Darker Blood

Chapter fifty-nine

Inori pov~

Holy shit.

Every single joint in my body is screaming in agony, and the stifled cries escaping my mouth did little to lessen any pain. The bloodied rag they'd strapped across my face was dripping with the stench of death, suffocating my nose and mouth and hindering my vision.

But I could still see him.

Xierro sighed, her legs swinging back and forth against a small pedestal of cement she sat on, everything about her appearance so innocent and child-like. "I guess you weren't lying, huh?"

About what?

I tried to speak, but the cloth jumbled my words and as it was, I could hardly think outside of the banging in my head.

"You did come alone." She laughed, jumping off the block. "How stupid were you? Your failure was guaranteed, and you still chose to bring one of your creations here to die?"

My throat choked up and I blinked away the tears, unable to focus on her voice, my eyes refusing to look away from him. He was looking right up at the sky, one bloodied arm splayed limply on the ground, the other crossed over his chest right where the tiny blade was still lodged in his chest. His mouth was open but it did not move to bring in air, and his eyes were wide, yet they had not even twitched for hours, dulled to a dark empty grey.

He was gone. And it was my fault.

I grunted as I tried to move, the poles driven through my body preventing me from moving at all. Xierro clicked her tongue and placed a high-heeled boot onto my chest, forcing me back into the ground.

"Stay still darling," she taunted, wrapping her pale fingers around one of the poles that was driven right through my chest plate, moving it around in slow circles, pulling increasingly loud cries from me. My skin burned and itched as the venom raced through my system, her teeth marks throbbing on my neck. It was disgusting; my body was trying to turn evil, to turn into a demon, I could feel it happening but I was refusing. I'd rather perish than turn into what my father did.

And I could fight it. I wasn't going to become evil, too many had given their lives for me and at my command for me to give up now. My throat was burning for blood, and I couldn't hold onto my control for much longer, pure outrage racing to my useless lengthening claws. It was nearly impossible to kill a pureblood vampire so easily, and although the poles pinned me to the cement, effectively preventing me from moving, I would recover, however my own health wasn't crossing into my thoughts.

"Time to go," she sighed, pulling out a pole that previously was through my right knee and I bellowed a curse, a small spurt of my blood flying out with it, and I watched the sharp point of the pole, my blood on it pitch black but threatening to turn brown.

Xierro then proceeded to rip out all the other poles that were tying me down, and I whimpered, barely able to move now even though I was technically free.

"Take a long last look," she drawled in my ear, pulling me up to stand and the cloth from my face, and panic raced through my mind.

What were they going to do with his body?

"We were going to burn him, but I think it'd be better to leave it as a little gift to the rest of your family, especially that girl. Don't you agree?"

"Why are you doing this?" I spat, hoping that yelling would relieve even a small portion of the pain. "This is not your fight, so why are you doing this?"

She hauled my effortlessly to my feet and tossed me back into the haphazard arms of two soldiers who kept my limp form standing, black racing through her eyes. "Demons thrive on pain, you should know that."