BloodGifted (27 page)

Turning to Terens, on my left, I observed the same thing. It appeared this unholy gathering—in their obsession to take my blood—
had forgotten about their caged captives.

‘Sam, I’m glad you’re with us again. It would’ve been a shame had you missed anything. Maris has pro
mised quite a show.’ Russell smiled so sweetly, fangs protruding, it was chilling. ‘Isn’t that so?’ He said to her.

‘Of course,’ she replied. ‘
I’d originally planned to capture you both a few days earlier, starve you then throw in a couple of those street brats I’ve been feeding on so we’d all enjoy the spectacle. But,’ she shrugged, ‘it wasn’t to be! Pity, Douglas so enjoyed procuring them for me.’

I gasped. So she was the murderer Ma
tt was hunting!

‘You murderous
bitch!’ Sam exclaimed. ‘I should’ve terminated you long ago.’

‘You didn’t and now you’re
the one in the cage!’ She laughed.

Sam snarled
.

Maris turned her back on him. ‘
I believe our guest of honour needs a little encouragement to join us. We can’t perform our ceremony without his presence.’

I had a pretty good idea who this “guest of honour” might be.

‘May I suggest you use your two incentives?’ Russell looked at the two cages on either side of me.

Maris snapped her fingers again and two hooded figures appeared from either side of the stage. They positioned themselves directly behind Sam and Terens and, through the bars of the cage, placed their hands firmly on their prisoner’s backs.

An awful chill ran through me. I guessed that at a given signal, they were to be thrust onto the sharpened stakes. They both braced their legs against the cage.

‘I do regret this, boys. We’ve had some good times, but I can’t say I’ll miss your pretty faces, altho
ugh perhaps the ladies will.’ Russell grinned. ‘I’ve heard you two have quite a reputation there.’

‘Jealous?’ Terens retaliated.

Russell’s eyes narrowed. He glared, then seemed to collect himself. ‘Sorry, but the fish aren’t biting today, which is just as well as you both seem to have passed your use by date!’

Sam snorted again. ‘That’s lame, even for you Russell. But I wouldn’t be too sure as yet.’ He had recovered fully and the vampire in him was loose and straining at the meta
l bars of the cage.

‘It’s titanium, especially built to hold one of our kind. Don’t strain yourselves boys,’
Russell said with an icy smile while laughter drifted up from the stalls. He leapt up onto to the stage and joined Maris.

‘Let’s begin.’ She
nodded to the two hooded figures behind Terens and Sam.

‘No!’ I screamed
. Where was Alec? How could he let this happen? They’re his friends!

Chapter 26

Concealment

ALEC

I rushed through the entrance foyer and up the carpeted stairs to the balcony. From there, I had a clear view of what was happening. Below me, a large group of black-robed Brethren, hoods drawn low over their faces, sat silent and unmoving in front of the stage as if waiting for the entertainment to begin.

The
ir cloaks intrigued me—why the concealment? Yet on the other hand, why was I surprised? They were too craven for an outright confrontation, but brave enough to try to intimidate a helpless woman. So far, no one seemed aware of my presence. The ring was working.

I was about to move when a familiar voice spoke out from
among the hooded rebels below me. Russell. Of all the Brethren I had never suspected him. I’d liked and trusted him, believed him to be a friend.

Luc cursed, ‘
Fils de salope
!’

Jake and Cal
gave a quick intake of breath. They were listening to everything from outside.

Over several years, Russell
had declined our invitations and stopped visiting the House. He’d seemed friendly, if somewhat distant. Would he actually want to kill any of us? Had I been blind to this side of his character, or was this a recent development? Yet titanium cages are not built overnight. How long had he been planning this?

I would probably never know.

One thing was certain, he could dismiss years of friendship without a second thought and Terens and Sam were to be the first casualties. And Douglas? He was nothing but a pawn in Maris’s sick games, yet he was a monster too. He killed those human children. It explained the DNA the police took from their bodies.

Those two had just signed their own death warrant.

‘Luc, you heard?’ The rebels below me were too preoccupied to hear our voices.

‘They’ll pay,’ he replied
.

An idea came
. ‘Leave their bodies here. Burn the place down around them.’

‘Police find
them—on a mysterious tip off—match their DNA to those on the kids bodies and case closed.’

‘Uh huh.’

‘I like it!’

Two black
-cloaked and hooded figures strode up and stood behind Terens and Sam. I stiffened. ‘Damn!’

‘It’s Cal and Jake. I sent them in
. No one will detect them while they’re blocking.’

I let ou
t a tense breath. ‘Luc, I said—’

‘That’s
my daughter they’re holding captive, Alec! We’re still waiting on your okay.’

Just then Laura screamed.

‘Luc, stay there!’
I leapt over the railing and into their midst.

Chapter 27

Betrayal

LAURA

‘There’s no need for that,’ Alec coolly announced, as he suddenly landed on the floor in front of the stage.

Black hoods scattered in all direct
ions. So much for their bravado.

I fel
t like screaming his name, but as a modern 21
st
century woman I didn’t want to appear like the helpless heroine from a Regency novel—even though my current predicament seemed just that. And who was I kidding anyway? I was scared and seeing him there was close to heaven.

‘What took you?’
Maris said.

He gave her a dazzling smile
that took my breath away. ‘Darling, I always show at the right time.’

What?
I hoped he was being facetious, yet my mouth went dry all the same. He didn’t as much as glance at me, his eyes were glued to her.

‘Nice of you to join us. At l
ast we can begin,’ Russell said. A cold smile played around his mouth.

From my place on the stage
, I saw him nod to someone and four vampires jumped on Alec, brought him to his knees and pinned his arms behind his back. He didn’t struggle. Why?

‘
I’m sorry, Alec but Russ insists,’ Maris said.

‘This really isn’t necessary,’ Alec replied. ‘I’ve come here on my own, following the smelly trail your
pet, Douglas, left behind.’

Douglas growled and bared his fangs.

‘Tell him to sheath them or I’ll rip them out!’

Maris laughed, made a gesture with her hand and Douglas sat back down. She then
strode to my side, crouched down next to me and grabbed my chin. Her fangs were bared; their tips touched my skin and made my nerve endings crawl.

Russell joined her and sniffed
at my throat. ‘Mmmmm, delicious!’

‘Maris, if
you want us to be together again,’ Alec said dryly, ‘all you have to do is ask. There’s no need to kidnap and terrorise the girl.’

No! He c
ouldn’t be serious. I glanced to either side of me, at Terens and Sam. Terens wore a frown, but said nothing, and Sam’s eyes were narrowed. They merely watched.

Before I could open my mo
uth to yell a protest, the spotlights that were focused on us, moved. All except one, which was trained on me, moved to Alec.

Mar
is rose and left me, neatly leaping off the stage to stand in front of him.

‘Alec, if you’re playing with me
—’

‘H
ave I ever lied to you?’ He smiled at her.

‘Not that I found out!’ she replied.

‘Maris!’ Russell growled. He followed her, but only as far as the edge of the stage.

In
less than a heartbeat, Alec rose and threw his captors off. ‘I could have done that sooner, but I wanted to show you I didn’t come here to fight but to ask you to be my mate.’

‘Shit!’ It came
from Sam’s cage.

Alec took
Maris by the waist, and in front of everyone, kissed her.

Al
l I could do was stare and hope this was all a nightmare. Terens had said Alec wasn’t interested in Maris, so what was going on? Only a few hours ago he had kissed me the same way, and stupidly, I had responded. Was this the same man who charmed me last night at the Ritual? Had it all been a lie? I stared at him in shock.

‘Let me prove it to y
ou.’ He took her hand and they alighted the stage. ‘Go ahead, Maris, take a bite but just a sip, no more. The taste of First Blood is incomparable.’ He finally looked at me, his eyes cold.

I gasped
then blurted, ‘You’re my guardian… meant to protect me. Was it all a lie?’ I strained at the manacles that held me and struggled to hold back the tears that threatened to break loose.

‘I am protecting you. Depends
on how you look at it!’

My mind went numb and my
stomach bunched into knots. The fear I’d been trying to control roared through me at the horror of Alec’s betrayal. It was worse than Russell’s, for Alec was my father’s man. He had betrayed not only me, but Luc and all his men—his supposed friends.

‘Alec, this isn’t you,’ Terens called out. ‘What the hell are you playing at?’

‘You’ll soon find out,’ Alec replied.

‘You lying piece of trash!’
That moment I hated him and wished with all my heart to be home with Matt, safe and secure, in the warm comfort of his arms. I didn’t realise how badly I ached for it, until the warm saltiness of my tears landed on my lips. I couldn’t bear to look at him, so I closed my eyes, dropped my head and let the tears fall.

‘What about the rest of us?’ someone called out.

‘Maris and Russell first,’ Alec’s voice replied. ‘That’s all the girl will be able to handle tonight. We don’t want to kill her. Tomorrow night, another two can feed.’

I heard
murmurs and then another voice called out, ‘As long as you stick to your word!’

His word!
I almost wanted to laugh, but the pain I felt at his deception stopped me. I looked up as I heard him say, ‘The wrist only, Maris. Neck’s mine, remember? And gently,’ he added as an afterthought. ‘Russell, you take the other wrist.’ He said it so cold-bloodedly, I would never have believed it of him. Was I that bad a judge of men?

Sam
swore and cried out. ‘Alec, you can’t!’

Alec ignored him and w
ith his arm around Maris’s waist, he led her to me.

‘I’
ll wait for Maris to finish,’ Russell said and stood back.

‘I’ll tell you what it’s like, Russ.’ Maris
licked her lips, then crouched over me and slid her fangs along the length of my arm.

I
panicked and no matter how much I hated Alec just then, I turned to him in desperation. ‘Don’t do this, Alec! Don’t let her, please!’

Terens and Sam shouted
and swore to kill Alec as soon as they got the chance.

He looked impassivel
y on as Maris bit down hard. I screamed. Her fangs were like two large nails being driven into me. There was no numbing vampire saliva, just the agonising pain. The more I struggled, the harder she bit down, seeming to rip my arm apart in her frenzy, sucking my blood with such ferocity I believed she would kill me.

Alec
swore loudly, pulled her off me and yelled out, ‘Luc, now!’ The door burst open and with a loud roar, Luc, Jean and Antonius, each with a sword in their hand, rushed in as Alec tore the metal from my wrists and if he hadn’t caught me, I would have slumped to the floor.

‘Bastard!’ With what remaining strength I had, I slapped his face.
‘Get away from me!’ and I tried pushing him off.

In a blur, Luc
was at our side. He was breathing hard and looking daggers at Alec. ‘I could kill you for this! Why did you risk her life?’

Ignoring him, my protests and
the commotion around us, Alec pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around my punctured, bleeding arm and said, ‘I’m sorry I had to put you through that. It was the only way to convince them.’

I looked up at him, totally confused as he
ripped the ropes from my legs and cradled me to him. Hooded vampires raced past us and scattered in all directions as Luc’s men, with the now-freed Sam and Terens, went after them.

Nearby, Maris writhed on the ground and screamed. She clawed at her throat, her face contorted in agony. Blo
od—my blood—dribbled from her mouth. She appeared to burst into flames and shrivel up in front of us. The pungent smell of burning flesh filled my nostrils and I choked. The flames leapt higher and left nothing but a stinking, smouldering, twisted and charred heap. In less than a minute, even that disintegrated into a pile of black ash.

‘Mon Dieu! You knew! How?’
Luc turned disbelieving eyes onto Alec.

‘
Not now! I must get Laura to the hospital. She’s lost a lot of blood. That creature tried to drain her. I thought I could prevent—’ He stopped and gave me a regretful look.

I couldn’t focus well and
my eyes began to dim. ‘You could have told me—in my mind.’

‘
I thought of doing that, but you had to look convinced as well.’

It had all been an act!
‘You should get an award for that performance. I hated you.’ My voice was weak and my heart was confused all over again.

‘You still might.’ He picked me up, neatly lea
pt off the stage and carried me out of the building.

‘Did my blood do that to her?’ I asked.

‘Seems that way. How do you feel?’

‘How do you think I feel!’

‘Symptoms, Laura. I need symptoms.’

I understood what he meant.
‘Sick. My arm’s throbbing; want to pass out.’

Luc appeared beside
us. ‘We’ll take my car. Get in the back seat with Laura. I’ll drive.’

We sped through the
dark, near empty streets. I closed my eyes and buried my face in Alec’s shoulder, trying to not to admit how wonderful that felt. Even though I was nauseous and my whole arm felt as if on fire, the rest of me glowed knowing that everything he’d said to Maris had been a lie.

‘Say the alphabet backwards, Laura. Concentrate, c’mon stay with me.’

I tried. ‘Z…y, x…um, w…’ I’d reached the letter P when the car stopped. Alec carried me into emergency. I recognised the disinfectant smell I so disliked.

An unknown female voice called. ‘Dr Munro?’

‘Carol, four units of O negative—the one with my name on it—and I.V. fluid. Hook it up. Now!’ he barked.

Who was Carol? Was she the night-duty nurse? Her feet padded off into the distance. I heard the chink of curtains being pulled back, felt myself being lowered onto something cold and soft, probably one of those horrid hospital beds with wheels.

‘Laura, open your eyes. I need to see them,’ Alec said.

‘Do I have to?’ I was getting weaker.

‘Yes, you do.’ I opened them to see a half-smile, which didn’t disguise the worried look on his face.

Luc was quickly by my bedside. He took hold of my other hand. ‘I parked in your spot,’ he said to Alec.

Alec acknowledged that with a quick nod as he untied the handkerchief and examined my wound. The nurse came back in carrying a folded white piece of cloth. She removed my blouse and Alec stuck me with yet another sharp and pointy object. As if I hadn’t had enough of that tonight. This one had a plastic tube attached to it.

‘Laura, I’m inserting an intravenous drip as well as blood. Your haemoglobin count is far too low, honey.’

He cupped my face in his hand and gently angled my head to his side of my bed. ‘Look at me, Laura. Can you understand what I’m saying? Nod if you do.’

I did.

‘Good.’

Anothe
r nurse rushed in with a plastic bag filled with red fluid. Alec attached it to the tube and hooked it on a pole next to my bed. The rich, scarlet liquid slid down the tube and into my arm.

‘I’ll give you an injection to ease the pain,’ he said.

I groaned, ‘Not more sharp and pointy objects.’

He chuckled.

I closed my eyes and felt the wonderful drug snake through my system… felt the world fade… away.