In the blink of an eye, the monsters in the hallway stop attacking and return to the room, leaving Aunt Clarissa and the Magus stumped. The monster fighting Grandma pivots away from her flying kick, leaving Grandma landing in a crouch.
Jude steps aside, and a monster appears behind me and grabs my arms. Its damp, wrinkled skin presses against mine. Its hot breath fans against the back of my neck. My flesh wants to crawl off my bones, and a scream dies in the back of my throat. This is the only way to stop Jude and save everyone.
“Magus.” I turn my gaze to the hallway, where the two mages huddle together with Grandma, presumably hashing out their battle plans. “Will you bond Jude to me as my conciliar?”
The Magus thins her lips but doesn’t move. I guess she can tolerate the heavy-handed tactics of an Arch Mother Superior, but she suddenly has a conscience when it’s an apprentice calling the shots.
“Please,” I say.
“Go ahead,” Grandma tells the Magus.
The Magus exhales a sharp breath through her nostrils and nods.
I turn to Jude, whose grin makes my fingers twitch. “Let Poppy and Fred go free.”
“Bree,” says Uncle Fred from the back wall. “You can’t—”
“Please,” I try to keep the exasperation out of my voice. They’re both injured, and I don’t want them hurt. “Take Poppy away and keep her safe.”
He nods and wraps an arm around my best friend. Poppy stares at me through watery eyes. She’s just as intelligent and book-smart as Jude, and she’s probably guessed that he intends to follow through with his plan to infect me with the cherub venom. I give her a tight smile and gesture at the exit for her to leave.
The Magus steps aside to let them out, and Uncle Fred casts me a worried glance before stepping into the darkened hallway. As soon as they pass Grandma and Aunt Clarissa, I inhale a deep breath and hope this won’t be my last before I completely lose my humanity.
“Are you ready?” The Magus raises her hands, and her palms glow with the familiar symbol.
Jude raises a palm. “Brielle needs to become my cherub before I become her conciliar.”
I turn to him and scowl. “You know how I feel about Evangeline.”
“Once she has injected you with her venom, I’ll restore her to humanity.”
My heart skips. “She’ll never transform?”
Jude shakes his head. “It will be just you and me.”
“What about Sister Kerala and Sister Taylor?”
“The same.” He places a kiss on my nose. “I want no other slayer, no other cherub but you.”
Not missing a beat, the monster holding my arms sinks its teeth into the muscle that joins my shoulder and neck. It hurts worse than before. The first time, I didn’t know what to expect. Now, revulsion ripples through my stomach as my mind spins with images of venom sacs and venom ducts.
Liquid fire spreads across my muscles and races across my skin in a tsunami of pain. A scream tears from my lips as the venom pours through my veins. The bite seems to last forever, and I’m not sure if a part of Evangeline is still sentient within that monster form and is enjoying my pain.
“Enough.” My voice strains, but I manage to force out the words. “I feel the venom.”
“Very well.” The jubilation in Jude’s voice makes me want to vomit.
The teeth hurt as they’re coming out, and as soon as the monster’s hot breath recedes from the back of my neck, I can finally exhale.
Straightening, I turn to Jude. “Tell them to transform.”
He narrows his eyes. “Conciliar bond first.”
“We had an agreement.” I shove him hard on the chest. “If you think I’m going to be a member of your harem of monsters—”
“Alright!” Amusement sparkles in his eyes. For someone who claims to know when I’m lying, he’s doing a great job of letting me fool him into believing I’m a jealous girlfriend. “From now until the end of our days, it will be just you and me.”
Acid churns in my stomach. If Alaric is really dead, then I’ve just handed myself to a maniac in exchange for the freedom of one of my worst enemies.
“What the hell?” Evangeline screeches from behind.
I twist around. She’s holding her hands over her boobs and crotch. Whoever took care of the evisceration wounds also removed the scars from her belly. Gasps sound from the doorway, where Sisters Kerala and Taylor also clutch at their nudity, looking equally as perplexed.
One deep breath follows another. I gather what’s left of my strength and ball my fist.
“There,” says Jude. “Happy now?”
“Ecstatic.” I slam my fist in his temple. His eyes roll to the back of his head, and he hits the ground.
Grandma places a hand on the Magus’ shoulder. “Heal my Gabrielle. That’s an order.”
The magus raises both hands, and a sucking sensation gathers around my bite wounds. Tiny tendrils of pain snake across my body and through my skin. It’s the venom. I wince, clench my teeth, and block out the sounds of Evangeline’s whining for information.
About a minute later, a ball of venom the size of my fist floats toward the Magus. I clap a hand over my mouth and try not to gag.
She turns to Grandma and shakes her head. “That’s all my magic can detect, but the creature appears to be a forbidden variation of werewolf. Studies on newly turned weres have shown that even a trace amount of venom still results in a transformation.”
“Carry out a blood transfusion, then.” Grandma’s voice turns shrill. “That Sydenham girl is O negative. Bring her back—”
“No,” I snap. “We won’t drain Poppy or anyone else.”
Grandma pinches the bridge of her nose and squeezes her eyes shut. This is her I’m-so-exasperated-by-your-stupidity-I-need-time-to-think expression. I turn my gaze away and deliver a kick to the head of the unconscious maniac at my feet… Just in case.
Aunt Clarissa rushes to Jude’s side and encases his head in a transparent bubble of magic. She glances up at me with a warm smile. “Let’s keep him unconscious, so he doesn’t awaken and reactivate the monsters.”
I’d like to be a forgiving person and smile back, but the memory of standing at a cross while mages drain my blood still stings harder than a slap.
“Is anyone going to tell me what’s happening?” shouts Evangeline.
Grandma shakes her head. “We’ll have to return Gabrielle to the catacombs and see if she transforms.”
“Is that how you reward someone for saving your life?” I mutter. “No wonder slayers are leaving each other to die.”
“Ladies, if I may?” says a smooth voice that wraps around my heart in a silk ribbon and ties it with a little bow.
Alaric strides in from the hallway, grinning like he’s just committed the prank of the millennium. Part of me wants to throw my arms around him and the other part of me wants to punch him in the neck for playing dead. I totally get that Jude needed to think I’d killed him before he commanded the cherubs to turn human, but he could have at least winked.
“How are you even alive?” Grandma snarls.
Still keeping his gaze on me, he hooks a thumb at Grandma. “Do you see why I told you Theodora’s Blessing was a curse? It’s turned a protector of the innocent into the puppet of a vampire.”
“Which vampire?” asks Evangeline.
“Never mind that,” Grandma snaps. “How can you rematerialize from ash?”
“Your theories only work on vampires who drink human blood,” Alaric says.
Evangeline places her hands on her hips. “How do we kill your type of vamp, then?”
I clench my teeth at her brazen display. Alaric doesn’t spare her a glance, and warmth fills across my heart.
“There is an antidote for the bite of a werewolf.” He crosses the room, retracts his fangs, and bites his thumb. “Try not to stake me in the back while I’m administering it. I may not drink blood, but I will kill in self-defense.”
Grandma pales and glances at
Aunt Clarissa, who shakes her head.
A bead of blood forms on Alaric’s thumb. Right now, with the cherub venom lingering in my veins, I’ve never seen anything so appetizing. Alaric looks appetizing, and I almost wish I had sharp teeth to pierce his neck. Saliva floods my mouth, and I gulp. The blood glistens, and the way the flickering firelight reflects on the bead makes me want to beg for a taste.
Everything in the room fades into insignificance, and my attention coalesces to Alaric, his blood, and the warmth in his eyes.
“You’re alive,” I whisper.
“Undead.”
“You know what I mean.” I place my hand over his heart, which still doesn’t beat.
Somewhere in the corner of my awareness, the rushing of wind fans against my skin. Alaric shoots out an arm, and there’s a pained yelp, followed by a crash of a body hitting the wall.
“I have what you need, Gabrielle Augustine,” he says in a deep voice that makes my nerve endings tingle.
My gaze drops down to the blood on his thumb. I lick my lips and place them around his digit. The most intense flavors hit my tongue. First the fizzle of ether, then a metallic saltiness, then a hint of fruit that reminds me of Cabernet Sauvignon.
He places his larger hand over mine, keeping my palm over his heart. Alaric has saved my life, saved my humanity, and shown me the meaning of love. One day, I will make that heartbeat.
I don’t know if he’s keeping the wound open, but blood continues to flow onto my tongue, and I swallow it down like nectar. When the source runs dry, I swirl my tongue around his thumb, making his chest rumble like a satisfied cat.
When I draw back, the intensity of his gaze makes my knees quake. There’s a branch of magic called pyromancy, where the mage sees messages in the flames. Right now, the flaming torches reflect on his eyes, and the love I see in them makes my heart swell.
He cups the side of my face. “I love you, too.”
The Magus steps forward, her shoulders rounded in a posture of humility. “Mr. Severin, will any vampire blood heal these slayers?”
“Only if the vampires don’t feed on humans.” Alaric scoops me into his arms.
“Will Jude’s execution cause them to revert?” she murmurs.
Alaric raises his shoulder. “There’s only one way to find out.”
“Heal them,” says Grandma. “We can’t have three of our own under the influence of a madman.”
Alaric shakes his head. “My blood only holds back the transformation once. A conciliar bond with a powerful slayer is the only permanent way to tether their humanity.”
“Do it,” says Grandma.
“Wait.” Evangeline steps back and shakes her head. “I’ve already bonded with Kofi.”
“He approached me yesterday to remove your bond,” says the Magus. “Apparently, Mr. Okoyo is having second thoughts about aligning himself to a slayer of dubious principles.”
My brows draw together. Was that Kofi who tried to approach me in the ball wearing the Shrek glamor?
The Magus scowls. “Unless you want to turn into the creature that eviscerated you, I suggest you keep your mouth shut.”
She glances from side to side, her eyes wide. For a moment, I feel sorry for Evangeline. It can’t be reassuring to wake up naked in a room of people discussing your future like you don’t have an option. I rest my head on Alaric’s shoulder. Jude probably chose her and Sister Shevette because he watched her abandon me on the beach. I’ll let her work that out for herself.
Grandma points at Jude’s prone form. “Magus, tether the humanity of these three to Apprentice Dempsey.”
She frowns. “That will drain his reserves—”
“Do it,” says Aunt Clarissa.
I scowl at the Magus, who had no qualms about continuing interrogations on people beyond their physical limits. The older woman sags and performs an enchantment on Evangeline to break her bond and then another to bond Jude with the three women he turned into monsters.
Jude flops from side to side like a fish, and I wonder what kind of visions he sees. If it’s anything like the warning Saint Augustine gave Poppy, I hope it hurts. Alaric’s arms tighten around my body, and he presses a kiss on my temple. I don’t know if the touch of a vampire’s lips contain magic, but my muscles relax, and I feel nothing as the meat shrivels from his bones and the blonde leeches from his hair.
By the time Jude’s palms stop glowing, he’s as shriveled as a mummified corpse, and staring out through shocked, blue eyes. His skeletal chest rises and falls, and harsh breaths whistle through his clenched teeth.
“What’s happened to him?” I say.
“Acolyte Shevette is already a powerful slayer,” says the Magus, her voice grim. “Adding two more bonds overwhelmed him. As long as his slayers live, Apprentice Dempsey will stay alive and in this emaciated state.”
His unblinking eyes stare up at me, but I feel nothing.
“Time to go home,” says Alaric.
Grandma pulls out a stake. “You’re not taking my granddaughter anywhere.”
“Who do you think is my powerful conciliar?” My muscles become heavy, and my voice slurs. I’m too tired to muster up any resentment, but I will if she tries to stop me from leaving.
Her face falls, and she glances at Aunt Clarissa, who shakes her head.
“You relinquished all familial rights to Gabrielle the moment you placed her on a sacrificial altar,” says Alaric. “By now, the other vampires you invited to the convent have already packed her belongings, downloaded all the data from your computers, and sacked your library. We have enough information to bury you and your Order.”
Chapter 26
Grandma scowls, and her lips part as though to protest, but she clamps her mouth shut. The flaming torches of the dank dungeon illuminate one side of her face, making her features appear as harsh as her personality.
Aunt Clarissa returns from fashioning tissues into tunics for the three newly humanized slayers. She places a comforting hand on her shoulder, but Grandma doesn’t acknowledge her presence.
Grandma’s brows furrow, and her lips thin, as though she carries the weight of the Order on her back. Not surprising, considering one foolishly worded sentence has put so many in danger.
I wrap an arm around Alaric’s shoulder and relax into his embrace. Because of Grandma, an unknown number of seemingly unkillable vampires can enter the wards of an Order stronghold. And worse, they now have information on every single convent in the world, including the one that houses Empress Theodora.
Alaric sweeps his arm toward the dark hallway, indicating for the others to go first. “I mean you no harm, ladies,” he says in a surprisingly amiable tone for someone who just got staked. “But as I implied earlier, any further attacks on my person will be met with lethal force.”
The Magus steps out, followed by Aunt Clarissa and Grandma, who pauses one hallway down the corridor. “What will you do with my granddaughter?”
Irritation fizzles against my skin, and I snap. “Why do you suddenly care?”
“Gabrielle.” She draws out my name, sounding weary.
My eyes narrow. “You had me tortured with a truth enchantment until I bled and passed out, then made me the blood bank in a ritual to capture an innocent vampire. You don’t get to worry about my welfare.”
Her shoulders slump, and she continues walking. I have no idea how much influence Empress Theodora’s blood has over those who have taken her Blessing, but this defeated woman seems more like Grandma than the woman who acted like a dictator before.
Our footsteps echo through the walls of the dark hallway, and Alaric’s hands tighten around my body. He feels warm and hard and safe, the complete opposite to being held by Jude. After today, I can never return to the Order, and I’m alright with that.
Strangely, it feels like I knew my days as a slayer for Saint Theodora were over before I discovered the hypocrisy of her regime. I guess I have Jude and his monster venom to thank for that. The moment I sprouted fan
gs and drank Alaric’s blood, I felt that my path wouldn’t lead to being a conventional slayer with a mage as my conciliar.
At the end of the dark passage, we reach the hallway that leads to the ritual chamber and the catacombs. Bright sconces light up the stone walls, but a shudder runs down my spine as we pass the ritual chamber. Doctor Shevette staggers out of the room, looking dazed. Whatever Jude hit him with must have faded when the conciliar bonds took up all his magic to restrain three people’s humanity.
There’s no sign of Presbytera Driver or anyone else, and I assume they’re all guarding the safe house.
“How many vampires are you keeping in the catacombs?” Alaric asks. “My night vision isn’t perfect, but I counted one hundred.”
Grandma turns to the Magus, who pushes open an arched, wooden door that leads to a stone stairwell. “Forty-one.”
“Forty,” says Alaric.
“One of them escaped?” asks Grandma.
“Do you remember capturing a vampire in Farrier’s Weaponry?” Alaric asks.
The Magus shakes her head and ascends the stone steps. “Vampire hunting isn’t my remit. I only supervise the wards that keep the vampires in the crypt.”
“Or stop people from pulling them out.”
I draw back and stare into Alaric’s twinkling eyes. “You let yourself get captured to access the catacombs?”
He nods. “Kieran Farrier was turned over the summer, didn’t consume a drop of human blood, and dedicated his life to producing weapons for slayers, yet you kept him alive for experiments.”
This explains why I found Alaric and Galla in Farrier’s Weaponry and why Galla was crying. I itch to ask if she turned Mr. Farrier but hold my tongue. The last thing I want is to hand them information about Alaric and his family.
Instead, I turn my gaze to the women at the top of the stairs. “Now I know why Presbytera Driver wanted us to capture Nicodemus Levithika, but why does the Order keep so many vampires?”
Grandma’s posture stiffens. It’s just the tiniest tightening of her shoulder muscles, but I’ve watched the woman my entire life, been acutely aware of every micro-expression in my yearning for her approval. I’ve touched a nerve, and now I’m going to poke it.
Vampire Bonds (Darkbloods Book 1) Page 28
