He threw a large duffel bag that he had been carrying to the floor and brought out his phone, thrusting it into Elizabeta's hands.
"Give him a call. His number is saved on the cell" he ordered "Tell him to come for her."
Elizabeta nodded, dialing Dragos' number. With each ring, my heart raced faster.
I knew within me that Dragos would be devising a plan to rescue me, and I could only imagine how worried he was.
How scared. How anxious. How... furious.
As the call connected, Elizabeta held the phone to her ear, a wicked smile morphing across her face. "Hello, Dragos" she purred, speaking into the receiver. Her tone was mocking. "I'm sure by now, you must be missing the love of your life"
Although I desperately needed to be rescued, I couldn't let Dragos risk himself, especially knowing how dangerous Cassius was. I screamed out his name, begging him not to come, but before I could finish, Cassius struck me hard across the face.
"Silent, bitch!" he snarled.
As I recovered from the blow, I could hear Dragos' frantic voice calling my name through the phone, his fear, desperation, and rage felt.
Cassius strode towards Elizabeta quickly before she could continue speaking and snatched the phone from her.
"We'll be waiting for you in the Bloodstone Valley, at a cave deep in the forest." he said through his teeth "I'll send you the coordinates. Find it, and come watch her die"
With that, he ended the call, sent Dragos the coordinates, and slipped the phone back into his pocket.
Elizabeta sank onto the floor, kicking off her shoes. "I don't get why we couldn't remain at your place for a little more time. It's going to be a while before they arrive here. What are we supposed to do in the meantime?"
Cassius casually removed his jacket and draped it over me. Elizabeta frowned at his gesture. I was shivering due to the cold atmosphere of the cave.
"What? We can't have her freezing to death overnight. It would ruin the fun," he explained.
"As for why we left early, I had a bad feeling about staying there. It's best we come here and pass some time."
He glanced at his watch, noting the time.
"It's 1:45 a.m. Besides, if my calculations are correct, they should arrive by morning. I said 'they' because I assume his uncles will be with him, and since they're nightwalkers like us, they wouldn't be able to come out. It would just be Dragos alone."
"Or, he could be with his sireling, Rafael," Elizabeta said flatly.
Cassius guffawed "Trust me when I say he won't be a problem"
He knelt, unzipping the duffel bag, and I shifted, curious to know what was inside.
As he revealed its contents, my eyes widened in fear, and I gasped.
He withdrew a sword.
"Forged from the bowels of hell," he said proudly, wielding it "I present to you...vindicta (vengeance)"
His gaze locked with mine as an evil smirk spread across his face. "This will inflict serious harm and cause unimaginable pain to your boyfriend, no matter how powerful he is" he paused to allow his words sink in. "I look forward to that moment. Not only will I break him, but I'll make him watch me break you first"
He left the sword on the duffel bag and sat on a rock. "All we have to do is wait a few hours for him to arrive"
A few hours felt like an eternity.
The rocky walls of the cave provided little comfort for me and I found it difficult to sleep. My head rested against the harsh surface, my pyjama bottoms doing little to protect me from the chill air.
Slowly, an hour dragged by, each minute feeling like forever as I longed for time to pass more quickly.
Elizabeta slept peacefully, unaffected by the cold, while Cassius slept nearby too. But judging from his restless movements and occasional murmurs, his sleep was troubled.
How could any of them even sleep in this environment? The foul smell, the biting cold, and the harsh grounds all made it impossible for me to have a peaceful rest.
But then again, they were vampires. Technically speaking, they were dead. The cold couldn't affect them, and discomfort meant nothing to their kind.
The ropes binding my hands stung, their rough texture leaving my skin red, itchy, and uncomfortable. I longed to be free from my shackles, my mind already plotting another escape when suddenly, the silence was interrupted by the sound of a portal opening. In an instant, Dragos and his uncles stepped through.
Cassius and Elizabeta sprung awake, the sudden appearance of Dragos and his uncles, catching them off guard, but within a second, Cassius had grabbed his sword from the bag and seized me by the jacket, pulling me towards him and pressing his blade against my throat.
"Dawn!" Dragos exclaimed in relief on seeing me, but as he fully took in my condition—my bruised face, disheveled hair, and unkempt appearance, his eyes burned with rage, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword tighter.
I looked at his sword and for the first time, a smile spread across my face.
"Blitzkrieg," I whispered happily.
Nothing good happened whenever Dragos wielded that sword.
Chaos always ensued.
He had done unspeakable things, he had inflicted unimaginable horrors on vampires who had barely even touched me.
I could only imagine what he would do to them who had caused me such pain.
Cassius and Elizabeta had no idea what was coming for them, and this knowledge thrilled me, as weak as I was.
I could hardly wait to see them face his wrath. I could hardly wait to see them suffer just as they had made me.
"Dragos" I croaked, a wave of joy and relief washing over me as tears welled up in my eyes.
With a blade pressed against my throat, I hadn't had the chance to scream out his name.
My heart fluttered at the sight of him, and I wanted nothing more than to rush into his arms and weep, drowning in his warmth.
"How?!!" Cassius bellowed angrily, interrupting the reunion. "HOW??!!!!" He demanded again.
"None of your business, shithead. Release the girl" Geta snapped.
Dragos and Cassius' gazes held, their eyes engaged in some silent warfare no one dared interrupt.
"I'll have your head for this" Dragos said under his breath. "You made a grave mistake messing with me. Your screams will echo throughout eternity"
There was something different about him. Something stronger about the aura he gave off.
"Oh, I'm so frightened. The Alesul is after me... someone, please, save me!" He guffawed. "But don't worry, you'll be without your precious Dawn soon enough."
"She's a strong one, this one," Cassius said, inching the blade closer to my neck, that it cut into my skin a little, drawing blood. Dragos released a warning growl.
An actual growl.
It was the first time I heard him make such a sound— a raw, animalistic noise.
"Don't you grow tired of this hostage charade?" Dacianus asked, visibly annoyed.
"No, I don't" Cassius replied coldly. "Watching the fear in your Alesul's eyes and how he tries to conceal it is far too enjoyable, I must admit."
Dragos shifted his attention to Elizabeta. "You" he spat, his face squeezed in anger and disdain "I thought by now you'd have learned your lesson and fled for your life after having you locked away. But still, here you are joining forces with this fool, daring to provoke me once again. I will not spare you." He said. "Tonight I'll have both your head hanging on spikes"
Elizabeta stiffened at the threat, but she kept her expression cold, refusing to let her fear show.
"I can't believe I wanted to marry you! You're the one who betrayed your kind by killing the dark order and protecting that which has been sent to eliminate us" she accused "You should be ashamed of yourself"
They did not deserve to live" Dragos responded coldly. "No more than any of you do. I have no regrets."
His expression showed no remorse, his tone just as unrepentant. "Anyone who dares to question my judgment will be met with the same fate"
Leaning on the hilt of his sword, he continued, "And those who want to harm her will suffer the consequences. I had hoped my family's destruction of the Arpad clan, and my slaughter of the insufferable members of the council would send a clear message. But it seems you vampires simply don't value your lives"
He looked at Cassius. "Both your heads will be another reminder to those daring enough to follow in your path."
As they spoke on, I looked for a way to free myself from the grasp of the evil vampire behind me.
"Enough!" Cassius interrupted. "It'll be her head in my hands, tonig..."
I slammed the back of my head against his nose with all my might, hearing the crack of his nasal bone.
It worked, causing a momentary distraction.
Cassius staggered back, caught off guard, blood dripping from his nose.
"Run!!!" Dragos' yell echoed throughout the cave as I made a break for it, while Cassius tried to recover.
I made my escape into the night, my legs energized with adrenaline.
I heard someone come after me.