Authors: Jade M. Phillips
Broken Souls (12 page)
I awakened in the early hours of the evening, pondering the
fact that I couldn’t seem to escape the memories of my past lately, and began
wondering if Ruby’s arrival had stirred up something deep within me. Or maybe I
was just becoming bolder of my own accord. Either way, I was finally able to
process the events of my life without triggering a deep-seeded anxiety produced
by years of abuse. I was getting stronger. And though I knew I could never
change my past, I was becoming more fond of the idea that I might be able to
change my future.
Lying in the open coffin in my room atop Vampire Hall, I stared
at the stark white ceiling, yet again reliving the night Horus took me away
twenty years ago. But just as the imaginary Horus took my hand, the real Horus
crashed through our bedroom door in a blaze of fury, slamming me back into
reality. My breath caught in my chest and I sat bolt upright, hating how he was
constantly startling me. I found myself wishing I could go back in time and tell
my former self what my older self now knew, that Horus was pure evil. I blinked
away the tendrils of the fading memory, my heart pounding hard inside of me.
Horus’ black eyes roamed the walls and then fixed on me. I
shrunk back, not knowing what’d put him in such a dark mood, but also knowing I
didn’t want to be on the receiving end of it. My maker’s ferocious tendencies
never turned out well, one example being my mother’s dead boyfriend, Paul.
“The legion is considering moving the blood slaves,” he
roared.
“Oh?” I asked meekly, as though this was news to me. Horus
glared daggers at me.
I immediately started my meditation, the one Ruby showed me.
If he found I already knew about the plan for the humans, I— the thought of
what he’d do to me was unimaginable and I didn’t want to go there. I took all
of my emotions, fears, and thoughts, and balled them up tight. I focused on
releasing them, though, as Ruby had warned, clearing my mind was proving more
difficult under pressure.
“Yes,” he hissed, throwing his long black duster onto the
bed, revealing his button up shirt and suspendered-pants. “I don’t know where
they got the crazy idea the humans need better facilities. They are undermining
my authority and I will have none of it. The blood slaves are under my command
and things are fine just the way they are.”
Horus started his usual pacing in front of the large window.
As well as focusing on my mind, I busied myself by folding up the bedding and
readying our coffin for the day.
“Did you not hear me?” He spat, and I snapped my head toward
him. After a moment of glaring at me, he huffed in irritation and continued.
“If this vote goes through, those humans may as well take over our rooms, our
Saloons, and our theatres. And while they’re at it, they can take over our
businesses and security, and start making decisions for themselves. Why don’t
we just let them live like Kings? Like royalty? Bah! They are beneath us.
We
are the power here.
We
are the superior beings. The humans have the
whole world to rule. They cannot take what little we have from us here on our
own land. I will not stand for it.”
Horus was blowing this whole thing out of proportion and
although I disagreed with him, I nodded. He tore off his boots and threw them
at the wall, causing a dent with the heels.
“Things are getting out of control. With FUSE, and now this
preposterous notion of the humans needing their own hotel rooms.” He turned to
look at me, pinning me down with his eyes, like I were the cause of the whole
thing. He started for me slowly like a predator stalking its prey. I backed
myself into the wall as his body closed in on me. His words came out through
gritted teeth. “And it’s all been since that baby vampire showed her face here.
What do you know of this? What are you not telling me?”
I made sure to keep my mind clear of all emotions, keeping
the information of Ruby’s involvement with the humans clouded, feeling more
loyalty to her than my own maker. I coaxed myself to keep calm. Breathe, then speak.
“I know nothing,” I lied. “I tell you everything we talk
about.”
Without warning, Horus backhanded me, my head cracking into
the brick wall behind me. I gasped.
“I don’t care about inane female gossip! I need information.
Who is this baby vampire and what has she done?”
“I don’t know,” I cried, bringing my hand to my throbbing
skull. “I don’t know.” Horus studied me intently as though trying to read my
mind. After one long moment, he froze.
“How are you doing that?” He asked.
My chest trembled, but I held strong to my veiled feelings.
I would not let him in.
“You’re blocking me out.” His expression twisted maniacally.
“I can’t sense your emotions anymore. Who taught you how to do that?”
Damn, he knew I was blocking him out and I could tell this
would not end well. But I would not give in. Not now. Not when I’d come this
far. He shook my shoulders and pounded me against the wall, my mind growing
fuzzy.
“Tell me!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied, preparing
for the worst.
Without another word, Horus grabbed me by the arm and dragged
me to the coffin. He threw me tumbling across the top. I lay on my back, my
chest heaving with burning breath. He flung open the side drawer where he kept
the suppressant and pulled out a vial. I watched closely as he stuck a needle
inside the tube and sucked out the clear liquid.
“But I’ve already had my dose for tonight,” I pleaded.
His lips curled into a smile. It was not a happy smile, nor
a sympathetic one. It was a smile of pure malice. “More reason for you to have
a second one.”
He towered over me and jammed the needle into my arm. “I
want you to remember how it feels to go against me, and I want you to revel in
it for days to come. I want your pain to be a constant reminder of how you
disobeyed me, and how you should never do it again.”
The suppressant burned through my veins, traveling my body
like molten lava, and I knew I’d gone too far. I held back my tears and tensed
my muscles, knowing what would come next. But the more he hurt me that night,
the more I learned to control my mind, sinking farther into its shadowy depths,
blocking all his efforts. I sank into the blissful numbness.
The sky blushed in the east, signaling that I didn’t have
much time before the sun blazed over the mountains. An hour tops.
But I didn’t care about that. What I cared about was making
sure the soldier being kept in the jail wasn’t Guy —though I felt terrible for
any
human within the clutches of the Tombstone vampires. I didn’t know what I’d do
if I found him there, or furthermore, how I would break him free. But I would
find a way. I would do anything for the man who gave me a second chance at life.
The man who looked beyond my vampire exterior and saw deep within my soul. He
saw something in me I couldn’t even see myself. He saw hope and faith.
I smiled at the word as I jumped across the chasm in front
of our house, thinking about the nickname Guy had given me. Ever since the
night I turned into a vampire Guy had insisted on calling me Faith after witnessing
me dropping to my knees to pray. He’d only used my real name once since then,
the night we parted.
Ruby…
I heard his voice in my head and was immediately transported
back to that night outside of the Tombstone gates, with Guy’s hands in my hair
and mine in his. Tears soaked our faces as we kissed for the last time ever.
I would’ve left with him if he’d have asked. I would’ve done
anything to stay by his side. But I knew he’d done what was necessary to
protect me by leaving me. If I’d gone with him I would’ve been in constant
danger— not like I wasn’t here or anything, but that was a different kind of
danger. The FUSE army was no place for vampires, just as the city of Tombstone
was no place for humans. Guy and I had an impossible situation, but even so,
that wouldn’t stop me from finding out who resided in that jail cell. And if it
was indeed Guy, I was hell-bent on getting him out of there.
My thoughts were put on hold by the sound of a coyote
howling in the distance, the tenor of its cry hollow and forlorn. A gust of
wind lifted the loose hairs around my face and I blinked, finding myself across
the street from the Old Court House where I’d been held prisoner many weeks ago,
where a soldier lay hidden within its depths. I knelt down low behind a large
cluster of desert topiary.
I narrowed my pupils and focused on the guard who stood at
the front doors of the building. I recognized him as one of the two guards who’d
watched my cell when I was prisoner. Humpty, was my guess. He held a twenty-two
rifle at his side and leaned against the door jam. Knowing I couldn’t very well
walk up to him and be like, ‘Hey, nice gun. Mind if I have a look inside the
building?’
Ignoring the silly scenario I’d made up in my head, I quietly
made a wide circle, crossing the street and rounding the back of the building,
the guard fading out of sight. I tried to peer into the first floor windows,
but thick curtains covered them from the inside. I knew roughly where the jail
cells were located and moved toward that side of the building. But I came upon
an outer wall that blocked off an outside area, maybe a garden of some sort. A
wooden door interrupted the wall and I dared a peek inside.
There was no garden inside, but a large dirt courtyard with
a wooden platform at the back. It sat high above the ground, and on closer
inspection I realized what it was; the gallows. I gaped in horror at the thick
rope that was twisted into a noose, hanging above the platform. It was safe to
assume back in the eighteen-hundreds, many men were executed by hanging there.
My skin pebbled as I thought a few short weeks ago, it could’ve been my neck
within that noose had Pandora not interceded.
“Looking for something?”
My heart skipped a beat and I spun around to find myself
looking down the barrel of a gun. I quickly placed my hands above my head, my
gaze traveling upward to land on Humpty’s stern face. I had been right in my
assumption and I could tell he recognized me too. I scrambled for an
explanation.
“No, I… I was just… lost.”
He glared at me, weighing my words. “Tombstone is small,” he
said, his deep voice sounding almost like the rumbling of the scouting motorcycles.
“I find it hard to believe anyone could get lost here, and you’ve had more than
enough time to get acquainted.”
My heart raced, and I could feel my skin starting to tingle
in reaction to the impending sun. I needed to get myself out of this situation.
And fast.
“I’m sorry. It must be the sunrise,” I lied. “I got turned
around trying to find my way back home, to Jax’s house.”
The guard’s posture became rigid at the mention of the
werewolf leader’s name. “You’re staying with Jax?” he asked in surprise, the
gun still aimed at my face. It was clear that Jax had quite an effect on his
people and was highly respected, if not a little feared. I nodded in response
to his question, and slowly lowered my hands, searching his face. I hoped he
didn’t think I was snooping, for if he did I would be in a world of hurt. The
guard’s shoulders softened and he slowly lowered the gun.
“It’s past curfew.” He scanned the street, pointing north.
“Jax’s house is just up that block there on the left. The yellow one.”
Relief washed over me and I released a breath I hadn’t
realized I’d been holding. This wasn’t the first time I had a gun pointed at my
head and I guessed it wouldn’t be the last. But for now, I was in the clear.
“Thank you,” I said, my forehead starting to bead with sweat.
I smiled at the guard and, before he could say another word,
scurried home. Once I shut myself in the cellar, blocking out the sunrise, I
reluctantly crawled into my cot. There would be no sleep for me today, my mind
a jumble of questions. I needed more information. I needed to know if that
soldier in the jail was indeed Guy. But how could I find out without getting
caught? I racked my brain for options and kept coming up short. But then it
dawned on me.
Cloe.
Why hadn’t I thought of it before? Cloe was the one assigned
to feed the prisoners at the jail. If Guy was in there, she might be the one
attending him. She would be the one I needed to talk to. And now that I taught
her how to block Horus from her mind, she might be inclined to give me the
information I needed. My first instinct was to fly from the house in search of my
friend, but I couldn’t.
I huffed in annoyance at my vampire limitations, knowing I
would need to stay under the cover of darkness for the next twelve hours or so.
I huffed again, louder this time, thinking I would likely go crazy waiting
until sunset.
I threw myself down on my pillow and reached to my side to
grab an old mug I’d placed there. Inside lay the pieces of my broken rosary,
reminding me of Guy. I pulled out the tiny cross in my hands and pressed it to
my heart as though it would bring me closer to him. My eyes grew misty but I
blinked away my tears, not allowing myself to be overcome by emotion. I must
stay strong and find a way into the jail.
I breathed in deeply and glanced around the room, spotting
the old box of tools in the corner. I got up and dug through them, retrieving a
pair of pliers. I settled myself back in bed and laid out the pieces of the
necklace on my lap. One by one, I repaired each link and strung each bead,
mending my broken treasure. And next time I saw Horus, I would wear it proudly around
my neck. My spirits would not be crushed, my faith would not be broken, and if
indeed Guy Stone was the prisoner in the cell, no force on earth would stop me
from breaking him free.
