Silver Dagger

by T. L. Sinclare

  She had a lot of faith in the knife she held. She'd seen its power last night. She just didn't know the truth.

  "Move the knife, Madeleine."

  "No."

  He gave her no warning. Moving at a speed her human eyes couldn't detect, he reached out and snatched the blade from her hand.

  Madeleine backed away as he slowly climbed out of the coffin, her eyes locked on the dagger in his hand.

  "You can touch silver."

  "Yes."

  "A vampire who can touch silver." It only took a moment for the truth to creep into her eyes. "You killed Danielle."

  "Yes."

  Madeleine's rage hit him moments before she physically landed against him, pounding at him with her fists. Stephen caught her, stilling her hands.

  She jerked out of his grasp as if she couldn't bear his touch. "Why?" Her eyes glittered with tears. Tears of rage and betrayal. Stephen shook his head. He'd done what he had to do. Madeleine would never understand.

  "I have a right to know. She was my cousin."

  "She ceased being your cousin when she was converted."

  "And then you killed her?" she accused.

  She wanted the whole story, but he knew the explanation wouldn't provide the comfort or closure she sought. "I had to."

  "Why?"

  "She was a danger to the Community."

  "All vampires are a danger to the community."

  "My Community. Something had gone wrong in her conversion." He found himself making the explanation he swore he wouldn't give. He hated telling her this, hated the image it was going to leave with her, but he needed it. Needed her to understand just a little. "She was uncontrollable. She couldn't stop feeding. She killed three people in one night, and she would have done more if she hadn't been stopped. We have to protect ourselves."

  Madeleine leaned against the table as the information hit her like a physical blow. She wrapped her arms around her waist, completely closing herself to him. What did it matter? He couldn't offer her the comfort she needed. He was the source of her pain.

  She raised her eyes to him. "You're so set on protecting the Community, why haven't you killed me?"

  "Oh, Maddie, I have. Your body just doesn't know it yet."

  "Did you convert her?"

  "Are you asking if I move through the city turning young women into vampires?" he mocked. He needed her anger, needed her strength. "No. You were my first."

  Tears pooled in her eyes. "Why did you do it?"

  He had no answer for her. Hell, he barely had one for himself. The moment of decision—if that's what it could be called—was a blur. Just the desperate need, the pain and fear of centuries of loneliness, and the desire to bind her to him for eternity.

  "You can go back."

  Her head snapped up. "What?"

  "You can become human again."

  Hope flared in her weary eyes, and Stephen knew it had to be done. He had to free Madeleine.

  "Nick said nothing could be done."

  "He doesn't know. It's not something we generally talk about."

  "What do I have to do?"

  "You can kill me."

  "What?" Blood drained from her face, and he could see the beginning of her hope die.

  "If I die before you make your first kill, you'll go back to being human. I don't think you've killed anyone today." He paused. "But the night is young."

  He extended the dagger toward her, hilt first. He could touch silver but if it entered his blood, it would burn and kill him like any other vampire. Madeleine stared down at the knife. He'd offered her the implement of his death once before, and she'd refused. She'd learned so much since then.

  He knew her response before she did, knew she wouldn't do it, but he wanted her to have the choice he'd never been given. If he'd been offered a silver dagger, he'd have decimated the Council. But Maddie didn't hate deeply enough.

  "You can't be serious."

  "I don't joke."

  "I won't do it."

  "Not even for justice?" he taunted, trying to push her past her human ideals. "Not even to kill the man who killed your cousin?"

  She wrapped her fingers around the hilt of the knife. He waited. He wasn't afraid of his death. In reality, it would be peace. Nothing compared to the pain of watching Madeleine grow to hate him for what he'd done to her.

  She shook her head.

  "Think about it, Maddie. You'll become a creature like me. Is that what you want? Slowly starving for blood. You'll crave it. You'll need it. Can you do that?" He hated pushing her like this, but he needed her to understand—really understand—her choice. "Has Nicholas told you what it's like? He doesn't even know the truth yet. You'll need it to the point of madness."

  When she didn't respond, he circled around her, whispering the harsh truth into her ear. "You'll kill then. It won't matter who. It won't matter where. The need will overcome you, and all that you've ever thought of yourself will fade."

  Madeleine heard the pain in his voice, the misery behind his words, and sympathy crept in. She knew from the stark reality of his tone that he'd been through the torture he was predicting for her.

  "What did they do to you?"

  He stared at the wall behind her head as if he was trying to decide what to tell her. His voice was dead when he finally spoke. "They converted me, and when I refused to feed, they locked me in a cage—"

  "Until you were mad with hunger," she finished for him. There was something else. Something more. "Who did you—"

  He looked into her eyes. And Madeleine felt her heart stop as he said, "My father."

  "Oh my God." She stared at him with a mixture of horror and pity.

  "That's what you have to look forward to." He pointed the blade toward his chest. "Do it."

  She bit her front teeth together. "No."

  The tears that threatened now escaped and poured down her cheeks.

  "No." She shook her head and threw the dagger away. It tumbled onto the stone floor with a metallic clank.

  Stephen nodded. He trailed his fingers along the edge of her jaw. The soft touch soothed her for a moment.

  He walked to the door and looked at her. "Good-bye, Maddie."

  And he was gone.

  Madeleine stared at the vault door as it swung shut.

  Hes leaving? Now?

  Dazed, she looked at the empty room. He'd left her alone. It was probably best. She needed a few minutes to take it all in. Danielle. Vampires. Conversion. Her gaze dropped to the silver dagger. Kill Stephen. She had to kill Stephen in order to become human again. She couldn't do it. And he couldn't ask it of her.

  He'd killed Danielle.

  Alone, she allowed the truth to sink in. Had she known before? Had she ignored the truth?

  He'd lied to her. She'd asked him directly if he'd killed Danielle, and he'd said no.

  Well, he wasn't walking away from her now. They were going to talk about this.

  She stalked to the vault door, grabbed the handle, and cranked it left. It stuck. She turned it right. It stayed.

  He'd locked her in.

  ***

  Metal scraping against metal snapped Madeleine from her doze. Instinctively, she grabbed the silver dagger that lay by her knees and jumped to her feet. Stephen was back, and they were going to have this out. In eight hours of being locked in the dimly lit room, she'd considered changing her mind about killing Stephen.

  The heavy metal door slowly swung open. The space in the door frame was empty. Madeleine clutched the knife and growled.

  "Madeleine?" Nick's hesitant voice called from the hall, obviously staying out of her range until he'd identified himself. "Stephen told me to come let you out, and then help you get out of town."

  "Where is he?" she bit out when he stepped into the doorway.

  Nick shook his head. "Madeleine…"

  "Where is he?"

  "They've got him."

  All thoughts of revenge and battles were gone. Sure, she might want to kill Stephen, b
ut she wanted to be the one to do it. No one else was going to touch him. Eight hours spent in the tiny vault—thank goodness it was equipped with a sink and bathroom—had given her time to think. She was still mad, but hours of walking in a circle had burned away most of her rage.

  "Who has him?"

  "The Council. Someone's been killing vampires, and they think it's Stephen."

  "No." She stared at the silver dagger in her hand. "Stephen might hate them, but he'd never do anything to hurt the Community."

  "He confessed."

  "What?" Madeleine felt her jaw sag open. "Why? Oh God. He's doing it to protect me." She grabbed her discarded jacket and headed toward the door.

  "You?"

  "If he dies before my first kill, I'll go back to being human."

  She hurried past Nick, headed for the door, and was jerked to a sudden stop by his grip on her arm.

  "Explain that." The flash of fury she saw in his eyes was counteracted by a glimmer of hope. She quickly explained what Stephen had told her.

  "I could go back to being human?"

  She stopped. She needed Nick's assistance. She couldn't have him working against her. "Stephen didn't convert you, did he?"

  "No. They just dumped me on Stephen's back porch one day and he took me in."

  The calculated image Stephen portrayed blended and smoothed with the reality. He hadn't killed her. He hadn't eliminated Nick, even though he could. He was a noble man—with fangs.

  "Where is he?"

  "Madeleine, you don't want to do this. If what you've told me is true, you're free."

  This was her way out. She just had to let Stephen die. The silent cry of her heart drowned out the logic. She shook her head. "I can't let anything happen to him."

  "You're in love with him." Nick sighed, and before she could respond, he said, "Okay, we've got work to do because Gayle warned me to hide out for the next few days. They're going to stake Stephen and leave him for the sun, and then they're going to go looking for his friends."

  "That's us." Madeleine raced up the stairs with Nick following close behind. "Grab those curtains." She indicated the heavy coverings in Stephen's living-room windows. Blackout curtains. A home decorating requirement for any vampire. She made a half-joking mental note to get some for herself. The thought allowed a whole host of others to enter her mind, encouraging the panic that had threatened all night. She forced it aside. She didn't have time.

  Stephen. She had to focus on Stephen. She couldn't let him sacrifice himself.

  "Madeleine, we can't fight an entire group of vampires."

  She used the dagger to slice through the material to pull the drapes down.

  "We don't have to. They're leaving him for the sun."

  "So, you're saying we just have to sneak up on a group of vampires, wait them out, and then beat the sunrise."

  Put that bluntly, it sounded harder than she'd originally thought.

  "That's my plan."

  ***

  The sun was almost up when Nick pointed to a small hill just outside of town. Private property. They were trespassing on vampire land.

  Madeleine inched the car forward, hoping without hope that the crackle of the tires along the gravel road would go unnoticed. It wasn't much noise, and with the headlights turned off it might have been missed by a human, but never by a vampire. Every sound was probably being monitored. Her only hope was that they'd decided to seek cover with the onset of daylight.

  They were in another of Stephen's cars—a convertible. They'd opened the garage door and she'd been stunned for the third time that evening. Stephen had five cars inside the garage. She'd wanted to take the Jag, but the convertible had the largest trunk.

  Madeleine squinted through the darkness up the hill. In the coming day's pale light, she could make out a shadow on the slope.

  "There he is."

  "Let's go." Nick opened his door and started to climb out.

  "Wait." Madeleine stopped him with her hand. "Isn't it strange that they'd just leave him here with no one watching?"

  "Very good, Madeleine." She tensed at the eerily familiar voice. The voice that was constantly muttering in her head.

  "Matthias."

  The vampire stepped out of the darkness and strolled toward the car. "I've been waiting for you."

  "Me?"

  "I've been in your head for days. I knew you couldn't resist trying to save him. I volunteered to stay behind and make sure Stephen's little human friend didn't show up. They'll be pleased to know I meted out your punishment as well." He shook his head. "You shouldn't piss off vampires, Madeleine. We're a testy lot as it is."

  "I didn't do anything, and neither did Stephen. Someone else is killing your people."

  He stared at her for a long moment. "You actually believe that? Ah, well, even if he didn't do it, it will be my pleasure to see him die. Right after you."

  Blood pounded in her skull. "Why?"

  Despite Nick's convulsive grip on her arm, Madeleine opened the door and jumped out, confronting the danger when her instincts told her to run. She jammed her fists on her hips and faced the angry vampire.

  Maddie, no! Stephen's voice echoed in her head. She looked up the hill. The dark shape twisted, struggling against its bonds.

  "Leave her alone!" Nick shouted.

  Matthias held up his hand. "Sleep." Nick blinked and slumped backward against the seat, his eyes closing in a deep sleep.

  "Now, where were we?"

  "Why are you doing this? What have I ever done to you?"

  "Oh, not you. Him." He tilted his head toward the slope, his voice filled with hatred. He stepped forward. She braced herself against the car and waited.

  "Why?"

  "The sins of the father." Madeleine shook her head. "He hasn't told you the story? I would have thought him proud of it. His father was a vampire slayer. Took us quite awhile to find him. Twenty of our Community were murdered before we caught him."

  His father. She remembered the pain and self-disgust in Stephen's voice. They'd starved Stephen and used his father to torment him. Her fingers tightened on the hilt of the dagger she still carried.

  "You guys converted Stephen and killed his father. That's your revenge."

  "That was the Community's revenge. Mine is personal." Matthias stepped closer. Madeleine wanted to back away, but she was pressed against the car. "One of the vampires he killed was my mate." A look of ancient pain accompanied his cold words and tore at Madeleine's heart. "So now, I'll have the satisfaction of killing you and sending Stephen to hell with that knowledge."

  Madeleine. Matthias' voice was back in her head. She tried to think of Stephen, use him as a buffer, but the call was too strong. Look at me, Madeleine.

  Fighting him with all her strength, she felt her head lift, and her gaze met his. It was nothing like the connection she shared with Stephen. She was trapped but felt none of the safety, none of the passion. Matthias put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her forward. Like a rag doll, she flopped against him, her strength gone, her will crushed beneath his.

  "Stephen," he whispered in her ear. "Watch, Stephen. It's time for your love to die."

  No!

  Stephen's scream echoed through her head.

  She couldn't respond, couldn't move. She could only watch the pale light glitter off the long spikes of Matthias' fangs as they moved closer.

  A whimper escaped as he pressed his open mouth against the base of her neck. She mentally tensed, waiting for the sharp stab of pain she knew would follow.

  But it didn't come. Matthias' grip tightened on her arms for a moment, and then she was free. She sagged against the car and forced calming breaths through her lungs.

  He stepped away and glared down at her.

  "He's converted you," he accused. "Why the hell would he do that?" He spun around and stared up the hillside. "Why would he do it?" he whispered almost to himself. "Damn."

  "Does this mean you aren't going to kill me?"

  "Y
ou're a vampire." He flung his arm to the side and snarled. "I can't kill another vampire." He tilted his head and stared at her, confusion still lining his face. "He converted you."

  "Yes." She could see it happening—the revenge he'd plotted for two hundred years failing before his eyes. Stephen was dying. She was out of reach. "It's been two hundred years. That's kind of a long time to hold a grudge."

  Matthias looked at Stephen then back to Madeleine. "Tell me that at the end of your life." He glared up the hill. "The sun will be up in moments. You'll never make it."

  "I'm going to try."

  Matthias nodded. The glittering light of revenge gone from his eyes, taking with it all fire, all life.

  "Good night, Madeleine." And he faded away.

  She stared in the silence, somehow saddened. Everything had been stripped away.

  "Nick?" A soft snore came back to her. "Nick?" She punched his arm. His body rocked, but there was no response.

  The first glimmer of the day's warmth brushed across her cheeks. She had to move. She popped the trunk and grabbed the curtains, pulling them behind her as she raced up the hill. The first shaft of direct light moved across the lawn with alarming speed, like ripples on the water.

  She forced air into her tight lungs as she made it to the hill's midpoint. Stephen's arms were tight, cocked inward as he strained against the silver chains that held him. She felt the tension in her own arms—the burning wrists and the heat that enveloped his skin. His pain tore through her. She didn't understand. He could touch silver. Why did it hurt so badly? It made no sense, but the reflected pain slowed her movements.

  His eyelids fluttered. They opened for an instant and snapped shut.

  "No, Maddie…" His voice was soft and fading. "Let it go."

  Her protest was instinctive.

  "No," she growled through clenched teeth.

  She tossed the heavy curtain over his body and knelt down to work free the bands that held his hands and feet. Stephen could touch silver, but for some reason he hadn't had the strength to break these chains. As the first band opened in her hand, she saw why. Tiny stab wounds circled his wrists from spikes on the inside of the band. Blood pooled in his palms.