The Immortals of Sumer

Chapter Twelve

“Hand it over,” Dracula asked and my brother chuckled. He held up his hand behind me with three fingers up. This traitorous….is this really happening? He meets Dracula and forgets where the hell he came from? No, there has got to be a reason he is doing this. Maybe it is better he is on the inside? Dracula growled down at me, saying: “Hand them over,” and I looked away from my brother finally to look at him.

“Over.My.Dead.Body,” I said slowly to him. He was still for a moment before he was snarling, grabbing me by the throat and yanking me to the side. I stumbled, startled and choking, but it didn’t stop him from slamming me down onto the top of the desk. I gasped out all my air and choked, winded, as I clawed at his hand.

“I told you she was stubborn, brother,” Radu said and I glanced to the side to see him holding my brother back. Uri was pissed but couldn’t help so I looked back up at Dracula, who was leaning over me. He watched me choke for a moment before saying:

“Beg,” and I scoffed.

“Never,” I croaked out and he pinned my throat down harder to the desk as black framed my vision. My head throbbed like I could feel every little pulse and I was seeing odd little starburst of light over my vision. I reached forward as quickly as I could to scratch at his cheek as I clawed at his hand with my free hand. I also tried to lift my legs up and try to wedge them between him and I to get some leverage but he caught one of my legs between his and suddenly we were entangled even more.

How did he wind up with the leverage here? I asked myself as my last little thought before I couldn’t remember anything else…

.(•).

Feeling his cheek bleed for the first time in centuries, Vlad wasted little time. As soon as he felt her relax, he turned to the unruly brother. A halfbreed, a grandson of Elena’s…she would be so mad to see Vlad now, to see what he was going to do to her granddaughter. The grandson though…Radu had a point to make him an ally and so he would get his wish. Radu stepped back and let Uri go, allowing him to launch forward cussing about his sisters health and not sleeping.

“Don’t worry, she will be in enough pain to wake up soon. No damage caused-well to her brain. As for you, boy…welcome to the ranks!” He said as he rushed the boy and slammed him down on the ground, as breathless as his sister had just been, and Vlad grinned down at him as he ripped the boy’s throat out, feeling his larynx and esophagus tear away. “Relax, boy; just drink this,” he said as he cut open his wrist with his lucky blade.

The boy opened his mouth in acceptance and Vlad ensured to only let him have a few drops before turning away from the boy, letting him die. He nodded to Radu, telling him to take him to the barracks. Radu left the tent quickly, leaving him alone with…Selena, who he looked down at with anger. Part of his mind roared at him that she was not responsible for her grandmothers actions yet the rest of him was so angry that she looked so much like her, even her name sounded like Elena’s.

He used the time she was calm to search her waistline, unhappy with a scar at her hip and how skinny she actually was based on her protruding hip bones, but he still managed to focus enough to pull a flat straight blade out of her waistband. The savage thing had sewn a sheath into her jeans waistband… how smart…. He knelt down and felt her ankle to pull a folded knife from a sheath in her boot. He grinned for a moment before he remembered that Elena kept her phone there.

He scowled as he stood back up and felt her bra line. There was another flat small blade in between her cleavage. He didn’t mind her form though…he shook his head to focus again. He stepped back, looking her over and hating how rushed he was suddenly feeling. He shouldn’t care about this witch-not one bit-and yet he hated the idea of seeing her seize and thrash. He scoffed, trying to tell himself she deserved to relive her ancestors deaths. All the witches were traitors; just look at the previous wars. She would betray us too. She was just a useless witch.

Then he realized her eyes were fluttering, seemingly darting back and forth but still unconscious. He felt rushed again as he readied to bite her. He lean down to her and smelt her skin. She did not smell like Elena. She smelt less like Elena’s perfume and more like nature, straight up pine and lilacs, making her seem heavenly to him. He growled at his liking of her and bit down on her supple skin. She inhaled but didn’t react much.

He needed to make her feel pain to bring her back, he told himself, as he dug for some anger. He didn’t need to try hard for it as his eyes turned black and he bit down with bone breaking pressure. She gasped again but he felt her relax before she tensed, coming to. She cried out in Vlad’s ear and he felt an instinct to let go but, angry at himself for caring again, bit down even harder.

She didn’t beg him to let her go so he wondered if she would scream at his bite. She took in a really shaky breath and tried to hit him in the chest but, with their nearness, she didn’t hit him hard at all. She is still fighting? He bit down with renewed pressure and pulled a bit, making her gasp and he was sure a scream was coming from her intake of air…But her scream never came. He released her throat to pull back and look at her to see her biting her lip hard enough to bleed.

This stubborn b***h…he chuckled darkly, taking a step back, feeling an utter loss of control. His anger rose and he slapped her. She fell off the desk to the right of him and he hated himself for it. She still didn’t scream or cry though. She simply looked up at him, the left side of her face red as hell, and asked quietly, emotionlessly, “Why do you hate me?”

He didn’t have a good enough answer for her so he remained quiet. He looked over her as she stayed on her knees. Part of him wanted to gather her up and-no, she didn’t deserve it. She didn’t deserve help or pity but she didn’t deserve his anger either, he decided. “I will break that savage little attitude,” he said down to her and she simply looked at him. She wasn’t angry or sad, she didn’t look up at him with dead hopeless eyes either, her eyes were wide open and seemingly piercing into his soul.

He grabbed her upper arm and dragged her to her feet finally, hating the sight of her on her knees like she was defeated or something. He saw bruising around her throat showing now and he looked at her neck more closely. The bruises made her scars more blatant. She had been bitten before…a lot. Her hip suggested she had been stabbed; it made him wonder just what the hell kinda life has she lived?

He touched one of her bite scars and she flinched, finally a real reaction. A traumatic reaction-he realized just what it probably meant and turned her around. He yanked her shirt up her back and saw it immediately. She had been branded before! She was a slave?! He turned her around to question her but he stopped as soon as he realized she had tears welling in her eyes. But she spoke first anyways, saying: “Please…I couldn’t handle having another brand…if-if that’s what you-”

“No!” He growled down to her and she flinched. He berated himself to be calmer, explaining, “No, I’m not thinking of giving you another brand. I’m irate you even had to have a single brand! When did this happen?!”

She swallowed hard and said, “My brother and I got separated during a vampire raid on a human refugee camp we were staying at shortly after our parents had died… I got captured and he didn’t…but he never stopped looking for me. He found me a week later. I never think about it anymore. I think I was trying to forget it was there,” she whispered the last part mostly to herself. Vlad pulled her closer and she tensed but didn’t fight him.

He hated how soft she was, melding against him in a way Elena hadn’t, in a more than natural way, like they had been carved from the same marble statue. He questioned himself on BloodBonding with her to make that brand heal completely. It was exactly what he had done with Elena and he hated how she had betrayed him. However, he couldn’t stand the look of her supple skin charred like that.

Thankfully, before he could make any decision, Bogdan revived. She startled in his arms as Bogdan took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. He relished in her smell and the touch of her skin for one more second before he took a step away from her and towards Bogdan to help him up.

.(•).

Dracula seemed to be thinking about something intently but he was honest when he said he didn’t want to brand me. It made me feel a little better as he thought hard, pulling me close to him. I just repeated a mantra in my mind to behave for him because he is literally the Dracula! Suddenly, Bogdan gasped and I startled, fighting back a scream as he came back to life. Dracula seemed to forget about me and went to him, offering a hand to help him up.

Bogdan and Dracula shared hellos until Bogdan seemed to remember me and searched the tent for me starting from the cot. When he saw me, he looked a little shocked. I was probably a big mess honestly so I wasn’t surprised by it. Dracula said something to him and he looked at me even more shocked. I looked around the tent finally myself and realized my brother was gone. My gut clenched with worry like it always did whenever we got separated.

But then Dracula brought my attention back to him as he said my name. “I’m sorry, what?” I asked blankly, not hearing a damn thing they had said to me. I had zoned out on everything that I had been trying to forget.

“I said, turn around and show him. Bogdan, I want to know whose damn brand it is!” He hissed, pointing at me as I slowly turned around and raised my shirt only enough in the back to show them. I hoped they couldn’t tell I was shaking. I told myself it was from anger but secretly it was from the fear of almost receiving another one, I think. Bogdan muttered a bit at the sight of my brand.

“Radu said she was tougher than Elena, having grown up in a war torn region but a slave….!” I flinched but Bogdan was still talking, “And what the hell happened to her throat, Vlad?” He pointedly asked Dracula…Vlad.

“I happened,” he said blatantly and Bogdan tsk-tsked at him. I did respect the honesty though. He didn’t seem to sugarcoat his actions. I didn’t like how no one asked me and they both talked like I wasn’t here…like I was a slave again. What the hell did I expect? You’re the Kings new slave toy now, girl, why do you think he hates another’s brand on you? Dracula had walked closer to me and he instantly reached out for me.

I felt his arm wrap around my back and somehow I felt more solid at the contact. Almost like my brother was reaching out to comfort me or something but a little colder. Where was my brother? Bogdan was walking to the desk, instantly scrolling through something on the computer. After a moment of us standing in silence, Bogdan said, “It is a British Royal family crest, our allies since 2028, the House of York.”

I flinched at the memory of the name and he growled. “I want them gone. I want that brand gone,” Dracula demanded, making me a bit confused as to why he was so intense about it, and Bogdan instantly looked shocked again.

“W-wait…You don’t mean…?” Bogdan asked and I tensed.. What were they talking about? Dracula nodded. Bogdan shook his head. It made Dracula growl, clenching my waist tightly as he repositioned me in front of him. He neared my neck and I held my breath for a moment as he inhaled deeply. “Vlad, let’s think about this before you just-” Bogdan began but I interrupted.

“Vlad, don’t you dare,” I hissed up at him, saying his name out loud for the first time, and I saw something click in him. Some primal spot was activated in his brain, rage made his eyes go black from the pupil out. My gut plummeted as I tried to shove and kick but he pressed me to him despite my efforts. “Don’t!” I said loudly as I felt him bite down on my throat. I felt him pulling blood, warmth, from me and I wanted to cry but I didn’t. I clenched my fists in his shirt and he growled, biting down a bit harder and holding me a bit tighter.

Why did this man hate me so much? It wasn’t just my attitude. It’s not like I spit in his face yet! But I didn’t get to think on it anymore as Vlad pulled away and I sighed in relief. Short lived, my relief started to vanish as he bit down on his own wrist and I gasped, shocked a vampire would do something like that to themselves. However, he didn’t drink from himself but rather turned his wrist towards me like I was supposed to drink his blood. I scoffed, grossed out, but he growled down to me in warning and I stilled.

I opened my mouth to tell him, “Absolutely not hap-” but he had used the opportunity to shove his wrist in my mouth. I jerked my head away and he snarled down at me.

Suddenly, someone else had me by the hair and I cried out. Bogdan sighed from directly behind me, saying, “This is not smart to do after what Elena did…but I respect your decision, Vlad.” Together, they forced his wrist back into my mouth and I tried so hard not to but it had been soooo long since I had drank blood that his actually tasted amazing like liquor, warming my stomach. Bogdan waited a moment before he seemed to ease up on my hair and I relaxed a bit, opening my eyes again.

Vlad went from looking pleased to shocked when I opened my eyes back up and I realized why. He was seeing my own vampire eyes. I reflexively let him go and he was so startled that he allowed it. “Ahhh, there is certainly some of Michael in you, I see,” he whispered down to me and I sighed.

“What the f**k was that all about?” I asked and he reached around me, snaking his hand up my shirt and up my spine. The sudden contact made me shudder and he looked so satisfied.

“Your brand is gone now, Selena. You should know that you and I are bonded by blood now as well so I will always know when you’re near and what you’re feeling,” he said but I gasped, shocked. I put my hand on my back as high as I could reach and tried to trace the bottom of the brand like I could before…but, no matter where I felt, there was just flat skin-no bumpy burnt scar. I was scared to even hope…!

I looked back up at him and asked, “Why?”

“I healed you because I can’t stand to see that brand on your skin. As simple as that,” he said and I felt like there was more, like it wasn’t so simple, but what could I do? It’s not like I had the leverage here to pry information from him. I tried to feel for it again but my fingers touched Vlad’s hand on my back still and I pulled my arm back down to my side. I was ecstatic at the idea of the brand being gone but I didn’t even know how I felt about being BloodBonded.

Our mom had told us stories about BloodBonding, the mating bond between vampires. Were he and I mates now? For as much as he hated me, it made no sense. “But you won’t force me to have your brand?” I asked up at him and he growled softly, shaking his head. “So I’m…not your slave then?” He paused for a moment at the idea then shook his head.

“Never would I force you to be a slave, Selena, and you’ll never have to be a slave again,” he said down to me and I got even more confused. Until Bogdan spoke up from behind the desk again like he hadn’t just forced me to BloodBond with Dracula!

“Think of yourself, not as a slave, rather as his prisoner if you must put a label on things,” Bogdan said succinctly and Dracula growled at him. Bogdan c****d an eyebrow at Dracula. “Oh? Or maybe not?”

“So then what does that mean?” I asked them, wondering what happens to me now. “For me? And where is my brother?” Bogdan looked at Vlad with an eyebrow still c****d but in confusion now. Vlad looked down at me and my gut clenched a bit. “What did you do to my brother?”

“I ripped his throat out and then turned him so now he has joined the ranks of my Elite Forces,” he said point blank and I felt all the blood drain from my body. He did…what?!

“Excuse me?” I asked him, scoffing. He was serious and just stared down at me. I blinked twice, deciding quickly between spitting in his face or slapping him. Decided! I slapped him as quickly and as hard as I could, even getting some extra speed from the blood exposure. Not wasting a second, I stepped up to him, whispering, “How dare you hurt my brother! You had no f*****g right!” Vlad still hadn’t moved from how my slap had c****d his head off to the side. He was openly shocked. I was openly outraged. Bogdan was silent at our exchange.

As soon as Vlad turned back to me though, with his eyes pitch black, I realized the severity of what I had done like to the Dracula that our mom feared! Oh s**t…he moved instantaneously and had me by the throat but wasn’t choking me for some reason. He just held me close to him by my throat as we looked into each others eyes, both of us sizing the other one up. “You are going to regret that…” he said softly to me.

Suddenly, Bogdan was beside us, with his hand around Vlad’s wrist. “Vlad, let go. I’m going to cuff her to the cot again and you are going to take a breather,” Bogdan was speaking so matter of fact and calmly that I knew I had pressed my luck. Vlad scoffed, letting me go as he shoved me towards Bogdan. I stumbled back right into the man’s arms and he roughly pulled me towards the cot again as Vlad left the tent all together.

Bogdan pulled me close and whispered, “That was stupid, woman.” I sighed but I didn’t fight much right now as he cuffed me back to the cot. Knowing Vlad was outside of the tent meant I still wasn’t going anywhere, especially BloodBonded. I just sat there and worried about my brother as I bit my lip, deep in thought. Bogdan left shortly after turning the screen dark and locking a drawer behind the desk. He scowled at me, tsk-tsking, as he left the tent. After just a moment alone with my thoughts, wondering what was happening to my brother, I cussed and started yanking on the cuffs, despite me knowing that they were made of Kevlar.

 .(•).

Bogdan found Vlad at the training fields, training the s**t out of the men, with Radu beside him. Oh, boy….was Bogdan really going to do this?…Yes! Bogdan marched up to Vlad, who sighed at his approach. Radu was looking concerned as Bogdan got in Vlad’s face, despite being in front of all the men, and yelled at him. “Boy! Let me get something through your thick skull! She is not Elena! You do not get to take your anger out on her or these men!”

Vlad was about to speak but Bogdan wasn’t done yet! “If the Sultan Murad had walked up to you and said he had ripped out Radu’s throat, would you have slapped him? You would have killed him, your father’s war be damned! You turned her brother and you shocked her telling her like that. You should have gotten slapped harder! Now, you are going to straighten the f**k up, release these men, go back to her, and apologize!”

“The f**k I will,” Vlad said flatly and then asked, “Since when do we compare to the Turks?”

“Since we woke up 50 some years ago and chose to conquer the Americas and then just kept going…” Radu said. “Like the Ottoman Empire wanted to do to us and then the other allied countries around them…though, the comparison bugs me. She reminded me of us on our first night at the Turks Palace when she wouldn’t sleep, just before you arrived.” Vlad huffed and noticed the men were all listening hard but still training hard so he had nothing to yell at.

“At the very least, training is over. The men need rest before the Induction Ceremony tonight. Training is over, men, hit the showers,” Radu said and the men all stopped and left the fields, gossiping like women. Vlad was seething at being confronted by his family and her all in a row. Bogdan was right though; Vlad had to figure out how to handle this situation. He realized he had been a bit brash with her, telling her like that, and he would be calmer with her.

He could do that, at the very least. But what a stubborn b***h… Radu abruptly got a radio signal that the brother was waking up. Bogdan scoffed, “Good, at the very least, reunite them so she calms down! Or she’s gonna break her wrists on those cuffs!” That he would accept. He stood still for a moment to sense her through the new BloodBond when he felt it all! He recognized her fear for her brother as his own and he registered the pain she was trying to ignore on her wrist.

Bogdan wasn’t wrong, she really was going to break her wrists if she continued. Vlad turned to Radu and told him to radio back to the barracks, “Bring the boy to the tent.”

Radu said to Vlad’s retreating figure, “The boy’s name is Uri!” Vlad scoffed but made a note of his name as he walked back to the generals tent. He tried to ignore the rush he felt to get to her, knowing the men were always watching their leader. However, as soon as he was in the tent, he raced over to her. She was on her knees on the cot, yanking on her cuffs like she didn’t feel the pain that he knew she was.

He gripped her by the upper arm, growling down to her to behave!

.(•).

I was so scared when, out of nowhere, Vlad had me by the arm. He snarled at me and then said, “Behave and you get to see your brother again. Are you ready to behave?”

“Are you ready to let me see my brother?” I shot back before telling myself to check my tone here. I needed my brother back. Vlad growled down at me and I sighed. “I’ll behave as best as I can. Just let me see my brother! …Please?” I finally got the correct tone as he unlocked my cuffs and I gasped at the relief and pain as the blood came back to my hands in pulsing throbs. Ahhh! That’s gonna bruise, I thought as Vlad stood me up from the cot.