Page 65 of Taken By the Vampires
“Everyone in this town owes you money, Herman. How many have ever paid you off?”
There was a murmur behind the Trinity. When it came to money – people knew. Feet shuffled and weapons lowered. I was only voicing concerns they already had but they’d all been too afraid to speak out. No one but me, and that’s why they’d made sure to make my life a living hell.
Anger thrummed through me like a living thing. Xander, Cassius and Davon bristled behind me. I tamped down my emotions, not wanting to push them over the edge. Just enough to buy me some time with the townspeople.
“Just give us the word, Tu Ena and we will end this,” Cassius growled so low I was sure I was the only one to hear.
“A little longer. Please,” I said.
I felt Cassius relent. But only just. They hung on by the barest of threads, but I had to let everyone know the truth. How blinded they had been. How controlled we all were. It was wrong. So, so wrong.
“Think about it, everyone. Who has fines they have to pay? A parking fine. A speeding infringement, even when you knew you did nothing wrong. Threat of jail time. Who owes money? Who do you owe it to? If it’s from any other bank than Herman’s, I’d be surprised. And who hasn’t been damned to Hell if they didn’t turn up to church and hand over a high percentage of their wages each week? I know many people who’ve gone without power and food because of that.”
The stark silence that rang out behind the most powerful men in Conway was more telling than the angry shouts.
“And why have they brought you here at all? It’s just me, Mom and three men. Surely our threat doesn’t warrant pitchforks and threat of violence,” I said.
“You stole my son’s truck,” Ellis said.
“He was going to rape me and I ran away to protect myself,” I said.
“You left your mother alone to die. No God-fearing daughter does that,” Jeremiah said.
“I nearly died and these men nursed me back to health. Where were you when a member of your congregation needed you?”
“You could have saved you and your mother if you had money,” Herman said.
“And I wouldn’t have had a roof over my head before the year was out when I couldn’t meet the repayments. You would have tossed us out on the street,” I said.
Jeremiah pointed his fat, stubby hand at us. “Enough of this blasphemy! They are sinners! They need to be punished. They need to die! They cannot be allowed to live in such deprivation. Die and meet your judgment day.”
I didn’t know why we needed to die when our bond was formed out of the purest love. A second passed. A bridge of confusion before something in the air clicked. Confusion gave way to evil hostility. People throbbed with murder, driven by an unseen force.
The time for talking was done. The mind-control over centuries was too much to break with a short conversation.
“Bond us! Now!”
I lifted my wrists to Davon and Cassius. With inhuman speed, Xander was at my neck. They bit down. There was a moment of pain before I shattered apart in a shower of golden light and oblivion.
Chapter Forty Five
I shot upwards and exploded apart in a glorious ball of brilliant white light. There was no end and no beginning. I was a part of everything and everyone all at once. I had an understanding of how infinitesimal I was, yet my awareness was beyond comprehension.
I was aware of all possible dimensions of the universe, the expansion of consciousness but also something much, much more.
Fate. Karma. Destiny.
The lives all every living entity, intricately intertwined, perfectly balanced, criss-crossing beyond life and death and beyond.
The possibilities of expansion and life were staggering. More awareness brushed against mine. Fire, heat, desire, and oh, God, love. So much love. Timeless and endless. It washed over me and through me.
Xander.
Cassius.
Davon.
I reached out and brought them to me, immersing myself into their essence. In an instant of realization, I knew every little thing about them. The quality of their souls. Their quirks. Their hurts and triumphs. Their intentions and their base desires. And the love. The love. The love. The love.
