Of Fangs & Fins ✔

61. Hope

SR: Eery - Her

sixty one.

Eryn.

I whirled around before my fangs sank in and grabbed Mara's throat. "Sorry love, I don't think I'm interested in buying anymore." I shoved her against the wall and sank my fangs into Mara's shoulder.

She screamed, but I'm sure with the blaring music no one could hear her. That was the point of these blood bank bars. Anything goes.

Her blood burst into my mouth and I hungrily drank it, the familiar lingerings of Lucinda. I palmed her face and shoved it against the wall. An image began to bubble in my mind and I tightened my grip, my teeth latching into her neck deeper. My hand snaked around and I touched the nape of her neck. Her eyes and rolled to the back of her head. I pushed my consciousness forward and sifted through her memories trying to see what was going on. I pushed myself in too deep immediately and I fell in, my consciousness slipping in.

I was immediately thrust into the past, a memory I didn't have control of. Mara was throwing them at me, this one unexpected. I was in her body, seeing from her eyes.

Lucinda was in front of us—her.

"I don't this you get how serious this is, Mara. You have a quota to fill if you wish to keep your bar. I'm not cruel, you know that." She replied, "I don't even appoint death hounds around your territory." She lifted her hand. Her eyes were icicles as she glared at Mara.

Mara nodded, "I know. It's just hard to pick which one would end up turning into one of those things."

Lucinda nodded. "I know, but I expect ten by the end of this month. Controlled enough that I can transport them, that's all."

Mara nodded. I could feel the turmoil in her gut. She didn't want to turn people against their will. No one really wanted to be a vampire these days, at least none that would end up being frenzied. Not that they knew they would turn into that. Just knowing... just knowing their fates, I couldn't do that to them, Mara thought. They went to the clubs to let go and be free, how could I chain them to immortality only to have their life shortened for thing but in vain?

The memory faded and another one came forward, just the one I was looking for.

A familiar face was in front of me. I was in a small room with a window lining one side of it. There was a vertical coffin in the middle of the room. I tried my best to keep my own emotions in check as the memory played out. I needed to see everything. I had to stay in here.

Marina was laid out on a cot, her hands tied behind her back. Mara stood in front of her, watching her closely. This is the girl that Lucinda has been making such a big fuss about? Mara thought, shaking her head, She doesn't look like anything special.

"Don't let her out of your sight until your shift changes. Put her in here," Lucinda replied, "She might start using her wail, but the metal stops it so you'll be fine." She was standing beside Nerissa, who was looking away from Marina as they spoke.

Mara nodded. "Why are you keep her here and not with the rest of them?"

Lucinda narrowed her eyes. "She is a special one. I don't want her meddling in the business of the others." She stared at Nerissa. "This one, her sister, also is special. I think she's fighting the compulsion. As to be expected with what's happened with her."

"Okay," Mara crouched and lifted Marina up like she was no heavier than a small sack of potatoes. She tried not to get too close to Nerissa. She placed her into the coffin and shut it close, fastening a lock on the side. "She won't get out of this, right?"