Free Chains of Darkness by Caris Roane Page A

grab Lucian, tackle him to the bed, then work on the wrist restraints. The left restraint was attached to the steel bar on the side of the bed, but another steel loop, located between the halves of what proved to be a split mattress on top of the bed, held the other restraint. The ankles were lashed to the bar that ran across the bottom of the bed.
    Lucian snarled and sank his fangs into each of the men in turn as they struggled to secure him. Yelps followed and a mountain of curses.
    Lucian’s twisted, furious expression, as well as the madness that flowed through the chains, beat at Claire, speaking to her in a constant stream that kept her heart thumping loudly in her ears.
    Once Lucian was subdued, all three heavily muscled guards stood back, checking their wounds. Blood flowed from a number of bites. To Claire’s surprise, however, each of them laughed.
    “Damn, he’s strong.”
    “Always was. Jesus, look how much I’m bleeding.”
    The third guard chuckled. “I know. I’m gonna need a new shirt.”
    Rumy’s voice drew Claire’s attention as he addressed his men. “Aw, you three babies need some Band-Aids? Want me to kiss your boo-boos, make them better?” His medical team moved in, as well as several more guards.
    One of the initial guards grinned. “Would you, boss? I’d feel so much better.” But he had a chunk missing from his forearm, which he held away from him. Blood had formed a pool on the carpet.
    Great. Just what she needed to be looking at.
    Rumy jerked his thumb in the direction of the hall. “Stay at your posts, assholes. Let the medics take care of Lucian.”
    Claire stared at Rumy, still shocked by all that had just happened. Between seeing Daniel again so soon and now having Lucian devolving into blood-madness, she wasn’t sure how much more she could take.
    Meeting her gaze, he smiled and shrugged. “What can I say? We’re vampires. But please don’t worry. My men will be fine in about half an hour and the doc here will give Lucian something to calm him down, at least a little. And of course we’ll get someone in here to clean things up. You okay, though? None of this is very pretty, is it?”
    Claire shifted to look at Lucian once more. “I don’t know where to begin. He was fine, then the madness returned so fast and he slipped back into this terrible state.”
    “If it’s any consolation, my experience has been that what he’s about to go through right now, over the next few hours, will be the worst of it. He’ll have minor bouts later, now and then, but usually a major crisis will help put him on the road to full recovery.”
    Claire didn’t know what to think. She was reminded yet again that this was a wildly different world.
    Lucian pulled against the restraints, his back arching off the bed. His fangs still protruded as he snarled at the medical staff. His arms were now tightly secured in the restraints. The setup was a far cry from the chains that had held him captive in Daniel’s prison, but Claire hated to see him bound like this again.
    One of the medics removed Lucian’s boots, then went to work cutting off his clothes in order to make him more comfortable. When the doctor gave him the shot, he settled down a little, but to Claire’s mind not all that much.
    Once a sheet lay over the lower half of his body, Claire moved to stand at the foot of the bed. Rumy joined her, his gaze fixed on Lucian.
    She glanced at Rumy, who’d never looked more solemn. “He’s the best of us, you know. He saved his brothers when he was only fifteen and helped them escape Daniel’s compound where they’d all been tortured since they were little. From that time, despite what happened to him, he’s worked for the four centuries of his life trying to make our world a better place, trying to keep the traffickers, of all kinds, from making the serious inroads they have.
    “But he gets little enough credit. Of course having Daniel Briggs for a father has always made the average