by Sloan Archer
16
The wait overnight and then through the whole next day was unbearable.
Sebastian insisted that going to Robert’s at night would be our safest bet, the theory being that would-be attackers wouldn’t see us coming in the dark, since we were dealing with adversaries who were human and not vampire. I’d obliged him begrudgingly, though deep down I knew he was right. We had no idea where the Nolans were hiding. And I was pressing my luck, going back to the very spot where I’d been kidnapped.
As dangerous as it was, I needed my cellphone. It killed me, thinking that I might have missed a call from Joseph about Robert’s whereabouts, or maybe even a call from Robert himself. Plus, I had to warn the VGO about Richard and Maxine.
It was risky going to the VGO, because I would essentially be reminding them of the dangerousness of my blood. But I couldn’t stand by and let my grandparents commit genocide, which was what it appeared they wanted to do. They’d all but told me so. The VGO would probably kill them—unfortunate, but it wasn’t as if they weren’t asking for it. Richard and Maxine might as well have painted bull’s-eyes on their backs and run around screaming, “Here! Here! The vampire haters are right here!” Besides, they’d tried to kill me.
When Sebastian and I pulled onto the street, we could see all the way from the end of the block that the house was lit up like a Christmas tree. I hadn’t known what to expect, but this certainly wasn’t it. Whoever was in the house was making absolutely no attempt to hide the fact that they were there. This was either a very good thing or a very bad thing.
I hoped it was good.
Sebastian slowed to a crawl to do a drive-by. I leapt from the car once I recognized a few of the vehicles in the driveway: Liz’s, Jerry’s, and Joseph’s.
Sebastian slammed on the breaks. “No! Wait, Mercy!” he shouted. “Wait for me!”
I trotted back to the car and told him breathlessly, “It’s okay! I know those cars!”
“It could be a trap,” he cautioned, and he was right. My trustworthiness was what had gotten me kidnapped in the first place. “Wait for me to park the car, okay? Thirty seconds of waiting won’t kill you.”
No, but it felt like it would.
I nearly ripped Sebastian’s arm off after he parked the car and joined me in the driveway. I pulled him toward the house and he stepped in front of me, seizing me by the shoulders. “Now, let’s not go bursting in there like two bank robbers,” he whispered. “We have no idea what’s waiting for us on the other side of the door. They could have your friends held hostage for all we know.”
“I hardly doubt it,” I whispered back. “They’re all vampires.”
“Still.”
I nodded to show that I was in agreement. With Sebastian leading the way, we crept up the walk and through the front door. Once we were inside, I could hear Jerry, Liz, and Joseph. They were in the kitchen, debating where to look for me. A fourth vampire spoke up and I nearly ran Sebastian over as I bolted past. The voice belonged to Robert.
When I appeared in front of my friends, there was a split-second when they all stood, unmoving, like I was a ghost that had materialized out of thin air. Then they were all screaming and cheering.
Robert charged forward, scooping me up in his arms. “My darling-my darling-my darling,” he muttered against my hair. “I feared that I would never see you again.”
“Me?” I said in astonishment. “What about you? I thought you’d left me for Serena!”
“Never!” he said with more anger than I’d ever heard in his voice. “Never!”
Hearing a loud commotion behind me, I pulled away from Robert. It was Sebastian, shrieking.
“Get them off me! Mercy! Help!”
My three vampire allies had been so stealthy that I hadn’t felt them fly past. Fangs bared and hissing, they had Sebastian pinned to the ground. Jerry’s mouth was at Sebastian’s throat, his fangs just breaking the surface of his skin. Liz and Joseph had their mouths open and were drooling, their fingers hooked into claws. These were my friends and they were positively terrifying.
“No! Don’t!” I screamed. I couldn’t get the words out fast enough. “He’s okay!”
“Who are you, kid?” Liz hissed at Sebastian. She was in full-blown attack mode, so she hadn’t heard me. She now held Sebastian’s head in her hands and was gearing to rip it from his body. I had to diffuse the situation fast, before poor Sebastian’s good deeds were punished by my three well meaning but rancorous vampire associates.
“Don’t!” I ran to where they had Sebastian pinned and tried to pull Joseph away, since he was the vamp closest to me. It was like trying to move a brick wall. “He’s my grandfather!”
I almost had to laugh, the way Liz, Jerry, and Joseph gaped up at me: Eh????
Finally, their grip on Sebastian slackened.
“Yes, he’s my grandfather,” I repeated. “So if you murder him, you’ll be killing my family.”
Looking sheepish, my three vampire friends got to their feet. My poor grandfather was still too stunned to move. “Sorry,” Liz apologized to me, her fangs retracting. “We thought he was the one who took you.”
I said, “On the contrary. He’s the one who saved me . . . From my great-grandparents.”
“Can I get up now?” Sebastian asked with irritation.
“Sorry mate.” Joseph extended a hand to Sebastian and pulled him to his feet. “I guess we should have waited.”
Sebastian scowled. “You think?”
“Will somebody please tell me what is happening?” Robert said from behind me. “Mercy, how is this kid your grandfather?”
I held up my hands to calm everyone. “I will explain everything to you guys.” I turned to Robert. “But first, I want to know where you were. And I want to know if . . . if you and Serena . . .”
“Absolutely not,” Robert said with enough coldness to initiate a blizzard. “If I ever find her, I’m going to end her life.”
“You mean she’s still out there?” I screeched.
“Aye,” Joseph confirmed. “Unfortunately, she got away.”
“Did she hurt you?” I asked Robert. I let out a breath of relief when he shook his head.
Joseph said, “But she was planning on hurting us. The VGO.”
“Wait. I’m so damn lost. This is so surreal. I can’t . . .” I put my face in my hands and started blubbering uncontrollably. I was just so relieved. I held the pregnancy hormones responsible for my raw emotion . . . And the Nolans for trying to murder me. I hugged Robert. “I’m so happy you’re okay!”
Robert did that comforting back rub thing guys do when they’re soothing a woman in distress. “And I’m so happy you’re okay, Mercy.”
After I got a hold on myself, Liz asked, “Your great-grandparents took you? Why?”
“Why don’t we all go into the living room and have a seat,” Robert suggested, which made me ever so grateful. I needed to take a seat before my knees gave out.
Once Liz, Jerry, and Joseph doled out hugs to me, we all got situated. Sebastian was the odd man out, so I sat with him on one side of me and Robert on the other.
I said to Robert and Joseph, “I will tell everyone all about my kidnapping, but before that I want to hear what happened on your end.” I didn’t know precisely who to direct my request to, since I had no idea who’d played a part in Robert’s rescue. “Start at the beginning, please.”
“I owe my life to this vampire,” Robert professed, clapping a hand down on Joseph’s shoulder.
I immediately felt guilty, remembering the awkward kiss Joseph and I had shared. Joseph seemed to be thinking the same thing, because he quickly looked away as our eyes met. I was still on the fence about whether or not I was going to tell Robert what had happened. I wondered what good it would do, him knowing that I’d kissed Joseph. It wasn’t like I’d done it out of spite or to be deliberately conniving—at the time, Robert and I weren’t technically a couple. What had happened with Joseph was undeniably never going to ha
ppen again, with the two of us being repulsed by each other. I was also pregnant with Robert’s child. How would that make Robert feel, knowing that I’d kissed another man while his baby was growing inside my womb? It would only make him resentful towards me and homicidal towards Joseph. And, though Joseph was friendly with Robert and me, he was still a member of the VGO.
Confessing would only create unnecessary stress. And, really, the only reason I’d tell Robert about the kiss was to make myself feel better and to alleviate my own guilt, which didn’t seem fair. No, I decided, I wasn’t going to say a thing. And I hoped Joseph wouldn’t, either.
Joseph seemed embarrassed by Robert’s appraisal. With awkwardness he said, “And the VGO owe many thanks to Mercy for bringing the situation to our attention.”
“Me? What did I do?”
“You alerted us to Serena’s diabolical plan,” Joseph said with a frosty smile.
I felt completely clueless. “What plan? What, her trying to steal Robert away from me?”
Robert and Joseph shook their heads.
“Mercy, I don’t think Serena even likes men,” said Joseph.
“She likes women, then?” I asked, feeling a relief so profound that I nearly fainted.
Robert said, “She likes only one vampire, and that’s herself.”
I threw my hands up in exasperation. “Okay, you guys are already losing me. Please, start from the beginning. Like, Robert . . . How did Serena capture you?”
“She snatched me when you went to see Mathew,” Robert began. “Do you remember when you and I were at the VGO headquarters and we were thinking about Mathew having my fangs?”
“Yes.” Like I could forget.
“Well, when you suspected that Serena had read your mind, you were right,” Robert said. “She bugged Mathew’s phone right after we came home.”
“Sneaky bitch,” I muttered.
Robert nodded. “She knew that Mathew had the fangs, but she didn’t know where he’d been keeping them. Also, Mercy, she wanted to get rid of you.”
“Get rid of me?” I said. “Like, kill me?”
“Yes,” Robert confirmed. “But she suspected that you would be under my protection at night, which, being a vampire like me, was the only time she could go outside.”
I said, “So when she learned that I was meeting Mathew alone to get your fangs—”
“She saw it as an ideal time to strike,” Robert said. “Her plan was to commandeer the fangs from Mathew and then murder the both of you.”
“Isn’t that just lovely,” I commented with disgust.
Robert put his arm around me and gave me a squeeze. “What’s lovely, my darling Mercy, is that you showed up late for you meeting with Mathew, didn’t you?”
“I did. By about twenty minutes.”
“I promise you now, my love, that I will never, ever, ever again give you grief for running late,” Robert smiled. “Because your lateness was what saved your life.”
That was not a thought I wanted to dwell on too much. “So, what happened? It was obviously Serena who murdered Mathew.”
“It was,” said Robert. “She waited by the fountain for you to show up. But then Mathew spotted her. She was more concerned with her identity being revealed than killing you, so she decapitated Mathew before he had the chance to call out to her, took the fangs, and then ran. She came here next.”
“Where she used the fangs to make you go with her,” I said.
“Yes,” Robert said. “But I didn’t go without a fight.”
“Which explains the tipped-over lamp,” I said.
“Yes. But the one shove I’d given her was all I could manage,” Robert said with regret. “Once Serena realized that I meant to cause her real damage, she used the fangs to control me.”
“What was it like, being controlled by her?” I asked.
“Awful,” Robert said grimly. “I was aware of my actions but incapable of controlling them. It was like . . .”
“Like being possessed by a demonic force?” I finished for him.
“Well, Serena is demonic,” said Robert.
I asked, “Okay, so wait a minute. If Serena wanted her identity concealed, then why would she go to the trouble of calling to taunt me about stealing you away?”
Robert shrugged. “She had to improvise, I imagine. She knew that you would look for me. Perhaps she worried that you’d go to the VGO with your concerns about my vanishing, if you didn’t know that it was one of their own that had me.”
“Son of a bitch,” I spat. “That was exactly what happened! I didn’t contact the VGO because I was afraid of offending them.”
Robert said, “Serena used my fangs to make me say those things to you, so you’d think we were over and move on.” Robert hugged me tight, which embarrassed our company, but I didn’t care. Being back in my man’s arms felt incredible.
“I was heartbroken,” I told Robert.
“And I’m so sorry for that,” he apologized. “I couldn’t control myself. She made me do it.”
Joseph cleared his throat, keeping us on track.
“Sorry,” I apologized. “So, where did Serena take you? I figured wherever you were was far, far away, since the number you called me from was foreign.”
“It was a foreign cellphone, but Serena wasn’t using it in the country where she’d purchased it. You’re never going to believe where she was holding me,” Robert said, like he could hardly believe it himself.
“Where? Antarctica? Iceland? Madagascar?” I said.
It was Joseph who answered. “Arizona.”
I frowned. “Arizona-Arizona? Like, in Phoenix?”
“Why don’t you take over from here?” Robert said to Joseph. They were all smiles now, like they were old friends. It was shocking, because Robert feared and loathed the VGO. At least he had the last time we’d spoken about them. A vampire was entitled to change his mind, though.
“Sure thing,” Joseph said. “After you told me about what had happened, Mercy, I went home to Scotland to share the information with the rest of the VGO. As I mentioned on the night of Jerry’s wedding, we’d been planning on removing Serena from her position of power, for various reasons.”
“Because she’s a psycho bitch?” I spat.
Joseph didn’t mind. “Something like that,” he smirked. “My associates and I had already suspected Serena of wrongdoing, due to her disappearance. And then when you told me about what had happened with Robert, I was sure. But we were at an absolute loss about where to look. We knew Serena kept a home in France, but she was far too cunning to hide out in a place she knew we’d look.”
“Why did you look in Arizona? It’s so random,” I remarked.
“Well . . . There’s more to it.” Joseph paused. “Okay. What I am going to tell you is strictly confidential. The VGO seldom divulge such information, but for the sake of full disclosure . . .” Liz, Sebastian, and Jerry, who hadn’t said a peep once since we’d sat down, all leaned forward. “This is never to be repeated, understand?”
We all nodded.
“When most vampires think of the VGO, they usually think of those who, like myself, represent the organization at high table during ceremonies and trials. But when combining those affiliated with the VGO the world over, there are hundreds of us,” Joseph explained. “There are a few of our factions that operate underground, as many of their projects are . . .”
“Illegal,” I said, because nobody else would.
“I suppose that’s one way to state it, yes,” Joseph said. “In modern times, the VGO’s most vital divisions are ones that focus on information technology. As you are aware, anonymity is what vampires value most; the VGO work very hard to ensure that the vampire secret remains a secret. The way we do this is by monitoring what happens online—emails and websites mainly. We look for the repeated use of key words that pertain to vampirism, like blood, immortals, and VGO.”
“That’s crazy,” I commented.
“Some of the things we uneart
h are crazy,” Joseph said. “For the most part, the majority of those who reference vampirism online are usually discussing films or books. Then there are those who are trying to capitalize on the recent trendiness of vampirism by selling vampire-themed trinkets and jewelry. The last group is the most problematic: the crackpots. These are conspiracy theorists that believe vampires are out to get them and individuals—humans—who fancy themselves vampires. They have blogs about things like drinking animal blood to survive, celebrities who are actually vampires, or how they, personally, escaped a vampire attack. We see an influx in this group whenever a new vampire movie comes out, and typically in the United States, where society is most susceptible to Hollywood fads.” He rolled his eyes. “Americans can be so capricious.”
“I can’t believe there are people out there who are that out of touch with reality,” Liz commented.
“Here’s the thing, Elizabeth,” Joseph said. His hand lingered slightly longer than what was necessary when he touched her arm.
I’d known Elizabeth long enough to know when she liked something, and she certainly liked Joseph touching her. “What’s the thing, Joseph?” she purred, her eyes twinkling.
“I’ll tell you,” Joseph said, his full lips stretching into a playful grin. Robert, Jerry, and I exchanged a quick look—very interesting. “The humans we uncover online aren’t all crazy, and they can be dangerous. Now, I’m not referring to those who enjoy vampire cinema or glue ceramic fangs in their mouths because they wish to be immortal. I quite like these humans. It is their overzealousness that makes vampirism seem like such a preposterous construct.”
Liz chuckled and flipped her ridiculously shiny, bouncy hair off her shoulder.
Eyes on Liz, Joseph said, “It is very easy for humans in power to dismiss vampirism when purple-haired teenaged girls are wearing t-shirts with vampire movie heartthrobs printed on them. But the day the president starts sporting prosthetic fangs to meetings at the UN, vampires will know they’ve got a problem.”
“Don’t poke fun,” Liz pouted. “I used to wear vampire t-shirts.”