Good As Dead (Dying To Meet You Book 1) (21 page)

Continuing with his self-important bluster, the monster said, “I am one of the most powerful vampires in Europe, bar perhaps Mercer and Gaius but now that we are allied together, there is no one and nothing that can stop us. You were the only little blip on our horizon, Lainey, but you’ve proved yourself inconsequential. We had a moment in the forest, when you looked like you might have some meat on your bones but your little jaunt through the dream weave reassured us, we have nothing to fear from you. Kalliope is at the top of her craft and alas, you are way down at the bottom. So we’ll have that serum now and its recipe, and then you can go quietly into the sunset, little one.” Caressing the line of his cheekbone with a long fingernail while his tongue gently curled around his upper lip, in case she was in any doubt as to his meaning, he added. “Or noisily, for that matter, we don’t much care.”

Lainey felt her eyes narrow and she automatically hardened her stance, her feet moving to an a-frame position. Her fingers gripped the small glass tube of serum tightly and she uttered only a single word. “No.”

“No?” The vampire raised his eyebrows in an amused fashion and threaded the fingers of both hands together, clasping them in front of him. Turning to his cohort in crime, he smiled at Kalliope. “Then it’s over to you, my dear.”

Kalliope blinked once and then her lips began to move. The vial that Lainey held began to shake madly so she crushed her hand around it determined not to lose her prize. It was possibly the only bargaining chip she had left in the fight to get her and Mercer out of here, and she could not lose it.

Standing to her full height, Kalliope swung both of her hands upwards as her chants increased in volume. The lake in front of Lainey churned and bubbled, and steam began to rise from it. Then the vial inside her fist began to grow hot, so hot that it burned her skin. Shrieking from the pain, she let go of it and clutched at her wrist. The vial containing the serum sailed over her head safely across the lake and landed neatly in Kalliope’s palm. A long rectangular burn in an angry shade of red blistered upon Lainey’s skin. It throbbed and pulsed, forming a little heartbeat of its own and Lainey’s eyes began to fill with tears. She’d failed miserably.

“There, there. That wasn’t so bad, was it? Now it’s time to test the efficacy of your work.” Kalliope examined the tube in front of her and her eyes sparkled with malice. Returning her gaze to Lainey, she said, “So, now that I have what I need from you, I guess I can let Matthieu finish the job I so rudely interrupted last week, or I can let you watch as I end Mercer’s so-called life. Which would you prefer? I’ll leave the choice up to you.”

Lainey’s hands shook as the full reality of what was happening crashed down upon her. She’d failed in every possible way. Would her death be preferable to watching the lights go out in Mercer’s eyes? Did she want to spend her last moments watching her vampire suffer? Watching the vampire she loved suffer. It was about time she admitted it to herself. They’d been through a lifetime of emotions in a little over two days. Why not love? Did she want to watch as another witch took that last little piece of her, stamping down on her heart as if it were nothing more than a used can of cola? She should choose death. Kalliope had already taken far too much from her. It was the kinder option.

“I want to watch.” Lainey had no idea who had spoken those words but they couldn’t have come from her, could they? Slapping her hands over her mouth, she wondered at her stupidity but the deed had been done. It looked like her last moments alive were going to feel somewhat akin to those of her ancestors burned at the stake—a veritable inferno of pain.

“I was hoping you’d say that.” Kalliope smiled at Matthieu. “I win the bet, sweetness. She’s not half as cowardly as you thought.” There might have been a tiny glimmer of respect in the witch’s eyes but it faded almost as soon as it appeared, only to be replaced with a heat that Lainey understood all too well. Desire.

One of the guards led Mercer onto the stage by a leash, and he was crawling on all fours. Stumbling was probably a better word, for they had beaten him black and blue. Not an inch of his body had been spared as they had set about breaking him. His left eye had swelled to such an extent that he couldn’t see out of it, and his nose had been broken. Judging by the way he tried to keep his mid-section still as he moved, they’d most likely damaged a couple of ribs as well. In addition, there were cuts, tears, oozing blood, and the whites of bones on display, which normally were tucked neatly inside skin. Lainey wished there and then that she had chosen death. She wanted to sink to her knees and pray for this to be over. She wanted oblivion, and she wanted it now.

“It took a great deal to get Mercer to crawl so we made sure he wouldn’t be able to stand for a while. I’m sure you understand.” Kalliope sounded very pleased with herself.

Lainey felt sick to her core. Looking at the extent of his injuries, she guessed they had tormented him for a while. All she wanted to do was make him better and take away his pain. Instinctively stepping closer to help him, the purple lake spewed forth a geyser of steaming water in warning. There was no way she could reach him.

“Well, first things first…now we test your serum, Lainey Hargreaves. I want to see if your healing powers or in this case, death dealing powers, far outstrip those of your witchcraft. Can this tiny little tube really rid the world of the un-dead? I think it’s about time that I found out.” Popping the little plastic stopper out with her thumb, she sniffed the contents within, and then nodded. “White chilli, Zingiber, and Annato seeds…what an interesting little combination. I don’t think this should be too hard to replicate with a little experimentation. How do you recommend it be administered?” Kalliope looked enquiringly at her.

“Go to hell,” Lainey muttered.

“You first. You can keep my seat warm for me.” Kalliope’s lips twitched. “Well, we’ll try the traditional way and see if that works.” Yanking hard upon Mercer’s leash, she pulled his head back and with her fingers pried his jaw open. He didn’t even struggle, probably realising that the end of his existence would be more of a blessing than a curse. With eyes that already seemed dead, he watched as the vial tipped forward at a forty-five degree angle ready to pour out its contents.

“Any last words you’d like to share with your vampire?” Kalliope’s mouth twisted into a savage smile of triumph as she looked directly at Lainey.

If Lainey had been on the other side of that lake, she swore she would have put her fist right through the vicious drama-queen’s head. Frustration and fury warred for supremacy inside her. Never had she felt so useless and powerless.
There must be a way to fight back
. Tears sprung to her eyes as the vial tilted closer towards Mercer’s mouth and she pleaded for his life.

“What do you want? I’ll do anything, but you need to let him live.” Her arms reached out pleadingly, but Kalliope’s smile only got wider as the vial tipped lower.

“You have nothing to offer me now, Lainey, except your death. So be a good girl and keep quiet.”

“No! Please no!” Feeling her whole body turn to jelly, Lainey watched with a sickened fascination as a stream of clear fluid sank into the air above Mercer’s head. Everything began to whirl around in slow motion. The first drop seemed to hang in the air for the longest second and it was almost as if she was going mad. In fact, the serum appeared to separate into lots of tiny drops, which hovered just above his lips, glistening as they twirled around before suddenly changing direction and flying into the open mouth of a very puzzled, and now shocked, Matthieu. Well, that made two of them.

All eyes focused on the blue-eyed vampire who had jumped up from his seat and was doing his best to spit out the liquid, which had forcefully flown down his throat. For a moment, nothing happened and there was a tense moment of silence as he unsteadily came to his full height. Then, after straightening his elegant black dinner jacket with two hands, he leapt down from the dais and rushed for Kalliope’s throat.

“You bitch,” he spat at her and wasting no further time on words, he attacked.

Taken by surprise, Kalliope managed to let out a flurry of bright magenta sparks but it didn’t stop him. His fangs erupted in twin arcs and pushing her hard into her seat, he bent his head into the curve of her neck but he never made it. There was a sudden stiffening of his entire body, a blood-curdling scream, and then he slumped onto the ground in front of her, the whites of his eyes rolling up into his head.

Quickly recovering her composure, Kalliope kicked Matthieu’s body away from her chair and watched him roll over onto his face. She cleared her throat. “You should see the expression on your face. Why would I kill Mercer? He’s going to be the primary source of my entertainment for the next several years, at least until I grow bored of him. Matthieu, on the other hand, has served his purpose. I’m not good at sharing, you see, especially something as important as power.” She slowly stepped down from her raised chair and headed towards Mercer, where she pushed the point of a purple stiletto up against his chin. She tilted her head and appeared to consider something, letting her lilac eyes dominate the dull amber ones in front of her.

“Shall we let the wannabe witch watch as I bind you to me? Do you think she would like that, darling?” Hooking her fingers under the thick black leather of his collar, she pulled his body upwards and frowned darkly when he couldn’t complete her request. Arching an eyebrow, she said, “We can always try it this way, sweetness.” Her fingers began to move in circles, and it wasn’t long before plumes of orange, red, and yellow threads began spinning together.

Lainey wanted the floor to swallow her up and eat her whole. She was no coward but the last five minutes had been the worst of her life, and things weren’t about to get better any time soon. The fireball in Kalliope’s hands looked evil as the flames leaped and jumped, spreading its malevolence in creeping lines upon the harsh planes of the rock walls. The cavern suddenly felt like a furnace and the walls began closing in. Panic began to rear its ugly head, and Lainey was almost positive that she was hyperventilating. The amount of cortisol in her bloodstream could have gotten her six months off work and an impressive supply of Valium.
Believe
. She whispered the word over, and over in her head, rapidly trying to add up the dots of last night. Why had her magic worked then?
Think Lainey, think!

Kalliope released her ball of flames, and Mercer fell back to the floor writhing in agony. Lainey was no longer watching. She couldn’t. Already at her breaking point, watching him suffer would tip her over the edge of no return. She had to focus. If she was to be of any use to him at all, she had to figure out how her fingers worked. There had to be magic in them somewhere, her grandmother was one of the most respected witches in the northern hemisphere.
Believe
. The word was getting louder in her head. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kalliope put her hands under Mercer’s shoulders, bringing his lips up to her neck. She needed him to bite her one last time.

Unable to put up more than a token resistance and desperate for blood as he was, Mercer latched onto her and began to suck. Mercer’s worst nightmares were about to become reality.
Believe. Believe. Believe.
The word was roaring in Lainey’s head now. She could do this. There was no other option.

A trigger
. There had to be a trigger for her magic, and suddenly her mind worked with perfect clarity. Thinking back to last night in the forest, she realised it could only be one of two things. It was either her need to heal which was so elemental in her she wondered why she hadn’t tested the notion before, or it was her growing love for Mercer. As Kalliope began to utter the words of the binding spell, Lainey had no time to test her theories. Digging deep inside herself, where there was nothing but silence and a soft velvety darkness, she focused on her desire to make Mercer whole and healthy again, and the rapidly blossoming bud of her feelings for him. Although their relationship was still in its infancy, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. She wanted him in her life, wanted to care for him, share the past, present and hopefully, the future. Damnit, she wanted a lifetime with Mercer. They could make this work. No one had managed to make her feel anything before and now she was overwhelmed with emotion.
I believe
.

Feeling the first threads rip through her belly with startling speed, she began to chant the words of her own binding spell as fast as she could, knowing there would be precious seconds to spare. Opening her eyes wide, she raised her arms in a V shape above her head and without raising her voice, the words began to grow in volume and depth. They easily eclipsed Kalliope’s incantation and soon the cave was echoing each word Lainey said over, and over until it formed a strange kind of music as it ricocheted off the walls.

Kalliope faltered unable to concentrate with Lainey’s voice undulating in waves around her, progressively getting louder and louder. Trying to retaliate in kind, she directed her hands at the lake in front of her, stirring up the water until it frothed and formed a gigantic wave that was about to crash down upon Lainey.

While continuing her binding chant and concentrating her healing thoughts upon Mercer’s prone body, Lainey merely flicked her fingers and the lake turned a brilliant white and calmed instantly before it completely froze over in a creamy opaque hue glistening with all the colours of an opal. Walking forwards, her feet rising up to step upon the ice, she concentrated her threads of magic upon Mercer’s body as her binding spell neared completion. Solid white light coiled around him in concentric ribbons, gently wrapping his injured body in a cocoon of healing thoughts. Lainey’s voice was now so loud the ice beneath her feet began to crack.