Chapter 42 #2
“No!” Lio hissed, keeping the ruby focused on Zola.
I glanced at the others in the room. They didn’t appear affected.
“No one touches the amplifier but me.” My stomach churned.
“You can take Zola—but don’t kill her. I’d like her to join us later.
Bleed her first. I’d do it myself but…well, I’m already rather full. ”
His gaze fell to me.
I licked my lips, stalling. “Why isn’t it working on them?” The moment the words left my mouth, I realized I’d revealed too much. A typical pet wouldn’t know enough about the situation to ask questions.
“What? Oh. The ruby.” He clicked his tongue. “Smart girl. I wondered how much you knew about all this. Has he been spilling his secrets to you? Or his blood, perhaps?”
A knowing gleam lit his eyes. At that moment I realized Lio knew exactly what Laurent and I were to each other. Which meant—no! I couldn’t consider it.
I swallowed.
“I will appease your curiosity, since you are a curious thing. It doesn’t work on them because I have already fed it a bit of their blood. You see, it’s hungry, this ruby. It wants to taste a vampire’s essence when it comes near one. Once it has tasted, it stops its efforts to inflict paralysis.”
“And… You used that on…on Laurent.”
“Of course. Shame it doesn’t work on you, too. But I’d rather have you willing.”
The sound of breaking skin forced me to steel my spine. I didn’t dare look as Lio’s vampire tore into Zola’s throat. I ignored the nausea churning my stomach. She’s a vampire, I reminded myself. They weren’t going to kill her. Not yet.
“Are… Are you going to kill me?” The question was barely a whisper.
He barked a laugh, his gaze darting to Zola before returning to me.
“Not at all, pet. I might have months ago—used you all up. Now I’m going to enjoy you, the same way he does.
” He moved faster than I could follow, wrenching my jaw open and shoving a gag between my teeth.
He wasn’t gentle. A small whimper fell from my open lips.
I didn’t even have to pretend as terror shot through me.
“No!” I cried, but the word was no longer recognizable.
My words were all I had and somehow, he knew. He’d discovered my secret. Our entire plan hinged on my ability.
“Come, don’t you want to see your precious Laurie?” Lio began dragging me away and I let him, too shocked.
Zola was left behind with the others. The last thing I saw was her knees buckling. I had to swallow down bile to keep from vomiting. She’d be okay, right?
I allowed Lio to lead me through a door along the nave’s perimeter and down a set of stone stairs.
Only a faint glow seeped from the bottom, but not enough to see well.
The stairs were narrow, almost too small for my feet.
I tripped twice, only to feel Lio’s hold on me grow tighter, more intimate.
I wanted to scrub clean every place his hands touched.
I didn’t fight against him because every step was one step closer to Laurent.
The pressure in my chest thrummed harder.
He was nearby. It was that relief that kept me going, keeping me focused.
We reached the bottom of the stairs, spilling out into an undercroft. I blinked against the harsh cool glow of electric torch light on power cords, taking everything in. Tears welled in my eyes when I saw him, lit up like a beacon. A sob fell from my chest, caught by my gag.
He saw me too. His rasping voice murmured a single, defeated word. “Lily.”
My chest squeezed painfully.
Laurent sagged in his chains, his moonlit white hair crusted with blood, clothes stained and near unrecognizable. Beside him, Marco was dead, or close to it. My throat closed until I couldn’t swallow. Seeing him like this, so different from his usual put-together self, was a heavy blow.
“Laurie!” His name came out garbled against the gag.
Footsteps on the stairs sounded, but I was barely aware of the new additions to our reunion.
Zola was tossed onto the floor at Laurent’s feet, barely moving but alive.
The press of bodies near the stairs narrowed my options drastically.
I fussed with the tie to my bonds, but didn’t pull it free.
I had one chance to get this right, and the odds were against me.
A feeling of helplessness settled over me—
“Your bitch of a daughter did exactly as I requested,” Lio purred, walking around Laurent.
A faint groan sounded. Not from Zola or Laurent. My eyes snapped to Marco. He was staring at Zola, his chest beginning to rise and fall more rapidly as he saw her sprawled on the ground. Oh…oh no.
A lightbulb went off in my head. All the times I’d seen Marco watching her. Caught her offering him a coy smile.
“That’s enough from you,” Lio tsked. He shot forward and wrenched Marco’s head back. In a single blink, he ripped out Marco’s throat and spat blood and flesh on the floor. Marco sagged, going lifeless.
“No!” I cried, the sound a garbled whine.
I caught a glimpse of Laurent’s face—raw grief and fury warring in his silver eyes. Even chained and broken, his rage at Marco’s murder was terrifying. “Lily, you never…never should have…come.” His words sent me to my knees. There wasn’t anger there. He didn’t seem strong enough for the emotion.
“Ah, but she did, and here we are.” I watched as Lio moved to Laurent, sinking his fangs into his neck before he fed.