The footsteps were quiet, but I could tell he wasn't trying to be. It would've been a wasted effort with me anyway. And stealth wasn't Darius' style in any case. He would want me aware, frightened.
I wouldn't give him that satisfaction.
"What do you want?" My usually low, melodic voice was carefully modulated and splintering with ice.
"Why didn't you finish the job?"
I smoothly unfolded from my sitting position, rising in one liquid motion. Anyone observant would recognize it for what it was: the grace of an experienced predator. The tension inside me was invisible as I turned to face him. "Send me on a different one."
"You backed out. You didn't even try." He was almost talking to himself, and my stone heart sank in my chest a little. "You know what that means..."
He looked up at me then, and I clenched my jaw. I had once, for a brief moment, thought him handsome. But that was before his behavior eradicated any thoughts of his looks. "Give me another chance. You know they would have destroyed me. I can serve you in other ways."
His eyes darkened. "Beg me."
"Please," I said, past pride. "Please, it's not his fault. I'll do anything."
"It's too late," Darius bit out harshly. "Watch."
I froze as he started displaying a video on the big screen monitor. No. No. NO! My beloved brother, Logan, was on the screen. His curly blonde hair was matted with blood, his face and body disfigured by swelling and vicious-looking bruises. His big gray eyes were filled with wild terror as Darius' blood-sucking lackeys closed in on him, licking their lips. Then he looked straight at the camera, seeming to focus for a moment.
"I love you, Jett," he choked out.
A wrecking ball destroyed everything inside me as I watched the vampires on screen brutally murdering him. He tried to be brave, but he wasn't as strong as I was, and I was further tortured by his stifled grunts and muffled screams of pain. I went numb, unable to fully comprehend what I was watching until they stepped back from my sweet, helpless baby brother, who wasn't moving. I couldn't see him breathing.
"Yeah, he's dead," Darius taunted. "And you only have yourself to blame."
I whirled on him. "I will make sure you die slowly. I will send you back to hell where you belong."
"You won't get the chance," he replied. Vampires started swarming into the huge room, filling it, while more waited outside the doors. "Consider your contract... terminated." And with a final smirk, he turned and left.
I sized up the horde facing me. There were probably at least a hundred strong male vampires, and they all looked thirsty for my blood. The numbness started to fade, leaving behind a devastating tidal wave of rage and sorrow. I let the anger fill me up until I felt I couldn't contain it anymore, bursting with unearthly wrath. The power flowed into my limbs, suffusing me with a dark, sinister glow.
"Who's first?" I snarled.
Immediately, they surged forward. I let myself go in a frenzy, snapping necks, ripping arms and legs and heads off, crushing chests. I growled in triumph whenever another monster fell, feeding the one within me. Faces started to blur together; I killed faster and faster as my brain stopped forming rational thoughts. Corpses started piling up around me, thrown against walls and shoved out of the way.
Eventually the tide turned. I started to accumulate injuries; my body trembled with fatigue. I fought doggedly on, determined to take them to hell with me. Even so, I became unable to move fast enough, and I was hit again and again, claws ripping through my clothes to leave ragged cuts which bled freely.
Suddenly, my wrists were snagged by a grip of iron, curved claws slicing into my skin. He dragged me to the floor, and immediately three more climbed on top of me, latching into my throat with their filthy fangs and sucking, hard.
I fought them, but my body had become heavy, leaden. I couldn't even kick them with enough force to make a difference. Betrayed by my not-quite-human body. I struggled to suck in air to fuel my curses, until I was reduced to panting shallowly, just trying to stay conscious for a few more seconds. My vision started to fade to gray.
Through a wall of white noise, I vaguely heard a few heavy thuds and bangs, and I distantly registered fangs being ripped out of my throat. I groaned inwardly, assuming that it was a fight for my blood, and tried to move away while they were distracted, failing miserably.
Then a warm hand cupped my neck, covering what I knew were ragged holes. I shuddered, not wanting to be kept captive for future sport.
"Please," I gasped. "No..."
"Sam, put pressure on that."
That voice... what the hell?
"Just... leave it. Don't... deserve it..." I tried to tell them.
"Stop talking," he ordered tensely.
"Begging... you..."
Then everything mercifully went black.
