Cruel Stakes: Vampires & Vices No. 2, page 18
We raise our glasses. “A parting goodbye,” Brisa says right before someone screams.
The plague doctor humans throw their trays at the vampires. They rip off their masks and drop their long coats, and time seems to stop. I recognize several of them; they are the hunters from New Orleans. My hunters––and my friends. But I don’t have time to process much, because time speeds up again and the fight breaks out.
These hunters are prepared, with loads of stakes strapped on their bodies and crossbows in several of their hands. Adrian grabs me and pushes me back. “Stay here,” he yells, and then he’s flying out to meet the hunters. Stakes slice through the air, going right for him, but he dodges them all with practiced ease. He’s so much faster than the rest of them.
There are far more humans than I’ve ever seen before. Somehow they have infiltrated the palace. Are they here because of me? I’m not sure how they figured out how to find me, but they must have. Part of me wants to go to them, and to be saved and rescued and to get far away from Brisa and Adrian and the rest of them. And another part of me wants to scream that they’re here at all, because they’re not going to survive this. I have seen for myself how cruel this court is––there will be no prisoners. It’s dead or alive and that’s it.
But they are here now, and if I can get away from Versailles, I would be stupid not to take my chance. I run toward them, hoping someone will give me a stake so I can fight at their sides. I catch sight of Seth and hurry to him. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
He gives me a hard look. “Get out of the way, you’re not our target.”
And then he’s gone.
Okay, so maybe this isn’t a rescue mission. But what the heck? Why did he talk to me like that? Am I just meant to stand back and watch?
And that’s when I realize how much they are going after Adrian over anyone else. I would think they’d be going after the queen herself, but nope, everyone seems to have Adrian as their target. As the fight explodes into blood and chaos, vampires go down and so do humans. It’s hard to watch, and I would give anything to join in.
Felix’s face appears as the crowd surrounds me. He picks me up around the torso, dragging me to the edge of the fray. “We have to get you to safety,” he mutters. “You should get out of here.”
Once we’re out of the craziness, I have to ask, “What are you guys doing here? Are you trying to kill Adrian?”
He sets me down abruptly and steps back. His eyes narrow into little slits and he stares at me as if he’s seeing me for the first time. “Are you sleeping with him?”
I don’t know how to answer that. My cheeks warm and I look away. It’s all he needs to know. He takes another step back and lets out a small breath.
“We’re here for Tate. Our target is your boyfriend. Funny, I thought I would save you in the process and we could go back to the way things were before you disappeared.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“Did you come here willingly? Just answer me that.”
“Of course not.”
His lips thin and he looks away, hands back on his stakes.
“Why do you want to kill Adrian? There are worse vampires here.”
Those words turn his attention back to me and he glares. “You know what, Eva? Why don’t you save yourself.”
Chapter 29
And then as if I’m nothing to him, he’s running back into the fight and my heart is breaking and it’s all my own fault. He’s right and he should hate me. I’ve become too soft, too trusting, when my heart should’ve stayed guarded. I dig my foot into the grass, because you know what? I thought Felix was my friend.
Another hunter comes barreling toward me, his eyes wide and his teeth bared. “You! This is all your fault!” He actually has the stake pointed at me, death in his eyes.
I ready my stance and channel my training. I’ll fight him off if I need to. But I don’t have to, because Adrian gets to him first, knocking him unconscious. He lands a foot away.
“Why does Tate hate you so much?” I demand.
“It’s a long story.”
“Where’s Brisa?”
“Her guards already got her out of here. We need to get you to safety too.”
“I don’t think so,” I say, my heart dropping as I point back to the drive. The tide has shifted and it has become painfully clear that the vampires are the stronger of the two groups here.
“Move out!” Felix calls, and the hunters take off, sprinting into the darkness.
But the remaining vampires are angry, and hungry, and they’ll kill anyone they can. I can’t let them kill my friends! I turn on Adrian. “Please don’t let them kill them,” I cry, “please, they don’t know what they’re doing. Tate set them up to this. They’re not bad people.”
Adrian shakes his head––and it sets me free. I’m done with him, with the lies, the manipulations, and the disappointments. I have to take matters into my own hands. I run toward the hunters, hoping to save whoever I can. Something metallic rattles through the air––a machine gun. Everyone drops to the ground, myself included, and my heart beats in my ears. Is that coming from the guards? Or from the hunters? Either way, this is it. We’re all going to die right here at the foot of the palace.
The gunfire stops and I uncover my head to find a silver bullet embedded into the earth a mere two inches from my face. I remember what Tate said about silver bullets being used to slow the vampires down. My hope rises––does that mean my friends got away? It’s hard to hope these things, when hope has been taken away from me so many times before. But when I look up, I find that most of the hunters are gone.
I don’t see Seth or Felix.
I stand and wander through the bodies of what hunters didn’t make it. When I see Kenton laying among the dead, my heart stops. His leg is twisted back behind him at an awkward angle and his eyes are wide open and staring into nothing.
No. No no no no no. This can’t be happening.
I want to fall to my knees and sob, but Remi is at my side and pulling me away. “Don’t feel sad,” she says, “don’t let anyone see you sad.”
“What are you doing here?” I turn on her.
But she doesn’t have an answer and I can’t help but wonder if she had something to do with this attack. “What are you? Are you a human or not?” I ask her point-blank.
Her face shuts down and then she turns and runs away. I want to chase her down and demand answers but I can’t seem to move with Kenton lying at my feet. The vampires will stred him to pieces before he even gets a chance to grow cold.
“Death is part of being a vampire.” Brisa appears at my side. “You will get used to it. Come, I’m not going to let this deter us from our intentions for the night.”
I blink at her as she leads me to a car, the first I’ve seen in a month, and we climb into the plush leather backseat. At least it’s not one of the ones without windows. That other one felt like an early grave, but I guess that’s fitting considering where I’m about to go. There are other cars waiting on the wide driveway as well, and other vampires that are left climb into those. I notice some of the other fledglings are along for the ride. Did everyone know about this night? Did they know this was their last day as a human, and Adrian decided not to let me in the loop?
I’ve always hated surprises . . .
Adrian climbs in, too, and I’m sandwiched between them in the back of the vehicle as we head toward Paris. Maybe I’m in shock, but I can’t believe any of this is happening, or that the hunters just attacked and now we’re back to business as usual minutes later.
Versailles is on the outskirts of the city, and I’ve been longing to go into the city itself since the moment the jet hit the runway. Maybe some of the people of the court have been allowed into Paris, I’m not sure, but Adrian and I have been ordered to stay put. It’s one more thing I can add to my long list of resentments against Brisa.
As we drive through the beautiful historic city, it reminds me of New Orleans at night, and that reminds me of my friends. It’s hard not to cry, but I don’t let myself. Instead I focus on the view and keep pointing out the similarities of the cities to myself. It’s not just in the architecture of some of the buildings, but in the small groups of people tittering down the sidewalks on their way home from the clubs and bars. Who cares if vampires are involved when the vices are served? It’s a horribly brilliant exchange, and I’m sitting next to the mastermind.
Guilt wracks through me, because I put myself in this situation, because I was a fool. And now people are dead, my amazing, vibrant, funny, cute, awesome friend Kenton among them.
For a moment, I pretend that it’s daylight, that we’re on our way to enjoy the city like any other tourists. I try to imagine the last couple of hours as if nothing notable had ever happened. If I had my choice, we’d be going to the museums, to the top of the Eiffel Tower, to wander the treasure of the Louvre, and stop off at a bakery or a café to enjoy wonderful food and people-watch. If I could only be gifted a semblance of a normal life before . . . before . . . before . . .
We pull up to a church that I instantly recognize but whose name eludes me right now. My brain has gone fuzzy as the nerves have taken over. “If the humans would’ve allowed us to take over their landmarks sooner,” Brisa says, “we would’ve never allowed a fire to destroy such a historic building.” She says fire as if it’s an avoidable nuisance and not a sad accident. “I’ve always loved Notre Dame, same is true of all the gothic architecture that is mostly gone now. France is my home. I’ve traveled the world, of course, but I always come back here. There’s simply nowhere like France.”
Notre Dame, that’s right. Looking at it now is like coming to a church with a confession and being told I’m not forgiven. My eyes water again. I can’t cry in front of her, and that makes it even harder.
The lights of the city twinkle on the inky black river. What’s left of Notre Dame looms over us like a dark gothic mountain, gargoyles perched on its ledges. Through the haze of sadness, I recall what she’s talking about, how years ago huge parts of this historic church caught on fire and burned to the ground. Investigators later said it was the fault of bad electrical wiring or maybe even a stray cigarette butt. Either way, it had been a tragedy that the whole world had watched from their television screens.
But do vampires really think that they could prevent something such as a fire? And what about an act of God? Could they stop a natural disaster like lightning from striking or a storm from raging? “You’ve seen it all, haven’t you?” I ask numbly. “And you prefer the old ways to the new?”
“In some ways, yes.” She smiles demurely. She’s acting as if the hunter attack did nothing to ruin her good mood. What is wrong with this lady? “Do you know I’ve never made my own princess? I’ve only made sons and raised them to be powerful princes.” I did know, but I don’t say anything. She muses to herself as she continues. “Some say it’s because I get jealous of women, but that’s not really why, I just find that men are better company.” I swallow, not sure what she means by that. Is she talking about sex? Should I take offense? Should I be grateful that I’m even in her presence right now? In the end, I decide it’s best to keep quiet and let her continue. “Adrianos knows all about that. Don’t you, Adrian?”
She’s obviously talking about sex and it makes my stomach roll. For the first time since we climbed into this car, he makes eye contact with me. The pained look in his eyes does not bode well for me. “I do.” Two words. That’s all he says.
I look away.
We walk into the church with about thirty others following us. A lot of it is still roped off, but it doesn’t matter. Brisa leads us to a staircase, and we immediately descend. “There are all sorts of entrances to the catacombs in Paris,” she explains, “but I prefer this one. I like to keep things dramatic.” She laughs at herself and most of the minions laugh along. She certainly does know how to put on a show.
It’s too dark for humans to see, but I can. I don’t say anything. I hold onto Adrian’s rigid arm and act like I’m as blind as the rest of the humans. Someone lights a few torches and the catacombs light up in an eerie warm flickering glow. And same as we learned in school, the long hallways are lined with human bones, centuries of skeletons stacked upon each other in intricate patterns. I’ve never been one to spook easily, but this place gives me the absolute creeps.
Brisa and the other vamps know exactly where they’re going, as if they’ve done this countless times. They probably have. “We have a safe place that the hunters don’t know about,” I hear one of the other vampires say to his fledgling. I swallow hard, for the first time praying that hunters don’t show up. They wouldn’t want to save me, not the way I am now. They’d count me as one of the vampires, a traitor to human kind. And I wouldn’t blame them.
But they won’t come, at least not mine. I already know they’re weaker than ever.
There are eight fledglings by my count. Seven other humans who are choosing this life . . . or rather, this afterlife. One that will stretch on and on and on if they’re lucky, filled with adventure and travel and darkness and blood and death and answering to somebody who has more control over their free will than maybe even they do. I don’t understand how anyone could willingly sign up for this. It doesn’t matter what I feel for Adrian, I still wouldn’t want this. When I was younger, I read that book where the girl begs her vampire boyfriend to turn her, where turning eighteen felt like a horrible old age. I didn’t understand it then, and I still don’t now.
Why are people so afraid of death?
It’s not like I have a death wish. I don’t. But I want to live––really live.
I want to live a full life. That means having the sun. It means enjoying real food and drinks and going on vacations to discover places with blue skies overhead. I want to feel love and heartbreak and family––my own children––and time passing by as I grow old.
I never thought I wanted children, not in this horrible world, but maybe I would someday.
Not a family that is made from adults turning into immortal blood suckers, but real families with human problems and joys. The way that vampires create their families can’t replace the real thing. I want to be a parent, I want my kids to have siblings and hopefully cousins and aunts and uncles and everything that goes with it. All the things I never got to have, those are the things I want my kids to have one day.
I’ve never really thought too much about a full human life, or maybe I’ve spent countless hours thinking about it.
But now it’s all about to be taken away, and I can only desperately pray that Adrian’s plan will work, that he was being honest, and that I can trust him. I can trust him, right? But then, why didn’t he tell me that today would’ve been my last day? Why keep that a secret? He knew I had been waiting for this to happen and was growing impatient, so what isn’t he telling me?
Maybe he just wanted to be with me. He could’ve waited until I gave into my attraction for him, but I don’t think he’d be that selfish.
We reach an area with several small openings in the walls and stop. These are obviously the crypts we’re to be placed in. They’ll take our blood and give us theirs. They’ll put us in that wall and allow the vampire venom to do its job, and in three days when they come back for us, we’ll rise as one of them.
“This is where the transformation will happen.” Brisa sounds like a proud parent. “We are taking care to separate you all because we can’t have one vampire waking before the others. Let’s just say you’ll be very thirsty.” The vampires chuckle at that, and my mouth goes sour.
Brisa turns to me. “And you, my darling, are the very first. Are you ready?”
No, of course I’m not ready, but I don’t have a choice.
I smile down at her, she’s so petite and beautiful, but worldly and powerful. I wish I could stake her and hate that I can’t. She smiles back. “Please, my darling, keep your angel wings. I rather like them. I find it kind of ironic, don’t you think? I mean, what better outfit than that of an angel for my very first princess.”
I blink at her, reality snapping into place. “Your princess?”
“Oh, didn’t Adrian tell you that? This agreement was made ages ago. Before you even came here, actually. The whole reason I wanted you to come was so I could vet you and see if you would be worthy of the title. So sorry we lied to you and said it would be him to do it. I wanted to make sure I liked you. Plus, I was waiting for him to take your virginity.” She scrunches her nose. “I rather dislike the idea of a virginal vampire as my daughter, no offense.”
My heart shatters and disbelief overtakes me. I stare between the two of them, and Adrian offers me nothing. Not an apology, not anger, not regret. Nothing. And suddenly, in the worst way, I know the answer to my recurrent question.
I cannot trust Adrian.
I never could.
And I am a fool to have believed him for even a second. I had weeks of chances to try to get out of this place and I didn’t because he fed me some ridiculous plan about having someone get me out of here before the third day. What a load of crap that was. And I wanted to believe him, I chose to ignore the stupidity of his plan because the truth was that I wanted to be with him. I was falling in love with him, and he played that to his advantage. I’m nothing but a stupid little girl to him, someone to be used in whatever way he saw fit to please his queen and meet his own agendas. Maybe he never turned on me. Maybe he was never on my side to begin with.
And my virginity. Maybe that part hurts the most, because I gave him something Brisa wanted him to take. He never cared for me. It was all a lie. All of it.
