Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

Angelo

Something in this disgusting apartment was preventing me from using my power. I clenched my fists in frustration.

Killing Freddie in this crappy apartment wasn't how I wanted to end this bastard's life. Someone might try to stop me. Nothing was going to prevent me from taking my full revenge out on Freddie, and for that, I needed to get him someplace where his screams wouldn't be heard. Somewhere like Crimson Stakes.

Petar crept toward the terrified woman who was still cringing against the kitchen sink with no chance of escape.

"Don't even think it, Petar," I growled. The last thing I wanted was Costin shoving a stick up my ass if another drained woman showed up.

As I tore out of the crappy apartment, fast as an angry wind, my men followed me like good soldiers. The only thing I could hear, which continued driving me on, were Freddie's screams as I dragged him behind me. I lead my men out into the crowded New Orleans streets, knocking over people and leaving them unable to figure out what had hit them.

I arrived at Crimson Stakes and quickly made my way inside. I pushed through the double doors, ignoring the bewildered looks from other patrons. In a matter of seconds, I had taken Freddie into a large room hidden behind the cashier's counter. This was my secret chamber, reserved for those who were unfortunate or foolish enough to cross me. Ornate sconces adorned the walls, each one cradling a thick, ivory candle. Their flickering light cast a warm, golden glow over the swords, daggers, and instruments of torture mounted on the walls. Not one prisoner had ever left this room alive.

I tossed Freddie into the middle of the room where there was a chair with chains. "Dimitri, bind him."

Faster than the blink of an eye, Dimitri had fastened Freddie's wrists and ankles to the chair.

Freddie squirmed and wriggled in the chair. "Let me go." His voice was almost a high-pitched screech.

I circled Freddie like a predator, my anger simmering just beneath the surface. "I asked Simon, and now I'm asking you. You'd better hope you have a better answer than he did. Who ordered the hit on Crescent Manor?" I kept my eyes locked on his, my fists clenching and unclenching at my sides, the tension in my body conveying my unspoken threat .

"Noooo," Freddie wailed, shaking his head frantically. "I can't tell you."

"Wrong fucking answer." I grabbed his hair and yanked his head back, exposing the tender flesh of his throat.

"Please…Let me go." Not once did he apologize for hurting Serenity. If he had done so, I might have killed him quickly and painlessly.

But he didn't.

So tonight, he would suffer like Serenity had suffered.

With a feral snarl, I sank my fangs deep into his neck, tearing messily through skin and muscle with a sickening ease.

Freddie's scream of agony echoed off the walls, a high-pitched, desperate wail that only fueled the dark hunger within me. The coppery taste of his blood flooded into my mouth, thick and tainted with the essence of his foulness. It was like swallowing pure corruption, a vile poison that burned my veins like acid.

Even as I recoiled from the taste, I could feel the savage pleasure of the beast spread through me, a pleasure that reveled in the violence and the suffering of my prey. I tore into Freddie's flesh with a renewed ferocity, my fangs ripping and shredding like the claws of a wild animal.

Freddie's body convulsed beneath me, his struggles growing weaker as I drained his precious life force from him. The sound of my own greedy gulps and feral growls filled my ears, a twisted symphony of rage and hatred.

Finally, I wrenched myself away from his ravaged throat, my breath coming in ragged gasps as I struggled to regain control. Freddie slumped against the chair, his face ashen and his eyes glazed over with pain and terror.

Even as I looked upon his broken, pitiful form, I felt no mercy, nor one hint of remorse for the suffering I had inflicted. Rather, his tainted blood stoked the fire of my hatred, his foulness a reminder of all the pain and misery he had brought into Serenity's life.

He'd shown no mercy to her. He hadn't stopped hurting her even when she'd begged him to. The idea haunted me. Time for him to experience the same pain and horror Serenity endured all these years living with him.

I turned to my men, my eyes blazing with wild intensity. "He's all yours," I said, my breath coming in heaving, ragged gasps, my body still trembling in the aftermath of my own savage feeding. "Make him suffer, as he has made others suffer. Show him the true meaning of pain and despair."

As my men fell upon Freddie like a pack of starving wolves, I watched with a grim satisfaction. His agony had only just begun. This was the price of betrayal, the consequence of daring to cross the vampire king and those I held dear.

As Freddie's screams echoed through the chamber, I knew that I would stop at nothing to protect what was mine, to keep Serenity safe from all the monsters that lurked in the shadows of our dark and twisted world.

"Stop! Enough for now!" I yelled authoritatively as my power surged through the chamber, causing the air to crackle with a supernatural energy, the ground to tremble beneath my feet, and the candles to flicker until the shadows danced along the walls.

My men snapped their heads to me, their red-rimmed eyes wide with surprise and a hint of fear. They knew the extent of my power and the consequences of defying me. Reluctantly, they moved away from Freddie, their fangs still bared and glistening with his blood.

Freddie's head lolled forward, his breathing shallow. Blood oozed from countless puncture wounds on his neck, shoulders, and arms, staining his tattered shirt a deep crimson. The bite marks on his face and throat were ragged and vicious, a testament to the savage feeding frenzy he had endured. The coppery scent of his blood hung heavy in the air, mingling with the musty odor of the dank chamber.

Thick chains still bound his wrists and ankles to the chair, cutting into his flesh as he weakly struggled against the restraints. I approached slowly, my gaze locked on the broken man before me. His heartbeat was faint and erratic, fluttering like a caged bird within his chest. I knew I had precious little time to intervene before he succumbed to his wounds or was drained completely by my men.

Draining him was too easy a death.

Freddie raised his head, tears rushing down his bloody face. "Stop…please…have mercy…"

"I'm the Angel of Death. Mercy isn't an option." I snapped my fingers. "Dimitri."

My brother-in-law grabbed a blade off the wall and handed it to me.

Freddies' eyes pleaded with me as I stood over him, my finger running slowly over the blade. "Was it King Rankin that you owed money to?"

I studied his face, watching for a tremor or a glance that would betray him.

Freddie shook his head wildly. "I can't tell you." He seemed to be more afraid of someone else. Someone scarier than me. Laughable! My reputation was enough to have people cower in front of me.

An unamused smile curled the corner of my mouth. "Keeping information from me also isn't an option." I grabbed his pinky and calmly sliced it off.

Freddie screamed and cursed as blood poured out of the stump. I licked my finger delicately where his blood had stained it.

I thought about it for a minute. "Is there another party involved besides Kings Keir and Trystan?"

Freddie strained against his manacles. "Please, you don't understand?—"

I sliced again, cutting off his ring finger.

He spasmed and screamed. "No. Please, stop." Not happening. He had hurt Serenity, and he would pay for it.

As I pulled back his middle finger, breaking it slowly, segment by segment, Freddie's eyes bulged in agony. A fresh scream tore from his throat, his face contorted in a mask of pure anguish. He writhed beneath me, his body jerking with each sickening crack of bone.

"Please, stop!" he begged, tears streaming down his face. "I'm sorry, I'm so very sorry!"

His pleas fell on deaf ears. All I could think about was how Serenity must have cried and begged for mercy when he hurt her, receiving none. The thought of her pain fueled my rage, and I tightened my grip on his finger, bending it back further.

"You showed Serenity no mercy," I snarled, my voice cold and unforgiving. "Now, you shall receive none from me." I leaned closer. "Tell me who ordered the hit on Crescent Manor."

"Noooo," he wailed, shaking his head.

"You're a stubborn one." I broke the last knuckle of his finger with a final snap and then sliced it off, ignoring his anguished shrieks. I was getting tired of this game and tried once again to bring up my power of compulsion. "Tell me the truth."

As I delved into Freddie's mind, his eyes turned dull, and drool began to drip from his mouth, the usual signs of the power taking hold. But despite being within the walls of Crimson Stakes, where my abilities were normally amplified, I found myself unable to penetrate Freddie's thoughts fully.

I pushed harder, focusing all my power on breaking through the barrier that blocked me from accessing the information I sought, yet Freddie's mind remained stubbornly closed off to me.

Frustration and anger welled up inside me as I slowly realized that someone had managed to place a powerful psychic shield in Freddie's mind, one strong enough to withstand even the enhanced abilities normally granted to me by Crimson Stakes' dark essence. It was something I had never encountered before, and the idea that someone was able to hide the truth from me, in this place of my supreme power no less, sent a chill down my spine .

I redoubled my efforts, pouring every ounce of my power into breaking through the barrier, but it held fast, unyielding. The complete picture remained tantalizingly out of reach, taunting me. Whoever had done this possessed a level of skill and knowledge far beyond anything I had ever encountered, and the realization left me both enraged and unnerved.

"Who has done this to you?" I snapped, the words coming out like the crack of a whip. Rage surged through my body, a white-hot fury that threatened to consume me from the inside out. "Who's trying to keep me from seeing the full picture?"

I stalked closer to Freddie, my every step fueled by the anger coursing through my veins. But he remained unresponsive, his vacant eyes staring past me, the barrier in his mind an impenetrable fortress. I slammed my fist against the wall, the pain barely registering as I grappled with the knowledge that I had been outmaneuvered. Whoever had done this, they were clever, and they had just made a powerful enemy.

Not many people had magic this powerful. I didn't think Marsha did, but maybe I underestimated her. Or it could be someone entirely different. Someone who might conceivably also be responsible for the murders.

"Please, have mercy," he begged. "He wanted?—"

His pleas briefly interrupted my thoughts, but then images of Freddie's cruelty flashed through my mind—Serenity's beloved dog taken away from her, and her delicate flesh bruised and battered from his relentless beatings. It was the sick, twisted desires lurking in his depraved mind, however, that pushed me over the edge. I had seen the perverted acts he longed to inflict upon her, the fantasies that consumed his every waking moment.

And now, one of my own had fallen victim to his darkness and corruption. I didn't think Freddie killed Jacques, but he knew who did, and he was denying me my revenge by keeping it from me. The bonds of loyalty that tied my men to me were sacred, the very foundation of my power. And now the respect I commanded as king had been shaken by his actions.

I couldn't let this stand. To allow such a transgression to go unpunished would be to invite chaos and rebellion into my kingdom. I had to send a message, to make an example of this traitorous filth for all to see.

My grip tightened on the handle of the blade, the metal cool and unyielding against my palm. I pictured Serenity's face, the terror and pain in her eyes that had haunted her for too long. I thought of my fallen comrade.

A cold, terrible calm settled over me as I raised the knife high overhead. This was vampire justice—swift, brutal, and irrevocable. With a single, powerful stroke, I brought the blade down, driving it deep into Freddie's soft, vulnerable flesh.

His agonized scream rang off the walls, and I watched dispassionately as he writhed in his bonds, his face contorted with shock and horror. Good. Let him suffer, as Serenity had suffered. Let him feel the depths of my wrath and pay the price for crossing the vampire king.

As his blood pooled on the floor, something dark and primal unfurled within my chest. In one last vicious act, I bit him once more, tasting the coppery liquid that gushed down my chin, draining him until he grew limp in the chair. As his life force left him, power flooded into me, making me stronger.

I released him and wiped my mouth with the back of my arm. Then I met Dimitri's eyes. "Get rid of the body. Dump it in the Mississippi."

Dimitri's eyebrows shot up, a mix of surprise and impressed amusement dancing in his eyes. "Wow, remind me never to get on your bad side. I'd say ‘you missed a spot,'" he gestured to his own chin with a smirk, "but honestly, the whole blood-drenched look really works for you. Very ‘vampire chic.'" His tone sobered slightly, though the corner of his mouth still twitched. "I'll take care of it. Want me to gift-wrap him for the gators, or is this more of a catch-and-release situation?"

I turned without answering him and left Dimitri and the others to carry out my orders.