Blood Vengeance (2 page)

He was going to rip her apart, piece by bloody piece, if it was the last thing he ever did.

Chapter 2

Keira

Tears rolled freely down Keira’s face, her heart breaking inside her chest as she held the vampire immobile against his will. She despised her abilities, despised her magic. Hated that it enabled the evil female at her side to force her to emasculate this strong, beautiful male: this male that she now loved.

She held him there against the stones as he raged, until he finally passed out again, his blood-covered, emaciated body hanging lifeless from his chains.

Gritting her teeth and dropping her arms, she tried again to plead with the demented female standing at her side. “Please, Leeha. He’s weak enough now from not feeding. It’s been years. You don’t need me here anymore! Please, let me go.” So she could figure out a way to come back and save him.

Leeha approached her prisoner, running her hand lightly down his hard chest. Strips of his shirt fell in tatters around his lean waist from countless whippings and knifings, the waistband of his jeans and the strip around his neck the only things really holding it up. A tremor ran through him and he let out a soft groan, as though he cringed from her touch even in his unconscious state.

Keira winced at the sound, wanting to knock the bitch’s hand away from him. “I won’t do this anymore, Leeha. Do you hear me? I refuse to be a part of your sick plan any longer!”

“Oh, stop with all of the dramatics.” Leeha scoffed. “He’ll be fine, just as soon as he stops being so damn self-sacrificing.” She sighed heavily. “He’s only trying to protect his creations.” One corner of her lips turned up in a smirk. “Little does he know, it’s already too late for that.”

Her eyes roved lovingly over his masculine physique, and Keira tensed, hating the possessive way she looked at him.

“I do care about him, you know.” Leeha’s voice was wistful. “I always have. He cares about me too,” she insisted to her. “He told me so once, right after he burned my father alive. He just refuses to admit it.”

She smiled strangely at Keira. It made her nervous. “Funny, how he reacts so violently to you. If I didn’t know better, I’d almost be jealous.” Her head jerked to the side like a bird as she eyed the other woman. “I can’t quite figure it out. After all, I’m the one who brought him here. I’m the one who orders these sessions. Why do you bring out more emotion in him than I?”

She shrugged delicately, making a dismissive noise. “I’ll sway him over to my side eventually.”

Keira couldn’t blame him for acting the way he did towards her. If it weren't for her, he wouldn't be here.

“Let me go, Leeha.”

“I can’t do that, witch. I need you.”

“No, you don’t!” Keira maintained.

Leeha smiled benignly. “Stupid, stupid girl. Did you really believe I would just let you go? Allow you to go back to your boring life? With you here, I have more power than I ever dreamed possible.” She giggled with delight, gesturing to Luukas. “Even a powerful Master vampire is naught but putty in my hands.”

Keira stared at her in disbelief.  “You can’t just keep me here forever.”

Leeha bared her fangs without warning, nightmares swirling in her eyes until Keira had to look away, lest she get sucked into them, until she was as mad as her vampire. “Oh, but I can. And if you think to defy me...well, I’ll just have to pay a quick visit to your home, and a certain naive little sister of yours.” Sheathing her fangs, she hid a mischievous giggle behind her hand. “Well, maybe not so naive anymore.”

Keira’s hands fisted at her sides as her head snapped up, her eyes shooting fire at the threat to her sister. “You stay the hell away from Emma.”

Leeha wagged a finger in her face. “Temper, temper, witch. Remember, I have a contingency plan. If anything happens to me, you’ll never reach her in time. There won’t be a thing you can do to save her.”

Breathing heavily, Keira forced herself to look away, and kept her mouth shut and her magic dormant.

Leeha studied her thoughtfully for a moment. “Since you’re such a bleeding heart, I think I’ll just leave you in here, instead of returning you to your cell. Maybe your presence will ‘comfort’ him some more.” She giggled again, sweeping her gown aside dramatically to leave, crossing the cell so fast she seemed to disappear and reappear in the doorway.

“What? NO! Leeha…Leeha!” Keira rushed after her, but the thick wooden door was slammed in her face. Yanking on the handle, she threw her shoulder into it and tried to knock it loose, but it wouldn’t budge.

Narrowing her eyes rebelliously, she began to speak the words of an unlocking spell through gritted teeth, when Leeha called from the other side in a singsong voice, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, witch.”

Keira paused mid-verse, reigning in her temper, and dropped her hands.

Tiredly closing her eyes, she listened to Leeha order one of the “normal” guards to stay there and watch the door. She pulled her threadbare blanket closer around herself, covering her bare arms and legs, unsuccessfully trying to keep the damp chill at bay. Taking a fortifying breath, she resisted the urge to cough, and tried to ignore the way the musty air burned her lungs. She didn’t know if it would be enough to rouse the vampire again, but she didn’t want to take the chance.

Quietly as she could, she shuffled back to her corner in the shadows and sank down onto the cold dirt. Her belly growled loudly and she placed a hand over it. They’d probably forget to feed her again.

Her eyes misted over. How had she gotten herself into this mess?

She missed her sister, and prayed that she was ok. The last time she’d seen Emma, they’d been leaving a carnival near their hometown. It was the first time they'd really had fun since their parents had died months before. After riding every ride and eating millions of calories worth of carnival food, they'd chased each other across the field towards their car, and had wandered into a nightmare, to find creatures of hell waiting for them.

Tall and thin, yet strangely muscular, their grey skin was rotting off of their bare bodies, yet they were alive. Blood oozed from their bulging eyes as they observed the girls, and then their leader had pushed its hairless head towards them and hissed loudly, bloody saliva dripping from its mouthful of fangs...

They'd come for
her
, one of them scooping her up onto its bony shoulder and running off into the trees. Its claws had dug into the backs of her legs to keep her still, and it had lapped at the bleeding wounds disgustingly as it carried her through the woods.

She'd screamed at her sister to "RUN!" but it was too late. As she’d watched helplessly, the remaining creatures had closed in on Emma, cutting her off from her sight. Keira had no idea what had happened to her, other than what Leeha had told her: That she was released safe and sound once Keira had been taken far enough away.

Problem was, there was no way in hell she trusted that bitch. Had they attacked her sister? Fed from her? Let her go? Was she home safe, or locked up in a dirty cell like this one? Was she even still alive, or had they killed her?

A single tear escaped her tightly closed eyes, leaving a wet trail down her dirt-streaked cheek.  She wiped it away with a shaky sigh. Feeling sorry for herself wouldn’t get her anywhere. What she needed to do was figure out a way to get them all out of this mess: Emma, herself, and the vampire.

As though he sensed her attention on him, she heard his chains rattle as he moaned, the pitiful sound bringing a fresh bout of tears to her eyes. Sliding one booted foot in towards himself, he tried to get his leg under him to relieve his disjointed shoulders of some of his weight, but he was too weak, and he collapsed again with a jerk and a hiss of pain as his foot slipped back out from under him. His head lolled on his chest as he, thankfully, blacked out again.

Keira let her eyes roam over him as he hung there. Even dirty, starved, and covered in his own drying blood, he was a beautiful specimen of a male.

His thick, dark hair brushed the bottom of his neck and hung in his face, hiding his broad forehead, prominent cheekbones, and strong jaw. His eyes, when open, were deep set and intense, and inexplicably, had darkened to a depthless ebony a year or so after he’d been brought down here.

What was left of his t-shirt did nothing to hide the ropes of muscle straining against the confinement of the chains. His olive-toned skin was ashen and slightly loose on his bones from the lack of feedings, but she remembered the rich coloring he’d had, and would have again, if she had anything to say about it.

Seven Years Ago

The moment she’d first caught sight of him, Keira's heart had stopped beating, only to resume pounding hard and fast in her chest a moment later.

The notorious Luukas Kreek: the Master vampire who’d crossed an entire ocean and built up his own colony of vampires in a brand new land; a risk that had been unheard of before he came along.

Her breath had caught in her throat when he’d stepped from his vehicle outside the front entrance of Leeha’s main fortress and confidently strolled towards them. Wearing only jeans, combat boots, and a casual black t-shirt, he nonetheless had a commanding presence which demanded her attention.

She couldn't take her eyes off of him.

His power coiled around him like a living essence, preceding him as he strode their way. It slithered over her skin when it reached her, feeling her out. Though she’d stood behind and slightly to the left of the female vampire who’d called him there, silver-grey eyes had honed in on her immediately, shining through the inky night like beacons. He’d smiled at her, and she’d returned the smile, powerless to do otherwise, until she’d remembered the reason she was there.

He’d frowned slightly as her smile had faltered, his eyes narrowing in suspicion as he’d quickly glanced at Leeha, and then towards the thick trees on either side of the creek that flowed directly into the mountain in front of him.

He’d known then. He’d known that something was up. Pausing briefly where he was, he’d raised an eyebrow, a question in his eyes.

She’d never met him before, had only heard stories, but something inside of her had balked at being a part of what Leeha had planned. Mindful of the threat to her sister, she’d tried to warn him without drawing attention to herself, looking pointedly at his Hummer and then back at him, trying to tell him to run for it.

But he’d just cocked his head and grinned arrogantly, fearlessly. She’d known why he wasn’t afraid. There weren’t many threats to a Master vampire as powerful as he was. Actually, there were only two: killing all of his created children, his power draining with each death, and a witch. A powerful witch…like Keira. And she, under Leeha’s orders, had been very careful to keep her magic concealed so he wouldn’t sense it.

Approaching the two females, Luukas had come to a halt directly in front of Leeha, finally dragging his eyes from Keira long enough to greet her. Bending at the waist, he’d taken her proffered hand, briefly kissing the back of it before letting it drop back to her side.

“Leeha.”

His voice was deep and as smooth as a fine cognac. He’d spoken in low tones, and Keira had felt chills whisper over her skin as he’d bowed again and introduced himself to her, boldly raking his eyes over her small form. “My name is Luukas Kreek, originally from Estonia.”

She’d opened her mouth to tell him her name, but was interrupted by Leeha before she could say anything.

“She is not important,” she’d sneered. “I trust you had no troubles finding my home?”

Luukas had stared intensely at Keira a moment longer before turning his attention back to his hostess. “No trouble at all. Shall we go in? Or are we going to do this out here?”

Leeha had smiled at him sweetly, looking up at him through lowered lashes. “Follow me.” Shooting a warning look Keira’s way, she’d grabbed her roughly by the arm and pushed her out in front, while she herself fell into step with Luukas.

“Do you have a new pet?” she’d heard him ask.

Leeha had chuckled. “You could say that.”

“Does she not have any warmer clothes?”

Keira had still been wearing the rolled-up cargo shorts, slip-on Keds, and white, short-sleeved printed T-shirt she’d worn to the carnival.

Leeha had been silent for a moment. “I suppose I could find her something,” she’d said offhandedly.

She hadn’t. Keira still wore the same clothes today, but she
had
been given something of a blanket.

Following the rambling creek into the cave at the base of the mountain, Keira had felt the tiny hairs rise on the back of her neck as she felt the weight of his eyes on her. She tried to ignore him, leading them over to the tunnel that would take them into the interior. Torches lined the walls, lighting the way through the narrow space, until it gradually opened into a gaping cavern, and Luukas had whistled with appreciation as he’d taken it all in. “Wow. Quite a place you have here.”

The main room they’d entered had been gouged out of the mountain interior until it resembled a great cathedral of old, including mosaic floor tiles, massive columns, and a soaring ceiling of pointed arches. At the far end of the center aisle were smooth stone steps leading up to a large platform, upon which sat an impressive throne made of the same glossy, black stone that lined the walls, with threads of glittering gold interspersed throughout. Plush red cushions covered the seat and back, completing the royal effect.