34. Ethan
Ethan
Icame to in waves.
The first time I woke, I noted the silence. There was no screaming. No moans of pain. No talking. No road noise.
Just complete silence.
The second time, I managed to pry my eyes open. I was indoors, sat in the centre of a warehouse of some kind. Machinery covered in grime sat in one corner, while dusty windows far above me displayed the setting sun.
I shook my head groggily, trying to get my mind to focus. Just how long had I been here? Where was Dr. Hall? What had he injected me with? And why? Where was Rami?
There were no answers to these questions, just more darkness as whatever Dr. Hall had injected into my system swept me under again.
The next time I regained consciousness, I knew there was no danger of me losing it again. I felt more alert. More aware.
Which was a shame, because it had been nice not knowing how completely fucked I was.
I was sat on a metal chair, my hands bound behind my back. I tried to push them apart, hissing when plastic cut into my skin. Cable ties. Fuck. I’d seen a clip about how to free yourself from these once.
Wished I could remember it now.
They were so tight that I couldn’t even stand. Didn’t stop me trying. I had no idea what the fuck was happening, but given this warehouse looked like a set from a true crime documentary, I wasn’t about to wait around to find out.
Gritting my teeth, I pushed myself into a crouch. I managed one step forwards. A second.
And then I crashed down onto my face.
“Careful, Ethan.” The soft voice had me tensing. “Can’t have you hurting yourself yet.”
Yet?
Strong hands grabbed my shoulders and lifted me from the floor, chair and all. When I was righted, I found myself staring into the face of Dr. Hall. “You.”
He smiled. “Me.”
“I don’t understand. Why did you take me?”
Dr. Hall didn’t answer immediately, just strolled over to grab another chair from a stack against the wall.
Moving as though he had all the time in the world, he carried it back and positioned it opposite me.
He sat down, crossed his legs at the ankle, and leaned back to smile at me.
“There. As we usually are, just without the desk.”
A chill went down my spine. I’d always thought of Dr. Hall’s smile as comforting. Professional.
Neither of those words applied now.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for this moment,” he said conversationally. “Not as long as I’d initially anticipated. Given your diagnosis, I’d expected to have to wait for several more months.”
My mind was spinning. Nothing was making sense. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I wanted the extra time to get to know you,” he said. “To test your worthiness.”
“Worthiness for what?”
His sinister smile spread. “Why, for being my mate, of course.”
I stared at him. “Your what?”
He gave a throaty chuckle. “Don’t tell me your angel hasn’t explained mates to you. Or has he kept you in the dark about everything?”
I stayed silent. I didn’t understand what was going on, but I wasn’t telling this fucker anything about Rami.
“I see,” Dr. Hall mused, leaning back in his chair. “You really should be thanking me, you know. If it weren’t for today’s little adventure, he might never have told you the truth.”
The insinuation stole all the air from my lungs. “That was you? You killed all those people just to…kidnap me?”
He grinned, like I’d somehow pleased him by putting it together so fast. “You didn’t make it easy.
I knew you had an appointment today, but not where you’d go afterwards.
There are bombs set up all over the hospital, and in all the surrounding businesses.
All I had to do was wait to see which you’d visit. ”
All the blood drained from my face. “You can’t be serious. You’re a doctor. You’re meant to save people, not kill them.”
“I’m no more a doctor than you are,” he said dismissively. “What I am is an expert liar and forger. I had to do it, Ethan. It was the only way I could get close to you.”
Just how long had he been watching me? “Who are you?”
“Damien Gaunt, at your service.”
“At my service…” I was in complete disbelief. “And your service includes murdering innocent people like you did today?”
“Usually, yes. But you can’t be too angry about that.
Not when I haven’t even told you the best part.
” He showed me the screen on his phone. There was a map covered in several flashing red dots.
“See all of these devices? They’re still active.
All it’ll take is one little tap here, and the accident and emergency department will be inundated…
unless that’s the location I choose. I was very thorough. ”
“You’re psychotic,” I whispered. “Those are innocent people! Why would you do that?”
“Because of your angel.” He pocketed his phone. “I have to have insurance in place. Tell me, do you think he’ll choose to save you, or legions of strangers? Angels are the most moral of us, after all. I say we put that to the test.”
He couldn’t be serious. He couldn’t.
But as I stared at his serene expression, I knew he was. He’d already killed today.
He was fully prepared to do so again.
“I knew something had to have happened when your results suddenly showed you were cancer-free,” he mused. “I’ll admit, if I hadn’t already chosen you, that alone might’ve done it. I was slightly put out when I spotted Ramiel’s mark on your forehead, until I realised the challenge it presented.”
He flashed his teeth, showing elongated canines. I suddenly suspected that angels and demons weren’t the only supernatural creatures that existed.
I doubted I was going to come out of this alive, but I couldn’t give up. Hadn’t when I’d been given my terminal diagnosis, and I wasn’t about to now. Even if I only stayed alive long enough to tell someone about the other bombs…I had to make it.
My plan was to keep Damien talking. Rami would be searching for me. I knew it in my bones. All I could do was buy him time. “What mark?”
“Right here.” He reached out and touched my forehead, making me recoil away from him. “You can’t see it, naturally, but I can. Ramiel marked you as his.”
“What does that mean?”
He withdrew his hand and relief washed over me. “A mating bond is an unbreakable link between two souls. It works differently for different supernatural creatures, or supes. With angels and demons, they mark their fated mates first.”
Fated?
I was Rami’s fated mate?
“In the natural order of things, you’d accept the bond and that would be it. You’d inherit not only his strength and healing, but his immortal lifespan too.”
I sucked in a breath. What the fuck?
“I’m not sure why Rami hasn’t taken that step,” Damien continued. “Probably some noble idea of wanting you to choose him without the pressure of a bond, I imagine. Angels. Such fools.”
“If I’m Rami’s fated mate,” I said, hardly able to believe the words leaving my mouth, “then I can’t be yours.”
“Ah.” He clapped his hands together. “See, that’s where you’re wrong. Vampires don’t have fated mates, we get to choose.”
Great. He was a vampire. From how he was leering, I was guessing not one of the sparkly, vegetarian variety.
“That’s what I’m doing,” he continued. “I’m choosing you. Assuming you’re strong enough, of course.”
“Strong enough for what?”
“Being my mate will mean a lifetime on the run. I have many enemies who are constantly hunting me down.”
There was no stopping the sarcasm in my reply. “Really? I can’t imagine why.”
Damien flashed his teeth at me once more. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll come to love me. That’s partially why I was annoyed at Rami’s interference. By healing the cancer from your body, he cut down on our time together.”
My mind was racing, trying to piece everything together. Problem was, I had no idea what the overall picture was supposed to be.
“I wanted to give you time to get to know me better,” Damien continued mournfully. “That’s why I hadn’t mated you already. My initial plan was to wait until you were on your deathbed before saving you.”
“Saving me by making me your mate?”
“Yes.” He blinked almost sadly. I wasn’t sure he was capable of feeling true sadness. “I wouldn’t have let you die, Ethan.”
My temper, so rarely riled, was pulsing beneath my skin. “But you were willing to let me suffer through endless rounds of chemo before doing that.”
“I had to. It was my way of testing whether you were strong enough to be with me. To be my mate. But then Rami came along and changed all my plans.”
“You’re a monster,” I whispered in disbelief. “You killed all those people today, and if it wasn’t for Rami, more would’ve died. And for what?”
“For you.” He swept his arms wide as though he was expecting applause for his cruelty. “All of this has been for you.”
God, I was going to vomit. Or pass out. One of the two.
Instead, I took a deep breath. I had to hold it together until Rami came. And he would.
He will.
“I didn’t want any of this,” I said, my lip curling. “And I certainly don’t want you.”
“You will. Assuming you’re worthy, of course. Now that you’ve been healed I’m going to follow my usual procedures.”
Damien got to his feet and disappeared out of view. When he returned, he was pulling a small metal trolley. My blood ran cold at the sight of the instruments arranged on it.
“What are those?”
“These will help me test you. I’ll have to go fast if I’m going to outrun the healing Rami’s mark gives you.”
As he spoke, a shadow crossed one of the high windows.
Another.
A third.
“Rami’s going to kill you,” I said, raising my voice almost to a shout, trying to cover the beating on the air. “If you hurt me, he’ll kill you.”
Something deep in my bones told me Rami was going to kill him regardless. After seeing firsthand what Damien was capable of, that thought didn’t scare me. It reassured me.
“He can try,” Damien said as he contemplated two different scalpels. “Many have tried, but none have succeeded.”
An unfamiliar voice rang out. “Probably because they didn’t have intimate knowledge of your weaknesses.”