Captive: Hopeless

Chapter 55 - Connections

"They were battered against the bars and the rocks when the explosion collapsed a part of the tunnel," Cat guessed, inspecting their wounds.

"Vampire blood from one as powerful as Marcus heals even mortal wounds," Artemis suggested, and they glanced at her.

Marcus could not even heal himself at that moment.

"My master is too weak," she countered, and Artemis frowned at her, almost as if she didn't enjoy being so casually addressed by an inferior.

Cat didn't care.

"If he feeds, he will no longer be weak," Hera joined the conversation.

"Feeding off me won't help, and the rest are out of commission," Cat reminded, giving up on CPR, as did the others.

"Not I," Marcella said firmly.

"Neither am I," Darcy echoed.

"Unfortunately, he can't take much from either of you, and it won't be enough," Cat said, pity filling her heart and a great sense of loss.

"Marcus can drain me for all I care; I will not let my wife or daughter die." The words carried the weight of Darius' conviction, and Cat didn't miss the confusion on the faces of Thane's other daughters.

She'd wager they would have difficulty understanding how a succubus-vampire-human hybrid can have a werewolf for a father.

"The wounds we suffered are minor," Hera said, and Artemis glared at her, but Hera glared back.

"Immortal blood is much stronger than that of humans. If this doesn't save them, nothing can," Akira sounded tired beyond words.

Cat suspected she was hurt worse than she realized and needed to sleep and feed. As is, the succubus drained power from the rest of them at an alarming rate, and she was not the only one.

"Why would you do this for Father?" Akira asked.

"Thane is our father, and Azera was a liar. This newborn is our sister; no matter what other blood taints her, and the werewolf risked her life for us. We owe them that much," Hera admitted.

"Tonight, we would have died, and although the idea seemed like mercy, having seen Father and you, I am glad we live. He must know we did not betray him out of spite; we were deceived," Artemis said bitterly, offering her wrist to Marcus.

The vampire nodded but, driven by his concern and love for Kay, accepted her offering, although the moment his teeth sank into her, his vampire gaze turned an even more radiant shade of blue. Cat could only guess at the power of the ancient's blood.

Marcus took only a little and saw to Thane first despite himself. A few drops of his blood returned the color to the ancient's cheeks, and he coughed up water. He did the same for Adrian, and she, too, stirred to life, coughing up water. When his blood touched Kay's lips, she grabbed his arm and bit into him.

It took him only a moment to realize he was in trouble as her eyes opened, swirling a powerful blue unlike anything he had ever seen.

"She's going to drain him," Hera warned, bringing her wrist to Marcus' mouth.

Thane touched Kay and paled as she drew from his energy, unable to let go, and the others quickly reached out, touching Kay to prevent her from killing her father.

"This might change her," Artemis warned.

"Then we will deal with it," Thanos bit out. "She must live."

His words seemed to catch his other daughters off guard.

"We owe her much," Akira said, one of those who dared not touch Kay.