"I doubt it," I said. "They barely blinked when they thought she'd killed you and Catherine. It won't be any different for me."
He lifted an eyebrow, the corners of his lips half twitching into a small, barely-there smile. "Do you think so? Really?" he stepped closer. "Those were companions. Humans. Expendable. Your sire is among the most powerful in their ranks. They won't let an insult like that stand."
I kept my chin lifted, not letting him see how his words affected me, sending a chill down my spine.
"Enough talk. Time for part two of today's plan." Before I could respond, he flipped the switch. Pain coursed through my body, growing and growing as he watched. This time he didn't end it, just waited as my screams got louder.
The blood's power kept me awake and conscious long after I prayed to pass out. It felt like an eternity, all of it spent in purgatory, before my body shut down, allowing blessed darkness to claim me.
As I drifted off my last thought was that I really hoped that the next time I woke, I wasn't staring into the jaws of a demon wolf.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
"I DON’T CARE what you want. This was a bad plan," a woman shouted. There was a rumble where I couldn't quite make out the words as I raised my head, feeling woozy. Leaves stuck to my cheek, and my skin felt like little ants were biting every piece exposed to the sun beating down on my unprotected skin. "Why couldn't you have just left well enough alone? We were free. Why did you have to go and screw it up?"
Another low-voiced rumble. The woman sounded like she was moving closer, soft footsteps crunching over the thin layer of dead leaves. "I don't care what you want. I'm done. I didn't agree any of this shit."
"You’re part of this too," Theo said, his voice low and dangerous.
"I'm not," Lisa snarled. I could barely see them out of the corner of my eye as she rounded on him. "You and he made sure of that when you decided to throw me away. This is on you, and only you, brother dearest."
"And what about the companions you killed?" he asked, a sly look on his face. "The ones you ate?"
Lisa looked horrified and slightly sick to her stomach. "That was an accident. I thought we were just going to scare them, get Caroline banished. Nothing would have happened if you hadn't cut the woman."
"Yes, but something did happen," he said with a gloating smile. "And you lost control and killed two people belonging to the vampires. What do you think they'll do to you when that comes out?"
Lisa was quiet for a long moment. I kept still, feeling that my continued unconsciousness was more useful than trying to plant more doubt in her mind.
"Better that come out, rather than for Brax and the vampires to learn we played a part in the death of these two," she said. "Besides, I'll just blame you. Tell them you stabbed the woman and man and my wolf took over. Brax will understand."
She sounded like she was trying to convince herself of that.
"You don't know that," Theo argued.
"I don't care. This is your problem," she spat.
"So, go. I don't know why you're here if that's what you think," he snarled.
She snarled back, the sound animalistic. "They already know the role I played in driving Caroline out of the pack. Brax isn't an idiot. How long do you think it'll take him to put the two events together once he finds the family tree you so stupidly left where she could find it?"
The derogatory way she said 'she' left me in no doubt who she meant. I tensed my arms, feeling rope tying them down so I lay flat, face down on the ground. Not enough that they planned to kill me through wolf attack, but they'd staked me out in the sun like this was some fucking B-movie horror flick.
My exposed cheek felt hot and tight, as if I had the mother of all sun burns, and the back of my neck felt like one giant blister. How long had I been out here? I closed my eyes, turning my face so the burned cheek was lying against the cool ground. At least I hadn't burst into flame yet.
There was a slapping sound and then a cry of pain. I cracked open my eyes, squinting against the bright sun. Theo cradled his cheek as he glared at his sister.
"You don't get to do that to me anymore," Lisa growled. "I'm stronger than you now. Courtesy of the life you forced me into. Think about that the next time you want to hit me."
She turned her back on him, advancing on me. I watched, unable to move as she crouched next to me, fumbling at the rope wrapped around my wrists. Seeing I was awake, she said, "You'll tell Brax I helped you. That when I found out what my brother was doing I tried to fix it."
"Yeah, whatever you say," I mumbled, knowing if I disagreed she might decide her chances of surviving were better if I weren't alive.
Movement shifted behind her.
"Watch out!" I cried as Theo appeared, a tire iron in his hand. She started to turn when he brought it down hard on her head, the crack of her skull loud in the sudden silence, his face a murderous mask.
Lisa dropped to the ground unconscious, blood pouring from the wound on her head. Theo panted above her, the tire iron clutched in his hand.
"Bitch," he spat, throwing the tire iron to the ground. "You want to get soft; you can join them in their fate."
He grabbed his sister by the feet, dragging her across the clearing to a tree. There, he sat her up before stalking back out of view.
I hissed at her. "Lisa, wake up. You need to shake this off. Get up now."
The crunch of snapping branches alerted me of his return, and I fell silent again, dropping my head back to the dirt as I played unconsciousness. I watched through cracked eyes as he took a bungie cord and wrapped it around her feet before doing the same with her hands. Next, he took a chain and finished tying her to the tree. The same aura that had been on Caroline's cage and my chains in the shack covered the silver he used on Lisa.
Finished securing his sister, he made his way back over to me, checking the chains that still tied me to the ground. I feigned sleep, not wanting him to know I was awake lest he decide to fix that. My bonds must have passed his inspection because he aimed a kick into my side, one that had me fighting not to grunt or groan—the bastard had a pretty sharp kick—before he wandered out of view again.
I waited several moments, listening before I lifted my head and looked around as I took better stock of the place where I'd been staked out. I was in a small clearing on mostly flat land, trees all around. They were young trees as evidenced by the thick underbrush that surrounded me. To be honest, my new accommodations didn't tell me much. I could have been anywhere in Ohio.