Dark Exodus (The Order of Vampires 2)

He never experienced such a dark and unstoppable rage as he now suffered when thinking of Silus Hostetler. The moment Eleazar detained him in a cell in the crypt, he decided that letting him rot there for an eternity would be too generous a fate. His first concern was Larissa. But as soon as she was out of danger, he would see to the other.

The door creaked and Adriel stepped in, not seeing him from his seat on the floor, draped in shadows, where he cradled his mate.

“Eleazar—” She gasped, no doubt scenting the blood. “What’s happened?”

He opened his mind, and Adriel rushed to kneel beside him. She understood there was a problem when he mentally ordered her to come to him.

“Silus did this?”

He nodded, slightly off balance from the amount of blood Larissa had already taken.

“Let me help you.” Adriel collected a pewter cup from the desk and opened her vein.

“I can’t—”

“Don’t be a fool.” She filled the cup and shoved it below his nose and his refusal vanished.

He needed his strength if he wanted to heal Larissa. When he drained the cup, she refilled it again.

“You know you cannot let this stand, Eleazar.”

He glared at her. “As if I would let anyone do this to my mate and walk away unpunished.”

Adriel’s brow pinched as she examined the visible injuries. “You know, it’s been almost three-hundred years and I still flinch from time to time, fearful that he watches me.”

It was clear that she spoke of her mate, Cerberus.

“It will take centuries for her to heal from this. The greatest wounds are always on the inside.”

He couldn’t debate such a claim from a female who had lived a similar hell. “He will pay.”

“Where is he?”

“Downstairs, in a cell.”

“Not good enough.”

He stared at the jagged skin of his mate as it struggled to seal shut. “He won’t be there long.”

Like Larissa, his friend had suffered many nights of unthinkable cruelty. In the end, when they rescued Adriel, pregnant with her son and weakened to a state that only time could heal, she joined them on their pilgrimage to America.

No matter how strong of an immortal Cerberus was, justice eventually found him. For nearly three hundred years, the monster atoned, awaiting the regeneration of his limbs as the rest of his body atrophied from starvation and neglect. By now, his flesh would have rotted off the bone and muscle would have withered to dust. Once an immortal’s remains scattered to the wind, they were irreparable.

“Do not hesitate, Eleazar. As her mate, you must do everything in your power to protect her.”

His jaw remained clenched. “First, I will see her marriage annulled. I’ll need you to watch over her. I want no one else near her.”

“I’ll get some rags and a basin of warm water so we can clean her up.”

As soon as her wounds fully healed, he would carry her to their bed to rest. But he didn’t expect her eyes to open any time soon.

Chapter 40

Dane’s shoulders bunched against the cold, his numb fingers curling tightly around Colby’s leash, as he followed the man holding his sister. Once again, he wondered why they hadn’t called an Uber or a cab. “How far are we walking?”

The weather was cold, dark, and miserable. Cybil slept soundly in Cain’s arms, her head resting on his shoulder and her eyes staying closed for long bouts. He had no idea how she could sleep like that.

“There’s a rest stop up ahead. We can call for a taxi when we get there.”

Dane scoffed. “It would have been helpful to have one pick us up at the house.”

“I wasn’t expecting the distance to be this hard on you.”

Dane shook his head and sneered, “You make it sound like there is something wrong with us. We’re wandering around in the pitch-black night in the freezing cold. We must have gone six miles by now!”

“Try two.”

“Whatever. Cybil will probably have the flu by the time we get wherever we’re going.”

“I told you, we’re going to my farm.”

“Right. How many other children have you lured there?”

Cain shot him a withering glare. “Watch it.”

“You watch it.” His jaw locked, and his soaked feet refused to take another step. Colby whined, tugging to follow Cain and angering Dane all the more. “That’s it! I’m not going any farther. I want to talk to my grandmother.”

Cain tightened the blanket around Cybil’s shoulders. “Stop being a baby.”

“Screw you! I’m sick of following along with no information. Where’s my grandmother and where the hell are we going?”

Cain took a menacing step toward him and hissed, “I said move.”

“I don’t have to do crap. You’re not my dad, and you’re not my brother. You’re not even a friend. I’m tired of just following along while everyone else acts crazy. I’m going back. Cybil—”

“Shut your mouth,” Cain hissed, placing a hand over Cybil’s ear. “Stop thinking only of yourself.”