sanguineangels (56 page)

His eyes were cloudy gray, his face white as a man-made pearl. He had brown hair that fell in waves to just below his chin, too short to put back. His mouth was full, almost like a woman’s, and he had a cleft chin. I could have died in his eyes as he looked at me.

He moved his finger inside of me, pulling me closer to him, causing me to moan. He smiled at the sound, exposing two long teeth. “You liked that didn’t you, little one?”

“Yes,” I replied, and I remembered to look away after I answered him.

He moved his finger again, the sharpness cutting into me as if I had been impaled on a dagger, but I wanted more. After a moment, his hot breath exploded on my neck, as he was about to taste me. Then Aria’s cool hand came around my shoulder, showing her claim on me. Malachai withdrew himself, but I didn’t want him to. I desired him to use me as he would a piece of meat. I craved to be Malachai’s, but with Aria’s hand on my shoulder I snapped out of my daze and now understood why whatever human or vampire that came to him would stay with him forever. He was dangerous, enticing anyone with a hint of his power. I wondered how Aria had not succumbed to him, but I had a feeling she had had to fight to leave him.

“I did not bring her here for you to play with. I found this young one looking for her master, and as a courtesy I brought her to you, so you could reunite the two of them. She’s practically lost without him, aren’t you little one?”

“Yes,” I answered obediently.

“So you didn’t come here to make amends!” Malachai’s voice grew cold and distant.

The back of my brain started to itch, the same feeling I got when I had been human. Something bad was about to happen. I wanted to tell Aria we should leave, but now would not be the time to break the charade. I just swallowed and held my tongue, hoping that whatever I felt was a mistake.

“Make amends? I have nothing to make amends for. What happened between us ended a century ago. I thought you would have let it pass. I came here hoping you could help this poor creature.”

“Bullshit! You came here to get something out of me. This poor creature is not what she says, and if you don’t know that then you’re as stupid as the rest of the meat lovers you covet. No, this one is special. I can tell that about her even now,” he paused and turned his dangerous attention to me.

“So what do you want from me? Tell me and maybe I’ll help you,” he cooed.

His mind pressed against mine like a warm blanket. He would caress me from the inside out and take away all of my fear and pain. I yearned to fall into his wonderful embrace, but there was a reason I had come here. I had to be strong.

I summoned my anger at the thought of Devon and then the thought of Malachai as he allowed the other vampires to ravage the mortals around him. I didn’t understand how he could do that, or why they so wanted to be used by other vampires. Focusing this hatred, I was able to slice away his will from my thoughts.

“Brenna, don’t listen to him.”

The itching in the back of my head grew and even though I had cut his power from my mind, the problem hadn’t been solved. Danger still lurked in the shadows.

I looked up from my feet and stared right at Malachai. A look of shock appeared on his face. He had not assumed I would stare at him, that I would have the will to do it. I didn’t think I had the will to do it either, but I did. I cast off the aura I had been holding onto dearly, letting it shatter so he could see what I truly was, and what I truly wasn’t. Aria took in a breath and waited, as all of the other vampires in the room stopped and stared. I took a step forward toward the throne he sat on, testing his strength more than my own. I knew how powerful I was.

“Aria brought me here so I could find one like you.”

He was surprised I had challenged his power, but after a moment he recovered and tried again to bore his will into mine, to read my thoughts. However, he was not going to hold me this time. Malachai’s mind pushed against my shields like a raging flood on a dam, but I was not budging. I knew with his power he had to be older than Aria by at least a thousand years. I stood my ground, not bending.

“You’re a powerful creature, almost as strong as me, and certainly stronger than Arriana. You have a will of your own. You’d make a lovely addition to my stable. I could use one like you. Maybe someone to argue with. Soon you’d be begging me to ride you, to release you from your tortured mind. Wouldn’t you like that?”

“I don’t think so.” I turned to Aria. “Let’s go. He won’t help us.”

“No one ever turns their back on me!” Malachai screamed behind me.

Before I had time to face him, I’d already been thrown across the room, landing on my side, sliding across the rug. Bones cracked in my back as pain shot from my right side. It was hard to breathe as broken ribs punctured my lung. I turned to Malachai. He was still in human form but his claws extended, and his wings were drawn into his side. I took in a shallow breath, wiping the blood away with my tongue. He smiled at the sight, his forked tongue licking his lips. The itching had stopped in my brain. I was impulsive as ever and never listened to the advice I was given, even if it was otherworldly.

My own claws emerged as well as my wings. I was not afraid of him, or his kind. The other vampires in the room withdrew to the corners, knowing better than to get in the middle of the showdown. I got the sense of amusement from the master of the house. He thought he could bend me like a twig because to him I was a child. I smirked. I would show him what a child could do.

Gathering my strength, I ignored my wound and moved faster than he realized. I swiped with my claws, severing one of his wings. It fell to the floor, leaking blackened blood like a faucet. The thing looked like a piece of cardboard now that it had been disconnected. It flapped by itself and then stopped moving as Malachai shrieked from the pain.

He rushed at me fully transformed, his toe talons grating furrows in the red carpet. I saw him and ducked, taking advantage of the fact that he was off balance from the loss of his wing. He turned and charged again. This time I was not fast enough, and he scraped my arm to the bone, almost amputating it by the shoulder. It still rendered my left arm useless until I could heal it. I screamed in pain and was fueled by anger now more than anything.

I put my head down and tackled him with my good arm. Both of us collapsed on the ground. Before he recovered I got on top of him, planting my weight so he couldn’t move. He struggled and tried to get free, but I held him fast between my legs. As he did I got an idea. I noticed one of the candles nearby and cast my mind out, calling it to me. It was only a small object so I could get it. It tottered across the carpet until it was within reach. I grabbed it and held it close to his face, close enough that several pieces of his fur caught on fire. He yelped in pain and fear. I smiled and brought it to his eye so he could feel the heat. It was already starting to sizzle as the hot wax dripped into his open socket. As this happened, he transformed back to human form under me. It was a good thing, too, because I was running out of strength, not used to fighting another vampire.

“Please, you’ve shown them who has won. I’ve been disgraced. No one has ever bested me. They’re yours, take them. I’m sure that was why Arriana brought you here in the first place, to take over my brood.”

I glanced at Aria and then back at him. I certainly didn’t want the brood of subservient monsters he had under his roof. I just wanted Devon. “I don’t give a fuck about what you’ve got going on here. I just want some information.”

“Is that all you want? Then ask.”

“I want to know where Devon is. That’s it.”

“If you would get off of me, I won’t challenge you again. You have won.”

Aria nodded. So I rolled off of him and moved to one of the chairs. My shoulder was beginning to throb, and I grew weary. I needed to feed. The thought of warm blood in my body gave me something to look forward to and gave me an extra boost to stay focused, but it wasn’t going to last long. Maybe he was going to be loyal to his word, but somehow I doubted that.

“I’m looking for Devon. He’s your height, has short dark hair, skinny, long fingers, big hands. He may have had a woman with him, his slave. I need to know where they’re staying.”

He closed his eyes, relieved I had moved the candle from his face. He took a moment to compose himself, and then faced me. “There was one you spoke of. He was here about a week ago. He didn’t have a woman, but he brought me a delectable meal. He said if he could do anything just to contact him, but sadly I do not know where he is staying. I didn’t need to ask. He has always been welcome to move about my territory.”

I searched his face. He couldn’t lie now that I had taken his honor from him. Everything he had worked for had been taken away in a matter of moments. It was degrading for him just to be talking with me. He would rather I had killed him. I sighed, all my hopes of finding Veronica melting away. There was nothing I could do, but wait and hope that somehow, some way, she would come back to me. I wanted to leave the lush dungeon he had set up. I scanned the room, surveying the other vampires that waited expectantly for me to make a move, to bid them to do or say something. They had lost a Master but gained me as a Mistress, though I wanted nothing to do with the foul smelling beasts that lingered in this plush basement.

A piece of me wanted to stay and rule the brood, just as it had wanted to be dominated by Malachai, but this was one of the remaining things that connected me to the race of vampires. Even though part of me wanted to be conquered, it would never happen because I would always remember what I was and overcome that small flame in me. No, I would go one step further and free the humans he had captive. Yes, that seemed like a good move.

“Release the mortals,” I instructed Malachai.

He looked at me in shock. “You’ve got to be kidding!”

“Brenna, what are you doing?”

“You said I had won. Release them all.”

Before he could answer a loud howl split the noise of the room. I glanced around the room and saw the other vampires were salivating, and they got the sense that I wasn’t going to instruct them. Hunger bled into their eyes as they anticipated something and then the door burst open. A large man-wolf came barging into the room, driven by the scent of blood. I caught a whiff of its animal scent and knew it wasn’t a vampire. I wondered if this was a werewolf.

Malachai looked at me and smiled. “I don’t think I’m going anywhere. Nor are you.”

“But you said I won”

“Child, you bested me, yes, but you are nothing more than a meat-lover. And I would never relinquish my brood to one like you.”

I took a few steps backward as I watched his brood take a few steps toward me. Malachai was a monster, just like the others I had encountered. Only Aria had proven to be different than all of the rest of the cretins. Aria grabbed me, but his brood turned away from me and then back to their Master. Malachai’s look of triumph faded and was replaced by fear. The skin on a few beasts’ faces rippled and contorted as the undead pushed forward.

“She’s a meat-lover. I have not lost my place among you,” he screamed to his children. Aria pulled me toward the door as I watched his children descend. The werewolf howled again and jumped on one of the unsuspecting humans. Claws shredded flesh, sending a torrent of blood across the room. The monster sank its muzzle into the human. High-pitched wails erupted from the prey as they were broken from their spells. I tried to help the mortals, but Aria grabbed my arm and pulled me with her.

“You can’t help them. Come on. It’s them or us. I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to meet my Maker.” We made it through the door as Malachai’s pet feasted on what was left of the human. We slammed the door behind us and then made a run for it.

We passed the two gyrating twins and I noticed the gaping holes in their chests where their hearts had been eaten. The obscene orgy had evolved with a new twist. Two of the female vampires had transformed their faces and had their wings out, while the rest of them remained human. They had their victims sandwiched between them in mid-air, while they fucked and sucked them. The third female I had seen was now lying on the bed, spread eagled, letting drops of blood cover her naked body, so the others could lick it off her. I cringed at the sight. I went to enter into the room to try and free them, but Aria tugged on my arm.

“Come on,” she yelled.

“We have to help them.” I stood my ground when I heard a loud banging behind us. Screams of humans and vampires alike still sounded from behind the large oak door, but when I looked back the door was splintering. The large shape of something had already become embedded into it.

“Shit.” That was not one of the vampires. It was Malachai’s pet.

“Come on,” Aria screamed.

I stayed one more second, wishing to help the poor mortals when I knew I couldn’t. It was either them or us.

We made the stairs just as the door broke and something else happened. The stairs went soft as clay. My foot got stuck in the top one. I stumbled, tried to pull it free from the boards, but it was like putty, and when I looked up, I stared into the red, beady eyes of Malachai’s pet. Blood dripped from its long, brown fur. Its sharp teeth grinned at me as a pink tongue laid waiting in between them. I screamed. The muscles in its haunches bunched as it was about to pounce. Aria grabbed hold of my arms and pulled me into the kitchen just as the wolf landed. Its claws raked my leg to the bone. Aria half dragged me out the door as the werewolf struggled to hang onto the doorframe with his enormous claws. Like everything else the whole house was beginning to bleed together like a wet painting. Nothing was substantial as Aria made it through the back door and into the swamp just as the house dissolved into the mists and waters of the bayou, taking everything, including the wolf, with it.