Dawn of Darkness (Daeva, #1) (40 page)

"What's to stop me
from killing you now?" I asked, pressing the point of the knife
harder against his chest. He hissed, the blade breaking the skin,
then disappeared again. I turned on my heel, expecting him to be at
my back. Nothing. My neck felt cold and wet. Russell's tongue
licked at the vein that pulsed faster under its touch.

"What's to stop me
from taking your blood?" he whispered. "A little taste, that's all
I ask for."

"I know what will
happen if you drink my blood," I said. "And I know you won't attack
me with everyone watching. I also know that Violet, Nate and Daniel
will kill you if you take even one drop."

"But I don't plan on
taking anything from you. You're going to give it to me."

"He's not giving you
anything," Nate snapped.

"Maybe not now."
Russell chuckled. "Think about it, Mikhail. For now, I will honour
my end of the bargain, but when I return to Aldar, I will inform
Marcus of their threats against me." Russell turned to walk away,
then paused. "And just so you know, I shared blood with a human in
Aldar before we left. I have already informed him of what has
happened. Kill me if you wish, but Marcus will still learn of your
misdeeds."

Russell moved to
disperse the audience, reassuring them that everything was
okay.

"This isn't good,"
Daniel said.

"I would have been
prepared to accept punishment for killing him, but I fear he may
implicate the rest of you too," Violet said. "Mik, you know I would
never ask you to do as he says."

"But I have no choice,
do I?" No-one dared answer. "How bad will it be?"

"The effect will be
temporary. A couple of weeks at the most," Violet said. "He either
plans to win you over by then, or find the means to have you share
blood again."

"Each time you share,
the effects become stronger," Sebastian said. "The first time won't
be so bad, but if he can coerce you into sharing again, then you
will find it hard to resist him. By the third time, you'll be all
but trapped."

"Are you trapped?" I
asked.

"I could be, if Violet
wished it. The line between companion and servant is a fine
one."

"What if he's bluffing
about the human in Aldar?" Nate said.

"No," Daniel replied.
"Russell is devious enough to have thought this kinda thing through
ahead of time. And I wouldn't like to take the risk of calling his
bluff."

"Will he keep his
word?" I asked.

"You can't seriously
be considering his offer," Nate said.

"Will he keep his
word?" I repeated.

"I believe he will,"
Violet said. "As much as I hate to admit it, Russell is not one to
go back on his word."

"So I just need to
resist him for a few weeks, right?"

Violet and Sebastian
nodded.

"Mik, you can't do
this," Nate said hurriedly. "Please."

"I don't see what
other choice we have," I told him. The thought of sharing blood
with Russell revolted me, but I couldn't condemn the others to
death if there was a way for me to stop it. And as long as we
didn't give Russell the means with which to blackmail us again, the
effects would be gone before long. My mind was made up. I turned
back towards the camp where everyone would be waiting. A hand
caught my wrist.

"Please," Nate
whispered. "It won't be as easy as you think."

"It's his choice,
Nate," Daniel said. "Besides, if you hadn't attacked Russell, then
we might not be in this predicament."

Nate's shoulders
slumped as he released his grip on my arm. If there was another
way, I would have taken it, but we were out of options. I reached
the camp and scanned the area for Russell. He wasn't outside. I
found him in one of the small buildings with the luggage. He smiled
as I approached him. With one quick stroke I took the knife and
sliced it across the palm of my hand. Russell lifted my hand to his
face, staring into my eyes as he lowered his mouth to the wound. I
hissed when his tongue flicked over my palm, causing his smile to
widen. His lips locked over the cut, sucking hard. I gasped and
gritted my teeth. His eyes stayed locked on mine, staring down the
line of my arm. I pulled my hand away from him, feeling a little
light-headed when I saw the blood smeared across his lips, and over
my hand. Russell knelt down next to one of the bags. He opened a
box with some bandages in, and wrapped a small length around my
bleeding hand.

"You won't regret
this," he whispered in my ear.

"I already do," I
said, storming back outside.

'We'll see about that,'
his voice echoed in my
mind.

Having
Russell inside my head was annoying, to say the least. Telepathy is
an absolute bitch to learn how to control. All those random
thoughts flying around inside my brain, and Russell must have heard
near enough all of them. He heard everything, from how I was
hungry, to my feet hurting, to how I wanted to take my knife and
see just how far I could jam it into his skull. He grinned at me
when he heard that last one.

And then
there were the times when I would think of how close to Rachat we
were getting, and I began to feel anxious. The urge to be close to
Russell, to have him comfort me, at times like those was
overwhelming. My God, it was so tempting. Then he would turn to me
and smile, inviting me to join him, and I would be reminded of how
much I hated him. The anger helped fight back the feelings of
anxiety.

Of
course, during all this, Russell would happily contribute to my
thoughts, to let me know he was listening. I had no privacy at all,
and that annoyed the hell out of me. Still, it could have been
worse. Russell was at least sticking to his word and staying out of
my dreams. Well, besides one rather strange appearance. That dream
was likely my own doing, unless Russell secretly fantasised about
being a pirate with a wooden leg. I tried not to think about that
particular dream too much, since it refused to be contained by both
logic and reason.

I spent
the next four days wanting to claw at my skull, to remove the
seductive voice that purred and chuckled inside it. Finally, we
reached our final camp. Rachat sat proudly on the horizon,
surrounded by its high steel walls.

"Gather
round, everyone," Russell shouted. "Tomorrow, when the sun sets,
our infiltration will begin. I'm going to go over our strategy, and
then I recommend you all feed and rest up."

Russell's eyes lingered over me
when he mentioned feeding. '
Not a chance'
, I thought, glaring at him. He smiled
back.

"Our main
objective is to find and eliminate the pure-blood, who we believe
to be Verloren himself. My group and Violet's group will be
focusing on accomplishing this."

"What
about us?" Anna shouted.

"We
cannot afford any interference. You, and your group, are tasked
with crowd control. Lure any humans away that might threaten to
interfere. I also want you to try and locate the whereabouts of any
high ranking officials who might be privy to the Silver Dawn's
secrets. The rest of us will be keeping an eye out for them too. In
particular, we have been ordered to capture their General, Philip
Marsten, as he will be instrumental in winning over the people of
Rachat."

I hoped
they would kill General Marsten for what he had done, for
everything he had taken away from both myself and Nate.

'I could help you with
that,'
the
voice in my head whispered. "Any questions?"

There
were none, so Russell began designating the daytime patrols to
Daniel, Violet and his own werewolf, Leah. He dismissed everyone,
and instructed them to prepare for the battle ahead. I went with
Violet and the others to eat. After that, we began to settle down
for some sleep.

It was
still dark outside, the moon beginning to sink through the velvet
sky. I lay in my sleeping bag, thinking about what might happen
after the battle. Would Ash take me back? Would he want to stay in
Rachat? How many people would even believe the truth?

'You shouldn't think about it
so hard,'
Russell whispered.
'One, it won't change anything. And two, you're
starting to give me a headache.'

I laughed
to myself. At least I wasn't the only one experiencing some
discomfort because of our connection. Still, I couldn't shake the
feeling of unease and anxiety that washed over me, a hollow pit in
the bottom of my stomach preventing me from sleeping.

'Come to me.'

'You wish.'

'Wouldn't you like to discuss
the fate of your dear ex-General?'
he asked.

'No.'
I lied.
'Besides, I don't need to go to you
for a conversation.'

The voice in my head
laughed.
'I
can hear your thoughts. You cannot lie to me. Come, I only wish to
talk. You have my word.'

I let out
a long sigh and sat up. It wasn't like I was going to get to sleep
any time soon, and I didn't think he would try anything the day
before we invaded Rachat.

"You're
going to see him, aren't you?" Violet said, keeping her voice low
so as not to wake the others. I nodded and Violet and began to
stand.

"Alone,"
I said. "He won't try anything stupid. Not tonight."

"As you
wish," she replied, settling back down. "But if you need help, just
yell and I'll be there."

I found
Russell sitting outside on a large rock, gazing up at the stars. A
cold wind blew, rustling his hair. He looked almost peaceful.
Serene. He leaned back onto his elbows and looked over at me,
smiling.

"Sit," he
said, patting the rock. I sat on the edge, leaving as much distance
between us as possible.

"You said
you wanted to talk, so start talking." I drummed my fingers against
the rock.

"First,
you need to relax." Russell took hold of my hand. I tried to pull
away, but he held tight. "Shhh. I will not try anything. You have
my word on that. But you must try to relax."

I pulled
harder against his grip, but it was no use. His eyes stared into
mine.

"Relax,"
he repeated, "and then we will talk."

It didn't
seem like I had much choice. I closed my eyes and took a deep
breath. A cold wave washed over me, taking my anxiousness with it.
The knot in my stomach began to uncoil.

"I bet
Violet never told you about this." Russell chuckled. "Just as I can
feel your anxiety, I can share some of my calmness with
you."

"No, she
didn't tell me." I let out a long sigh of relief. "But I still
wouldn't have said yes if there was any other way."

Russell
released my hand. "Then you understand why I had to do what I
did?"

"Because
you're a sadistic bastard?"

"Perhaps." Russell laughed. He reached over to trace a finger
down the line of my neck. "You know, your blood is intoxicating.
Regular human blood can get so boring, but yours, Mikhail, is like
a fine wine."

"I'll
kill you before I let you feed from me again."

"And I do
not doubt your words, but there is still time for me to change your
mind. I would so very much like to introduce you to my
world."

"Is that
what you wanted to see me for?" I asked. "To try and change my
mind?"

"Maybe a
little." Russell smirked. "But I also want to talk to you about
this General, who you so want to kill."

"He took
everything from me," I said quietly. "Everything."

"And he
should be made to pay. I can help you get your revenge, but I do
have one condition. I want to watch while you kill him," he said,
as though it were the most natural request in the world.

"What?
I-I don't understand."

"Then let
me show you." Russell pressed a finger to my forehead. I closed my
eyes as images bombarded my mind. I saw myself, stood over a table.
General Marsten was strapped down, his skin a twisted pattern of
cuts and bruises. In my hand was a blood-stained knife. Russell was
watching, excited by my handiwork. He walked up to me, his hands
going to my face. He cleaned the blood from my face with his tongue
and began to strip me, laying me down in a pool of
blood.

I jerked
away from his touch. "You're sick," I gasped. "Is that what turns
you on?"

He
laughed. "Amongst other things."

I didn't
dare ask what those other things might be. But then again, what
could be worse than a torture fetish? I hoped and prayed I would
never learn the answer to that question.

"Do I
disgust you that much?" Russell asked.

"You can
hear my thoughts. Figure it out for yourself." I wasn't in the mood
for soothing vampire egos, not that my answer would have been
particularly soothing. And then there were the questions I wanted
to ask, such as what Russell was planning on doing to me, and why
he chose me. Was he planning to torture me too?

"I wouldn't do
that
to you." Russell
smirked. "Unless, you want me to. You're much more valuable to me
alive and healthy."

"Then
what do you want from me?" I asked, pleading. I was sick of the
games.