Page 11 of Fated In Blood (Nocturne Vampire Clan #1)

11

EVANGELINE

I barely managed one strike before Bosch overpowered me, his grip so unforgiving my bones ground together. I ignored the lash of pain, bringing my other arm up to land a punch, but he knocked my fist away.

He blocked every blow, every kick effortlessly, trapping me in a headlock, one arm cruelly twisted behind me until my wrist bent backward. My vision flashed black, then white, then black again, bile burning up my throat.

I’d planned for every single contingency, except for the fact my sister was a fucking vampire .

Wanted to be a vampire.

There had been no signs she’d been unhappy.

Nothing to lead me to believe she had any contact with our enemy. Both of us were living together in a small apartment in downtown Cleveland, waiting tables, and our lives had seemed boringly…normal.

Then one night I went to work, and when I came home, she was just…gone.

I laughed bitterly, Angelique’s eyes widening like I’d lost my mind. Spencer, of all people, had tried to warn me, and I hadn’t listened . I was so convinced I knew my sister better than anyone else, I’d based every decision on my own arrogance.

But I would never forgive myself if I didn’t try one last time.

“Please, Angelique, you can’t just…leave your past completely behind. You don’t even know Tyrell. He’s evil; he’s going to ruin you.” I yanked against Bosch’s iron grip, then tried another tactic. “Fine, then. If you’re not a prisoner, then explain why you’re here, so I understand.”

“Really, Evie? You should have stopped while you were ahead.” The smoke outside in the hallway was already thinning, a deep commanding voice booming out instructions, the screaming becoming a low, panicked hum.

Our window of escape was shrinking—okay, our window had passed—but I couldn’t accept the fact my sister was… one of them .

Not in danger or a hostage, but a willing participant in this debauchery.

My heart ached so badly. Angel had abandoned me—without a word of goodbye. If she’d planned any of this, she hadn’t trusted me with the truth. She’d given up her own sister for…fucking Laurent Tyrell.

“You’re the only family I have left,” I murmured, knotted up by my utter failure. “I never gave up on you, Angel, not even when everyone said you were dead. I couldn’t believe it. I wouldn’t believe it.”

She cocked her head, such a cold, clinical move my heart stuttered. “The cops were glamoured to be convincing. You should have moved on, Evie.” Her sad smile was edged with enough cold cunning that fear sliced through me. “Now…I honestly don’t know what he’ll do to you. Spencer might have been a sniveling little shit, but he was Laurent’s only heir and vampires take their bloodlines very, very seriously.”

“Please…please, he’s breaking my arm.” One nod from Angel and Bosch released me. I doubled over, whimpering, then yanked out another knife, plunging it into Bosch’s throat so hard the point punched out the other side, blood frothing between his lips when he collapsed.

I backed toward the door, self-preservation finally kicking in. My sister was with Laurent Tyrell. Maybe she was brainwashed, but she believed she loved the bastard. She was a vampire, and if I didn’t get out of this castle, I was going to die.

And my sister wasn’t going to save me.

I licked my lips, trying to control my churned-up feelings. “Last chance, Angel. We could be free.”

She flicked her eyes toward the door and smiled. “Why would I ever want to leave this place? Laurent gives me everything I want. Goodbye, Evie. I do hope you survive what’s coming. Remember, immortality isn’t so bad.”

I darted left, away from the smoke and the chaos, racing deeper into this wing of the castle.

I didn’t have a lot of time before Bosch was back on his feet. Every hallway took too long for me to navigate, and every fucking room looked the same, until I finally reached my destination. A plain pine door with no moldings and a simple brass handle.

I sped up, reaching for that handle, freedom just on the other side.

Bosch appeared right in front of me, and I slammed into him hard, his bloodshot eyes burning with hate, the gaping wound in his neck still gushing blood.

He flung me across the corridor into the opposite wall, gasping for air as I collapsed at his feet, spewing a mouthful of bloody spit over his polished boots.

“Time to make you suffer, little bitch.” Bosch’s ruined face was truly something out of a horror movie, the front of his uniform soaked with blood.

He was going to kill me. Right here, right now, I would die, unless I killed him first.

“You think your sister’s going to protect you? She’s the master’s mate. She thinks she loves him. Lord Tyrell is going to take you apart, piece by piece for killing his son.” His steel-toed boot slammed into my stomach and hurled me back against the wall. The bastard squatted down, lifting me up by my hair.

“You won’t live to see tomorrow morning, and if you do…you’ll wish you hadn’t.” He’d taken the brunt of the bomb. Red, blistered flesh seeped with pus, one eyelid completely gone. Which was why it was a miracle he didn’t see me plunge the sharpened sliver of white ash through his ear and deep into his brain.

Bosch dropped like a stone.

He wouldn’t stay down long, maybe five minutes, tops, enough time for me to clear the castle and reach the edge of the grounds. I tasted the tang of blood as I stepped over him and went through the door. Alone.

Fucking alone . Fury built as I imagined leaving my sister here, a vampire’s pretty plaything, and I made myself a promise.

They would all die for what they did.

Every last one of them.

The Historical Registry of Homes kept very thorough records, including the original blueprints of this house, and I’d studied them for hours, mapping out various escape routes from the castle, including the multiple sets of servants’ stairs.

I’d thought I’d be taking Angel with me, but right now, I’d be lucky to get back to my car and out of this town alive.

I took the stairs two at a time. Bosch would be on his feet in a matter of minutes and following my scent. Even in his injured state, he’d be fueled by rage, and I wouldn’t stay ahead of him for long.

Halfway down I fumbled my last explosive device out of my pocket and set the timer for two minutes. Enough time for me to clear the door at the bottom of these steps and get onto the grounds.

At the very least, Bosch would have to go around another way; at most, the explosion would kill him and be another distraction to buy me time. But this castle was old, the timbers rotten, so there was a chance the whole wing might collapse, and my sister was still up there.

My sister, the vampire.

I slapped the device onto the stone wall and kept going.

The dark side yard was teeming with guards and enormous dogs, moving back and forth across the grounds, noses to the ground. Flashlights cut through the night like blades, and I wound my way through the bushes, then crept out onto the grass, wishing I wore something besides this blue dress.

But I wasn’t completely defenseless.

I still had one knife remaining in my thigh sheath—Bosch was a fool for not patting me down earlier—two ash slivers and two syringes of silver oxide. And three hundred feet of ground to cover until I reached that drop-off into the park.

The explosion blew past me like thunder, tossing me to the ground, huge chunks of rock crashing all around me, carving divots out of the manicured grass. And all of a sudden, I was in the worst place possible as every guard and dog rushed toward my position.

I dodged through reeking black smoke and blocks of stone until I reached some sort of walkway, following that toward what I hoped was the edge of the property. Behind me one of the dogs bayed and I looked over my shoulder, stumbling when I saw what pursued me.

That wasn’t a dog.

I flattened myself to the grass and stayed perfectly still while two hulking forms sped past me, noses to the ground. I’d never seen anything like these creatures. Built like tanks, their legs were oddly jointed, clawed feet digging deep into the turf with every step, powerful bodies covered in thick, leathery skin. But their faces…I sucked in a panicked breath and the closest one stopped dead.

Fuck . I scuttled backward on my hands and knees, fumbling at my thigh sheath, sweaty, shaking fingers slipping off the syringe until I finally pulled it free. The monster thundered toward me, head low, teeth…Oh God, I’d never seen anything like those teeth.

At the last possible second, I rolled to the left and plunged the syringe into the thing’s leathery shoulder as the creature sped past, ripping the vial from my hand and damn near severing my finger. I didn’t wait to see it go down, just dug my bare feet into the thick grass and raced for the edge of the grounds, gaze fixed on the dark line of trees beyond the stone wall.

Shouts went up and the ground thundered beneath me as the guards gave chase. I pulled my last syringe, grasping the plunger in my hand, ready to stick the first thing that got close. The stone wall grew closer and closer. I could hear the river down below in the park and sucked in a searing, sobbing gasp.

One second the way before me was clear.

The next, Bosch was there.

I crashed straight into him, bringing my hand down in a perfect arc to shoot him full of silver oxide. He blocked my attack with a powerful blow that snapped my wrist, the blast of pain locking my knees. I went down, tumbling over and over across the grass until I came to a stop.

Something wet dripped onto my face and I cracked open an eye.

One of the monsters caged me between those enormous legs, curved talons inches from the side of my head, saliva dripping from its fang-encrusted mouth as the beast sniffed me over, flooding my lungs with rancid, disgusting breath that made me gag.

“Move so much as a muscle and I will order him to devour you while you’re still alive.” Bosch chuckled. “They like to start with your liver, which I hear is extremely painful.”

Yeah, I had no contingency plan for monsters the size of an elephant.

None whatsoever.