Secrets [5] Echoes: Part One (25 page)

“If anyone can do it, Ara
—” David’s fingertips wrapped reassuringly around my wrist. “It’s you.”

I shrugged away from his touch reflexively. I didn’t mean to, but I just couldn't stand the thought that, after touching those girls the way he had, he might not have showered or washed his hands. And I didn’t want any of
them
on
me
. And for a second I was glad they were dead. Which gave me greater insight into how much David would've wanted to kill his brother after he’d slept with me. I didn’t blame him. In fact, I was ultimately surprised right now that
either
of us was still alive.

David moved away and stood in the corner with his arms folded over his black shirt, one foot tucked up on the wall, watching Jason open packages and lay sterile needles and other medical equipment out on a small silver cart. I tried to catch his gaze, but he kept it deliberately away from me, focusing intently on what his brother was doing. So I did the same, taking a snappy step forward when I moved too far back and met with the solid, lifeless form on the gurney behind me.

“You can move that, if you like,” Jase said, pointing to the dead guy. “We won’t be needing it now.”

“You want
it in the freezer?” David asked.

“Yeah, thanks. If this works, I’ll need him to demonstrate the stages of decomposition.”

“To who?” David asked.

“The Head of the Institute,” Jason said proudly.

“Why?” I said, watching anywhere but David at the head of that table, wheeling it away.

“Put it this way,” Jase said, leaning casually back on the counter behind him. “This is a massive scientific breakthrough. Word will get out, and vampires by the hundreds will be applying for the reversal process. You’ll need an entire division to handle the numbers and probably an application process, too. But above all that, when the Institute of Vampiric Research and Science finds out, they’re gonna wanna know everything.”

“You’ll be famous,” David said casually, dusting off his hands as he shut the freezer door.

“
Ara
will be famous.” Jason presented me. “But maybe, just maybe, I might have a hope in hell of getting them to even
glance
at my other work.”

“What work?” I asked.

“Jason’s applied at least once every decade for a position at the Institute of Science—developed thousands of cures and diseases alike. But, on application, he’s always been overlooked for more experienced scientists.”

“Right, so the best way to get a foot in the door is to invent something amazing or find a cure for something they can make a lot of money from,” Jason added. “I’ve had a cure for Alzheimer's now for twelve years and not one of those bastards has even answered so much as an email to show interest.”

“Why?”

“Vampires don’t suffer Alzheimer’s. And
…” David hesitated. “He’s a nobody. They’ve got employees whose scientific experience dates back to eighteen hundred.”

“Where do you think Karl Landsteiner ended up
—1943, if memory serves me correctly?”

“I don't know who that is,” I said.

Jason smiled sweetly at me while David leaned a bit closer, his arms folded tightly to his chest. “I didn’t either until a few years ago.”

I moved a step away from David. “So, do you think this cure might get you a position at the Institute, Jason?”

“Hopefully,” he said, fussing about with a few bits and pieces on the tray.

“Well, if not, you know you have the full backing of the Lilithian people and unlimited funding to research whatever you want here?” I offered.

“Thank you, Ara,” Jase said, smiling down at the ground.

“But he wants notoriety,” David added.

Jase shrugged. “Can you blame me? I’ve been trying to get a little respect in that community for a hundred years.”

“And what have I always told you?” David asked.

“In time…” Jason said as though it’d been repeated often. “They will see.”

“Right.” David removed one hand from the fold of his arms and aimed a palm at the patient. “So let’s see if this is your big break.”

“Okay. You ready, Ara?” Jase said, rubbing his hands together.

“As I’ll ever be.” I walked over, quietly calculating the position of the man’s arm and the distance from my standing to his laying, then closed my eyes, bent slightly and put my teeth, fang by fang, into his skin. I didn’t bite hard or even let my lips touch his filthy flesh, but the man shrieked the second my venom released, his back arching upward as he fought against the restraints to break free.

I backed away in a quick step, wiping and scraping at my own mouth to rid it of his soiled blood.

David pulled his sleeve up a bit higher and offered me a swig of his forearm, and despite his skin being almost as gross to me right now as Steve’s, I grabbed his arm and sunk my teeth in, letting Jason handle the convulsing vampire on the gurney.

Not one thought about whose blood cleansed my throat was allowed to enter my mind. I kept my eyes closed and pictured David with those girls, using my hatred to stop
any
desire rising to the surface. To my surprise it actually helped, but I knew his taste and his smell so well that mind tricks wouldn’t work for long to keep me from admitting to myself that I’d missed this—missed his blood, his skin, his…

“Ara,” Jase said urgently. “It’s time.”

I closed my lips and drew one last sip of blood through them, licking my mouth clean as I faced Jason and the scumbag patient.

“Make it quick, Ara.” Jase pinned him down at the leg and arm and motioned for me to move around to his side. “Place your hand on his chest, and don’t just zap him. You only need between 200 and 1700 volts.”

“How will I know how many that is?”

“It should be instinct. You’ve been using this power enough now to call on instinct. Just start low, as if you mean to shock someone you don’t want to kill, and we’ll go from there.”

I laid my hands to the hairy, sweaty chest and closed my eyes tight, repositioning my feet to hold me up where the vampire struggled under me. I could smell his flesh changing, feel the blood in his veins stop moving, stop pulsing as the immortal life-force left him cell by cell. And with a deep, long breath, I imagined his pulse—imagined the beat, the way a heart usually felt under my hands.

“Ara, we’re running out of time,” Jason said. “Zap him.”

But that wasn’t what this beast needed. He needed to die. He’d done terrible things in his life, things I felt in his soul, things I saw as I touched him, like looking into a man’s eyes. I couldn't allow him to live. Couldn't use the force of nature to give him passage back to the realm of life. He—

“Ara.” David’s hand came down on mine. “You can do this.”

He showed me the Damned in his thoughts then—the tortures they’d suffered against the things they enjoyed, and one of those things they enjoyed was eating humans. Live humans—something we had to hunt high and low to find for them so as not to decrease the population. They wouldn't eat dead things. But I could make this man live, and the Damned would have a very enjoyable evening.

With this in mind, I focused, not on saving his life but giving a gift to my children. And a small spark, just a warm little jolt, moved the man’s chest, his whole body jumping like he’d gone over a speed bump. I pushed down harder with my hands, holding him in place, and zapped him again, this time just a little bit harder.

“Wait.” Jason grabbed my wrist and turned to watch a monitor behind us.

It bleeped once and stopped.

David’s hands fell to his sides and he stepped closer to the screen.

“Just
… wait,” Jason said again.

My hands stayed at the ready, my own heart beating fiercely in my chest. If this worked, it meant an entirely different life for every single one of those children, not to mention any vampires that have suffered the travesties of immortality against their will. And hope filled me like a pulse from another body. I wanted this to work more than I wanted the sky to be blue tomorrow.

“Maybe try one more shoc—” Jase started, and then the monitor beeped. We all drew a tight breath, waiting, and a second later the man’s chest caved, expanding and contracting as he took a huge, heaving breath and started coughing.

David swept me backward, out of the chaos that followed, as Jason pinned more monitors and all kinds of other gadgets to the man, immediately taking blood and writing things down.

“Did I do it?” I asked. “Did it actually work? Is he alive?”

“Yes, my love.” David’s arms tightened like a belt around my shoulders and he rested his jaw against the curve of my shoulder. “You did it.”

Jason stopped working for a second and looked up at his brother as the words
my love
rang through us both, and I just stood there holding my breath, my own heart faltering.

“Sorry,” he said. “Force of habit.”

I nodded and moved out of his arms to stand beside the patient, his heart now steady and strong, moving the blood through his limbs as if he’d never been immortal. “I can’t believe it.”

Jason offered a busy but happy smile. “I’ll just monitor him through the night, and if he’s still alive in the morning, we’ll bring up another few test subjects.”

“What about your trip to the asylum?”

“It can wait,” David said, standing beside me. “We’ll leave in a day or two.”

***

The wine made the blood run warm and pink in the cheeks of the faces down the table. They laughed and clapped loudly as David delivered the happy news
—narrating every fine detail of our adventurous day, from the two AM start, where Steve became the first ever reversed vampire, to the six PM finish where we rolled our sleeves down, patted our backs and closed the observation room doors on four living specimens—all set to meet their prize later tonight at the children’s feeding time. It gave the members of the House great pleasure to hear the news, and the prospective “prize” for our reversees became the punch line of many hearty jokes for the next half hour or so.

I sat back, listening intently to what everyone was saying, and more than a few times leaned sideways to make room for those who came in pairs or threes to congratulate the vampire beside me. He, of course, turned them my way, declaring that I was the miracle, not him. But they were all smart enough to see that none of us would’ve figured this out if it weren't for Jason. And he wore the respect and glorification he received like a true noble.

I reached over and tucked my fingertips into the curve of his fist, squeezing gently. “I’m proud of you, Jase.”

He squeezed back.

“I gotta say,” Mike butted in, his mouth full, “I never doubted you for a second.”

Jase and I laughed, as did a few nearby listeners.

“Jason,” Emily called, leaning forward as if that’d bring her a bit closer to our end of the table. “I really do hope this brings you some recognition now. I know how badly you've always wanted it.”

He sent her a sweet smile, that old connection they once had surfacing for a moment in the air. “Thank you, Em.”

She nodded and turned to the side when Blade tapped her.

“Perhaps a live demonstration might be in order?” Margret suggested. “We could invite the local rag and a few members from the IVRS.”

Jason went to nod, then stopped to look at David. “If the king approves.”

“I’d imagine I have very little say in the matter,” he said, sipping his wine through a smile. “Perhaps you should ask our queen.”

I tried to seem composed at, for once, being in charge. “I think that’s a great idea.”

“Very well,” Margret said. “I shall see to it tomorrow. Perhaps we can arrange it for three days’ time?”

“No. It needs to be the day after tomorrow,” David said. “Jason and I have business to attend to at the asylum in New Haven the following day.”

“Oh, and what business is that?” Margret inquired.

David explained the situation with Pepper, leaving out as much detail as possible, while the members of our small family listened intently, nodding and agreeing in amazement.

“Quite the asset, this young nephew of yours,” Walt said to Arthur.

“Yes, he seems to have proved himself rather invaluable to our community,” Arthur said.

“And, on that note, I must ask you all to raise your glasses,” David said, standing up.

The conversations around the table halted for the king’s command of the room.

“To the tireless efforts and imagination of my inhumanly intelligent brother—” He bowed his head to Jason. “You've done our family name and our nation proud.”

“Hear, hear.” A few old men nodded, tapping glasses or rapping their knuckles on the table.

Jason bowed his head to his glass and the king behind it, muttering a quiet thank you.

“And I must also propose a toast to my wife.” David raised his glass to me, all heads turning then in unison. “To my Queen,” he added, but I knew it was a correction, not just an acknowledgment of my role. “I always knew you had something special in you,” he said, grinning. “I just never imagined it would take a scientist to figure it out.”