“Call an ambulance!”
“Get a towel, she’s bleeding out!”
The last thing I feel is my body being lifted, and maybe I’m being taken to the Vayl. At least there she can’t get to me. They’d never allow her in, and I can die with that one small peace.
Chapter 4
Kairhyse
Present
I’ve been a man of control my entire life; even more so when I became a Vampire. I knew that eternity would never be a rush, because when something is infinite, it doesn’t conform totime. Even with my little demon, my restraint to not take her those first several weeks I stalked her, was a testament to that.
Some might blame what I’ve done on hyperactivity. An impulsive reaction to a mind that races in too many directions at once. But that would be an excuse because, truthfully, I’m pissed off and in pain.
Control is no longer mine. Not anymore.
That is what brought me to this very house in the early hours of the morning, when no one would be awake. The holiday home that I’m sure anyone would feel safe at, especially with the dozen or so guards that had held this place secure before I showed up.
Mundane security means nothing in our world. Their throats are too easy to slice, their hearts too fragile to resist a single blow to the chest. But I didn’t settle for simplicity. I made it bloodier than that—because vengeance and hatred are best served drenched in crimson.
A pair of brown eyes lock onto mine, bloodshot and webbed with red veins so vivid, I can almost feel their sting. She can’t soothe them—her hands are bound tight against the cold metal of the chair she’s trapped in. The gag stuffed in her mouth is soaked with her own drool as she lets out a muffled scream, sharp and desperate.
That scream drags me back, yanking me from the asylum my mind had retreated to.
I take a deep breath, the damp, acrid scent of musk filling my lungs.Slowly, I roll my neck to the side, the crack of vertebrae echoing in the dim, suffocating space.
Both of my hands tremble, and I flex them in and out of a fist
“It’s—” I speak for the first time since binding and gagging the woman before me—a fifty-something-year-old with a streak of defiance still lingering in her eyes. The sound of my voice startles her, and she lets out a muffled scream against the gag. Her body thrashes, desperate to tip the chair over, as if crashing to the floor might save her. It won’t, the chair is bolted down. However, it’s fun to see her try.
“It’s good to see you again, Mrs. Farella.” My tone doesn’t bother to feign sincerity, though in truth, I mean every word. I am grateful to see her—the widow of the late Achille Farella, and the mother of Lars.
Marcos Lars Farella.
My chest constricts, the twitch in my head involuntary. Thinking about how close I was to him on so many occasions, and had I had just known, my girl would still be here with me.
Because he would bedead.
Fuckingdead. Nothing left for anyone to bury. I’d make sure this planet wouldn’t be tainted with even a speck of his ashes.
I lean in closer, grabbing hold of the gag—a filthy rag I found in this very basement. Judging by the stench, I’d wager it had once been used to mop up cat piss.
The moment it’s taken out, she screams, and I meanshrieks, “PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP! I’M DOWN HERE!”
Clearing my throat, I lower myself to one knee in front of her. The moment our eyes meet, she goes still, her terror freezing her in place. The wrinkles beneath her eyes are more pronounced now, etched deeper by the hours of relentless sobbing. It’s been at least an hour of me silently watching her writhe, consumed by fear.
“K-Kairhyse, please…” She chokes on a sob, her body trembling as her head falls forward. Tears drip onto her bare legs, glistening against the thin pajamas I found her in—a choice she’s surely regretting now. Upstairs, in the comfort of her warm bed, they might have felt cozy. But here, in this cold, damp place, the chill has turned her skin pale. Her purple veins stark and exposed beneath the surface.
“Your son took someone from me.” My voice carries a low, throaty rumble, almost like a growl.
“And you took my husband!” she grits through her teeth. “Heartless fucking Vampire?—”
The back of my hand swings so hard that I can hear the cracking of her jawbone. She screams through a howl of pain, the fur along her neckbeginning to extend as her body starts to shift. “I’m going to hurt you no matter what form you are in, Shifter.”
She tears her head back to me and spits in my face. “Fuck you, Kairhyse… you know I can’t fight you. Overpowering a w?—”
“You are right, how shitty to be adogShifter at a time like this,” I patronize. “I can’t get to your son. He is the one I want to rip in half. So, you’ll suffer for him.”
