10. Chloe
Ten
Chloe
Once Nikolaos tugs me past the front door, darkness swallows me whole. There’s no light. Not a single trace to provide any relief.
It’s almost as if light no longer exists in this world.
My eyes struggle to adjust, my brain expecting to see the faint outlines of what’s around me at any second.
But everything around me remains pure black.
It’s both frightening and surreal.
Like I’ve suddenly been dropped into an abyss.
I can feel my feet moving across a floor and Nikolaos’s cool hand gripping mine tight, but as he leads me, my head spins.
The loss of my sight has thrown off the rest of my senses.
I can’t tell if we’re going forward, to the side, or backward.
Struggling to get some sort of bearing, I miss a step and start to trip.
Immediately tightening his grip until it’s painful, Nikolaos pulls me into him.
“Stay close, little one,” he practically coos into my ear. “This is not a place you want to get lost in.”
The intimate tone of his words makes my skin crawl, but I press closer to him, knowing he’s right. The thought of getting lost in the blackness, wandering around blind until I died of exhaustion or hunger, is terrifying enough that I’d rather suffer his nearness than risk losing him as my anchor.
Making a soft sound of pleasure, Nikolaos wraps his arm around me and leads the way again.
With my perception distorted, it feels like he’s leading me around in circles until he finally stops and opens a door.
Dim red light cuts through the blackness, and as soon as my eyes adjust and take in exactly what is in front of me, I want to slam the door shut again.
God help me , I silently pray.
The scene in front of me is so grotesque… so macabre… my eyes themselves feel assaulted and violated by what they see.
This can’t be real …
Squeezing my eyes shut, I take a deep breath, and open them again. Hoping I somehow imagined what I saw.
But no…
The moment I crack them open the scene is the same.
It’s as if someone decided to make one of those paintings of Hell from the Renaissance period into a modern reality.
Indulging in their true natures, vampires tangle openly with humans in a wicked menagerie of lust, hunger, and sadism.
“Welcome to my home,” Nikolaos says, his smooth voice full of dark humor.
When I glance at him in terror, he grins at me, showing a hint of his fangs. “I invite you in, of course.”
Taking a step forward, he tries to pull me with him, but my body refuses to move. My feet stuck to floor.
Instead of being angry, irritated, or even suspicious of my reaction, he looks down at me, amused. “ Walk with me and see your new home .”
You’d think after everything I’ve seen and gone through tonight, I couldn’t be any more terrified, but what he said almost literally scares the shit out of me.
Yanking me along before I can decide if I want to obey the command or resist and run for my life, Nikolaos leads me through his den of depravity.
I’ve never been to a bar, dance club, or any other place where people gather to have fun. My only reference of what those places must be like comes from movies and television. But even to a social recluse like me, I know this place is a twisted version of what humans have.
The area is mostly open, allowing easy movement through the space. There’s a bar against the nearest wall, a dance floor in the very center, and booths squeezed into all the corners.
The only light is red and dim, almost too dim for my eyes, giving everything a hellish appearance.
To an outsider who didn’t know any better, they’d probably consider the place hideously tacky. The décor trying just a little too hard to be edgy…
But it’s not the design or furniture that turns my stomach and offends my sensibilities.
It’s the monsters at play.
Seated at the bar, tucked into the booths, or dancing on the dance floor, they engage in evil atrocities. There are probably twenty vampires here, at most, and every single one of them is busy feeding or playing.
Everywhere I look is a fresh horror that chills my blood and churns my stomach.
There’s no music I can hear, only the sounds of skin slapping against skin and moans drifting from the booths.
But on the dance floor, a vampire with long white hair twirls around a woman hanging limp in his embrace to a silent melody. Dressed in a red ball gown, the woman’s head is thrown back, swaying unnaturally against his arm.
In the booths, humans are entwined with vampires. Bouncing on laps or thrown across the tables with looks of pure ecstasy on their faces.
I make the mistake of looking a little too closely at a booth in the very back corner, a shrill cry catching my attention.
Legs spread wide, breasts bared to the world, a woman rocks wantonly on the shoulders of a vampire. Her eyes rolling back in her head and her fingers tangling in his hair as he feeds from between her thighs.
Each of these scenes makes me queasy, but they’re nothing compared to what’s happening around the bar area.
Suspended from the ceiling upside down, naked and bound in thick rope, a human man is being slowly drained. His blood bleeding down his body in slow streams and filling shot glasses placed beneath him on the counter.
Another man is secured to the wall where bottles of liquor would normally be displayed. Just like the suspended man, he’s naked, but not bound in rope. No, the vampires have secured him to the wall with metal spikes.
The spikes go through his palms, wrists, thighs, and ankles. Blood oozes from his wounds, but there’s nothing beneath him to collect it. Instead, there’s a metal collar around his neck with a device resembling a beer tap attached to it.
My legs no longer working on their own, every muscle nearly paralyzed in fear, Nikolaos practically carries me to the bar.
As we draw closer to the two bound men, my eyes naturally search their faces, expecting to see them suffering in agony and begging for release.
But just like the women in the booths, their faces are twisted in expressions ecstasy…
And that’s the true horror.
My darkest fears come to life.
The men are slowly being tortured, but the vampires have not only messed up their bodies, they’ve messed up their heads. The humans are dying, clearly, but they’re probably loving every second of it. Experiencing pleasure instead of pain.
Behind the counter, the vampire acting as the bartender dips his head in respect as we approach and says, “Sire.” Gaze sliding over me and quickly dismissing me, he picks up an empty glass. “Would you like a drink?”
Nikolaos pushes me, nudging me forward until my stomach is against the counter, then presses into my back from behind. “No. Not tonight.”
The bartender’s attention returns to me, moving over me with more interest as Nikolaos places his hands on the counter and cages me in with his bigger body.
“Have our guests arrived yet?” Nikolaos asks, resting his chin on top of my head.
Smirking, the bartender sets the empty glass down. “No. They’ve been delayed.”
“Oh?” Nikolaos says with interest.
“They’re being given an extended tour of the city. Depending on the traffic, they may arrive before sunrise…”
Nikolaos snickers. “I see. And our little captive? How is she holding up?”
I stiffen at the mention of the other cursed woman. In the car, focused on remaining calm, I didn’t give much thought to her. My own predicament at the time taking precedence.
But if she’s in this building… maybe I can find her. Maybe if she’s like me, we can work together to get out of this alive…
“She was getting a little too spunky to handle so we were forced to calm her down. She’s secured, though, and shouldn’t cause any problems.”
Nikolaos makes a thoughtful sound, his chest vibrating against my back. “I suppose that’s for the best. If we’re lucky, she’s the one Asher is looking for and they’ll both be quickly on their way.”
The bartender blinks in surprise then scowls in confusion. “You want Asher to take her, sire? I thought we were trying to prevent that…”
“Yes, well, that was before I chanced upon this little surprise.”
The bartender’s attention snaps to me and his scowl deepens. “Who is she?”
“ What is she, is the proper question,” Nikolaos says before he chuckles. “But don’t worry about that. Since the situation has changed, so do my orders. Inform everyone that Asher is not to be impeded. I want him in and out as quickly as possible. Provide assistance if necessary.”
Looking even more confused, the bartender nods his head sharply.
“And keep Asher and his coven away from my playroom,” Nikolaos adds, his tone sharpening with authority. “I am not to be disturbed.”
The bartender nods again and stares hard at me as if he’s trying to see through me.
“ Now ,” Nikolaos snaps in irritation.
Startled, the bartender jumps a little then he bobs his head up and down while backing away. “Yes, sire. Sorry, sire.”
Nikolaos sighs, his breath tickling the top of my head as the bartender scurries off to do his bidding.
“What is it about you…” he murmurs thoughtfully before his chest expands and presses against my back.
I feel his nose pushing through my hair and dragging down toward my neck, only to run up to my hair again.
Breathing in deeply, he holds his breath for several heartbeats before releasing it.
Pushed uncomfortably against the counter, I grip the edge, attempting to keep my stomach from being crushed.
Dragging his mouth over to my ear, he purrs, “Your scent grows more enticing by the second.”
A slice of cold fear cuts through me. The cinnamon oil is no doubt fading, and he’ll be able to smell me, the real me, soon.
This charade can only go on for so much longer.
If an opportunity to slip out of this doesn’t appear, I’ll be forced to face the music…
Something wet suddenly touches my ear and my soul nearly leaves my body in fright.
“You have no idea how bad I want to taste you,” Nikolaos growls. “If I didn’t think I’d have to fight off every motherfucker here, I’d have you right here, right now.”
Shoving away from the bar, he roughly grabs my hand and begins to drag me toward the dance floor.
Tripping after him, struggling to keep up, my head spins and I get the crazy idea that he’s going to force me to dance with him.
The thought is only reinforced when he comes to a sudden stop near the vampire with long white hair.
But then Nikolaos slowly turns and says, “Took you long enough.”
Twisting around to see who he’s talking to, I watch Knox stalk up to us. His hand is gripping Charity’s arm and dragging her like Nikolaos was dragging me.
“The damn driver parked the car in the garage,” Knox says irritably when he reaches us.
Nikolaos snorts as if that’s not a good enough excuse.
Releasing Charity’s arm, Knox places his palm against her shoulder and gives her a shove toward Nikolaos. “Here’s your toy, have fun.”
Charity lurches forward, her body still moving with that strange stiffness from earlier. As if her limbs really don’t want to move the way they’re moving but have no choice.
Looking at her face, I search for any clue that she’s conscious of what’s happening. Her expression is flat and emotionless.
Eyes glazed over, they remind me of a doll’s. Shiny like plastic and showing no spark of life.
Nikolaos’s face pinches with distaste as Charity shuffles toward him.
At the same time, out of the corner of my eye I notice a flash of white. Turning my head, I see the vampire that was dancing drop his dance partner to the floor with a thud.
Every little hair on my body rises with some primal instinct as his gaze locks on me.
I couldn’t see it before, and I was so shocked by my surroundings I didn’t look close enough, but as he moves closer, gliding unnaturally across the floor, I can tell he’s… different from the other vampires.
His skin is paler, for one. So pale it’s nearly translucent, causing the thin blue veins on his face to stand out in sharp contrast. His clothes are also strange. I can’t tell if he’s purposely wearing a costume or if his black frock coat was actually tailored in the 1700s.
And his eyes… his eyes are fire-engine red.
I blink quickly, thinking it’s a trick of the red lighting.
But no, as he glides closer, his nostrils flaring, the red remains.
Finally noticing the other vampire’s approach, Nikolaos frowns and turns his attention to him. “Can I help you with something, Ambrose?”
Ignoring Nikolaos’s question, Ambrose circles around us, sniffing the air, then he tries to glide right up to me.
Nikolaos steps in front of me, moving so fast all I see is a blur.
Reeling back with a hiss, Ambrose’s hands come up, his fingers curling into claws.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Nikolaos snarls.
Again, Ambrose ignores Nikolaos’s question. Relaxing his fingers, he seems to think for a second, then he tries to glide around Nikolaos to reach me.
Moving in a blur to block Ambrose, Nikolaos growls, “Back off.”
Drawing up short, Ambrose’s head sways back, much like a snake, as he stares at Nikolaos.
Then his neck cranes around Nikolaos’s shoulders, red gaze returning to me. “My… soulmarked…”
Closing his eyes, Nikolaos cringes. “For fuck’s sake.”
Knox chuckles with amusement as he walks away.
“Give… me…” Ambrose hisses out and tries once more to move around Nikolaos.
Shoving his arm out, Nikolaos stops Ambrose by placing his hand against his chest. “No. This is my Marked. Your Marked is over there…”
Nikolaos jerks his chin to the right, and Ambrose’s eyes follow him to the woman left discarded on the floor.
Motionless, she lies bent forward, her crimson ball gown spread around her like the petals of a wilted flower.
Ambrose frowns at the woman. “Empty…”
Nikolaos’s shoulders slump and it looks as if he wants to sigh again, but then his face lights up with an idea. “Take this one.”
Dropping his hand from Ambrose’s chest, he grabs Charity by the shoulder and shoves her in front of him.
Ambrose takes a step back in surprise at first then all of his attention zeros in on her.
I watch him sniff the air, the tip of his pale tongue peeking out from between his lips.
Grabbing Charity, he pulls her into his arms with a look of excitement.
The word, “No,” leaves my mouth before I’m even aware I said it.
I try to step around Nikolaos to grab Charity, but he pulls me back.
There’s no point in continuing the farce if I can’t save Charity. The only reason I’ve been so compliant up to this point is because I was hoping for another chance to escape.
If I can’t save her… it doesn’t matter what happens to me.
Determined to reach her now, I yank hard on my arm, fighting Nikolaos’s hold.
“No,” I say more firmly, glaring at him. “He can’t have her.”
Nikolaos looks down at me and gives me a patronizing smile. “Don’t worry, little one. He won’t hurt her. He’s already fed.”
Shaking my head, I yank on my arm again and manage to free myself. “I don’t believe you.”
Before I can lift my foot off the floor, Nikolaos’s arm is wrapped around my middle, locking me to the front of his body like a vise. “Look for yourself… all the poor fool wants to do is dance.”
Cradling Charity close, Ambrose whispers something into her ear then he twirls her away from us. Stepping around his previous dance partner, Ambrose spins Charity across the dance floor.
Watching the two of them, I notice after a few breaths that Charity is moving differently. Her eyes are still empty but her motions are no longer robotic. She moves with all the fluid grace of a natural-born dancer.
“See,” Nikolaos says smugly, “she’s perfectly safe with him.”
A part of me wants to believe him, but it only takes one look down at the floor to know he’s lying to me.
“Come now,” Nikolaos practically purrs in my ear. “Let them have their fun while we have ours.”
Nikolaos starts to pull on me, but I stiffen every muscle in my body and resist him. “I’m not leaving her here.”
Making a soft growl of impatience, Nikolaos twists me around in his arms until I’m looking at him. “Is that so?”
Meeting his blue eyes, my first instinct is to not piss him off. To continue to behave like a ‘good girl’ to keep his guard dropped…
But my gut is telling me I’ll never see Charity again if I walk away.
If I don’t act now, then when?
Stiffening my spine, I hold his stare and say, “Yes.”
Nikolaos’s eyes fill with angry confusion, and I get the impression he’s not used to being told no before my world spins.
A strong wave of vertigo rolls through me and my brain struggles to grasp what the hell just happened.
The light is suddenly darker and there’s something hard and unyielding against my spine.
No longer holding me but looming over me, Nikolaos says, “Funny, I don’t remember giving you a choice.”
Forcing myself to overcome the urge to puke, I look over his shoulder to see that the place I’m in has suddenly changed.
Gone is the bar, booths, and dance floor.
There’s a wall behind Nikolaos, and I quickly realize there’s a wall against my back.
He must have moved me to a hallway, away from the others.
Away from Charity.
Grinning at my distress, Nikolaos dips his face close to mine, forcing my eyes back to him. “ Be a good girl , Chloe.”
The tug, the pull, to obey is there, and I’ve given into it so many times tonight to survive I almost give into it again.
But being a good girl won’t get me or Charity out of this mess.
Taking it for granted that I’m going to do as he commanded, Nikolaos leans back and grabs my hand.
I let him lead me for a few steps, obediently following after him.
The second he walks up to a door and opens it, I slip my hand out of his grip.
Spinning, I look in the direction we came from.
And like earlier tonight, outside the church, it feels like I only blink and I’m instantly down the hall.
Unfortunately, there’s a two-way split.
Before I can decide which way to go, Nikolaos is on me, moving almost as fast as I did.
“What the fuck?” he snarls and slams me into the wall.
All the air leaving my lungs, I gape at him as he pins my hands above my head.
“How did you do that?” he demands.
Struggling to suck in oxygen, I can only stare at him.
Impatient for an answer, he repeats his question as a command. “ How did you do that , Chloe?”
I squeeze my eyes shut against the twinge behind my ribs to obey, noticing it’s not quite as strong this time.
“ Chloe ,” he practically hisses and gives me a hard shake. “ Answer me.”
I don’t know if it’s because I’ve already resisted the other three commands, but the tug is even weaker now.
So weak my heart starts to quicken. The unnatural calmness I allowed myself to feel earlier becomes apprehension.
Growing angrier and angrier the longer it takes me to respond, Nikolaos’s starts to crush my wrists in his hands and roars, “ How the fuck did you move so fast?! ”
The pain and the roar in my face awakens the lizard part of my brain.
Without really thinking about what I’m doing, I somehow rip my wrists out of his hold and shove him away from me.
Screaming, “I don’t know!”
Nikolaos staggers back, his pale face going even whiter with shock.
I take a stumbling step forward, fully intent on making a run for it again.
But my entire world flips upside down.
All at once, every single one of my senses intensifies, knocking me on my ass.
My sight, hearing, and sense of smell go into overdrive, overwhelming me with stimuli.
The things in front of my eyes become so vivid and sharp, I might as well be blind. The lighting no longer dim but too bright.
My head swims as the smell of my own cinnamon oil fills and burns my nose.
My heartbeat pounds in my ears, drowning out all other sounds.
The worst thing, though, is the hollow ache in the center of my chest.
The ache of being incomplete…
It’s a pain like no other pain I’ve ever known.
So agonizing and all-consuming, it’s utterly debilitating.
Time becomes meaningless as I struggle to survive my own senses.
It feels as if days pass, days trapped, twisting in agony, before everything begins to wane.
As fast as it came, everything begins to slow down and weaken, until I once again have a sense of self.
I can feel my body again.
The first thing I become aware of is that my eyes are squeezed shut. The second thing is that I’m no longer sitting on my ass.
No, I’m lying prone in someone’s arms.
Someone who is stroking my hair back and brushing their fingers against my cheek.
Afraid everything might ramp up again, I remain still. Bracing myself for the next sensory explosion.
But nothing happens.
The only thing that feels out of place besides the person holding me is a steady throbbing coming from my thigh.
Gathering up my courage, I crack my eyes open and see Nikolaos staring down at me with a look of awe on his face.
“You’re awake,” he says softly, and I cringe at the affection in his voice.
I almost ask him how long I was out, but I quickly decide against it. I’d much rather get away from him than engage in conversation. Especially because there’s something deeply unsettling about the way he’s holding me.
He’s cradling me in his arms as if I’m his lover or someone dear to him.
Squirming, I try to wiggle my way off his lap, but his arms tighten around me.
“Do you know how precious you are, Chloe?” he asks, and I instantly still.
Staring down at me with a strange intensity in his eyes, he begins to stroke my cheek and answers his own question. “You’re the most precious thing in this shit-infested world.”
My skin crawls where he touches me, the sensation reminding me of bugs scurrying across my face. His presence alone has always been uncomfortable, but there’s something about it now that really sets me on edge.
“Please let me go,” I plead and try again to wiggle out of his embrace.
Nikolaos smiles, but there’s absolutely no humor or joy in the smile. “No.”
His nearness is becoming more and more oppressive by the second. Like there’s a weight to his aura that’s pushing at me, urging me to put space between us.
The throbbing coming from my thigh also seems to be increasing. Pulsing so hard now it’s traveling upwards.
Not understanding what’s happening, I work harder to escape him. Grabbing his arms, I try to pry him off me.
“Please…” I beg now, needing to put distance between my body and his.
Arms stiffening, resisting my tugs, he shakes his head. “Never, Chloe. I’m never letting you go.”
Dread and impending doom flood through me at his declaration.
I have to get away from him. I don’t know why… but I have to or I’m going to die .
Panicking, I squirm, twist, and rock in his arms, doing anything and everything I can think of to get him to release his hold.
But like one of those finger traps, the harder I fight him, the tighter he grips me.
“You’re mine now,” he says, his eyes filling with what looks like madness. “ Mine .”
There’s a wrongness in that word that rubs my nerves raw.
I’m not his.
I’m…
Someone else’s.
The ingrained knowledge of this, the deep acceptance of it, shakes me to my very core.
Then it finally dawns on me why my thigh is throbbing…
My mark.
He’s here .
And he’s coming for me.
Beyond desperate to be free now, I start to scratch and claw at Nikolaos’s arms in an attempt to get him off me.
But it’s all futile.
I’m as weak as a human and no match for his strength.
“Let me go!” I cry out, tears streaming down my face as the throbbing grows stronger.
Eyes glowing brighter with mania, Nikolaos peels his lips back and shows me his fangs. “No. Never.”
His head begins to dip down, his attention locking on my neck, and I know I’m going to die.
This is it. This is where my short, pathetic, sad little life ends.
The door suddenly bursts open.
Jerking back, Nikolaos looks over my head, fangs still bared.
The throbbing in my thigh explodes like a bomb causing crippling waves of want and need to roll through my body.
“She’s mine,” a harsh voice says.
The voice that’s haunted my darkest dreams.