“I’ve found something worth living for,” Knox said, as if he was caught in the middle of a hallucination.
The sudden pull within her midsection made her skitter back, until she was forcibly dragged away from him. “No, I can’t leave him.”
“You must.” It was the computer voice. “You’ve released everyone, now you must return to the Network Hub.”
But she hadn’t saved everyone. Knox was dying, Hogan was lying outside in the corridor, and Vera hadn’t woken up after being injected with something.
“No, not yet. I have to get them out.”
Unable to resist the pull, Lian’s ghostly body slid out of the cell, down the jumble of corridors, and back into the bright colors.
“I have to save them!” she yelled.
“You already have.”
Agony rocked through Knox’s body, burning his flesh.
At first, he thought Lian was part of the same hallucination making him think he was finally free of those damn chains. But no, this was really happening. He was really at the mercy of the sun, and burning.
The sky above was gunmetal gray, but the patches of sun filtering between were thick and many. Pools of water surrounded his body as the sun’s rays melted the snow.
Wait a minute!
Why was he lying on the ground? He pushed up onto his elbows, struggling to sit. The silver cuff on his right arm was gone, leaving it raw. But the other hung loose from his left wrist because some of the silver had stuck to his skin.
So it hadn’t been a delusion or dream. Somehow, Lian had released him from his bondage. It was now up to him to get the hell out of this cell before he burned to a crisp.
His body felt stiff and alien. The blood pumping through his veins and into his heart had slowed. Actually, his heart had stopped for a moment when Lian disappeared.
The woman in the market had been right. He had faced death, and came out on the other side with something worth living for—someone who made him feel alive. Even though this curse had finally claimed him, he was still Knox. He was still himself—heartbeat and all.
The hunger had intensified, though. He was ravenous, so much so that his fangs protruded from his gums.
He shook his head, trying to get his inhalations steady and thoughts straight. At least breathing is still an option.
Knox clawed at the ground, dragging his body forward. The sun bore down on him like a weight, a pressure driving into his spine and making his body stiffen with every move. He couldn’t even get to his knees.
It took him too long to clear most of the cell. By the time he reached the open doorway and extended his right hand, the skin smoldered. Shit. He rolled his hand in the pools of icy water. The cool liquid soothed him and the charred skin repaired itself a lot quicker than he’d expected.
When a sizzling sensation spread along his scalp, he summoned every reserve of strength he had left within his wretched body to drag himself out of the cell. The short distance should have taken seconds, but with his smoking limbs, it felt like hours passed before he cleared the doorway completely. He collapsed in a tired heap.
He took a moment to catch his breath. Glad his head hadn’t burst into flames.
Made it out just in time!
Lying in the corridor’s shade, he sucked in as much air as he could. Each breath stung his lungs like tiny icicles, but he didn’t care. As he lay in the quiet, he felt his body heal. It was painful, but everything seemed to knit itself back together.
He convulsed. His spine almost cracked as the pain grew and blinded him. He must have passed out, because the abrupt sound of a blaring alarm startled him into sitting upright.
The pain had faded, but not the discomfort.
He stared at the ceiling. A multitude of stamping feet clamored above him. What the hell was going on up there?
Knox inspected his right hand. It was black and raw in places but he could feel the skin tingling as it healed. He used the wall to help him get to his feet and staggered down the darkened corridor—one shoulder smacked into the wall, closely followed by the other. After so many hours of being on his knees, his legs refused to cooperate and he stumbled several times. Before he reached the end, he tripped and almost fell. How many more times would obstacles get shoved in his way?
When he looked down, he recognized a man who lay in a naked bundle near his feet. He was curled into a fetal position, unconscious, and his brown skin was tinged blue. This was the guard who’d pointed a rifle at his face. What was his name? He thought it might be Hogan. Yeah, that sounded right.
He turned away, ready to find a way out of this hellhole, but paused. No matter how hard he wanted to ignore the fact, this trigger-happy man was Lian’s friend. Could he really walk away?
“Warning. Reactor malfunction. Overload imminent. All residents have thirty minutes to vacate the premises of the Shan Estate,” a mechanical voice boomed around him.
“Fuck, that’s all I need.”
He glared at the guard and realized he couldn’t leave him. But how was he going to get him up the stairs when he was so weak himself? Besides, when did he become such a charity case? Oh yeah, the day DD was taken and he’d failed to save her.
Knox collapsed to his knees. He didn’t need to touch Hogan’s chest to know his heart was beating. Its fluttery sound echoed inside his head, causing the hunger he couldn’t quench to flow through him with greater intensity.
“I don’t have time for this.” Yet he needed some of the blood pumping inside this man’s veins, enough to feed his appetite. He might not know much about this new vampiric condition, but he knew when the blood craving hit, he had to satisfy it.
He shut his eyes, trying to push away the sharp pain in his gut. All it would take was a quick drink. Just one.
The man groaned and Knox opened his eyes. A red haze covered his vision, and no amount of blinking would clear it. The burning ache in his hand, the roasted skin on his back and head, and the amount of energy the sun had stolen from him filled him with a deep-rooted hunger he couldn’t ignore.
Hogan was now shaking uncontrollably. If Knox didn’t intervene, he wasn’t going to make it. Maybe there was a way they could both survive. He could drink from this almost-dead guard, and give Hogan a new lease on life. Sure, it would be a bloodthirsty one, but it was better than dying.
Knox grabbed the man, pulled him awkwardly into his lap and noticed the stump where his left hand should be. Every bit of skin ached whenever he moved, and having this man’s frozen limbs scrape at his was torturous. He pushed the pain and frustration down to the dark recesses of his mind and lowered his head. He hadn’t been given a choice, but he refused to do the same.
“Do you want to live, or are you ready to die?” His voice didn’t sound like his own. A chilling timbre echoed his words and it turned his stomach, twisting it with hunger.
The man’s head lolled in the crook of Knox’s arms and his eyes fluttered open. Time was definitely running out for him.
“Do you want to live or die?” Knox repeated.
The guard licked his lips and opened his mouth, releasing mist and spittle.
Knox shook him. “Live or die?”
“Live,” he said in a raspy, barely-there voice. “Lian…”
The guard had made his choice.
Knox leaned forward, and buried his mouth into the crook of the man’s neck, staying clear of the silver collar. Although the man was thawing, Knox struggled to pierce his skin. But he could smell the blood flowing beneath the ice, felt the sluggish beat of his heart still pumping, and so he shoved his fangs past the harsh exterior. When he punctured the skin, a sudden dribble of blood poured into his mouth. It was cool and tasteless but the more he took, the better he felt and the quicker the blood flowed. His skin sizzled from the inside out, speeding the natural repair already working within his every damaged part.
Although this was nothing like what he’d experienced when he’d taken a sip from Lian, it still nourished him as it hit his st
omach and poured right into the center of his being.
Knox drank and drank, taking what he needed and knowing that if he really intended to give this guard a choice, he’d have to pull away soon. But the compulsion was strong and he sucked down as much blood as he could before finally withdrawing his fangs from the man’s neck. He licked his lips, but didn’t clean the man’s wounds. By keeping the bite exposed, the infection would spread.
A bloodsucker’s bite was infused with the poison to turn you into one. If bitten by one, their saliva’s effect was twofold—it spread the infection, or acted as a coagulant to stop the toxin from spreading. It was how vampires fed without killing.
The guard opened his eyes and gasped, staring at Knox’s fangs. “What did you do?” His normal pallor blossomed on his face.
Knox didn’t answer—he’d become distracted by the shift in the man’s scent. He smelled like…kin.
“I’ve changed you into a monster.” Wasn’t that what this guard had called him? “It was either that or death, and you chose to live.”
He closed his eyes and nodded. “Where’s Lian?”
The alarm repeated its drone. “Warning. Reactor malfunction. Overload imminent.”
“Why would this place self-destruct?” Knox asked.
“What?”
“Can’t you hear the alarm? We have less than thirty minutes to get out.”
“That can’t be.” The man made a move to stand but collapsed. Knox helped him to his feet.
“I need to find Lian.”
Something flashed in the guard’s eyes but he nodded. “She could be anywhere.”
Knox stepped back. “Then I’m going to search the whole fuckin’ house until I find her. If it wasn’t for Lian, I’d be a pile of burned flesh on the floor of that cell and you’d be a block of ice.”
“I’ll get her back.”
Knox stepped in front of him, growling. “No one goes near her but me. Do you understand? She’s not yours.”
The guard smiled. “She’s not yours either. Lian will never belong to anyone. Her mother tried to own her, which is probably why we’re in this situation right now.” He glared at Knox, puffing out his chest as if to challenge him. “But I should be the one to find her.”
Knox wondered if it would come to blows, but he refused to back down. No one else was going to go looking for Lian. He stepped into Hogan’s personal space, glaring into his eyes and waiting for a challenge. “I’m going to find Lian, and no one’s going to stand in my way.” A growl rumbled through his body.
The guard stared at him but didn’t move an inch.
Knox bared his fangs. “I’ll remove the second lease of life I’ve given you, if you try to stop me.”
Hogan’s eyes widened and he lowered his head, backing away. “Fine, you search for Lian, and I’ll locate as many guards and staff as I can. Maybe someone knows how to stop this.” He headed toward the pile of discarded clothes on the floor and picked up a prosthetic hand. “Do you think I’ll get my hand back now?”
“Are you asking me if I think it will regrow?”
Hogan shrugged.
“I’m not sure if that’s how being a vampire works,” Knox answered, itching to get a move on. “I’ve gotta find Lian.”
“And I’ll see if I can find out what’s going on.”
Knox nodded and raced for the stairs, trying to figure out if his posturing—or the fact he’d turned Hogan—was the reason the guard eventually submitted.
It doesn’t matter. There’s something more important to do right now.
Even though every inch of his skin still pulled and felt like dry leather, the more he moved, the more flexibility spread to his limbs. Taking the blood had been the right thing to do. The liquid swept a wave of vitality through his body so strong he felt healthier than ever. But more importantly, he had the energy to save the woman who’d found him in the cell, let him take a drink from her, freed him and offered something he never expected to feel again—passion.
Lian, hold on.
Chapter Seven
Knox raced up the stairs, ignoring the glass elevator facing the jagged mountainside and the scattered village in the distance below.
With the sun out in full force, he wasn’t going to risk another roasting. He felt safer in the shadows, his legs thumping against the steps up the stairwell. The sound of his own breath filled the space around him, and somehow made him feel more alive. The last thing he’d expected after the change was to feel so in tune with his body.
He could feel, hear and smell so much. But the only thing he wanted was to reach Lian so they could escape together. Damn, he was sick and tired of being held down by people who believed they owned him.
His boots drummed against the tiles, each step echoed throughout the narrow corridors. He’d tried every room on every floor but still hadn’t found her. This was the last floor left to check—his last chance to find her.
The alarm was much louder now, and according to the annoying computer voice, there were less than fifteen minutes until the place detonated. Time was running out and he had to face the inevitable—the longer he took, the less likely he’d be able to escape the blast. But he refused to give up on Lian.
This level consisted of a long, windowless corridor. Only one door stood open at the end. He jogged toward it and peered inside. The unexpected gunshot over his head made him press his back against the outside of the doorway. He saw the bullet lodge into the wall across from him.
Damn. He couldn’t afford to waste time. He didn’t have a weapon, but he’d recovered from his sunny ordeal inside the cell.
He peeked in a second time to see what he was up against. Across the room stood a metallic, silver robot with an index finger pointed at the open doorway.
Shit. Would his vampiric abilities protect him against a bullet? He wasn’t sure what else—aside from silver and the sun—he might now have an aversion to. Then again, his newfound speed and strength could give him an edge the robot wouldn’t expect.
He braced himself and ran into the room. Keeping his head low, he avoided the three successive bullets that whizzed past his ear. When he’d closed the gap, he grabbed the robot around the neck, causing its spindly legs to lose balance. Knox twisted the metallic neck so hard he severed the head completely and it fell on the floor. He glanced at the short-circuiting mess of wires before spotting the motionless female guard on the floor, Vera. He could hear her sluggish heartbeat from here.
Knox turned his attention to the wall of glass separating the two rooms. On the other side, Lian was strapped to a bulky chair. Her eyes were closed and her body twitched. He caught sight of the door beside the glass-paneled wall and kicked it open.
Time was still ticking away.
“Lian,” he whispered, racing to her side. He touched her face with the back of his hand, unable to tear his eyes away from the horror of her condition. She was strapped down at the wrists, midsection and ankles—two wires poked out of her head like some sort of science experiment. On closer inspection, he noticed a cable connected to the base of her neck, plugged into a port. What the hell had they done to her?
He had to yank these wires out of her before it was too late. After his miraculous escape from the arena, there was no way he would let this place defeat him. Not when it meant the difference between life and death for Lian as well.
Knox wrapped his fingers around one of the wires connected to her temple and pulled it out slowly, followed by the other. His eyes widened as the pierced skin sealed before his eyes, as well as the cut on her cheek. Could she heal herself because he’d bitten her? But he’d done the right thing, sealed the bite marks with his saliva.
As he reached for the cable plugged into the back of her head, a metallic voice interrupted him by saying, “You do not want to do that.”
Knox looked up to find another robot stepping out of the shadows. It looked exactly like the other one, but gold, and wasn’t poised to attack. “Yes, I do. I need to get her out
of this house before it’s too late.”
“You cannot take her, she must stay.”
“No, I won’t leave her—”
“If you remove the cable, she will die.”
“I don’t believe you.” These robots were programmed by Meiling, so who knew what they were encoded to say? Removing the wires carelessly connected to her temples hadn’t hurt her—she’d actually somehow healed instantly. Although he had to admit that the one plugged into a port on her head worried him.
“I am telling you the truth,” said the bot.
Disconnecting her from the cord surely wouldn’t hurt her. He tugged gently on the cable and Lian’s body started to vibrate, as if she was having a seizure. “What’s the matter with her?”
“You have interfered. If you continue, you will kill her.”
He pushed the cable in tight and the seizure stopped. Knox dropped his hand, defeated.
“Save yourself, and let her be.”
His hands clenched into fists. “I can’t leave her to die.” The house was ten minutes from blowing up. He refused to abandon her.
“She has already gone to a better place.”
“No, Lian’s still alive.” Her chest rose and fell. The sound of her steady heartbeat, and the swoosh of her blood pumping through her body, confirmed she was. “You don’t understand what it means to be alive.”
The robot stared at him with its expressionless face. “I understand more than you realize. Her physical shell may perish but not her mind and spirit.”
“I don’t like the sounds of that.”
“Detonation in five minutes,” the automated voice boomed.
The robot turned and pointed at the back of its neck, where a similar cable to Lian’s poked out. “I will be going to the same place she is. I promise to take care of her.”
“No!” Knox growled. He turned and smashed one fist, and then the other, against the glass wall, hard enough for it to shatter. Tiny bits of glass embedded into his knuckles, but he didn’t care. He couldn’t feel anything over the sensation tightening his chest. He hadn’t felt this useless since his sister was stripped away from his life and he chased after her, only to become a slave himself.
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