Vampire Elite (58 page)

“I need to go. Thank you for the consultation.” He got up and walked quickly to the door.
 

“My pleasure. Come again, Anock. It’s so lonely here in this cell.”
 

Anock stopped, regarding Arianna thoughtfully.
 

“Tell me, Arianna. If Tor walked through that door right now, begging to take you back, would you forgive him?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I have to know.”
 

“Why?”
 

“Because I made a stupid mistake and I don’t know if it can be corrected.”

“Will my answer help you?”

“Yes, but please don’t lie. I need an honest answer.”
 

“No. I would not.”

“So: you also prefer Sekhmet’s rage and power to Hathor’s love and forgiveness?”

“Hathor brought me here; Sekhmet will set me free.”

“I understand.” He left her cell.
 

Arianna’s confession was worth pondering. There was destruction and death within the Amiti. And Cara would not forgive him. Both races had chosen the Lioness and forsaken Hathor. If it went on like this, they were doomed forever to continue their bloody run—until they totally annihilated each other.

Anock reached for his phone and opened the photo album he kept stored on it. He spent a few minutes looking into the faces of his friends who’d been killed in this war, remembering them, focusing on his mission. Then he went through the heavy doors to the high-security wing of the basement. He was almost finished. Just one more thing to deal with: Oberon.

Chapter 75

Two of the Guardians were just leaving the secure wing of the basement. “So how is our guest?” Anock asked them.

“I think he’s had better days.”

Anock approached Oberon’s cage. The once handsome and powerful Keeper of the Hidden was barely recognizable, his motionless body a pile of bruised flesh. Blood pooled around his head and his face had been battered and swollen, his eyes reduced to slits, his lips split and three times their natural size. His arms and legs lay in unnatural positions, with fractured bones breaking through the flesh.
 

“Nice job,” Anock said to Blade, who stood over Oberon’s form. He turned to Etain and Crian, stationed just outside the bars of the cage. “I apologize for this unsightly view, ma’am, and thank you for coming. We couldn’t have done it without your help.”

“I’m also doing it for myself. I will never forgive the Amiti for the death of my two grandchildren. I lowered the shield several hours ago and just put it back into place. I hope it was enough time for whoever is seeking him.”
 

“We’ve taken all necessary precautions,” Blade reported. “Oberon was bled prior to his beating, and, as you can see, is helpless. And, of course, the silver-steel chain and cage bars will help keep him in place.”

“Very good.” Anock’s phone rang; he picked it up and listened. “Perfect.” He tucked the phone into his pocket. “Our plan has worked. Simone’s here.”

* * *

Simone parked at the front entrance to the Guardians’ mansion. A few hours earlier she’d become aware of her blood-bond with Oberon. Tuning into it, she saw him lying unconscious and bloodied on the floor in a dark place. She went ballistic when she saw his condition. Zooming out, she discovered that he was being kept as a prisoner at the Guardians’ headquarters in Brussels—and she went even more ballistic. She hauled ass out to the pride’s airfield, calling the pilot on the way and demanding that he prepare the jet and take her to Europe. She had a rental car waiting for her at the Brussels airport, and after about an hour’s drive at eighty-five miles an hour she was at the Guardians’ mansion. She blared her horn at the gates; the guards recognized her and let her in. She skidded to a stop in front of the mansion and shot out of the car and into the building. The guard at the door ran after her.
 

“Sorry, Princess, how can I help you?”

“I want to see Anock.”

She knew the Guardians wouldn’t just let her stroll in to see Oberon, and she had no power to fight them. The only person who could really help her to get to Oberon was her former lover and current enemy, the filthy pig Anock Sabe.
 

“Please, if you will, wait just a moment,” the guard asked, making a call to announce Princess Simone’s arrival. He listened for a minute, then said politely, “The commander will be right with you. Would you like to take a seat while you wait?”

Simone bit her tongue. How dare he? A
princess
had to wait for
him,
her father’s
bodyguard
. Outrageous! She was furious, but it didn’t matter. She’d survive the indignation; what mattered was that she needed to save Oberon.
 

“Simone.” Anock was coming down the stairs with a broad, welcoming smile on his face. “Nice to see you again, Princess. I hope you’re feeling better than the last time we met. What brings you here today? Something I can help you with?”

“Don’t pretend to be surprised. You know
exactly
why I’m here. Take me to Oberon. I know he’s here.”

“Okay. Follow me.” He headed toward an elevator.
 

That’s it?
He was just going to take her to Oberon without argument or even negotiation? Something was seriously out of whack here.
 

In the elevator, neither spoke, engaged in some sort of silent duel. Having known each other for many years, they easily felt the other’s animosity. At the lower level, the elevator stopped and Anock stepped out and signaled Simone to follow him. He led her to a pair of massive metal doors. He dialed a code and the doors separated, revealing not the long corridor Simone had expected but a vast underground room containing several large cages.

Simone spotted him immediately. Oberon was in the central cage, prostrate, seemingly lifeless, in a pool of coagulating blood. The strong, grassy, unforgettable scent of his blood filled the air. Terrified that he might be dead, Simone rushed to the cage.

“Open it!” she yelled.

Anock nodded and one of the Guardians unlocked the cage. Simone dropped to her knees in front of Oberon’s brutalized body. Shuddering, she raised his head and turned his face toward hers, choking on her own breath. If she hadn’t known it was Oberon, she would have never recognized him. Never had she seen anyone so severely beaten. Stroking his cheek, she brushed the blood-soaked hair from his face and was deluged with his unbearable physical pain, deep sorrow, overwhelming grief and self-reproach.
 

She was reading him. For the first time in her life, Simone had completely entered another person’s essence, felt what they were feeling. She felt empathy for another living being. It was life-altering. At that moment she was ready to do anything to relieve his pain.

One of Oberon’s eyes opened a fraction of an inch. “Simone.” His voice was so low that she barely heard him.

She tilted her head and lightly brushed her lips across his forehead. She flashed back to the white sands of the ocean coast where he’d often taken her, her fingers running through his straw-blond hair, damp with ocean water. She blinked and was back in the cell. Oberon’s hair was saturated, but it was with blood.

“I feel your power, Sim. You’ve completed your quest.” Oberon coughed, spitting out blood.
 

“I have?” Simone asked, astounded. She went motionless, sensing, ancient knowledge welling within her and reaching her conscious mind from a deep, indefinable source. He was right; she had just gone through the Third Door and claimed her powers as Keeper of the Mystery of Life.
 

But what were those powers? Were they enough to free Oberon? She tuned into them, but other than knowing that she was now a Keeper, she didn’t feel any different.
 

“I feel nothing,” she murmured, disappointed.
 

“You unlocked the powers; they’ll begin unfolding one at a time. It takes time to explore them and master them. But you don’t have time. Listen to me, Simone.” He raised his head, his hand clutching her arm with surprising strength. “You have to surrender your powers as Keeper to the Queen. Your life is in danger.”

“Surrender the powers? Never.” She had just tapped into a force unparalleled in the entire universe, and before she even knew what it was, he was asking her to renounce it? Not going to happen. She had always dreamed of being exceptionally powerful. This was her golden opportunity to finally experience it. Yes, Oberon had explained the situation with the Order to her. But still ...
 

“I don’t care about your fucking Order. They can’t do anything to me.”

“Simone ... “

“Don’t argue with me, Oberon. Keep your mouth shut. You’re too weak to be talking. Now we are getting out of here.” She rose from the floor and cast Anock a black look. “I’m taking Oberon with me. Have one of your warriors carry him to my car.”

Anock grinned. “Well, I think we need to discuss that. Let’s go to my office and talk.”

“There’s nothing to discuss, Anock. You will do what I command.”

“Let me remind you,
your highness
, that this is
my
territory and
I
am the one who gives the orders here.” Anock’s tone cut through her like a knife. “Now, if you want to help your blood-bond, be a good girl and follow me.”

Simone scowled at Anock with raw hatred and then glanced back at Oberon. What choice did she have? None. This was the Guardians’ headquarters and Anock was God here. A little humility would be a better strategy. Maybe if she played nice she could manage to negotiate Oberon’s freedom?
 

She knelt down again to address Oberon. “I’ll be back soon, and get you out of here.”

He slid a weak hand toward her and touched her cheek, bleak hopelessness reflected in his eyes.
 

“Please, Simone. I’m begging you: don’t be so stubborn. Surrender your powers to Arianna. If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for everybody who loves you ... do it for me, Sim.”

Nobody loves me but you, Oberon. That’s why I’ll fight for you to the end.
To what end she didn’t know, but she was determined not to give up.

As she reached the door, Oberon quietly called to her.

“Please don’t reveal anything. You’re half Amiti. Have mercy on them. Don’t destroy them.”

Reveal? What was he talking about?
 

Simone went very still as it came to her: she
knew
who the Keepers were and where to find them! All of them but Arianna, whose energies were still inaccessible to her, probably because Arianna still hadn’t completed her quest.

Simone also knew that the location of the Keepers would be the price for Oberon’s life.

Who did she belong to, divided as she felt right now? She shook her head, casting off her paralysis, and followed Anock to his office.

“Please be seated, Princess.” Anock’s voice was cool and official as he pointed to the chair in the center of the room. Slowly, mustering her dignity, Simone took the seat. Anock, Blade, and two other Guardians she didn’t recognize remained standing against the walls. Crian was also there, languidly stretched out in another chair, sampling the Red Sunset.

“I feel like I’m in an interrogation room.”

“Would you like a drink, Princess?” Crian winked at her.
 

“No, thanks.” The whole idea was a world of wrong: her stomach didn’t want anything at all right now, thank you very much, and she couldn’t afford to drink alcohol, and the very thought of drinking any blood but Oberon’s felt like a betrayal.

“I really recommend that you have one. At least have the blood.” Without waiting for her to reply, Anock sauntered to the wet bar and poured her a glass. “It’ll relax you. This conversation might be exceptionally unpleasant for you.”

He handed her the drink. She took it, her hand shaking, and her stomach lurched in response. She shook off the feeling, but set the glass down on the desk in front of her. “So?”

“I’m sure, Simone, you’ve figured out why you are here.” Anock folded his arms across his chest. “Before we proceed, I need to inform you that the Guardians have received permission from the King to do with you whatever we find necessary to maintain the safety of the race. Do you fully comprehend what that means?”

She’d always known that her father had never really loved her and that her loss would not affect his day-to-day life. The survival of his people was his only concern; nothing else mattered to him. The Guardians weren’t going to let her leave this mansion until they had what they wanted. She was the sacrificial lamb. Could she find a way out of this in time to save herself and Oberon?
Was
there a way out of this?

“What do you want?”

“We want you to tell us where the Keepers are.”

She sat in silence, thinking. Oberon had asked her to have mercy on the Amiti—and despite herself, she was feeling a connection with these creatures of love. As hard as it was to admit, she
was
half Amiti. Did she have the right to give up the Keepers to the Guardians and to blot out the Amitis’ last hope?
 

At the same time, the Keepers were a terrible threat to the vampires, which meant a deadly threat to her pride. So she must surrender them. Maybe she should try to kill two birds with one stone, give up the Keepers and negotiate Oberon’s freedom.
 

But would Oberon even accept his freedom knowing what it had cost? Never. She’d lose him forever.
 

“I’m sorry, Anock, I can’t do that.”

“I knew that would be your answer. Now I want you to listen very carefully,” Anock stood in front of her and leaned forward, gripping the arms of her chair. “You can’t play for two teams at the same time. Either you’re a vampire or you’re an Amiti. It’s your choice, Princess.”

“What are you talking about?”
No
. She couldn’t be Amiti, not even half Amiti. They’d lock her in a bloodstock cell. She was a
vampire
, with all of the vampires’ characteristics. She fed on blood, she’d experienced bloodlust, she had the same fiery temperament and dominant nature; she thought and acted like a vampire.