Bloodless

by Tori Centanni

  The front door of the warehouse was unlocked. It opened into an antechamber. Beyond was a factory floor with conveyer belts for moving merchandise and all sorts of other equipment. Light filtered down from narrow windows that were set high up in the walls. I saw no one, heard nothing.

  I crept forward and pushed open the second door. Nothing happened. The old warehouse was as still and silent as a tomb. After a few shallow breaths, I heard something to the left, a soft scuffling. Might have been rats scurrying across the floor. I took a few steps deeper into the warehouse and spotted a door off the side, around where the noise had come from.

  Blood thrummed in my ears. A headache pulsed behind my eyes. I clenched my Taser more tightly and moved slowly forward. When I reached the door, I paused and listened. I opened it and held the Taser forward, ready to use it. No one was there.

  That door opened into to a hallway that was illuminated by one of those construction lights on a long extension cord that snaked over the concrete floor. Two doors labeled as bathrooms were on the left side of the hall, and a break room without a door was on the right side. It held an old fridge and some card tables.

  The third door, the one the extension cord disappeared beneath, was at the end of the hall. I went straight for it and pushed it open before I had time to think too hard about what might be waiting on the other side.

  There was no light in the room besides what came in from the hallway, but I saw Fiona in silhouette. I could make her out through the shadows. She was sitting straight across from the door, at the back of the room that must have once been an office of some kind when the warehouse was still functional.

  “You bitch,” I hissed at her, channeling all of my frustration and fear into rage. “You killed that woman, and for what? To lure me here? Haven’t you ever heard of texting?”

  Fiona didn’t speak. She didn’t move, either, but that was pretty normal for vampires, who could remain still as statues for long periods of time.

  “What the fuck do you want from me? I can’t bring Thomas back! I’m sorry he’s dead, but he’s gone. Tormenting me and slitting random people’s throats isn’t going to change that.”

  She sat there, staring straight at me, refusing to answer, which only pissed me off more. I moved toward her, baring my teeth like I still had fangs. Like I was still a threat.

  Because goddamn it, I was.

  “What the hell is your game?” I demanded. I knew she wanted me to come toward her, knew that she was playing the shiny lure to draw the fish toward the hook, and I still couldn’t help it. I walked right up to her and got in her face. “Huh? What the hell do you think you’re going to get out of this? The pleasure of killing me? Because if that’s all you want—”

  I stopped, heart slamming into my chest. Something wasn’t right. Fiona wasn’t smirking. She wasn’t reacting at all. It was like talking to a doll. And whatever trap she’d laid wasn’t springing, either. Frustration burned the last of my patience into ash.

  I slapped her. Hard. Anything to make her react.

  Her head rolled off her neck and hit the floor with a sickening thud. I stared at it, stunned as it came to rest on its side, her cheek pressed against the floor. I looked back at her body. It sat perfectly upright, but when I looked closer, I saw wire looped around her upper arms to keep her in the chair.

  Nausea washed over me and cold radiated through my middle.

  The sound of applause made me turn around. Lights came on. They were too bright and my vision swam as my mortal eyes tried to adjust.

  I saw a silhouette of a man in coattails and then my vision focused. Tertius was before me, clapping and grinning like I’d just put on the best goddamn show he’d ever seen.

  Chapter 23

  “Brava!” Tertius exclaimed, finally dropping his hands. He stood in front of a partition that was half-open, the kind that slid back and forth to convert two small rooms into one. I realized this had probably been a conference space instead of an office, or the partition had been a cheap way to keep offices separate. He’d been lurking behind it, watching.

  The lights that had come on were construction lights crudely dangling from the ceiling, and they cast a harsh yellow light on his pale vampiric face that made him look more monstrous than usual.

  “You killed Fiona,” I said. I was stating the obvious like an idiot, but my brain was spinning at a million miles a minute. I needed basic facts to anchor myself.

  “She had stopped enjoying our game, and therefore stopped being of use to me,” Tertius said. “I thought you’d appreciate seeing her dead. You did not like her.”

  I didn’t answer right away. I didn’t enjoy seeing her dead. I’d wanted her to stop tormenting me and slicing the throats of innocent people. I was happy to let Lark kill her if that was what she deemed appropriate. I wasn’t going to lose sleep over her death. But that didn’t mean I reveled in the sight of her headless body strapped to a chair.

  I glanced from it and back to Tertius, anger rushing through my veins.

  I should have known it was Tertius. He’d been creepy as fuck and clearly had some sick fascination with me. I hadn’t realized it was the kind of fascination that led someone to dropping bodies naked in my shower, but then, obviously I’d underestimated his skeevy factor.

  “What game?” I finally asked. My mouth tasted like dirt.

  Tertius’s smile was pleased. He’d wanted me to ask. The sick fuck.

  “A game of wits and curiosities. I enjoy putting people with potential into situations to see what they do.”

  “Very original. You know there’s a series of horror movies about someone like that. I think he’s a puppet.”

  Tertius’s face darkened. He wanted me to be impressed. He wanted me to like his twisted little tricks. “This is not a movie. You young ones are slow to realize your power and slower still to comprehend what immortality means. It is a gift that cannot be appreciated by everyone, Henrietta. Fiona and I were of a like mind that it should be given only after a mortal proves themselves worthy. Or she was, until I found her friend unworthy.”

  Lilith’s slack, dead face flashed into my mind. Suddenly things clicked into place. Fiona hadn’t killed Lilith. She’d been at Gas Works not to watch me with glee while I found the body, but to check on her friend. And Tertius was the thing that had kept her from tearing my throat out right then and there.

  “Yeah, well, killing people’s friends tends to piss them off.”

  “Indeed. But it must be done when they are not worthy of the gifts I have to give. Vampire blood is precious, as you well know. Perhaps better than anyone.” His smile was slick and smarmy. It was the smile of every self-assured asshole who’d ever sat across from a first date, talking endlessly about himself and convinced he was Hot Shit, while the date desperately texted friends under the table for an escape call.

  I hated that fucking smile.

  “None of the mortals Fiona wanted to test proved themselves worthy, no matter what I threw at them,” he continued. “All of them failed. The price of the test was one’s life and I’m afraid they all had to forfeit it.”

  I swallowed. My throat was dry and sore. My hand started to cramp and I realized I was squeezing the Taser too hard. I loosened my grip slightly. The movement drew Tertius’s eyes and a small cloud of smugness passed over his face as he took in my weapon.

  “Did Fiona fail?” I asked, more to stall than anything. I could tase him. I might even be able to stake him, but that was a long shot. He was old, and that meant a stake was unlikely to keep him immobile for long. At least if I kept him talking, I could try to formulate a better plan.

  “Fiona could not handle the harsh realities of my methods,” he said. “Besides, she was the fool who left those bodies for the mortal police. When she said she was going to leave them for you, I thought she meant something more… creative.”

  “Like in my shower,” I said.

  Tertius’s smile widened. “Did you like my gifts, Henri? I killed the boy
Fiona sent after you with a stake—her sense of humor was a bit odd—and Lilith, who thought we should hunt you down and kill you. I rather thought you’d appreciate it.” I stared blankly in response. If he noticed my disgust, he didn’t acknowledge it. “And you certainly handled both of those situations with aplomb. Bringing the corpse to the Factory was brilliant! Fiona was in a panic, you know. She thought you’d figured us out and Lark was going to have her head.” He glanced down at the ground where her head was, and sighed. “Shame, but some vampires simply don’t live up to expectations.”

  “So you killed her for noble reasons, not just because she broke off your leash,” I said.

  His face darkened again and his voice took on an air of exaggerated importance. “She was dispatched because she was not worthy of immortality. She was turned in haste and should have been allowed to die. I merely corrected someone else’s error.”

  Ice slid down my spine and a shiver shook me. Not only was this guy a self-important asshole, but he seemed to believe he had some divine right to play God.

  All vampires play god, a little. Most vampires stick to bottled blood, willing donors, and vigilantism to get sustenance. Killing is not frowned upon, but ninety percent of vampires who thrive only kill those who deserve it. It is better for human communities not to be offing friendly neighborhood mail carriers and preschool teachers. It’s better for the vampires’ own sanity, too.

  Despite what movies and comics might have people believe, vampires used to be human and that humanity doesn’t completely die because they grow fangs and develop a sun allergy. Most vampires don’t lack compassion or morals or empathy. Which means having the blood of hundreds of innocents on their hands is going to start to unhinge them eventually. Better to play superhero and kill bad guys.

  But Tertius clearly believed he deserved to decide who lived and who died based on his own criteria, and despite his claims of noble purpose and talk of worthiness, I got the impression it was actually about who entertained him.

  Like I said, a sick fuck.

  “So what do you want with me?” I asked, unable to keep my voice from sounding ragged and shaky.

  His wide, vicious smile told me I probably didn’t want to know. “I think you’re worthy of my blood, Henrietta Dunn. I’ve heard talk of how you courted mortality and wanted it”—he gestured toward me—“but I don’t think that’s true. You miss being a vampire, don’t you?”

  That definitely got my attention. I nodded, as an ache widened inside me. I did miss it. So fucking much. “I do.”

  His smile expanded and revealed his fangs. I stared right at them, a mixture of fear and desire twisting through me. I didn’t want this asshole to be the one who turned me, not really. But then, what did it matter if he was just a means to an end? I was desperate enough to let him.

  He watched me as my shoulders sank and my muscles unclenched, and I could tell he knew it. He could hear my heartbeat, rapid and strong, no longer pounding solely in fear. He could sense my hope. My desire to have what he was offering.

  In other words, he had me exactly where he wanted me.

  “Good,” he said. “I see you’re agreeable. Then there’s only one thing you have to do in order to prove to me you are as worthy as I think you are.”

  I sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, waiting for him to drop the anvil on my head. I didn’t know what to expect: another hapless, hopeful mortal wannabe, probably. Some human I’d have to fight or dispatch in order to earn my place in eternity.

  He pushed the partition all the way open and I gasped.

  Chapter 24

  Eva was propped up on something that looked like a big hand truck. She had a stake through her heart. Her blouse had been torn open and her bra removed in order to get the stake at the right angle. She looked like hell. There was dried blood and dirt smeared on her cheek and shoulder. She had no visible wounds besides the stake, but vampires heal fast. There were enough streaks of blood to suggest she’d been cut up pretty badly at some point.

  She was still unconscious, which meant she’d probably been staked right before I walked in. She had duct tape over her mouth and her body was restrained against the hand truck with some kind of wire. It wasn’t strong enough to hold her if she wanted to tear out of it, but it would cut her up badly if she used her strength to break free. It was possible Tertius had been keeping her staked, but that was a hell of a lot of work, since staking a vampire will only keep them incapacitated for a few minutes, ten to fifteen at most, and that’s only if the vampire is very young and weak.

  I thought back to the last time I’d seen Eva and wondered exactly long Tertius had held her captive—how much hell he’d put her through in that time.

  Bile burned as it rose in my throat and my stomach churned like a cement mixer.

  “This one does not want to be a vampire,” Tertius said. His gaze raked over me, drinking in my shock and disgust. This, too, was part of his game and he was loving the hell out of it. I was going to cut him up into little pieces, starting with his dick. “But you know that, of course. She wishes to partake of your Cure.”

  “It’s not my Cure,” I said, almost automatically.

  He gave me a tiny bow and rolled his hand over, conceding my point. “Why did you not share it with her?”

  “I don’t have it,” I said. The tiniest crease appeared on Tertius’s smooth ivory forehead. Ice spiked through my gut. Not the answer he wanted. So I added, “But even if I did, it’s not something I want to spread around. The Cure was a mistake.”

  “You helped bring it to fruition.” He crossed his arms behind his back and looked at me, playing the part of the professor who already knew all of the answers but wanted to hear his student say them out loud. It made me want to punch him in the face. “They call you a Blood Traitor because you provided a scientist with your blood.”

  “I did.” No point in denying it. It was common knowledge, in part because after turning human, I’d immediately run to the Factory for help and instead of giving it to me, the vampires there had demanded answers. Delirious and panicked, I’d spilled my guts. Somehow—mostly due to Cazimir, though I hadn’t realized it at the time—I’d gotten out of there alive, but only just.

  Now Cazimir was in some kind of immortal coma because of the damn Cure. I balled my fists, squeezing my Taser in one hand. “It was a mistake.”

  “It is a shame to have such a wonderful, spirited creature like yourself reduced to such weakness.” He shook his head to emphasize the point. “I’ve brought you here to offer you a chance to repent for your mistakes and get your immortality back.”

  I felt itchy all over, like little bugs were crawling on my skin. “What do I have to do?” I asked. I refused to look at Eva. I met Tertius’s eyes, pretty sure I already knew the answer.

  His smile was so wide I thought it might break his face. He was so goddamn pleased with himself. It made me feel nauseated.

  In a blur of motion, he moved to the edge of the room and then he was in front of me again, holding a sword in a sheath. He held it out, handle toward me. “Dispatch the useless immortal, of course. Her blood spilled in exchange for me giving you mine. It’s a fair trade.”

  My pulse raced in my ears so loudly his words sounded distant. I hesitated, but then I jammed my Taser in my free pocket and reached for the sword. My hand closed on the hilt. He let go and I hefted it in the air, felt the weight of the steel blade. It looked sharp and polished, like it had been cleaned recently. Like right after he’d lopped off Fiona’s head. That thought made my stomach squeeze.

  I hadn’t worked much with swords, other than fencing rapiers, but this sword felt good in my grasp, like it had been made for me.

  “That’s it?” I asked, finally.

  He laughed. He could hear my heart beat, see the horror in my eyes. Not because the thought of killing Eva was so horrible, but precisely because it wasn’t. It was almost too easy.

  I looked at her, helpless and restrained. She moaned a
little and her fingers twitched. Her heart was healing and pushing the stake out, but she was still unconscious. I could kill her and she’d never even wake up. And why not do it? She wasn’t even enjoying her life. She was focused on leaving eternity behind, and there was one surefire way to do that. She wouldn’t be human again, but she wouldn’t be stuck a Weeper, moaning about missing the sunlight and dreaming of being cursed with Neha’s poison. I’d be doing her a favor.

  I gripped the sword with both hands and swung it a few times in the air, getting a feel for the weapon. Tertius watched me with eyes I could only describe as hungry, a lion watching the antelope play. He walked over to Eva and in a single, graceful motion pulled the stake from her chest. Her eyes flew open, full of panic.

  A rock hit my stomach. She stared at me, disbelieving, and then tried to speak through the duct tape on her face. It was an inaudible mumble. She shook her head wildly, eyes on the sword in my hand.

  “How do I know you’ll keep your word?” I asked Tertius, giving the sword another practice swing.

  He flashed fang. “My dear, I want to gift you my blood. You are elegant and amusing. I would have you as my fledgling. But I do need to know that you can be loyal. That you can repent for the foolishness of your vampire life before. I do not allow my children to be so reckless.”

  I shuddered at the word children. I’d always hated it when vampires used it to refer to their fledglings, but in Tertius’s mouth it seemed to hold the weight of subjugation. He considered himself the master of those he turned. He would happily kill any of his fledglings who didn’t fall into line.

  And I was really bad at falling into line.

  But then, my options were limited, weren’t they? Sean might not ever be willing to risk drinking my blood. No one else seemed willing to touch me. And approaching random vampires asking to be turned was reckless bordering on suicidal.