I felt nothing but terror as my captor finally stopped running. Was he stopping to kill me? Or…something worse?
The thought of anyone doing such a thing to me again sent bile up my throat. No. I would fight with everything I had to get to the knife Maximus insisted I carry and plunge it into my captor's chest. If that didn't work, I'd think of something else. I would not be taken again, not when I hadn't even been with Maximus, the man I loved, in such a way.
This filth would die before I allowed it to happen. I could feel the knife brushing against my leg with every movement, but my arm was stuck at an odd angle. I couldn't reach it from my position slung over his shoulder. Maybe if I could convince him to put me down long enough I could stab him in the chest, Maximus had said that twisting the silver blade in a vampire's heart was how to kill them... With any luck, Maximus was still in the forest or nearby and I could scream for him to find me.
Turning my attention to my captor, I tried to not let on what my plan was. "What do you want from me? I don't have money…"
My captor stiffened, the previous guilt I'd seen before becoming clearer as he shook his head. "I don't want anything from you. I don't have any illusions that I'll survive this either. I know who the voivode is and the man who claims you as his own."
Confusion made me pause in trying to stealthily get to my knife. If he knew all that then why was he doing it?
Apparently I asked out loud, because he answered. "My daughter. I received a picture today and a message that if I didn't bring you with me, she would pay."
Something in his tone made me pause, who would want me so badly as to orchestrate this? Lance was the only one who came to mind but he had no idea where I was and no strings to pull in Romania. At the end of my rope, I tried to reason with him.
"You can still go to Vlad. He might save your daughter, even if he does kill you. Besides, what guarantee do you have that doing this will save her?"
He stiffened under me and briefly I felt hope that he was coming around, only for that hope to be blown to smithereens when he whipped out a knife from his jacket and lifted me up. Terror bit at my soul as the knife's tip lodged into my stomach, but before I could try to convince him not to kill me, a deep growl froze me in my tracks.
The sound sent chills through my spine, but not of terror. Looking up, I locked eyes with Maximus's grey and felt nothing but relief. Tears overflowed as I choked out past sobs that were building in my throat.
"Maximus!" I saw his muscles tense into granite, his mouth tightened into a thin line as he glared with a truly terrifying bloodlust at my captor. He was ready to spring the second this knife was out of my stomach.
I felt blood trickle down my dress, Maximus's eyes flickered down to follow it before another rumble came from his throat that seemed to silence all the sounds of the forest around us. Leila's hand clamped onto his shoulder, most likely stopping him from making a lunge for me and possibly driving the knife in further.
I blinked in surprise when I could only see Leila and Maximus, Vlad nowhere to be found to my confusion. Where ever Leila was, Vlad shouldn't be too far behind, so where-?
It clicked in the next instant as Leila began talking to my captor. Vlad must be waiting for an opportunity to strike. My eyes subtly began searching the surroundings for his form only to give up after a moment. Just knowing that he was most likely there helped sooth my fear as I listened to Leila stall.
"What were you hoping to gain by kidnapping my sister? Everyone knows Vlad doesn't make deals with people, he kills them and I'm no different."
I felt my captor tense, the knife twitching in my stomach and forcing a bubble of blood past my lips as pain burned through me.
When my captor made no move to answer, I gritted out. "His daughter is ransom." My words were immediately met with another jerk of the blade that had me crying out, the noise pulling an animalistic hiss from Maximus.
Leila grimaced, her eyes locked onto the slowly stretching injury and how fast I was losing blood. We were going to have to hurry this along or I'd bleed out before any of them could get me out of here
"Alright, your daughter was taken hostage, I'm guessing. So how about this, you let her go and give us all the information you have. Then I track your daughter through her essence trail left on you. Everyone wins." Leila's compromise made me freeze in shock, did she seriously think Vlad would go for that?
However as her words rolled around in my mind, I realized that she'd never said what would happen to my captor. Only his daughter.
I kept my mouth shut as he seemed to think it over, not knowing the trap that waited. After a moment, his face scrunched in desperation before he shook his head. "You don't understand, she told me that my daughter would be sold if I didn't do this. I can't risk her living that hell that so many other children have to."
A sickening realization came over me. A child trafficking ring. How had that taken form in Romania of all places!? Before I could ask, Vlad spoke out from the shadows.
"And how would such a thing take place right under my nose?" My captor spun to face Vlad, ignoring Leila and Maximus as he focused on the new threat.
"I don't know. She didn't tell me anything else. Just gave me a picture and instructions. I can't-." The rest of his sentence was cut off as the clearing erupted into a blur of motion. With his attention focused on Vlad, Leila released Maximus and lunged for him.
Seeing the movement out of the corner of his eyes, he ripped the knife out of my stomach and lunged for Leila. Terror burned past the pain as I saw him turn to my sister like a cornered animal. I couldn't let him hurt her!
Finally able to reach my knife, I ripped it out of its sheath and buried it into the man's thigh. His howl rang in my ears as his arm struck me, sending my flying back into a tree. I felt my spine crack as a cry wrenched from my lips and my veins turned to liquid fire.
The next time I opened my eyes, my captor had a furious Leila perched on his back with Vlad standing not far off with a truly terrifying smile leveled at the one pitifully shaking under his wife's voltage. Before I could take in a painful breath, Maximus was crouched next to me with a bloody wrist pressed to my mouth.
I couldn't understand what he was saying, but I knew what he wanted. Through my befuddled mind, I forced myself to drink his blood. Seconds later I felt as the bones in my back snapped into place from their painful collision with the tree and the open wound on my stomach close as if it had never been there.
The sounds around me finally began to make sense, the first thing I heard being Maximus's low voice whispering soothing nothings in my ear as his hand stroked my stomach where the injury had healed. Taking his hand, I squeezed it and watched as relief poured through him.
Before I could say anything, my captor's voice cut through the air in response to something Leila must have said
"You said you can track? Please find my daughter, I don't care what you do to me, but please don't let her suffer in that hell."
I watched Leila glance at Vlad, who grimaced. I knew that if they went along with it now it would make Vlad appear weak at best and put a target on my back as well.
After a moment, Leila nodded to Vlad before refocusing on the man wedged under her high heel. The sight impressive in more ways than one as I watched my sister snarl down at him.
"No I wont help you. Here's what I will do though, I'm going to stomp you into the curb for kidnapping my sibling. Then I'm going to pull any useful information from your head and find your kid and all the others like her because no one deserves what they're going through right now. Then I'm going to figure out who the hell set all of this up. After I finish with you I'm going to hand you off to the partner of the girl you took hostage and I guarantee he isn't going to be nice to you. Did I miss anything babe?"
The speech was punctuated by her glancing pointedly at Vlad, the nickname not being commented on as he stepped forward with his terrifying smile still in place. "No darling you seem to have it all covered, although I will be with you for that curb stomping and rescue mission of course."
The man pales as he glances at Maximus, who had stopped staring at me in relief long enough to grin with pure bloodlust that under other circumstances would frighten me. As it stood, I was too relieved to be back in his arms to care about what he did to this man or anyone else.
Instead of fighting, the man went limp with relief and resignation. "I don't care what you do to me as long as my daughter lives."
If only he'd gone to Vlad immediately, then he wouldn't have to be separated from his child at all…
Shaking the thought to the side, I glanced up at Maximus. His hair was tussled from more than the run through the woods and his eyes held a dark edge to them that was slowly receding. It reminded me of the brief terror I'd seen in his eyes and suddenly all I wanted was to go home.
I don't know when the castle started to become home to me, but for the moment I was too exhausted to try to figure it out. Tugging weakly on Maximus's arm, he immediately glanced down. His eyes traced over every inch of me in worry as I spoke.
"Can we please go home? I'm really tired and I just want to-." As all the fear, despair and relief broke over me I felt tears choke my sentence as Maximus wrapped me into his arms.
His chin rested against the top of my head as he replied. "Of course, as long as the voivode doesn't have need of me?"
I didn't hear anything so I assume Vlad shook his head, because in the next instant Maximus lifted me against his chest before spinning to begin the trek back to the castle. He tucked me up into his throat, the position offering comfort that I desperately needed as Vlad and Leila's forms disappeared in the distance.
"Zelda, did he touch you?" The sudden break in silence made me jump, but after the words penetrated I shook my head.
"No, although I thought he was going to. I wish he'd had the sense to bring all of this to Vlad beforehand. The thought of his daughter being raised without a parent all because someone wanted to kidnap me is painful…"
Maximus's arms tightened in agreement, "Vlad may make an exception in this case. Possibly have the man come onto the staff as a servant to work off his life debt. Whatever he decides is entirely up to him. All I care about is that you're safe and in my arms again."
I cuddled closer, relief and joy blossoming that I got to do this again. As I calmed down, I remembered my earlier decision that tonight would be the night. After everything that had happened I wasn't sure Maximus would even be in the mood. Surprisingly enough I still was, as a matter of fact after almost never getting to have that moment with him, I wanted to even more now.
I felt as if fate had given me a second chance to share this with him and doing anything else but taking it would be a dare for life to tear us apart again. But that still left how Maximus would react if I broached the subject. Would he deny me because he thinks I don't know what I want? I hadn't mentioned my plan before this disaster started, after all. Maybe I could convince him that this was truly what I wanted?
It was only when we entered the castle doors that I pulled myself out of my thoughts. He wasted no time in moving to my room, his strides short and clipped. I watched as people practically dove out of his way, forming a path until he stood outside of my door.
My bed had never looked more inviting, but sleep wasn't what I had in mind right now. Maximus set me down on the sheets, his hands smoothing over the bed spread as he placed me down. His fingers grazed over the bloodstained dress with obvious pain. "So close to losing you…"
I could easily see the dark thoughts edging their way to the front and I wanted none of that. Clasping his face in my hands, I pulled him into a kiss. "But you didn't. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere."
It was true, nothing but death would pull me from his side and as he slowly relaxed against me, I knew that he knew that too. I relished in the feel of his mouth against mine, the moan his tongue pulled from me sending the first sparks of passion down between my legs as I rubbed up against him.
He froze, staring down at me with uncertainty and it was all I could do not to groan. I knew he was going to do this…
"You just had a massive shock to your system and enough adrenaline to kill a small animal, this is not a good time to decide to do this. I don't want you to regret it later. I want your first time, our first time to be special."
I bit back a sigh of exhaustion, while I loved this man I wish he wasn't so painfully perfect sometimes. I didn't drop my hold on his face, stroking his jaw as I replied.
"I know you think I'm rushing into this out of adrenaline or fear but I wanted this before. I was considering asking you for tonight to be our first before the party but when you asked me to dance I decided that tonight would be the night. All I could think about when that man threw me over his shoulder was how I would never get to feel what making love to you was like all because I let my fear hold me back. We've been together over half a year and in that time you've walked me through every obstacle. Our first time will be special because it is you and me, and nothing else matters."