Fate of a Blood Moon (The Hades Blood Moon #2)

Chapter 41

Rachel

W hen I opened my eyes, I found myself alone in bed. I felt the hum of the ferry’s engine, but we had to be close to shore by now. I sat up and swung my legs over the mattress, wondering where Jase had wandered off.

After putting on my clothes and shoes, I walked to Tony’s room, knocking a few times with no response. I then used the second keycard he had given me and stepped inside.

“Tony?” I called out quietly. “We’re going to be docking pretty soon. Are you up?”

The moment I switched on the light, my stomach dropped. Although no one had ransacked the room, something felt off and out of place—a faint but unsettling scent lingered in the air. I couldn’t identify it, but every instinct in me screamed that something was very, very wrong.

Did Tony have someone else in here besides us earlier? I’d always had vampiric senses, but identifying scents wasn’t my strong suit. It wasn’t like Jase or Andrei’s abilities.

I’m just overreacting. No. I have to get Jase.

I went into the hallway and back into our room to see if Jase had returned. Then my eyes turned down to my bag.

The book was gone. I know I put it there.

Jase must have it.

Next, I pivoted toward the stairs, heading down to the bar.

“Hey,” I said. Lucy looked over from the bar and raised her wineglass. “Finally, you’re joining us. Tony just went out to grab a smoke. I’ll get you a glass of wine. What do you want?”

The last thing I wanted was for Lucy to freak out over what could be nothing. “Where’s Jase? Did he come down here?”

She nodded. “For like a half second. He went to find you in the room, but you weren’t there, so he went looking for you. Probably upstairs. You had to have missed him.” Lucy cocked her head and gave me a strange look. “What’s wrong?”

“Um …” I looked out the window toward the sea, only seeing the top of the deck by the railing. “Not sure. I just need to find Tony or Jase. I’ll be right back.”

I hurried to the stairs leading to the upper deck, looking around and inhaling deeply, hoping to catch Tony’s cigarette smell.

“Tony?” I called out, looking around. He wasn’t there. “Jase?”

I twirled around to my right to head to the other side of the top deck, right as a hand cupped around my mouth, muffling my scream.

My instincts roared to life, and I started fighting. I kicked, head-butted, and did everything I could to break the attacker’s hold, but a muscular arm snaked around my stomach, tightening with every movement. That same scent from the room hit my nose.

I felt thick, sharp nails dig into my stomach, and dread washed over me. “Shhh,” a familiar voice purred in my ears, causing my entire body to grow still. “You were reckless,” Andrei said. “I’d think with having an ancient key and a sacred Book of Shadows, you’d have kept it a little more secure than you did.”

No. No. No.

“So,” he said, loosening the pressure on my mouth. “Tony’s safe. Don’t worry; he’s sleeping on the other side of the deck, but if you scream or fight me, I’ll toss him overboard.”

I felt sick. Utterly sick.

I nodded because I wasn’t a fool. Andrei had always been a psychopath, and he would, without hesitation, hurt someone I loved to get what he wanted.

Andrei dropped his hand from my mouth and slowly turned me around, forcing me to look up into his haunting, dark eyes.

He bit his bottom lip, and his eyes went to mine before his hand came up softly and cupped my cheek. “This is so much better than those visions. Isn’t it? Touching you in the flesh? I must say, though, that guardian bond we have, it’s fucking sensational.”

I shook my head. “Fuck the guardian bond. You’re here now, so why not break it? I’ll do whatever you want if you do.”

Andrei flashed his white teeth and stepped forward, gripping my chin with his fingers and forcing my gaze to stay on his. “Now, that wasn’t a very nice thing to say. I know you’d do whatever I asked if it meant keeping your mother alive as well.” My eyes grew wide. My mother? “She might be an all-powerful vampire, but her powers are a little suppressed at the moment. I could easily cut her gut open and watch her insides fall to the floor before I stake her through the chest if it meant having you back as my prize. But I need you to obey me. So, first, we have a little trip to take together.”

Andrei looked out into the water and pointed. My enhanced vision cut through the gloom, and I saw what he was pointing at. My mother was lying on the deck of a small fishing boat, which was moving at the pace of the ferry. Jackson sat at the helm while another man I didn’t recognize held a small gas lamp to give me enough light to see them fully. Beside Jackson was my blue backpack, which had the Fire key inside.

“The Book of Shadows is in there, too,” he said, as if he’d sensed my thoughts. “You lost, sweetheart. It’s time you accept defeat, so we can finish this.”

We were so close. But we got too comfortable and dropped our guard. God-fucking-dammit.

Andrei turned to look back at me, but I grabbed his shirt, jerked him closer, and then slammed my forehead against his. I wasted no time sprinting for the boat’s edge, but Andrei snatched my collar before I made it over the railing.

“Do you have a death wish?” he growled, pulling me back and into his chest. “You can still drown, and Valentina will die in two seconds before you reach the boat with one order from that witch over there. Don’t be stupid.”

Two seconds. That is all it would take for Jackson or that other guy to stake her and toss her body over that boat and into the water.

“Fine!” I said through my teeth. “Just don’t hurt her.”

Andrei moved past me and climbed to the top of the railing, balancing on the bar, while Jackson moved the boat closer to the side. I reached out and let Andrei grab my hand to pull me up, and then he wrapped his arms around my waist. Together, we jumped off the ferry and onto the fishing boat.

“Hey, kiddo,” Jackson said, forcing a smile. He didn’t want to be there, and I didn’t need my ability to see it. Annoyance shone in his eyes as he looked at Andrei. At his feet, my mother lay unconscious, wrapped up in some spell. Glowing silver chains bound her wrists, ankles, and neck, pulsing with power.

“Who the fuck are you?” I said to the man watching us quietly at the right of the deck. He had ashy brown hair and features that made him look like a young college frat boy.

The guy smiled. “Liam. We never did get a chance to meet. I joined the Black Onyx this last year. They thought I best tag along with your friends here, so everything went smoothly.”

I rolled my eyes and sat in front of Andrei on a wooden bench, much to my irritation. The deck was small and cramped. “You sure know how to pick your friends. Are you sure you really want to risk your life for these assholes? You can’t trust Andrei for shit.”

Liam smiled. “Well, the pay is pretty generous. I think I’ll go along for the ride.” He paused and smiled. “Oh, and in case you get any reckless ideas, compulsion doesn’t work on me. Trust me, your mother has already tried and failed. If she can’t, I promise you, your attempts will fail.” With a wave, he walked toward the boat’s bow, disappearing from view.

Get fucked.

Jackson smiled apologetically before heading inside the small cabin. He revved up the small motor, churning water and pulling us away from the ferry. I closed my eyes, not wanting Andrei to see the tears threatening to spill.

We were so close.

Andrei forced me to settle between his long legs, burying his lips into my hair. I would have melted in his touch four months ago but not after that last vision, when he invaded my mind and put me in that cage. He wasn’t the same man I opened my legs for willingly back in New Orleans. Andrei was never a saint, but he had never crossed my boundaries like that before, and it was horrifying that he did it so effortlessly.

I moved uncomfortably, trying to shift away from his embrace before his hand touched the hem of my pants. “I missed this,” he said, touching my stomach and breathing in my scent again. This time, when he inhaled, he paused, and I felt his body stiffen from behind me.

Within seconds, he grabbed my shoulders, spun me around, and slammed me onto the floor of the boat. The wood from the bench cracked under the force, showering me in splinters. I felt Andrei’s hands grab my hips.

“Get off of me!” I screamed, scratching and clawing at his face, but he pressed his hand firmly against my chest to keep me pinned.

“You smell like …” His nostrils flared, and his fangs came out. “No!”

Andrei pulled up my shirt and skated his hand down my stomach before undoing the button of my pants. I tried to summon any magic, but my terror snuffed it out.

“Stop!” I screamed again. I scratched at his arms and drew blood from his skin. Part of me hoped that Jackson, or even the new guy, would hear and step in to stop Andrei.

No one did.

I closed my eyes as Andrei’s fingers found my opening, rubbing just enough to coat his finger with my wetness before bringing it up to his nose and inhaling. “What the fuck are you doing?” I hissed.

Steeling myself for the worst, I looked up into those demonic-looking eyes, watching them grow dark red and the thick veins under them bulge. Andrei grabbed my throat, squeezing hard while he hissed.

Shit. He smells Jase on me. He knows.