Chapter 7
Delicious Poison
Two of Castine's henchmen walk on either side of me as they lead me down a long corridor. She keeps her distance, her eyes on my back. I dare not turn around. If I do, she might see my crazy-shaded eyes going through a whirlwind of emotions right now.
Stone walls with aged surfaces flank me on either side. They're a mixture of gray and black from the centuries they've stood. I can tell we're underground, but I don't know how deep. She gave me a scent masker on the way, so there's no chance of Gage finding me right now.
The end of the corridor comes into view, along with the heavy metal door that is sealing a dark room. The symbols etched into the door are to hold a night stalker. I've seen them before.
Kane.
The door swings open, and a dark figure lunges forward from the shadows only to be whirled backwards with a mere flick of Castine's wrist. How the hell did she just do that?
The amulet on her neck glows red. It's held in place by a gold chain, and the teardrop shaped jewel carries a secret... the secret of her power.
The glowing blue eyes of the night stalker forced against the wall draws my attention. It's definitely Kane. His limbs are splayed against the stones as he struggles against her invisible hold.
Castine simply laughs as one of the men shoves me inside, knocking me to my knees. Gage's jacket is the only thing warming me right now. I'm thankful for it since this dungeon prison is even colder than the outside.
Seeing Kane's eyes grow wide in shock doesn't scare me, but when his eyes grow bluer, darker, I begin shaking. It's still so unnatural to see the monster he really is.
"What the fuck?" he growls, his eyes turning back to Castine.
"You knew this was coming, lover," she says with an eerie grin. "I know you're hungry. You're probably starving, in fact. So I brought you a succulent little gift. It's your choice what you want to do with her.
"If you change her, I'll simply make her my toy. You know how I love a good girl toy. Changing her will pass the bond you share with her to me. Of course, you could always drain her dry and get back your strength. We've got some time to make up for. I don't want you too exhausted to enjoy my company."
He snarls at her, still held back by the invisible restraints. "You fucking twisted bitch."
She just laughs harder as she leads the men away from the room. She stops and turns around once more, her eyes going black again as they did in the car.
"I'll be back in a few days to see what you've done. Enjoy, lover."
The door creaks to a sealed shut, and I back against the far corner as Kane is released. He starts to walk toward me, his eyes proving he's ready for a kill, but he turns back and slams his hands against the wall.
"Fuck!" he shouts, making my ears ring a little. "Why the hell didn't you just get out of town?"
I slink down, tears teetering on the edges of my lids. I'm going to die by the hands of the only man I've ever loved. I feel as though I've landed in some tragic Shakespearian play.
I don't even attempt to answer. I wrap up in Gage's jacket as though it can save me, when I know it can't. His scent lingers on it, making me feel safe, though I know what a gravely false sense of security that is.
"Damn it, Alyssa. I kept telling you to leave. I warned you over and over! You made it too easy. You could have stayed on the move!"
I wipe the stray streaks of clear tears, but they start coming in such abundance that I can't catch them all.
"Sorry," I almost whisper.
Knowing my fate, there aren't really a whole lot of words. He grips his head and drops down to the corner across from me.
"She's starved me for a week, Alyssa. She wants me to snap, and she wants me to kill you to reinstate our bond."
"I know," I murmur while looking away. "Just get it over with."
He says nothing and makes no attempt to move until I look at him. Then, he slowly stands and starts walking toward me, his eyes growing bluer until he reaches me.
"No. Not while I have any sanity left. You need to do something about your knee. It's bleeding, and that's not nice to do to a hungry night stalker."
He pulls his shirt off, which only provokes my own hunger. I'm trapped in a dungeon with my bloodthirsty ex, while playing pawn to a sadistic bitch's game, and I'm still controlled by this fucked up connection we have because I rushed into giving him something I couldn't get back. Pathetic.
Each of his sculpted lines becomes a sweet trail for my hungry eyes. He's so different from Gage, and I feel so much more familiar with his body. It's almost as if he's still mine, though nothing could be further from the truth.
His lip is split - obviously he's taken a beating at some point. He's bruised on different sections of his body. His face has smudges of dirt from a week of living down here, but he still looks so incredible even now. He should smell foul, horrid possibly, so why does his scent leave me almost spellbound instead of appalled. I swear he's defying all the laws of nature right now.
His dark hair sweeps his brow. His bedroom messy locks are tousled in a way only he could pull off. The strong line of his jaw, the firm promise of his skin, and his towering stature all taunt me with the things I desperately want but can't have.
He rips part of the shirt, and then he kneels to tie it around my bloody knee. The force of the impact split it open when they threw me in here.
"Did she pull you out of bed or something?" he asks, his voice softer than I've heard it in a while.
My heartbeat quickens as my eyes fall prey to his perfection. There's no telling the collage of colors I'm sorting through right now.
"No. Sierra showed up, broke a window, and then warned me. We were on our way to Edgebrook when Castine caught up with us."
He finishes his makeshift bandaging job, and then his eyes scroll up my body to rest on the jacket that has fallen open.
"I assume we stands for you and your dark user."
I just nod, not giving him more than he needs to know. He lets out a derisive huff before walking away.
"How long before you lose it? I'm not overly fond of feeling like a juicy steak being waved in front of a starving man."
He lets out a bitter laugh, one of exhaustion and disbelief.
"I don't know. I've never been starved before. I've had control of my blood needs for a really long time. How long before you lose it?"
Great.
"I assume you're referring to my-"
"Your inability to keep your hands off me when around me for too long? Yes."
He's almost smug with his matter-of-fact release, and I groan inwardly.
"I don't know, but I do have an idea of how we can avoid you slaughtering me like a lamb. If you want to hear it, that is."
He moves a hand in front of him, motioning for me to 'take the floor'.
"Take my blood while you're still sane. Witch blood is stronger, so it'll fuel you with less."
He grips his head again while shaking it.
"Absolutely not. Witch blood is toxic. It becomes addictive. There's a reason I never knowingly took any before."
He's still trying to act as though he didn't know what I was. Even now. Unbelievable.
"It'll be no more toxic if you take it now than if you take it later. The difference is, you could stop yourself from bleeding me dry right now. When you lose it, I won't stand a chance."
He grumbles under his breath, possibly cursing too softly for me to hear. He knows I'm right, and what scares the hell out of me is the fact I want him to do it for all the wrong reasons. I almost crave his touch in any way... enough to die for it, though I'm doing my best to seem composed.
"You know you'll feel venom."
I stand and move toward him, slipping off Gage's jacket as I do so. He squirms uncomfortably as I kneel before him, my knees touching his leg.
"Just don't leave me looking worse than this," I murmur while pulling down the veil that hides the hideous scar left behind years ago. "I know now it's possible to be bitten without scarring this badly. The first one never scarred at all, and Isolis barely left a mark."
I motion to the second set of bites, though they're nearly faded from existence.
"Who the hell did this to you?" He jerks me closer to study the old wound, and I gasp at the feel of his touch on my skin.
He was very careful not touch me when he was wrapping my knee. Now his hands are burning against my side where the shirt has risen, and my neck, where I want to feel his lips.
I almost heard anger or concern in his tone. I know it's nothing more than my wishful, twisted mind running awry. I can't love a monster, and he can't love his prey.
"It happened a long time ago."
His jaw clenches, and I wave my hand over the hideous scar to shield it from sight. I slide over to be in his lap, and his body stiffens against my touch.
"You should hurry before I do something stupid," I almost whisper, finding it impossible to not slide my hands up his chest, desperate to feel his lips on mine.
A flicker of humanity almost sparks in those eyes that refuse to go green. I'm staring into his hunting eyes, and I'm nothing but enthralled, entranced, and utterly in love.
"Alyssa, I'm too strong. There's only one venom I can use that won't nearly kill you or leave you writhing in pain for days."
"Poison's kiss? Yeah, I know. You've used it before. It'll hurt a little to deny it, but I'm sure you won't have a problem."
My snarky, bitter tone does well to mask my drenched desire for his touch.
"Alyssa, it wouldn't hurt me to deny it, but it'll hurt you... very badly. My venom is stronger than you realize. What I did to you those times... That was low key. If I feed from you-"
"Just do it before I make an idiot out of myself. We'll deal with it. Just push me away. You do damn good with that," I mumble, ready to end this close contact that is already killing me.
I dread how much more painful it will be once that erotic venom finds my veins.
I gasp when his lips touch my neck, a small kiss following, as if he's sampling the spot he wants to taste. My hands move to tangle in his hair and he pulls my center closer.
My thin shorts prove to be a major problem when I feel his erection beneath me. He's turned on, just like they all get before they sink their fangs in. His tongue slides over the skin that has never been punctured, and then I feel the burning heat of ecstasy as the pain mingles with pleasure.
His fangs go deep, making the rush of heat spread throughout me, gathering low and forcing me to throb for his touch. He moans against me as he takes my energy to restore his own.
Air stirs around us when he lifts me, keeping my legs around his waist, and my back finds the wall. A grunt falls from my lips when he pushes me into it with too much force, but it only feeds my ravenous need for him all the more.
This is torture. I want to feel him inside me so badly it physically aches. He drinks me in, his hands gripping me tighter, and then suddenly he pulls back, lowering me to my feet as he crosses the room to distance himself from me.
I reach up to touch my neck, but I'm surprised to find the wound has already closed.
"How did you-"
"We can all do it. Most of my kind elects to leave their victims bleeding though."
His answer is swift and matter-of-fact as he pushes his hands against the wall, feeling my power running through his veins. My whole body is on the verge of convulsing right now. The stinging desire to touch him has turned into a roaring disaster.
"You were right about your blood. Just a little does a lot."
"Like you've never tasted witch's blood before." I was trying to scoff, but my voice cut out.
Right now, all I can focus on are the intense series of stabs attacking me in waves. I double over when it becomes unbearably painful.
"It's going to be too much, Alyssa," he says casually while walking toward me.
Crying out, I drop to my hands and knees. I almost want to claw my skin off right now. The throbbing grows, making the sound around me muffled by my own pulse. I heave for air, but it's almost evading my grasp.
Then I taste divinity in the mouth of my enemy as Kane picks me up and slams me into the wall once more while devouring me in a way I never thought he would again. With one hand he holds me, while the other strips off my shorts.
I kiss him back for so many reasons. It's like his mouth is the only place I can find air right now.
I gasp as I feel his body surging into mine, filling me in a way I've craved for too long. It's as though someone has just zapped me with life.
His deep thrusts force me to cry out, but not because I'm in pain. This is the best I've felt in so long. His tongue slides down my neck, and before I know it, the heat of his bite finds my flesh again.
It only adds to the entangled passion so darkly encompassing us. He lifts his mouth to mine, and the taste of my own blood mingling with his delicious breath becomes intoxicating. He tastes so incredible.
He slams into me with more force than he's ever used, and his glowing blue eyes only add to the dangerous arousal. He grips me tighter, and my head falls back against the wall as I let him own me, free me from the pain, and fill me with ecstasy.
The wall slides against my back, but my shirt keeps me protected as he thoroughly sates my pent-up frustrations. I cling to him, pulling him closer as his dark hair gets tugged harder by my greedy hands.
His name falls through my lips over and over in a whispered, almost crying prayer as he brings me closer to that release that has evaded me. Feeling so connected with him feels so wrong and so right in a confusing stew of emotions.
He kisses me again, an explosively powerful kiss as he steals my breath. It almost feels as though he's been struggling with this for as long as I have, but I know it's not so. I did him a favor by offering my blood, and now he's saving me from the pain by offering me pleasure. Gloriously surreal pleasure.
Tingles shoot to my toes as I drink him in, reveling in the forbidden touch. I stiffen, and his name comes out in a cry as I'm pushed over the edge, screaming out before I realize it.
He stills himself inside me at the deepest point, claiming me his prize once again, and then he breathlessly kisses me so softly, making me forget how much he hates my very existence.
I want to tell him I love him, cry out the tears of proof, but I refrain as I enjoy what's left of the moment.
He just stands there, holding me, kissing me, deceiving me with this false second of bliss. I let him. I've needed this, and it feels so good to have my hunger sated... for now. I think it'll only make this connection between us all the worse, but I'm too scared to think about it right now.
"Did I hurt you?" he almost whispers against my lips, the concern in his tone sounding deceptively genuine.
The irony is almost laughable. A night stalker asking if he's hurt a witch. It's too absurd to dwell on though.
"Not in any way I didn't love the pain." I hadn't meant for that to come out so blatantly crude.
I apparently lost my dignity when he took my virginity.
I swear I see a small smile try to twitch on his lips, but he quickly banishes it before I can be certain. He stays inside me as he pulls me away from the wall, and without thinking, I bring my lips back to his as he slides to the floor, keeping me in his lap.
He doesn't fight me. He simply returns the kiss with the soft touch of a lover. His hand slides into my hair and then he trails his lips down my chin and the front of my neck before backing away.
With one swift motion, he lifts me and pulls out, leaving me aching already. How is it possible I need him so soon?
"You should get your shorts on. They send a guy down here a few times a day to make sure I haven't succeeded in killing myself."
I gasp by accident, not moving my bare lower half from his lap. I really don't have any shame because I refuse to cover up. He stares down at me, his hand sliding around to cup my rear and pull me a little closer.
"Why would you try to kill yourself?" I ask, sounding heartbroken.
His lips find mine again, much to my surprise, as he grinds against me. He pulls me almost too tightly to him before releasing me in the same breath.
"Get dressed. Now that I've got a little strength, I'm going to try to take him. Don't show them you're a witch unless absolutely necessary. Castine is clueless. Let's keep it that way."
Again, I swear there's concern in his voice, and I lean down to press one last kiss on his lips before standing. He walks toward the door, ready attack the guard who doesn't expect a stronger night stalker. Even if he had drained a human of all their blood, he wouldn't feel a tenth of the strength my blood just gave him.
"What's your plan?" I ask as I pull my shorts up.
I head over to pick up Gage's abandoned jacket, and I quickly wrap it around me to provide me with some warmth. Kane's still bare upper half taunts me, calling for my touch.
"Kill the guard and get you out of here while I find Castine and go for round two. Maybe I'll have better luck this time."
"Or you could end up right back in here. We should just run while we have the chance."
He shakes his head, a huff of a sardonic laugh floating from his breath.
"You don't know Castine very well. She won't stop until she finds me, and she'll figure out what you are. I won't give her the satisfaction of draining you dry before my eyes. Just do as I say, and you'll get out of here alive."
He's confusing as hell. If he doesn't care about me, then why is he worried about what she'll do to me?
"Kane, this is suicide. I can't let you-"
"Stop arguing. You can't do anything to stop me. Just get ready to run."
The door starts to creak open, and I steady my breath. Kane is caught off guard as the man steps in with a few friends. He's thrown backwards by a gust of power as a powerful, dark aura clouds up the room.
"Ah... Castine's pet. You're nowhere nearly as strong as she boasts," he says as the other men fill the room.
His red eyes stir, telling me his dirty little secret as Kane struggles for air, pinned against the wall behind him.
Demon.
"Fuck you, Jude. I thought Castine dumped you centuries ago," Kane growls through a strangled breath.
The demon laughs, and then his eyes fall on me. The look he gives me chills me to the bone. He licks his lips, and the glowing blue eyes of his accompanying night stalkers turn their sights on me.
"She's definitely a beauty. I see why Castine is so hell bent on getting rid of her." He turns his attention back to Kane. "Too bad I want to be rid of you just as badly. You've been the thorn in my side for far too long."
Kane struggles harder, but he can't break free from the demon's hold. I watch the red eyes find me once more, raking over me with sadistic delight.
"Have your way with her. I'll make sure he gets to watch," he says to the hoard of foaming-at-the-mouth fanged ones.
"No! You fucking son of a bitch, I'll kill you if you-"
"Don't waste your breath, Kane. You know as well as I do you can't touch me."
Jude laughs, enjoying his powerful hold over the night stalker I thought to be untouchable by any magic. Apparently he's only protected from witchcraft.
The blue eyes surround me, malice teeming in their twisted thoughts, as they slowly stalk toward me. I don't care what Gage or Kane said about not using my power. I refuse to go down without a fight.
"Alyssa, get the hell out of here!" Kane yells, essentially telling me to do what I was already planning, but before I can, Jude falls to the ground, choking on the air he can't find.
What the hell?
Kane looks to me, questioning whether or not I'm strong enough to take down a demon, and I shake my head.
The night stalkers look to their fallen leader, and the hold he has on Kane collapses as Jude struggles more beneath the phantom force. Then the chill, the scent, and the taste find me, igniting a depth of dread I'd forgotten.
The night stalkers in the room fall to their knees, crumbling from the force. Kane falls, too, and I rush to his side, instantly forcing out my magic to surround him with the protection only I can offer without a blessing from the wielder of this invisible power.
"What the fuck?" He stands to his feet, but before he can back away, I pull him to me.
"If you let go of me, you'll die with them."
He looks at me, stumped by the fact he's the one feeling naive for a change.
"You're doing this?"
"No, but I know who is, and you're going to want to run. I can't protect you for long. Once he loses it, you'll be crushed."
"Once who loses it?"
I take a shaky breath as shadows pass through the dungeon, the whispering spirits slinking back into the grasp of the undead force radiating throughout the walls.
"Drackus."