by Unknown
“No,” Phil said, with a condescending glare. “They said just the sample. That’s it.”
She whimpered but latched her hand onto my arm in a flash anyway. I struggled as she plunged the needle into my vein. Silence followed as the ruby-red, hunger-enticing liquid poured into the tiny vial.
My blood. This life-giving liquid fueled the entire fight between man and vamp—such a small thing, yet so dangerous.
After what felt like forever, she extracted the needle. Her eyes glazed over as she rolled the vial between her fingers. I used my shirt sleeve to stop the blood flow and pressed down.
“A band aid would have been nice,” I said.
“Shut it,” she quipped.
“Thank you.” Phil took the precious commodity from her hand.
Rochelle mashed her lips together as she continued to fix her stare at the blood that remained on her fingertips. Unable to control herself, she licked it off quickly.
She moaned again. “Holy …”
Her bliss knocked me off guard and before I could react, her snarling teeth snapped inches from my nose. Miraculously, Phil held her back. “Whoa there, partner.”
She hissed and scratched at him to release her before her body went slack. Her face grew taut as she clutched her throat. The tiniest hint of pain shot out from her. I took the opportunity of distraction to plunge the stake into her chest.
Childlike fear crossed her eyes as she looked at me. “Why?”
I cringed and remembered Katie. A tear fell just before she sizzled into dust. I wanted to say sorry as the ash showered over my hand, the stake hovering in my hand in the air.
Phil cussed. “Why did you do that?”
I yanked my head up in surprise. “What do you mean? She was going to kill me.”
“No she wasn’t. I’m here. Geez, Julia. I haven’t been able to get the antidote yet.”
I dropped my hands to my side and let go of the stake, stung. Yet again, I’d messed up the plan. “I… I didn’t know.”
“I can’t leave without it. For Sam.”
“I’m sorry.” I curled my arms around my knees and wished everything would go away, to return to a happier vampire-free life. “Then go get it now,” I said.
“I can’t. They’ll know. And if we leave now, I’ll never get the antidote.”
I rocked back and forth, plagued with what to plead him to do, to save Sam or us.
“What’s going on here?” Alora asked, her voice arriving before her body. “Oh, my… .”
Phil straightened up and handed her the vial. “I’m sorry. I must have missed it when I searched her.”
Alora snatched Harry’s venom laced stake from the ashes and inspected it.
“So clever.” Her lips pulled into a line as her eyes raked over me. “Here,” she said, handing Phil another syringe of golden liquid. “This is for Samantha. I’ll take care of this mess. Transforming her here won’t be a picnic, but she’ll have sustenance at least.” She motioned toward my father. “I hate sickly donors.”
Phil grimaced slightly and studied the antidote in his hand. Victory with a price. My humanity. He formed a ball with his fingers and tucked her gift into his pocket. Sadness crossed over his face.
“Go,” Alora said with more urgency. “They already know.”
Phil shifted his weight and I wished for a joke—something to lighten the mood. He couldn’t just leave us here alone with Alora, not when she’d promised to sire me. The corners of his lips turned up and hope poured out. Then his happiness dawned on me. He’d always wanted me to become a vampire and the day finally came.
But before I could beg for my humanity, Phil disappeared, leaving sadness in his wake.
“No,” Dad growled and held out his arm to shield me. “I won’t allow this.”
“As if, old man. But there’s no need to worry—well, not now that is. Julia and I have history and there’s no way I’d ever sire her with my venom.” She leaned forward and the talisman popped out of her shirt, sparking electric light. She touched my shoulder. “And honestly, you’re most useful to me dead.”
Dead. The word ricocheted in my head. She did hate me. She’d managed to take the only thing protecting me. And now, within her grasp, my minutes were numbered.
Phil left with high hopes I’d cross over and become like him. But instead, Alora tricked him and he’d discover he indirectly chose Sam over me. And in some respect, I deserved this outcome. I’d denied the responsibility of being a Seer, pushed Scarlett away, and rejected the sound advice Grandma had given. Where else could that logic have gotten me except inside a vampire lair and eventually a casket like the other Seers before me. Stubborn must be one of the prerequisites to be part of the club.
She inclined her head. “Scarlett believed you’re the Seer?” She laughed caustically in my head. “Unlikely, and to answer you question, yes, Julia. I really do hate you and you will end up in a casket after Cain is finished with you. And once you’re gone for good, I can erase you from my son’s mind forever.”
“Where is Nicholas?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
She let go and left the cage, clicking the lock shut. I slunk into Dad’s side as he put his arm over my shoulder. “Just let my father go.”
She cackled and disappeared before I could beg.
As Dad slipped in and out of consciousness, I tried to summon some hope his way through my hands from my empty well. Feverish heat radiated unnaturally from his body, riddling me with unease. Someone had to come and get us out of here soon, or he might not make it. He grabbed my hand and shot open his gray eyes.
“AnneMarie, don’t let them take you!” he mumbled.
“Okay, I won’t,” I whispered back, pushing aside his damp hair.
He inhaled deeply before rolling back his eyes and sinking down. I moved his head onto my lap and stared at him helplessly. He continued to thrash about in his nightmare involving Mom.
“Please,” I called out to anyone who might have pity. “We need help!”
My voiced echoed down the breezy cavern, welcomed with silence. Water would be a good start, but he needed a warm bed, food and possibly a blood transfusion. The bloodlust ebbed and flowed, but never came at me very strong. Everyone was far away from our location.
I mopped Dad’s brow with my shirt sleeve and sobbed, unable to contain my grief anymore. Where was Nicholas? Was he still alive? I couldn’t even be sure how long we’d been down here, other than thirst tore at my throat.
“Julia, are you okay?”
I swallowed hard and wiped my tears to look into Phil’s sparkling eyes.
“Phil?” I had to be hallucinating. “I thought you left.”
“How could I leave you alone with her after everything? Don’t you know me better than that?”
I blinked back, disbelieving. “You took a big risk. She said she was going to sire me.”
Phil clucked softly. “Yeah, right. I saw that lie a mile away. I overheard her tell Myhail you’d make a better offering than a vampire because you were a virgin.” He jingled the keys and popped open the lock. “I had to wait until I knew for sure she’d left.”
“What?” I gaped, accosted with the thought Cain would do much more to me than just drink my blood if I were offered to him. “How does she know?”
The shadows highlighted dimples tugging at his cheeks as he walked into the cell. “Not like that kind of virgin. A blood virgin. You’ve never been bitten before.”
He reached out and helped me to my feet. His warm hand felt like a life preserver, pulling me from the stormy sea. “And you didn’t have to doubt me. I did have a plan.”
I let him hold me for a minute as my heart subsided. He pushed aside my bangs and kissed me gently on the forehead.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“Of course.”
With my aid, Phil slung my father carefully over his shoulder and then wrapped his arm around my waist.
“You ready?”
I relaxed into his shoulder and nodded. Together, we glided super-fast through the dark caves toward the exit, just like the old days.
“One good thing,” he whispered in my ear, “they’ve locked you away from the rest because you’re too mouthwatering, so it’s given us an easy exit.”
I wanted to laugh. For once my scent worked in our favor. Instead, I closed my eyes and leaned against his shoulder.
After Phil maneuvered us through two more gates, the stairs came into view. Phil ascended them rapidly as if we were on a floating escalator. The cave entrance came into view and outside a huge moon hung in the sky, casting blue shards of light to greet us. Could only a few hours have passed? Would Luke and Sam be outside, still waiting for us in the car?
“Almost there,” he said in victory.
Freedom. I could already feel the hot shower waiting for me at home. My eyes closed and I thanked God for answering my prayers when Phil stopped abruptly.
In a flash, someone separated me from his arms and restrained my hands. I threw open my eyes in the struggle to stare into a familiar face. One I’d seen on the wall in Dad’s office: Rachel Delagrecca.
She inclined her head. “Do you know me?”
My voice locked in my aching throat. How did she know I recognized her? I swung my gaze around to find Phil and Dad when I saw him. Cain.
“Going somewhere?” He smiled, flashing striking blue eyes, black slicked hair, a strong jaw line, and flawless skin, all packaged in a six-foot-two frame.
A delicious, masculine scent wafted off of him, pulling out of me conflicting feelings. His picture didn’t do him justice at all. My cheeks flushed in betrayal and I cursed internally at myself. How could I be this attracted to the enemy?
“I could say the same about you.” Cain perused me up and down. “Of course, only after you’ve cleaned up a bit. Who’s feeding you these lies about me?” he asked, his white teeth catching the moonlight.
I creased my brow before remembering Cain read minds like Scarlett did. Immediately, I went to hide in someone else’s aura to stop him and hit a wall. None of them emitted any emotion—or at least what I could read. Not even Phil or my dad. No wonder they snuck up on us undetected.
Off to the side Phil grunted, struggling against the male behemoth that held him. Dad lay draped over the shoulder of another woman with a familiar face.
“Please let him go,” I thought, too frightened to speak.
“And ruin all my fun?” Cain replied. “So sorry. He’s a fugitive and must pay for his crimes against us. And—is that ash on your hand?”
I hid my fist in my pocket and turned away. Rochelle and Katie’s faces flipped through my mind anyway, revealing my past sins.
“Hmmm. Runs in the family, I see.”
My fight evaporated with the adrenaline that had hyped me up moments ago. Judgment day for all those who had wronged Cain finally came. How the heck did Scarlett even dream I’d be his nemesis?
“So you’re Scarlett’s little Seer.” he chuckled lightly. “Interesting.”
I gritted my teeth and tried to wiggle out of Rachel’s grasp. “I wouldn’t do that. You’re in quite a lot of trouble and Our Prince can make things much more difficult on you.”
She glanced over to my dad and he twitched in pain. I froze instantly. “I’ll behave.”
Her grip lessened with her smile.
Cain’s face grew hard as stone and everyone lunged forward as if he’d ordered them telepathically to move. “It’s so disappointing my reputation no longer strikes fear in their hearts. That must be remedied.”
The others laughed evilly and I shivered under the hidden implication. As we descended, the moon slipped out of sight, ripping freedom from my grasp.
“You never had a chance,” Rachel said quietly to me.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Once Cain and his vampires reached the main floor underground and entered a torch-lit hallway, Cain hummed. A crash of metal against the floor drew my attention away. One of the other vamps yanked a small cage containing a black furry shape inside up off the ground. A cat moaned, one that sounded awful close to Scarlett’s meow.
“Scarlett? Is that you?”
“Hush, I’m fine.”
A ringing shrill exploded in my head and drowned out her voice. I pressed my hands to my ears. “Stop!”
“What are you doing to her?” Phil asked, then grabbed his head too and groaned.
“Please. I’ll do anything,” I begged.
“Of course, you will,” Cain said. The ear shattering noise abruptly stopped. “No one talks to her, or you’ll all suffer for it.”
I nodded and bit my lip to keep from crying. Phil shot me a pained glance, all the spark I’d seen earlier had evaporated. He knew we weren’t ever leaving here alive.
We entered a room half the size of a football field carved out of the stone, supported with steal girders. Shiny white marble covered the entire floor and golden chandeliers dangled from the ceiling, holding hundreds of lit candles.
I gasped at the vast sight and locked onto a fountain that bubbled out with water in the middle of the room—a horrible tease. Maybe an illusion? I licked my parched lips, wishing for just one cup for Dad and me.
Before I could ask, the behemoth whisked Phil away and someone forced my shoulders down so I’d sit. Dad appeared next to me in a rumpled heap on the floor, his shallow breathing barely audible. Further down the wall, they shackled Phil with cuffs. He shrugged and forced a smile.
Myhail appeared from nowhere. I braced for the confrontation, the throwing of fists and massive vamp carnage. Instead, he walked up and greeted Cain with a kiss on each cheek.
“You’ve come, My Prince. Excellent,” he said in his thick Ukrainian accent.
What?
I tried to zero in on his feelings to see why, coming up blank. No fear, no worry, no apprehension—nothing. It was as if someone had put me in a bubble and shielded me from everyone.
“We ran into your fugitives on our way in.” Cain inclined his hand toward us.
Surprise momentarily dotted the doctor’s face, especially when he locked onto Phil’s shameless smile. “I see. Thank you.”
Alora entered in a black gown with a plunging neckline, setting off her fiery red hair. The bottom shushed along the floor as she sauntered towards Cain’s people.
“My Prince,” she said and took Cain’s hand.
The talisman dangled down, accentuating her assets, and shone brightly for all to see. I expected Cain to snatch it from her chest or at least notice, but he did nothing.
Her gaze fell on me quickly as her lips pursed. She dropped his hand. “Yes, they’ve been quite difficult to keep.”
Shock briefly crossed her face once she saw Phil.
Her head whipped back to Cain. “Are you hungry? I could have a meal prepared.”
He smiled at her. “Actually, I am.”
“Wonderful. Why don’t you, Rachel, and Helena freshen up first? Then you can address the coven from your seats over there.” She pointed to a set of thrones on a dais beyond the fountain. “Migdalia will take care of you.”
A girl no older than me with platinum white hair materialized before Cain. She bowed and took his hand, kissing it. “Come.”
Together, they disappeared into a room off to the side. Other escorts appeared to take the rest away. Alora watched them leave with a gleam in her eye before walking over to me. She leaned forward, hands fastened on her hips.
“You’ll come in handy after all.”
The talisman dangled in front of me within reaching distance. Something compelled me to snatch if off her neck when her claw-like hands fastened onto my shoulders, paralyzing me. Icy waves flowed from her fingers and probed into my mind. I closed my eyes and pulled away, unable to break the connection. Pictures of my life flashed on the backs of my eyelids as she riffled through me with what felt like a pointed rake.
“Stop,” I begged.
“Shush and quit fight
ing me,” she growled. “There.”
She held up the memory where I’d first met Nicholas. He stood on the porch in all his rugged handsome glory and the green stone peeked out from under his shirt. I swooned, the vision so real I reached out to touch him.
Something pinched at my temple and when I opened my eyes, the vision dissipated like a fading dream. I recalled something having to do with Nicholas, something important, but what?
Revulsion crept across her features as she stayed connected and dug further, to when Nicholas had caught me when I fell off the cliff. My most treasured memory.
“How sweet.” She began to twist again and I tried to resist. She couldn’t take this from me, not Nicholas. Then something stopped her and she gasped. She released her hand like I’d electrically shocked her. Her eyes pulled into angry slits.
I looked up at her, knowing something important happened, she’d tampered with my memories, but for some reason I couldn’t remember.
The slide of her lips pulled into a sick smile and she sauntered over to the doctor’s side, sweet and charming once again. She entwined her fingers with his. I wondered what Preston would think of her now, the cheating con artist. Was he going to rule by her side once she tired of Myhail?
Her snap echoed throughout the room, inciting blurs of vampires to buzz about. Tables appeared with linens, tapered candles, and fine china. A row of people assembled in a snaking line. I gasped, recognizing my classmates and, to my horror, Boba Fett and the others from Dad’s ET unit. One shot me a helpless glance, then looked away, dejected.
What’s going on?
“They’re preparing for the feast.”
“Scarlett?” I scanned the room and found her cage tucked under a small table.
“Don’t look at me or they’ll know we’re talking. I’m fine.”
I faced forward, tension wracking my body. “Where have you been? What happened to you? What are they going to do with them?”
“Listen to me carefully. You will be offered as a live sacrifice to Cain. I’ve solicited your handmaiden to sneak you a stake when you’re being prepared. I want you to try not to think about it. I’ll shield your thoughts the best I can. When he bites you, you’ll have a clean shot. Stake him in the heart.”