Page 65 of Fangs and Family
‘Nina? Hey love, I’ll be home soon. Pawel is safe, so please don’t worry. This locket is strange, and I need to check on a few things before I bring it home. Do you need anything?’ he said, pausing and waiting for me to answer.
‘Nina? Is everything all right?’ I could hear the growing concern in his voice.
I was quiet. My body trembled as I fought the mental command to lure Adam here, resisting the best I could, tears streaming from my eyes.
‘Sapieha’s here… don’t come.’ I croaked, forcing the words through clenched teeth. With a disappointed shake of his head, the vampire calmly took the phone from my hand, bringing it to his ear.
‘Nina is a very naughty girl. If you don’t want her to learn how I punish disobedient children, you will come to her hospital. No tricks, Adam. Only you and the thief. Don’t forget my locket,’ he said, and I heard Adam release a stream of curses.
‘If you hurt her, I will hunt you down. The entire Syndicate will fucking hunt you down. I don’t care who you are and if this causes a war. I will burn your nest to the ground. I will fucking destroy you until not even the wind that blows your ashes away will remember your name. Do you hear me? Touch her, and you die.’
‘Then you had better hurry. Nina is alive and unharmed. We are just getting to know one another for now, but you know I am not a patient man. Oh, and don’t even think of bringing that savage of a god with you if you want to see your woman alive.’
As soon as the conversation ended, Sapieha turned in my direction.
‘How strange that I see myself in him. He is a powerful man, willing to destroy the world for his woman. A fine vampire and yet a foolish one. You will make an excellent leash for him because if he strays, you will suffer,’ he said, and I felt chills running down my spine. The only thing good about it was that his mental hold on me relaxed, and I was finally able to speak freely.
‘You’re insane. Adam will never serve you, not even for me. You can’t control him, just as you couldn’t control your wife,’ I said, and he sent me an indulgent smile.
‘My poor Nina, you will learn. A man will fight to the last breath if you threaten his life, but threaten those he loves?’ Sapieha’s chuckle was chilling, and I fell back, horrified. ‘Sit down, child. We should relax as we wait for your brother and Adam. Later will be the time for pain and woe, but I want to enjoy a moment of peace with you now, listening to the sweet beating of your heart.’
Peace, pain, and woe in the same breath. This man is as mad as a hatter.I thought, studying him but still obeying for the moment. I fell back into my chair, pushing it away for a little breathing space.
‘What are you going to do?’ I asked quietly, looking at the man who could lock my mind in a steel vice at any moment.
‘I’m going to kill your brother, then I will drain you, letting my spawn wallow in despair while I take every drop of your blood. That would be a suitable punishment for his disobedience, but don’t worry; I will allow you to be reborn. I will even ensure Adam knows he can still have you… if he follows me. I will make the experience pleasant for you, just like I did last time. When you resurrect… we will enjoy you together,’ the vampire said with a dreamy smile on his face, and I couldn’t help but shudder. Sapieha had a perverted idea of love, but the worst was that he genuinely seemed to believe what he was saying.
‘Do you have a death wish? Adam will never agree to this and certainly won’t share anything with you.’
‘No child, no vampire wants their second death. Nothing waits for us on the other side of the Veil. No peace, no afterlife, no rebirth. We simply cease to exist. We only have one existence, and once I take my revenge and secure the locket, I will spend the rest of eternity with you and Adam, and I will ensure you learn to like it,’ he said before his power swept over me.
‘Be still and be quiet. It won’t take long now until your lover arrives.’
Chapter 23
The phone call from Nina left me stunned. I’d been in the Coven manor, sitting impatiently in a comfortable leather chair, one eye on Pawel and his twitching knee. I hadn’t expected it to take so long, but Veronica’s witches had been trying to crack open the locket for several hours now, and it hadn’t helped to calm my nerves.
The spell was ancient, the engravings worn away by time and challenging to decipher. Worst of all, it was warded by a type of vampire magic I didn’t recognise, which left the women working on it cursing in several languages. If I weren’t so desperate to learn its secrets, it would have been amusing, but I felt the growing need to go home.
Amidst all this, the last thing I expected was Nina warning me she was held hostage by my enemy.
When the conversation ended, I stared at the phone, its protective case cracked by my anger as I fought the urge to smash the damned thing against the wall. I still needed it, though, and with a sigh, I scrolled to Leszek’s emergency contact. A few moments later, I was directed to an automatic response. I tried Sara’s, to no avail, before I dialled their landline.
‘What do you want, Adam?’ It was Michal, Leszek’s assistant.
‘Where’s the boss? It’s urgent.’
‘Good question. I’m guessing he’s still in Gedania, as he and Sara got summoned for a Council meeting. What do you need?’ He asked.
I cursed, unable to stop myself. Gedania, the mirror city of Gdansk, existed behind the Gates of the Nether, and no modern technology could reach it. I could travel there if I had to, but not to Temple Hill, and I couldn’t walk into a Divine Council session and demand the Forest Lord come to my aid.
‘Nothing you can help with, but when they return, tell Leszek Sapieha has Nina at the clinic, and I’m going after her.’ I ended the conversation, turning toward Pawel, who’d eavesdropped on my exchange with wide eyes.
‘Get up! If something happens to Nina, I’ll kill you myself, so go to the car and don’t try escaping. I can’t promise to keep you alive, but for Nina, I will try. Give me any trouble, and I’ll let Sapieha rip you apart.’
He paled but nodded, moving toward my parked vehicle while I went to retrieve the locket. The Coven Mistress protested, but I didn’t give her a choice. Open or closed, I needed it with me. If I was lucky, I could persuade Sapieha to exchange the locket and Pawel for Nina. She might hate me for it, but if it kept her alive, I was more than happy to trade her brother’s life for hers.
It was a quick journey. I drove like a maniac. Tomasz’s off-road car was unwieldy on the streets of the city, but people were too scared to argue when I pushed out into traffic or cut off their precious little babies. Pawel kept his mouth shut the entire journey, and after his third fearful squeak, I was grateful for small mercies. It was only as we entered the docklands that he tried talking.
