"Yes." Stephen held up the knife. "With these daggers."
Matthias' lips pulled back in disgust. "Could you put that away? I find it particularly unnerving to see a vampire holding silver." Stephen complied, sliding the knife back up his sleeve. "Vampires dying. We all thought it was a vampire working with a human—what else could it be?" he said thoughtfully.
"A vampire who can touch silver."
Matthias began a slow wander across his living room. "How's it done?"
"I have no idea, and to be honest, I have other things on my mind tonight."
Matthias held up his finger. "No. It's important. Madeleine wouldn't leave you, not willingly. So, whoever has her…" Stephen waited. He'd tried reasoning this out on his own, not trusting any of the others. But Matthias seemed willing to help. "Why you? It's not age. I can't stand the presence of the stuff." He stared at Stephen. "What's different about you?"
"My conversion." It was the only thing he could think of—his conversion hadn't been typical. It had been neither fast nor painless. But if conversion was the key, than at least one other person would have his same abilities. Stephen shook his head. It was impossible. The memories hit him hard and fast.
Matthias nodded. "You wouldn't feed. I remember now. You became an experiment of sorts for the Council. They were quite amazed at how long you lasted. And you just kept getting stronger. All the strengths of a vampire but none of the weaknesses."
Two hundred years hadn't dulled the pain. Anger still roiled in his stomach at the thought. "It lasted until the final conversion, and then we became normal, at least by vampire standards."
"So after two hundred years you lose those weaknesses? Sounds far-fetched." Matthias looked skeptical.
Stephen agreed, but what else could it be?
An electronic buzz interrupted Matthias. Stephen undipped the cell phone that perpetually hung at his hip. He glanced at the number. Thomass. He flipped the end of the phone down.
"Yes?"
"Stephen? Oh my God, it's true. You escaped. What happened? How?"
"Thomass, I'm kind of busy right now."
"Stephen, the Council's got that woman. Madeleine."
His stomach tightened. "What? Where's Gayle?"
"Gayle?"
"Are you at the Council Chambers?"
"Uh, no. They have her hidden."
"Where?"
"Stephen, let her go. You escaped once. They won't let it happen again. Get out of town." Thomass paused. "Joshua would have told you the same thing."
Stephen ignored his last statement. Thomass was right. Joshua believed in survival at any cost. And Joshua had taught him well. He'd helped Stephen become the creature he was. But Joshua was dead.
Thomass rambled on, pleading and coercing at different intervals. Stephen let his voice echo in the background.
If conversion was the key, that left only one person.
"Where is she, Thomass?" Stephen asked, cutting into Thomass' rant.
There was silence on the other end of the phone, a reluctance. "That warehouse," he finally said. "Where they found the other girl. I think they're hoping to pass it off as a serial killer. Stephen, don't—"
Stephen flipped the phone shut, cutting off any further protests.
"Who was that?"
Matthias would have heard most of the conversation. "Thomass."
"The Council has her?" Stephen nodded. "But she's not at the Council Chambers. Odd."
"Yes. " Very odd. Stephen turned and started toward the door.
"I'll go to the Chambers, see what I can find out."
Stephen straightened. Matthias? Offering to help!
"Why?"
Matthias' smile was not comforting. "I think Madeleine's going to be her own revenge. I've spent a lot of time in her head over the past week. When she completes her conversion, you'll be responsible for her, and she's going to make your life a living hell."
"I certainly hope so."
They stopped at the front door.
"You weren't in that cage alone. Who was with you?"
Stephen looked at his phone for a moment before answering.
"Thomass."
***
Madeleine glared at the man's back. She kept her movements small, rubbing the rough edge of duct tape against the chair's metal spine. She'd seen it in movies, but she'd never realized how truly uncomfortable it was to be tied with her arms behind her.
Where is this super vampire strength I'm supposed to get? she inwardly groused. I could use it now.
The man pressed the button on his phone and turned around. His head blocked the light and for a moment he was silhouetted, his short hair appearing dark in the shadow. The shape of his head, the dark whisper—it was familiar. The man from the alleyway. It seemed like a lifetime ago, but it was him. He stepped forward, baring his face to the light. His feral, slightly insane smile made her pull harder on the bonds that held her. She had to get away.
"Your boyfriend will be here any moment." She pressed her lips together and continued to glare at him. She hadn't said anything since she'd woken up tied to the chair. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. He was obviously working up to something big, and he wanted an audience. She refused to give him one.
"Still hoping he'll save you? Me, too." He looked so serious, so sincere. If it hadn't been for the touch of madness lurking in his eyes, she might have believed him. "I was surprised he didn't kill you first off. It really would have made so much more sense." His lips curled up into a sneer. "But Stephen never did have the necessary instincts." He shrugged. "But in the end, it all worked out. Stephen was distracted, busy with you. He didn't have time to think about vampires and silver daggers."
"You killed them." The accusation left her mouth without conscious thought.
A flicker of irritation crossed his face.
"So, he's told you about them, has he? How very open of him. Yes, I did. It was simple. Who would have ever expected a vampire to carry a silver dagger? It seems those months locked in a cage with Stephen had some value after all." He wandered in a path in front of her. Madeleine kept her eyes focused on him but continued to work at the tape holding her to the chair. "I wonder if Stephen's figured it out. Most conversions are completed within hours, days of the transfer." Pure hate crinkled the edges of his eyes and an unholy glow of red sparkled inside. "But not Stephen. He was so damn noble. He lasted months—months—without blood. I stayed with him of course."
"Why?" It was so obvious he hated Stephen.
"I could see it, even then. The others would come by, tempt him, offer him humans, and he'd turn away. It frustrated them, but you could see their admiration, too. They were so impressed by the vampire slayer's son. I wasn't going to let him get all the glory."
"Glory!?" Stephen's infuriated voice echoed through the empty warehouse.
Her captor spun around and stepped behind her, dropping his open hands on her shoulders.
Stephen walked into the light, his fingers clenched into fists at his side. "Glory? Thomass, you twisted son of a bitch. That wasn't glory, that was torture."
"You still can't see it, can you? You hate the Council, hate what they did to you, hate what they made you, and in return, they admire you. You never hear it, but I've had to listen to it for two hundred years. They actually wanted to offer you a seat on the Council to make up for everything." His fingers dug into Madeleine's shoulders. "Such a good little vampire. It was so satisfying to see them slowly turn against you. A few hints here and there and suddenly everyone remembers your father's knives. Even your favorite admirers were starting to turn."
Madeleine ignored the furious words spewing from Thomass' mouth and stared at Stephen. He stared back.
Are you all right?
Madeleine heard the words in her head and shrugged. She didn't try to transmit to him the real answer: Hell, no, I'm not all right. She didn't know if she could actually send the message, and he didn't need the distraction right now.
"What is this all about, Thomass?" Stephen's voice was calm, belying the tension she sensed in him.
Thomass laughed. "I don't like you, Stephen."
"I don't like you, either, but I've never gone after you with a silver dagger."
"You should have." As the words left his mouth, Madeleine felt the press of metal against her throat. She could only see the edge. It was a silver dagger like the one she'd used. "As soon as you could touch silver, you should have started killing anyone who would get in your way. That's what a real vampire would do."
Stephen shook his head. Madeleine couldn't read what he was thinking, but she could tell he had something in mind. "What do you want?" he asked.
"I want you to die."
"Then you'll be the only vampire who can touch silver."
"Yes, funny how that works."
"But if you kill me, who will you blame the future murders on?"
"I think I'm done for awhile. The Council is quite impressed with me. They see me as the loyal, wronged companion of a murderer. I've played my part very well. I was able to appear loyal to you but still wanted what was best for the Community. Besides, you're just going to disappear. We'll be able to blame you for years to come. Now, do you want to die before or after your fledgling?"
"Let her go, Thomass." Stephen stepped forward, a glint of silver flashing in his right palm.
"Stay back. If I drive this dagger into her heart, she'll die. Just like any human. And she won't come back. The silver will kill the vampire as well."
Stephen stopped. "She has nothing to do with this."
"No, she doesn't. She was just a lucky break." He ran his fingers through her short hair. Madeleine started to pull away—his touch made her skin crawl—but the hot edge of the knife stopped her. Instead she glared at Stephen, hoping he had something in mind to get them out of this. She kept steady pressure on the tape holding her hands, surreptitiously rubbing it along the chair frame. "I never would have picked her for your type," Thomass said. "I always thought you'd prefer perky and cheerful to mouthy and crabby."
Madeleine stopped moving. "Danielle," she whispered.
"Yes. She was a great little helper. Got the knives for me. At least at first. Then I had to find my own way inside." He tilted his head to the side. "You need better security, Stephen. It wasn't that difficult to get in and take them. But you found the one I planted in the dresser drawer."
"You brought the Council to my house."
Thomass smug smile made Madeleine's teeth ache but she ignored it, letting the two men talk. While Thomass was focused on Stephen, she began again on the tape that held her.
"Yes. It was time to add a little more suspicion to you but it didn't work." He sounded irritated by that.
"Sorry."
The knife bit into her skin at Stephen's sarcastic apology. Madeleine tensed. She needed more time, she needed to keep him talking.
"You converted Danielle?" she asked.
Thomass laughed softly. "Yes. It was her reward for helping me. Unfortunately, she remained just a little too human afterward. Started asking questions, feeling guilty about vampires dying. I needed to get rid of her."
Madeleine felt Stephen's shock from across the room. "You said her conversion was flawed, that she had to be destroyed. You asked me to handle it to protect Dylan."
"I lied. Joshua came to me, asking veiled questions about vampires and silver. I knew he knew something. But he never told me where he got his information, and then after he was dead, he was no use. I figured it had to be you. Joshua wouldn't protect just anyone. I needed to find out for certain." He laughed, so confident in his victory. "You were so easy to set up, Stephen. A few concerns for the Community, and the girl ends up with a silver dagger in her chest. You might say you hate them, but you are certainly willing to help when they're in need."
"Why not just come after me? Why the setup?"
"It was more fun this way. I got to see you squirm."
"Let Madeleine go. It's me you want."
"I still need her. I need her until you're dead." Stephen held himself still for a moment. He couldn't let Thomass see the impact of his words. His own death he expected, but he had to free Madeleine. She didn't deserve this. He needed something to distract Thomass, something to move him away from Madeleine.
Stephen opened his arms wide. Thomass' gaze flickered to the dagger in Stephen's hand. He uncurled his fingers and the knife clattered to the floor. "Here I am." Thomass pulled his dagger away from Madeleine's neck an inch or so. "I don't trust you."
"I never wanted this life, you know that." Thomass stepped forward. Stephen backed up, leading Thomass away from Madeleine. Thomass was right. She wouldn't survive a silver dagger. Thomass peeled his lips back and bared his extended eyeteeth. Stephen remained calm and continued to back away. "Fight me," Thomass commanded.
Stephen shook his head and took another step back. He could see what Thomass wanted. He wanted to best Stephen in a fight. A simple execution wouldn't be enough.
"So controlled. So noble," Thomass sneered. "I know what you're doing. You're trying to show her how human you are. You don't want her to see what an animal you really are. Madeleine, did he tell you about his father? How he ripped open his own father's neck and fed?"
Stephen steeled his will. He knew the taunts were designed to anger him. It worked, but he didn't attack. Still weak from the silver in his veins and the brush with sunlight, Stephen didn't know if he had the strength to beat Thomass. He wanted to give Madeleine time to escape if he failed. She had to be free first. Though retreat was counter to his character, Stephen ignored Thomass' words and continued to back away, silently pleading for Madeleine to free herself.
Thomass seemed to sense Stephen's attention was elsewhere, and he laughed. That was when Stephen realized Thomass was truly insane.
"You didn't do it, you know," Thomass sneered.
"What?" Stephen stayed focused on Madeleine. He needed to keep Thomass distracted.
"You didn't kill your father." Tension pulled Stephen's body tight, grabbing his attention. Thomass chuckled. "I did. They weren't going to let you go until you'd fed, and I wanted out. You cowered in the corner, mad for it but still refusing to feed. I wasn't quite that noble. I killed him and then poured his blood on you. You woke up never realizing I'd done it." Stephen lost all awareness except the hatred. He reached behind him, whipped out the second dagger and lunged at Thomass. Years of regret and guilt converted instantly to fury. Thomas jumped back, laughing as he sliced his hand across Stephen's arm. A thin trail of fire burned, but Stephen barely noticed it.
His only thought was to kill. He could have thrown the knife—he'd practiced for hours with his father—but he wanted to feel the knife enter Thomass' flesh. Stephen stalked forward, his fangs bared. He swung in wide arcs, forcing Thomass back. Rage gave Stephen strength, and Thomass had stopped laughing. He blocked each of Stephen's blows, but Stephen could see the other vampire was weakening. Thomass stumbled backward. Stephen moved in, desperate to kill the creature in front of him.
"Stephen." Madeleine's quiet cry snapped him back into himself. He turned to her and fell into her eyes. In that brief moment, he saw the forgiveness and comfort for years of anger and guilt. He looked at her and saw the humanity he thought he'd lost. And he saw the love. Calm cleared his mind and he realized he couldn't do it—he wouldn't kill in front of her—not with those frightened eyes watching him.
From his right, Thomass pounced, aiming his knife at Stephen's heart. Stephen stepped back, slicing his own blade down across Thomass' forearm. Thomass growled and dropped low, snarling like a wolf as he turned. He hunted Stephen and Stephen backed away. He would stop Thomass but not kill him, not unless he had to. He let Thomass stalk him. Stephen's defensive stance seemed to infuriate Thomass even further. Thomass swung wide arcs with his arm, nicking Stephen's skin with each pass. The thin cuts burned, but Stephen ignored the sensation.
An exultant cry echoed from across the room and St
ephen felt one level of fear disappear. Madeleine stood up and ripped the last of the tape from her arms. She was free.
Stephen kept Thomass in sight but watched Madeleine, willing her to escape. He should have known better.
She ran from the chair and leapt toward them, landing hard against Thomass' back. Her arms wrapped around his neck, her knees grabbing his hips. Thomass rocked forward under the impact. She pulled on Thomass' neck, her muscles bunching as she tried to tip the vampire backward. He tore her arms away from his throat and, with a shrug, tossed her off his back.
Her body flew through the air and crashed hard to the ground with a sickening thud. Her heart stuttered as she landed. Anger swamped Stephen, his sight turning red as he stared at Madeleine's crumpled form.
Thomass had touched Madeleine. Stephen attacked. The anger he'd felt before was nothing compared to the fury he experienced now.
Thomass backed away, defending and dodging each strike of Stephen's knife. Stephen pushed forward, becoming the hunter once again.
A scuffle in the distance vied for Stephen's attention. For a moment, he thought Madeleine had woken up, but then he realized the sound was coming from much farther away. Gayle or Matthias.
Thomass cocked his head to the side. He heard it, too, and was distracted by the sound. Stephen took the opportunity. He slashed the knife across Thomass' chest, gouging deep into the skin. A scream erupted from deep inside the other vampire. Stephen could feel nothing but satisfaction. The silver would spiral through Thomass' blood stream, poisoning him, weakening him. Stephen knew the sensation. He'd felt it last night when the Council had wrapped spike-lined cuffs around his wrists and ankles. The silver might not kill him, but it was painful and draining. Thomass' arm fell to his side as blood oozed across his chest.
"That's going to leave a nasty scar," Stephen said, moving toward his opponent.
"Yes." Thomass glared at him, then flipped backward and landed beside Madeleine's fallen body. "So will this." He drove his hand downward and forced the knife into Madeleine's heart.
With the silence of death, her heart stopped.
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