The Den of Shadows Quartet - Amelia Atwater-Rhodes [8]
“Did I say you had a choice?”
I pushed her away with all my strength, but she barely stumbled. She grabbed my shoulders. Long-nailed fingers twining in my hair, she tilted my head back and then leaned forward so that her lips touched my throat. The wicked fangs I had glimpsed before pierced my skin.
I fought; I fought for the immortal soul the preachers had taught me to believe in. I do not know whether I ever believed in it — I had never seen God, and He had never spoken to me — but I fought for it anyway, and I fought for Alexander.
Nothing I did mattered.
The feeling of having your blood drawn out is both seductive and soothing, like a caress and a gentle voice that is in your mind, whispering Relax. It makes you want to stop struggling and cooperate. I would not cooperate. But if you struggle, it hurts.
Ather’s right hand pinned both of mine together behind me, and her left hand held me by the hair. Her teeth were in the vein that ran down my throat, but the pain hit me in the chest. It felt as if liquid fire was being forced through my veins instead of blood. My heart beat faster, from fear and pain and lack of blood. Eventually I lost consciousness.
A minute or an hour later, I woke for a moment in a dark place. There was no light and no sound, only pain and the thick, warm liquid that was being forced past my lips.
I swallowed again and again before my head cleared. The liquid was bittersweet, and as I drank I had an impression of power and … not life or death, but time. And strength and eternity …
Finally I realized what I had been drinking. I pushed away the wrist that someone was holding to my lips, but I was weak, and it was so tempting.
“Temptation.” The voice was in my ears and my head, and I recognized it as Ather’s.
Once again I pushed away the wrist, though my body screamed at me for doing so. Ather was insistent, but so was I. I somehow managed to turn my head away, despite the pain that shot through me with each beat of my heart. I could hear my own pulse in my ears, and it quickened until I could hardly breathe past it, but still I pushed away the blood. I believed, for that second, in my immortal soul, and would not abandon it — not willingly.
Suddenly Ather was gone. I was alone.
I could feel the blood in my veins, entering my body, soul, and mind. I could not get my breath; my head pounded and my heart raced. Then they both slowed.
I heard my own heart stop.
I felt my breath still.
My vision faded, and the blackness filled my mind.
CHAPTER 7
NOW
NEVER BEFORE AND NEVER AFTER have I felt the soul-tearing, mind-breaking pain I experienced that night. I have looked into the minds of willing fledglings; never have I seen my own pain reflected. My line’s strength comes at a price, and the price is that pain. It has changed us all. One cannot be conscious throughout one’s own death and not be changed.
Perhaps that was the worst part. Or perhaps the worst part of my story is yet to come.
The visions of my past linger in the present. Alexander’s face floats in my mind, and I cannot seem to make it disappear. My two lives have nothing in common, and yet as I stand in this house I feel as if I have somehow been transported back to the past, before my brother was killed.
Seeking a diversion, I bring myself to New York City I do not shift into hawk form. I simply bring myself away with the ability that only my kind has — the ability to change to pure energy, pure ether, for the instant it takes to travel in that form to another place. It takes me only a thought, and I arrive in less than a second.
I automatically shield my aura as I appear in the alley, not wishing to announce my presence to the world. Then I walk through the scarred wooden door that leads to Ambrosia, one of the city’s many vampire clubs. This place was once owned by another of Ather’s fledglings, a vampire named Kala. But Kala was killed by a vampire hunter. Yes, they do exist; witches and even humans often hunt our kind. I do not know who owns this place now that they have killed Kala.
The club is small and