17
THE ROOM WAS LIT WITH
CANDLES. HUNDREDS OF them. There was a huge room with an enormous
bed to one side. On the bed were several naked bodies—at least
three: two men and a woman—tangled in the bloodstained white satin
sheets. They weren’t moving. I hoped they were only sleeping after
a completely consensual threesome.
The rattle of chains
to my right grabbed my attention and my head whipped in that
direction to see a monster dhampyr straining against its bindings.
It was naked, with pale translucent skin, thick pockets of which
drooped from its protruding abdomen. It had an alien
appearance—slightly human, but mostly not. It was bald, with a
large flat face and enormous eyes that were entirely black. Thin
white lips peeled back to show ragged, sharp teeth and a thick
black tongue. At the end of its long thin arms, each of its tapered
fingers was tipped with a razor-sharp talon—the same talons a
monster dhamp used to claw its way out of its human mother’s
body.
I shuddered with fear
and disgust at the sight of it.
“Blooooddd,” it
moaned in a hoarse whisper. “Waanntt bloooddd.”
“Ignore him. He’s
always hungry.”
Be strong, I thought as I pushed down a sob rising
in my throat. I found myself frozen in place unable to look away
from the monster toward the man who spoke. This is about survival, nothing else. As soon as you can
kill this vampire, the sooner you can get the fuck out of
here.
“Seems like something
that’s hard to ignore,” I said.
“He won’t hurt you if
you don’t get close to him. Come here.”
I swallowed hard and
finally tore my gaze away from the chained monster to focus on the
direction of the vampire’s voice. Through the darkness of the room
I could see him seated on a metal chair.
A
wheelchair.
I forced myself to
move toward him, straining to see what awaited me. The high heels
pinched my feet. My heart drummed painfully in my chest, and a cool
trickle of perspiration slid down my bare back.
“I can smell your
fear,” Alex said. “Practically taste it.”
As I drew closer I
stifled my shock as I finally saw what was in front of me. There
had been one time when this vampire had been devastatingly
attractive. Dark hair brushed his shoulders, his face was akin to a
male model’s with sensual lips and high cheekbones. Broad
shoulders. Square jaw. The works.
But he had no legs.
And he had no eyes.
I inhaled
sharply.
He smiled. “Kristoff
didn’t warn you about what I looked like?”
“The subject didn’t
come up.” My voice sounded weak.
“I lost these in a
war a very long time ago.” He touched his thighs that had nothing
below the knee. Then he touched his eyes, sunken and blackened.
“And I lost these in a fight a bit more recently than
that.”
“A
fight.”
“The sun isn’t a
friend to my kind.”
His eyes had been
burned away because he’d gone out into the sunshine. I’d heard
about the results of this, but I hadn’t seen it for myself. Alex
had been blinded and that made him much more vulnerable
now.
“I can smell your
pity,” he said. “Trust me, it’s not necessary. My senses are much
more acute now than they ever were before.”
“I don’t pity
you.”
“Disgust,
then?”
“Just surprise,
that’s all.”
He leaned back in his
wheelchair. “How do you feel about being given from one vampire to
another? Is this your thing?”
“My thing?” My shoes
pinched me. It was distracting.
He leaned forward a
little. “Are you a whore, Jillian?”
I stiffened. I guess
that was what this seemed like—me being sent out from Kristoff like
a fruit basket in a tight black dress. “I’m not a whore. I’m a
prisoner.”
“So you have no
choice.”
“Pretty
much.”
“But you’re not
fighting it. It makes me believe he’s blackmailing you in some
way—perhaps keeping someone you love captive to make you go along
with his plans.” He absently played with a large gold ring on his
index finger that was set with a huge ruby. It was the ring
Kristoff wanted me to take as proof of his death.
I eyed him and the
ring warily. “Sounds like you know him.”
“It’s been a long
time since I last spoke with him, but some acquaintances leave a
lasting impression. Kristoff is one of them.” He cocked his head.
“Come closer. Since I can’t see you I’ll need more evidence that he
sent me an acceptable gift.”
I wanted to stay hard
and focused right now, but I couldn’t help the disgust, and, yes,
pity I felt for this once handsome and once human man. I cast a
glance over my shoulder. The monster dhampyr was silent and
watching me, its chest moving in and out. A line of drool slid down
the side of its mouth to the floor.
I got close enough
that Alex could smell more than just my fear. This time he was the
one to inhale sharply. “My God. Your scent . . .”
I tensed. “I’m kind
of special.”
“He sent word that
your blood is ambrosia—food for the gods. That I’ve never tasted
anything like you in my entire existence.”
That was an
understatement if ever I’d heard one. Kristoff really wanted this
guy dead, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why. He
didn’t seem to be any threat. He might be the leader of the
Amarantos Society, but he couldn’t function without assistance. He
was blind. He couldn’t walk. He was helpless. Why send me to do
Kristoff’s dirty work when anyone willing to kill would
do?
Then again, why not?
I already knew Kristoff enjoyed his experiments. I was yet another
experiment. He didn’t think I could do it and I wasn’t entirely
convinced of it myself.
“Closer,” Alex
said.
Any closer and I’d be
sitting on his lap.
I forced myself to
lean toward him and I willed my sympathy for him to go far, far
away. This wasn’t a normal veteran of a war who’d sustained serious
injuries fighting to keep his country free. This was a vampire who
owned a sex club and had three unconscious—possibly dead—humans in his bed no more than twenty feet
away from us right now, not to mention a monster dhamp chained to
his wall. He was a sightless predator on wheels.
Feeling sorry for
this guy I had to kill wasn’t going to make this any damn
easier.
“Yes, you smell
good.” His lips curved. He placed his cool fingertips on my face
and slid them over my forehead, my cheeks, nose, chin, and jaw. One
hand slid into my hair, which he brought to his nose so he could
inhale its scent. “You’re warm, too.”
“Ninety-eight point
six.”
He touched my hands
for a moment, my short nails, my palms. His touch wasn’t rough, but
it did nothing to relax me. Apart from my fear, I didn’t like being
inspected like a slab of beef to determine my quality. He touched
the silky material of my dress, his hands skimming down my sides. I
stiffened and he stopped at my waist.
“Nice dress.” His
smile looked slightly wicked at the edges. I’d assume blood was not
the only thing Kristoff had promised from my visit.
“It’s
borrowed.”
“Color?”
“Black.”
“What color is your
hair?”
“Black.”
“How old are you,
Jillian?”
“Twenty-eight.”
“You’re different
from what I expected.” His hands moved back up to tangle in my hair
and he brought my face down level to his.
“Am I?” I felt sick
to my stomach. How far was I willing to go to make this work? I
would have thought he’d already have bitten me by now, but nothing
had happened, only a light groping that I hoped was over. “What
were you expecting?”
“I’m not sure.” He
leaned back in his wheelchair a little, his face tilted up as if he
was gazing at me. “Assassins are usually a bit more forward than
this.”
I froze.
“What?”
“I know who you are,
Jillian. I know what you
are.”
I shifted back, but
he had my hair so tightly in his grip I could barely move. “I don’t
know what you’re talking about.”
“You’re the woman
with the poisoned blood. And Kristoff sent you here to kill
me.”
Busted. The thought
was like a physical blow. I’d expected many things from this
encounter, including putting myself directly in harm’s way, but I
hadn’t expected that he’d already know about me. If I ran, I’d
never get out of here alive.
I swallowed. “Are you
going to kill me?”
His lips thinned.
“That depends on how you answer my next question.”
I didn’t struggle any
more. I watched him carefully. “What’s the question?”
“Did Kristoff’s
immortality ritual work? The one he shared with
Matthias?”
“I don’t know.” I
didn’t trust Alex. He was the leader of the secret society that
initiated the ritual in the first place. Sara’s safety was in
jeopardy if anyone knew about the ritual’s effectiveness. I
couldn’t let that happen.
“I think you do know.
Matthias drank your blood. He still lives, doesn’t
he?”
“It—it’s true. At
least, the last time I saw him he was still . . .
alive.”
A look of relief
crossed Alex’s tense expression. “Good. Kristoff needs to be
removed from the throne. He never should have been released from
his prison.”
“It’s a little late
for that.”
“It’s never too
late.”
I watched the
emotions play on his face. This wasn’t a subject that held any
apathy for him. He was convinced that Kristoff was just as evil as
Matthias said he was. “You were expecting him to make an attempt on
your life?”
“Of
course.”
“Why? What are you to
him? Just a rival? An enemy?”
He smiled, but it
lacked humor. “We have a long history. Kristoff sired me three
hundred years ago. He, Matthias, and myself—we had a great deal of
fun together for a very long time. But they had much more drive
than I did. I was fine with simply existing. They wanted
power.”
“So they killed the
last king.” It was a guess more than anything.
“Yes. He was a fool,
the old king. Half mad. He was easy to defeat since his subjects
were ready for a change. Matthias and Kristoff agreed to share the
power—they were so alike back then. Kristoff is the older by
minutes so he was to be first, and after an agreed-to time, he’d
hand the throne over to Matthias.”
“But he
didn’t.”
“No. He changed his
mind. Power had gone to his head, and it affected his and
Matthias’s relationship. That’s when he discovered the immortality
ritual. He hoped it would bind him and Matthias together eternally,
so he’d be forgiven any of his sins. Matthias felt
otherwise.”
To say the least.
“That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The ritual that
killed Kristoff’s daughter.”
“Yes. But Matthias’s
distrust and growing abhorrence toward his brother was a long time
coming.”
“What did you have to
do with it? And why does Kristoff hate you so much?”
He sighed and finally
let go of my hair. I straightened up but didn’t back away. He was
speaking quietly, as if afraid someone might overhear
us.
“I sided with
Matthias. But there was never any doubt about whom I would choose.
I chose him over my own sire and Kristoff resented that. Matthias
owned my heart and what remained of my soul. Kristoff saw himself
and his brother as two sides of the same coin, interchangeable, but
there was a difference. Both could be cruel and unforgiving when
they had to be, but—” He shook his head. “Matthias was different.
Better, in my opinion, than his brother in many ways.”
There was something
more than simple respect in his voice. “You and Matthias—were
together?”
“We were. Although, I
was much more”—he smiled wistfully—“faithful to him than he ever could be to me. It’s
something one has to accept when involved with someone like him.
His hungers must be satisfied, and jealousy doesn’t fit into that
equation.”
Matthias had hinted
that, while he preferred women, he hadn’t been all that sexually
exclusive over the years. This was the proof. It surprised me, but
not as much as I would have thought. “Was it a fight with Kristoff
that made you lose your eyes?”
His smile faded. “No.
Matthias caused this.”
I actually gasped out
loud. “Matthias did this to you?”
He touched the edges
of his ruined eyes. “Twenty years ago he heard a rumor that I was
conspiring to have his brother released from the prison he’d
created for him. It was a lie, but he wasn’t thinking straight, and
sometimes rage makes a man do horrible things. He had his blood
servants drag me outside as punishment. I couldn’t find shelter. A
few minutes I could have healed from, but it was hours before he
realized his mistake. By then it was too late.”
The thought of this
made me feel physically ill. Matthias did this. He’d had Alex
dragged outside knowing it would fry the eyes right out of his
skull. “I—I’m so sorry.”
“Be careful with him,
Jillian. He can be . . .” He hesitated. “Passionate to a fault. Be wary, especially since I
know you’re bound to him now.”
I forced my nausea
away at the picture of melting eyeballs and stupid, enraged
vampires out of my head. “How do you know that?”
“The same informant
who told me that you would be sent here to kill me tonight said
that he’d claimed you to save your life, hoping to use your blood
against Kristoff.”
“Your informant is
full of useful information.”
The smile returned.
“He is.”
“So you hate
Matthias.”
“No. The contrary. I
forgive mistakes, although I must admit it took me a long time. To
help atone for this, Matthias bought me this nightclub so I could
easily feed off the desire contained inside. It’s a nightly feast
and I never have to worry about going hungry. In return, I’ve kept
things with the Amarantos as quiet and controlled as possible. This
hasn’t been accepted by all members. Some are still interested in
the immortality ritual. I’m able to keep a lid on this, and any
members who are out to make trouble are removed.”
I wasn’t sure if
removed meant their membership was revoked, or if they were removed
from being alive. I didn’t ask. “Sounds like you’re a good
leader.”
“I’ve tried to be.
I’ve seen what can happen when the wrong person has power, and
that’s what I want to avoid at all costs.”
I nodded even though
he wouldn’t be able to see it. “Fair enough.”
“If I let you leave
here, Jillian, you must promise me something. Will you do
that?”
I searched his face
for deception, but saw nothing there. What disgust I’d originally
felt toward him had faded into something more like admiration. This
vampire wasn’t one of the bad ones—despite all evidence to the
contrary. Over my shoulder I heard a sleepy groan as the occupants
of the bed slowly woke. They weren’t dead. Just sleeping. The
thought was a relief.
Maybe I could get
Alex to give me his ring to prove he was dead. It would buy me
enough time to get my nieces out of the house and back to my
sister. Then I’d tell her to leave the city—get somewhere safe
until all of this blew over. It made sense to me. It felt
right.
“What do you want me
to promise?” I asked.
“You must do
everything you can to help Matthias defeat Kristoff.”
I drew in a breath.
“I think you have me confused with somebody with
power.”
He looked up in my
general direction with his nonexistent eyes. “You’re not a victim,
Jillian. I feel it. There is strength inside of you and courage as
well. Your blood is just as powerful as they say it is. That is
your true gift.”
“Death is not a
gift.”
“Depends on how you
look at it. Your blood is what makes you different from any other
human. It makes you special. And it makes you very
dangerous.”
“I don’t feel all
that dangerous.”
“You are. Trust me,
you are.” He sat there for a moment, his arms resting on the sides
of the wheelchair. “You haven’t promised.”
“To help defeat
Kristoff? I promise. I’ll do whatever I can.”
“Good.” He nodded.
“Now, lastly. Can you give Matthias a message for me?”
That depended on
where he was right now, but I couldn’t worry about the former
vampire king. Not now. One thing at a time. “I’ll
try.”
“Tell him that I
forgive him and that I still have faith in everything he
does.”
I frowned. “You
should tell him that your—”
Alex reached forward,
his fingers biting into my shoulders, and pulled me down on top of
him. He swept my hair back and I felt his mouth press against my
throat.
“No—don’t do this—” I
pushed at him, not knowing what this was or where it came from.
He’d been so still a moment ago and he’d just lashed out. Panic
gripped me as I felt his fangs sharp against my skin only a moment
before they cut into me. I shrieked, but it was the last noise I
could make as his bite paralyzed me and I slumped forward against
him.
I couldn’t move,
couldn’t speak, but I could hear him drinking my blood, a low groan
escaping his throat. It hurt badly; because of my bond with
Matthias he couldn’t influence me first to dampen the pain. I’d
liked him. He’d convinced me he was one of the good guys—as much as
a vampire could be, anyway. I couldn’t believe he’d just lost
control. He’d handled my scent fine up until now.
“So good . . .” he
murmured, his breath cool against my raw throat. He finally
released me and slid his tongue over his bloody bottom lip. I
immediately regained the use of my body and scrambled back from
him, my hand at my throat to press against the fresh
wound.
I shook my head, my
eyes burning with tears. “Why did you do this?”
He raised his face up
in the direction of mine. “Because it’s the only way.”
Then he convulsed and
gritted his teeth together before fire consumed him. In seconds the
only thing that remained of Alex was a fall of gray ash, snowing
down over his wheelchair. The ring he’d worn dropped to the floor
next to the chair.
I couldn’t move. I
just stared at where he’d been seated only moments before. I was in
shock. He’d killed himself. Suicide by Nightshade. And I didn’t
think there were any Houdini-inspired tricks up his sleeve like
Matthias had used.
Alex was gone. Three
hundred years of existence snuffed out by a woman in a black dress
with poisoned blood.
I realized I was
crying and I pushed at my tears, more angry than sad. I didn’t wait
around for long. I grabbed the ring, then turned and walked quickly
across the room, coming a bit too close to the monster dhamp as I
passed. It reached out toward me with its long arms, a sharp talon
slicing shallowly into my upper arm. I jumped back from it and it
looked at me with black, hungry eyes.
“Bloooddd,” it
screeched. “Deeaatthh.”
A sob caught in my
throat but I swallowed it down. “That’s right. My blood is death.
Don’t forget it.”
I expected someone to
stop me. After all, I’d just killed their blind, legless leader.
I’d been sent as a gift from someone who wanted Alex dead. And even
though it hadn’t gone remotely as I’d ever imagined it would, I’d
done it.
Someone on the bed
finally roused, lifting her head up off another’s bare
thigh.
“What’s going on?”
she asked groggily. “Where’s Alex?”
I looked at her, my
vision too blurry to see more than her outline. “He’s
gone.”
I pounded on the door
when I found it was locked. A moment later it opened and I pushed
through, walking blindly through the crowd who hadn’t stopped their
hedonistic activities for a moment since I’d gone in. The world
still rotated. The drinks still flowed. Everything was normal at
the vampire sex club ironically called The Silver Cross. Only its
owner was dead because I’d killed him.
I’d wanted him to be
bloodthirsty, cruel, and horrible. What I’d got was Matthias’s
ex-lover, a vampire who seemed to know right from wrong and had
been through horrible pain in his life. He’d seen me as his chance
to escape that pain once and for all and he’d taken
it.
Suddenly, Noah was at
my side. I hadn’t seen him approach, but my mind was on other
things. He still looked monstrous with the signs of hunger showing
on his face, but otherwise he was the same Noah he’d ever
been.
“Well?” he
asked.
“It’s done.” My
throat felt thick and it was hard to swallow.
With a concerned
look, he grabbed my hand as if to remove it from my throat to
inspect my wound.
I shook my head. “No.
I’m bleeding. You shouldn’t look at it right now.”
He grimaced. “Good
point.”
“Let’s get the hell
out of here.”
“Fine with
me.”
In my other hand I
had Alex’s ring clutched so tightly it would likely leave an
imprint behind. I’d killed him. And I was taking Kristoff the proof
of just how deadly I was.
My unpleasant mission
was a success.
And I knew Kristoff
was going to kill me anyway.
THE HOUR-LONG DRIVE
BACK TO THE HOUSE ONLY served to fuel my anger. By the time we got
back I’d said good-bye to fear and was ready to confront Kristoff
face-to-face, come what may.
He was waiting for me
in his makeshift throne room. I marched right toward him, but
faltered when I saw who he was with. My nieces, tired and rubbing
at their eyes, sat cross-legged on the floor. Since it was well
after midnight, I wasn’t surprised that they looked so
weary.
“Welcome back,”
Kristoff said.
That fear I’d
misplaced on the drive here came back in spades. I wondered if
Kristoff had predicted my mood and wanted to remind me of what was
at stake. If so, he’d succeeded amazingly well.
“Aunt Jill?” Meg, my
eight-year-old niece, looked up at me with a frown. “You look
really different.”
“Yeah?” I twisted a
finger into my hair and tried to ignore the hammering of my heart.
“Different good or different bad?”
“I don’t know.” She
looked at her sister. They were both blond and blue-eyed like their
mom. Like the old me. “Just different. What are you doing
here?”
“Your aunt is a
friend of mine,” Kristoff said. “She’s visiting and she wanted to
say hi.”
“Hi,” six-year-old
Julie said. She clutched a pink teddy bear to her chest. “We
watched movies all night. Past bedtime.”
I forced a smile onto
my face. “Sounds like fun.”
“It was. We’re
supposed to wait here for mommy to come get us.”
I looked at Kristoff
who nodded. “She asked me to look after the girls, keep them safe.
How could I say no?”
My face felt tight.
“You’re so generous.”
Kristoff smiled.
“Okay, kids. It’s well past time for bed now. Have a good
sleep.”
Meg and Julie got up
from where they were seated and came toward me to give me a hug. I
held on to each of them tightly before reluctantly letting them
go.
I looked into their
faces, each in turn. “You’re going home soon.
Promise.”
Meg shrugged.
“Okay.”
If nothing else,
their ignorance about where they were and who held them was a
relief. I wasn’t going to disturb that for anything.
The girl I’d seen
earlier holding Sara was waiting at the entrance to the room and
the children went toward her. She must be some sort of vampire
nanny Kristoff had on staff. The thought wasn’t comforting. I
tensed, but didn’t make a move to stop them from
leaving.
“I just love
children,” Kristoff said. “They fill my heart with
joy.”
I turned to glare at
him. “I swear, if you hurt them—”
“Why would I hurt
them?” His gaze moved to my hand. “You have Alex’s ring. I’ll
assume everything went according to plan.”
“He’s
dead.”
“That was the plan.
Maybe you’re more useful than I thought you’d be.” He held out his
hand and I drew close enough to give him the ring. He studied it
for a moment. “What did he have to say?”
“Not
much.”
He slipped the ring
on his index finger. “I find that hard to believe. If there was one
thing I could depend on from Alex, it was that he loved to talk.
Too much for his own good sometimes.”
“He won’t be talking
anymore. So you can do as you said and let my nieces go. We had a
deal.”
He studied my tense
expression for a moment. “Tomorrow. Let them sleep now. It’s been a
long day for all of us. Good night Jillian.”
Two of his men took
me by my arms and began to direct me out of the room. “Wait. What
happened with Declan? Is he okay? Where is he right
now?”
Before he could say
anything in reply we were out of the room, and the vampires took me
down a hallway and up a flight of stairs. They stopped in front of
a door and unlocked it, then pushed me into the expansive, dark
bedroom. All I saw were shadows and outlines. For a moment I
figured this was where I was supposed to sleep for the night,
although I’d never felt less tired in my entire life.
I gasped when I felt
the rough slide of rope over my wrists.
“What are you doing?”
I demanded as they tied me to the bedpost with my arms behind
me.
One of the vampires
grasped my face tightly. His eyes were black and his jaw was lined
with dark veins. “Kristoff wants you to be part of a new
experiment. Good luck.”
And then they were
gone, closing and locking the door behind them.
What the
hell?
Any anger I’d felt
earlier faded away until fear was the only thing left. I hated to
be left alone with my thoughts. The more I had to deal with, the
better off I was. But now there was nothing except dread filling my
senses. I pulled at my bindings, but it didn’t do any
good.
Kristoff wanted me
put in here, tied up, as some sort of experiment. I didn’t know
what kind of experiment, though I supposed the options were
disturbingly endless.
I stilled, both body
and thoughts, and strained to listen.
Someone else was in
here with me, only I couldn’t see who it was. My eyes adjusted to
the darkness.
“Who’s here?” I
whispered.
I wasn’t sure why I
asked. I already knew who it was. I craned my neck to see the
outline of his body lying against the wall. After a moment, he
moved, muscles flexing as he looked across the room toward me. His
black eye narrowed and his lips curled back from his teeth enough
that I could clearly see his fangs.
Declan’s
fangs.