FOURTEEN

As soon as I finished talking to Christian, Melinda took the phone from my ear and put it back in her back in her pocket. I tried to keep my tone as even as possible as I invited Christian to join me, telling him I had a surprise for him. I didn’t want him to hear my fear. I didn’t want to give Melinda the satisfaction of knowing I’d lured my husband into her trap. Though I told him to come alone and say nothing, I knew Fiore or Aloysius would be able to read his mind anyway.

“You’re doing the right thing, you’ll see.” Melinda said and turned to Ryanne. “Take the girl back to her room. She needs rest now that she’ll be dinner for two.”

Ryanne nodded, a wide smile on her face, and dragged Leilani out of the room without another word. I raised my eyes to Melinda. “Why are you so hell bent on revenge? Are you really that protective of your sister; did Ian mean that much to you, or is there something more?”

“Not that it’s any of your business but, yes, there is more. Maybe in time, if we let you live that long, you will get your answers. For now, just sit here and wait for the love of your life to join you in your prison.” Without another look, she turned and left the room, slamming the metal door behind her, making me jump.

The minutes ticked in my head as I sat, weakened by my rising hunger and the wooden bullet in my leg. What were they going to do to him? Was he strong enough yet to protect himself, to fight back? I hoped he had fed recently though I knew he had never fed alone. Maybe Aloysius or Fiore had taken him to hunt. Hope rose in my gut as a thought hit me. Hopefully Aloysius and Fiore were home when before Christian left. Maybe they would stay close behind him, ready to rescue us. Maybe they had a plan. Maybe…

Faint laughter interrupted my thoughts as the key turned in the lock. I blinked fiercely against the sunlight entering through the door. The shapes were darkened and hard to make out as the sun blinded me. Two shapes, no, three, four, maybe five? I blinked again and again.

“Put him over there,” Melinda commanded as two men dragged a third between them. What? Who?

“Christian!” I pulled as hard as I could away from the wall. “Let me out of here. Let me go to him.”

“Yes, put him over there where she can see him,” Melinda pointed to the cuffs across from me, next to the door. “Leave his ankles tied.”

The men obeyed, one of which I recognized as Arturo, the leader of the hunters. They dropped Christian on the ground as if he were an object. He moaned and tried to look around the room but Arturo blocked his view. He knelt in front of him, his hands on Christian’s chest keeping him against the wall, while the other man pulled his arms up and fastened the cuffs around his wrists, the chains clanging and echoing. I still couldn’t see Christian’s face. How had they subdued him? Why wasn’t he fighting?

“Thank you, gentlemen,” Melinda said. “Now leave us.”

The men made sure Christian was secure before standing to make their exit but not before Arturo smiled at me. Christian lifted his head and blinked, his left eye swollen almost shut. His right eye grew wide as he laid it on me. “Lily? Are you ok? What’s happening?”

“What did you do to him?” I snarled looking at Melinda and Ryanne who both smiled with satisfaction.

“Nothing that won’t heal within minutes, after all, he’s not human anymore. However,” She turned to Ryanne and handed her something I couldn’t see. “We still need to keep him calm, don’t we?”

“Of course we do, Melinda. We wouldn’t want him to escape after we went through all this trouble to get him here. I am so glad I get to do this, thank you,” Ryanne smiled at Melinda.

“What? What are you—” I followed Ryanne’s arm as it rose. “Oh, God! Please don’t.”

Ryanne aimed at Christian’s torso, her hand shaking slightly. Christian’s good eye grew wide again.

“Not at his heart, my dear,” Melinda said as she placed a hand on Ryanne’s arm and pushed it down gently. “We don’t want to kill him quite yet.”

“Oh, right,” she aimed toward his thigh. “That wouldn’t be as much fun.” She pulled the trigger. Christian’s scream shook my whole body. I pulled my legs up the way he did, feeling every bit of his pain with him. Was I imagining that?

“Good. They should both be good and helpless now,” Melinda said as she took the gun from Ryanne’s still outstretched hand. “Let’s leave them a while now. Let them catch up a bit, say their goodbyes before we end them.”

Ryanne smiled and nodded, never taking her eyes away from Christian. Her fangs glowed in her mouth as her hunger boiled to the surface. Melinda put an arm around her shoulder as she led her out of the room. Before she slammed the door behind them, I heard, “His blood will flow through your veins soon enough. Just hang in there a bit longer.”

As soon as the door was secured, I turned back to Christian. “Are you ok? What did they do to you?”

He lifted his head and looked above him, giving the chains a yank. “I guess that’s not gonna work, huh?” He dropped his gaze back to me.

“Not with the wooden bullet in your body. Believe me, I tried. What did they do to you?” I asked again.

“A taxi dropped me off about half way up the mountain. I walked a bit and then as soon as I rounded a corner, someone dropped on me and knocked me to the ground. There were hands all over me as they tied my ankles and hands, and then put some disgusting cloth over my head. Next thing I know, I’m hanging over someone’s shoulder in front of this metal door.”

“How did they do that to your eye? Did someone hit you?”

He laughed. “Someone’s knee landed on my face when they knocked me down. How did you get here?”

“After I left Mateo, I was walking up the street. I was trying to call you when someone grabbed me. I dropped my phone. They did the same thing to me only they threw me into the trunk of a car. I know we’re on a mountain by the way I rolled around in the trunk. I think Jose Luis is up here too.”

“Did they say anything about him?”

“No, but I met Leilani.”

“Our Leilani?” he asked pushing himself up as best he could against the wall.

“Yes. They were trying to train her. I think they intended to use her as a weapon but she’s not advancing enough for their liking. They threatened to kill her if I didn’t get you up here.”

“You did the right thing, Lily.”

“I had no other choice. With this bullet in my leg I’m pretty much useless. I don’t know how we’re going to get out of here. Does anyone know where you are?”

“You said I had to come alone so I didn’t say anything,” he answered.

My hope deflated. “Oh, well, you did the right thing too.”

“Yeah but… That didn’t stop me from thinking about where I was going.”

“Hopefully that will work. What do we do in the meantime?”

“I have no idea. They plan on torturing us and then killing us both. I won’t let them touch you. I won’t let…”

“Lily, have you forgotten I am also a vampire? I’m not totally helpless. We’ll think of something. I just hope they don’t come back too soon.”

“Can you use your power at all?” It was worth a shot.

“I don’t know. I can try…” He looked around the room. His swollen eye already opening more and more as the minutes passed. He focused on the wrapped bundles on the table and his face scrunched in concentration as I watched. The bundles did not move. “Ugh! I don’t think I can.”

“When is the last time you fed?” I asked.

“Yesterday morning. Fiore took me,” he answered and turned back to the table. I kept quiet so he could focus. This time, one of the bundles rose a few centimeters and shook before falling back down. “I did it!” he yelled with excitement.

“Shh,” I cautioned. “We don’t want them here any sooner than they plan. Think you can focus on the bullet in my thigh, maybe lift it out?”

“What if I hurt you?” His face showed his panic.

“You can’t. It doesn’t even hurt anymore and since the bullet didn’t completely enter my leg, the skin didn’t heal around it. There’s a little piece sticking out.” I figured that might give him an advantage.

“I can try but if I hurt you…” His sentence was cut off by someone talking outside the door. We both froze. After a few seconds, the talking faded as if someone was walking away. “Thank God,” he said. “Not ready for that yet.”

As he concentrated on my thigh, tingling sensations ran throughout my leg. It was hard to stay still since it was almost a tickle but I bit my lip and resisted giving in to the laughter I felt coming. My leg was rising without my control. “Oops. That’s not right,” he said with a faint smile. “Let me try again. Ready?”

I nodded and gritted my teeth. It had to work. As soon as he had the bullet out of my leg, he could work on his own while I worked on freeing my arms.

This time, he focused on just the hole and not my entire leg. “Am I hurting you?” he asked, looking at my face again.

“No. It actually tickles, just keep going,” I demanded. Even if they came back for us before I could break free of the chains, being free of the bullet would give me back some strength.

He focused on my leg once again. The bullet slowly rose through my skin and fell to the dirt floor. “There, that should do it,” he said as he rested his head against the wall with exhaustion. My whole body began to tingle and the burning in my throat grew stronger.

“Wow, that’s so much better. I’m glad you fed so recently. That gave you some strength despite the bullet.” My gratitude was interrupted by the lock turning on the door. Too late. I sat up straight. The bloody bullet still lay on the ground next to my leg. I moved my leg on top of it.

“So, how are our guests doing?” Melinda asked as she led a smiling Ryanne into the room by the hand.

“Lovely, just lovely,” I sneered. “What does a person have to do to get room service around here?”

“Glad to see you still have a sense of humor,” Melinda said. “You’re going to need it.”