Secret Life Of A Vampire (26 page)

Jack held his sword to the side. “I don't want to kill you. You only have to surrender.”

“Under attack. No hope,” the guard whispered. He stiffened suddenly, and his eyes turned glassy. “There can be no survivors.” He reached inside his toga and pulled out a knife. He turned the knife, pointing it at his own chest.

“No!” Jack dropped his sword and teleported behind the guard. He seized the man's wrist just as he attempted to stab himself.

Jack wrenched the knife from the guard's hand and knocked him on the head with the handle. When the guard slumped forward, Jack dropped the knife and caught him.

There can be no survivors. Jack muttered a curse. He tossed the guard over his shoulder and strode to where Robby had stashed the first guard.

“Did you hear what he said?” Jack dropped the guard on the floor.

“Aye, no survivors.” Robby cuffed the guard.

“Phil, make sure Lara's all right,” Jack ordered. “And the other women, too. They're in the kitchen.”

Phil raced to the double doors. He reared up on his hind legs to push a door open, then dashed through.

“You can find the other mortal woman in the back,” Jack whispered to Robby. “Behind a red door.”

Robby nodded, then a voice rang out.

It was Apollo.

Jack pulled Robby behind a column. “I'll take care of him. You get the girl,” he whispered.

“What the hell is going on?” Apollo strode around the thrones. His golden toga was all askew as if he'd thrown it on in a hurry. He stopped when he saw the sword on the floor and the bag of spilled chips on the dais.

“Hello, Apollo,” Jack greeted him in Czech as he walked over to where he'd dropped his sword. He'd discovered the night before that Apollo was actually Anton, from Prague.

“Henrik, what are you doing here?” Apollo answered in Czech. “You've got the stupid guards thinking we're under attack.”

Jack needed to say the right things to make Apollo stay, or the bastard would simply teleport away. He picked up his sword. “You are under attack. I've taken four of your guards.”

Apollo stiffened, then his face flushed red with anger. “You scum-sucking pig! I welcomed you here. I even gave you a maiden to fuck. And you repay my generosity with betrayal? Why?”

“I want to keep the girl.” Jack glanced quickly to the right. Robby was still hidden behind the column, waiting for his chance to run to the back rooms.

Apollo scoffed. “Well, shit, you idiot! Why didn't you just say so? I've got eight women to spare. If you want one of the bitches, just take her.” He gave Jack a disgusted look. “But you'll need to hurry, 'cause my head guard just left to kill them all.”

A chill crept across Jack's skin. Lara had to be all right. Phil was there. And Phineas should be back by now.

Apollo leaned over to pick up the sword in front of the dais. “You've screwed up my whole operation, you bastard. I should kill you.”

“You're welcome to try.” Jack retreated, hoping to draw Apollo away from the thrones and make it easier for Robby to sneak to the back rooms.

“You asshole.” Apollo stalked toward him. “I'll have to start over and completely restock.”

“No.” Jack switched to English. “You're not starting over. You're finished.”

Apollo's eyes narrowed. “Your accent is different tonight. Who are you?”

“I am Giacomo di Venezia.”

Apollo's face turned red, and he visibly shook with rage. “You're one of the butchers from the DVN massacre!”

“Yes, I killed six of your friends that night. And I saw Jedrek Janow die. He was so pathetic and weak that a mortal killed him.”

“No!” Apollo ran at him, swinging his sword.

From the corner of his eye, Jack saw Robby zoom toward the back rooms.

Jack jumped to the side and parried Apollo's attack. He spared one last prayer that Lara was safe, then focused all his attention on staying alive.

“You make the best cookies ever.” Vanessa stuffed another chocolate chip cookie into her mouth.

“Thanks.” Lara stacked more on a plate and set it on the table. She'd spent all afternoon baking so she could lure the girls to the kitchen. “More milk, anyone?”

Several hands went up. Lara grabbed the milk jug from the fridge and circled the table, refilling glasses.

Miss Forbidden gave her a confused look. “Why are you being so nice to us? I thought you hated being here.”

“I saw how worried you were last night when Hades chose me.” Lara returned the jug to the fridge. “I was really touched. This is my way of thanking you.”

“I thought I'd never see you again.” Vanessa shuddered. “I thought Hades would take you to hell.”

“Me, too.” Kristy bit into a cookie. “How—how was he?”

All seven maidens turned to Lara, eager for her answer.

“He was… great. Hades is a real gentleman.”

“I don't think Zeus is,” Miss Forbidden muttered as she glanced at her bruised arms.

“Shh,” Cook hushed her. “Someone might hear you.”

Kristy finished her cookie and reached for another. “I swear I'm going to gain five pounds tonight.”

The other maidens commiserated. While they complained about being overweight, Lara wedged a steak knife underneath the linen ties around her rib cage. She wanted a weapon, just in case Jack was right and Apollo sent a guard to attack them. Jack had also wanted her to get the girls down the road to where the werewolves were waiting with the SUVs. Convincing them to go through the gate would be tough.

She approached the table. “If you really want to lose some weight, you should get some exercise. We could take a walk down the road.”

The girls gasped.

“We can't leave,” Cook said. “It's forbidden.”

“And there are terrible beasts in the woods,” Kristy added. “With great gnashing teeth.”

Vanessa grimaced. “I heard they drag people to hell.”

“I asked Hades about that,” Lara said. “And he said the woods are perfectly safe. The beasts know that we're special, so they would actually protect us.”

The maidens remained silent while they pondered this new information.

Cook shook her head. “I'm not sure we can trust anything Hades says.”

“And you think you can trust Apollo?” Lara asked. “He kidnapped us all from college. We were taken from our friends and families. Vanessa, I met your friends.”

Vanessa jumped in her chair. “You know my name?”

“Yes. And I met your roommate Megan. And your friends Carmen and Ramya. They're worried sick about you. All of you have friends and families who are worried about you.”

“So?” Cook frowned. “What's the point? We can't go back.”

“Yes, you can.” Lara pointed in the direction of the road outside. “Half a mile down the road, there are people waiting for us. Nice people, and they want to take us back home. You could all go back to your real lives.”

“Are you serious?” Miss Forbidden's eyes widened with a hopeful look.

Vanessa wrinkled her nose. “But I'm failing three of my classes.”

“I was flunking, too,” Kristy grumbled. “Life is a lot easier here.”

“What life?” Lara asked. “You're told what to wear, when to eat, when to clean, when to guard a false god—”

“Don't say that!” Cook looked around nervously.

“I like it here.” Vanessa bit into another cookie. “Life is too hard back on Earth.”

“It's not supposed to be easy,” Lara said. “If it was always easy, we would never grow or learn. And when awful stuff happens, that's when we stretch beyond ourselves and become better than we ever thought was possible.”

She thought back to how much she'd grown since the car accident. Now she could be grateful for the suffering and the struggle, because it had left her strong enough to handle this situation and strong enough to embrace a future with Jack.

“And sometimes, we have to make really hard decisions that will affect the rest of our lives.” Lara knew her decision to stay with Jack could ultimately cause her to become a vampire. But it was the right decision, and she would stick by it.

She was pulled from her musings by a voice yelling outside. One of the guards. Her heart lurched. What if Jack was right, and the guard meant to kill them? She ran to check the lock. What if the guard had a key? She grabbed a chair and wedged it under the doorknob.

“What are you doing?” Cook stood.

“Is the back door locked?” Lara asked.

“Yes,” Cook answered. “But what—”

The doorknob rattled. “Open the door!” the guard yelled.

Lara recognized his voice. It was the head guard, the one she called Squeaky.

“Let me in!” He pounded on the door.

“Yes, master.” Cook headed for the door.

“No.” Lara held up a hand to stop her.

The other maidens stood.

“We can't disobey a guard,” Kristy said.

Squeaky banged on the door. “I order you to open this door. The Elysian Fields are under attack!”

The maidens gasped.

“What should we do?” Vanessa whispered.

“We must open the door.” Cook stepped toward the door.

Lara pulled out her knife. “Stay back.”

Cook's eyes widened. “You—you're in league with Hades! You're trying to get us all taken to hell!”

“I'm trying to save you,” Lara said.

“There can be no survivors,” the guard yelled.

Lara gasped. Jack had been right.

“What does that mean?” Vanessa asked.

Lara pushed against the door as the guard shook it. “It means Apollo has ordered the guard to kill us.”

The maidens gasped. A few stumbled back. Vanessa started to shake and whimper. Lara heard footsteps moving away from the door. What would Squeaky try next?

“No,” Cook whispered. “Apollo is a god. He would never kill us.”

“He's not a god,” Lara said. “He's been lying to you.”

“You're wrong, you're wrong,” the maidens said.

“I have to stop you.” Cook ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife. “You're going to get us all dragged to hell.”

“No!” Miss Forbidden shouted, and all the maidens turned to her. Her eyes filled with tears, and she rubbed her bruised arms. “She's right. They're not gods.”

The kitchen window shattered. The girls squealed. Glass flew into the room.

Squeaky used the hilt of his sword to clear all the glass away. “There can be no survivors.”

“He's coming in!” Vanessa cried.

“Stay back!” Lara yelled at the girls. She ran to the window with her knife, ready to stab Squeaky if he tried to climb through the window.

A howl sounded close by. Squeaky shrieked just before a huge wolf knocked him down.

The maidens screamed.

“It's one of the beasts from the woods,” Kristy wailed. “He's come to drag us all to hell.”

“No, he's saving us.” Lara looked out the window. The wolf had pinned Squeaky to the ground. “Come and see.”

The girls slowly crept forward to peek out the window.

A young black man strode into view. He was dressed all in black and carrying a sword. Lara recognized him as the Vamp she'd seen before at Syracuse.

“Oh my, look at him,” Vanessa whispered. “He's as handsome as Denzel.”

He jabbed his sword into the ground, then pulled handcuffs from his jacket pocket and cuffed the guard. He patted the wolf on the head, then plucked his sword from the ground.

“Wow,” Vanessa breathed. “Who is he?”

“He's amazing,” Kristy added. “Did you see him tame that scary wolf?”

Since the girls persisted in their belief of Greek gods, Lara decided to use that. “He's… Ares, god of war.”

“Ooooh,” the maidens sighed.

Miss Forbidden pulled Lara aside and whispered, “Who is he really?”

“He's a good man who's come to help us,” Lara said. “He can take you to the nearest town, so you can go home.”

A tear rolled down Miss Forbidden's cheek. “Thank you.” She hugged Lara. “My name is Sarah.”

“Will you help him get the girls to safety?” Lara asked.

“Yes.” Sarah pulled the chair away from the door and unlocked it. “Come on, let's go.”

The maidens filed outside.

“Where are we going?” Vanessa asked.

Lara approached the black Vamp. “Hi, I'm Lara.”

He looked at all the women and grinned. “Hello, ladies. Allow me to introduce myself—”

“Oh, we know who you are,” Lara interrupted. “You're Lord Ares, the god of war.”

“Say what?”

“You're Ares, the god of war,” Lara repeated with a pointed look. “And you've come to rescue all these fair maidens.”

“Oh yeah. That's me, baby. I'm the god of war.”

Lara smiled. “And you're going to lead all these women down the road to the SUVs.”

“Sure.” He motioned to the gate. “Come on, ladies.”

“Oh Lord Ares.” Vanessa fluttered her eyelashes at him. “You're so brave.”

“I love the way you tamed that horrible wolf,” Kristy added.

The wolf grunted.

The black Vamp grinned at the wolf. “Oh yeah, he's bad. He's big and bad. But don't worry, ladies. I'll protect you with my mighty sword.”

The girls followed the black Vamp to the gate. He opened it, and they all walked down the road. Sarah glanced back at Lara and waved.

Lara waved back. The girls were safe. Squeaky was on the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back.

“There can be no survivors,” he whispered over and over.

Lara shuddered. Apollo had intended them all to die.

With a jolt, she realized Jack could be fighting Apollo right now. She grabbed Squeaky's sword and started running to the temple.

The wolf dashed in front of her and stopped with a growl. Lara moved to the right, but the wolf moved, too. She ran to the left, but the wolf blocked her again.

“Oh come on,” she yelled. This had to be the werewolf Jack had told her about. Did he understand English?

“Are you the delivery man who left the box of Cracker Jack?”

The wolf grunted and dipped his head.

“I need to get to the temple.”

The wolf growled low in his throat.

“We can't just stand here all night, glaring at each other.”

The wolf sat on his haunches and regarded her with his pale blue eyes.

“Look. I want to help Jack. He might need us. What if something happens to him while we're standing here? How could we live with ourselves?”

The wolf cocked his head. Then he turned and loped toward the temple.

“Thank you.” Lara ran after him.

Where the hell was Robby? Jack asked himself for the tenth time. Apollo was a surprisingly good swordsman. Still, Jack could have defeated him five minutes ago if Athena hadn't arrived.

First the female vampire had shrieked at him, calling him a dozen foul names. Then she'd tried to free the two guards in handcuffs. When that failed, she'd picked up the sword from the first guard. She was obviously ignorant about fencing, didn't even know how to hold the sword properly. But she was able to be a dangerous nuisance.

While he parried with Apollo, she dashed behind him to try to stab him in the back. He spun, knocking the sword from her hand, then continued his fight with Apollo.

Where the hell was Robby? He was supposed to teleport the mortal Chosen One to Wolf Ridge, then come right back.

Jack lunged at Apollo, forcing him to retreat. Then suddenly, in his peripheral vision, he saw something flying at him. He ducked as a knife flew over his head. That damned Athena.

The doors opened, and Jack saw Phil slip inside. Good. Maybe he could take care of Athena.

Then Jack did a double take when Lara came in, carrying a sword. Merda. She was supposed to be safe with the other girls, not putting herself into danger here.

Athena spotted her. “You bitch! Kneel before your gods!”

“Go to hell.” Lara moved toward her, holding her sword in both hands.

Athena flung her knife at Lara. Jack froze a second in fear, then jumped to the side as Apollo took a swing at him. He glanced back. Lara had ducked in time. Thank God.

With a ferocious growl, Phil charged at Athena, but she dashed with vampire speed to pick up her sword. She retreated around a column, swinging the sword wildly to keep the wolf from pouncing on her.

Athena squealed as Phil chased her around another column. She passed by one of the tripods holding a lit brazier. Lara kicked the tripod over, and the brazier crashed onto the floor next to Athena.

Athena screamed as the fire leaped onto her long purple toga. The flames spread quickly. She fell on the floor, rolling and screeching. Her body writhed, then went still.

“Athena!” Apollo roared with rage. He charged at Jack, abandoning all form in a wild quest for revenge.

This was exactly the opportunity Jack had been waiting for. He knocked Apollo's sword aside and skewered him in the chest. Apollo's eyes widened just before his body disintegrated into a pile of dust.

Jack turned to Lara. “Are you all right?”

“Yes.” She looked at the floor and grimaced. “Is that what happens when you—”

“Look out!” Jack ran toward her.

She spun around. Athena was charging at her, her body blackened and burned. She lifted a sword with her charred arm and bellowed with rage.

Lara held her sword steady. With a growl, Phil leaped on Athena from behind. The force pushed her right onto Lara's sword. Athena crumbled into a pile of burnt ash.

Lara dropped her sword and stepped back. Jack grabbed her in his arms. Her body was trembling.

“It's all right.” He tossed his sword down and held her tight. “It's all right. It's all over.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I was so scared for you.”

“I was scared for you, too.” Jack rubbed her back. “You should never try to fight a vampire. It's too dangerous.”

“I had help from the wolf. What's his name again?”

“Phil Jones.” Jack looked around the temple. Phil had crossed the room to check on the guards. “Thank you, Phil.”

“Yes, thank you!” Lara added.

Phil looked back at them with a wolfish grin.

“Are the girls safe? What happened?” Jack asked.

“They're fine. They're with the black vampire.”

“He's Phineas McKinney, also known as Dr. Phang.”