“Yes, you may live.”
“Then take her. Take anything you want. Kill her if you have to.”
Matthias didn’t hesitate. He went toward Jade, grabbing her arm tightly. Jade let out a frightened shriek that didn’t sound human.
“You can’t kill my mommy!” Patricia screamed and she moved like a pale streak through the room.
I watched in shock. “No, Matthias! She has a knife!”
But it was too late.
The girl launched herself at him and plunged the knife deep into Matthias’s back. He growled in pain, let Jade go, and swatted at the child vampire. She fell to the ground in a tiny heap.
Matthias swore loudly and reached backward to grab the knife and pull it out, a mirror of what Isaiah had done only minutes ago.
Jade cowered away from him, reaching out for Patricia.
“Come here,” she cried.
“He’s a bad man.” Patricia was back on her feet, grabbing for the discarded knife. Despite her small size she looked like a monster ready, willing, and able to kill.
Declan snatched her right out of the air by the back of her blouse as she jumped toward Matthias again, this time aiming for his chest. She hissed at him and instead tried to stab him with her weapon, but he grabbed it out of her hand and threw it to the side before placing the child firmly on the ground.
“Behave yourself,” he growled.
Isaiah crawled over to her. “I’m sorry, your majesty. Patricia shames us all, both with what she did to your friend, and what she’s tried to do to you.”
Matthias glared at him. “There are more important things than this to deal with right now. I’ll heal.”
“No, she must be punished immediately.”
I saw him snatch the knife off the ground. The next moment I heard a sharp, bloodcurdling scream and then saw a small burst of fiery ash.
There was absolute silence in the room for several moments as I registered with horror what he’d done.
A keening wail filled my ears. Jade scrambled forward, gathering Patricia’s ashes in her hands. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “You bastard! You murdered my baby!”
Isaiah looked at her with pity. “She wasn’t your baby. She was and always has been an abomination that never should have been allowed to—”
And then he was gone as well. As the ashes cleared, I saw Declan standing there, stake in hand, a look of redhot fury replacing his normally cool, stoic gaze.
“Declan—” His name caught in my throat.
“That fucking monster killed that child.”
“She wasn’t a child. She was old—a vampire, just like the others.”
Declan dropped the knife and squeezed his eye shut. “This is what comes from me helping a vampire in the first place.” He opened his eye and pointed at Jade. “You cannot drink her blood, Matthias.”
Matthias straightened his shoulders even though it looked as if it caused him pain. His new wound would take a little longer to heal. “Don’t you understand? My brother is awake now. You know what this means.”
“I only know what you’ve told us.”
“It’s the truth.”
“You really believe that all that stands between you and the power to stop Kristoff is forcing this dhampyr to give her your blood?”
Matthias’s expression turned icy. “That’s exactly what I believe. And if you stand in my way there will be repercussions.”
“I’ll stop Kristoff myself,” Declan snapped.
“You can’t.”
He frowned. “How can you sound so fucking sure about that?”
“Because he’ll have power over you, dhampyr. And he won’t hesitate to use it.”
“Power over me? Why?”
“Because he’s your father.”
I felt as frozen as when Isaiah mentally influenced me. How did Matthias know that? I hadn’t told him. He was already gone when Dr. Gray shared that information with me.
Declan reacted to this as if he’d been punched in the stomach. He even took a step backward. “What the fuck did you just say?”
“Kristoff was Monica’s lover twenty-nine years ago shortly before I imprisoned him. Her only lover. He kept her on a tight leash and his jealousy was not something anyone would have wanted to face. I’m certain that you’re his son.”
Declan’s gaze shot to me and he looked confused by the bleak look he must have seen on my face. He didn’t speak for a moment. “Did you know this?”
My stomach sank. I’d wanted to tell him, but it never seemed like the right time. I should have told him anyway. “I didn’t want you to find out like this.”
“You knew?” His voice was barely audible.
I felt ill. “Noah needs help. Now. Please, Declan. Anything else can wait.”
I ran to Noah’s side and sank down beside him. His pulse was weak. His forehead felt cold and clammy. His throat was open and ragged and bleeding profusely. I wasn’t sure if he was unconscious or if he simply didn’t have the strength to keep his eyes open.
Declan crouched beside me and checked Noah’s vitals before shaking his head. “There’s nothing we can do for him.”
“No.” I felt like hyperventilating. “He can’t die.”
“He’s already lost too much blood.”
“We have to do something. What are we supposed to do without him?”
Declan looked at me and there was a strange set to his gaze. “Noah lies here bleeding to death after you drag him into this mess, and all you care about is that when he dies he won’t be able to help us anymore, is that it?”
I struggled to breathe. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
I didn’t. I wasn’t being a mercenary. It wasn’t all about my needs, my problems. I cared about Noah deeply, but he was an integral part of this puzzle. I hadn’t given up yet—on myself, on Declan, on anything. And I wouldn’t give up on Noah, either.
But Declan didn’t seem to understand that. He stood up, leaving me on the floor.
“I’m sorry about your friend,” Matthias said. “But it changes nothing. Kristoff needs to be stopped and I need the blood of this dhampyr. Will you stand in my way?”
Declan hissed out a long breath. “If you kill her, or harm her, I swear I’ll break you in two.”
He left the room without another word.
I didn’t move or speak, but I turned away, clutching onto Noah’s still arm as I heard Jade’s fear-filled shrieks a few seconds later. I didn’t cry. I felt numb and shaky as I tried desperately not to hear the sickening sucking sound as Matthias fed on the woman’s blood. It took all my concentration not to let myself vomit.
Matthias’s hand on my shoulder a few minutes later made me jump. I looked up at him expecting his mouth to be bloody, but it wasn’t.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I’ve taken all I need.”
I swallowed. “She stopped screaming.”
He looked over his shoulder. “She fainted, but she’ll be fine.”
“Did it work?”
“I don’t know yet. But thank you, Jillian. If it wasn’t for you, this wouldn’t have happened. I owe you for this.”
I nodded, crossing my arms tightly over my chest, feeling sick to my stomach. “Can I take you up on that favor right away?”
He eyed me. “Of course. What do you want?”
I looked down at Noah, who’d only an hour ago been so concerned for my well-being that the idea of me being in pain had upset him. There’d been a couple of times when I thought he was my enemy, someone who’d betray me at a moment’s notice, but he wasn’t like that. He was a good kid, and he didn’t deserve any of this.
And yes, I’d admit it. I still needed him around because of his head for research and his knowledge of all things Nightshade and dhampyr.
Steely resolve filled me, giving me some well-needed strength.
I didn’t want to do this. I didn’t want to ask for this. But I had no choice.
I looked up at Matthias. “I want you to turn
Noah into a vampire.”
9
THERE WAS SILENCE AFTER MY REQUEST. FOR A MOMENT, all I could hear was the rapid pounding of my heart.
Matthias’s jaw was clenched. “Noah didn’t ask for this.”
“He can’t ask for this. And he’s going to die any minute if you don’t help him. You said you owed me, and this is all I want.”
He looked down at Noah. “This is exactly what I’ve avoided, making more of my kind. I’ve only sired a handful of fledglings in four hundred years. A vampire in their early days is difficult to control and their newfound power can go to their heads. Their thirst can overwhelm them. Already weakened like this, he might not survive it. He might be better off if you just let him die.”
My stomach felt like it was tied into knots. “Are you saying you won’t do it?”
“Are you sure of this, Jillian? I warn you, the results may not be what you’re hoping for.”
I sniffed and ran my hand under my nose. “In a choice between life and death, I choose life. For myself and for the people I consider family. Noah’s one of them. So yes, I’m sure.”
He nodded. “Then wait for me outside.”
My eyes widened. “You’re going to do it?”
“Yes. Now go before I change my mind.”
At that moment I was certain right down to my core that this was the right decision. I cared deeply for Noah and I wanted him to live. I remembered what Meyers had said in the motel parking lot. He’d wanted to be sired by a king so he’d be strong. Matthias was a former king. That was good enough for me.
Noah would be strong. He’d be okay. He’d survive this.
There was no other choice.
Declan waited outside the room, past the archway and thirty feet down the long, dim corridor I vaguely remembered being dragged along by one of the vampires who was now just a bad memory. I slowed as I got closer to him. He wasn’t looking at me with an ounce of friendliness at the moment. There was grief on his face.
Seeing him displaying noticeable emotions like this was more unsettling than encouraging at the moment.
“You should have stayed in the car,” he hissed at me.
Tears burned at my eyes, but I forced them back. “But I didn’t.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“It’s going to be all right.”
“All right,” he repeated. “You think this is all right?”
“We found Jade.”
“She’s insane.”
“Well, yeah. There’s that.”
“And now she’s emotionally damaged from seeing her adoptive family murdered before her eyes.”
“They were vampires,” I reminded him. “And they nearly killed us. I thought you had a problem with vampires and didn’t mind when they stopped existing.”
“I hate vampires. But seeing that child turn to ash—” He swallowed hard, flexing his hands into tight fists at his sides. “There was a time when she was really only a kid and didn’t have any choice when some fucking monster decided to turn her.” He scrubbed his hand over his scalp. “Damn it. The serum isn’t working right now. I wish it was.”
“It makes things easier for you.”
“Yeah.” He hissed out a breath and looked back in the direction of the room. “Matthias damn well better not hurt her.”
“She’ll be fine.”
“I can go after Kristoff. I don’t care what he said about him being my . . .” His forehead creased. “Even if it’s true it won’t make any difference. He can’t control me. I control myself.”
I touched his arm and was half-surprised when he didn’t pull away from me. “I don’t want you to go after Kristoff and get yourself killed.”
He swallowed. “Why? Because you need me?”
“No, because I lov—” I bit off the words and stared at the floor. I wasn’t sure where that came from. He was pissed at me right now. Rightfully so. This wasn’t the time or place to let him know the depth of my feelings for him. Frankly, I wasn’t ready to let myself know, either.
My interrupted sentence didn’t escape his attention. “Jill, this is all so fucked up.”
I almost laughed. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
He brushed a lock of black hair off my forehead and I saw that his previously harsh expression had softened. “Why didn’t you tell me about my real father?”
I grimaced as guilt skittered through me. “I’m sorry. I should have. I was worried that you’d dealt with so much already after Carson and Dr. Gray were killed. I was afraid how you’d take it.”
He didn’t say anything for a moment. “You were protecting me.”
“Trying to.” I bit my bottom lip. I had to tell him about Noah, but I didn’t want him running in there and stopping whatever Matthias had to do.
“I should have known this. I need to—” His expression changed so suddenly that it scared me.
“What?”
“Jesus, Jill. You’re bleeding again.”
“Oh, shit.” I reached up and touched my face. It was my nose this time. My fingers trembled as I raised them to look at the reddish black blood.
The pain coiled its way around me. I could see it coming but I couldn’t escape it. It tightened its grip and washed over me like an ocean of acid, stripping my flesh away and leaving me raw and screaming. My head felt like it was trapped in a crushing vise.
My legs collapsed from under me and Declan grabbed hold of me.
“It’s okay,” he said, holding me tightly against him. “It’s going to be okay.”
He was lying to me. I thought he’d said he wouldn’t do that. There was no way anything that felt this bad could possibly be okay.
I didn’t remember blacking out this time, but I must have.
When I opened my eyes we weren’t in the tunnels under FunTown anymore. I lay on a beige-colored sofa in a beige-colored room. A glass coffee table with several magazines including the TV Guide sat three feet away from me.
The pain was gone, but I still felt it like a greedy phantom lurking at the edges of my mind. It would be back for more. The thought made me want to curl up in a ball and cry, but there was no time for tears. I’d have to schedule them in for sometime in my next life.
“You’re awake.”
I struggled to swallow because my mouth felt dry. I wiped at my nose but there was no blood that I could see, which was an immediate relief. “Where are we?”
“I found us a place to stay temporarily. The owners are out of the country.” Declan’s deep raspy voice sounded flat again. The control he’d been lacking before was back. Dealing with him had become like dealing with someone with a bipolar personality. Hot or cold, nothing in between, and the shift could happen in a split second.
I looked around at the house. It appeared as if the owners were related to Ward and June Cleaver. A nice, normal, all-American home meant for a happily married couple with two-point-five children. “How long since we got here?”
“You’ve been unconscious for a couple of hours.” He stood next to the sofa, filling my vision. A tall man with broad shoulders, dressed all in black, with scars and an eye patch. He didn’t look as if he belonged in this house.
Maybe this was heaven. Maybe I’d died with my last attack and that had been that. I’d been sent here to the beigest house in the country with Declan continuing to be my guardian angel. I was okay with that.
Too bad it wasn’t true.
“Why am I passing out from the pain now? Before I took the fuser I stayed conscious.”
“Your body—” he began, but stopped talking for a second. “Your body can’t handle it. For now it knocks you out, but it won’t be long before . . .”
“Before what?”
“Before you won’t wake up again.” His face was stony, but there was a faint flicker of emotion in his gray gaze.
“I’m going to die soon, aren’t I?” It was more of a statement of fact than a question.
Whatever it was, Declan ignored it. “I’m g
oing to inject you. I’d hoped you’d stay unconscious for this.”
I tensed. “You really think the fusing potion makes any difference?”
“Yeah, I do. We’ll start doing this weekly to keep things under control. That’s how long the fuser lasted before, so that’s our timeline.”
I was quiet for a moment, but then I nodded. “Okay.”
The idea of getting the fuser injected in me every week wasn’t a pleasant one, but I knew there wasn’t a lot of room for guesswork here. It made me feel like someone being treated regularly for a debilitating disease. It wasn’t far from the truth.
“Where’s Matthias?” I asked.
“When you collapsed, I left without looking back. I texted him our location.”
“I didn’t even know he had a cell phone.”
“He’s a modern-day monster.”
I almost smiled, but couldn’t manage the expression. “The dhampyr—”
“She’s still at the park. I had to leave her behind—with him.” He didn’t look happy about it.
“But Declan, you wanted to see her. Talk to her.”
His shoulders stiffened. “It can wait, and I’ll go back later to find her again—although I’m not sure if that will make much of a difference. She seemed crazy. Besides, it can wait until you’re well again. Try to relax.”
He pushed up the edge of my shirt to bare my stomach and I felt the pinch as the needle slid into my skin just below my belly button. It didn’t hurt very much. It was a total breeze compared to everything else.
If it was like last time, I had about fifteen minutes before the potion started working, bonding my blood cells with the Nightshade. It was when they separated that I had problems. My body was trying to reject the poison inside me. I didn’t really blame it.
When it started working, I’d know it. The pain I’d felt at the park was only an appetizer.
I didn’t understand how the fusing potion worked, but it did. Since it was based on preternatural science, I could only equate it to some sort of earthbound magic. Not the kind that Matthias’s old pal Houdini did—sleight of hand and escape tricks. Not hocus-pocus stuff, either. No Harry Potter wizardry here, but there was something truly supernatural involved to account for me still living and breathing with such an unnatural shade of blood. It was that magic that was keeping me alive, that helped to kill a vampire when he or she got a taste of what now ran through my veins.