicked both my legs out hitting them hard enough in the chest that they fell backwards and against the bars of what looked like my cell. Thankfully, her weapon also slipped from her grasp and went flying across the room with a clatter.
What happened next was like someone clicking a survival switch, for my actions barely felt like my own. So, with my enemy still dazed on the other side of the room, it gave me enough time to turn around and face the wooden post I was shackled to. A quick look up at the rusting bolt my chains were connected to, and what seemed like my natural abilities took over.
I jumped a little to get a better hold on the chain links above the cuffs, that were secured tightly around my wrists and I started to run up the post, gaining more length of the chain the higher I got. Then when I reached the top of where it was bolted I used every ounce of strength I had to flip backwards, kicking off the wood and therefore snapping the link with the force as I went over. I landed still facing the wood and looked down at my hands that were now only linked together by the chain between them.
Now this I could work with.
I spun around the second I heard a noise, seeing the threat coming back at me for another go. The winged creature was closer than I thought, and my instincts took over once more as I ducked under the swing of what looked like a serrated sword coming at me. It was one that looked so dirty that a simple nick would have most likely killed me from blood poisoning.
I spun around whilst still in a crouched position and elbowed the creature in the back and kicked out at the side of its knee. Then its wings expanded outwards, doing so with enough force that it knocked me back into the wooden post, so I ended up hugging the damn thing!
But this also meant that the creature staggered forward enough for me to push off the post and run back towards it. Then, just at the right time, I jumped with one leg forward, so I was now running up its back whilst its body was still hunched over. I ran up its webbed spine that connected its wings together and before it could throw me off, I hooked the chain between my shackles under its chin.
Then I jumped off its shoulders and off to the side, so it crossed the chain over around its neck. Doing this meant I had it chained around the neck and could then use my weight to strangle the fucking thing!
“Okay, time to die now.” I wheezed out as I yanked even harder but still feeling the thing fighting me, I decided to use a different tactic. I rolled forward and took the creature to the ground with me, making sure to keep the chain around its neck tight. This meant that I could swing once more to its back and use my feet to pin each wing down so it couldn’t knock me off with them again. Then, with a surge of energy and rage, I screamed as I lifted my arms up as if I was doing a power lift. My bellowing anger somehow aiding my strength as I did so, finally ending in snapping its neck. The sickening sound was only one indication that it was safe to let go, the other was when the body beneath my control went limp.
I let go and once the danger was over and my adrenaline was spent, I staggered back a step, staring at the creature I had just killed. I looked back at the wooden post I had been chained to and started to ask myself what the fuck had just happened? How the hell had I managed to free myself, and kill a fucking demon at that?!
And I was happy to report without the aid of a piss pot…or shelving unit, or bed sheets, or…well, I think I made my point. But I swear, it had almost been as if I had been possessed or something. Like a deeper part of me had snapped or broken free and once that switch had been flipped, someone else had taken over. I mean, yeah, I had always been able to handle myself but being able to do so in Hell was another thing entirely. Especially seeing as I was still mortal, despite my stolen birthright. Not that it had been Lucius’ fault, but still, my abilities as a human in Hell were limited at best…or at least, they should have been.
But then what else was there for me to think when the proof of what disproved that mortal fact was right in front of me, lying dead on the floor of what looked to be my cell.
I took in more of my surroundings to see that it looked like some kind of cave with a stone block wall that rose higher at the back than the front of the cell where the bars were. They also looked crudely made, just like the chains that still hung loose in between the two-inch-thick cuffs that were rubbing my skin raw.
I looked over to the dead demon, who was still face down in the dirt floor, and it took half a second to see that there weren’t any keys on the thing, or clothes for that matter. I decided to take a closer look and started to kick the body over, asking aloud,
“So, let’s see what you are then…whoa, well shit me!” I said the second the thing rolled to its back and its jaw flopped open to the side as if death had made it go slack. Its elongated jaw stretched further to allow all the rows of teeth to be seen. I shivered at the thought of the damage one bite out of me could have caused had I not reacted quickly enough.
Its hideous wings creased and folded at a strange angle due to the sagging skin that was void of feathers. Pitted marks in the skin looked like a plucked chicken in between long finger bones and its naked body was covered in withered, paper thin skin. However, its protruding ribcage, over pronounced bone structure, and a pair of pitiful sagging naked breasts told me exactly what creature this had been.
Which is why I uttered two words that I could have sworn had been said by a Draven once before…
“Damn Harpies.”
Chapter Ten
Harpy Queen
Now what the fuck a bunch of Harpies would want with me, I had no clue. But one thing was for sure, I wasn’t going to stand around and wait for the opportunity to ask them. So, with escape firmly on my mind, I walked over to the cell’s bars and looked to see if there were any more Harpies on guard.
I also had to ask myself what had gotten into this one? Had she been given the order to kill me or gone against orders not to? Most likely the latter seeing as I doubted they would go to all this trouble to get me here, when they could have just killed me alongside…
“Oh no…Nero,” I whispered in horror as my hands flew to my mouth and my legs gave way underneath me. I barely even felt the pain as my knees hit the ground for the pain at knowing I had got her killed was all that consumed me. Granted, I didn’t know her well, but what I did know was of her kindness shown to strangers in need and of her love for a cheeky Wyvern shifter.
And now she was gone.
I opened my eyes, ignoring the tears rolling down my cheeks and instead focused on the watery sight of my hand as it turned into a fist, doing so the moment anger penetrated my grief. I pounded it into the ground before looking over my shoulder and narrowing my eyes on the dead Harpy.
They would pay for this.
They would all fucking pay!
I rose to my feet and looked for the weapon I had seen the dead bitch attack me with, finding it in the corner next to an empty wooden bucket. No ten guesses needed for what that was supposed to be used for and taking a shit right now was the last thing on my mind. What was on my mind, however, was busting out of this place and killing myself some Harpies, mainly the one I had seen standing over Nero’s dead body back in
the Eye’s cave. If nothing else, I wouldn’t leave here until I saw that bitch dead at my feet just like this one.
Meaning, it was time to leave a message.
I flipped the large curved blade in my hand, before catching it and going to work, starting with cutting this bitch’s head off!
By the time I had finished introducing myself with my slightly overkill bloody message on the wall, I severed one of the Harpy’s talons and used that to pick the lock on my cuffs before breaking out of my cell. I picked both locks with ease when using the sharp tip and decided to keep it, seeing how handy it seemed to be. For starters, I had already used three others I had ripped off her bird like feet to nail her head to the wooden beams I had been attached to. It was gruesome, I knew that, but then how else were they going to take the threat of me seriously.
Now, of course, I just had to pray that whatever had happened on that field when I was angry at Trice and Lucius for fighting, would happen again. Or really, that bloody threat I left on the wall would have been an empty one.
I slipped from the cell once the door was open and I looked both ways to find that I seemed to be in some crumbling cell block that looked half ruined by age. In fact, the cell I had been put in looked to be one of the only secure ones left, making me question where exactly in Hell I was?
I followed the cracked stone floor holding the dripping blade in a death grip by the handle, knowing I would most likely be needing it again soon. I also had slipped the curled razor tipped talon into the waistband of my now dirt colour trousers. Let’s face it, wearing white in Hell was never going to last…Poor Nero, I thought with a grimace. She had been the one to dress me and help take care of me after I had passed out on Lucius.
Roots Of Rage: A Vampire King Paranormal Romance (Transfusion Saga Book 9) Page 7