Chains of Darkness (2 page)

The other guard backed off.

Lucian leaped to his feet, once more pulling at the chains, trying to get to his father.

Daniel smiled. “Just Taser him. I haven’t got all night.”

The uninjured guard drew his weapon and fired.

As a searing pain shot through his chest, Lucian roared. A terrible electrical charge followed that caused his arm and back muscles to seize, then spasm.

The Taser.

Vampires and electricity didn’t mix.

He fell to his knees, rolling onto his back. The charge paralyzed him long enough for the tech to come at him with a needle-less syringe and to slowly insert two critical ounces of blood deep into his mouth. He sputtered, struggling to swallow, but the blood tasted so good and at the same time began having a positive effect.

The moment his lucidity improved, he started calming down, though his body still jerked with aftershocks. The paralysis, though beginning to fade, kept him immobile.

He shifted his gaze to the far wall, to the human who had been talking to him, and there she was. She hadn’t been a hallucination after all. Better yet, Daniel couldn’t see her. The woman’s disguise held, and for the first time in months hope rose that he might just make it out alive.

For a long moment, he stared at her. She was dressed simply in jeans, a light-green T-shirt, jogging shoes. She was beautiful with deep-auburn hair that flowed in waves past her shoulders. Her creamy skin gave her an almost angelic appearance. Her nose was straight, her cheekbones high and strong, yet she watched him with tears in her light-brown eyes. No doubt she wasn’t used to Daniel’s barbaric ways.

Yet what surprised him was how clearly he could sense her emotions—as though he had some kind of connection to her. She was frightened by where she was, but there was something more, a powerful determination to do what she’d come here to do.

He remembered now. She’d spoken of Rumy; Rumy had sent her here. If all went well, this might just work.

He glanced back at Daniel, who stared at him with arms folded over his chest. Daniel really didn’t seem to be aware of the woman, even though he was one of the most powerful vampires in their world. He’d reached the highest form as an Ancestral, those vampires with tremendous power who tended to rise to positions of leadership or, in Daniel’s case, autocracy. Daniel all but ruled the vampire world.

And with that much power, he should have seen the woman.

Yet he hadn’t.

Was it possible she really could get him out of here?

The dose of blood eased Lucian and helped him to start healing the debilitating effects of the Taser. Even so, his body felt raw, reminding him of the torture he’d endured over the past year in the prison he’d previously inhabited. Daniel had brought him here, along with his brother Marius, but he’d quickly separated them. Lucian had no idea where Marius was.

Daniel called to him. “Is your head clear now?”

Lucian sat up, swiveling to face the man who’d sired him. His father wore an expensive, tailored suit of dark-blue silk, a goatee trimmed close, with his short, dark hair slicked back. His eyes were light blue with a hint of green, not quite teal, but lighter and flecked with gold. He defined all that was evil in their culture.

Lucian despised what his father stood for. “What the fuck do you want anyway?”

“I want you to return to me, Lucian. That’s all I’ve ever wanted from you and your brothers.”

“I know you have Marius imprisoned here somewhere, but where’s Adrien?” There were three brothers in all. Recently a human female had taken Adrien from their previous, shared prison, but he hadn’t seen him since. He didn’t even know if Adrien was alive.

“I’m not here to discuss Adrien. I want to talk about you and what I can do to persuade you to join my ranks.”

“Not a goddamn thing.”

“You’re being absurdly stubborn for a prisoner in chains.”

Lucian just stared at him, letting him feel his hatred. The man had been his torturer as a child. He would die before he ever joined Daniel’s ranks.

Daniel gestured with a sweep of his hand. “Let me be specific. I need help finding the extinction weapon. It seems you and your brothers all have a special kind of tracking ability, and with just a little effort I know you’ll be able to find it. Join me, Lucian, help me gain a weapon that will allow me to rule our world for the next millennium, and you can share in that power. Just think what that would mean for you: the position of prominence, the enormous wealth. And together we’d be invincible.”

“I’ll never return to you. And after four hundred years, I don’t understand why the fuck you’re still asking. My loyalties lie with those who seek justice and equality in our world, not monsters who enslave and torture the innocent.”

Daniel’s eyes narrowed to thin, unreadable slits. But Lucian knew that expression well. Nothing good would follow. “I don’t think you’re getting the picture. You’ll do this for me and like it or you’ll die, Marius with you. It’s that simple.”

“Then kill me now, Father, because I’d prefer death to serving you and I’m sure my brother would feel the exact same way.”

Daniel pulled his lips back, revealing the sharp points of his fangs. He moved in swiftly, before Lucian could get out of the way, then placed a hand on top of Lucian’s head. An excruciating stream of power flowed from Daniel’s hand, once more paralyzing Lucian.

“This is just the beginning, my son. I have more in store for you. Trust me, little by little I’ll tear you down until you will do anything I want you to do. For now, feel my power.”

Pain ripped through Lucian, traveling down his spine and into his legs. He roared once more, then fell back unable to breathe, to think, to move. It took several seconds before he could finally make sense of his surroundings once more.

“Good. You’re back. And now I have another piece of persuasion for you.” He pivoted slightly and snapped his fingers in the direction of the tunnel entrance.

*   *   *

Claire felt some kind of vibration in the air shift, some level of Daniel’s intention. He turned toward the arched doorway behind him, where two large torches cast a glow at the end of the cave. He waved an arm and once more snapped his fingers.

Guards appeared, one on either side of a man they dragged behind them. He was naked like Lucian but covered in grime. She wasn’t sure of the color of his hair because he was filthy, including his face, which was bruised and bloody.

Lucian leaned back like he’d been hit. He rubbed a hand over his face, narrowing his eyes as though he couldn’t see well. “Marius, is that you? What have you done to Marius?”

The guards dropped the vampire at Daniel’s feet.

“You sure you don’t want to join me, Lucian?”

“Never.” He leaned forward on his knees, his gaze fixed on Marius. His head wagged back and forth again. Claire had a strong sense that he couldn’t see his brother clearly.

“Well, that’s too bad, then.” Daniel leaned down and, taking a blade from his pocket, sliced open the man’s throat. The victim thrashed, his hands to his throat, blood leaking everywhere.

As Marius collapsed, Daniel stepped out of harm’s way. Apparently he didn’t want blood on his expensive suit.

Shouting sounded through the pit.

On instinct, Claire covered her ears, aware of the reason a few seconds later: Lucian had started bellowing like a wild animal, straining against his chains. “Marius! My brother! Marius!”

Claire felt his pain because the chain shared it with her, letting her experience Lucian’s horror. He was losing something infinitely precious.

Her chest started to hurt.

She tried not to look at Marius, who now lay still, but whose blood had created a lake near his head. Instead her gaze drifted to Daniel, who watched Lucian’s suffering with a half smile on his lips, his gaze hooded.

So he got off on his son’s suffering. Of course that much had already been made evident to Claire in the recent exchange.

“It’s just you and me now, Lucian. Marius is gone. Adrien is holed up somewhere with the woman who bound him up and subdued him. Become an Ancestral and rule beside me. You’ll forget this pain, and you won’t believe the power you’ll wield. It’s intoxicating.”

Claire knew Daniel’s words were wasted. She could feel Lucian’s venom. He hated his father, wanted him dead.

Daniel skirted Marius’s body. “Say you’ll join me, Lucian. I have a thousand slaves here and you’ll get all the blood you need. I can feel your starvation, and I want to take care of you. That’s what you’ve never understood. I have tremendous compassion for you.”

Lucian, still prone, strained once more against his chains trying to reach his father. “I’ll see you in hell first, Daniel.”

But again Daniel touched the top of his head. The powerful warrior rolled onto his back, his body seizing again.

Through a mist of tears, her hands pressed over her mouth, Claire watched Daniel revel in the pain he caused his son. He stood over him, both arms spread wide, staring down at Lucian’s body, a smile on his lips.

At last, Lucian must have passed out, because his eyes closed and his body grew lax. For a moment she thought Daniel might have killed him, but Lucian’s chest moved up and down. Only then could Claire finally breathe.

She held her disguising shield tight, fearing that Daniel might suddenly realize she was in the cave. If he ever turned that level of power against her, she wouldn’t survive for the time it took to blink.

Fortunately, with a sheen of perspiration on his forehead and a satisfied dip of his chin, Daniel turned and left the space. The guards and med tech followed after him while a cleanup crew hurried in.

She turned away as two of them carted Marius’s body out; the rest set to cleaning the floor. Powerful emotions moved through her: the grief that Lucian would now experience, and the horror she felt at watching a man killed in front of her eyes. She knew enough to let the sensations flow, as hard as they were to bear.

She would have a lot of processing to do later, but right now she had to get Lucian out of the cave.

With the last of the blood cleaned up, the crew left. Claire waited until the hall beyond grew quiet. Finally, she hurried toward Lucian, her disguising shield tight around her.

She withdrew the vial of her blood from the pocket of her jeans, then dropped to her knees beside him. Uncorking the small plastic tube, she held it beneath his nose, hoping he’d catch the scent.

At the same time she smoothed her hand over his forehead. “Come back to me, Lucian. Let me take you out of here before Daniel returns. Please wake up.”

She thought about what he’d said, that he was loyal to those who sought justice and equality. Here was a man who deserved so much more than what life had dealt him.

His head began to shift, first left then right. A moan left his lips. “Blood,” he whispered.

When his lips parted, she began easing the blood into his mouth, then stroking his throat to encourage him to swallow. Little by little the vial grew empty.

“Lucian, can you hear me?”

He finally opened his eyes and stared at her. “You’re the human, the one I saw earlier.”

“I am.”

“My God, your blood tastes the way you smell, like sweet herbs. And there’s strength in you. Great strength. But who are you?”

Claire stared into Lucian’s smoky-gray eyes and for a moment got completely lost in what he’d just said to her. She’d never heard a more beautiful compliment.

“My name is Claire. Rumy sent me here to help you.”

Maybe it was the chain she wore, or that she admired how he’d stood up to his father, or his kind words—but suddenly he became more than merely the vehicle by which she could find her friend. Something inside her began to warm to him, a sensation that brought heat to her cheeks.

He sat up and took several deep breaths. He winced suddenly and shaded his faced with his manacled hand. “Marius.” He whispered. “Oh, God, Marius.”

As much as she needed to get him out of the cave, the sooner the better, she had to give him just a little space to recover from what for her had been a horrifying spectacle. She swallowed several times, her throat tight.

In addition to the sudden swell of grief, she also sensed that he was working hard to recover from Daniel’s most recent assault. He was still in a lot of pain.

After a moment he lifted his face to her, but his gaze dropped to her neck and he frowned. “You’re wearing a blood-chain.”

She nodded. “
Your
blood-chain, Lucian. Rumy said that being bound together through the chains would be the only way you could leave this cave, but I don’t know exactly what he meant.”

He glanced down at his manacles. “Rumy was right, because these shackles are preternaturally enhanced with Daniel’s power.” He lifted his gaze to hers. “The blood-chain bond will expand my abilities, give me what I need to break free. But tell me what Rumy told you.”

“That we’ll have a proximity issue, with about a twelve-foot reach, which means we’ll have to be close to each other for however long we’re bonded in this way.”

He lowered his chin. “And? Surely he told you more than that.”