“I don’t know!” The man beneath my hold choked his words. With a quick twist of my hand, his neck snapped and the others ran.
“Tatsou!” A female scream echoed across the hills.
“Tatsou! Help!” Hiromi’s voice came from the east, and I sped there as fast as my legs could carry me. She heaved herself up from the ground, her bruised face and limping leg suggesting she’d been in a fight. She sobbed as I helped her stand the rest of the way. Her fingers gripped my shirt like I was the only lifeline she knew.
“Father. He has Kat. He was talking about you being a vampire and now her. I don’t care what you are. Just save my sister.” My nostrils flared as I tensed for battle.
“Go to the studio, take Kat’s car, and get out of here. I’ll get her back.” I nudged the girl toward the studio as five men stepped into view.
“The cave is just on the eastern side of the mountain. I took down two guards but there are more,” Hiromi warned, as she limped in the direction of the car. Two of the goons moved slowly but with a refined grace that only a vampire could do. I should have known Kano would know about vampires and have lackeys doing his bidding. I’d been too consumed by hate and falling for Kat that I missed what was right in front of me.
The vampires waited as the other men shot at me with smirks on their face. I called the shadow to me, then burst them toward the men like an explosion. Their bodies flew back but the vampires smirked at the display. I breathed deeply and lowered my center of gravity. These children had no idea who they were fucking with.
They ran at me and I twisted as they aimed for my arms. I caught one by the hair and yanked him back into my pointed fingers at his back. My hand sliced through his skin and corded muscles to grip his spine. I released his hair and pressed my boot to the small of his back and pushed while pulling on the bones. Blood splattered my shirt and slacks, while his backbone ripped from his body. The other vampire jumped on me while I finished the job by severing his skull from the rest of him.
His arms wrapped around my neck, and he was strong. I kicked the corpse to the ground and set my attention on the sloth clinging to my neck. In one swift move, I opened his arms and rolled him off my back. He found his footing and jumped with a high kick aiming for my head. I caught his foot and twisted. He screamed and I could feel his body trying to heal the damage already. He reached behind his back and threw a knife at me. The sharp blade dug into my heart, and he smiled.
“Originals can’t be killed with a stab to the heart, you pathetic scum.” I gripped the hilt of the blade and slowly pulled it out. His eyes widened, and he tried to scramble away but I was faster.
“But you can.” I laughed and threw the knife directly into his heart. His body flew back and when it thumped to the ground, he was dead.
The humans fired at me again, and I latched onto every throat within range. I needed fresh blood coursing through me to use all my powers to get Kat back. I glutted myself until I heard tires squealing from the other side of the mountain. I was running out of time.
I sped to a rocky road and ripped the metal doors off the mountainside. A familiar scent filled the air, and I swallowed the knot in my throat. Kat’s blood. I raced to where the scent was the strongest . . . a room with three metal chairs, one laying against the ground. They’d left a large iron rod on the ground with flesh and blood coating the metal. She had been impaled with that instrument. A glinting of shackles behind one of the chairs caught my eye. They were broken, ripped apart from vampire strength. Kat had fully transitioned, and I wasn’t there.
I roared and the mountain shook around me.
Kano Sakura wanted a monster to come for him, well he’s fucking got one. I walked out of the cave to the road where they’d taken her from me. They weren’t far ahead. I would catch up with them, and when I did, I’d eat them alive and bask in their screams. I earned my reputation for a fucking reason. The last shadow was coming to get his spark back.
I shifted into shadows and the hunt for blood began.
Chapter Thirty- Seven
Katsumi
“I will slice a thousand cuts into you like that fucking squid I was forced to eat, so you can die slowly!” I screamed at the man I once called Father who stood in the corner of the room. Over the past few days, I’d been dragged from the edges of consciousness with fire, blades, and poisons. The dark-lit room smelled like a sewer and burned flesh. My father and a mixture of vampire and human guards were playing a game to see how much I could take as a near-original vampire. The head monster in charge didn’t want me dead, but only because I would be used as a bargaining tool.
“Her screams are giving me a headache.” The black-haired man, who I heard being called Angel, stood next to my father and complained. From what I gathered, he was a strong vampire and my father’s second-in-command. His green-eyed expression sneered at me like he couldn’t stand the sight of me. He also sneered at the other vampires. Not a fan of his own kind, I guess. I hadn’t seen him around, but then again, Tatsou probably would have scented him and killed him if he was nearby.
“Come over here, and I’ll make the headache better.” I thrashed against the silver chains around my ankles and arms. I’d only been a vampire for five days, but I’d learned a lot in my new undead life. I could survive torture, and I could see and hear better than before. So those glasses I sometimes needed for up-close stitching could be tossed out. It grew harder by the minute to resist all the thumping hearts in the room and the warmth of their bodies. Whenever I became free, I would gnaw on somebody out of principle. As they tortured me, I thought about all the ways I could repay them. Crochet needles to the eyes. Maybe sew them to each other. Sing “Let It Go” fromFrozenover and over. The options were endless.
Occasionally, I tried to manipulate the shadows like Tatsou but failed. Maybe that was just a “him” thing and not all vampires could do it.
“Kitty, you are a disgrace,” my corrupt father announced as he watched the monitors across the room. They wanted Tatsou to come for me but didn’t make it super easy for him to find me.
I wondered if he’d even come for me. I’d left him, yelled at him, and told him not to follow me. He said he loved me and changed me to protect my father from killing me. However, I worried I had pushed him too far.
“Well, you’re a shitty father!” I barked as someone burned a hot fire poker into my stomach. The burning lasted a few seconds, and sweat dripped down my face. My hands grew slick, and I wiggled them against the chains.
“She’s going to get out.” The second commando in a suit yawned, and my ex-father’s attention snapped to me.
“Tighten those chains!” he demanded and they bit into my aching skin with each yank of the guard.
“Where is he?” someone whispered, and I wished for death or rescue. I didn’t know how much of this I could take and the burning sensation in my throat continued to intensify. I once had tried to imagine this feeling, and I’d been so off.
“He could kill you all before you knew he was here. I wouldn’t wish for a prompt arrival, if I were you.”
“You’re just mad he could kill you, too, Angel.” A vampire with blue hair spoke to the second in command, who only huffed in response. I knew none of these vamps were original. They were diluted in some way. I’d possibly wager I was the strongest in the room since an original had changed me.
