by Rye Brewer
“Why?”
“Because you’re my brother, Gage. No matter what you do. It’s one thing for me to hate you or curse you—which I don’t, by the way. It’s another to let somebody else hurt you. I would never do that. I couldn’t live with myself.”
His shoulders shook. I couldn’t tell if he was laughing or crying. “I wish it would all end,” he whispered. “I can’t take any more of this. I wish he’d kill me and get it over with, now that he has you. You’re who he really wants. You and the little half-breed.”
“I told you not to talk about her,” I warned.
“She’s the reason this is happening, you know. She’s what drove us apart.”
“You know that’s not true,” I said. “You didn’t form your own group overnight, Gage. I know it’s been going on for a long time. I know you had this all planned out and were just looking for an opportunity. Don’t lie to me.”
He didn’t bother lying again. “Why is he keeping me alive?” he wondered.
“I don’t know, but as long as you are, there’s hope. You can’t give up so easily, brother.”
“If you’d been through what he’s put me through, you’d have given up by now.” It hurt my ears to hear him sound that way, and my heart. He was still my brother, no matter what he’d done against me. I couldn’t hold that massive a grudge. I wanted to kill Marcus for thinking he could harm a member of my family without consequence.
The door opened, and we both looked up in anticipation. I was already hungry, starving. I hadn’t fed in a day. My brother was even weaker, and pain had driven him nearly out of his mind. I wondered what Marcus had up his sleeve to torment us even further.
Two guards preceded him into the chamber. Then he strode in. He smiled at the two of us like a normal creature would smile at a thing of beauty, something he loved. I wondered what had happened to him to twist him so thoroughly.
“I see my two favorite guests are getting along with one another. It makes me glad to see it. I would hate if you two got into a fight, with nothing else to do but accuse each other of wrongdoing.”
“You don’t have to play games with us,” I said, suddenly very tired. “I know you’ve been listening in somehow.”
“And had I known your brother had wronged you, I might not have wasted my time trying to lure you here with him. Then again, it wasn’t you I was trying to lure. Oh, well. Better luck next time, I guess.”
“You were trying to lure Anissa back,” I said.
“Don’t speak her name to me,” he warned.
“Why not? Does it bother you that much that someone you thought was under your thumb managed to turn the tables on you?”
“I warned you,” Marcus whispered. He reminded me of a snake. “I won’t warn you again.”
I shrugged as though it meant nothing to me, using all the strength and willpower I possessed to keep from wincing and groaning at the pain in my wrists from the silver. I’d never felt such burning, searing agony before. “Suit yourself,” I muttered.
“Insolent to the end,” he said, shaking his head. “Well, we’ll see how much longer your strength holds out when you don’t have the opportunity to feed. You might be able to handle a single day, but we’ll see what happens tomorrow. And the day after that, and the day after that… We’ll see how much longer you manage to hold it together before you turn into a shrieking, pathetic wraith who begs for me to end their suffering. It’ll be music to my ears.”
I only glared at him, refusing to consider his words. I couldn’t imagine days on end without blood. I knew what it would do to me, and I couldn’t allow myself to think about it for fear of breaking down.
“It’s time for us to move,” Marcus said, clapping his hands. “I can’t keep you in my dungeon any longer, I’m sorry to say.”
Gage and I exchanged glances. “Where are you taking us?” he asked.
“You’ll see when we get there. The fact is, keeping you here has become far too dangerous. I can’t run the risk of you being discovered—as it is, I’ve already had a few close calls.” Then his lips curved into a smile. “I was hoping to keep you here until my guest of honor arrived to rescue you, but what can I do?”
“You don’t need her,” I reminded him. “You’ve got me. The whole point was to keep me from going to the League meeting. So here I am. Don’t bother with my brother. Let him go. And don’t bother with Anissa. Let that go, too.”
“No. Now it’s about revenge. I’ll have retribution.”
“What are you saying?” I asked, gritting my teeth to keep from lunging at him. It would only bring me more pain if I did.
“I’m saying she’ll come for you no matter if you’re here or not, because she’ll believe you’re here. I would love to let her see you, to let her see what you’ll soon become. If I know her, and I do, that alone would be worse than anything I could do to her. You’re her hero, after all. Her knight in shining armor, as the humans like to say.” He sneered. “But you won’t be here. Who knows? Maybe I’ll take her to you. It all depends on how things play out.” He frowned slightly. “Truth be told, I’d expected her before now.”
I hoped she’d stay away. It was her only hope. She couldn’t fight him, not alone. For once, Anissa, don’t try to be a hero. I wished she could hear me somehow.
“At any rate, we need to go.” Marcus motioned to his goons, who unlocked our cages and removed the shackles from our wrists. The relief that shot through me was palpable. I could hear Gage’s sigh of relief, too.
“Don’t get too accustomed to being without your new bracelets,” Marcus warned. “You’ll be back in shackles soon enough.” He turned to his men, who led us out of the cages with our hands behind our backs. “Take them to the location we discussed.”
“You’re not coming with us?” Gage asked.
“No—I’m needed here. There’s a big League meeting in two days, in case you’d forgotten.” He smirked in my direction. “You’re both so weak, I’m sure there’s no chance of you thinking of escape. Not with these two holding onto you.”
He wasn’t joking—the guards were almost twice as large as Gage and me, and we weren’t exactly small. I imagined they’d pull the arms from our shoulders as easily as pulling the wings from a fly.
I was sure they’d like to feed on us.
He stepped aside so we could move past, chuckling to himself the entire time. I imagined breaking free and tearing his eyes out, raking my nails down his face, making him scream as he’d made my brother scream, as he’d made Sara scream.
I couldn’t do that. I had no power. It wasn’t a feeling I was used to. My guard shoved me roughly through the door, propelling me down the hall with him still holding onto me. I nearly stumbled to keep up with his pace, stunned by how weak I felt after only a day without feeding. He was smart to weaken me that way.
We wound our way through the halls of the dungeons, taking turn after turn. I wondered when we would finally make it outside. I could have done with a breath of fresh air. “How far are you taking us?” I asked.
“You’ll find out,” the guard holding me spat.
His grip on my burned wrists tightened. It was agony. I bit my tongue to keep from crying out and losing my dignity further than I already had.
Then, the pressure ceased.
I heard a small, short yip, then I was free. Another yipping sound from behind me, a little louder that time but just as short. Gage cried out, sounding surprised.
I turned, shocked, and found the guards on the floor, dead, a red flower blooming over their chests. There was only one creature I knew who could assassinate so silently, so efficiently.
Anissa stepped out from her hiding spot near the wall. I was sure I’d never felt so happy, and that I never would again. “You’re here,” I whispered.
“We’re here.” Philippa, Scott, Sara. All of them gathered around Gage and me. I couldn’t believe it.
“Come on,” Anissa said, taking me by the hand. “We have to get out here, fas
t.” I didn’t think twice, only allowing her to lead me out through the same secret tunnel I’d already used twice. I heard the footsteps of my family behind me as we ran. Funny how I’d been exhausted only a few minutes earlier. I could have run a marathon once Sara took care of the guards and led me away.
“Where are we going?” Gage asked as we ran.
“Don’t ask questions,” Anissa warned. “We’re leaving. That’s all that matters.” I saw dim light at the end of the long tunnel—the door, halfway open.
“Come with us,” I said to Gage when we were finally outside and away from Marcus’s clutches. “You can rest and get your strength back.”
“No.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. “No? But… After everything…”
“Nothing’s changed,” he said, sudden strength in his voice. “I can heal anywhere. I don’t have to be with you to do it. And I don’t want any part of this.” He looked at Anissa and Sara.
“Even after she saved you?” I asked.
Scott and Philippa looked just as surprised as I felt.
“Even now.” And he left, running across the rolling green lawn and out of sight.
“Come on,” Anissa murmured, squeezing my hand. “Let’s go home.”
Chapter 31
Anissa
Only when we were back at the penthouse did any of us take a deep breath.
I blinked, tired from the night’s escapades. Tired from the last few days’ escapades. Really, for a creature that didn’t sleep, I sure could have used a serious amount of slumber.
I watched Sara, now that I was in repose, trying to figure out what was different about her and why.
“I can’t believe you managed that,” Jonah said from his place in the chair by the fire, pulling me from my reverie.
Sara took it upon herself to make sure he was comfortable, just as he’d done for her. She placed a cushion behind his head, covered him in blankets and fetched him a tall goblet of blood which he accepted greedily, almost slurping in his anxiousness to feed.
When he’d finished, his color looked better than it had before, and the circles beneath his eyes seemed to clear up a bit. The burns on his wrists were not bleeding anymore, at least.
“Thank you,” he whispered to Sara, who went to get more blood for him to get his strength back.
I sat at his feet, cross-legged on the rug in front of the hearth. “What happened down there?” I asked. My eyes were glued to his face, looking for any sign of what might have gone on in the dungeon.
Philippa perched on the arm of the chair, stroking her brother’s head.
In the light from the fire, it looked like it was on fire.
“You don’t have to say anything if you’re too weak,” she reminded him. For someone who could be so strong and confident, and occasionally sharp-tongued, she was just as tender and loving toward her brother in that moment.
“No, it’s all right. And really, there isn’t much to tell. He wanted to keep me locked up there in the days leading up to the League meeting. He wanted me to miss it, just as he tried to get Anissa to kill me so I’d miss it. He’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants.”
Scott still looked murderous. “I’ll kill him myself,” he growled.
“Don’t go through the trouble,” Jonah murmured, accepting another goblet. He didn’t suck it down this time.
“He needs to pay,” Scott insisted. Sara placed a hand on his arm, shaking her head. She seemed to be all that could calm him when he was like that.
I looked at Jonah, who stared down into the goblet of blood. “No. There’s got to be another way. I won’t take the chance of letting any of us suffer or risk ourselves any further. We can’t let that happen.”
“So what will we do?” Philippa asked.
“We’ll go to the League meeting like we would have gone, just like normal. And we’ll leave it up to them. They can deliver a far worse punishment than anything we could do, for sure.” His eyes met mine, and I nodded slightly. He was right. We couldn’t defeat Marcus on our own. We had to let the League take care of it for us.
I could hardly believe he was back with us, and I was sitting right in front of him. It hadn’t been anything to kill the guards—my slayer skills had come in handy, for sure. Something I could thank Marcus for. How ironic. I wondered if he would see the irony as I did.
Probably not.
I wanted to touch Jonah, to prove to myself he was there. Then again, I had touched him. I had held his hand the entire way back to the Bourke building, all the way up to the penthouse. Word had quickly spread that he was back, that we’d found Gage alive and that he’d gone off to rejoin his faction. I could tell Jonah was devastated that his brother had made the choice to be away from his clan not once but twice. It looked as though his mind was made up for good, and nobody could change it. I hoped Gage wouldn’t come to regret his decision someday.
Philippa went looking for a salve to put on Jonah’s burns—they’d heal soon enough, as Sara’s had, but just seeing them sent a dagger to my heart. It hurt even worse to see them on him than it had to see them on my sister’s wrists. I couldn’t bear the thought of him hurting, the metal burning his flesh. It broke my heart. I wanted to throw myself into his arms and kiss him and promise I’d never let him come to any harm on my account, ever again.
Instead, I stayed silent, wondering what the League meeting would entail for us. How would we get the leaders of the clans to see how dangerous Marcus was? Would they believe us?
Chapter 32
Anissa
“Are you ready for this?” I looked up at Jonah, who nodded decisively. His profile stood out in contrast to the early morning sunlight. We’d left for the cathedral just after sunset, and the moon was rising as we arrived.
He looked up at the tall spires that reached into the clouds. I didn’t follow his gaze, since looking up there would mean seeing the bell tower again. I’d already told the story of Malory and how close I’d come to dying in that tower.
“It’s more beautiful than I’d ever imagined,” Sara breathed, standing beside me. “I had no idea.”
“Wait until you see the inside,” Jonah murmured with a grin. He hadn’t grinned much in the days since his rescue. It did me good to see it then.
Grinning wasn’t the only thing he hadn’t done. He’d hardly touched me since then.
He hadn’t kissed me.
In fact, it seemed as though he did his best to make sure we were never alone together. He told me he was too distracted, that he had too much hanging in the balance of the upcoming meeting. I chose to believe him, or to make it look like I did. I hated worrying I’d done something to ruin what we had. Did he resent his capture when he went looking for me? Did he resent my running off to find Gage without telling him where I was going? How would I know? He sure wouldn’t tell me.
I told myself not to worry about it as we walked together the rest of the short distance to the cathedral entrance. The ground around the building was littered with weeds, in keeping with the dilapidation everywhere in the area. All of it was a smokescreen to keep prying eyes away.
Behind me were Sara, Philippa and Scott, and along with them were three other trusted Bourke advisors. Jonah had called in his top brass to make sure his voice was heard among the League.
I couldn’t deny the anxiety I felt as I entered headquarters. I’d never been inside, had never even met any of the League leaders. There hadn’t been a change in leadership since the governing body’s formation so many years earlier. They had to know who I was—after all, they’d probably had a say in keeping my parents apart. They would have known I existed. They knew everything, didn’t they?
“Don’t worry,” Jonah murmured. “They’re so busy getting things in order, they won’t even care that you’re here.”
I didn’t understand what that meant, exactly. I could only imagine that it was because I wasn’t involved in the League or a clan leader.
Once we were inside, I was t
oo busy staring in wonder at everything around me to worry about what anybody else thought. I could hardly breathe; it was all so beautiful. Twice as large as it was outside, there were walkways along the walls, stretching up almost to the arched ceilings. Vampires walked along them, hurrying back and forth, making last-minute preparations, I guessed. All of them wore the clothing particular to their clans. I saw a clan from Africa wearing brightly colored robes, while one from Russia wore furs and another from India wore saris. It was like getting a glimpse of the entire world at once, and was almost as fascinating as the building we stood in.
“Try not to look around like you’re new here,” Jonah joked. He smiled a little when he looked down at me.
“I guess it’s because I am,” I whispered back, smoothing down the front of my dress.
I’d even worn a dress for the occasion, and a nice pair of flat shoes. I’d had to borrow both from Philippa, who always made it a point to dress beautifully. I was a little shorter than her, so the dress came down considerably lower on me than it did on her, but I didn’t feel underdressed for the first time in forever.
Moonlight streamed in through the tall, tall windows. “That glass is beauitul.” It reminded me of the stained glass I’d seen in photos of old chapels.
“The windows are treated with a special protective film, for the sunlight” Jonah explained. “Even those of us the most sensitive to light won’t burn after too much exposure.”
“Amazing. They’ve thought of everything.”
“You have no idea,” he said, and left it at that.
I wondered what he could mean. I was sure there was a lot to consider when wrangling hundreds and hundreds of vampires, but he sounded almost ominous. I couldn’t imagine why. It seemed like he didn’t even want to be there. Didn’t he want to protect his clan?
We stepped further into the main hall just beyond the double doors through which we’d entered. I couldn’t help looking around, even after Jonah told me to play it cool. I imagined the people who’d built the cathedral, workers who had lived and died before the structure was even complete. How many humans died without ever seeing the completed results of their work? Time was a funny thing for vampires. I couldn’t imagine working on something I’d ever finish.