Blood Vengeance (23 page)

Silver cuffs clamped down over his wrists and ankles, the metal weakening him immediately. He found himself back to back with his witch, chained spread-eagled as she was.

The cloaked male began to chant, his voice strong and sure, and he felt himself falling into the blackness he knew so well.

Chapter 31

Keira

Keira tried to open her eyes, tried to warn Luukas, but the cloaked one, and his evil magic, were holding her there motionless, making it appear that she had passed out.

She was the bait.

Tears ran down her cheeks when she heard her vampire falter in the doorway. She could feel his terror, and it pierced her heart.

RUN, LUUKAS!
She screamed in her head.

But he didn't run. He sucked in a ragged breath, and she heard him slowly but surely making his way towards her.

The evil one entered then, the one who had grabbed her off of the street, and her heart stopped. He was powerful, that one. More powerful than she was. More powerful than Luukas. He'd swatted away her magic like it was nothing but an annoying gnat, forcing her into the van and bringing her here from Seattle.

Anger surged through her as she heard Luukas being thrown around the room like a ragdoll.

She felt a moment of relief when he slammed into her from behind and she heard the cuffs closing around him, but it swiftly fled as she felt him go slack.

A moment later, her own cuffs opened, and she could move again.

She was free.

"You bastard!" she screamed as she fell from the chains. "Release him! Release him NOW!"

She looked up as the wooden beam swung against the wall again. Luukas hung there as he had for seven years, and she let out a sob at the sight.

The cloaked one mumbled something to his raven, petting her with calming strokes, and tickled her under her feathers.

"Or you'll do what, cousin?"

Keira opened her mouth, only to snap it shut again.

"Cousin? You are
not
my cousin!" she spit out. "I have no family other than my sister."

His head lifted, just enough for her to catch a glimmer of golden eyes under the hood of his cloak. "So I guess your parents didn't tell you
everything
, then."

Her hands fisted at her sides. "What the hell are you talking about?" she demanded through gritted teeth.

But he just gave her a small, secret smile, his eyes cutting to the doorway and back to her. "That story will have to wait for another time."

Leeha swept into the room a moment later, her emerald green gown a striking contrast to her red hair and eyes.

She looks like Christmas gone horribly wrong
, Keira thought snidely.

The cloaked one smirked.

Why is he smirking? It's not like he can hear what I'm thinking...
She frowned
. Can you?

He lifted an eyebrow.

Holy shit. Keira's skin began to crawl. What
was
this guy?

A sharp pain burst through her cheek and her head whipped around as Leeha slapped her, successfully gaining her full attention.

"You dare to bond with
my
male?" she shrieked. "You dare to try to take him from me? I can
smell
him in you," she hissed. "And you in him. How is this possible?"

She slapped Keira again, so hard she felt the bones in her cheek break.

She cried out, and threw up her arms to try to protect herself.

"Answer me, witch! How is this possible? First Nikulas bonds with your sister and now Luukas bonds with
you
. You! This should not be possible!! I demand an explanation!"

Keira lowered her arms slowly. In her wrath, Leeha's eyes were nothing but swirling nightmares, trying to suck her in, and she quickly looked down at the dirt floor to avoid their pull, sneering, "Because I added a little something to that curse you made me do on all of them."

Leeha became as still as stone. "What
exactly
did you do, witch?"

Keira risked a glance at her. What the hell? The bitch was probably going to kill her anyway now that Emma was safe and couldn't be used to control her.

She hoped.

"I added a small caveat to your little curse is all. A loophole."

Leeha took a step towards her, her hand raised again.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the evil one said casually. "You need her. She'll be no use to you knocked out or dead."

Leeha's harsh breathing filled the room for long moments.

"Wake him up," she finally ordered. "Not completely, just enough to allow him to feel it."

"Feel what?" Keira asked, although she was afraid she already knew the answer. "Feel what?" she demanded again.

She spun around when she heard Luukas moan softly.

"Luukas?" Leeha placed a hand on his hair. "Luukas, you need to wake up, my love," Leeha told him.

His head lolled on his chest as his eyelids fluttered.

She turned her blood-eyes to the cloaked one.

"Do it," she spit out.

Panic welled in Keira's chest. "What are you doing? Leave him alone!"

"Keira?" Luukas' voice was raspy.

She turned to find him staring at her, confused.

"Keira, what are you doing?"

"It's ok. I'll get us out of here..."

She went to go to him, to reassure him, but her feet were stuck to the floor. Try as she might, she couldn't move them. Her eyes widened in horror as an unexplainable paralysis swiftly moved up her limbs, taking over her body.

That bastard!

"Do it!" Leeha shrieked.

As Keira watched helplessly, a tear appeared in Luukas' T-shirt, and he grunted in pain. Blood began to seep down his abdomen, soaking his clothes.

Looking down at himself, he began to shake violently as he raised horror filled eyes to her shocked face.

She shook her head frantically, but he didn't seem to really see her.

"It is you!" he accused. "
Why
, Keira?"

Chapter 32

Luukas

Luukas screamed as he twisted his torso back and forth, trying to escape the pain of the blades slicing through him.

It was worse this time, so much worse. Before, it had just been Josiah and his jealous little knife, his eyes ablaze with satisfaction as he took out his insecurities on Luukas.

But now, now it was the witch, not just holding him still, but torturing him herself without ever touching him.

Rocks hurtled fast as lightening through the air, breaking his bones and bruising his skin. Daggers flew end over end to embed their blades into his organs, ripping him open on their way out again, ten and twenty at a time.

His clothes were torn, soaked through with his blood. Sweat stung his eyes until he couldn't see. His muscles and joints screamed in agony.

And the witch...the witch stood before him, laughing as she broke him.

Fuck that.

He lunged at her with a loud hiss, snapping his fangs, and felt his shoulders pop from their sockets. The cuffs around his wrists and ankles cut even further into his already torn flesh. But he didn't care.

Rip her open! Suck her dry! Kill her! Burn her!

She
was the one causing all of this pain.

She
was the one holding him here with her fucking spells.

She
was going to die. Slowly. Painfully.

He roared in agony and frustration as he was flung back against the wall by an invisible force before he could reach her.

"AHHHHHH!!!"

Coherent thought had left him hours ago. He focused only on her lovely face as he bled, his eyes wild, his hatred for her all consuming.

"Fucking cunt!" he spat at her.

His head was knocked to the side by a force strong enough to bust open his cheek and loosen a few teeth.

He heard her laughing.

He heard her sobbing.

The madness threatened.

Chapter 33

Keira

Keira was forced to watch as the evil one drove Luukas insane without ever harming him. His dark magic was so much more powerful than hers, that he effortlessly held her immobile in front of Luukas as she sobbed, unable to help him.

She tried to talk to him, to tell him it wasn't real, that nothing was happening to him, but he couldn't hear her.

Suddenly, Luukas' eyes widened in terror. "No! No!"

Keira fought against the hold he had on her. "What are you doing to him? Stop it! Stop it!" she screamed.

Luukas threw himself back and forth in his shackles, fighting to escape whatever it was he thought was happening to him.

His eyes flew wildly around the room as he yelled, "Help me! Help me!"

Throwing his head back into the wall, he screamed.

Keira screamed with him. "Please! Stop! Please!"

She tried to find Leeha out of the corner of her eye. "Leeha! Please! You're breaking him! Don't you see? You won't want him like this!"

Leeha strolled forward until she was just visible, her face expressionless as she observed Luukas' reactions. "Whoever said I still wanted him?"

"But, if you don't want him, why are you doing this?" Keira whispered in bewilderment.

"For the entertainment," she told her with a cold smile. "Eventually, he'll be pushed to the point that he'll use his power without even realizing he's doing so, and then he will break free - and he will kill you."

Keira stopped breathing. "But, he'll die without me."

"Yes, he will. Two birds with one stone, as they say."

And then she smelled it, like meat sizzling on a grill.

They were burning him again, or at least he would think they were.

No.
No!

His horrified screams were endless now, one flowing into the next with barely a breath in between. As she watched, he threw his body from side to side violently, slamming his head back into the stone, trying to escape the nonexistent flames.

This would break him, of that Keira had no doubt. He'd barely survived it with his mind intact the first time. He wouldn't get through it again.

Leeha watched him for a few moments, jerkily tilting her head to the side in that unsettling way she had, a satisfied smile spreading across her face. "Fun as this is for me, I think I'll be leaving. It won't be long now. Good luck, witch."

Keira heard her heels click-clacking across the floor as she slithered away to safety like the coward she really was.

Blinking away her tears, she tried again to reach Luukas through the terrors of his mind.

"Luukas! Please, listen to me! It's not real! They're messing with your head! It's not real!!"

Suddenly, he stopped fighting and sagged on the chains, breathing heavily. A moment later, the temperature dropped to such a degree, Keira's breath fogged in front of her and she shivered.

Oh no.

The raven called out loudly, her voice blending with Luukas' as he bellowed madly at the ceiling. His entire body began to vibrate then, growing larger before her eyes. His muscles bulged as they strained against the chains. His skin grew taut over his bones as his face changed, becoming tighter, the bones more prominent.

Keira watched, awestruck, at the changes in him, her breath taken away by the awesome sight of Luukas at his most formidable.

The manacles on his wrists and ankles began to crack, tiny fissures appearing in the silver. A second later, they burst open, the cuffs and chains disintegrating into dust.

Luukas caught himself in a crouch as he fell, magnificent in his power. His glowing eyes lifted to hers, and his lips pulled back from his fangs in a snarl as he cocked his head at her.

Her heart pounded out of her chest as he slowly rose to his full height, his hunter's gaze never leaving her face.

"Please," she whispered to the cloaked one behind her, "Release me."

Was he even still there?

Searching Luukas' eyes, she tried to find some remnant of the male she'd grown to admire and love. But there was nothing left of him. All she saw was madness in their soulless, black depths.

She wasn't going to survive this time, and so, neither would he.

She briefly closed her eyes, accepting her fate. Maybe they would meet again in the next life.

He stalked her, taking his time, a fearsome smile sneaking across his handsome face.

On impulse, she tried to raise her arm to hold him off, and found that she could move now. Without thinking, she spun around and ran.

Using her magic against him was not an option, no matter what. She couldn't do it.

He was on her in an instant. Grabbing her by the hair, he yanked hard, and she fell back against his hard chest with a cry.

"Where do you think you're going, witch?" he hissed at her.

Tears filled her eyes as she tried to pull away from him, but he had a firm grip on her. Her eyes shot around the room frantically, looking for help, but no one else was there. Even the cloaked one was gone.

Snaking his other arm around her waist, he held her tight against him as he pulled her head to the side, exposing her neck to his view.

She felt a sharp pain and gasped in surprise as he struck without care, sinking his fangs deep within her. He began to drink with strong pulls, and she felt a tug at her loins, her body burning for him even now.

Goosebumps rose on the back of her neck when he moaned in her ear, his body hardening behind her. He splayed his hand across her lower belly and pulled her hips back towards him, and she felt his erection rubbing against her backside.

He drank for so long, she began to wonder if he was just going to drain her dry. But then a surge of hope filled her as he lifted his mouth and gently licked her wounds closed. Maybe it would be ok, maybe he would remember. Maybe he would listen to her now.

"Luukas," she breathed.

Letting go of her hair, he slid his hand around to the front of her throat, and began to squeeze.

Keira gripped his arm, trying to pull it away, but he was way too strong. Stars appeared before her eyes as she struggled to breathe, and she could feel her face heating as the blood pooled in her head.

He lifted her right off the floor, one arm around her waist and his other hand around her throat, holding her face next to his almost affectionately.

His hand tightened even as he gently kissed her temple. "Just like old times, huh? Only this time I won't stop. You won't hurt me ever again, witch."

He was eerily sane in his insanity.

No, this can't be happening!
Keira thought. He wouldn't do this! He shouldn't be
capable
of doing this! She was his mate, how was he hurting her?

Unless he'd been pushed too far, beyond the point of being ruled by his instincts.

Unless she
wasn't
his, as he'd proven the night before. He'd been with others. If she were his, he would have no desire to feed from, or fuck, anyone but her.

She kicked her feet, hitting him hard in the shins, but it didn't seem to faze him. She began to struggle in earnest as she fought to remain conscious.

The sounds of her gagging seemed to irritate him, and he tightened his grip around her throat until she could feel her bones bending under the strain.

Holy shit, he was really going to kill her.

Stars appeared before her bulging eyes, and her struggles became weaker and more sporadic.

Luukas put his nose in her hair, inhaling deeply, and then rubbed his face against hers. She felt his tears on her cheek.

"I'll see you in hell, witch," he breathed in her ear. He sounded relieved, satisfied even.

The blackness descended, and Keira knew no more.