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 f*ck 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.