He puffed up his chest and smiled smugly. Prick. He hadn't totally fooled me. I thought back to how strange Lukas' behavior was earlier. It didn't make sense then, although now it made my earlier suspicions seem justified.
"Derek, you know who my father is. If he finds out what you've done you'll meet your final death. And if Kian doesn't kill you, Stefan will finish you. Let us go now and it's over," I whispered, hoping he'd buy my lie.
Stefan would never let this go. He'd follow Derek into the depths of hell to have his revenge and Derek was smart enough to know it. I was simply stalling, trying to keep him talking and his brain, regardless of how little, occupied. I wondered how much time I could buy Anna and myself before Stefan realized I missing? Would we still be alive? Derek had been able to sneak around Stefan's ability somehow too. But how?
He closed the magazine, slapping his hand on the table with so much force that the wood splintered under the pressure. Anna and I both jumped and she cowered against me, letting out another terrified sob.
"You. You are nothing! You use Kian's name and your heritage when it suits you and you turn your back on your father any other time." His voice faded, raising an eyebrow as a thought occurred to him. A cruel smile broke over his face. "Stefan will be too preoccupied mourning your unfortunate demise to worry about killing me. If I'm lucky, he'll seek out his own death. Pussy," Derek jeered, his words laced with hatred and resentment.
A new emotion surged through me. Anger. I struggled to remain calm, trying to concentrate on strategies to keep him talking, aware that it would be the only chance we stood to make it out of here alive. Derek was hell bent on killing us, regardless of the consequence.
"Derek, let Anna go," I begged. "She has nothing to do with this."
A terrifying, reptilian smile broke over his face, his grin so wide it nearly split his face. "Why would I do that? I don't want her precious blood go to waste, silly girl." He clicked his tongue against his fangs. "I'm going to make you watch me slowly drain your friend until she dies. You can see her life fade away while you sit there, helpless. I'm going to take my time with you, Josephine. It's a pity Stefan won't be here to watch you die."
I swallowed roughly and the room went out of focus as his words washed over me. It wasn't a matter of how I was going to die, it was when. It was a waste of time trying to talk him into sparing Anna's life, or my own. He had no humanity left inside of him. He was simply a cold blooded, sadistic killer.
Even though I knew it was pointless, I started to chant Stefan's name over and over like a mantra in my mind, praying that somehow it would get him to me faster. It helped me focus on staying present instead of letting panic totally overtake me when I needed to keep my mind focused.
Derek leaned forward with a sneer on his face. "I know all about your meeting with Nigel and your brother about your whore of a mother," Derek spat, crossing his legs at his ankles. "Did Nigel tell you how he fucked her while she was still married to your father? If Nigel wasn't so important to the Council, he'd have met his final death as well. Your mother was easy to dispose of. Humans always are."
Shrugging off his words, I struggled to keep my face neutral. "Nigel told me everything. And what Nigel didn't tell me, Nikolaus showed me."
This seemed to intrigue him and his eyes flashed to me. "What do you mean he ‘showed you'?"
I let out a hoarse laugh. "Kian doesn't know what Nikolaus can do, Derek. He can read Kian's tiny mind like a book. I know everything … and I mean everything. So does Stefan … and Lukas. And you know how Lukas is. He likes to talk. A lot."
Derek's smug expression faded. A look of disbelief took its place. "What are you talking about?"
"Do I have to spell it out for you? Nikolaus can read human and vampire minds, Derek. He can also transfer the thoughts, at least to me. He showed me everything my father has done. Even the things I didn't ever want to see." I leaned forward as far as I could, waggling my eyebrows and lowering my already hoarse voice to a whisper. "You know, private things."
"You know nothing!" His eyes narrowed and he glanced between Anna and myself, as if he was engaging some sort of internal battle. Derek blurred to Anna and sunk his fangs into her neck, swallowing deep mouthfuls of her blood. Anna tried futilely to get away, straining against him.
"No! She's innocent!" I cried out, pulling against my restraints. The chair wobbled in my futile effort to try to free myself and get to Anna.
She sagged against him as her strength started to wane and Derek let her fall from his arms. He ripped his teeth from her neck, leaving gaping holes in her throat, her blood running down her neck to drip slowly on the floor by my shoes.
Watching her blood drip from her neck, I did the only thing I could do for her. I needed to distract Derek, keep him occupied in talking. If he chose to drink from Anna again, he'd kill her. Playing my final card, I revealed the secret I knew would bother Derek the most.
"I know my mother may have cheated on Kian, but he was no better. He flaunted women in front of her and … oh, never mind." My voice faltered and I looked away.
Derek was at my side before I could blink. He yanked my head backwards so I was forced to look at him. "Start talking. What do you know?"
"I just didn't realize you swung that way, Derek. I have to admit, it was a shock to find out you were Kian's little play thing until I saw it all play out in my brother's mind. Nikolaus has a vivid memory and pays attention to details. Like the juicy little tidbit about you and my father. You slept with Kian while my mother was still alive. Numerous times." I smiled brazenly, bracing myself for his wrath, aware that it would more than likely involve pain. "Was it just about the power, or do you love actually love him? Kian doesn't give a shit about you. You know that, right? You're a piece of ass to him. So tell me Derek, who's the whore now?"
He backhanded me, the force tipping the chair backwards. My head slammed against the side of the table, my cheek stinging from the impact of his hand. I saw double, the room spinning as I struggled to stay conscious. Stefan's face flashed in my mind and I focused on his image, willing myself to keep fighting. I promised Stefan I wouldn't let anyone separate us. I was going to do everything in my power to keep myself alive as long as I could.
Derek grabbed my hair and pulled me upright by the hair. Biting the inside of my lip to stifle my cry, I refused to let him know the amount of pain I was in. He leaned close to whisper in my ear, his voice a condescending song. "Look Josephine, your friend is almost dead. Soon you'll get to join her."
Cringing under the weight of his body and fangs against my neck, the door to the villa flew open, startling Derek. Stefan momentarily darkened the doorway, becoming a streak of blond as he blurred through the room, his powerful body colliding with Derek's as he was yanked from me, the momentum of Stefan's speed crushing him against the wall.
Stefan had him by the neck, his large hand wrapped around the smaller vampire's throat. His blue eyes were dark as he glanced away from Derek to focus on me. "Josephine, did he harm you?"
Tears filled my eyes as I struggled to find my voice. "I'm fine. Stefan..."
"Lukas, take care of her while I finish this." Stefan focused back on Derek, his deep voice missing its normal inflection. The Enforcer had surfaced and Stefan had taken a backseat to his other side, the dark part of himself I'd never seen. I felt his mind close off from mine, severing the link between us.
Lukas sped to my side and ripped the thick cords away with his fingers, freeing my hands and legs. Rubbing my already healing wrists, I collapsed to the floor to cradle Anna in my arms, pulling the gag from her mouth. She stirred weakly and coughed, her eyelids fluttering and blood leaking from the corner of her mouth.
I looked at Lukas anxiously. "Lukas, she's dying."
Lukas was motionless as he stared down at Anna in horror. He covered his mouth with his hand and looked at me with his frightened, arctic blue eyes.
"Lukas, you have to help me!" I shrieked at him frantically. "Look at her!"
He shuddered and shook his head. "I'll kill her, Josie. I won't be able to stop. I can't do it."
Gasping back a sob, I held Anna closer to me. I smoothed her hair back from her pale, clammy face as I spoke to her and put my hand against her neck, applying pressure to try to stop the flow of blood. "Don't you die on me, Anna. Hold on, please hold on."
Derek's sudden scream of pain brought my attention back to the one-sided battle playing out in front of me. Stefan was slowly and systematically torturing Derek, inflicting blow after brutal blow to Derek's face and torso. He was unrecognizable, his eyes almost swollen shut and his lips split and bloody. Stefan stopped his punishing attack and gripped Derek's right arm. He leaned down so his face loomed in front of him, his expression deadly and calm.
"I had hoped that when I had my opportunity to kill you I would have more time to torture you. However, we have a plane to catch. This is for touching what is mine," Stefan growled as he ripped the arm from the socket, the sound making a wet, snapping noise. He let the limb fall from his hand to roll across the kitchen floor, the fingers of Derek's hand still twitching.
Derek's face contorted in pain, letting out an anguished scream as he dropped to his knees in front of Stefan. "Please, no more. I'll give you anything you want."