by CJ Flynn
The newest Queen Lillith, a vampire I had known so recently as Beata, was keeping court in a three-story mansion with ornate, lacquered black window shutters that remained permanently closed. The exterior was smooth, polished marble so white it seemed to glow at night.
We were ushered up a set of matching marble steps, into a dimly lit foyer with a glittering golden floor. Another small flight of stairs and Daniel swept me into a hall with even more marble, black and white, and a sweeping staircase with wrought iron rails.
I gasped as I looked up three stories to a large glass ceiling that washed the room in golden light so warm I felt compelled to shed my hoodie.
“This is amazing,” I whispered, taking in the mysterious glow that emanated through all the windows I could see. Even Sorrell's headquarters, modern and luxurious, seemed dim and dingy by comparison.
Daniel pulled me to the side as the two coffin-like boxes were brought in through a small, white door. I peered past the vampires carrying the boxes and saw descending concrete stairs before the door shut.
The last of the vampires turned quickly and jutted with his chin towards a set of glass doors to the left. “Through there. You'll be waitin' awhile.” His Scottish brogue was thick and warm.
Daniel nodded and gestured towards the door. Another flawless, warmly lit room awaited us.
I knew this drill all too well. Sit. Wait. Be ignored while Sorrell spoke with Daniel.
The couch was long, and covered in pale pink silk. I decided I needed something a little less accommodating. I hadn't slept since Daniel had taken the wheel. I chose one of two chairs, and Daniel took the other.
Sorrell entered the room almost twenty minutes later. He nodded to both of us, considered the couch for a moment, and turned to stand in the middle of the room.
“I do not understand why you are here.” He had his hands clasped behind his back, and I noticed for the first time he was in a suit, an unfamiliar sight to me.
The black, modernly-tailored suit was at odds with his long hair and otherworldly eyes, which gave nothing away.
“We need to find a way to save Benjamin,” I said. I knew it was a break in protocol, but I was beyond done with the vampire bureaucracy.
“There are two possible courses of action for Benjamin, Miss Stuart. Neither is what I would necessarily call 'saving him.'“ He turned his gaze to Daniel. “We can allow Imala to complete the transformation before she fulfills her sentence, or we can dispatch both maker and child.”
I pushed myself up from the chair. “Unacceptable.” My temper edged my words in fire. “There has to be another option.”
Sorrell frowned. “Miss Stuart. I have allowed you a considerable amount of freedom because I find you valuable and entertaining. Do not mistake this for any significant respect on my part, nor is it an invitation to constantly reject our protocols and procedures. You have led my associate on a wild goose chase across this continent. I do not need nor desire your input.”
I stood my ground, but didn't speak. I knew a wall when I saw one-I wasn't going to get anywhere with Sorrell.
“I believe we should speak with Benjamin,” Daniel said.
I sighed and looked down at the floor. It was the best compromise, the best I could hope for at the moment. At least it would buy me time.
“Very well. Send for him.”
“Wait,” I stepped closer to Sorrell. “Can I talk to him?”
Sorrell frowned. “Alone?”
I nodded.
“That is not safe. Daniel will accompany you, and he will allow Mr. Elridge to choose his fate.”
* * *
Like any good vampire stronghold, the Parisian mansion had a deep basement, with at least four locking cells. Two of them were blessedly empty, and I could tell from the angered howls that they'd put Imala at the far end of the corridor. Daniel approached the silver bars but did not touch them.
I took a step closer, not having the same problems with the metal as the vampires. Benjamin was huddled in the furthest corner, subdued but still showing the signs of something violent happening within his body. His face was contorted and his body shook with each passing second.
“Ben.” I choked out his name.
He looked up at me, his eyes bright red, but no longer glowing. “You should leave.”
“We need to talk—”
“Allie.” Daniel had stepped a bit closer and put his hand gently on the small of my back. “Let me speak with him.”
I shook my head. “I want to explain.”
Benjamin let out something between a cry and a laugh. “There's nothing to explain. I know what this is about. And I choose death. You can't let her finish this.”
I stared at him until tears formed in my eyes. I couldn't bring myself to wipe them away. “You can't mean that. We can fix this, Ben. I know we can. Laura—”
“That was different and you know it.”
It was different because Harding had been the one to save her. Harding had the background for it, the skills to cure her.
“It doesn't matter. We just need more time.”
“There isn't time, Allie.” Daniel was still standing close to me. I turned to look at him, stunned to see the pain in his eyes. “If Imala does not complete the change, he will die within a matter of months. Maybe even weeks.”
“I can fix this. I know I can.”
Ben stood, and I winced as he crept forward. His body was hunched over and his skin was mottled and red. “Can we have a minute?”
Daniel hesitated, then nodded. “I am not leaving, but I will go check on our other guest.”
“You can't let me live like this, Allie. I don't want to become... I don't want any of this. You have to stop this.”
I looked at him, wishing to both stroke his face and punch him. I was so mad—how could he have walked away from me that night? If he'd just stayed... The defeatist attitude that had led him out of the room that night was the same thing hovering in the cell with him now.
I let out a sigh. I couldn't go down that path. Any number of things could have been different and for all I knew Imala might have gotten to him some other way.
“Benjamin. I know that I'm the last person to be saying this to you, but I need you to do this. For me. Or for your mom. Let me try. You have to give me that. I know you don't owe me anything, but please.”
Quiet reigned in the basement for several long moments. Daniel had apparently done something to silence Imala.
Ben looked at me, his red eyes searching mine. “Fine.”
* * *
An anonymous vampire led us back through the basement labyrinth to the sitting room on the ground floor. I tried desperately to think of a way to convince Sorrell to let me try to save Ben, but I was coming up short. Not even Ben's acquiescence would change Sorrell's mind. Protocols are protocols.
“Benjamin has chosen honorably,” Daniel said, as we waited for Sorrell. “I would not wish this life on anyone.”
“How—”
He held up a hand and shook his head. “I do not know. I don't know if I was attacked or if I chose this path. I do not remember, and I never will.”
My chest constricted at his words, and I felt horrible, knowing I had lied to him. Ben had told Daniel he would choose death, but had given the final request to go home first. It was just an attempt to buy me time, to let me figure out a way to fix this.
Daniel had never given me a reason not to trust him, but I knew asking him to go along with our plan would put him in a terrible position.
“Has our associate made a decision?” Sorrell asked, as soon as he pushed the sitting room door open.
Daniel stood up from his chair and gave a single nod of his head. “He has chosen death.”
Sorrell nodded. “Then we need to meet with Queen Lillith so that she may hand down her decision regarding Imala. Have both of them brought up from below. Fully secured.”
* * *
There was an expansive study at the back of the ground floo
r. It had floor to ceiling windows that were flooded with the false sunlight, and warm chevron wood floors that reflected that light back to every surface in the room. Beata—Lillith—was seated at a carved desk, and looked somehow more frightening and more beautiful than when I had seen her last.
Sorrell took a position behind her right shoulder, and I followed Daniel to the cleared floor in front of the desk. After a few minutes of silence, the door opened and six security guards dragged in Imala and Benjamin, both bearing silver-laced chains.
“Benjamin Elridge, I grant your request to return to the United States before your death. We will give you forty-eight hours. We shall avenge your death. The traitor will be punished.” Lillith bowed her head a moment before turning to Imala. A calculated coldness settled across her face and she stood from her desk.
Her careful footsteps brought her within inches of Imala's face. The vampire queen had to tilt her head to meet Imala's gaze, but she did not falter.
“Imala of Meletine. You have forcibly changed a protected human, against his will, and against the laws of our kind. Further, you have coerced a witch into helping you, and have caused extensive damage to the careful relationship we maintain with the Covens. I sentence you to death by light, no later than sunrise tomorrow.”
The new queen did not stutter or give any hint of remorse over the turn of events. She merely gave a nod of her head, just enough to make her long ringlets quiver.
“Daniel, you will make the arrangements to return Miss Stuart and Mr. Elridge. I expect you back in Paris within the week.”
Chapter 23
Forty-eight hours. It wasn't enough time to find a cure, but it was enough time to find... more time. I was seated first on the plane, and after several minutes of conversation with the men loading Ben's box into the cargo hold, Daniel settled in the seat across from me.
“Your plan is not going to work, Allie.”
“What plan is that?” I asked. I was too tired to really play dumb, but I didn't feel like explaining myself anymore. I wanted this flight to be over. I wanted to be home.
“You are planning to cure his vampirism. It cannot be done.”
“I think you're wrong.” I didn't even know why I felt that way. I knew what I was up against, knew the stark differences between Laura's experience and Ben's. I also knew that I was missing the one person who could help me most. All I had left were his notes.
“I highly doubt that I am wrong, but if you feel it is achievable, I am not the one you need to convince.”
“But Sorrell—”
Daniel held up his hand. “Sorrell cannot help you any further, and I believe you know that. You have powerful friends, far more powerful than Sorrell, in other places, and I expect that you will have to call upon them.”
I knew he was talking about Ernie Haden, even if he had used the plural of friend, but I didn't know how Ernie would be able to help me. I needed to see Harding's work first-hand, and I needed to know what he knew. It was the first step—the only step—for now.
As soon as the pilot had turned off the seatbelt signs, I logged into my notes and combed through every word he had left me.
The longer I read Harding's extensive lab notes on the serum he had designed for Laura, the more I felt like something was missing. There were a lot of words, but he kept essentially describing the same process. We had worked together before I joined Sorrell's organization, and after. I knew his process well, and the files on my laptop weren't meshing.
Frowning, I navigated through several other directories, checking for...anything. All of the files were proprietary to the software we had used both at the university and in the private lab, and they all had the same creation date: the day I had copied them over to my private hard disk off the server. I clicked back to the notes, and browsed through a few of the options. There was document creation information, and a workflow entry. I could see how many times he'd reviewed his own dates, tracking for any note changes... it all looked legit.
I clicked back on the main workflow screen and noticed that a small icon in the corner was highlighted. I clicked on it, and a new window opened, showing me a list of people that had access. All the names were grayed out, with broken connection icons next to them. One of Sorrell's henchmen was listed, the other doctor we'd worked with occasionally, and a name I did not expect to see.
Erika Weiss.
Her name practically glowed and I felt a little glimmer of hope. We had worked together around Thanksgiving, and she had helped me wipeout most of a nest of new vampires in Germany. Erika Weiss could create fire out of thin air, a Phoenix. Another one of the creatures created by the Druids. And for some reason, Harding had given her access to his research.
There was an option to view her document tree, but it was also grayed out. With a sinking feeling, I realized I was going to need to access the lab again. I hadn't been down there since Harding's death.
* * *
We landed at the airfield about an hour before sunrise. Daniel was settled in a light-proof box down below, and Sorrell's proctor, Camilla Pierce, was waiting to meet us. She directed two of the boxes to one waiting SUV, and the third to another. She waved me into a black town car and took the seat next to me.
After a few minutes, the car started moving and Camilla cleared her throat. “I am to see to the final details regarding Imala. I have been fully debriefed. Has Mr. Elridge given you information or requests I should be aware of?”
I shook my head. We hadn't spoken much beyond my pleas to convince him not to die.
“I will arrange for his mother to be here when he awakens.”
“That's a good idea,” I said. I couldn't be distracted by Ben's family. I needed to get back to my lab, and I needed to see what Erika Weiss had to share with Harding.
“I heard of your requests, Ms. Stuart,” Camilla said, after several beats of silence. “That you wish to try to save him.”
I nodded, trying to find words. I didn't know who to trust, but Sorrell's most trusted human advisor wasn't exactly at the top of my list.
“I have to imagine an extensive amount of work would need to be done.” Her face was blank, as if we were having a conversation about the weather.
“Yes,” I replied, trying to keep my voice even. I couldn't even fathom what all it was going to take. I needed to work one step at a time, and I had identified my first step. I couldn't let myself get too far ahead.
“I read about what happened to your friend in Boston. And of course, I read the follow-up report that Dr. Fields wrote. His work was interesting. It's too bad they shut it down.”
I frowned, trying to digest what she was telling me. “Shut what down?”
“His research into vampire DNA, of course. He'd been allowed access to data they don't usually give to humans, you know. But Sorrell shut down the project as soon as the serum was developed for your friend.”
All things that should be in his notes.
“It was lucky they had the blood of that vampire who bit her. That's probably what saved her life.”
Camilla nudged a small leather pouch across the seat between us, her gloved hand hiding most of it from view.
“We'll be pulling into the main garage underneath the mansion,” she said, as the car slowed. We were pulling into the lane that led back to the mansion. “I will have two men come out to retrieve Imala, and they'll take her directly to the courtyard. Sunrise is a quarter past seven. I hope we have her out there in time. The mansion is short-staffed, as most everyone has been called to France.”
She turned her head to look at me, and her green eyes flashed.
I gave a single nod, my hand still resting over the leather pouch. I didn't know what was in it, but Camilla's message was loud and clear. Whatever she wanted me to do, she was giving me time to do it.
We parked and Camilla exited the car before the driver had a chance to open it for her. She shut her door, said a few muffled words to the driver, and her footsteps moved away across the concre
te. Two sets followed after. I turned to the pouch as soon as I thought it was safe and pulled the zipper open. Inside, I found three glass vacutainers and a very basic collection kit. The interior of the pouch was lined with icy cold gel paper.
I zipped it shut and exited the car, heading towards the black SUV that was idling nearby. The driver seat was empty, and I could only guess that the driver had been the other set of footsteps leaving with our driver and Camilla. The rear gate was unlocked.
I'd had this great idea right out of high school that I would become a phlebotomy technician as a way to pay my way through school and prep for my no-doubt-amazing medical career.