Scent of Salvation (Chronicles of Eorthe #1) (33 page)

The bouncing woke Susan. A polka band jammed in her head in time with the movement. She peered through crusty eyes and blinked. What the fuck? Something held her legs as she swung back and forth.

“Easy, I don’t want to drop you.” A vaguely familiar male voice spoke.

She rubbed her eyes and gaped. First, she hung upside down, which explained the pounding headache. Second, she was being carried up a spiraling stone staircase. It would hurt if she fell. A lot. She stopped squirming. “What’s going on? Where’s Sorin?”

They stopped on a landing where he set her down. The world swam but her captor held her steady.

She squinted and her rolling stomach dropped. “Benic?” She glanced over his shoulder, hoping to see more familiar faces. Any other faces. Why was she alone with a vampire? They’d been at the Temple—Kele had just arrived then Ahote freaked and attacked Sorin.

“Better? You look green. Is your stomach queasy?” Benic grabbed her chin in his hand and forced her to meet his gaze. “Your pupils are reacting to the light. The drug should be wearing off by now.”

She needed clarity. “You drugged me?” Her sluggish thoughts seemed a step behind her situation. She recalled him stabbing her with something sharp and rubbed the spot on her arm.

He released her.

She swayed but refused to topple.

One hand opening the thick wooden door, he gestured with the other for her to enter. “Welcome to my laboratory. As I promised, my race has more to offer you than the shifters, and as scientists we will have many things to discuss.”

The world stopped acting like a ship on high seas, and she found her land legs once more. Dazed, she eyed the spiral staircase and sprang. Like a jack rabbit on wobbly knees, she tried to escape.

Sorin’s stories of vampire conquest still fresh in Susan’s mind, she knew Benic wanted more than to show her his lab. God, she’d almost gone with him instead of Sorin. Thank goodness Sorin did the thinking for them instead. She didn’t make it very far. Rounding a corner, she collided with a solid wall of flesh.

Her gaze traveled along the chest made of stone and met Benic’s stern expression. “Damn, you move fast.”

“I move normal. You’re slow. Enough games.” He grasped her upper arm and half dragged her to his lab. Once in the room, he shut the door behind them.

A long table stood in the center of the room, covered with a medieval-looking chemistry set. She paced its length, tracing a finger over the clean, wooden surface. Clear glass vials in all shapes and sizes filled the top. A burner, pipettes and even what appeared to be a microscope lay scattered on the surface.

Without permission, she glimpsed through the microscope’s eyepiece. She saw a red blur and adjusted the knobs. “I can’t see anything clearly.”

“Here.” Benic’s voice by her ear startled her.

She scooted away.

He adjusted it slightly. “I can see fine.” Gesturing to the microscope, he stepped away.

“I still can’t make anything out. The magnification is too weak for my eyes.” She stood straighter. “What am I suppose to see?”

“Your blood sample.” Benic leaned against the wall, his arms crossed lazily over his chest. Dressed in black leathers, he appeared more menacing than the first time they’d met. His curls tumbled over his forehead, hiding one of his eyes.

She licked her lips with a dry tongue. “Where am I? And why did you kidnap me?” She hoped she wouldn’t be on the dinner menu.

“I’ve brought you home to run a few tests. Your blood is very fascinating.”

Hands fluttering to her throat, Susan stepped toward the door. Oh God, he was going to drink her dry. “C-couldn’t you just have asked for another sample without stealing me away?” Sorin must be going nuts looking for her. She gasped, her eyes narrowing. “What happened to the others? You better not have hurt them.”

The vampire’s grin broadened, showing her a little fang. “They’re well and probably still napping on the Temple grounds. Against popular belief, I’m not a murderer. I study life, I don’t destroy it.”

Nausea made her stomach turn again. Would Sorin come for her? The Apisi were not fully recovered, and he didn’t have any backup.

Shit, she was on her own again.

“The last time we spoke, you explained diverging timelines.” Benic crossed the room, blocking her way to the door.

She tilted her head, frowning. “And?”

“It left me with much to think about.” He plucked the hand safeguarding her neck and led her to a table by the only window.

She sat on a cushioned chair he held out for her, not removing her glare from him.

Benic continued to smile as if entertaining a guest instead of a prisoner. He poured two glasses of red wine and offered her one.

“You’ve got to be kidding. You just drugged me. I’m naïve, not stupid.”

Sipping from her cup, Benic raised an eyebrow and offered it to her again. “See? It’s safe. I didn’t mean to frighten you. I wanted to give you a chance to see the world from a non-shifter point of view.” He shrugged. “I doubt you would have come voluntarily or that Sorin would give permission.” Gesturing around the room with his free hand, he pointed at the clutter. “It’s not all caves and beasts and dirt. This world could be more comfortable for you.”

A few days ago, she had jumped on his proposition. “I’m comfortable with the Apisi.” Especially their alpha—she wouldn’t give him up for some cushions.

“Stay a few days, let me conduct my tests, then you can decide.”

She leaned across the table. “You have nothing I want.”

“Very well. In the meantime we can engage in some speculation—maybe you can assist me with a few hypotheses.”

The exposed fangs of his grin gave her no comfort. She fingered the wineglass and gazed out the window at the courtyard. The scene below came out of King Arthur’s court. She rose a little from her seat to see all the people bustling about. Her stomach clenched. There were no castles in her history built on American soil. “Are they all vampires?”

Benic chuckled. “How could I feed so many if they were? We’re not an over-bred people. Most are domesticated shifters that have abandoned the wild for a more refined life. Some are from across the ocean.”

“From Europa?”

He raised an eyebrow, stopping mid-sip.

“Sorin told me some of your history.”

“And how does it compare to yours?”

Susan had to admit that Benic’s lab contained more advanced equipment than she’d suspected. His grasp of timelines and dimensional travel seemed more solid than Sorin’s. Maybe she could find some of the answers to her question here. “Eorthe appears to be following similar event patterns but your dimension is behind by a few centuries. It’s almost like something made time stall.” She snorted. “And you have the whole monster thing.”

“Remember, in this dimension, you are the monster. Could you have traveled in time?”

“No, not possible. A gateway through dimensions is like a bridge or fold that crosses over but only in a direct path. Not forward or back. Something must have happened to either retard the progress here or accelerate our progress on Earth.”

Benic clicked his fingernails on the rim of his glass while staring out the window. “Your blood lacks a virus that everyone else in this dimension carries.”

She sat bolt upright. “You know about viruses?” They were very small in comparison to bacteria and needed powerful microscopes to detect them. Or, possibly, vampire eyesight with a regular microscope.

“Yes. I discovered them about one hundred years ago.”

“You discovered them?” She’d been underestimating this culture and Benic. “And I don’t have this specific disease. That doesn’t seem too odd. I am from a different world.” She leaned her elbows on the table.

“Our worlds are similar. Why is it absent from you and no one else I’ve studied? We’re speaking of hundreds of thousands of test subjects from different species.”

“What does this have to do with our timelines?”

“Exactly.” Benic pointed at her, excitement flashing in his expression.

“I’m not following you.”

“You mentioned that something big had to have happened to have no humans here and only humans on Earth. It left me thinking.” He gestured to his lab. “And studying your blood gave me an idea. A virus made the difference.”

She chewed her bottom lip while staring at the vampire, but not really seeing him. Was it possible? His theory was the best thing she had at the moment. “I’m listening, go on.”

“Something happened six hundred years ago.” He spoke quietly. “A plague. There’s no written record of it, but spoken history lasts long among immortal vampires. We’ve found old ruins of cities in Europa and in the Middle East but no evidence of who built them.” He shook his head. “It’s like another civilization existed here then vanished overnight.” He fell silent and stared at her with an expectant expression.

She scratched her chin. People lived here before the monsters. Her eyes grew wide as she gasped.

Benic nodded and finished his wine.

“Humans?”

“Very possibly What leads me to this idea were your charming myths about humans being bitten—”

“And turning into—vampires or werewolves…” She slapped her hands on the table.

“Yes, that’s what I’m thinking. A great disease fell upon this world. Few know of it but we vampires call it the Black Plague. From the bones we’ve found, buried in mass graves, we speculate that many, many died.”

Susan grabbed her wine glass and drained it. Wiping her hand across her lips, she focused on what Benic hinted at. Had a virus wiped out the human population? Then where had all these species of creatures—people—evolved from. She rubbed her temples. “Get to the point, Benic.”

“You don’t have the virus because the disease never existed on your world. It’s a bloodborne pathogen transmitted via mother to child, which is why everyone has it here.”

She slapped her forehead. “You think the virus changed the humans into other species.”

“Yes, some of them. It seems most died. You, my dear, are a blank slate waiting to contract the virus and change.”

The world dropped out from under her and spun. She couldn’t catch her breath for a moment and clutched the table for balance. “You think I’m going to catch the virus?” Oh shit, she’d had unprotected sex with Sorin.

“I know you will.” His secret smile made her queasy.

The empty wine glass next to her hand caught her attention.

“My blood was mixed into the wine. It should be enough to trigger a reaction if my hypothesis is correct.”

She jumped to her feet and pitched the glass at him. “I’m not a fucking lab rat. You said most of those people who originally went through the change died from the virus.” Her voice cracked with strain. “You’ve killed me.” She pointed to the window. “Sorin is out there and he loves me. Don’t think this is over so easily.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

Somebody retched next to Sorin. He rolled on his side, blinking away his blurred vision.

Ahote, in feral form, dry heaved. The contents of his stomach were already on the forest floor. His back muscles bunched with another wave. The hunter wasn’t much of a threat at the moment.

Sorin scratched his head and glanced at his surroundings. Did the oversized pup knock him out? His head didn’t hurt, only felt groggy, like he drank too much the night before. “What happened?”

Peder popped up out of the underbrush in his civil form. He blinked, his eyes wide as he stared with a dazed look. “The vampires.” He swallowed and cleared his throat. “They attacked us.”

Shock kicked him low and hard. Sorin sprang, using his feral strength, and landed on his paws. Claws dug into the moist soil as he scanned the area. “Susan!”

Her name echoed among the towering trees. No one answered him. His heart beat so fast it skipped. “Susan?” He shoved ferns aside, praying to glimpse her sleeping form among the plants.

Ahote finally straightened. He rolled something tiny between his claws. “Some kind of small arrow.” He glanced at Sorin. “Poisoned?”

A growl built in his chest. Raw and jagged, it vibrated, cutting up his insides. They’d taken her. That creature had taken his Susan.

“Kele?” Peder climbed the steps to the Temple and returned immediately, shaking his head. “Why would they take them?” His soft voice sounded loud in the hush that fell among them.

Ahote gestured to his pack mates, the hunters who had accompanied them, and tossed the dart aside. “Doesn’t matter. They have the females.” He turned to the groggy Payami males. “Report back to the alpha what has transpired here, especially Benic’s traitorous actions.”

The males took off without comment. Sorin didn’t envy their duty. Kele was Inali’s only child.

Ahote stomped past Sorin, knocking against his shoulder.

Primal instinct took over, flashing through his thoughts. Sorin grabbed Ahote’s arm. “Where are you going?”

“To the castle. That’s where Benic would take them. I can’t return to my den without Kele.” He glared, challenging Sorin’s dominance.

He didn’t have time for this nonsense. Turning on each other wouldn’t rescue Susan any quicker. The vampires knew how to divide shifters, and Benic had done an excellent job with him and Ahote. Sorin shoved his claws into the other shifter’s flesh, drawing blood. “Brother, I’m not the one who stole her away.”