Page 32 of Until the Heart Stops
Pain.
It exploded through the back of my head, forcing a scream out through my lips as my back bowed. A red haze clouded my vision and I knew the tears were falling, even if I could not feel them. As the pain was wrenched back, I fell forward onto my hands and knees, spluttering against the bloodstained stones. My muscles twitched and I found I could not lift my head.
“Pathetic,” Mael spat. “Again.”
The black-haired vampire at his side, Raya, hesitated for a beat too long, and I was grateful she was giving me a moment to breathe before she sent her power barreling toward me once more. It flattened me onto my stomach until I was prostrate before Mael’s bare feet, arms outstretched as if in supplication. This time I could not even scream. The muscles in my throat had locked so tightly that instead I made a strange sort of wheezing sound. It was acid and fire and lightning all in one, ripping me to shreds until I was sure I was nothing but a pile of ash.
The day after All Souls Mael had called me into his chamber to question me further about my absence. He’d ransacked my mind until I was trembling, but he hadn’t found any indication I was guilty of any wrongdoing. But our maker wasn’t a fool, regardless of how mad he might have been, and I knew he sensed something was amiss within his household.
However, he could not prove it, so instead he’d turned to the one thing he prized above all others: suffering.
Each night for the last two weeks he’d summoned me into the empty ritual chamber as soon as I woke. But instead of a poor human sacrifice, I was in their place. The only regret I had was that Raya, a relatively young vampire of only around two hundred years, was forced to witness my screams. It took a lot to rattle her, but by day three her hesitations had become more and more pronounced.
“All this wailing,” Mael muttered as he gestured for her to stop. “You sound like a human child. Once more.”
Another beat, a moment to prepare myself, and I thanked Amayah that Raya had not yet succumbed to Mael’s brainwashing. This time I did not make a sound, pushing back the groan threatening to rumble up through my locked throat. Black spots bloomed at the corners of my eyes and, though I knew I couldn’t die from this, there were moments in which I wished I could.
The bond between Lilith and I was closed. I’d made sure of it before I ever entered the chamber. If not, she would have felt a glimmer of the agony I did, and I would not risk that. But I was already dreaming of when it would be over, when her presence would be allowed through. It wouldn’t be long now. Mael had gotten what he wanted and he was growing bored.
Yes, there he went, padding off on bare feet toward his hidden door. The moment it shut Raya withdrew herpower, panting. She scrambled on the stones, reaching out, and I braced myself for the fresh wave of pain waiting to overtake me when she helped me to my feet.
“Don’t. You’ll hurt him more.” Mateo’s deep voice rang through the room.
Two sets of footsteps came closer, two sets of hands slipped beneath me, cradling my chest and my legs. I groaned, head lolling on my neck, as they helped me upright before Mateo slipped one arm beneath my knees and cradled me to him as if I was a boy and we were not almost the same height.
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” Henry growled.
Mateo lifted a hand for quiet, but Raya had been making a show of closing the shutters at the same time to cover their footsteps. Even the air moving against my skin hurt. My older brother tried his best not to jostle me as we descended the steps, but each shift was another crackle of lightning beneath my skin.
“Almost there,” he murmured.
The familiar scent of our wing passed over me and I sighed. But the sigh turned into another rasping gasp as I was lowered onto my bed. Delicate, cool hands brushed against my brow.
“Lil—”
Someone shushed me, drawing out the sound so it was one of comfort.
But no…it wasn’t her, only a moment of my own madness. When I was able to open my eyes and truly see, it was Gabrielle above me, frozen with a wet cloth in her hand. She waited for me to register her presence before she went back to wiping the blood from my face. Henry came to my other side, grabbed one of my hands and pressed his thumbs into the palm.
“Take a breath,” he instructed in a solemn tone that sounded nothing like him.
I did, the air whistling down my throat and leaving fire in its wake. But as I exhaled, a little of the pain abated. Henry nodded to himself, moving up to my chest and loosening the ties enough to press his palms against my skin.
“Again,” he murmured.
And again, as I exhaled, the pain receded a little more. Henry’s gift was just that: a gift. Over the centuries he’d studied with Eamon in secret to hone his power and I was never more grateful for his tutelage than right now. As the minutes slowly ticked by, Henry’s power worked its way through my system, smoothing out my frayed nerves and eliminating the pain. Raya’s power was not merely the illusion of pain, as a few other vampires had, buttrue pain.
She could kill a mortal if she was turned on them. Even Lycans were susceptible to it. Though vampires could not die from it, if left long enough the damage could take years to mend.
“Let me go,” I breathed, lifting my arms to tap Henry’s wrists.
Slowly, he sat back onto the bed, but when I went to sit up Gabrielle clicked her tongue. “Give yourself another minute.”
I shook my head and sat up anyway, running a shaking hand through my hair. Cautiously, I opened the bond, reaching for Lilith. She was there but it was faint, as if she were resigned to my absence and no longer sought solace in our connection. Or perhaps it was waning and soon I would be unable to reach her altogether.
A new sort of pain pierced my heart, more agonizing than anything Mael could inflict upon me. But this hurt threw me into action as I rose from the bed, shucking off my blood-sweat-stained clothes.
“Callum, darling, is there a reason why you’re getting naked right now?” Gabrielle teased, covering her eyes with a hand.
