Til Death (Jane #5)

by Samantha Warren

  I continued to feign unconsciousness until the van stopped. A rough kick at my back jolted my eyes open and I couldn’t hold back a grunt.

  “Get up. I know you’re awake.”

  I turned my head to look at the man above me, but his face was in shadow. He leaned over and grabbed my arm, hefting me into a standing position. I could feel his breath on my ear and tensed as he tilted his head closer.

  “Don’t try anything stupid and we might just both make it out of here.”

  I opened my mouth to ask a question and was rewarded with the butt of his gun connecting with my jaw. I heard an audible pop and the pain was excruciating, but I bit down on my tongue to keep from crying out. Rage filled my eyes as I looked at him. There was a challenge on his face, but it was masking something else, something sorrowful.

  Taking a deep breath, I knelt beside Father Bellini. He was still breathing and the blood from the gash on his forehead had stopped. Before I could pick him up, the other vampire pulled me back and hefted the priest into his arms. He jumped carefully out of the back of the van, the movement not jarring my wounded friend at all.

  “Come,” he said as he looked back at me.

  I followed, climbing out less than gracefully in my torn dress. I looked around. We were in a small room with the van backed up to the door. There were no windows and the only light came from a recess in the ceiling covered with steel beams, much like the sparring room at the sanctuary. In one corner was a bed and the vampire placed Bellini on it, then he shut the van door and pounded on it twice. It pulled away, revealing a long hallway with doors on either side.

  “I’ll bring a doctor for him later. Until then, you’ll need to take care of him. There is water in the pitcher on the table, and I’ll have a bottle of blood sent for you.”

  I straightened and stared at him. The dim light cast a pall on his face and made him look drawn and weary. The hand he rubbed over his eyes told me it wasn’t just a trick of the light.

  “Who are you?”

  He looked at me for a long time and I could see the struggle in his eyes. “Just don’t do anything stupid, Jane. Please.”

  I snorted. “You’ve said that already.”

  “Yes, but with you, it bears repeating.” He headed for the door, but before he closed it, he turned back. “I’ll be back later. Talk to no one before then, not even the priest.”

  And then he was gone. I could hear his footsteps retreating down the hall the same way the van had gone. I tested the door, but it was secure, designed to hold even the strongest vampires for an infinite period of time.

  Sighing, I went to check on my mentor. His face was covered in blood, and his clothes were soaked in it. He groaned as I turned him over to check for wounds, but he did not wake. I retrieved the pitcher of water from the table and ripped a mostly unsoiled piece from my dress.

  As I worked, I wondered idly how mad Donna would be at the turn of events. We didn’t even get to cut the cake that she had been bragging about for the last week. If I knew her, these vampires would have just as much to fear for ruining Donna’s dream wedding as they did for stealing Felipe’s new bride. I thought about all we’d been through since I met her my first night at the sanctuary and I thought about how she had been able to put aside all that I had done, even to the point where she was the major player in my wedding planning. I knew she still harbored some resentment toward me--I’d stolen the guy she had been crushing hard for, after all--but despite that, and the fact that I played a part in her sister’s death, she was still there for me when I needed her. Friendships like that are hard to break.

  Bloody tears came to my eyes and I fought to blink them back. My friends would come for me, all of them. Felipe wouldn’t be alone. He had a solid team backing him, and no matter what the vampire in the suit thought, he wouldn’t rush in like a bull in a supermarket with no plan of attack. Felipe was a calculating man. He was smart, and he was resourceful. He would come for me, but he would do it on his terms. I just had to hold out long enough. And I had to hope Father Bellini could hold out that long, too.

  I finished wiping what blood I could from Bellini’s face and hands and settled back onto my heels. His left cheek was swollen and black with a bruise and his lip was missing a small chunk. I was pretty sure his leg was broken and from the way he was breathing, a couple ribs could have been, too.

  A knock at the door startled me. I hadn’t heard footsteps and that made me more uneasy than my visitor did. Had I been so absorbed in my own thoughts that I neglected to pay attention to my surroundings? A small nearly invisible window at the foot of the door opened and a bottle was shoved through. I leapt for the door, but before I reached it, the opening was closed and locked. I used my fingers to try to pry at the small grooves, but they were almost non-existent.

  Growling in frustration, I picked up the bottle and plopped into the chair by the table. I drank slowly, plotting ways to do exactly what my vampire captor had pleaded with me not to do.

  Chapter 5

  Minutes turned into hours and I found myself pacing the room. Father Bellini hadn't stirred, though his breathing hadn't changed, and there was nothing to keep my thoughts from getting the best of me. I pried again at the little window in the bottom of the door, but all that I succeeded in doing was ruining my perfectly manicured nails.

  The floor was cold stone. Water dripped down the walls and made it slick under my bare feet. The train on my dress caught around one of my ankles and I went down like a log. I was still snarling and swearing when the door opened.

  The dark-haired vampire in the suit stood framed by light from the hall. His face held a mocking grin. "You are not having a very good day, are you?"

  He stepped into the room, followed by his enforcer, and leaned over to offer me a hand. I grabbed it and pulled. He wasn't expecting it and I got a thrill when he thumped heavily beside me.

  I turned to him, a smirk on my face. "I'm having a wonderful day. I just got married, after all. What bride doesn't enjoy her wedding day?"

  The man pushed himself to his feet, brushing off help from the other vampire. He glared at me, one side of his top lip rising slightly. "That was a mistake, little girl. I could have you killed right now, you and your precious priest."

  I laughed at him even as my heart sank into my feet. "You won't kill us. You need us. You want Felipe, and you need the leverage we give you."

  He stood there seething for a long time. Then without warning, a vicious, cruel smile spread across his lips. "You are right, of course. I need you. And I can't kill you." He leaned over, bringing his face close to mine. "But I can hurt you. And I can make you wish you were dead."

  He straightened and walked over to Father Bellini. I moved to get up, but the other vampire was beside me, his hand on my shoulder. The man in the suit checked Joe over and blew out a frustrated breath of air. "How far away is the doctor?"

  "He should be here within the hour."

  "He better. If this man dies because he was not where I told him to be, he will be missing a head faster than he can say his Hail Marys."

  He strode to the door and opened it. "Bring her."

  A rough hand on my upper arm pulled me to my feet. My dress was still tangled around my ankles and I struggled to keep up. The door thudded shut behind us and I looked back, praying Bellini would be safe.

  "You would do well to worry about yourself instead of your friend." The vampire still had his hand on my arm, but he had loosened his grip noticeably and was leaning in close enough that the man in front of us couldn't hear what he was saying.

  I turned to look at him, really seeing him for the first time. His hair was red and cropped very short and he had stubble growing along his cheeks. His eyes were green and shone like an emerald in the sun whenever we passed beneath a light. A small scar ran along his neck, just below his ear, and disappeared beneath the black shirt he was wearing. Wrinkles had formed at the corners of his eyes and his mouth had a slightly downturned cast to it, as if h
e were perpetually sad.

  "Who are you?" I whispered as the vampire in front of us rounded a corner.

  I could see his jaw move as he gritted his teeth before answering. "Someone you need to trust."

  He pulled me around the corner with him and into an open door to one side. The room we entered was very much like the one we had left, only slightly larger with many vile-looking contraptions laying about. A heavy chair that looked like an old throne from the medieval ages sat in the middle. Thick metal straps were attached to the legs, arms, and back.

  I bit my lip as I was led toward it and my heart sped up involuntarily. The fingers on my arm tightened gently, almost comfortingly as the man pushed me down into the chair. His eyes met mine as he leaned over to snap the cuffs shut and I saw the corners of his lips pull up briefly before he stepped away. He took up a position in the corner, hand on the pistol strapped to his side, eyes on the wall.

  The other vampire walked over and looked down at me. I lifted my chin and met his stare, defying him with my silence. His hand moved quicker than I would’ve thought possible and my chin hit my shoulder as my head snapped to the side. My jaw had healed from the previous attack, but I felt it pop out of position again. After spitting out blood, I worked my jaw, trying to settle it back into place. When it was usable again, I straightened back up, meeting my attacker’s eyes with bloody rage in my own.

  He smirked, and my heart ached for Felipe. Gathering up all my courage, I leaned my head back, then spit into the vampire’s face. Blood splattered across his pale skin, sticking to the flesh with force. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the man in the corner roll his eyes and shake his head, but he didn’t move otherwise.

  The vampire in front of me snarled and wiped at his face with a white cloth he pulled from his jacket. He raised his hand again, preparing to strike. He paused, though, andlowered his hand as his lips pulled into a smile.

  “Oh, Jane. Jane, Jane, Jane. You have such spunk. It is no wonder that Felipe has claimed you as his own.” He ran a hand along my cheek and I pulled my head away, eliciting another laugh from him. “Too bad I have to ruin that pretty face of yours. Oh well, you will still be welcome in my fold once I have broken you. Let’s get started, shall we?”

  He walked to the back wall where I had seen two cabinets. I could hear a door opening and the clanging of metal. He was at the cabinets for a very long time.

  “Anson, where is the Solicitor?”

  The red-headed vampire straightened and glanced my way. “It is in the interrogation room, sir.”

  “Ah, yes. I remember now. Watch her closely. She is a wily one.”

  Anson nodded once and set his gaze on me. The door shut behind the man in the suit and we both listened to his retreating footsteps. When they were gone, Anson moved to kneel beside me.

  “You have to be strong, Jane. You cannot give into him. You cannot break. The future of this country relies on your strength and that of your husband. You must--”

  We could hear footsteps once more and Anson jumped back into the corner, resuming his position as watchman. His face turned from fearful into a facade of hatred. He narrowed his eyes and glared at me, hand once more on his gun.

  The door opened with a bang and Raymond burst through. He held an object high over his head, a triumphant grin on his face. Anson rolled his eyes at the unnecessary dramatics. Raymond strode over to me and ran the thing over my cheek. It was about half the length of a baseball bat and was studded with tiny, fat spikes over most of it. The bottom three inches were left bare aside from a leather grip.

  I could feel the tips of the spikes scratch my face, but I did not flinch. Instead, I focused all my attention on Raymond and willed his brain to burst. It didn't, unfortunately, but the intense concentration kept me from feeling the slight pain that was blossoming along my jaw as he pressed harder into my skin. Soon, blood was running down my chin and neck. I straightened, drawing my head up higher, and met Raymond's stare. He smiled, but I could see the anger sitting in his eyes.

  Before I knew what he was doing, he drew back his hand and slapped me with the stick. My head jerked to the side and burning fire blossomed up the left side of my face where a hundred tiny holes had been created. My neck grew sticky with the blood and the device made a horrible sucking sound as Raymond freed it from my skin.

  Lucky for me, he missed my eye and I could already feel the small wounds closing. I smiled at him and said in the sweetest voice I could manage, "Is this how you treat all your guests?"

  He laughed long and loud. "Yes, my dear Jane. This is how I treat all guests to this room." He spun, pointing at the walls.

  "And what, exactly, is this room if not the interrogation room?"

  He stopped spinning and leaned in close, lifting my chin with the Solicitor. "This, my darling unfortunate girl, is the Room of Release. It is where I free you from the bonds of your former life, where I break you down until you are no longer a useless, sniveling creature who is bound to the ancient ways of the past, where I embrace you as my own and draw you into the future."

  At that, he raised his arms, basking in a glow that existed only in his mind. His eyes were shut and his head was turned to the ceiling, so I raised an eyebrow at Anson. He shrugged, giving me a "he's nuts" look.

  I was still looking at Anson and Raymond was still looking at the sky when my head snapped suddenly backward. I felt my jaw pop again, but instead of simply being dislocated, it cracked in two at the point from the force of the blow. The back of my head split open as it slammed into the chair behind me and blackness pulled at the corners of my vision.

  When I was finally able to focus again, Raymond cupped my busted chin in his free hand. "Now, Jane. Tell me everything you know."

  Chapter 6

  It went on like that for only God knows how long. Raymond would say "Tell me everything you know", then I would spit in his face if I could and he would hit me again. At first, I couldn't respond because my jaw was shattered, but after several hours, it began to heal and he never hit me there again. Instead, he took shots at my arms, shoulders, legs, even my feet and hands. By the time he was breathing heavily and covered in sweat, my fingers were useless lumps of messy flesh and I didn't even want to know what my feet looked like.

  "Clean her up, feed her, and get her ready for the next session." Raymond tossed the Solicitor into a corner and stomped out, slamming the door behind him.

  Anson followed behind him after once again admonishing me to not do anything stupid. But what did he know? The moment the door closed behind him, I began working at the cuffs on my wrists. My hands burned with pain, though, and every time I tried to pull them through the gap, the torture was almost more than I could bear. Tears were rolling down my cheeks and I bit down on a scream as the metal pressed tight against my flayed skin. It quickly became too much and when Anson returned moments later, I was panting and sobbing like a child.

  He sighed and knelt beside me. Pulling a cloth from the bucket he had brought in, he began washing blood from my face. It stung whenever he hit an open sore, but the wounds there were nearly healed. He finished my face and lifted a bottle from the floor, popping the cap off so that it spun in the air and clanked to the stones.

  "Drink," he said, holding the bottle to my lips.

  I glared at him, but took a sip. He had warmed it up for me and the blood tasted like liquid heaven in that moment. I followed that sip with a big gulp, sucking on the bottle until he pulled it away from my lips.

  "You're not an animal yet, Jane," he said with a small quirk of his lips before he picked up the cloth again.

  He started wiping my arms, clearing away the spots not still covered by my ever-shrinking dress and I watched him for a bit.

  "Who is Raymond?"

  My question startled him and he looked at me with squinted eyes. "What do you mean?"

  "I mean, who is he? What does he want? Why is he like this?"

  Anson frowned and went back to washing. I didn't thin
k he would answer until he spoke, his voice a bare whisper. "He is insane. He wishes to take over the world, essentially. He feels that vampires should rule, not humans. He chafes under the rules that are thrust upon our kind and desires to, well... He intends to turn humans into slaves, into cattle. And he wants to be the one to lead the vampires, though he would never say such a thing outright."

  "And he's the one who hurt Victoria?"

  He nodded as he gently moved the cloth between my mangled fingers. I flinched once, but held still as best I could.

  "He kidnapped her, with my help. He intended on using her, making her his queen and his pawn. She was much beloved in the vampire community and I believe she would have been able to sway quite a few of the younger kids to his cause. But she broke too easily. He expected her to last beyond the first few torture sessions, but she broke in the second. And she did not just break, she was destroyed. Her mind was gone. She was useless to him at that point. So he gave her to one of his newer vampires, one of his pets. And that is how you found her."

  Tears rolled down my cheeks as I thought of the torture that Victoria had gone through. I was experiencing it first hand and my heart went out to her.

  "Where did Conrad fit into Raymond's plans?"

  Anson laughed. "You did Raymond a favor there, actually. Conrad was supposed to be his lackey, a figurehead in Europe while Raymond stayed in the United States. But Conrad grew too ambitious. He started ignoring Raymond's commands and began to build up his own empire. If you and your crew had not killed Conrad when you did, there may have been a war between the two. I have no idea if the war would have been good for you or cause more chaos, but you saved Raymond the time and effort by taking out his only real opposition. Sad, really. I kind of hoped to see those two go head to head. It would have been an epic battle."

  I frowned. "Shame. I wish we would have known. We could have held off on our attack and taken them both out at once."