14
I
SCREAMED.
Matthias staggered
backward. The knife protruded from his chest. His heart. He pulled it out with effort and it
clattered to the floor. He fell to his knees.
“No—Matthias!” I
couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. He was going to die right in
front of me. There was pain and anger in his eyes as they locked
with mine. I braced myself to watch him explode into ash and fire,
gone forever.
But nothing
happened.
Instead, Matthias
fell forward onto his hands and knees. Blood dripped from his
chest, forming a small pool. He didn’t die. He didn’t disappear. He
was still here, long past the time when he should have been
destroyed. A silver blade through his heart—Kristoff hadn’t been
playing around. He’d been aiming to kill. Matthias looked dead, but
he wasn’t.
Kristoff picked up
the dagger from the floor and wiped the blade clean on a cloth.
“Looks like you were wrong. You’re still immortal, just like
me.”
My eyes widened as I
fully understood what I’d just witnessed. Whatever pain he’d faced,
whatever weakness he’d felt after drinking my poisoned blood—it
hadn’t been nearly enough to strip away his
immortality.
I didn’t know how
much damage he could take before he’d actually die. Maybe there was
no limit. Maybe he couldn’t die at all. Ever. Suddenly the thought
of living an eternity was infinitely scarier than dying
young.
I went to his side
and touched his face. There was a flicker of life in his eyes, but
other than that he didn’t move. I forced myself to look at
Kristoff, feeling fear toward this man who seemed very reasonable
in the way he spoke, but was able to inflict pain or death on
others without a second thought.
“That wasn’t
necessary.” The words felt thick in my mouth.
He sat down on his
throne again. “He thought he was vulnerable now and I wasn’t sure
either way. There was only one way to find out. Consider it an
experiment. My daughter’s unfortunate death has given both of us
the chance to live forever.”
Icy fear surged
through me as I thought about Sara. “That’s why you took his
daughter. Are you planning on giving her to the Amarantos Society
so they can follow in your footsteps?”
His brows drew
together. “What kind of a monster do you take me for?”
“That’s a loaded
question.”
“The Amarantos
Society aren’t on my side and have proven this by letting me stay
trapped, comatose, locked away in a coffin for three decades. I owe
them nothing.” He glanced over my shoulder. “Bring her
in.”
I thought he was
talking about Sara, but someone else I wasn’t expecting came into
the room. Her red hair was the first thing I saw.
Jade, the dhampyr.
She was now dressed only in a black bra and panties, her body much
thinner than I would have guessed from the first time I’d seen her.
She didn’t fight against the vampires who held her.
I gasped out loud at
the sight of her unclothed. Unlike Declan, who’d received many
scars from fighting vampires and getting injured, stabbed, and shot
over the years, Jade’s scars were up and down her arms and thighs,
small white puncture marks from where she’d been fed upon all of
her life. It made my heart twist for her pain—a different pain from
what Declan had experienced, but no less traumatic. I wondered then
how much of her insanity had been caused simply by being a dhampyr
and how much was from the horrors she’d had to face.
My sympathy quickly
turned to alarm.
Declan had been on
his way to find her when he left last night. It would have been his
first stop. Maybe she was already gone by the time he reached the
amusement park again.
“You have her here so
you can drink from her,” I said quietly. “You saw in Matthias’s
mind how he planned to use her blood to regain his
strength.”
“Yes, I did. And I
will drink from her, but I haven’t yet. I feel quite well at the
moment, but it’s a good thing to have a backup plan.” He waved his
hand toward Matthias and the thugs brought Jade toward him where he
lay on the floor. “Her blood will help him regain his strength from
this new injury. It’s the least I can do.”
I eyed him warily,
but stayed silent. That was it? No more suffering for the person
responsible for imprisoning him all these years?
Kristoff took his
dagger out again. The men held Jade still as he drew the sharp tip
over her inner forearm and blood welled up
immediately.
“Don’t hurt her,” I
managed to say.
Kristoff flicked a
glance at me. “I wouldn’t dream of it. She’s too valuable to harm.
Just like you are.”
This didn’t set my
mind at ease one tiny bit.
Jade was forced to
bring her bleeding arm down to Matthias’s mouth. Jade didn’t make a
single sound this time and it worried me that she’d lost her will
to fight.
I hadn’t. Not
yet.
“Okay, Kristoff. What
do you want me to do?” I asked point-blank.
“Patience,
Jillian.”
“I’m fresh out of
patience. Here’s the problem—whatever you want to do with me, you
don’t have much time. I’m dying. The Nightshade—the poison in
me—it’s killing me.”
He didn’t react to
this other than templing his fingers and studying me. “I didn’t
read that in Matthias’s mind.”
“I guess he doesn’t
give my mortality a lot of thought. All I know is I don’t have a
lot of time left. So whatever you want me for, whatever will help
me get my nieces safely back home, you better speak up
now.”
He was silent for so
long that I began to worry I’d gone too far, broken too many rules,
said too much. I was overvaluing myself, thinking he wanted me to
live when really all he’d done was ask his thugs not to give me any
more bruises.
I couldn’t believe my
original plan was to march in front of him and get him to bite me.
This was not a man who lacked control. He had it to spare. Standing
within six feet of me—the usual distance it took to get a good
sniff of the Nightshade—he showed no sign that my scent affected
him at all. He’d never be weak enough to bite me. He’d never lose
that much of his control knowing what he did about my
blood.
And it wouldn’t
really make any difference if he did. He’d still be
immortal.
This was a hopeless
situation and I didn’t know what I could say or do to make it turn
out any differently. I wasn’t the type of woman who relished the
thought of a man swinging in to save me when I’d gotten myself into
trouble, but I desperately wished that Declan would storm in here,
guns blazing, and save us all.
He
didn’t.
“Well?” I asked after
a long moment had passed. “Are you going to tell me what your big
plan for me is? Why you kidnapped my nieces?”
“I’m surprised it
isn’t obvious.” He leaned forward a little. “There’s someone I want
you to kill.”
I blanched. “I’m not
a killer.”
“I know.” He smiled.
“Which is why it will prove to be an interesting
experiment.”
Matthias had his
tests. Kristoff had his experiments.
I licked my dry lips.
“Who is it?”
“The leader of the
Amarantos Society you spoke about earlier. He’s an enemy of mine
whom I anticipate will try to stand in my way now that I’m back. I
want him dead, and I want to see if you can do it for me. You will
retrieve the ring he wears as proof of his death. In return, your
nieces will be released safely with no idea that anything happened
other than a fun night of movies and games in a distant relative’s
big house.”
“I get him to bite me
and that’s that.”
“Yes.”
“What’s the catch?”
Although it sounded horrible and dangerous and not something I
wanted to be a part of, it was fairly straightforward.
“The catch is that
I’m not entirely convinced you can do it, based on what I’ve seen
of you in my brother’s mind.” He reached forward to touch my cheek
and I tried not to flinch away from him. “You’re too soft. Too
sweet.”
I looked down at the
vampire seated on the floor, a large patch of blood on his chest.
He looked pale and gaunt and near death. His gaze met mine
weakly.
“Soft and sweet?” I
asked him.
“You are,” he
replied.
“I can help give you
the strength you’ll need. Look at me,” Kristoff said and the moment
I turned back to him he locked gazes with me. My heart sank as I
expected to immediately be taken under by his mental influence. I
hated to think what he could make me do when I had no choice in the
matter. He looked deeply into my eyes and I waited to feel the warm
wash flow over me as he took control of my mind, but it didn’t
happen. His pale brows knit together.
“I can’t—” Kristoff
frowned before clarity entered his light gray eyes. “Oh Matthias,
what have you done now?”
“Only what I had to.”
Matthias had fully sat up, his hand pressed against the wound in
his chest. I wondered how long it would take to heal or if being
stabbed through his heart was the same as anything else he’d been
through. It seemed more severe to me, but I wasn’t an expert on
vampiric injuries. His face was paler than normal and coated with a
sheen of perspiration.
Jade sat next to him,
her knees pulled up to her chest, her head down. She rocked gently
back and forth and she was mumbling something, but I couldn’t make
out what it was.
Kristoff put a hand
under my chin and forced me to look at him again. “My brother
continues to surprise me. I didn’t see this. It must be very
new.”
I pulled back from
him. “What are you talking about?”
“Matthias has claimed
you.”
I shook my head. “I
don’t understand.”
“Only once in a
vampire’s existence can we claim a human. Claiming is typically
reserved for a favored blood servant or a human lover who refuses
to be sired. It’s a bond that can be broken only with death—his or
yours. And since he can’t die, it’s an eternal bond.”
I stared at him with
growing shock. He wasn’t fucking with me—his expression held only
sincerity. This was real. “How did this—when did
this—”
“Last night,”
Matthias said wearily.
I looked down at him
still kneeling on the floor. “Why would you do that?”
“Yes, I’m curious,
too.” Kristoff slid his dagger back into a sheath that hung from
his belt. “Are you in love with her?”
I held my breath even
though I already knew the answer to that. He didn’t love me. So
what the hell was this?
“She was dying. She
wouldn’t have survived the night. I saw the life leaving her right
in front of my eyes. It was a rash decision on my part to save her.
I bonded our minds and she drank my blood to seal the
deal.”
I was about to argue
that I never did anything of the sort when I remembered the glass
he held to my lips. I was so out of it I didn’t even register what
I was drinking. After that, the pain disappeared.
Clarity rapidly set
in. “Are you saying that because of what you did I’m not going to
die because of the Nightshade?”
Matthias studied me
for a long moment. “You can still be killed. But you won’t die from
the poison inside you or from any other human disease or weakness.
And no other vampire apart from me can influence you
anymore.”
“Only you.” I
swallowed.
“Yes.”
“That still sounds
dangerous to me.” I stared at him, stunned by all of this. He’d
claimed me so I wouldn’t die. I was bonded with him eternally. I
didn’t know how I felt about that. Angry that he hadn’t told me or
asked my permission to do something so major, but—also grateful
that he’d given so much in order to let me keep breathing. I needed
time to let this all settle in. Unfortunately, time was a luxury I
didn’t have.
Matthias slowly
pushed himself up to his feet, and I could tell it caused him great
pain. Even after drinking the dhampyr’s blood again—and I didn’t
know how much he’d had—he was going to need a lot more recovery
time.
Kristoff watched him,
his brow creased with concentration. “I think I understand why you
really did this. You saved her because of what she is and what she
can do. You thought you could use her to destroy me. If she was
dead she’d be no use to you. That’s it, isn’t it?”
Matthias glared at
him. “I can’t hide anything from you.”
“You’re right, you
can’t.”
Of course that was
why he’d done this. I’m surprised I hadn’t thought of it
myself.
I wanted to feel
used, but I was still filled with a strange gratitude toward him
that he’d use up his entire wild card on me. It was a generous gift
with dubious motivation behind the giving. And in the end, it
hadn’t helped at all.
“We’re through here,”
Kristoff said, nodding at his thugs who moved in. “Take my brother
away.”
They grabbed Matthias
and dragged him out of the room.
I clenched my fists
at my sides. “What are they going to do to him?”
He raked a hand
through his dark blond hair as he watched his brother’s departure.
“Don’t worry about Matthias. He’ll be fine.”
I wasn’t convinced of
that. Kristoff had spent thirty years locked away somewhere. An
ineffective knife through the heart didn’t seem like it was nearly
enough to even the scales. Matthias was in trouble.
“You didn’t say yes
to my request,” Kristoff said. “Unfortunately, since Matthias has
claimed you I can’t give you any extra influence to help in the
task. But it still needs to be done.”
“You think I’ll
fail.”
“I’m hoping you’ll
give it your best shot.”
He made it sound like
a piano rehearsal rather than premeditated murder.
I crossed my arms
tightly. “And if I don’t agree to this, you’ll kill Meg and
Julie.”
He looked at me as if
I’d grown another head. “I don’t kill children,
Jillian.”
Frustration rose
inside me. “I don’t want them to get hurt.”
“All I’m threatening
with your nieces is to keep them away from their mother. They’re in
no danger here. I love children. And if you’re making these
assumptions based on what you know about the immortality
ritual—”
“I am.”
“I told you that it
was Matthias who was the one responsible for that
death.”
“I don’t blame him
for what happened.” Tears burned at my eyes. I had to stay strong,
but I felt off balance and extremely vulnerable. “He was forced
into a situation he never would have chosen for himself and bad
things happened.”
He cocked his head.
“You care about him, don’t you?”
“I care about a lot
of people.”
“Like
Declan.”
I froze.
“What?”
“When I saw him in
Matthias’s mind, it was a surprise. I never knew Monica was
pregnant. Then again, I didn’t have much of a chance to know of it
before I was locked away without blood for all those
years.”
Fear pushed away
every other emotion I was fighting against. “Where is
he?”
“He’s been here since
last night.”
It felt as if someone
had clutched my heart and squeezed. “What have you done to
him?”
“He’s very dangerous,
Jillian. You know that, don’t you?”
I shook my head.
“He’s not.”
“Yes, he is. He was
in a rage when he was brought here to see me. Uncontrollable. His
dhampyr nature has taken hold of him very quickly and can’t be
reversed. My men wanted to kill him outright, but I told them not
to. I knew you’d want to see him.”
Declan was here. I
hadn’t wanted to believe he’d been with Jade when she’d been taken,
but that was what had happened. I felt sick at the thought that
he’d been here all this time and I hadn’t known it.
“Come with me. There
isn’t much time.” Kristoff walked out of the room, leaving me
standing there, stunned. I had to run to catch up to him. A couple
thugs fell in behind me along a hallway and down a flight of stairs
to the basement that had cold cement walls and no luxurious décor
like upstairs. A large iron door stood in front of me and one of
the vampires opened it up so Kristoff could walk
through.
It led into a large
room that looked like a hospital room—all white and steel, sterile
and cold. Declan lay on a narrow bed, restrained, with his arms and
legs strapped down. There was a leather strap across his bare chest
and neck. An IV unit was next to the bed and a clear liquid dripped
into the tube attached to his arm. His eye was closed.
I ran to his side. My
hand shook as I touched his face. “What is this? What happened to
him?”
Kristoff’s jaw
tightened. “As I said, he was difficult to control. He had to be
subdued before he could do damage to himself or to
others.”
“Declan . . .” I
whispered. “Can you hear me?”
After a moment his
eye opened slowly and he looked up at me. “Jill . . . you’re here .
. .”
“I’m here. It’s okay
now.”
“This isn’t
okay.”
I almost smiled, I
was so relieved to see he was still alive. “Maybe you’re
right.”
“I know I was an
asshole leaving you last night, but seeing Noah like that . .
.”
“I understand.” I
did. I’d felt hurt and betrayed and that combination had messed my
mind up and almost pushed me into Matthias’s arms completely, but
now everything seemed so much clearer.
“No, it was wrong. I
shouldn’t have left, but I was afraid I’d hurt you. It’s inside me,
this rage. I can’t control it anymore. I never could have lived
with myself if anything happened to you.”
“So instead you ran
off to meet—” I glanced over my shoulder at Kristoff, looking so
eerily like Matthias that it continued to throw me off. He watched
us from the doorway.
“My father,” Declan
said.
My attention returned
to Declan’s face. “For the record, you look nothing like
him.”
“You’re right. He has
fewer scars.” His glimmer of a smile faded. “He told me he won’t
hurt you.”
“So the rumor goes.
Who would have thought that he’d be such a friendly neighborhood
vampire king?”
He laughed a little
humorlessly. “I don’t think friendliness has much to do with it. I
had to agree to something first.”
I felt myself tense.
“What did you agree to?”
“Jill, it’s my fault
you were dragged into all of this in the first place. If I hadn’t
shown up the minute you were in the lobby, Anderson never would
have grabbed you. I pushed him too far and he
reacted.”
“I thought we were
over this. It happened. Shit happens and we deal.”
He swallowed and I
slid my hand over the leather strap across his chest. It was tight
and strong. He wasn’t going anywhere. I didn’t understand why this
was necessary. He seemed fine. No violence. He wasn’t going to hurt
anyone.
“Declan only wants
the best for you, Jillian,” Kristoff said. “So we were able to come
to an understanding.”
My guard went up.
“And what understanding is that?”
“He is extremely
self-aware for his stage of dhampyrism. It’s likely due to the
serum his adoptive father kept him on for so long. It’s delayed
this necessary step.”
My gaze moved to the
IV that I’d assumed was some sort of medicine. “What are you giving
him? What is that?”
Declan looked up at
me, his brow creased. “It’s poison.”