The Consort (MalexMale) 《COMPLETE》

Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Rough hands claw at me, ravenous and possessive. His touch is unforgiving, and I wince when his fingers dig into my arms hard enough to lease a bruise. I fight against his hold, but the harder I fight, the harder he grips me.

Fiona screams from a few feet away from me. She struggles in her capture's arms, her red hair tumbling across her shoulders. The man holding her growls in frustration. He tenses when she attempts to kick him in the groin, and his rough palm collides with the tender flesh of her cheek. The noise of impact is piercing. She slumps into his predatory embrace, helpless and unconscious.

"Fiona!" I shout over the muffled voice and harsh footsteps. "Fiona!"

They're pulling her in the opposite direction as me, back towards the street with all the glass. No, no, no! How can I save her when she's not with me? I try to scream again, but a hand clamps over my mouth to silence the attempt. His fingers are cold and filthy, and the grimy taste of dirt smears across my lips.

"Keep it down," the man snarls against my ear. "'S disrespectful to the dead."

His other hand snakes around my waist. Tears burn beneath my eyelids. What if Bogdan and Kelly don't save us in time? I shouldn't have taken Fiona to the library. No discovery was worth her safety – our safety.

My shreds of hope fizzle to anguish as I'm dragged further and further away. The man holding me grunts with exertion each time the two of us are forced to climb over one of the many bloodless bodies scattered across the pavement.

The man traveling with us comes to a screeching halt, grabbing ahold of my captor's elbow and squinting into the distance.

"Jackson!" he hisses in whispered trepidation. "You see that?"

He nods to end of the street. I squint towards his silent direction, hoping there's something - anything, to distract them from bringing me further away from Fiona. But all I see is darkness.

"Ain't nothin' out there," Jackson responds against my ear. "Damnit, Caleb, now ain't the time to get twitchy. We gotta get movin' before the boss comes back."

Caleb juts out his chin and hesitates. Jackson continues pulling me in the other direction, but in the distance I see a glimmer of red glowing into the night. Then it disappears. Whether it's Bogdan or someone else, that color can only mean one thing.

A vampire is near.

My pulse quickens and Caleb points. "There it was again!"

Jackson huffs, turning the two of us around to face Caleb. "Now listen here," he scolds darkly. "The boss said – "

"Let him go."

The velvety, rich voice cuts into Jackson's sentence like a knife to softened butter. Jackson flinches at the same terrifying voice that manages to bring me relief.

It's Bogdan.

"'Fraid I can't do that," Jackson says. "Boss's orders, you see."

Bogdan lowers the hood of his cloak to reveal red orbs of insatiable fury. His features are menacing against the moonlight, and he turns slowly to face Jackson and me. Caleb takes the opportunity to reach into his coat pocket, retrieving a bottle and a packaged needle while Bogdan's attention is focused elsewhere.

It's the same thing Mark did in the parking lot just before Bogdan took me away. Caleb trembles as he tries to open the needle package with fumbling fingers. The small bottle in his hand glows in the darkness, an emerald hue that is as haunting as it is beautiful.