Blood Secrets

seventeen



PETER HID IN A CORNER OF THE SHADOWLANDS ROOM he’d constructed to detain Alexandra’s consciousness while he worked to sever her blood-bond with Varik. He remained motionless, watching, learning, and waiting.

She lay curled on the floor with her back to the video monitor. The chains binding her wrists and legs weren’t true physical restraints but they were restraints nonetheless. Only he could release them, and he wouldn’t until the bond was broken.

The monitor behind her continued to play scenes from both hers and Varik’s pasts, with the attack that had forged the blood-bond repeated frequently. Reliving that moment was eating away at her willpower. Soon it would be easy to snap the bond and then she’d be wholly Peter’s. That same memory was playing even now. Her pleas for Varik to stop turned to strangled gurgles followed by sharp snarls as Varik savaged her neck.

He watched as she fingered the scar that remained. It was time to show her something of what he could offer her, and he focused on the monitor.

One final soft plea to Varik played over the monitor before the sound of a heavy foot crashing into a door filled the room. Peter shouted his rival’s name and his voice overlaid her brother’s in the memory.

Alexandra rolled onto her back, staring up at the monitor.

On the screen, Peter stood in the place of Stephen.

She frowned and sat up, intensely watching the altered memory.

“Step away from her,” Peter said, following the memory’s dialogue like a script.

Varik glared at him with bright golden eyes over her motionless form and growled.

On the screen, Peter moved forward and Varik retreated, hissing like a cornered cat. He continued to move away as Peter confidently closed the distance. Once Peter reached Alexandra’s side, Varik lunged. Instead of following the memory’s script, Peter changed it. He grabbed Varik’s throat and one arm, holding him in check as Varik’s other—clawlike—hand ripped at Peter’s arms and chest.

“You will not have her,” he said, jerking Varik to one side. A sickening wet pop sounded and Varik ceased his attack.

“No!” Alexandra gasped and reached for the monitor as she watched Varik’s lifeless body crumple at Peter’s feet.

The picture paused, showing a frozen image of Varik’s bloodied face.

“That’s not the way it happened!”

“But it could have,” Peter whispered, projecting his voice to appear as though he stood beside her. “It still could.”

“You can’t change the past.”

“According to whom?”

She didn’t answer.

“Who says the past cannot be changed?” he asked again. “Humans? Their gods? Your father?”

Color tinged her pale cheeks, and he felt the heat of her anger. “Don’t talk about my father.”

He chuckled, adding fuel to her anger.

“It’s impossible to change the past, not without altering someone’s memory.”

“Nothing is impossible when you believe anything is possible,” he quipped. He’d learned long ago that he was limited only by his imagination in the Shadowlands. The environment was different for each individual who found their way here, unless they knew how to manipulate its energies in such a way as to project their perception onto another individual. It was a skill he’d mastered, and one he would gladly teach Alexandra in time.

She searched the room, looking for him. “If you believe that, then show yourself.”

“No.”

“Are you afraid of me?”

“Far from it.”

“Then why not reveal yourself?”

“In time.” He projected a phantom version of his hand brushing her cheek and she flinched. “You aren’t ready.”

“Coward.”

Peter ignored her attempts to provoke him into revealing himself. “He doesn’t deserve you, not with the way he’s treated you.”

“Varik doesn’t hold me prisoner, doesn’t torture me.”

“Torture isn’t my intention. I merely want you to see the truth of what he’s done to you. How he’s corrupted you. You were pure and innocent until he seduced you and twisted you.”

Alexandra laughed and it was sharp and derisive. “That’s what you think? That Varik seduced me?”

“He corrupted you,” Peter insisted.

“I seduced him, you jackass!” Her laughter took on the strained notes of one close to madness as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Peter shook his head, refusing to believe her. “No, you were pure, innocent, and he—”

“He resisted,” she interrupted. “He tried to keep our relationship professional, but he eventually caved.”

“Stop it! He twisted you with his perversions.”

She flashed a cruel smile. “He didn’t twist me. Hell, he wasn’t even my first, but he’s certainly proven himself to be the best.”

Peter snarled and directed his attention to the monitor, shutting it off to reveal a flat black surface.

Alexandra glanced at her reflection. Her smile vanished, replaced with a look of horror.

In her reflection, a large gaping wound slashed across the left side of her neck from below the ear to her collarbone. Bruises, cuts, blisters, and bites covered her face, arms, and the upper portion of her chest visible above her shirt’s V-neckline. However, when she raised her hands to her neck, confusion replaced horror and she looked down at herself and then back to her battered reflection.

“I’ve shown you every injury you’ve sustained as a result of his callousness,” Peter said. “Will you continue this foolish assertion that he cares for you?”

Alexandra didn’t respond. She covered her face with her hands, turned from the monitor, and lay down once more.

Peter turned the monitor on and her scream filled the small room. Soon she’d see the errors of her ways and renounce her blood-bond to Varik. Once she did, they would be free to start a new life.

Together.

Emily held the towel against Janet’s neck, making sure to keep the pressure constant. She’d bandaged the wound as best she could but blood continued to weep through the dressing. The girl was pale and pasty and her skin was cooler now than it had been an hour ago. Janet was not only going into shock but was slowly dying in her arms. She had to convince Kirk to let her summon the Enforcers and get the girl the help she needed.

From where she sat in the middle of the living room, she could see the mass of cars and people milling in the street in front of the house. Kirk stood to one side of the windows, watching them through the slightly parted blinds. He’d remained there even while the phone rang for twenty minutes solid. Now both the phone and the house were silent, save for Janet’s ragged breathing.

“They haven’t moved,” Kirk murmured. “No one’s coming forward. It’s like they aren’t even trying to storm the house. Why?”

“They’re probably waiting for you to make some sort of demands,” Emily said and felt a rush of satisfaction when he jumped. “That’s why they called. They want to know what you want.”

He grunted. “What I want, I can’t have. They’d never give her to me.”

“Who?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“They may, if you’re willing to show some sort of goodwill in exchange.”

“Like letting you go?” He chuckled. “Forget it. You’re worth too damn much.”

“Then let Janet go. Please. She needs medical attention.”

His gaze dropped to Janet’s pale face.

“If you release her, they may be willing to negotiate with you,” Emily said. “But if she dies, you know the penalty for killing a human.”

He looked out the window. “I’m already a walking dead man so what’s one more human?”

“Let her go and I’ll do my best to make sure you see your girlfriend.”

Kirk was at her side before Emily could process that he’d moved. “You can do that?”

“I can try, but you have to let the Enforcers send in someone to help Janet.”

He hesitated for a moment and then reached into his back pocket. He handed over her cell phone. “Keep it on speaker and make it quick. No tricks. If I think you’re pulling a fast one, I’ll put a bullet in both your brains.”

She nodded and took the phone, dialing it with one hand while she kept pressure on Janet’s wound. As soon as the first ring sounded, she switched to speaker mode.

“Emily!” Varik’s voice sounded strained and tinny through the small speaker. “What’s going on? Has that bastard hurt you?”

“No,” she answered, watching Kirk. “I’m fine but Janet is badly hurt. She needs medical attention.”

“What the hell happened?”

Kirk shrugged and smirked.

“She was bitten and has lost a lot of blood.”

“Goddamn son of a bitch—”

Kirk frowned and pointed the revolver at Janet.

“Varik, I need you to listen to me very carefully,” Emily interrupted his profane tirade. “He’s agreed to let Janet go if he can see his girlfriend.”

Caution crept into Varik’s voice. “I’m not sure I can do that. We may have trouble finding her.”

“Bullshit!” Kirk jerked the phone from her hand. “Her name is Piper Garver, and she’s sitting her fat ass in the f*cking Jefferson Police Department right now!”

He jumped to his feet, paced to the window, and peered outside. “You get her here—now—or a bitten human is going to be the least of your worries!”

“You listen to me, you little turdstain,” Varik growled. “You so much as breathe on either of those women, and I’ll hang your fangs from my rearview mirror.”

“Try it, motherf*cker, and you’ll be mopping up the blood for days.”

Kirk pressed the button to end the call, cutting off Varik’s response.

From outside, Emily heard the Enforcer’s roar of frustration followed by a loud bang and a siren’s pitiful, short whoop. She glanced out the partially obscured front window and saw Varik walking away from a still-rocking patrol car, a large dent in its fender near the wheel well.

Janet moaned weakly as Emily peeled away the towel to check the bandage over the girl’s neck. The blood flow had slowed to a trickle but Janet wasn’t improving. Emily re-covered the wound and hoped help would arrive soon.

And that Varik would find a way to use the opening she’d created in Kirk’s defenses. If he didn’t, she would be left alone with an unstable young vampire. It wasn’t the first time she’d faced someone like Kirk. However, the last was before Bernard was killed, and then, she’d been the one holding the gun.

Peter slowly opened his eyes, allowing himself time to reorient to being in the physical world. His body felt heavy and stiff as he swung his legs over the side of the narrow bed on which he lay and sat up.

Transitioning from the Shadowlands to reality seemed to become more difficult each time. The freedom he felt in the Shadowlands disappeared once he returned to his physical body with its limitations. When he parted the Veil, his consciousness was free to go anywhere, become anything or anyone, and the rush of power he felt there left him breathless. Here in the physical world he felt only barrenness and coldness so deep he sometimes wondered if he even still possessed a soul.

Perhaps that explained his collection.

He paused at the box on the floor beside the door. Inside were the remains of five of his dolls, destroyed and the souls contained within them lost. Their loss saddened him but in the end he’d gained his greatest possession—his most precious.

Gliding down the hallway to the largest bedroom, he carefully opened the door and slipped inside.

Alexandra lay motionless in the massive bed, her auburn hair a splash of color in the otherwise stark whiteness of the room.

Peter moved to the bed and stretched out beside her, keeping the thick comforter between them. He molded his body to mirror hers and draped an arm over her waist.

She whimpered and shifted in her sleep.

He only had a few more hours to work on severing the blood-bond before the drug he’d given her wore off and she awoke. He couldn’t give her another dose without risking permanent injury to her.

Time was short and he needed to work quickly.

He stroked her hair and kissed her neck, inhaling her natural scent of jasmine and vanilla. His desire to make her his forever was almost more than he could bear but he forced himself to have patience. Soon she would forget about Varik and love him instead.

She mumbled something unintelligible and tried to pull away.

“Shh shh shh,” he whispered. He flexed his arm and pressed closer, pinning her next to him.

She quieted and he nuzzled her neck once more. “It’ll be over soon and then nothing will take you from me.”

Peter closed his eyes and sighed, allowing himself to drift into the realm of her dreams.

Moonlight dappled the front lawn of 463 Alpine Way. Neatly trimmed grass, now brown and dormant in the November chill, played host to a collection of cement toads while colorful garden gnomes peeked out from behind evergreen hedges. Red siding and white trim gave the single-story bungalow homey warmth, but the large gathering of police cars with strobing blue and white lights kept visitors at bay.

Varik stood out of sight on one side of an awaiting ambulance, making final adjustments to the paramedic uniform he now wore, muttering, “I swear I’m going to use this son of a bitch’s balls for target practice.”

“You’re not going to do shit until I give the order,” Damian snapped from beside him.

Varik scoffed and carefully inserted a wireless receiver into his ear that would allow Damian to give him directions. A small radio transmitter was hidden in one of the ink pens stuck in a special pocket on the sleeve of his uniform.

He was taking a huge risk by attempting to sneak into the house disguised as one of the paramedics sent to retrieve Janet Klein. However, it was the best plan they’d devised, short of storming the house and putting Emily and Janet in even greater danger.

“I mean it, Baudelaire. We need this to be by the book with Dreyer in town.”

“You let me worry about Morgan.”

“Just because the two of you bumped uglies for a while doesn’t give you a free pass with her.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“Then don’t do anything stupid in there.”

“Have you ever known me to do anything to jeopardize hostages?”

“Do you really want me to answer that? Because I do remember that incident in Munich.”

Varik glanced at the taller vampire. “That wasn’t my fault.”

“The building blew up.”

“The charge I used was small and was meant to be a diversion. The building collapsed due to shitty workmanship, and regardless, the hostages were recovered alive along with two of the kidnappers.” He slipped a Jefferson Memorial Hospital baseball cap onto his head. “Let’s check this transmitter,” he said and called out a series of numbers.

A moment later a voice repeated the numbers in Varik’s ear over the receiver. “It works. Now all we need is—”

“For JPD to bring the Garver girl over,” Damian finished.

“F*ck. What the hell is taking so damn long?”

“The fact that Piper is scared out of her mind had something to do with it,” Tasha Lockwood said from behind him.

He faced her and wasn’t surprised to find Morgan standing with Tasha and the obviously frightened Piper Garver.

Damian motioned for Tasha and Piper to join him as he stepped a few feet away and began explaining the plan to them.

Morgan’s eyes traveled to Varik’s feet and back up. “I’d forgotten how good you look in a uniform.”

“Save it, Morgan. Whatever you’re after, I’m not interested.”

She sidled closer and lowered her voice. “You may change your mind once you find out there’s a formal complaint levied against you.”

“For what?”

“Intimidation.”

“By whom?”

Her gaze darted to Tasha and back.

“Goddamn it to Hell.”

“You may even change your mind when I tell you I haven’t actually filed her report with the Bureau.” She traced the seam of his uniform along his shoulder with her finger. “Yet.”

He twisted away from her. “What do you want, Morgan? Don’t give me that Tribunal bullshit either. You’ve been playing games ever since you came to Jefferson. Now, what do you really want?”

She hesitated and then whispered, “Enforcers have gone missing in Louisville.”

“How many?”

“Eight as of a few days ago.”

“Why haven’t I heard anything about this?”

“The information is strictly on a need-to-know basis. So far none of the missing Enforcers have been located—no bodies, no demands. Chief Magistrate Phelps is calling in regional directors from all over the country under the guise of an internal audit but its real purpose is to covertly determine if more Enforcers are missing or if it’s localized to Louisville.”

“Does Damian know?”

“Not yet.”

“What do you want from me?”

For a moment he thought he saw fear reflected in her hazel eyes. “When the time comes, I want—”

“We’re ready,” Damian called and Varik followed as their group moved to the hastily erected barricade in front of the house.

He thought about what Morgan said. Eight missing Enforcers was certainly cause for alarm, but his primary concern at the moment was nailing the son of a bitch preventing him from finding his own missing Enforcer.