The Vampire Lord and the Siren

Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Caroline POV

Sunlight filtered in through the drawn curtains when Caroline woke up. Spálený must have closed them as the sun was coming up before he left. Her whole body ached and her neck was sore. Reaching up, she was surprised to find no mark or wound of any kind. Wanting to know exactly what it looked like, she got out of bed and headed towards the bathroom. Peering into the mirror, she was surprised to see only two small scars were on her neck. They were so faint that she could have sworn that they were years old, not 13 hours. Deciding she wanted to be clean before trying to escape, she hoped in the shower. Flashes of last night blazed through her mind. Images of what Zatracení had done to her, how he had made her feel intruded on her thoughts of escape. The feel of his tongue on her skin, the way his fingers knew just where to touch had her moaning before she realized what was happening. The pipes clanging in the walls startled her back to reality.

Wh

at is wrong with me? How could I be thinking of things like that right now?

Finishing her shower quickly and without further incident, she got out and dried off using one of the thick red towels that seemed to be in every bathroom in the castle. Moving towards the wardrobe, she opened it to see what her options were. Because like hell she was going to put that white dress on from last night. Seeing an array of dresses, her heart sank. She wouldn’t be able to move as freely if she was in a dress. What if it got caught on something when she was in the tunnels? Digging deeper through the wardrobe she did find a few pairs of soft pants with tunic-style shirts that went with them. Finding underwear and even a bra that fit in a drawer, she quickly got dressed. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she brushed and braided her long hair to keep it out of the way. She looked around the room to see if she had forgotten something. Even if it was a small detail, this was her only shot at freedom. If she blew this she would either be killed or locked up in a room somewhere to be used as nothing but a s*x slave for the rest of her life. Taking a deep breath, she opened her door and stepped out into the hall.

Thankfully, the passage she needed to get to was near the harem wing. Making sure to keep a serene looking smile on her face, Caroline made her way slowly down the hall. The few servants that were out paid her no mind, which only confirmed her assumption that she could go anywhere now because everyone thinks she's enthralled. An enthralled woman never even thought of escape. Why would she? Her sense of self was gone and only the need to please Zatracení remained. Most of the women either stayed in their rooms all day long sleeping, or wandered aimlessly down the halls. She paused briefly outside of Helen’s room but deciding not to risk it she moved on towards the exit. Once she was free, she would try and figure out how to free the other women there. She wouldn’t be able to help anyone though if she was caught.

Walking towards where the passageway was, she bumped into Odporný. “Excuse me Sir. I wasn’t paying attention.” He held her elbow to keep her from falling but let it go as she bowed with her apology. Keeping her eyes down, she tried to remain calm.

Wh

at the f**k is he doing still awake? Why is he near the passageway? Have I been caught? No calm down, breathe. No slowly, that's it, you are enthralled and just aimlessly wandering. Put that vapid smile on your face and zone out your eyes. There you go, you got this. You’re almost free, just a little more acting and you’re golden.

Observing her closely, Odporný tilted her chin up and stared into her eyes. No sign of self was evident. “It's OK Ms. Caroline. I should be the one apologizing for turning the corner so quickly while not paying attention to where I was. What are you doing up and about so soon?”

“I woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep.” She said with a slight shrug, making sure to keep her eyes as vacant and empty headed as she could. “I thought a walk would help me not feel so restless. Is my Lord awake as well? May I see him?” Asking questions about Zatracení seemed to have lay any suspicions that Odporný had to rest. He released her chin and took a step back. “I’m sorry Ms. Caroline the lord is still asleep as it is only 2:00 P.M. I’m sure he will visit you again once dinner has been eaten.”

Seemingly losing interest in her, he seemed to fidget and started looking past her. Deciding to lay it on even thicker, she exclaimed. “Oh, I do hope so. I would just love to please him in all the ways I know how.”

“Yes, yes, well, if you’ll excuse me, Miss. Caroline, I must be on my way now. Have a good walk.” He inclined his head slightly then brushed past her on his way to his own quarters.

Smirking with satisfaction at deceiving him, she rounded the corner and slipped into the servants' passage. Listening carefully for any sounds of movement, she made her way deep into the belly of the castle. Making her way through the dimly lit tunnels, she finally found it. The supply tunnel access hatch. Slipping through it, she lowered herself into the cramped tunnel. Thankfully, lights were installed at regular intervals so she could at least see. The tunnel made her feel claustrophobic as the walls were almost touching her on both sides. After what seemed like hours of wandering, she came across a wrought iron gate. Pushing against it, she carefully opened it hoping that it wouldn’t make a noise. A faint squeak came from the gate and echoed back down the tunnel. Pausing, she listened closely to see if anyone was alerted to the sound. Hearing nothing, she slipped through the opening and gently closed it behind her.

Seeing that the sun was starting to set, Caroline felt anxious. Knowing she was running out of time, she ran towards the road hoping to flag down a passing car. Ignoring the growing hunger pains in her belly, she ran even harder when seeing headlights crest the top of the hill in front of her. “Hey! Over here! Help me please!” She screamed while waving her arms frantically above her head. The car came to a stop and the tinted window rolled down to reveal a young woman’s face peering up at her in concern. “Are you ok?” she asked while anxiously looking between Caroline and the driver that Caroline took to be her husband or boyfriend. “No please, I need a ride to the nearest town please.” “Of course get on in.” “Thank you so much. I deeply appreciate the help,” Caroline said as she slid into the back seat of the Toyota Camry. “Of course we are happy to help. Are you injured anywhere? I’m a nurse and have a medkit with me in the car.” The young woman stated. “No, I'm not injured, just hungry.” Caroline stated with a slight chuckle as her stomach let out a huge growl. Laughing slightly, the young woman handed her a bag of beef jerky. “Here you go eat this. I’m Ivy, by the way, and he’s Ryan.” Ivy said while jerking her thumb at Ryan, who made a slight nod to acknowledge the introduction. “Thank you and nice to meet you. I'm Caroline Heart.

Chewing on the jerky, Caroline breathed freely for the first time in two months. She was free at last.

Zatracení POV

*Crash* the vase shattered into pieces against the wall. *Crack* the solid oak table split into two. Zatracení shook his fist free from the splintered table and looked around the room. Caroline’s room. But Caroline wasn’t here. In fact, she wasn’t anywhere in the castle. Once the sun had set, he had made his way to her room intending to escort her to dinner. Once he arrived, however, he found the room empty and her scent already faded. He inquired about her whereabouts from the few servants he spotted in the hallway, but nobody had seen her in hours. No one had thought anything of it, since a lot of the harem women wandered around for hours. Deciding to look for her, he tried to track her through the soul bond. He could barely feel the connection to her. Concerned, he tested it out with Helen, thinking maybe because he had bonded with them so recently, it wasn’t as strong. Helen’s, however, was just as strong as the other women's bond. Caroline’s bond felt fainter and fainter as time passed.

W

as she hurt somewhere? Did she fall and is now bleeding out somewhere? Is that why the bond feels faint because she’s at death's door?

Worry for her made him anxious and he commanded all of the nearby servants to start searching the entire castle for her, top to bottom.

After a few hours and no one could find even a trace of her, Odporný mentioned he had bumped into her just outside of the harem earlier in the afternoon. The exact location made Zatracení freeze in fear. That was near the servants' passageway. That passage led to the exit of the castle. That was Caroline’s original escape route. Realizing what must have happened, he flew into a blind rage. She had deceived him. She had made him think she was his to make him let his guard down so she could escape. Smashing everything in her room except the bed, he finally collapsed in a heap of exhaustion. “She pretended to be enthralled and escaped, didn’t she?” Odporný asked after watching his friend destroy almost everything in the room. Zatracení nodded but remained silent. “So let me get this straight. The ritual didn’t work on her. She was smart enough and skilled enough to fool you during the mating part, deceived me, got everyone to let their guard down enough that they told her a way out of the castle that wasn’t watched. She’s unlocked her powers enough to have rudimentary control over them, and she may be carrying your heir. Is that about sum everything up?” he asked while looking over at Zatracení. Again, all Zatracení could do was nod curtly. “Well s**t, this is a mess. You got to hand it to her though. She is by far the smartest and most interesting human we’ve come across in decades.” Odporný had great respect for those that were cunning and had a strong survival instinct. If the situation of a siren with unlocked powers being loose wasn’t so dire, he would want to learn a thing or two from her. She was able to deceive even him, not to mention fool Zatrecní during a mating. He may have no interest in s*x, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t know what happened during matings.

Getting to his feet, Zatracení walked over to Odporný. “You were right, we should have gotten rid of her when we found out about her heritage. I will listen to you now, my friend. What do you suggest we do in this situation?”

“Well, for starters, I suggest we get someone in here to clean up this mess. Then we will need to track her down and determine if she's pregnant or not before deciding her fate. Can you feel her?”

“Yes. I can feel her, though it is faint. That might be due to the distance though, now that I know she’s escaped and not dying.”

“Well good, that means the ritual wasn’t a complete failure on her. Her powers might be suppressed at least enough that they will not affect vampires tied to you.” As the two walked down the hall towards his office Odporný continued. “We should start searching the nearby towns first. More than likely, she hitched-hiked to one of them. If we don’t find her in the next few days, we should then go back to her town and stake out her house.