Finding Obscurity (21 page)

He stood up and kicked me
in the side, causing my body to curl into a fetal position before pressing his
booted foot down on my wrist. “Con, she’s a crazy bitch! She got loose from the
damn chair before I came into the room and attacked me.”

“You’re about as
worthless as a pile of shit.” The vampire stormed forward and crouched down to
look me in the eye. “Let go of the needle before I let him break your wrist.”

The man pressed down
harder to prove his point, and I gave him a defiant stare. “I’ll just keep
fighting you.”

“I know, and I will love
breaking you in, just like my horses back home,” Con said with a small smile,
holding out his hand. “I love a challenge. Now give me the needle.”

“No.” This guy would not
get the better of me, and I would be damned if he thought I would let him rape
me.

The henchman, Joe,
pressed harder on my wrist and I felt the bones start to grind together. I
gritted my teeth when my fingers started to go numb, knowing I would lose the
grip on the syringe if he pressed harder.

Con peeled my numb
fingers off the syringe and held it up in front of my face. “Let me introduce
myself before you take a little nap and we move you out of here since your
friends are catching up to us.” He pressed the needle into my neck and pushed
the liquid into my body. “My name is Conrad Steele, but my friends call me Con,
and you
will
break, Liliana.”

My limbs went limp and
everything became fuzzy under a drug-induced haze. I focused on the image of
two of Cons and did my best to roll my eyes. “You’ll never break me.”

I heard him laugh quietly
before everything faded to black again.

Chapter
Twenty-Three

I sat up on the dingy floor of a decrepit basement. There were
peeling bricks painted a sickly green color, just like in my dream. There was a
dim light hanging from the wooden slats in the ceiling swaying gently, the
little chain clanging against the bulb, barely lighting up the space around me.
I squinted to get a better view of everything around me, including the
boarded-up windows that were across the room. My hair was hanging over my eyes,
and when I tried to reach my hand up to move it back, I couldn’t because my
arms were strapped to a pipe behind me. I twisted around and started to pull
against the rope, causing my wrist to painfully throb from being almost broken.
I was sure it was slightly sprained, along with my ankle. I knew that kicking
the pipe and trying to get loose would be pointless, plus, after all the stress
my body had gone through, I knew it was best to just sit and let my body heal.
When I glanced around, I noticed somebody curled in the fetal position on the
floor across from me, and they didn’t move.

“Hello?” I whispered, and when they didn’t respond, I scooted
closer. I had only moved about a foot across the dirt-covered floor towards the
body, when I saw the small pool of blood on the floor under the body, just like
in my stupid dream. I cursed under my breath at my stupidity for not having
paid more attention, and I let out a huff of air. “Hey, are you okay?”

There was no movement and I couldn’t make out anything with this
dim lighting of who it could be. It was a woman, but her body was curled into a
fetal position, and I could barely see her hips and slim back. The basement
door screeched open and footsteps pounded down the stairs.

Con made his way towards me. “How are you feeling?”

“Like you care.”

“No, you’re right. I don’t, but maybe we can learn to get along
before too long. It will be the best for all involved.”

“Ashton and Blake will kill you.”

“Not if they can’t find us.” He shrugged and sat cross-legged on
the dirty floor in front of me, ignoring the woman across the room as if she
wasn’t even there. “I’m good at hiding, and if I don’t want to be found, then I
won’t be, even if the ones who hunt me are known for killing people.”

I startled. “They don’t kill people. You have to be the only evil
being I have ever met.”

“You are so naïve. Ashton is a vampire. You don’t think he hasn’t
killed anyone in all the years he’s walked this Earth?” When I shook my head at
him, Con let out a bark of laughter. “Ashton and I used to hang around the same
people, Liliana. He is just as evil as I am. Blake? He isn’t innocent either,
so don’t let him fool you.”

Did I believe this maniac?
Ashton was not evil, and this guy was playing mind games with me because he
wanted me to doubt everyone I knew and trusted. Ashton’s voice rang through my
head from when we first went to his apartment above Revive.
“You never know
who may be a killer, Lily. It’s usually the last people you ever expect.”
I
knew better than to doubt this, and I shouldn’t be letting this guy get to me
anyway. Blake and Ashton said they were in the war together, so sure, they
probably had killed people to protect this country. If they killed anyone, it
would have been in self-defense or for the greater good, because that is who
they were. They would never slaughter somebody in cold blood like the man in
front of me would.

When I didn’t respond right away, Con put his hand on my leg and I
pulled it away. “Don’t. Touch. Me.”

“You won’t say that after a month or two.” He put his hand back on
my leg and squeezed painfully. “Now tell me how you survived the fire that
killed your parents. I know you were in your crib when I left.”

I inhaled a quick breath and started at him. “You killed my
parents?”

“I had some help, so it wasn’t just me.” He shrugged like it
wasn’t any sweat off his back. “They were causing some problems and shouldn’t
have ever been able to conceive a child, let alone be together. I originally
went to kill Evangeline because she killed my wife, but finding them together
with a child was even better.”

I blinked a few times to stop the tears from falling for parents I
had never met. But my tears were also because the rumors were true about my
real mother killing vampires. The question was – why she did those things? Was
his wife just as malicious as the man in front of me? If she was then I could
understand why Evangeline killed her, wanting to get rid of the evil in the
world, but I also wondered if there was more to the story behind it. I would
never be able to ask her, because of the man in front of me and his little helpers
had meant to end my life before it had really ever begun. My emotions were
churning in my gut and I let the hum in my blood start to life so I could let
him know the pain of losing what should have been a great life.

He stared back at me and I narrowed my eyes at him. Pulling his
hand away, he waggled his finger at me. “Tsk, tsk. I’m smarter than Joe; I know
what you’re planning on doing. Your eyes gave you away.”

“My eyes?”

“You were looking at me like you wanted to kill me, but what
really gave it away was the way your pupil expanded over your iris. Your
mother’s did the same thing.” He rubbed his chin in thought. “Interesting. I
see you inherited your mother’s powers, but don’t have any control over them.
If you had, then we’d all be dead by now. I wonder if you gained any of your
father’s strength, but I doubt it since you could have broken free of those
restraints long ago.”

My pupils changed? Why hadn’t anyone told me?
 
Maybe my freaky abilities were starting to
develop a little more. Either that, or I was really pissed right now and they
came out full-throttle just as unexpected as before. “Maybe if you hadn’t tried
to kill my whole family, then I’d know what I could do by now.”

“Maybe, but we weren’t willing to find out. Let me tell you how
much of a surprise it was to learn you’d lived and that I’d failed. At first I
wanted to kill you when you walked out of that club, but then I got to
thinking. What would be better than you dead? Having you all to myself and
harnessing all that power as my own personal weapon to destroy the people who
care about you.”
 

“You’re fucking insane and should’ve just killed me, because I’ll
never let you control me and start a war.”

“Oh, Liliana. You speak like you have an alternative in the
matter. Once I line up a flight out of this country, then you will have no
choice but to do what I want you to. I’ll let all my friends have a turn at
you. If I can’t break your will, then we will talk about it again once they’re
done.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

Con grinned, full of evil promises. “Don’t I sound better than the
alternative?”

“Asshole.”

“Some of my guys like that, too.” When I blanched at his blatant
remark, he snorted. “Don’t worry. I’ll get the first chance at your body before
my men do.”

I spit at his feet. “I’d rather die.”

“That can be arranged,
too, but only if I get to do it in front of Ashton. I know you lied about that,
because my source told me that he matched with you. Of course if Blake is
around, then I’ll be sure I have somebody there to stop him before he has a
chance to wreak havoc on my plans. Now your little friend, the bartender, he
will die in front of you just to show you what I’m capable of.”

“Sam’s alive?” I
breathed.

“Yes, the little shit
dodged just in time; only got a flesh wound. He won’t be so lucky next time.”

I closed my eyes, saying
a little prayer, thanking whoever was listening that Sam was okay. I also
prayed that the rest of the crew finds me before we fly out of the country to
God only knows where. Ashton believed he was my match, and I wondered if after
missing him so much that I didn’t feel the same way. Blake would better suit me
for a partner, and even though I felt something deep down for him as well,
Ashton was the one I kept thinking about. My heart gave a little pitter-pat at
the revelation. I loved Ashton, even with trying to fight the feelings away,
and I promised that if I ever saw him again, I would let him know that I loved
him more than life itself. I knew that I would give up my own life to save his,
and without a doubt he would do the same for me. I would give up my life for
Ashton, Blake, or Sam if it came down to it.

There was a groan from
across the room and Con glanced behind him with a sickening smile. “Lunch is
waking up.”

The air began to thicken
and felt dirty as he neared the woman on the floor. The only other time I had
noticed the air changing was when I was on the dance floor with Carlotta. I
watched him walk over to the frail body and he grinned at me with fangs before
grabbing her wrist and chomping into the skin. She moaned with either pleasure
or pain, I wasn’t sure, as he kept eye contact with me, taking a few big gulps
from her wrist. I knew he was picturing me in his mind when he groaned with
pleasure before dropping her wrist with a flop back to the floor. That would be
where the blood pool came from, and I shivered that she was allowed to just
drip blood after what had to be a ton of bites. This guy was insane and
downright immoral. It was hard not to think all vampires would be this way. I
had to remind myself that even though I knew what he was, there was evil
everywhere in the world, regardless of the species.

“Did you kill her?” I
whispered.

“No, she’ll live a few
days longer. I’ve only been taking a few sips at a time.” He frowned at the
blood soaking into the concrete like he just now noticed it. “However, I
haven’t been healing her, so she may not live as long as I hoped.”

Con walked back over to
me and clasped my ankles together before straddling my legs, sitting on my
thighs, and pulled my hair, forcing my head to the side. The atmosphere was
thick around his body and vibrated with danger, and I held my breath.
 
His nose ran up the column of my throat and I
shuddered in disgust at the warm breath against my skin. When his lips touched
my skin, I tried to yank my head away, only to have him fist my hair, pinning
my head to the side. He nipped on my ear and sharp teeth scraped against my
earlobe. “You smell so good. I don’t think anyone would mind if I have just a little
sip.”

“Don’t,” my voice croaked
out in fear.

He licked up the side of
my neck up to just below my ear with a moan, and I felt his sharp teeth scrape
across my skin. When I was sure he would break the skin, the door to the
basement upstairs opened. “Fuck,” he growled and jumped off me in a flash.

Joe lumbered down the
stairs with a tray in his hand, and when he reached the bottom step, he looked
between Con and me with a raised eyebrow. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Con rumbled.
“I was making sure her hands were still restrained and she flipped out.”

I frowned at him,
realizing he wasn’t the full mastermind behind this kidnapping. I’m sure I
would be his prize once the final plans were made, but he didn’t want to let
anyone know that he about chomped my neck. Somehow that was a relief, although
it didn’t make sense. Who would he be afraid of if he hurt me? Maybe he wanted
to make mind games to torture me with, thinking he was going to have me once
this was all over.

Joe moved forward with a
plate of soup and a spoon, as well as another syringe on the tray. “Con, she’s
here.”

She?
For some
reason, I thought of Paige and her weird behavior, and the fact that she
despised me. It would make sense if they were out to kill me. However, I knew
that she wouldn’t make her presence known to me until the last possible minute
for shock factor. Other than Paige, nobody else really had it out for me, but
now that the secret about my birth parents was out… it could be anyone.

Con nodded and headed
back up the stairs with a blur while Joe sat gently in front of me with the
tray on his lap. He scooped up a spoonful of soup and pressed it against my
lips. When I kept them sealed, he sighed. “You have to eat if you want your
strength.”

I didn’t trust him. “Is
it poisoned?”

“What good would that do?
If they wanted to kill you, then they would have done so already.” He had a
point, so I opened my mouth, swallowing the chicken broth down my dry throat.
When I began eating a few bites, he studied me with an expression I couldn’t
name. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

I frowned at him. “You
didn’t seem sorry when you were doing it.”

“I know.” He fed me
another spoonful. “There’s a lot of pressure on me to make sure you get to the
right destination before getting paid. After overhearing the woman on the phone
upstairs, I think they plan on killing me.”

“Why do you say that?” I
swallowed another bite.

He sighed. “Because, she
said, ‘
Make
sure the goon isn’t around to witness what
we are.’”

“I’m sorry, Joe, but that
still didn’t give you a reason to cause me pain.”

“You’re right. I’m a bad
person and will admit that, but I have kids that don’t deserve to lose their
father whether he’s a bad guy or not.”

I watched him stir the
soup, lost in thought, and I started to feel a little bit of pity towards his
situation, even though he didn’t deserve it after all he put me through. There
was no way he knew when he took the job to kidnap me that he would be
surrounded by the supernatural, or that he wouldn’t live to make it back home
to his kids. “Why did you take the job?”