Dhampirs of Sgiach

22. Kieran

Too bright. Everything was too bright. It was like Kieran was back in that interrogation room again. Except this time, he was strapped to a table and pain tingled along his skin like thousands of ants biting him. He didn’t know how long he had been in that room. Sleep was fleeting and the lights were never turned off or even dimmed.

His stomach growled painfully to remind him that all he had been fed since he came here was blood. Rat blood.

Dreams or reality. Kieran wasn’t sure anymore. He remembered walking to the corner store near the apartment. Kage had seemed disappointed when they didn’t go all the way. But Kieran wanted to make sure they were smart about it, so he went to get condoms. Echo needed pads as well. Then he noticed that they were low on eggs and milk when he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

He remembered Kage’s voice message when he got to the store and responded. Remembered collecting the items, and a box of snack cakes for Kage that he hadn’t tried before, and tea for Echo that looked interesting. Remembered bumping into Lacey as he was leaving.

Kieran growled as his fangs ached and elongated. He strained against the restraints. The b***h had distracted him. He embraced the Shadow Spark and tried to snuff the lights in the room. Pain blossomed in his skull and he hissed.

The rats had not been gentle when they had taken him and even though they continually fed him their blood, the light made him heal slower than a human. His body and magic longed for shadows. His body also craved actual food. The last thing he had eaten was Echo’s roast. The room was also freezer cold and they had stripped him.

So cold. Like when he was nine and got sick. He hadn’t been able to keep anything down and had a fever that would have broiled the brain of even a werebear. His mother had tried an ice bath to bring it down and it had only made things worse and eventually his parents had to call the Furian embassy for help.

The healer they sent had baked him in fire before she bundled him up in bed and made his room as dark as she could. He smiled at the memory of the woman. She had the same fair skin as him and amber eyes with flaming red hair that was thick with curls. She had a birthmark on the inside of her wrist, the wyvern curled into a claw, and was branded there by the Primordial Flame. Sorcha was her name.

Kieran smiled at the memory.

“Smiling like a fool?”

Kieran’s smile turned into a snarl as he opened his eyes. Martin was blurry to his light-abused eyes. His sense of smell was the only thing that let him know it was the wererat Alpha that stood next to the table he was strapped to. Scent let him know the blurry female next to him was Lacey. What’s wrong with her scent?

“He is a fool to believe anyone would actually want him,” Lacey said as she peered down at him. She laughed when he hissed and snapped at her. More like an animal than a person. “Maybe we should just kill him. Put him out of his misery and use the brat.”

“As long as we keep him in light rooms, we can control him. Though, there had been nothing in my research that said he would heal slower than a human while held like this,” Martin said thoughtfully. “The incubus w***e has been healing wereanimal fast. Even after his beating yesterday.”

Kage!

Kieran hissed and snarled as he struggled against his bindings.

“Didn’t like that?” Martin asked. “If you’re a good little rat, I may allow you time with your w***e. Maybe even let you Mate Mark him. Your scent was still all over him when my rats brought him and the girl to me. Or maybe I’ll geld you before I turn you into a rat. You won’t get them back if I do that.”

The rat Alpha leaned over Kieran and his vision cleared briefly. Even that little shadow felt wonderful as it fell across Kieran’s skin. His snarling hisses became whimpers. Too much light for him to fully embrace that shadow.

Lacey and Martin left the room.

Time passed. Memories and dreams melded together. Kieran didn’t know if he was asleep or awake.

A woman began to sing a lullaby for him. Her voice tugged at his memories, and he turned his head to look up into amber eyes just like his that were framed by hair like obsidian dipped in blood. “Oh, lost ones can you hear? Oh, lost ones can you see? Follow her light through the darkness. Let her song heal the scars.”

“Mommy,” Kieran whimpered out as tears began to fall from his eyes.