Chapter 44
VESSA
Levi’s unnerving smile is wide in satisfaction. “Allow me to formally introduce the two of you. Sponsa Noctis, meet my Servant of the First Moon.”
Esmé scoffs, discreetly glancing at Joseph as one of the guards puts him in silver cuffs. “You’ve got the wrong girl.”
My body tenses as the lycan drops his mouth to my ear. “A talented liar, I might add.”
"I've had visions of the one he seeks for decades. You’re wrong. It isn’t her.”
Levi drags his tongue along my wounded shoulder, causing me to whimper. “You witches don’t know when to stop, do you?”
Esmé takes a step closer to me, contemplating her next move. Levi chuckles, letting his hands explore my chest. Nauseous, I force myself to look at the floor. Stay calm. Stay very, very calm.
"We already have the confirmation we need. The Master’s emissaries are preparing for their journey here as we speak."
The oracle flinches. “You honestly believe Remick will let you keep the reward? Let me assure you, you and your little pea-brain associates won’t stand a chance against the havoc when he steps foot here. You’re nothing more than a pawn.”
Levi tugs me across the room where Esmé’s mate is chained against a steel beam. “The half million dollars sitting in our account says otherwise. So, if it’s alright with you, I’ll carry on.”
He pulls out a six-inch knife from his waistband and brings it to Joseph’s neck. The beaten male fixes his golden eyes on Esmé, chest heaving.
“Don’t do this, Levi,” she croaks.
Heart pounding, I wrap my hands around Levi’s arm.
But he promptly shoves me off, knocking me to the ground.
The impact has my injured legs throbbing, shooting excruciating bolts of pain all the way down to my toes.
Before I even have a chance to react, the tip of Levi’s blade is resting under my chin.
“What are you doing?” Esmé gasps.
“What was my only rule?”
He increases the pressure, the knife’s tip pricking my skin. Levi motions to Dustin, who seizes my elbows from behind, triggering a groan.
“What was it?” he hollers.
Esmé flinches, lips fumbling. “Never lie.”
“You know, Dustin and I could just take that five hundred thousand and dip. Fuck the others. Fuck the vampires. What do you say we open her up right here and call it a day?”
Shit.
“If you’re going to punish me, then take it out on me. Leave Vessa out of this. Let her go while there’s still time.”
Levi smirks. “I’m afraid that’s not on the table. What will it be then? The Sponsa Noctis or the love of your life?”
The oracle shudders, clutching onto her mate. Stroking his cheeks. Pressing her lips to his. Whispering she loves him over and over.
Growling, I flash my teeth at my scorpion-inked captor. “You’re a sick bastard.”
“So, I’ve heard,” he grunts, stomping over to Esmé, prying her away and slitting Joseph’s throat so abruptly that his blood spatters onto her face. She screams as his body slumps atop her.
Sobbing and thrashing, I am dragged out of the room. A call comes through on Dustin’s radio. As he reaches behind to adjust the volume, I jerk forwards, stomping on his foot as hard as I can. Fuck, does it hurt. But it works. He loosens his hold and I sprint down the hall.
Guards roar after me. More activity sounds on the hall speakers as I fly past them, adrenaline blocking out the pain. Stacks of ice chests and shipping containers line the walls. Kiersten must’ve called for preparations to abandon the facility.
Just as the stairwell comes into view, I’m tackled from the side.
Two men work to subdue me, one pinning my shoulders down as Dustin injects me with what can only be a sedative.
I’m still fighting as he hauls me up and over his shoulder.
In my last conscious moments, I glance out the window, where I observe an armed guard leading a line of girls whose hands are bound out the exit.
Dr. Caulder’s daughter is among them. Levi is the last one out.
He pulls a gun from his waistband, closing the door behind him.
No!
Through drooping eyelids, I punch at the hard biceps that hold me in place. But my energy is soon spent, and I give in to the blurring weightlessness.
When I eventually stir, I find myself sprawled out on a leather chaise. Not my usual plastic cot.
It’s a new office. A rather bland one at that—pale yellow walls that are decorated with portraits of plants and human anatomy. A long horizontal desk with a clipboard, a microscope, and a bin full of discarded energy drinks.
Kiersten hovers over me, her hair pulled back into a messy knot. Her lover smiles and hands over a fresh pink shift gown with bows and slippers to match.
I beg her to give me something else. Something with sleeves. I don’t want to look at the bruises on my limbs. I’m so repulsed by the shift dress Yvonne tugs down my frame that I don’t even recognize myself in the mirror. In my reflection, I see a broken doll.
My skin is splotchy. Everything aches. My hand flattens over my chest. Axe. Please hurry.
Kiersten walks me through a set of titanium doors, opened by a PIN pad combination. Holding me tightly, she ushers me into a set of observation rooms, illuminated by murky red lights. Behind the glass, two lethargic figures are chained up along the wall.
Taking my seat, I stare down Kiersten’s test subjects—the “pets” Fawn referred to before. One of them is a first-generation, yellow-eyed vampire, like the one who pursued Axe and I in Belcarra. The female, far more fidgety, is the new breed. The reptilian hybrid that also feeds on lycan blood.
Kiersten’s shaggy-haired assistant approaches with two syringes.
The vampires lunge forward, but he kicks them back, ordering them to behave.
Yielding to him, the first opens his mouth, and blood squirts onto his tongue.
Instantly, the creature’s eyes roll back into his head.
When the female gets a taste, she hisses, the vertical slits of her pupils expanding.
The assistant pockets the tubes and shuffles back into the observation room with haste, locking the door.
“Your blood panel is fascinating,” Kiersten says. “I see you are part Noctosonoc. Tell me, did your ancestors use the language of the old gods of Sempiternus? Most humans have turned their backs on them.”
“What’s it to you?”
She prowls closer. “Your name. It means ‘star of heaven,’ does it not?”
“Evening star,” I correct.
Kiersten smirks. “Did you know that in Somnium, demons do not speak the common tongue of the heavens? Down below, Vespera translates to something far more wicked. It means ‘final death.’”
The words reverberate through me, chilling my blood.
Piercing shrieks vibrate against the glass. Kiersten jerks my face ahead. “Look, Vessa. Witness what your blood can do.”
The vampires. Their skin is boiling. Oh gods, it’s burning. Deeply and savagely as they drop to their knees, convulsing in pure agony. Layers of tissue melt away like butter.
Recoiling, I gasp.
I can’t watch as the vampires claw the burning flesh off their faces. Kiersten motions to her partner, who lifts a flap to a small opening. He reaches for his pistol, jamming it in the slot. He puts the demons out of their misery, but not before the odor of their fiery demise seeps into the room.
Gods on high, the smell. I can’t take it. It's the foulest, most revolting scent I've ever encountered. It has me buckled over heaving my guts out on Kiersten’s shoes.
She snatches my hair with a pissy growl. “Does this miracle repulse you? This changes everything.”
My hands squeeze into fists. "Doesn't the Master know that if he consumes my blood, it will be his end? You think he’s going to reward you for this?"
"Of course, he does. Remick has spent hundreds of years extracting secrets from the Servants of the First Moon.”
“You mean butchering.”
She rolls her eyes, hauling me onto my feet. “Semantics.”
"Wait—What will he do with me then? Remick?"
Kiersten enters the code on the dialing pad, opening the gate below. "He'll take you to Somnium and you’ll be wed. Then, I would imagine that he’ll drain you entirely of your blood and make you immortal through his venom."
"Axe would never let that happen. Neither will I.”
Tears spill from my eyes. If the Blood Master drains me of the only power I have—if he kills me, I’ll reject the venom. I won't come back as a monster. I refuse to.
She laughs, pulling me out into the hallway. A chorus of screams erupts from down the hall, following what sounds like a cracking whip. No—a gunshot. The girls. "Please. Stop this. They've done nothing wrong!"
Kiersten ignores me, urging me toward the stairwell with the nose of her gun. Back to the basement. "The only woman your mate will ever be faithful to in this life is revenge. Take it from someone who's been personally used and spit back out by the Skornokovys.”
I writhe against her grip.
“Think about it, Vessa. He would cast out whatever affection he has for you without a second thought and exploit every last drop of you to kill the Blood Master. You would become his ultimate weapon.”
“What’s stopping you, then? Surely if you killed him, you’d be doing lycans a great service. Perhaps Demi and Chris would forgive you. You wouldn’t just be welcome back at Bleeding Sun, you would be honored.”
I stop in my tracks, forcing her to face me. It earns me a reprimanding look, but I don’t back down. I stare into her clear, unfeeling eyes. “I’m not afraid to die.”
Kiersten scoffs. “Don’t you see? By handing you over, we’re preventing a bloody war that is already in the vampires' favor. Axe knows it as well as I do. Lycans are outnumbered four to one. Personally, I like my chances on the side of immortality.”
"Kiersten, I'm begging you. Let the others go. Please. This was never about them."
She shoves me into the cell, delivering a kick to the back of my knee with a force that skins them when I hit the ground. Her chuckling assistant tosses a sack of carrots through the iron bars. Just enough to keep me alive.
"Not to worry, Luna. We'll spare a few for the emissaries. I'm sure they'll be famished after their long journey.”