Free Web NovelChapter 99: Bloodthirsty I
"You got injured? By a human? Petral, you’ve gotten sloppy." A woman’s sharp voice cut through the fog in my mind, causing my eyes to flutter open. I realized I was lying on the floor, bound and tied in bright silver chains.
How ironic. They had treated me the same way I treated Lydia. Thankfully, I didn’t feel any pain, but the metal was cold, and the floor was even colder.
From my limited vantage point on the floor, I could only see a stone ground, with rocks strewn around everywhere. One was digging into my mid-back like a particularly persistent masseur with a very pointy finger.
And there were two pairs of shoes in front of me. One pair featured expensive leather loafers, and the other a pair of pointy red heels. Another voice spoke.
"You would not say that if you had to fight her, Ariana," the vampire who must have been Petral complained with a whine. "No human has that much supernatural strength."
"Maybe you’ve been skipping your blood-drinking sessions, more like it," Ariana scoffed. "Look at how skinny she is! Oh, wait― our little birdie is finally awake."
Shit. I didn’t manage to close my eyes in time. So much for the element of surprise; I was roughly grabbed and rolled so that I was facing the ceiling, and I saw two heads peering down at me. One silver, one blonde.
With how their features looked so similar, I’m guessing they were siblings. Either that or cousins at the very least.
"Who are you?" I demanded, "Why did you capture me?"
"Now, there’s no need to be coy, I’m sure you heard our names back when you first woke," Petral said. "But I suppose introductions are in order. Petral, Ariana, and you, are our bait, Harper Gray."
"Bait?" I repeated before the realization sunk in. Of course, they weren’t going to kidnap me for me. They wanted to draw out Blaise and Damon. I chortled. freewebnσvel.cѳm
"What’s so funny?" Ariana demanded, digging her heel into my belly, causing me to wince in pain.
"You want to defeat Blaise and Damon with only the two of you? Fat hope." I was certain that my kidnappers were going to die a very slow and painful death. "If you let me go, maybe they’ll be convinced to make your death as painless as possible."
I got a kick in the head as a response. I wheezed in pain.
"Do you think we’re stupid? Of course, we made precautions," Petral said. I waited for him to elaborate, but he clearly had some sense to keep his mouth shut for now. I needed to know more.
"You’re surprisingly hardy for a human," Ariana observed as she ran a gentle hand across my forehead, causing goosebumps to trail in her wake. Her fingers were icy cold, and the tips of her fingernails were razor-sharp. One wrong move and I could easily imagine her slicing me to ribbons with her hands alone.
"You aren’t even bleeding anymore. A pity. Your blood smelled extraordinarily enticing back when Petral carried you here. I almost wanted to help myself to some."
"Then why didn’t you?" I asked curiously, even as part of me was afraid of the answer.
"I might overdo it," Ariana said simply, running her tongue across her fangs as she focused on the skin on my neck. Her hand drifted down to my neck, pressing down at the sensitive juncture between my neck and shoulder, right on top of Blaise’s mating mark. I wondered if Blaise could feel what was happening on his end.
Probably not, since Damon had blocked the bond. I wondered how long they would take before they could find me.
"I need you alive. You are very special to a lot of people," Ariana finished, her fingers stroking the underside of my chin.
"Thanks for your honesty, I think," I said, trying to avoid her touch with limited success. I was a worm on a hook. "I suppose the both of you tied me up in silver to make it more difficult for them to rescue me?"
Petral nodded smugly. "That’s not the only silver in this place. This entire place is fortified with silver and wolfsbane. If they want to rescue you, we’ll make them bleed for it. Especially Damon Valentine! I need him bleeding at my feet!"
"You’re going to be disappointed," I said, sensing a possible weakness. "Damon isn’t going to expend so much effort to save me. He hates me."
"Say it again without that pretty necklace decorating your neck," Ariana retorted, her eyes flashing with malice. She twisted the delicate necklace with her fingers, causing me to choke. "He gave you an enchanted necklace that’s worth a country. Lost to the ages, plundered from pack to pack. Infused with powerful magic to ward off the unworthy. And you still think he doesn’t care about you?"
My eyes bulged out, both at her words and at her nearly strangling me with my own necklace. It didn’t seem to hurt her the same way it hurt the werewolves.
"Sis, you’re going to cut her neck at this rate," Petral said, his eyes dark with desire. He licked his lips as he watched me struggle. "Can we have a bit? Just a little taste? It might make us stronger for later."
Ariana paused, and a calculative look entered her eyes.
"Fair enough, Brother. We’ll each have a little suck," she said before she leaned down and sank her fangs into my neck, tearing through my skin as though it was wet paper. I yelped in pain, then shuddered as I felt myself grow increasingly lightheaded― it was a strange experience, to feel my blood flowing out of me as I watched a vampire feast on my neck as though it was delicacy.
"Sister! That’s more than a bit!" Petra complained, pulling Ariana away. The bottom half of her face was smeared with blood, and her lips and teeth were stained a bright red.
"It was too delicious to stop," Ariana said with a guttural groan, but she reluctantly stepped back to let Petral have a go at me.
"Stay away!" I demanded weakly. "I swear, I’ll make you pay for this!"
"And how will you do that?" Petral asked, but he didn’t wait for an answer before jabbing his teeth straight into the other side of my neck.
I let out a cry of pain― Petral was rougher than Ariana, and he wasn’t a quiet eater either. Pleasured moans escaped his mouth, and soon I found myself sinking back into the darkness.
