"Finally," Brand continued, his voice laced with pain, "he thought he'd broken me enough that the chains weren't needed. Of course, he didn't come right out and say that. Instead, he told me he 'regretted' having restrained me that way but it was for my own good, 'until I came to my senses and realized we had a mutual enemy that we needed to fight together'."
"Meaning werewolves," Antton said caustically.
"Of course. By then I was, I suppose, on the verge of insanity—and starvation. That's when he began to feed me again." Brand shook his head. "For a man who thought he was so clever, he didn't seem to realize what he was… creating. I didn't become the… well, dhampir wouldn't be the right word for what he wanted but that's what he was going for." He shrugged. "What he did create, slowly but surely, was what he seems to hate most—a werewolf. A very weak one at first, but a very—" Brand managed a small smile, "—insane and pissed off werewolf... hybrid, I suppose you could say. Dhampir and werewolf in one body. Of course I didn't let him know. When I began to think for myself again, I realized my body tolerated the blood, even when he raised the dosages, and that I was changing."
Getting up then, Brand went into the kitchen, returning with one of his drink containers, sipping the contents slowly. When Mag looked at him aghast, obviously thinking he now knew what it contained, Brand chuckled. "It's not werewolf blood. I told you it was fruit and protein powder, and… blood. I wasn't lying, even though you thought I was kidding you—or hoped I was. Being that I'm part vampire, I do need human blood."
"Ugh," Mag muttered, shivering. "I'm glad I never snuck a drink."
"You wouldn't even have noticed it. Anyway, back to the end of my story. The more he fed me, the stronger I got, but I didn't let him know that, either. I bided my time, waiting for the right moment. He would lecture me on how—when the time came—I would help him rid the world of the cursed werewolves, leaving the vampires as the supreme species. I played along, pretending that had become my goal too. Eventually, he trusted me enough that he let me out of the cell. I needed exercise to improve my stamina, according to him. I wasn't allowed out on my own, of course—not by a long shot. My hands were chained and I was collared, leashed, and led around by two of his minions—lesser vampires who did what he ordered them to." Brand scowled. "I knew them too well, and I owed them for what they'd done to me at his bidding."
"So now you know the layout of his lair," Antton said.
"A couple of rooms, yes. They never took me into any of the others, or outdoors, despite the block he apparently put on my mind so I wouldn't know where the place was. I wonder now if he'd ever have removed it, even if he'd managed to accomplish his goal. Either way, the closest I got to outside was walking past heavily curtained windows. I was never out of the cell without the collar and chains, but after a long while, my keepers grew lax. That was their undoing. Never—" Brand looked at Antton and grinned slightly, "—underestimate the power of a pissed off hybrid. I might not have been as strong as you undoubtedly are, being a pure werewolf, but I had one advantage. Hatred. It was usually early morning when they came to take me for my 'walk'. They had a lot of fun teasing me about how they were walking the 'dog', even though they just thought I was a weak dhampir with the ability to find werewolves, as well as their kind."
Brand took another drink before continuing. "That morning, they were at their low ebb, so to speak, because it was almost dawn. I'd been sleeping so I was wide awake. Fedor had left, as he usually did, once he opened the cell and made certain I was restrained before they took over. I had my plan, and it worked. As we passed one of the windows, I grabbed the drapes, tore them off the poles, and threw them over the vampires then I dove through the window. I almost took the time to try to kill them. They deserved it for raping me when he ordered them to. But I decided escaping was more important. I ran like the hounds of hell were after me, as far and as fast as possible, then went to ground in an abandoned building." He glanced at Antton. "I can tell you where that was, but not how I got there.
"Anyway, to make a long story shorter, I spent two days there, scared he'd find me, but afraid to move on in case he and his people were close by looking for me. I didn't sense them, but then I hadn't sensed him when he captured me. I suppose he was too powerful, and I've only been a full-fledged dhampir for forty years and a hybrid for much less time. Not that long in the grand scheme of things. I got out of the collar and was able to break the chains on my wrists, much to my surprise."
"The power of what you are now," Antton said, smiling proudly. "Once you come fully into it you'll be stronger than most vampires."
No comments:
Post a Comment