Passion Follows Pain (Passion Series Book 3) (26 page)

He pulled her nightgown down again to cover her from Fabian and Sirene’s eyes and his gaze travelled over her legs until he reached the shackle around her ankle. He pulled on the chain and saw that she was attached by the chain to one of the legs of the bed. The bed was anchored to the floor so he wasn’t sure how they were going to get her free without a key.

His eyes shifted back to her face and pain lanced through him at the sight of her. God she was a mess. Her own fucking father had done all that to her. How, how the hell could her own father treat her like that?

“Baby, come on, it’s me, Lucian, I’m here for you. Please open your eyes.” He begged, taking one of her small hands in his and raising it to his lips before placing it back down on the bed.

She groaned, her one eye that wasn’t swollen shut opening and she turned to look at him, wincing with pain. As he watched, tears began to run down her face, squeezing out from under the swollen lid of her left eye and a ragged sob was torn from her.

“Lucian? Oh god Lucian, is it you? Are you real?” She reached out to him with a shaking hand and he took it.

“Yes baby, it’s me. We’re here to help you, to save you. That bastard can’t do anything more to you now.” He kissed her cold hand. “We have to get you out of here; we need to leave soon, once it’s dark. Can you move?”

“You can carry her Lucian, Sirene you pack up the bedding, her father’s clothing, anything that he’s brought into the room. I’ll go and get the rope and masking tape. Once it’s completely dark, we’ll leave. One of us has to drive his car. It’s not staying here. We’ll dump it somewhere along the way. Nothing is to be done to him until we get home.” Fabian gave Lucian a warning look. “Once we’re home we’ll put him in the dungeon until we decide what to do with him. Nothing will be done until the girl is better. She’s more than earned the right to decide his fate. Is that clear?”

Lucian nodded. He wanted to tear the bastard apart but he knew now was not the time and he agreed with his sire, Arissa was entitled to choose her father’s fate. She’d suffered for years because of him and the bastard had beaten her almost beyond recognition and raped her. It was only fair that she was the one to choose what happened to him.

“Lucian, I wet myself. I’m so ashamed.” Arissa drew his attention back to her and he reached for her when she began to sob in earnest.

“God baby, don’t worry about that. You’re tied to the bed, you couldn’t reach. It’s not your fault. We need to get you free. Do you want anything?”

“I…I’m so thirsty. Can I have some water please?” She whispered.

“Of course, hang on while I get it for you.” Lucian climbed off the bed and went through to the bathroom to get her a drink. Sirene followed him and her expression was concerned when she met his eyes.

“Are you alright? We got to her Lucian. This is not your fault. She is strong, she will survive but we need to get her home. We can help her heal if we give her blood but she will need a lot of blood. Her injuries are quite severe.”

“I want to kill him.” He admitted quietly. “To walk in here and see him on top of her.” He raised anguished eyes to Sirene through the bathroom mirror. “He was raping her. He had his fucking cock inside her; his own daughter. Do you have any idea how much that sickens me? I hate him, no, I loathe and despise him. I just want to tear him to pieces, starting by ripping that fucker’s cock off. That prick will never fuck again that’s for sure if I have my way but then he’ll never do anything again, if I have my way.”

Sirene placed a hand on him. “You will get your chance but you have to keep calm. We need to get out of here without drawing attention to ourselves. You have to concentrate on your girl now. Don’t let her feel like she’s dirty because you’re so angry about her being raped. She might think you’re disgusted by her and you don’t want to risk her feeling like that. Now get her that water and go help her. She needs some blood so she can be moved without causing her too much pain. Go Lucian.” She patted his arm and he filled the glass with water and walked back out to Arissa.

Arissa

I ached, god my body hurt. I don’t think there was a part of me that didn’t hurt. I opened my eye, the only one that would open when I felt the bed dip and Lucian climbed on with my glass of water in his hand. I stared at him, still finding it hard to believe he was here, that he’d come for me.

He looked so angry, so…well, I wasn’t entirely sure, but something was bothering him.

“Here you go baby. Can you sit up a little? I don’t want you choking on the water.”

I tried to slide up the bed so I could rest my back against the headboard but it was so incredibly painful. I cried out when pain in my side stabbed through me from where father had used his belt on me.

“God baby, no, let me help you. I’m so sorry that I didn’t get to you in time to stop that bastard. I’m so sorry, so sorry.” He whispered and I reached out for him, needing to reassure him that it wasn’t his fault when I heard the pain and despair in his voice.

He supported the back of my head while I drank; the cold water feeling so good as it ran down my parched throat, although the stinging of my split lip made me wince. When I’d had my fill, I collapsed back on the bed and met his beautiful, but tormented eyes. It was obvious from the emotions crossing his face that he blamed himself for what had happened, but no one could have predicted my father would be lying in wait, to grab me.

“It’s not your fault Lucian. If it wasn’t for Sirene’s abilities you probably still wouldn’t know where I was, and if I hadn’t reached that phone or managed to memorise your phone number…” My voice trailed off. I was reluctant to think about what could have been. Father was going to rape me and possibly kill me or hurt me so badly I might never have recovered. “Where…where is father?” I asked.

“He’s on the floor. Fabian’s restrained him for when we leave. He’s bound his arms and legs and gagged him. You don’t need to worry; he can’t hurt you anymore.”

“When he was raping me all I could think of was you Lucian. I pictured you as I saw you last night, without your shirt and that made it easier to put up with what father was doing. I learned one thing from this, no more being scared of my own shadow. He’s not going to break me, I want to live, to feel, I want you. I want you to teach me. I want you to help me live.” I looked up at him to see how he was reacting to my words.

“Oh god baby, you are so brave and strong and I don’t deserve someone like you. You are sweet and kind, so beautiful.” He placed the water on the bedside table before lying down beside me and carefully putting his arms around me.

“Don’t touch me I’m all dirty.” I said and promptly burst into tears again. “I smell, I wet myself and I want to shower. I’ll make you smell and I’ll bleed on you.” I sobbed.

Lucian’s arms tightened around me in response. “You don’t smell and I’m not going to let you go unless I’m hurting you. You can’t have a shower here, because we will be leaving soon. We need to get you home and we need to get your father back to our home. We have to be careful we are not discovered. Fabian works hard to make sure what we are, is never discovered. The staff here will work out something happened but, we’ll have taken all evidence with us. This motel’s not exactly five stars so it’s unlikely anyone will investigate to find out what happened here.”

“Can you get me free? I don’t know what father did with the key but I don’t want to be on this lead any more.”

Sirene came over to the bed and sat down by my foot that had the shackle around it. “We don’t need the key Arissa. I will get you free using witchcraft.” She said and slipped her fingers under it. “Release.” She gave the quiet command and I gaped in surprise when the shackle fell away from my leg.

I tried to sit up now I was free and although Lucian released me to let me move, it still hurt too much. He sat up and kneeled beside me on the bed. “Baby, I need you to do something for me and not freak out. Vampire blood can heal a human. I can’t give you enough to heal you completely. It would take too much for now, but I want you to feed from me to help ease your pain. Will you do that for me?”

I stared at him in confusion. I didn’t have fangs so how could I feed from him? “I don’t understand. How do I feed from you? I don’t have fangs like you do.”

“You don’t have to drink like we do. I will break my skin so I bleed and then you can just suck up my blood.” He said and I watched, cringing when he bit into his wrist and literally tore a chunk of flesh aside leaving a gaping wound that began to bleed freely. “Open your mouth now agapi mou.”

I opened my mouth and Lucian pressed the open wound down over my lips. I reluctantly took a couple of sucks at the blood expecting it to taste awful. I’d had plenty of nosebleeds as a child and I wasn’t exactly fond of the taste of blood but this was different. His was sweet, really deliciously sweet and I began to suck in earnest enjoying every mouthful of his blood.

All too soon he pulled his wrist from my mouth and I watched as he rubbed some of his blood over the wound. Amazingly it healed almost instantly and as I contemplated the power of vampire blood, I felt a strange feeling pass through me. The split in my lip healed over and I stared in shock as the cut from my father’s belt went from a raw, bleeding, angry looking wound to a pink, tender looking scar.

“You’re looking better already little one.” Fabian’s voice nearby took me by surprise and I turned my head to where he stood by the window, watching and waiting for night fall.

“I feel better, not all completely healed but this wound, the one from father’s belt is almost gone now. It is the miracle cure, vampire blood.” I smiled up at Lucian. “I thank you all for finding me but I have one request.” I turned to each one of them. “I want you to make me vampire.”

Chapter Seventeen

Arissa

“No.” Fabian’s tone was firm as he spun around from his position near the window.

I stared up at him in surprise at the vehemence behind his tone and found him frowning at me. Even Lucian was staring at him in shock.

“Why?” I asked.

“Baby we can’t just make anyone and everyone vampire but sire, why so adamant about your decision? I think Arissa would make a wonderful vampire.” He took my hand in his and kissed my palm.

“There is no time to discuss this now.” Fabian’s tone was harsh, the expression in his eyes surprisingly steely. “Becoming vampire is not something to be treated lightly. It is not something that can be decided on a whim, and although I agree with Lucian about you making a good vampire, I don’t trust your motives for wanting to become one.” His strange pale eyes bored into mine. “Now, it is dark enough for us to leave from here. Lucian, I want you to help me carry him.” He gestured to the unconscious body of my father who lay bound and gagged on the floor. “We carry him upright, like we are supporting a drunken man, alright? We want this to appear like he’s consumed too much alcohol should anyone see us. Fortunately there does not appear to be many guests at this motel so it’s unlikely anyone will be close enough to see he’s tied up.”

I watched as they carried my father out to the van they’d travelled in since it was considered the best vehicle for easy transport. Next Lucian helped me up which although still painful, was easier after the blood he’d given me, and with his arm around my shoulders, he led me out and lifted me inside, buckling me into the front passenger seat before he disappeared back inside the room. When they came out again Fabian and Sirene went to my father’s car and got in while Lucian climbed into the van’s driver’s seat and started the engine.

“I thought they were taking the linen from the room.” I said. “There was blood everywhere and I’d peed on the carpet. Aren’t they worried about DNA or something?”

A hint of a smile curved his lips. “So CSI of you baby, but Sirene decided she could take care of the problem with witchcraft. She’s cast a spell on the room which has turned it back to how it would have looked before your father even took you there.”

I frowned. “What about the motel manager? Father booked the room so someone knows we were there.”

“It’s a shitty motel, more the hire by the hour type. I don’t think they’re going to be calling in the FBI for this one. Fabian left money on the bed for housekeeping to find. Stop worrying. We need to get out of here and get you home, well home to our place first. We have work to do and we have to cover our tracks so we are going to be forced to alter Mrs Appleby’s thoughts I’m sorry. We need her to forget that you went missing.” He grinned at me, a fleeting smile before his face reverted back to his serious look. “It’s handy having a witch in the family sometimes.”

“She’s going to know something’s wrong Lucian. Look at me.” I waved my hands over my blood splattered nightgown and the battered mess that I was. The blood had healed some of my smaller wounds and reduced the more severe ones, but a person would have to be blind not to notice how beaten up I still looked.

“When we’re home I’ll give you more blood. I just have to be careful I don’t give you too much or I’ll become too weak.”

“You can feed off me if you want.” I told him and he looked over at me briefly as we drove, following Fabian and Sirene in father’s car.

“I want to but you have been through so much. I don’t want to hurt you. You have no idea how much it was killing me not knowing where you were. I knew that bastard was hurting you. I could feel it and in my mind I could see it.” He turned anguished eyes to me again. I want to kill him. I want to tear him to pieces but he’s your father and Fabian thinks that you should be the one to determine his fate and he’s right.”