Page 1 of Sergi
Prologue
The slow dripof water trickled onto the hard stone floor, the endless sound echoing through the dark, dank tunnels. Lanterns, barely bright enough to ward off the lurking shadows, reflected down the wide passages that led to a maze of narrower ones and dimly reflected the aged wooden doors. Behind each one, small barren rooms carved from granite like the tunnels themselves were empty.
Except for one.
In that cell, third from the end of this particular passage, the latent sound of a harsh pounding followed by a slamming door slowly pierced the peacefulness of sleep.
The beast woke.
It took a moment for its eyes to adjust to the darkness. It was weak. Thirsty. Tremors clutched its gut, and every nerve ending sizzled as if on fire. The bone-chilling air was the only comfort, numbing most of the excruciating pain.
But nothing tortured it more than its hunger. Its ravenous need to feed.
The only peace was in slumber.
Sometime later, the vampire lifted his chin and glanced through the dim light, confirming he was still alone. That was good.
He dropped his head, his body held upright by a four-inch steel band that stretched across his chest and bolted to the wall on either side of him. His arms were spread wide, held in place by narrow steel manacles strapped to the wall.
Even the beast wished for the hard surface to lay on.
He wasn’t sure if he’d fallen asleep again, but his eyes popped open at the scratching of wood on wood as the bar that locked the door was lifted. His body tensed, preparing for the next round of torture—or worse—the tainted blood.
The door scraped along the stone floor as it was pushed open. The light from the hallway cast a long shadow of the lone figure. It scurried in, quick as a mouse.
The beast howled.
Chapter One
Four weeksearlier - somewhere in the Carpathian Mountains
I unrolledfrom a fetal position and slowly stretched my aching muscles, stiff from the cold air. Eleven months and the chill still bothered me. Though not nearly as much as the hard surface of the stone floor, barely tolerable beneath the thin, lumpy pad.
I pushed back my unwashed hair, still expecting to feel the long, dark strands that had been sheared off when I’d first arrived. It had grown to frame my face, but even this short, it was dull and tangled. At some point, they’d chop it off again.
Accustomed to the darkness, I made my way to the bucket in the corner, lifting my knees in a highly exaggerated manner, a macabre march to start the blood flowing, grimacing as the pins and needles sensation worked its way through me. After squatting to relieve myself, I continued with my morning ritual, shuffling to a different corner to run my fingers over the scratched markings on the rock wall. I bent and picked up the small stone tucked away in an easy-to-find spot and spent several minutes scratching another mark. I ran my fingers over them as I counted and breathed a sigh, pushing back the tears I thought I’d spent months ago.
Day twenty. Bath day.
Thank god. I didn’t think I could take another day of my own stink.
After performing my daily exercises, I ran a filthy finger over my teeth. It was the only way to remove the film from the evening until the daily ration of water arrived with the porridge. If I was lucky, they’d include a hardboiled egg.
Even better if they assigned me to a work detail. I hadn’t been given one since my last bath day. Not after I stuck Tallon, my guard, in the neck with a fork. He didn’t die—unfortunately. But he was the floor leader, and no one questioned his right to take whatever female he wanted.
Until I said no.
I’d take the twenty days locked alone in my cell to rape any day. The fear had dissipated months ago, but I wouldn’t give up hope or my humanity. Not yet.
The dull whacks of the billy club on wooden doors brought me around to face mine, placing myself in the middle of the room, ready to defend myself. Or grab the breakfast tray the guard slipped through the slit in the bottom of the door.
The next few moments were a fifty-fifty chance of going either way.
When the bolt securing the door slid to the side, I braced myself. They didn’t come to take me for my bath until midday. Maybe I was being assigned to a work detail.
I squinted against the glare of the light as the door burst open. When the shifter came at me, I moved as quickly as I could, but there was nowhere to run in my ten-by-ten cell. It was more my well-honed instinct not to make it easy on anyone meant to harm me.
It was useless to fight, and most of the time, I played the game and appeared weak—but not with this guard. Tallon quickly caught me and slammed me against the hard stone wall.His hand gripped my neck, holding me in place, and I tugged at his fingers as he slowly choked me, my feet dangling an inch from the floor.
