The Vampire Twins' Breeder

Predator in the Hall

Chapter 10

Aurelia’s POV

I jolted awake with a scream trapped in my throat. My heart was racing so hard and my skin was soaking wet, drenched in a cold sweat that made my clothes stick to me like a second skin.

I had been dreaming of the forest, of the rogues, and of Kael’s cold eyes as he told me I was nothing. The nightmare felt so real that I had to touch the cold stone wall of the cell just to remind myself where I was.

I was shivering, my whole body shaking in the aftermath of the dream. I sat on the edge of the thin mattress, trying to steady my breathing, but then I smelled it.

It was a very pungent iron smell. It filled the small, practically wafting into my nose until I felt sick.

I had taken care of enough wounded animals to know that smell.

It was the smell of blood. It was so strong that it made my head spin. I looked around the dark room, my eyes searching the corners. Was it my own blood? Had I been hurt in my sleep? Did a rat bite me?

I felt a strange, throbbing pain in my left arm.

I lifted my hand, and that’s when I saw it. My sleeve was soaked. It was dark and wet, and when I pulled the fabric back, I gasped.

My wrist was covered in blood. It was flowing down my hand and dripping onto the floor. In the center of the mess, there were two perfect, deep holes.

They looked like they had been made by a snake, or a needle, or something much worse. A vampire.

I tried to stand up, my mind racing with terror. Who had done this? I hadn't felt anything. I had been asleep.

But as soon as I got to my feet, the world tilted and my knees turned to water. I hit the floor with a heavy thud, my head banging against the stone.

I felt dizzy and weak, as if the very life was being drained out of me.

"Help!" I cried out with a hollow voice. "Someone help me!"

I crawled toward the door, dragging my heavy limbs across the floor. I reached the wooden door and began to bang on it with my good hand. "Please! I'm bleeding! Help me!"

I waited, listening for the sound of guards footsteps. But at this time of the night, the castle was dead quiet.

I looked at the wound on my wrist again. The blood wouldn't stop. It kept oozing out and I began to feel like I was going to pass out.

I thought about Draven locking me in here and Caelum not knowing where I was. If I bled to death in this room, no one would find me for days. I would just rot here in the dark.

"Please!" I screamed again, kicking the door with my bare foot. "Open the door! I'm hurt!"

Finally, I heard the heavy thud of boots. The iron slit in the door slid open, and those red, mean eyes looked in at me.

"What is your problem now?" the guard roared. "I told you to stay quiet, human. Do you want another lesson?"

"I'm hurt!" I sobbed, holding up my bloody arm toward the small opening. "I'm bleeding out! Look! Something bit me!"

The guard went silent. I saw his eyes widen as he looked at the blood.

He muttered a curse word under his breath and quickly fumbled with the keys. The lock clicked, and the heavy door swung open.

I stayed on the floor, too weak to get up. I pulled my arm back toward my chest, clutching the wound. "It hurts," I whispered. "I don't know what happened. I just woke up and it was like this."

The guard didn't call for a doctor or even look concerned. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

He reached down and grabbed my arm, his fingers digging into my skin. He pulled my hand toward his face.

"Let me see," he said, his voice low and strange.

Before I could say anything, he pulled my bleeding wrist right to his lips. I felt his tongue lick the wound, and I jolted back in total shock.

"What are you doing?" I shrieked, trying to pull my arm away. "Stop it! What is wrong with you?"

I scrambled back toward the corner of the room, my heart racing.

But then it hit me. I hadn't even shown him where the holes were. I hadn't told him where the injury precisely was on my arm. The room was dark, but he knew exactly where to put his mouth.

"How did you know?" I asked, my voice trembling. "How did you know where the wound was? Is that a vampire thing?"

The guard let out a low, dark laugh. He stood up, wiping a smear of my blood from his lip with the back of his hand. He looked at me with a hunger that made my skin crawl.

"Of course I know, little human," he said. "I can smell you from the end of the hallway. You smell like the sweetest fruit I’ve ever come across. It’s been driving me mad just sitting outside that door."

I looked at his face and the fangs that began to elongate.

"It was you," I whispered, the realization hitting me suddenly. "You bit me. You are the only one who has the keys to this cell. You came in while I was sleeping and you bit me."

The guard shrugged, unbothered. He took a step toward me, and I pressed my back against the cold stone wall.

"Any vampire would bite a human blood bag if they had the chance," he said. "Especially one as young and fresh as you. You shouldn't bother telling any of the princes, though. They won't believe you. You're just a servant, and I’m a loyal guard. Why would they care if I took a little nip?"

I gasped, the horror of it sinking in. He had been feeding on me while I was unconscious.

If I stayed here, I wasn't just going to be a prisoner; I would be a meal.

"Now," the guard said, his voice becoming a growl. "Come here and give me a little more blood. If you’re a good girl, I'll lick the wound and seal it up so it stops bleeding. If you fight me, I'll just tear the whole arm open."

He reached for me, his large hand coming toward my face.

Terror exploded in my chest and I screamed.

"No!"

As his hand closed around my shoulder, I just reacted. I shoved him away with all the strength I had left, my hands hitting his chest.

At the same time, I brought my foot up and kicked him as hard as I could right between his legs.

The guard let out a strangled cry of pain and doubled over, his face turning a sickly color as he fell backward onto the floor.

I didn't wait. I scrambled to my feet, my head spinning, and raced out of the open cell.

I didn't know where I was going, but I knew I had to get away from him. I ran down the dark hallway, my bare feet slapping against the cold stone.

But I didn't get far. I was an Omega, and I was weak from the blood loss.

Vampires were faster than anything I could imagine. I could hear his boots hitting the floor behind me. He was coming for me.

"Come back here, b***h!" he roared.

I reached the end of the dark hallway and saw a glimmer of light coming from the spiral staircase.

I pushed myself, my lungs burning, my legs feeling heavy. I just needed to get to the royal wing of the palace and find Caelum.

I reached the bottom of the stairs and started to climb, but before I could take two steps, a hand grabbed my hair.

I was yanked backward with so much force that I fell onto the steps.

The guard flipped me around, pinning me down against the stone. He was on top of me in a second, his heavy weight crushing the air out of my lungs.

He was enraged, his eyes glowing like embers.

"I'm going to drain you dry for that," he hissed.

He opened his mouth wide, his fangs lowered toward my throat, and I let out a scream of pure terror.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the cold sting of the bite.

But it didn't come.

Suddenly, the weight was gone and I heard a sickening thud on the floor where he stood.

I opened my eyes and saw the guard's body being ripped away from me as if he were made of paper.

He was slammed against the stone wall with a force that cracked the place. Before he could even move, a dark figure jumped on him.

I watched in frozen horror as the figure plunged sharp, black talons deep into the guard's belly. There was a sound of tearing meat and a gurgling cry.

The figure didn't stop. He ripped and tore until the guard was left laying on the floor in a massive pool of his own blood, his eyes wide and lifeless.

The figure stood up, his back to me. He was breathing hard, his shoulders heaving. He was covered in the guard's blood. When he slowly turned around, I felt the air leave my lungs.

It was Draven.

His face was covered in red splatters, his eyes darker than I had ever seen them, and his fangs were still fully extended.

He looked like the monster everyone said he was.

Draven looked at me, his gaze moving from my face down to my bleeding wrist. He took a step toward me slowly.

He didn't say a word. He just stood over me, the blood dripping from his hands onto the floor.

I let out a shriek of terror.