“What do you mean by ‘taken control of the middle of the US’?” I asked.
“You know, humans are refriger—ur, I mean, they are used to feed from. Some of them do it willingly. They try to get a blue vampyre to choose them to use as, ur, their private feeder. At least that won’t kill them. Well, not if the blue vamp is careful. The rest of the humans are feeders for the Red Army.”
“Which is a death sentence,” Stark said.
Other Jack nodded.
I felt shaky and sick. What he was talking about wasn’t our world, but it was close enough to us—to what might have happened had Neferet gained power—that it was frightening. “Jack, you said Neferet is a High Priestess. What happened to the rest of them?”
“There are no other High Priestesses.” Jack shrugged uncomfortably. “I don’t know what happened to them. When Neferet created the two armies, and they began to gain control of different states, well, they either renounced their positions, swearing that Neferet was the only High Priestess, or they just disappeared.” He cleared his throat before adding, “Or they were made examples of.”
“What does that mean?”
Jack’s eyes lifted from where he’d been staring at his hands, clenched together on his lap. He met my gaze. “They were beheaded and tied to crosses outside their House of Night.”
I shuddered. “Just like she did with Professor Nolan and Lauren Blake. Only here she blamed it on humans so she could start a war. Are you sure Neferet is still mortal?”
“You asked me that before, and I don’t know what you mean. She’s a vampyre. I don’t know anything about her being anything else.”
“Is Kalona in your world?” Damien asked suddenly.
“Kalona? What’s a Kalona?” said Other Jack.
“A winged immortal—ancient consort of Nyx—but, well, he Fell and caused a bunch of problems for humans for a long time,” I explained. “He hooked up with Neferet and then she figured out how to become immortal.”
“There’s no one like that around Neferet. I’m sure of it.”
“Well, that’s good,” Stark said.
“Where is Nyx?” I blurted the next question burning my mind.
Jack sighed heavily. “Neferet says Nyx is with us. All of us vampyres, whether red or blue. But she’s stopped the monthly rituals and circles. She says she worships Nyx privately and then tells her armies what the goddess says. The rebels say that’s bull. They say Nyx is firmly on their side.”
“I say so, too, and I’m not even in that world,” Damien said softly, without looking up from his notepad.
“So, if the depot tunnels are sealed and the red vamps from your world can’t get down there, what would be their Plan B? Where would they go to escape the sun?” Stark asked.
“In this world, it’s hard to say. In my Tulsa, under downtown and midtown there is a complex system of tunnels. Many are linked. But there are entries to them all over so that no red vamp is ever stuck outside.”
I looked at Stark. “They can’t enter any private homes or buildings. And we don’t have a huge system of tunnels under the city—or at least not yet we don’t.”
“So we need to take Warriors to the public buildings that do have entrances to tunnels,” Stark said.
“Let’s try to narrow it down,” Damien said. He looked at Other Jack. I could see that he was working hard to keep his face as expressionless as possible. I hated to think about how difficult it must be for Damien—to have Jack back, but to not really have his Jack back.
“Okay, how?” Jack said.
“We have tunnel entrances in just a few downtown buildings.” Damien paused, considering, then listed them. “Besides the system under the depot, there is the section that connects the Philtower to the Philcade. The Atlas Building, the Mid-Continent Tower, the Kennedy Building, and the Exchange Tower, all on Boston, are connected. And then there’s a system under the Crowne Plaza and the PAC. Are any of these main entrances to tunnels in your world?”
“Neferet has an apartment in the Philtower building, so those tunnels are busy. There are even cots in those because of officers visiting Neferet. Also, the Atlas Building has a club in it that red vamps go to. A lot.” Other Jack paused, looking uncomfortable. “’Cause that’s, um, where the officers feed pretty often, so they have cots down there, too.”
“I’ll bet that’s a real happy place,” Stark said sarcastically.
Jack’s head snapped up. “It makes me sick.”
“Oh, really? Sick like when you tried to bite Damien when he hugged you?” Stark stared him down.
Other Jack’s cheeks flushed red. “I fight it. I try. But the hunger—it’s like a wave that keeps breaking over me. That and the terrible anger that goes with it—it’s awful. And I know I’m going to drown. It’s inevitable that someday I’m going to be a fully Changed red vampyre and the Jack that is me will be gone—or mostly gone. I hate it.” Red-tinged tears leaked down his flushed cheeks. “I hate every second of it.” His bleeding eyes found Damien. “I don’t want to hurt you, but if I’m hungry enough I will. I know you’re not my Damien and I’m not your Jack, but I’m so, so sorry.”
Damien’s head bowed and his tears fell onto his pad of paper, making damp splotches run the ink. “I know. I just don’t know what to do.”
“Well, the first thing we’re going to do is to send Warriors to the Philtower and the Atlas Building,” I said, handing Jack and Damien crumpled tissues I dug out of the bottom of my pocket. “We’re going to take care of this red vampyre zombie plague, and then we’re going to figure out how to fix Other Jack.”
Jack held the crumpled tissue against his chest, looking at me with big, familiar eyes. “Really? You’re really going to try to fix me?”
“Really.” I said it with complete conviction, even though I had no clue how I was going to manage it. “Stark, let’s see what’s going on with Darius and Marx, and how bad it is at the Depot. I’ll send Shaunee down here with more of her blood smoothies.”
“I can—” Damien began, but I cut him off.
“No, Damien. You can’t be alone with Other Jack. Not until we figure out how to help him control himself. I’m sorry, but it’s the way it has to be.”
“I understand,” Damien said faintly. He stood and went to where Jack was sitting on the end of the bed. “I’ll be back. When I can.”
Hesitantly, he reached out and rested a hand on Jack’s shoulder. I felt more than saw Stark tense at the same time Jack sat up straighter and gripped his hands together, as if to keep himself from touching (Touching? Or biting? Tearing? Ripping?) Damien.
“I can’t tell you how good it is to see you, Jack. Even under these peculiar circumstances.”
Other Jack looked up at him, and my heart squeezed as he smiled a totally Jack smile at Damien. “You sound just like Damien.”
“I am Damien.” Other Jack’s gaze lowered back to his clutching hands. “No, I meant my Damien.”