Broken Elites (The Vampire Legacy Book 3)

by Rita Stradling

  “You blackmailed me…”

  He hissed and bared his teeth, showing the sharp edges of his fangs. I had made him so enraged, his body was telling him that it was time to feed. “Never… compel me again.”

  I held my hands up and took a step back toward the door. “You’re the one who forced me, asshole. The terms of the pact are fine by me. You and I will just stay away from each other forever, and that’s fine…”

  “You have to know that will never happen.” He shook his head slowly, and the chiseled lines of his features looked razor-sharp, as his expression grew more vengeful by the second. “January, we’re closer than family now.”

  “Uh-huh…” I took another step back, “I know how you treat your family.”

  Sebastian lifted a shoulder. “Regardless. Family is forever. It’s eternal. There is no escaping me. You and I will be linked until the day you die.”

  I froze, as something in me urged me to stay. Why was I fleeing him? Why was I hurrying away from my progeny? I had the power here. It filled me, surging up through my body as I examined his bared fangs. “Sebastian Holter, you’re never going to tell the Hawthorn Group about Justin being a strzyga demon. You’re not even going to hint at it. I command it—”

  There was a colossal bang, and wood exploded out. Sebastian’s form blurred before me.

  “Stop! I command it!”

  Sebastian froze in place. I hadn’t even seen him move, but he was almost to me. He stood frozen a few feet away with his arms outstretched and inches from my neck. Behind him the table was in splinters.

  I leaped back from his hands. “Don’t come any closer.”

  There was a loud whizzing sound, and my hair blew back as Amber appeared beside me. “What the fuck?” She breathed the words. “What the actual fuck?”

  “Amber.” Sebastian reached toward her, and we both leaped back. “Oh, how many secrets I could tell about you...”

  “You’re not going to tell any of Amber’s secrets, Sebastian,” I said. “Not ever. I command it.”

  His mouth closed and his jaw worked back and forth, as his cold eyes tried to slice through me. “Look at you, Blood Princess, becoming the monster you’re trying to defeat.”

  His accusation had the ring of truth, and for just a moment, I wondered if what I was doing was evil, even if it felt so right. Then, I shook my head. Sebastian Holter deserved a horrible and permanent death. He was not owed a kernel of remorse. “You were my mentor,” I said. “I guess turning into a monster was inevitable.”

  “You don’t even understand the consequences of the power you’re wielding.” Sebastian contorted, almost pulling his arm out of his socket as he whipped it out toward me, his fingers grazing my chin.

  I leaped back another pace. “Never touch me again, that’s an order.”

  “Let’s go,” Amber snapped. She stepped back toward the door. “I can’t be part of this.”

  I shook my head. “Not yet. Sebastian Holter, you are going to confess to every single person who will listen to you in the Hawthorn Group that you’re the one who brought the strzyga demons here and that you worked with the demons to do it. I command that too. You’re never going to physically injure me, or Amber, or Justin, or Mitch, or any of the current or future students at Blackburn Academy ever again. And, you are never going to plot to hurt us in any way either or ask anyone else to do it. I command that, all of that.”

  “You’ll be dead by Halloween, and I won’t have to lift a finger. You see, I don’t have the power to call strzyga demons off,” Sebastian gritted out. His breaths heaved, making his whole body rise and fall. “No one has the power to call them off. They’ve been looking for you these past few nights, circling the school and killing blonde vampires. When they catch you, they’re going to eat your entrails while you scream for death. Then, you’ll heal, and it’ll start all over again. All of these commands you’re giving me will only work so long as you’re alive.” Sebastian’s gaze veered over to Amber. “Do you really want to stand with January now, Amber? You were always so much smarter than that.” Sebastian started to say something else when a loud thumping drowned out his words.

  Seven figures in full tactical gear surged into the room, running past me and tackling Sebastian to the ground. They went down in a tangle of limbs, and within a few seconds, three large soldiers pinned Sebastian’s prone form to the floor.

  Amber threw up her hands and headed toward the open door. “I’m not part of this, January. I know you’re not going to trust me on this, but you really should release him from all of your commands and zip the hell out of here.”

  With that, Amber’s figure blurred, and the door to the library flew open as she disappeared through it.

  A member of the Elite team detached from the group and stopped beside me. “January?” they said, their somewhat familiar voice projected through a speaker in the front of their face shield. The guard before me slid up her visor, and Professor Sharp peered down at me. “What is this? You shouldn’t be here. This meeting was supposed to be between Mr. Davenport and Mr. Holter.”

  “Mr. Davenport invited Mitch and me to dinner through Amber,” I said.

  “Damn it. Davenport set this up.” Professor Sharp squeezed her eyes closed. “Believe me, I’m going to take this up with the Elite Council. This meeting was not sanctioned.”

  “If you say so,” I muttered.

  “I gave demons the information that drew the strzyga demons here,” Sebastian yelled from where he was pinned to the library floor, his voice ragged.

  We all turned to the dhampir, who was surrounded by Elite agents in full tactical gear.

  “What have you done, January?” Professor Sharp muttered as the little I could see of her expression grew graver.

  “I told him to confess to what he did.” I hugged myself. “He’s the one who brought the strzyga demons here. We were right. He arranged everything.”

  “You compelled him?” Terror laced her voice. Through the visor, I saw her eyes widen with shock.

  “That contract you made me sign doesn’t start until the first of November.”

  “That contract was for your own protection—not for Sebastian’s. I was the one who proposed the deal. I know the consequences of mind control. The Hawthorn Group needs to believe that they’re the only ones in control of Sebastian. You don’t understand the danger you’ve put yourself in.”

  The sound of static erupted from a radio nearby, and a crackly voice came over the feed. Across the room, Sebastian raised his head and grinned, showing two sharp fangs.

  “The demons are here for January. Time to unleash me, team,” he said with anticipation lacing his voice.

  Professor Sharp clapped a hand on my shoulder and spun me toward her. “Come on, January. We have to get you to the Davenport safe room.

  There was an explosive boom above us. The walls shook as dust rained down.

  “January!” Mitch bellowed from just outside the door. There was a blur of motion, and then suddenly Mitch was there, ripping me away from Professor Sharp. His gaze fixed on the scene behind me. “Sebastian?”

  “Hello, Mitchel,” Sebastian said, but my attention was all for Mitch, and the betrayal and outrage plain on his features.

  “What the hell is going on here, Professor Sharp?”

  Professor Sharp grabbed both of our shoulders and pushed us toward the door. “This was a meeting that was prohibited by the Hawthorn Group and arranged in secret. January will no doubt fill you in the moment you are secure in the safe room. Now, go.”

  Professor Sharp none too gently shoved us down hallway after hallway until Mr. Davenport, Amber, and her brother came into view at the end of the hall.

  “You need to bring these two with you into your safe room,” Professor Sharp called as the group ran past us, stopping at what looked like an under-the-stairs storage door.

  Mr. Davenport spun to face us with an insincere-looking grimace on his handsome features. “I’m sorry, Rachel, but you kn
ow I can’t let the dhampir in an enclosed space with my family during this high-stress situation. She’s going to have to wait out here with your team.”

  “The fuck she is.” Mitch swung back his fist.

  “Do not hit him, Mitch. He’s a member of the Elite Council.” Professor Sharp said as she whipped out a massive gun from her belt and pointed it straight at Mr. Davenport’s chest.

  Shock fell over Amber and Grayson’s features. Mr. Davenport raised his hands, but he didn’t look phased in the slightest. “You are making a very big mistake here, Rachel.”

  “No, I’m not, because let’s be really honest here, you’re not going to tell anyone about how you arranged for Sebastian Holter to be alone with January. Are you, Lou? Especially since your ally Sebastian just admitted to luring the strzyga demons down here,” she snapped.

  “If Sebastian admitted to anything, it was under duress,” Mr. Davenport said smoothly with his hands still up in the air.

  “Doesn’t matter. The whole council knew Sebastian was guilty long before he confessed, and if you ever talked about what happened here, you’d have to admit to going against the explicit instruction of the Elite Council and working with a convicted murderer. Your status would be suspended, pending review, and you would no longer be in the running for the upcoming CEO selection in two weeks. I could just shoot you now, as my whole team would back me up in the fact that you arranged this attack on January, and as she’s my responsibility, I’m allowed to defend her life with lethal force. You have two choices, let January into that safe room and go in with her, or let January, Amber, and Mitch in, and you and Grayson can stay out here. All of my students will be safe in that room in the next ten seconds and counting, Mr. Davenport.”

  Mr. Davenport waved his hands in the air. “It’s fine, Rachel. Sweetheart, you need to relax. Of course, I’ll let your students in. You are a fantastic teacher, you know that right?”

  A loud bang came from our right, and the walls shook again.

  Professor Sharp kept her aim until Mr. Davenport slid open a panel and pressed in a ten-digit code. We all stood there, locked in a moment of tension when the door clicked open and whooshed straight at Professor Sharp.

  A blur of motion whizzed past us, and a moment later, Professor Sharp was standing behind the asshole. She kept her aim on his head. “Nice try, Mr. Davenport.”

  He chuckled. “I wasn’t trying anything, darling. My house is cursed. Everyone knows that. I can’t predict how it’ll react to outsiders.” His gaze came up to meet mine. “After you, Miss Moore, and can I just say how beautiful I find you in my daughter’s dress?”

  A shiver of revulsion passed through me, but I didn’t get a chance to respond, because Mitch was ushering me in front of him. “Come on.”

  We rushed down a short, cement staircase and into a room filled with television screens. With a quick scan of the room, I took in a refrigerator, wine rack, kitchenette, plush couches, and table and chairs. All of the monitors blinked on, showing color shots of the area around Mr. Davenport’s house.

  It was night outside, but the grounds were lit with enough illumination to see the blood dripping from a severed wing on the lawn. Sebastian and a massive demon tumbled into view, flipping end over end. Both of their fangs were bared as they ripped into each other with their claws.

  Sparks lit up the air above a line of soldiers, and a demon dove at one of the figures, slamming into them. The two blurred into motion, disappearing from the screen and reappearing several feet away. Every Elite blew back, and in a blink of the eye, one of the Elite soldiers were gone. When an Elite zipped, I saw a blur of motion, but when these demons dove, they moved too fast for the eye to see. The impact left a crater in the grass, and then a moment later, crimson rain pattered down from the sky.

  “Don’t shoot,” came over the speaker. “You could hit Phil.”

  With the amount of blood that was splattering onto the grass, this man Phil had to already be dead.

  On the other lawn, Sebastian slammed down on top of his opponent, straddling his chest. The dhampir grabbed the demon’s head and yanked upward in a motion almost too fast to see. The demon’s skull detached, and a fountain of blood spurted up. In the same motion, Sebastian flipped off the demon’s body and chucked his head into the darkness above.

  “Magnificent,” Mr. Davenport said as he crossed to the monitor. In the glow from the TV screen, I saw what I was pretty sure was the first genuine smile cross Mr. Davenport’s lips. “He’s magnificent.”

  With a wet sound, the Elite named Phil splattered onto the ground, and his fellow soldiers hunched over him, one pumping their hands down on the bloody mass that was his chest. Neither Sebastian nor Mr. Davenport glanced at the dead Elite. Smiles spread across both of their faces as another demon dived at the group of soldiers huddled around their fallen comrade.

  Sebastian leaped and intercepted the demon’s descent, launching the creature sideways into the grass, where they grappled, each one clawing at the other.

  “Magnificent,” Mr. Davenport whispered again. “Now that’s the dhampir we’ve been hoping for.”

  It was a shot at me. I knew it. I wasn’t the dhampir the Elite Council wanted. Sebastian was exactly what they’d been dreaming of. Sebastian was brutal and remorseless, and all he wanted to do was kill.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Mitch stared down in horror at the scar marks that ran the length of his beloved car. It was probably the least damaged object around or inside the Davenport estate. The demons had collapsed half of the roof on the cursed mansion, and the porch was now a steep ramp to the gravel road.

  Blood and feathers splattered across the manicured lawn, and a discarded helmet lay where the Elite Phil had fallen to his death. The rest of the Elite team had moved on, pursuing the threat with their dhampir bloodhound leading the charge.

  “Leave it here, and I’ll have my mechanic fix it in the morning. This one is on me, Mitchel. I know money is tight these days.” Mr. Davenport clapped Mitch on the back, but Mitch threw the man’s arm off so hard, it had Mr. Davenport spinning.

  Mitch pointed into the older man’s face. “You’re lucky that Professor Sharp stopped me from hitting you, because I was going to knock your fucking head off. I’m through with you…” He pointed over at Amber, “And, I’m fucking through with you. Clean up your own shit from now on.”

  “Mitch, my boy…” Mr. Davenport drawled, “You’re going to need allies, and I’m the most powerful ally you have. I’m an even more formidable enemy.” The creep attempted to entice and threaten Mitch in the same affable tone, but Mitch was having none of it.

  Mitch lifted his finger in the air and gave Mr. Davenport a one-fingered solute. “I was never your boy, you slimy piece of shit.”

  There wasn’t much I could add to that, so I began to turn to the car, but my gaze caught on Amber standing a short distance away. The queen bee of Blackburn Academy was looking back at the ruin of her cursed house with wide eyes. There was a flicker of a smile on her lips. It was a private smile, and I suddenly felt invasive for even witnessing it.

  “Mitch,” I called over the roof of the car. “Can we just go?”

  Mitch cut off what he was yelling abruptly and opened his car door. “Yeah.

  I slipped back into Mitch’s car, just wanting to see the back of this house forever.

  Morning light poured over the horizon as we bumped over the fallen wrought iron gates and turned onto the street.

  “I wonder if they’ll move now?” I said to myself as I peered at the ruin over my shoulder.

  “Nope. There’s a curse on whatever house Mr. Davenport lives in, and he has this one all set up for it.”

  “It wasn’t Amber’s fault,” I said, shocking even myself with the words. “We all know that I’m no fan of hers, but she faced down Sebastian to protect me, even though he clearly terrified her.”

  “It doesn’t fucking count. Everything she’s done in the past couple of weeks was to
get you into that room. This was all another scam for her father. You were right. I never fucking learn with that girl.” He shook his head. “If anyone was in deep with my father on the Alphastrain projects, it was Lou Davenport. Lou is just way too smart to get caught. Sebastian either has something on Lou, or they’re working together.”

  I leaned back into my leather seat. “The guy gave me all kinds of skeevies.”

  Mitch glanced over. “I bet he was working with my brother. Mr. Davenport actually told me, flat out, that Mr. Yates used to be the number one candidate for the new Hawthorn Group CEO, but after Mr. Yates mismanaged the demon attacks so much, the council was planning to elect Lou next month instead.”

  “I just met the guy, and I’d believe it. If only it was the most shocking thing we learned this month… or this week… or just tonight,” I muttered.

  “What’s up with you?” Mitch asked. “You seem almost…” his brow wrinkled, “You seem almost happy.”

  Happy was definitely not the word I’d use to describe my mood, but I did feel lighter. All of the fears that had been plaguing me this week had suddenly vanished.

  I still suspected that the whole bathroom stall werewolf Sebastian assassination could be a sting operation set up by the Hawthorn Group.

  If it was, fuck it. I was going to go through with the information exchange anyway.

  Sebastian had told me flat out that he was never going to allow me to live my life.

  His death would be the last gift I gave the Hawthorn Group before Justin and I rode away to safety. The people we left behind might never see it that way, but my conscience was clear.

  Justin Roberts needed to survive and be free. Sebastian Holter needed to die. It was as simple as that.

  “I think I’m just at the point where I don’t have any fucks more to give, Mitch.”

  His expression grew even more worried. “Maybe we’ve been hanging out too much. I feel like I’m rubbing off on you.”

  “We’re also functioning on two hours of fitful sleep here,” I said.