Blood Deep (Blackthorn Book 4) (36 page)

‘There was no better way to secure that division than to convince humans we were a threat. Mention a physical threat and you have people’s undivided attention. Convince people that the threat is also intrinsically evil and you secure it without question. If you convince people that whatever atrocities they witness are ultimately for their own benefit, not only to save them in this life but also the next, you don’t just reinforce their fear enough to sustain it; you enable them to justify letting it happen without question.

‘Because no species is more defiant against their own mortality than humans, Eden, nor has a deeper inherent fear of what lies beyond. Whether humans choose to acknowledge it or not, it is inbuilt in them to believe there is something beyond what they see. So they cling to the oldest cliché there is: better to be safe than sorry. And these boundaries help them feel safe.’

‘And do you know what that is? What lies beyond?’

‘No more than you do.’

‘So you don’t know if
you’re
right either.’

‘I know what I see happening here in the south is wrong. I know that if the third species weren’t here managing it, this place would be worse for it – for us and for the humans forced to reside here.’

‘And in places like Summerton, where there is none of this? Where purely humans reign?’

‘And the equivalent with the third species wouldn’t be the same? That’s what I’m trying to tell you: it’s not down to what species are in charge, but
who
the species leader is – what
their
motivations are,
their
beliefs.’

He looked back at the last image she had drawn, the darkness having thickened, the swirling mass of ethereal images having increased in density, piles of what could be interpreted as bodies dominating the desolate landscape.

‘This doesn’t look like equality to me,’ he remarked.

‘I told you, something changed. Something went wrong – with someone’s choice somewhere.’

He stared back at her. ‘This could be down to
one
person’s decision?’

‘How many do you think it takes?’

‘
Whose
decision?’

‘I don’t know. But I do know, as you must do too, that when the Global Council established themselves, they ensured they introduced a law that dictated no third species could make political decisions that could affect the lives of humans – thus preventing this political leader from even attempting equality.’

‘Are you telling me they might have known about this outcome?’

‘Maybe. If they did, they made a mistake. The prophecy was definitely about a great leader – a good, powerful and principled leader who would find a way of living in a mutually beneficial way.’

‘Offering healing in exchange for blood. Which they have.’

‘Except humans upped the ante. They want it permanent. They don’t just want to cure their weaknesses; they want to cure what they are.’

‘And only then will vampires be proven not to be the enemy the prophecy dictates. And if they don’t…’

‘So the vampires’ Higher Order, who outed the third species in the first place, told the Global Council about an adhesive.’

‘Does it exist?’ he asked.

‘I don’t know.’

He turned to face her more fully. ‘Then why out themselves before finding it, Jess? Why risk putting their own kind through this?’ He frowned. ‘Are they just biding their time?’

‘It’s the one consistent thing throughout every version of the prophecy – the divisions needed to be put in place. Oppression needed to exist or the leader has no reason to rise.’

‘The Higher Order outed themselves to
instigate
the prophecy? That rumour is true?’

‘Only now they’re getting impatient waiting for the leader to rise – just as the Global Council are getting impatient waiting for the cure that was promised to them decades ago. I think tensions are escalating. The Higher Order need that adhesive or they need the leader – and they need one or the other soon.’

‘Do you know what the adhesive is?’

‘No.’

‘But
your
blood works the same way. Is there an adhesive for yours? Is it possible that your blood and the blood of the Higher Order vampires combined is what’s needed?’

‘Mixing any third species blood makes it toxic. Just as only certain third-species bloods can be used effectively with humans without side effects.’

‘Which is why they don’t use lycan blood.’

She nodded. ‘Higher Order vampire blood and angel blood are the only ones I know of that work safely – even if it is temporary.’

She was on the cusp of telling him. Right on the cusp. She’d parted her lips, ready to share the whole truth; hesitating as his dark eyes remained locked pensively on the images.

‘Do
you
know when this leader will rise?’ he asked.

‘I think that’s why the visions have started again. I think they already have.’

His eyes snapped back to hers. ‘Do you know who it is? Have you seen them?’

‘I never see faces clearly. Like I said, when the visions are over, it’s like waking from a dream – the information is there somewhere but I can’t access it anymore. All I know is that the prophecy dictates they’re of the Higher Order – vampire royalty. And that’s where I’m confused. According to what I’ve seen,’ she indicated towards the two entwined, domed figures, ‘the leader is destined to rise right here in Blackthorn.’

Eden stepped up to the faceless figures, before resting his finger on them as he turned to face her. ‘One of these is the vampire leader?’

‘I think so.’

‘Then who is the other one?’

‘I think it’s the serryn.’

‘The serryn?’

‘Humans may have changed the goalposts, but destiny always has a back-up plan. In order to succeed, the leader has to undergo a transformation to become the Tryan – a completely unique vampire. For the transformation, they need a serryn: the rarest and most deadly of witches, their blood poisonous to any vampire except the chosen one. They have to drink the witch to death, do battle with her at the Brink – similar to what is understood as purgatory – and, if the chosen one survives, they can steal her soul and amalgamate it with their shadow.’

‘Creating a loophole,’ he said. ‘Those with shadows cannot rule over humans…’

‘But if a vampire was to have a soul as well as a shadow, they would have to be granted a place on the council. It would be the biggest political shift since the regulations were first put into place.’

‘But this,’ he said, pointing to the darker end of the wall, ‘this is not a peaceful political protest. This is devastation. They’re not looking like a good and principled leader to me.’

‘That’s the thing – I don’t think it’s them who instigates the devastation. There’s an opposition, an equally powerful opposition.’ She stepped up to the star. ‘Symbolised here as the Dog Star. I think that, whoever this is, they’re the one who evokes this war. I think it’s them who fuels a darkness in the vampire leader. It’s because of them that there’s a fight for ultimate dominance. A battle that leads to the demise of all the species, including humans.’

‘But you can’t see who this Dog Star represents either?’

She hesitated as she held his gaze.

‘Jess?’ he asked. ‘Do you know who this is?’

‘Not for sure.’

Or she hadn't, not until her discovery in the cellars had confirmed it.

‘But?’

‘As with all prophecies, there’s always an element of interpretation. But what I do know, as you may too, is that the Dog Star is the ancient symbol of the lycans.’

His eyes widened. ‘Lycans? You think a
lycan
is the opposition? But that would create a civil war.’

‘I know – a civil war that would spread from locale to locale. Forces would be compelled to come in to protect the humans, not least because there would be inevitable spillage into Lowtown. And if it did ever manage to spill across all the borders…’

‘Which is what
this
prophecy dictates. But the lycans are peaceful – not least here in Blackthorn. Under Jask’s rule, they always have been. They don’t fuck with anyone who doesn’t fuck with them – in order to prevent this very thing from happening. This would be putting his pack at risk all to fight some leader who is ultimately out to protect their corner. That doesn’t make any sense.’

‘I’m not saying they are the ones to go up against the vampire leader; just that they could be the ones who instigate a series of events that leads to this.’

‘But it would have to be some major provocation for the lycans to even consider it.’

‘The lycans may have no reason to instigate a war with vampires, but that doesn’t stop them kick-starting a war with humans – with the cons in this district.’

His eyes narrowed, his frown deepening.

‘He has lycans here, Eden,’ Jessie said. ‘Pummel has lycans right beneath his house. Kids. He’s taken Jask’s youth from the compound.’

J
essie may
as well have punched him in the chest.

Eden took a step back, the sincerity in her eyes as disturbing as the words coming out of her mouth.

‘Pummel has them caged. He’s planning to sell them on,’ she explained. ‘Those that he’s not keeping back for some kind of sick dog fight when the new moon arrives in a few days’ time. He’s starving them of their meds. You must know what that means. If he leaves them in there long enough, they’ll end up killing each other. And, if word gets out about this, how long do you think it will take for Jask and his pack to get here? How long do you think it’ll take, once they arrive, for this entire row to be wiped out? Which I don’t think the rest of the cons in the south are going to take too kindly to. And I don’t think the authorities are going to take too kindly to the third species allying together to overthrow any sense of humans in this district as a result. It could be the excuse the authorities have been waiting for.’

Eden exhaled tersely with disbelief, fury burning his chest at the prospect of what Pummel had planned for the lycan kids, let alone the implications from the potential outbreak. ‘What the
fuck
does Pummel think he’s playing at? How long have you known about this?’

‘A couple of days. That’s why I needed you to help me with the padlocks. They’re down in the cellar. I didn’t know what to expect but– ’

‘But Jask’s compound is like a fortress. Everyone knows that. How the fuck did Pummel get them out of there?’

‘He didn’t take them – someone else did. They were delivered here.’

The caskets. The caskets taken from the van. ‘The night I arrived,’ Eden said. ‘I was watching the van.’

‘So was I.’

‘Who delivered them?’

‘I don’t know. All I know is what the lycan young told me. They said an army turned up.’

‘An army? Whose army?’

‘Again, I don’t know.’

‘Well, they’d have to be a fucking amazing one to take on Jask’s pack.’

‘They broke in while he wasn’t there. They shot their way in there and out again, taking a selection of young with them.’

‘To hand to a con to sell on the black market? That doesn’t make any sense.’

Because it didn’t. It made no sense at all. Just as the fact Jask and his pack weren’t already ripping Blackthorn apart to find them didn’t make sense.

‘I know. Something is wrong here. Really wrong.’

‘The only people in this locale powerful enough to create an army like that are the TSCD, the Higher Order or the Global Council themselves.’

‘None of whom have any benefit for instigating a war – not yet.’

It added to the unease he’d been feeling the minute he’d seen what she was. ‘Then why does Pummel suddenly feel like a pawn?’

‘A pawn that will kick-start a series of events that could spiral out of control. If this erupts beyond Blackthorn, it’ll be chaos.’

‘We have to get them out of here.’

‘That was my first instinct too, but if we let them out, if they get home, they’re going to tell Jask. Letting them go could be the thing to kick-start all of this.’

‘As opposed to what? A bunch of murdered, abused and mutilated kids? Fuck that.’

‘That’s not what I’m saying, but we can’t just open the floodgates without thinking this through. You can see the implications of what just one decision can lead to,’ she said, pointing back towards the drawings.

‘Then what do you suggest?’

‘That you get your hands on that necklace and then I get those young back to Jask. If I tell him the implications, I might be able to prevent him retaliating.’

Eden laughed fleetingly at the naivety of her statement, his hands resting on his hips again. ‘When he finds out about this, he will have this entire row on its knees in minutes. You can’t stop that happening.’

‘I’ll give it a damn good try.’

He held her gaze pensively for a moment. ‘That’s why you agreed to the deal with me, isn’t it?’

‘In part.’

‘Does Pummel know
you
know he has them?’

‘No. I snuck down there. That’s why I couldn’t rip the padlocks off. I couldn’t risk him suspecting.’

‘And that’s why you only gave me a couple of days to find the necklace. You know he’s going to pass them on in time for the new moon.’

‘I have to get across Blackthorn, with those kids alive, by then. I
have
to persuade Jask not to wage a full-scale retaliation.’

Eden exhaled a slow and steady breath as he ran his fingers back through his hair. He might have Jessie on side now, but with less than forty-eight hours, he still had a hell of a struggle ahead, not least because his own time there ran out twenty-four hours before that.

Convincing Jessie to confide in him, to work with him, had been challenge enough. Convincing Sirius Throme to give him another day was a whole other challenge. He’d been insistent on only three days, but if he told Sirius he’d found out how to get her out, he’d surely give him longer. He’d come too far not to.

He’d have to get back to the flat in the next twelve hours or so. Somehow he’d have to give enough information away to convince them, but not too much to give them enough of an upper hand. Because the nagging doubt of Sirius’s intentions was still there. If he disclosed it was all down to a necklace, they could burst in there with the best equipment known, to track it down. They could take Jessie right out of the place and deliver her straight to The Facility, as they no doubt intended.

But handing Jessie over had
never
been his intention – and he was going to waver on that less than ever now.

Jessie stepped up to him and coiled her hand in his with a familiarity that was as captivating as the gentleness of her touch. ‘Can you not see why I want you out of this place? Why you need to get as far away from here as you can? If Jask has already followed a trail here, they could arrive at any time. They won’t see beyond those numbers on your arm.’

He dragged his gaze from hers to stare back at the wall – from the entwined figures to the Dog Star. ‘You said it all fades like a dream.’

‘Yes.’

‘But angels third species?’

‘According to your kind’s classification, yes.’

‘So you have a shadow instead of a soul?’

She hesitated for a moment as if trying to second-guess him. ‘Yes.’

He looked back into her pensive eyes. ‘So you can be shadow-read?’

She frowned. Her nod was hesitant. He could tell she was catching up.

‘So if you
were
shadow-read, a shadow reader might be able access those faces? Could pull them from your subconscious?’

‘The only shadow readers left work for the Third Species Control Division. Eden, I’m not going to hand myself over. Nor am I going to let them in on all this.’

‘I’m asking you in theory.’

‘In theory, yes.’

‘And if you
were
read and we knew who this vampire leader was and who this instigator was – whether it be Jask or someone else – we could potentially stop this happening?’

‘Eden, trying to get Jask to back down is one thing. Trying to persuade the vampire leader is completely another. Look around. This has been coming for a long time. They have more reason than ever to overthrow this system. Whether we like it or not, it has already started.’

‘Then what’s the point of talking to Jask, if you truly believe that?’

‘Because the delay could maybe cause another shift. It could stop the imminent snowball. It might not stop the destined outcome, but it could offer us an alternative that wasn’t there before. An alternative without the devastating loss of lives.’

‘You’re trying to rewind, aren’t you? You’re trying to take it back to the original predictions – when vampires, the third species, ruled.’

‘I am trying to do what I can to stop this global devastation,’ she said, her eyes narrowing in indignation at what he was implying.

He pulled away, resumed his seat on the sofa. He rested his head in his hands.

She was still a third species. She would still instinctively have her own kind at the forefront of her mind.

And there was a piece of the puzzle missing – something about his timely arrival that seemed just a little too timely.

She knelt down in front of him. ‘Those drawings,’ she said, ‘the ones you found in my room.’ She hesitated for a moment. ‘I didn’t draw them after I saw you – I drew them before.’

His pulse picked up a notch as he searched her eyes, as she seemed to be struggling with what to say next.

‘Eden, what if
you’ve
been the intended recipient of this message all along?’

‘I’d say someone somewhere along the line should have put more time into their shortlisting.’

She caught his hands in hers. ‘What if you’re supposed to help me get out of here so that we can stop Jask and delay this? What if you’re here to prevent it from happening? What if that’s our part in this?’

‘Is
that
why you decided to trust me?’

‘It’s about more than that and you know it. I don’t know what we’re supposed to do, but I know those kids can’t die.’

‘And what if both our instincts are wrong? What if they were meant to disappear without a trace? What if us taking them back there instigates it, like you said? What of you fail to persuade Jask otherwise?’

‘Why do you think this has been so difficult a decision for me? This is about all of us, Eden. The decision we make could affect everything.’

He sighed heavily as he looked up at the ceiling for a few moments. He looked back at Jessie. The only thing that made the decision easy was that he wasn’t going anywhere without her.

‘Yeah, well,’ he said, standing, pulling her up with him. ‘I’m not risking sitting on my arse when all hell could be about to break loose. I need to know more about that army – who the fuck’s got a God complex in all this. Take me to those kids, Jessie. Now.’