Chapter 30: thirty

Olivia

The small cage in the pet shop, a place I once despised, suddenly seemed like a haven. ~No. Death.~ I pleaded silently, my thoughts echoing in the hollows of my mind. I felt feeble, my chest ablaze with an inferno of pain.

Brayden’s voice was a distant murmur, his words unintelligible, as if he were speaking in tongues.

I shifted on the table, rolling onto my back. A sharp sting radiated from my chest as it grazed the rough wooden surface.

My hand instinctively moved to my chest, rubbing in a futile attempt to soothe the pain.

The agony was so intense, I hadn’t realized it was the mark Cole had left that was causing such torment.

Annabelle climbed onto the table, straddling my hips. She seized my wrist, slamming it down beside my head. I swallowed a sob, meeting her gaze, her eyes filled with murderous intent.

She scraped away the remnants of dried mud from my chest, revealing the mark in its entirety.

“He marked you?” she snarled.

I couldn’t respond, my mind teetering on the edge of consciousness. She didn’t appreciate my silence.

Her hand flew back, striking me with such force I thought my head would detach from my shoulders. My body shook, sobs wracking my frame as tears streamed down my face, their salty taste mingling with the blood from my split lip.

“Annabelle, enough!” Marcus’s voice cut through the chaos.

“He marked her!” she shrieked, still perched atop me.

Marcus grabbed my jaw, jerking my head to the side. His eyes widened at the sight of the mark. He forced my gaze back to him, “Who was your mother?”

Confusion furrowed my brows as I continued to sob, my vision blurred by the tears clinging to my lashes.

His nails dug into my jaw, eliciting a scream from my lips.

“I-I don’t k-know! Please!” I pleaded.

He released my jaw, pulling Annabelle off me. His gaze shifted to Owen and Jax, slumped against the wall.

“Drain her,” he commanded, his voice chillingly calm. Then they were gone.

“Don’t fucking touch her!” Brayden’s protest was too late.

Owen and Jax were already upon me. I screamed as their fangs sank into my flesh.

Owen was at my thigh while Jax was on my arm. Owen moaned, raising his head, “God, you taste so… sweet,”

My eyes fluttered shut, the encroaching darkness a welcome relief. A loud bang jolted me, turning my head towards the sound.

The massive door flew off its hinges, revealing several dark figures.

***

Cole

“Everyone clear?” I asked, my rage had subsided slightly, just enough to formulate a plan. Would I kill them? No, they deserved to suffer.

The extent of their suffering would depend entirely on whether they had touched her.

Raven reluctantly agreed to match our speed, it was the fastest way to reach her. I wasn’t sure what we would encounter, so we decided to split up once we arrived.

We were only a few miles away when I felt it. My body trembled, and I fell to my knees. The closer we got, the more her pain resonated within me.

“Cole, what is it?” Kaden asked, crouching in front of me.

“We need to go,” I managed to grit out through clenched teeth.

Mammoth Tower lived up to its name. We entered the first floor, and I heard her scream.

“Kill anyone you find. If you see Annabelle or Marcus… they’re mine,” I ordered Kaden and Raven.

Her screams began to fade, causing my soul to ache. But I could still feel her, faint but present, so I knew she wasn’t dead.

I charged at the door, sending it flying off its hinges. There she was, her wide eyes struggling to stay open, pinned beneath two hulking vampires.

In a swift motion, I was there, gripping the hair of the one between her legs and slamming him into the nearby wall.

The two Damn soldiers had already subdued the other one, driving a spear through his eye before decapitating him. His head rolled across the room, coming to a stop near a shadowy figure on the floor.

Brayden.

“Cole, I’m sorry, I tried to stop them, but they broke my legs, and I haven’t fed in a week,” he confessed. I simply nodded; I would help him later.

The other soldier was cradling my little dove in a blanket, whispering soothing words into her ear.

I still had the vampire’s hair clenched in my fist; I hadn’t even noticed him clawing at my hand.

I yanked his head back, slamming it against the stone wall. I could have used all my strength and killed him instantly, but he didn’t deserve such mercy.

I repeated the motion, each collision with the wall breaking more of his bones. Blood splattered the stones as I continued, his throat emitting a gurgling sound.

A few more slams and his head was nothing more than a mangled mess of broken bones, hanging flesh, and blood. I reveled in the fact that I would be bathed in vampire blood tonight.

***

I approached my little dove, her tiny fist clutching the shirt of the vampire who held her.

“Set her down. I want…I need to see what they did,” I instructed.

He gently placed her on the ground, her legs barely able to support her. The more I looked at her, the angrier I became.

Her body was a map of pain, dried blood marking the places where they had fed on her. Her face was swollen and red from crying, a handprint stark against her cheek, her lip split and bleeding.

She looked down, her arms instinctively wrapping around her abdomen. I gently took hold of her hands, guiding them to her sides.

It took me a moment to find what she was trying to hide. It was faint, but it was there. Tiny lines connected together to spell out the words ~Blood bag~.

The wound was starting to heal, but I could feel the raised lines as I traced them with my finger.

I brushed the hair from her face, cupping her cheeks with my hands, holding her gaze.

“They will pay dearly, little dove,” I promised softly.

“There’s something else,” the soldier said, turning her around so her back was facing me. I swept her long hair aside and my eyes widened in shock.

Burned into her back was the word ~SLAVE~.

I quickly draped a blanket over her shoulders. “Take her home,” I ordered.

She spun around, her small arms wrapping around my neck.

“Please… please don’t leave me again,” she sobbed.

I scooped her up, holding her close to my chest.

“He comes too,” I gestured towards Brayden.

***

We descended the steps of the tower, a few dead vampire bodies scattered around. Not nearly as many as I had expected.

A smirk curled my lips as we stepped outside. There on the ground were Marcus and Annabelle, hogtied and bound with silver.

Raven had her foot on Annabelle’s head, grinding her face into the dirt.

I strolled past them to the cars parked outside. I opened the door and gently set Olivia inside.

“I’ll be right back,” I reassured her.

“Cole, we had a fucking deal,” Marcus yelled, but I just laughed.

“Deal’s off,” I replied.

“Do you know who I am?” he screeched.

I crouched down in front of him, gripping his hair and pulling his head up so he could see my black eyes.

“The question, Marcus, is do you know who I am?” I smiled.

After we tossed them into the trunks of the two cars, we started to pile in. I could hear Annabelle sobbing and choking on a mouthful of dirt. She would get much worse later.

I sat in the backseat with my little dove curled up on my lap. I unbuttoned and pulled off my blood-soaked shirt, holding her close to my bare chest.

She quickly drifted off to sleep, and I gently placed feather-light kisses against her head.

Brayden was placed in the other car with Kaden and Raven. Luckily, we found a bag of blood in the glove box. He would start to heal soon. I was just grateful I didn’t have to kill my best friend today.

Marcus and Annabelle would beg me to kill them before I was done, and even then, I wouldn’t grant them such mercy.

Only when I was satisfied, only when they had paid, would I end their lives. I was not one to be trifled with, and soon everyone would know that.