by Irina Argo
Simone also knew that the location of the Keepers would be the price for Oberon’s life.
Who did she belong to, divided as she felt right now? She shook her head, casting off her paralysis, and followed Anock to his office.
“Please be seated, Princess.” Anock’s voice was cool and official as he pointed to the chair in the center of the room. Slowly, mustering her dignity, Simone took the seat. Anock, Blade, and two other Guardians she didn’t recognize remained standing against the walls. Crian was also there, languidly stretched out in another chair, sampling the Red Sunset.
“I feel like I’m in an interrogation room.”
“Would you like a drink, Princess?” Crian winked at her.
“No, thanks.” The whole idea was a world of wrong: her stomach didn’t want anything at all right now, thank you very much, and she couldn’t afford to drink alcohol, and the very thought of drinking any blood but Oberon’s felt like a betrayal.
“I really recommend that you have one. At least have the blood.” Without waiting for her to reply, Anock sauntered to the wet bar and poured her a glass. “It’ll relax you. This conversation might be exceptionally unpleasant for you.”
He handed her the drink. She took it, her hand shaking, and her stomach lurched in response. She shook off the feeling, but set the glass down on the desk in front of her. “So?”
“I’m sure, Simone, you’ve figured out why you are here.” Anock folded his arms across his chest. “Before we proceed, I need to inform you that the Guardians have received permission from the King to do with you whatever we find necessary to maintain the safety of the race. Do you fully comprehend what that means?”
She’d always known that her father had never really loved her and that her loss would not affect his day-to-day life. The survival of his people was his only concern; nothing else mattered to him. The Guardians weren’t going to let her leave this mansion until they had what they wanted. She was the sacrificial lamb. Could she find a way out of this in time to save herself and Oberon? Was there a way out of this?
“What do you want?”
“We want you to tell us where the Keepers are.”
She sat in silence, thinking. Oberon had asked her to have mercy on the Amiti—and despite herself, she was feeling a connection with these creatures of love. As hard as it was to admit, she was half Amiti. Did she have the right to give up the Keepers to the Guardians and to blot out the Amitis’ last hope?
At the same time, the Keepers were a terrible threat to the vampires, which meant a deadly threat to her pride. So she must surrender them. Maybe she should try to kill two birds with one stone, give up the Keepers and negotiate Oberon’s freedom.
But would Oberon even accept his freedom knowing what it had cost? Never. She’d lose him forever.
“I’m sorry, Anock, I can’t do that.”
“I knew that would be your answer. Now I want you to listen very carefully,” Anock stood in front of her and leaned forward, gripping the arms of her chair. “You can’t play for two teams at the same time. Either you’re a vampire or you’re an Amiti. It’s your choice, Princess.”
“What are you talking about?” No. She couldn’t be Amiti, not even half Amiti. They’d lock her in a bloodstock cell. She was a vampire, with all of the vampires’ characteristics. She fed on blood, she’d experienced bloodlust, she had the same fiery temperament and dominant nature; she thought and acted like a vampire.
“Of course I’m a vampire. How dare you question that?” Determined, she imagined expelling her Amiti-self out of her consciousness, out of her system, severing it and feeding it to the dogs.
“Then, if you’re a vampire, be a vampire. We stand unconditionally for each other. Stand for your race, Simone. You have a unique chance to guarantee our survival.”
“I want to, but I can’t. I really don’t know what to do, don’t you understand? I want to, but I just cannot.”
“What holds you back?”
“It’s not what, it’s who,” Crian interjected.
“Oberon,” Anock confirmed. “Well, I think we can help you with this dilemma.”
Anock moved behind his desk and pushed some keys on the computer, then turned the monitor around to face Simone and picked up a remote control. The monitor showed Oberon, sprawled on the floor.
“As I said, it’s your choice. We spare you having to face him; you’ll decide in this room, and he’ll never have to know that you had anything to do with his fate—or that of the Keepers. Now I’m giving you the opportunity to save your blood-bond’s life.”
Simone saw a Guardian wearing a black executioner’s mask enter the cage. the light glinting off a long saber in his right hand. Simone stiffened.
“No!” she pleaded. “You can’t do this. No!”
“Oh yes, Simone, we can.” Anock’s voice was cold, detached as he pushed a button on the remote control. The executioner in Oberon’s cage seized Oberon by the hair and pulled his head off the floor, raising his saber high and preparing to strike.
“Your choice: the Keepers or Oberon.” Anock’s voice filled Simone’s head with deafening thunder. “I will count to three. On the count of three, say farewell to your blood-bond. One ...”
Keepers or Oberon? Keepers or Oberon? The choice ticked back and forth like a metronome counting off the seconds. But wait, was it even a choice? They only needed to find two other Keepers: Deimos and Serena. She didn’t even know them. In fact, the only thing she really did know about them was that they wanted to kill her so they could give her powers to another Amiti. Why should she care?
* * *
“Two ... ” Anock watched Simone’s reaction. He was getting really tired of all the threatening he’d been having to do lately—and tired of the bloody follow-through —but he was also tired of fucking around. Oberon was as good as dead anyway. Anock would get all the information he needed. He was opening his mouth to say three when Simone leapt up from the chair and shouted.
“Stop! I’ll tell you.”
Chapter 76
They captured Serena in her art gallery in midtown Manhattan shortly after her return from Brussels. Serena had just finished unpacking the boxes of the newly acquired art pieces when she felt the menacing glow of an energy field rise up, surrounding the building. She turned toward the door, her intuition screaming for her to run, to escape. But when she tried to move she felt as though she was caught in a gigantic, glutinous spider web. Stepping back to avoid it, she felt the web begin to wrap itself around her, spinning around her body as though creating a cocoon, and she tumbled to the floor. Four vampires emerged at the doorway. The tallest of the group stepped into a beam of sunlight streaming through the window.
“Anock Sabe.” Serena said, feeling the blood drain from her face. She had never met the leader of the Guardians, but she had seen pictures of him on the Order’s database. He was at the top of her kill list.
“Nice to meet you at last, Serena,” Anock said politely, smiling to reveal a neat row of perfect white teeth, not a fang in sight. He was showing her that this was business, not revenge, and somehow that was even more terrifying.
Another vampire, with shimmering white hair, came up to her. At first she could see only his boots. She slowly raised her eyes to meet his: cold, piercing, pale purple eyes.
“Crian,” she whispered, and she knew then that she was facing her death.
As the Keeper of the Mystery of Death, she could create tsunamis, tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods. She could set buildings on fire and produce other forms of mass destruction. But the energy shield around her wouldn’t allow her to access any of those powers. And even if she could have, she realized, she wouldn’t. Below her, on the ground floor of her gallery, were two restaurants and a bar full of unsuspecting people. Exploding the building would kill hundreds of humans. Serena was ready to die, but she could not sacrifice the lives of innocent people. She was not a murderer; she was an Avenger.<
br />
She tried to move, but her body felt like she was being sucked into quicksand. There seemed to be a heavy load on her chest, making it almost impossible to breathe. In despair, she watched helplessly as the Sekhmi got out their silver-steel restraints, locking a collar around her neck and cuffing her wrists. She was carried like a sack of potatoes and thrown inside the cargo hold of a van.
One of the vampires straddled her and held her down as the silver-steel needle slipped into her vein.
* * *
At exactly the same time, another group of Guardians captured Deimos, the Keeper of the Mystery of the Revealed. It happened in Phoenix, Arizona, where he worked as a sales representative at a Lexus dealership.
Chapter 77
Anock sat in his favorite chair, an untouched glass of Scotch in his hand, staring into space. Now that all the Keepers had been captured, confined in silver steel, and bled to near death, he was waiting for the final word from the King to follow through with their executions.
But Tor had been completely silent.
Of course he had. Tor faced a terrible choice. Executing the Keepers meant killing Arianna. Anock’s heart wrenched when he thought about her, this young, beautiful redhead who’d turned out to be so wise. He’d have no problem executing the three elders. As far as he was concerned, they deserved it: they’d been in the game a long time and had inflicted untold damage to the vampires. But Arianna ... her only crime was being born an Amiti Queen. More importantly, Tor loved her. Was it possible to sign a death sentence for someone you loved? The answer was beyond Anock’s comprehension.
If only he knew how to get out of this dilemma. Not one, but three sensitive issues: Arianna, Simone—stubborn brat refused to surrender her Keeper’s powers—and his own personal one, Cara.
Cara’s absence in Anock’s life was becoming increasingly painful. He’d even skipped his weekly feeding; he refused to take any blood but Cara’s. But it wasn’t only the unique properties of her blood that bewitched him; he was longing for Cara herself, his female. She was absolutely perfect, as if she’d been created by the Goddess for Anock. She was his escape, his refuge where he could rest and just be himself. With her he felt at peace.
“Hey An, are you okay?” came a familiar voice, jolting him back to reality. Kennet stood in the doorway holding what looked like a small shoebox. The pride had relocated to Brussels yesterday. Tor hadn’t offered an explanation—presumably it was related to the Keepers’ execution—but regardless, Anock appreciated having his pride nearby. It made it easier for his brothers to drop by like this. And it also probably meant that Tor was within an inch of signing the sentence.
“What brings you here, brother?” Anock asked.
“I have something for you, a special gift.” Ken handed him the box and took a chair opposite Anock. It wasn’t until Anock exhaled with relief that he realized how much he dreaded being handed the envelope containing the Keepers’ death warrants.
The night lily scent hit Anock as soon as he opened the box. Even so, he pulled out the container of blood and opened it. Cara!
“Who drained her?” Anock’s eyes narrowed in rage. She might have been bloodstock, but she was his bloodstock. Who had dared to touch his female?
“Well, you need to feed, and as far as I can tell this is the only blood you’ll drink. Is there a problem?”
Anock glared at the container. So they’d drained Cara for him. He hadn’t meant for that to happen. As Sekhmet was his witness, this was not what he wanted.
She’d never believe that. Now he really had lost her forever.
“What’s wrong, An?”
“She’ll never forgive me for this.”
“Forgive you for what?”
“This.” Anock pointed to the jar of blood,
“Isn’t that what she’s here for? She’s a bloodstock.”
“Go, Ken, before I kill you.”
Ken stood up. “You know what? Blame it on me. I was the one you got to take her back to the bloodstock cells. You were too busy, so you weren’t involved. Fine: I’ll be the idiot, monster, whatever you want to call me. Go to her. Be her savior again. She doesn’t need to know the truth; she’ll just be happy to get out of the cell. You’ll come out smelling like a rose, and she’ll love you even more. Who knows? Maybe it’ll even get you that real blood-bond you’ve been longing for.”
Anock scowled at him, but the meaning of Ken’s words was sinking in. Cara really didn’t know the truth. And ... she never would. Ken had just offered him the perfect solution.
His hands trembling, he took a tentative sip of the blood. It was charged with the same vibrations of love and tenderness, peace and serenity, and all the goodness Cara had always showered on him. She knew how to transfer her message through her blood.
Anock placed his hands over his eyes. He’d sent her to the bloodstock cells and she still loved him.
“So she’s here? In Brussels?”
Ken nodded. Anock put the jar on the table and within a few seconds was in his Ferrari, racing to the pride’s Brussels residence.
There, in the underground cells, he found Cara. She was on her bed, feeble and pale, her skin so translucent that he could see the webs of veins crossing her skin. Her eyes flew open when she saw him. “Anock!”
He embraced her, nuzzled her ear behind the ringlets of her copper hair, and carried her upstairs, back to the upper world. “I’m not leaving you alone ever again. You get into trouble when I’m not here to protect you. You’ll be with me from now on, all the time.”
He took her back to the garage, placed her in the Ferrari and peeled away, taking her home.
“I knew you’d come for me. I told your brother, but he didn’t believe me ... ” she murmured as Anock navigated his way between the elegant eighteenth-century villas.
“I’m so sorry, Cara. It was my fault. I left you alone.”
“Where are we going?”
“To my apartment at the Guardians’ mansion. I still have work to do. You’ll stay with me in my quarters. But first we need to do some shopping.” He couldn’t stand seeing her in the bloodstock uniform, needed to get her out of it and into some real clothes. And besides, it wouldn’t do for the Guardians to view her as a bloodstock. Anock wanted them to see her at the very least as his girlfriend.
He remembered an opulent, exclusive boutique where most of the sophisticated Elite females shopped and took her there. Entering the store, they were immediately surrounded by eager store assistants. The manager brought them coffee and two flutes of Champagne.
“This young lady needs a new wardrobe, head to toe,” Anock told them. “I rely on your experience. I want her to feel and look like a movie star.”
“With beauty like this, she could already be walking the red carpet,” the boutique manager replied, oozing charm Anock was sure she saved for the most wealthy customers.
Half an hour later, Cara had tried on a couple dozen outfits, all of which looked stunning on her. But the current one, an exquisite dress of heavy burnt-bronze satin with long sleeves and a scoop neck, was truly splendid. Her hair was pulled up to the crown of her head and bound with topaz and crystal bands.
Anock was dumbfounded. Of course he’d always known she was beautiful, but he hadn’t realized that she was as stunning as a goddess. He couldn’t have been more pleased. Everybody would envy him. In his mind he saw himself entering the Guardians’ mansion with her on his arm. He’d park at the front entrance, and everyone would watch him as he carried her upstairs to his bedroom. His chest swelled with pride.
“We’ll also take this fur coat,” he said, pointing at a full-length Russian silver fox with a hood that folded over like a collar. When they handed it to him, he placed the elegant masterpiece around Cara’s shoulders.
Anock arranged for most of the clothes to be delivered to the mansion and then escorted Cara back to the Ferrari. It was staggering, he realized, how much clothes could change the way a per
son was perceived. Now he knew why the bloodstock were all dressed in identical grey shapeless clothing: to conceal their magnificence, to make them look and feel less than what they were.
From the corner of his eye, he watched Cara sitting next to him, stroking the soft coat lovingly with her fingertips. Anock smiled, overjoyed at the look on her face. His heart ached with love for her. It felt so normal, so perfect to drive like this along the evening streets of the Belgian capital with his female by his side. He placed his right hand on her thigh as if confirming that she was really physically here and not just a mirage. She was, and she was his.
“Can I have an ice cream?” Cara suddenly asked as they approached an ice cream shop just ahead of them.
“Anything you want.” Ignoring the traffic signs, Anock pulled up right in front of the shop. “What flavor do you want?”
“Chocolate. And vanilla.”
Anock nodded and leapt out of the car, leaving the engine running while he ran into the shop.
A moment later, he heard the screech of tires and looked out the window to see the Ferrari disappearing from view. Damn. He dashed back to the street, thinking for an instant that someone had taken Cara—but when he got outside he realized that there was only one logical explanation for what had just happened. His world came crashing down. The female he loved had run away from him.
Bolting to a nearby car, he tore open the door, yanked the driver out, jumped inside, and floored it. Stupid girl thought she could get away from a Sekhmi. She couldn’t even shield. Every pride in Brussels would be after her, hunting her down.
Five minutes later, Anock was stuck at a complete standstill in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Cursing, he got out of the car and tuned in to Cara’s Amiti energy. He located her in the middle of a crowd that had formed around the car wreck ahead of him, the one that had caused the traffic jam. He bullied his way through the crowd, ignoring the hostile glares and remarks he got.
