Authors: Todd Gregory
Need (18 page)
“For such advanced creatures, vampires are truly little more than animals,” he said. His voice was full of both wonder and amusement.
“Why have you taken me?” I asked. “Let me go.” I pulled against the wrist restraints.
“That isn't possible,” he replied. He held up the green stone, which sparkled and flashed in the candlelight. “It wasn't my idea to take you in the first place. I think this is a terrible mistakeâ”
“We all know what you think, Nico,” a similar yet deeper voice said from the doorway.
I strained to see him, but the bond around my neck wouldn't allow me to raise my head enough to see this newcomer.
“He was responsible for Sebastian's death,” the voice continued.
I could hear his footsteps as he walked into the room. He, too, I could smellâhis essence was very similar to the one he called Nico. He moved to my side, directly opposite Nico, and I turned my eyes that way so I could get a good look at him.
He was very similar to Nico; they were identical in every respect, only where Nico was fair, this stranger was dark. Thick, dark curls cascaded to his shoulders. His eyes were almost black under broad dark eyebrows. His skin was swarthy rather than pale, like Nico, and he wore a white silk shirt, open so I could see the almost identical chest development. But where Nico was smooth, thick curly black hair covered the skin of his chest, and the bulge in the front of his white velvet trousers was bigger than of the man on my other side. It was almost like one was the negative image of the other, identical but somehow reversed.
Two halves of a whole.
Sebastian and Quentin.
Twinsâyin and yangâthe most powerful witches came in pairs. Twins.
“Sebastian was a fool who played with fire and asked for death, if not from this one than from another, more powerful one,” Nico replied with a toss of his head that made his curls bounce defiantly. “Why avenge the death of a fool?”
“Fool or not, he was our master, and his spirit will not rest until we avenge him,” the dark one replied. “You know that as well as I.” He looked down at me and stroked my cheek with his hand. “He is beautiful, though. Such a waste of masculine beauty. Perhaps . . .” He smiled. “We don't have to kill him right away, you know. We can have fun with him first.” He leaned down so his eyes were gazing into mine, and I could smell his breath. “Would you like to have some fun with us, honored guest?”
“I'm sorry, Cord.” Nico sniffed disdainfully. “My brother, as you can see, while extremely brave, is also exceptionally stupid.” He crossed his arms, and I could see the veins in his forearms. “Sebastian was as big a fool as you, my brother. He tried to do something forbidden without the help of his twin. We can work together.” He smiled. “And be much stronger than Sebastian ever could have hoped to be.”
Quentin. Sebastian had wanted my vampire-tainted blood so that he could be a godâcould he have succeeded had he been working with Quentin?
What were these two going to do to me?
I could feel strength, power, coursing through my veins. My muscles felt stronger, the fibers thickening as though my skin couldn't contain them as they grew, and my eyes, my vision, I could see even better than I could before.
What had his blood done to me?
Witch bloodâwas I becoming an abomination? A hybrid of vampire and witch?
“Why am I here?” I asked again. “What are you going to do to me?”
The dark one smiled at me and reached down to run his fingers along the side of my face again and then down my neck. I thrilled to his touch; his fingertips felt like they were sending currents of electricity into my body, and involuntarily my head turned to him, like a flower turning to the sun. “You see, Nico?” he said mockingly. “He turns to me rather than you, as they all do eventually.”
“And they always leave you in the end, too, don't they, Lorenzo?” Nico said in an equally mocking tone. “One after the other, they run as quickly as they can, to get as far from you as possible.”
“Just my touch makes his cock hard,” Lorenzo continued in his taunting tone, as though Nico hadn't spoken a word. He moved his fingers down my throat and down the center of my chest, toying with my nipple. I closed my eyes and bit my lower lip.
He was making me incredibly horny, damn him to hell.
“His cock was already hard, you fool.” Venom dripped from every word. I sensed something violent radiating off Nico.
“Why am I here?” I asked yet again, not expecting an answer. “Just let me go.”
“Our master demands you be sacrificed in order that he might find his eternal rest,” Lorenzo said dreamily as his fingertips continued to brush against my skin, moving from my clavicle down my stomach. His index finger slid into my navel, and he scratched the inside of it softly, gently. Desire shot through me, and I wanted him in that moment. No, I wanted both of themâ
The green stone hanging around Lorenzo's neck began to glow brighter, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Nico's stone was glowing also.
“He cursed you,” Lorenzo went on as his fingertips grazed the skin just above my pubic hair, “and his mark is on you. You keep him tethered to this world, this dimension, and he longs for peace.”
“Then maybe he shouldn't have cursed me.” My voice sounded weak, wavery, and breathless to my ears, and my breath was coming in quick little gasps as his fingers continued to stroke the skin between my navel and my cock, the tips barely brushing against the skinâenough contact to make me tremble and ache with need and desire, but just barely, and all I could think was how I wished I was free of my bonds so that I could hold both of them against me, kiss them both even if they were brothers.
“It isn't the curse that keeps him here,” Nico interrupted my reverie, and I wished he would touch me in the way Lorenzo was, “and you know that, Lorenzo. You simply want revenge because Sebastian was with him and you're jealous. Sebastian wanted his blood, yes, but Sebastian also desired him, could have loved him in time, and youâ”
“Silence!” Lorenzo roared so loudly my ears rang, and even worse, his fingers were no longer in contact with my skin. I could feel anger coming from him nowâthe violence was still radiating from Nico, and the two energies met just above my stomach, and I could almost see it.
Their stones were glowing so brightly the room seemed to be alive with green fire.
“Perhaps we should leave him, my brother,” Nico said smoothly, but his breath was shallow, almost panting, “and continue this discussion in private?”
“Don't leave me here alone, please,” I pleaded as their eyes locked over my prone body. The green stones began to dim as their faces relaxed and they smiled at each other. They both leaned over and kissed me on opposite cheeks, and they joined hands over me and walked out of the room.
The door shut behind them.
I let my head fall back and closed my eyes.
I was a prisoner, and this all had something to do with Sebastian.
Sebastian had been their master, and they wanted me for something. Maybe they wanted the same thing Sebastian had wanted, to drink my blood and become gods. They loved each other, but at the same time they were competitive, almost to the point of hatred and violence.
And what were the green stones?
But, I reasoned, at least this proves that Miss Know-It-All Rachel was wrong about Quentin. He doesn't have anything to do with this.
Small comfort. I was still the prisoner of this strange pair of twins.
Sebastian's soul was still tethered to the earth, and I gathered from what Nico said that he was something more to Lorenzo.
Yet neither of them was the boy from Dauphine Street who had mesmerized me with his own green stone. Who had that been?
How many of them were there?
Rachel and Nigel couldn't possibly have any idea where I was. They hadn't even known I was being taken, so I couldn't hold out any hope they would come to my rescue. Besides, if these two were witchesâand what else could they be?âNigel and Rachel wouldn't be able to read their thoughts or find them. I didn't know how long I'd been gone, yet surely they knew I was missing by now.
But maybe, just maybe, they could find me.
I cursed Jean-Paul for not teaching me the vampire telepathy trick.
I might as well give it a try.
I closed my eyes and concentrated, pictured the two of them sitting around in the living room of my house. I focused on both of them and thought with as much concentration and energy as I could muster.
“Rachel! Nigel! I've been taken prisoner! Please come find me!”
As I repeated the thought over and over, I felt power surging through my bodyâpower I'd never felt before. The candles flickered as I kept focusing, and I closed my eyes to shut out other distractions. My body was tingling, every hair on it standing on end.
There was no answer.
I don't know how long I tried, but when I finally opened my eyes again, exhausted and frustrated, the candles had burned about halfway down.
Angrily I yanked my head to one sideâand to my surprise, the metal cuff holding my neck down snapped free of its hasp. Stunned, I sat there for just a moment, not sure what had just happened.
The surge of power I'd felt . . . Had drinking Nico's witch blood somehow made me stronger, more powerful?
I closed my eyes and tried to raise my arms, focusing on the muscles in my upper arms and shoulders. They strained, but I felt the surging power and strength, and those cuffs, too, snapped as if they were made of paper.
I sat up and rubbed my wrists, which felt stiff and a little sore from being so rigidly restrained.
I looked around the room, but I didn't see my clothes anywhere. I slid down the stone slab, and in a matter of moments snapped my ankles free. I hopped down from the stone slab and stretched. The only window was far over my head, the one I'd noticed before that had been blacked out, and I couldn't reach it. I pressed my hands against each wall in turn. They were stone, and cold, and there was a cold breeze blowing from a vent above my head. I looked up at it, but the ceiling was easily fifteen feet above the floor; besides, even if I could somehow reach it, it was far too narrow for my body to fit through. I went to the door and turned the knob. I almost laughed out loud as it turned in my hand and opened.
No need to lock the door when you have me tied up, right, guys ?
I hesitated before walking out, though. Surely Nico had known what his blood would do to me? And the door being left unlockedâmaybe it was a trick, a trap of some sort.
I peered out the doorway into a long hallway with other, similar doors in even intervals its entire length. Candles burned in sconces mounted on the walls. There was no one around, so I slipped out into the hallway. I checked in every cell, but each was empty. I was apparently the only prisoner in this building. I hurried down the hall, keeping an eye out for anything I could use to cover myself with. I had to find clothes of some sortâthere was no way I could walk around outside stark naked once I managed to escape this buildingâwith no luck. Finally, I reached the end of the hall. I opened the door and found myself staring across a long lawn of perfectly manicured grass to where a huge mansion stood, surrounded by massive live oaks, beards of Spanish moss hanging from their heavy branches. The mansion was ablaze with light. There was a long driveway on the other side, lined with huge oak trees. There were an awful lot of cars parked along the driveway, which made me curious.
Something was going on at the house.
With no clothes, I certainly couldn't make a break for the road the driveway surely ended in. The last thing I wanted was to draw more attention to myself. With no other choice, I started making my way across the lawn to the wide veranda, glancing back and forth to make sure there was no one else around. I passed an empty gazebo, and as I drew nearer to the veranda, I could see there was a lazy river just beyond, with a dock jutting out into the black water.
I paused for a moment. That couldn't be the Mississippi River. It wasn't muddy nor wide enough, nor was the current as fast and strong. Where the hell was I?
I crept up the steps to the veranda and could hear music from insideâa piano playing some classical piece I'd heard before but didn't recognizeâand then the song ended. There was a lot of applause, and unable to curb my curiosity, I crept over to the nearest window and peered inside.
There was a crowd of people inside, and I immediately spotted the twins sitting in the very first row, applauding as a young woman in a period costume from French colonial times, with coffee-colored skin, curtsied in front of the company.
It was so completely surreal I didn't know what to think, but I shook my head. I could worry about all of this later, once I was dressed and on my way back to the house on Orleans Street. I darted down the veranda to a door, which was unlocked. I slipped inside the house. There was an open door to my right leading into the room where the music audience was and another one to my left. But just beyond the door to the music room was a carpeted hanging staircase. I took a deep breath and ran toward it, hoping no one happened to glance out into the hallway as my naked form dashed past.
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