Am I going to turn into a vampire this time? This was nothing like what had happened when he had tried to turn me before. I was still aware, my heart was no longer beating, and the fiery sting of his bite was absent.
“Drop the girl,” a strong female voice, which I recognized as Ruth’s, commanded.
Pierce just laughed before he nuzzled my face, his tongue darting out to taste my skin. Revulsion made my stomach churn uncomfortably, and instead of me brushing the feeling off, it gave me hope that I would come back from this.
“I’ve got my prize. Let me and my men return to our ship, and we’ll leave this little island alone,” Pierce replied.
Jameson made a hissing sound deep in his chest, and I could feel something stir inside me at the sound. “You aren’t going anywhere with her.”
“You can’t stop me.” Pierce’s chest vibrated beneath me as he chuckled darkly. “If you try, I’ll send the rest of my men to storm the beach and feed until there isn’t a drop of blood in any of you.”
“Take her,” Ruth said.
Frustrated that I still couldn’t move my body, I could barely see her from the corner of my eye. Her face was hard, while her lips were pulled into a grim line, making her look older and more weathered.
“No, please. You can’t let him,” Alice sobbed from somewhere, but I couldn’t tell from where.
“I have people to protect,” Ruth growled harshly. “I cannot endanger them for one girl.”
“She’s not just any girl,” Jameson replied, and I could hear the anguish in his words
Unbidden tears pricked at my eyes. I hated that he was hurting and there was nothing I could do about it. The feeling from earlier increased then, swirling inside me like it did whenever I had accessed my vampire-like abilities before.
“She’s dead and will turn soon. When she wakes up, she will not be that girl anymore. She’ll be a monster,” Ruth stated matter-of-factly.
“No. She’ll survive this,” Jameson argued fiercely, making my heart swell as Pierce chuckled against me.
“She’s mine. Now, step aside or I’ll slaughter the lot of you,” Pierce threatened almost cheerfully.
I tried to move again, and this time something stirred as if reacting to my emotions. Struggling, I fought the paralysis I was under, concentrating on moving my fingers and my toes. Nothing happened, but I persisted, stirring up that feeling inside me until it became a storm. The voices around me continued while I struggled to move, to fight.
Pierce hefted me higher. We were moving much slower than I would expect, but then I realized that he was strutting in victory in front of everyone. My ears sharpened; I could hear Alice’s hiccupping sobs, and a scuffle, followed by grunts when someone was restrained.
Warmth spread quickly throughout my body, turning into a smoldering fire. Sand shifted under Pierce’s feet, and I could hear the granules moving and grating against each other. I was changing, but not in the way that Pierce had hoped.
“No!” Jameson roared, which only helped stoke the storm inside me. “Let me go.”
With a mighty surge, whatever was happening inside me suddenly burst, then spread rapidly throughout my body. As my vampire captor turned around to gloat some more, my body jerked harshly, and I gasped in a breath when my heart thumped against my rib cage.
Surprised, Pierce dropped me, and I stumbled away from him, tripping in the sand while clawing at my chest and throat, trying to ease the sudden pain that accompanied being alive again. My heart beat rapidly while I continued to gasp in breaths, as though my body was making up for when I was dead.
My head turned in time to see Jameson break free from Ruth’s grasp. He charged Pierce, hatred evident in his glaring eyes. His hunter’s blade was secure in his hand as he blurred toward his target. He collided with Pierce without losing momentum, and Jameson’s fist smashed across the vampire’s face.
“I said, you can’t have her!” Jameson growled.
Pierce rebounded from the blow faster than I would have liked, while I continued to struggle to regain control of my body. He was on top of Jameson within a second, and I stopped breathing again for a whole other reason.
Jameson’s face wasn’t visible from my position, but I heard the crunch of bones when Pierce plowed his fists into him over and over again.
I wanted to scream at Jameson to move, but he did nothing. I didn’t understand what was happening. Nobody was helping him, and I was more frustrated than I’d ever been before.
“Now!” Ruth called out to him.
Jameson’s hand moved with precision as he sank his hunter’s blade into the vampire’s chest.
Pierce’s eyes widened as he fell over, completely stunned at the turn of events. “How…” he began, but he didn’t get to finish before the glowing dagger did its job and he disintegrated into ash.
Chapter 17
Jameson rolled to his knees and hurriedly crawled to me. I reached for him, desperate to have him pressed against me, reminding me that I was alive. He crushed me against his chest as a sob escaped my lungs and I breathed in his scent. He withdrew slightly, glancing down at my face. I expected his lips to press against mine, but instead, his eyes turned stormy.
“Jameson?” I asked, searching his face and trying to figure out what was wrong.
“Your eyes are red again, Lavinia.”
Alarmed, I closed my eyes for a moment before blinking them open again. The look on his face hadn’t changed, so I tried once more. Taking a deep breath, I attempted to calm the racing of my heart. When I opened them next, the tension left his face, and I knew that my eyes were back to their normal hazel again.
I grabbed his hand and pressed it to my chest, wanting him to feel my heart beating, so I could erase all doubt from his eyes.
I was alive.
Somehow, I had survived turning again. Chaos suddenly erupted around us, and people began yelling. I couldn’t tell if it was the hunters, the vampires and pirates, or both. Jameson knelt beside me protectively, but my strength had returned. I pushed up, rising up to my feet.
The hunters were capturing pirates, but no vampires were anywhere to be found.
“Where did they all go?” I asked nobody in particular.
Ruth stepped closer to Jameson and me. “When Pierce died, they all turned to ash.”
“How? Why?” I didn’t understand.
“He was their maker, their lifeline. Without Pierce, they had nothing to keep them living.”
Jameson grabbed my hand. “So, that means we find the original vampire, kill him, and end all of this?”
Ruth nodded. “Essentially, but I doubt it will be as easy as it sounds. You have a lot to learn, and not a lot of time to do it in. Let’s head back inside while my people clean up here.”
“Wait!” I yelled. “Why isn’t Jameson dead? Pierce turned him back at Port Victory. Is he going to die?” My chest burned with fear. I couldn’t do this without Jameson. I needed him by my side. My body trembled as I waited for her answer.
“I don’t know why Jameson didn’t die. I can only assume it is because he hasn’t fully turned. Until he drinks human blood, he won’t fully become the monsters we fight. If he can remain strong enough, then he might never truly be a vampire. Hopefully, he’ll be a hybrid we can call friend instead of foe.”
I glanced up at Jameson to find relief on his face. He pulled me in closer as we waited for Ruth to lead the way back to the house. I had little fear that he would ever drink human blood and found solace in knowing he would be around for many years to come, if what Ruth thought was true.
She was being more amicable than before. I remembered what she had said earlier when we headed for the tunnels. She would tell me what she learned when she cut me—why her blade had glowed red with my blood.
My heart began racing once again as another problem presented itself, yet I took pleasure in the natural reaction. As we followed Ruth back inside, I replayed what Pierce had done to me in my head. I knew he had drained me be
fore, I should have been dead more than once, but this time was different. He had actually halted everything inside me. I had been dead.
It shouldn’t have been possible for me to still feel human after all of that. I hoped whatever Ruth was going to tell us would shed some light on why it kept happening to me. Previously, I had pretended I was still human, but I could no longer hide behind my beating heart. I was not normal, and I wanted answers.
Alice moved next to me, brushing her arm against mine while we continued across the field to the house. “I really thought you weren’t going to make it. I’m glad you did, even if we don’t really understand how.”
I smiled at her. “Me, too. Hopefully, we can be safe here for a while now.”
“I doubt it.” Her face fell. “Did you hear Ruth? She said we didn’t have much time. I don’t think she’s going to let us stay.”
“It’s going to be all right.” I squeezed her hand. “I don’t think she meant it that way, but if she did, we will figure it out. We have so far.”
Alice laughed. “Look at you. You just died and came back to life, yet you’re full of positivity.”
I shrugged, not knowing what to say. If we didn’t believe things would be fine, then they likely wouldn’t be, but I refused to think of any other outcome.
We made it back to the house, and Ruth led us to a section we hadn’t seen earlier. There was a hallway behind a door that most would assume was a closet or another room. We passed three more closed doors before Ruth finally opened one, gesturing for us to go in first.
Jameson and I entered the room together, to find a large wooden table in the center and maps hanging from the walls. There were no windows, and the only light came from oil lamps placed on each side of the maps.
Instead of sitting, I took a walk around the room, glancing at each of the atlases. I didn’t recognize most of the places until I came to the last map. It was of our string of islands. My fingers traced the landmasses as devastation consumed me. Our peaceful homes were no longer.
I might not have had the best life before everything became hell on earth, but I had dreams. I wished for more. I craved more. Now, I couldn’t even count on seeing the sun rise the following day.
Turning to the table, I found a seat next to Jameson. Ruth stood at the end, waiting for everyone to get settled. Once we were, she took her own seat.
“I lied to you before.” She paused, and my body tensed. “I know Solomon. In fact, everyone here knows him.”
“Why would you lie to us?” Jameson asked.
“Would you tell complete strangers the truth of your operations before they proved themselves?” Her question was rhetorical, but Jameson shook his head anyway. “Solomon told us you might come, and if you did, we were to test you,” Ruth continued. “There was no way to know if Pierce had gotten through to you. Solomon had done all he could to prepare you, but time ran out for him. He had to flee before Pierce set his plans into motion. He had already stayed too long, but he was convinced you were important.”
Jameson cleared his throat, seeming uncomfortable with her words when he moved in his seat. “Why wouldn’t he stay and help us get out of there?”
“That’s a question for him. It’s not my story to tell,” Ruth answered truthfully.
I leaned forward. “What about me? Why can’t I be turned? What’s wrong with me?” I threw out the questions without thought. I needed answers, and I was surprised they hadn’t already been asked. Watching someone come back from the dead shouldn’t have been a common occurrence for them.
“I wish I had the answers to those questions, but I don’t. None of you seemed surprised when Lavinia died. Has this happened before?” Ruth asked.
“Yes,” Jameson inserted before I could.
Ruth’s eyes met mine. “I knew you were different, but I didn’t realize how much. Are you sure you don’t know what you are? I can’t help you unless you tell me everything.”
I recalled the changes I had gone through and quickly gave Ruth a rundown before I remembered her dagger. “What happened when your dagger cut me?” I asked when I finished.
“A hunter’s blade has many capabilities.” Ruth pulled hers out and set it on the table. “You only have to know how to use it. The dagger is meant for so much more than killing vampires. If you connect with it properly, it will protect you for many years. With the right training, you can tell truth from lie, human from vampire, and much more.”
“Did Solomon not know how to train Jameson properly?” Nathan asked, a bit of distrust in his tone. It was a good question, but I was more concerned with the answer to mine at the moment.
Ruth shook her head. “It took almost a year before I came close to mastering mine. Solomon had mere weeks. Teaching Jameson how to kill vampires and withstand the urge to feed from humans seemed more important.”
I couldn’t argue with her there. It was hard to imagine how Alice, Henry, Nathan, Nettie, and I would have survived without him. Jameson had continued to hold our group together. Whoever Solomon was, I was grateful to him.
“What did the dagger tell you about me?” I repeated, trying not to push but needing to know.
“I knew you weren’t human when you first arrived. I just didn’t know what you were. If I’m being honest, I still don’t. However, whatever your path is, it’s important.”
My heart sank. That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. I wanted answers, not riddles. I knew it wasn’t Ruth’s fault, but I was frustrated regardless.
“What did the red glow mean from your blade?” Jameson asked.
“It was life. Lavinia is full of life. Even now, after having died right before my eyes, I can feel her life force pulsing through my dagger when I direct my attention to her, but I can also still sense the vampire power in her. There are two very conflicting forces growing within you.”
“If you don’t have the answers to Lavinia’s questions, where are we going to find them?” Alice asked.
“You still need to find Solomon,” Ruth answered. “He has been searching for something, but he wouldn’t tell me what. He only asked me to wait here for you and send you to Baldaire after your group proved you were still on our side.”
“We sent the ship away,” Henry added. “How are we supposed to get there?”
Ruth grinned. “I needed you here a little longer, to test you before we sent you to another one of our holdings, but there’s a pirate ship out there that I don’t believe will be used anytime soon.”
While that seemed like an easy solution for getting around, I wasn’t my first choice. Pirates were filthy bastards. I didn’t even want to imagine what we would find on the ship when we boarded it.
“I’ll send you with a crew,” Ruth continued, “but first, Jameson needs to train more with his blade. I wish we had more to give you all one, but it’s not possible right now.”
Nathan nodded. “We understand, but there is something else you can do for us. My niece is only six. She shouldn’t be on the run. That is not the life I want for her.”
I knew where Jameson was going with his thoughts. He wanted to leave Nettie behind, but I wasn’t sure if that meant he would stay, too, or entrust her to the people here. As much as we needed him in this fight, Nettie needed him more, and I hoped he intended on staying with her. I would miss the light she shined on our group but would feel better knowing she was safe on land instead of out at sea with us.
“You and Nettie are welcome here for as long as you feel necessary. Our children are our future. We will protect them with everything we have and could always use an extra hand around here.”
“Thank you. I will make sure to earn our keep,” Nathan replied. “I’d like to go check on her now. Are we done?”
“Unless you have more questions, I can prepare a crew for your ship, then begin training Jameson,” Ruth offered. “I need three days, so take that time to rest and replenish. There’s a lot you can learn from the hunters here. Take advantage of it while you can.”
&nbs
p; Even though I felt like we had so much to do, hearing that we needed to be on the island for three more days eased my heart. I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding as we all stood from the table to figure out what came next for us.
Chapter 18
On the morning after the third day, we boarded the pirate ship we now called our own. Jameson was named Captain, though he hadn’t even stepped foot on the vessel yet. Ruth had kept him training around the clock. The only time I saw him during the last few days was when he would slip into bed in the wee hours of the night, only staying for a few hours’ rest before they were at it again.
Saying goodbye to Nettie was the hardest part of all. When we found her after the fight, she was making new friends with the other kids on the island, which made things easier when we told her.
“It’s all right,” she had replied. “You’ll stop the bad guys and save the world. I will wait for you here. Just don’t make me wait long. I’m going to miss all of you.” She held back tears as her voice trembled. She had been so strong, stronger than most of us.
After that, we gathered our crew and took on the task of readying the ship. It was more vile than I had imagined, and I had vomited several times over the edge of the boat as we sorted through the pirate filth.
When we weren’t cleaning, we were training as well. I worked with our crew, which now consisted of Jameson, Henry, Alice, ten of Ruth’s people—who we found out were actually Solomon’s people—and me. Ruth was second-in-command, keeping everything running while Solomon ventured to all of the islands, doing what he could to help as many people as possible.
Standing opposite the mast, I gazed at the island that we were leaving behind now. I was wearing a new dress that had been salvaged from one of the local shops. It was different than the ones I was used to wearing, slimmer in the bodice and skirts, making it lightweight, and I found that I liked it. It was easier to maneuver in, as I had come to find out while training with Alice.
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