Page 2 of Blood Claims (Garnet Dagger Mafia #2)

“Yes, and the very same Vampire you chained to a bed in order to steal from us… I must say, Vanessa, your offences are stacking up indeed.”

I swallowed hard and told him, “I had no choice, I told you.” I honestly didn’t know why I bothered arguing, as I had already told them why before I left.

“You always have a choice, sweetheart, you just made the wrong one. But there is a way out of this… now tell me where you are,” he demanded, making me shake my head despite him not being here to see it.

“I told you, this is the only way,” I said in a pained way.

“And if I told you there was another way, what would you do then?” he asked, making my breath catch, because it was like looking down, suddenly finding out the floor beneath you was ice and it was cracking.

“I wouldn’t trust you,” I answered, making him scoff a bitter laugh.

“At least you’re honest,” he admitted before continuing, “Then let me explain exactly what is going to happen should you choose to trust the wrong people. First, you will find out that you have been fooled, that there is no curse and you are indeed our Fated.”

I shuddered, the seed of doubt starting to take hold.

“But by then it would be too late, as you would have handed over the keys to the kingdom. And it would all be for nothing, as in the end we would still hunt you down.”

I pulled back and looked down at the phone, my finger hovering over the end call icon. But, instead, I gave into temptation and asked,

“And the other option?”

“The other is so very simple, Nessa, you tell us where you are, give me back the dagger, and I will introduce you to a witch who will prove to you that you are exactly who we say you are,” Victor said, making me suck back a quick breath.

“And me? What would happen then?” I braved to ask.

“What do you mean?”

“Would you hurt me for stealing from you?” I questioned, making him sigh before admitting,

“You will be punished, yes, but not in the way you fear.”

“Well at least now you’re honest,” I muttered wryly.

“A Vampire King would kill you for far less had you not been fated to one. Lucky for you, you are fated to two,” he told me, making me tremble and, this time, in utter fear because it was exactly how I thought. Which is when I caught him out, and asked,

“And this witch, does she work for you?”

“That is irrelevant,” he stated firmly, and again it had me shaking my head.

“Answer the question.”

“Yes, she does, but I don’t…” It was at this point I interrupted him and said,

“Thank you for not lying to me, Victor. I will never forget how you both made me feel, I will never forget your love, even if… even if it wasn’t real…

goodbye,” I said, my voice shaky through my tears.

Then I ended the call to the sound of him calling my name for the last time.

After this, I tossed my cell to the couch, shrugged on my jacket, and grabbed my satchel bag with everything I needed in it for my visit to the witch before leaving my apartment.

Then I made my broken-hearted way to Yonkers.

Something vastly easier to do now that I knew I could just jump in a cab and get the driver to take me there without needing to pay.

Of course, I felt guilty about it because it was essentially stealing, but I wasn’t hurting anyone and right now, I knew I had to beat the sun.

Because if I couldn’t get the witch to drop this curse before nightfall, then I was screwed.

Not only would I feel compelled to search them out, but I would also be forced to do whatever they asked of me. And after this, then I didn’t really want to find out what that would be.

Especially since last night was the first time they had realized this fact.

When I had been forced to walk back to them and had done so without question, even after the horror I had seen in that warehouse.

I would have liked to have said that my ex had deserved it but I wasn’t that type of person.

I also believed a man like my ex would find Karma one day, but I didn’t want it with my name attached. I didn’t need that tainting my soul.

My soul was already tainted enough, thanks to my past. And as for my own Karma, well the second I stood in front of the hardware shop, I looked up and said bitterly,

“Let’s fucking do this, Karma.”

Then I walked inside and toward the back room, when I paused as I heard the witch talking on the phone.

“Yes, I understand, My Lord. I know what to do when the girl arrives. I have the amulet ready.”

I frowned, knowing she was most likely talking about me.

And what was this about an amulet? I squeezed my bag closer to me, hoping this was enough to get me out of this curse and that I was doing the right thing here.

So, I opened the flap to my bag, looked down at the dagger sitting there, and hoped doing this wasn’t going to just get me killed.

“Hello?” I shouted, making the woman say,

“She is here… yes… soon, My Lord.” After that, she appeared from the back room, her appearance almost the same as I had seen her last, looking like she had just stepped from a board meeting discussing the yearly profits.

Her red hair pulled back in a tight bun, giving her a far harsher appearance than when Stacey and I had first met her.

Her dark eyes quickly went to the bag at my side making her grin, as if she feared that I would have come empty handed begging for more time.

“Come, come, let us go into the back so as I can lift the curse.”

“I would prefer to stay out here,” I said, not trusting whatever she had back there.

“I can’t lift the curse out here, I have everything I need prepared in my room, come on now, you’re wasting time, girl, or are you stalling for time and want one more night with your vampires, is that it?” she mocked, making me sneer at her.

“Now hurry, before night falls and we miss our opportunity,” she said, turning and giving me no choice but to follow her.

I had no reason to trust her, but I had something she wanted and knew that she would have to lift the curse to get it. But then again, it did make me wonder why she didn’t just attack me and try stealing it? The thought prompted me enough to ask,

“Why didn’t you just take it from me? You’re obviously powerful enough of a witch to do it.”

Her sly grin spoke volumes.

“Clever girl, but alas, no. I have to remove the curse from you, or you will only end up getting in the way of things. The compulsion to go to them each night and having the ability to make things happen in your favor would complicate what is to come.”

I frowned.

“There is nothing to come, not for me. The deal is that I hand this over and get to go on with my life, that was what you promised,” I said, making her laugh.

“Did you really think that was all I would need of you?” she said, laughing with her back to me as she rummaged through something in the mess of things on one of the shelves. Of course, my blood ran cold at her words before I looked to the beaded door. But then she turned to me and warned,

“I wouldn’t try it if I were you.”

It wasn’t the threat that made me scream, but it was the face of the witch that had delivered it.

One that had now changed. Starting with that darkness around her eyes as it branched out, seeping into her skin like some evil essence lived beneath her flesh.

It rippled down her cheeks, like insects crawling in her veins, making me take a cautionary step back as my breath left me.

I turned and ran toward the exit but the second she threw out a hand, all those beads just latched on to me, quickly pulling me back through the doorway.

The cord they were attached to now wrapping around me and tangling me up like some human sized spider web.

But it was when I felt the ones around my neck tighten that my panic doubled.

Then they all moved in tandem until I was forcefully turned around so I was back to facing her.

The true nature of evil was one I could no longer hide from as the beads dug into my throat, keeping my head held up.

Her sinister smirk deepened as she walked toward me with that glass ball in her hand.

One that I could see was like a fucking storm caught inside it.

A darkness swirling faster and faster the closer she brought it to me.

“Time to say goodbye to your good luck,” she said before touching the ball to my head.

It took me back to when she had first grabbed me, when evil took me in its icy grasp. That same sensation of cold dread infiltrated my soul, leaving it stripped bare and open to the same forbidden otherworldly essence. And once again it felt like being… touched by death.

This brutal cruelty of hers quickly left me hanging there in her trap, unable to break free and being choked every time I tried.

Then she used her hand, commanding the beads to loosen at my bag so she could lash out with her claws, cutting not only through my sweater but also my flesh.

The searing pain hit me, making me scream in agony as my side was sliced open.

“Ooopsie,” she mocked, holding her clawed hand to her mouth, my blood now dripping from her thick black talons.

The bag was now in her hand and she opened the flap. I held my breath as I knew this was it. The moment of truth, because I had royally fucked up by trusting her. Just like Victor has said I would.

“Excellent, my master will be so very pleased,” she said, making me force down the pain long enough to grit out,

“You… you have what… what you want! Now let… me go!” I shouted, making her laugh and say,

“Not quite, I do, however, hope he won’t mind if you’re a bit broken, I will just have to say you fought me.”

“What are you…?” I never got to finish asking, because she seemed only too happy to tell me everything anyway.

“Turns out it’s not just the dagger he wants…

oops, didn’t I mention that part? Seems like this curse is afflicting more Vampires than you thought.

A curse I will never rid you of, not when it’s been so useful to me and continues to offer you up as bait,” she said, nodding to the top of the door and making the bead strings snap tighter.

Meanwhile, the pain quickly merged with confusion, as I spared a moment of the horror to question what she meant by that.

This thought process died the second her hold on me tightened painfully.

A click of her fingers was all it took for me to truly believe I was going to die.

Then she started drawing in two fingers, bringing me closer, and I was practically choking on my last breath as I couldn’t seem to fill my lungs.

My eyes watered, making the sight of her blur slightly as she pulled a necklace from her pocket. The black gem there glinting under the candlelight. It was one that she then dropped to the floor, right by her foot, as I got closer.

The sight of my desperate struggles only fueled the evil glint in her eyes, telling me she was enjoying what she saw far too much. And this wasn’t the first time I had seen a cruelty like this.

A need to feel powerful was only found at the expense of hurting others. She was a psychopath, through and through, and unfortunately, this wasn’t my first rodeo.

Which meant I wasn’t surprised when her eyes turned crimson and maleficent before she said,

“Or maybe he finds you a bit more than just broken.”

Then the noose around my neck tightened further as she said…

“Maybe he just finds you dead.”