by K. A. Tucker
But Lewis wasn’t distracted from her words “What the—”
Mage was instantly beside Lewis, her leg flying out to knock him to his knees, her dainty hand seizing his chin and effortlessly forcing his head back. Hideous, pulsating veins engulfed the whites of her eyes as she leaned forward—and sank her fangs into his neck.
A wave of terror hit me as Lewis’s fear overwhelmed his aura, followed closely by the unpleasant scent of urine. He jerked wildly, attempting to fight off his tiny assailant. In response, Mage’s left hand moved to his spine and twisted. I heard a sickening snap and his body slackened. There was no more fight from Lewis.
Mage took her time, slowly draining him of his blood. His face grew chalky, his eyes glassy. He would die if she didn’t complete the process soon.
“Mage,” I warned. Bloodshot irises rose and locked with mine. “The test,” I reminded her in a slow, even voice.
She blinked. And then her lip curled slightly—a sign of the pain that came with the release of her venom.
Lewis Adesina’s limp, unresponsive body dropped to lie in a heap on the ground as Mage retracted her fangs, finished. Now sated, her eyes quickly reverted back to their normal coal black as she called, “Someone—a towel, if you please?” Blood covered her chin and hands.
Neither Viggo, Mortimer, nor I moved, our focus riveted on Lewis. Luckily, whatever had kept the Ratheus vampires pinned in the corner no longer held them; Jonah instantly appeared beside her with a white cloth.
“Thank you, Jonah.” She dabbed at her face. “It’s been so long since I’ve changed a human . . . I forgot what it felt like.” With a black high-heeled boot—one of Evangeline’s that, though two sizes too big, I had grudgingly given her—she nudged Lewis in the ribs. A feeble moan escaped him but he remained motionless. Intrigued, I moved closer to inspect our test subject.
“Ah, that’s right. Our Sofie is a virgin!”
I shot an annoyed glare at Viggo, who returned it with a smug grin. He was right, but he didn’t need to announce it. I had never witnessed a transition and, having not experienced the typical method myself, I didn’t know what to expect. Mortimer had described the stages to me once, about seventy years ago. If it worked as planned, Mage’s venom was snaking through every vein in Lewis’s body, spreading like wildfire to infect every inch of him . . .
Suddenly his body spasmed. Like a skittish cat, I jumped back several feet, earning a chorus of chuckles from the audience. I giggled nervously, embarrassed at being surprised so easily but also filled with exhilaration. Few things surprised me. I crouched and crept in slowly again. His eyes were still closed.
“It’s beginning,” Viggo whispered, pointing to a bead of sweat running down Lewis’s forehead. Ten more beads followed in quick succession. Then, with another violent spasm, the half-digested contents of his stomach shot out of his mouth, barely missing me.
“Thanks for the heads-up,” I muttered dryly, deciding to observe from a safe distance. Was it really working? I wonder if . . . With one eye on Mage, I plucked a magical helix and let it slowly float toward Lewis, ready to probe. Coal-black eyes flew to me instantly. She could see it! Would she say anything? Would she complain that I was going against the truce? The slightest nod and the shadow of a smile told me she wouldn’t. It would be our little secret.
My magic invaded Lewis, burrowing through walls of tissue and muscle without reservation to reach his vital organs. Like microscopic probes, the strands found his kidneys, his liver, his heart, all shutting down, hardening into ornaments without purpose. I tested his body temperature. It was plummeting. I flashed the smallest smile back to Mage, my only indication to her that things were going as planned. One step closer . . .
For the next hour, a ring of vampires circled Lewis’s corrupting body, watching the violent spasms and shivers with interest. An hour that felt like ten. The shivering finally stopped. The color began to return to his dark skin, bringing with it a more youthful, healthy look, wiping away blemishes and imperfections—subtly, the awkward bump on the bridge of his nose smoothed and his left nostril, wider than the right, evened out. It was mesmerizing, watching the birth of a true predator.
Lewis’s eyelids suddenly flew open. Rich hazel irises rolled as he gazed around the atrium, studying the smallest movements and details. In a split second he was on his feet, taking in the audience who watched him as if he were a prize animal at a zoo.
Mage’s venom had worked. We were no longer an endangered species.
“It worked!” Viggo whispered, echoing my thoughts. He gave Mortimer’s shoulder a friendly slap. Normally Mortimer would shake it off, but today he was too busy sharing his rival’s cheer to even notice.
Mage smiled triumphantly. “Satisfied?”
“Oh, immensely!” Viggo exclaimed. I had never seen him this genuinely giddy, ever.
“Good.” Mage’s hand shot forward. Loud gasps and cries erupted from the onlookers as it drilled into the vampire Lewis’s chest and wrenched his heart out. His body dropped straight to the ground. She tossed the bloody, unbeating thing to the cobblestones beside me. “Sofie. Would you mind? We don’t need another mouth to feed right now,” she explained as I gaped at her, caught completely off guard.
I realized she was right—callous, but right. With a pull of a magical thread and a flick of my wrist, the former New York City drug lord and his detached heart were engulfed in flames. Every vampire, including Caden and his friends, scattered to the far corners of the atrium, leaving behind only a silence bred of fear and shock. For me, this was so much more than one new vampire. This was my one hundred and twenty-year-old blunder, finally corrected. This was the fear of spending the rest of eternity with Viggo and Mortimer breathing down my neck—gone. It wasn’t over until I got that pendant off Evangeline’s neck, but it was one enormous step closer. And when I got that pendant off . . . I could keep her.
For the past eighteen years, I had dreaded the day Evangeline’s mortal human body withered and aged, the day I was forced to lower her into the ground—a mother’s worst nightmare. But now, I could keep my sweet little girl with me forever. Once I figured out how to get that pendant off her, she was free to become one of us. And as long as Caden survived, I knew there was nothing she’d want more.
Mortimer’s booming voice disrupted my reverie. “Do you know what this means?” His tone was heading in a direction I knew very well: fury. He moved to tower over me. “Veronique could be released right here—right now!”
“If it meant Evangeline wouldn’t die then yes, that’s what it would mean,” I answered coolly, meeting his glare. “But that’s not possible and so you will wait.”
He wasn’t backing down. “You can’t keep us within these walls forever.”
“Oh, but I can,” I answered with cold certainty.
“You have to give in soon,” Viggo’s voice joined Mortimer’s like an echo. “You can’t protect everyone all the time.” His calculating eyes flitted toward Caden, who only glared back. “Accidents happen.”
He’s planning something and it involves Caden dying. My stomach tightened. The very idea terrified me. “Give in?” I repeated, feeling my lips stretch into a malicious smile. I would not allow him the satisfaction of rattling me. “Never,” I hissed.
“We’ll see,” Viggo sang, pulling out his cell phone. “Until then, I have some money to move . . . Ileana!” he bellowed, heading toward the library.
The grandfather clock gonged once. One a.m. “Where are you, Caden?” I whispered, wandering aimlessly, the size of this palace more daunting than usual. Since Viggo’s overt threat earlier today, I was especially vigilant in knowing the whereabouts of Evangeline’s friends at all times.
Viggo would have to be insane to do something to Caden or the others, I reminded myself. He needed me to get out of this building. He needed me to free Veronique. If he killed Caden, he was as good as dead. He realized that, didn’t he?
The truth was, I suspected Viggo was in fact ins
ane. And now I couldn’t find Caden. Not in the cellar. Not in Evangeline’s room. Not in the atrium.
I wove in and out of rooms, stumbling upon Ratheus vampires everywhere as they inspected technology, rooted through closets, soaked in Jacuzzis, or otherwise distracted themselves with luxuries long since lost to them. It had taken almost a month of constant feeding, but finally they had ventured out to other parts of the building besides the cellar and the atrium, their thirst somewhat sated. Now most lingered in the inner rooms, keeping as far away from the paralyzing Merth boundary as possible. I was fine with that.
I pushed open the solid mahogany door leading into Leo’s quarters, a large room decorated with eighteenth century masculine flair. It sparked renewed frustration. I hadn’t talked to him since Viggo’s witch showed up a month ago. I had no idea how Evangeline was doing and it was driving me nuts. But at least I knew she was safe from this mess.
Leo’s room was empty. I turned to leave . . . and froze, my eyes noticing a pair of man’s black dress shoes poking out from the edge of the bed. A nauseating wave of déjà vu washed over me and I had to grab hold of the door frame for support. Please, no . . .
I ran and dove over the bed, coming face to face with flat, death-filled eyes. But not jade eyes. Not Caden’s eyes. They belonged to one of the other Ratheus vampires. A small sigh of relief escaped me. Only a small one, though, because I now had a new problem, I realized. Rolling off the bed, I squatted beside the male vampire and spotted two gaping holes in his neck where fangs had entered.
Murdered by his own kind. His own kind, who was now a mutant.
“Why would someone do that with all this human bl . . . ” my words drifted off.
To escape.
Oh, God. A mutant running loose in New York! Could it be? Had it gotten out yet?
Eyes wide with panic, I bolted out of Leo’s suite. How could I stop it? Where would it make its escape? Oh, God. I don’t know what to do. Overwhelmed by desperation, I did the only thing I could think of. “Mage!” I called out in a harsh whisper, hoping it wouldn’t attract Viggo or Mortimer’s attention. None of the Ratheus vampires would come—they seemed happy to keep their distance from their Council leader after witnessing her ruthlessly ending Lewis’s life.
No response. “Mage!” I called, a little louder.
“Yes?”
I whirled, teetering slightly as I lost my balance. I never lost my balance. Mage frowned as I stumbled. Jerking my chin toward Leo’s room, I grabbed her arm and led her to the body, afraid that any words would be overheard.
I watched the fire of rage alight in Mage’s black eyes as she stared at the body. “Jonah. He’s behind this,” she whispered hoarsely, adding, “I was afraid of this!”
“What? Why? Jonah’s already a mutant,” I said, confused. “He can already get out and you promised he wouldn’t try!”
“No, he wouldn’t defy me on his own. But if he could coerce a group to join him—”
“A group?” A new wave of panic hit me. “You mean there may be more mutants?”
“There most certainly are,” Mage answered. Her voice held no room for doubt.
“I have to find Caden.” What if someone targeted Caden? Or the others? Now it wasn’t just Viggo after him. It could be anyone!
“They’re in the theater,” Mage said. “Go find them and bring them back. We need all the help we can get. I’ll check around the building to see if there are any more bodies. I hope we can stop them before they escape.” I nodded, glad that Mage had swiftly and expertly taken control of the dilemma. She crouched down and shoved the body under the bed. “We’d better keep this under wraps for now. Who knows what Viggo and Mortimer will do when they find out.”
I knew. It would set them over the edge. It would be an excuse to break the truce, a way to force me to drop the Merth wall. Viggo would blame me for all this. He would punish me. He would attack.
I had to get to Evangeline’s friends before anyone else did.
I ran for the theater, bursting through the heavy black doors to see a curly blond head in the front row, giggling hysterically at the comedy on the screen. Three others flanked her. “Oh, thank God!” I exclaimed.
All four were instantly up and facing me, their eyes wide with concern. “Sofie! We’re not supposed to be talking to each other!” Amelie whispered. It was the first time she had spoken directly to me.
I took a deep, calming breath. “We have a problem.”
The icy breeze of a chilly December night caressed my cheek as I stood in the third floor room, staring at the gaping window. The wrought iron grill had served as nothing more than a minor inconvenience; the two center bars had been torn free.
The mutants had escaped.
“How many?” I asked, my voice hollow.
Beside me, Mage let out a heavy sigh. “Five.”
Five bloodthirsty, hideous mutants running loose in New York City. “What a disaster,” I moaned, rubbing my temples with my fingertips as if soothing a headache. If a vampire could actually develop a headache, this nightmare would certainly cause one. “I should have killed him when I had the chance.” I shot a reproachful glare at Mage.
“I agree. This is my fault. Jonah’s allegiance to me over the years was unwavering, which is why I protected him. But now . . . I’m sorry.”
Sorry wasn’t going to cut it. I threw my hand toward their escape route. “But now I have to go out there and hunt down five mutants before they wreak havoc on the city. Before the Sentinel finds out about them!” I was practically yelling now. “How the hell am I going to do that?”
“Get me past the Merth and I’ll help you,” Mage answered calmly.
I snorted. “Are you nuts? I’m not letting you out there!”
“You don’t have much choice, Sofie,” Caden murmured from his spot in the corner, where he’d been quietly observing our exchange. All four of Evangeline’s friends were there, their backs against the far interior wall as if lined up for a firing squad, their faces a row of grief-stricken masks.
“I think I have proven that I can control myself.” Mage folded her arms over her chest, her expression turning icy, eyes as dark as night holding mine. “Get me past these walls and I’ll help you. You have my word.”
“And what value is your word, exactly?”
Rage froze her face. “It is binding and unbreakable.”
I believed her. Instantly. And that terrified me. In the month that I had known her, she had exuded nothing but integrity. And I wasn’t easily fooled. Not like my naïve, sweet Evangeline, who would approach a mewing lion caught in a trap. But still, to let Mage out . . .
“You can’t take on five mutants, Sofie,” Mage added softly. “You will fail. And you will die.”
And then none of you would see the outside of these walls and Veronique will sit in her tomb forever. She was right. Even with my magic, I’d be an idiot to think I could take on five desperate mutants, born from vampires each at least seven hundred years old. I had no choice. I had to take her with me.
I opened my mouth, about to concede, when the door suddenly flew open. I turned. Great. Stalker Barbie, I thought as Rachel stormed in.
“Quite the party in here!” Rachel exclaimed, tossing lush, jet-black hair over her shoulder. Her citrine eyes drifted over Amelie and Caden, oozing raw hatred as they touched her former lover. “Viggo will be happy to know you’re conspiring together. Breaking the truce—”
Fabulous. Another volcanic mess to clean up.
Luckily, the gaping window distracted her from spinning on her heels and running to tattle. She hesitantly stepped toward it, careful not to cross into the Merth perimeter. “I knew that bastard would get out eventually,” she muttered.
Was I the only one surprised by this?
“Rachel,” Mage began, stepping slowly toward the volatile vampiress, her head cocked innocently. “You should take a seat over there. Relax for a bit. Viggo has you working too hard.” Mage pointed to the red and burgundy
-striped chair in the far corner. The one within the Merth boundary.
I studied Rachel’s pinched face, expecting to see her throw her head back, waiting for the cackle to fill the room. Instead, Rachel’s eyes drifted over toward the chair as if contemplating the idea. I watched her take a dozen steps forward—directly into the Merth. She dropped to the carpeted floor to lie in a heap, like a wet towel.
Dead silence followed as five vampires gaped at Rachel’s still body, shocked. Five vampires gaped. Not six, I noticed as I looked over to see Mage eyeing me guardedly. She wasn’t shocked that Rachel had taken her suggestion. She had expected it.
A strangled gasp escaped me, the answer suddenly so obvious. There was only one reason why Rachel would do something so stupid. She had been compelled. Compelling a vampire! That’s unheard of! “My, someone’s been keeping secrets after all, haven’t they?” I hissed, shifting my stance, suddenly on the defensive.
Mage’s mouth twisted. “I didn’t tell you because you wouldn’t trust me.”
“No shit,” I spat.
“Didn’t tell her what?” someone asked from the corner, either Bishop or Caden; I couldn’t tell. It didn’t matter. My attention was glued to the treacherous vampire who had just turned more deadly in the blink of an eye.
Mage answered with an exasperated groan. “We don’t have time for this. Viggo and Mortimer could be following any second—”
“Well then, you can just compel them into the Merth as well, can’t you!” Gasps of comprehension came from the others. My eyes remained locked on Mage’s. “So they don’t know what you’re capable of.” Interesting.
Mage pressed her lips together. “We’re wasting time.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and planted my feet firmly to the floor. I wouldn’t get another chance to force the truth out of Mage. It was now or never.
She exhaled in annoyance. “There are things I can do that no other vampire can. It’s because I am the first one. The vampire created by the Fates.”