Page 4 of Bleeding Love

A small flame blossomed in the middle of the darkness, and I shielded my eyes as its light spread. Pretty soon, the flame turned into a fire when whoever wielded it lit up an oil lamp sitting on top of a small wooden table.

I let my hand drop, looking at the man beside it. The light barely reached his wide shoulders, but the predatory stillness with which he stood and the cold presence he exuded told me all I needed to know.

So I hadn’t been saved after all—not that there was anyone who would want to save me. But if I was still in the hands of the same vampire, why hadn’t he killed me yet? Vampires were practical killers unless they were in a frenzy, so it made no sense to bite me, bring me here, and keep me alive. Unless he was planning to hold me as a prisoner and drain me slowly over time. Not that I was going to allow that.

“Not the talkative type, are we?” he continued, taking a step forward. The light of the lamp crept over his shoulder, illuminating a profile made of sharp edges and perfect lines. His hair was dark and neatly styled in the latest fashion—thicker, more voluminous side part that gave his head a fuller look, and a front that swooped down to create a small fringe. It suited him, but it also revealed too much of that inhumanly pale, handsome face. He probably wore some enchanted artifact to hide his nature from the humans. The smarter ones usually did.

He let out a loud sigh—a very strange sound coming from someone who didn’t need to breathe. He took another step closer, so I retreated to the opposite side of the room until my shackles reached their limits. The edges of his lips curved in amusement.

“Who are you?” He cocked his head, looking me over from head to toe. It occurred to me then that I was probably a complete mess. My dress had been ruined even before I ended up in that forest, and my hair had fallen from its chignon about the same time I was thrown off my horse.

I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering why his didn’t glow red, even though I was basically covered in blood.

“Why is your blood so potent, witchling?” The vampire went on with the questions as if he wasn’t bothered by the lack of response. Another step took him to where I had woken up, and he looked down at the ground, where the lights of the candle danced over the stains of the blood I had left. “Why did you attack me?”

“Me? I told you to leave me alone, butyouattacked me!” I snapped. His smile grew, triumph dancing in his eyes. I instantly regretted opening my mouth.

“So she does speak,” the vampire chuckled. He lowered his eyes to the chain that connected my shackles to the wall, and he tapped it with his finger. A vibration passed through the metal, shaking my binds even though he barely touched it. “How about we make a deal, little witch? You tell me your name, and I will take those cuffs off. I’ll even let you out of the dungeon. What do you say?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. Was he stupid or was he bluffing? My name was a small price to pay for getting out of this place.

“Celeste,” I replied, and his eyes bore into mine as if he were trying to determine if I was lying. He must have gotten his answer, because he stepped closer. I tensed, but even when I tried to move back, the binds stopped me.

He raised his free hand with his palm up, motioning for me to go to him. I hesitated. It was never a smart idea to go near a vampire, but considering I was chained to the wall and he hadn’t attacked me, it was safe to assume he wouldn’t do so now.

His eyes remained on my face even when he slid his long fingers under my wrists, making me painfully aware of how big his hands were in comparison to mine. By then, my heart was racing so fast that I was afraid he’d forgo his part of the deal and just feed on me instead.

His lips moved, uttering the incantation so quietly, I couldn’t catch the words. Not that it mattered, only the person who put them on could take them off with it.

The metal clicked open on one of them, and magic flooded my body. I looked at my other hand impatiently, then back up at him. He was still staring at my face, as if already knowing what I was planning.

“See? Good girls get rewarded,” he smirked while he unlocked the second cuff. I held my breath as I watched him, the heaviness around my wrist disappearing.

I reached for my magic, but even if he noticed it, he didn’t react.

“And cocky bastards get punished!” I snapped, sending it right into his chest. I expected him to dodge, he was fast if nothing else, so I had a second spell already gathering power in my other hand. Surprisingly, my first one did the job splendidly. Well, almost.

His back hit the wall with bone-shattering speed, but the stone only cracked. I had hoped he would go through the wall and give me time to run, but he fell to his hands and knees, only wobbling slightly.

“Shit!” I cursed, hurling the second spell toward him. I doubted it would do any better than the first one, but if it could buy me a few seconds of a head start, that was enough.

I charged toward the door I had spotted when he lit up the lamp, not bothering to close it. Running up the stairs with my muscles crying and cuts reopening was harder than expected, but even as I reached the top of the staircase, he still hadn’t followed. If I had a moment to spare, I would have stopped to consider why he wasn’t rushing after me, but that wasn’t a luxury I could afford.

I threw my magic against the door and it flew off its hinges, landing heavily on the floor. A bright light blinded me, but I continued to run while I wrapped myself in magic in case anything else attacked me. By the time my eyes adjusted to the brightness, I had crossed a long, posh corridor with paintings hanging on the walls, and all kinds of objects resting on high busts or decorative tables. I spotted a door that looked like it might lead outside and ran toward it. Yanking it open, I gasped with relief when I saw the houses on the street and the brilliant moon above.

I took a step forward, ready to run faster than I ever did in my life when something pushed me back. For a moment, I thought the vampire had finally caught up, but the resistance came from the front, not from behind me. I lifted my hand to the open door when my fingers pressed against a spell. The work was excellent, the magic self-absorbing, so there was no need for a witch to feed it and recast it every once in a while.

“Damn it!” I cursed as I stepped back and raised both my hands. I dug deep into the well of my power, grabbing more and more until I could barely hold it together. Then I hurled it toward the open door, not caring if the whole house fell along with it.

Magic crashed against magic, and for a moment, time stopped. Then I was sent backward with such might that I crashed on the floor and rolled several times while everything around me exploded. The sound of glass shattering, and objects falling to the floor and breaking into pieces, was the only thing I could hear while I lay with my hands over my head.

Why didn’t it work? I had just sent a witch life’s worth of magic against that damn spell. It should have incinerated it! What kind of ward was that and what did I need to do to break it? I had to do it before that vampire caught up with me or…

“Do you always go into a raging fit when you wake up, witch?” an exasperated voice spoke from above me, and I pulled my hands away, only to realize that the house was still up. The floor was littered with torn paintings, broken furniture, and all sorts of objects, but the damage was laughably minimal. “If you had given me the chance, I would have told you that the house was warded. I don’t like it when my food escapes, so a witch was…kind enoughto help me make sure that doesn’t happen.”

I turned my head until I finally found him leaning on the wall nearby, casually dusting his jacket. As if sensing me looking, he smirked.

“You think I’ll let you drink my blood again?” I snarled, staggering to my feet. A sharp pain pierced my calf, and a quick look down told me it was bleeding. The vampire’s nostrils flared as if he had noticed as well, but his eyes—dark, but still not red—remained on mine.

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