Blood Courtesan Hooked, page 15
“She is a sweet reward,” Alaric purred into my ear, making the hackles rise on the back of my neck.
“Sir, we have the other one,” another vampire reported, stepping into the light. “And your mother.”
“Ah, good.” Alaric chuckled, his hands moving up to cup my breasts. I winced and tried to move away, but couldn’t. “Bring them.”
I saw Lily’s bent, copper-colored head in the dim light as a vampire pushed her forward. Then he pushed Nadia forward, too, and the two of them clung to each other, going to their knees in front of Alaric like supplicants begging for forgiveness, although neither of them said a word.
“My lovely pets.” Alaric held onto me with one arm and reached down with the other to stroke Lily’s thick, red hair. It had come undone and tumbled down her shoulders in messy waves. The crown was gone. Then he lifted Nadia’s chin, forcing her to look at him “Where did you think you were going? You can’t escape me. I see everything, know everything.”
Nadia’s eyes flashed but there was surrender in them. She knew it was true, and so did I. Nadia and Lily were bound to him, and soon, I would be bound to him, too, and there would be no escape. I tried to focus. My nausea was ebbing, the dizziness fading. My body was coming under my control again, but I held still, waiting for the right moment.
I met Lily’s eyes and saw the pain and frustration there. It had been years since we’d seen each other, but it didn’t matter. We were sisters, now and forever, connected by blood. And it was our blood that was the problem, that made us slaves to these creatures who wanted us for it.
She’d been so close to escape—or so I’d hoped. But here we were again, both of us caught in Alaric’s web. For years, we’d only had each other, and when we’d been forced apart, I thought I would die without her. But I hadn’t. My will to survive had been stronger than I thought possible. I looked at my sister and saw the same strength in her eyes.
“Have you found my brother yet?” Alaric asked the vampires gathering around us. “I want that blade. He still has the Axe of Freyr, mother dear, the one that father had forged.”
This last was directed at Nadia, who avoided his gaze.
“What a perfect day.” Alaric sighed happily in my ear. “My brother’s brought me not only you, but the Axe of Freyr, too!”
I could only assume the Axe of Freyr was the thing Ulrich had been wielding. Some ancient vampire weapon? I guessed. It had certainly been effective. I just wished Ulrich had managed to make contact with Alaric’s head. I felt bad that I’d misjudged Ulrich, that I’d believed, even for a minute, that Alaric’s words were true about his brother. Ulrich hadn’t brought me here as a sacrifice—that much was clear now—he’d come to kill his brother, just as he’d said. A goal I could certainly get fully behind.
“There’s no sign of him so far in the tunnels,” one of the vampires told Alaric with a shake of his head. “But we’ll find him.”
Or he’ll find you, I thought, my chest swelling with hope I knew I shouldn’t be harboring. What was one vampire going to do against all of these others? Even if he did have some magical vampire-killing axe?
“Don’t worry, I’ll get him to come around,” Alaric said, putting a hand on Nadia’s bent head. Then he chuckled. “Or I’ll kill him, if he doesn’t. Either way—I have what I need, now.”
No, please, no, I thought, closing my eyes tight against it as Alaric bent his head to scent me. His excitement was apparent, and I shrank away, wishing I was somewhere else, anywhere else.
“Find him,” Alaric ordered, suddenly propelling me forward. “And bring the axe to me. I’ll be in my chambers.”
He ordered Lily and Nadia to follow him and they did. We were moving quickly through the darkness again, Alaric pushing me out in front of him, my feet not touching the ground. When we arrived at his chambers, it was much more luxurious than I had expected, with a large bed as the centerpiece, sheer black curtains drawn around the four-poster construction.
My stomach revolted the minute I saw it, and when I met Lily’s eyes, I glimpsed a truth I’d feared there. She’d been forced into that bed, more than once. And now I was going to be forced there, too. No amount of begging or pleading would prevent it.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take my time with you,” Alaric murmured, clearly sensing my distress. “You won’t be harmed. You’re far too valuable for that.”
“You should leave her to us for a while,” Nadia suggested, stepping toward me. I shrank from her too, but her touch was gentle as she pushed my hair out of my eyes. “We’ll bathe and ready her for you.”
“You want me to trust you alone with her?” Alaric’s gaze narrowed at his mother. “After what you just did?”
“Forgive me.” Nadia bowed her head, sinking to her knees in front of her son. “I’ve grown fond of Lily, and she simply wanted to be reunited with her husband. I thought, since you have this one now, you wouldn’t need her…”
“You thought wrong,” Alaric snarled. “You have no right to take what’s mine!”
“Of course,” she agreed softly. “You’re right. I apologize.”
“You’re lucky I haven’t put you in a cage.”
“Let me make it up to you,” Nadia murmured. “We’ll ready this one for you. Besides, Ulrich—”
“I don’t want to hear about him anymore!” Alaric sounded like a child having a temper tantrum.
“I just wondered if you should be out there?” Nadia suggested. “Directing your men? Ulrich does have the Axe of Freyr…”
She let that hang there and I felt Alaric’s spine stiffen at her words
“Prepare her for me,” Alaric instructed, as if it had been his idea, letting me go. I barely kept my feet under me, it was so sudden. “She needs cleaning up, anyway. I’ll be back.”
Nadia and Lily appeared on either side of me as Alaric went toward the tunnel entrance.
He glanced back, frowning, and said, “There will be guards posted. Don’t try anything.”
“Of course not.” Nadia bowed her head again, her gaze on the floor, until her son had disappeared.
“Oh Poppy.” Lily’s arms were around me then, and I collapsed in them, shaking uncontrollably.
Lily was shaking too, and crying, and I found my own cheeks wet with tears. We were in a heap on the stone floor, which was cold even covered in a thick tapestry, both of us holding onto each other like we never wanted to let go again.
“I’m so sorry,” Lily apologized, cradling her head against my shoulder. Funny, how we were twins, but she always acted like she was the oldest, even if it was only by minutes. “I didn’t want you to come. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
“It’s my fault.” Nadia was there kneeling beside us, stroking my hair, then Lily’s. “Alaric forced me to use my powers to call through Lily, to reach out to you…”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said, sniffing back my tears and pulling away so I could look my sister in the eye. There was so much love there, it overwhelmed me. “You needed me, and I came.”
“You should have stayed away.” Lily sniffed, wiping tears from my cheeks. “Stayed safe. I’m not worth it. You’re the important one, Poppy. You’re the one—”
“No!” I shook my head, putting my arms around her and holding her close. Our hearts were beating fast and hard, together again, like we’d been in the womb. “You’re my sister. My twin. You mean just as much—”
“We both know that’s not true.” Lily’s arms tightened around me. “Nadia, how can we get her out of here? We can’t let him have her.”
“I know.” Nadia’s voice was thick with fear and I saw it in her eyes. “But there will be guards at the door. Too many for me to overpower.”
“Is there another way out of here?” I stood, looking around in the dimness for some sort of miracle answer.
“No, I’ve looked. And Bryn tried—more than once.” Lily made a face. “It’s escape-proof.”
Bryn. The woman vampire Alaric had killed. Clearly Lily and Nadia had known her. But who was she? I wanted to ask, but this wasn’t the time.
“There has to be a way…” I looked up at the sound of shouts in the tunnels. I couldn’t hear any words, just noise. Had Alaric’s minions found Ulrich? My heart thudded hard in my chest at the thought of him being captured. If he was still out there, I was holding on to a glimmer of hope.
“Well… there is one way.” Nadia looked at Lily, her fangs grazing her lower lip, and I perked up. Then she told us her idea. “I could turn her. Perhaps that would make her blood useless to him?”
My eyes widened at her words and I took a step back, my hand going to my throat.
“No!” Lily stood, coming over to stand near me protectively. “Not that.”
I looked up at her, surprised. “Didn’t you marry a vampire?”
“So?” My sister rolled her eyes. “Poppy, I’m not going to let her turn you. Not unless you want to be turned…”
“Never.” I shuddered at the thought.
“That won’t be necessary.” I let out a yelp when Ulrich’s big frame filled the entrance to the room. He was still carrying the axe and the handle was dripping blood down his arm.
“Oh, thank God,” I whispered, so relieved at the sight of him, my knees almost gave way. I reached out and steadied myself against the bedpost.
“Let’s go,” Ulrich said, urging us toward him. “Hurry!”
“It’s nearly daylight,” Nadia said beside me, meeting her son’s eyes as he staggered into the room. “You can’t last much longer…”
I hadn’t noticed the sluggish way Ulrich was moving until then. Vampires went to sleep when the sun came up. They usually sought out a quiet, dark place to rest during the day, because they were rendered helpless, their bodies powering down, all the energy drained from them.
How long had it taken us to get down into the tunnels? Clearly, Lazarus had misjudged the time.
“Alaric and his men don’t need to sleep,” Nadia told him, and although she didn’t tell him why, I knew. They’d all fed from my sister. And now, I saw, looking at him, he knew it, too. He knew what I’d been keeping from him. “You need to get out of here. Now.”
I looked between the two of them, feeling utterly trapped. Here was Ulrich—he’d found us at last—but we were miles and miles beneath the city. Where in the world could we go? Nadia was pushing us out into the tunnels, where the vampire guard had been beheaded, thanks to Ulrich’s axe.
“Stay by me.” Ulrich grabbed my arm, pulling me in close, and Nadia did the same with Lily.
Nadia led the way, hurrying through the maze of tunnels, my feet once again not touching stone. It was all cold and darkness again. I still had the amulet around my neck, which helped light the way a bit. Ulrich struggled to keep up with his mother’s pace—I could feel his strength beginning to flag—and she drew further ahead. We were rising steeply—far more steeply than I expected, given the laborious path we’d taken down into the tunnels in the first place—and I hear the faint sound of Nadia calling back to us, urging Ulrich onward.
Then, when I looked up, I saw light. It was faint, just a pinprick, but it was real. We were heading toward an entrance—an exit. Toward daylight, and for Ulrich, death. Nadia, too. Neither of them could go out into the sunlight.
What was she thinking?
“Ulrich!” Alaric’s cry shook the tunnel walls and I gasped, turning my face against Ulrich’s neck. “Bring Poppy to me, or I’m going to tear our mother limb from limb! It won’t be quick, like it was with Bryn. I promise you!”
Did he have them, then? I couldn’t see him, not in the darkness, but I heard him, somewhere up ahead. Ulrich moved toward the sound of his brother’s voice—a suicide mission.
“Stop,” I begged him softly. “Please, stop. You can’t go on.”
Ulrich groaned, lifting the Axe of Freyr, the blade coming to life.
“No!” I grabbed the handle, still slick with blood. “You’re going to hurt yourself. Give me that.”
The blade retracted again when Ulrich surrendered the weapon. With some trepidation, I slid it into my pocket. It was about the size of a night stick.
“We have to find somewhere to hide,” I whispered, touching his face in the dimness. I could see his eyes, half-closed, in the green light from my necklace. “Until nightfall…”
“Poppy,” he croaked, moving again, jerkily, trying to continue on down the tunnel. “I have to keep you safe…”
Somewhere up ahead, I heard Alaric howling, “Mother! Mother, get back here!”
Ulrich staggered, nearly dropping me, and I clung to him, feeling the tremble in his big body.
“You can’t fight anymore.” I bit my lip, knowing I had to do it—it was the only thing I could do that would help him. “Ulrich—drink from me. Just a little.”
He pulled back, staring into my eyes, horrified. “No…”
“Do it,” I urged, turning my head to the side, offering my throat to him. “It will help you—I promise. It’s okay. What Alaric said about my blood was true. Please, Ulrich, just—”
I cradled his head in my hand, pulling his mouth down toward my neck, and heard him groan, felt his body begin to relent.
Then, suddenly, Nadia was beside us again, appearing out of nowhere, interrupting us before Ulrich could get his fangs out.
“Come on,” she hissed, pulling on her son’s hand, then on mine. “Alaric has Lily—he’s heading topside. I know a place where you can hide.”
Ulrich stumbled, nearly falling, and it took the two of us to keep him from going down. When I glanced up, I could see shadows moving toward that pinprick of light in the distance and I just knew it was Alaric. He had Lily and they were heading toward daylight, a place Ulrich couldn’t go.
And I couldn’t leave him—not now, any more than I could have before. I just couldn’t.
Thankfully, we didn’t have to go far. There was a crack in the rock, hardly big enough for me to get through, let alone Ulrich. I shook my head at Nadia, protesting. but she shoved me through, and then she pushed her son through, too, defying physics altogether. It was small and dark inside, no bigger than a closet, but I thought there would be room enough for three of us, even if it would be a little cramped.
“Nadia!” I called, reaching out my hand in the darkness. “Come on!”
“Quiet!” Her eyes flashed at me, sparking gold in the dark—just like her sons—and I heard then what she must have heard long ago—vampires coming up the tunnel toward us.
Then she used all her vampire strength to close the crack in the wall, muffling the sound of the vampires coming up on her in the tunnel. Then I heard her screaming, something about, “He took the girl and ran that way!” Throwing them off the trail, I hoped—because, in truth, we were close. Far too close.
“Poppy…” Ulrich’s voice was fading, but his arms went around me, holding on tight. “Stay… stay with me…”
“Shhh.” I put my fingers to his lips, shaking my head, whispering, “I’m not going anywhere. Sleep.”
I clung to Ulrich, knowing his sudden stillness meant that he’d finally given up and had fallen into a deep, vampire sleep, leaving me alone in the darkness. I listened to Leo giving orders just beyond the wall, having Nadia taken to a cage, while the other vampires continued to search the tunnels for any signs of us.
My heart galloped in my chest—surely, they could hear it? Would they smell me, just below the rock? Sense my body heat somehow? Vampires had incredible senses—extrasensory senses. Would a layer of rock between us be enough to keep us safe?
And what if it wasn’t? What would I do, then?
I reached into my pocket, feeling the weapon there that Ulrich had wielded. I wasn’t exactly sure how it worked, but I steeled myself, knowing I would do what I had to. I’d come all this way to find and save Lily, but now… things had changed. I didn’t understand it, but I couldn’t question it. The feelings were real, the ones I was having about this man—this vampire—sleeping helplessly beside me.
I kept one hand on the sticky hilt of the weapon, listening intently, breath held, as I rested my head on Ulrich’s broad chest. If we were somehow found out, there was nothing I wouldn’t do for him. I knew that now.
If I had to, I’d fight my way through all of them to protect this vampire in my arms.
What in the world was wrong with me?
* * * *
Ulrich woke up as quickly as he’d fallen asleep, his arms tightening around me so much I actually squeaked, clapping a hand over my mouth immediately, afraid I’d given away our position. I’d only just awakened myself, completely disoriented. It took me a few moments to remember where I was—and why. As soon as I remembered, I started listening for any noise or movement beyond the rock wall, but there was nothing I could discern.
“Poppy?” His voice was clear as could be, as if he’d been awake all along—although I knew he hadn’t.
“I’m here,” I whispered, putting my arms around him in the near-dark. “They don’t know where we are.”
“Good.” His hand moved in my hair, almost imperceptibly, stroking gently. “My mother?”
“I… I think they took her.” I chewed on my lower lip, remembering. “She put them off our scent somehow. Alaric took Lily out of the tunnels.”
“He’s keeping her as bait.” His voice turned hard at the mention of his brother.
“It’s me he wants.” I knew that now, if I hadn’t been sure of it before.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
I knew exactly what he was asking about and felt a stab of guilt.
“Poppy, don’t you know by now that you can trust me?” he asked softly. “I could have prepared better, if I’d known what your blood could do, what Lily’s blood could do…”
“If you’d known what my blood could do, you would have used me, just like every other vampire I’ve ever known.”
“Do you really believe that?”
I swallowed. “No… I’m sorry… no, Ulrich… I just…”
