Stefan's Salvation(36)

think I'm a priest. Pity they never checked out my credentials or they might have

discovered that the original Jeremiah Stoner was a man in his late sixties. Such a shame

he had to have an accident."

The man was absolutely insane. Laurel Rose swallowed hard, forcing back the bile

that threatened to erupt from her stomach. She couldn't afford to be sick. Not now.

How many heinous crimes had this man perpetrated in order to feed his sick fantasies?

Forcing herself to look suitably impressed, she inclined her head. "Very clever indeed."

Jeremiah smirked, the light from the candles giving a demonic glow to his soulless

blue eyes. "Preach a sermon on Sunday and pretend to be concerned about all their

petty little problems and you get to live for free with a salary. A pathetic lot really, but

useful."

She froze as he reached out his hand and traced her lips with his fingers. Her heart

was pounding hard against her chest as she forced herself not to react to his touch. Even

though the room was cool, she could feel a bead of sweat slide down her temple.

"My father was a preacher. He beat the words of the Good Book into me. Quite

useful, actually." He continued his one-sided conversation, seemingly lost in his

memories. "Too bad he didn't live long enough to see me preach a sermon." Goose

bumps covered her flesh as he gently cupped her head and tugged her braid out from

under her body. Holding it in his hand, he stared as if mesmerized by the long, dark

hair. "Unfortunately for my father, I had need of his blood."

"His blood!" Laurel Rose was appalled. He'd actually killed his own father.

"Hmm," he absently agreed as he continued to finger her braid. She was hardly

breathing now, afraid to do or say anything. He looked like a man in the throes of

ecstasy as he smoothed the ends of the braid over his face, leaning even closer toward

her. "Too bad you've got such an ugly scar on your face." He feathered the ends of hair

down of the right side of her face, tracing the thin white line. "And your poor leg," he

murmured with false sympathy. "Such a shame for a young woman to be so scarred. I'll

bet your new boyfriend fucked you in the dark so he didn't have to look at you."

She cringed at his vile words and tried not to listen. She would not allow him to

taint what she and Stefan had shared. His laughter scraped against her nerves as he

dropped the braid, allowing it to fall across her chest. Turning away from her, he

walked to a shrouded corner. Laurel Rose kept her eyes on him as she tugged at her

bindings. She hoped it wasn't only her imagination, but they seemed to be getting

looser.

"I, on the other hand, have no interest in your body. If I had more time, perhaps I

would indulge, but I have waited long enough for you." Jeremiah turned back from the

corner and Laurel Rose's blood ran cold. In one hand, he clasped a large silver chalice.

In the other, a long-handled knife. The knife blade shone silver in the light and the

handle was encrusted with what certainly looked like real rubies. "The silver in the

blade and the chalice will enhance the potency of your blood." He held it to the candle,

inspecting it. "There are those of us who understand the power of blood."

"There are more of you?" Laurel Rose didn't both to hide her revulsion.

"Oh yes, my dear. Not many, I'll grant you that. Just a select group who

understands what true power is and who aren't afraid to reach out and take it. I was

lucky enough to meet such a man when I was younger. When the time came, I absorbed

his own power into my body." Jeremiah smiled, his handsome features a sharp contrast

to the ugliness of his soul. "His blood was quite potent." He licked his lips.

"Devil worshipers?" She couldn't fathom the depths of his depravity.

"No, no." He smiled. "We don't believe in God or the Devil. There is only power. If

you know how to get it and how to wield it, you can have anything your heart desires."

Laurel Rose shook her head. There would be no reasoning, no chance of reprieve

from Jeremiah. He was beyond compassion, beyond redemption. She swallowed back

the bile that threatened to choke her. All she could do was pray that Stefan would get to

her in time.

"Your blood will feed me, give me strength. I've had to make do with inferior blood

for quite some time now. But you..." He stroked the ruby lovingly with his fingers.

"You, Laurel Rose, will nourish me, empower me."

Setting the chalice on a ledge just below her bound hands, he frowned as he

examined her wrists. "You've been naughty, I see. You've made your wrists bleed--

that's a waste of good blood."

She didn't see the blow coming in time to turn her head. Tethered as she was, there

was no way to avoid it. His fist came down against her temple, delivering a staggering

blow. Darkness threatened and she fought it. If she passed out, she was dead. She tasted

blood in her mouth as she gasped for breath.

His hands wrapped around her throat, tightening with each word. "I will have your

power, Laurel Rose. The townspeople call you a witch, but you have psychic powers

that rival mine. The power is in the blood. Every culture since the beginning of time has

known that. Warriors in ancient times ate the hearts of their enemies and drank their

blood to ingest their power."

Her eyes bulged as she gasped and wheezed, struggling for a single breath of air.

Her vision was getting dimmer until he released her and stepped back, grabbing for the

silver blade. Coughing and choking, she tried to speak, but that was beyond her.

Holding the dagger high in the air, he smiled as he brought it closer to her body. "You

will bleed for me, Laurel Rose. I will watch it drain into the chalice and as you lay

dying, I will drink it, taking your power into me."

"You're insane," she whispered, tugging frantically on the ropes. But there was no

escape. "Stefan." She tried to scream his name, but her throat was raw and swollen and

what came out was even less than a whisper. But Jeremiah heard it and laughed.

"Your lover is most likely dead by now. He cannot save you. This is your destiny. I

am your fate." The blade sliced through her skin easily and she felt the warmth of her

blood begin to flow down her hands to drain into the waiting chalice.

Suddenly, the door to the chamber exploded, smashing into hundreds of tiny

shards of wood. Laurel Rose was filled with calm. Stefan had come for her, just as she'd

known he would. Jeremiah had jerked back at the explosion and, seeing that his

attention was no longer on her, she continued to work at her bindings.

The blood flowing from her wrists made them slippery and she felt the ropes begin

to loosen. But it got harder and harder to make her hands move and finally she stopped

altogether. Her hands came back down to rest against the cool, unyielding stone. She

was so cold and so very tired. She'd just rest for a minute.

Sound and sight and feeling all faded as she slid into darkness.



Chapter Twenty-Four



Fear unlike any that he'd ever known gripped Stefan, as he raced through the

darkness. He could feel Laurel Rose's fear and pain as keenly as if they were his own.

But he buried it deep within him as hundreds of years of training as a warrior kicked in.

His hand opened and closed into a fist as he longed for his sword, which was back in

his home in New Orleans. The blade was a familiar extension of his arm--a weapon

he'd used with deadly skill and accuracy on many occasions over the long, dark

centuries. But with or without his sword, he would destroy his enemy. He was not only

lethal with a blade His mind was an even sharper weapon, relentlessly honed over the

years.

The force of his anger blew the door to bits as he raced down the dark, dank

staircase and into the chamber below. Laurel Rose was here. He could feel her life force

waning with each passing second.

He took in the entire scene in one swift glance. The candles flickering against the

stone walls, the snakes in their terrariums, the long stone altar where Laurel Rose was

bound and naked and the man standing above her with a knife in his hand.

Jeremiah Stoner was a dead man. He just didn't know it yet.

The air was awash with the smell of blood and fear. Her blood. Her fear. Stefan

growled as he advanced on Jeremiah.

"Stop or I'll kill her." Jeremiah's face was pale in the candlelight, but his grip was

firm on the knife. He still believed he had the upper hand. Still believed that he could

win. "You're supposed to be dead." Jeremiah seemed to be more perturbed than

frightened.

Stefan felt it then--the push at his mind. The other man's attempt to control him

using his psychic powers. Stefan smiled.

Jeremiah's eyes glazed over as his face turned red. "I will have her blood. There is

power in the blood and when I drink it, I will be more powerful than you can imagine."

Jeremiah kept the knife pressed against Laurel Rose's neck as he reached for the chalice

with his other hand.

This time when Stefan smiled, he allowed his fangs to show. His eyes glowed red as

he advanced. "There is power in the blood, Jeremiah." Stefan's voice was almost gentle

as the other man stood frozen in place.

Stefan could feel Jeremiah's panic as the other man realized he couldn't move his

own body. It was no longer under his control. "No one harms my woman and lives."

With fury and vengeance firing his blood, Stefan sent a mental command toward the