Chapter 20

“What do you plan on doing to him?” My teeth were chattering so hard that I was having difficulty getting the words out without stuttering. My heart was breaking into a million pieces in my chest, and I gripped my wrist tightly, the brand under my palm feeling like it was throbbing. I couldn’t tell if it was my imagination or actually happening.

He chuckled darkly. I laid my cheek on my knees and stared at the wall again, refusing to look back up at the vampire who wanted to destroy my whole world. “Besides use you as bait?” I squeezed my eyes shut tightly against the wave of pain that washed over me. “I have had a long time to think about this. Ever since he did this to me,” he paused before raising his voice. “Look at me!”

Slowly, I dragged my head off my knees and looked up at the man who was leaning forward in his chair, glaring down at me with hatred in his eyes. “I see you,” I whispered hoarsely, my throat raw from the vomiting. “And it’s disgusting.”

For a moment, he looked as if he wanted to yank the door of my cell off its hinges and rip the arms from my body. I held my breath, waiting to see what he would do. Finally, he chuckled and sat back in his chair.

“I see what you are trying to do, little girl. Do you think I am going to throw away my revenge in a fit of rage? You think if you no longer live, that your mate will simply move on without giving me my chance to destroy him the way he did me?”

“Well,” I mumbled into my knees. “You look dumb enough to fall for it.” I shrugged one trembling shoulder as nonchalantly as I could manage.

It appeared as if he were trying to tighten his mouth in an angry line the way my father would when he was displeased, but the fleshy lumps did little more than wobble. I couldn’t help a snort from escaping.

“You know, I am going to enjoy draining your body dry after he’s entombed. It will add to his suffering, don’t you think? To know his lovely little mate was killed while he was unable to do a fucking thing about it?” He glared at me with a triumphant smile. “You should hate him after all the innocent lives he took. He has murdered more people in a thousand years than any other human in history.”

A tear tracked down my frozen cheek as I thought of all those lives. “You don’t know Valen.”

A meaty fist landed on the arm of the chair with a loud crack. A piece of the wood broke off and fell to the concrete floor. “I know him better than you will ever have a chance to!” he roared.

“Valen has probably suffered for every soul lost. If history says he walked through dying villages, it was probably so he could mourn their losses. Valen would never purposely kill an innocent person. There is a reason he has kept himself isolated, away from as many people as possible, without friends or loved ones. He has a good heart, and he has been suffering terribly.”

He stood and glared down at me, his hands fisted on the bars, seconds away from breaking the door down. I closed my eyes and cried. This horrible man wanted to entomb Valen. Visions of my mate being locked away in a stone or metal coffin for the rest of eternity to wither away but never die, to know I was dead. It broke my heart into a million jagged pieces.

I didn’t know how I could help him, whether or not it was even possible. We had just begun to get to know each other. I thought we’d have forever, instead, we’d had mere moments. What could I do to stop the inevitable?

The man let out a gusty sigh as if the whole situation were tedious for him. I peeked up at him from over my arm to see him retake his seat, relaxed and sprawled out in the chair. His pretend formality seemed to be gone as he let one knee spread wide while stretching the other leg far out in front of him.

“I’m not going to kill you,” he began in a calmer tone, almost sounding bored. “I made a promise to someone in exchange for helping me. I understand your family is very eager to have you back. Something about obligations?” He left the question hanging as if he expected me to fulfill his curiosity. He could go to hell.

I dug my fingers into my legs hard enough to leave fingernail marks on my skin at the thought of being back under my parent’s roof. I didn’t know if the wedding would still take place, but it didn’t matter. They would just find another man to take me as long as it could somehow help my father’s career and look good for the public image he had created of a devoted family man. I tried to slow my breathing, not wanting this vampire to know how much his words affected me.

I lifted my head and glared at the vampire with all the hatred I had for him in my soul. He simply chuckled at my expression. “What did you do?” I asked him, pointedly staring at his melted face. I almost wanted to return his mocking laughter as the expression of mirth fell, and a glower took over. “Valen wouldn’t have done that to you without a good reason. So,” I tilted my head to study him closely. “What did you do to piss him off?”

I thought he was going to lie, to say something along the lines of him being innocent. Instead, he surprised me.

“I got rough with a whore.” He threw his head back and laughed as if it were the funniest thing in the world. “A fucking whore. As if there weren’t plenty more where that one came from. The demon heard her scream as he was passing through and decided to play white knight. He did this to me,” he said with a snarl. “Then he carried me away, half-dead, on the back of his horse before tossing me in a ravine. I was left to die, to have my bones picked clean by the buzzards and my bones to be gnawed on by the wolves. Lucky me, a vampire came by and gave me a gift.”

He spread his arms wide as he grinned maliciously. “I’ll live forever. And now I am the Master of my own nest. I answer to no one, not even the one who changed me. I tore off his head and took over. No one can stop me, little girl. I became a fucking god.”

“You are a comic book villain.” I spit. “Valen is more powerful than you could ever dream of becoming. How do you plan to capture him?”

“You don’t know much about vampires, do you?” he sneered at me. I gave a hesitant shake of my head. “Vampires are gifted special abilities when they are changed. There is no telling what it will be before it happens. There are all kinds of abilities, from mind reading to strength. Some can even shapeshift.” He smirked at me, a gleam of triumph in his eyes. “Some can even take away someone else’s abilities. Tell me, little girl, once Valen’s ability to make someone sick is gone, what else will he have to fight with? If he were restrained and unable to fight, how would he be able to stop me from locking him away and tossing his tomb into the deepest part of the ocean?”

My mind was whirling. I had no idea about this world I was now immersed in, and every hour seemed to reveal more secrets. Humans would be scared every moment of their lives if they knew all of this existed around them. I tried not to think too hard about what he said awaited Valen. If I did, I would never be able to function again, and I had to stay strong. Somehow, I would do what I could to stop what was happening.

A sound came from somewhere down the hall. I jerked my head up, my heart beginning to pound behind my ribcage, hoping that it was and was not Valen in equal measures. I needed to see him. At the same time, I was terrified that he would show up and be captured by this evil man.

“Ah, it looks like our little conversation is over. It”s been fun, but it”s time for you to head on home!” The vampire stood from his seat and clapped his hands together in glee. I didn’t think my hatred for him could get any stronger, but apparently, there was definitely room in my head for that emotion. I glared daggers at him as his fleshy lips expanded into a gruesome grin.

I stubbornly sat where I was as he pulled a heavy keyring from his pocket. The keys jingled obnoxiously in the quiet. He seemed to try to fit every single key into the hole before one finally made a scraping noise as it slid home and turned.

“Well, then. Come on, little girl, let’s not make Daddy wait.” I continued to refuse until his look of glee soured, and he made a move to step toward me. I scooted into the corner before bracing my hands on the rough walls behind me and stumbled to my feet. Everything ached from sitting on the cold floor for as long as I had.

Footsteps moved closer, and before I could see him, a loud booming voice I remembered clearly called out to my captor.

“Where is my daughter? What is this place? Why is she down here?” I wanted desperately to believe he cared about my whereabouts, but I knew he was only upset about the inconvenience my leaving had caused him. The fact that he had to pause his precious work to retrieve his wayward daughter was only going to make him even angrier. I wasn’t worried about him hurting me physically; that had never been his thing. No, he was more neglectful and demanding of my time to suit his needs than being physically abusive. That was my mother’s thing. At least I knew she would never come with him on this retrieval trip.

I stood there on my bare feet, shivering with anxiousness and regret. I wanted to do something to stop what was about to happen, but I was too upset to think clearly. I couldn’t fight; I was too weak against the vampires that were filling the house. I briefly considered trying to use the abilities I had, but I was back to being terrified. What if I did try to use them down here? The whole house could collapse on top of us all.

I closed my eyes and cried out inside for Valen, wishing he could hear me. There was so much that we should have said to each other. It had only been a few days, but in that short amount of time, he had shown me more kindness and acceptance than anyone ever had in my entire life. I needed more. I needed a lifetime and then some.

As my father stepped up to the cell, I watched through teary eyes as his head snapped in my direction. He took me in from head to toe, and the disgust at the sight of me was blatant. The fact that he was more disgusted by my attire than the monster keeping me captive and holding the keys to my cell filled me with anguish. The little girl inside me, who always hoped for her daddy’s love and acceptance, cried as her heart broke.

“Kallista! Get over here so we can leave this place.” He looked around with distaste, actively avoiding glancing in the direction of the hideous vampire. “Mr. Hanover, thank you for holding my daughter. I’ll be taking her with me now.” He pulled a wad of cash from his pocket, and the men exchanged a brief handshake. The vampire grinned while my father avoided making eye contact and wiped his hand on his pants leg. He was probably going to throw all of his clothing in the trash the second we made it home.

“Oh, make sure you tell that woman I appreciate her phone call. Come along Kallista.” He turned and began walking back toward the stairs as one of his men took me roughly by the elbow and began pulling me along. I wondered what woman he was talking about. Who had called him? Then it hit me right before the vampire said his parting words with a chuckle.

“I’ll be sure to pass your thanks onto Miss Syn.”