Page 67 of Born Reckless

My gaze rises, and I know it's too late.

A dark figure drops on top of me, knocking me right to the ground. And when something hard and heavy hits me in the back of the head, it's lights out.

Chapter Fourteen

There isa terrible taste in the back of my mouth. It's metallic and stale. And my neck… A small groan escapes my mouth as I try to lift my head. It feels like it weighs a million pounds, but the weight of its sagging is making my neck feel like it's going to snap in half.

With a soft sob, I find the strength to lift my head.

And I stare straight into a pair of dark, angry eyes.

"I've been waiting for you to wake," he says. His voice is low and calm. It resonates with power. "I thought this was going to be difficult. You’ve eluded me for seven weeks. Who knew that it would only take twenty minutes to find you once I pinpointed the correct city?"

"Good for you," I say, glaring at him darkly as I turn my head from side to side, stretching out the stiff muscles. "You must be very proud of yourself."

He swings an arm and catches me across the cheek with the back of his hand. My head snaps back harshly, and I would probably have tipped right on over, except I realize that my arms are outstretched to either side of me and chains wrap around both of my wrists. The chains are anchored to bolts in the walls on either side of me. I'm sitting in a chair but strung up crucifixion style.

Pain rips through my face. I'm pretty damn tough as a vampire, but it was also a vampire who just hit me.

"You ought to take this situation very seriously," the man seethes as he looks down at me. "I made you a promise, and I make good on my promises."

"That's very noble of you," I say. My eyes scan the room, and I begin to evaluate "this situation". We are in a dark room, and it smells damp and old. There is a dirty window high up to the right of me, and considering the angle of the dim light coming in, I think this might be a basement. There are dozens of boxes stacked around me, but from their sagging nature, I have a feeling they've been sitting here for a while.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" The man asks as he crouches in front of me.

"Mary Poppins," I say as I continue to search this space for anything that might help me get out of this.

The man swings at me again, this time with the other hand. Unfortunately, he was wearing a big blocky ring on his middle finger. I feel my skin split open.

"Your sarcasm will get you killed tonight," he growls. "Now what is your name?"

"Queen Elizabeth the First," I sneer at him. "Pretty sure you're going to kill me anyway, right? You make good on your promises, remember?"

He swings a full punch at me this time. He catches me on the underside of my jaw, and my head snaps back with such force, that if I weren't a vampire, I'm absolutely sure my head would have detached from my neck.

"You're young enough to think your sarcasm is funny," the man says as he walks in a slow circle around me, adjusting the cuffs of his shirt. "You're young enough to think that I will lose my patience. I've lived a long life. I have all eternity to make you suffer."

Ow. Ow. Ow owow.

Something must be broken. Can vampires break bones? Surely my spinal cord has detached from the base of my skull at least. There's blood gushing down my face and the skin is starting to throb.

But as I listen to his words, something dawns in the back of my brain.

"That woman I killed," I say as I sit up a little straighter, feeling blood trickling down my face. "You said she was your daughter, right?"

"Yes," he says in an angry hiss.

I nod. Annoyance sparks in my stomach. "From my limited understanding, Born vampires can only be created by a vampire father. You're a vampire. So if that woman is your biological daughter, she is still alive. What the hell? Why are you going to torture me to death if she is still alive?"

Pablo rounds in front of me and places his hands on the arms of the chair I'm sitting on. The look in his eyes promises death. A really horrible one. "My daughter may be walking among us as an immortal now, but you have robbed her of the future that had been promised to her. You have robbed her of the opportunity to bear children to a Royal. You have robbed her of her place in the House of Valdez. You have robbed her of a place of power and influence."

Oh. Once again, this is about a woman's ability to bear a man's children. It makes me a little angry. It definitely grosses me out.

But I guess I get why he’s still pissed.

"Well, you can tell her you’re welcome for me. At least now she doesn't have to be breeding stock."

I see the swing come. But I don't even feel it. It's just a whoosh of air, and then it's back into the dark for me.