Page 99 of Bought to Break
He turned towards Lana’s voice but attacked Viktor immediately; his face contorted into a beastly snarl. Viktor rushed to parry, luckily stopping Kane’s blade.
‘I’ll deal with Kane,’ he muttered.
They began to fight, evenly matched, while Vineri spectated. He looked politely uninterested, as if he were watching a play he couldn’t really be bothered with.
‘I must say,’ he commented to Lana and Sorin, ‘I’m somewhat glad my friends’ little games with you two were interrupted. They can last ages, and I do get bored quickly these days.’
‘Your friends are dead,’ Lana spat.
Vineri smiled. ‘I thought they might be. You’re so strong, my dear.’ He licked his lips. ‘A great investment if I can keep you alive. I hope you aren’t feeling the effects of that little burst of energy back in my pleasure wing. It must have had its price.’
Lana didn’t reply. What she’d donehadcost her, though she hadn’t said anything to the Brothers, of course. She was feeling weak, but Gaila had warned her this would happen if she wasn’t careful. It would be worth it if they could defeat Vineri, if her Brothers could be free of him. She grasped for that power again, much diminished now, and tried to do what she’d done before. Vineri laughed at her.
‘You’re trying to use it on me. It won’t work. I’ve been immune to all that for many, many years now.’ He turned his attention back to Viktor and Kane, still fighting, and frowned. ‘Too evenly matched,’ he muttered.
Lana was suddenly very glad he didn’t know about Kane’s gift for bending people to his will. The things he could be commanded to make people do … She looked around them surreptitiously, searching for something, anything, that could help them. What if they just started smashing relics? She wished Vie were here. Considering her knowledge of ancient things, the witch would probably know what at least one of these objects did.
Suddenly Vineri cried out, clutching his heart. He grimaced and slowly pulled out a small knife. He cast it aside with a look of annoyance.
‘Learned a few more skills than sucking cock, eh, Sorin? I’m afraid the weapons of men can’t hurt me either, but I commend you on the effort.’ He yawned. ‘Forgive me. As I said, I grow bored quickly.’
Vineri took out his little box again and began to fiddle with it. Viktor’s and Kane’s weapons could be heard clanging down one of the other corridors as they battled, but they were no longer in sight. Lana began to inch towards the Collector. Perhaps if she could get close enough, she could get that box, whatever it was, and use it to help them. As she shuffled forwards, she noticed a tiny movement out of the corner of her eye. Xeta was creeping slowly up the path nearest Vineri, her neck noticeably bare of the collar she’d had on in her cell. She was small and quiet and he hadn’t noticed her. Lana stopped moving immediately. She wasn’t sure what the old witch could do, but she was probably the best hope they had.
‘You have amassed many artefacts. You can’t know what all of them do,’ Lana said suddenly, trying to draw his attention.
‘I don’t yet. I will soon. But you’re trying to draw me into conversation to give your lovers more time. They will die, girl. And then you will be taken, your mind clouded and your body bred. You are mine, and so will your children be.’ He opened his box and a black cord shot out of it and wrapped around Sorin’s neck. He clawed at it with a cry, but then went silent and stood still.
‘Hold her.’
Sorin grabbed her arm immediately. She tried to throw him off, but he had her. His eyes were glassy like Kane’s. The clanging down the corridor stopped abruptly and she heard a groan. Kane walked out a moment later.
Lana sagged in Sorin’s hold.Viktor.
Kane approached, sword raised and dripping with blood, ready to continue killing them.
‘Stop,’ Vineri commanded.
He came to stand on the other side of her, ignoring her completely now.
Xeta.Lana looked up just as she struck, tearing something from Vineri’s neck and throwing it to the floor. Lana heard glass shatter and Vineri shrieked.
He fell to his knees, feeling for the pieces, and she knelt in front of him, grasping his head.
‘Sister?’ he whispered. ‘How?’
‘The girl freed me,’ she rasped. She gripped him tighter and his arms came up to throw her off, but he couldn’t move her. ‘All those years, little brother, locked in that cell.’ Her eyes turned red and began to glow like coals. ‘You should have fucking killed me.’
Vineri’s body began to smoke, then he began to scream. His flesh turned black and so did Xeta’s. Objects on the shelves began to burst into flames. The woman turned her terrible eyes on Lana. ‘Go.’
Lana knew suddenly what she had to do. Hoping her plan would work, she darted forward and grabbed the box from Vineri’s blackening fingers.
‘Kane, get Viktor and meet me at the door. Sorin, follow me.’
She made sure that they were doing as she told them now that she had the box. Then she ran as artefacts all around them started to explode. Shards of pottery, wood and metal flew through the air, showering them with debris as they fled. The fire burned red hot, engulfing the stacks at such a speed that it took all of their strength to outrun it.
Thankfully, Sorin was following her just as she’d ordered. They got to the door and she pushed it open just as Kane came sprinting down another corridor. He was pulling Viktor behind him.Thank the gods he was alive!
The room all around them was an inferno. She made sure the others were safe first, pushing them through the door. Only then did she go herself. She slammed it closed, leaving them in the hall smelling of cinders. The coldness and silence here was in sharp contrast to the raging fire and heat behind the door. She made a quick survey of the Brothers. They were burnt and bloody and bruised and cut, but they were alive and so was she.
