Refusing the termination contract
Chapter 4
Ruby's POV.
At this point, it felt like I was trapped inside a freezer. The air conditioner in the car was blasting far too cold, and the coldness pressed around me like icy blankets.
Still, I didn’t even have the energy or presence of mind to ask for it to be turned down. My whole body felt drained, but it didn’t matter, my mind was completely occupied with one thing. How was I going to survive this.
All I could focus on was coming up with a plan. A way to stay alive. I was sure now that the warning those vampires gave me back at the hospital was true.
I had to make it through this no matter what. I had to survive. My heart thudded heavily in my chest as my fists clenched tight in my lap, the skin on my knuckles turning pale from how hard I squeezed them.
After what felt like forever, the car finally rolled to a stop. I shifted slightly and leaned over to look out the window.
As I did, the door on my side was pulled open by another man. He was tall and completely dressed in black, from the top of his head to his shoes.
His appearance reminded me of the quiet, dangerous men in action movies, the ones who never spoke unless they had to and usually carried a gun tucked in their coat.
“Come on out. We’ve arrived,” said the brown-haired man who had picked me up earlier. He appeared beside the open door, his eyes focused on the phone in his hand, barely even glancing at me.
I took a long breath to steady myself before stepping out of the car. The moment my bare foot touched the cold, polished granite ground, I flinched, my body jerking slightly from the sharp chill that rushed up through my legs.
I followed him closely as he began walking. Up ahead, a mansion stood proudly, standing far in the distance like something out of a haunted dream.
I was taken aback by the sheer size and grandness of the building. It rose several stories high, towering over the ground like a dark castle. The mansion looked like it belonged in a vintage fashion magazine or on the set of an old black-and-white movie but this was far more intimidating.
But what stood out most was the color.
The entire house was painted in deep, pitch black. Not a single spot of bright color was on its surface, not the walls, the windows, or even the tall doors.
It sent an immediate chill through me. The sight gave off a dark, eerie presence, as if the building itself was alive and watching me. The pit of my stomach sank, my chest tightening, and my heart began pounding harder as I was led toward the long staircase leading up to the entrance.
When the large door opened, the inside surprised me completely. It was beautiful, almost too beautiful. The interior was grand and spacious, lit only by a single chandelier hanging low from the ceiling. The soft golden glow of its lights bathed the room in warmth, casting long, graceful shadows along the floor and walls.
“We’ll take care of that. Please bear with the slight discomfort,” the human man said, his eyes dropping to my bare feet. They were now icy cold and starting to hurt with each step I took.
“It’s nothing,” I replied softly, giving a small, tired smile, even though my legs ached with every movement.
“Good. Come with me. We are going to see your owner now,” he said with a firm nod, turning around and heading up a long staircase. The stairs curved and twisted up into the next floor
We stopped in front of two large, wooden double doors that looked like they led into a private study. The man lifted his hand to knock but didn’t wait for an answer. He pushed the doors open slowly and gestured for me to enter.
“Lucas, how dare you disrupt my mealtime!” a voice called out before I even stepped fully into the room.
The coldness in that voice was like a slap to the face, and the way it echoed made the hairs on my arms stand straight up. My entire body stiffened, and I had to plant my feet firmly into the floor just to keep from backing away.
“I have brought to you your new slave, appointed by the Council,” Lucas said calmly, stepping out of the way as if he hadn’t just been barked at. He didn’t seem bothered at all by the man’s tone.
I swallowed hard as every drop of moisture in my mouth vanished. My stomach twisted violently, and I felt like I might throw up the little bit of food I had eaten the day before.
Because what I saw in front of me was not something I had been prepared for.
It was a sight so intense, so stomach-turning, that I could feel my entire body scream to run.
The man who appeared to be my master held a woman who was stark naked from the waist up, her skin shining with sweat under the dim light.
Dark red blood trickled slowly down her massive breasts, pooling and hardening at the taut, pebbled tips of her nipples.
His thick, tangled mass of jet-black hair was buried deep between her breasts, muffling his low growls. The sight turned my stomach, and bitter bile surged up my throat, forcing me to snap my eyes shut to block the haunting blood-soaked scene from my mind. My only thought was whether that poor woman was still alive, her body was hanging limply in his iron grip.
Thane's POV
“Send her back,” I commanded coldly, lifting my head from where my sharp fangs were buried deep in the soft, warm flesh between Ava’s breasts.
I fixed my piercing gaze on Lucas, my voice filled with disapproval that echoed in the large study room. My eyes flicked briefly to the scrawny human standing nearby, her face as pale as a ghost under the dim light, her body trembling yet carrying a healthy layer of softness that I usually preferred.
But I dismissed her quickly, my attention returning to the limp body of Ava in my hold. Lucas’s heavy footsteps reverberated across the cold stone floor as he strode to my polished oak table, his boots clicking sharply. He snatched a brown envelope containing the termination file and approached the quivering human with firm steps.
“Sign this,” Lucas said firmly, his voice steady but impatient. “You’ll get the money promised in the first contract, and you won’t have to be a blood slave.” His words hung in the air.
Lucas had devised this clever plan, tired of cleaning up after me when I accidentally drained the blood slaves sent to me simply because they didn’t suit my taste. I had to admit, his method worked well. It spared me the irritation of pretending I couldn’t hear the frantic, pounding heartbeats of humans as they stared at me, their wide eyes filled with raw fear.
“Lucas, call the butler to remove Ava,” I ordered dismissively, my voice sharp as I shoved Ava’s limp body onto the table.
Her body now slumped to the side weakly, her skin looking unnaturally pale even for a vampire. I picked up her pulse, it was still there but faint.
I had taken far too much blood, more than her body could spare, but I wasn't bothered, she would be find.
Rising from my chair, I pushed it back with a screech against the floor and sauntered toward the sleek mini bar in the corner, its glass shelves glinting faintly.
The human’s nervous fingers flipped through the pages of the termination file, the rustling sound filling the otherwise silent room.
Humans were greedy creatures, I mused, their lives were ruled by their desperate need for money. It was laughably easy to bend them to my will when I dangled what their pathetic existence depended on, cold money.
They never refused such a generous sum. I poured the dark red liquid into my crystal glass, the scent of aged wine mingling with the coppery taste of blood still lingering in my mouth.
“No,” a faint voice whispered, slicing through the quiet like a shot. The human’s heart raced wildly, it's loud beating getting on my nerves and I felt I might be getting a dull headache behind my eyes.
“What do you mean, no?” Lucas stammered, his voice flustered. I filled my goblet to the brim, the liquid sloshing slightly, and turned slowly to face her.
My movements were slow as I slammed the heavy bottle down onto the glass table with a loud crack, the sound echoing through the room.
My eyes narrowed, locking onto the frail looking human, her trembling form suddenly becoming more intriguing than I had expected.