by S. L. Eaves
When Vega returns and finds them lying atop the ledge, he nods in satisfaction and begins affixing needles to their arms. I watch as he siphons the blood into the decanters.
“So if you consume their blood it'll restore your strength?”
Vega nods. “I'll absorb their power. It'll help reverse the aging process. At least it should. I've never done this before. But this much blood should revitalize me. Restore me to my prime.”
He doesn't hide his elation.
“All of it?”
“I'm in a fragile state. I need all the help I can get. Plus we don't want this blood falling in the wrong hands.”
“No…we don't want that.”
I carry over an empty decanter and help him swap it when the first fills. He nods, satisfied. Pats me on the shoulder as we watch blood drip into the container.
“Won't they just disintegrate once they're drained?”
“Not at first. It would put them in a state of rigor mortis if they weren't already. They can survive, or exist rather, for a period of time without blood. Eventually they would disintegrate. Much like I would have.”
Vega picks up an extra tube and begins sipping the blood from the first decanter. I watch with sad eyes, slowly easing the third stake from the small of my back.
In one swift daring movement I grab him by the shoulder and spin him towards me. The motion jerks the tube and causes the decanter to fall over. Glass shatters around us.
Fangs dripping with blood, eyes glowing, his hand grabs mine but he's a fraction of a second too late. Leaning hard, I drive the stake with all my weight until I'm certain it's skewered his heart.
His eyes close, arms fall limp as I lower him to the ground.
“I'm sorry, Vega. After everything we've been through, you really did seem to be well intentioned. At least the majority of the time. Certainly more than me. In a black and white world you'd likely have been one of the good guys, which made this decision difficult. And still has me second guessing myself. Sadly, a part of me still can't shake the feeling that you set me and the others up to take the fall for what you and Malik were planning. I was your failsafe. If Malik lost, you were in the perfect position to turn to me to try your hand at Plan B.
“Or maybe Malik betrayed you by starting his own clan and failing to help you confront the Purebloods, so you enlisted my help. Either way, that inkling of doubt is all it takes. I just can't bring myself to trust you.
“In the book your kind penned about the history of our creation – it states that the vampire was born to personify the dark side of humanity. Your kind saturated humans with demonic blood to flush out traits like compassion and benevolence because you believed it made them weak. You didn't create us to be anything more than instruments of evil. So what I'm doing right now shouldn't surprise you in the least.
“However, I'll tell you this. What ultimately led to this outcome is that I've been used and tormented by your kind for far too long. And spending the rest of my time in this world as your puppet isn't an option for me. I need to be free of your control. I need my free will back. Permanently.”
I drag his body up onto the ledge. There's a stairwell that leads up to the door I'd first entered when I came down the hall from the coffin room. I begin the tedious process of carefully carrying the Pureblood's bodies up to the room.
Hoisting Vega up by his shoulders, my rambling monologue continues as if he can hear me. I'm not sure he can't and I'm not sure it matters.
“No one, good or bad, should have too much power. Or unrivaled power, to put it more accurately. It corrupts the best of us. Even if we were on the same side, I'm not about to stand here and watch you get drunk on power. On a personal level, the only thing stopping you from regularly entering my mind and manipulating me was your weakened state. While you proved to me that you were only using your abilities under dire circumstances, you needed to earn my trust to get us this far. You've needed me on your side from the day you came to my apartment.
“Until now. What would stop you now? What new use for me would you find? What would you have me do on your behalf? I have zero intention of finding out the answer.”
Placing him in the center of the room, I notice the coffins have been repaired. As have the lights. At least it seems that way. I'm about to find out for sure.
“I’m done being the ace up your sleeve. It ends tonight. Your kind are the ones facing extinction. That's why I'm here. To think that I want anything else after everything I've been through would be foolish. There is no halo over my head.”
I climb up to the overhang by the panel of buttons. The door by it opens as easily as it had before and I make sure it stays that way so I won't be trapped in here when the lights go on.
“While I wish I could say that all the pain I've endured in this world hasn't changed me, the fact of the matter is my view of the world becomes bleaker with every passing minute. If anything you should be grateful my mercy extends this far. I could just trap you in these glass coffins for eternity.”
When I hit the largest button on the panel a red light blinks above it. There's a beep then the UV lights begin illuminating. Dim at first then steadily brightening.
“Goodbye, Vega.”
I feel my skin begin to burn and make a hasty exit. A minute later there's a second beep and I risk a glimpse inside. It's dark.
When I reach the edge of the platform, three piles of dust greet me. All that remains are the stakes.
It's done.
I should feel some sense of relief, of freedom, but all I feel is the overwhelming urge to curl up in a fetal position and ball my eyes out. Sitting down, I swing my legs over the ledge and light a cigarette.
“Well, Vega, should we cross paths in the next world, I trust you'll remember how damaged I am and stay the hell away.”
Chapter 35
There's a light breeze at my back as I lay down on the cool sand painted silver by the moonlight. Water laps at the shore and palm trees line the private little alcove. It's the paradise Catch envisioned us escaping to when the war was over. Not just a vacation; he wanted us to take up residence on a private island somewhere isolated and remote, somewhere our demons couldn't find us.
As if that was an option.
His dream for the future wasn't in the cards for either of us. I'd never had any desire to visit the beach alone after his death. Now I lie here and close my eyes in hope of seeing him in some form...when nothing happens eventually I smile. Because as much as I miss him, his years of haunting me our over. I hope I'm wrong about ending up somewhere worse. I hope wherever he is has beaches this serene.
When I dig my feet in, the damp grains of sand coat my toes. This is where I hope to return when I'm ready to watch the sun rise. If I survive long enough to make that choice. Because I'm not ready to make it tonight. And for the most part, I don't plan on ever making it. I want to go out fighting like Catch did. I want something positive to come from my demise.
I'd tried to do that for Catch. I'd taken my fair share of missteps and then stepped away completely, but now I realize that break was simply that. A much need pause to clear my head and figure out what mattered. Now I plan on ensuring something positive comes from Vega's death as well. I certainly don't need him haunting me.
But first I have to look my clan in their eyes and tell them what I've done. It'll be up to them to decide whether I get that chance.
***
Rex knows about Vega. He was connected to his bloodline and felt the loss. I experienced the same when Adrian died - the sharp pang in the gut and overwhelming feeling of grief for no explicable reason. You lose something when that connection is severed, as if a piece of you has died.
“Good to see you.” Rex holds the door to his new apartment open and gestures for me to enter.
“I like what you've done with the place,” I joke to break the tension, as I step inside and take a look around.
Some of the furniture sits where I left it, some is missing altogethe
r. Boxes containing my belongings are stacked along the windows.
He laughs. “I plan on ordering a few new pieces. Wasn't sure what you'd want to take. Hell, wasn't sure you were coming back. But I did pack up your things – clothing and such –optimistically, just in case.”
He goes to the fridge and pours us a couple glasses of blood.
“Your security system sucks by the way, I'm working on upgrades. You gotta explain the zip line though.”
“Ha yeah. How'd things go with Abrams?”
“Not bad. He runs a pretty tight operation. He knows more about our kind than I expected and he's definitely a straight shooter when it comes to disclosing intel. I respect that. He also understands the level of discretion that needs to be involved when dealing with our kind...and the wolves. His team took out the other two. I'm heading to a hospital shortly to check the quarantined humans. We’re using my blood to try to reverse the process for some that were bitten.”
“Good. That sounds promising then. He and I have had our conflicts, but for the most part I trust him. Obviously it's your call to make as to how deeply you want to be involved.”
I cross to the far end of the apartment and pop open a panel behind my old desk. Rex watches me from the kitchen as I slide out a safe, open it with my thumb print, and begin filling a bag with cash reserves.
“I'll leave you some,” I smile up at him. He laughs but doesn't protest.
“You should know Abrams has been asking about Hailey.”
“In what context?”
“He wants to know more about what she is. They recovered files from Striden's labs.”
“Hmmm...for now, tell him to let it go. That Striden was clinging to bad data from old experiments gone awry. And destroy those files if you can get your hands on them.”
“I'll see what I can do.”
He sips his drink, eyes watching me intently.
“So are you going to tell me what happened in Europe?”
Digging through the desk drawers, I find a new phone. I'd ditched the last one before boarding the plane to Europe.
He clears his throat and I finally join him in the kitchen.
“We took them out. Destroyed every last Pureblood.”
“Every last Pureblood,” he repeats ominously. “Vega died in battle?”
I don't answer at first, opting to instead stare at my glass and swirl the blood around.
“What happened, Lori? How'd he die?”
“I killed him,” I whisper.
Rex narrows his eyes and furrows his brow.
“Why? I don't understand...” His expression is a mix of confusion and anger.
“It's difficult to explain, but it had to happen. I'm sorry. It's a decision I'll have to bear the weight of the rest of my days. It won't help for me to tell you I did it for us. I did it to prevent something potentially awful. Personally I'd reached a breaking point and viewed it as self-defense, but I promise you I did it to free us all.”
Rex stares at me for a long while; in that uncomfortable silence I hope he concludes that there was no other way.
“Is that why Malik tried to kill you?” he asks finally.
I finish my drink. “Possibly.”
What he saw was worse.
“Do the others know?”
Shaking my head, “I wanted to tell you first. You were closest to him.”
“I wish I'd gone with you. I wish there was something I could have done.”
“It's no secret Vega was in his final stages. His advanced age was making him delirious and desperate. He wasn't the same man you'd come to admire. That much I can state for certain.”
“Yeah, you're probably right. But it doesn't justify what you did.”
“No, it doesn't. And I'm prepared to face the consequences.”
He rubs the back of his neck, looking past me.
“You freed us from them, but the decision to destroy them, all of them, wasn't yours to make.”
“I know. For what it's worth I never wanted to hurt you.”
He nods and looks at his phone.
“That's kind of you to say and I appreciate you coming here tonight. I'm sure it was a long journey. Abrams is expecting me though...so I should go.”
“Right, of course.” I pick up my bag.
“Let me know where to send your things.”
“I have a warehouse near here that'll work for the time being.”
He walks me to the door. When he opens it, I hug him goodbye. He doesn't return it, but he doesn't push me away either.
“Do you know where I can find the others?”
“Umm...yeah, they moved to a place off the strip.”
He disappears and returns a minute later with the address jotted onto a slip of paper.
“Thanks.”
I step into the hall and push the button for the elevator. He watches me from the doorway.
“Lori, I need some time to digest this news, but one day I'd like us to sit down over drinks and talk about everything that happened. I mean everything. I want to understand what happened in Europe.”
“I'd like that. Take care, Rex.”
***
Hailey spins as soon as my feet touch the roof. She's poised for a fight; gun in one hand, stake strapped to the opposite wrist. I raise both arms, palms out. She smiles with relief when she sees me.
“Hey there, watch where you point that.” I jest with a wink.
“What are you doing here? How did you find me?” She holsters the gun. A small backpack and binoculars rest by her feet.
“When you weren't at home I figured I'd check around the clubs we targeted before. If you were inside my odds were pretty slim, but took a chance you'd be surveying from outside. And as luck would have it...”
“You back for good?”
“Just passing through. Wanted to thank you for your help in Nevada.”
“Happy to help. That was a serious operation they had there. Seeing those people in that state...it's been giving me nightmares.”
I nod as I walk over to her bag and pick up the binoculars.
“How've you been otherwise?”
“Doing as well as can be expected. This city is still reeling from the attacks. Vampire and werewolf. Even I'm carrying around a silver knife now.”
It's a thermal scope, I scan the crowd waiting outside the club. All register body heat.
“You shouldn't be out here alone,” I say, handing her the scope.
“And bring someone else into this? Get them killed too?”
I know exactly how she feels and it's a bit hypercritical coming from me, but there's some battles you can't fight alone.
“You know I'm right, though.”
“How familiar are you with the DIA?” She changes the subject.
“Why? They been sniffing around?”
She shrugs. “Abrams came by to check on me today. I'm worried about what they might have on me.”
“You mean because of Striden's facilities?” Opting not to mention that they questioned Rex about her, too. My best move is to play dumb and then talk to Abrams in person later. I'm about out of favors with him, but Rex's help should earn me some pull.
“Yeah...I don't know what they recovered from there. I don't even know what happened to Zach's body.”
I light a cigarette and watch the crowd start to grow outside the club.
“I can make some calls.”
“I don't want them to come for me or Ari.”
“They won't. But you might want to consider how they can help you.”
“My days of being a lab rat are done,” she says sternly.
Shaking my head, I reply, “That is not what I meant. They have a team that specializes in...well, beings like us. You could work with them and have access to resources, support, and protection.”
She sighs. “Like a 'keep your enemies close' strategy? I don't know if I want them that close.”
“I am not asking you to decide tonight. Rex, one of the vampires t
hat was at the compound, he's assisting them with the wolves. It's a temporary arrangement, but the point is you are all working towards the same goal. If you're inside you won't be on their radar on the outside, if you get what I mean.”
The DIA should be paying me a referral fee at this point.
“Does that include you?”
“My days with the DIA are over. I'm going to link back up with my clan in Las Vegas.”
Nodding through her disappointment, I can see she was expecting that response.
“Well don't be a stranger, okay?”
“I'm sure our paths will cross again. Actually, I brought you something. A bit of a parting gift.”
Sliding the petrified oak stake from my back, I present it to her with both hands. The shiny white surface reflects in her eyes.
“That's a really nice stake. What's it made of?”
Her fingers rub the surface as she takes it gingerly from me and examines it closer.
“White oak. Petrified. It will take out even the strongest of my kind.”
“Wow. It's lovely. Thank you.”
“I wanted to give you something, not just to say thank you for your help, but for keeping an open mind with regards to who I am. Very few humans would have invited me into their home.”
“Well very few vampires would turn down a free meal.”
Laughing, I point past her at a figure making his way through the crowd milling below.
“Looks like you won't have to wait long to break in your new toy. One for the road?”
Hailey raises the thermal goggles.
“Let’s do this.” She smirks.
***
When the elevator doors open I step into the foyer of the penthouse level and look around. There are several suites on this floor and I can't quite make out the last number Rex scrawled on the paper. Classical music plays quietly in the speakers decorating the hallways, following me from the elevator as I wander past the rooms listening for activity.
