Page 13 of Bleeding Love

For a minute, I heard nothing, but then the quiet creak of the floorboards, as if someone had shifted over them, reached my ears. Only one person judging by the sound of it. That was manageable, even without my powers.

My eyes stopped on the wall mirror just behind the door. I grabbed the wet cloth the maid had left behind and wrapped it around my hand. I couldn’t afford to bleed, not if I wanted my plan to work. No matter how heavily Roman slept during the day, my blood would give me away even before I got close to him.

I took a deep breath. Locking my eyes on the mirror, I smashed my hand into it. There was a loud thud outside as it shattered, so I let my arm fall, adjusting my stance while the door flew open. The servant rushed inside, but he didn’t see me until after I slammed it shut behind him.

His eyes widened as he watched me draw closer, but before he could make a sound, my fist connected with his windpipe. Coughing and heaving, he fell on one knee, still staring at me through watery eyes. I pushed away the pity that tried to crawl into my mind at the sight of his pained face and smashed my knee into the side of his head. A loud crack reverberated through the room, and he slumped to the floor. Blood trickled from the wound and I noticed with annoyance that it had gotten on my skirts as well.

Snarling, I started removing my clothes again. Standing just in my underdress, I crouched beside him and pressed my fingers to his neck. His pulse was strong, so he’d be fine unless the concussion killed him. Not that it mattered, he was on borrowed time from the moment the vampire brought him here.

I stepped away from the unconscious body, listening for any sounds of another person approaching. I had taken care of him quickly, so there hadn’t been much commotion. Unless someone had been in the corridor outside, I doubted they would have heard it.

I glanced at the wardrobe, wondering if I should put on another dress, but decided against it. That would take too much time and it would make it harder for me to move. The sun was going to set soon too, so this was my chance.

I strode to the bed, kneeling by the mattress. It had been easier to open it with my magic, so by the time I tore the cloth now, I was sweating. Pushing my hand into the stuffing, I searched for my treasure there, smiling when my fingers wrapped around the wooden stake. I had broken another chair the day before, when I still had my powers, and crafted several of those, just in case. I let the servants find the other two stakes so they would lower their guards, but held onto this one for good measure.

Next, I retrieved the small bottle with a few drops of holy water left inside. This one had been even harder to obtain since Roman’s compulsion ran deep with his servants. My initial plan was to charm one of the humans to get me out, but I soon realized there was nothing short of fracturing their brains that could make them turn on the vampire. Even getting this tiny bottle of holy water now seemed like pure luck.

I uncorked it and carefully poured the remaining drops on the wood. Slipping out of the room, I glanced left and right to make sure nobody was coming before venturing down the corridor. I had seen the maid going in that direction several times, and considering the servant quarters were on the first floor, Roman’s room had to be this way.

I took a turn, and when I found myself in another short corridor leading to a single door, I smiled. Nobody took away my freedom and my magic and lived to tell about it. Not even a powerful vampire whose gaze haunted me, even with my eyes wide open.

Chapter 7

Roman

Aloudcrashfollowedby an even louder scream had me jumping out of the low cot where I was sleeping. My bed was pushed into the farthest corner of the room, between the small wardrobe and the wall, so no light reached it, even though I knew it must be day already. Fighting with the tattered blanket that barely kept the chill at bay, I limped in the direction of the noise.

Leaning on the doorframe, I searched the room for the source of that pained scream, my heart beating so fast that I felt like I might throw up. My eyes landed on the two women kneeling on the floor, with my father looming above them.

“Stupid wench!” he snarled, grabbing the younger woman by the hair and yanking her to her feet. She squirmed, shoulders caving in as her hands moved to wrap around her protruding belly. Her face was barely visible underneath the long blonde hair that fell in front of it, but her pregnancy set her apart. Eela, my eldest brother’s wife.

“I’m sorry, forgive me! Please!” the woman hiccuped between sobs, but my father’s face only grew redder the more she spoke. “I didn’t mean to spill it! The baby kicked and my hand slipped!”

My gaze lowered to the plate at their feet, my father’s dogs already devouring what was probably intended to be someone’s breakfast. My three brothers sat by the window, watching the scene unfold with snickering smiles. Eela’s husband was leaning his head on his hand while he played with the hair of my second brother’s wife, Carilla. She stood stiffly next to the men, biting her lower lip while her eyes darted between the floor and my father’s back.

“Janus, please!” My mother’s voice rose over Eela’s quiet sobs as she moved to wrap an arm around the younger woman. “She is pregnant! Please, be merciful! She has never done that before! I will clean it up and cook more! Please!”

My father barely seemed to hear her. Instead, he yanked the girl’s hair again, and the sound of strands tearing filled the quiet room. I winced while she wailed, her face contorted in horror and agony. When my mother caught his wrist, my father finally looked at her.

“Please, let the wretched thing go. I’ll take her punishment.”

He seemed to consider it for a moment, then finally released the girl. She dropped in a heap on the floor, hugging herself as her sobs got hollower. Even though I knew what was going to happen next, I was too slow.

My father swung, his massive hand catching my mother in the face. She barely made a sound when she dropped to the floor, rolling to her side with a soft groan. My father’s foot landed in her stomach before she had the time to curl herself, and he sent her sliding across the room until she hit the wall. Watching him getting closer to my mother, I snapped out of my shock.

The others had stopped smiling; even Eela had stopped crying, all staring in horror while he prepared to kick my mother again. Her body twitched, but she didn’t move, likely still stunned by the previous blow. If he landed another one while she was cornered like that, he could snap her back, kill her even.

I moved without thinking, wincing at the sharp pain that pierced my injured ankle. I had hurt it while working in the field, and I had been recuperating since I couldn’t stay on it for long without making it worse. But at that moment, I didn’t care. I could have outrun the wind if I had to.

“Stop!” I shouted as I threw myself forward, catching my father’s foot just before it slammed into my mother. He lost his balance, almost toppling over me, but I was too busy gasping for air to hear his curses. I landed on the floor between him and my mother while he took a step back, seething with rage.

“You useless worm!” he snarled, spit flying from his mouth. “What do you think you are doing? I feed you and give you a roof over your head, even though you’re nothing but a burden, and you dare get in my way? This is my wife, my family, my house! If I want to kill you all, I have the right to do it and none of you may stop me! Do you want to die, boy? Do you want me to flay you outside and leave you for the birds to feed on until you’re dead?”

“No,” I whispered, lowering my eyes obediently. “I am wrong. Please don’t kill us.”

My father growled and for a moment, I thought he’d hit and kick until we were all truly dead. After an impossibly long minute, he just stormed out of the house, snapping to my brothers to follow him. I watched them leave, murmuring insults as they went to grab their tools.

I didn’t move until their voices were barely audible in the distance. My second brother’s wife rushed to where Eela sobbed on the floor. I noticed my third brother’s wife, Livia, peeking from the door to the kitchen where she must have been hiding, her eye a fading shade of green. She hesitated, but then stepped into the room, pausing next to Eela before heading toward me.

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