Feral Instincts (The Feral Series) (27 page)

Fortunately
none of the men made any moves to grab her yet and she was allowed to keep her
position next to the SUV. Making his grand entrance Salvatore walked out the
front door of the old church. Every thump of his boot heels on the wooden steps
echoed like a death toll in Ava’s ears. The look in his eyes was clearly that
of a man who was sure he was about to get everything he wanted.

Having
the monster from her dreams standing in front of her in flesh and blood was
absolutely terrifying. Her fear threated to overwhelm her but she pushed it
down with determination. Her focus was absolute and she was here for only one
thing, to save her family. Nothing else mattered.

“Ava,
my love. It’s good to see you.” Salvatore had stopped at the base of the church
steps. Not sure what may be inside of the SUV his little consort had arrived
in, he decided it would be prudent to maintain a little distance.

“I’m
here, now let them go.” Ava was proud when her voice didn’t quake with the fear
that was already making her hands vibrate.

“Certainly
love, why don’t you come inside and we will discuss the terms of your friends
release.” Ava could feel Salvatore’s dark gaze roaming possessively over her
body and couldn’t hide the chill of revulsion that ran down her spine.

“Send
them both out now or the deal is off.” Ava squared her shoulders with false
confidence and raised her chin in defiance.

Ava’s
demand was met with dark laughter. “Oh, Ava. You do amuse me. You see love, I
hold all the cards here. Now I have you, and your friends. You should watch how
you speak to your new master, my sweet.”

Using
her newly discovered supernatural speed Ava flipped the eight inch blade of
Teagan’s knife around. She had been hiding it in her palm upside down against
the back of her wrist. None of the men even flinched, not fearing the tiny
female with the little knife in her hand, that is until she pressed the tip of
the blade against her own heart.

Salvatore
growled low in response, stumbling forward as he took a step towards her only
to stop again in his tracks as she pressed the blade tip into her skin. A small
drop of blood appeared were the tip of the blade pierced her skin. The scent of
her blood immediately caused the rogues flanking her to bare their fangs, their
eyes glowing an eerie red in the night.

“Back
off!” Salvatore commanded them, his power flowing out into the dark night, like
spider webs tingling across the skin. “If any of you touch her it will be the
last thing you do on this earth.” Several of his rogues squirmed beneath the
power of their sire, hopeless to do anything but obey.

Salvatore
eyed Ava cautiously, his look appraising, he could see the look of
determination in her blue eyes. Quickly calculating the risk, he believed she
would truly be willing to die for her friends. After all, her loyalty had
brought her here tonight. His little female was just full of surprises. How…
cute, she actually thought to resist him. “Drop the knife Ava.” Salvatore’s
eyes glowed as he reinforced his command with the power of the sire bond he
shared with Ava.

Ava’s
hand shook with the sudden burning desire to obey her sire. A thin sheen of
sweat broke out on her brow as she struggled with every fiber of her being to
resist him. She could feel little pin pricks of pain, crawling just below her
skin and still she fought his pull. With one final surge of power flowing
though her veins she shattered Salvatore’s sire bond. The power of her mating
bond with Teagan was stronger than the sire bond she had with Salvatore. He no longer
had control over her.

Intrigued
that such a young newborn would have the strength to deny him, Salvatore gave
her a calculating look. God’s how he was going to love breaking her. He could
feel his body harden at the very thought. Her resistance made him want her even
more. Oh the fun they would have.

With
a sigh of annoyance he gave his command without breaking eye contact with Ava.
“Send out the male.”

Patrick
was suddenly dragged to the door by one of Salvatore’s rogues. He looked awful
but alive. He was pale and Ava could see blood on his shirt and savage bite
marks on his neck where one the vampires had fed on him.

The
vampire shoved him in Ava’s direction and she held her breath and forced
herself not to run to him as he stumbled weakly down the walkway towards her.

“Where’s
Kat?” Oh god, had they already hurt Kat?

Salvatore’s
smile was arrogant and mocking. “Oh, I never had her to begin with. It appears
your little friend has been missing for quite a while. Didn’t you know?”

“You’re
lying! Where is she?” Surely this was another one of Salvatore’s tricks.

“Why
don’t you ask your little friend there.”

Patrick
stood just a few feet in front of her now. His gaze was pained as he looked at
her with the knife still pressed against her heart. “She was never in the
church. If he had her she isn’t here now Ava. I don’t know where she is. I
haven’t heard from her in days.”

Not
showing any reaction to Patrick’s news, Ava simply nodded. Not taking her eyes
off of Salvatore and his men Ava spoke to Patrick. “Patrick I want you to get
into the SUV and drive yourself out of here as fast as you can. The keys are in
the ignition.”

“But
Ava.. “ Tears were forming in Patrick’s eyes.

“Please
Patrick. He will never let me leave here. If you don’t go this will have all
been for nothing. You know I am right.”

“I
won’t leave you like this.” Patrick’s tears ran unchecked down his cheeks.

“He
wants me alive Patrick. You are disposable to him at this point. Go, now.”

“But
Ava…”

“Patrick
look at me.” Ava was becoming desperate. Patrick lifted his tear streaked eyes
to meet Ava’s and suddenly couldn’t look away. The pupils of Ava’s eyes
suddenly dilated and turned a shimmery silver.

“Patrick,
get in the truck and leave, now. You will go and stay with your family. You
will have no memory of this night or the men who took you. Now go!” Ava put all
of the love she felt for Patrick into the strength of the compulsion. She had
never tried to compel anyone but Patrick’s life depended on her making it work.
She had to do this for him.

Looking
away from Ava, Patrick looked dazed for a moment, then shook his head and moved
to the truck. Ava almost wept with relief. Without even a backwards glance,
Patrick finally got into the SUV and put it in drive. Ava watched him drive
down the road with a heavy heart. She would try to buy him some time to get
away but she was out of options.

Ava
met Salvatore’s eyes as he smirked at her in satisfaction. “I see your
transition is progressing even better than I could have hoped for. To be able
to use compulsion at such a young age, I am pleased.” He held his palm out to
her. “Come now Ava. I have kept my end of our bargain, it is time to keep
yours.”

“Why
me? I had never even met you until that day you came into the shop.” Ava tried
to keep Salvatore talking, knowing the minute she was in his hands there was a
good chance he would send someone out to finish Patrick off.

Salvatore’s
eyes took on a creepy red glow. “Ah, sweet Ava. Didn’t Victor tell you? You are
to be a replacement for my dear Evangeline. The likeness is uncanny really. He
took her from me. Victor corrupted her and poisoned her mind.” Ava could see
Salvatore’s calm façade slipping as he spoke of Victor. She could see his razor
sharp fangs as he spoke and he practically foamed at the mouth with each word.
“He wanted her for himself and plotted to take her. In the end she proved to be
too weak to resist him and she betrayed me. I’m afraid my temper got the better
of me and I killed her.” A look of pain shadowed his evil red eyes for a
moment. Ava was surprised to see, that in his own disgusting way, he may have
actually had genuine feelings for the poor woman he had destroyed. God he was a
sick bastard.

“And
now he tried to keep you from me too. There’s no need to worry though, he will
be made to pay for every day that we were separated.” Ava felt cold spikes of
fear tingling down her spine at the look of insanity on Salvatore’s face. Time
was up. Salvatore began moving closer to her, coming to a stop a few feet in
front of her.

“Come
now sweet, give me the knife.” With a heart full of desperation, she considered
plunging the knife deep into her chest for a moment. She would rather die than
let Salvatore touch her. The bond she now shared with Teagan stilled her hand
though. If she could keep herself alive long enough, there was still hope that
the others would find her in time. With a sigh Ava lowered Teagan’s knife and
handed it to Salvatore with regret.

There
was no point in attacking him with it. She was surrounded by rogues and she
knew without a doubt he would only become enraged by her failed attempt to
injure him. She would have to be smart if she hoped to survive this.

“There
now love, was that so hard?” Ava flinched as he raised his hand to her cheek in
a chilling caress. Tisking at her instinctive reaction to him, he ran his
fingers across the smooth skin of her face. “I knew you would be even more
stunning as a vampire.” Grabbing her hand he steered her towards a black sedan
that was parked in the street. Pushing her inside he slid into the seat next to
her as two of his well-armed rogues climbed into the front.

Ava
could feel panic rising up to choke her now that she was trapped in the car,
heading to Salvatore’s lair. Teagan’s mark on her neck tingled and she clenched
her fist at the reminder of his branding on her skin. She was sure her life
would be forfeit the moment Salvatore realized she was mated. She had carefully
showered before coming here, hoping to remove as much of his scent from her
skin as possible. Any remaining scent would hopefully be attributed to the fact
that she had lived in such close quarters with the other men. The dark blue
shirt she wore was buttoned up to her throat with the hopes of hiding Teagan’s
mark at least temporarily.

It
was all useless though. He was sure to see the mark eventually, and then he
would kill her.

They
drove for several moments with Salvatore’s hand resting intimately on her
thigh. He began drawing laze circles with his fingertips, coming too close the
valley between her legs. Ava’s heart began to race so fast she feared it might
explode. She could see that the two rogues in the front began casting looks at
her over their shoulders and were beginning to become restless.

“Easy,
sweet. Although I love the sound of your heart racing for me, you are going to
make my rogues very hungry. Even though you are no longer human you are still
quite a tempting little morsel.” Instead of trying to get ahold of herself Ava
deliberately gave free rein to her fear. Beginning to hyper ventilate she could
feel the inside of the car closing in on her. Reaching for the door she
struggled to find the switch of the window. Not finding, it she began to choke
on her panic. 

Seeing
her begin to gag, Salvatore barked orders for the driver to pull over. Opening
his door Salvatore pulled her roughly out of the car besides him. Falling to
her hands and knees at the curb, Ava dry heaved and gasped for air.

After
she stopped heaving she was jerked to her feet again. Gripping her arm
painfully, she was shoved back into the car as Salvatore grumbled about the
weakness of females. The tires squealed as they were once again racing towards
Salvatore’s tunnels.

Mission
accomplished Ava leaned her head back against the seat as though exhausted. Her
little show had paid off. Salvatore was no longer touching her for fear of her
getting sick and she had hopefully kneeled in grass long enough to leave a
scent for the Guardians to follow. She had no idea if it would help but she had
to try. She had done everything she could for now. Now she just had to stay
alive and pray they would find her in time.

All
too quickly they arrived at the entrance to Salvatore’s underground hideout.
The maze of tunnels ran underneath the city above them. Salvatore got out of
the car and then extended his hand to her, pulling her close to his side.
Keeping a firm grip on her arm, he dragged her stumbling alongside of him and
into a dark tunnel that had suddenly appeared behind a curtain of greenery.

The
air inside the tunnel smelled musty and damp. Ava’s sneakers slapped against
the puddles that lay inside of the mossy cavern. They passed several guards as
they continued deeper into the tunnels. Ava desperately tried to keep track of
the many twists and turns they made so she could remember the way back out
again if the opportunity presented itself.

Passing
through a well-guarded iron gate the air became somewhat warmer and less musty
smelling. They passed through a solid steel door and arrived at what must be
Salvatore’s living quarters. “Welcome home my dear.” Salvatore’s frigid voice
sent goose bumps down her arm. Finally releasing his firm grip on her arm,
Salvatore headed to the large desk situated at the far side of the room and
settled into the leather desk chair.

Empting
his pockets as though it was part of his daily routine, he placed his cell
phone and a neatly folded money clip into a bowl on the desk. Withdrawing
Teagan’s knife he smirked at her for a moment as he placed the knife on the
desk directly in front of him, in plain sight. The look in his eye clearly
dared her to come and take it.