All That Bleeds

by Kimberly Frost

  “You don’t actually think he’s Len Mills,” Troy snapped.

  “Of course I do,” she said.

  “Why does he want you off the mountain so badly?” Troy demanded. “He’s obviously infatuated with you and—”

  “Can ventala become infatuated?” Dorie asked. “They’re animals.”

  Alissa glared at her.

  “We’ll find out what he is in the morning,” Grant said. “Merrick is half vampire. When the sun rises, he’ll slide into a comalike sleep. Then we’ll go in and take off whatever magical objects he’s wearing and see what we’re left with.”

  No! Alissa felt ill and swallowed hard against the urge to be sick. She had to get him out of there.

  “In the meantime,” Grant continued, “the muses will stay together in the lounge. Troy, you take them there and stay with them. ES has a lot of work to do tonight.”

  “I want to talk to him,” Alissa said.

  “Absolutely not! Let’s be clear about one thing, Alissa,” Grant said. “Whoever or whatever he is, he’s never getting near you again.”

  Cerise grimaced. Troy nodded. And Dorie smiled.

  Chapter 31

  The lounge was quickly arranged to accommodate Troy and the muses. Under ES supervision, the staff swept in, assembled temporary beds, covered them with fresh linens, and left a tray of drinks and snacks, baskets of toiletries, and sleepwear. The staff wanted to make a return visit to bring vases of flowers and some candles to “warm the space,” but ES politely rejected the request.

  Alissa sat in the corner, watching the activity, only half aware. The Wreath was lost to her now, but she was numb to that fact. Merrick’s life hung in the balance. Alissa had to get her father and Merrick out of their interrogation rooms and away from the retreat center. It was all she could think about.

  Concentrate. There has to be a way.

  Grant and many of the ES officers were investigating the site of Tobin’s murder, which allowed her a window of opportunity during which ES presence in the main building would be scarce.

  What if Dad resists leaving? If you manage to free Merrick from the room, but Dad draws ES’s attention during the escape…Merrick will be the one who pays the most for any mistakes.

  As the others speculated about Tobin’s death, Alissa went into the bathroom to be alone to think. A few moments after she’d left the lounge, the door opened and Cerise entered, her face grim and concerned.

  “You okay?” Cerise asked.

  Alissa shook her head, the urgency she felt spilling out. “Did you see what Grant was taking from the case when we left the security center? V3 ammunition. They aren’t going to arrest Mills. They’re going to execute him.”

  “If that’s Merrick, then he’s a syndicate assassin. He probably deserves whatever happens.”

  “Merrick saved my life twice.”

  Silence descended, then Cerise said, “I didn’t know your dad was so sick. I’m sorry about that.”

  “Would it have mattered? You seem determined to hold a grudge forever.”

  Cerise shook her head.

  “Look,” Alissa said, “you were always the best dancer. When you auditioned, no one could take their eyes off you. I knew you should’ve gotten the lead.”

  “But I didn’t look the part.”

  Alissa waved that away. “When they gave it to me, and you asked me to give it up, I should have. But Madame Joyce told me that we’d both be in trouble with the council if we defied their wishes. I was afraid of them.”

  “The council does love having its way and making us dance, even now,” Cerise said, and rebellious energy flowed from her. Alissa absorbed it, thinking that she needed to act like an aspirant, to draw in creative energy and let it inspire her, to imagine the possibilities for getting Merrick and her dad off the mountain. She needed the Wreath.

  “I told you I was sorry. You knew I regretted it. Why couldn’t you forgive me for one mistake that I made when I was eleven years old?” Alissa demanded.

  “I did forgive you. I just couldn’t be your friend anymore.”

  Alissa stilled. She stared at Cerise’s face. “Why not?”

  “Because I couldn’t watch you get everything I wanted for the rest of my life. I’m strong, but no one’s that strong.”

  “How can you say— You’re so gorgeous, so charismatic, so talented. What is it that I have that you don’t?”

  “Them,” Cerise said, waving a hand toward the wall. “All the most important ones. I had the worst crush on Troy when we were fifteen. He treated me like a kid while he flirted with you and snuck you into places the rest of us only dreamed of getting into. We were all crazy about Grant, and he chose you. Even my own father is in love with you.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “C’mon. He’d obsessed with getting you the Wreath.”

  “He treats me like a daughter out of loyalty to my mom.”

  “His reasons don’t actually matter to me. When I was ugly and awkward—”

  “You were never ugly!”

  “From eight to twelve, I was. There are pictures to prove it.”

  “Cerise—”

  “Listen, I don’t care. I grew into my looks. What I’m saying is that I could’ve used some reassurance from him. It would’ve been nice if he’d told me a few lies to boost my confidence. I do it for my aspirants. I’m sure you do, too.”

  “Of course.”

  “Now he wants to be close, but it’s too late. I don’t need his approval anymore.”

  “I’m sorry that you feel I came between you guys. I never intended for that to happen. I just needed a father, and he was there to fill the role. Maybe if you and I had been close, I wouldn’t have needed him so much.”

  Cerise shrugged. “By the time I was secure enough in myself to be your friend, you’d moved on.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You changed. You became distant.”

  “That isn’t true. As we got older, the circle around you became huge, and we were competing for the Wreath. You, Dorie, Troy, and Ileana were all friends. I couldn’t reach out to you anymore. It was too painful.”

  Cerise frowned and shook her head. “You never said. You never let on that you still cared about being friends.”

  “Didn’t I? Maybe not. I keep a lot of things bottled inside.” Until him. Alissa glanced at the door. She needed to get moving.

  “Things can be different,” Cerise said. “Don’t ruin your life, Liss, by doing something reckless over some guy who’s obsessed with you. There will be another one along in five minutes. Let the man—or whatever he is—go. He got himself into this mess; let him deal with the consequences. You’ve earned the Wreath. You can still salvage things.”

  Alissa swallowed hard. “I hope that things will work out, but—”

  “My dad and Grant and others will help you unless they suspect that you’re knowingly involved with a ventala.”

  “If I don’t get the Wreath, you will. I need you to promise me something.”

  “What?”

  “If I’m not in the Etherlin and my dad is, I need you to watch over him.”

  “You’ll be here. No matter who gets the Wreath, this is your home.”

  “Please promise me that you’ll help my father.”

  “Ask me for something hard,” Cerise said.

  “I—What?”

  “When we were little, your dad told me I would grow up to be a beautiful warrior queen. I thought he was crazy, but I hoarded those compliments like a stash of diamonds.” Cerise smiled. “Your dad was such a great and charming liar during my ballerina-troll years, God love him. I’ll never forget that. If he ever needs my protection, he has it.”

  Alissa smiled, her eyes burning with unshed tears. She swallowed, blinking them away, and gave Cerise’s arm a squeeze. “Thank you.”

  “Come out and watch a movie with us. It’ll probably be a comedy. I’m sure Troy’s been outvoted.”

  “I won’t be
able to concentrate. I’m going to check on what’s happening with my dad and Len Mills.”

  “You want me to come with you?” Cerise asked, which made Alissa tear up again. Seeing Alissa overcome with emotion, Cerise stepped forward. When Cerise hugged her, Alissa didn’t want to let go.

  “Thank you so much for the offer, but it’s better if you keep your distance from me during all of this,” Alissa said, dabbing her eyes until they were dry.

  Cerise puckered her lips in distaste, then grinned. “Don’t worry about me. They need us more than we need them, and I’m not afraid to show them I know it.” She shrugged her brows.

  Alissa answered, and the truth was a relief. “Me either.”

  Alissa and Cerise returned to the lounge and found the lights dimmed. The others reclined on the couches as Alissa walked around the edge of the room to the door.

  “Where are you going, Alissa? We’re supposed to stay here,” Dorie said.

  “Mind your own business,” Cerise said.

  Alissa ignored Dorie and left. She saw three armed ES officers in the hall outside the large interrogation room that held Merrick. She wondered what they were doing there.

  As she entered the control center, the lone ES officer looked at her, then back down at the monitor that showed the door and hall.

  Alissa walked to the monitor that should’ve shown the inside of Merrick’s room. The screen was black as tar. “He disabled the cameras?”

  The officer glanced at her again. “Yeah. The ones in the room and the ones in the vents. It only took him five and a half minutes. We sent a guy in to stop him, but—”

  “But?”

  “The officer got a shot off, but that’s it. We don’t know if our man’s alive or dead or how badly wounded Mills is because the cameras are out.”

  A fresh wave of fear rolled her belly. If Merrick had killed an innocent ES officer who was only doing his duty, there would be no saving him. Eventually, he would be brought to trial, and no one would believe that Merrick had acted in self-defense, even if he had. She wondered fleetingly if he was wounded, but set that concern aside. She couldn’t let herself be overcome with fear or doubt. If she was going to see him through this initial jeopardy, she had to be as cool under pressure as he had been when he’d saved her life.

  She walked to the manual she’d seen when she’d been in the room earlier. The retreat center had just opened, so they were still relying on their operation manuals.

  If you want him out, you’re going to have to make it happen.

  “Director Easton?” the young officer said into a walkie-talkie.

  “Yes?” Grant’s voice crackled through the static.

  Alissa found the section she was looking for and quietly opened the binder to the pages with the access codes.

  “Should I call the Etherlin for backup?”

  “And let rumors spread that we allowed a ventala to infiltrate the muses’ retreat center on launch weekend? Absolutely not. There are fourteen of us and one of him. If he manages somehow to get out of that locked-down room, we’ll be waiting for him with dozens of full V3 clips,” Grant said.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Alissa held her breath as she opened the binder’s rings.

  “Check on the status of the murder investigation. If the body has been moved to the secure location, have the rest of ES return to the center for new assignments,” Grant said.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Alissa folded the pages and slipped them inside her shirt.

  “Are the muses asleep in the lounge?”

  She turned quickly to block the officer’s view of the binder, and reached behind her to close it.

  “Miss North is here. The others are in the lounge, but not asleep,” he said, glancing at her.

  She schooled her features, hoping that her expression didn’t show any traces of guilt.

  “She needs to return to the lounge immediately. No one should be in the control center with you. Have Miss North’s father locked down in his interrogation room so that we can free the officer who’s with him for other duties, and call back a couple of ES officers right now to stand guard in the lounge. Their instructions are to keep the muses there for their own protection until I say otherwise.”

  Alissa cringed inwardly. She needed freedom of movement.

  “Tell them to put in the filter earplugs, and you put some in, too. I’m sure the muses wouldn’t misuse their magic, but under the current circumstances, ES needs to take every precaution.”

  Damn it!

  Alissa hurried to the doorway, but by the time she got into the hall, the officers there were already putting in their earplugs.

  She nodded at them. “I’ll see myself back to the lounge,” she said, knowing she’d be watched on the monitors the entire way.

  “Mills, stop what you’re doing,” the bound ES officer said. “You’re going to get yourself killed. Sit down and think this through. So far you’re the only one who’s injured. This can still be resolved without loss of life or prison time.”

  Merrick ignored him. The security officer was cuffed to a chair that was tipped back against the wall. Any attempt by the officer to right the chair and get his feet on the ground would allow Merrick plenty of time to subdue him.

  Merrick slammed the butt of the gun repeatedly into the plasterboard, raining debris onto the floor. Once Merrick had the frame exposed where the door hinges were screwed in, he could disrupt the frame and take the door out of the doorway. The door that led from the hall into the observation area was not made of steel, nor was the frame reinforced. When he reached it, he could kick it open.

  “They’re in the hallway just outside the outer door. Even if you do manage to breach the hall, they will put you down.”

  Merrick’s leg throbbed from the tourniquet. He bent and untied the strip of fabric he’d secured around his thigh. As blood circulated to his lower leg, it created sharp pins-and-needles pain. He moved his foot up and down to speed the return of flow and normal feeling. After a minute, he widened the hole in his trousers to examine the bullet wound. It was dry and almost healed, but that had cost him. The craving for blood had started, and the need to feed was becoming a distraction.

  He rolled his shoulders to keep his muscles loose. This had always been a possibility. He’d fed deeply before entering the Etherlin, but the shoulder wound had bled so much, plus he’d forced himself to stay awake for so many daylight hours. Now a second blood loss from the through-and-through gunshot wound to the thigh was taking its toll.

  He resisted the urge to drink from the officer in the corner for two reasons. First, because male blood wouldn’t satisfy the thirst for long and, more important, because it would come at the price of being able to deny who he was. There would be no way to claim the man imprisoned in the interrogation room had been Len Mills once Merrick dropped the glamour to feed.

  Of course, the likelihood of getting off the mountain with the glamour intact was becoming more and more remote. He would try. For Alissa’s sake. He ran a hand through his hair and exhaled slowly, returning to the plasterboard. As he worked, her words echoed through his mind.

  Dear Mr. Merrick,

  I learned yesterday morning that an anonymous donation has been made to the county hospital in an odd amount. The amount happens to be my birth date. I wonder if you keep your philanthropy a secret out of concern that your fearsome reputation would be compromised, or if you keep it a secret to protect someone other than yourself. If the latter, I appreciate your discretion.

  There’s something alluring about a private dialogue carried out in letters and gifts, in the form of books and flowers, donations and poems, don’t you think? I hold our secret correspondence as close to me as my own skin…or deeper, since skin can be seen by the naked eye.

  I was moved by your generosity to the hospital. Thank you for that and for this continued unconventional conversation. I enjoy it more than I ever imagined I would.

  AN

  Mer
rick rested a hand on the steel door. After discovering Tobin’s body, he could have gone through the woods to the parking lot and driven down the mountain. He also could have prevented himself from being shut into the interrogation room once he’d seen the door and its reinforced frame.

  Self-preservation had demanded a single course of action: escape. But he couldn’t go. Merrick, the legendary lone wolf, had fallen in love. Alissa didn’t need to make him any promises. There would be no negotiations or discussions, no contracts or vows. He loved her, and he would do what love required. Whatever it required. Until he could do no more.

  At the moment, he just wanted to get to her, to satisfy himself that she was all right, because with every second that ticked by, time seemed to be running out.

  “Mills, listen,” the security officer droned on.

  Merrick looked over his shoulder at the man and pierced him with a hard look. “A tie makes an effective gag, but it’s uncomfortable.”

  The man fell silent. Merrick turned back to the frame, raising the butt of the gun. He slammed it against the wall, peppering the floor and his clothes with the pulverized plaster.

  Another two or three hours, he estimated, until he reached the outer door.

  Chapter 32

  Only a few hours until the sun rises.

  “It’s been a long night. Everyone needs his rest,” Alissa whispered into the room, exhaling magic on her breath. It wouldn’t affect the muses, but at least Troy, who kept looking over at her, fell asleep.

  The ES guards, too, looked exhausted. They were leaning back in their chairs as she passed them on her way into the bathroom. As quietly as possible, she moved the velvet-cushioned bench away from the vanity mirror and counter. She unlatched the window, stepped onto the bench, and climbed outside.

  She clamped down on her lip as the shocking cold swallowed her calves. The snow had drifted along the building, and it soaked her pants.

  Alissa hurried toward the Wreath building, her heart thumping. Even if the officer in the control room hadn’t seen her yet on the monitors, she knew the cameras would capture her and record what she did when she reached the door.