by Pace, Pepper
Four more Vampires materialized, each wearing white, and they stared at me. In unison they began to glide toward me—all except Alexis, who watched me with completely black eyes.
I braced myself and tried to make my mind blank. I certainly didn’t want to offend any of them by thinking something disagreeable.
Both of my arms shot outward and against my will. It wasn’t as if someone held them. It was if the cells in my arm had their own agenda.
Intuitively, I knew that they were the Council of the Elders. They looked at my crucifixes then at each other.
I heard a buzzing and then suddenly I felt the buzzing. It was in my head, and if it had lasted any longer, I would be driven insane. I inhaled deeply and concentrated on holding my breath. Then I concentrated on reviving the pain in my wrists because anything would be better than the buzzing in my head.
One of the Elders looked at Alexis, Alexis’ face darkened, and his eyes turned that scary red again. He clasped his hands behind his back and walked toward me and the rest of the group. They looked from Alexis to the oldest Elder.
They seemed to be squaring off.
The black Vampire arched her brow, and everyone looked at her. When that happened, the buzzing in my head ended, and I slumped in relief.
Again they conferred with each other, and I began to do some calculations in my head.
Monica had scheduled the first appointment at midnight. They had lasted approximately two hours. Afterwards we had spent over an hour making a will. Tony had come, gone, I’d met Alexis, and we’d gone to Kaniji—that had taken perhaps half an hour. And if I weren’t mistaken, we had already been in this room for over an hour.
That meant we were like ... half a second away from dawn. But I didn’t feel the usual lethargy. I knew I was tired, though, and I wanted to sit down, even if it was on the floor.
What were they talking about? They were deciding something about me. I only wanted to take Tige’s place. Kaniji said it was possible. Alexis’ anger seemed to indicate it was possible, so what was happening?
They were staring at me again and I straightened up. No! Not the buzzing again! I tried to make my mind blank. I took a great gulp of air and held it, concentrating on my full lungs. I remembered the suggestion that Paul had given me of the great white wall. I pictured the wall going up in front of me completely cutting off sight of whoever was in front of me. The wall went up rapidly, and it formed a circle around me.
Alexis took one step forward and was in the circle with me.
I glanced at him. He could see my wall? This time I did something different. I put a roof on the circle so that Alexis and I were sealed within that white wall.
The buzzing instantly decreased in volume to something much more manageable.
I blew out the held breath and blinked. ”Please tell me what’s happening.” I pleaded.
Alexis took several moments to inspect the shield. He reached out and used his pale fingertips to trace the groves of the brick. “You requested to exchange places with Tige Lafayette, to take his punishment, to relinquish your life for his.”
I nodded.
”Why?”
I looked past Alexis. “Because I finally figured out that I’m not me. The me I knew is dead. Tige tried to do a nice thing for me by bringing me back, but he didn’t do that. He brought back something else. He is a good Vampire, and maybe I would be a good Vampire, too, if a Vampire is what I want to be. I’m willing to relinquish my existence for his.”
Alexis studied me. “What is being deliberated is whether or not you are attempting to mislead the Council.”
”Mislead them? I’m just trying to die.”
”That’s the point. By being placed in the sun you will not die. You are a day-walker.”
I felt faint. “I can walk in the day?”
He watched me without answering.
I remembered Paul saying that my head had gotten in the sun briefly and nothing had happened. Then I remembered Alexis saying that if I could walk in the day never to tell any other Vampire. I understood, then, that they thought I was trying to cheat them the way I had—
His hand covered my mouth, and his brow was creased in a frown. ”Don’t even think it.”
For about thirty seconds I thought about anything but being a Vampire. I thought mostly about the Gerbera daisies that I’d always wanted to plant in my own garden and their vibrant colors.
”I know that you were not trying to mislead the Council because I’m inside of you now. But because we are linked ...” Alexis looked extremely angry. “Some wonder whether or not I’m attempting to alter the law to benefit you.”
”I swear I didn’t know about the day-walking thing. I really didn’t put it together. Can’t we just say that I’d give my life in exchange for Tige’s instead of I’d take his punishment?”
”You can’t change the law because you’d die for him,” Alexis said. “The law says that you can take his punishment. Tony decreed that his punishment is to be taken out into the sun. The law states that a Second who turns a human is punishable by death. Not only is there a question of deceit, but there is a problem with interpretation of the law. Being placed in the sun would be death for Tige and that is a fair punishment. You, as the one responsible for his punishment, are the only one who can replace him in this punishment. It is not your fault that his punishment will not cause you death.”
Huh? I had to replay that in my head until I thought I understood. ”But I’m willing to take death.”
”You can’t dictate the law.”
”But tell them that I’d take the punishment of death.”
”You are telling them, and it still doesn’t matter.” Alexis turned and looked over his shoulder. “Come.” He held out his hand. “They have made a decision.”
I put my hand into his.
The wall disappeared, and the Council of the Elders was staring at me. I looked at my empty hand. Alexis was not holding it. He had not physically moved. I could have sworn that we were actually enclosed in that wall ...
Alexis’ voice broke a short silence. ”Kim. It has been determined that you did not knowingly offer to exchange places with Tige Lafayette in order to save yours and his life. It has been further determined that your request to replace him has been accepted. Furthermore, a punishment of death is required.”
I squared my shoulders and tried to be strong. I’d killed enough Vampires to know that death was quick. A few moments of discomfort and then this nightmare would be over.
”Thank you,” I said with a strong voice.
Alexis’ eyes wavered from red but settled to black.
“Kim Russell,” the black woman Vampire said, “you know that you would have earned a seat on the Elder’s Council if you had lived.”
I looked at her. “Ma’am, I don’t think I would have lived that long.”
She disappeared. And then like a domino effect they all disappeared until Alexis and I were alone in the room.
He took hold of my wrist, and we disappeared.
I don’t know where I thought we’d end up but definitely not in a tiny hut with a dirt floor. Alexis released me, and I looked around. A woman huddled on the floor and rocked back and forth, her thin, hanging breasts swaying.
She wore a grass skirt that covered her lower half, and her hair was wild and unkempt. I didn’t know what her race was because although she had ebony skin she had a sharp nose and the thin lips of someone other than black. She ignored Alexis and me and continued to rock back and forth, holding a colored piece of wood that she stabbed into the dirt floor.
Alexis did something that I never thought I’d see him do. He went down on his knees before her and bowed low with his forehead to the dirt. I didn’t know what to do so I mimicked him because if she was more powerful than he was, she was definitely more powerful than I was.
The woman didn’t seem to know we were there.
Alexis stood, and I did, too. I wanted to ask him who she was and why we were
there, but I knew better than to interrupt. We stood looking at her forever it seemed before she stopped rocking and looked at Alexis.
Her eyes were gold.
Kaniji had said Tony, Tige, and I were gold. Alexis had shown me that he, too, was gold. This woman, who barely looked human, had gold eyes. Would I have made the Elder Council because I was gold? Kaniji said gold held power ...
A girl entered the hut carrying a bowl covered in a dark cloth. She did not acknowledge our presence as she placed the covered bowl in front of the wild woman. The girl was also dressed in a grass skirt that concealed her lower half. Her hair wasn’t wild although it was long and thick. Her skin was as dark as the woman’s, and it was just as difficult to determine her race.
The girl uncovered the bowl and revealed intestines lying in a bloody pile.
The crazy lady—and she did look crazy—dug her hands into the intestines and began playing with them. Her fingers traveled along the ridges as if she was fingering rosary beads. Her eyes rolled up into her head, and she began rocking again.
I felt tingling at the back of my neck, and I broke out in goose pimples. I glanced at Alexis. His eyes were glazed over, but he still watched the woman. What were they saying to each other? I knew they were communicating.
She removed her bloodstained hands from the bowl. The little girl covered the bowl and removed it from the hut.
Alexis went down on his knees again, and I joined him. Again we bowed, and she wouldn’t even look at us. Alexis gripped my wrist and we left that strange place. I had most likely witnessed something that had been never been seen.
We reappeared in the room where Alexis had first brought me after my initiation.
I barely waited until the room materialized before starting with my barrage of questions. ”What just happened?”
”Kim, if you had lived after the car accident that nearly took your life, but had lost the use of your limbs, lost your eyesight, lost your hearing, would you still be Kim?”
I stared at Alexis. “Yes.”
He put one fingertip to my temple. “What makes you you is in here. You didn’t die. You are still in there.”
”But, Alexis, the things I’ve done--“
”To survive?” he interrupted. “Then you are telling me that the Kim you once were would not do what was necessary to survive?”
I closed my eyes. “Why are you telling me this now? I’ve sealed my fate.”
”Yes, you have. However, She-Who-Is-First acknowledges the inconsistencies in the law. Your punishment is no longer to be placed in the sun for all to see. You may take his punishment of death.”
”What?”
”But if you live through it, then it is done. Tomorrow night you will be put to death, but it will not kill you.”
I crossed my arms and rubbed the goose pimples away. “How is that possible?”
Alexis didn’t answer.
I couldn’t let it go like that. I had to know. ”How will I be put to death, Alexis?”
His expression changed to something more serious than his usual amused, bored, cold, and inhuman expressions. His brow creased, and he seemed to be thinking. ” When your American forefathers wrote your laws, they kept in mind changing future attitudes. Our laws are not open for interpretation. They were meant to provide unwavering boundaries.” His eyes narrowed. “There are so many secrets surrounding our kind, and one such secret is that some of us walk in the day. There are less than one hundred in the entire world who have this ability, and you are one of them.”
I frowned. “Does it have anything to do with my gold coloring?”
”Secrets,” Alexis whispered.
”So, how do I get put to death but not die?”
”The link you created means that I’m in you and you’re in me. And the punishment that you will receive will not be enough to kill me.”
”Alexis, what did it take for you to make this arrangement?”
He clasped his hands in front of him. “The cost does not matter, only the result. I’m giving you back your life. Tomorrow you will understand why you should not throw it away so easily.” He held out his hand. “Come.”
I took it assuming that he was taking me to prison or wherever, but he didn’t take me anywhere.
”We must strengthen the link,” he said.
He lowered his teeth.
“Alexis, if we do this then we’re going to feel even stronger about each other ...”
”And if we don’t, there will be more pain.”
”Look, I’ll deal with the pain if it means I’ll get to live and Tige gets to live.”
Alexis gripped me by the back of the head and sank his teeth into my neck.
”Oh!“ I gasped. My fingers clenched into fists. His lips on my neck felt incredible. Goose bumps ran up and down my spine. Was he doing that mind thing on me again? No, I didn’t think he was. I opened my mouth to say something, but my teeth dropped instead.
I did not want to link any closer to this man. He had just ripped Kaniji’s tongue out of her mouth.
Alex put his other arm around me and pulled me taut against his body. His other hand gently forced my face to his neck. My pulse quickened but I refused to bite.
He loosened his grip on the back of my neck. With his arm still around me he ran his free hand beneath my T-shirt. His hand closed over my breast. I could feel my nipple swell beneath his fingertips. The bloodlust hit me like a bullet. I felt like a puppet on a string. Lust and blood all rolled up into one became so overpowering that it controlled me!
I plunged my teeth into his neck, and we drank deeply of each other. I felt his fingers pluck my nipple, and I cried out without releasing my hold on his neck. I unclenched my fists and reached beneath his shirt to stroke his back and run my fingers along the smooth lines of his stomach and chest. My head felt like it was going to explode! His breathing became heavier and faster. I felt as if I was dying all over again. Stars were shooting before my eyes, yet neither of us broke the hold. We continued to drink long of each other.
Alex pulled his teeth from my neck and sealed the puncture marks with the tip of his tongue.
I still drank. Alex cradled my head and allowed me to drink my fill.
When I finally pulled away from him, I would have sealed the puncture marks but he placed his fingers over them briefly. When he removed them, there wasn’t the slightest trace of a bite.
I stared at him wide-eyed. Veins now lined his pale skin! I had drunk too much, but he didn’t budge as we held each other. I didn’t want to let him go. I wanted to pull him to me and stay in his arms forever.
”Close your eyes,” he whispered.
I did and then felt his lips on mine. I licked him until I no longer tasted any trace of blood on them.
Alexis ignored my lapping tongue and kissed me deeply.
”Open your eyes,” he whispered against my lips moments later.
I did, and I pulled out of his grasp.
We were standing outside of Tige’s cell.
He gestured for the guard to open the heavy silver door.
Alexis took my hand gently and led me inside. He unlocked Tige’s cell.
Tige looked at us. “Kim,” he moaned. “No.”
I crossed the room, and Tige stood. I sat on the floor and brought my knees up to my chest. Alexis walked out the door. Tige followed with his head down, the door shut behind them, and I heard the lock turn.
I leaned my head against the cool cement wall and tried to pretend that I wasn’t afraid.
CHAPTER 15
I didn’t immediately open my eyes when I awoke the next night. I knew that I was in a cell, but I didn’t remember lying down. I awoke to find myself curled up on the cold cement floor with my head pillowed on something warm and comfortable. Warm?
The night before it seemed I had waited hours for the dawn to rise, but how could that be possible when Alexis and I had spent hours with the Council of the Elders and almost as long with She-Who-Is-First? Wherever we were
, time had stood still. We couldn’t have been in a real place. How in the hell was that possible?
I tried to force myself to remember my horror at seeing Alexis yank out Kaniji’s tongue I wouldn’t feel the sudden rushing of my blood at the memory of his lips on me. I didn’t want to try to untangle the mess of emotions I had when I thought of Alexis. I did not want to put another person in the “I think I love him” category. It made me shiver even to consider it. I knew there was more to Alexis than the cold, heartless Elder everyone else saw. Maybe he had initially noticed me only because I was something new and unusual, but now I knew that it was different—for the both of us.
Then there was Tony. My eyes grew wet at the memory of our one night together. He never played any games when it came to his feelings for me. He told me straight out that he wanted me. Then, when I eventually had the guts to admit that I wanted him, too, he had the nerve to make all my dreams come true. An amazing lover who bought me anything I could possibly need and had my back in all matters, Tony is what any woman would dream about. Tony was the only one I developed feelings for even before I ever took blood from him. With Tony it wasn’t about the blood.
And then there was Paul. I made him leave because I was stupid and afraid. He was in love with me, and I was callous. I loved him, too, but I was too selfish to think about how my actions affected him. He was normal. He was what I wanted to be, and I loved him enough to know that I wanted him to stay in his world. I missed him, though. I missed him so much.
On the evening of my torture, I opened my eyes and ran my hand over my pillow.
It felt like jeans.
I sat up with a jolt to see that I had been sleeping on Paul’s lap!
I threw myself into his arms and hugged him like he was the last life raft from a sinking ship! I buried my face into his shoulder.
He held me tightly. ”Oh, sweetheart, what have you gotten yourself into?” he whispered against my neck.
”I’m so sorry that we fought.”
”No, I’m sorry.”
