Page 45 of Kidnapping Their Third

Tobias shifted and raised both hands, hovering them over the three of them. He closed his eyes, humming to himself as he concentrated. Cora didn’t feel anything and was about to open her mouth when she realized she had no control of her body at all.

“I’ve put both of you under thrall, so you don’t scream,” he told them. “Unfortunately, I can’t block the pain. Brace yourselves”

That was all the warning she got and then it felt like someone was trying to rip her skin off.

Blood roared in her ears, and her lungs froze. She’d never experienced such pain in her life, and she couldn’t even scream. Could someone survive something this horrible?

It was a relief when her vision grayed, and she passed out.

Chapter 18

Kimble

Waking with a roar, Kimble shoved the vampire leaning over him and his flock with enough force to send the male sailing across the room. Scrambling to his feet, he found his flock unconscious on the floor. A quick assessment told him they were alive and asleep. He couldn’t discern any wounds or damage to either of them, but he could smell and see his own blood on the floor where he’d been lying.

Turning to face the other vampire, he prepared to kill the intruder who attacked him and his flock.

In the short time he’d been assessing his flock, the intruder had gotten to his feet and closed the distance between them. When Kimble turned to face him, the male was already in his face. Their eyes met, and Kimble found himself unable to move.

Normally thrall didn’t work on other vampires, but Kimble didn’t have his full magic behind him yet.

“I’m not here to hurt you or your flock,” a familiar voice said. Kimble was sure he’d known this vampire before he went feral. He got the impression of a cordial relationship. They hadn’t been close, but they weren’t enemies either.

“I don’t know how it happened, but I’ve somehow found myself the caretaker of vampires in distress,” Tobias said, sounding both amused and annoyed. “I’m unsure how I feel aboutall of it, but my helping others makes both my flock happy, so I’ll continue until it proves too troublesome.”

Tobias looked down at Kimble's unconscious flock, making Kimble want to growl and attack. He tried to fight the thrall and managed to move one arm, but that was it. Tobias looked back, easily subduing Kimble.

“The name you currently know me by is Tobias Becker, and you’ve been Maksim Laske for about sixty years now. Don’t attack me, Maksim. It’s my hope you'll come back to yourself before I’m forced to put you down.”

The threat didn’t surprise or shock Kimble. He’d thought the same thing, and Pike had lived in terror of Kimble being hunted. Kimble’s only concern was keeping his flock safe and as long as Tobias was speaking to him, he wasn’t doing anything to Cora or Pike.

He forced himself to calm down and wait for Tobias to release him.

Tobias gave him an approving nod. “That’s better. I’m going to leave now. After I’m gone, put your flock to bed and care for them. Pike will be better quickly, but Cora will need a lot of attention. I’ll have supplies delivered for all three of you. Even with more supply of human blood, you should drink from your bear after he’s recovered. I know you think it will hurt him, but it won’t. His blood will be powerful and help you come back to yourself faster.”

He paused for a moment, as if debating his next words. “Your human needs you to understand her fears, or she won’t agree to bind her soul with you.”

Where was this statement coming from? What had happened to his flock while he’d been unconscious?!

As if he could read Kimble’s mind, Tobias answered his question. “You traded some of your aura for a necklace and that weakened you. I was forced to pull aura from both of your flock to fix you. Even if the necklace granted Cora special powers, it wasn’t worth it. Your actions put your flock in danger. Don’t be that stupid again.”

Shame washed over Kimble. When he’d traded with the bruja, he didn’t think it would cause this much of an issue. Tobias’s presence near his flock while holding Kimble helpless was the reward for his idiocy.

He needed to do better.

He would do better!

“I see you’re starting to understand the severity of the situation,” Tobias said as he stepped back. “I’ll leave now. Don’t forget to pull the glass out of your chest, and don’t attack the people delivering supplies, or I’ll come back and put you down, even if it would make my Briar angry with me.”

With those words, the vampire turned. The moment Tobias’s back was to Kimble, the thrall broke, but Kimble didn’t attack. He followed at a distance as Tobias casually strolled out of the kitchen, then flung open the front door. Taking several running steps, he leapt into the sky and shifted into his bird form, flying out of sight.

Once Tobias was gone, Kimble rushed up and slammed the door shut. Not that it would do any good if the vampire wanted back in, but it made him feel better. He imagined he could hear Tobias’s mocking laughter as he rushed back to his flock in the kitchen.

He’d failed them in so many ways, but that ended now.

***

Pike

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