Passion And Fire (Passion #4) (44 page)

When he looked up, his sire was giving him a stern look which lacked conviction a little due to the mix of amusement and desire in his pale eyes. Damien glanced down and saw Fabian was erect and he raised an eyebrow at his sire before releasing Flame and stepping back. He needed to distance himself from her or he really would go all caveman, throw her over his shoulders and carry her off to bed.

“This is not the time.” Fabian warned. “You need to work out with Faith the best way of dealing with them downstairs. It would seem she has a better knowledge of your father given she’s been around him longer.”

“Were you going to use weapons or your vampire strength?” Faith asked.

“I haven’t really thought about it. What with getting back to work and dealing with being vampire around people….” Flame’s voice trailed off when Fabian frowned at her.

“No more procrastinating. I want them taken care of tonight.” He turned to Faith. “If they attack him with weapons, will he be able to stop them? Should they simply attack him unarmed?”

“Bring weapons, what do you have?” Faith’s enquiring look shifted around the room.

“We have daggers, stakes in case we ever have a problem with rogue vampires, a gun.” Fabian told her.

“Bring it all, well except for maybe the stakes. We’ll go now, something tells me we need to strike now. I don’t trust father. I suspect he’s up to something.” Faith straightened her expression grim. “Get what you need. I’m going down to see him.” She walked from the room.

“One of us will come with you and show you the way.” Damien called but she laughed.

“I know where to go. This house has no secrets from me.”

“Yeah, but there’s a secret compartment thingy.” Flame interjected but again Faith laughed as she turned to walk away.

“I know, I know, the stone I have to push. Don’t worry, I’ll find it.”

Damien turned to the others. “Well that was unexpected and kind of creepy. She sees everything and nothing is private. Fuck, is she going to be doing some visionary, psychic bullshit thing and get her rocks off watching us fuck in our bedrooms?”

Flame burst out laughing. “You might be giving her ability too much credit Damien. Plus who says she’d get her rocks off watching us fuck?”

He smirked as he pulled her into his arms dropping a quick kiss on her lips. “Well you seem to get off just fine babe.”

Flame punched him lightly in the chest as she struggled with a reluctant grin. “Fuck off you idiot. I’m supposed to get off, you’re fucking me. Faith’s only watching unless she lets her fingers do the walking while she watches?”

“Can you two focus on what needs to be done now?” Fabian interrupted. “Besides that girl is an innocent. You can almost smell the virginity on her.” He turned to head out the door. “Come with me son. We will get the weapons.”

Flame

When Fabian, Sirene, Damien and I joined Faith in the dungeon I watched my half-sister for a moment. She was standing, back straight, eyes unblinking as she met our father’s angry gaze. He was hurling insults at her but she didn’t say a word, her expression gave nothing away. I had no idea if she was hurting from his verbal tirade but when I stepped up alongside of her, I gave her shoulder a squeeze.

“Huh, so consorting with the enemy now are we?” My father spat, disgust lacing his voice.

“Shut the fuck up you worthless piece of shit.” I growled angrily.

He snorted. “Is that the best you can do is it?” He sneered. “I thought you had all these powers but all I’m seeing is a pathetic little girl who doesn’t even seem to be much of a vampire.”

“I have fucking suppressed what I am for years because of you. You abandoned me because of it and yet you are one. You made me the way I am, you. Just because you couldn’t deal with what you are and felt shame, you were determined that I would too by packing up and walking out of my life. Well screw you. You can suppress it all you like but it’s still there. Show me, come on, show me what you can do.” I taunted him.

“You want to see what I can do? Ok Flame, I’ll show you.”

I heard a scuffle behind me and Damien’s surprised yell. When I spun around my mouth dropped open when I saw him, Fabian and Sirene pinned against the stone wall by the power of my father’s mind. The daggers had fallen to the floor and lay scattered. As I watched in horror three of them rotated marginally, appearing to move by themselves. “No!” I cried, but my father didn’t listen, instead the daggers lifted, one imbedding itself into Damien’s chest while one each were driven into the shoulders of Fabian and Sirene.

I watched in growing horror as the blood spread out from their wounds, their faces showing the agony that the daggers were causing them, but it was Damien, my poor Damien that I ran towards, watching helplessly as he slid down the wall, his body bumping and jarring over the rough stone wall until he was on the floor.

“No!” I cried again, dropping by his side staring in shock at the large stain of his blood that soaked his t-shirt. He couldn’t die; he couldn’t die from this surely? Didn’t it have to be wood to the heart? The daggers weren’t wood but they did have some on the handle. It was the highly sharpened and pointed blade of the dagger that was in him but as I watched it began to twist and turn, burying itself deeper causing Damien to cry out in pain.

I stood and mentally threw the remaining daggers towards my father but he simply deflected them before they could hit. I spun to Faith, desperation in my eyes. “You said he was weak that he wasn’t good at this.” I accused.

“He’s never done anything Flame. I swear I had no idea. He’s lied to us all, he lied to me, I’m sorry.” Tears filled her eyes.

“Sirene please do something.” I begged her but she gave a weak smile. I can’t move. He’s got us all pinned. It was too quick, he was smart. He knew to attack before we had time to get our guards up.”

“I think it’s safe to say I have you little girls’ right where I want you. You should not try and take on the big league. Now if you don’t want them to die and especially not lover boy there and you know if that dagger goes a little bit deeper and the wooden handle hits his heart, he’s gone…poof!” He blew his hands as if blowing away dust. “Now, release your mother and I. You can’t beat me. I’ve been telekinetic a lot longer than you Flame. Now do as I say, release…me.”

I turned from my father and met Faith’s frightened tear filled eyes and then to the others, Fabian and Sirene still pinned to the wall, held there by the unseen strength of my father’s sick and twisted mind and then to Damien, my beautiful vampire. The dagger was turning in him slowly and the pain had to be horrendous for him going by the agony etched in his face.

My shoulders slumped with defeat. I had to let him go. I couldn’t outwit him mentally, he was too strong. “Why, why did you abandon me if you are a more powerful telekinetic that I am? You made me feel ashamed for being what I am. I’ve run from people for years, too scared of having them find out and yet, you are one. Why? You owe me that much.”

“It’s simple little girl. I don’t like competition in anything and you were a threat plus, to be honest, I’m not much into kids. Your mother insisted on having you despite me asking her to abort. Kids cramp your style with all their demands, the vomiting, the nappies, so much mess and noise.  It’s awful.” He shuddered. “Not to mention the expense. Do you have any idea how much money is required to raise a child? My career was going well and something about being a parent just took the shine right off my celebrity status.” He said and I felt sick at his words. I’d meant nothing to him, nothing at all.

“Why not dump me earlier than eighteen then?” I asked.

“Unfortunately the legalities of it make it hard to just walk away from a child. It was damn frustrating. I was forced to put up with you and simply keep you in the background so you wouldn’t be a disruption to my career.”

I stared at my father, no this evil creature wasn’t my father. He added a new dimension to lowlife. He wasn’t worth spending any more time on. I had to save Damien and that meant letting the bastard go, for now at least.

With an air of defeat, I went and got the key that was kept in a hidden compartment and slowly, reluctantly turned the surprisingly heavy, ornate key in the old lock. My father pushed the door open so suddenly, it hit me in the temple, breaking the skin and I began to bleed.

“Let them go.” I asked quietly but my father just started to laugh, he laughed and laughed in an almost demonic sounding cackle and I stared at him, defeated, broken. “You’re not going to release him are you?” I asked, my eyes shifting sideways briefly when my mother, silent through all of this, walked out of the cell and stood behind my father, quietly, meekly.

“Now why would I do a thing like that? I’ll release him, just as soon as he.”  He pointed to Fabian. “Pays me my money. I’m fucking well not leaving here without…” He stopped abruptly just as the deafening sound of a gun being fired filled the area where we all were. It seemed to reverberate around the smallish area and I watched, confused at first at my father’s facial expression. He looked shocked, surprised, even stunned before slowly sinking to the floor. It was only just registering that there was a small, quite neat little hole on his forehead when another gunshot rang out and I screamed. “NO MUM!” But it was too late. The broken, defeated woman who had endured years of my father’s evil ways had finally had enough. She couldn’t make up for what she’d done to her daughter by leaving her but she had obviously decided to make things right now. She’d shot my father and taken her own life to avoid whatever we would have done to her I guess or maybe it was the thought of being alone. Living with a bastard like him was all she’d known for a few decades. Still whatever the reasons, my parents were dead, the stain of their blood flowing and pooling out around each of their bodies.

Suddenly dragged out of my near shell shocked state, I turned to Damien just as Fabian was tearing the dagger from his chest. With the death of my father, the mental hold he’d had on them was broken. It was over.

I rushed to him, collapsing on the concrete floor by his side. “Are you ok? God please Damien, don’t die on me. I’ve only just found you.” I began to sob.

“He won’t die Flame. He’s in pain but he will heal. He needs some human blood to make him better though. We all do for that matter.” He looked down to the two bodies on the floor and I blanched.

“NO! I don’t want Damien feeding from them.”

“They are there, my son needs blood urgently and you are letting your emotions rule you. Their blood is not poisoned. Damien will not leave you or hurt you if he takes some of the blood. It will be ok, he needs it now.”

Fabian dragged my mother’s body over to Damien. “Feed son before her veins start to collapse and you can’t draw it from her any more. She’s bleeding a lot.”

I watched, as he weakly began to feed from my dead mother while Fabian and Sirene took some from my father. Despite my misgivings, the change was remarkable. While vampire blood could heal humans, it was obvious that it was more than just a food source for vampires, it was a life source, a healer for us too.

In no time at all Damien was well enough to get to his feet, but it was only once he was standing he had to lean on me for support. I was more than happy to hold him though and wrapped an arm around his waist. I turned to see how Faith was going and she had a surprisingly calm, serene smile on her face as she stared down at my mother’s body and our father’s.

“They’re gone.” She raised her eyes to me. “He didn’t win, for once he didn’t win. It’s over.” She smiled, and then promptly burst into tears.

I looked on helplessly, needing to go to her but reluctant to release Damien. Instead Sirene went to her and hugged her while my sister wept. When her tears finally slowed and she was only hiccupping occasionally, Sirene gave the simple two word command and my parents’ bodies vanished plus all traces of their blood, anything that was a reminder of their presence was gone. Only the evil words and the mental anguish he’d caused remained. They wouldn’t be so easy to eradicate, it would take longer to recover for both Faith and myself.

Still the nightmare was over. The future dawned clear and trouble free. I had the man I loved, a sister I never knew I had and my parents’ were gone. I turned my head and stared into the beautiful eyes of the man who for one horrible moment I thought I’d been about to lose. “I love you.” I whispered reaching up to kiss him softly.

“I love you too babe, for eternity.” He replied and I felt his lips curve up in a smile against mine.

Epilogue

Francesca

Francesca let herself into her sire’s home, followed closely by her brother Dominick and his woman Allegra with Lucian and Arissa bringing up the rear. Arissa was giggling and telling Lucian to ‘stop it’ in hushed tones and Fran smiled. God, these in love types were nauseating. Never was she going to let herself fall in love.

They all headed for the living room and immediately it was obvious something was wrong plus there was a strange young woman with them. Who the hell was she and what had they all missed?

Dominick

“You first cara.” Dominick indicated that Allegra should precede him into the living room. It served two purposes but the most important one was he could enjoy the sight of her beautiful shapely ass in the tight dress she wore.