Bloodlines b-1

by Richelle Mead

  “Careful,” Adrian said. “It’s silk.” So, not completely devoid of snark.

  Lee rolled me over to my stomach, finally freeing me of the knife but giving me no time to react. With remarkable skill, he soon had my hands tied behind my back with Adrian’s tie. Doing so required some pulling and restraining of my arms, which hurt quite a bit after the stabbing. He backed off when finished, allowing me to gingerly sit up, but an experimental tug of the tie showed that I wasn’t going to undo those knots anytime soon. Uneasily, I wondered how many girls he’d tied up before in his sick attempt to become Strigoi.

  Weird, awkward silence fell as we waited for Lee’s “makers of destiny” to show up. The minutes ticked by, and I frantically tried to figure out what to do. How long did we have until the people he’d called arrived? From what he’d told me, I’d guess at least an hour. Feeling bold, I finally attempted communication with Adrian, again hoping maybe we could covertly team up on Lee—even though our success rate had just become that much lower with both our sets of hands bound.

  “How did you even get here?” I asked.

  Adrian’s gaze was fixed on Lee, still hoping for direct eye contact, but he did spare a quick, wry glance at me. “Same way I get around everywhere, Sage. The bus.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t have a car.”

  “Adrian!” Amazing. Even with our lives in danger, he could still infuriate me.

  He shrugged and returned his focus to Lee, even though his words were obviously for me. “To apologize. Because I was a total asshole to you at Jailbait’s show. Not long after you left, I knew I had to come find you.” He paused eloquently and glanced around. “No good deed goes unpunished, I guess.”

  I suddenly felt at a loss. Lee turning psychopathic certainly wasn’t my fault, but it troubled me that Adrian was now in this situation because he’d come to apologize to me. “It’s okay. You weren’t . . . um, that bad,” I said lamely, hoping to make him feel better.

  A small smile played over his lips. “You’re a terrible liar, Sage, but I’m still touched you’d attempt it for my sake. A for effort.”

  “Yeah, well, what happened back there seems kind of small, in light of the current situation,” I muttered. “It’s easy to forgive.”

  Lee’s frown had been growing as he listened to us. “Do the others know you’re here?” he asked Adrian.

  “No,” said Adrian. “I said I was going back to Clarence’s.”

  I didn’t know if he was lying or not. For a moment, I didn’t think it would matter. The others had heard me say I was coming here, but none of them would have any reason to come seeking us.

  No reason, except the bond.

  I caught my breath and met Adrian’s eyes. He looked away, perhaps for fear of betraying what I’d just realized. It didn’t matter if the gang had known where I was earlier. If Jill was connected to Adrian, she would know now. And she would know that we were in trouble. But that was assuming it was one of the times when she could see into his mind. They’d both admitted it was inconsistent and that high emotion could bring it out. Well, if this didn’t count as a highly emotional situation, I couldn’t think what would. Even if she realized what was happening, there were a lot of if’s involved. Jill would have to get here, and she couldn’t do it alone. Calling the police would bring the fastest response, but she might hesitate if she knew this was vampire business. She’d need Eddie. How long would it take to get him if they were back in their dorms?

  I didn’t know. I just knew that we had to stay alive because if we did, one way or another, Jill would get help here. Only, I no longer knew our odds of survival. Adrian and I were both confined, trapped with a guy who wasn’t afraid to kill with a knife and who desperately wanted to become a Strigoi again. That was a bad combination, and it threatened to get worse . . .

  “Who’s coming, Lee?” I asked. “Who did you call?” When he didn’t answer, I made the next logical leap. “Strigoi. You have Strigoi coming.”

  “It’s the only way,” he said, tossing his knife from hand to hand. “The only way left now. I’m sorry. I can’t be like this anymore. I can’t be mortal anymore. Too much time has already passed.”

  Of course. Moroi could become Strigoi in one of two ways. One was by drinking the blood of another person and killing them in the process. Lee had tried that, using every combination of victims he could get ahold of, and had failed. That left him with one last desperate option: conversion by another Strigoi. Usually, it happened by force, when a Strigoi killed someone and then fed their own blood back to the victim. That was what Lee wanted done to him now, trading our lives to the Strigoi who would convert him. And then he wanted to do it to Jill, out of some crazy misguided love . . .

  “But it’s not worth it,” I said, desperation and fear making me bold. “It’s not worth the cost of killing innocents and endangering your soul.”

  Lee’s gaze fell on me, and there was a look of such chilling indifference in it that I had a hard time connecting this person before me to the one I’d smiled indulgently on as he courted Jill.

  “Isn’t it, Sydney? How would you know? You’ve deprived yourself of enjoyment for most of your life. You’re aloof from others. You’ve never let yourself be selfish, and look where it’s got you. Your ‘morals’ have left you with a short, strict life. Can you tell me now, just before you’re about to die, that you don’t wish you’d maybe allowed yourself a little more fun?”

  “But the immortal soul—”

  “What do I care about that?” he demanded. “Why bother living some miserable regimented life in this world, in the hopes that maybe our souls go on in some heavenly realm, when I can take control now—ensure that I live forever in this world, with all of its pleasures, staying strong and young forever? That’s real. That’s something I can put my faith in.”

  “It’s wrong,” I said. “It’s not worth it.”

  “You wouldn’t say that if you’d experienced what I have. If you’d been Strigoi, you never would’ve wanted to lose that either.”

  “How did you lose it?” asked Adrian. “What spirit user saved you?”

  Lee snorted. “You mean robbed me. I don’t know. It all happened so fast. But as soon as I find him I’ll—ahh!”

  A yearbook is not the greatest of weapons, particularly one the size of Amberwood’s, but in a pinch—and with surprise—it’ll do.

  I’d noted earlier that I wasn’t going to be able to undo the knots in the tie anytime soon. That was true. It had taken me this whole time, but I’d done it. For whatever reason, knot-making was a useful skill in the Alchemist curriculum, one I’d practiced growing up with my father. As soon as I was free of Adrian’s tie, I reached for the first thing I could: Kelly’s junior yearbook. I sprang up and slammed it into Lee’s head. He cringed back at the impact, dropping the knife as he did, and I used the opportunity to sprint across the living room and grab Adrian’s arm. He needed no help from me and was already trying to get to his feet.

  We didn’t get far before Lee was right back on us. The knife had slid somewhere unseen, and he simply relied on his own strength. He caught hold of me and ripped me from Adrian, one hand on my wounded arm and one in my hair, causing me to stumble. Adrian came after us, doing his best to hit Lee, even with bound hands. We weren’t the most efficient fighting force, but if we could just momentarily delay Lee, there was a chance we might make it out of here.

  Lee was distracted by both of us, trying to fight and fend us off at the same time. Unbidden, Eddie’s lesson came back to me, about how a well-placed punch could cause serious damage to someone stronger than you. Sizing up the situation in seconds, I decided I had an opening. I closed my hand the way Eddie had taught me in that quick lesson, positioning my body in a way that would direct the weight in an efficient way. I swung.

  “Ow!”

  I yelled in pain as my fist made contact. If this was the “safe” way to punch, I couldn’t imagine how much a sloppy one hurt. F
ortunately, it seemed to cause just as much—if not more—pain to Lee. He fell backward, hitting the comfy chair in a way that made him lose his balance and collapse to the ground. I was stunned at what I had done, but Adrian was still in motion. He nudged me to the door, taking advantage of Lee’s temporary disorientation.

  “Come on, Sage. This is it.”

  We hurried to the door, ready to make our escape while Lee shouted profanities at us. I reached for the knob, but the door opened before I could touch it.

  And two Strigoi entered the room.

  CHAPTER 25

  I HAD MOCKED KEITH when we first came to Palm Springs, teasing him for freezing up around Moroi. But as I stood there now, face-to-face with the stuff of nightmares, I knew exactly how he felt. I had no right to judge anyone for losing all rational thought when confronted with their greatest fears.

  That being said, if Keith was here, I think he would’ve understood why Moroi weren’t as big a deal to me anymore. Because when compared to Strigoi? Well, suddenly the little differences between humans and Moroi became negligible. Only one difference mattered, the difference between the living and the dead. It was the line that divided us, the line that Adrian and I firmly stood together on one side of—facing those who stood on the other.

  I had seen Strigoi before. Back then, I hadn’t been immediately threatened by them. Plus, I’d had Rose and Dimitri on hand, ready to protect me. Now? There was no one here to save us. Just ourselves.

  There were only two of them, but it might as well have been two hundred. Strigoi operated at such a different level than the rest of us that it didn’t take very many of them to tip the odds. They were both women, and they looked as though they’d been in their twenties when they became Strigoi. How long ago that was, I couldn’t guess. Lee had zealously gone on and on about how being Strigoi meant you were “forever young.” Yet in looking at these two monsters, I didn’t really think of them that way. Sure, they had the superficial appearance of youth, but it was marred with evil and decay. Their skin might be wrinkle free, but it was a sickly white, far whiter than any Moroi. The red-ringed eyes that leered out at us didn’t sparkle with life and energy, but rather an unholy sort of reanimation. These people weren’t right. They weren’t natural.

  “Charming,” said one, her blond hair in a pixie cut. Her facial structure made me think she’d been a dhampir or human before being turned. She was eyeing us the same way I’d often seen my family’s cat watch birds. “And exactly as described.”

  “They’re soooo pretty,” crooned the other, a lascivious smile on her face. Her height said she had once been Moroi. “I don’t know which one I want first.”

  The blonde gave a warning look. “We’ll share.”

  “Like last time,” agreed the other, tossing a mane of curly black hair over one shoulder.

  “No,” said the first. “Last time you made both kills. That wasn’t sharing.”

  “But I let you feed from both afterward.”

  Before she could counter back, Lee suddenly recovered himself and staggered forward to the blond Strigoi. “Wait, wait. Dawn. You promised me. You promised you’d awaken me first before you do anything.”

  The two Strigoi turned their attention to Lee. I was still frozen, still unable to move or really react while being so close to these creatures of hell. But somehow, through the thick and overwhelming terror surrounding me, I still managed to feel small and unexpected pity for Lee. There was a little hate there too, of course, considering the situation. But mostly I felt terribly sorry for someone who truly believed his life was meaningless unless he sacrificed his soul for hollow immortality. Not only that, I felt sorry for him for actually thinking he could trust these creatures to give him what he wanted. Because as I studied them, it was perfectly clear to me that they were deciding whether or not to make this a three-course meal. Lee, I suspected, was the only one who didn’t realize this.

  “Please,” he said. “You promised. Save me. Restore me to how I was.”

  I also couldn’t help but notice the small red patch on his face where I’d hit him. I allowed myself to feel a bit of pride over that but wasn’t cocky enough to think I possessed any noteworthy fighting skills to battle my way out of this situation. The Strigoi were too close, and our exits were too few.

  “I know where more are,” he added, beginning to look uneasy that his “saviors” weren’t immediately jumping in to make his dreams come true. “One’s young—a dhampir.”

  “I haven’t had a dhampir in a while,” said the curly-haired Strigoi, almost wistfully.

  Dawn sighed. “I don’t really care, Jacqueline. If you want to awaken him, go for it. I just want these two. He doesn’t matter to me.”

  “I get the dhampir all to myself, then,” warned Jacqueline.

  “Fine, fine,” said Dawn. “Just hurry up.”

  Lee turned so radiant, so happy . . . it was sickening. “Thank you,” he said. “Thank you so much! I’ve been waiting so long for this that I can’t believe it’s—ahh!”

  Jacqueline moved so quickly that I hardly saw it happen at all. One moment she was standing in the doorway, the next she had Lee pinned against the recliner. Lee gave out a semi-muffled scream as she bit into his neck, a scream that soon quieted. Dawn shut the door and nudged us forward. I flinched at her touch.

  “Well,” she said with amusement. “Let’s get a good view.”

  Neither Adrian nor I responded. We simply moved into the living room. I dared a glance at him but could discern little. He was so good at hiding his true feelings in general that I supposed I shouldn’t be surprised he could mask abject terror just as easily. He offered me no encouragement with either his expression or words, which I actually found kind of refreshing. Because really, I didn’t see any good end to this situation.

  Up close, forced to watch Jacqueline’s attack, I could now see the blissful expression that had settled over Lee’s face. It was the most awful thing I’d ever witnessed. I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut or turn away, but some force beyond me kept me staring at the grisly spectacle. I’d never seen any vampire feed, Moroi or Strigoi, but I now understood why feeders like Dorothy could so willingly sign up for their lifestyles. Endorphins were being released into Lee’s bloodstream, endorphins so strong that they blinded him to the fact that he was having his life drained away. He instead existed in a joyous state, lost in a chemical high. Or maybe he was just thinking about how happy he’d be once he was a Strigoi again, if it was possible to have any sort of conscious thought under these circumstances.

  I lost track of how long it took to drain Lee. Each moment was agonizing for me, as though I was taking the pain Lee should have been feeling. The process seemed to last forever, and yet there was also a weird sense of speed to it. It felt wrong that someone’s body could be drained in so short a time. Jacqueline drank steadily, pausing only once to remark, “His blood’s not as good as I expected.”

  “Then stop,” suggested Dawn, who was starting to look bored. “Just let him die and have these two with me.”

  Jacqueline looked as though she was actually considering it, again reminding me what a fool Lee had been to put his trust in these two. After a few minutes, she shrugged. “I’m almost done. And I really want him to get me that dhampir.”

  Jacqueline resumed drinking, but as she’d said, it didn’t take much longer. By this point, Lee was nearly as pale as the Strigoi, and there was a strange, stretched quality to his skin. He was perfectly still now. His face seemed frozen in a grin that was nearly as much shock as it was joy. Jacqueline lifted her face and wiped off her mouth, surveying her victim with pleasure. She then pushed up her shirtsleeve and rested her nails on his wrist. Before she could tear her own flesh, however, she caught sight of something.

  “Ah, much neater.” She stepped away and leaned down, retrieving Lee’s knife. It had slid under the love seat in our altercation. Jacqueline took it and effortlessly slashed her wrist, causing deep red blood to well out. Part of
my brain didn’t think their blood should look so similar to mine. It should be black. Or acidic.

  She placed her bleeding wrist against Lee’s mouth and tipped Lee’s head back so that gravity could help the blood flow. Every horror I’d witnessed tonight had been worse than the last. Death was terrible—but it was also part of nature. This? This was no part of nature’s plan. I was about to witness the world’s greatest sin, the corruption of the soul through black magic to reanimate the dead. It made me feel dirty all over, and I wished I could run away. I didn’t want to see this. I didn’t want to see the guy I’d once regarded as something like a friend suddenly rise up as some perversion of nature.

  A touch to my hand made me jump. It was Adrian. His eyes were on Lee and Jacqueline, but his hand had caught hold of mine and squeezed it, even though he was still cuffed. I was surprised at the warmth of his skin. Even though I knew Moroi were as living and warm-blooded as me, my irrational fears always expected them to be cold. Equally surprising was the sudden comfort and connection in that touch. It wasn’t the kind of touch that said, Hey, I’ve got a plan, so hang in there because we’re going to get out of this. It was more like the kind of touch that simply said, You aren’t alone. It was really the only thing he could offer. And in that moment, it was enough.

  Then, something strange happened. Or rather, didn’t happen.

  Jacqueline’s blood was pouring steadily into Lee’s mouth, and while we didn’t have many documented cases of Strigoi conversions, I knew the basics. The victim’s blood was drained, and then the killing Strigoi fed his or her blood back into the deceased. I didn’t know exactly how long it took to work—it certainly didn’t require all of the Strigoi’s blood—but at some point, Lee should be stirring and getting up as one of the walking dead.