Blood and Redemption (Cassandra Myles Witch Series) (11 page)

Once we were on the highway
, Killian couldn’t contain his giddiness at his own brilliance. He kept looking over at me. I knew he wanted me to ask about the new car and what he had planned, but I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.

“Nice car
, huh? I put your cell phone and mine in my car and had an associate drive up the coast to a beautiful chalet in the mountains. He even took a beautiful blond-haired beauty with him and made sure they stopped along the way and were quite lovey dovey. Quintus will find out eventually that it was all a ruse, but it will take a while. He’ll think we went on a lovers’ sojourn. He’ll be very upset.”

“How could you do that to him?” Would Quintus believe it? Even if he didn’t believe I was with Killian voluntarily
, he would at least believe we had headed that way. Following my cell phone signal was a logical step at tracking me down. It would take up enough time to make sure they wouldn’t catch up to us.

“Brilliant
, isn’t it? It hurts him and it makes sure we get away.” He was grinning like an idiot. I looked out the side window so I didn’t have to see him.

We stopped off at a McDonald
’s and I ordered a burger, water, and coffee. “I don’t suppose you have anything for my headache?”

“You can have my blood. That should fix you right up. It’s not that old stale stuff Quintus keeps in his veins. Mine is young and sweet, like the first ripe peach of summer.”

Gross. “No, I will live. You know he was grooming you to take over for him. You would have eventually been the master of his territory anyway. How can you do this to him?”

“He would never give up his power
, no matter what he told you. If he did, he wouldn’t give it to me. I was useful because I did the things he didn’t have the stomach to do. He wouldn’t give someone he thought was too savage his precious area. Seattle/Vancouver is his baby. He just strung me along so I would do what he said. He didn’t think I was good enough for you, not even to be your friend. Even my son was too beneath you.”

“I didn’t feel that way. I liked Nickolai. He was a nice guy.”

“Quintus wanted you to think he wasn’t a vampire. He wanted you to see him as a gentleman who would do anything for you, a kind man who was benevolent and good. Well, lucky me, because I got to pick up the slack. I did things I can’t get out of my head. I’m still young, Cassandra. I was a good man when I was human; I never harmed anyone. My job turned me into a monster and now I’m finally fulfilling that role.”

The rest of the trip was silent. I was grateful.
Quintus was far from perfect and some of his flaws I didn’t know if I could make peace with, but Killian wasn’t exactly a reliable source in my opinion right now. I had enough to occupy my brain. Most of all, how I was going to escape a pack of wolves and a gaggle of fae, or whatever you call a group of fae?

We pulled into High Level and parked in an empty lot. I didn’t bother fighting him. He was much too strong and I needed to save my strength for when I had to face Mab.

“We will be using a little magic from here. I’m afraid we couldn’t use it earlier as Mab hasn’t regained her full strength yet, but soon. I guess this is where you pass out?”

He embraced me and then I was out.

Chapter Ten

I awoke, but I didn’t open my eyes. The room was too warm and the smell of patchouli was cloying. I could hear whispering and movement further away. My head was pounding, but it wasn’t as bad as it had been when Declan used fae magic. I briefly wondered if all of this was leading to long-term brain damage. It certainly couldn’t be good for me. Then again, if I was now in Mab’s clutches, then brain damage was the least of my worries.

My vision was blurry. I tried blinking, but it didn’t want to clear
. A fuzzy outline of a person was sitting beside the bed. The blurry shape began to sharpen and the realization of who it was hit me hard. It was too good to be true. My heart started to race and I couldn’t form words. I closed my eyes, trying to calm down, trying to explain away what I had just seen. It was him; he was alive. Tears, excitement, and disbelief all fought to take control.

“Declan, baby
, is that you? Oh! Thank God! I thought you were dead. Please forgive me for leaving you.” I tried to reach out to him, but my hands were firmly tied to the posts above my head.

He turned
, and as he got closer, the look on his face made me sink as far as I could into the bed. It was disgust and anger, and it was directed right at me. He grabbed my face with one powerful hand. The bone snapping pressure he applied to my jaw shook me from my fantasy that this was Declan. Tears of pain replaced those from relief.

“Look at me
, human. I’m not Declan.” His voice was more of a growl.

Our noses almost touched and I could feel his hot breath. He wasn’t my mate, but somehow he felt so close to me
. This man was tall and had Declan’s broad chest. Their hair had the same unruly curls, but this man’s face was narrower and he was older. They had to be related.

“You’re hurting me
; please.” I was afraid he would crack my jaw.

“Really?
Does this hurt you?” He shook my head back and forth. “I bet it doesn’t hurt half as much as the silver blade that pierced my brother’s side.”

His words hurt more than his hands. “I didn’t kill Declan. He died saving me. I never wanted any harm to come to him. I was just doing what your pack wanted.” He released me by throwing my face to the side and sat back down.

“My pack is gone, slaughtered that night. Thanks to you, I’m a lone wolf.” He glared at me from the corner of his eyes. His nostrils flared and he showed way too many teeth to make it a human gesture.

“I never wanted that to happen, please believe me.”

“I came rushing back from getting supplies when Father contacted me that you were opening the fae door. When I got here, all I found were the mangled bodies of all my brothers and sisters. Every last member of our pack lay still and lifeless on that cold hill.” The pain on his face was heart wrenching and the fact he looked so much like Declan made it even harder to see. I wanted to turn away, but I didn’t deserve that comfort.

“Why did they let you live?”

“Mab saw me walking around the hill, checking each corpse to make sure they were all gone. I wasn’t being careful; I had lost my mind. She had me captured and brought to her before I realized what was going on. She thought it would be more fun to tame me than kill me.” His strong jaw was set off to the side and now it was his turn to look away.

“Please believe me that I loved your brother. I wish more than anything I hadn’t opened that door, but I didn’t know what was on the other side.”

He just glared at me, and a low rumbling growl echoed in his throat. It was hard to have someone who looked so much like Declan look at me that way. All the guilt I had tried to push down came bubbling up and I felt like I was choking on it.

“The human is awake.” He raised his voice so the rest of the people in the room would hear.

Mab, Killian, and another man stopped their conversation and approached the bed. Panic took over my brain. I knew there was no way out, but my legs and arms still struggled with the restraints. The cords were tight and had very little give. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I was going nowhere fast.

“Well
, there is my little sleeping beauty. So glad you could join us.” Her voice was deep and husky.

Her long silky hair wa
s piled up high on her head. Lavender eyes sparkled underneath her long ebony bangs. She may have been a cesspool of evil on the inside, but on the outside, she was stunning. I didn’t feel the way I felt the first time I met Mab. She held no power over me. I felt only hate when I looked into her flawless face. As she got closer, I could feel a small buzz of power coming from both fae.

“I don’t recall being given a choice.”

Killian looked at Dominick. “You may leave, dog. We have things to discuss.”

Dominick growled under his breath, but left without saying anything
. How could they have killed his whole pack? It was too much to bear. They had hated me, but they loved each other. Mothers and fathers had to watch their children die, children running in terror, so many senseless deaths just to entertain that psychotic bitch. She had to die.

“Mab is excited to have you here
, Cassandra. Be civil and we can all get along. This is Prince Conal, Mab’s son; he’s very excited to meet you too.”

“Why is she tied up
, Mother? Are you going to play one of your games with her?”

Oh! Fuck
fuck fuck. Please let her say “no.” Please. I redoubled my efforts to pull free from my restraints. All I got for my troubles were sore ankles and wrists.

“My little
sweetling, I would love nothing more.” She turned from her son and fixed me with a saccharine smile. It was like a crocodile trying to look innocent. She caressed my leg just above the knee. My eyes pleaded with Killian to make her stop. He pretended like he didn’t see me, coward.

“This young thing is so fresh and ripe. I could mold her and teach her things that would blow her mind.”

Her head tilted back and she emitted a high-pitched cackle. My blood froze in my veins and everything disappeared except her and me on the bed. I didn’t know if it was fae magic or terror, but I couldn’t look away from what she was doing. Her hand moved up my thigh. Her long, thin fingers dug into my flesh hard enough that I knew there would be five fingertip-sized bruises on my leg. The pain was bad, but I did my best not to let it show.

“I have made a promise to young Killian here. He has brought us what we asked and we must keep our end of the bargain.” She never took her eyes off me and she never stopped smiling.

“Why are you doing this to me? I freed you and this is how you repay me?”

Mab put more pressure on my leg. I expected her fingers to go right into my flesh. Digging my fingernails into my hands, I blinked back tears and bit my lip to prevent myself from screaming.

“It does seem rather ungrateful; however, I do have needs. I need power on my side and you have that, and more. I need a human who lives in the here and now. You, my beautiful witch, are exactly what I need. We will plan and scheme together and then you will help me carry them out.”

“I won’t help you hurt anyone else.” I was barely keeping back the tears; I refused to give her the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

“Oh, I don’t need help hurting people. I’m quite good at it.” She laughed again.

“I know you’re powerful, but there are
seven billion people on this planet. How do you think you can defeat that?”

“We have ideas and as I have already mentioned, that’s why we have brought you here. You will help us
. I don’t often keep those around who don’t serve a function.”

I had a feeling that didn’t mean she was going to let me go on my merry way. The best I could hope for if I didn’t play along was a quick death and that didn’t seem likely.

“Mother, can I have her for a little while? She is quite beautiful.” Great. The crazy woman’s son thinks I’m attractive. I didn’t think it was possible, but he was creepier than she was. He had her straight silky hair and porcelain skin, but his eyes were darker, plum with specks of silver.

“Mab, you promised.” Killian looked a little panicked.

“She isn’t going anywhere; wait for the vampire to tire of her. Then you can play, my son.”

I was so fucked. You know your situation sucks when you remember your last kidnapping with fondness. He looked down at his mother with a pout. I felt like a toy she was telling him he couldn’t have.

“If you insist, I will wait.” He actually stuck out his bottom lip like a precocious child.

Mab’s hand loosened its grip and continued to stroke my thigh. She licked her lips a
s she moved her hand further up my leg until she was at the very top of my leg. My breathing was shallow and time seemed to stand still. We just stared at each other for an eternity. Then she shrugged her shoulders and got up.

“Come
, my son, we shall leave Killian alone with his new pet. I’m sure he has lots planned for her.”

I didn’t realize how little I was breathing until she closed the door behind her. Killian waited for her to leave and then he came to sit beside me on the bed. He looked sad, but then covered it quickly with his vampire mask.

“That woman makes my skin crawl. Her son is just as bad.” He looked at me, waiting for me to say something. I hoped he wasn’t expecting me to feel bad for him because that day wasn’t coming. In true Killian fashion, he shook off my silence.

“We are in the
alpha’s quarters in case you were wondering where you were. This, I believe, is a spare room. Do you want to fuck in the alpha’s bed?” He wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

Just great, he’d lost his mind too
. “Please let me go, Killian. You’re not like this. You’ve always been so sweet to me.”

He started to untie me. “I do like you
, Cassandra. You’re beautiful and smart. You seem to have a big heart and you’re annoyingly loyal. More importantly, you seem to be very powerful. That’s very attractive. I made Mab promise not to harm you. She thinks we’re a couple and I can keep you under control. I know that couldn’t be further from the truth, Cass, but as long as we act that way, it will keep you safe.”