Blood Vengeance (18 page)

Cedric shook his head, regarding his pack-mate as if he were an errant child.

Duncan knocked him upside the head. “And ye got our brother taken for yer impulsiveness.”

“I can see where that would piss her off,” Nik agreed.

Lucian lifted his chin defiantly. “We got him back.”

“Lucky for ye,” Marc growled.

“Alright, alright.” Cedric glanced around. “Where’s yer lassie, Nik? I’d like tae see th’ wee kitten. S’long as she promises to no’ make things move around on their own and such.” He shivered at the thought.

Nik sat down on the couch near Cedric.

“She’s not here.”

“Well, where is she? I’d be careful letting that one out o' your sight. She tends tae get ‘erself into trouble.”

Nik shot him a dirty look. “Only when there are mischievous werewolves around.”

Cedric leaned forward, one hand over his heart, his long, black ponytail falling over his shoulder as he declared earnestly, “I swear to ye, my brother, if I’d had any idea those things were out there, I never would have sent ‘er off on ‘er own like that tae be captured. I thought a few normal vamps would jump out, and then we’d know how many we needed tae kill tae get inside. We coulda’ surprised ‘em that way.” His blue-white eyes stared directly into Nik’s, his sincerity easy to see.

Nikulas smacked him on the knee. “I know, man. I’m not gonna say it’s all right, because it’s not. That was fucked up, what you did.”

“Truly. We were just havin’ a bit o’ fun. We never thought any harm would come tae ye’re lassie. I will make it up tae ya, I swear.”

Leaning forward, Nik caught his eyes with his own. “I’m holding you to that."

Cedric reached out a hand, which Nikulas took and shook firmly.

"I could actually use some help now," Nik told him. "Finding our Hunters.”

"Done. Ye dinna even need to ask."

Duncan waited until the deal was concluded before asking, “So, how is our Luukas? He seemed a bit…and I mean no offense, but…
off
when we saw him last.”

Nikulas leaned back wearily, the constant worry he felt inside written all over his face. “I don’t know. He has Keira up there…”

“Th’ witch that helped tae torture him?” Cedric exclaimed.

The other three wolves recoiled from Nik's words, crossing themselves superstitiously.

“Yeah, the witch,” Nik said in his best Wizard of Oz voice, wiggling his fingers at them.

“Dinna make fun, man,” Lucian growled. “Witches are no’ something to be taken lightly.”

Laughing, Nik agreed. “No, you’re right. Except this witch in particular is seriously ill in Luukas’ bed at the moment. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

“Ill? How do you ken she’s no’ just faking it?” Cedric asked suspiciously.

“Because she’s got an infected vampire bite and is running a fever so high, she could almost pass for one of you.”

“Luukas did that to her?” Duncan asked in disbelief.

“No. Luukas would no’ do that. It was probably one of the guards. Am I right?” Marc asked.

“That’s what she said,” Nikulas agreed.

“Aye, I thought I heard one complaining about ‘the witch and her deals’ as he brought us some food. ‘N how he should’ve just kept the ‘bagged shite’ for himself.”

“Bagged shit? Bagged blood?”

“Aye.” Marc confirmed.  “Leah fed the guards bagged blood when they were on duty.”

“What did Keira need bagged blood for?” Nik’s voice trailed off as he said more to himself than anyone else, “Unless she needed it to feed Luuk. Would she have risked herself on purpose like that?”

“What’re ya whisperin’ to yerself over there?” Cedric asked.

Nik just shook his head, saying dismissively, “Just wondering if she did it for Luukas.”

“But, why would she ‘ave done something so daft?” Duncan asked Marc.

“Because she is Luukas’,” Nikulas answered. “His mate.”

“Like you ‘n Emma?”

“Yes.”

“No shite,” Cedric breathed.

“No shit.”

The wolves crossed themselves again.

Chapter 24

Luukas

Two nights had gone by since his brother had brought the pills for Keira. Whenever Nikulas came to check on her, Luukas stopped him at the front door. He told him that he’d had a change of heart, that he was making sure she took the drugs, and that she was getting better. His brother was skeptical, but given no other choice, he’d go back to his search for the Hunters.

In truth, he was doing no such thing, and she wasn’t getting better. She was getting drastically worse with every hour.

The dark side of him, the one that craved her death, the one that craved vengeance, laughed gleefully as it watched the witch suffer. It rejoiced in every jagged, red line it saw creeping out from the wound in her neck, until there were so many they resembled a spider’s web covering her upper torso. It clapped its hands with delight at her feverish mumblings. It got a hard-on as it watched her fumble weakly on the nightstand for the medication.

She’d knocked it off of the nightstand the first time she'd tried to get it. He’d left it on the floor.

He was going to have to finish her off soon. His brother was getting more and more suspicious. He'd argued with him and had tried to force his way in to see her the last time he was here.

Luukas had ripped the locks from the door after he’d left, so he couldn’t sneak back and use his key. He'd barricaded it shut for good measure.

Rip her open! Suck her dry! Kill her! Burn her!

Luukas stood at the foot of the bed, watching her as she struggled to breathe. He smiled an evil smile as she thrashed under the covers, her eyes rolling back in her head. It appeased him somewhat to see her in such painful agony.

But it still wasn’t enough, wasn't anywhere near enough. It wasn't anywhere close to the pain
he’d
gone through because of
her
.

The wound on her neck was a raging red, the spider web of infection bright against her pale skin. Puss oozed from the bite. He would need to get new sheets when this was done.

Can’t hurt her!

Shut up!

Squeezing his eyes shut, he attempted to suppress the other part of him, the one that wanted to keep her as his own. Forever.

She does not deserve to be mine. She deserves to suffer.

His brother’s words came back to him,
“If she
is
your mate as you say, and you let her die, you won’t be far behind her.”

Yes, so the legend goes. But that’s all it was, a legend. Besides, he wasn’t insisting the witch was his to claim her as his mate, but only to keep her with him so as to make her pay for what she did to him. That’s all.

You're lying to yourself. She is yours. You admitted as much the other evening.

Luukas slammed his palms to each side of his head and began to pace the floor as the two voices warred within him. Since she'd fallen ill, he’d been able to fight down that weakness for her, and let the darkness rule inside of him. But it was getting harder and harder the more sick she became.

She could
not
be his mate. It wasn’t possible. Fate would not be so cruel.

Would it?

He stopped pacing and stared down at her in alarm. Her eyes were open for the first time in days, and she was looking back at him, watching him.

MINE.

No!

There was no blame in her large, hazel eyes. No disbelief that he would do this to her. No hatred towards him.

Just a calm understanding.

“Stop looking at me like that! You
deserve
this, witch, for all that you did to me.”

A gentle smile lifted the corners of her mouth and her gaze softened upon him. Her hand lifted from the bed, reaching for his, “Luukas…”

Her smile faltered. Her hand drifted back down to the bed. Her eyes glazed over as the infection triumphed over her body.

One heartbeat.

Two heartbeats.

“Keira?”

She didn’t answer him or open her eyes. Her breath rattled in her chest.

“Keira?” he whispered.

Can’t hurt her!

Luukas sank down onto the edge of the bed next to her.

Her lips parted, moving slightly as her eyelids twitched and then, finally, opened. He noticed for the first time that there were flecks of gold in with the green and brown of her irises. How beautiful.

She was trying to tell him something. He leaned down to hear her better, although it was more habit than necessity with his vampire hearing.

“I’m s...sorry,” she breathed. “Never wanted to…hurt…you. My sister…please forgive me.”

Her small hand reached for him again, and this time, he took it within his much larger one. She gave him one last attempt at a smile, and then her beautiful eyes, so bright and alive just a few days ago, fluttered closed.

“Keira?”

He couldn’t breathe, the sudden pain in his chest more intense than anything he’d gone through under Leeha’s command. He squeezed her small hand.

“Keira!”

Grabbing her shoulders, he shook her hard. Her head rolled backward, loose on her neck.

“No! NO!” he roared. The very walls quaked with his distress. “Don’t you leave me! Don’t you dare leave me!”

He shook her again, and this time, he heard the slightest groan of protest come from her limp form.

“Keira? Hang on. I demand that you stay with me. Do you hear me, witch?”

Lifting his wrist to his mouth, he sank his fangs into his veins, and pressed the open wound to her mouth.

“Drink, Keira.”

The blood dripped into her slack mouth, but she didn’t make any effort to swallow it.

His heart pounding, he fought down the rising panic. Pressing his wrist harder to her mouth, he shook her again with his other hand.

She lay lifeless in his arms.

“Drink, dammit! Drink! Don’t you fucking leave me! I won’t forgive you, witch! Do you hear me? I won’t ever forgive you if you leave me!”

His harsh words must've gotten through to her. Her dry lips moved just slightly, closing on the wound, and he felt her try to suck.

“That’s a good girl,” he told her. “Keep drinking.”

She moaned with pleasure as his lifeblood ran down her throat. Her hands rose shakily to his arm, holding him to her mouth, and she began to suck harder. Another moan escaped her, and her eyes shot open to lock onto his as she drank.

Luukas had never felt anything as satisfying or as pleasurable as he did at the moment, watching this female drink from him. Tremors wracked his body with each pull she took. He had the sudden urge to fuck her while she took his blood, to possess her completely, but he held himself back. She was too sick, too weak.

Can't hurt her.

Sweat beaded on her forehead as her fever broke, her face becoming flushed and damp. He watched as the spider’s web of infection faded on her neck, the wound drying up before his eyes, until it was nothing but a slight blemish on her perfect skin.

He let her drink until he felt lightheaded, wanting to be sure she’d had enough, until he could give her no more. Gently, he pried his wrist from her swiftly strengthening hands.

“That’s enough, witch,” he told her tenderly, “You’ll drain me dry.”

She moaned in protest, but let go of his arm, licking her lips.

"Holy shit!" she exclaimed, "That stuff is like a shot of adrenaline to the heart."

He smiled faintly at her accurate description.

Her face got serious. “Why did you do that?” she asked, watching him lick the wound to heal it.

Why indeed?

“I don’t know,” he answered honestly.

“Well, in any case, thank you, Luukas, for saving me.”

He looked away, unable to meet the truth in her eyes. “Maybe I saved you only to make your life miserable for a little while longer.”

She smirked at his words.

“So, is it done then?” she asked quietly.

His eyes shot back to hers. “Is what done?”

“The bond. You’ve had my blood. I’ve had yours. We’ve had sex. Is it done?”

“What do you know about a bond?” he asked her suspiciously.

Pushing herself into a sitting position, she reached for her water.

“Well?” he asked impatiently.

She gave him a look over the top of her glass, setting it back on the nightstand carefully before she answered him. “I was taught many things growing up, all in secret, of course. My parents taught me everything they knew about your kind. They wanted me to be prepared, and hoped that once I became part of the coven again, I’d have the knowledge to enter into a peaceful partnership with the vampires, like it used to be.”

“That doesn’t answer my question,” he pressed.

She quirked an eyebrow at him. “Vampires can bond to humans for life. They will know they’ve met their mate after they drink from them. Their instincts will kick in, or something about the blood will let the vampire know, or whatever. That part isn’t exactly clear to us. Once they drink from said mate, they can never be without their blood, or the vampire will die. The human mate is given the vampire’s blood in return, therefore enabling them to live as long as their vampire. The vampire gets a lifelong feeding supply and lover. The human gets the benefits of stopping the aging process, never getting sick, and having the love and protection of a vampire. Does that about sum it up?”

Luukas stood up from the bed, wandering over to the windows to think. “And you were told that this is true? Not just some old fable passed down through the years for entertainment?”

“Yes. I assumed that all of your bellowing to everyone that ‘the witch is mine’ was your subtle way of stating that, by some strange quirk of fate, I was indeed ‘yours’. Nikulas confirmed it when we were talking the other day.”

He let her words roll around in his head. After a moment, he heard her getting out of bed. “I’m going to hop in the shower if that’s ok.”

It wasn't really a question, and he smirked. It seemed his headstrong witch was back to her normal self.

He heard dresser drawers opening and closing as she helped herself to some clean clothes and padded barefoot into the bathroom.

Luukas waited for the dark side to return. Waited for the need for revenge to return. Waited for the voice in his head to turn hateful and demanding. Waited for it to order him to go in there and kill the witch.

He waited.

And waited.

But the voice didn’t return. It didn’t even whisper to him.

Tentative relief gripped him. Was it gone then?

Relaxing a bit for the first time since he’d escaped Leeha's hell, Luukas purposely flexed his power, letting it out and then snapping it back tightly to him. He’d been holding it in check as best he could since coming home, afraid he couldn’t control it, afraid he would hurt someone he loved when the darkness overtook his mind. Someone like Nikulas.

Or Keira.

Did he love her? No. That wasn’t possible. He felt a bond with her, sure. They’d spent years together under Leeha’s sick control, with no one for company but each other, when she wasn’t using her witchcraft on him. And she had helped him towards the end, as best she could.

But this entire “mating” thing, that couldn’t possibly be true. He’d never heard of it actually happening in all of his more than six hundreds years of vampire life. Never. It was nothing but an old wives' tale.

Then how do you explain your feelings for this witch? This urge to keep her away from other males, and to protect her, even from yourself! How do you explain what just happened?

Keira didn’t seem to have any doubts. Actually, she seemed completely fine with the idea. Didn’t it scare her? Worry her in the least? Didn't she care that she could potentially be tied forever to a vampire that hated her? One that wasn't capable of treating her as he should? Couldn't protect her as he should? One who was now less than a male?

Striding over to the bathroom, he disregarded the locked door, easily breaking the latch and barging inside. The witch screeched and spun around in the shower, poking her head out from behind the curtain.

“Luukas! What are you doing? The door is locked for a
reason
!”

“Are you not concerned at all that you may be my mate? Me? The male you tortured for years? The male you can barely stand to look at?”

“Can’t stand to look at? What are you talking about?”

Throwing his shoulders back, he lifted his chin, fighting the shame that filled him whenever he thought of his reflection, of the empty shell of a male that he’d become, of his stranger's eyes.

“I’m talking about the first day we came home," he forced out. "You averted your eyes from me when we were showering. Do I disgust you so much?”

“Luukas, how could you think that you disgust me? I averted my eyes because you were naked…beautifully naked, but naked nonetheless. It just shocked me, that's all. I’ve had sex with you since then for gods’ sake. Not counting that time in the mountain when we still had clothes on. Why would I do that with someone I wasn't attracted to?”