"... some kind of nightmare. I mean, Tohr, he was terrified... No, he fudged when I asked him what it was, and I didn't press. I think it's time he sees Havers. Yes... UAH-Hugh. He should meet Wrath first. Okay. I love you, my hellren. What? God, Tohr, I feel the same way. I don't know how we ever lived without him. He is such a blessing."
John leaned against the wall in the hall and closed his eyes. Funny, he felt the same way about them.
Chapter Four
It was hours later, or at least it seemed like hours, when Bella awoke to the sound of the mesh plate sliding back. The sweet smell of the lesser drifted down to her, overpowering the pungent, damp earth.
"Hello, wife." The harness around her torso tightened as he lifted her out.
One look into his pale brown eyes and she knew now was not the time to push any limits. He was wired, his smile way too excited. And unbalanced was not good with him.
Just as her feet hit the floor, he jerked the harness so she fell against him. "I said hello, wife."
"Hello, David."
He closed his eyes. He loved it when she said his name. "I have something for you."
He left the straps on her and led her over to the stainless-steel table in the center of the room. When he handcuffed her to the thing, she knew it must be dark out still. He got lax about restraining her only during the day, when she couldn't run.
The lesser went out the door and left it open wide. Shuffling and grunting noises followed, and then he came back dragging a groggy civilian vampire. The male's head rolled on his shoulders as if it were on a loose hinge, his feet trailing behind at the toes. He was dressed in what had been nice black slacks and a cashmere sweater, but now the clothes were torn and wet and blood-marked.
With a moan choking in her throat, Bella backed away until her tether prevented her from going any farther. She couldn't watch the torture; she just couldn't.
The lesser muscled the male over to the table and laid him out flat on it. Chains were looped with efficiency around his wrists and ankles, and the links were secured with metal clips. As soon as the civilian's hazy eyes latched on to the shelves with the tools, he began to panic. He pulled against his steel binds, making them rattle against the metal table.
Bella met the vampire's blue eyes. He was terrified, and she wanted to reassure him, but she knew that wasn't smart. The lesser was watching her reaction, waiting.
And then he took out a knife.
The vampire on the table screamed as the slayer leaned over him. But all David did was yank up the male's sweater and slit it open, exposing his chest and throat.
Though Bella tried to fight it, bloodlust stirred in her gut. It had been a long time since she'd fed, maybe months, and all the stress she'd been under meant her body needed badly what only drinking from the opposite sex could give her.
The lesser took her arm and pulled her around, the handcuff sliding down the table's rail with her.
"I figured you must be thirsty by now." The slayer reached out and rubbed her mouth with his thumb. "So I got this for you to feed from."
Her eyes rounded.
"That's right. He's just for you. A present. He's fresh, young. Better than the two I have in the holes now. And we can keep him as long as he serves you." The lesser pushed her upper lip off her teeth. "Goddamn... look at those fangs getting longer. Hungry, aren't you, wife?"
His hand clamped on the back of her neck and he kissed her, licking at her with his tongue. Somehow she kept her gag reflex down until he lifted his head.
"I've always wondered what this looks like," he said, eyes roaming around her face. "Is it going to turn me on? I'm not sure whether I want it to or not. I think I like you pure. But you've got to do this, right? Or you're going to die."
He pushed her head down toward the male's throat. When she resisted, the lesser laughed softly and spoke into her ear.
"That's my girl. If you'd gone willingly to him, I think I would've beaten you out of jealousy." He stroked her hair with his free hand. "Now drink."
Bella looked into the vampire's eyes. Oh, God...
The male had stopped struggling and was staring up at her, his eyes about to pop out of his skull. Hungry though she was, she couldn't bear the idea of taking from him.
The lesser gripped her neck hard, and his voice got nasty. "You better drink from him. I went to a lot of f**king trouble to get this for you."
She opened her mouth, her tongue like sandpaper from the thirst. "No..."
The lesser put the knife up to her eyes. "One way or the other he's going to bleed in the next minute and a half. If I go to work on him, he's not going to last long. So maybe you want to try, wife?"
Tears speared her eyes at the violation she would perpetrate.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered to the chained male.
Her head was yanked back, and the lesser's palm came at her face from the left. The slap snapped her upper body around, and the slayer grabbed a chunk of her hair to keep her from falling. He pulled hard, arching her against him. She had no idea where the knife he'd had went.
"You do not apologize to that." He clapped his hand on her chin, digging his fingertips into the hollows under her cheekbones. "I'm the only one you worry about. We clear? I said, are we clear?"
"Yes," she gasped.
"Yes, what?"
"Yes, David."
He took her free arm and bent it behind her back. Pain shot into her shoulder. "Tell me you love me."
From out of nowhere, anger lit off a firestorm in her chest. She would never say that word to him. Never.
"Tell me you love me," he yelled, blasting the demand into her face.
Her eyes flashed and she bared her fangs. The instant she did his excitement shot out of control, his body starting to tremble, his breath falling into a fast pant. He was instantly primed to fight her, aroused for the battle, ready as if he were erect for sex. This was the part of the relationship he lived for. He loved to fight her. Had told her that his former woman hadn't been as strong as she was, hadn't been able to last as long before passing out.
"Tell me you love me."
"I. Despise. You."
As he lifted his hand and made a fist out of it, she glared up at him, steady, calm, ready to take the hit. They stayed like that for a long time, their bodies suspended in twins arcs like a heart, tied by the strings of violence that ran between them. In the background the civilian male on the table whimpered.
Suddenly the lesser's arms shot around her and he buried his face in her neck. "I love you," he said. "I love you so much... I can't live without you - "
"Holy shit," someone said.
The lesser and Bella both looked to the voice. The persuasion center's door was wide-open and a pale-haired slayer was stopped dead in its jamb.
The guy started laughing and then said the three words that triggered everything that followed: "I'm gonna tell."
David went after the other lesser at a dead run, chasing him outside.
Bella didn't hesitate as the first cracks of the fight rang out. She went to work on the chains that bound the civilian's right wrist, flipping the clips free, unraveling the links. Neither of them said a word as she freed his hand and then started on his right ankle. As soon as he could, the male worked as fast as she did, frantically stripping the left side of himself. The second he was free, he popped off the table and looked at the steel handcuffs that tied her.
"You can't save me," she said. "He has the only keys."
"I can't believe you're still alive. I heard about you - "
"Go, go on - "
"He'll kill you."
"No, he won't." He was just going to make her wish she were dead. "Go! That fight isn't going to last forever."
"I'll come back for you."
"Just get home." When he opened his mouth, she said, "Shut the hell up and focus. If you can, tell my family I'm not dead. Go!"
The male had tears in his eyes as he closed them. He took two long breaths... and dematerialized.
Bella started shaking so badly she fell down on the floor, her arm stretching over her head from where it was handcuffed to the table.
The noises of the fight outside abruptly stopped. There was a silence and then a flash of light and a popping sound. She knew without a doubt that her lesser had won.
Oh, God... This was going to be bad. This was going to be a very, very bad day.
Zsadist stood on Bella's snow-covered lawn until the last possible moment, and then he dematerialized to the dreary, Gothic monster the Brotherhood all lived in. The mansion looked like something out of a horror movie, all gargoyles and shadows and leaded-glass windows. In front of the mountain of stone there was a courtyard full of cars, as well as a gatehouse that was Butch and V's crash pad. A twenty-foot-tall wall encased the compound, and there was a double-gated entry as well as a number of nasty surprises set up to deter unwanted visitors.