by Mari Mancusi
“Or go back on their word and destroy us,” Magnus points out. “How can you trust an organization like that?”
“I don’t,” the speaker says simply. “But this would have bought us time, at the very least.”
“Time bought at the cost of one of my own,” Magnus growls, baring his fangs. He looks so scary and fierce—I don’t know whether to be proud or frightened. “I should have been consulted. I would never have agreed to something like this!”
“Then you should have been here,” Pyrus bites back. “This is war, Magnus. I couldn’t sit around twiddling my thumbs, while you were off in England, trying to save some mutant stray.”
So that’s it. I asked Magnus to abandon his duties to the Consortium, and by doing so, I basically signed my sister’s death warrant. I should have listened to him from the start. Trusted his judgment in doing the right thing. Seen the bigger picture here instead of always looking at my own selfish whims. We chose Jayden—who lied and put us all at risk. And in doing so, we doomed my sister.
“In any case, it makes no difference now,” Pyrus adds. “Seeing as they’ve gotten her on their own and now there’s nothing we can do about it.” He shakes his head. “And no bargaining means war.” He turns to the Consortium. “Masters, assemble your armies,” he instructs. “Our time is up. Tomorrow evening, we will mobilize against the Alphas. We will bring them down!”
The crowd cheers—caught up in the excitement— and the vampires start scrambling up from their seats. Magnus turns to me, a devastated expression on his face. “I’m sorry,” he whispers, in a voice that breaks my heart.
“No, I’m sorry,” I whisper back. “I should have never doubted you.”
“So that’s it then?” Magnus demands of Pyrus as the audience dwindles. “No discussion, no vote? They all just do what you say now, without question?” Pyrus gives him a self-satisfied smirk. “They know I have their best interests at heart.”
“The only thing you have in your poor excuse for a heart is a thirst for power,” Magnus snarls. “The Consortium I joined was supposed to be a democracy. And yet suddenly it smells suspiciously of a dictatorship—”
“Lord Magnus, you are out of order,” Pyrus interrupts. “If you would like to make a procedural complaint, you can do so tomorrow night by filling out the correct form in triplicate and filing it at the proper—”
“What, so you can bury it in your bureaucracy and keep doing exactly what it is you want to do?” Magnus demands. “Knowing that everyone’s too scared to speak up and voice an opinion, fearing that you’ll kick them out of the Consortium if they do?” He scowls. “Well, I for one am done with it. The Blood Coven will not go along with your plan until it’s been discussed and brought to a vote—as we all vowed to do when we first joined the organization.”
Pyrus smirks. “I’m afraid that’s no longer your call. By the powers vested in me as Speaker of the Consortium, I hereby remove you from your position as Master of the Blood Coven.”
I gasp. Can he do that?
Magnus’s face turns stark white. I guess he can. “And what will happen to my coven?” he asks in a steely voice. As always, he’s thinking of his people before himself.
“Your co-master, Jareth, will be placed in command. Hopefully he will prove more loyal to the Consortium than his predecessor.”
“That’s not fair!” I cry, horrified. But Magnus silences me with a fierce look. I reluctantly snap my mouth closed.
The speaker smiles smugly. “Actually, I think I’m being more than fair. After all, I’m sure Magnus here doesn’t want the entire Blood Coven to be punished for his crimes, now, does he?”
Magnus hangs his head. God, this is so not good!
“Take your punishment like a good little vampire, and maybe I will see fit to let you live,” Pyrus adds. “But if you lift even one finger to interfere with Consortium business and the upcoming Alpha attack, I will have you staked into oblivion.” He smirks. “And you know full well there’s not one vampire here who will stop me.”
And with that lovely sentiment, he sweeps out of the room, leaving Magnus and me standing in an empty arena. My boyfriend sinks down onto a nearby bench, his whole body shaking with anger. I run to his side, wondering what I should do, what I should say. It’s not often I see him looking lost—so out of control. I feel terrible that I am the one who caused so much of this pain.
“I’m so sorry,” I say, feeling the tears well up into my eyes. “I’m so, so sorry. This is all my fault.”
But Magnus shakes his head. “No,” he says. “This is my fault. I’ve been so blind—just like the rest of them. Wanting to believe in the good of the organization. Going along with whatever they say, in an effort to protect my people. But now I see that underneath the talk of modernization and reform, we’re not much different than the vampires of the past. Bloodthirsty, power-hungry, and ready to crush anyone who gets in our way.”
He looks up at me, his eyes shining with unshed tears. “You have to believe me,” he says. “I never knew they wanted to use your sister as bait. I never would have—”
“I know,” I say, cutting him off. “I know you wouldn’t do that to Rayne. Or to me. Or to Jareth.”
“And that’s why I’ll never be a good leader,” Magnus says dejectedly. “Too much heart.”
“No. That’s why you are a good leader. Because you actually care about your people, not just power,” I correct. I reach over and give him a loving squeeze. His body shudders in my arms.
A moment later, he pulls away. “I’ll call Jareth,” he says. “No matter what Pyrus threatens, we’re not giving up Rayne without a fight.”
I stare at him in horror. “But didn’t you hear what Pyrus said? They’ll stake you for treason if you interfere!”
He shrugs. “Then they’ll stake me. I couldn’t live with myself anyway, if I knew I didn’t do everything in my power to save your sister.”
“Oh, Magnus,” I cry. “I love you so much. I’m sorry I ever doubted you.”
“You had right to,” he says. “But no longer.”
22
“Aw, look, I think she likes me!” I coo as the tiny tabby crawls into my lap and looks up at me with big green cat eyes. I reach down to stroke her between her ears and she purrs contentedly.
“I think they all like you,” Magnus grumps, glancing at his watch. The black cat near his feet hisses at the sudden movement. “And I think they all hate me.”
I reach over and pull the black cat over to me. “It’s okay, baby,” I murmur. “Don’t let that big bad vampire scare you.” I look up at my boyfriend, who’s brushing hair off his suit. “Sorry,” I say. “But you gotta admit, Jareth’s right. A cat café is pretty much the last place we’d accidentally run into any Consortium members.”
Calico, the cat café in Shinjuku we’re currently holed up in, is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: a small café, filled with cats and kittens. For Japanese men and women who work long hours and can’t have their own pet, it’s like a furry oasis in the center of downtown. They get their animal fix and they don’t have to deal with kitty litter.
And, since vampires, as I mentioned, aren’t so good with animals, it’s a great place to hide away and plot out our plan to save my sister.
The door opens and Jareth steps inside, his face haggard and his hair wild. He brushes the cat hair off the bench and sits down next to Magnus.
“Okay, here’s what I’ve been able to find out,” he says, getting right down to business. “They know where the Alphas are holed up, but the address is available to highest security clearance only. All I could figure out was it’s some kind of temple.”
“That doesn’t help us much,” Magnus replies. “There are hundreds of temples in the city.”
“Well, they’re making plans to bomb this one,” Jareth informs us. “Just before dawn. Which doesn’t give us much time to figure it out.”
“Bomb it?” I repeat in horror. “But they can’t! Not with Rayn
e inside!”
Jareth rakes a hand through his hair. “What does Pyrus care?” he asks bitterly. “He was ready to sacrifice her from the beginning. After she did everything they asked. Went to rehab, fixed her blood problem—and for what? So they’d have a better bargaining chip?” He narrows his eyes, gripping the side of his chair so tightly that the plastic crumbles in his hand and a calico cat hisses menacingly at him. “I can’t even explain what it was like,” he continues. “Going in there, pretending I was on that egomaniac’s side so he’d give the Blood Coven to me and not one of their other flunkies who might not have its best interest at heart. Just looking at his self-satisfied smirk as I swore allegiance, I wanted to stake him right then and there. Thank goodness he has no idea of my personal relationship with Rayne.”
Magnus reaches out and squeezes his shoulder sympathetically. “You did well,” he says. “For the good of the coven. I’m sure it was difficult.” He shakes his head. “We’ve been so blind, wanting this to work. But with Pyrus at the helm, the Consortium is acting no better than these Alphas are. All he cares about is being on top. Gaining power, ruling the world, even at the expense of his own members. And the other masters are so afraid of what will happen to their covens if they go against what he says...”
“By the way,” Jareth says, “I found out something else interesting.”
“Yes?”
“It was Pyrus who sent the order to England, under your name, to Tanner, asking that he poison Jayden. He felt as long as he was alive you’d continue to be distracted and seek out the Holy Grail, which was counterproductive to his war.”
“Of course,” Magnus says wearily. “I should have known. Tanner would never do something like that on his own. He’s loyal to a fault.”
“That bastard,” I snarl, anger welling up inside of me. “What right does he have to decide who gets to live or die?” I turn to Magnus. “I’m sorry,” I say. “I don’t know how I could have ever thought you would be behind something like that. I’m the worst girlfriend in the world.”
He smiles grimly. “You can make it up to me later. Right now we’ve got to figure out how to find and rescue Rayne before they bomb the Alphas out of oblivion.”
“Well,” I say, pulling two cats off my lap, “I do have an idea...”
The two vampires look at me eagerly and for a split second I feel a thrill of pride that they are actually now taking me seriously. Treating me like an equal instead of a child.
“Go on,” Magnus urges.
“Well, we know that Corbin has been listening to Jayden’s thoughts, which has kept him one step ahead of us this entire time.”
“Right.”
“Well, what if we plant some kind of thought in Jayden’s head? Tell him some kind of secret location or something. And when Corbin goes there, we’ll kidnap him and demand he bring us to their headquarters.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Jareth muses. “Though we’d need Jayden to believe what he’s thinking. Otherwise Corbin may see through it. It’s hard to hide one’s true thoughts.”
“I think you two are forgetting something,” Magnus interjects. “They already have what they want from Jayden. Rayne’s already their prisoner. Meaning Corbin’s probably no longer listening in.”
I frown, realizing he’s right. “If only it worked the other way, too,” I say with a sigh. “Then it’d be easy.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, we know that Corbin’s stayed a step ahead of us because he can read Jayden’s mind. It’s just too bad Jayden can’t read his mind back. Like two- way telepathy.”
“Have you ever asked Jayden if he could?” Jareth asks suddenly.
I look up, surprised. “Well, no. I just figured...” I trail off. Maybe he’s right. Maybe Jayden can read Corbin’s mind. “But don’t you think he would have told me if he could?” I ask.
“Maybe he doesn’t know he can,” Jareth says. “Maybe it’s not a conscious thing. But if there’s some kind of link, we may be able to reverse it through hypnosis. If he’s willing, I should be able to focus his mind and have him push the other direction. To see inside Corbin’s head.”
“You can do hypnosis?” I ask, eyes widening. “I had no idea.”
He blushes. “When you’ve been around a thousand years, you tend to pick up a few random skills here and there.”
“Nice. Have you ever considered hypnotizing my sister?”
“Why? You want her to cluck like a chicken?”
“I’m thinking bigger picture. Like give her the undeniable urge to pick up after herself. Especially in our shared bedroom.”
Magnus rolls his eyes. “Focus, people,” he interjects. “Sunny, do you think Jayden would be amenable to this?” he asks. “It won’t be easy if he’s not a willing subject.”
My mind flashes back to Jayden. His declarations of devotion. Our secret kiss. The look on his face when I walked out of the ryokan, leaving him behind. “Yes,” I reply. “He feels terrible about what he’s done and will do whatever it takes, I’m sure, to set things right. I mean, it wasn’t like he did all of this on purpose. He just wanted to—” I stop short, realizing I haven’t actually revealed this part of the story to my boyfriend.
Magnus looks at me pointedly. “He wanted to...?” he prods.
“He just wanted to get me to like him,” I admit. “He thought he’d have a better chance with me if he were a vampire.”
Magnus rolls his eyes. “Stupid kid,” he says scornfully. “I mean, everyone who knows you knows you pretty much can’t stand vampires.”
“I don’t know,” I say with a small smile. “They’re growing on me.”
Jareth rises to his feet. “Okay,” he says. “Let’s head to your hotel and find Jayden. We’re running out of time and we must save your sister.”
23
“Jayden, are you here?” I ask, bursting into our ryokan bedroom, Jareth and Magnus hot on my heels. In my haste I don’t even bother to take off my shoes—a definite faux pas—and end up regrettably trouncing a great deal of mud into the room.
I scan the small area, my eyes falling on Jayden standing by the window, staring out into the night. Thank goodness he’s still here. He turns as he hears me, his expression more than a bit nervous. Especially when Magnus and Jareth step into the room after politely taking off their own shoes. They have such better manners than me.
“Sunny!” he cries. “You... you came back.”
“Of course I did,” I assure him as guilt starts clawing at my gut. What, did he think I was going to leave him here forever? Never speak to him again? I guess in a way he deserves it. But I know what he did was out of love. And we’ve all done stupid things out of love. “I couldn’t just leave you here, now, could I?”
His shoulders slump. “Well, to be honest, I wouldn’t have blamed you if you did. I mean, I pretty much screwed everything up. All those people at Bite Club were killed—because of me. All those vampires staked. And your sister...” He hangs his head. “I’ve been staring out the window, waiting for dawn. So I can walk outside and burn myself to death. After what I’ve done, I don’t deserve to live.”
“Oh, Jayden, don’t say things like that,” I plead, horror washing over in a wave. “We’ve all made mistakes. And we may be able to set this right—and save my sister. But we need your help.”
His eyes brighten. “Yeah? I’ll do anything. Anything. I know I can’t make up for all I’ve done, but whatever I can do to help... I’ll do it.” He looks at me with an agonized expression on his beautiful face, which breaks my heart. I want to be furious with him. But how can I?
“Sunny, why isn’t he tied up?” Magnus demands in a tight voice, giving Jayden a suspicious once-over. “I told you, new vampires can be—”
“Dangerous, unpredictable, I know, I know,” I finish for him. “But Jayden’s learned self-control. He’s fine. He doesn’t need to be treated like animal.”
But even as I say the words, I see Jayden putting out his h
ands to the vampires in surrender. “Cuff me,” he says to Magnus. “I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore.”
I turn to him, shocked. “But, Jayden!”
He gives me an apologetic smile. “Sunny, it’s for my own good. And you know it.”
And so I give in, allowing them to slide a pair of handcuffs on his wrists, rendering him immobile. I avert my eyes—the slight smoke rising from his flesh as the silver burns is too painful to watch.
“Let’s just get this over with,” I growl.
Jareth leads Jayden over to a futon mat and the two of them sit down across from each other. In a low voice, I hear him explaining how the hypnosis will work and what we’ll be able to do with it.
“Are you ready?” Jareth asks Jayden. My friend nods. “Okay, close your eyes and count backward from ten.”
“Ten... nine...” By the time Jayden reaches three, his eyes dull and facial muscles slack. He’s under Jareth’s control.
“Now, Jayden, I need you to search through your mind for me,” Jareth instructs. “Look for something out of place. Some kind of dark hole you’ve never seen before. Maybe a cut in the fabric of reality. Some kind of wound. Do you see anything like that?”
Jayden moans. “Sunny...”
“I’m right here,” I cry, dropping to my knees. “Are you okay?”
“Sunny, don’t hate me.”
I swallow hard. “I don’t hate you, Jayden. I could never hate you.”
Silence, then, “But you’re sorry you kissed me.” Damn. I can feel Magnus’s eyes burning a hole in my backside. Maybe I can tell him Jayden meant that old kiss back in Vegas. That he’s still holding on to some residual guilt from that.
But no. If I expect Magnus to tell me the truth, I need to give him the same respect. I will tell him what happened. I have to give him that much.
But not now. We can’t afford to be distracted by petty jealousy. So instead, I turn to Jareth. “Can we get him to focus here?” I ask. “We don’t have much time.”
