Dark Redemption (14 page)

Rotating
the bullet between her thumb and forefinger, Kate studied the bullet. Alexander
had said the bullets would combust on impact, burning a vampire from the inside
out. Kate shuddered at the thought. Would it be quick and painless, an
instantaneous flash and you’re gone? Or would it be more like burning alive,
endless minutes filled with excruciating pain as the flames devoured you?

Either
way, death was the end result. Would it combust inside her if she swallowed it?
Or would she just end up with one massive case of vampire heartburn and
indigestion?

She
could be with Dominic, could escape this hell. If she could get her hands on a
gun, this bullet could be her ticket out.  One shot and this whole
nightmare could be over. But how would she get the gun? More importantly, even
if she managed to get one, would she have the courage to shoot herself? What if
it didn’t work?

She’d
taken care of plenty of botched suicides in the ER. Too many people tried to
swallow a pistol, just to blow the backs of their heads off and still survive.
Yeah, so
not
the unhappy ending she wanted.

Who
was she kidding? With aim like hers, she’d have to aim for her foot to have a chance
of hitting her heart. But did it matter where she took the bullet? Maybe the
foot would suffice.

         
She’d hate to survive the ordeal to be a scarred up, debilitated mess though.
Then again, maybe Alexander wouldn’t want her if that happened. The thought of
Alexander brought the memory of his scar-ridden back to the forefront of her
mind.

He’d
said the wounds came from the whip of light. Which she could only assume meant
ultraviolet light, since it was the only thing powerful enough to scar a vampire.
All other wounds healed. Well, at least the physical ones did. She was pretty
sure her heart never would.

         
Kate glanced back at her naked finger, perfectly healed after Alexander ripped
Dominic’s ring from it. She didn’t need a ring to feel Dominic’s claim, branded
on her heart. If only there was a way to show Alexander that what she felt for
Dominic could not be removed as easily as a ring. A wicked idea took root in
her mind. She could mark herself, if only…

         
Rushing to her writing desk in the sitting room, Kate retrieved an ornate
letter opener from one of the drawers. Testing the sharp edge against her
fingertip, Kate grinned when blood beaded from the pin prick of a wound.
Perfect. Kate snagged the heavy, metal paperweight, adorned with the Cacciatori
crest, and returned to her room. Setting the letter opener and paperweight down
next to the bullet, Kate headed into her bathroom and returned with a small
cup.

Gathering
the items to her chest, Kate sank to the floor. The stone tile was cold and
hard beneath her bare legs. Kate laid her items out in front of her. Standing
the bullet on its flat end, she hefted the paperweight over it with both hands
and brought the weight crashing down on the bullet with as much force as she could
without shattering the floor.

Ultraviolet
rain stung her skin as droplets splattered against her bare skin, burning like
splashes of corrosive acid. Kate gasped at the blinding pain, but pressed
forward, grasping the letter opener like a knife in her right hand. She scraped
the puddle of gelatinous liquid and glass fragments into the cup. Dipping the
tip of the letter opener into the luminescent fluid, Kate pressed the sharp tip
to the skin of her forearm.

White
hot pain seared through her as she laid open the skin, carving the letter
D
and immortalizing it with the ultraviolet fluid. Blood beaded to the surface,
crimson rivulets dripping down her arm. She repeated the process with
O
and
M
, but had to take a break as the pain became too much to bear. Sucking
in a deep breath, Kate focused on the pain of losing Dominic. Physical pain
paled in comparison.

Perspiration
beaded her brow as she set about completing her task. With painstaking care,
she carved
an
I
, N
,
I
, and
C
. Gasping from
pain and exertion, Kate let the letter opener clatter to the floor. Swiping the
blood from her arm with the front of her shirt, Kate cradled her arm and
inspected her handiwork. Angry red scars spelled out DOMINIC in big block
letters across her left forearm. There, let Alexander try to remove that. 
He thought he could make her forget Dominic’s name. That would be impossible.
Now her body reflected the promise written on her heart.

Chapter
14

Consciousness came painfully
slow to Dominic, as though his mind was hesitant to awaken and find
himself
actively being tortured. His body ached with the
memory of his injuries, the regenerated flesh throbbing in protest. Flexing and
extending his stiff fingers, Dominic relished the ache for what it meant. He
had fingers again. A similar throb in his groin reassured him he was whole
again.

The bastard had not used silver
to torture him, which could only mean one thing. The sadistic vampire planned
to do it again and again. Dominic would be
Ambrogio’s
personal Prometheus, chained to a rock to undergo the same punishment
throughout eternity. At least his crime was worth the torture. Poor Prometheus
had received little in return for giving man fire. Dominic had tasted heaven, a
reward worth enduring Hell for.

How long could the vampire play
this game before he grew bored? Fifty years?
One hundred?
Two hundred?
Dominic shuddered, hoping for sooner
rather than later. The sting of silver in his flesh would be a welcome respite,
for it meant death would likely follow.

With nothing to do but await
Ambrogio’s
return, Dominic pondered the afterlife certain
to follow his death. In taking Kate’s side, had he earned his place in Hell? He
had
slaughtered those vile humans who attacked her, violating the pact
with their deaths. Silent laughter over the irony of his situation filled him.
He was probably the only being on the planet who hoped to spend eternity in
Hell. For the devil owned Kate’s soul and should she ever die, she was damned
to his domain.

Dominic would suffer the fires
of Hell for eternity if there was even the slightest chance he would see her
again. Yet, if she fulfilled the prophecy, she would free her kind from the
curse of darkness. Would the devil also relinquish the vampires’ souls? If so,
surely Kate would go to Heaven if she ever died. In which case, Dominic would
be trapped in Hell by himself. No different than his current situation, no
doubt.

Various outcomes danced circles
in his head, tormenting him with uncertainty. A man could easily lose his mind
while lost in solitude with nothing to do but contemplate the possibilities of
the ambiguous future before him. He’d much prefer madness of his own company
than any form of sanity preserved by the presence of Ambrogio.

As though summoned by Dominic’s
thoughts, the golden vampire rattled a key in the lock of Dominic’s cell door
and pressed into the cold stone space. The smug satisfaction of the previous
night had disappeared from the golden vampire’s temperament. His features were
drawn and tight, his eyes dark and thunderous. He came to tower over Dominic’s
prostrate form, glowering down at him with his hands on his hips.

Dominic grinned at him as
though the vampire wasn’t there to exact pain for his personal gratification. “
Awww
, you missed me already?
How sweet.”

Ambrogio appeared far from
amused. He chewed his lower lip in silence, his sharp gaze making a commendable
attempt at carving Dominic like a roast at a feast. When at last he spoke, his
quiet voice was laced with venom. “In what world were you ever good enough to wed
the Cacciatori princess?” He hissed through clenched teeth.

“Oh, so Kate told you, did
she?” Dominic asked cheerfully, relishing the opportunity to cause even the
slightest psychological turmoil to his tormentor. “Sorry we didn’t invite you
to the wedding, man. It was a small ceremony, just close family and friends.
Unfortunately, you didn’t make the cut.”

“Check that swift tongue of
yours, before I remove it again,” Alexander snarled, his golden eyes narrowed
in anger.

Dominic shrugged as much as his
position and restraints would allow. “Pick your poison, I suppose. You’re going
to make me bleed either way. Maybe the angrier I make you, the faster you’ll
get on with it and I can get back to my beauty sleep.”

“I can make this as slow and
painful as I want to. I’m in no rush. I
will
make you beg for mercy by
the time I’m through with you, Ridolfi.”

“I don’t beg, Ambrogio, and I
don’t need your mercy.”

An evil smile spread across the
vampire’s face. “Oh, but you will soon enough. So, what will it be?
Waterboarding
?
Denailing
? Burning? Flaying? Or just another good,
old fashioned slice and dice again?”

Dominic
dismissed the choices as though Ambrogio sought his advice on a much less
trivial issue than his method of torture for the night.
“Dealer’s
choice.”

“How about something extra
special, in celebration of your recent nuptials?”
Ambrogio mused. “Oh, which
reminds me, I have something for you.”

Delving
into his pocket, the vampire withdrew a small, shiny object and held the
circular item out for Dominic’s inspection. Dominic squinted in the darkness to
see a thick platinum wedding band with triangular diamonds channel set in an
alternating pattern.
Kate’s ring.
Dominic would
recognize it anywhere. He should, considering he’d designed it for her himself.

“Where
did you get that?” Dominic growled, breaking his casual façade for the first
time.

Ambrogio
grinned, clearly thrilled to have finally elicited a reaction. “I would think
the answer would be quite obvious. Your widow gave it to me. She’s ready to
move on and put the mistakes of the past behind her.”

Kate’s
ring fell to the floor near his head with a soft
clang
. Dominic’s heart
fell with a similar trajectory. No. Kate wouldn’t. Ambrogio was merely trying
to drive him mad. “You lie.”

With
a shrug of his lean shoulders, Ambrogio gave Dominic a taunting look.
“Maybe, maybe not.
But I guess you’ll never know for sure,
eh Ridolfi? But know this. Every day you’re gone, Katerina comes closer and
closer to being mine. I
will
have her. Together, we will rule our world
and destroy everything you hold dear.”

“Never,”
Dominic roared, fighting a futile battle against his shackles.

Ambrogio
clucked his tongue at him.
“Temper, temper.
Inside voices, please.”

“Go
to Hell,” Dominic snarled.

“Perhaps
someday,” Ambrogio said brightly. “For now, I must simply satisfy myself with
making your life a living hell.”

Humming
a cheerful tune, Ambrogio assembled his tools of torture next to Dominic’s
side. Dominic closed his eyes and tried to ignore his efforts. No need to
obsess about what would follow. The pain would inevitably happen, regardless of
the means.

“Have
you ever peeled a grape with a knife, Ridolfi?”

Dominic
gave a dark chuckle. “What kind of idiot peels grapes?”

Ambrogio’s
voice grew nearer.
“The kind who doesn’t like them with skin.”

The
words held a chilling menace, but Dominic refused to react. He wouldn’t give
Ambrogio the satisfaction. He retreated to the happy place inside his head, the
one where Kate reigned supreme. The razor sharp edge of a knife touched
Dominic’s forearm. Dominic set his jaw and prepared for the worst. Ambrogio
didn’t disappoint.

With
as little efficiency as possible, Ambrogio sawed the skin off Dominic’s arm,
rocking the blade back and forth as he tore the flesh away in a ragged sheet.
Clenching his teeth in pain, Dominic suppressed the urge to call Ambrogio every
name in the dictionary of insults. That urge multiplied when the vicious
vampire sprinkled salt into the raw wound. Luckily, Dominic’s body regenerated
skin much quicker than it did missing digits. The painful throb of supernatural
healing was a welcome respite from the fiery pain of salt burning his raw,
skinned tissues.

“Well,
isn’t this a fortunate turn of events,” Ambrogio mused. “Your skin regenerates
so quickly, I could do this all night long and not run out of fresh real
estate.”

Dominic
inhaled a sharp breath as the blade bit into the skin of his thigh.
Maybe not so lucky after all.
Dominic exhaled slowly and
focused on Kate. There was no pain. There was… no… pain. It was going to be a
long night.

***

Bang,
bang, bang
.
Someone knocked on the outer door of Kate’s quarters with an insistence that
surpassed determination and crossed right over into obnoxious as it rattled the
doorframe and the surrounding wall. Kate glanced heavenward with an exasperated
sigh. When would they leave her alone to die in peace?

         
“Go away,” she called through the door.

         
“Kiss my fine ass.”

         
Massimo, her jerk-off cousin, classy as always.
Kate
sighed. “What do you want, Massimo?”

         
“It’ll be a cold day in Hell when I sit by and watch you starve yourself to
death like some pathetic vampire spinster hermit,” Massimo called.

         
“Then go away. I don’t need an audience,” Kate countered.

         
“Not a chance,
cuz
. I’m on watch until
Ambrogio’s
reinstatement.
Which means, if
you don’t open this door, I’m going to stand out here all night long.
”

         
“Fine with me.
I’ve gotten pretty good at ignoring
you.”

         
“Not when I sing,” Massimo threatened. Sucking in a huge dramatic breath, he
broke into a glass-shattering, dogs-howling imitation of
Chumbawumba’s
“Tub
Thumpin
’.”

         
“I
ged
-
nock’d
-down, but I
geddup
uh-gain…”

         
With a shake of her head, Kate yanked the door open. There were some circles of
Hell she had no desire to experience. Massimo’s singing was one of them.
Without even glancing in her obnoxious cousin’s direction, she turned her back
on him and strode back into her sitting room.

         
“Now is that any way to treat your cousin who was worried sick about you?”

         
The teasing note in his tone belied any hurt he tried to inject. Kate wasn’t
fooled. She knew it would take a slight of nuclear proportions to actually
reach any feelings Massimo might have.

         
“Oh, poor baby,” Kate shot back at him over her shoulder. “Did I hurt your
tender feelings?”

         
Kate turned to find him standing just inside her doorway, his typical arrogant
grin on his darkly handsome face.

         
“Nah.
It takes more than a snippy, uptight little
princess like you to get me down.”

         
Crossing the room in two easy strides, he dragged her into a bear hug,
squeezing her against the rock wall of his chest until she couldn’t breathe. Kate
soaked up what empty comfort she could from his unlikely embrace.  Tears
stung her eyes.

         
“You’re such an ass,” she mumbled into his shirt.

         
“Well, you’re an idiot, so I guess we’re even.” He released her and chucked her
under her chin. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re okay.”

         
“Okay is a relative term.”

         
Massimo chuckled. “Yeah, it is, especially when it comes to you. I still think
I should’ve dragged your ass back into the castle that night.”

         
Kate bit her lip. If she hadn’t been captured, she wouldn’t have had the past
month with Dominic. Then again, he might still be alive. “I wish you had.”

         
“No good dwelling on the past,” Massimo said, dropping onto her purple velvet
couch with a bounce.
“On to the future.”

         
Kate sat on the couch across from him. “I don’t want a future.”

         
“Life doesn’t give a flying fuck what you want,” Massimo said in a low voice. “Life
doesn’t just suck and then you die for vampires. It fucks you again and again.”

         
“What a quaint philosophy, I think I’ll hang it on my wall, right next to the
words of Gandhi and the Dali Lama,” Kate said dryly, rolling her eyes.

         
Massimo ignored her, lacing his hands behind his head and staring up at the
clouds as they danced across the ceiling. “You take what you get and you move
on.” He turned to glance at Kate. “You need to get over whatever shit you’re
dealing with and soon.”

         
Kate glared back at him. “What do you know about the ‘shit’ I’m dealing with?”

         
He smirked at her. “More than you know, Princess.”

         
Kate crossed her arms over her chest. “I seriously doubt that, Massimo.”

         
“For starters, I know you’re a total bitch when you’re thirsty, so here,” he
sat up long enough to pull something out of his pocket and tossed it in her
direction.
A donor blood bag.
“Drink up.”