Enslaved (10 page)

"Vincent Gabe
DeChorello
, Oracle." Vince answered impassively.

She then spoke to the whole dinning room, "The Siren is in this very building and her mate is in this very room." She met Vince's cold gaze and sized him up. "He is a tall man with black hair as dark as midnight, his eyes are scarlet but used to be the most captivating green in the world. He had a childhood lover, still is the love of his life, and he'd do anything for her....for Vince's mate is the Siren."

The room fell silent, all eyes skidded to Vince, for his forever changing life had been sealed, his destiny decided in one evening....

Chapter 20

Jon shot out of his seat while Vince sat back, appearing unconcerned and lazy as he took hold of a goblet of blood and swallowed the contents thirstily.

"I know who his mate is!" Jon declared loudly and Vince froze, cup a few inches from his mouth while Vince's eyes widened slightly. Jon wouldn't, he thought...

But Jon did.

"Speak up, Jonathan!" Savant ordered briskly as everyone's ears perked up to hear the news.

Vince worked without thinking, if the
the
vampires found out that VIKTORIA was the
Siren,
they'd tear her to pieces without hesitation. So, without a thought, Vince stood up in a blur, taking hold of a steak knife and flinging it with precision at his brother's arm.

It hit its target, the top of Jon's shoulder.

He yelped in pain, eyes bugging out in shock as they sliced
over to Vince's enraged gaze.

"Shut your mouth, brother or I'll kill you in front of everyone. No force will be able to save you if you leak an ounce of information." Vince said in a deathly cold voice, his face darkening with pure rage. The candles that helped light the dinning room dimmed as a cold gust of wind laced the air, causing the flames' tips to sway erratically. The crimson walls seemed to bleed its red color out as shadows crept up every inch of the pain, causing them to turn as black as the nighttime sky. The pale faces of the vampires were thrown into shadow as the candlelight danced upon their features like a hand aglow as it stroked the contours of each person's intrigued facial mask.

Jon grinned and yanked the knife out of his flesh, "Oh, but don't you want to save the vampire race, brother? Or will you let everyone of your kin die in order to save a HUMAN?" Jon
demanded, throwing the weapon down onto the table, the blade of the knife striking the wood and embedding itself in the surface of the table.

Vince had no comment for his brother's query, for
he
himself did not know the answer to the question.

"Well, Vincent? Would you betray us all for a pathetic human whom you've LOVED and taken to on an intimate level for the past year?" Jon spoke to Vince, but looked at Savant expectantly.

"Is that true, Vince?" Savant asked softly.

Vince remained silent, sightlessly groping for a weapon on the table to use to sever his brother's traitorous head.

"Well, Vince? Is it?" Savant demanded more harshly.

Sighing and lifting his head with dignity, Vince answered in
a
arctic-cold, ice-smooth, unwavering voice, "Yes, Savant, it IS true. It's true that I've been taking advantage of the girl to have PLEASURE and that Jon has not have enough of it, for if he has than he'd surely know the difference between the lust for a body and the simple obsessiveness a lover would show its mate. Isn't that right, brother?" Vince spat the last word like a curse that should never be uttered by even the foulest of mouths.

Jon fell silent, grimacing because he had no retort
to sling back at his sibling.

"I thought so, Jon. You should think about what you are to say before you speak, Mother taught us that one, especially YOU. But her years of encouragement to think seem to have gone in one ear and out the other." Vince sat back down, finished taunting.

The room was once again filled with an awkward silence while Vince's words hung in the air like the Grim Reaper's scythe as it hovers above its
victims
throat while the Reaper savors every moment of fear and regret the prey could muster.

"Vincent," the Oracle broke the silence first.

"Yes?"

"Bring down the servant girl. I will make sure she will not be torn to pieces by these people." Heather murmured solemnly.

Vince searched her dark blue eyes for a moment, finding nothing but a promise for protection of the one thing he could not
bare
to lose again. He nodded with a sigh before standing up.

"I know she is in a state of change, Vincent. But the only way to find out if she's the true Siren is to see if she has the markings that the Guardi
ans bare." Heather said softly.

Vince slashed his gaze towards the four Guardians staring darkly at him. He saw the silver streaks and designs on their faces, knew that they possessed powers that are unknown to anyone other than themselves.

He forced his feet to move, to carry him out of the dinning room, up the stairs to the second floor, to his room and to the bed where his
Viktoria
lay. She was still, her body working hard to breathe as the venom in the vampire blood ate away the last cells of humanity within her...Vince's eyes fell upon
Viktoria's
right arm where silver designs were beginning to appear and suddenly, the truth hit him with full force.

His
Viktoria
was no longer the innocent girl she had been. She was changing into a vampire, into something deadly that held not a pound of compassion, into a being with unimaginable power and beauty, strength and senses, charm and thirst....

Life was never going to be the same for anyone, for Death and Destiny where locked in battle with each other, both fighting to guide and take away lives that could change the worlds' futures.

Vince's
Viktoria
could either
Liberate
the vampires and humans or have them all Enslaved.

Chapter 21

Vince couldn't disobey orders from the Oracle, no matter how much it put both him and
Viktoria
in danger. Though, he thought as he picked
Viktoria
up into his arms, the Oracle did say she would grant us protection from the vampires...but you can never protect someone when a vampire wants something done.

Biting nervously on his bottom lip, Vince brushed snow-white hair from
Viktoria's
paling face, watching as her eyelids didn't even flutter at the contact. Vince cursed Jon as he walked slowly out of his room and down the corridor.

If Jon hadn't brought up the whole "I know who Vince's mate is" thing than nothing as bad as this would've happened.
When this was all over, Vince vowed, I'll make sure I give him a slow, painful death, you could only kill a vampire by beheading it and burning the head. As Vince moved through the Hotel he made plans...He'd slice off all Jon's toes and fingers first, then brake every bone in his body, sear his skin off, and decapitate with the dullest of blades, make him FEEL the pain....

He came to a stop right before the dinning room doors, debating whether or not to make a run for it and deciding that the Guardians would track him down if he did. So, Vince with his head up and radiating false confidence, pushed the doors open with one hand, cradling
Viktoria
in the other arm, and sauntered into the still quiet room.

The Oracle's eyes immediately fell upon
Viktoria's
body, from her snow-white hair to her bloodless face to her slim, curvy body and down to her toes, racing back to stop at her right arm that was bared to her.

Oracle Heather moved with agonizing slowness as she strode towards Vince, a hand outstretched to
Viktoria
.

"May I?" She wondered to Vince, still gazing thoughtfully at
Viktoria
.

Vince shrugged, but said nothing.

Heather took that as an invitation to run her fingers along the faint marks on
Viktoria's
arm. "You do know that she isn't going to change fully, right? Her human blood is just as strong as her vampire blood...and she's going to be more powerful than I thought..." Heather's voice trailed off as another vision into the future seized her right as her hand touched a small fully-formed design on the inside of
Viktoria's
right wrist. The design was of a small hand splayed
out,
each fingertip had a strange symbol hovering above it....

Heather returned to the present, her face blanched as she stared down at
Viktoria
, eyes wide. "She's a giver and taker," Heather murmured.

Vince's brow furrowed, he hadn't known they categorized vampire with abilities..."And that would mean?" He asked, trying to ignore the eyes on him.

"She can take powers and shapes like a copy-cat, but she can also give them. Look on her left wrist, Vincent. There you'll see a hand that is closed into a fist. The one open means she can give, the one close means she can claim...You must be careful with her, Vince, or YOU alone can murder everyone. Keep her powers hidden from her or all is lost, Vincent. All will be lost." Heather started walking towards the exit, head bowed slightly.

Her mate followed her quietly, stopping when she stopped at the door. Heather turned towards the Guardians and the vampires at the table, her eyes grave. "You cannot execute this man and his
mate,
you can decide her fate on the summer solstice of next year, until then...leave in peace." With that, Oracle Heather departed, leaving behind wise words that could bring the apocalypse upon every breathing body on the planet.

"I think this Gathering is finished," Savant said quietly, glancing in Vince's direction before rising from his seat and striding powerfully out of the room, his entourage following close behind.

Everyone left in peace, but left Vince and his life in pieces.

Chapter 22

Vince returned to his room with a gloomy attitude, he knew that nothing would ever be the same again, that he couldn't reverse this or
control
it. He was aware that his innocent angel would be a demon of the night sooner or later, she would hold everyone's fate in her delicate hands...and to wrap it all up, Vince had to hide her powers from her. He didn't think he could live with that...hiding what she could do, leave her in the dark.

With a groan Vince wished Splice was there with him. Splice had powers almost like
Viktoria
would
have,
he would know what to do. Vince glanced over at
Viktoria
and his heart throbbed achingly at the sight of her, he truly did love her, but could his love protect her enough? Or will it just kill the both of them?

He didn't know and at the moment, didn't care anymore, he was going to take this one step at a time...Vince's ears picked up the sound of Jon walking up the stairs and anger immediately pulsed through him like the blood that gushed through his veins. Vince was going to take care of his brother once and for all.