Page 45 of Eternal Obsession

Alex roused. He struggled to see over his blindfold.

“Looks like the party is over.” I glanced at the corpses around us. With flashing speed, I tore away some of the material thrown over the altar, binding it tightly around Alex’s wrist, stemming the bleeding.

Taking the knife he had used to cut the wrist of his son, Lord Artimas attacked me. I thrust him backward and he staggered back upon the altar, causing everything placed upon it to come crashing down.

“Get your hands off my father, Daumia!” Alex yelled. “What is this?”

I pushed him up and onto the altar. Lord Artimas lay dazed. The knife fell from his grasp. I rose and sat astride his body, holding his arms down. I turned his head and exposed his neck, biting down hard.

I drank.

He tasted of history and death. Of every wrong decision and misfortune that had ever marked his path.

Lord Artimas fell in and out of consciousness.

With a Stone Master’s blood running through mine, I freed Alex from the shackles. I kept his blindfold on despite him begging me to remove it. He was bewildered and weak, and could hardly stand. I pulled him to his feet and picked him up, carrying him back up to the private rooms of the castle, careful to avoid any guests who had strayed from the party below.

I carried Alex to his own bedchamber, placing him upon the bed, adjusting his limbs to ensure his comfort. I removed his blindfold, pulled the blankets up over him and sat for a moment by his side, gazing down at the wound on his wrist. It was not fatal, but it was nevertheless deep, increasing my concern that it would become infected. Alex was in shock.

I ran my fingers affectionately through his hair, wiping the tears from the boy’s face, watching him drift off to sleep. Standing, I lit a nearby candle, providing some light for the room and ensuring Alex would not wake in total darkness.

I readjusted the binding around his wrist so that it was not too tight but would secure the laceration for now.

When I was satisfied that Alex was safe, I made my way back down to the dungeons.

Lord Artimas had staggered toward the doorway. I dragged him back into the chamber and pushed him up toward the altar, allowing him to fall to the cold stone ground before sitting him upright with his back leaning against the table.

I bit into his throat again . . .

This, a Stone Masters dream shared with the flow of his crimson blood, endless nights steeped in ruin, seeking out immortals only to desecrate their sacred breath, to unmake their eternity with cruel precision. The great lord’s memories unfurled before me like a merciless unveiling of every horror he had rained down upon my kind.

“Your heartbeat is slowing. You are near death.” I took the knife that had fallen to the floor and placed one of the cups under it. I sliced deep into my left wrist and allowed my blood to pour into the silver goblet.

I placed the cup against Lord Artimas’s lips.

It felt like a betrayal to offer such an anointment, for the gift was not what it seemed, a blessing hiding the shape of a curse.

He turned his head away.

“I go now to turn Alex, then on to kill Jadeon,” I taunted.

Lord Artimas labored to breathe.

I again rested the cup against his mouth. “Drink or die tonight.” I forced the red fluid into his mouth.

Lord Artimas swallowed, but I pulled the cup away before he could have enough of the sacrament. “Stone Master, you now reserve the weakness of a man and the vulnerability of a vampire. And the sun awaits your presence, my lord.”

Chapter Twenty-One

JADEON

I was ready for him.

I waited in the fractured stillness within the pillars of Stonehenge, exhausted from my journey but determined to stop this madness. The night chill helped me to focus. After three and a half days of travel in Orpheus’s carriage, my confidence had risen and my strength was surprisingly good, despite eating and drinking little.

Leaning against one of the central bluestones, I scanned the horizon, wondering from which direction he would appear. A noise startled me. But it was just an animal or a bird. Again I steadied myself. The dark hour of the morning offered little light other than that from the few stars. Large towering trilithons glistened. My mind played tricks upon me. In the distance, the figure of a man fast approaching came into view.

My wait was over.