She held out the mug. “Here, then. You can have this.”
He eyed it and licked his lips, but made no move to take it. “Isn’t that for Julia?”
Celine shrugged. “She doesn’t drink it half the time, anyway.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. There’s plenty more in the fridge if Julia’s hungry.”
He relaxed a little and took the mug with a nod. “Thanks.” He took a sip, buoying up Celine’s confidence. If Stephens hadn’t been warned off of the blood, then chances were nobody else had been, either.
She flashed him a grin. “Enjoy it.” She slipped into the office, pulling the door closed behind her.
Julia stood at the window, her back to the door, gazing through the blinds at the first glimmering of sunrise. It would be awhile yet before the sun rose high enough for its rays to pose a threat. Celine reached behind her and quietly turned the lock on the door before stepping forward. She slipped a hand in her pocket, gripped the syringe and flicked the cap off of the needle with her thumb.
Could it be this easy? Could she simply walk up behind Julia and plunge the serum into her neck? She took another step forward, but halted at the sound of Julia’s voice.
“Tell me, child, do you miss the sun?”
“Excuse me?”
“The sun.” She sounded impatient. “It’s heat. Its light. Do you miss it?”
Celine removed her hands from her pockets and placed them behind her back. She turned the syringe and gripped it, her thumb ready on the plunger.
“Yes,” she said.
Julia sighed. “I thought as much.” She turned from the window and pierced Celine with her ice blue gaze. “Is that why you betrayed me?”
Celine blinked and let her mouth fall open. Her surprise wasn’t feigned—she was truly caught off guard. “What do you mean?”
Julia came toward her. “Did you think you could play me for a fool? Did you think I wouldn’t recognize the doctor when you brought him to me? Do you expect me to believe that you did not know him for who he was? Or what he’s become?”
“What... who? I, I don’t—”
Julia came closer. Celine tensed up, ready with the syringe. If she could move fast enough—
But Julia moved faster. Celine didn’t even see her hand coming until it struck her face, knocking her across the room. She hit the wall hard enough to dent the plaster and then slid to the floor, dropping the syringe.
Julia wasn’t simply a vampire—she was an ancient vampire, her strength and speed unmatched. Even if she’d seen the attack coming, Celine wouldn’t have stood much of a chance against her.
These thoughts flitted through her mind only vaguely as she lay there, stunned, blinking up at Julia.
The elder vampire didn’t give her time to recover. She crossed the room in a single bound, wrapped her hand around Celine’s neck and hauled her into the air.
One of Celine’s shoes had come off when she’d been hit. The other one dangled from her foot. She felt it drop as she clawed uselessly at Julia’s hand. “Please,” she croaked. “Mistress, I—”
Julia flung her. She crashed into a bookcase and landed in a heap among a pile of books. Something large and metal clanked to the floor, a large brass urn or vase, an artifact from when humans had run this prison. Celine clutched it as she got her feet underneath her. This time, when Julia sprang she was ready. She leapt up and slammed the heavy urn into that beautiful face with everything she had. It knocked Julia off balance, buying Celine some time.
She leapt from where she stood and landed on the desk. Another leap and she was back where she had landed the first time, scanning the floor for the lost syringe. There, next to the chair facing the desk. Celine lunged for it just as Julia flew at her with a primal scream.
The syringe was just beyond her fingertips when Julia landed on her and grabbed a fistful of hair. Celine cried out as Julia wrenched her head back, exposing her neck. Straddling her back, Julia bent down until her face was inches from Celine’s. Her fangs extended. “I should tear out your throat for your deceit,” she said. “But first you will tell me what you know. What is it you and the doctor have been plotting?”
Before Celine could answer, something banged on the door. Another bang, and it flew open. Reynolds barged in, pistol drawn. Stephens staggered in behind her. “I’m sorry, Mistress Julia,” he said, dropping to his knees. “They did something to me. They put something in the blood—”
Celine took advantage of the distraction to reach for the syringe. She got her hand around it and plunged the needle into Julia’s thigh, pressing the plunger with her thumb.
With a furious scream, Julia punched her hard enough to stun her. Celine went limp. She heard the click of Reynolds’ pistol. “That’s enough!”
Julia climbed off of Celine, who found enough strength to roll over and see what was happening. Stephens still sat on the floor, looking confused. Reynolds held her weapon on Julia. The ancient vampire’s expression was caught somewhere between outraged and amused.
“You think your weapon will protect you from me?”
“Not yet, but it will buy me some time.”
“Time for what?” Julia took a step toward Reynolds, but she faltered, and looked at her hands. Her claws were retracting. She looked back at Celine in confusion and wonder, and Celine saw that her fangs were also retracting.
“What have you done to me?” She started toward her, but again faltered, putting a hand to her chest. Her fingers flew to the pulse point beneath her jaw, and her eyes filled with panic. “What have you done?” she screamed.
She started toward Celine again, but Reynolds darted in front of her, aiming the gun at her head. “I think this will work just fine on you now. Leave her alone.”
Julia staggered back. She looked down at the syringe, still stuck in her thigh. She pulled it out and stared at it. Then she looked out the window, at the sunrise, and her face crumpled in anguish. She dropped the syringe, turned, and fled.
Reynolds started after her, but Celine called out,. “Let her go. She’s not our problem right now.”
Reynolds holstered her gun, hurried over to Celine and knelt by her side. “She really did a number on you.”
“I’ll heal,” she said, struggling to sit up. She nodded toward Reynolds. “Take him to the control room. Get him to unlock the cells.”
Stephens looked up as though realizing they were talking about him. He looked from Reynolds to Celine. “What did you bitches do to me?”
Celine got to her feet. “We gave you back your humanity. Congratulations.” She shrugged. “Or not, depending on your point of view.” She looked at Reynolds. “Get going. The sooner we free the doc and the rest of his people, the better.”
Reynolds drew her gun back out and waved it toward Stephens. “Let’s go. On your feet.”
He looked like he wanted to kill them both, but also like he knew better than to try. He got to his feet and headed out of the room, with Reynolds close behind him.
Celine took a step forward and winced in pain. Her entire body felt like one giant bruise. At least she still had vampire healing going for her. She’d be back to normal soon enough. She supposed that was one benefit of not having yet been cured.
And then it hit her, harder than any of Julia’s blows: she had given away her dose. Her turn wouldn’t come until the doctor made more. Assuming he survived long enough to do so.
She looked around at the aftermath of their battle, then found both of her shoes and put them back on. She smoothed her hair, straightened her suit, and limped her way toward the war she’d just started.
TWENTY- SIX
JULIA RAN.
Through the halls, into the prison proper, past bewildered vampires—bewildered by her running, or by what had been done to them, she didn’t take time to wonder which—through empty common areas that echoed with the pounding of her feet, she ran until she had to stop for breath.
She had to stop for breath.
The discovery made her laugh, but her laughter held no trace of delight, sounding unhinged even to her own ears. Her heart pounded, blood coming to life and pulsing through her veins, making her feel flush with heat, as though she’d just fed.
She took a moment to mark the sensation, and then took off, past the dining hall toward the cell blocks. Her bare feet pounded against the concrete. She couldn’t say when she’d discarded her Louboutins. Only one thing occupied her mind as she raced through the cell blocks, passing one frightened-looking human after another, until at last she reached her destination.
Konstantin got to his feet. In the next cell, the girl stood holding the infant, watching them both with the wariness of cornered prey.
“Undo this,” Julia demanded.
He shook his head. “I can’t.”
She grabbed the bars. “You will!”
“It’s not possible.”
A scream burst forth from Julia, a primal roar of fury, erupting from her soul, surprising her as much as him. She pounded the bars with her fist and pain shot through her hand and up her arm.
“I’m sorry it had to go this way,” said the doctor.
“You are sorry?” Again Julia pounded the bars, heedless of the pain. “You do not know what you have done! You had no right!”
He strode toward the bars and gripped them. When he spoke his voice was low, but no less furious. “You and the Council declared war on me and my people. We did what we had to, and we had every right.”
A buzzer rang out, followed by the clank and thump of disengaging locks. Julia stepped back as Konstantin opened the door between them. “You’ve lost, Julia. But we don’t have to be enemies. You’ve got your humanity back. Work with me. We can bring balance back to the world.”
A laugh escaped her. “You’re delusional. And I did not want my humanity back!” Another sound escaped her, this time more of a sob. “You had no right!”
Voices came from farther down the corridor, growing closer. She heard shouting, followed by gunfire. Konstantin held out a hand. “Join us, and I’ll make sure it goes well for you.”
She took a step back, shaking her head. Turning away from the voices, she ran.
She didn’t stop until she reached the roof, bursting through the door and tumbling into daylight. For a moment she stood there, taking in the morning landscape spread out before her. She closed her eyes and allowed the sun to warm her. Slowly, she slipped off her jacket, then unbuttoned her blouse. She stripped all the way down and walked further into the light, basking in the heat, no longer able to destroy her.
The sensation triggered memories long forgotten. Running through the plains as a girl. Swimming in the river. Lounging on its banks, soaking up the sun, her heart full of joy.
But that wasn’t all. She remembered pain, excruciating pain and weakness as she wasted away from the sickness growing inside her. A sickness that had lain dormant and impotent for thousands of years.
Julia dropped to her knees. She threw her head back, opened her eyes and looked up for the first time in millennia at a sky the color of turquoise. And then she doubled over, put her head in her hands, and let her fear and anguish flow, her sobs wracking her weakened body so hard that she lost her balance and fell over. She didn’t get up, but simply lay there, curled into a ball, and cried until she had no more tears.
HANNAH BROUGHT NOAH into the cell she shared with Alek. “Should we stop her?”
“Let her go. She lost, and she knows it.” Alek held out his arms, and Hannah went to him. He wrapped her and Noah in a bear hug. Hannah held him just as tightly, taking care not to squish the baby between them. After a moment, he loosened his grip and laid a hand on Noah’s head. “How’s our little man?”
“He’s fine. But we need to make sure he stays that way.”
The approaching voices manifested into people, led by the vampire Dmitri. Chris and Paula followed him, along with those too elderly to fight and mothers with young children.
“We’re sticking to the plan,” he said. “I’m taking them to hide until the fighting’s over.”
Alek nodded. “Good. We need to get out there. Chris, you’re with us.”
“Damn right, I am. But what the hell happened? Why did we all get locked in?”
“Later. What matters now is that we’re free.”
“Amen to that, Doc.” Paula came over to take the baby. “Don’t you worry,” she told Hannah. “I’ll do a better job of hanging onto him this time.”
“I know.” Hannah kissed her brother, hoping as she did that there would be plenty more kisses on that soft little head. “Get to a solitary confinement cell and stay there until Alek or I come for you.” She went to the bunk where they kept their things and took down the bag of supplies she’d prepared for them. “Take this.”
Paula shifted Noah to her hip so she could shoulder the bag. “You all be careful.” She looked at Chris. “You especially.”
“Don’t worry, Mom. Just take care of yourself and that kid.”
“We should go,” said Dmitri. Alek nodded and waved them on.
He turned to Chris. “We need weapons.”
“Right. This way.” He led them to a stockpile of prison-issue weaponry, stashed in a remote cell beneath a pile of linens. Hannah removed the linens and scanned the selection. She chose a nine millimeter semi-automatic, already loaded with a full magazine. She also picked up a Taser and a club. They would only use lethal force as a last resort.
Alek also armed himself with a handgun, then slung a dart gun over his shoulder and filled his pockets with extra tranquilizer darts. “All right,” he said. “Let’s go.”
He led them out of the cell blocks to the common areas. Once there, they found not the bloody chaos they’d expected, but a mix of humans and vampires looking tense and uncertain.
One vampire, a woman Hannah didn’t know, came over to them. “The minimum security wing is on lockdown. Anyone who didn’t get out before is secure in their cells. That includes pretty much every vampire who wasn’t in on the plan.”
Alek looked at her in amazement. “Celine did this?”
“Technically, Stephens did it, but only because Reynolds had a gun on him. But yeah. This was Celine’s doing.”
He and Hannah looked at each other. His expression matched what she was feeling—utter disbelief. “We’ll have to think of something nice to do for her,” she said, and he nodded.
Just then, the loudspeakers crackled to life. “Attention,” came Celine’s voice. “This prison is no longer under Julia’s command. I’m sure those of you who are now no longer vampires have a lot of questions. As for those of you who still are, you can be cured, too, if you want. We’ll be arriving soon with a delegation to explain everything and go over terms. You have one hour to select delegates to meet us at the minimum security gate when we arrive. But know that we outnumber you. We hope we can resolve this without violence, but if you fight us, we will meet you with more than enough force to put every one of you down.”
“You’ve got to admire her bravado,” said Alek.
“No kidding,” said Hannah. “So what now?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
Thankfully, Reynolds’ arrival prevented them from having to guess. “Celine would like to see you in he Warden’s office.”
“As in Julia’s office?” Hannah gave Alek a wary look. “Not that I’m not grateful, but I hope she’s not on some kind of power trip.”
“It’s nothing like that,” said Reynolds. She looked at Alek. “She’s pretty banged up. Julia really did a number on her.”
Chris stepped forward. “I’m coming, too.”
Alek regarded him a moment before nodding and waving for him to follow.
They found Celine slumped at Julia’s desk, looking battered and exhausted. Chris rushed to her. “Are you all right?”
She smiled weakly. “I’ll live.”
“You need blood.”
“Later. I’m fine eno
ugh for now.” She looked at Alek. “I take it you heard my speech?”
He nodded. “Good move, locking them in.”
“Thanks. I’m not sure why we didn’t think of it before.”
“So what are the terms you plan to deliver?”
“Hell if I know. I was hoping we could sort that out before we head over there.”
“What about Julia?” asked Hannah. “She’s still running around loose.”
“Julia knows she’s beaten,” said Alek.
“Are you sure about that?”
He looked at her, his eyes betraying a flicker of uncertainty.
“Whether or not she does,” said Celine, “there’s not much she can do right now. We need to focus on the rest of the vampires. Figure out who’s glad to be cured, who’s pissed about it, and which of the remaining vamps want the cure. Not to mention what to do with those who don’t.”
“We can’t release them,” said Alek. “We can’t risk them getting back to other members of the Council.”
“We won’t execute them.”
“I never said we would.”
“Then what?”
He laid it on the desk before pulling up a chair. “We give them a choice. Accept the cure and join the general population, or remain here as a hostage. If they choose the latter, we’ll move them to maximum security.”
“Then I guess my people and I won’t take the cure until everyone’s locked up tight.” Celine sighed.
“Don’t worry. We’ll make enough serum for whoever wants to take it. You should heal before taking yours, anyway.”
“Yeah.” She sounded resigned and tired, but she stood up. “I guess it’s time to go deliver our terms.”
“There’s no need.”
The voice came from the hall. Everyone turned as Julia appeared in the doorway, keeping a safe distance from the rest of them. “I speak for the others. We will agree to your terms.”
“Just like that?” asked Celine, her voice full of disbelief.
“The doctor is correct. I know when I’m beaten.”
“But you tried to kill me. You expect me to trust you?”
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