"Lovely," I said, turning swiftly to go back inside the building, both vampires following behind. Merrill still hadn't said anything to me. Quite possibly, he was seething or something and didn't trust himself to say something until he had his temper under control. How did I know? Winkler was already kneeling beside Glen and I went to join him. I wanted to hurl curses at Kellee, who was weeping fake tears against the far wall, but neither her tears nor my anger would bring Glen back. And he and I had just started liking each other, teasing each other and having actual conversations.
"Glen, honey, I'm so sorry," I was crying now that the reality was setting in. "I had the choice to make and I made the wrong one. I went to protect the mister thinking you might have a better chance at surviving. I was wrong." I reached out and touched his hand; it was already going cold.
"Lissa, he can't hear you," Winkler said softly. I turned on him.
"How the fuck do you know?" I shouted, wiping tears away. "What the fuck do any of you know?" I stood up and turned to mist right there in front of everybody in the space of a blink. I heard some muttering around the wide warehouse, but I didn't care. There were other dead scattered around the room, some of them werewolves. The vampires had already turned to ash. I saw Tony off to the side with his men; they were collecting their own dead into a corner. This had been a cooperative effort between the vampires, werewolves and Tony's department. They'd planned this and left me completely out of it. If Mr. Vampy hadn't come to the hotel with his bitch contingent, I still might not have known. My skin would have continued to itch and I would have known after the fact, if at all. Yeah, I was young as a vampire but that didn't make me worthless or stupid. They were going to treat me that way, though. And Flavio said there would be consequences for disobeying my sire. Well, swell. I had to go back before they took it upon themselves to declare me rogue again.
Merrill was standing near Winkler and Weldon while bodies were carted away. I noticed that the trucks that had come were unmarked. That spelled Tony to me. Flavio and Radomir were also there and they were discussing something with the Grand Master. When I misted closer, I discovered they were talking about me.
"Where do you think she might go?" Flavio asked. "We have already checked the hotel. She isn't there."
"Like I had time to get there," I made myself solid. I wanted to say duh, but that probably wouldn't be a good idea. Flavio was on the Council, after all. And Wlodek was his sire. That was trouble to the twelfth power.
"Lissa," Merrill gripped my arm, "you may not leave my sight unless I say so, do you hear me?" That compulsion sounded like the voice of God and it still slid right off my brain. I wasn't about to tell him that, though. Somehow, I got the feeling that if he knew and if Flavio knew right then, things might go very badly for me. I nodded instead. That information was about to stay with me. Permanently.
* * *
I sat on the bed in what was once Glen's room, wondering if he had any family while I listened to the argument going on next door. Weldon was shouting at times and I sure hoped there wasn't anybody human within hearing distance. Merrill had left me in Glen's room, told me not to go anywhere and then went with Flavio to do verbal battle with Weldon and Winkler. Weldon didn't mince words. "Do you know how many of those fuckers she took out?" I could see him in my mind, he gestured wildly when he was that angry; I'd seen it before.
"We are aware of what she did," Flavio calmly replied and there was knowledge of the good and the bad that I'd committed in his words. The bad being my disobedience, I suppose, and then allowing everybody to see me turn to mist. I'll bet there was a lot of compulsion surrounding that one.
"I still expect her to finish out the tour," Weldon snarled.
"Out of the question," Merrill said. "She will be returning with us immediately. We are assigning Dalroy and Rhett to you; they will protect you just as well."
Weldon wasn't convinced and said so, along with the fact that he trusted me and not some strange vampires foisted off on him.
"The Council is insisting," Flavio said. Yeah. He was on the Council so of course they were insisting. And since he was Wlodek's vampire child, what Flavio knew, Wlodek would know. If he didn't already, he would very soon. I had no idea where the other vampires went; I'd been hustled right out of the building by Merrill and Flavio and driven straight to the hotel. I might have wanted to talk to Tony but didn't have the chance and Merrill had taken my cell phone away. If the Council wanted, they wouldn't hold somebody back from killing me this time. Maybe it was for the best.
Chapter 13
All of Glen's things were neatly packed up in his suitcases by the time the argument was over and I'd tidied his room. My things were still in Weldon's room and I couldn't get to them while the conversation had taken place. Merrill walked in, ordered me to go get all my things and stood against Weldon's wall while I did it. Flavio had left already; he might have been pissed but he wasn't showing it to the wolves. Oh, no. He wore the mask just as well as any of the rest of them.
When I had all my things packed up, including my laptop, Merrill pointed me in the direction of his room and I had to go. I figured the lecture was coming and I wasn't wrong. "Now, Lissa, you will explain to me why you left the hotel and how you found us." He was angry.
I had to tell him about the vampire and the three women who'd come for me, explaining that I'd managed to get away from them and then followed them out to the parking lot. I hadn't disobeyed Merrill's compulsion—I hadn't followed him and Weldon. I had followed Mr. Vampy and his companions instead, knowing they were most likely headed to the confirmation. I didn't know whether help or a warning was needed and I attempted to explain that to Merrill. He listened, stone-faced, to my story. I was truthful when I told him that I had no idea the other vampires and the soldiers or whatever they were would be there, too. He nodded at that—nobody had told me anything. He also asked if I'd been telling the truth about whether to protect Glen or the mister. I wiped away tears when I said yes. There was no comfort from Merrill and I didn't expect any. If Gavin was ordered to remove my head this time, I figured he'd just close his eyes and do it.
Vampires were a strange lot and I still didn't feel I belonged to their race. Truly, I had no idea what I was, not being human any longer and feeling like an outsider as a vampire. What I realized, however, was that I was now stuck in vampire limbo until the vampires who ruled the race decided my fate again. After all, Wlodek told me the first time that if I found myself before the Council a second time, it was likely the death penalty would be levied.
Dutifully I answered all of Merrill's questions, my head bowed as I pondered my fate. After going over my story multiple times, searching for cracks or discrepancies, Merrill fed me a little blood shortly before dawn. I was thirsty and exhausted; I'd used up a lot of energy after all. The rest of the bag was returned to the cooler and I covered myself up in one of two queen beds, turning my back on Merrill and falling asleep with the dawn.
We stopped in New York on our way home, but since we were in the Council's jet, I didn't get to see Merrill's apartment. Franklin had already left for London; Merrill told me that at least but little else. Flavio, Radomir and Russell were on the flight with us but the others had already gone on to other assignments or back to ones already started. More than once, I wondered what the Council was going to do to me and got the shivers every single time. The trip to London was longer of course and we landed with little time to spare. I discovered I was to be kept in a building on the outskirts of London rather than going back to Merrill's manor. It was a larger cell than the first one I'd had but it was still a cell, holding only a small bed, a tiny table and nothing else.
The Council didn't see me for six days and Merrill didn't come to see me, either. Gavin might have dropped off the face of the earth for all I knew, or perhaps I wasn't allowed visitors. What I knew and they didn't, though, was that I could have turned to mist at any time and just slipped through a crack. I didn't. Their compulsion didn't work when t
hey told me to stay silent and not escape. I had no intention of breaking either of those commands. They'd kill me for sure and maybe that wasn't a bad thing. Too many things had happened to me during the past three months—some of them awful things. Maybe this was karma for killing Lily. Even if she'd made the turn, I just couldn't let her live like that—a half-life, hidden and requiring blood to sustain herself. The Council wouldn't have let her live anyway; she was too young. Her death at my hands had been swift while she was between death and vampire. No, that didn't make me feel good about it. Not in any sense of the word.
Radomir came for me on the sixth night and we didn't talk as he placed the usual silver alloy chains on my wrists and asked me to walk before him out of the building. I was blindfolded when we reached the park I remembered from before and he led me for quite a while. I knew when we passed the two vampires at the entrance to the cave—Russell and Stephan, this time, I could tell by the scent. We didn't say anything to each other. I'd made a choice and now I was about to pay for it.
The blindfold was removed and I found myself facing Wlodek and the Council, just as before. Charles had a deep frown on his face as he tapped away on his computer. I scented the room and could have described everyone there, including Merrill and Gavin. They were both present.
Wlodek was toying with his gold pen. Perhaps that was his way of dealing with things that irked him. He pulled out the pen and twirled it or flipped it in his fingers. There certainly wasn't any expression on his face to give anything away. Charles didn't meet Wlodek's eyes when he nodded to him. Wlodek cleared his throat a little.
"Lissa Beth Huston, formerly known as Lissa Beth Workman, it has been reported to the Council that you disobeyed your sire. Is this true?"
"Of course it is," I said, handing him a level look. It was probably on the vampire version of Youtube or MySpace. Besides, how many witnesses were there? More than enough to convict me, that's for sure. I shivered.
"Explain, please." I did. I told him exactly what I'd told Merrill. My recall was almost perfect. It must have been a side effect of becoming vampire but Merrill and I had never covered that in our lessons. Those were likely over now. I didn't expect to walk out of the Council chamber.
"So, you took it upon yourself to leave the hotel after you knew the ones who'd come to kidnap you were leaving?"
"Yes." He asked me to explain, so I did. He looked at his papers. He didn't ask me to explain how I'd gotten away from my attackers at the hotel or how I'd managed to kill at least ten of the bad vamps along with quite a few werewolves. He did ask me about the incident where I'd saved the mister rather than the werewolf.
"And you considered this werewolf your friend?"
"Yes." I did, there at the last.
"Very well. The Council has already reached a decision in this case; we only wished to hear you answer the pertinent questions. It is all as reported previously." He touched the papers under his hands. Great. They'd reached a decision. "Lissa Beth Huston, punishment is always meted out when a child disobeys his sire," Wlodek went on. "In your case, we have unanimously decided to administer a beating. Twenty strokes. Sebastian." I went cold at Wlodek's words. A beating. Just the thought brought back horrible memories. No, those had to be pushed down. I couldn't show my fear. I couldn't. My skin was quivering so violently I wanted to curl up in a ball. That wasn't an option.
A vampire I didn't know came forward and stood before me, holding what looked to be a long nightstick in his hands. I had to clamp my fingers together; they were shaking so badly. Had to get through this. Had to. Was he going to hit me in the head? Had to squash that thought. "Remove your clothing," Sebastian ordered. Oh, God. When I wasn't doing it fast enough to suit him, he ripped my clothes away instead with shortened claws that appeared on his fingers. I wanted to moan when he tore away my bra and underwear. I stood there before the Council and all the others inside the cave, shivering so hard they couldn't help but notice. I was completely naked and about to receive my beating. The first stroke came so swiftly I almost didn't see it coming. Sebastian hit my shoulders. The club was some sort of hard rubber. If it had been steel, he would have broken bones on the first stroke. He was putting vampire strength into his blows anyway, which caused indescribable pain. He broke my left wrist on the sixth blow and I whimpered a little and bent over, but tried my best to straighten up. Three ribs went with another blow; the crack was audible as they snapped. I received a glancing blow to the head; he'd aimed for my shoulders again on the seventeenth stroke. Someone off to the side was counting the blows as the fell. Sebastian knocked me down completely on the eighteenth blow and then shouted for me to get up so the last two could be delivered. I got up. It was slow but I got up, my chains rattling. They were still around my wrists and the manacle on the left was causing horrible pain. I took the nineteenth blow to the back, the twentieth, and I'm sure he did it on purpose, right to the head. Blessed darkness descended.
* * *
"Sebastian, you were told not to hit her in the head." Wlodek was growling. Sebastian the Assassin turned to face the Head of the Vampire Council.
"As you say, Honored One," he bowed slightly.
"I will consider your punishment now," Wlodek sighed, looking behind Sebastian at Lissa, who lay in a small heap on the cave floor. "Derlin, please come forward and check on the girl." He motioned the vampire forward. Derlin held several medical degrees and was attached to the Council as their official physician.
"Broken wrist," Derlin said, feeling his way over Lissa's body. "Cracked skull. Three broken ribs. Multiple contusions." He laid Lissa flat on her back on the floor and looked up at Wlodek.
"She must be more fragile than the males," Sebastian shrugged. "I've never beaten a female before." Gavin, off to the side, curled his fingers in to hide the claws that were threatening to grow.
"I believe I'll allow Gavin to deliver one blow, as punishment," Wlodek said, leaning back in his chair. Gavin came forward and took the baton from Sebastian, who stood at the ready in front of Wlodek. "Gavin," Wlodek nodded. Gavin delivered the blow, right to the back of Sebastian's neck, knocking him unconscious to the floor and cracking several vertebrae in the process. He tossed the baton onto Sebastian's back when he was finished and walked back to his spot.
"That was enlightening," Wlodek nodded. "Derlin, perhaps you should go with the girl and make sure the bones are in the proper position to heal while she sleeps. Is there any further business?" Nobody said anything. "Very well. The meeting is adjourned."
"You'll have to be careful; if she wakes while you're carrying her, the pain will be quite intense," Derlin gave Merrill and Gavin instruction. Merrill removed his coat and covered Lissa with it; Gavin lifted her in his arms. Lissa didn't show any signs of waking. None at all.
* * *
"You let them beat her." It was a statement and not a question as Griffin looked at Merrill across Merrill's desk.
"What was I supposed to do?" Merrill rubbed his face and looked out the window at the darkness beyond. The view during daylight was quite spectacular but his night vision was nearly as good.
"I don't know. Argue harder?" Griffin wasn't happy and Merrill knew it. "And who let that thug beat her to begin with?"
"None of the others wanted the job."
"So, of course the one who wants it is going to do his worst," Griffin grumbled. "I've had enough of this place for a while. Try not to get her killed, all right?" Griffin vanished before Merrill's eyes.
* * *
"Don't move her, the bones are set," Derlin warned Gavin as he watched the vampire physician closely. "Don't even sit on the bed; the ribs and the wrist are fragile right now and the slightest movement will cause them to come out of alignment." Dawn was close, so Derlin planned to stay for the day, as did Gavin, just to make sure Lissa didn't move before she went into the rejuvenating sleep. Derlin went to the bedroom Merrill had given him at the last possible moment. Gavin slept in Lissa's room on the sofa.
* * *
"Get the hell away from me," I threatened, my claws still out. My rush to get off the bed hadn't helped my aches any. Gavin stopped in his tracks a few feet away.
"What's going on?" Merrill and another vampire I didn't recognize rushed into the room. I knew the strange vampire's scent from the night before, however. He'd been there to witness the whole thing. He drew back a little when he saw my claws. "Lissa put those claws away!" Merrill ordered. Yeah. Right. They stayed out.
"Stay away from me. All of you," I hissed. Right then, they needed to get as far away from me as they could go. I wanted nothing to do with vampires. I hated vampires. I'd never wanted to be a vampire in the first place. Didn't want to be one now. Nothing but pain had come of it. I think I was shouting that at them before I realized what I was saying. "Get out!" I yelled as loudly as I could. "Get the fuck out!"
"Lissa! Stop that this instant!" Merrill's words held compulsion again and not a weak one, either. Would they beat me again or kill me if they found out compulsion no longer worked? I hung my head and wept while I retracted my claws.
"You will allow the physician to examine you," Merrill ordered. The strange vampire knelt down and ran his hands over me, beginning with my skull and then going to my wrist and ribs. I was still naked and I didn't like his hands on me. I didn't want another vampire to touch me. Ever. I shuddered.
"The bones are healed; I expect that she still aches but that will go away with one or two more sleeps," he said and stood. I remained huddled in the floor. I wanted to tell him to fuck off. I wanted to tell Merrill to fuck off. And Gavin.
Blood Passage (Blood Destiny #2) Page 24