Riggs didn’t answer right away. He was idly stroking his fingertips through my hair, which felt good enough to take my mind from the rest of the symptoms plaguing me.
“My sister joined these people and I tried to convince my pack to attack this place. I was convinced she was coerced. As far as I saw it, she was a hostage. Felix convinced me to wait. I was the alpha, and they would’ve done as I asked if I commanded it. But he went to the other packs and found out what they’d do if I followed through with my plan. They would’ve labeled us outsiders and fought with the rebels against us.” He shook his head, smiling with no humor. “I almost did it anyway. I was so fucking mad. She was the last thing I had, and they took her, too. But now I wonder if she would’ve felt like she had to go outside the pack if I hadn’t pushed her so hard. She never hated them like I did, and I couldn’t accept that.”
I rubbed his forearm, giving him a comforting squeeze. “Maybe it wouldn’t be too late to talk to her.”
Riggs stiffened at first, but then he relaxed with a sigh. “You’re in danger of making me a better person, Sylvie.”
“The good person was already in there. You were just in the middle of trying to bury him six feet deep when I met you.”
He grunted—or laughed, I couldn’t be sure which.
Riggs went still and held up his hand before I heard the footsteps. I flinched when the door opened and Ana Black came in with Vladimir. Both were staring down at us with crossed arms.
“There was blood from more than one vampire in that room,” Ana said. “We tasted the blood of four individuals, to be exact. One werewolf, one was our son’s, and two belonged to quite old vampires.”
Ana and Vlad both looked completely exhausted. There were purple rings around their eyes and I could clearly see they’d been grieving their son in private. But in front of us, neither was showing any sign of it.
That was the price of leadership, I guessed. Bottling up your private emotions and leaving them behind closed doors until you got the important jobs finished.
Vladimir nodded. He was twirling his mustache with one hand idly, then he belched loudly and punched his chest. “Matches up with your story, doesn’t it?”
“Why do you say that like it’s a bad thing?” I asked.
“It’s suspicious,” Vladimir said.
Ana sighed. “Forgive my dear husband. He has a fondness for torture, and I think it clouds his judgment at times. I also believe he’s looking for an outlet, given the tragedy of our son’s loss.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said, feeling silly for jumping into the conversation. “About your son. I feel responsible. Like if those people weren’t coming for us, they wouldn’t have wound up here and your son would still be alive. I—”
“Don’t give them ideas,” Riggs muttered.
Ana moved closer to the bars, watching me with calculating eyes. “It’s kind of you to say so. And I believe you mean what you say, girl. Thank you. We loved our son dearly, and the time for sadness and grief will come soon. But first, we want revenge on those who stole him from us.”
“But you could’ve tried to fuckin’ help him,” Vladimir said. “Big Alpha wolf of the Silverbacks, eh? And what’d you do? Draw a little blood from the fuckers who killed my son?”
Riggs stared, offering no excuses or explanations. Vladimir met his eyes, and for a moment, I thought one of them was going to break the bars apart and start fighting.
“Save it for the ones who deserve it, darling,” Ana said in calming tones that seemed to cool Vlad’s temper. “These two were not responsible. Their blood wouldn’t even dull the flame of revenge you wish to quench.”
“Grant me two favors and I can help you,” Riggs said.
Ana raised her eyebrow. “Your innocence doesn’t place us in your debt.”
“No,” he said. “But if you give me what I’m asking for, I’ll solve your problem for you. The Coven is trying to spark a war with your people. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you would prefer to continue gathering defectors and drag this out as long as possible.”
She tilted her chin up but nodded. “You’re not incorrect.”
“They took our friends. That means we need to go get them. But Sylvie is sick, and she’s getting worse.” Riggs paused then, and looked down at me, eyes searching. “Did you mean what you said once? That you’d rather be one of them? You told me that was the plan with your sister, right? And you were ready to do it?”
“I hadn’t had much time to really think about it,” I said, stumbling over my words as what he was asking sank in. “But I still think it would be better. Yeah. Every time I get sick like this there’s a chance I’ll never get better. It’s only a matter of time until, well…”
“Yeah,” he said softly. “That’s why,” he continued, speaking to Ana and Vladimir again. “I wanted to ask if you could turn Sylvie.”
Ana raised an eyebrow. “We don’t turn humans to vampires on request.”
“Not typically, no. But it’s like I said. Help us, and we help you. I can’t go handle this if she’s sick and continuing to get worse. Make her better. Turn her.”
A chill ran through me. Did I really want this?
I waited for some last-minute doubt and panic to strike, but it didn’t come. All I felt was a sense of calm. I imagined life without worrying about germs all the time. Without getting sick every time I dared to go outside and be around other people. And I thought of everything my sister had risked and given up to try to give me this exact gift. It was all because she wanted this for me.
Ana and Vladimir exchanged a silent look, then Vladimir shrugged.
Ana approached me, slicing her arm with her fingernail. “Drink. Once you’re finished, I’ll drink your blood and it will trigger the transformation.”
I looked at the blood skeptically but did as she said. I opened my mouth and let her press her arm to my lips. I sucked some of the blood from her, cringing at first but finding the taste surprisingly appealing, kind of like red wine if I’d been the sort of man to enjoy that sort of thing.
She pulled her arm away after a few moments, then bent toward my neck, teeth elongating.
I felt Riggs tense beside me, and I flinched instinctively. Ana closed her lips around my neck, teeth pressing and punching through my skin. I winced, but the only sensation was the warmth of her mouth and the wetness of my blood as she drank. She pulled back, and I felt a hot line of blood run from the place on my neck down my chest.
I put my hand there, pressing against the already sore and aching spot.
“It’s done,” Ana said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “You taste quite delicious, by the way,” she added.
“Agreed,” Riggs said.
“I don’t feel any different,” I said.
“You won’t at first,” Ana said. “I should also mention you will feel a slight bonding effect toward me until the transformation finalizes. In some circumstances, the bond can be extremely intense. However, the purpose is to compel the partially turned vampire to complete the ritual. We’ll be completing the ritual immediately, which will only leave you with a slight lingering sense of my presence and perhaps a vague desire to be near me. Once turned, you’ll hardly feel it unless I wish you to.”
“How long will that take? Fully turning, I mean.” I asked.
“A day, perhaps. I’m rather old and quite powerful. That will speed the transition.”
“She’s being modest,” Vladimir said. “Ana is the oldest known vampire in our world. You’ve been given quite the gift being turned by her, girl. You’ll be powerful beyond your years, and it will only grow. Just like our son.”
I thought of how Victor’s supposed powers hadn’t stopped his head from getting ripped off, but that was an ugly thought, so I tried to ignore it. “As long as I stop getting sick, I’ll be happy.”
The two older vampires let us out of the dungeon and agreed to give us our room back for the time being. At our door, Ana stopped before she left.
“What was the other thing you wanted from us?” She asked Riggs.
“I was hoping I could speak with a vampire who stays here. Kyla.”
34
Riggs
Sylvie was still weak, so I laid her down on our bed once Ana and Vladimir left. Her silky hair spilled around her head and a trickle of blood seeped from her neck, staining the pillow.
She smiled up at me, eyes red-rimmed. “Thank you.”
I shook my head. “It was the right thing.”
“Are you going to hate me now?”
“This was my idea, Sylvie. Well, originally yours and your sister’s, but no. I don’t think I could hate you if I tried.”
She smirked. “I’m pretty sure you did try to hate me a few times.”
“Maybe. So then I can say for certain I couldn’t hate you if I tried. And stop worrying about it. Just focus on resting so this change can happen smoothly.”
“It’s kind of exciting, you know? But I feel guilty. Like we should be rushing out the door right now to find the others.”
“They will be okay for now. It’s like I said. They are bargaining chips for Lazarus. He won’t waste them without a reason. That gives us time to do this right and make sure we come at him with a plan.”
Sylvie nodded. “I’m proud of you, you know. Asking to talk to your sister? Having them turn me into one of them? You’re changing, Riggs. And in a good way.”
I looked away. The truth was that I was still battling years of hatred on the inside. I didn’t magically want to shake hands with every vampire I met. But for once, I wanted to try to overcome the swirling black anger that I’d been cultivating in my heart all these years. For her, I wanted to change. At least I wanted to try.
Kyla came while Sylvie was napping. She slipped in the door quietly, head low.
My sister was tall with sandy blonde hair and our mother’s dark blue eyes. She was pale now, like they all were. She also had that supernatural smoothness to her skin they seemed to get, and she’d become thinner than when I saw her last, like she’d shed most of the lithe muscle she’d carried.
“Hey,” I said, feeling awkward.
“You asked to see me?” she said, not quite meeting my eyes.
Kyla was younger than me by a few years, and I was struck then by how fucked up it was for me to have disowned her like I did. All this time I’d thought how she was all I had, and she’d stripped me of that. I never flipped my perspective to realize I was all she had. I was the one who had severed ties. I was the one who had fucked it up.
I walked toward her and reached for a hug. She flinched, but I hugged her anyway. She didn’t react for a few seconds, then she finally put her hands around my back.
She hugged me tighter then, shaking softly as she cried into my shoulder. I felt the same prickle of emotion threatening to overcome me, but I held onto her, being the strong big brother I should’ve been all this time.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered into her ear.
35
Riggs
I lounged in the chair by the window of our room. Moonlight bathed the grounds of Blackridge while small figures moved from building to building, casting long shadows.
I still couldn’t quite believe I was in their world. In more ways than one, I supposed, as I looked to Sylvie.
She was hunched over a small table in our room scarfing down her third helping of hamburger and fries. I grinned, but felt a pang of sadness when I realized it might be one of the last times she ever craved human food.
I didn’t regret the choice I’d offered her. This was right for her. That was what mattered. It didn’t mean the slightest if I was going to struggle with the idea of turning the first perfect woman I’d met into the thing I’d sworn to hate.
It had been a full day since Ana turned Sylvie in the dungeon. Sylvie slept through the entire day and woke almost as soon as the sun set. She was asking for food almost as soon as she rose, and apparently already had shed any symptoms of her illness.
“I still can’t quite believe it’s real,” she said once she was full and slouched back in her chair. “I mean, just starting with the fact that any of this is real to begin with. That’s a hard enough pill to swallow, even if the plan was to go back to life as usual when this was over. But now I’m a vampire?” She laughed to herself. “It’s ridiculous.”
Gravy Boat had rejoined us at some point during the day. It appeared the hairless cat found a source of food since we’d arrived, because he was growing fatter by the day. He came up to my leg and head butted my ankle.
“Don’t try to sweet talk me,” I muttered to him. “You led me into a trap and then bailed when shit hit the fan. Little traitor.”
Gravy boat meowed as if I’d wounded him.
I sighed, then gave him a quick scratch on his wrinkled head.
I caught Sylvie grinning at us. “You like him.”
“I don’t. I just know he won’t stop making that horrible noise if I don’t scratch him.”
“That’s how it starts. Next you’ll be letting him cuddle you in bed.”
“Absolutely not,” I said.
“So, how are we going to get them back? Please tell me you’ve thought of something, because I’m so out of my depth. I don’t know if the Coven have a lair somewhere we can just expect to find them chained up. Or do they live on the road in biker gangs? Like this is exactly the kind of stuff you should’ve been educating me on so I could be useful in this type of situation.”
“The Coven is a global organization. It’s less like Blackridge and more like a religion, though. It just happens to be the oppressive religion that has dominated vampire culture for centuries. In our case, we’re dealing with a more formal wing of The Coven with Lazarus and his Cleaners. They do have a base of operations, but it’s not exactly public knowledge.”
“So we ask around?” she said. “Maybe someone here will know, right? Didn’t they all defect from The Coven in the first place?”
“Yeah, but the Cleaners are an exclusive group. The average vampire wouldn’t know where they’re located any more than the average human knows what’s inside Area 51.”
“Aliens,” Sylvie said with a straight face. “And the anal probes the government pervs use on unsuspecting farmers to get their jollies off.”
I stared. “Is that a joke?”
“You wouldn’t think so if it was your butt they were probing.”
I sighed. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, at least.”
“I am,” she said, smile widening. “And it still hasn’t sunk in that I could go hug every stranger out there and not get sick. Or go visit a museum. Or go bowling. I’ve always wanted to bowl, but those finger holes are cesspits.”
“You know you can bring your own ball.”
“Also poor,” she said.
“Right,” I chuckled. “I was thinking you could talk to Kyla, if you wanted. We spoke some while you were sleeping last night. She’s willing to talk you through the transition some, if you think that would help.”
“I know you talked. I was pretending to sleep. Then somebody started cutting onions right next to my pillow.”
“What?” I asked.
“Just an expression,” Sylvie said, shaking her head. “I’d like that. And for the record, I was really proud of you. I don’t have any idea how hard all of this has been for you, but I know it isn’t easy. I want you to know how much I appreciate it. All of it,” she added.
I slid my hand around the back of her neck, kissing her. It felt damn good, and even though it hadn’t been that long, it felt like ages since we’d slept together.
She looked a little surprised when we pulled back from the kiss.
“What?” I asked.
“I wasn’t sure if you were still going to like me. Like that, I mean. After…”
I tilted her chin up, forcing her eyes from the floor to mine. “You thought I wouldn’t be attracted to a vampire?”
“Shocker. Right?”
I k
issed her neck. “If we get through this, you may end up turning me into someone I don’t recognize.”
“If?” she asked with the shadow of a smile.
“If it’s possible, we’ll do it. I’m just not sure it’s possible.”
“That’s comforting. And, uh. This is going to sound weird. But I could really go for some blood right about now.”
I tried to suppress the little wave of nausea that made me feel. “Okay. I’ll go get one of the vamps. Vampires,” I said, correcting myself.
“Riggs,” she said. “Are you sure it’s okay for us to take our time like this? I keep thinking about Maisey. Wherever they have her. What if she thinks we’re not coming?”
“If we rush into trying to rescue them before you’re ready, we’ll fail. I don’t like waiting either, but it’s the only way.”
She nodded.
“I’ll be back. With a woman. I don’t want you feeding on any men. Understand?”
Sylvie smirked. “Jealous, much?”
“Yes. Deal with it.”
36
Sylvie
The rebels arranged for Kyla to act as my concierge to all things vampire. It was strange meeting Riggs’ sister, especially after hearing their story. I’d pictured someone fragile and small. Instead, the woman was nearly six feet tall, quiet, but brimming with a silent sort of confidence.
Riggs loomed in the corner of the room while Kyla guided me through the process of my first feeding. She’d apparently used some sort of mental trick to make the middle-aged man sitting at the table fall into a comatose state.
Kyla had dirty blonde hair and didn’t look like she was related to Riggs at first glance. But I could see some of him in the way her mouth moved or the way they both tended to arch one eyebrow when they were making sure I understood what they were saying.
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