Nightshade

by Michelle Rowen

  She nodded. “A female vampire’s body can’t sustain a growing fetus for enough time to allow it to be born. Vampire males, on the other hand, don’t need to sustain life for nine months. However, the percentage of recorded dhampyr births is so low it doesn’t even register. A vampire’s main choice for reproduction is to use its venom to turn a human victim into a vampire.”

  I tried to ignore the goose bumps that had formed on my arms from this little monstrous lecture. Carson was staying quiet now, letting the boss do the talking. “I still don’t understand why you’re telling me any of this.”

  I kept Declan in my peripheral vision. It made me feel a little bit better.

  Dr. Gray stood up and wrung her hands, beginning to pace in front of the table. Noah had to step back to accommodate her. “For a very long time, vampires existed in small, controllable numbers and stayed away from humans because they were led by Kristoff. He valued human life.”

  “This is why the true existence of vampires hasn’t widely been known by humans,” Carson explained. “We’re very lucky to have Dr. Gray heading the Nightshade project. She knows more about this subject than anyone else.”

  I frowned. “So, if the Nightshade project exists, that means something changed. Matthias is the king now, right?”

  “Yes,” Dr. Gray said. “Around thirty years ago, Matthias grew tired of Kristoff’s strict rules that governed his life and behavior, and was successfully able to overthrow Kristoff’s reign. It’s rumored that he imprisoned Kristoff in a sealed vault.”

  “Wouldn’t that kill him?”

  “Vampires are immortal. They don’t require food or water to survive. Without drinking blood for so long, it’s possible he’s now been reduced to a catatonic state as his body attempts to sustain his life force. The rumor is that Matthias soon plans to leave his underground kingdom and enter the human world. And that’s only the beginning. Matthias wants to change as many humans as he can to become vampires. When the balance in numbers shifts enough ... I fear that human life as we know it will end forever. Humans would be kept around as a food source only. No freedom, only slavery.”

  “Holy shit,” I murmured.

  Noah met my gaze with an expression that clearly said “See? I told you so.”

  Vampire apocalypse. I now understood what he’d meant. The thought made my blood run cold.

  “So you’ve been developing the Nightshade formula to stop him,” I said.

  “That’s right. As king, he’s wary of any potential assassination attempts and only keeps a few trusted servants—both human and vampire—by his side. He hasn’t come aboveground in years. He’s very dangerous, very strong, and has the ability to manipulate human thought and behavior through mind control. It makes it nearly impossible to get to him.”

  “Nearly impossible.”

  “We have someone working for us that has successfully infiltrated Matthias’s clan. This is whom we’d chosen to help destroy him using the Nightshade. Unfortunately, the formula was compromised when Anderson injected it into you.” Dr. Gray’s brows drew together. “I’d hoped to defeat him before he sets his plans into action.”

  “But ... why can’t you take some of my blood and use it anyway?”

  “I’m afraid that’s not an option. The formula ceases to work as well after exposure to oxygen. We used your blood samples to test this theory.”

  After witnessing one of their experiments firsthand yesterday, I didn’t want to know how they’d chosen to test it. “Then how was your agent supposed to use the Nightshade?”

  “Through Matthias’s Achilles’ heel, if you will,” Carson cut in. “He’s strong and powerful and ruthless. He’ll kill without a second thought. However, he does have one known weakness.”

  “What?” Noah asked. Then he cleared his throat. “Sorry, I’m curious.”

  “We know,” Carson said wearily. “Your enthusiasm is both your strongest and weakest point.”

  “What’s Matthias’s weakness?” I asked.

  Dr. Gray came back to sit next to me. “The same weakness as many men: women. Specifically, human women. Since he chooses to remain underground, his exposure is limited to the women brought directly to him. He’s been known to take these humans as lovers and blood servants—either willingly or unwillingly.”

  I couldn’t help but look at Declan only to see that his face had paled and his hands were now clenched into fists at his sides. I knew all too well what Matthias had done to his mother. It did seem like the king had a problem when it came to the fairer sex.

  Cruella—or whatever her real name was—the servant from the other day had been just the opposite. Her eyes were filled with stars when she spoke of him. Looked to me like she’d chosen to sign up in the “willing” column.

  Dr. Gray continued, “The Nightshade formula was supposed to be injected into our agent who’s been living underground in Matthias’s clan for nearly a year. When he would have drank from her, it would have ended him quickly and efficiently.”

  It took a couple of moments for me to realize what she was saying. “So the Nightshade was going to be injected into somebody all along?”

  “Yes.”

  Anger lit up brightly inside me. “Why didn’t anyone tell me that? All this time I’d thought I had the equivalent of rat poison in my veins, but it was always meant to be injected into somebody? I thought it would be sprayed on a weapon or ... or its scent used to lure the vampire into some kind of a trap.”

  Dr. Gray’s expression showed distress. “You should have been told all of this earlier. It was an oversight. I apologize for any extra worry this caused you.”

  I looked at Declan. “Did you know this?”

  He shook his head. “I only knew it was a poisonous toxin to be used against vampires. I didn’t know any more about it than that at the time.”

  I searched his face, trying to figure out if he was lying to me. After all, he was the one in the beginning who’d told me I was poisoned and that I’d die because of it. It was the main reason I’d been so terrified—terrified enough to come here looking for a solution.

  “So it’s not really a poison?” I asked.

  “It is,” Dr. Gray confirmed. “And it’s a dangerous and unstable one. What happened to you was unexpected. The formula was supposed to be administered in a controlled environment where we could monitor any complications.”

  Someone else was going to be injected with this shit. If it wasn’t me, someone else would be going through this torture right now.

  It didn’t make me feel any better. In fact, it made me feel worse.

  It hadn’t been tested. I was being used as a unwilling guinea pig.

  I touched my neck. I’d removed the bandage earlier and the bruises were already fading. Also, the bite marks from Tobias’s attack had begun healing rapidly.

  Poison. They weren’t denying that for a moment. I’d be more concerned if I didn’t know they now had the blood cleanser on hand.

  Carson stood up and his chair skidded backward. “Unfortunately, our original plans were destroyed when Anderson stupidly grabbed you and pulled you into this highly volatile situation. He single-handedly sabotaged years of work and our chance to destroy Matthias once and for all.”

  “His actions didn’t completely sabotage things,” Dr. Gray corrected. “It would have been a setback, yes, but the fact that he was murdered is the real problem. If he was still alive, he could have re-created the formula. But now that’s not even an option, is it?”

  It was silent for a moment and the tension level ratcheted up another notch.

  “I did what I had to do,” Declan said with an unpleasant edge to his voice. “Anderson pulled a gun—”

  “And, yes, you should have shot him,” Dr. Gray said sharply. “But not to kill. It was an ignorant and irresponsible action to take. However, I can’t say I’m surprised, given your history of violence.”

  Where before, Declan might have taken this reprimand with a bland look and a neutral
attitude, today he looked livid. His jaw was tense and his gaze flashed angrily at her, but he didn’t say anything else.

  “Declan has been trained to kill,” Carson said. “His actions were not out of line.”

  “I disagree.” She pursed her lips. “This failure, however, is not the issue on the table at the moment.”

  This argument and history lesson was all just delaying the inevitable, and my patience was growing seriously thin.

  “Look,” I said. “I’m really sorry your plans have all gone to hell, but I don’t really understand what this all has to do with me. The Nightshade is killing me. That’s what it feels like.”

  She was quiet for a moment. “We don’t know how the formula will react when it’s inside a human body for a prolonged amount of time. It wasn’t ready to be put into use yet. There was no prior testing because Anderson worked in secrecy. His eccentricities were well known, but his betrayal ...” She shook her head. “I still don’t understand how this happened, but it doesn’t change anything that must happen now.”

  I crossed my arms. “One of your agents volunteered to be injected with poison so Matthias would drink her blood and that would kill him, therefore stopping any threat to human life in its tracks.”

  “Yes, that’s right.”

  Just the thought of it made me feel weak inside. “That sounds like a dangerous job.”

  “It would have worked.” Dr. Gray stood up again. “It still could work.”

  “Oh my God,” Noah exclaimed from my left. “You want to get Jill to do it, don’t you?”

  I looked over at him. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “I ...” He closed his mouth. “It ... it sounds like ...” His wide-eyed gaze flicked to Carson. “She’s just a civilian, you know.”

  “Noah, please leave us now,” Carson said harshly. “This has nothing to do with you.”

  With a worried look cast in my direction, Noah looked as if he was on the verge of saying something else, but instead he turned and walked out of the room.

  “Is that really what you’re thinking?” Declan asked quietly, his voice now as calm as it had been when he’d been on his serum full time. He seemed to have recovered from his moment of anger. “To ask Jill to volunteer for the job of being Matthias’s assassin?”

  I looked at Dr. Gray with shock.

  Her hands were clasped in front of her, her expression pinched. “It is.”

  “You’re insane,” was the first thing out of my mouth.

  She shook her head. “We’ve been working toward one goal here and that is to eliminate Matthias. When he’s dead, other vampires will be easier to destroy. Humanity will never need to know how close we all are right now to total devastation.”

  My throat felt thick as I listened to her making it difficult to breathe. “I can’t help you.”

  “You can,” she said firmly. “Our agent can introduce you as a potential blood servant to Matthias. You’ll be able to gain access to the king, who hasn’t been seen aboveground in three decades. Doing this, Jillian, will help save countless lives.”

  I couldn’t speak. This was the last thing I’d expected her to ask of me. I thought they’d brought me down here to give me an antidote, not to ask me to help assassinate a vampire king.

  “I—I don’t know,” were the first words out of my mouth, cutting through the silence in the room.

  “This assignment takes no training,” Carson spoke up. “You’re already the perfect weapon to tempt a monster like Matthias to his ultimate doom.”

  Dr. Gray smiled. “You’d be a hero, Jillian. And you’d be well rewarded for your efforts.”

  My eyes flicked to hers at that. “You’re going to pay me to get Matthias to drink my blood?”

  “It’s only fair. Payment for the pain and stress you’ve gone through so far and payment for working for us now. You won’t have to worry about money another day in your life.”

  “No,” Declan said and Dr. Gray’s attention moved to him.

  “Excuse me?”

  His arms were crossed over his chest and the glare he was giving her was sharp enough to cut glass. “You want her to be taken deep into Matthias’s lair where there’s no easy escape. She’s to put her trust in a woman she doesn’t know who’s been living with and likely fucking Matthias for more than a year. And if Matthias does succumb to the lure of Jill’s blood, she’s expected to get out of there alive? No. It’s too dangerous.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Declan,” Dr. Gray said.

  “I know enough.”

  “Declan,” Carson said cautiously, sharing a glance with Dr. Gray. “Perhaps you should leave the room as well. The way you’re speaking, it’s very ... unlike you.”

  Declan didn’t leave. Instead, he drew closer to where I was seated. “I’m staying.”

  “I know very well what Matthias did to your mother,” Dr. Gray said. “But that has nothing to do with this plan.”

  “I disagree. It shows who Matthias is and what he’s capable of.” His cheeks twitched with barely restrained anger. “Jill’s blood is difficult for even me to resist and I’m only half-vampire. But what else would he do before sinking his fangs into her? Also, we saw the other day that there’s a small window of opportunity between the blood flowing and the vampire’s death. That’s more than enough time for Matthias to tear out her throat in vengeance for ending his life.”

  “It is dangerous,” Carson said. “But the reward outweighs any potential risk there is. Dr. Gray would never suggest something like this if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.”

  This felt so completely surreal. I half-expected them all to start laughing and tell me it was all a big practical joke before giving me the antidote and planning a celebration party.

  But no one was laughing.

  Dr. Gray leaned against the edge of the table. “Declan’s not entirely wrong, Jillian. There is a possibility that you’d be giving your life to stop a true monster.” Tears welled in her eyes and she quickly swept her fingers over her cheek when one escaped. “We know you didn’t ask for any part of this, but here you are. You represent the hope that we can defeat Matthias once and for all. However, the choice is entirely in your hands.”

  “I have a choice?” I asked shakily.

  “Of course. You can agree to be taken to Matthias by our agent—”

  “When would this happen?”

  “A few days from now. No more than a week. We’d need to be sure you could be taken in without raising anyone’s suspicions.”

  A week to live. I swallowed down my fear as best as I could. “And my other choice?”

  “We can give you the blood cleanser and you can go back to your home.”

  I was quiet for a long moment before I spoke. “And what happens to Matthias then?”

  She shook her head. “We’ll find a new parachemist to help us develop another formula, and I know, if given enough time, we’ll find an answer. But we don’t know if it will be too late.”

  The knowledge that I was basically their last hope fell on me like a lead curtain. Give my life to help kill Matthias or walk away from it all and risk being the reason humans lost the fight against the vampires.

  “I ... I need to think about this,” I said shakily.

  “Of course. We’ll give you time to make your decision.” Carson leaned over the table, his face lined with worry and stress. “However, if you had to give us an answer now, what would it be?”

  It didn’t take me long to think of a reply. “It would be no. I don’t want to die. And I’m not hearing that it’s an absolute definite that my death would mean Matthias’s death. I’m not willing to give up my life for uncertainties. I’m not even sure I’m willing to die for something that is certain.” Tears spilled onto my cheeks.

  I expected them to be angry with that answer, but they weren’t. Carson leaned back in his chair, nodding his head as if he’d expected me to say that. Dr. Gray simply looked pale and sad and de
feated. They’d been at this for nearly thirty years, after all. To be so close to an answer, only to have to rely on somebody like me? I didn’t envy them.

  “I do understand.” Dr. Gray walked across the room to a briefcase from which she pulled out a small black leather case like Declan had for his serum. She gave it to me and I unzipped it to see that it held one vial of dark amber liquid and a syringe. “This is the blood cleanser. Take this if you’re certain your decision is no and do so with a clear conscience that none of this is your fault.”

  “Thank you.” My words were choked and barely audible.

  “Declan,” Carson said. “Please take Jillian back to her room so she can have some time to think.”

  Declan nodded and I felt him brush against me, taking me gently by my arm and directing me out of the lab and back up the stairs. Back to my room where I could decide between living with the guilt of my selfishness on my conscience or dying in the clutches of a vampire king.

  17

  “WHAT DO YOU THINK I SHOULD DO?” I ASKED Declan once we’d returned to my room.

  His expression was tight. “You have to take the blood cleanser.”

  I paced over to the unbreakable window I’d spent a half an hour throwing a chair against yesterday and looked outside into the darkness. “But what if I—”

  “Jill, please. Don’t even think about it.” He came toward me and turned me around to face him. “This isn’t your fight.”

  “Maybe it’s fate I was injected with the Nightshade.”

  “Dr. Gray—she’s single-minded when it comes to her goal of killing Matthias. But even she can see how wrong it is to ask something like this of you.”

  “And Carson?”

  “He’s also focused on the goal here. It’s his primary reason for living.” He shook his head. “The mission has taken over his life, if there was even any life to begin with.”

  “Not his biggest fan at the moment?”

  “Carson means well. He does. But he sees the world in black-and-white terms only. Just like I did, until very recently.”