13. Every Last Drop
Icame to with a light in my eye, blinding me, as someone held up one of my eyelids. I groaned, opening my other eye to find myself strapped to the wall beside Lydia, silver searing my skin like hot coals.
I snapped my teeth at the bastard in front of me, but he easily avoided it then motioned with his finger, making more silver blossom to squeeze my throat and forehead as it held me still against the wall.
“You won’t die, you know,” Merl said, dropping his little flashlight in a leather bag and fishing around for something else.
“Excuse me?” I growled.
“When I drain you. You’ll still be a vampire, just won’t be more than a pile of animal instinct and bones until you’ve fed enough. You’ll be back to your shiny, redheaded self in a month or so.”
“I’m not killing my friend.” I strained to try and see her, still unconscious next to me based on my earlier glance.
“So picky. Fine. Then we’ll leave her chained in silver, and you can mind-bend her first into allowing me to drain you. Your choice. Ah, here we are.” He lifted a small scalpel from the bag, holding it up to the light.
“What are you doing?” I asked, staring at the fine edge of the instrument.
“That’s question two, I believe.” He turned toward me and raised it to twirl between us. “I am going to cut myself to drive you into a frenzy. It will be far easier to control you and your friend when I wake her if you are in that state.”
“It won’t work,” I said quickly. “I’m well fed on fae blood.”
“That does prove challenging,” Merl said, dropping his hand with the instrument to his side. “It means I have yet one more step in my process. Thank you for clarifying.”
“Wait, what?” I yelled as he turned away.
“Last question.” He smiled over his shoulder. “I need to bring you Bres to drain so you won’t lose the fae magic when I drain you the old-fashioned way. After which, you will absolutely go into a state of frenzy, even if I don’t spill my own blood. Then I wake Lydia, make her turn me, let you drain my blood from her since you’ll be in no state to mind-bend, and voila, you’re filled with plenty of blood for me to drain once again using my fangs. Then I take the cure, and say it with me—” he paused, but I stayed silent, staring until he shrugged. “I win. As always.”
“Fuck you,” I yelled, scraping my throat with the words as I struggled against the silver burning my flesh.
“I won’t say no to that offer. I’d be happy to do that while I feed on you.”
No more words escaped me, only guttural growls as I wriggled against my bonds.
“I will need more time, however, if I’m to procure Bres. Let’s see…this should help.” Merl approached me again, avoiding my fangs as he reached around between the wall and my shoulder blades and pulled out Soul Eater. “Yes, that will work.”
“Freeze,” I commanded, finally getting some wits about me. But Merlin just clucked his tongue.
“I’m protected from things like that. Learned those tricks ages ago.”
I willed the sword toward me, but it stayed where it was.
“That too. Face it, Charlotte, you’re clever, but I have hundreds of years on you.”
“You arrogant bastard!” I screamed, struggling again.
“Sticks and stones, dear. Now sleep.” With another snap of his fingers, the heavy fog came for me again. The last thing I remembered was the wall turning toward blackness.
I woke again to the sound of Julian’s far away voice. My eyelids fluttered and opened to pure darkness as I wrestled with my bonds. Everyplace the silver touched felt like I’d dipped it in a volcano.
“Julian!” I screamed, but nothing happened. I forced myself to calm down and strained to listen.
“She was home. I spoke to her,” Julian was saying from the other side of the wall. “You will tell me what you know.”
“Alright, I didn’t want to worry you, but my sources tell me she went for a walk in the woods and that she was dragged off by fae. There’s nothing you can do, Julian. Not if she’s in their realm and responsible for killing their queen.”
The sound of furniture crashing against metal, and I yelled again. “Julian he’s lying! I’m here!”
“Lies!” he screamed.
“My spies found this.”
A moment of pained silence.
“Charlotte’s ring.” The pain in the words stabbed my undead heart. “There has to be a way. I will pay you, Merlin. Stop playing games.”
“Well, now you’ve got me interested.”
It was no use, I realized as I rubbed the pads of my fingers over the empty spot. Merlin had stolen my engagement ring and magically sealed whatever space I was in so Julian could neither hear, nor smell me no matter what I did. Yet I could hear him, which was worse torture than the silver.
“If you want me to call her here from the fae realm, well that kind of magic is going to be expensive,” Merl said.
“What is it you want?” The desperation in Julian’s voice was beyond agonizing.
“I want you to kill Elsa so she’s out of my way. I don’t like beings that carry more power than I do, even if I retain superior intellect.”
What was Merlin playing at? He wasn’t about to conjure me up for Julian anyway.
“I know you have feelings for the blood queen, Julian. But surely your mate is more important.”
I stilled, a pain slamming into my chest. He had feelings for Elsa? I knew they had a background…
“I will do as you ask. First, Charlotte.”
“Payment up front, Julian.”
Shit. What if Julian got himself killed? Elsa had the kind of power Merlin did as well as everything Julian had. I had to do something, but I was stuck chained in the dark and completely helpless.
“Think it over. I’m busy,” Merlin snapped.
“Charlotte first,” Julian hissed. “What is that?”
I wished so hard I could see what was happening on the other side of the wall.
A pink light glowed to life on my hands above me and streamed into a circle before my face. In the center, a picture came to life depicting Julian in Merlin’s dining area, now pristine and normal looking, as my mate stared at a tiny piece of folded paper in the wizard’s outstretched hand.
I’d forgotten about the paper I was instructed not to pick up. “No,” I breathed. “Julian, don’t touch it. It’s a trap.”
But Merl shook it, and Julian snatched it from his hand, opening the paper to read. I bit down on my cheek as I waited. It wasn’t until a full minute had passed that I realized Julian wasn’t moving at all. He’d been frozen in place, eyes locked on the tiny paper.
Merlin snapped, and the world spun as the pink light blinked out of existence. The brightness of the rest of the room forced my eyes shut for several seconds when the wall finished turning around again. When I finally opened them, Merl was already dragging Julian over to chain him to the wall beside me.
My screams were silenced with another snap and a silver band that fit tightly over my mouth and between my lips, making my eyes water blood from the pain against my tongue and soft tissues.
“I’d meant that spell as bait for you to make things easier, but it turned out perfectly anyway since Julian surprised me with a visit. It’s just a shame he didn’t take the bait and relieve me of my Elsa problem first,” Merlin said, stepping back to appraise his work of binding Julian to the wall. “Now, I have three vampires and three zombies,” he mused.
Visions of ripping his throat out and making him watch as his blood choked him to death danced in my head.
“If looks could kill,” Merlin said, patting my cheek. “Ah, our visitor is almost here. My wards are tingling.”
Merl strode out of sight toward the door and reappeared a minute later with Bres in tow. The fairy gave me a curious once over, and I widened my eyes, trying to convey something was wrong.
“Welcome, your majesty.”
“Wizards have funny tastes,” Bres grunted before turning away from the three of us on the wall. “Make it quick. Why have you called me here?”
“I have something that belongs to you, I believe. But I expect payment for its return.”
“I’ve no need for the vampire, though I won’t argue it would be fun to get her back for biting me.” he said with a snort.
“Not her. Your sword. I found it on her.”
Bres’ aura jumped with excitement. “Give it to me, and I won’t kill you. That’s payment enough.”
“Tell me, Lord Bres, have you ever heard of an anti-momentum spell?”
“I know and care nothing for human magics. Give me the sword now, or I’ll start depriving you of body parts.” Bres’ human form towered over the wizard as he spoke.
“Very well. Read this while I get it for you,” Merlin said, handing the goblin the very same piece of paper he’d trapped Julian with.
Bres grunted and opened the spell, leaning in and squinting to read whatever the words were that made up his anti-momentum spell. Merlin clapped with glee.
“See that, Charlotte? People are so easy to trick, it’s almost painful. Now, you’ll need to drain him completely this time.”
A growl rose in my chest as I wasn’t able to produce any other sound or movement. If he let me out to feed off Bres, it was his own head he’d lose. But I knew he’d never be that careless. This man seemed to think of everything. Still I couldn’t see how he planned to force me to do what he planned.
Unless…
My eyes widened with fear as Merl glanced toward the currently unconscious and sagging Julian to my right.
“Your lover and I will be behind an energy shield. If you don’t do as you’re told, he dies permanently. I do like Julian, so it would be a shame. But I will get what I want one way or another.” Merlin raised the black sword in the air, and without another word, he sliced across my chest, opening my dress and a large gash that spilled blood down my body.
“Sorry, dear. Had to make sure you were hungry enough to do it.” Merlin then pricked his own finger with the tip of the sword, unleashing the smell of his blood on the air and making my body push so hard against my restraints that smoke issued from all points of contact.
Blood, blood, blood, the chant rose in my mind, eclipsing all other thought. The magic in whatever that weapon was seemed to be preventing the wound from closing as quickly as it normally would, and the more I lost of my own, the more I needed to sink my teeth into the wizard’s throat.
Grinning up at me, he waved his finger in front of me, and I pulled, nearly cracking the wall behind me. Then he slipped beside Julian, and the restraints on my body melted away into the wall.
I dropped into a crouch, turning immediately toward the source of what I craved. But whenever I sped toward him, a wall of energy shocked my body, sending me backward. Behind his shield, he held the edge of the blade to Julian’s neck. Then he pointed behind me, and I turned in time to see another gash open on Bres’ arm. The scent of yet more fresh blood filled the air, and I needed it. I needed it so I could think clearly.
I jumped on the back of the enormous unmoving fairy, sinking my fangs into his throat and gulping down the familiar elixir. His essence filled me, spreading through my veins as I drew from him, and filling me with power and nourishment.
“Good girl,” Merl encouraged from behind his wall. “Keep drinking.”
I should stop, I thought. But when I paused, Merl pressed the blade far enough into Julian’s pale skin to open a lesion, blood soaking into the blade like water in thirsty soil.
We would do anything for each other because we were mates. I remembered Julian explaining that when he turned me. He wasn’t angry with me for making the deal with the queen. He’d understood the need to save him at all costs. It was the same for him. And it was the same drive that pushed him to choose this life all those years ago. Yes, I did want him to let me make my own choices. But I also understood the drive to protect those you loved no matter the consequence.
I forgive you, and I know you forgive me, I promised Julian silently before turning back to my meal. Five minutes later, I was still sucking at what was now an empty and lifeless husk that used to be a fairy. I dropped the body to the floor and stepped away, covered in a combination of his black blood and my own red.
“Beautiful,” Merlin breathed, releasing the shield, but keeping the blade where it was, against the now conscious Julian’s throat.
Our gazes locked, and I knew he understood.
“Let him go now, Merlin,” I said.
“First, I’ll need you to get back in your restraints so I can wake Lydia and have her turn me.”
Julian remained still and calm as always, an amazing feat when I’d railed, fought, and growled my way through the last who knew how many hours. I’d learn that skill somehow even if it took another five hundred years.
“Sure,” I said with a shrug and stepped so that my back was to the wall, lifting my hands above me for the shackles to grab onto. But this time I placed a layer of pink energy between the silver and my skin.
Merlin retreated from Julian, lowering the sword to his side. “Excellent.” He thrust the blade into thin air where it disappeared then approached Lydia.
I nodded at Julian then slipped my hands and legs from the restraints effortlessly before floating to the floor where I landed without a sound. Merl hadn’t thought of everything, it turned out. His hubris was his downfall. He couldn’t fathom the idea that after completely draining fae royalty, I was now the superior magic wielder. The difference between stopping and finishing each drop of blood was incredible. Every spot on his body lit up with its secrets, both weaknesses and strengths. I smiled as I crept closer, predator toward prey, as Lydia’s eyes blinked open.
He didn’t even have a chance to turn around before I’d sunk into his neck, circling him from behind and crushing him against me, breaking right through his breastbone.
The deliciously sweet flavor rolled over my tongue, dessert to my appetizer of Bres as I fed, gulping greedily, unwilling to lose even a dribble.
“Charlotte,” Julian called, his tone sharp yet gentle at the same time. “You will regret it if you don’t stop.”
But he was wrong. He hadn’t seen what this monster had done to my mother. The nightmares he’d created in the other room. He hadn’t been there when Merlin belittled and threatened me with everything from rape to draining me into an animal. No, he couldn’t be allowed to bring this kind of harm to anyone anymore. All he was good for was his blood, and though I risked some sort of withdrawal after, I was going to have my fill and then some for the last time.
Around us, magic shot out like desperate screams, knocking over objects and stirring blasts of both wind and fire. But I only sank in deeper, drawing his lifeforce inside of me until he stilled, and I sank to my knees, still clutching him to me as I called out every last drop from his body with my telekinesis. And when I was done, I dropped what was left of the illustrious Merlin and set a hand on my engorged stomach.
“I’d say I already paid for that in advance.”