by Liz Schulte
The house was two stories and white. Even in the dark it was beautiful and entirely un-vampire-like. We stood halfway down the block looking at the grand structure. All the houses were dark at this hour, but this one somehow seemed darker. Maybe it was just my eyes playing tricks on me, but the moon didn’t seem to touch the house the same way it did the others. The sky was at its darkest, but the sounds were already changing. Morning would be here soon and the vampires would be changed forever. Once I did this, all neutrality was gone. I was to publically take sides and change an entire race because of my own personal beliefs. All Corbin was here for was his own freedom, but at least he had a personal stake. Thomas, well, I didn’t really know what he wanted.
My stomach twisted, but it wasn’t the fight that was coming that had me nervous—I was ready for that. I was born ready to go to battle. This time, it was more about not knowing how Thomas would betray us. I wanted so much to believe him, but I couldn’t. Had we not needed him, I would have left him in the cabin. Thomas talked a good game. He was always filled with the words you wanted to hear, but he never made good on any of those pretty promises.
I studied him out of the corner of my eye. He looked calm. Too calm, considering what we were about to do. I had weapons covering practically every inch of my body, and he had two, and yet I was nervous and he was calm.
“Stop scowling at me,” he said without looking over.
“You’ve already betrayed us, haven’t you?”
“If I had, I wouldn’t tell you, would I?” He nudged me, and I thought about punching him. “No, I haven’t betrayed you. And for the record, I have no current plans to do so.”
“Then why are you here? Why are you doing this?”
“You’re the one who said to trust him,” Corbin said. “It’s now or never. There’s only so much time.”
“Just a second,” Thomas said, and he turned to me. “Can I talk to you?”
I waved the dead man’s hand for him to continue.
“In private.”
Corbin rolled his eyes, but moved away from us. Not so far that he couldn’t hear, but I guess it was far enough to appease Thomas, because he started talking.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen once we are inside. One or all of us might not make it.” He smiled a little, looking down at his feet. “This is hard.” He shook his head a little. “I’m not good with feelings and emotion. I haven’t had a lot experience feeling like… It’s been hard to accept. It’s always just been me. The loup-garou has made me look at my life. It’s undeniable. It’s always been you.”
“What has?”
Corbin snickered, but I ignored him. What in the hell was happening?
Thomas’s head fell back and he stared up at the sky. “I lov—”
“Nope.” I slapped my hand over his mouth. “I don’t want to hear it. We’re going in to fight. Get your head in the game.”
He looked down, perplexed.
I went over to Corbin. “I’m ready. Let’s do this.”
Corbin shrugged at Thomas. “Women.”
A moment later he grabbed me by the waist and the world blurred around us. I held tight to the hand as we blasted through the door. Inside he dropped me to my feet. The vampires were already charging toward us. I kicked the door closed behind us, cutting off the humans outside. Squatting, back against the door, I let Corbin and Thomas handle the first wave as I tucked the hand into the bag attached to my belt then found my knives. I scanned the room. Vampires were everywhere. They nearly filled the room, and more waited on the stairs and looked down from above. This was way too many for just us, no matter how young they were.
I rolled to Corbin’s right and jumped in the fight, knives flying as I went for the wounds they wouldn’t heal from. My arms and legs flew independent of my thoughts, fighting on all fronts as they tried to surround us. The solid silver heels of my boots might have been the best investment I’d ever made. I impaled another vampire on my shoe as I dropped two more in front of me. This was what I had been trained to do my whole life.
With each new vampire before me, I moved faster and with more strength than ever before. The goddess was with me, guiding my weapons as I went. My people didn’t understand why I wanted to leave my homeland, why I wanted to do things like this, but that was because they’d never tried. When I fought, when bodies fell at my feet, I felt her with me. I felt justice, my birthright as I had never experienced before.
Bodies fell around us, but more and more kept coming. I fought harder. Stab-twist-stab. Kick-stab-twist. Hands flew at me and I absorbed the impact. Blood ran from my arms; whether it was mine or theirs, I didn’t know. I couldn’t feel anything.
“Enough,” Paolo yelled from above.
Everyone stopped around us. I pulled my knife from the vampire’s temple and he dropped to the floor in the silent room. Paolo’s cold eyes met mine with more hatred than I had ever seen, and I winked at him. That old bastard never did like me.
“You fight your brethren,” he said, clearly talking to Corbin. “Alongside our enemies.” His eyes flickered back to me. “Her kind has never been a friend to the vampire, and yet you trust her before your own.”
Corbin looked up at him, eyes so black they could swallow worlds. “I have only one enemy in this room. No one else needed to die tonight. Come down and face me.”
“So it is true. You’ve come for me.” Paolo held on to the railing. “I had such high hopes for you.”
“You knew it would come to this. Camila. Clara. What did you think I would do? You took everything from me once… I won’t let you do it again.”
Paolo tsked. “The elf again. You were supposed to turn to me. Not to her. You were meant to love me more than any of the others.” Paolo’s gaze transferred to Thomas. “And you. You may come upstairs. You have played your part. Masterfully, as always.”
The vampires parted, but Thomas didn’t move. There were those wheels turning again. My hand twitched with the desire to end him before he could betray me a third time, but I didn’t. He nodded and did as he was told without a second glance at us.
I fucking knew it. Why did I never learn with him?
When he reached the top, Paolo kissed his temple. “You did well, my son. Your rewards will reflect your success.”
I blinked. His what? I glanced at Corbin, who showed nothing.
“They weren’t hard to lead here.” I could feel Thomas’s stare burning into me. “I want to keep the Sekhmet. I choose her as my reward.”
Paolo’s mouth pinched. “No. She has been a thorn in my side long enough. She’ll die and Corbin will watch. Then we find the elf. That is the only way.”
“Come and get me.” I attacked again. It didn’t matter if Thomas was with us or against us, or that we were outnumbered twenty to one. They wouldn’t take me without a fight. I’d take as many of them with me as I could. I fought the hordes of vampires with everything I had as they backed me up against the window. I couldn’t even see a path out. I had completely lost sight of Corbin.
The glass broke behind me, an arm curled around my neck, and I was dragged through the window.
Chapter 23
