Bloodsong

Chapter 56

G abriela moved to shackle me. Luna’s cold energy closed around my wrists when the metal did. There would be no escape while I had these on. The silver bracelet on her wrist meant I was tied to her. I wouldn’t be able to run far if I tried.

“You made a deal with Hunters,” I said, seeing no point in pretending I didn’t already know.

She glared at Carlos. “Your bond with him was so you could keep him in check, not to disobey me.”

He dropped to his knee before her. “I’m sorry, I could not bear the pain he was in.”

She lowered her hand, caressing her fingers through his hair. “You’ve been with me for a long time, Carlos; we’ve seen a great deal. If you continue to vex me, you’ll join him.”

He lifted his chin, baring his throat. It angered me to see him submit to her.

‘ You should be a King of your own clan, ’ I told him through our bond. ‘ Instead you kneel to a power-hungry Queen who can no longer command you. ’

He didn’t answer me, his eyes on Gabriela. She turned her back on him.

“Move.” She pushed me, and I had no choice but to walk. “They heard that you were caged and offered to leave us alone if I gave you to them. Looks like your human did have her uses, after all.” She walked out ahead of me and glanced over her shoulder once.

Quinn. I still felt the effects of whatever it was that had happened when she sang. It was as if I could still hear her; an echo of her voice remained. Carlos had said the same thing after he returned from taking her to the hospital. That his connection to the clan felt off, and he could sense her.

“You’re giving me to Hunters?” I stated in disbelief. “Knowing what they do to our kind?”

“You’re a gift,” she said. “It keeps them off my back.”

We reached the door of her den, and I hesitated. It had been a number of weeks since I’d breathed in fresh air. The cool night against my skin felt good. But this wasn’t freedom. For only the second time in six hundred years, fear pierced my heart. “You would willingly give me to them? After what they did to Lucrezia.” She’d died because of me. Hunters had tracked us down a century ago, because of me.

She glared at me. “Keep walking.”

I forced myself to fall into step beside her. The power of her command had no impact on me, but I wasn’t about to let her know that yet.

“Good to see that whatever she did has worn off.” Gabriela commented. “Which makes me wonder if she’s actually human after all. Listening to vampires talk about her voice, it’s evident that she clearly did something. I’ve known a few beings who had abilities with their voices, I might have to visit her to see what she is.”

I fought against my possessive nature, wanting to rip out Gabriela’s throat. The idea that she would hurt Quinn was enough for me to growl.

“Stop.” Gabriela laughed. “Even if you weren’t in chains, you wouldn’t have it in you to rise up against me. I’d tear your heart from your chest without hesitation.” She turned around, facing me. “Maybe I’d have Carlos deliver it to her.”

I resisted the urge to look at Carlos. I could feel him behind me.

‘ I would not, ’ he whispered. ‘ Know that even after your death, I would never do anything to hurt you. That includes hurting her. ’

‘Y ou do hurt me by staying a part of Gabriela’s clan. ’ I accused, and waves of his pain battered against me.

“Hurry up.” Gabriela said. “The Hunters are waiting.”

As I followed her, I sunk into regret. She had sought me out centuries before and saved me from Hunters, only to be giving me to them now. They were known to make their punishment great before they killed. I’d had the chance to turn down her offer, to send her away, but I had welcomed the companionship of her clan.

Footsteps surrounded me; half the clan were with us. Despite making a deal with the Hunters, she still would not trust them enough for her to show up alone.

We walked for what felt like an hour; the strong scent of a forest hit me before I caught sight of the trees. Hunters were there, waiting for us, at least fifty. One of them was Quinn’s friend. Gabriela approached one who was clearly the leader.

“I agree to your terms,” she told him. “We follow the accords, but this one has always caused trouble. For the sake of peace, I give him to you as a show of good faith.”

“Richard, Lilith. Take him to the truck,” the leader instructed.

“You might want to be careful with him, he’s hungry,” Gabriela said, watching Lilith. “Good to see you again, child. How’s the little singer?”

“Don’t talk to me, filthy bloodsucker.” Lilith walked towards me, beside a man who was likely her brother. Her hatred was clear, rolling off her. I had never seen this side of her in the interactions I’d had with her before.

“How is she?” I asked softly.

“Recovering from what you put her through, having nightmares. Now shut up and move.” Despite her hard tone, worry for her friend sounded in her voice.

“You’ll want this.” Gabriela held out the silver bracelet. “Whoever wears it, he cannot get far from them while you’re travelling. It’s likely he’ll try to escape.”

The male Hunter grabbed it and put it on his wrist, and I became bound to him. Even if I tried to run, I would be pulled back to the Hunter. They held crossbows on me, pushing me away.

Carlos met my eyes as I passed by him, a glint of regret in them. I stopped.

“Goodbye, Matteo,” he said, his voice full of pain. “I’m sorry.”

I tried to turn, for one last look at the man who had been like a maker to me for six hundred years. But with crossbows lifted, Hunters forced me to keep walking. These Hunters were taking no chances. If I so much as sneezed, they’d likely put an arrow in my heart.

They led me to a prison truck.

“Get in,” Lilith told me.

I climbed into the back of the truck, and they secured new restraints to me, sitting in the back with me. They kept their fear controlled, but the beating of their hearts reawakened my hunger. Carlos had fed me, but nowhere near enough.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” I asked. “Gabriela has been starving me.” I smirked at Lilith when she glared at me. “I am rather hungry, and you both smell delicious.” I showed my fangs to emphasise my point. I would not make this easy for them.

Carlos’s presence surrounded me. I leaned into it, determined not to show the Hunters my own fear. Letting his strength in. It was a comfort to know that I wouldn’t die alone.

‘ I’m with you. ’ His words were warm, yet full of pain.

“Richie, can I just fucking kill him now?” Lilith grumbled as the engine started, the truck moving away.

They were taking me away from the other vampires, from my clan. I clung to Carlos, our minds quiet, not needing to speak yet.

“You know we can’t do that, Lil.” He glared at me. “As much as I would like to.”

“Ah, yes, you’d rather torture me first.” I forced a smile. “Show the humans how much you protect them, by torturing a man on his knees.”

“You’re not a man,” Lilith’s eyes glinted dangerously at me, her fingers on the crossbow twitched. “Can we muzzle him, then?”

“Agreed.” Richie smiled coldly at me. “How your friend fell in with the likes of a vampire is beyond me. But to let it feed from her, to use her that way. Then she bonded with it.” His lip curled up in disgust.

I hated their continual use of the word it, and his talk of Quinn filled me with rage. They forced a muzzle on me, and I fumed, showing them my red eyes, letting out a threatening growl, lunging forward.

Richie laughed. “Calm down, vampire, it will be over for you soon enough. It won’t be easy, though. The last one screamed, begging for us to end it.”

I had never hated humans, merely taken my fill from them when I needed to. I knew I had nothing in common with them, any more than a human would with a cow or sheep. But the Hunters had a hatred of us that had lasted generations, and I had been lucky to escape their wrath up until then.

Lilith kept the crossbow aimed at my chest. The truck was too small for me to move far; if she fired, there would be a point at which an arrow would hit home.

I glared at Richie. I’ll kill you first. Hunger mixed with fury, and I smiled at the thought of tearing him apart.

“Maybe you shouldn’t antagonise him,” Lilith said, her eyes on me. “We did have trouble trying to bring the last one down. He’s so much bigger.”

Both of them kept their eyes and their weapons on me the entire time. Finally, the truck stopped, and doors opened. Surrounded by silent Hunters, I was pushed towards a concrete bunker. Footsteps of the Hunters echoed in the hollow cell. The scent of vampire blood hit me. Rowan. Red splattered the walls. They secured me using chains and removed the shackles with which Gabriela had restrained me. No longer bound by Luna’s magic, I started to seek a way to escape. Stupid Hunters.

I caught the eye of one who was foolish enough to meet my gaze. He didn’t move, couldn’t as I drew him deeper into my mind.

‘Let me free.’ I urged him. The second he moved forward to do so, the rest pulled him away. Damn.

The leader of the Hunters arrived, staring at me through the door to the cell.

“We’ve got him,” he said to his family.

Cheers rose from those around him, their joy.

“He’s evaded our ancestors for six centuries. The vampire of Venice will be executed. Tomorrow. Make sure he suffers first, though.”

‘ Carlos… ’ I’d heard Lucrezia’s screams as we tried to free her. We all knew the cruelty of Hunters. I was about to experience it first-hand. Alone.

‘ I’m here, Matteo. You’re not alone. ’ His voice was far away.

The leader of the Hunters opened the door, and I glared as they entered, crowding around me with their crossbows raised. The drummer wasn’t there. The leader shot me in the chest, deliberately missing my heart. I roared in pain, pulling on the chains. Other arrows pierced my throat and torso. Filled with agony, I couldn’t fight any of them as more arrows were fired at me.

The torment for which the Hunters were so well-known had begun.