Page 15 of Vampire's Bite

When he stood and loomed over me this time it was all I could do to keep the whimper that wanted to escape me trapped behind my lips. After leering at me for a moment longer he finally turned away, and I felt like I could breathe again.

"What the hell did you do to her?" Milo finally found his voice and rushed over to my cot. Those dark brown eyes of his stared down at me as he shook me gently. "Cordelia? Wake up!"

I was conscious but it was as if they were miles and miles away as he tried to rouse me from my stupor.

"I simply took what was rightfully mine," Massimo replied nonchalantly. He turned halfway to look down at me again and smoothed his hand over the wrinkle in his shirt.

"You went too far! You could have killed her!" Milo yelled, his eyes wide and panicked. He was truly frightened now.

As I began to fade out of consciousness, I eyed the food that I never got the chance to consume, strewn across the floor. Maybe I should have tried to eat more of it. Who wanted to die on an empty stomach? And maybe it would've given me the strength to fight through the darkness that was closing in on me.

Massimo shrugged at Milo as he walked out the door. "Perhaps I was overly enthusiastic. I doubt she'll die.” He waved a hand in the air as though whether I lived or died wasn't important, but they needed me didn't they? I needed to be alive to make that dumb phone call.

"She better live. You know we need her," Milo ground out.

Just as the door was closing Massimo's voice rang out once more, "I'm sure even if she did die we could use her to get the prince. That being said, she'll live."

But even I wasn’t sure of that.

14

Rook

Cross and I had decided to drive to Ash and ask him for his assistance. It was a long shot and Cross was hesitant, but I knew Ash was our only hope if we wanted to obtain a trustworthy familiar that could check on Gran without alerting the vampire hunters. It wouldn’t look odd for him to be there. I also knew that going to see Ash in person would make things go a lot more smoothly.

As we were driving, images of Cordelia flickered at the edge of my consciousness, like a candle’s flame being blown in the wind. There was a chance she was reaching out to me, and I wasn't going to ignore it. I pulled over to the side of the road and jumped out of the car, ran around to the passenger side.

"What the hell are you doing?" Cross asked, confused when I yanked open the passenger door.

"You take the wheel. I think Cordie's trying to contact me and I need to give her my full attention. Maybe I can connect with her again and figure out where she is this time." I didn't wait for Cross to argue. He rolled out of the car and stood up. I hastily took the passenger seat.

I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind so I could focus solely on Cordie and the wisp of her consciousness that I felt pressing against my own. When I finally saw her, she looked nothing like I expected. Not only was she barely present in our shared space but she looked...magical. Ethereal.

Literally.

There was a purple glow, like an aura, encompassing her body. It illuminated her in an otherworldly way and it left me questioning everything I knew about her. Could she somehow be more than human?

It wasn't just that though, she barely looked solid as though she was either fading in and out of consciousness or the barrier that was between us was unstable. She'd hadn't been completely solid for even a second, if there had been something behind her in this liminal space then I would have been able to see it clearly.

None of that stopped me from going to her though. Only I couldn't reach her. Not really. If I extended my hand, tried to connect with her physically then it might scare her since I'd probably go right through her.

Cordie opened her mouth to speak, but it was clear that she didn't have the energy to talk above a whisper. I strained to hear her. This wasn’t going to be one of those moments where she spoke and I missed it. I was a vampire. Had hearing like only bats and bees.

I took a step forward, placing myself as close to her as I dared and sucked in a short shallow breath and tried again. Finally, I was able to make out her words.

"Massimo has been feeding from me." She tried to lift her head and failed. Even the breaths she should’ve been taking seemed too much and I couldn’t see the rise and fall of her chest. The lavender haze that was around her seemed to fade along with the rest of her, making my own chest tight with worry. Her words shook me to the core. "He took too much this time."

Just when I had begun to calm down, rage took over. How could Massimo betray me like this? We had made a deal. I had offered him a position at court, and this was how he returned the favor. There would be retribution. One way or the other, he would pay. I was furious.

"Cordelia, can you see yourself at all? Your hands or anything?" I asked, wondering if she could see the purple mist I was witnessing. I wondered what it would look like to her.

She shook her head, a wince contorting her features as though even in this form she could feel the pain from the injury Massimo had inflicted, telling me that he'd fed from her neck and leaving me wondering if he'd tried to force himself on her as well. At this point I wasn't sure the man had any decency in him or lines that he wouldn't cross. Her voice was even weaker when she murmured, "I can barely see you."

Fear coated her words and radiated from her in a way that made bile rise in my throat. She thought she was dying, that much was clear. The worst part was I couldn't disagree with that conclusion, not without seeing her physically or being able to sense the bond between us. I steadied my voice. The last thing I wanted to do was to let her know that I was panicking, as well.

"Do you trust me?" I asked. If she didn’t there was no way for me to help her. And I had to know for certain.

"Yes," she replied quickly.

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