“A decade?” My jaw dropped. “You’re saying she should live on some deserted island for a decade?”
“I prefer somewhere colder, but yes,” Rebekah nodded. “I’ve called in some acquaintances, and I have found us a place to live in Greenland. We should stay there, off the grid, for the next ten years.”
“That seems like an awfully long time,” Bobby said, echoing my thoughts exactly.
“For you, perhaps.” Rebekah gave him a condescending smile. “For me, for the rest of us, it’s a blink of the eye.”
“It’s longer than a blink of the eye for me,” Violet muttered. She’d stayed to the side of the room, avoiding Rebekah. That child vampire must’ve creeped her out the same way she did me.
“So, what do you think?” Olivia asked me.
“I think its… amazing.” I smiled gratefully at her. “I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay you.”
“Right now, you needn’t do anything,” Olivia returned my smile easily. “But eventually, I’m sure that I’ll think of something.”
“So, Rebekah?” Bobby asked, and she rolled her eyes when he spoke. “What’s it like being a child forever?”
“It’s an endless hell,” Rebekah said, accidentally betraying the emotion she felt. She hurried to erase it, though, so she turned to me. “I would like to leave in the next few days. Is that enough time to make arrangements with the child?”
“Um, yeah,” I nodded. “It should be.”
“With this settled, I’d like to excuse myself.” She stood up and turned to Violet. “Violet, isn’t there a human you’ve prepared for me somewhere?”
“He’s not really ‘prepared’ for anything, but there’s a guy in the room next to mine.” Violet pointed to the door. “And he’s open to… feeding you, I guess.”
“Olivia, you really must get better help,” Rebekah said as she walked around the couch, the hem of her skirt sliding across the floor. “One must have a reasonable chef on hand to prepare the food.”
“Violet isn’t help, Rebekah,” Olivia said, watching her as she disappeared into the guestroom. “Rebekah doesn’t understand that everyone in the world isn’t her servant. Despite that, she does know what she’s talking about, and she can help you, Alice.”
“How do you prepare a human?” Violet interjected, staring warily at the bedroom door even after Rebekah had shut it behind her. “Am I supposed to salt them or something?”
“Rebekah prefers it when someone else opens them first,” Olivia explained and pointed to her own neck. “Make an incision in the throat to get the blood flowing. Rebekah claims they bleed faster that way.”
“That’s interesting,” I said.
“I was gonna go with disturbing,” Bobby said.
“What the hell happened to your face?” Violet asked, referring the icepack Bobby had clamped to his eye.
“Got punched,” Bobby shrugged.
“How bad is it?” I asked.
I hadn’t actually been able to see what happened to him because he’d been covering it since it happened. All I knew is that Jonathan had hit him, and he’d bled.
“Not that bad.” He took off his icepack. “It wouldn’t have been bad at all if it weren’t for his ring, but at least his ring missed my actual eyeball.”
He moved his hand, and I finally saw his injury. Bobby kept talking, but I couldn’t hear him anymore. I couldn’t hear anything over the pounding of my own heart, and the blood rushing through my veins.
His eye looked swollen and red, but the bloody shape on his temple was unmistakable, even at an angle. I’d seen that mark before, looking nearly identical to this one. Though the mark I’d seen had been made with heat and not force. It looked like a U, but the scales had even left an imprint in Bobby’s skin.
It was a dragon, the symbol for Dracula. The symbol for vampires. That ring had been used to brand the dead girls.
I stood up, but it felt like I was under water. Everyone’s voice came out muffled, and I could barely stand up straight.
Every time I’d been around Jonathan, my blood burned. It was because I’d bitten Jane, and the blood left in my system reacted with the blood in his. It was like Jane had been trying to tell me he’d killed her, but I hadn’t known to listen.
“He fucking killed her,” I breathed, and my vision blurred red. I was getting hazy, like when bloodlust took over and I blacked out, but this was different. This was pure rage.
“Alice?” Milo’s face appeared in front of mine, and he put his hands on my shoulders. “What are you talking about?”
“Jonathan killed Jane,” I said. “I have to find him.”
“What?” Milo blanched and tightened his grip on me.
“He did do it?” Bobby jumped off the couch and hurried over to us. “How do you know?”
“That mark-” I pointed to his temple. “That’s the brand.”
Olivia and Violet both chimed in to say things about Jonathan and serial killers and demanding to know what was going on, but I couldn’t answer them. I could only feel what Jane had felt. Her terror and panic took hold of me again, and I pushed Milo’s arms off me and staggered back.
“Alice, where are you going?” Milo asked, trying to follow me.
“I have to….” I shook my head. I had to find him.
“You smashed his face, Alice,” Bobby reminded me. “He probably went home.”
“No,” I said. “No. He’s hurt. He has to heal. He’s feeding.”
When Milo had been hurt, Jack had given him his blood to speed up the process. Vampire blood was more potent than human blood, but fresh blood would do the trick if he needed it to. And after what I’d done to him, he definitely needed it to.
I couldn’t wait for the elevator, so I ran to the stairwell in the center of the penthouse. I’m sure someone tried to stop me, Milo had to have, but I didn’t hear him and didn’t slow down. I raced down the steps, leaping over several at a time, but I was still taking too long.
I looked over the banister, staring down the hole in the center of the stairs. The bottom floor plummeted twenty stories below me, but I couldn’t wait.
I propelled myself over the railing, and my feet slammed into the concrete. One of my ankles snapped, hard. Part of the bone stuck out, so I pushed it in. I gritted my teeth to keep from screaming, and I focused on Jonathan and what he’d done. That made it much easier to forget the pain.
The back rooms of the club were an interconnected labyrinth where vampires fed. It could take me hours to find him, but it wouldn’t. I stood by the entrance of the halls and closed my eyes, concentrating on his blood. I carried his blood with me, staining my pants, and I could track his scent.
I hurried down the halls, and my ankle threatened to give out, but I forced it on. I ended up running down three different corridors before I found him.
When I pushed open the door to the room, the first thing I saw was Jonathan slumped against the wall. His jaw still looked mangled, but it was clearly healing. Blood covered his face and chest, and his heart beat loud and strong. He was full.
The girl on the bed got my attention next. Her body lay at an odd angle, her spine bent awkwardly back, and her head twisted around. Blood from her neck dripped onto the mattress, but only because gravity made it. Her blood no longer pumped through her veins. Jonathan had his fill of her, and he’d finished her off completely.
“You son of a bitch!” I roared and flew at him. I grabbed him by his jacket and picked him up, then I slammed him into the wall so hard, his skull cracked on the concrete.
“Why are you always bothering me when I eat?” Jonathan asked, his swollen mouth attempting a smirk. “You’re a very rude girl.”
“You’re going to die,” I whispered, my face right in front of his.
“You can’t save them, you know,” Jonathan said wearily. “The humans. They will all die. You’re not doing them any favors.”
I pulled him back from the wall and threw him, so he landed hard against
the opposite wall. His body clattered to the floor, and he laughed. He didn’t even bother trying to pull himself up. He slumped against the wall and cackled at me, spraying blood as he did.
“Why Jane?” I asked. “Why her?”
“Because she was mine,” he growled, pausing his maniacal laughter. “She was a piece of meat. And she thought she could decide when she left, that she was done, but that’s not how this works. Humans think they can do anything they want.
“But Jane learned,” he said, his smile twisting up. “I even got her to leave that place for me. All I had to do was call her and reminder her who I was and what I did for her. By the time she came back to me, she was begging for me to bite her. The way all humans should. We’re the top of the food chain, and it’s time they learned that!”
“But they won’t,” I said and it was my turn to smile at him. “I’m going to kill you, here, tonight, and everybody will think that a human killed those girls. A stupid, weak human will get the credit for your work. No one will ever even know that you existed.”
That got him. He jumped up and charged at me, slamming me back into the wall. I kicked him off me, and my broken ankle hurt like hell. He tried to punch me, but I dodged, and his hand collided with the cement wall. I stepped back away from him, towards the bed.
“You know, I’m stronger than you think I am,” Jonathan grinned. “I’ve killed stronger bitches than you.”
“I’m sure you have,” I admitted.
The bed with the dead girl sat on an old metal frame. The legs were long and rusted, and I bent down and snapped one off with ease.
“What are you gonna do with that?” Jonathan laughed. “Poke my eye out?”
“Nope.” I held it up, showing him the broken, pointed edge.
“If you think you can stake me with that, you’re wrong,” he grinned. “That’ll snap before it goes through my ribs.”
“I know.”
My answer confused him, so he moved towards me. I kicked him in the chest, and he stumbled back. I rushed at him and threw him back against the wall. Pulling the metal leg back, I shoved it into his stomach, angling it up.
When I pushed it, it slid underneath his ribs. His eyes widened with surprise, but it was too late to do anything. I slammed the stake up into his heart, and he collapsed against me.
I took a step back and let him fall to the floor. His blood covered my hands, still warm and smelling of the dead girl. The pipe stuck of out his stomach, and his eyes stayed open, staring off at nothing. His hand had fallen on my foot, and I jumped back from it. He was dead, and I didn’t want his corpse touching me.
I expected instant relief and gratification from this, and while there was some, I mostly felt sick. I had just killed someone, and even if it was someone that really deserved it, I was still a murderer.
I’m not even sure how I found my way outside. I moved in a daze, and I don’t remember anything until I was walking on the sidewalk, a block away from the clubs. People were veering around me and giving me weird looks.
The cold felt wonderful, but I didn’t know where I was going, so I just stopped. I closed my eyes and let the wind blow over me. The blood on my hand thickened as it began to dry, moving more slowly as it slid down my fingertips and dripped on the concrete.
“I found her!” Bobby shouted from somewhere nearby, and within seconds, Milo was at my side.
“Oh my god, Alice.” Milo put his hands on my face, and I opened my eyes.
“I killed him.”
“Are you okay?” Milo asked, and I nodded. “Let’s get you home before you get picked up for being a crazy person.”
Milo took off his own jacket and wrapped it around me, hiding the blood that stained my clothes. Bobby jogged up to us and tried to tell me they’d been looking all over for me, but he stopped when he saw my face. Milo led me to the car.
Before I got in the car, I put one hand on it, bracing myself. Then I bent over and threw up, my strange red vomit staining the snow all around us.
24
I took a long shower, but my skin still felt sticky from where Jonathan’s blood had been. The water turned cold, and I finally got out and dressed slowly. When I came out of the bathroom, I found Ezra sitting on my bed.
“How are you feeling?” Ezra asked, studying me with his dark eyes.
“Fine,” I lied and ran a towel through my damp hair.
“You went against my advice,” he said.
“Yeah, sorry about that.” I tossed the towel in the hamper and turned my back to him. I didn’t want to see the disapproving gaze he gave me after that.
“I told you to call me,” he went on. “But from what I understand, you ran away from Milo and Olivia and Violet. You had plenty of back up with you, but you went it alone.”
“It was something that I had to do myself.” I ran my fingers through my tangles of hair and looked back at him. “I had to take care of him.”
“And?”
“And what?” I asked, surprised by the lack of judgment in his words.
“How did it go?” Ezra asked.
“I killed him.” The words tasted bitter in my mouth, and I gulped them down. I wanted to throw up or cry at the thought of being a murderer, but I couldn’t. I had done the right thing, and I wouldn’t let myself shed a tear of Jonathan.
“I’m aware of that.” Ezra looked away from me and smoothed out his pants. “Olivia called me after she cleaned up the mess. You owe her a debt of gratitude for that.”
“I’ll thank her tomorrow,” I nodded. I did owe her, and I felt bad for leaving her with my mess. But I didn’t have the strength to apologize for it now.
“He had a body in the room with him?” Ezra asked, and I nodded, biting my lip.
“If I’d stopped him when I saw him outside Jane’s…” I shook my head and trailed off.
“You did the right thing in waiting.” Ezra stood up and stepped over to me. He put his hand on my shoulder, and I looked up at him. “You didn’t listen to me, but you handled yourself well. You’ve shown great strength and maturity, more than many other vampire hunters I’ve run into. I’m proud of you, Alice.”
I wanted to thank him, but I knew if I did, I wouldn’t be able to hold back the tears. I could only nod, and Ezra wrapped an arm around me, hugging me to him. I took a deep breath to keep from sobbing, and he held me until he was sure I’d be fine without it.
After he left, I went to bed, and thankfully, sleep came quickly for me. The glowing warmth spread through me, and I buried myself deeper in the pillows. I didn’t want to wake up from the dream, back to the stark reality of the cold bed, but I couldn’t fight it anymore.
I opened my eyes and blinked to be sure I wasn’t still dreaming. Jack sat on the bed next to me, his brow furrowed, but he wasn’t doing anything. Just thinking.
“Good morning,” I said. I had no idea what he was doing, but it definitely made my heart beat faster.
“Hi. Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you. I just…” He licked his lips and stared at me. “I don’t wanna be broken up anymore.”
“I don’t know what to tell you.” I looked away from him and pushed myself so I was sitting up. “I don’t even understand why you broke up with me.”
“I thought that was the best thing for you.” He leaned back, resting his head against the wall. “I felt like it was what you wanted.”
“How would I want that?” I asked incredulously. “You know how I feel about you, and what I’ve fought to be with you!”
“And what you’ve given up.” He sighed. “You gave up way too much.”
“I didn’t give up anything,” I said. Unless he meant Peter, but I hoped we weren’t going down that road again.
“You gave up being human,” he said. “For me, it never seemed like that big of a deal. But for you, I think giving up death really messed with you.”
“I didn’t give it up. I can still die,” I said, but he did have a point.
“And you’re so young.” H
e chewed his lip. “Compared to me, you don’t seem that young, but you are. You didn’t know what you wanted to do with your life, and that was okay when you were seventeen and had college to figure it out. But when you got immorality, you had endless time in front of you, and it’s like you had no idea what to do. It’s too much.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “But there’s nothing I can do about that. I can’t undo this, and it’s not like I want to die. I just… I’ve been trying to find something I’m passionate about, besides you. Something to fill my time with.”
“No, I understand that. I got afraid that I was holding you back.” He looked over at me. “This whole thing with Jane, when you were tracking down her killer, that was the most excited I’ve seen you about anything in a long time.”
“It wasn’t exciting,” I shook my head. A knot in my stomach twisted when I remembered killing Jonathan. “Murder isn’t fun.”
“No, no, I know that.” His brow furrowed. “Are you okay with all of that?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I brushed him off. “I don’t want to talk about that, though.”
“Okay.” He stared at me for a moment, then went on, “I know you’re not into death, and I know you were motivated by revenge. But something about that really appealed to you.”
“Yeah, I guess.” I thought about it, trying to separate my feelings of grief over Jane to the actual act of searching for a killer. “I liked solving it and feeling like I did something that mattered. Jonathan was killing girls, and I stopped him.”
Wisdom (My Blood Approves series) Page 25