Chapter 18
All I see is darkness. A cold, foreboding chill dances up my spine and spreads through my shoulders. I try to move but I can't. I jostle my wrist. Leather straps fight against my movement, unforgiving in their hold on me. Panic settles into my lungs as I try to move my legs and realize my ankles are bound as well.
"Please," I whisper. "Oh, please. Help."
My voice is weak and broken from desperation. My chapped lips burn as I slide my tongue over them. Everything hurts. The hunger in my stomach is more agonizing than I could've ever imagined. Their cries are dull and never ending, ripping through my intestines with a ghostly plea for sustenance.
The blanket of darkness comes to a startling halt, and the blindfold covering my eyes drops away to reveal a pair of bright, red eyes staring back at me.
The vampire from the University.
My spirits sink. So it wasn't just a nightmare. This demon really did get into Bogdan's house and took me away. The memory feels hazy now, too fast and terrifying for my brain to comprehend. I remember kissing Bogdan one moment, and the next being swept up into another vampire's arms. He hid me beneath his large cloak, pressing me against his chest so hard that I lost consciousness.
I fell asleep in darkness and woke up to darkness, unsure and unaware of what happened while I was out.
Did Bogdan chase after us?
Does he even care that I'm gone?
I swallow hard, the familiar burn of tears trailing up my throat. None of that matters now, anyway. Somehow I landed here, away from my freedom. Away from Bogdan.
The vampire from the University stands just inches away from me, his smile every bit as cruel and binding as the leather straps around my ankles and wrists.
"Hello, Nirv."
A lone tear spills down the length of my cheek. He watches it trail down my pale skin. Just before it slides off the edge of my chin, he leans forward, catching the salty droplet with the tip of his tongue. I shudder and he pulls away.
"Even your tears are delectable," he says, closing his eyes in a moment of enjoyment. "I can only imagine what it will taste like when I drink from you."
He tilts his head to the side, waiting to see if I'll say anything in return. But I don't. Seemingly appeased, he reaches behind him and pulls forward a small cart housing a few trays of food. The smell makes my stomach both delighted and nauseous.
"But first things first," he says, opening up the first tray to reveal a large collection of fruits, cheeses and crackers. "You need to eat and drink. The potency of your blood decreases with the status of your health."
His long fingers gracefully reach down for a grape. He brings it to my lips.
"Eat," he commands.
I want to refuse. Really, I do. I want to fight this situation with everything that I can, but it feels useless. I've been captured, and Bogdan isn't saving me. Even if this vampire is faster or stronger than Bogdan, I don't even remember seeing Bogdan after our kiss.
It's almost as if the entire thing was a set-up. Or maybe he realized I am too much of a burden and willingly watched me being taken by another vampire.
Perhaps he was happy to be rid of me.
Another tear slips down my cheeks, and the vampire grins, greedily licking it away with his cool, minty tongue. His touch is cold and sinister, but my body reacts to it all the same. It's impossible not to. Vampires are created to have a touch that entices humans. That seduces humans. We are their prey, after all, and it's in our DNA to want them.
He tells me to eat again, and this time I listen. The grape slips past my cracked lips, and I bite down. A burst of sugary nectar splashes against my taste buds. I chew on it slowly, savoring the taste of something so simple.
He feeds me ten more before moving to the cheese and crackers. Just before he brings it to my lips, he pauses and tells me to look at him.
Our gazes collide. It's the first time I've looked at him this closely - I mean, really looked at him. His features are harsher than Bogdan's, his nose slightly longer and more pointed. His lips are thin, and his eyelashes are the only feature that softens his appearance in the slightest.
I hate to say he is beautiful, but it's true. He is.
"I suppose introductions are in order," he says with a crooked, sinister smile. "My name is Axel. And you are...?"
"Finn," I whisper pathetically in response.
"Finn."
He repeats my name like a cursed song, his voice ominously beautiful and dangerously wanton. The cheese and cracker combination is brought to my lips, and I nibble on the end of it. I hate that this interaction between Axel and I feels so intimate when really it is nothing more than a case of captive and capturer.
"You and I will be spending the rest of your miserable human life together," Axel promises.
He feeds me the remainder of the cracker and brings his thumb up to wipe away the crumbs from my lips. His teeth elongate just a hair, and his red eyes seem to ebb to a sparkling black color.
"No. We won't."
The words spill from my lips without pause. I suck my lips into my mouth, suddenly nervous about my outburst. Bogdan said it would be crazy for a vampire to kill me. That my blood is way too valuable. But these vampires are just that- crazy.
Axel smirks. "Oh? And who exactly will take you away from me, Finn?"
I want to say Bogdan, but my lips can't seem to find the strength to say his name aloud. If being taken by Axel was a set-up, he's certainly not going to come after me. I don't even think Leo or Fiona would find me here. That pretty much leaves Kelly, a vampire who knows about as much of me as I know of Axel.
Axel must smell my change of emotion, because he lets out a terrifying laugh. I hang my head in defeat.
"I must say," Axel says. "Bogdan was foolish to stay away from you as long as he did. After centuries of being a gluttonous blood-hound, I never suspected him to pass up drinking from a Nirv."
My blood heats at the mention of Bogdan's name. The way Axel talks about him, though, makes it seem like the two know each other on a personal level. Maybe they're even friends, if vampires believe in such a relationship. Wouldn't that just be the acidic icing on this bitter cake?
I repeat Axel's words in my head, trying to figure out what he means about Bogdan being a blood-hound. Bogdan never spoke to me about his earlier vampire days. Now that I think about it, Bogdan's really never said much to me. He's a mystery, one which I unraveled all wrong.
Axel reaches for another cracker and presses it against my lips. I take a bite and chew slowly, appreciating its buttery texture before it slides down the length of my throat. His eyes never leave my face. He almost seems fascinated with me.
"Tell me," Axel presses. "Did he ever try to feed from you?"
The various rejections from Bogdan haunt my memories like a bad dream.
"No," I answer softly. "He didn't."
Axel laughs again. He reaches his hand up to me again, and his cold finger traces a line down the length of my neck. I shiver from his touch but he doesn't stop. He continues to trace the path of my veins, his touch both soft and possessive.
"I hope one day he comes back and realizes his mistake," Axel whispers. "Because on that day, I will happily let him see you."
I can't mask the surprise wiggling onto my features. Axel wants Bogdan to come after me?
"W-why?" I ask.
Axel cradles my face with his hands. "Because, Finn. There is something about Nirv blood that we have managed to keep a secret from the entire human species as well as most of the vampire population as well."
My heart hammers in my chest waiting for him to explain. His red eyes continue to brighten the longer he's with me. I'm sure Axel is in no short supply of blood. Even if everything Bogdan told me was a lie, at least one bit of information was true: my blood is hard to resist. I can see it every time Axel and I lock eyes.
He wants to feed from me. And the second I regain my strength, he will.
"Nirv blood is very powerful, as I'm sure you are now well aware," Axel continues. "It allows a vampire immunization against all other poison. What most humans and immortals don't realize is that once the blood of a Nirv has been tasted by his first vampire, it becomes deadly poisonous to all others."
"What does that mean?" I ask, suddenly worried.
Axel smirks and leans in. He presses his lips against mine a single time. When I don't respond to his kiss, he pulls away, undeterred.
"The first vampire to taste your blood will automatically claim it. It's not a choice," Axel explains smoothly. "It's a special power of a Nirv's blood. It recognizes the vampire who owns it, and any other vampire who tries to feed from you will die. Your blood becomes far more poisonous to us than ours ever could."
I stare back at Axel, wide-eyed. If what he's saying is true, after he feeds from me, I will be his forever whether I like it or not. Any vampire who tries to feed from me in the future, including Bogdan, won't be able to make it out alive.
"Of course, no one will know your blood has been claimed," Axel says, and there's a victorious gleam in his eyes. "Even after I feed from you, your blood will remain just as desirable and delicious as it is now. So unless they inspect you like I have done, they won't know a thing."
He releases his hold on my face. Once again he trails a line down the path of my vein using the pads of his fingertips. His touch makes me tense, but the primal side of me aches for more. I have felt so alone for so long. To be wanted, even under such grotesque pretenses, is a need that's gone ignored for quite some time. Shameful tears slip down my cheeks, but this time Axel is too focused to wipe them away.
"But they won't have that luxury," he whispers. "They won't be able to search every inch of you like I have, looking for teeth scars or needle marks. They won't have the time or the self-control. I'll put you in front of them and watch every last one of them sink their teeth deep into your veins before withering away to dust."
All my life I have been a pacifist. I am calm by nature. Some might even call me a push-over. Now I am about to turn into the deadliest weapon of all. A single sob escapes my lips. As much as I want to be rid of Bogdan forever, I secretly want him to be here to save me. I want him to sink his teeth into me, claiming me before anyone else has the chance.
Even if he doesn't want me, I would be willing to be his forever.
Axel finally notices my tears, and he leans forward, pressing a kiss to each and every one of them. His hands move down my torso and slide around my lower back. He leans into me, hugging me against him with such a possessive desire that it's hard to keep my thoughts together.
"Get your rest, Finn," he says against my ear. "Because the sooner you are feeling better, the sooner we can have our first, blissful feeding together."
I cringe, hating the way my body reacts to his words and his touch. He kisses me beside my jugular before pulling away. He feeds me one more grape and then grabs the blindfold again. Without saying another word, he slips it over my eyes.
He presses his lips against mine for a single, lingering moment. A cold, foreboding chill dances up my spine and spreads to my shoulders. And once again, all I see is darkness...
________________________________
A/N: Axel - less or more evil than you thought he'd be?