She's nowhere near as surprised as I am. Her words make me shiver, and I instinctively cover up my wrist.
"Whoa, shit, it's another vampire!" Carl breathes from behind me.
“Yeah,” I say, pointedly looking at Maria. “One that is tied up.”
Maria shrugs. “I only discriminate against the bad guys,” she says. She nods to the vampire in the chair. “She’s one of the bad guys.”
I don't know what game they’re playing, but I'm not liking it. Never have the Harkers imprisoned a vampire like this. True, we are exterminators of the bad ones, but that doesn't mean we keep them and torture them like this.
"What the fuck is this?" I hiss to Zhi.
"Your information," he answers. He gestures to the vampire in the room. "I know you’re concerned about your welfare, but wait until you hear what she has to say. Edie, Carl, Jude, meet…" he taps his chin, "…your name is Victoria, right?"
She laughs shrilly.
"You have a prisoner here?” Carl demands. “Why? What was her crime?"
“Being one of the bad guys,” Maria intones next to me.
"How long has she been down here?" I demand.
"About a week," Zhi says.
Victoria's eyes widen to two pools of amethyst. At first, I think her eyes are on me. Then she says one word and her eyes focus on someone behind me. "You."
Jude looks paler than normal, his angry piercings standing out like a red constellation of stars on his face. His eyes are on the vampire, not recognizing her.
However, she recognizes him. I swallow nervously. She knows him. From before his amnesia.
"I thought you were dead," she whispers.
Jude shakes his head. "I don't know you," he says.
She blinks, at first in disbelief, then she gets a really good look at him. "You're…different…" she concedes. “Like you’re less than you were.” She smirks. "I guess it's for the best. Imagine if Anthony knew you were alive. He'd be so happy."
Now I feel like I've been sucker punched.
"Anthony?" Carl echoes. "You know Anthony, Jude?"
Victoria throws back her head and laughs. "Jude?" she manages between fits of giggles. "You call yourself Jude? Oh that's priceless. 'Hey Jude'," she singsongs.
I can almost feel the confusion and anger emanating off Jude while he stands there, his jaw muscles clenching.
"I thought you didn't know Anthony," I said under my breath. I don't know what I feel, but the betrayal of everything I thought I knew about him is threatening to swallow me whole. Maybe that’s why he’s had so much trouble finding good information about Anthony. He’s hiding him.
"I don't," he insists.
"He does," Victoria says. "Those two were tight. Like father and son." She cackles at that.
Tears prick at the corners of my eyes. Jude opens his mouth, but I shake my hands at him. "Don't," I warn. "Just don't."
Wisely, he heeds my warning.
"I'm fucking done with this," I say, making to leave. I need air and I need to get out of this hell hole.
"How's the scar, Harker?" Victoria calls out behind me, stopping me dead in my tracks. “Spreading? Killing you? Are you getting stronger yet?”
Despite all common sense telling me to leave, I turn to look back at her.
"How do you know about that?"
She smiles sadistically. "I was there that day. I know Anthony gave it to you."
My hands clench at my side. So she isn't an innocent vampire. Everything is getting so blurry to me at the moment, I can't see straight. "Did you kill Meghan?" I ask.
"The former Harker?" Victoria asks. She licks her lips. “She tasted delicious.”
The murderous rampage inside me unleashes like a volcano erupting. Though every fiber of my being wants to rush forward and stake her, I hold myself back. It’s incredibly difficult.
"Why? What did she ever do to you?"
"Hope." She drops her head in what looks like a gesture of supplication, although I know better. "For the future. Anthony is going to overthrow the Progenitor to become the Progenitor himself. And to get rid of trash like you."
Carl, apparently in a better headspace than me, pounces on that bit of information. "The Progenitor is real?"
Victoria nods.
"How does that work?" Carl continues. "Becoming the Progenitor?"
"You have to be a special, powerful vampire," she says. Her voice is silken, rubbing against me. I push against it. She's trying to glamour me and I don't appreciate it for a moment. "You have to be one of his direct offspring," she snickers, thrusting her chin towards me. "Anthony has the privilege of being one of his sons."
"Why would Anthony try to overthrow the Progenitor?" I ask.
"Because Anthony wants absolute power. He wants to control all of the vampires that are out there. He wants to get rid of your kind." Now her eyes sweep the doorway, looking at each vampire hunter. "He's going to take control of this world. To do that, he needs your blood."
"My blood?"
"Yes," Victoria breathes. "Your wondrous Harker blood mixed with vampire blood. An elixir."
"For what?"
To my surprise, she leans forward, as much as she can in her chains. It must hurt because the silver pushes against her body, and the shackles at her hands and feet strain. "Your blood is the rarest of bloods. You are of the Progenitor’s ilk as well, a powerful supplement. It will help Anthony overpower the Progenitor and squash him like the defenseless million-year-old cockroach that he is." She cocks her head at me. "Anthony's been letting you cook for five months before being harvested." She sniffs the air and her eyes widen. "Not long now until you're just right."
I recoil from her, which makes her laugh.
"The Harker isn't so tough, huh? Imagine that. The terror of our nightmares is afraid of us. Don't you think that's funny, Jude?" she asks mockingly.
He doesn't respond. I wish he would. I wish he would say something. He doesn't, and I feel nauseous that he's not doing anything to prove that he's something else. Someone else.
"Anthony has promised riches beyond your wildest dreams to whosoever brings you to him,” Victoria crows. “And I do mean anyone." She licks her lips. "Vampire. Human." Her eyes flick to Zhi and Li. "Vampire hunter. If I were you, Harker, I would be careful about who I place my trust in."
My retort dies in my throat as Meghan’s words come back to me. Don’t trust them.
"What does he offer them?" I ask instead.
Victoria shrugs. "Doesn't matter. When Anthony is the father of all vampires, you can be assured that he'll have the power to grant any dream to the one who delivers him his dreams. Let this be your warning: watch your back. If I was free, you can be sure that I'd be trying to get close to you. To bring you to him when you're ready."
Her eyes look at a spot behind me. I know she's watching Jude, making a point with her gaze.
"Why are you telling me all this?" I whisper.
She chuckles. "Because I love seeing you suffer. To get a taste of hope that something could change your fate. It'll be taken away from you and I’ll get to watch."
"I'm done," I tell Zhi. "I'm fucking done with this.”
I turn to leave, and her laugh grows louder, more demented.
"When the last of your lifeblood is drained away from you, you'll remember my words,” she screeches. “The ones who you believe to be good are going to betray you."
I squeeze my eyes shut, wanting to block her out. The door slams behind us.
"Answers, yes?" Li asks, speaking for the first time in a long while. I’d almost forgotten she’s here.
"And far more questions," I say. "Carl, what do you think of that?"
"It's all batshit crazy," he replies. "Everything. From not believing that the Progenitor exists to finding out that he possibly does and that vampires are working to get rid of him…"
"Harker," Jude says, reaching out to me. "You believe me, right? That I have no idea who she is? That I'm not working against you? Please,
Edie, I—"
I twist out of his grasp. "Don't."
His look of hurt only serves to piss me off more, because I feel bad and hurt and betrayed by him. I want to believe that he’s one of the good guys.
I have no idea what to believe anymore, and he's asking me to place my trust in him?
"Edie," he begins again, using my first name like we're best friends.
"Don't fucking touch me!" I snarl, hurt and pain mingling with my tears.
He backs off, although he doesn’t take his eyes off me. There’s apology in them as well as confusion. I need to get out of here, otherwise I’m going to suffocate.
"What are you doing?" Carl asks, his voice alarmed.
It draws my attention over to Zhi, who has walked over to the wall of weapons. He plucks a Beretta from the rack and checks the magazine. "Disposing of her," he explains matter-of-factly. He screws a silencer onto the muzzle, like this is an everyday occurrence.
"You can't do that," Carl protests.
“He can,” Maria says. “Victoria has killed over thirty humans in the last year alone. She’s dangerous. You wanted information, Harker, there’s your information. That’s what you get when you dig into our fucked up world.”
Carl opens his mouth to protest, but I hold up a hand and shake my head. He shoots me an angry look.
Zhi snickers at our exchange and heads into the room, unlocking it and opening it. I peer into the doorway, seeing Victoria's face as he comes in.
I need to close my eyes. I keep them open.
Victoria appears to have been expecting this outcome, and yet, she's not thrashing out or scared by this turn of events. In fact, she seems completely at peace. Zhi raises the Beretta to her forehead, and her violet eyes watch me. As if in slow motion, a smile comes to her lips. She knows how shaken I feel at the moment.
Zhi fires one shot and the back of her skull flies off with the exit wound. Her violet eyes go lifeless and she slumps in her seat.
I feel like I'm going to be sick. Not from the gore—I've seen plenty of that in my time. This is nothing new to me. Still, it feels weird. Wrong. And I feel dirty.
Carl has a hand over his mouth, looking like he's going to be sick himself. I pray that he can keep his composure long enough to get away from this psycho.
Zhi steps back, nodding towards the sole remaining vampire. "I could take care of him right now for you."
"No," I say, not raising my eyes to look at Jude. I don’t think I can handle it at the moment. "Leave him."
Zhi raises an eyebrow at my response. Jude doesn't move a muscle.
I step past the both of them. "Look, Zhi, Maria, thanks for the information…I have to think this through."
"Yes," Zhi says. "I bet you do." From out of nowhere, he produces a business card and presses it into my hand. "Call me when you're ready to tackle the Progenitor."
I glance back at Jude before nodding. I see the look of hurt pass his face, but I ignore it and tuck the card into my hoodie. "Yeah," I say. "Sure."
I feel so tired all of a sudden.
"Let's go," I tell Carl and, I guess, Jude. "I want to go home."
“Remember that you can fight this,” Maria tells me with surprising kindness.
Zhi's eyes glitter as he walks us to the door. "I agree with Victoria that you can be betrayed at any point in time, Harker." He jabs his thumb at Jude.
"You could betray me too," I shoot back. "I have no idea if I can trust you."
He shrugs. "Possibly. But we won’t.”
Without another word, I head up the dark stars back up to the drycleaners. I hear the dual pair of footsteps behind me, Carl's erratic two-at-a-time climb up the steps and Jude's more deliberate ones.
I reach the ground floor and head out the way we came, navigating through the maze of clothes. It smells like bleach and chemicals, and it only adds another layer to my unease.
Li is out front. I didn’t even know that she had left downstairs at some point. She is smoking a cigarette, which heightens my own need for a smoke. I could go for the whole pack right now.
She grins toothily at us. " See you around, Harker," she drawls.
I don't even address her as I unlock the door and sit in the driver’s seat. Carl stands outside, like he’s unsure of what to do. Jude catches my door before it closes.
"You should let someone else drive," he tells me.
"Don't tell me what to do," I growl at him, although I know he’s right.
He leans in to look at me eye-to-eye. "You don't think I have anything to do with that vampire down there, do you? With Anthony?"
"All I know is that a vampire who is—was—working with Anthony recognized you," I say, trying to ignore the hurt in his voice.
"I'm not playing you, Harker," Jude says.
"I don't know what to think right now."
"Leave her alone, Jude," Carl says tiredly. “But, Edie, I’ll drive.”
Jude's head snaps towards my cousin, clearly unhappy that we're on different sides of the fence. The flash of his fangs flicker in the moonlight, yet as soon as it happens, he covers his mouth, his face ashen. He looks ashamed.
I get out of the car to allow Carl to drive. I don't know what to say at the moment, so I go and sit in the passenger’s side. It takes me a few moments to realize that Jude doesn't open the rear door. I lean forward in the car, scanning the area around the car for him. There's only Li sitting out front smoking.
"Did Jude just leave us?" I ask.
"I guess he did," Carl replies after a glance outside.
"Dammit, Jude…" With shaking hands, I take out a cigarette and light up. “Let’s go, Carl.”
Carl reverses out of the parking spot to begin the trek back to Austin.
I can’t stop the tears that fall.
19
Jude
I don’t know who I am anymore.
Victoria’s words have rocked me to my core. She knew me. From before my amnesia. She took one look at me and immediately knew who I was. Was. If I was associated with Anthony in any sort of way, that’s long gone. Old news.
Still though, I can’t shake Edie’s look of betrayal when Victoria divulged that information. She looked at me like I was a monster.
I know I’m a monster, but I’m not one of Anthony’s cronies. There’s a distinction. There has to be.
I rub at the scar on my forehead, testament to something traumatic in my past. Something that I can’t remember and maybe will never find out.
I hope so. If my past has revelations like that, I don’t want to know them. I’m Jude now, a vampire who hates being a vampire. A man in love with a woman who can’t love him back.
It fucking sucks.
I stalk the downtown streets of San Antonio near the River Walk area. I don’t have a ride back to Austin, so I need to get back on my own.
Though I can’t even begin to figure out how to approach Edie after the shit that went down in that basement, I don’t want to leave her alone for too long. Victoria talked about other things, not just my history, which I have to remember.
Edie is in danger. Hell, humanity is in danger, but there’s only one person I’m concerned about.
I always could smell the infection in Edie’s blood. It smelled like it would be the most unappetizing feed ever, but it allowed me to get closer to her, to see her for who she is. Now it’s like a defensive measure for her; no vampire would touch her while she smells like that. And if her blood is like a can of spinach for Popeye, it’s for good reason too.
I find a vampire bar by the convention center. I haven’t spent much time in San Antonio, so it’s a relief to find it. My shock has made me hungry, so being able to feed is a boon. Even though it’s outrageous, I order three pints of blood and down them in short order.
I have to get back to Austin. Even though she doesn’t want me there, I have to protect Edie from the creatures of the night, because if what Victoria said was true, then the shit is about to hit the fan.
20
/>
Edie
I know something's wrong as soon as I get to my house. My vampy sense tingles and the hair on the back of my neck raises.
Something is watching me, waiting for me to arrive. I can tell that it's an unfamiliar vampire.
"Dammit," I mutter.
“Edie?” Carl asks, his voice strangled. Apparently his own vampy sense is going haywire as well. “What’s at your house?”
“I don’t know. When we get inside, grab Graeme and Amelia and run. You hear me?”
I get out of the car and summon Glimmer from my left hand, feeling the painful prick as the blade slides through my skin. I don’t normally summon it so early, but when my family is being ambushed and I’m going into an unknown situation, I don’t want to risk anything else.
Adrenaline surging through me, I run up the steps to the house, Carl on my heels. I keep remembering what Zhi said about my family broadcasting our whereabouts so loudly. I make the decision to get off V-boards and find a new way to keep in contact with our group.
If we make it out of this.
The front door is unlocked, most uncharacteristic for Graeme, who worries about Amelia's safety all the time.
I hope I'm not too late.
"Graeme?" I shriek. "Amelia?" I check the living room for my brother-in-law.
Carl echoes my shouts, his voice as panicked as I feel.
For a few agonizing heartbeats, I don't hear a thing. Then, to my relief, Graeme appears at the top of the stairs, clad in his bathrobe. At first, his expression is one of anger at my loud entry, however, when he sees my face and that I have my sword drawn, he knows why I shouted.
I want to melt in the floor with relief.
"Edie? Carl?" He then notices that I have my sword in my hand. "What's—"
"Amelia," I say simply. I follow him up the stairs, taking them two at a time. "Get her."
Without another word, he complies, his fatherly instincts to protect his daughter overtaking any other questions.
“Carl, when they come down, run. Don’t look back.”
To my relief, he nods.
Legends of the Damned: A Collection of Edgy Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Novels Page 33