Chapter 23 ∣  Vengeance

-Adrasteia

What type of fun is Harlan going on about? That voice, it's like when Natasha was threatening me. There was just something off about the way he narrowed his eyes on Landon, an extreme hate brewing from within and he'd never experienced a day with him.

How did he even find me?

And so quickly...

What made me slightly uneasy...is that Keegan must possess this demonic side to him as well, yet he never let it take full control in the driver's seat. In fact, he never let it shine through at all, just shifting physically.

I wonder what he's like? That other side of him...

Chains shattered, Harlan's powerful tail striking across the binds that locked my wrists up above my head. My hands fell in front of my stomach, my eyes catching those of the electric blue that had come to save me. Someone was fighting for me, and it was a feeling of acceptance that my own coven hadn't displayed.

My thigh still stung the traces of undiluted liquid silver mixed with my blood as it ran from the open wound. Half of the chain was still attached to the silver cuffs, but at least my arms weren't restrained above my head and more than likely, the only key lay with Landon.

"What the fuck are you?" Landon hissed, trying to stagger to his feet, his right hand rubbing the front of his neck.

Harlan's eyes sparked and he smirked wickedly at me before turning his full attention to the asshole who should have been mine and taken care of me. Now, all I wanted was to see him die...after everything he put me through and then was going to kill me again after telling me how I should live my life, or how poorly the choices were that I had made. I didn't care what he thought anymore. There was definitely a time and place when all I thought about was his approval...now, not so much.

He's going to pay for everything he's done to me.

I took a step forward behind Harlan, but I felt his tail wrap around my waist, halting me from moving any further.

"It's alright love, I think I can handle this annoyance," he chuckled to me while glancing over his shoulder.

"I want to kill him..." my voice was low, my irises shifting to their crimson red. Heat boiled under my skin, but I believe it was partially due to the fact Harlan was touching me. The contact of the skin of his tail against me did weird things that I was slowly learning was just a natural ability given off by these sex demons.

"Torture is so much more fun! How many times has he bent you over and fucked you?" My brows furrowed and I noticed Landon's senses clearing, his face no longer set in a daze.

"I-"

Harlan chuckled again, "Oh, I didn't mean literally...but how about we make that a reality for him? Let's see how he likes to be fucked with. All-powerful pureblood coven leader my ass..." his eyes had landed back on the ever-growing angry form of Landon, standing straight up and growling menacingly at the demon before him. "You're a weak leader...vampires...lesser demons who are nothing more than slaves," I scoffed, and Harlan released his tail from around my waist.

"Oh, not you love..." he retracted his full statement, "but he doesn't know how powerful you truly are, or how lucky he should have been to have you as his mate. Now, he'll have nothing...only death and sent to a circle in Hell reserved only for the soulless vampires."

That's comforting...

I could see what Harlan was doing...he was riling Landon up, making it so he wouldn't call for anyone else to help him. He'd be too prideful to even ask for help now, challenged the way he was by someone claiming that vampires were slaves.

"You talk a lot..." Landon glowered, seeing the shift in his eyes to those two black rose depths I'd known every day that I lived within these walls. "You're just a demon, and I've seen what that other one did."

"Oh! Really?" Harlan walked toward Landon, "You saw Keegan seducing someone? Having sex with them?"

"What the hell are you babbling on about?" Landon was so irritated and confused. My steps were faint as I walked back against the wall, near one of the far tables. My eyes had caught the glint of more restraints. Many were laced with traces of wolfsbane with the new war that had arisen, many covens were now armed with ways in torturing their opponents or interrogating them for information on their Alpha King. Though...Landon had rarely allowed for any of that, considering I'd always killed first before trying to figure out what made them tick.

Harlan stretched his shoulders and sighed, "We're not just regular demons. We're sex demons...so there's a lot to us you don't understand."

"What's to understa-"

Landon was cut off, Harlan completely disappearing mid-step as he approached Landon. Instead, his eyes black rose irises met with my bloody red ones, seeing that I had picked up a pair of silver cuffs from the table. I held them in both of my hands, my own restraints making it hard to pull my wrists apart from one another.

"Where the fuck is, he, you bitch! Is he some type of assassin like you?!" He accused me, my heart thumping hard in my chest. Did he go back to the Dominion Plane? Even I wasn't entirely sure of the true extent to their abilities. "Don't play games with me Adrasteia!" He shifted and took two steps forward before my eyes widened.

"Awe, but I just love to play games," Harlan was behind Landon, grinning from ear to ear. That demonic voice still came from within him, my skin covered in goosebumps at the very tone of it. "Don't call her a bitch, that isn't very nice. Besides, I'm going to make you mine," Landon whipped around, but the moment he did, Harlan's right fist punched him across the face. He dropped to the ground from the sheer force behind the blow.

Quickly bringing his knee up, Harlan caught Landon's chin landing him smack on his back. His head made a loud crack, my own hurting from the sound.

When Landon tried to stand to his feet, Harlan pulled back his wings and beat the air in front of him. That kept the coven leader on the ground, laying him out flatter for a split second.

"That's all you've got? Keegan was right about how weak your species is..." Harlan appeared completely bored, Landon's rage building. I started to walk quietly around the outskirts of the room, Harlan's eyes catching me and noticing what I held. The corner of his lip drew into a smirk.

I wanted to see Landon beaten to death.

Harlan, however...

Landon had kicked out, sweeping Harlan's feet out from underneath of him the second he became distracted. They both quickly attempted to fight for control, rolling over one another as punches fly with such speed and ferocity. Harlan growled lowly and hissed in pain when Landon pierced his fangs into the side of his shoulder, quickly trying to throw the pureblood off him, his flesh tore into two medium-sized wounds.

"You taste terrible," Landon spat the blood onto the ground, both separating with the last encounter.

"Well then, guess I'm the one doing the biting from now on," Harlan winked...he flipping winked at Landon. I was so confused about what he was doing, the way he spoke, yes it was kind of like the Harlan I had grown to know. But...this was just crossing the line. He had no filter whatsoever and it only made Landon angrier. It was kind of nice to see him rattled, confused as much as I was.

In the blink of an eye, they were both at each other's throats again, both receiving fair amounts of punches and kicks, throwing each other off guard with their sudden increase in strength. That's when I saw the flicker cross Harlan's eyes, Landon's front now against the cold stone floor. His arms were pinned tightly behind the small of his back, but I knew he wouldn't be able to keep him there forever and if Landon sensed he was losing, soon the whole coven would be down here.

Idiot.

Should have called for help, oh well...now you're at the demon's mercy.

"Adrasteia," Harlan's voice sent a shiver down my spine when he said my name again, his free hand outstretched. Throwing him the silver cuffs from my hands, I watched them fly through the air before he caught them, quickly locking Landon's wrists securely behind his back. "Ahhhhhh...poor pureblood...maybe you should have screamed and called for your precious coven to come and save you. Oh well! Now you're all mine," Harlan let go of his wrists and grabbed the white hair on the top of his head, tilting his neck to the side. He ran his tongue from the base of his neck, flicking it up the side until he reached just beneath his ear. Harlan drew the earlobe in between his teeth, biting hard enough for Landon to gasp and yelp.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!" Landon struggled beneath Harlan; the wings that once extended from his shoulders folded against his back.

Harlan sighed with irritation, "I don't have a preference idiot...if you have energy, I'm going to steal it. Too bad you don't have a soul I can rip away from your body and send into an endless abyss."

That was scary...

Wait...is he...he can't seriously be...

Let's see how he likes to be fucked with.

The words were brought back that Harlan stated and part of me was wondering if he really meant in a literal sense...

"Just a little bit of silver...that's all it takes to make you crumble," Harlan mocked him, watching as he took hold of the back hem of Landon's pants, ripping them down along with his boxers and making a clear opening to his ass.

Ummm...

I glanced away, walking near the other side of the room and to the door. There was a high table against the wall, taking hold of the edge and sitting up on top of it. Slightly uncomfortable...I knew Landon was about to finally get his own, after everything he'd done to me, he was about to be tortured in the worse possible way.

"Wh-What?" Landon stammered, trying to shift away, "What ar-are you-"

"Oh, you deserve far worse, only death will be your final punishment," Harlan's electric blue eyes narrowed down at the back of Landon's head. I saw his tail swaying from side to side behind his body and at the same time that it disappeared, Landon cried out, his eyes growing wide.

He just stuck his fucking tail up his ass...

Well then...

I lifted my eyes to the ceiling, knowing that Landon was finally being hurt, it did make a small part of me elated. Though, I didn't really care to watch the weird way Harlan was raping him. His yelps and pain filled the room, and I soon heard the door handle rattling, someone trying to get in.

They couldn't possibly have heard him, considering even I knew this dungeon was too thick for their hearing to pick up. After all...I'm sure this is one of the many rooms he'd fucked Cleo in without me even knowing.

He must have been able to contact someone before Harlan put the cuffs on, knowing his death was in sight. I hopped down off the table; my wrists still bound in front of me as the door swung open. The back of Cleo's white hair was the first thing I saw when she entered the room in a panic, not sensing him or having him communicate with her before they'd been cut off...I'm not sure which one it was, but she stood in horror at what she was witnessing.

"Oh, we have another to join us?" Harlan sounded delighted, Cleo snapping out of her shock and taking long strides into the room. Closing the door quietly, I turned to the woman who had taken everything that should have belonged to me. She was the major factor that had led me to where I stood now, her knowing decision to continue to sway Landon, had set in the chain of events that followed.

My heart skipped a beat, Cleo halting and sensing me once she gathered her surroundings. Letting my emotions take root and my instincts kicking in, I launched myself at her, wrapping my legs around her back and throwing my arms over her head with the long chain in my hands. When I pulled back hard against the front of her neck with the silver cuffs, circling the chain around with it, she tried to reach behind her and grab at my hair. I arched my back, pulling my front away from her but forcing more pressure on her windpipe.

"C-Cl-Cleo!" Landon yelled for her, watching me chock her. She fell to her knees, her breathing coming in short and strangled gasps. Through everything, I continued my steady hold on her and in a few minutes, her muscles relaxed, and she went limp against me.

She's not dead.

Not yet anyway.

I pulled the chain away from her neck, lifting my arms over her head and kneeling behind her fallen body. The right side of her face was pressed against the stone floor, Harlan having ceased his torture and Landon continuing to struggle...trying to get to her...

Narrowing my eyes at the left side of her back, I used every ounce of my strength and force to thrust my hands through her back, clutching her heart in both of my hands. I quickly ripped it from her ribs, her wound pouring with blood as I watched Landon's tears run down his face.

There was no sympathy...no mercy...

He'd shown me nothing. No kindness, no love, just...ice. He'd iced me out the moment he discovered I was his beloved and never intended on unfreezing me from his clutches. It had settled in and I didn't have a care in the world as I crushed her beating heart in my hands, letting the remains fall to the floor.

"Oh, did I just break your heart?" I asked, shrugging my shoulders, "You tore mine out when you betrayed me."

I knew the coven felt Cleo's death and we had a matter of minutes until they figured out, she'd died in the dungeon. Harlan sneered, lifting his weight off Landon's body and dragging him to his feet.

I'd never seen that look before on him.

The look of complete and utter hopelessness.

The look of pain beyond words.

"I'm going to enjoy tearing yours out now," Harlan held him still, the tears that fell down Landon's cheeks held no effect on me. I dove my hands through the left side of his chest, the warmth and pulse of his heart that twitched beneath my fingers was satisfying. Pulling it from his chest, his breathing became erratic, his eyes searching, pleading with mine.

"I reject you, Landon," my words drifted, my grip tightening around his heart until I hissed and crushed the fragile organ in my grasp. The light that shattered in his eyes finally gave me relief; a weight lifted from my shoulders.

The door to the dungeon splintered open, Harlan dropping Landon's body the moment the remains of his heart hit the ground. He wrapped me in his strong arms, pulling me tight against his chest. The large bat-like wings encased us as I saw briefly, the vampires of Landon's coven swarming the room and lunging...attempting to kill the two of us.

Before I had drawn another breath, I felt that tug on my flesh, my body floating through time and space, exactly like what happened with Natasha. Though in the next moment, I was gasping, Harlan and I separating and falling onto the familiar floor of Keegan's room.

"Adrasteia..." breathing hard, I glanced up to see a worried Keegan and here I was covered in blood and a demon sitting beside me beaming with success.

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To Seduce a Vampire by K. A. Young.

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