by ERIN BEDFORD
We didn’t come across any resistance as we came up to Asher’s room. Marsha started to open the door, but I stopped him. Looking up at me curiously, I said, “He might think it’s an attack, better knock first.”
Nodding, Marsha stepped aside. I knocked on the door and called out, “Asher, are you in there? It’s me. Clarabelle.”
There was some movement inside and then silence. I frowned, my brows furrowed in confusion. Exchanging a look with Marsha, I reached out to open the door, but suddenly, the door was thrown open.
Asher stood in the doorway, the lower half of his face covered in blood. He glanced at Marsha and me before ushering us in quickly. His head peeked out to check the hallway, and then he shut the door firmly behind him.
“Clara,” Asher gasped, pulling me into his arms. “You can’t believe how happy I am to see you.”
Letting him hug me, I grinned. “I can imagine.” Pulling away from him, I asked, “Where are the girls?”
Asher glanced toward Marsha for a moment, suspicion on his face. “You have your memories back, don’t you?”
“Is it that obvious?” Marsha scratched the back of his head, the boy I knew from the marketplace coming out of his hard exterior.
“Patrick did it earlier,” I told Asher and then shook him slightly. “Asher, where are your girls?”
Again, he avoided the question. “We should really get away from here. They’ve passed through once, but they might come back again.” He tried to head for the door, but I stopped him, my hand holding fast to his wrist. He looked down at my hand and then back to my face. As if a dam had broken, so did Asher. He fell to his knees and tears poured down his face.
“Asher, Asher,” I cooed, kneeling with him. “It’s okay. Tell me what happened.”
“I couldn’t protect them,” Asher told me through his sobbing. “They came in while we were sleeping. I’d gone to speak to Patrick and didn’t even know we were under attack until I felt them.” He gripped his chest tightly. “After you’ve been together as long as we have, we have sort of a connection, you know?” I nodded, though I didn’t really know what he was talking about. “I could feel their pain. Their screaming. I raced back here, but I was too late. They were already dead.”
“And the blood?” Marsha gestured toward the front of Asher’s shirt and face. “Whose is that?”
A wicked grin curled up Asher’s face. “I might not have gotten here in time to save them, but I did catch their killers.” Licking his lips, he purred. “They were delicious.”
I could tell Asher’s words freaked Marsha out, so I said, “Why don’t you go get cleaned up? It’ll be easier to get you out if you don’t look so much like a—”
“Rampaging monster,” Marsha filled in, and I glared at him.
“Very well,” Asher stood and headed to the bathroom, not really bothered by Marsha’s comment.
“Will you hold in your judgment just a little bit?” I demanded, climbing to my feet.
“But he is rampaging monster,” Marsha countered, his arms crossed over his chest.
“What he is, is someone who just lost everyone he cared about in one night. Of course, he’d be a little bit upset.” I growled and stepped closer to him. “Have a little compassion.”
“I can’t.” Marsha shook his head. “Not for them.” His eyes locked on mine. “Not even for you.”
I sighed and took a step back. “Then maybe you should just go. If it comes down to them or us, I can’t trust you will choose the right people to save.”
Marsha opened his mouth to argue but clamped it shut and gave me a curt nod. I didn’t watch him as he started for the door. It wasn’t until he said my name did I turn around.
“You would have loved me, you know. We’d have been happy.”
I offered Marsha a small smile, too tired to really get into it. “I know.”
Lips pressed together, Marsha nodded again and then he was gone.
I didn’t have the energy to cry for what we could have had. There wasn’t any time in any case. All I could do was keep moving forward.
“Where’d Marsha go?” Asher asked when he emerged from the bathroom, freshly cleaned of blood. He’d even changed his shirt.
“He’s gone.” I left it at that and Asher didn’t ask. “Let’s go. Marsha got a lot of the companions out already. I want to find Patrick.”
Following after me, Asher said, “He was in his office last time I saw him. The fighting hadn’t gotten up there yet.”
I peeked out into the hallway and searched for any attackers. When the coast was clear, I glanced at Asher over my shoulder, “Let’s hope that it stayed that way.”
Chapter 19
My wish that the fighting hadn’t gotten that far was dashed as we rushed up the body littered stairs. We got into a couple of squabbles but nothing serious enough to stop us.
When we got to the hall Patrick’s office was on, I was happy to see the body of Victor lying on the ground, his heart ripped out. With a smug look, I kicked his body out of the way. Even if I hadn’t been the one to kill him, I was happy someone had.
“Come on!” Asher grabbed my arm. “You can’t gloat without a head.”
Rolling my eyes but quickening my pace, I let Asher pull me down the hallway. Before we could reach Patrick’s office, a high-pitched scream stopped us in our tracks. The sound came from an open bedroom door near us. I moved toward it against my better judgment.
Inside, Beaford laid in two pieces in the middle of the floor. Zara was cornered by a group of three men, her face bloodied and her clothes torn. When I stepped into the room, her eyes shot up to me.
“Clarabelle! Help me.” She reached a hand out toward me. The men surrounding her turned as one to look in my direction. One of them was Nex, trembling with nerves from the moment he saw me.
“Just turn around and leave,” he urged me. “I have no quarrel with you. Your father is a good man, I’m sure he’d be happy to see you leave this place alive.”
A part of me wanted to leave her there, believe that it would be some form of justice to let her die at the hands of the humans the way she had caused so many other deaths just to get where she was now. No one would blame me or even care if I let her die.
But you would.
Sighing at my own bleeding heart, I took a step closer. “Sorry, Nex. I can’t do that.”
Zara visibly sagged at my words, but the men around her tensed. Nex didn’t seem to want to fight me, but he wasn’t backing down either. I felt Asher coming in behind me, causing the men to start to tremble. One vampire was one thing, but two? I think they were about to crack, either to fight or to flee.
“Clarabelle,” Asher said at my side, glancing over the scene. “Do you need some help?”
I smirked, letting my fangs slip out, flashing the room. “Sure, I’d be happy for some.”
With a battle cry, one of the men came barreling toward us, his weapon held high. As if his shout had been the reassurance the other needed, that one charged as well. Only Nex stayed behind. The coward.
I didn’t even get a chance to take the guys out. Asher stepped in front of me, grabbed the guy by the head, and twisted. A sickening crack filled the room and he went limp. Asher dropped him to the ground.
The other one was a bit smarter and tried to shoot Asher with his blaster gun. Too bad he was a crap marksman. The blistering shot went wide, and before the shooter could get another shot off, Asher took hold of the barrel of the gun and jerked it back to hit the man in the face. Blood sprayed from his nose, making him let go of the gun and clutch his face. Asher used the weapon like a club to beat him over the back of the head, knocking him out cold. Or dead, I couldn’t really tell.
All that was left was Nex.
“Hey, now.” Nex dropped his weapon and held his hands up as we moved in on him. “I’m just following orders.”
I scoffed. “You mean the orders to kill innocent bystanders who knew nothing of what was going on? Or maybe the orders to
disobey my father and take matters into your own crazy hands?” I reached out, my fingers wrapping around his neck. “Which order are we talking about?”
“All of them.” He gasped as I squeezed slightly. “Please, please. Have mercy.”
I glanced at Zara who had frozen against the wall, watching me with a mixture of fear and admiration. “Were you going to have mercy on her?” I turned him slightly so he could see Zara’s bloodied face. Then without a word, I put my other hand on the back of his head and twisted until there was a crack. Nex sagged in my hands, and I let go of him, making him fall to the ground.
Zara moved slowly away from the wall, her mouth agape. “I can’t believe you saved me.”
“Don’t mention it.” I turned on my heel and started for the door. A hand grabbed my elbow, and I twisted around to see Zara standing there.
“Really, Clarabelle. I’m sorry. I can’t thank you enough.” The genuine gratitude in her eye should have been enough, but it didn’t bring those people she killed back. It didn’t make up for trying to kill me on more than one occasion. All it did was make me angry.
“Seriously.” I jerked my arm away. “Don’t mention it.”
I stalked out the door and toward Patrick’s office. I didn’t know if Asher was following me, and at that point, I didn’t care. I just wanted to find Patrick and leave. I wanted it all to be over.
The door to Patrick’s office wasn’t open. I didn’t knock this time. Patrick would feel me coming. I expected to see a fight in progress or even Patrick already dead. What I didn’t expect was to see Quell bound and gagged in a chair while Patrick sat at his desk as calm as can be.
When I entered, Patrick looked up from his desk. “Ah, Clarabelle. There you are. I hope you didn’t run into too much trouble.”
The humorous glint in his eye made me laugh. A full-throated ‘oh my God, I’m too tired for this crap’ laugh. Wiping my face with the back of my hand, I shook my head. “No, not too much trouble.”
Asher came running into the room next. He took one look at the scene and frowned. “Why haven’t you killed this one?” He pointed at Quell who struggled against his binds, his eyes full of hatred.
Patrick stood and walked around his desk. Leaning against the edge of it, he pointed his clasped hands at Quell. “I am trying to show this one that not all of us are monsters. That the few that have strayed from the path do not define the many, but as you can see,” - he smiled darkly - “I am having a difficult time convincing him.”
I looked to Quell and then back to Patrick. “This is pointless. I understand what you are trying to do, but this isn’t really the time.” I moved over to Patrick and took his hands in mine. “We need to leave. Let them figure it out, and when everything calms down, we can try and convince them of our good intentions. After all, someone has to fix the mind-blasted people in the dungeon.”
Patrick arched a brow and then nodded. “Very well. Let us leave this place.”
I let out a breath, relieved that he didn’t argue. To my surprise, he didn’t head toward the door but his bookcase. He pulled a book down that caused a click and then a whirling sound. The bookshelf shifted on its own to reveal a door.
Gaping at it, I asked, “Where does that go?”
Patrick chuckled. “You don’t think I didn’t have a backup plan?”
He ushered Asher and me forward. We followed him inside where he clicked a button which closed the bookshelf behind us. The last thing I saw was Quell’s furious face staring at us before the secret door closed on him.
“Where does this go?” Asher’s voice bounced off the walls, echoing back at us. The path began to descend, and I could barely hear the fighting still going on in the palace.
“Out of Alban,” Patrick explained, “and into the forest around it.”
“What do you plan for us to do there?” Asher speculated. There was a dim light in the hidden passage, so it was easy to see the lifting of his brow and the tension in his body. I didn’t blame him. We were going out to the unknown. The wild areas surrounding Alban. Who knew what kind of dangers awaited us there?
Patrick lifted an elegant shoulder. “To be honest, I do not know. We can’t stay here as you well know. There’s a safe house a few miles away from Alban’s border that we can stay at until we decide on a more definite plan.”
“But for how long?” Asher sighed, dragging a hand through his hair. “We can’t stay there forever. And what would we eat?”
“Animals,” I told him, earning me a curious look. “We can survive on animals until we can come back. It’s not ideal, but it can be done.”
Patrick nodded, pride in his face at my suggestion. “As Clarabelle has said, there are other options than taking human life, which we will now have to learn for ourselves.”
Asher grew quiet, his questions answered for now. I hoped his mind was more peaceful than mine, which kept whirling at all that was going on.
We were past the bottom floor of the palace now and was now at the dungeon level. My father would be in there, taking care of the those who couldn’t take care of themselves. I sent a silent prayer to whoever was listening that he was able to get out okay. I wanted to be the hero and save everyone, but sometimes you had to just settle for saving yourself.
Chapter 20
The safe house had been exactly where Patrick had told us. When we reached it, we were beyond exhausted. I only took a moment to check out my home for the foreseeable future.
It was two stories with a beat-up exterior, but it was a high-tech wonderland inside. There were several bedrooms, a kitchen, and even an area set up to be a fully-stocked infirmary. Electricity buzzed through the whole building. Where that power came from was a question that sprang to mind, but I was too tired to ask. I’d leave that and so many more questions for later.
When I woke, it was dark again. I’d slept the rest of the night and through the next day. I went to the bathroom attached to the room I had crashed in and cleaned off my face. I didn’t bother to shower right away, not with my stomach growling urgently.
Making my way down the stairs, I heard Patrick and Asher talking quietly with someone else. As I rounded the corner I saw Maleria sitting with them at the kitchen table. I cleared my voice to announce my arrival though I was sure Patrick already sensed it.
Patrick’s head turned to me, and he stood. “Clarabelle, I hope you slept well.”
I nodded and then shrugged. “As well as can be expected.” I glanced at Maleria. “Is Violet ...?”
Maleria brushed her long blonde hair over her shoulder and smiled softly. “She’s fine. Your friend, Marsha, helped get her out.”
“Why didn’t you bring her with you?” I asked, taking a seat between Patrick and Asher. Patrick handed me a cup, and the distinctive smell of blood wafted up from it. Glancing down at it, I took a tentative sip. “This isn’t animal blood.” It was more of a statement than a question.
“No,” Patrick shook his head with a small smile. “We had a few reserves here for emergencies. It won’t last us long, but it will be enough to help us through the transition to animal blood.”
Asher made a disgusted noise. “Who thought we’d be reduced to this? Feeding on animals?”
“What else would you have us do?” Patrick asked, a hard edge to his voice. Apparently, they’d had this discussion before. “We can’t go back, not right now, and there are no humans for miles around us.”
“We could go to one of the other cities,” Asher suggested, a bit too excited about that unknown prospect. “The other vampires would be happy to take us in, I’m sure.”
“And what would we tell them?” The question came out before I could realize I’d said it out loud. Asher shot me a look, but I didn’t back down. “Do we tell them the humans kicked us out of our own city? What do you think they will do?” I raised a brow.
“They’ll come barging in with fangs out,” Maleria answered with a shake of her head. “They won’t ask questions. They’ll kill whoever is
in charge and take the city back, putting us right back to where we started.”
I was surprised to see Maleria here. I’d thought she would have been one of the ones to get killed in the attack. It was especially surprising to hear her talk about not wanting to go back to the way things were. It seemed I was wrong about my friend’s companion. I’d been wrong about a lot of things.
“She’s right.” Patrick picked up his own cup and took a drink. “If we let on to what happened in Alban, there will be a massacre even worse than the one the humans created.”
“Then what do we do?” Asher said eventually, sagging in his seat. “We just wait here and hope they calm down? That’s worse than if they’d just killed us right there.”
Patrick sighed. “That’s all we can do, for now.”
Asher wasn’t wrong. Waiting was torture. More vampires showed up at the safe house over the next few days but only a few more. It seemed like the humans had gotten most of them. That didn’t bode well for the rest of us.
After a month, Patrick sent Maleria, the quickest and sneakiest of us, to check on the situation. But she only returned with a sad shake of her head. The humans weren’t any closer to calming down since the time we left.
“It’s a madhouse in there,” she told us. “No one seems to know what’s going on. One half of the population is still angry, while the other half wants to find a new way to rule Alban. People are stealing and just generally causing destruction.”
“It will get better,” Asher told her, placing a hand on her shoulder. He and Maleria had come together shortly after our arrival, taking comfort in each other after their losses. I was happy for them, I really was, but I couldn’t help but wonder about my own family still in the chaos that had become Alban.
Two more months passed and each month, Patrick sent Maleria to check. Each month she came back with the same sad expression and the same sour news. Until finally, on the fourth month, she came back smiling.