by Amy Richie
“What’s your name?”
“Eva.” My eyes followed him around the room.
“Was Nadia your friend?”
It shocked me that he knew her name. “Yes.”
“She’s not dead.”
He had helped her escape. “Do you know where she is?”
“I should rephrase that. She wasn’t dead this morning when she escaped.”
“Did you help her?”
“I cannot help her; the VC would charge me with treason.” He pulled out a key ring with two keys from his pocket and latched them onto his belt loop. My eyes followed his every movement. “She was different from the SH. Doesn’t belong in a place like this. You,” he smiled, “are not sweet like her, but still not an SH. Am I wrong?”
“An SH is defined by the presence of vampire blood in a human,” I quoted David, “so yes, I am an SH. But you are right — I don’t belong here.”
He sighed. “I fear that Nadia may not have much time left; if she is still alive now.”
“Did she…escape this morning?”
“Yes.”
It didn’t make any sense. Marcus would have heard her, he did hear her; inside of Alcatraz. Could he have heard someone else? Another SH? “Are there other SH here?”
“Ryan and his brother have created some trouble for us in this area,” he admitted.
“Are they still around here?”
“Sometimes.”
Nadia. “I’m already looking,” Dominick whispered.
“What are you going to do to me?”
“I can’t let you go. You understand?” My breathing sped up. “They called the captain. He will be here in under an hour.”
“He’ll be…glad to see me.”
He looked down at my feet. “It appears that Adkins didn’t secure your right foot very well.” He jingled the keys on his belt.
“Am I going to have to take those keys from you?” He smiled at me, his brown eyes shining with friendship.
“She went north.” He turned slightly away from me.
The chains were easy to snap. I felt kind of guilty for kicking him so hard but it had to look believable. After everything he had done for Nadia, I didn’t want him to get in any trouble.
The knives that Marcus had given me came in handy when I met the two guards outside the door. The filth in Alcatraz was repulsive. SH in various stages of decay stared at me with vacant eyes as I made my way to the only exit.
Chapter Forty
I only had one hand on the door when the alarms sounded. The shrillness pierced the air, making the SH grunt and cover their ears. Some smacked the ground with their hands, jumping up and down like animals. I watched them in mute horror. Would I end up like that?
“Eva, we have Nadia.”
My feet snapped back into action. “I’m coming.”
“What are those sirens? I am coming for you.”
“Where are you?”
“About twenty miles north.” Twenty miles? Nadia made it that far? “She’s weak, but she’ll be ok,” Dominick tried to comfort me. My heart warmed; he knew exactly what I needed to hear.
“Ahh!” A shot fired close to my head. I crouched low, fumbling with the keys. Another close shot had me scrambling to pick them back up. “Are they shooting at you?” His rage and fear both fought for control.
In the next second I had the door open and I was running. I realized quickly that I wasn’t sure which way north was. “Just keep running. We are coming.”
“We? Don’t bring Nadia.”
The sounds of the autos roaring to life pushed me to run faster. I knew I was running faster than any human could, but it wasn’t fast enough. I felt disoriented and confused; I didn’t want to run away from Dominick.
Pain bit into my shoulder. I’d been shot! I didn’t have time to be afraid though, a dark shape flew out from nowhere; followed closely by a similar shape. Dominick wrapped himself around me, protecting me from any other bullets.
Achilles dropped Nadia by my feet and took his place on the other side of us. With two Letrell warriors protecting us, the human VC didn’t stand a chance. They quickly reversed and backtracked. “You two stay here,” Dominick growled. I watched him and Achilles disappear after the auto.
“Eva?”
I gasped when I realized that Nadia was still on the ground. She looked terrible. Her face was so swollen and bruised, I barely recognized her. “Dominick said you are going to be ok,” I blurted out. I kneeled down beside her.
“Why would you come for me? You are only a human.” Her voice was barely a whisper.
“Half human,” I corrected. “You and I,” I swallowed back the tears that were trying to form, “we have to stick together kid.”
She smiled, her own emotions showing plainly on her battered face. “I was afraid they had killed you back in the city.”
“Me? Nah, it would take more than a few dozen men with guns to hurt me.” I experimentally moved my shoulder. Because of Dominick’s blood it was already completely healed but I wasn’t sure if the bullet was still in there. Oh well, David would get it out. “David and the others are waiting for us at the border, but Marcus gave me this.” I pulled my pant leg up and retrieved the injection I was supposed to give Nadia. I knew that Dominick would be there soon, I already heard his footsteps getting closer.
Nadia’s face turned an alarming shade of white. “Nadia? It’s ok. This is just your injection. To make you strong.” But she wasn’t looking at me; she was looking behind me. I spun around and came face to face with crazy captain from New York. He held a small gun aimed right in my face. His cruel smile lit up his eyes.
“Hello girls,” his voice drawled out.
“Well hello there Captain.” I crouched low over Nadia. No way was he going to hurt her. “Nice of you to join us.”
“You won’t think so in a minute,” he chuckled.
We shall see shorty, I thought with menace. I didn’t get a chance to act on that rage though. In a motion that left me dizzy with shock, Nadia knocked me off my feet and put herself in the captain’s line of fire. He shot without hesitation.
Blood pooled on Nadia’s shirt and she was flung backwards, right on top of me. The man was able to fire his gun two more times before Dominick was on top of him. Luckily one of the bullets went into my leg.
“What do I do?” I looked up at Dominick, who was in a dark cloud of rage.
“He shot you,” he choked out through a closed throat, “twice.”
“Is that all you are worried about?” My wounds were already closed.
“You will not leave my side again until we are safely at Blakesly House.” His dark eyes tried to bore into me.
“Alright,” I rolled my eyes, “but if Nadia dies here, I’m never speaking you again.”
Without taking his eyes off of me he reached behind me to retrieve the injection that I had dropped when Nadia knocked me over. “The bullet missed her heart by at least three inches.” He said it like it was a good thing she had been shot in the chest. He only looked away long enough to find the spot to inject Nadia.
“Will that work?”
“For now.”
“We need to get somewhere safe,” Achilles spoke, reminding me that he was still there.
“Can she be moved?”
“She’ll have to be.” Without giving the blood time to make her strong, Achilles slung a half conscience Nadia over his shoulder. “You coming?” he asked Dominick.
“You’re not slinging me over your shoulder,” I quickly informed him.
“Oh come on. We could pretend that I’m your super man.” He winked. I knew when I laughed that our bond was still strong. I should be more worried about Nadia.
“You only met her a few days ago.”
“And I only met you a few weeks ago.”
His laughter barreled out of his chest. “Get on.” He crouched low to the ground so I could fasten myself onto his back. “I could definitely get used to traveling like this,” I thought. And then w
e were flying.
“Close your eyes.” His voice was like a caress that I obeyed without question.
“Will Nadia live?”
“I’m no doctor, and the half-breeds are more foreign to me than even humans are.”
“But she will be fine.” I smiled with confidence. “Dominick?”
“Hmm?”
“Will you still be my friend tomorrow?”
He hesitated. “I don’t know.”
“I’ll remember how I feel when I’m with you right now. I won’t let myself forget.”
“Ah, my love, tomorrow you will go back to pretending to hate me, but if you can promise to remember just one thing?”
“What?”
“Remember what it feels like to be loved by me.”
I felt the wind rush through my hair, caressing my face. How could I ever forget this feeling? “I won’t,” I whispered fiercely.
***
It didn’t take Nadia long to become fully alert. We stopped so she could climb onto Achilles’ back. Her eyes were dull and her smile was not where it should be. I tried to push my worries away. She would be fine after we got her to David and Claudia. At least I hoped so.
“Are you hungry?” I asked, even though I had nothing to offer her.
“No.”
“Thirsty?”
“No.”
“Are you ok?”
“I will be fine.”
I looked at Dominick but he didn’t look worried at all. As soon as my eyes locked with his, my insides turned to mush again. “Are you ok?” I just nodded.
“Come on, we don’t want anyone to catch up to us.”
On the backs of two warrior vampires, an all day trip only took a few hours. The wall loomed large in front of us, but there were no people around.
“You have her,” Claudia approached us with relief.
“We would have been here sooner but Nadia needed us to stop,” Achilles explained in his gruff voice.
It had been terrifying for me to see Nadia in so much pain. I had leaned into Dominick and waited for the worst to pass. Somehow she had managed to sleep on the back of the giant Achilles.
“Let me see her,” Claudia now demanded. Achilles readily gave up his bundle. David and Marcus both hovered over her shoulder nervously. “Nadia.”
For a brief moment, Nadia’s eyes lit up. “Claudia,” she croaked. “I’m sorry.”
“There is nothing for you to apologize for.”
“We shouldn’t have gone for ice cream.”
I heard Claudia’s breath catch and I sank deeper into Dominick’s side. This was all my fault.
“Why would you think that?” Marcus asked the question as if I had spoken out loud. He must have heard me through Dominick, I frowned.
“I’m the one that asked her to go. I just wanted to prove that I didn’t have to listen to Dominick.”
Nadia was already shaking her head before I could finish. “This isn’t your fault. Don’t blame yourself.”
“Can we please have these emotional moments elsewhere?” Elizabeth stepped forward. “We will have company soon.”
“We have secured a shuttle.”
“We will have to swim a little though.”
“Are you up to it dear?” Claudia asked Nadia. At her nod, everyone jumped into action.
I took my usual spot while Marcus carried Nadia. “We’ll have to change her,” a voice came from nowhere. “What?”
“Shh.” We were on the other side of the wall where the Sonics would give us away.
“Kiera will never let us.”
“She says we are already too large.”
“David, you must ask her.”
“She likes you.”
“She likes you too. You killed Silango.”
“What are they talking about?”
“Shh.”
Were they talking about changing Nadia into a vampire? Why would they? She wouldn’t want to be changed, I was sure of that. Would they do it against her will? Before we submerged completely in the water, I glanced at David. His face was set in a mask of rage and anxiety. Not something I was accustomed to seeing on David.
“Take a deep breath. We’ll be there soon.”
Chapter Forty-One
I fell asleep that night wrapped in Dominick’s arms and woke up eager to get away. He sensed the change in me but I couldn’t hear what he was thinking. Our bond was broken.
“You’re breakable now,” he cautioned quietly.
I nodded absently, without looking at him. When I finally did look up he was already gone. Sadness crept into the edges of my heart. I wanted to curl back up and cry but I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.
“He is evil, vile. Despised among his kind. Dominick Letrell is a friend to no one.”
“He’s not only evil, he’s kind too,” I whispered. I sighed heavily and pushed myself up. I needed to find David.
“Eva?” Or David could find me.
“Yeah? I’m in here.” I heard his footsteps pounding along the metal. “I’m coming.” I didn’t have to go far to meet him, but then again the shuttle wasn’t very big.
“Hey, you ok?”
“I’m fine.” I pushed my hair behind my ears. “Where is…everyone else?”
“In the main hold. How are your wounds?” He made an almost halfhearted attempt to check the places where the captain’s bullets were removed from my leg and shoulder.
“They’re fine. They healed…fast.” I nodded awkwardly, making my hair fall back into my face.
“Is Nadia…?” My questions faded into silence. Maybe I didn’t even want to know. If Nadia died; I shuddered at the unwanted thoughts.
“It’s hard to say.” He looked away, but not before I saw the pain in his face.
I bit my lip, suddenly uncomfortable with all the emotion in the small space between us. “Nadia told me about Sylvia.” I realized as soon as the words were out that this was not a good time, but I was curious. David had never before mentioned his first love. Maybe it was too painful.
“I…heard.” He half smiled, so I went forward with my questioning.
“Did you love her? Was all that true?”
He ran a hand through his ragged hair and down his tired face. “I suppose most of it was accurate.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Well?”
“Sylvia and I were mated for a long time.”
“She’s dead now.”
“Yes.”
“Marcus killed her?”
His eyes tightened. “There is a lot you don’t understand.”
“Like how you can forgive someone for killing your mate?”
“Eva.” He swallowed once. “Yes, that is something you wouldn’t understand. Sometimes I forget that you are only human, human accelerated, but human none the less.”
I tried not to compare him to Dominick. Would Dominick have forgiven his brother if he had killed me? “What happened?” Had David even tried to save her? Maybe I didn’t want to know.
“I wasn’t there the night that Sylvia was killed. We had parted ways years before. By this time, I was already with Neleh.”
“But you were in love.”
He half snorted. “How did you become such a passionate romantic?”
“I’m not.”
“Yes, we were in love but she wanted to search for Claudia.”
“She wanted to look for her friend. Why is that so bad?”
“I still harbored a grudge against the Letrell’s. I wanted to be done with them, with the world. Sylvia always wanted to go back to Blakesly House. We argued about it often.”
“Sylvia’s death is not why you left the Letrell’s?”
He seemed surprised that I would come to that conclusion. “No. But I did love her and when I heard that she was killed and how she was killed…” He stopped talking, looking past me into a different life. “We should go to the others. Nadia is very weak.”
I realized our conversation was over when he mentioned Nadia’s name. I wond
ered if David would be able to love Nadia as much as she deserved. “Ok.”
“Come on.” He led the way back to where everyone was huddled. Everyone except one. I was painfully aware of Dominick’s absence.
“How is she?” I nodded to where Nadia was laid out on a mat.
“Her breathing is shallow,” Claudia sounded worried.
“Will she be ok?”
“I don’t know.” Her words were heavy.
“Can’t you give her some of your blood? To heal her?”
Marcus was already shaking his head. “She already has vampire blood in her system. Too much without an exchange would kill her.”
“An exchange.” My mind searched frantically for a conversation I had overheard. “You mean change her?”
“He didn’t say that.”
“Will you change her into a vampire to save her?” No one said a word but I knew from Claudia’s tortured expression that she would.
“It was just a matter of time anyways.”
I shook my head. A matter of time? Maybe Claudia was right, but didn’t Nadia have a choice? What if she would rather die? And what about me? Was it just a matter of time for me too? I pressed my lips together. I already knew what my choice would be.
I knew rather than saw when Dominick came into the hold. Elizabeth danced to his side, with Achilles close at her heels. “We’ll be there in approximately 32 hours,” he announced.
“Will she live that long?” I asked the question because I was the only one who couldn’t hear what the others were saying.
Eyes darted away from me; no one wanted to tell me. “She’ll live until we get to Blakesly House,” Dominick’s deep voice filled the entire hold, “but then a choice will have to be made.”
“Change or die?”
“You are not a child, Eva,” he reprimanded the quiver in my voice. “You know the reality of the situation.”
“Will she be allowed to choose for herself or will you chose for her?”
“I have no intention of making any choices for Nadia.” Our eyes met briefly and then he turned on his heels and left.
Visibly shaken, I turned to David for confirmation. He nodded once. I took a deep breath through my nose and let it out slowly. When Nadia moaned softly David was instantly at her side. My shaky legs were able to carry me to the wall where I sank to the floor.
