“I figured you’d try to help out your girlfriend.” Pavlos’s dark, dead eyes leered above him. “You’re good, Serrano, but as usual, you’re not good enough. Alfonso, grab the girl.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Mackenzie watched in agony as they stripped Dom of all his weapons before dragging both of them down the dingy hallway. Collared with a silver band around his neck, wrists and ankles, it was clear every step was an effort for Dom. He shuffled the little half-steps of a prisoner, chains clanking, as if he had heavy weights on each leg. Mackenzie knew the skin contact with all that silver was draining him of energy. Soon, he wouldn’t be able to walk.
With Dom incapacitated, it was up to her now. She couldn’t let them be taken back to that exam room. If she could just transfer some of her energy to him, that might help.
Dom, take my hand. Can you reach back with yours?
With her eyes down, she stretched out her arm, but rather than Dom’s protective hand, she felt bony, ring-covered fingers instead. She jerked back, but Pavlos held on, pressing his moist palm to hers, leaching out her energy. Dom roared and lunged, but the guards didn’t let go. As weakness compounded with her earlier blood loss, Mackenzie sank to the ground, her hand still clasped in his.
Pavlos’s eyes danced with excitement, and he licked the corner of his mouth. “What sweet energies you have, my dear.I can hardly wait to taste you on my tongue. Alfonso, carry her back.”
“You stay away from her. Both of you.” Dom’s dark eyes narrowed to slits.
Taste her? What was he talking about? She thought he had other plans for her. The kind that involved testing first, buying them more time. Had he changed his mind?
In an instant, Mackenzie found herself slung over Alfonso’s shoulder. She should’ve tried kicking him, but she was just too tired. The examination room was too bright when Alfonso set her down on the gurney again. A chain clanked as Dom was shackled to the wall. When she shielded her eyes from the light above her, she became aware of a lump in her coat pocket. The IV bag filled with her blood. She’d forgotten about it.
Dom, I still... bag of blood. If I can...are the effects immediate?
Yes.
Lemme just?—
As Alfonso fastened the ankle straps, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the IV bag.Here, catch!
And she hurled it at Dom. But in her haste, she put too much power into her throw. The bag sailed past him, hit the floor, and blood splattered everywhere.
The Darkbloods leaped across the room in an instant, overcome by bloodlust. Pavlos didn’t join them, although his balled fist flew to his mouth, yellowed fangs grazing his lower lip. Only Alfonso held back with his hands still tightly gripped around her ankles. She wrapped her arms over her head, trying to drown out the sounds of the snapping and snarling.
That blood was their last hope.
“Nice try, Miss Shaw,” Pavlos said. “From the looks of it, you’re quite delectable. What a special treat this will be for you, Dominic. I’ve decided to let you watch. I had planned to wait, butyou know what? I’m suddenly hungry and I so enjoy a good fight when I take a woman. It makes life so much more interesting. Wonder if she’ll be as fiery as your mother.”
The instruments on the metal trays shook with the force of Dom’s roar. He pulled at the chains like an enraged animal. But they held tight, and he sunk to the ground again.
“How could you allow him to do what he did?” Dom said to his brother, his voice as thin and deadly as a stiletto. “Did you know this? That he...raped her, too?”
Pavlos smiled. “Oh, your brother knows all right. He’s the one who tipped me off on how to get to your parents. He just couldn’t bear to do it himself, right, Alfonso?”
“Yes, m’lord,” Alfonso said, his eyes cast down at his feet.
Pavlos clapped him on the back as a father would. With a jolt, Alfonso’s gaze locked onto Mackenzie’s. He held it for a moment before he looked away. Was that sorrow she saw reflected in his eyes? Desperation? Or maybe a combination of both?
“It’s got to be frustrating being so ineffectual and weak,” Pavlos said to Dom. “To see the people you love get hurt because of your ineptitude and your misguided beliefs.”
“When did being a monster become the ideal?” Dom said through his fangs.
“It’s called being superior. And if you had realized it all those years ago, your parents would be alive today. Let’s see. Your father would still be smoking those pipes of his, and he’d have his horses. And your mother— Well, she’d have continued to inspire great artists of the twenty-first century with her beauty. Did you know I bought one of the nude paintings she posed for back in—oh, when was it? 1870-something. It’s one of my favorite mementos.”
Dom continued to struggle even though she sensed his energy level was waning fast. Since it had been so long since he’dhad any significant amounts of her blood, he probably wouldn’t be able tovaporout of the chain, either.
“And now, here we are again,” Pavlos continued. “I’m going to enjoy this as much as I did back then. In fact, I may enjoy this better. I do so love an audience. Let’s get this little party started.”
Alfonso double-checked the leather of her straps, taking care to count the holes as if to ensure they were tight enough. “M’lord, wouldn’t you be more comfortable taking the woman into your quarters? The metal of the gurney can’t be good with that bad knee of yours.”
Pavlos twisted one of his jeweled rings. “Excellent idea. Always the thinker. Oh, and bring your brother, too.”
