Page 12 of Stolen By the Demon

“They’re vampires!” I exclaimed, “How can they—”

A slight whimper from Blanche distracted me. “It’s alright. You have nothing to fear, little flame.”

“They’re wrapped in suits and helmets,” Brock explained patiently like you do to a child. I threw an irritated glance at him. He smirked and shrugged his shoulders, and I let it be.

“Alright, we have what? Ten, fifteen guards? The four of you. Me. That should be enough to take out a few vampires.”

“No, I don’t want you to fight.” Blanche readied herself. “I’ll go with him.”

“Not happening,” I told her. “The gates are locked?” I asked Brock.

“They won’t hold long.”

“Devon, please. I don’t want anybody to die because of me,” Blanche protested.

I pulled her against me to reassure her and ensure she didn’t do anything foolish, like give herself over to her father.

“We can have you and her on the chopper in minutes,” Brock suggested.

“Take the humans down into the secret passages,” I ordered.

“He will know where they are,” Brock argued since it was Jonathan DeVille’s castle that I had brought here.

“He will, but he won’t know how to activate the new mechanism,” I pointed out. The security doors I installed only reacted to certain eye scans before they opened. They were made from heavy metal, so strong that not even a hundred vampires could penetrate them.

Brock was already speaking into his phone to Cantor, if I had to guess.

Blanche looked terrified, and I weighed my options. Should I confront her father now or wait until later? After we had more opportunities to speak. This was all new to her. Her memories were still more holes than threads, and I didn’t want to overwhelm her. I didn’t even want to consider how she would handle knowing that she had been turned into a vampire. She had been such a devout woman. I was sure it would break her heart. It made mine ache, a strange sensation after all these years of it laying dormant inside my chest. I suppose I should have been grateful that, in the end, my father gave it back to me, even if it didn’t work for a long time.

Just like vampires, demons didn’t need a heart to beat or lungs to breathe. That mine had awakened after I met Blanche again was a small miracle. Which reminded me of how strong she was. She would be able to deal with this too.

“I will speak to him,” I finally decided. “Brock, take Blanche to the basement and protect her with your life.”

“What? No!” Blanche protested as I gently pushed her into Brock’s arms.

“It will all be well,” I promised, kissing her forehead and abruptly leaving the room before she had time to recover from her shock.

Lord Jonathan Monford and his crew looked laughable in their leather outfits—meant to resemble a knight's armor. I only recognized him because his helmet’s visor was transparent. “You again,” he exclaimed hatefully. “Where is my daughter?”

“You will never see her again,” I swore.

He laughed cruelly, exposing his fangs. “You couldn’t stop us last time.”

“Oh, but I did,” I replied. I had succeeded. I had stopped their plans of having my father mate with Blanche. Only you thought she died, my mind reminded me, and with it, a fresh wave of grief shook me. Seeing Jonathan here was unnerving. It brought back all the pain I had experienced after believing her dead for so many years. Not even the thought that she would have preferred death over what my father had planned for her had been able to soothe me—I was too selfish to think like that. The grief, however, had allowed me to endure my father's punishment for three hundred years of torturous hell. The physical pain had lessened the emotional agony, and my father hadn't even realized he was actually doing me a favor, that I wanted, no needed, to be punished.

“You’re delusional if you think my father will want her now,” I spat at Sir Jonathan.

“He wanted her then. He will want her now. She is the last.”

“Last of what?” I demanded with gritted teeth.

“You don't know?” Jonathan exclaimed in disbelief before he broke out into loud, ear-shattering laughter. “You really don't know what you did, do you?”

He waved his hand in the air. “Take him down.”

The fifty vampires he brought with him suddenly sprang to life.

Five of my guards came out of hiding and attacked their flanks. I plowed through the group of bloodsuckers like a tornado, pushing and kicking them aside with only one target in mind: Sir Jonathan. The second wave of vampires held me back long enough for Blanche's father to retreat into the shadows, where I wagered he would wait the battle out.

---