“I know, I know. But we can’t force him to work, can we? I mean, it’s not like I can break his fingers or bash his head in to get him to do what I want, right?” He laughed good-naturedly, and it sent a chill down my spine. “Which is why we’re here tonight,” he went on. “I’ve set up a bit of entertainment for our guest of honor, but I hope the rest of you enjoy it, too. Hopefully, it won’t be over too quickly, but we do have a whole troop of new faces we can toss in if things get dull.” He turned and stared directly at Jeb as he said this, lips pulled into a demonic smile, before turning back to the crowd. “So, I guess I don’t have anything else to say except—on with the show!”
He exited the stage to a cacophony of cheers and howls, pulling Jebbadiah out with him. Zeke reached down and took my hand, squeezing tightly, as if to anchor himself for what was to come.
The curtains parted, and two more raiders marched out with another figure between them, his head covered with a dark bag. Opening the cage, they jerked the bag off, shoved him inside the cage, and slammed the door.
“Darren,” Zeke moaned, starting forward. I tightened my grip on his hand and grabbed his arm, holding him back.
“Zeke, don’t.” He gave me a desperate look, but I held firm. “Go out there and you’ll just get yourself caught or killed,” I said, meeting his tortured gaze. “There’s nothing we can do for him now.”
A chilling screech drew my attention back to the ring. Darren, standing fearfully in the center of the cage, glanced at the kennel on the far wall. A rope that I hadn’t noticed earlier had been tied to the door, drawn through the cage bars, and was now in the hands of a raider, bracing himself to yank on it. And I suddenly knew, with terrible certainty, what was in that kennel.
For a split second, the whole room was silent, voices fading away as the onlookers held their breath. Darren, alone in the arena, looked around desperately for an escape route, but there was nothing, nowhere he could run. Zeke was rigid; I could feel him shaking beneath my hands, unable to look away. For just a moment, Darren looked up, and their gazes met…
Then the hollow clang of the kennel door opening echoed in the silence, and Darren didn’t even have time to turn before the rabid slammed into him, pulling him down with a screech.
The crowd roared and surged to their feet, and for a moment Darren was lost in the swell, though his screams could be heard even over the crowd. Zeke let out a breathless sob and turned away, wrenching himself from my grip, but I forced myself to watch, searing the images into my brain. It was the least I could do for Darren, to remember his last moments and to remind myself of what I could become. Not a rabid but something worse; something ruthless and savage and power-hungry, a true monster, like the raider king. Jackal had abandoned his humanity long ago, but I would not forget. I would remember this moment, and Darren’s life would not go to waste.
Thankfully, it was over very quickly. Darren’s limbs hadn’t even stopped twitching when Jackal sauntered up to a bench and stood on it, raising his arms to the cheers of the crowd. Jeb stood behind him, his face white, shaking with grief and fury. “How’s that for entertainment?” Jackal called, and the mob roared approval. I found myself hating all of them, wishing I could fly down and start ripping their jeering mouths off their faces. “And, good news—there’s plenty more where that came from!” He whirled on Jeb, eyes gleaming. “So, what’dya say, old man? I think the next one in the cage should be that pretty girl. Or maybe one of the kids? It really makes no difference to me. Or…did you have something else in mind?”
I couldn’t hear Jebbadiah, over the crowd, but I saw his lips move as he stared at Jackal, fear and hatred lining every part of his body. “I have no choice,” I thought he said, and Jackal nodded, smiling. “I will do as you ask.”
“There, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Jackal motioned to one of his raiders, and they took Jeb away. Turning back toward the crowd, the vampire grinned, showing a pair of extremely long, deadly fangs. “Minions, I promised you immortality, and I’m going to deliver! Now, the only thing left to choose is who I’ll Turn first once we find the cure. Who is going to have that prestigious honor? Hmm.” He snapped his fingers. “Maybe we’ll just hold a huge free-for-all, and whoever comes out alive gets to be immortal, what’dya say?”
The crowd roared again, beating the seats, pumping fists and weapons into the air, screaming his name. Jackal raised his arms again, accepting the applause, the adoration, while behind him, Darren’s blood pooled over the side of the cage and dripped into the water.
Zeke made a strangled noise and walked away, staggering toward the doors as if he was drunk. No one noticed him; their attention was riveted on Jackal and the show he’d put on in the center. But as I drew back, preparing to hurry after Zeke, Jackal raised gleaming yellow eyes over the crowd and caught my stare. He blinked as our eyes met, a puzzled expression crossing his face, and then I was out the door, following Zeke into the dark corridor.
Chapter 21
“Zeke!”