Bloodshed

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Torture

My pain had ebbed as the night went on, which told me that Linc was still alive. For now. Not that Master cared either way. So long as I was able to help him track down and destroy covens in the city, it didn't matter how I was feeling. Eventually, I grew numb to the pain all together. It still throbbed, but became a background sensation, less prominent than the blood and screams of the witches and warlocks Master slaughtered. 

At first, I tried to bargain with him, to get him to leave the covens who didn't have the grimoire. When that didn't work, I Influenced him. That did the trick for a while. But as the hours ticked by, my power grew weaker, and eventually, Master was able to slip free of my Influence. 

"Oh, do not look so glum, Child." Master said, letting a dead witch fall to the ground. "Witches are scum, less than human. They deserve this." 

I felt cold. Not physically, of course, but emotionally, down to my very core. The only person who deserved to die right now was him...and Gabriel. 

Especially Gabriel. 

Yes, Master was a horrible monster who deserved the slowest, most brutal death. But he was only here because Gabriel turned me. If that selfish bastard had just let me die like I'd wanted--

I cut the thought off before I could finish it. At this point I was just thinking in circles, dwelling on hating and blaming Gabriel for what was going on, when I should have been thinking of ways to keep the other covens of New York safe. 

"None of the other covens are safe," Master sighed, fresh blood running down his chin. "Not as long as the grimoire is out there and not in my hands."

I glared at him, too disgusted to respond. 

Disgusted with him, and with myself. 

It would be easy to stop all this. I could send word to Aiden and Linc to bring the grimoire here, to give it to Master and tell him to take a hike. And then pray to God that he didn't kill us all for conspiring against him.

But even if we did that, there was no guarantee the killing would stop. 

I was too engrossed in keeping those thoughts secret from Master, that I hadn't noticed his neck was broken until he hit the ground. I jump up with a gasp, frantically searching for whoever snapped his neck, when a figure emerged from the shadow of a high-rise next door. 

"Lucius!" I exhaled while choking out a sob. 

He scooped me up in his arms in a blink, holding me flush against him as we both began sobbing. And then we just stood there, falling apart in each other's arms, gripping one another so tightly that I would have passed out from lack of oxygen if I had been human. 

I wasn't sure how long we'd held one another like that, but when we finally pulled away it was just far enough to look into each other's eyes. Lucius sniffled, wiping the bloody tears off my cheeks while letting his own crimson tears stain his face. He looked relieved, yet still pained, like he wasn't telling me something. 

I leaned into his touch, placing my tiny hands on top of his big ones as he held my face. "Lucius, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

More tears spilled down his face, but he shook his head with a sniffle, and offered me a weak smile. "I'm just happy to see you. I was so worried." 

"I'm happy to see you, too." I closed my eyes, reveling in his touch, his presence. It was like I had taken a muscle relaxer; all the tension in my body was gone. I felt flexible instead of stiff, soothed in place of raw, but this couldn't last. There was no telling how long Master would be out...and what he would do to Lucius if he woke up to see him here.