Chapter 14
Seraphim
“Please,” Patrick pleaded, holding his hands in front of him.
“It’s not negotiable,” I said, taking his wrists and dragging him down the stairs.
He kicked out and struggled, to no avail. When we reached the basement, the sobs of the other three grew louder. I should’ve stopped at a hospital to steal something to knock them out. Listening to them all day and night was going to be irritating and it would distract me from my purpose here.
Taking a rope, I tied his hands behind the chair, looping it around intricately so he couldn’t somehow get out of it. The chairs were metal, so none of them could find a way to break them. Maybe they could scoot closer and try to untie each other, but they’d never succeed.
As long as I wasn’t using a lot of magic, they should last me a while. I didn’t know how long Lock and Sam intended to be here, but if things went according to plan, I wouldn’t have to be overly concerned with keeping blood hostages for long. For now, I needed to figure out what they were doing here. If she was smart, she’d start experimenting with her newfound abilities instead of lying in bed all day and night.
“The person who makes the most noise is my first meal,” I said before heading back upstairs.
I quickly pulled all the curtains closed in the house. This place was directly across the lake from where they were staying. It gave me a perfect view, but I had to be careful so I wasn’t spotted. Even a stray glance across the water could result in one of them catching a glimpse of me.
Heading into the kitchen, I searched the cabinets until I found a pack of cookies. Sitting on the dock while eating these with my feet in the water sounded like bliss, but it was all business, business, business. This shit had to be taken care of soon or we’d have a hell of a lot more problems.
Quickly, I made sure my sound barrier was flawless, then I perched on the island and popped a cookie in my mouth. There was an argument going on at their cabin when I got here, but they seemed to have settled into a sort of peace. It seemed like their peace was precarious these days, though.
Through the sliver between the curtains, I saw them go outside. They carried their plates to the dock and settled in the position I’d thought about eating my cookies in. It must have been nice. I secured my hair into a bun and listened.
“This whole thing is stupid,” Sam grumbled.
“Well, your attitude has been stupid, Belladonna.”
“Stop trying to piss me off.”
“I promise this is not me trying to piss you off. That’s for later.”
“I’m not participating in whatever crazy shit you’ve concocted.”
“Is this when you call me a psychopath again?”
She huffed before taking a bite of what looked like ravioli. The water splashed a little as she trailed her feet back and forth.
“I’m going to grab some wine so this is slightly more enjoyable.”
Once Lock was gone, Sam let out a shuddering breath. Her hand went to her chest and I felt a pulse in mine. With it came pain in my entire body, an excruciating tightness in my veins, and a rush of weakness that nearly made me drop my cookies.
What the fuck was going on with her? I needed to get on their good side soon or something was going to happen. I just knew it. When I first changed, I struggled with my magic, but it was partly because I had no idea how it worked. I’d given Sam and Lock enough information that they should’ve been having a slightly easier time, not to mention they had people conducting research for them.
This shouldn’t be happening. Being a bit volatile and having unintended magical outbursts was normal. Whatever she was going through made me sick with worry. Fuck this connection she’d opened. It pissed me off more every day.
I found a bottle of absinthe and started drinking it while I watched them. After Lock returned, she hid her pain from him. I was just dying to corner her and make her tell me what game she was playing.
Lock set his plate down and took Sam’s from her. He put his hand on the side of her neck and pulled her to his lips. I could see the tightness in her muscles, but she let him kiss her. From the tension in his body, I knew he was very aware there was something going on.
He held out a bottle of blood to her, then cocked his head as she stared at it. After a moment, she took it, but only drank half. That was interesting. More like fucking strange.
“Sam, I told you not to worry about how much you’re drinking.”
“You know I never stop worrying.”
“You’re the most powerful vampire in existence, my love. I have no qualms about admitting that. Take what you need and never apologize for it.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It is. You’re simply complicating it.”
“Okay.”
He took the half-full bottle and set it aside. Taking her by the waist, he pushed her onto her back, hovering over her. I wanted to avert my gaze, but this was part of the recon. I didn’t have romantic feelings for Sam, but since we were staying away from each other, my blood yearned for her. It wanted to taste her power and give her my own. Just like at the club, it would resort to making us lust after each other if that’s what it took. It was infuriating.
The last thing I wanted was to feel any sort of affection for someone. The mere idea of it filled me with panic and I immediately thought about running so that it didn’t turn out tragically. This one had to be that way, though, and I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn’t real. It was just the Ark connection, the draw known as obsequium.
There was a splash that drew my attention across the lake again. I put a hand over my mouth to stifle my laughter. Sam was marching back into the house, leaving Lock in the lake, looking ready to kill a man. Clearly, she was not a fan of his advances right now.
Those two had to be the most dysfunctional couple I’d ever seen. They were obsessed with each other, though. It went further than the pull of the mate bond. The bond had fashioned Lock’s ability to love, even though it wasn’t his nature, but he continued to choose that affection every day.
Plenty of vampires had killed their mate over the years and he really shouldn’t have been any different, considering his lust for power. Somehow, though, I was certain that he wouldn’t take her power after they tethered themselves. It was the strangest thing to witness and it almost made me feel bad for my nefarious intentions.
Almost.
“Please! Let me the fuck out!”
With a sigh, I hopped down from the counter and headed for the basement. Humans wanted to survive so badly, yet they doomed themselves with their own stupidity. They were ridiculously stupid.
“Mindy,” I drawled, coming to stand in front of her.
“Please, I just want to go home.”
Unfurling my magic from my chest, I let it flow through my veins, down to my hands. It seeped out and I directed it toward the ropes around her wrists. She started to freak out, then fell forward when the bindings snapped.
“Th-thank you.”
“Oh, you dense creature.”
Her eyes went wide just before I locked my fingers around her throat. As my fangs punctured her skin, she screamed and thrashed. I sent smoke down her throat, then heated it until her vocal cords were too damaged to continue her incessant sounds.
My grip tightened on her as the blood began to slow. I sent more of my magic into her body, drawing every drop to the spot I was drinking from. Once she was dry, I released her, letting her body fall limp to the ground.
Dragging the back of my hand over my mouth, I leveled my gaze on the others. “I really don’t want to find more of you, so stop trying to piss me off. I’ve had a hell of a year and bloodlust is quick to rise and difficult to sate.”
Lock and Sam left the cabin, to my surprise. Maybe she felt bad about tossing him into the lake earlier or she could’ve been tired of hearing him relentlessly lecture her. He was so dramatic, I didn’t know how her eyes weren’t permanently stuck looking at her skull.
I kept a constant lining of magic just under the first layer of my skin, making sure it burned away my scent as I followed them. There was still a chance that Sam would sense my presence. If she had, she’d neglected to say anything about it yet.
He took her out of town, to a city that was a little larger. They walked through the streets, almost like they were on a date. If I knew anything about Lock, though, he had something up his sleeve. Even though her heart no longer beat, I could tell she was nervous.
I kept to the tops of the buildings, shifting to shadow when I needed to. With the sound barrier and my scent masking, I was essentially invisible to them. No matter how many times Lock thought he was gaining an advantage on me, he would never be a match for me. Maybe when he tethered to his mate, but that didn’t seem to be happening anytime soon.
They stopped in front of an alley that connected to a club. The music was loud from the outside, even to human ears. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into the dimly lit space. I perched on the edge of the roof, watching them curiously.
There was a small group of people smoking in the alley. They looked up at the two vampires, but didn’t appear unnerved by their presence. Lock asked for a cigarette from one of the women. He passed one to Sam, smiling as he lit them.
He was playing a game and I was certain Sam was going to hate it. Forcing her hand always worked when she was human. Now, she had the means to turn him to ash at the slightest provocation. I couldn’t decide if he was fearless or stupid.
“What are you doing?” she said under her breath.
“Training, darling.”
“I don’t want to do any training.”
“Too bad. There are five of them. How many do you think you can carry?”
“Carry?”
“Yeah. Our kind used to have disciples and Benny thinks you need one. I think five is a better idea.”
“What the fuck is a disciple?”
“Stop asking questions and follow my lead.”
He shifted to smoke, drawing shouts from the humans. Enveloping three of them, he forced the change on their body, absorbing them into himself. Sam turned in a circle, watching as he rose in the air.
“You fucking asshole!” she shouted.
One of the remaining humans shoved her and darted down the alley. I moved forward, but stopped myself. She didn’t need me to protect her.
Light blue smoke burst from her hands. It hit the person in the back, making them stumble. When it started to spread over their body, they screamed, reaching behind them to try grasping at it.
“Fuck,” she cried, thrusting her hands through her hair.
Lock materialized beside her, dropping three unconscious humans on the ground. He quickly used one arm to force smoke down the last one’s throat, making them collapse.
“If I were to use one of your ridiculous words, I would say that was dope.”
“Stop it, Lock. This isn’t funny.”
He put a hand over his mouth, trying to stifle his laughter. The person’s skin had turned to solid ice, freezing them in place. Sam cautiously walked up to them, holding a hand out, then dropping it.
“What do I do?”
“We can use him at our next gala. Ice sculptures are always a hit.”
She growled, releasing a deep blue mist. A moment later, clouds formed above us and it began to rain.
“No, no, no,” she wailed. “Not this again.”
“Calm down, Sam. Use heat or something. Maybe he’ll make it.”
She took a deep breath and nodded, holding her hand up. I cocked my head as I watched her struggle to summon her magic. Nothing happened. I knew she didn’t have any control over it, but I was surprised she didn’t have any grasp on how to use it.
Her body trembled as she became more emotional. I smelled her tears and it made my chest ache. Lock took her face in his hands and kissed her cheeks.
“You have to let it out.”
“I’m trying.”
“No, you’re afraid of it. Part of you is holding it back.”
He moved behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and putting his chin on her shoulder. As he rubbed his hands up and down her arms, she steadied her breathing. Orange smoke began to rise from her hands and her breath caught. When it reached for the frozen human, it grew until it covered their body.
My shoulders shook with laughter when, instead of melting, the whole thing dissolved into what looked like a pile of snow. They both stared down at it with wide eyes.
“Oh my god,” she cried.
Lock crouched beside it and brushed a hand over it. The corner of his mouth lifted before he threw a snowball at Sam. It hit her in the face and she shrieked, brushing it away.
“That’s a person, Lock!”
“No, it’s snow.”
“I want to go home.”
“Alright. Take that last one.”
“I don’t know how to do it.”
“Just wrap yourself around them and you’ll feel them start to dissolve into you. Let it happen.”
“What if they get stuck in me when I shift back?”
He chuckled. “They won’t.”
“I don’t want to keep hurting people.”
“Belladonna, our entire life is going to involve hurting people. I think you just want to have control over it, so that’s what we’re going to learn.”
Instead of responding, she focused on shifting. It took a few tries, then she flew over to the human on the ground. I followed behind them, questioning once again if I stood a chance against her, even if I did take out Lock. It really depended what magic she possessed.
There was only one way to find out. Tomorrow, I would have to make a move. Hopefully I didn’t get turned into a snowman.