The Eternity Cure (22 page)

“It’s Stephen now,” Stick corrected, his voice smug. “Mr. Stephen. And I decide what’s necessary around here, Allie.” A faint smirk twisted his lips as he raised his chin. “No one tells me what to do, not anymore.”

I could only watch as Zeke and Jackal were stripped of weapons and cuffed, as well. Jackal rolled his eyes and seemed annoyed with the entire event, but Zeke looked pale as his gun and machete were removed and the shackles were locked in place. He met my gaze, and I could see the resignation on his face, the expectancy that he wasn’t going to make it out alive.

I’m sorry, Zeke. I didn’t mean to drag you into this. I’ll get us out somehow, I promise.

When we were restrained, Stick gave a self-satisfied nod, his pale eyes lingering on me. “This way,” he stated grandly, as if he was announcing a tour. “Prince Salazar is expecting us.”

A guard nudged me in the shoulder with the crossbow, and I went, following my former friend into the halls of the vampire tower.

Dammit, this was not the way I’d wanted to meet Salazar: arrested and in chains, unable to defend myself and those around me. Things had gone very wrong, but there was nothing I could do but try to bluff my way out when we met the Prince. I wondered if Jackal was already working on a plan, some kind of speech or con to get us out of this alive. He was the one who knew about vampire politics, not me. Of course, he was part of the reason we were in this mess to begin with.

I wanted to talk to him, and Zeke, too, but the guards to either side of us made that impossible.

We came to a pair of elevators, working ones, at the end of a hall, and Stick eyed us warily as the doors opened.

“Take them to the top floor,” he told the four vampire guards, and stepped toward the other elevator across the hall. “I’ll meet you there.”

Coward,
I thought, as Stick went into a box with his two human bodyguards, smiling and folding his hands before him as the doors slid shut
. Doesn’t want to be in a tight space with the vampire he stabbed in the back, I guess.

The guards drew their weapons and herded us into the elevator, standing at the corners as we huddled in the center. The doors glided shut, plunging the box into darkness, and the lift began to move.

I tensed, gritting my teeth. I’d been in an elevator before— a rickety, jerry-built one that had crackled and jerked and spit out sparks, making me afraid it would fall at any moment. I didn’t like small, tight spaces with no way out—they made me very twitchy. The guards stared straight ahead, weapons drawn but not pointed at us, paying no attention. Experimentally I yanked at the chains around my wrists. If I could just get my hands free, I’d be prepared should an opportunity to escape arise. Unfortunately, the cuffs held. I wouldn’t be going anywhere.

Jackal leaned in, his mouth close to my ear. “You didn’t tell me about your little friend,” he murmured, and if the guards heard him, they didn’t care. “That would’ve been a nice tidbit to share, going into the Prince’s tower.”

“I didn’t think I would see him here,” I whispered back. “And it doesn’t matter now. I hope you have something in that twisted head to stop the Prince from ripping it off.”

“Working on it.”

“Faster would be nice.”

The guard closest to me gave the evil eye and curled a lip in warning, revealing fangs. I bared mine in return and faced forward, watching the numbers light up over the door—10… 12…14…16… How far up did this thing go? With every floor, we were getting farther away from the exit and closer to the lair of a Master vampire.

“Allie,” Zeke murmured, barely audible even as close as we were. Despite our situation, and the vampires surrounding us on every side, his voice and expression were calm. Too calm. “If we don’t make it…I’m glad that I found you. It was good to see you again.”

I growled and bent toward him, lowering my voice. “Don’t you even start with that, Zeke,” I hissed, not knowing if I was angry or terrified at his words. “You have people waiting for you in Eden. You are not going to die here.”

“It’s all right.” Zeke managed the tiniest of smiles. “I’m not afraid to die. I just wish…” He trailed off, a flicker of pain crossing his face, before he shook that off, too. “Never mind. It’s not important now. I just… I want you to promise me one thing.”

I didn’t know how well I’d be able to keep any kind of promise now. I really hoped he wouldn’t ask me to go to Eden and inform his family if he was killed. I wasn’t sure I could do that, even if we made it out of here. But this was Zeke; it was hard to tell him no. “What do you want me to do?” I whispered.

He held my gaze, blue eyes solemn and intense. “Don’t Turn me,” he whispered, sending a spear of ice through my stomach. “Even if I’m dying, don’t make me one of them. Just let me go.”

“Zeke.” My throat suddenly closed up. Zeke leaned forward, resting his forehead to mine, closing his eyes.

“Please,” he whispered, his breath warm on my cold skin. “I don’t… I can’t spend eternity as a vampire. I can’t. Promise me, if it comes to that, you’ll let me go.”

“Let you die?” I choked out. My first instinct was to refuse. The sudden thought that I could lose him tore a raw, gaping wound inside, which both shocked and terrified me. I’d distanced myself from everyone to avoid these kinds of attachments. In my world, people died. The only way to survive it was to numb yourself to loss and keep going. But Zeke… I couldn’t lose him. If he was dying, and I could keep him here, if there was the barest chance to save him, I would take it. Even if I wasn’t a Master vampire, and my attempt to Turn Zeke would likely spawn a rabid, there was still that chance. Or I would get another, stronger vampire to do it. Kanin, perhaps. Kanin was a Master, though he considered his immortality a curse and would likely be reluctant to Turn a complete stranger. I didn’t care. I’d convince him, somehow. I couldn’t let Zeke die without trying to save him.

Then I realized how selfish I was being.

You would really attempt to Turn Zeke, even though he hates and fears becoming a vampire more than anything? Kanin gave
you
a choice. He respected you enough to allow you to make that decision.

“Damn you, Zeke,” I growled. “You’re really going to ask me to stand there and watch you die?”

Zeke opened his eyes, his face just a breath away. In my mind the guards disappeared. Jackal vanished. It was just me and Zeke now, facing each other in the dark. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I know it’s selfish, but I’m not like you, Allie.”

Hurt, I drew back and curled my lip, showing fangs. “You mean evil and soulless?”

“I mean, I’m not as strong as you are,” Zeke went on earnestly. “I can’t do what you do, what’s required to be a vampire. Please.” His gaze turned pleading. “If it comes to that, let me die as a human. Promise you’ll let me go.”

“You can’t deny him that choice,” Jackal muttered behind my shoulder, shocking me again. “It takes a certain mindset to be one of us. If you Turn someone who can’t handle it, they end up destroying themselves, going out to meet the sun. I’ve seen it before. Better to let the little bloodsack die, if that’s what he wants.”

“Damn you both,” I muttered, turning my face away. Zeke’s gaze still hadn’t left me, and I squeezed my eyes shut. “All right,” I whispered. “If that’s what you want, Zeke. I promise I won’t Turn you. But that means you can’t give up.” Opening my eyes, I glared at him. “You can’t roll over and die. Promise
me
you’ll keep fighting, for as long as it takes. We’re not dead yet.”

Zeke gave the smallest of grins. “Technically, you are,” he whispered, and if my hands were free, I might’ve smacked him. “But you have my promise, vampire girl. I don’t intend to give up. I’ll fight beside you for as long as I can.”

The elevator stopped with a
ding,
and the doors slid open. Stick greeted us on the other side, smiling like a cat with a bird. His human bodyguards waited impassively behind him. “This way,” he sang as the vampire Elite pushed us out. Zeke stumbled, barely catching himself, and I bared my fangs at the one who’d shoved him, my gaze flicking to the katana still looped around his shoulder. His face remained impassive as he jerked his crossbow down the hall, motioning us forward.

This hallway was more ornate than the ones on the previous floors. Thick red carpet lined the dim corridor, with electric lights set into alcoves on either side. Large paintings hung from the walls: a peaceful countryside, city streets filled with light and people, horses grazing within a fence. Scenes of a world I’d never known. The painting of a mountain range caught my eye, snowy peaks tipped with red and pink, a sunrise that I would never see again.

At the end of the hallway stood two massive double doors, a vampire guard on either side. As we approached, Stick held up a hand and turned to us with a smile.

“Wait here a moment,” he said. “I will inform the Prince of your arrival.” His watery gaze shifted to the guards at our backs. “Make sure our guests do not move from this spot. If they try anything, shoot them if you have to, but don’t kill them.” He smiled at me then, secure in his authority. “We don’t want to deny the Prince his amusement.”

At one time, I would’ve been angry, but right now I just felt numb.
What’s happened to you, Stick?
I wondered as he strode away, snapping his finger at a guard, who pulled the door open for him.
Do you hate me that much for leaving? Or did you always despise me, even when we were Fringers together?

“Well, he’s a real charmer,” Jackal muttered as the door closed. “You two must’ve been such great pals. I hope you don’t mind when I say I’m going to rip his tongue out through his nose and make him eat it.”

Zeke moved closer, brushing my shoulder with his. “You all right?” he asked softly, watching my face. I nodded. I couldn’t think about Stick. I had to focus on Salazar, what I was going to say to him once we went through those doors. What would he want? What could I say that would appeal to the vampire Prince? His city was falling apart around him, so maybe he would be interested in what we knew about Sarren and the other lab. Did he know Kanin was so close, right below his tower? And if Kanin was somewhere beneath us, Sarren was probably here, too.

My skin crawled at the thought of Sarren being nearby. If he found us now…

Dammit, I wasn’t going to die here. We’d come too far. Salazar was a Master and had us completely at his mercy, but I was not ready to stop living. I would not let Kanin or Zeke down, either. Whatever it took, we were all going to walk away from this.

The door creaked open, and Stick emerged, wearing his ever-present smile. “Bring the prisoners forward,” he called, and I clenched my fists behind my back. “Prince Salazar will see them now.”

Well, this is it.

As the guards prodded us through the doorway, Zeke’s gaze met mine, solemn and grim.
Remember your promise,
he seemed to say, and I swallowed the lump in my throat. It wouldn’t come to that. I wouldn’t allow it.

The doors creaked shut behind us.

I didn’t get a good feel for the room at first, only that it was very large and dim. Nearly the entire opposite wall was glass, showing the night sky and the other two vampire towers silhouetted against the black. A huge desk sat in front of that wall, dark and shiny, but the man standing before the desk, leaning against the wood, demanded all our attention.

Prince Salazar regarded us curiously as we came in, like we were some kind of strange new insect he’d found on his floor. Even leaning against the desk, he was well over six feet in a perfectly tailored black suit, his inky hair tumbling to his shoulders in waves, not a strand out of place.

“So,” Prince Salazar said, gazing directly at me, “you are Kanin’s daughter.”

He knew who I was.

Prince Salazar, the Master vampire of New Covington, the one who hated Kanin so much he’d kept a citywide manhunt going for weeks when the vampire was in the city, knew who I was.

Things didn’t look good for me.

“Don’t bother to deny it,” Salazar said, his voice rich and deep, with the faintest accent I couldn’t place. “Your friend Stephen has already told me everything about you. Where you lived, where you slept, the other members of your small gang. Rat and Lucas, I believe their names were? All Unregistered. Not in my system.”

I spared a quick glance at Stick, standing off to the side, his gaze solely on the master. His face was slack, almost adoring. My stomach turned, and I forced myself to face Salazar again, who still watched me with no hints as to what he was thinking.

“Nothing to say?” he asked, raising a thin, elegant eyebrow.

“What do you want me to say?” I challenged. “You seem to know everything about me.”

Salazar smiled. Turning, he raised a hand and gestured to one of the guards standing rigid beside us. “Release them.”

The guard snapped to attention, and Stick jerked, glancing at me and then Salazar, who watched everyone calmly. “Master, are you sure that’s a good idea?”

I was stunned, too, and stared at the Prince as a guard moved up behind me, inserting a key into my shackles. Salazar plucked a wineglass of blood from where it sat on the corner of his desk and swirled it thoughtfully.

“They are newcomers to my city,” he stated as the cuffs dropped away and my hands were freed. “I do not wish to appear rude. The law states that I meet visiting kindred as guests unless I deem them an obvious threat. And they are not a threat to me. I do not need them in chains if I wish to destroy them.”

Still shocked, I watched as Jackal and Zeke were released as well, Zeke rubbing his arms as the shackles were taken away. My gaze strayed to my katana, still looped to a guard’s back, tempting me to lunge forward and snatch it away from him. I desperately wanted my sword, but getting it would be hard. There were the four armed vampire guards to contend with and, worse, there was Salazar himself. I did not want a fight with the vampire Prince of the city, as Kanin had showed me just how powerful a Master could be.

“Mr. Stephen,” the Prince said as Stick continued to look sullen. “Please inform the guards outside the room to wait in the elevator hall. Inform them that, unless there is a lifeor-death situation, I do not wish to be disturbed by anyone. Is that clear?”