Page 43 of Chains of Blood and Darkness

He’d shown no mercy to her. He hadn’t stopped hurting her even when she’d begged him to. The idea haunted me. Time for him to experience the same pain and horror Serenity endured all these years living with him.

I turned to my men, my eyes blazing with wild intensity. “He’s all yours,” I said, my breath coming in heaving, ragged gasps, my body still trembling in the aftermath of my own savage feeding. “Make him suffer, as he has made others suffer. Show him the true meaning of pain and despair.”

As my men fell upon Freddie like a pack of starving wolves, I watched with a grim satisfaction. His agony had only just begun. This was the price of betrayal, the consequence of daring to cross the vampire king and those I held dear.

As Freddie’s screams echoed through the chamber, I knew that I would stop at nothing to protect what was mine, to keep Serenity safe from all the monsters that lurked in the shadows of our dark and twisted world.

“Stop! Enough for now!” I yelled authoritatively as my power surged through the chamber, causing the air to crackle with a supernatural energy, the ground to tremble beneath my feet, and the candles to flicker until the shadowsdanced along the walls.

My men snapped their heads to me, their red-rimmed eyes wide with surprise and a hint of fear. They knew the extent of my power and the consequences of defying me. Reluctantly, they moved away from Freddie, their fangs still bared and glistening with his blood.

Freddie’s head lolled forward, his breathing shallow. Blood oozed from countless puncture wounds on his neck, shoulders, and arms, staining his tattered shirt a deep crimson. The bite marks on his face and throat were ragged and vicious, a testament to the savage feeding frenzy he had endured. The coppery scent of his blood hung heavy in the air, mingling with the musty odor of the dank chamber.

Thick chains still bound his wrists and ankles to the chair, cutting into his flesh as he weakly struggled against the restraints. I approached slowly, my gaze locked on the broken man before me. His heartbeat was faint and erratic, fluttering like a caged bird within his chest. I knew I had precious little time to intervene before he succumbed to his wounds or was drained completely by my men.

Draining him was too easy a death.

Freddie raised his head, tears rushing down his bloody face. “Stop…please…have mercy…”

“I’m the Angel of Death. Mercy isn’t an option.” I snapped my fingers. “Dimitri.”

My brother-in-law grabbed a blade off the wall and handed it to me.

Freddies’ eyes pleaded with me as I stood over him, my finger running slowly over the blade. “Was it King Rankin that you owed money to?”

Istudied his face, watching for a tremor or a glance that would betray him.

Freddie shook his head wildly. “I can’t tell you.” He seemed to be more afraid of someone else. Someone scarier than me. Laughable! My reputation was enough to have people cower in front of me.

An unamused smile curled the corner of my mouth. “Keeping information from me also isn’t an option.” I grabbed his pinky and calmly sliced it off.

Freddie screamed and cursed as blood poured out of the stump. I licked my finger delicately where his blood had stained it.

I thought about it for a minute. “Is there another party involved besides Kings Keir and Trystan?”

Freddie strained against his manacles. “Please, you don’t understand?—”

I sliced again, cutting off his ring finger.

He spasmed and screamed. “No. Please, stop.” Not happening. He had hurt Serenity, and he would pay for it.

As I pulled back his middle finger, breaking it slowly, segment by segment, Freddie’s eyes bulged in agony. A fresh scream tore from his throat, his face contorted in a mask of pure anguish. He writhed beneath me, his body jerking with each sickening crack of bone.

“Please, stop!” he begged, tears streaming down his face. “I’m sorry, I’m so very sorry!”

His pleas fell on deaf ears. All I could think about was how Serenity must have cried and begged for mercy when he hurt her, receiving none. The thought of her pain fueled myrage, and I tightened my grip on his finger, bending it back further.

“You showed Serenity no mercy,” I snarled, my voice cold and unforgiving. “Now, you shall receive none from me.” I leaned closer. “Tell me who ordered the hit on Crescent Manor.”

“Noooo,” he wailed, shaking his head.

“You’re a stubborn one.” I broke the last knuckle of his finger with a final snap and then sliced it off, ignoring his anguished shrieks. I was getting tired of this game and tried once again to bring up my power of compulsion. “Tell me the truth.”

As I delved into Freddie’s mind, his eyes turned dull, and drool began to drip from his mouth, the usual signs of the power taking hold. But despite being within the walls of Crimson Stakes, where my abilities were normally amplified, I found myself unable to penetrate Freddie’s thoughts fully.

I pushed harder, focusing all my power on breaking through the barrier that blocked me from accessing the information I sought, yet Freddie’s mind remained stubbornly closed off to me.

Frustration and anger welled up inside me as I slowly realized that someone had managed to place a powerful psychic shield in Freddie’s mind, one strong enough to withstand even the enhanced abilities normally granted to me by Crimson Stakes’ dark essence. It was something I had never encountered before, and the idea that someone was able to hide the truth from me, in this place of my supreme power no less, sent a chill down my spine.

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