Page 2 of Captive
Zarek's laughter echoed off the brass walls, a sound like grinding gears. "Oh, brother. How disappointingly efficient. I'd hoped to show Lady Elisandra our more... drawn-out harvesting techniques."
Sebastian studied the ceremonial knife, letting Elena's blood catch the light. The blade had moved so quickly, so efficiently, a fact his brothers had misread as cruelty rather than mercy. He could use that misunderstanding.
"The child is mine," Sebastian's voice was colder than the silver beneath the knife's brass plating. He turned to Zarek, whose implants still pulsed with hunger. "And if anyone touches my wedding gift before I'm ready to process her..." He let the blade turn, Elena's blood sparkling in the light. "Well, brother. You've always said I was too efficient."
Zarek's sneer faltered slightly. Pale green steam erupted from his collar in what might have been uncertainty. They'd all just watched Sebastian kill someone who'd practically raised him. The fact that he'd done it without hesitation made the threat more potent, not less.
"Of course," Zarek said finally. "Your gift, brother. Though Father will expect..."
"Father will expect me to show proper appreciation for House Ashborne's generosity." Sebastian cleaned the blade with deliberate care. He needed to get away. Needed time to think. The girl deserved a savior, not another monster. "Which is why I need to prepare myself properly. A hunting trip, perhaps. To make sure I'm in the right..." He met Lady Elisandra's whirring eyes. "Frame of mind."
"How traditional," Elisandra said. "House Ashborne appreciates such attention to detail. Though do try not to take too long." Her brass fingers flexed. "Children's fear has such a limited shelf life."
Sebastian inclined his head, the perfect image of a gracious heir. Inside, his remaining organic parts churned with barely contained rage. But he kept his voice steady, cold, cruel. "I assure you, my lady. The wait will be worth it."
He just had to buy enough time to find a way to save her from his family's clutches. To ensure the child wouldn't end up in these feeding chambers like Elena and countless others. Even if it meant playing the monster they all thought he was.
He could do that, at least for a little while.
Chapter Two
The forest exploded with sensations that Sebastian's carefully regulated senses had almost forgotten. Wind brushed his face, carrying scents his mechanical filters would have processed into bland uniformity. Birds called warnings as he passed. The constant hiss of steam vents was replaced by the whisper of leaves. Sebastian breathed deeply, allowing himself to feel the contrast between the natural world and the synthetic regulation of the citadel he'd left behind.
Snorting, his horse moved easily along the narrowing game trail.
His hunting bow felt solid in his hands, carved from genuine wood rather than the brass composites his brother Zarek preferred. Each arrow was tipped with pure silver and steel, not the copper-enhanced projectiles his father's artificers had designed. Sebastian had selected the primitive weapons deliberately, knowing they would draw less attention from the mechanical scouts that patrolled the forest edge. He needed to buy time. Needed space to think.
For some reason, the image of the child's face haunted him. Those dark eyes wide with terror as Lady Elisandra spoke so casually of "processing" her. The wooden doll held in trembling fingers. Sebastian knew exactly what awaited her, the careful, methodical replacement of everything natural with brass and steam. The stripping away of humanity piece by piece until nothing remained but precisely calibrated function.
He knew because he remembered his own turning. Distorted memories flickered through his mind: the surgical precision as they opened his chest, his father watching with cold approval as the first brass component replaced his heart's natural rhythm. The burning of metal against flesh. The careful procedures that had made him what he was.
He touched his collar, where brass met flesh in a seam that no longer hurt but never truly healed. Steam vented in an irregular pattern, betraying emotions his noble training had taught him to suppress.
Over the years, he’d seen so many people, young and old processed. What was so important about the girl? Overall, she was just another human child whose fate had become interconnected with the vampires. If she was to be his daughter, that was the only difference between her and the others.
A distant sound pulled him from the uncomfortable thoughts, a brook bubbling over stones, water flowing with natural chaos instead of mechanical regulation. It was exactly the kind of distraction he needed.
Sebastian had made it five miles from the citadel, far enough that the resonance beacons' vibrations had faded to the faintest tremor beneath his feet. The two moons, one red and one silver, hung overhead in a sky clearer than he'd seen in decades. Beyond the constant shroud of processed steam that enveloped vampire territories, stars gleamed with unexpected brilliance.
Dismounting, he reached the brook and knelt, setting his bow aside to touch the cool water. It ran through his fingers unpredictably, so different from the carefully temperature-controlled liquid that flowed through copper pipes in the citadel. When was the last time he'd felt something so naturally chaotic? So authentically imperfect?
Movement in the nearby trees caught his attention, mechanical scouts, their brass casings camouflaged against the bark, but still reflecting moonlight in telltale glints. Sebastian had expected to be watched. His performance needed witnesses to be convincing. He couldn't sit here appreciating nature if he wanted to maintain the illusion that this was merely a pre-wedding hunt.
A new scent cut through the night air, blood. Fresh, organic, untainted by mechanical processing. Sebastian's fangs descended involuntarily, hunger sharpening his senses beyond even their enhanced capacity. Through the trees, he glimpsed movement. Something large. Something pure.
A bear emerged from shadows untouched by steam or machinery, its massive form a reminder of what nature could create without improvement. Blood matted its fur. It had made a kill recently. Thescent filled Sebastian's senses, drowning out everything else. He pulled his bow and selected an arrow with a practiced motion, aiming at the creature's chest.
His horse shifted nervously as he mounted. The bear turned, drawn by the soft noises. Its gaze met Sebastian's, predator recognizing predator across the clearing. Time froze between them.
Then the bear ran.
Even as Sebastian loosed the first arrow, he was already reaching for another. His mount lunged forward without command, responding to tension in his rider's body. The chase began before conscious thought could intervene. How long had it been since he'd left the citadel for a real hunt? It was exhilarating, blood-scent filling the air, calling to parts of him that centuries of mechanical improvement hadn't quite erased.
He unleashed two more arrows, each finding the bear's haunch with heavy, wet thunks. Not enough to bring the beast down, but enough to slow it. The bear changed course, charging toward a moonlight-filler clearing, natural light, filtered through leaves instead of spelled windows.
Magic flared ahead, green and gold and entirely natural. Sebastian caught a glimpse of a figure gathering herbs, of scattered plants and startled movement.
Sebastian's mount reared, screaming at the sudden surge of wild magic. Through his mechanical reflexes, Sebastian managed to keep his seat, but his enhanced senses were overwhelmed by too many pure scents at once: bear blood, crushed herbs, magic that made his brass components vibrate with warning.
