Marked: City of the Damned Book 1 (4 page)

“Pryse thinks that because I am a healer, I
have the ability to make him into a day walker.”

“Do you?” Sara poured herself another glass
of wine and leaned back casually in the chair, as if this
conversation was nothing more than first date banter.

“Yes and no. I have an ancient recipe for an
elixir, that if brewed right, will allow my kind to walk in the
sun, but it is flawed. The effects are not permanent and could wear
off at any time. If a vampire gets caught in direct sunlight when
the effects wear off, the light from the sun will turn him to
ash.”

“So why not just….” Sara began, but froze as
a burst of fear shot through her body. With trembling hands, she
placed the glass of wine on the table.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Gedeon sprung
from his seat.

“It’s Pryse. He’s here.” Sara’s body began to
shake uncontrollably and she jumped as Gedeon grabbed her by the
shoulders.

“Sara, listen to me. We have to go
NOW
.” Gedeon shook her, desperately trying to get her
attention as the sound of running footsteps echoed in the hall
outside the apartment. “Go out the window to the fire escape. It’s
the only way out.”

Sara sprang from her seat and ran in the
direction of the open window. She glanced behind her just in time
to see Gedeon pick up a small burlap bag and fling it over his
shoulder.

“Go,” he yelled. “I’ll be right behind
you.”

Sara squeezed through the open window and
shivered as the cold night air assaulted her skin, but there was no
time to go back into the apartment and get her jacket. She looked
over the edge of the fire escape and took a deep, calming breath.
The third storey wasn’t really that high up, unless of course you
had a fear of heights. The metal ladder that led to the ground
looked impossibly unsecure, and Sara wondered briefly if it would
support her weight.

“Hurry up. What are you waiting for?” Gedeon
shouted as he came through the window.

“Gedeon, I don’t think I can climb down.”
Sara looked down at the ground and shook her head.

“Please,” he begged. The tone of his voice
was urgent and desperate “You have to. Pryse is going to break
through the door any second now.”

Sara nodded, and in a monumental act of
bravery, she reached over and clung tightly to the metal rungs of
the ladder. One by one, she lowered herself down towards the
pavement below, each rung painfully cutting into the palms her
hands. She breathed a sigh of relief as her feet touched solid
ground. Gedeon was only two feet above her when one of Pryse’s
cronies emerged at the end of the laneway.

“Shit,” he cursed, and landed with a thud on
the pavement. “Follow me.” Gedeon grabbed Sara by the arm and
dragged her towards the back of the apartment building.

“Where are we going?”

“I’m not sure yet.” Gedeon expertly
maneuvered through the parking lot and to a path that led out to
the street behind the building. The air around them vibrated, and
the sound of dance music could be heard in the distance. “Hurry up,
let’s go this way,” he instructed, and grabbed Sara by the arm,
pulling her behind him as he ran.

“What is this place?” Sara asked as they
stopped in front of the entrance to an abandoned warehouse. The
loud pounding of the music reverberated through the heavy metal
door.

“It’s a rave. It’ll be hard for Pryse to
track your scent in here.” Gedeon opened the door and the sound was
almost deafening. They skirted the outer perimeter of the dance
floor where boys with blue and green hair, and girls with rainbow
colored tutus, danced in a trance like state. Gedeon spotted an
empty table in a darkened corner of the room and led Sara towards
it.

“What wrong with them?” Sara asked as she
intently watched the dancers move to the beat of music. It was
unlike anything she’d ever seen before.

“Most of these kids are on ecstasy. Such a
damn shame too, it makes them easy targets for us.” Gedeon looked
repulsed by the idea. “If these kids weren’t strung out on drugs,
most of them wouldn’t be so willing to offer up a vein.”

“You don’t actually…” Sara began, but was
unable finish the question. The idea of vampires preying on these
kids nauseated her. Half of the kids in here didn’t look a day over
twenty.

“God no,” Gedeon replied sharply “I’ve never
fed from an unwilling donor, or from someone under the influence of
drugs or alcohol, but there are plenty of vampires out there who
do.” He shook his head in disgust.

“And they can get away with it? I thought
your laws protected people?”

“Our laws only state that the donor has to be
willing. I don’t think they took illegal substances into
consideration a thousand years ago when the laws were originally
created.” Gedeon looked anxiously at the crowds of people that
surrounded them. A steady stream of people now filed through the
front door, making it difficult to see who was coming and going.
“Wait here and
do not
move until I come back for you.”

“Where are you going?” Sara hated the idea of
being left alone in a place like this.

“I’m going to get a drink.”

“You’re leaving me alone so you can go and
toss back a cold one?” Sara yelled, but with the noise of the
crowed growing louder, it didn’t have the desired effect she was
hoping for.

“No, but I need something to fill the vile
with. Pryse wants a remedy, so I’m going to give him one.” Gedeon
reached into his burlap bag and pulled out an empty glass tube. “I
need to have something to bargain with. If I’m not back in five
minutes I want you to run as fast as you can to the police station.
There’s a small sub-station two blocks south of here. Even Pryse
wouldn’t have the balls to track you down in there. A bullet may
not kill him but it would certainly put him out of commission for a
while.”

“What am I supposed to tell the police, that
an insane vampire is chasing me?” she said sarcastically.

“No, just tell them that you think you’re
being followed, and whatever you do, stay there until I come for
you.”

Sara nodded and watched as Gedeon disappeared
into the throngs of party goers. Sitting at the table alone made
her feel vulnerable. She waited on pins and needles as she searched
the crowds for any sign of Gedeon’s return. Out of the corner of
her eye, Sara noticed the brown burlap bag that sat on the stool
next to her. Cautiously, she picked up the bag and untied the
string. One peek would hurt, would it? Inside the bag was an
assortment of glass viles filled with a various powders and dried
herbs. In the bottom of the burlap bag were two shining silver
stakes. Sara considered her options. Slowly, she reached into the
bag and pulled out one of the silver stakes then retied the bag and
placed it back on the stool exactly as she’d found it. When she was
certain that no one was watching, Sara untucked her shirt and
slipped the stake into the back of her jeans. Gedeon was going to
be pissed that she went through his stuff, but she’d deal with his
anger management issues later, once they’d taken care of Pryse.
Where was Gedeon, and why was he taking so long? Sara scanned the
club again, hoping to catch a glimpse of him.

Before she could let out a scream, the gloved
hand grabbed her from behind. She could taste the metallic tang of
blood as his hand pressed hard against her mouth, cutting her
lip.

“Nice boots,” Pryse said. With one hand
covering her mouth, and the other wrapped tightly around her waist,
he violently yanked Sara off the stool. “I’m going to uncover your
mouth, but if you scream I’ll snap your pretty little neck. Do you
understand me?”

Sara nodded. Even if she wanted to say no,
being marked by Pryse ensured that she’d be willing to do whatever
he wanted. The gloved hand slipped away from her mouth and she
gasped for air. “What do you want from me?”

“I don’t want anything from you,” Pryse
scoffed. “You’re nothing but a filthy little human, but you’re
going to help me get something that I do want. I’m sure your
boyfriend will be willing to negotiate with me when he hears you
scream.”

“You didn’t have to mark me to get what you
wanted. Gedeon would’ve given you the remedy if you had just let me
go like he asked.”

“Don’t fool yourself. Vampires are selfish
territorial creatures. Gedeon would’ve just taken you for himself,
and I’d still be without the remedy. With blood as sweet as yours,
it was only a matter of time before one of us claimed you.” Pryse
tilted his head back and a dark sinister laugh escaped his lips.
“You don’t actually think that he loves you, do you? Creatures like
us aren’t capable of love.”

“Maybe a sick psychopathic bastard like you
isn’t, but Gedeon is
nothing
like you,” Sara spat.

“Enough with the small talk,” he barked
“follow me.”

Sara felt the bone in her finger snap as
Pryse grabbed her by the hand and dragged her towards the steel
fire door at the back of the warehouse. No matter how hard she
tried to scream, she couldn’t force the sound from her mouth. Pain
coursed through her hand as he led her through the door and up the
stairs towards the second floor. “Where are you taking me?”

“Shut up,” Pryse barked, and stopped in front
of another heavy metal door that led to the second floor of the
warehouse. “In here,” he ordered. Moonlight streamed in from the
skylights above, casting imposing shadows on the floor below. The
room was empty except for an old wooden office chair and stack of
boxes that sat against one wall. “Now we wait.”

“You won’t have to wait long.” Gedeon’s voice
echoed throughout the cavernous room.

In one swift move, Pryse grabbed Sara by the
waist and turned to face Gedeon. “Stay where you are.”

“Let her go Pryse. It’s not Sara that you
want, it’s this.” Moonlight glinted off the glass from the small
vile that Gedeon held in his hand. “This is what you’ve wanted all
along.”

“Drop it on the floor and leave. When I have
it in my hands I’ll let the girl go.”

“You know I can’t do that. I’m not leaving
here without her.” Gedeon continued to walk towards them at a
steady pace.

Pryse’s fangs unsheathed and his grip on her
tightened, “Take one more step closer and I’ll drain her dry.”

Sara knew she should be afraid, she knew that
she should be screaming at the top of her lungs, but being marked
to Pryse made her lose all sense of reason. A shiver of
anticipation ran through her at the idea that Pryse was going to
drink from her. She needed his bite. She wanted his bite and the
pleasure it would bring. Slowly, Sara tilted her head to the side
and offered him her neck.

“Sara, don’t,” Gedeon yelled. “Look at me,
and concentrate on my voice. You can fight him off.”

“Gedeon,” she whispered. The sound of his
voice sparked something deep within. Her muddled thoughts began to
clear as her eyes focused on the man walking towards her. In the
darkness of the room Gedeon looked like a warrior ready for battle;
her warrior, her vampire.

“I told you to stay where you are,” Pryse
yelled, but it had little effect. Gedeon’s pace remained steady as
he walked across the warehouse floor towards them.

“This is your last chance,” Gedeon warned.
“Give me the girl and I’ll give you the remedy.”

“No deal. Put it on the floor and leave. If
you don’t, you’ll never see her alive again.”

“Okay, have it your way.” With the flick of
his wrist, Gedeon sent the vile flying into the air. Pryse released
his grip on Sara and lunged for vile as it crashed to the ground.
Out of the corner of his eye, Gedeon saw the reflection of
moonlight on the sliver stake that Sara gripped tightly in her
hand. “Sara no,” he yelled, and in once quick movement he leapt
forward and pushed her out of the way.

Sara felt the searing pain rip through her
when the stake she was holding plunged deep into her shoulder as
her body hit the concrete floor. She tried to scream but the words
came out as a muffled cry. Her sounds couldn’t be heard over the
pounding beat of the music coming from the club below, or from the
battle that was taking place before her eyes. She watched in horror
as Gedeon removed the second silver stake from the bag and drove it
into Pryse’s heart. His body smouldered, filling the air with an
acrid stench, and turned to ash. The faint smell of burnt hair
filled the air, causing Sara to gag.

A feeling of relief washed over her as the
bond shattered, but it was soon over shadowed by the pain that now
consumed her. Warm crimson blood poured from the wound in her
shoulder and pooled on the frigid concrete beneath her. A familiar
voice called to her, and she knew she should respond, but the
darkness was closing in too fast. Her eyes grew heavy with sleep,
and then fluttered shut. Sara stopped fighting and succumbed to the
darkness.

Chapter
5

Sara lay very still in the center of the bed.
It must be a dream.
She knew that Pryse had broken her
finger, and that she should be crying out in agony from the wound
in her shoulder, but she felt nothing; no pain, no discomfort, not
even the slightest ache. Gedeon must’ve healed her while she was
unconscious. Cautiously, she let her eyes flicker open. Blackness
surrounded her, but by the feel of the satin sheets against her
skin, Sara knew that she was in Gedeon’s bed. Slowly, she stretched
her limbs one by one. The sound of clashing pots and pans echoed
from the kitchen followed by soft patter of footsteps in the hall.
She squinted against the bright light that emanated from the
hallway as the bedroom door slowly inched open. Pulling the sheet
around her, she sat up in the bed.

“Sara, thank God you’re awake.” Gedeon placed
the tray he was carrying on top of the dresser and rushed to her
side. “I’ve been so worried about you.”