Page 5 of Bleeding Love

“I don’t think you can stop me from doing whatever I want to you, witchling,” he scoffed. My blood boiled in indignation. I motioned with my fingers to the nearest pile of rubble, and the legs of a chair lying on the ground snapped, flying toward the bloodsucker. In a blink of an eye, the three stakes—not blessed, so likely not strong enough to kill him—were moving toward his chest; in the next instant, he had them all in his hand. His smile dropped, replaced by a bored expression. “Was this supposed to prove something?”

“Fucking vampires,” I sneered, raising both my hands. My magic gathered the broken pieces from the ground, too many for him to dodge no matter how fast he was. His eyes narrowed, red taking over the black, but before he could do anything, the sound of hurried steps filled the corridor.

“Master, master! There is a ghost! Things are moving by themselves! Please, save us!”

A figure appeared from one of the doors, dressed in a maid uniform. Her hair was flying wildly out of her white cap, while her face was drained of color. When she noticed the destruction in the corridor and the rubble flying in the air, she froze, her eyes growing even larger.

Human. She was human. He had humans here.

The vampire glanced at the maid—so fast I almost missed it—and I made the decision in that second. Taking aim, I hurled everything at her. Just as expected, he lunged, grabbing the woman and disappearing inside the room where she had come from, right before all my charges slammed into the wall with a deafening boom. A crack ran through the stone, but I was already turning, ready to flee.

Maybe the spell was weaker on the second floor, or maybe if I blew up the roof, I’d be able to…

A hand wrapped around my throat, and I was slammed against the wall. I winced as another source of pain was added to my collection, opening my eyes to find a pair of red ones right in front of me. There was no amusement on his face anymore, not even boredom. Just overflowing annoyance.

For a human? He got angry because I attacked his human? He was a vampire!

I dug my nails deep into his hand, but then he tightened his grip until I couldn’t breathe. I gritted my teeth but released him, glaring twice as hard.

“Do you know how difficult it is to find good servants who are not riddled with disease?” he snarled and I blinked in surprise. Was he angry because I almost damaged his help? Not because she was precious to him? “Kill one of them and soon you’ll be taking over their work without your magic. Do you understand, witchling?”

“I’m not a witchling!” I snapped, digging my nails into his hand again. His touch was freezing, but against my burning skin, it felt almost…soothing. His eye darkened again, and he set me to my feet but didn’t release my throat.

“You have two choices,” he said, his thumb sliding over my neck until it found a vein and pressed tightly on it. I gulped but tried my best not to react. “You will behave yourself and do what you’re told, or I will put the shackles on you again, and then even the humans will be able to punish you if you make a mess. What is it going to be…Celeste?”

I swallowed the anger simmering in my chest, hating the way my name sounded on his lips—or rather, hating how my body reacted when he spoke it. It had been so long since anyone had used it that it felt strange to hear it.

When his eyes started turning red again, I raised my chin with all the dignity I had left.

“Fine. But you’re not going anywhere near my blood.”

The smirk returned to his face. “We’ll see about that.”

He held my gaze for a few more seconds, then moved past me, exposing his back as if taunting me to attack. The human maid, along with two others, was peeking over the door frame where she had appeared earlier.

“Clean up this mess,” the vampire ordered, and the three humans sprung into action. “Her too,” he added, nodding toward me almost in an afterthought. The two men started gathering the rubble while the scared maid tiptoed to my side. “Oh, and Celeste,” the vampire stopped, finally turning to look at me from across the corridor. “The spell masks everything inside the house, so even if you blow the whole place, nobody outside will notice. All you’ll achieve is to kill everyone here, including yourself, and destroy one perfectly suitable house. Just in case you were getting any clever ideas.”

The maid stopped by my side, fidgeting nervously. When the vampire gave her a sharp nod, she caught what was left of my sleeve and tugged.

“This way, madame,” she whispered, pointing to the stairs. “Better do what Master says. He doesn’t like to be questioned.”

I kept staring at the vampire’s back as he walked away with a slow, unhurried gait, disappearing into another room like the destruction didn’t bother him one bit. I turned around, eyeing the spell surrounding the house, before following the maid up the stairs.

I was stuck here until I found out how to break the ward, so I might as well get cleaned and patched up before hisbenevolenceran out. Because once I figured a way out of there, I was going to make him regret bringing me into his nest.

Chapter 3

Roman

Liftingmycloaksoit wouldn’t sweep over the charred ground, I continued through the remnants of the forest. The fire that was supposed to hide the massacre from being discovered by the townsfolk had devoured more of the woods than I expected—no doubt fed by the witch’s artifact. Now the incident was all the people talked about, their voices full of fear and relief, as they praised their god and thanked him for saving their homes. Nobody had discovered the human remains—not that there was much to discover at this point, but I thought it prudent to get rid of them just the same.

That also gave me an excuse to get out of the house, away from the witch’s blood that kept calling me louder and louder the longer I stayed in her presence. All that power, vitality, and sweetness. I couldn’t remember the last time I was tempted like this.

Shaking my head, I focused on my surroundings. Something shiny caught my attention next to a skull that was almost intact. I stepped closer to examine it, and a bone shattered under my shoe as I leaned down to pick up the blackened silver chain. Soot fluttered from it while I studied the thick disk hanging from the bottom of it.

The fire had hidden most of the inscriptions on its surface, but I had seen enough of those to recognize it immediately. A Guardian’s Seal—only the highest ranking members of the Order could wear those. A Grand Master of the Order wouldn’t bother with hunting, and a Master wouldn’t be stupid enough to go out with such a small entourage, so it had to be the Guardian of the local Temple. Still, even a Guardian was too important of a person to be sent after a single witch. Just what was up with that woman, and why was the Order so ardently pursuing her?

I had so many questions that my head felt like it might explode. I couldn’t remember the last time I was this interested in another person, but there was something about those emerald eyes and the wild spark of defiance in them that tickled my dormant curiosity. And the fact that she hadn’t offered that information while begging for her life—or freedom—was making me even more suspicious.

---