BLADE POV
So close. So fucking close. If only Lexi knew how to behave, I could have spent my afternoon doing something so much better. And if only my father had more interest in taking care of Lexi, instead of sharing an 'important' meal with Aros, I wouldn't have had to cut my day with Kiana short.
I slammed my hand on the steering wheel as I sped through the winding dirt roads to find my idiot sister.
She was four hundred years old for fuck's sake, was she ever going to grow up? I wasn't always going to be around to clean up her messes. I may have had a rebellious streak myself, but after close to two hundred years I cut the crap and got over it, yet she was still going strong. Pranking everyone, being sloppy with feedings, out all night partying, pissing off so many people with her big mouth and attitude, she was a permanent thorn in my side. One of these days she was going to cross the line and end up in prison or worse and there wasn't going to be a damn thing anyone could do about it.
She was lucky that Ace and I were longtime friends and that Aros found her charming for some reason, otherwise there was no way she would have lasted this long without a severe ass kicking or permanent punishment.
And of course, now it was getting in the way of me and Kiana. I could only imagine the blood bath it would be if the two of them were to meet, already Lexi found the situation oh so hilarious, that it was just what I deserved, to be stuck with a human who annoyed me to no end. Though she did offer to 'take my conduit off my hands' if I wanted. Apparently it was a little 'thank you' present for me bailing her out all these years, though in this case, it wouldn't be a gift, but a matter of time before I kicked her ass myself. Though I already had after she made the suggestion one too many times.
Kiana might piss me off, but it wasn't her fault she was stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But still, that girl had to be the most infuriating thing on the planet. Always making me think I had her before she pulled away and tricked me. My body certainly did not appreciate never getting to do what, or rather, who it wanted. Every time I saw her I was left more frustrated and pent up than ever. I hated how she could make me feel so fucking screwed up just by thinking about her. Even Mona, my off-again on-again girlfriend for the past hundred years or so, never confused me as badly as Kiana did.
Everything with Mona was clear, when she wanted me, how she wanted me, where she wanted me, if she even wanted me at all. We usually went through the same cycles; get together, have a little fun, then she would leave again for a job when we got too annoyed with each other. After a short while we'd get bored, then meet up again for another few rounds of romping before she took off again. It was something I was used to, and something I enjoyed thoroughly. Our open relationship was casual but dependable, as consistent as it was inconsistent.
But Kiana...there was no way to describe how she fucked me up. Mentally and physically. All her stupid little mind games and the stupid little things she does like playing with my hair and biting my neck, only to turn around and say she was proving a point, showing me she was in control and that I could never have her.
I hated to admit it but that girl was right. When it came to being in control, she could play me like a fucking fiddle if she teased me right. Talk about an ego bruiser. I was the master but she was the one calling all the shots. It wasn't even like I wanted to be her boyfriend. I didn't see what was so wrong with just enjoying the perks of attraction, but of course she didn't agree.
When I told Ace about it, all he had to say on the matter was 'good for her' and then told me to grow up and be nice. Then laughed about it.
A familiar scent rushing through my open window caught my attention and I slammed on the brakes, car sliding sideways on the dirt road. I got out of my car and inhaled. Yup, definitely my sister's blood. Wonderful, they already started torturing her. That was just going to make this a whole lot harder.
I sighed before I strode off the road, following her scent into the forest. Fortunately for me I wasn't too far from Kiana's school so if I dealt with this quickly enough I could jet back over there and we could continue our date, and I might actually get that mysterious 'something' she was talking about.
Ideally, it would be a continuation of what happened in the pool, with my hand around her throat, feeling her frantic heartbeat, just about to finally kiss her. But hey, I was open to alternatives in the same vein. I was flexible.
"I didn't mean—" I heard Lexi say before she cut off with a snarl.
I sighed again as I peered around the trees into a small clearing. And there was Lexi, tied to a post with two big, burly vamps standing in front of her. All three of them had their fangs out and the guys had blood dripping from their mouths.
Lexi's blood.
I bit back a growl of anger before I stepped into the clearing. "Now what do we have here?" I asked. Three heads whipped in my direction, surprise on each one. As much as Lexi pissed me off to no end, nobody fucked with my sister and got away with it.
"Hmm, doesn't this look familiar," I mused, "Leon, Zephyr, nice to see you again."
"Hey, Blade," Leon said cheerily, ever the smart one. He never could read a room.
"Alright, what did Lexi do this time?" I said, walking over to them, arms folded over my chest.
"I didn't do anythi—" she started but a swift punch in the gut from Zephyr shut her up.
"She was stealing again," Zephyr said.
"Surprise, surprise," I said, mentally cursing Lexi. "What was it this time?"
"My little brother's soul," Zephyr spat, punching Lexi in the stomach again. She tried to double over but they had her tied firmly to the wooden post so she couldn't move, only gasp in pain, jerking against her ties. I bit back against the urge to knock Zephyr out for it. "She drank his blood, fucked him, and turned him."
Irritation flared up inside me. What the fuck was wrong with her? There were rules about this for God's sake!
"It was worth it," Lexi said, still panting for breath.
Zephyr lifted his fist up again but I stepped in quickly, catching his hand with mine. Punching her was nothing compared to what they were both going to do. Zephyr's little brother was human; Zephyr himself had been human, but had been turned by his girlfriend Soluna not too long ago. But she had left the choice up to him to be turned and he'd gladly accepted. Leon had even been turned as well, following in Zephyr's lead as he usually did, and not really for any other reason than that. Leon wasn't much of a 'reasons' kind of guy; he was here for a good time, not for a long time and his brain was severely undeveloped. Even being a vampire hadn't fixed that.
There were only four reasons or situations in which we were allowed to turn a human into a vampire; one if it's your conduit, two if it's a human mate, three if it's someone you love who's dying or four if the human is willing. Well, four is sort of a basic need for the previous three. Either way, you didn't just go out and change someone without their permission and especially not just randomly like that. The punishment for that, if it ever got Aros, was most certainly imprisonment, and sometimes the death penalty depending how badly the situation violated those rules, escalated, or would reflect on and endanger us all.
Judging by the fury in Zephyr's eyes I could tell they weren't going to have any mercy on my sister nor would they turn her into the proper authorities. This was personal and therefore he wouldn't hold back. Aros would. He would punish her, imprison her, make her pay, but not kill her. Even if it was simply a favor granted to our family for me being friends with Ace, it was still a better situation to be in, assuming Aros ever heard about it at all.
A smack on the hand and a promise to do better if he spared her, even if she didn't mean it. Which of course Aros would know, he's known her reputation, known her since she was born, but he often found her bouts of asshole behavior delightful, even if his hands would be tied by our laws.
But Zephyr found nothing about her delightful and clearly knew the laws wouldn't give her the punishment he felt she deserved, which was a painful death. Even if it was accident from torturing her too much and not intentional murder, the end result was the same.
"What exactly are your plans for her?" I asked carefully, letting go of Zephyr's fist.
"She took away my brother's life, I'm going to do the same to her," he said, eyes narrowed and fangs bared.
Of course he was. Fuck my life.
Just once, it would be nice if Lexi could do something shitty that wasn't quite this spectacular. What was wrong with a little sloppy drinking? Identity theft? Terrorizing bible thumpers with signs of demonic activity? All low level rebellions that wouldn't ruin my day.
"How about a trade?" I suggested after a moment. There wasn't much else to offer. Money wouldn't do it, threatening to go to Aros wasn't going to scare him as he knew I didn't like the man either plus he wouldn't punish Lexi enough for him to consider it. His brother Alek couldn't be turned back so that was a useless avenue to explore. Reasoning with him certainly wouldn't do it.
And frankly, Lexi fucked up. He had every right to be upset and take it out on her. If I was in his shoes, I'd do the same.
But I wasn't in his shoes, I was stuck in mine. And my shoes fucking sucked today because it meant Lexi could waltz off with no consequence while I took a beating for her. If only Kiana could see this, she might understand why Lexi was such a terror.
"No trade," he said curtly, "That bitch ruined my brother now I'm going to ruin her, and only her."
"But Zephyr you aren't supposed to hit a lady," I chastised him even as I cursed Lexi's entire existence. Lexi wasn't remotely close to a lady. She was a goblin. "Soluna wouldn't be very happy about this."
Soluna was a sweet girl, very kind, very plain. She was too nice for a vampire, but in this case, that worked in my favor. He was head over heels for the girl and wouldn't do a damn thing that would even remotely upset her. Judging by the fact that we were out in the middle of nowhere, it was safe to say this was a rather spontaneous and private plan cooked up behind her back.
Zephyr's face creased before the angry look came back. "You wouldn't dare."
"I would," I said, meeting his gaze calmly. "Now, I'm willing to offer you a fair trade, me for my sister, in exchange for me keeping my mouth shut about this."
Zephyr was visibly fuming and while I normally enjoyed pissing people off, now was not one of those times. Especially since now I was the one who was going to be tortured, which meant pissing him off only ensured me a worse time.
Finally he let out a hiss and Leon frowned in confusion as Zephyr untied my sister and she hit the dirt on all fours.
Grunting with effort, she stood, dusting dirt off her bloody self before she saluted me. "Thanks bro. I'll see you at home," she said, wiggling her fingers in a wave before she ran off, a pale blur before she was gone, weaving between the trees to freedom.
"You should have let that bitch get what she deserved," Zephyr said, shaking his head at me like I was the stupidest motherfucker he'd ever met. I wholeheartedly agreed for once. "She'll never learn."
"Tell that to my parents," I said through gritted teeth as he strapped me to the post instead. This wasn't the first time I'd taken a beating in my life, but that didn't mean I was used to it or was going to enjoy it.
He stepped back and eyed me with a cold expression, "I respect you, Blade, but that doesn't mean I'm going to take it easy on you."
"I know," I said, meeting his gaze steadily as he pulled a knife out of his boot.
"Sorry," was the last thing he said before the torture began.
********
A face. A familiar face of a girl scowling at me in my mind. I grinned but gasped as pain shot through the right side of my face. I hurt everywhere. Zephyr had been thorough and effective, doling out pain like it was his job and he was angling for a promotion. I'd have been more impressed if I hadn't been on the receiving end of it and left for dead in the middle of a forest alone. Truly, the perfect way to end my Saturday.
At least, I was pretty sure it was still Saturday. I couldn't find it in myself to lift my arm up to check the time and honestly I didn't care. I really truly didn't.
All I wanted to do was close my eyes and just...pass out. Die. Something that would make the pain stop. It was the worst kind of death to slowly bleed out and be unable to do anything about it, but my body was doing its best to try and heal itself, which meant I was straddling consciousness and suffering more as the misery dragged on. If I had been human, I would have been dead already. My healing abilities weren't good enough to save me, they were only good enough to prolong the inevitable.
Somehow, Zephyr had found a way to torture me even after he was done. Truly, he deserved an award.
The only thing making my pain grow somewhat numb was the fact that I was fucking bleeding to death, which was making me want to pass out. And unless I got some blood in my system at some point before that happened, I was very well going to die. And I was going to die a very slow, painful death.
I lay there for God knows how long, eyes closed, blood flowing steadily out of me as the minutes ticked by. The temperature dropped and the crickets singing their merry tunes. And hours later, still lying there, I felt the temperature start to warm up again, the darkness behind my eyelids grew slightly brighter and the birds started to chirp.
What was it with animals and always making so much damn noise? Couldn't they just shut the fuck up and let me die in peace? Having happy tunes rattling around in my skull for hours without being able to do anything was driving me insane. My irritation about the damn birds and crickets and other shitty things singing and chirping gave me enough energy to lift my head and pry open my eyelids, which felt as if someone had taped small weights to each one.
I saw a bird, one of the more annoying, louder, ones perched on a branch. I looked at it, let out the loudest snarl I could manage. Frightened, the bird let out a loud squawk and took off, taking its flock of annoying chirping bastards with it.
Finally, I thought. At least now I could die in peace.
More minutes ticked by and I grew even more tired and weighed down as the sun started to rise. Oh goodie, if I didn't bleed to death first I'd get cooked by the sun. At this rate, I didn't care which one finished me off first as long as one of them just fucking did it already.
If I made it out of this alive I was going to stake Lexi so hard she'll still be feeling it two centuries from now.
Why the fuck did I come here anyways? Why didn't I just tell my parents to shove it and take care of it themselves? Why did I keep bailing Lexi out when I knew she'd never learn? Why did—
Oh.
Kiana.
She would give me something in return if I went. Damn it. I was a fucking idiot.
I inhaled, trying to catch the scent of something living, and hopefully, something nearby. But there was nothing but the stale scent of the birds I'd scared off. They probably wouldn't have come up to me anyways, but still, I dropped my chances of a recovery meal severely.
Unless they were vultures and were waiting for me to die before they ate me. Did we have vultures here? I couldn't remember. Any scavenger animal would do at this rate. I wasn't picky.
"Blade?" someone called.
"Blade where the hell are you?" another voice shouted.
If I had the energy I would have rolled my eyes, as is I didn't have the energy to do anything, especially not cry out for help.
A gasp nearby that I recognized as my mom's before my dad shooed her away. My mom: another vampire too sweet to be one of those Hollywood bloodsucking monsters all humans thought we were.
Sometimes I honestly wondered if my parents really are my parents, since Lexi and I were not at all like them. Dad was an asshole, but he certainly didn't go around causing even half the shit either of us did.
"Blade, I told you to get her out of it, not to die," Dad hissed at me.
Sorry to disappoint, I thought, annoyed. This was his fucking fault. Had he just gone to take care of her instead of enjoying a meal with Aros instead, then none of this would have happened. He was impossible to say 'no' too and he would have found a way to punish Lexi and get Zephyr to drop it. I, on the other hand, was just Lexi's brother and my reputation couldn't save her from a fuck up this bad, especially not when I kind of agreed she deserved it.
"Can you hear me?" he asked.
I let out a growl.
"Ah, seems your attitude is still intact," he said, "I hope you know you look like absolute crap."
Gee, thanks Dad. I'm dying and all you care about is how I look. How loving.
"Can you stand up?"
Another growl. Did it look like I could fucking stand up? If I couldn't even speak did he seriously think I could manage that? He let out a loud, exasperated sigh and I felt myself being pulled up so I was sitting. I opened my eyes and the world spun in a sickening way, black spots flying across my vision like birds.
"Fuck you," I breathed.
"Watch it or I'm going to leave you here," he warned as he hauled me to my feet.
Yeah right. Mom would kill him before she would let anything happen to me or Lexi. Besides, Dad was way too whipped. If my mom told him to do something he did it without even questioning it.
He let me lean my weight on him, not like I had much of a choice; I was a rag doll that had no substance and nothing firm to keep me from falling over. He practically had to drag my ass through the forest, which was fucking embarrassing.
And then all at once I got this aching inside me and my arm started to tingle softly.
Shit. Not now. Please not now.
The tingling was barely there, as if Kiana was uncertain about whether or not to summon me. As uncertain as she was, if I was summoned I had to go, no matter what I was doing. Even if I was seconds away from death I would still be trying to get to her if she summoned me.
Minutes passed and with each minute the aching grew more and tingling intensified until it was almost burning. The need to see her far outweighed the pain from Zephyr and Leon's torture and I pulled away from Dad, falling to the ground on all fours, panting as I struggled to disobey, to keep from answering the call I so desperately wanted, needed, to answer.
"Blade, what the hell is wrong with you?" Dad asked. "We have to get home."
I grit my teeth together, panting hard as I fought against the burning need to see her. I had to see her. Screw the damn pain, the faster I got to her the faster I could rest. Her summoning me gave me a slight burst of energy and I pulled myself to my feet, the aching not feeling as bad now that I was setting off to find her, my whole body focusing on answering her call, not the excruciating pain it was in. Magic was finnicky that way.
"Where the hell are you going? You need a doctor and blood right now!" Dad hollered, suddenly appearing in front of me as he caught my shoulders and tried to shove me back. Unfortunately for him, there were things in this world he had no control over and magic was one of them.
"Let me go," I snarled at him, trying to shake him off but to weak to do so.
"You're coming with us," he said, red eyes hard, "I'm not going to let your stupidity kill you."
"She's calling me," I hissed, putting all the energy I had into lifting my right arm. My sleeve had been ripped so you could see the scarlet tattoo clearly. It had a glow about it and it seemed almost like blood on my skin instead of just being a normal looking tattoo like usual. It did that when she called me or we made a deal or something involving our bond, so he knew I wasn't lying or being difficult on purpose, though I couldn't imagine why in the world I'd ever lie about that in this situation. I was aching for blood and rest, leaving to see Kiana right now was the last thing I needed.
He looked down at my arm and then back up at my face. He stared at me for a long moment and each second that ticked by was so slow it was almost painful. I needed to go see her now and he wasn't letting me go. I was horrified when a small whimper escaped me, desperate to keep moving.
But at least my whimpering made him let go of me. "Find her, find blood, and then come see me," he said, his face hard but eyes soft. Even he knew he couldn't argue with this, though I'm sure he was weighing his options and possible loopholes to get me out of it.
I didn't even acknowledge what he said, I just continued on my way, lurching and limping. I was glad that damn school was close by...but when you can barely walk it seems as far as the moon. Every time I stopped to take a break I felt that burning ache start up again, forcing me to continue. When I finally reached her school I was praying death would come already and just save me from this misery.
And possibly from the humiliation at having Kiana see me look so pathetic too.
My morbid mood lightened as I reached campus, my body restless. I needed her around more than I cared to admit and if anything, feeling her close by, and knowing this horrible journey was almost over, was enough motivation to get me to go faster, the relief that I had almost succeeded sending waves of calm through me.
When I finally broke through the cover of trees and found her pacing nervously, looking like a total worried wreck, I finally relaxed and stopped. My legs shook underneath me and threatened to buckle so I leaned against a tree, hoping it might look more casual and less like the damn thing was the only thing holding me upright.
"Missed me, sweetheart?" I asked, mustering up a smirk that made my cut face burn with pain.