Night Marks (19 page)

This particular one, has something way off about her, but I cannot put my finger on what that is. There isn’t much a witch could do to me that would cause permanent damage, I am however really leery.

“I don’t like this, Princess,” Jonas says softly from behind me.

“I know, but you know I have to look into it,” I whisper back to him. “What can you tell me about my mark?” I ask the witch.

“I imagine many things. Why don’t you girls come right in and I will do a reading.”

“My guard goes where I go,” I reply glaring at her.

“Okay then, bring him along.” She turns and opens her door leading us inside.

She sits us at a round table with Jonas standing behind me. The little shop is filled with crazy little trinkets she must have spent years collecting. I think most of them are for show, but wouldn’t doubt if a few packed a punch.

“Hold out your hand so I can see the mark. After I examine it, I should be able to tell you more,” she instructs.

I do as I am told and as soon as she sees it, she gasps and starts looking around wildly. She doesn’t expect him to just appear from looking at it does she?

I hear a soft thud behind me and Phee starts screaming. I hurry to stand and try to assess whatever threat just snuck up on us, when I feel a pinch in my neck and realize I was just drugged.

Shit.

My muscles go totally limp within seconds and I start to fall to the ground. Phee is still screaming and I want to tell her to shut up, but I cannot seem to move my lips. Strong arms pick me up and cradle me close.

“It’s nice to see you again, my little appetizer. Lucky for you, I found my main course,” I hear a distant voice say. None of it matters to me, though, because my mind is drifting off quickly. Within seconds of the attack, I am out like a light.

Chapter 24

The chapter of many curses

I start coming to and I feel the immediate need to lose my lunch. I swallow that feeling down so I can open my eyes and look around. Where am I and why the fuck am I here? Oh, and what the fuck was injected into me.

The lights in the room are off, but I can somewhat see that it is set up like a surgery. I am strapped down to a table in the middle. I test my restraints and can feel traces of silver among other ingredients within them. Whatever the combo, it isn’t letting me break them. It’s a little difficult to prepare myself for a fight when I cannot move.

I don’t remember anything after sitting with the fortuneteller. I knew something was off about that bitch. I cannot believe I didn’t trust my instincts. If she isn’t dead already, she will be once I get to her. I cannot believe she was able to take me out. Where are my weapons anyway?

My thoughts are still mush and are rambling because of the drug. Well, that’s my story anyway. There is no way they are wacky because I am strapped to a table with what looks like very little possibility of escape.

There is only a certain set of circumstances my training covers, probably anyone’s training covers, and being fully restrained with no weapons, tends to mean you are in deep shit. Your only hope is a sympathetic captor. Judging from the list of people I have pissed off in my life, I doubt I am going to garner any sympathy.

Pretty much my only hope is that one of my guards was able to follow me, or one of my mates can get a lock on me. Alex should be able to contact me, but I doubt I could give him much information on where I am being held.

“Oh no, Alex, not that empty hospital room, it’s the one across town.”
Yeah, don’t think that will give him much to go on.

“So many questions flashing behind those eyes,” a rugged voice says from a speaker somewhere in the room. “Care to vocalize any of them, so I can try to answer?”

Tommy. Well, that alone answers my questions about a captor I can try to convince to let me free. The boy knows he has some punishment coming his way, and I bet allowing me loose to dole it out, isn’t high on his agenda.

My chance to avenge Josephina is coming a lot quicker than I expected, though. If he was the one that grabbed me, I imagine Phee is freaked out of her mind. He better not have hurt her again.

Thoughts of retribution have to take a back seat for now. If I cannot get free, there isn’t going to be any vengeance.

I start struggling harder to get out of the restraints. This is not happening. I promised never to be at his mercy again. Fuck. There is no give at all in the chains. No matter how this turns out, he better tell me what he put in these chains. Nothing should zap my strength to the point I cannot break them.

“My dear, sweet little bitch. I have taken every precaution to make sure you cannot get away from me this time. We will be bonded and before I let you out of those restraints, you will have my pups growing inside of you. I haven’t decided how many we should have in this first litter. I was thinking three or four. That should keep you pretty busy, don’t you think?”

“Let me go you freak!” I yell thrashing around, yet again trying to break free. Did someone put my womb for sale on eBay? It was bad enough thinking about a demon knocking me up, but there is no way I am letting Prince Cuckoo anywhere near my lady parts.

“Now, now,” he says walking through the door and flipping on the lights. “I was even planning on being nice and administrating the drug version of bond breakage instead of the more physical way. Right now, it does me good to keep Alex alive. If you give me a reason to change that, we can do it the rough way.”

Son of a bitch. I would love for that bond to be broken, but not this way and definitely not if it ends up with me bonded to Tommy. I wonder if the drug affects vampire links. To lose both Sebby and Alex would totally suck. One okay. Both, as far as political standing goes, not great.

“I am going to tear you to shreds, when I get out of here,” I growl at him. “My friends will come looking for me and they will subdue you until I can get free.” I start planning how it will play out. My earlier thoughts of killing him slowly are bypassed and I leap straight to the part about chopping off his head.

He laughs. The fucking prick laughs.

“Once we are bonded that first threat will be impossible unless you want to kill yourself. That is a big upside to my plan; aside from the fact we are going to have amazing kids. Also,” he begins as he brings a giant syringe out of his pocket. “The drug I initially gave you to get you here blocks any current bond ties you may have. So, if you and your current mate have gotten to the point you can communicate telepathically, that link is offline at the moment.”

Fuck. I take another look around to see if there is anything I can use to help me. The room is way too sparse. Me, table, overhead light, and a comfy chair are all I have to work with. That and the fact that my telekinesis skills are a little lacking make the thought of having a weapon a complete fail.

“I can see the desperation starting to appear in your eyes now. Don’t worry, once I have imprinted on you as a mate your feelings will adjust. Now hold still,” he says bringing the needle above my chest, aiming for my heart. With my thoughts focused on escape, I missed the fact that I am naked.

Son of a bitch.

“The process involves taking this injection once a day for four days. I have upped the dose a little to see if we cannot get it done quicker, but I don’t know for sure if it will work.”

The dude is trying to overdose me on a drug that has made him even nuttier than he was at birth. Why does he think this is a good idea again? Oh yeah, because he is a fucking nut job.

He drives the syringe down into my chest. I feel the path of the needle as it eventually makes a small hole in my heart. He slowly depresses the plunger and I experience lava start racing through my veins. Oh, that smarts. I can handle pain, but this is much more than just a little tickle.

“I remember the feeling. The serum is rushing through your blood trying to attach to any part of it that holds the mate bond. It hurts, but you know when the pain is over ecstasy is waiting for you. Just remembering it and thinking of you going through it is making me very, very hard.”

I have forced my eyes closed, trying to figure out a way to stop the pain, so his words are becoming lost. I do hear a zipper and can only imagine what he has decided to do. At this point, I could really care less. The pain is to the point of excruciating and if he decides he needs to relieve some pressure, that is his problem as long as it doesn’t involve mounting me. I don’t think this shit has the same effect on me that it did him because I definitely ain’t horny.

When this is over, I don’t believe he will have any trouble trying to make me his mate, as long as he doesn’t mind mating with a corpse. There is no way someone comes out of this alive. I don’t know if it is the extra dosage or what, but I think it is lethal.

Long story short, this fucking hurts.

I start thinking about Sebastian and all the years we have had together. Will his bond still be intact? If it is, maybe it will be enough for me to kill Tommy and still live. How can you even tell those sorts of things? I have no problem ending up dead, if it rids the world of Tommy, but I would really like to keep breathing. I think it is going to become a case of the greater good winning out.

I vaguely hear Tommy’s disgusting moaning and groaning noises get abruptly cut off. Thank God, this is bad enough, I don’t need sound effects.

“Oh my pretty little baby maker. What are we going to do about this? I wanted that bond to stay in place. It really was to my benefit,” I hear a voice say with a tsk.

That does not sound like something Tommy would say. I force my eyes open through the ache to find Tommy’s face inches away observing me. Unless Tommy has been keeping more secrets than I thought, his red eyes tell me Ben has arrived on the scene.

Now the question is, is that a good thing or bad thing? Either way, it isn’t something I am going to find out anytime soon because my brain chooses this moment to pass out. Have I mentioned I fucking hate passing out?

THE END