Damned if I Do (21 page)

Edie

The thought exhilarates me. There is going to be life after being the Harker. After this, I’ll just be Edie. Jude’ll just be a man, not a vampire, though still a man without a past. And that’s all right with me. We’ll figure out our future together.

Hand in hand, Jude and I follow the Progenitor’s entourage down to the basement where this ceremony is supposed to take place.

Where my future starts anew.

“This is a bit terrifying,” Carl says to me.

He didn’t mention Jude and I disappearing for a bit, and neither he, nor Zhi or Maria have said anything about the change in how Jude and I are acting around each other.

The temperature grows colder the deeper we follow the stairs. I’m glad I have my hoodie on, although I wonder how Carl’s handling it, since he’s wearing his Sublime tee.

Thirty-nine steps down, and then we walk out to an ornate ballroom shrouded in shadows. The door shuts loudly behind us with a resounding thud, making Carl jump. My vampire senses go haywire. There are a
lot
of vampires here, probably more than what you’d get at your typical vampire bar. After my eyes adjust to the darkness, I see that they’re dressed in hooded robes, chanting something in that same language the Progenitor used to send us to the Void earlier. At least, I think it is. It becomes a low hum that sets my teeth on edge.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Zhi mutters, echoing my sentiments.

In the center of the room, lit candles form a circle, and in the middle of it, the Progenitor sits facing us. The dancing light and the shadows make his face look like a haggard mask. He's shirtless, showing off a toned chest that is very un-William-Shatner-like, with red symbols painted on it in what I can only assume is blood.

He has a grin on his face, not a maniacal one, but one that could be considered dangerous.

Esther stands away from him, topless herself with similar symbols emblazoned across her torso.

My breath comes out in white puffs, and with my clothes on, I'm having trouble staying warm, and I wonder if she isn’t freezing. Maybe I'm getting literal cold feet with this whole thing.

Beside me, Carl looks too pale and white. I wish he had someone with him, as Zhi and Maria are supporting each other, and I have Jude, whose mere presence offers reassurance that words could not. I wonder what Maria thinks of this whole thing, if she’s okay with the changing of the Progenitor’s identity. Who will she become once all vampires go away? Who will Zhi become, for that matter?

So many questions. And everything is happening so fast.

I feel a hand at my back, gentle, comforting, and I look up at Jude. His eyes are intense and he nods at me. He’s excited. He knows what’s about to happen.

I clench my bad hand, feeling the scar stretch around it. Will it still be there when Esther is Progenitor?

"Harker."

Esther holds her hand out to me with a demure smile. I take a breath and step out to her, the feeling of Jude's hand on my back lingering. I take her hand and she laces her fingers in mine, drawing me out into the middle of the room where I feel exposed.

"Follow as I do," she says me. "And I promise, I'll take only what blood I need."

"Thank you for that," I say nervously.

"All will be fine, Harker."

The chanting grows louder and the group closes the circle around us, facing the interior of the circle.

I now know that it's not some sort of weird ritual that we're doing for the Progenitor. Not entirely. It's his own funeral.

This is the end of an era. I'm witnessing something rarer than a Rafflesia flower blooming. This is the death of the Progenitor and the birth of a new one.

The Progenitor closes his eyes and tilts his chin up towards the sky. He begins his own chant, complemented by the hum of his surrounding circle, this time in English, so I’m able to follow along.

"In chanting this, may you always find

Victory in your never-ending fight.

May you carry this terrible burden

Without succumbing to the night.

May you have all my power

And rule darkness with courage and might."

A breeze picks up, brushing my hair across my face. I shiver, crossing my arms about my body, as much of a protective gesture as it is for warmth.

There's power in his words, mingling with the chant around us. It's dangerous, ancient, and I can feel it slithering around my skin like a thousand worms struggling to possess me. It doesn't feel malevolent, only all-consuming. Tempting.

He starts glowing with a blinding white light, eventually becoming an ethereal being, other-worldly. His body loses all detail and he becomes merely a shape within his glow. I have to squint to even look his way.

The Progenitor holds a hand out. At first, I think it's towards me, then Esther takes it in one of her own, creating a small arc between the three of us. She closes her eyes in a serene bliss.

The temperature drops even further and the chanting picks up, the congregation reflecting the change in the air and in us. The cold crystalizes each puff of air I breathe.

Esther lets go of both our hands and strides over to the Progenitor, giving him a chaste kiss on the lips. He gives her a thin-lipped smile. It's genuine, though it's one of the saddest smiles I've ever seen.

The younger vampire looks at me. "Harker," she says, and I know exactly what she means, to follow her lead.

I walk up to the Progenitor and give him a peck on the lips too.

Esther takes hold of my right hand, and looks to me for permission. Of course, it had to be my better hand. Resignedly, I let out a white-cloud breath and nod.

"No glamour," I whisper. I want to have my wits about me in case the worst happens.

“I can make the pain go away,” she tells me.

"I want to make sure that you don’t take more than you have to,” I tell her, knowing the pain will keep me grounded.

I notice the Progenitor watching us with a serene expression. His gaze shifts between the two of us, and while he has an enigmatic smile on his lips, I can't tell what he thinks of the entire thing.

She holds my wrist up, baring her teeth as she is about to take a bite and drink.

Then…

I see a ghost. And it makes sense as to why it’s so fucking cold in this room.

Meghan appears behind Esther, her spectral form silently screaming. Her hands are clapped to her ears, her hair swirling around her head. She's warning me.

"Wait!" I say before I can fully process what's happening.

Only it's too late.

Esther's chest explodes in a spray of blood and gore, droplets landing on my face and on the Progenitor. She gives a strangled cry, her lungs no longer working. A hand protrudes from her chest before another joins it and rips her in half. I don't know if you've ever heard the sound of a human body being ripped in half, but it's a jarring, alien sound, flesh rendered from itself.

"Father, didn't you know that you chose the wrong successor?" a familiar voice sneers.

Despite the absurdity of everything, despite the fact that everything has gone horribly wrong, I can't help but think,
Goddammit, it's Anthony
.

Never mind how he got here, somehow knowing where the Progenitor has been hiding. Never mind that he somehow got through the wards and came down here. He is here. And we all know exactly what he wants.

He killed Esther and, with her, all of the Progenitor's hopes and dreams. He killed my cure from this disease. He killed any hope for Amelia to have a normal life.

I grit my teeth, forcing down the panic and focusing only on the task at hand.

Covered in pieces of Esther—his
sister
—Anthony grins at me. "Even though your blood isn't ready yet,
Harker
," he tells me, his voice reverberating around the basement, "I guess it will have to do now." He
tut-tuts
. “You’ve forced my hand.”

Fuck. My vampy sense flares as the presence of the vampires in the basement more than doubles. Anthony’s cronies.

Pandemonium breaks out in the basement. Vampires may be the terrors of the night, but I just found something they're afraid of—themselves. And when vampires are afraid of something, you know it's bad.

Screams erupt in the darkness, but I'm rooted to my spot by Anthony's smug glare. I remember the feel of his teeth on my wrist. I remember how it felt Christmas Eve, the night Meghan died. And even though I’m screaming at myself to move, I can’t.

“Edie!” Jude screams somewhere in the din behind me.

In slow motion, Anthony’s gaze turns onto Jude, and he frowns.

"What are
you
doing here?" he growls.

Time freezes as I numbly take them in. Victoria had recognized Jude, so did the Progenitor and Esther, and now Anthony does.

Anthony is surprised and anger morphs his already-melted face. "Didn't you hear me? What the fuck are you—"

A blast of magic hits Anthony like a freight train, knocking him aside. The Progenitor holds up his hands as if he just pushed Anthony aside, only he put so much more effort than a push. He is breathing heavily, pallid, even in the flicking light.

"Esther…" he huffs, his voice accentuated by the screams. “My successor, she's…"

He bursts into tears as his underlings come to his aid, meaning to help him. Only they're attacked by other vampires, each one trying to get to the Progenitor.

Seeing the elderly man cry spurs me into action, bringing me to my feet. Jude’s hands are under my arms, helping me stand, yet his eyes are on the mayhem before us, his expression grim.

"Sorry about this, Edie."

"W-what—?" I stammer, caught off guard.

Without hesitation, Jude bares his fangs and bites hard into my bad wrist. I shriek in pain.

What the fuck is he doing?

He takes two full gulps before releasing his teeth from my arm and running his tongue across my wound. He gasps for air, and with my blood still fresh on his lips, he pulls me to him for a coppery, metallic kiss. Then he pulls away to join the fray with a mighty roar, like a lion ready for the kill.

Not the best kiss ever, especially since I still have the tang of my own blood swirling in my mouth, but it was strangely hot, with a different kind of desperation than before. I swipe the back of my arm over my lips, unable to keep the grin from my face.

"So Jude’s not the one for me," Carl gripes to me. “I don’t know why I’m surprised. I was competing against the
Harker
for his affections.”

“You’ll find someone else after this,” I promise. “If we survive.”

My cousin grins at me and I see that he's already murmuring the incantation, a spell he picked up from his mother. I hope her many protection pouches that she gave him will keep him safe.

I call up my own power, intermixing it with the cold around us and I fight my way towards the Progenitor. While I know I’m going to feel drained from it later, letting myself completely go is the only way I’ll be able to get out of this alive.

I summon Glimmer, glad that I’m not completely unarmed here. She’s ready and raring to go.

You're the Harker,
I tell myself.
Save some lives.
Even if they are vampires.

Years of training take over, and my cousin and I become two killing machines. We move like two warriors, a dance of death that kills anything that doesn't look like it's human or a good guy.

I shoot a blast to keep a vampire from jumping on Carl and narrowly dodge the vicious swipe of claws. Carl deflects the attack with a spell. He punches a vampire that's inches from tearing into my shoulder, and I stick my sword into the jugular of one behind him.

"Thanks!" he shouts, spinning and backhanding a vampire to my right.

"We're going to get you out of here!" I yell to the Progenitor as I make my way to his side. His eyes are looking forward in a thousand yard stare, and I can only imagine what’s going through his head. He's seeing his retribution slipping through his fingers, his ultimate escape gone forever.

For now, my only mission is to keep this man alive and to keep Anthony from doing whatever it takes to become the Progenitor. I grab him by the arm and hoist him to his feet. He's unsteady, and I manage to drag him along with me towards the stairs.

"Where the fuck are Zhi and Maria?"

"Right here."

A blast of red energy explodes in the space between Carl and the wall, incinerating a vampire that had been there only a moment before. The Chinese vampire hunter stands about eight feet from us, covered in blood.

"Thanks," I tell him.

"How the hell did they know we were here?" Maria screeches. She roars, slashing the throat of an enemy vampire.

"I don't know," I admit.

With all of the precautions the Progenitor took to be kept hidden, with all of the secrecy, with the quickness of everything, how the hell did Anthony show up with an army?