When Bacchus’ minions pushed us
forward, we had no choice but to follow. But I wasn’t focused on Bacchus. No, I
was scouring the dark shadows, trying to find Thane. Where was he?
“See,” Tony hissed under his
breath. “I told you I had to pick sides, and it looks like I picked the right one.
At least I’ll live.”
Will’s jaw clenched, and I knew
he, like me, wanted to punch that smug look from Tony’s face. Susan and Tony
quickened their steps, falling behind Bacchus, eager to please. I thought about
Thane’s girlfriend, the woman he had loved. She had worked for them, but she
hadn’t been safe. No one was. And just like Thane’s love, Tony and Susan would
eventually be killed as well.
We moved down a narrow deer
trail, Will and I between Bacchus and his followers. Even as I frantically searched
the dark woods, hoping for a way to escape, I knew we were trapped. Our only
hope was Thane. Some ten minutes later we entered another clearing.
“Now,” Bacchus said, slowing his
steps. “Tell me about this serum.”
“Well, you see,” Tony replied, sweat
glistening across his forehead. He was so nervous he almost tripped over a
branch. “Apparently Thane tricked us, because the bag is empty.”
“You don’t say,” Bacchus said
thoughtfully.
He strolled across the clearing,
and while his feet were quiet and light, my boots crunched over branches. And
while the burs and thorny vines somehow managed to miss his silky clothes, they
poked and scraped against my skin. I was fully aware of each scratch and the
blood it might bring to the surface.
“Come, my friends,” Bacchus said,
pausing next to a large boulder, his eyes glowing just like the other vampires.
“Sit.”
They’d set up camp, probably
lying in wait for days. Bedrolls, bags and even a fire had burned in the center
at one time. Who knew how long they’d been here. Will and I were shoved forward,
falling to our knees. I tried not to grimace, but the pebbles dug into my knees
and my arms ached.
Bacchus glanced dispassionately at
Susan and Tony. “Kill them.”
I felt Will stiffen beside me. But
I wasn’t surprised in the least. They had no need for them. As much as I hated Tony
and Susan, it didn’t stop my heart from lurching, for I knew they would die a
painful death. Bacchus’ men were on Susan in seconds.
Her screams echoed through the
woods, bouncing against the trees. Using their inattention to his advantage, Tony
fled, crashing into the woods. But Bacchus’ men went after him. Frantic, I
searched the dark forest. Now was the perfect time for Thane to attack and free
us. But Susan was dead, and Tony’s screams faded. Still no Thane.
Suddenly Bacchus stood before
me. A shiver of unease raced down my body. He knelt slowly, those eerie eyes
pinned to me. Mirth clouded his gaze, but there was something more there…hunger,
I realized with dread.
“You’re waiting for Thanatos,
aren’t you?”
Startled, I froze. I barely
breathed.
With his gaze still on me, he
reached toward my neck. I barely had time to flinch before he’d pulled Tom’s
necklace out from underneath my shirt. With a quick snap, he broke the string
and pulled it close. “Pretty.”
Smirking, he stood and tossed
the necklace toward the woods. He strolled to the large boulder. Making a great
show of brushing off the rock, he settled, all ease, on the hard surface.
“Let me tell you about the real
Thanatos.” He folded his hands demurely in his lap and smiled at me. “The man
you obviously care for is actually working for me.”
“You’re lying,” Will snapped.
Bacchus lifted his brows. “Oh
no. Not at all.”
The area grew quiet. Bacchus’
men were still in the woods, most likely feeding off of Tony. As I stared into
the vampire’s face, I realized Bacchus was completely serious. Dread swept
through my body, threatening to drown me in a vast pit of darkness.
“No,” I whispered, the word
slipping across my lips. I wouldn’t believe it.
Bacchus lifted his gaze,
focusing on something beyond my shoulder. “Tell her, Thanatos.”
Will turned.
I didn’t bother to move, because
I knew who stood there. I could smell him. I could sense him. I should have
been terrified. Instead, all I could think about was that he had betrayed me. The
pain was sharp, haunting, consuming. I couldn’t move, couldn’t think, could
barely breathe.
“Thanatos, please take your
friend Will here into the woods and kill him.”
It was all I needed to jerk me
from my stupor. Somehow I managed to surge to my feet and spun around to face Thane.
“No. Please. Please don’t do this.”
Thane merely stood there
impassively, as if my words did not reach him. As if he had no heart, no
conscience, no soul. Who was this man I thought I knew? I stared hard at him,
met his gaze and held it even while my heart broke, piece by piece, scattering
to the ground below me. Thane.
My
Thane. How could he?
“Please,” I whispered once more.
Nothing.
Will had grown stoic and still.
He didn’t beg. He knew it would do no good. No, Will would go down a warrior, and
a leader. Slowly, he stood, stumbling to his feet with his hands still tied. Thane
latched onto his arm.
“No!” I screamed.
Will looked back only once
before he was shoved into the forest. In his gaze I saw his apology, I sensed
the way he felt about me. In his gaze I saw his goodbye. Just like that they disappeared
into the dark shadows. I listened until I could hear Will’s feet no longer
crashing through the vegetation. And even after it went silent, I still listened,
hoping…praying.
“As much as I’d love to watch,
we have a carriage to catch.”
Bacchus shoved me toward a deer
trail. I hadn’t just lost Will in those woods, I’d also lost Thane…at least the
man I thought I knew. A sob caught in my throat, choking the air from my lungs.
No. No. No.
I wouldn’t believe it, I
couldn’t. Thane wouldn’t turn on us. Will couldn’t die.
“Don’t worry, my sweet,” Bacchus
cooed, his words barely audible over the harsh pounding of my heart. “I think
we’ll keep you for a while. Dionysus will love you. You’ll be the perfect gift
for our king.”
I spun around and bolted to the
trees, toward where Will and Thane had disappeared. I’d made it only three
steps when I was slammed to the ground. As I lay there, gasping for breath, I kept
my gaze focused on those trees, knowing it had to be a mistake. Surely it was
all a ruse to free Will. They would return and attack Bacchus together.
“Come now,” Bacchus said
impatiently. “We have places to be. It’s time to give up.”
But still I lay there, waiting, waiting,
knowing that Thane wouldn’t betray us.
Knowing…until moments later when
Thane returned, stepping from the darkness of the woods and into the clearing,
covered in blood.
Chapter
18
Will was gone.
Dead.
Like Jimmy, like my grandfather,
my parents.
And most likely I would follow.
For hours we’d been traveling in
the carriage, wheels bouncing over dirt roads until my aching body had grown
numb. Although the very men who had killed my friends, and who would murder me
sat beside and across from me, I was barely aware. I’d sat quietly in the
corner, staring unblinkingly at the blur of trees, lost in my grief, my fear,
my pain.
Will was gone.
I was the last one left but I
knew I wouldn’t be here much longer. But what hurt me more than anything, what
twisted like a dagger deep within my gut, was Thane’s betrayal. I hadn’t known
him at all. He was a monster. The Thane I thought I’d known had been a myth,
like a character in one of the very books he’d given me.
We’d been fighting a losing
battle all along. Death had finally caught up to us, taking no prisoners. As
with the very insects, mammals, and reptiles we’d exterminated from our
gardens. They’d tried so hard to survive, but it had been pointless because we
were ruthless, stronger and determined.
Vaguely I was aware of Thane’s
hand gripping my upper arm as we sat side by side. The same hand that had
killed Will. Perhaps he thought I might try to throw open the carriage door and
jump. But jumping would only amuse them, and I’d be damned if I’d provide the
entertainment. Will had died well, marching nobly to death and I would as well.
How could I have trusted Thane
so utterly and completely? Why hadn’t I paid attention to that cold
indifference I’d seen so often in the dhampir’s eyes? Why had I ignored the way
he killed without remorse?
I didn’t care about my own
death. I’d given up worrying about that long ago. But I was angry that I hadn’t
been able to do more. Angry that I hadn’t been able to give the others a
fighting chance. I could only hope Kelly had escaped. I could pretend. Pretend
that they would find the serum, that they would live on, while the vampires
around them slowly died off.
I could pretend.
“I can practically hear your
mind spinning,” Bacchus said from across the carriage. I couldn’t see his
features in the dim light, but his eyes glowed eerily. He found me so very
amusing, and toyed with me like a cat playing with a little mouse.
“Why am I still alive?” I demanded.
“Would you rather have it over quickly?”
Bacchus asked, tilting his head to the side as if he was contemplating the
idea.
How I hated him. But I despised
Thane even more. Bacchus hadn’t hid what he was. He’d made it clear he was a
full-blooded killer. But Thane…Thane had used me. Pretended to care. And it
hurt so much more than I would ever admit.
“Yes, actually, I would like it
done quickly because I’d rather be dead than in your company a moment longer.”
“Oh don’t worry, my dear. Your
wish will be granted soon enough.” He smoothed down his cloak and folded his
hands demurely in his lap. “Now then, enough with the theatrics. You humans are
so dramatic.”
“Says the monster wearing silk
pantaloons,” I muttered.
Bacchus laughed, but his mirth
didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“They are
going to love you at the castle, my dear.”
I shivered despite trying to
hold back my fear. “Why?” I demanded. “Why are you doing this? Why do you hate
humans so?”
Bacchus shrugged. “Don’t take it
personally. We need to eat.”
Right, if only it were that
simple. “And can’t you feed in a more humane way? Must you enjoy the terror?”
He leaned forward, so close that
his sweet scent swirled around me. “My dear, people love a good horror show.”
My lips lifted into a snarl. “You’re
monsters.”
He quirked a brow and leaned
back. “We’re the monsters? Really? You’ve read, you know the history of your
people. Good God, your humans used to gather around and cheer hangings. Women,
children, all would go to the show.”
“That’s different,” I hissed. “That
was war.”
“Oh no, my dear. Not war.” He
was silent for a long moment, watching me, merely watching me. I was so
incredibly aware of Thane at my side and Bacchus across from me. I felt
trapped, suffocated. “Do you know what they used to do to vampires before we took
power?”
I didn’t respond, because I
didn’t know.
He smiled slow and sweet. “They
would burn us at the stake. But we didn’t die that way you see, so it was
merely a slow torture. Quite painful until we healed again. Or they’d stab us
in the heart and bury us alive. Again, didn’t kill us, merely tortured us. I
could go on and on, but you get the idea. That, my dear, is what your humans
did to us before we decided to fight back.”
Had Thane hated me all this
time? Bitter over the way humans had treated his family?
“That was a long time ago,” I
whispered, unsure anymore what I believed.
“And can you say that it
wouldn’t happen again?” He tilted his head thoughtfully, watching me. “Say you
humans regained power, would you show us mercy? Would you accept us? Or at the
least, would you integrate us, teach us your ways? Or would you rather just
kill us and be done with the fear?”
I wanted to assure him we would
do what we could to help, but I couldn’t. He was right…we could never live
together in peace. Which meant in the end either the vampires or the humans
would end up failing. And considering how often we were on the losing side, I
wasn’t going to place my bet on my human friends.
“And so it will go on and on
forever, never ending.”
He shrugged. “At least until
you’re dead or contained.”
“And then you’ll turn on each
other,” I said.
He didn’t seem to care.
“Perhaps.”
The carriage slowed as the
wheels hit the cobbled streets of town. The same town where I’d escaped with
Thane. He’d been leading us back here all along. My heart hurt, a stabbing pain
of betrayal. The escape, finding my grandfather, learning to fight…all of it
had been pointless.
The scene unfolded much like it
had those two months ago. As before, a variety of curious beautiful ones poured
from their elegant homes in their elegant clothing to watch my arrival. Only
this time I was alone. We entered the large courtyard and the carriage came to
a stop. Bacchus jumped from the vehicle first. I was left alone with Thane.
“My friends,” Bacchus called
out.
Frantically, I looked at Thane. If
he was going to help me, if this was all some ruse, it would be the perfect
time to let me in on the game. But no words of comfort came from his lips and
his gaze remained firmly on the crowd gathered outside.
“How could you?” I whispered.