Chapter 27
Leona was surrounded by drained rat carcasses. It was all she had to survive. She was lucky Gideon had even allowed her that much. Her head had healed from his last violent attack, but her heart and spirit weren’t so quick to bounce back. She had told herself — and Gideon — that she would not lose hope, but… it was difficult. Ever since she’d entered into this immortal contract with her master, she formed a habit of fearing the worst. Because the worst was all that happened most of the time.
Taking a deep breath, she inhaled, trying to calm herself down. Then… she froze. Her eyes flew open and she inhaled again, catching a whiff of…
Sebastian.
Both fear and elation crippled her. She knew he was here, somewhere, and prayed it wasn’t Gideon who brought him in. Inhaling again, she caught the scent of Whitney, Piper… They were here, just like they always were. She turned her head toward the door and scrambled to her feet. If this was anything like last time, she needed to be ready to go. The first time, Gideon hadn’t locked her away, and it had been rather easy to slip out. After that, he learned from his mistake and imprisoned her when he wasn’t around. This time… no matter if he was there or not, she was bound.
She pressed her ear against the door, trying to listen for anything. She could smell Gideon near too, and her body felt colder than usual with the terror flowing through her. As she heard footsteps, she backed off, her face hopeful. As the door burst open, her eyes fell on…
“You fucking whore,” Gideon hissed, his eyes red and bright with fury. “I know your little friends are hiding around here somewhere. Are they in here?”
“No,” Leona said, trying to keep her voice even. “But they’ll find me eventually. I told you, you will lose. They’re here. My saviors are here to rescue me. Again. How many times do we have to go through this before you realize it’s pointless, Gideon? That is what loyalty is.”
Gideon grabbed her by the throat and tried to force her mouth open, a small vial in his hand with an amber, murky liquid sloshing around inside. She screamed and curled her fingers around his hands, barely keeping him off her. Eventually, she managed to get her hand on the glassware and crushed it, the contents pouring out on both their hands. When he pulled back, she took her chance and bolted out of the room. A rush of adrenaline pumped through her, despite her hunger, and the thought of seeing Sebastian and escaping was the main thing spurring her on.
As she rounded a corner, she was suddenly grabbed. She thrashed against the person, until a familiar voice brought her out of her fearful trance.
“Leona!” Piper gasped, gripping her as tight as she could so she didn’t run away. “Where is Gideon?! We were going to come to find you, but we heard him come and broke apart so he didn’t find us. We needed to throw him off Sebastian’s scent.”
“Where is Sebastian?!” Leona practically shrieked in fear. “He’s down there and he’s pissed. We have to find Sebastian and get him the hell out of here before Gideon?—”
“Before Gideon what?” a dark voice said from the other side of the room. Leona and Piper both turned to look at him, and Leona’s eyes widened. Gideon stood, Sebastian on his knees beside him, struggling under the grip the vampire had on his head and hair. “Aww…” Gideon tutted, poking out his lower lip. “Didn’t quite go to plan, did it? He was much easier to chase after than you, flower. And I met your new friends,” he said, glancing toward Victor, Charlotte, and Whitney. “I would say the backup was a good call, but… bringing a snack along the way probably wasn’t the strategy I would have gone with.”
“Let him go,” Leona said shakily. She tried to step toward him, but Piper kept her pulled back. “Let him go. Now, Gideon.”
“Why in the hell would I want to do that? He only just got here, Le, I want to give him a grand tour. Bloke didn’t even have the decency to knock on the front door,” he pouted, before dragging him across the room. Sebastian grunted in pain and brought his hands up to claw at Gideon’s vice above him. Gideon walked through to the open foyer, then tossed Sebastian in front of him like he weighed nothing more than a doll. Sebastian tumbled and braced himself on his hands and knees, his head screaming from the pain.
“Ah, ah,” Gideon said, putting his hand out as Leona, Whitney, Piper, Charlotte, and Victor quickly followed behind him. He glanced over his shoulder, then turned so he could face all six of them. “He stays over there. You stay over there. That’s how the rules work,” he said, pointing to either side of the room. “I want you all to have a good seat to watch our brave, darling Sebastian’s final act.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” Sebastian said, causing Gideon’s attention to whip to him.
“You really are stupid,” Gideon laughed, turning his body completely toward Sebastian. Leisurely, he strolled over to him, his fingertips arched together. “Why are you so hellbent on protecting her? You know you’re nothing to her, don’t you? Nothing but a momentary distraction. She tells me you don’t want to be turned. If you were smarter, you’d abandon them and be here with me. Let me teach you about this life. Not the sentimental ways of women,” he said, sneering at Leona, Whitney, Piper, and Charlotte. “I see they’ve already corrupted this one,” he said, nodding to Victor. “You sure? It’s not too late to choose the right side, Beliveau.”
“You’re fucking insane,” Sebastian bit back.
“Pity. It’s a shame, really. I’d like to see what someone like you could do as an immortal. Having said that, you’re too annoying to be kept alive,” Gideon said. “Your courage, though, is conflated with idiocy, I’ll give credit where it’s due.”
“I don’t need to be an immortal to kill you,” Sebastian spat. “Anything can be killed. You just have to know how to do it.”
Gideon threw his head back and a laugh bellowed from him. “Is that so? Please, enlighten me. How do you kill me?”
“Rip you apart. Burn you. Poison you. Maybe some other things. Let’s test my theory,” Sebastian countered, reaching behind him. He pulled out his gun and aimed it toward him. “What about a half dozen bullets to the head?”
Gideon raised his eyebrows. “Color me impressed, human. This is a first, I’ll admit. It looks like a nice firearm. You’re confident in using it?”
“Confident enough to fuck your creepy face up,” he growled, cocking the gun and moving his finger back over the trigger.
“Do it then,” Gideon said. He smirked and tilted his chin up arrogantly, holding his arms out. “Will you quit stalling after this performance is over? Leona isn’t exactly going to leave willingly without you.”
Piper’s eyes widened and she gripped Leona’s hand. The plan had been to have Sebastian distract Gideon while she got Leona out, and the others were responsible for getting Sebastian out in the commotion of it all. As much as she knew Leona loved Sebastian, she was there for her, not him. If he died, well… Leona would get over it eventually. Whitney was safe because of Damien. Gideon hadn’t killed her yet and she highly doubted he’d start today. And she could adequately protect Victor and Charlotte. Piper, however, hadn’t accounted for the long list of supernatural abilities Gideon possessed and the link they all shared. She felt a fool.
“Go!” Sebastian yelled, knowing their plan was compromised. He squeezed the trigger as many times as he could, the gun echoing loudly throughout the room.
Six bullets pelted Gideon and he barely did so much as sway back. Two hit side-by-side on his forehead, another above his mouth, two on either side of his neck, and the last above his sternum. Some blood came out due to the impact, but Gideon didn’t look much more bothered than if a mosquito had landed on him.
“Bravo,” Gideon said, plucking the crushed casing of bullets out of his skin. His body began to morph back into his pristine state. He wiped the blood from him and licked it clean. “I’m sick of playing these games with you,” he said, turning to look at the rest of them, who were bolted to the ground by the force of his gaze. “All of you die tonight. And Leona will live with it for the rest of her miserable existence.” Sebastian was hurriedly reloading the gun. He knew it was pointless, but he wasn’t going to stand there and do nothing. Short of running at him and trying to tackle him or throw a punch, he was out of options.
Just as he was about to fire more rounds, Gideon lunged for Victor and Charlotte first. The blondes struggled against his grip, screaming and cursing to get him off. Piper, Leona, and Whitney were working together to pry him off their friends. Gideon reared his hand back and bat Whitney off him, letting go of Victor in the process. He still had Charlotte held tight in one hand. Leona and Piper managed to hold on and continued tearing away whatever they could of Gideon. Whitney rushed back toward him and bit his ear, ripping it off in a gush of blood. Gideon roared in pain and jerked his head back, bashing Whitney in the forehead. Once she was off him, Gideon’s left hand joined his right in clamping around Charlotte’s throat. It was a struggle with Leona and Piper still hanging off him. The grip made Charlotte cough violently, then she raked her nails down his hands, failing to loosen his grip.
Sebastian was by Victor and Whitney’s sides, checking if they were okay. They seemed dazed from Gideon’s strength, but otherwise unharmed... for the most part.
“Sebastian, go hide. Go far away from here. Leave the castle and hike back, go find civilization and get yourself home,” Whitney panted.
“I’m not leaving!” Sebastian snapped. He was angry with the lack of confidence in him. He didn’t have their powers, but he would not abandon them in any circumstances. He looked around and tried to find anything that would help. The room was decorated with things he’d only seen in movies or history books. Suits of armor, ancient artwork, sculptures. He spotted some thick cable wrapped around some of the pillars of art Gideon had. As Victor and Whitney went back to help Charlotte, Sebastian ran to the pillar and began prying the steel cable off. Soon, he had a long piece in his hands, and he darted back to the group. Launching himself, he hooked the cable around the front of Gideon’s neck and yanked back with all the force he could muster. It was enough to catch the vampire off guard, and his grip faltered from Charlotte. She coughed violently, her neck purple and her eyes red with blood. She rolled over and gasped, trying to get her vision back in check.
Sebastian’s attack didn’t do anything except piss Gideon off more. He threw Sebastian off him and he hit the stairs in the middle of the room, the marble cracking under the force of his body. He cried out in pain and tried to push himself up, but he knew several things were broken.
“ENOUGH!” Gideon boomed, the shockwave of anger sending everyone else flailing back. As they recovered, he stormed over to Sebastian and picked him up by the throat. Sebastian groaned in agony and mauled at the monster’s wrists to try to get some airflow. Gideon slowly lifted him up, his feet dangling off the ground.
“Sebastian!” Leona wailed, trying to get to him, but she was being held back.
Gideon smirked and looked over at all of them, then directly at Leona. “This is what you left me for? How pitiful,” he cooed, turning his attention back to Sebastian. “Look at him. Quivering in fear.”
Sebastian struggled to speak, his teeth gritted in pain. Kicking his legs, he tried to get some leverage. It was obvious to him now that Gideon liked to play with his food and make his prey suffer. Why else had he not just ripped Charlotte to shreds earlier? Why this now?
“Trying to beg for your life?” Gideon taunted, his head tilted ever so slightly.
“Never… begged before… not starting… now,” Sebastian ground out, his vision fading in and out from the lack of oxygen.
“Aww…” Gideon sighed, pursing his lips. “Any last words?”
“Touch her again… and I’ll… kill you,” Sebastian managed, his voice barely above a strained whisper.
“Noted,” Gideon laughed.
Then he shoved his hand into Sebastian’s chest. The man’s eyes widened in both shock and pain, and he coughed up blood, splattering it on Gideon’s face. Gideon’s hand went deeper into his body, then he dropped him, his hand coming out covered in crimson fluid. Lifting it up, his tongue glided over his fingers. “I can see why she kept you around. You are delicious,” he sighed.
Sebastian was convulsing, gasping for any air he could. Blood poured from both his chest and mouth, and his vision was so blurry, he couldn’t differentiate up from down.
Leona screamed, a gut-wrenching, wounded sound leaving her body. “No,” she sobbed, nearly falling to the floor. She just about held herself up. Staggering to Sebastian, she dropped to her knees, knowing what she had to do. She had minutes — maybe not even that. “I’m sorry, darling,” she cried, tears falling on him. He was so pale. His eyes didn’t even look like his anymore. “I’m sorry. I have to. I have to.”
Her fangs extended and she started to lean down, but hesitated. She couldn’t let him die, but… was this doing what she had promised him wouldn’t happen? She was taking his choice away. She hadn’t asked to be turned. She hadn’t been given a chance to choose. He had told her multiple times, no matter what, that he didn’t want this life.
It felt like searing pain was shooting through her as each millisecond passed. Almost like she’d been stabbed. It was different than any sort of fear or heartbreak she had ever endured. This went deeper than her bones.
Victor, Piper, and Whitney were holding Gideon back from coming any closer to the couple. Fueled with rage, all three of them almost matched Gideon’s power, and he was struggling. It was buying them time. As much as they could get.
Leona’s hands shook and she knew she had no choice. She… She didn’t. Did she? He was dying.
But she couldn’t.
Staring down at him, wide-eyed and full of fear, she watched him take what had to be his last few attempts at breaths?—
The next moment, Charlotte shoved her aside and sunk her teeth into his neck. She ripped into his throat, letting her venom seep from her fangs and into his jugular. She pulled back and bit again on the other side, and repeated the process for both wrists and both thighs.
All Leona felt was horror. The man she loved — if he wasn’t too far gone — would despise her for the rest of time for catapulting him into an existence he never wanted. One that he actively refuted. And for what? For her? Was she worth such a thing? Was she worth this?
For a moment, she wondered if dying the most excruciating death, and even losing him, would be better than an eternity of him hating her.
“Leona,” Charlotte said. When she got no answer, she used a hand to wrench her face toward her, blood smearing on her cheeks. “Leona, look at me. You have to get it together. We have to go now.”
“But— Sebastian, he?—”
“He will be fine. But that’s only if we leave. They can’t hold Gideon off much longer, and I’m not strong enough to evanesce back home with both of you in my arms. The others will follow behind us.”
“Gideon will come after us?—”
“We will go where they can’t find us. I promise you. Victor and I have worked out a plan. But you have to trust us. Okay? Have you been to New York City before?”
“Yes,” Leona said, not understanding how this was relevant.
“Okay,” Charlotte said with a nod. “Take us there. If you can get us somewhere discreet where we won’t be around a bunch of people — an alley, something — then I can get us the rest of the way back to my place. We’ll be safe and he won’t know where we are. At least until we can get Sebastian cleaned up and recovered. All we’re doing is buying time.”
“Okay,” Leona stammered. “Okay, okay,” she repeated, trying to get her thoughts together. She gathered Charlotte and a bloodied and unconscious Sebastian in her arms, and with Gideon’s attention elsewhere, evanesced them out of the country.