The Font (20 page)

Without a backwards glance, Mariel and her comrades disappeared into the star embedded sky.

* * * *

As soon as they landed in front of Heriolf’s mansion
,
the vampire king
slung Naya over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.  He carried her into the building and started up the stairs to the second floor.  To her bedroom.  All her struggles had no effect.

“Let me go, you monster!  I know what you did!  I know you killed my parents!” she screamed in terrified fury.

His chuckle was loathsome in its satisfaction.  “Indeed I did.  And while I drank your mother’s blood, I fucked her.  After I have my fill of your blood, I’ll extend the same privilege to you.  I’ll make you my eternal wife, to warm me in every way possible forever.”

“I’d rather die!”

He brought her into her bedroom and threw her down on the freshly made bed.  The lovely scents she’d made with Elisha were all gone.  Naya scrambled to get away, but Heriolf fell upon her, pinning her under his muscular bulk.

He leered.  “Afraid not, my little Naya.  As your guardian and husband, I will protect you from all harm.  You will drink my blood and never die.”

He
riolf
didn’t bother bespelling her.  His fangs erupted from his gums, and he bit viciously into her neck. 
Naya
screamed as the pain tore through her, radiating to her shoulder and jaw.  Her tiny fists were ignored as she pounded on the beast feeding on her.  She couldn’t do more than squirm the slightest bit under the weight of him.  Heriolf sucked and swallowed against the flowing wounds made by his fangs.  With horror, Naya felt his manhood growing hard, pressing against her thigh as he fed and fed and fed.

He was regaining the extra strength her cursed blood gave him, making her weak as his power grew.  Beyond the great head pressed to her throat, Naya could only see the curtains of her canopied bed.  They rocked unsteadily, becoming blurry in the motion.

Heriolf was taking too much.  The curtains were rocking harder, as if on a storm-swept boat.  The world was turning slowly all around her.  She could feel the drunken sway of the bed beneath her.

Naya welcomed the coming darkness.  Gray flowers bloomed before her half-lidded eyes.  She no longer fought,
beckoning
the death that would take her away from the monster who continued to devour her life.  Her only thoughts were now centered on the man she loved.

Please, Elisha, please fly away.  Don’t come and die because of me.

She had to make sure Heriolf killed her before he could do worse.  As the ancient vampire fed, she whispered, “I don’t want you.  You disgust me.
”

No response.  He only continued to suckle at the wounds he’d made, but he was slowing.  She was horribly weak and dizzy, but he hadn’t taken enough to finish her yet. 

Naya fought the despair that threatened to drown her, turning instead to fury at the murderer at her throat.  “Y
ou can’t possibly be the man Elisha is.  I gave myself to him.  Over and over.  I’d never want you after having such a man, even if I didn’t know what you’d done to my parents.”

 
             
He
riolf
reared up over her with a roar, scarlet liquid staining his chin.  “You are mine.  Mine!  No other man will have you!”

She twisted her mouth into a scornful smirk.  “Another man already has, and it will be his touch that I dream of, his mouth on my body, his manhood inside of me that I will crave.  Never you.”

Heriolf’s face went purple with rage.  Naya saw the madness in his eyes, and his fist rose, the clenched hand like a boulder, ready to descend and smash her skull.  She stared up at him, ignoring the rising terror
.  She curled her lips into a sneer
, willing him to end it now.

Chapter 12

Elisha kicked desperately, rolling on the ground
in an attempt
to get the thin silver links to unwind from his arms and torso.  The hated metal clung to him like barbed wire, burn
ing
into his flesh.  As he twisted, frustrated and furious tears leaking from his eyes, he caught sight of a man-shaped shadow.  Blurred by emotion, he couldn’t make out the watcher’s features, but his Font-fed senses picked up the thoughts in the other’s mind.

“Sebastian!  Heriolf has Naya!”

His dearest friend stepped slowly into the moonlit clearing.  Elisha blinked until the other vampire’s expression of guilt and fear came into focus.

Sebastian spoke slowly, as if forcing the words from his throat.  “I know.  I saw him fly with her on my way to find you.”

For the first time in his life, Elisha felt something besides love for his lifelong companion.  Fury.  Almost hatred.  “Why didn’t you stop him?  Why aren’t you helping me?  You were my friend!  My brother!”

Sebastian crouched beside him, the agony in his eyes apparent.  “I still am.  Which is why I’m not certain you should stop Mariel and the others from destroying Naya and Heriolf both. 
They
are death
for
you, Elisha!”

Calm yourself and talk to him.  Sebastian hasn’t turned on you.  What he does, he does out of the brotherhood we have formed.  He will understand
. 

Forcing himself to ignore the pain of his binds though they continued to eat into his flesh, Elisha said quietly, “Sebastian, please.  I love her.  I do not wish to continue my existence without her.”

Sebastian closed his eyes.  Elisha heard the arguments in his head, felt the monumental struggle within the other man.  “I know Naya is an innocent.  And I don’t believe she deserves death.   But Elisha, if you keep her at your side I fear for your life.  An army of vampires could rise against you just to take Naya for their own.
”  His eyes opened again, and his gaze on Elisha was sharp.  “
You’re not the warrior Heriolf is. 
Lo
o
k how easily you’ve been taken down
despite the extra powers of her blood
.  We’ve never been able to do that to him.
”

“
That
doesn’t matter
to me
.  Love is not about being safe.  It’s about daring all for even a few precious seconds of its embrace.  Help me.”

Sebastian looked down at him.  The seconds slipped away, bringing death closer and closer to Naya with every tick of the clock.  Elisha fought with everything he had to remain patient, to give Sebastian the time he needed to make the right decision.

Elation swept over Elisha the moment before Sebastian’s shoulders slumped.  The former slave sighed and shook his head.  “Don’t get yourself killed and make me regret this.”

“Thank you, my dearest friend.  You will never know the depths of my gratitude.”

Sebastian searched around until he found a large mass of Spanish moss heaped on the ground.  Using it to protect his hands, he pulled the silver chain out of Elisha’s flesh
.  Elisha’s lips were
tight against the pained groans that came with
being
free
d
.

Naya’s blood helped the healing begin immediately, but Elisha knew it would be hours before the worst of the wounding disappeared.  No matter.  He would have to face Heriolf and Mariel injured. 
Hungry too, because he still had not fed.  He hoped the vicious thirst gnawing at his senses would help him fight with extra brutality. 

The instant the chain fell to a sparkling ribbon on the ground, Elisha’s strength flooded back.
 
He leapt up and grabbed Sebastian, pulling the surprised vampire close for a
n embrace
.  “Thank you again.  No matter how this turns out, I will forever be
in your debt
.”  He released the other man.  “Heriolf was taking her to his mansion?”

Sebastian nodded.  Elisha was relieved to discover his
friend’s
thoughts were all for rescuing Naya now.  “That’s the direction he was headed in.”

With Sebastian at his side, Elisha took to the air.

* * * *

Heriolf’s fist opened wide as it descended, not dealing a death blow as Naya had hoped, but to grasp the front of her souvenir tee-shirt.  He crumpled a handful of material in his paw and yanked it with brutal strength.  The cheap fabric shredded, leaving Naya naked from the waist up.  She screamed and folded her arms over her breasts, but the b
east
was already moving to the sweatpants, ripping them from her
and leaving her
exposed to his greedy gaze.

Naya scrambled desperately to escape.  Heriolf caught her by her long hair as she lunged from the bed and threw her back down.  Then his hand did strike her, slapping her hard across the cheek to send sparkles dancing before her eyes.  Naya’s head swam, and she wished for unconsciousness.  The fuzziness receded however, leaving her face pulsing with the heat from his blow.

Heriolf tugged at his pants, loosening them to unleash his cock.  It sprang free, looking like a battering ram, so thick and swollen that Naya was sure the vampire would disembowel her with the first thrust.  She screamed and fought him with all she had.

Chuckling as if the impending rape was nothing more than lighthearted play, Heriolf pinned her wrists over her head and used his muscled thighs to spread her legs wide open.  He covered her body with his, and Naya sobbed to feel the sickly fevered heat of him poised at her sexual opening.  He pressed against her.

Screams and cries sounded from beyond her closed door.  Heriolf paused, his head lifting to listen.  The unmistakable sounds of fighting filtered into the room.

             
Rather than looking alarmed
,
Heriolf grinned
.  H
is vampire fangs t
ore
through his gums
once more
to make him more monstrous than ever.  He directed that fearsome gaze at Naya.  “Time to end this once and for all.  Then, my bride, we will consummate our eternal union.”

With that he leapt to his feet, fixing his pants as he rushed out of the room.  Naya heard the door lock behind him.

Shaking, she slipped off the bed.  Refusing to let her quaking legs slow her, she hurried to her armoire, yanking out a dress without even paying attention to which one she’d grabbed.  She pulled it on, the blush pink fabric’s silkiness not registering for an instant.  Then she reached up to the top of the armoire, finding the key she’d hidden long ago behind the trim. 

Naya was weak from shock and blood loss.  It didn’t matter.  What mattered was making sure Heriolf would not get another opportunity to rape her.  If that meant dying, she would welcome it.

She unlocked the door, judging by the furious sounds beyond it that the battle was taking place on
ly on
the first floor.  Naya swung
the door
open and stepped into the hall.  She’d been right
;
the hallway and the top of the stairs were clear of anyone else.

She spied the
double-bladed
battle axe on the wall, one Heriolf claimed to have used
to
destroy entire villages when he’d lived as a Viking.   She pulled it from
the nails it rested on
, her weakened arms straining to hold the surprisingly immense weight.  Then she went to the stairs.

The melee below was a riot of vampires beating each other senseless.  Heriolf stood in the middle of it, taking on two of his enemies at a time.  He’d retained some of the power of the blood he’d stolen from her over the years, power he’d added to when he’d fed so hard on her minutes ago.

His
greatly diminished
guards and a
t least a
dozen other supporters battled the conspirators determined to see Heriolf suffer his final death.  Mariel was in the fray, using a
large
blade that flashed silver as she fought to get to Heriolf.  Her party had grown until there were more conspirators than Heriolf’s people, but with the vampire
king
’s enhanced strength
,
the
rebels
were still going down frighteningly fast.

Naya tightened her grip on the battle axe.  She started down the stairs, her gaze fixed on Heriolf, the axe held high.

She was halfway down when Mariel’s voice rose above the shouting.  “The Font!  Get her!  Her death will free us all!”

As conspirators surged towards the stairway, Heriolf bellowed, “Protect her at all costs!  If she dies, you all will!”

The loyal
ists
and Heriolf fought to put themselves between Mariel’s desperately
battl
ing group and Naya.   The elf-human raised the axe higher and kept descend
ing
towards them. 
Every one of the vampires stood against her in one form or another, none willing to hear her pleas.  Naya decided in that instant that a
nyone between her and the door was fair game in this fight for survival.  She dearly hoped Heriolf would remain in her path.