Now it was my turn to stare at Jace. His mother? The vision I’d had – that brief and terrible glimpse inside his head – flashed into my mind. Horror took hold of my chest and squeezed, but I didn’t have time to examine the possibilities any further because Murdoch Senior was walking toward the van.
I headed him off. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Screw the car,’ he said. ‘I’ve got somewhere to be.’
‘You’re not going anywhere until you tell me where my sister is.’
He shook his head. ‘Where do you think? Tonight’s the night everything ends for your boss.’
Theo? I forced out a breath, just to steady myself. ‘This is all about killing Theo?’
‘It’s more complicated than that. At least, it is for Kyle.’ Murdoch’s lips twitched into something resembling a smile. His teeth were coated with blood. ‘For me, I’ll just be happy to take down the Master vampire of Boston, but you’ll have to ask Kyle about his plans.’
Jace had his hand on my shoulder and I shook it off. I hadn’t even noticed him move. ‘I don’t give a crap about Kyle,’ I said. ‘I just want my sister. Where’s Caitlín?’
The hunter opened the driver’s side door. He nodded his head toward the back of the van. ‘Right about now she’s probably joining the kid in zombie land.’
My eyes widened and I clenched my hands into fists. I’d kill them all if they hurt Caitlín. I didn’t know how I’d do it, but I would. Somehow.
‘Come on, son,’ Murdoch said. ‘You don’t want to miss taking down a Master vamp. Her boss. Theodore Fitzgerald. We need to get over to his house on Beacon Hill.’
I had to help Theo. What was I going to do? Was Caitlín at Theo’s house? She must be – if that’s where Kyle was intending to put his plan into action. Whatever that plan actually was.
Jace stood shoulder-to-shoulder with me, but I couldn’t find it inside myself to care. Not anymore. ‘I’m not going anywhere with you,’ he said to his father.
‘Stop arguing and get in the van.’
‘Not without her,’ Jace replied, his face pale and set in hard lines.
‘The only way that gets in my van again is with a stake in its pretty little chest.’ Murdoch fixed his son with a cold stare. ‘Your choice.’
‘Jace,’ I said, carefully keeping my tone neutral. ‘Thanks for the support, but I’ve done just fine by myself so far.’
He held out a hand. ‘Come with me – let me help you.’
I shook my head, feeling sorry for him. ‘Your daddy’s made the decision for you, Jace. Just make sure that Byron’s truly dead – that’s all I ask of you.’ Surely I could trust him to do that much. I could get to Theo’s by myself.
Time to make use of my vampire abilities. Time to turn them into a strength.
I turned and ran back toward the heart of the graveyard. The distant rumble of traffic reached my ears as I almost flew beneath the branches of skeletal trees. Hardly watching where my feet were falling, I trusted my instincts to guide me safely and not let me run into grave markers half hidden by brambles and dead foliage. I hurdled a fallen branch and made it to the far side of the grounds. But I didn’t stop there, simply using my momentum to leap at the iron bars of the fence, swinging my legs up and over.
I slid down the other side and landed lightly on the sidewalk opposite the shining white façade of the Law School, no longer caring if a passing human saw me. What did I care about that when Caitlín was in danger? And Theo, too. There were worse things that could happen right now than discovery.
If I could save her, I wouldn’t even care what the Council did to me for telling her the truth about what I was.
Gritting my teeth against the aching desire to scream, I put down my head and ran.
Chapter Twenty-two
THEO’S FRONT DOOR was unlocked. That was my first clue that things were way beyond screwed and on a fast-track to oh-shit-we’re-all-gonna-die.
The place was dark, feeling empty. I didn’t hear any breathing, but then vampires didn’t have to breathe. I moved up the stairs, attempting silence. I took the stairs two at a time. I reached the top floor, grateful for the vampire lungs that meant I could run up four flights of stairs without getting out of breath.
When I reached the top, Theo’s cathedral-like eyrie spread out before me. I stopped and stared, trying to process what my eyes and brain were telling me. Shadows flickered, pinpoints of light from the few candles that remained standing, like cats’ eyes watching and waiting at the edges of the room. Desperately, I searched for my Maker among the signs of struggle and violence: chairs overturned; one of the beautiful stained-glass windows smashed; even Theo’s plants torn apart and scattered, as though destroyed in a petulant fit of rage.
And blood . . . so much of it. Too much to possibly belong to just one person.
Caitlín! Her name filled my head like a mantra. I had to find her, to make sure that the blood didn’t belong to her. To make her safe.
Something inside me broke, shattering alongside the multi-colored glass that covered the floor like confetti:
There is blood everywhere.
For a moment, I think that’s all there is to see – a roomful of blood and pain. The floor gleams wet. The whole room reeks of death.
Kyle. I grit my teeth against fear and anger, the alchemy of emotions making me feel like a shaken-up Coke bottle.
Where is my sister? And Theo?
Terror threatens to make me careless, but I force myself to step carefully over the threshold, my feet slipping and sliding on the wet floor. I wonder how there can be so much blood. The carpet is spattered with it and I can’t help but turn away—
Which is when I see my wounded Maker in a crumpled heap at the side of an overturned chair. I run to him, trying to keep my balance but no longer caring if I end up on my ass; I have to reach Theo. My hand closes on the back of the chair and I jerk it away, my fingers slick with cold blood.
I am too busy falling to my knees beside Theo to notice anything else. I am overwhelmed with panic and shock; fear for my Maker and how badly he might be hurt. I hate him at times, it’s true. But I still belong to him.
And what does this mean for Caitlín? He might have protected her, but I can’t see any sign of my little sister. I’m wearing the jacket which still carries her scent, meaning that I can’t trace her that way. She’s all around me.
Not that I can smell anything much besides blood.
I see the stake shoved through Theo’s chest, close to his heart but not quite all the way there. Not quite enough to end him. I wonder whether Kyle missed, or did he leave our Master ‘alive’ for a reason.
I grab the blood-stained stake and yank as hard as I can. The broken length of wood slides free, and blood gushes hot and dark – so dark it looks black. I drop the stake, only vaguely aware of the wet sound it makes as it hits the floor.
Theo stirs under my touch, his many other wounds already beginning to heal. His eyes flutter open and then widen. He opens his mouth to speak – to warn me – but it is too late.
I’m too focused on helping him to notice somebody moving silently behind me.
Something cold and hard strikes the back of my head hard enough to split my skull, and I go down and down into darkness . . .
* * *
Silence. The world came back in a rush and I blinked. Suddenly there was a bed beneath me.
I was no longer alone. Jace was standing at the foot of the bed, looking down at me.
‘How did you get here?’ I said, watching him blearily. My brain felt like a wad of chewed gum.
‘Dad told me where to come. He was getting ready, but I wouldn’t wait. Oh, and the front door’s wide open.’
‘Oh.’ Had I left it like that, or was it Kyle? Or Murdoch? I tried to sit up. ‘I need to get out of here. I have to find Theo—’
‘Don’t be stupid, you’re bleeding all over the place.’ Jace passed me a glass of water. I drank and drank, making myself feel sick. ‘
Slow down,’ he said. ‘Easy.’
Water sloshed onto my hand and memory clawed at me with sharp fingers.
I look at Theo over the glass of water, try to read his mind just by watching his beautiful face. ‘How did you die?’
He strokes my hair, hums gently under his breath. Something Gaelic. It makes me smile, but I notice that he doesn’t answer me.
‘What was it like?’ I ask him. ‘Who held you, when you came back? Who brought you water and took care of you?’
He doesn’t reply. Just kisses my cheek and lays me back down on the bed, covers me with a blanket and walks out. I don’t know if he has somewhere he needs to be, or if he is angry at my questions.
I curl up under the covers and wait for him to come back. I don’t have anything else to do.
Jace was watching me like he thought I might collapse at any moment.
‘Someone hit me,’ I said. Way to state the obvious, Moth. ‘Theo . . .’ I continued. Agitation forced my limbs into action. I tried to push against Jace. ‘Where’s Theo?’
‘Your Maker? On the roof,’ Jace replied. His tone was flat, all expression leached from it.
I tried to focus on what he was saying. If I could just stop feeling sick, that would help. A lot. ‘Where’s Caitlín?’ I tried to move, using all my speed to propel myself up and out. Only my legs weren’t working right and I stayed exactly where I was. ‘My sister—’
‘I didn’t see her, I’m sorry. Now stop struggling and take a minute to rest. You’re no good to her in this state.’ Jace handed me one of Theo’s towels. It was black, of course. At least it won’t show the bloodstains, I thought, as I dabbed at the back of my head. I felt crazy – light-headed. I shouldn’t feel this bad, should I? What happened to my vampire super-fast healing? I probably needed to drink some blood.
As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I became aware of Jace sitting close to me on the bed. Hyper-aware.
I kept seeing everything in shades of red. It felt like when I’d first been turned.
‘I need—’
‘This?’ Jace was holding a familiar-looking bag filled with hospital blood.
I bit my lip, my stomach contracting with hunger at the sight of the glowing ruby liquid, but at the same time filled with disgust that Jace should see me like this. ‘No, I think I’m OK,’ I said.
‘Don’t be stupid. You need it.’ He thrust the clear plastic container at me, pushing it into my hand and making me take it from him before it fell onto the bed. ‘Come on, drink it up like a good—’
‘Jace,’ I growled, ‘I’m fine.’
‘I’m not leaving you alone till I know you’re really all right. That bastard tried to bash your skull in with a silver candlestick. Some tall, skinny blond dude. Sort of ratty-looking.’
Kyle. Not that I was surprised. I tried to focus but still couldn’t think straight, and I was just so hungry.
I tried my best to fight off the gnawing need, but I was beyond tired and it was all I could do to keep from tearing into the blood bag right now. ‘What happened to him? The blond vamp?’
‘Ran out when I shot a crossbow bolt into his shoulder.’
I screwed up my face. ‘His shoulder? Even with silver bolts, you should really be aiming for the heart.’
Jace scowled. ‘I missed.’
‘Oh.’
‘And then your Maker . . . Theo . . . just got up and followed him. Looks like he heals fast from a stake through the chest.’
‘It wasn’t in the heart. I pulled it out.’
He nodded. ‘Right. So he told me to check on you and went up to the roof.’
Theo was OK. Relief blazed all the way through me.
Trying to piece events together was getting easier, but I was still pretty groggy. I remembered Byron. Poor Byron . . . ‘What happened to Byron? Was he really dead?’
Jace’s mouth tightened and I saw something hard in his eyes. ‘He is now.’ He turned away. ‘But Dad’s coming, you know. To kill your Maker.’
But the pain in my head was beating a rhythm in time to the sound of Jace’s heart; hunger combined with weakness made it increasingly difficult to keep control. Jace was so warm – and sitting so close to me that I could almost taste his pulse on my tongue. I flashed back to our kiss under the van.
‘It’s OK, I don’t mind if you drink it here,’ Jace said. He shrugged and gestured at the blood bag again.
Moaning softly, I pulled up my knees and buried my face against them. ‘Jace, please . . . you don’t get it.’
I didn’t want the stupid bagged blood. I had to get away from him. Away from his blood. I pushed him away and ran across the room. My eyes wouldn’t focus properly, but I knew the door must be here somewhere. If I could just get away I wouldn’t hurt him.
But, oh Jesus, the smell of him and the beating of his heart in his warm chest while he’d sat by me on the bed.
‘Moth! What’s the matter with you?’ Jace was striding toward me. He had the bag in his hand again, but I wasn’t focused on that. No, I was looking at the gash I’d only just noticed in his arm, and how blood oozed out of the wound and trickled down the muscle of his bicep. I remembered the taste of his blood; that tiny taste six months ago. It had only been a single drop, but it was enough to remind me that not all human blood tasted like crap.
Luckily for Jace it seemed as though he was wising up to the situation. Finally. Maybe it’s not too late, I thought.
He was taking slow steps backward, his brown eyes wide as he stared at me. The dawning realization on his face would’ve been funny if only I weren’t so hungry.
I was growling under my breath; softly in the back of my throat, more like a purr than anything. I hoped he couldn’t hear it, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t stop. I was exhausted, scared and stressed out – it was no wonder I was losing control.
I tried to fight the craving, told myself it would pass. Heard Theo’s voice in my head, from another time and place: Hold on. Calm. Be calm.
The air was so brittle I felt like it might crack. The twisted feeling in my gut got worse. Calm was beyond me. Holding on was no longer an option.
I sprang at Jace, and he was lucky that he already had his hands out or he wouldn’t have had a hope of stopping my fangs latching directly onto his throat. We crashed against the far wall, my momentum carrying us both the length of the room. Jace was back-pedaling like crazy, trying to stay on his feet but losing the battle when his shoulders struck the wall.
We went down, me on top of him, and all I could do was see him through a haze of the deepest crimson. I was strong, far stronger than him. Even injured, the bloodlust gave me a new burst of strength. My legs clamped around his hips and I held him in place, pressing myself against him. My mouth watered. God, I wanted . . . what? What did I want? Him? Or his blood . . .
‘Moth!’ He had his hands on either side of my face, but his fingers were anything but tender. His white-knuckle grip would’ve left bruises on anyone human.
But I wasn’t human.
I was so close to his flesh now, I could almost taste the blood pulsing through the taut arteries of his neck. I tried to dig my nails into his eyes but he shook his head violently from side to side. He was trying to flip us over, but my knees were locked in place on either side of his waist as I clung to him like the deadliest ivy.
The door crashed open and a familiar scent washed over me. My hesitation was all Jace needed and he managed to get his forearm across my throat, pushing me back until I thought my neck might break.
Theo strode across the room and plucked me off my prey as easily as if he were picking fruit. He had me by the scruff of the neck and shook me, then threw me onto the huge bed.
‘Get a hold of yourself, Marie!’
Why did he have to do that? I hated it when he called me Marie. I shivered on the expensive bedding I hadn’t noticed when I’d first come to in Jace’s arms.
Of course, I thought, Theo would have black silk sheets. It was almost
a relief to hear my familiar snarky voice peeking through the inferno of need that raged through me.
Jace was struggling to his feet, and I couldn’t help noticing the flash of silver as he pulled the dagger from its hidden sheath. Huh. So he’d gotten it back.
Theo held me down with one hand and, without even looking, flung his other arm out behind him to block the young hunter’s attack.
‘Let her go,’ Jace replied. He sounded almost as calm as the Master vampire, a pretty good trick to pull off under the circumstances.
Theo still had me pinned to the bed, but twisted to face what he no doubt considered a young upstart. ‘If I release her, she’ll only go for your throat again.’
I tried to dislodge my Maker’s hand. ‘I’m fine, Theo. See? All back to normal. Just hungry.’ I ducked my head as hot shame filled the emptiness in my chest.
He laughed. ‘I don’t think you’re fine at all, my little Moth.’ He raised his left wrist to his lips and tore into the veins with wicked sharp canines. A single deep slash marred the newly healed perfection of his pale skin, and he held the dripping blood to my mouth.
I struggled against him, trying desperately to be free of the dark temptation he held just out of reach of my lips. ‘No, you’re too weak to give me blood.’
Theo climbed onto the bed with me and pulled me into his arms so quickly I didn’t have time to realize he’d released me for a couple of precious seconds. He cradled me against his chest and I craned my neck to see his face. He was still watching Jace with that hawkish expression I knew so well.
Jace took a furious step forward. Spots of color blazed high on his beautiful cheekbones. ‘What are you doing to her?’
‘What does it look like? I am feeding her. If you’d prefer to donate your own blood, be my guest.’ He laughed softly. ‘I was under the impression that you were trying to escape doing that very thing.’
I wriggled so that I could see Jace over Theo’s insistent arm. ‘Just get out while you still can, Jace.’
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