Page 71 of Winter Unleashed
“We want you to tell us where Celeste is,” I said, knowing damn well it wouldn’t be that simple.
“And why would I do that?” Her tone came off as bored, but something told me she was pleased to have visitors. Sitting alone in a glass cage in the middle of endless nothingness must be torture.
With a movement too fast for the eye to see, Liam grabbed Bruno by the back of his neck and held a knife to his throat. He pressed the tip of the blade against the vampire’s skin to draw a bead of blood.
Bruno hissed in pain. “Mother? Please don’t let them kill me. Help me.”
Cybil stared at her son with wide eyes and a quivering lip. I quietly celebrated as a tear trailed down her cheek.
Chapter Eighteen
“Come on, Cybil, don’t you want to save your little boy? Your original baby?” I held my arm out to point to her son. “Tell us where Celeste is, or he dies.”
“Please no,” Cybil said, her voice quivering. She lifted her fingers to cover her mouth and her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “No, don’t hurt my boy.”
I tilted my head and studied her for a moment before glancing around to the others. They had varying looks of skepticism. Ciara and Stella had pursed lips and cocked hips. Isaac folded his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes. Liam furrowed his brow and clenched his jaw. Philip of course looked as he always did… bored.
I turned back to the oldest known vampire. “If you’re so concerned about him, tell us where we can find Celeste.”
Her sobbing suddenly turned to laughter. “Like I give a shit about him. Go ahead, kill him. He’s been nothing but trouble since he was born. I should have killed him when he was a baby, but his father wouldn’t let me. Why I didn’t do the job after I killed that slimy bastard, I’ll never know.”
A bloodcurdling roar echoed through the room. We all turned to Bruno to find he’d completely vamped out. His skin was gray, and his face had sunk in so his cheekbones popped out in a sharp angle. His eyes were totally black, and his fangs were huge. The rest of his bulky, muscular body had elongated and thinned to almost skeletal as he charged the cage. His long bony hands curled into fists that he used to bang against the glass.
Bruno was the first and only vampire to be born that way. The Fae had created vampires before they’d created shifters. Over five thousand years ago, a Fae-created vamp impregnated human Cybil. After the first trimester, he turned her while she was carrying Bruno. It was a cruel and dangerous experiment that had succeeded… in a way.
No other vampire had ever gotten a human pregnant before or after Cybil. No one has ever figured out how Bruno’s father knocked Cybil up. My theory was that Cybil was Satan herself, and therefore capable of accepting a vampire’s sperm.
Regardless of the how and why, Bruno was truly one-of-a-kind. There had never been, and hopefully would never be another like him. Once Cybil eventually killed her vampire sire, she then turned as many humans as she could, and created a horde of bloodsucking babies for herself. None of whom she treated worse than poor Bruno.
“Let me in,” Bruno said in a voice that was so far from human it gave me goosebumps. He punctuated each word with a bang of his fist against the glass, making Cybil twitch each time. “Let me in.”
Astrid approached him as one would approach a grenade that’s had its pin pulled. She placed her hand on his shoulder and he turned to her. A quick flash of surprise passed over her face, but she didn’t step away. A twinkle moved across her eyes, and I realized she was casting a spell on him. “Hush, my child,” she said in a soothing tone, “I can’t let you in there.” She glanced up to Cybil. “Not just yet.”
Cybil’s pale skin turned whiter when she caught the meaning behind Astrid’s comment. “Don’t let him near me. You can’t. Please.”
Well, our original plan had been to threatenherlife if she didn’t give a shit about her son’s. But now she’d taken our plan to a whole new level by showing us just how scared she was of him.
Liam and I shared a look. He was thinking the same thing I was. “Cybil, we won’t let Bruno near you,” I said and poor Astrid had to spin another spell to stop him from turning on me. “If you—Oh, come on Cybil you know where this is going.”
“I can’t tell you where she is.” She locked her eyes on her son, and her hands shook as he snarled and kind of barked at her. “You don’t know what she’s capable of.”
“Oh, I do. Trust me,” Liam said. “But I bet Bruno here will do things to you Celeste couldn’t even imagine. It’s up to you to choose the lesser evil. Die by Bruno or Celeste. Either way, you’re fucked.”
I didn’t get to see Liam this way too often. I was usually too busy fighting for my life, but now I got to see him on full display. And I gotta say, Liam in charge was a sexy sight to behold and a jolt of desire hit my core. I knew when he scented my arousal when his hands clenched and unclenched at his sides. He didn’t dare look at me though. He knew better. I was just going into heat and there was no telling what I’d do if he turned those smoldering eyes on me.
Cybil finally pried her eyes from Bruno and looked at Liam. “You wouldn’t let him in here. You’re bluffing.”
Liam folded his arms over his chest and tilted his head. “Hmmph, well, I guess you have a new decision to make. Call our bluff. Or don’t and see what happens.” He stepped closer to the cage, ignoring Bruno’s snarls. “Cybil, I think you’re forgetting how little I care about your wellbeing. I couldn’t give a fuck if you live or die, or if you suffer or don’t.” He grunted a little. “That’s a lie because I do give a fuck, in fact I want you to suffer.”
She gasped when Bruno slammed his head against the cage. “In,” he grunted. He was almost purely vampire at that point. The only thing keeping him even a tiny bit sane was Astrid’s spell, which had barely touched him in the state he was in. If she dropped it, there was no telling what he’d do.
“You’re going to die either way,” Philip said as he moved closer to the cage. “The question is, by whose hand?”
I knew he wanted to kill her himself, but he’d do whatever it took to make sure this shit ended. Even if that meant letting someone else kill the woman who had ruined his life.
Cybil gave her son one last look. I couldn’t see his face, but whatever she saw there had her taking on a greenish hue and stepping away from the glass.
I expected her to tell us, but she still shook her head. Liam growled and gestured to Astrid. “Let me in there.” I tapped his shoulder, and he added, “And Ember.”