Lissa Kasey - Dominion 2 - Reclamation (9 page)

I
TUGGED
at the cuffs and tried to pull free from the radiator. Those things were attached to pipes or something, right? Was there a way to break them?

The door opened, and Andrew Roman walked in. He stood there staring at me for a minute. Since he made no move to pull a gun or a phone or anything, I assumed he was not here to help.

“You took him rather easily,” Roman said to Sam, who stood behind him. “Im surprised. But the entire city is out looking for him.” He crossed the room and knelt in front of me, looking at me like I was some sort of exotic bug he was getting ready to pin down. “Hes not as pretty without the hair. Wonder what Gabe sees in him.”

Andrew stared at Sam for a minute. “We know what he sees in you, dont we?”
Sams lips tightened. He pulled the door shut but didnt try to move any closer.
“Where is Santini?”
“Matthew said he wasnt awake yet.”
Romans expression turned into a mask of rage. “I told you to take Santini. The kid was just a way to ensure hed do what you say.”
Sam backed away, moving away from the only exit to the room.
The door opened again, and Matthew appeared, smiling like the crazy man he was. “Roman,” he greeted.
“You were supposed to bring Santini. I didnt need the damn kid.”
“The kid belongs to me. I will make him my focus. You can do whatever you want with your old butt buddy,” Matthew snarled back.
Roman crossed the room in two long glides and punched Matthew so hard he flew into the wall with a crunch. Sadly, he still got back up, chuckling the whole time. He didnt look any less crazy with blood running down his face and half a rib protruding from his chest.
“Sensitive guy, arent you?” Matthew pulled me up by the shirt, not seeming to care that I was cuffed to the radiator. “I think Seiran and I will use the bed. To get reacquainted, if you know what I mean.”
“I dont think so. Call Santini. Hell want to talk to Rou. Once Santini is here, you can rape and torture the kid all you want in front of him. Well have him begging for death long before Im close to being ready to kill him.”
Roman put his badge on the table.
Matthew scowled and looked down at me. “What the fuck? What happened to his hair?”
Roman looked at Sam.
Sam held his hands up in front of him. “You were always saying you hated it. So I cut it for you.”
I didnt even see Matthew move, just Sam hitting the floor. He didnt get back up, but it looked like he was still breathing. I knew what it was like to be thrown like a toy and broken by a madman. Oddly enough, the tremble that usually took over my limbs hadnt started.
Sure, I felt light-headed, most likely from blood loss, but the deep-seated fear that usually sat in my belly was gone. What had changed? Was it Matthews control over my body?
“Lets go call Santini before you do something else stupid,” Roman said.
“Fuck you.” Matthew pushed his broken rib back into place. I tried to keep from throwing up at the sight of it.
“I keep telling you, even vampires need sleep. Youve probably killed your thrall,” Roman was saying as they left the room.
Alone again with the radiator, and Sam, if he was going to live. I stretched my leg across the room and kicked his foot. It took a couple of tries, but he began to stir. He rolled over slowly and stared at me. I stared back.
How many years had it been since people started looking at me like I was some sort of plaything? Matthew had ingrained that awful cycle in me. Made me a monster, and before me sat a pale version of that.
“How many does he bring to your bed?” I asked Sam, who still looked pretty groggy from the hit. “Does he tell you that without them you bore him?”
“You dont know anything,” Sam replied.
“Did he tell you I was eleven the first time we had sex? How he brought other men to rape me while he watched? What is it you want from him, Sam? He cant love. He doesnt know what it is.” I knew that now. Gabe had taught me what real love was. Matthew had tried to tear me apart. That wasnt love.
Sam peeled himself off the floor. A bruise was forming along the side of his face, and he had blood on his lips. “He told me you crawled into his bed. Seduced him and begged for more men to fuck you.”
I sighed. Hed always blamed me. Had, in fact, convinced me to blame myself. “How does he explain the lovers he brings to your bed? Do you beg him for others?”
“He only wants you.”
“So he hasnt fucked you? I dont believe that. You look too much like me.”
Sam kicked me, but I moved fast enough to take most of it in the hip rather than the stomach or the side. “I should cut off your dick. See how he likes you then.”
“You wouldnt do something like that. Youre not as crazy as he is.”
“Hes not crazy.”
I tugged on the cuffs. “Where are the keys, Sam? You can still get out of this with your life. Just let me go.” I remembered Roman saying that even vampires need sleep. “Has he not slept?” Vampire metaphysics was a second-year class, though I remembered paying more attention since Gabe and I had a thing going. Only total body destruction or fire could kill a vampire, but lack of blood or sleep could make them nuts. “Just like normal humans, vampires need sleep. They go crazy without it. It will make him weak and dangerous.”
Sam tried to kick me again but didnt put much feeling into it. The expression on his face was one that Id seen in the mirror more than a handful of times. Fear, uncertainty, loss of the sense of self.
“Id almost convinced him to make me his focus. Then he saw you on the news. Southerton was dead, and you were the new Dominion superstar.”
“Ha. Dont let the media fool you. Im a slug in the Dominion. The only reason they stood behind me was because I became earth Pillar.” I leaned against the wall, glad the radiator was warm at least. The ache arching its way down my back reminded me of the spine injury Id been very careful with in the past few weeks. Sitting for long periods could be painful, and with little more than the wall for support I had no doubt Id barely be able to move later.
“Thats bullshit. Youre always on the news. Smiling for the cameras. Your little family around you.”
“Except one of them is dead now. Matthew commanded me to shoot Jamie.” Whatever was keeping the tremble from my hands obviously kept the brunt of the pain away. I barely felt anything emotionally.
“The big guy thats always following you around? Big deal. He was just a bodyguard.” Sam took the electric razor off the bed and threw it in the drawer.
“He was my brother. We had the same dad.”
Sam sat down on the bed and didnt say anything. He didnt look at me, either.
“The Dominion killed my dad before I was born.”
“I know. I sent you pictures.”
“Were you the one who called?”
“And sent the package.”
“Kellys car?”
“Matthews idea. The shooter was someone he hired off the street.”
“Why?”
Sam looked at me now. “He loves you. He doesnt love me.”
“Sam, Matthew doesnt love anyone but Matthew.”
He shook his head. “Youre just saying that.”
Yes and no. If anything, seeing the bastard again was sort of freeing. Because he was a bastard, and it wasnt my fault. He probably abused Sam cause the kid looked like me. But he was the one who had walked away. Whatever madness was in him was all his own doing. “He left me eight years ago. I wrote letters that were returned. He left me. Why would he want me back? Does any of this sound normal to you? The hate mail and spam, the vandalism, the shooting?”
“You dont understand.”
And like Gabe had told me before, no, I didnt. “You helped kidnap me. What are the cops going to do when they find you? Do you want to go to prison?”
“I wont go to prison. Matthew wont let that happen.”
I know they said love was blind. But this was beyond reason. I couldnt keep myself from blurting the truth. “If he were just using you as a replacement for me, what does he need you for now that he has me?”
“Romans going to kill you.”
Great. Good to know I had so many enemies eager for my death.
The door opened again, and Matthew stepped inside. He looked from one to the other. “Dont talk to him,” Matthew told Sam. “Unlock him. Santinis coming. We need to head out to the barn to make sure hes not bringing the cops down on our heads.”
Sam clicked me out of my cuffs. I stretched, letting some of the pain in my shoulder and back free in a strangled groan. The sound made Sam wince, but Matthew looked at me like hed rather throw me on the bed than take me to whatever place they had laid a trap for Gabe in.
I prayed Gabe wouldnt come. Maybe hed just call the cops and let the bad guys shoot things out. Sure, Id probably die in the crossfire, too, but Gabe would be safe.
Someone needed to put an end to Roman. How much of all of this had he orchestrated? Or was it just a coincidence that he had Matthew working for him, and Matthew and I had serious history.
It was dark when they yanked me through the house and to the door. They didnt even give me my jacket back as they dragged me outside. The bite of cold was immediate and sharp. I shivered as we walked, feeling the earth try to gather around me again. Only with Matthew on one side and Sam on the other, it was like the power couldnt reach me.
We headed into the trees, which got heavier the further we walked. There was snow on the ground, but only a light coating. I wondered where we were. It had to be north of the cities. Wed driven for a few hours. Maybe even close to the border. I didnt think wed driven long enough to get to Canada, and they probably wouldnt, since Gabe would need a special permit to get into Canada. Somehow I didnt think Matthew or Andrew Roman were going to wait that long.
“Are you really going to make him your focus?” Sam asked Matthew.
“Not your problem.”
“He wont obey you.”
“Hell do what I tell him.”
“Right now, yes. Hes your thrall. If you make him your focus, youll be equal.” Sam kept me firmly between him and Matthew. From this angle his face looked really swollen. I hoped he wasnt bleeding internally. My luck, Matthew would tell me to drag Sams body with us or bury it if he died, and Id be forced to do it.
If I could reach my power, Id be the one in control. But the longer they kept the earth from me, the weaker I would get. Whether the numbness in my limbs was caused by blood loss, cold, or not being in contact with my element, I didnt know.
Kelly kept telling me about martial arts and how it was a sport Id enjoy, since I liked yoga. Maybe it was time to learn something that could be used for more than exercising my body. But really, other than being a vampire, how did one fight a vampire? I sighed heavily.
My back was really starting to ache. Id had it pretty easy the past few weeks, even forgotten that when I first left the hospital I had to walk with a cane. Only now did I realize how Id let other things lapse. I couldnt run a few miles. Hell, it hurt to keep walking now. Yet, they dragged me onward.
When a barn came into sight, I wondered what the point of all this was. Roman could kill Gabe a hundred times, but it wouldnt bring his wife back or make her love him.
Matthew could force me to become his focus, but the second that happened, Id kill him. I knew I could do it now. How? That I didnt know. But the numbness of my limbs was moving into my brain.
Jamie was probably dead. That didnt hurt as much as I thought it would. Gabe dying only slightly bothered me. Yeah, there was something wrong in my head. I was pretty sure it had to do with Matthew.
The set of Sams shoulders was tight.
“So I take your blood,” I said to Matthew. “And say from you to me until the sun forever breaks. Then what? You and I ride off into the sunset?”
“You can ride me anytime, baby,” Matthew replied.
Yeah, that was about what I expected. “Who made you a vampire? Was it Roman?”
“Nope. Just happened to run into him.”
“Did you know youre supposed to be registered with the Trimega? They sort of frown on rogue vampires.” Id learned a lot about them in the past few weeks. Gabes inquiry had to be good for something.
Matthew opened the side door to the barn and pushed me in, Sam on my heels. The metallic stink of drying blood hit me when I stepped inside. The place smelled like blood, mold, and shit. I pulled the sleeve of my undamaged arm down over my hand and held it under my nose, trying to funnel out some of the stink.
The dark was lit only by a single gasoline lantern. Roman wasnt there, but he was probably off leading Gabe into some sort of trap. I hoped that whatever happened here meant that Roman either wound up dead or no longer a cop. Bad cops didnt make anything right.
“Gabe has probably got the Trimega on the way, and the Dominion. Maybe the cops too.”
“Shut up, Rou,” Matthew growled the command, refraining from calling me baby for the first time in ages.
Once again I felt like a wire had sewn my lips shut.
“You belong to me, remember? Only me. I let others borrow you, but you were always mine.”
Whatever, I wanted to reply. I belonged to no one. Loved Gabe, but he didnt own me. Hed been telling me that for years. Id never believed him until now. He was willing to let me have my own place. Even gave me space when I needed it. All consuming, yes, when you realized just how thoroughly someone got you or you got them.
The door opened, and my heart skipped a beat when Gabe stepped inside, followed by Roman. He looked unhurt so far, and his eyes scanned over me, like he was searching for injuries. The short hair would probably make him sad, but it would grow. He moved in my direction. Matthew intercepted him, and Sam pressed the gun to my skull.
Gabe put his hands up in a helpless gesture. “Im here. Let him go, and you can do whatever you want to me, Roman.”
“Hes mine, Santini. You can watch.” Matthew glared at him then looked at me. “On your knees, baby.”
I dropped to my knees, dreading what was to come, while Matthew unbuckled his belt.
“Get up, Seiran,”
Gabe said.
I felt Gabes compulsion hit me harder than Matthews ever had and got to my feet. My body was starting to ache pretty badly all over.
“Hes mine! Fuck!” Matthew threw me down to the ground and bit into my shoulder again.
Roman was talking to Gabe, but finally Gabe dropped to his knees and let himself be tied to one of the metal beams holding up the old barn. Matthews drain on me began to pull me into unconsciousness. How much more blood could I lose before he killed me?
“Get off him, Matthew,” Roman said.
Matthew growled but let me go. I lay there, feeling extremely dizzy and tired. The lack of the earth flowing through me was the worst. Like being cut off from life itself. If I had my power back, I could save us both.
“On your knees, Seiran,” Matthew commanded.
I struggled to my knees, arms going out on me twice before I finally made it to my knees.
“I love you, Sei,” Gabe told me.
Tears prickled my eyes. Matthew didnt move closer this time. Maybe he was afraid Gabe would overrule him again.
Roman picked up a coiled whip from the hay beside the lantern. The leather flashed out so fast I barely saw it move until it cut into Gabes chest, causing a thick line of red to well up and flow. Though Gabe didnt react, I flinched. A half dozen more lashes descended, cutting through his expensive clothes and heavy jacket. The smell of blood permeated the air.
“Let Seiran go. Please, Andrew. You want me dead. I killed your wife. I will die for her death. So be it. But let Seiran go,” Gabe gasped, obviously in pain. He made no move to fight back. Sam remained close, gun in his grip.