by CJ Flynn
I worked my way around to the back hatch and felt for the release. It had light sensors that would only release the catch in the dark, but I didn't need to worry. It popped open with no resistance, and I was faced with a carpet-lined compartment. Two black boxes were stretched out in the cargo space, one with a lid slid sideways and the other still sealed.
My heart stopped as I considered that box. I had been so sure that Imala would be traveling with Ben, but there were no other signs of human companions. There wasn't even a backseat in this particular transport. Just the cargo space.
I steeled myself, knowing that I needed to look in that box. If I could identify her companion, I could follow on the trail of finding Ben. I had no doubt that Daniel could handle Imala, and I knew their fight would buy me time. I peered around the SUV at them, and saw Daniel circling her, his fangs out and a low hiss emanating from his throat. I looked away, satisfied that he was okay, and knew it was time to get the box open.
Inching forward, I leaned in and pressed the keypad on the box. Each vampire would assign a code, but there were also a handful of emergency master codes that could open any of these boxes.
I started to crawl into the cargo space and thought better of it. Whoever was in there was likely very much awake and probably wouldn't be at all happy to see me. I would need something to protect myself.
I skirted back to the sedan just as a shrieking howl issued from the trees. Daniel and Imala's long battle had begun, but I couldn't pay it any mind. I needed to work fast and find out who was in that box. I opened the trunk, and shuffled to the bottom of the area we had prepared for Daniel. Tucked in the back was a thin, needle-like sword that topped out at about twenty inches long. I had seen Daniel carry it a handful of times on our less-treacherous missions, and knew it was easy to wield. I slid it from the sheath and went back to the compartment, trying to keep my eyes from straying to the fight going on just twenty feet away.
Daniel was winning; I could tell that much.
I reached the back gate and leaned in to activate the keypad again, trying to recall the exact master codes Daniel had taught me.
I punched in the first two that came to mind, but neither worked. Frustrated, I pounded the soft keys, and the third combination worked. There was a hiss of air, and a small gap appeared between the lid and the box.
I climbed into the hatch and stood over the lid, knowing that there would be no going back. I clutched the thin little rapier and pushed at the lid. They were designed to slide off easily.
I held the sword up, prepared to slice into whoever popped out of that box.
The face was unfamiliar, covered in angry-looking purple gashes that still looked swollen. My eyes traced down his body, noting the iron shackles that held him firmly in the box. I shuddered as the eyes of the male vampire opened, trying to rectify what I was seeing. Vampires didn't heal slowly.
Unless they were young, anyway.
My hand tightened on the hilt of the sword and I lifted it up, knowing the iron shackles were only intended to slow him down. If the vampire wanted me dead—
“Do it. Allie. Do it.”
I froze. I knew the voice behind those words, recognized it even through the pleading hiss and snarling hunger that came off him in waves.
“Allie. Help me. You have to end this now.”
My heart stopped.
“Ben.”
Chapter 19
I let out a shriek as soon as his name hit my lips. I hadn't prepared myself for this, but staring down at him, at the marks of torture across his face and forearms, at the deep punctures at his throat... I knew it had been inevitable. Imala would never have gone to so much trouble just to keep him as a hostage. This was the worst retribution she could take against me for revealing the true nature of her master.
I shrieked again and launched myself out of the cargo space, still clutching that rapier. Imala and Daniel were locked together, all fangs and screeching and motions so fast I could barely make them out. My screams must have caught their attention however, because just as Daniel was about to execute some sort of spinning maneuver, Imala pulled away from him and focused her intense, angry gaze on me.
“We meet again, Tracer.”
I ran towards her, closing the distance between us in just moments. “Imala,” I growled, swinging the sword at her, aiming for her head and her heart at the same time.
She laughed and darted away from me. I could see Daniel creeping behind her, but I held up my hand to stop him.
“You're such a fool, Alexandrie,” she said. “Everyone is so enthralled with your tracing abilities, but it didn't take long for Rafe to figure out it was a two-way street. If ever his protection dropped away and you found me, I would be able to locate you as well. Such a lovely, strong connection isn't it?”
She gave me a wild grin and I felt a burst of pain in my head as her energy rippled around me.
“I've seen Ben,” I said, in lieu of any answer to her proclamation about Rafe. If that bastard was still alive, I'd tear him apart, Witch Laws be damned. I would prove the karmic rule of three.
“Isn't he wonderful?” she replied. “He'll make a fine child in time. I can sense the deep hunger in him already.”
She stepped close enough that I could smell the blood on her lips. “Did you feel it, Allie? Did you feel his hunger?”
I shuddered. I could still feel it, and I knew the power of the newly turned. I was walking dead, the only human surrounded by three vampires.
“His change is nearly complete. Just one more exchange, and he'll be mine. His previous life will vanish, and the only feeling he'll know is complete, insatiable hunger.”
My fingers tightened over the rapier and I dove at Imala, throwing my entire weight into her abdomen. It was like slamming into a brick wall, but it worked. She went down, and I landed on top of her. I didn't even try for a better position. I didn't care if I killed myself in the process.
With the deepest strength I could find, I drove the silver-laced rapier through her side. Warm, sticky blood gushed from the wound but the sword didn't kill her, it only slowed her down.
She tossed me aside and scrambled to her feet. The silver would slow the healing, and I hoped it would buy the time I needed.
“You fool!” Her scream echoed around me and her energy pulsed in my ears. “You—”
Her words were cutoff as Daniel entered my field of view. He grabbed her head from behind, with both of his hands clutching either side of her face. Her let out a guttural roar as he cracked her head to the side, not even bothering to reach for the sword still embedded in her side.
Her body fell, but did not turn to dust the way I had seen before.
“Is she—?”
Daniel shook his head. “Her head is not severed, so she will live. We do not have much time to get her back in the box.”
Imala was out cold, but her child still raged in the back of the SUV. I knew that there hadn't been enough time to fully change Ben, but the previous blood exchanges had been enough to lay the foundation of the bonds.
I heard the shackles break, just as Daniel dove for the back gate.
Chapter 20
Daniel moved faster than I'd ever seen, and by the time I'd made it to the back of the SUV, he had Ben pinned down on the asphalt. Ben's eyes were glowing red and he was gnashing his fangs in a way that did not look at all human.
I shrank back, frozen, as I watched him struggle against Daniel. Ben's clothes were ripped and almost unrecognizable as actual garments, and his skin had already taken on that pearl-like pallor that I had become so familiar with.
Finally, Daniel managed to pin Ben's shoulders. He twisted at the waist and delivered a blow to Ben's temple that was enough to knock him unconscious. Ben slumped back, his mouth gaping open, and his fangs receding. Daniel pushed himself up and grabbed Ben's wrist, dragging him back into the box. He slammed the lid shut and smashed his fist into the electronic controls, disabling the unlocking mechanism.
&nb
sp; “We need to secure Imala, and get back on the road. I need you to torch the car.”
I stared at him. “Torch the car?”
He nodded. “Use the gas can in the back.” He tossed me a lighter. “Remove our things first.”
I stared at him and then down at the lighter. “Torch it though? Why?”
He shrugged. “It is harder to deal with that way.”
“But it's on my credit card!”
He didn't answer me. Sighing, I went to the battered trunk of the sedan and took out my backpack and a small black satchel that Daniel carried on missions. Imala's SUV had no cargo area aside from the vampire carrier, so I tossed our stuff on the floor of the passenger seat and returned to the sedan. Daniel could deal with the dead driver.
I took out the gas can and began drenching the seats. After a few moments, the fumes filled the air. I stepped back and motioned to Daniel, who was carrying the driver to the rental car. He propped him in the driver seat before returning to the SUV. The engine roared to life and he pulled away, moving it a few hundred feet away. I flicked opened the lighter, oddly satisfied by the metal click it made, and backed away from the car.
I tossed the lighter towards it, hoping I had guessed the proper safe distance and ran towards the SUV. The heat from the burning metal flared towards me as I dove into the passenger seat.
“This is going to require substantial paperwork. I hope Benjamin appreciates the effort,” Daniel said, as he jammed the gas pedal. “I hate paperwork.”
Chapter 21
We had no reason to continue to Budapest and every reason to get the hell out of Hungary.
“We don't have much time before sunrise,” Daniel said, as he pulled the SUV onto a narrow dirt road. He slowed it to a stop and put it in park. “You will need to drive. We need to get to Vienna, to the safe house there. After sunset, I will make the rest of the arrangements.”
My mind was whirring with frustration. I didn't want to hit a safe house in Vienna. I wanted this dealt with. Ben deserved better than the endless bureaucracy the vampires would doubtless throw at the situation.
I scurried around to the driver's seat as Daniel moved to the back cargo area. We had locked Imala in the second box, and he would be riding back there to stay out of the light. I was on my own until sunset.
I sighed as I looked over the unfamiliar instrument panel. Despite the sleep I'd had on the way to Siofok, I was still exhausted in a way I'd never felt in my life. Any relief I'd had over finding Ben had evaporated as soon I'd realized what Imala had done to him.
I heard a single bang against the back panel and knew it was time to get moving again.
* * *
The rolling hills of western Hungary continued into Austria and I tried to force myself to appreciate what I was seeing in the morning light, but I couldn't. I had dreamed of traipsing all over Europe just like every other college student I knew, but the academic work had taken every second of free time I had. By the time I had graduated, I didn't feel like I had time to travel, and my twenties had rushed by in a sea of student loan debt, my grandfather's illness, and research work.
When I had started travelling with Daniel under Sorrell's banner, I had seen a side of Europe that no one wrote about in travel guides.
Now, it was just more miles to chew through.
Vienna was an hour closer than it had been, but I couldn't keep the image of Ben's face away. He deserved better than the vampire process of dealing with the newly changed. He deserved better than what Imala had done, but I didn't know what I could do.
I looked at the gray road stretching ahead of me, trying to comb through my options. Sorrell would be contacted as soon as the sun set, and they would decide his fate. Imala hadn't completed the change; there wasn't enough time. It took many exchanges between a maker and her child over thirteen days. My brain raced... we knew that Hannah had deleted files on Ben's computer on January third. Eleven days had passed, but there was no telling exactly when Imala had started her work on Ben. I jammed my hands against the steering wheel. I needed more information.
I heard Ben's words echoing in my mind, asking for help over and over.
I approached Vienna as the sky turned pink and the river glittered. I took a deep breath as the GPS began routing me towards the safe house and tried to fight back against the powerlessness that flooded me. More waiting.
I let out a little growl and punched the little 'x' on the touch screen.
I reconfigured the GPS. Sorrell was in Paris. I wouldn't stand by and wait for instructions like a good little minion. If my calculations were even close to correct, we could still save Ben. Harding had saved Laura, and even though she'd never exchanged blood with the vampire that had bitten her, she had still taken on some of the characteristics.
Still lived with them, even now.
* * *
The length of the day wasn't exactly in my favor. We were more than three hours outside of Paris when I heard banging on the hard, impenetrable divider between the driver's seat and the cargo area.
I signaled off the A4 as we headed towards Metz. My brain was humming with exhaustion and my body felt like jelly. I longed for a quiet hotel room, a hot bath, and a soft bed.
Daniel's bangs grew sharper as I pulled into a secluded street and jammed the parking brake into place hard enough to cause the SUV to shudder.
I went around to the back of the SUV and put my hand on the handle, focusing on the energy signatures of the creatures in that cargo hold. All three auras felt slightly different. When I had first developed my ability, I had only been able to discern vampires from, say, witches, but within the first few months I had begun to recognize the differences that made someone unique.
Now, I could sense Daniel near the middle of the cargo hold. His energy hummed with anger. Imala's aura was weak, nowhere near the stark energy she had emitted just twelve hours ago. Ben's aura was brilliant and flickering. His hunger poured off him in waves. I shuddered.
“Open this door. Now.” Daniel's fist banged on the rear door. “The others are still contained.”
My vision blurred with relief. I couldn't escape Ben's hunger anymore. The secluded driver's cabin and the light of day had dimmed all the vampires' auras, but the sun was gone.
I opened the rear hatch and Daniel leapt to the pavement, spinning and slamming it closed.
“Are you mad?” he hissed, grabbing my upper arms. “Where are we?”
I took a deep breath and fixed my eyes on his. He was huge and threatening and I tried not to care. “We're almost to Metz.”
“You're driving to Paris?”
I nodded.
“Then you are mad. Sorrell will handle this through the proper channels, and you can't circumvent that.”
“I think he owes me one.”
Daniel flinched. Sorrell owed me a debt, and I had been keeping it in my back pocket for well over a year. If I let myself think too hard about it, I started to wonder what, exactly, was keeping me alive. I was owed something by arguably the most powerful vampire in the world, and I had an ability that allowed me to track pretty much anyone I wanted.
I laughed.
Daniel stared at me, and took a step back, his arms dropping away from mine.
“I'm sorry.” I gasped the words out and tried to hold back another guffaw.
“You're exhausted, Allie. We need to get you to a hotel, and I can continue on to Paris with Imala and Benjamin.”
I shook my head. “No, I need to stay with him.”
Daniel's eyebrows knit and his gaze flitted over my shoulder. “It will not be the way you think, Allie. You can't save him.”
“I can try.”
“He's too far gone. He can't—”
“What?”
His eyes had grown a deeper blue and I saw sadness. My heart started pounding.
“The change that he is undergoing is not simply altering his appetite, or his ability to be outside on a nice day. It is fundamentally changing who he is.”
>
“I know. I understand.”
“I do not believe that you do. To complete this change, to become vampire... he must allow the metamorphosis to run its course. He will lose who he is. He will lose who you are.”
“Then I'll do anything to stop that happening. I don't care if he loses me. He already has.” I stared beyond Daniel, letting my vision fill with the aura of the man still in the box. “But he doesn't deserve to lose himself.”
Chapter 22
As we pulled up in front of a mansion in the heart of Paris, I started to dread seeing Sorrell and his new queen after these few short weeks. I knew from Daniel that they had been hard at work repairing the fractured Le Conceil relationships, and this Parisian apartment seemed to be some sort of wild dare to anyone that would question Her.
