Wicked Sun: Vampires & Vices No. 3, page 4
“Can I go to the bathroom?” I nod toward the broken bucket on the floor. “And maybe I can get a few things to eat?”
“Of course,” Tate says, “we’ll make sure you get three square meals while you’re with us.” He points to my tattered dress. It’s been through so much over the last two days. “And I’ll get you some clean clothing. I’m sorry that we didn’t have time to take care of that yesterday. I should’ve had them leave you pajamas in here for when we arrived, but it slipped my mind.”
That doesn’t matter to me so much as food does. My stomach rumbles, and I sigh because I know what I have to say next. “But besides those few things, I think it’s going to be better if I stay locked in here most of the day, just in case.”
Tate nods approvingly. “I’d hoped you would say so. We don’t have a lot of experience with this kind of thing. Believe it or not, most people who get turned don’t leave their graves unless it’s because we find and stake them.”
A shiver runs through me as I imagine what a stake through my heart would feel like. I sigh, grateful to be alive. “Well, I’m glad I made the cut.” And I can’t help but wonder why . . .
“It was like I turned into a different person.” I shiver inwardly, remembering how quickly my personality had changed. “Last night was . . .” I trail off because I don’t have words for my behavior and I’m ashamed of how it all went down, even though I know it wasn’t entirely my fault. The venom was stronger than I ever could have anticipated. No wonder new vampires are bloodthirsty little demons. If that’s what it feels like to be turning into one, then actually being one would be ten times worse.
“Where’s your thanks, huh? If you were anyone else, we would have killed you by now,” Felix chimes in, his eyes finally meeting mine, and I shrink back.
“I hate vampires, and I always have. You know that about me, Felix,” I challenge him with a hard stare.
“Do I?” His glare is pure fire as memories flash between us.
“Nothing I’ve been through has changed that,” I say. “In fact, it’s made me hate them even more.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” he replies bitterly before storming away.
My mouth pops open as I watch him walk away from me, and Tate squeezes my hand. “Give him some time. He’ll forgive you.”
I snatch my hand away and shake my head because I know that’s never going to happen. Felix hates me now. In trying to save him and my other friends, I ended up betraying his trust. Worst of all? I betrayed myself as well. I may have learned my lesson the hard way, but at least I learned it. I’ll never trust a bloodsucker again, especially not one with golden blond curls and bottomless blue eyes.
The day goes by excruciatingly slow, anxiety gaining traction with every passing hour. Last night was the most painful night of my life, and my gut tells me tonight’s going to be worse. The phrase “it gets worse before it gets better” is the one thing I’m clinging to because once I’m through with all this I’ll be a more powerful vampire hunter. I’ll be able to better defend myself, and hopefully nothing like this will ever happen again.
I can feel it’s true––my vision is crystal clear, my senses are unimaginably heightened, my muscles are relaxed but strong, and my mind is razor-sharp. Maybe this is why Tate is taking such great lengths to keep me human. If he succeeds, I’ll be a powerful weapon against the vampires. I hate the idea that he’s using me, but right now, he’s the only protection I’ve got. If I run away from here now, I’ll be a vampire by morning. There’s zero doubt about that.
By early afternoon, the lack of quality sleep catches up with me. I ease into a long nap, but it’s ruined by the venom because when I dream, it’s of Brisa. In the dream, she’s a mother figure to me and I love her deeply, and when I wake up, I hate her even more. Even if she’s dead, her venom lives in me, and I’ll never be free of her.
Hugo’s bite had made me stronger, but Brisa’s venom is on another level. She not only bit me, but she exchanged our blood as well. As the queen, Brisa was the most powerful vampire in the world, surely staying human with her venom in my blood will have unintended consequences. I just wish I knew for certain if she is dead or alive. I think I burned her up when my hands glowed, and if I didn’t, she’s going to hunt me down and kill me.
A hulking guard opens the door and offers me a steaming bowl of pasta with tomato sauce. “Are you hungry for dinner?” he asks in a thick Italian accent.
My stomach growls in response, and he hands me the warm bowl.
“The chef is a local woman who uses a family recipe, so you know everything is fresh and authentic.” He smiles, and I almost can’t believe it. Shouldn’t he hate me too?
“Thank you.” I return his smile and twist the fork into the noodles, lifting a bite to my mouth. The rich flavors caress my tongue, and I devour the food. “Please give her my compliments.”
The guard beams and waits by the door for me to finish up, then takes the bowl and leaves me locked up again. Despite the panic building, my stomach is finally relaxed. A few minutes later, the guard returns to offer me some water and to escort me to the bathroom one last time. I take it all in stride, returning to my Rapunzel tower for my final night.
Tate greets me at the door. “We’re going to have more guards here tonight. We’ve had time to bring in as many reinforcements as we could spare. You have nothing to worry about. We’ve got your back.”
“And who is ‘we’?”
“We are a family that is highly invested in you, and that’s all I can tell you for now.”
I roll my eyes but don’t try to fight him because I need the investment. Who else is going to lock me up in a castle so I don’t end up killing myself? But I’m no fool, I know there’s going to be a price to pay later. He’s going to want something from me when this is over. But right now, it’s one step at a time: focus and survive the night.
I thank him and head into the room. “You can lock me away now.”
“Is there anything else we should do to protect you?” His bushy eyebrows rise considerably. “Anything else you can think of that we may have missed?”
I gaze around the room. Everything is sparse and neatly in order, but that only reminds me of the mess I made last night. Someone came in and cleaned it up while I was eating breakfast this morning, but I don’t want them to have to do that again. “Actually, I think you should leave me the mattress with the top sheet and that’s all.”
He chuckles like I just made a joke, but I don’t find anything about this even remotely funny. I bite my tongue from lashing out while I pull up the blankets and begin throwing them into the hallway. Felix is standing there when I do, the pile of fluff landing at his feet. I haven’t seen him since this morning, and my heart lurches. He’s so handsome, so familiar, and so very hurt by me.
“You’re back,” I say tentatively.
“Not for your sake,” his response is cold. “It’s my job.”
“Really? Because I think you should be in New Orleans attending university.”
“I don’t expect you to understand loyalty to a cause,” he quips. “My education can wait, this cannot.”
Sure, school can wait, but that doesn’t mean it should. Felix deserves better than to be standing guard over me. “Shouldn’t you be loyal to your lacrosse teammates? To your studies? And your future?”
“Everything I’m doing is for my future.” He turns away and folds his arms over his broad chest, effectively ending the conversation. There’s nothing I can say to get through to him, and my skin is starting to buzz like it did yesterday on the drive into this place, so I leave him to pout and go back into the tower room.
“Good luck,” Tate says, locking me in once again. A sense of foreboding crawls up my spine and sinks into my chest, pounding on my heart. This night is not going to be easy, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I just have to force myself through it, because the alternative is out of the question.
CHAPTER 7
The sunset feels like a doomsday countdown, and I wonder if I’m about to say goodbye to the sun forever. Could this be my last sunset? Am I really going to make it to the other side of this night with my humanity intact?
I know what’s about to happen, but that doesn’t make it easier when it hits me. A headache slams into me like a freight train, quickly transforming into a migraine and then into something much worse. It’s so excruciating that I have no words to describe it. Maybe I should’ve kept the blankets because the room is brightening, and even though I’m squeezing my eyes shut, light is still assaulting me. Tears spill from my eyes, and I pray for numbness to take me.
That doesn’t happen.
It’s as if my soul is clinging to me for dear life and I don’t know how to save it. Either I die a human or I lose my soul because this pain can’t be tolerable. It just can’t be. My body is impossibly hot, and I scream out in frustration. I’m frantic, and that feeling just keeps getting worse with each quick breath of my lungs. I can’t handle this. I can’t, I can’t, I can’t. I thought I could be strong enough to do it again, but I’m not. And it’s not what I want.
I want to be a vampire.
The thought hits me with stark clarity, easing the pain enough for me to focus on it. I want immortality. I want power. I want what they have, whatever is on the other side of being a human who can hurt and feel too much. It’s going to be so much better than this––I’ll do anything to get it. Whatever I’d said to Tate was foolish and naive. I was a stupid girl who feared the very best thing that had ever happened to her. Queen Brisa gave me a gift. A queen wanted me as an heir, and who am I to squander the chance?
I sprint to the door and begin begging for someone to let me go. “Please,” I gasp, “I’ve changed my mind. I promise I won’t hurt anyone, but I need to get out of here. I’m going to die if I stay up here.” My voice rises. “I’ll die. Do you want me to die? Are you murderers now? You can’t just keep me against my will!”
Nothing.
I don’t expect Felix to understand, but whoever else is on the other side of this door doesn’t say anything either. I should’ve asked the guard who brought me food to give me his name. He seemed kind, like maybe he would help someone in need. And he’s huge, probably big enough to take on the other men if needed. “Please,” I go on, “I swear, I need to go to the hospital. I’m not going to make it.” I know they’re there. They have to be. But they ignore me, and I hate them for it. Maybe I will kill them when I get out of here. I’m going to make them regret leaving me in this kind of pain. Anyone who can sit there and keep me trapped in hell doesn’t deserve to live.
I scream in agony and then go quiet, scurrying to sit next to the door and wait for an opportunity. If I don’t make a sound, they might check on me. I need to be in a prime position in case that happens. But waiting is excruciating. My blood burns through my veins, quickening with each breath. My gums hurt so bad that I can picture two little fangs trying to break through them, and I wish they would already.
If I could rip off the door right now, I’d set them on Felix for locking me in here. He should know better than anyone else. He’s supposed to be my friend, and here he is, putting me through something as terrible as this. I picture myself ripping into his lovely flesh and striking a thick pulsing vein. His blood would pour into my mouth like liquid salvation, offering me a new life. It would taste divine, and I wouldn’t stop until I’d sucked up every last drop. He’d have to die, of course, but that’s all part of the life cycle. Everyone dies. It’s sad but inevitable, and what are humans for if not meant to feed vampires? And Felix smells so, so good.
I’m lucky to have been bitten by Brisa. I’m going to get out of here and become a vampire without anyone to tell me what to do. Brisa will be my master, but she’s not here, and she might be dead. And if that’s the case, then I’ll be free to feed as I please and do whatever I want. I don’t have any blood bonds to anyone else who could tell me what to do or force their ridiculous vampire rules on me. Felix will be my first kill, but he won’t be my last.
There’s a commotion outside the door, and my hackles rise. Someone yells, footsteps pound, and shots are fired. I jump to my feet and ready myself.
“They went that way.” I hear Felix say as his voice fades beneath the sound of his retreating footsteps.
I stay impossibly still as the blood rushes through my veins. A long minute later, the handle wiggles, and then the door creaks open. I blink in surprise at the vampire standing in the doorway. I immediately recognize her as one of Brisa’s many minions, but I don’t know her name. She’s tall and slender, with warm brown skin and thick ebony braids. She’s dressed in all black and sporting a wicked grin. Whoever she is, I instantly love her.
“There you are,” she says coolly. “You need to come with me.”
I’m quick to follow her out. “Does this mean Brisa’s alive?” I ask with trepidation as we hurry down the stairs. The woman doesn’t answer me as she practically floats down them, but I don’t have that ability yet, and my humanness makes me slower than she is. I can’t wait for that to be gone. Part of me is hopeful my maker will be able to greet me upon my transformation, but the other part wants to live my vampire life as I wish, including feasting on as many humans as I can. I know Brisa’s way of things, and I don’t like the thought of them.
When we make it to the basement garage, the vault door is wide open, and a cool breeze greets us. I sigh in relief. We step through the door, and I grow giddy with excitement. The garage door has been blown clear off its frame, and the promise of night and graveyards and warm sweet blood calls me forward.
The woman points. “East of the city is a graveyard, but they’ll find you there come morning.”
“Won’t I already be a vampire by then?”
She shakes her head. “You might, but we can’t risk it. We need to go further in case you need more time underground to make up for what you’ve lost.” She lifts me easily into her arms even though we’re probably the same weight. Of course, that means nothing to a vampire, I’m light as a feather to her. “There are several places I can take you.”
“Does this mean Brisa is alive?” I repeat my question as she takes off. To human ears, my voice would be lost on the wind, but with her excellent hearing, that doesn’t matter.
“No,” the woman replies sharply, and my mouth falls open. I knew it was a possibility that I had accidentally killed her, but to have it confirmed leaves me feeling mixed up. It’s like I’m waiting for a favorite meal and watching it cook behind glass oven doors. I can smell it, imagine it, wait for it––but I won’t be satisfied until I get to taste it on my tongue.
The woman continues to run with me in her arms. She’s impossibly fast, and the landscape blurs around us. With a jump, we’re over the castle wall like it’s nothing. And then we’re running along a path on the cliff’s edge. The lights of the village twinkle, and a soft smile plays at my lips as I watch them fly past. Soon this will all be a memory.
Something as dark as the sky appears in our path and knocks us to the ground. I cry out in surprise as pain shoots up my arm when I land on it. On one side of us is a farm field, on the other is the cliff with the lake below, and standing over us is a man. I adjust to his presence and growl under my breath.
“You!” the woman screeches. “Where have you been? Sebastian’s been looking for you.”
“I don’t answer to Sebastian,” he replies in a gruff tone. “But I can see he sent you to do his dirty work. Where is my brother? I thought he might have died with the others.”
My heart tugs at the sound of that all-too familiar voice, and I scramble to my feet. Anger is quick to grab hold. “Adrian,” I sneer, “what are you doing here?”
Because it’s him––and I am so damn angry at him. Despite wanting to be a vampire now, I’ll never forget what he did. Maybe I should be thanking him for giving me over to Brisa like a piece of meat, but thanking Adrian has never been my forte.
He turns to me and smiles softly, his light eyes practically glowing. “Nice to see you too, Angel,” he says, “but unfortunately, not under these circumstances.” He’s so fast that his movements blur. He knocks the woman out with a single blow to the side of the head, her body crumpling to the ground, and then he pushes her over the cliff. Her body hits the lake with a splash. I jump up just as he turns on me with a fierceness I’ve come to recognize.
“What are you doing?” I growl.
“She was going to make sure you turned,” he snaps. “Or she would’ve killed you. One or the other.”
“Did you just kill her? You can’t kill her. She’s helping me.”
“She’ll be fine. Now tell me, how exactly was she helping you?”
I hold up my hands. “You wouldn’t understand.” All he knows is the girl who hated vampirism, he doesn’t know the real me.
“I think I understand perfectly,” he frowns, a look of regret passing over his sharp features. “I feared this would happen.”
“I want to be a vampire,” I challenge, “I know better now.”
He shakes his head once and pins me with a cold glare. “That’s not happening.”
I have two choices. I can stay and fight him, or I can run. I choose the latter, taking off in the opposite direction.
CHAPTER 8
The cold soil and pointy sticks of the empty farm field fly out around my bare feet. I’m in nothing but thin cotton pajamas, but that doesn’t matter. I am free, finally free, and Adrian is threatening to take that away. I’m fast––the speed at which my muscles are pumping me forward is far beyond anything I’ve experienced before. I was a track star in high school, but this is a zillion times better. It’s a taste of what my life will be like soon, and I’m reveling in it. The world around me fades to the background as I run at such a high speed that it’s almost as if I’ve already made the transformation.
