Blood Freed (Vampire-Cursed #4)

3. Chapter 3

3

Chapter 3

Mia

T he familiar scent of Gran’s healing tea wafts through my childhood bedroom, chamomile and lavender touching the air with their sweet, soothing scent. My hands shake as I pull the covers from me and sit.

The room feels both comforting and strange after my long absence. My old stuffed animals still perch on shelves, watching over me with glass eyes that once felt so friendly. Now they seem like silent witnesses to how much has changed. The purple walls, covered in my teenage attempts at magical diagrams, remind me of simpler times when my biggest worry was mastering basic spells.

I press my palm against the wall, feeling the subtle vibration of protection spells surrounding the house. Mom’s work – I’d recognize her magical signature anywhere. The familiar pulse of family magic wraps around me like a warm blanket, yet my heart aches knowing Soren is locked away somewhere cold and dark.

My legs wobble as I stand, but I grit my teeth and force myself to take a few steps. The muscle weakness from months of captivity frustrates me, but I refuse to let it stop me. Somewhere beyond these safe walls, Soren needs me. The same determination that kept me alive during my imprisonment now drives me to regain my strength.

Voices drift up from downstairs – Mom and Kara discussing something in low tones, Gran’s occasional authoritative comments cutting through. The sound of their presence soothes some raw edge inside me. After so long in isolation, just knowing they’re near helps steady my racing thoughts.

But they don’t understand. They see only what they want to see – a traumatized victim defending her captor. They don’t feel the truth of what Soren and I shared, don’t know how he risked everything to save me.

A soft knock interrupts my thoughts. “Mia, sweetheart?” Mom’s voice carries through the door, gentle but insistent. “Are you awake?”

“Yeah, I am, Mom,” I call back. I’ve slipped in and out of sleep since they brought me home last night. As much as I’m worried about Soren, exhaustion has overwhelmed me.

“I brought you some soup – your favorite butternut squash,” Mom adds.

I close my eyes, fighting the surge of irritation. They’ve been hovering since I got back, treating me like I might shatter. “Come in,” I say, turning back to sink onto my bed. The small exertion has left me breathless.

Mom enters, carrying a tray loaded with enough food for three people. Her hands tremble slightly as she sets it down. Crockery rattles. “You need to build your strength.”

“I’m not hungry.” I immediately regret the harshness of my tone.

“You haven’t eaten properly in months,” she frets, easing me back onto my pillows and smoothing my blankets. “Just try a little—”

“For heaven’s sake, Georgia, give the girl some space,” Gran’s voice cuts through as she appears in the doorway, commanding attention as always.

Dad follows close behind. “We need to discuss what happened, Mia. That vampire—”

“His name is Soren,” I say firmly. “And he saved my life.”

“That’s the trauma talking.” Dad’s jaw tightens. “You can’t trust anything you’re feeling right now. These monsters, they get in your head—”

“Lake.” Gran’s tone carries a warning. “Perhaps we should—”

“No, Mother. My daughter was held captive for months by vampires. I won’t stand here and listen to her defend one of them!”

I take in a steadying breath. “You don’t understand—”

“We understand perfectly.” Dad’s voice cracks with emotion. “We understand that you’ve been through hell, and that creature is responsible—”

“Enough.” Gran’s power fills the room, subtle but unmistakable. “Lake, you’re upsetting the girl.”

“Mother—” Dad protests.

“You heard me, son.” Gran’s eyes flash. “I am still the matriarch of this family, and I say this conversation needs a different approach.”

My parents exchange looks, but they know better than to argue when Gran uses that tone.

The air shifts subtly as two more people enter – my sister Rowan and a tall blond man I don’t recognize. There’s something odd about him that makes my magical senses tingle. He feels…almost like a vampire, but not quite. The energy around him is different, like an echo of what should be there.

“Mia.” Rowan rushes to hug me, her glasses perched on top of her head. “I’m so sorry we didn’t find you sooner.”

I return her embrace, but my attention keeps drifting to the stranger. His presence is unsettling – not threatening, just unusual. He stands with the confident bearing of a vampire, but his skin has a healthy flush that no vampire could maintain.

“This is Darick,” Rowan explains, noticing my scrutiny. “He helped rescue me just before we found you.”

“Rescue you?” I swallow hard. “So you were taken.”

She nods. “Not for long, though. Darick found me. We share a bond.” She leans into him, her expression softening. It’s pretty clear that he’s more than her rescuer. And there’s something else there, too. I observe him for a moment. Trying to put my finger on it.

“You were a vampire,” I say, understanding dawning. “But now you’re not.”

Darick nods. “I gave up my immortality to save your sister.”

I stare at him. “How?”

“Long story,” Rowan chimes in. “Meanwhile, it turns out that Heath was involved in the whole thing.”

My breath catches. “Yes! Heath Moonshadow! That…that…bastard! I hope he rots!”

“You knew?” Dad asks.

“He was there. When they had me. He was the one who helped them take me.”

Mom sucks in a breath, and Gran and Dad exchange glances.

“This runs deep,” says Gran.

“Perhaps not,” Dad responds. “He could have been acting on his own.”

“Hah!” I snort. “Not a chance.”

“Mia’s right,” Rowan agrees. “There were other witches involved. He had help.”

“And they were working with Lucien Marlowe,” Darick adds.

“The Conclave says the High Council assured them there was no proof of that,” Dad says.

“They’re wrong.” My voice is tight. “He’s up to his neck in it.”

“You saw him?” Gran looks at me.

“More than that.” I feel myself shaking. I look down at the inside of my elbow, which is marred with dozens of puncture scars. “He took my blood himself.”

Mom gasps, clutching a hand to her throat. “Oh, Mia. My darling.”

Dad looks ready to kill. “Those fuckers!” he spits. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him curse more than a handful of times in my life. “When I get my hands on them…”

“Dad, they’re not all like that,” I interrupt. His expression is conflicted when he looks at me. I know he’s struggling with this.

But so is the man who saved me.

The man who touched me. The man who somehow feels like part of me.

“We need to help him. I—”

“Mia, I will not listen to any more of this nonsense,” Dad snaps.

“Lane, we’ve already discussed this,” Gran interrupts. I feel a sense of relief knowing that while she may not be on my side, at least I can turn to her.

The door bursts open, and Kara strides in, her long strawberry-blonde hair crackling with magical energy. Her eyes flash like emeralds as she takes in the scene.

“Mia! You’re awake.” She rushes to where I’m propped up on fluffy pillows, settling on the bed beside me. “How are you feeling.” She touches my shoulder like I’m made of glass.

“She’s definitely not herself,” Mom says anxiously.

“Still spouting that rubbish about saving the vampire,” Dad bites out.

“Oh, Mia, no!” Kara’s eyes grow wide. “I can’t believe we’re even discussing this.” She looks stricken. “That vampire held you captive for months. Months, Mia! Do you have any idea what that did to this family?”

I open my mouth to explain, but she barrels on. “The only good vampire is a dead vampire. Well, except—” She glances at Darick apologetically. “Present company excluded, of course. But you’re not really a vampire anymore, are you?”

“No,” Darick answers quietly. “But I was one for over a thousand years. It’s not as black-and-white as you think, Kara.”

Kara’s brow furrows. I recognize that look – it’s the same expression she gets when puzzling out a particularly complex spell.

“Although Lucien Marlowe certainly deserves everything he gets,” Rowan mutters.

“The Blood Assembly claims that there’s no proof he had a hand in anything,” Gran interjects.

“But how could they not know? Don’t they have some sort of hierarchy, rules about territory and feeding? About who’s allowed to do what?”

My sister has always been the analytical one, questioning everything. Even now, I can see her mind working through the political implications, trying to reconcile what she thinks she knows about vampires with this new information.

“They do,” says Darick. “But Lucien believes he’s above our laws. He does what he wants, and I don’t think this will be the end of it. But not all of them are like him, Kara.”

She shakes her head, her expression hardening. “They’re monsters. They took Mia from us.” Her voice cracks on the last word, and I feel the weight of those months of worry and fear crashing down on me. My fierce, confident sister looks suddenly vulnerable.

“We’re your family,” she whispers, turning back to me. “We’re the ones who love you. How can you defend any of them after what they did?”

The raw pain in her voice tears at my heart. She’s right – they are my family. They searched for me, never gave up hope. But there’s another truth she can’t see: that you can’t judge an entire race based on the actions of a few.

“Soren’s not like that,” I say hoarsely. Then something occurs to me. “Wait – what exactly happened with Rowan?”

“Heath tried to take her,” Darick says, his expression darkening. “Just like he helped take you. It was part of Lucien’s plan – he needed witches with specific bloodlines for his experiments.”

“The Bloodbane,” I whisper, remembering overheard conversations during my captivity. “They were trying to cure it.”

“Yes.” Darick’s eyes meet mine with understanding. “I know about the Maker’s Bond too – what Soren’s going through. I had one with my maker for centuries. The pain he must be experiencing…” He shakes his head. “Fighting against a direct order is like having molten silver poured through your veins.”

Mom gasps, but I press on. “Then you know he had no choice but to follow orders. Until he chose to save me anyway.”

“Heath’s been captured,” Rowan interjects. “He’s not talking, but I think Lucien promised him power – a leadership position once he’d taken control of both the vampire and witch communities. He’s got some crazy idea about how he’s saving us.”

“Saving us?”

“He’s nuts,” Rowan mutters. “Talked about making sacrifices for the greater good.”

“It goes deeper than that,” Darick adds. “Lucien’s been systematically weakening both sides, creating discord. The witch abductions were just part of it. He’s been secretly turning members of his own clan against each other, making them desperate enough to support his extreme measures.”

“The bodies at the Starlight Vigil,” Gran says. “Some of the vampires were killed by their own kind, weren’t they?”

Darick nods grimly. “That was my team – we heard rumors of an attack on a witch ceremony and came in to stop it. Lucien wasn’t there, but his men were. When I told the Elders, they wanted proof of his involvement, but I couldn’t find any. He’s smart enough to keep his hands clean.”

“Plausible deniability.” Kara’s expression is sour.

“Exactly. Lucien’s been eliminating anyone who might oppose him, making it look like witch attacks. He’s playing both sides against each other.”

I feel sick. All those months in captivity, I’d caught glimpses of Lucien’s schemes, but I hadn’t understood the full scope until now. And Soren – trapped in the middle of it all by a bond he couldn’t break, until he chose to save me instead.

“Lucien used Soren,” I say, my voice trembling with anger. “He forced him to help through the Maker’s Bond. You don’t understand what that means – it’s like being chained from the inside out.”

“That doesn’t excuse—” Dad starts, but Gran raises her hand.

“Lake.” Her tone has grown firm to the point of hardness. “Your daughter has been through an ordeal we can barely comprehend. Perhaps it’s time we listened instead of assuming we know everything about this situation.”

Dad’s jaw works, but he subsides. No one argues with Gran when she uses that tone – not even her own son.

Gran turns to me. “Right. I think it’s time you told us what happened, darling.” She smiles gently, encouraging me.

“It happened after a Coven meeting.” My fingers twist in the blanket as memories surface. “I was walking to my car when they grabbed me – a group of them.”

“Vampires?” Dad’s eyes narrow.

I nod. “And witches.” I glance over at Mom when she makes an alarmed, gasping sound. “I tried to fight, but they used dark magic to suppress mine.” I swallow hard. “When I woke up, I was in a facility. It looked like an old mansion from the outside, but inside…” My voice catches. Mom reaches for my hand, and I let her take it.

“Soren was there from the beginning. He barely spoke to me at first. But Heath…” Bile rises in my throat. “Heath would come by, taunting us. He enjoyed our suffering.”

“Bastard,” Rowan mutters. There’s venom in her voice.

“Lucien ordered daily blood extractions. He’d oversee them sometimes, him and his team. They were rough. The guards, too.” I touch the crook of my arm unconsciously. “I collapsed eventually. That’s when things changed. Soren took control of the facility. He gave us time to recover between extractions, improved conditions for all of us.”

“What do you mean ‘all of us’? How many others were there?” Gran’s expression darkens.

“Lots. I didn’t see all of them, but there were two I connected with – Sabine and Jemma. We planned an escape together, but we didn’t get far.” I remember how terrified we were.

“And then?” Gran’s eyes are sharp, knowing.

“They put me in Soren’s direct care after that. I…um…had to live in his quarters so I wouldn’t be out of his sight.” I feel heat rise to my cheeks, avoiding Gran’s too-perceptive gaze. Rowan shifts slightly, and I know she understands.

“When I learned they were planning to take Rowan too…” My hands clench. “I couldn’t let that happen. Soren helped me plan another escape. He contacted Dr. Chen, the one who reached out to you all.”

“That’s why he was with you on the road,” Kara says softly.

I nod, throat tight. “He knew the Maker’s Bond would kill him for disobeying, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to get me to safety.”

There’s a silence as I finish talking.

“So you see, I wasn’t brainwashed by him. I don’t have flipping Stockholm Syndrome or anything like that.” I look around at everyone. “You have to believe me.”

“The Conclave needs to hear this,” Gran says at last. “All of it. Including Soren’s role in your escape.”

“They won’t listen,” Kara says. “They’re too set in their ways.”

“Then we make them listen,” Gran says firmly. “The Blackwoods still carry weight in the Conclave.”

“It’s not just the Conclave we have to consider,” Dad says. “The elders have taken this matter to the Blood Assembly. There will be questions about his involvement in all of this from them, too.”

“I have allies who could help,” Darick suggests. “My second-in-command, Marcus Nightshade, is taking over leadership of my clan and—”

“Marcus? Another vampire?” Kara scoffs. “How do we know he’s any different?”

Darick’s expression remains carefully neutral at this, but I catch a slight tightening in his jawline. “We can trust him. I assure you.”

“I need to see him,” I say, pushing myself straighter. “Soren. I need to make sure he’s alright. And I need to tell them what really happened.”

“Absolutely not,” Dad snaps, but Gran silences him with a look.

“I think we can agree that Mia’s quite in control of her faculties, Lake,” she says to him before turning to me. “You will have your chance, darling,” she continues. “We’ll go to the Conclave together. As a family.”

The tension in the room shifts subtly. We’re still divided on this, but Gran’s words remind us of what matters most – we’re Blackwoods, and we face things together.

“I don’t like it,” Dad mutters, “but I trust your judgment, Mother.”

“Good.” Gran stands. “Then this matter is settled.” She smiles at me. “We save Soren.”

I heave a sigh of relief. Maybe the Conclave will finally see sense now. I just have to convince them.

I pray that I can.