The Mercenaries Dark Desires (ICS Book Three)

Chapter Three - The Capture

The Capture

The swamps of Louisiana. Present Day. 

Drowning another shot Alexandria winced, the dark liquid burning down her throat. A warm fuzzy feeling spread through her limbs, making her sigh.

Damn, that was a good feeling.

Glancing around she quickly assessed her surroundings. It was habit, one that had saved her hide a time or two.

The dingy Louisiana bar was located deep in the swamp. The place was packed with supernatural beings of all species. Some eyed her curiously, some with lust, others openly glared as if she were a bug they wanted to squash under their shoe. The hatred wasn't surprising; she was a Forsaken after all. It didn't matter that she was reformed or a Lockhart, one of the few pure vampire clans. All they saw was the red of her eyes.

Not that she could blame them.

Their contempt was expected and she had her blades with her just in case, sheathed at her hips. But she wouldn't need them, these creatures were nothing she couldn't handle. Even drunk off her ass she could take any one of them.

Thankfully, there were no humans, the bar blocked from mortals with mystical bindings. Any human crazy enough to traverse this part of the bayou would simply see more swamp.

Lucky for them.

These past few months she'd been avoiding humans like the plague. The thirst had been brutal and she couldn't take the risk. It wasn't a burn like the human books portrayed, but a deep seeded need to taste fresh blood. To feel that high. An addiction. Like an addict to heroine.

It had been nearly a thousand years since she went pure but she still desired that feeling. Craved it like an alcoholic craved liquor. The blood packs she normally fed from weren't nearly satisfying enough and animals were out of the question. Animal blood was disgusting, even more so than the blood of the dead, and she'd been forced to feed off them for centuries.

It made her gag just thinking about it.

She did feel badly about ditching her brother Damian and going off on her own. It felt unnatural not to feel him through their connection, the distance between them too great. But it pissed her off that he didn't thirst the way she did, that he didn't lust for fresh blood every minute of every damn day.

It also didn't help that she couldn't hide her emotions from him. Damian knew she was on the edge and pestered her about it constantly. And if Damian wasn't on her case her adopted father was. Charles didn't even try to hide his worry, convinced she'd slip up and go on a killing spree. She knew his fears were warranted, she's gone off the edge more times than she cared to admit to.

Between her adopted father and Damian, she couldn't breathe. So she left Grey Manor, home of the Lockhart vampire clan, and decided to have a little alone time. Mostly she took odd jobs, slaying a few pesky goblins here, taking out an annoying harpy there. She even killed a leviathan, the damnedable creature nearly gutting her before she took it down.

She couldn't wait to rub that into her brother's face.

As if on cue her cell phone went off, the Adams Family theme song blaring loudly. It was Charles...again. Sending it to voicemail she ignored it. Despite recently finding his mate - ironically in the spectral demon Jasper the Mist Walker - Charles still checked on her with annoying repetition.

It was strange. All those centuries ago if she'd stayed with her old clan and continued to fight against the demon slaves for Lord Ivan she could have very well killed Jasper in battle.