Vengeance (The Captive #6)(6)

He released a disgusted snort and moved aside to let the last man in. Tempest managed to keep her mouth from dropping open when her eyes latched onto the ugly vampire who stepped through the door. A jagged scar started at the edge of his close-cropped hairline; it curved to his right ear before going to his chin and winding back up toward his thin lips. His beady hazel eyes surveyed her with cool disdain. He was only a couple of inches taller than she was, but his stocky frame took up almost the entire doorway. His nose had to have been broken numerous times over the years as it now sat in a permanently crooked position.

“This is for the queen,” he told her brusquely.

Tempest glanced out the window as she recalled the woman on the horse, but what would the queen be doing here without the king? From the stories she’d heard from the local vampires and humans, they were inseparable.

“Will the king be joining her?” she inquired.

The man turned away and slammed the door shut with an air of finality. Tempest couldn’t stop herself from jumping as the rattling crash echoed through the house. Shouts and cries from the street still floated through the air, but the closing door made it feel as if the world outside had ceased to exist. All she wanted was to run as far from here as possible, but she could never leave the children alone with these men. She would never forgive herself if the kids were injured in any way.

“No,” the ugly man answered. “Show us to our rooms.”

“We have no available rooms, the children…”

“Make room!” he snapped. “Or I’ll throw you into the street, along with the children.”

Tempest’s blood ran cold; her gaze darted toward the stairwell. Screams echoed from somewhere down the street; the cries of agony made her hands shake. Without thinking, she stepped to the window and looked out to see a man and woman being dragged down the street toward the stocks outside of the prison. She’d assumed they were about to be locked into the stocks, but they were pulled past the jail and toward the blood bank. Confusion filled her when the couple was led up the stairs and taken inside the building.

They were humans, she knew them as they’d all grown more accustomed to living together after the last war. There had been some distrust on both sides of the species, and there still was a little, but the new laws the king imposed had established clear boundaries and a safer world for both races. Over the year and a half following the fall of the old king, their world had become less turbulent. They’d all learned how to work together and now socialized with each other on many occasions. They’d finally known peace…

Until now.

The ugly vampire grabbed hold of her arm, jerking her back and drawing her attention to him. “Find us rooms,” he commanded.

Her teeth clenched; it took all she had not to tell him to get out, but she had no idea what they would do to her, and more importantly the children, if she did. She didn’t see what other choice she had; there were only about five hundred residents in Badwin. She had a feeling they were about to be outnumbered.

The man gave her arm a brusque shake, “Now.” Snatching the candle up from the table, he tossed her arm away from him. Everything in her screamed to run, adrenaline coursed through her body, but somehow she managed to walk calmly up the stairs. “One room for each of us,” he called up to her. “And no children in them.”

She hesitated with her foot in the air, before continuing onward. Turning the corner, she glanced back to make sure she was out of view before rushing down the hall to the attic door. She gave it three quick raps and stepped back to wait for Abbott to open it up.

“What’s happening?” he whispered.

“Nothing good. Get the children.”

He disappeared back up the stairs. Tempest hurried into the room at the end of the hall. Gathering as much clothing as she could, she shoved it into the small hamper in the closet. The children had gathered in the doorway when she emerged from the closet, all five sets of eyes were on her.

“We must get as many of your things out of these three rooms as we can.” She pointed to the two bedrooms next to the one she stood in. “We’ll have to double up the best we can.”

None of them argued with her, she hadn’t expected them to. Before things had changed following the war, the children had little of anything and were used to going without. They spent the next ten minutes reorganizing people and rooms before everyone settled into their new places.

“All of you are to stay in your rooms,” she told them as she held the flickering candle up to reveal their wide-eyes and quivering lower lips.

“I’m coming with you,” Abbott said.

She glanced toward the stairs when she caught the sound of voices from below. Outside, the screams and shouts had quieted a little, but wails of suffering continued to pierce the night. Flickering light from the torches spilled into the windows of the orphanage. She didn’t want to look back outside again, and she definitely didn’t want the children to.

“No, stay here with the children,” she whispered before returning downstairs.

The men remained waiting for her by the door. When they lifted their heads to look at her, she knew with unfailing certainty her life had just been completely turned upside down. Things in their tranquil town would never be the same again, and not in a good way.





CHAPTER 3


William stood with his hands folded before him as he watched Hannah walk down the vibrant red petals scattered through the snow. Ellen and Aria had thrown the petals down to create a makeshift aisle for the bride. Braith stood beside him; the white flakes falling around him covered his black hair and the black coat he wore. Standing beside Braith, Jack grinned from ear to ear like a child who’d been told they could have a puppy. Across the aisle from them stood Ellen, Aria, and Jack and Braith’s younger sister, Melinda.