He was here.
My blood turned to ice. I leaped to my feet, causing Zeke and Jackal to do the same, as a pale, thin form slid out of the shadows, smiling his awful smile. The guards, forgotten around us, closed in, hands on their weapons. From the corner of my eye, I saw the Prince watching intently, waiting to see what would happen. But I couldn't take my eyes off Sarren.
"It isn't wise to deceive the Prince, little bird," Sarren crooned as his grinning, hideously scarred face came into the light. One hollow black eye fixed on me, the other, covered in blue film, stared sightlessly. "What venomous lies you are spreading, just to save your sire."
"They're not lies," I shot back, really, really wishing I had my sword. Something, anything, between me and him. Screw the Prince and the vampire Elite. Sarren was the most dangerous thing in the room now, and I didn't trust even the guards and their crossbows to keep us safe. "We know you went to Old D.C., to the other lab. We found the room with the live virus samples, and know you took them before you came here."
"Do you now?" Sarren sidled closer, and I tensed. On either side of me, Jackal and Zeke were just as alert. Only the Prince watched us calmly, no change in his demeanor. I wondered if he would be so calm if he knew the true monster he'd invited into his tower. "I think you are grasping at straws, little bird," Sarren went on. "To weave your nest of deceit. Oh, what a tangled web we weave."
"You took something from the lab," I insisted, refusing to let his craziness draw me in. "You brought it here. And you turned it loose in the Fringe. That's why every Fringer is tearing his face off and puking blood in the streets. Why? Why would you risk another plague? We haven't recovered from the last one."
"Can you hear him?" Sarren whispered, either not hearing or ignoring the question. "Can you hear his screams? Do they haunt your sleep, his cries of anguish? Can you feel his pain, the exquisite torture? Oh, I envy you."
"Azura will vouch for me," Jackal said, speaking not to Sarren, but to the Prince. "The Prince of Old D.C. knows Sarren came to her city and went searching for the government's secret lab beneath the tunnels. If you ask her, she'll confirm what we just told you."
"Where is Kanin?" I demanded, glaring at the scarred madman in front of me. "What did you do to him?"
"There's nothing left of him," Sarren said dreamily, almost in a daze now. "Not anymore. His mind has broken. Just like mine." He chuckled, and it made my skin crawl. "Only he won't be coming back. Pity that. I've enjoyed our interactions so. But now, I have a greater purpose. I do miss his screams, though. Such a glorious song."
I bared my fangs. "You'd better hope that he's all right," I growled. "I swear, I'll take you apart if he's not." But Sarren seemed to be in a trance now. His eyes were closed, and he swayed slightly on his feet, his thin mouth still twisted in a smile.
"You can't save him, little bird," he whispered. "You can't save anyone now. The requiem has started, and when the last melody plays, the only applause will be sweet, eternal silence." He raised his arms, as if he could hear the applause, accepting it. "It draws ever closer now. I cannot wait until the final note."
The Prince shook his head. "I am still unsure what is going on," he admitted slowly, "or who I should believe, but in light of these events, I'm afraid I must ask all of you to remain in the tower. You will be guests here, but please do not try to leave the floor. I will get to the bottom of this, soon."
Damn. Not ideal, but better than being tossed in the dungeon.
"Guards." The Prince nodded to the vampires, still waiting at attention. "Please escort our guests to their rooms. Make sure they do not try to leave. If they do try to escape, you have permission to shoot them."
"Yes, sir."
The Prince turned away then, facing the window and his city below it, dismissing us.
Two of the guards stepped forward, weapons drawn, to escort us from the room. The others approached Sarren, still in a daze in the middle of the floor, swaying to some tune only he could hear. The crazy vampire ignored the guard's repeated attempts to get his attention, seemingly lost in his own head. Finally, the guard gave an exasperated huff and took his arm.
Sarren spun with blinding speed, his free hand whipping up faster than thought, slashing across the guard's neck. The vampire let out a startled gurgle, and then his head tumbled backward in a spray of blood, held in place by a single flap of skin. Still clutching his thin, bright dagger, Sarren grabbed the guard's crossbow arm and turned, pointing the weapon across the room. There was the snap of the bolt releasing, and the shaft buried itself in Salazar's chest just as the Prince was spinning around.
This all happened in the space of a blink. Salazar gave a strangled cry and collapsed, clutching his chest, clawing at the desk to keep himself upright. The other guards roared with fury and lunged to attack, drawing their blades as they rushed forward. The guard closest to Sarren pulled his sword and slashed at him in the same motion, but Sarren ducked the blow, stepped in close, and shoved his dagger under the guard's chin, into his brain. Yanking it out, he spun to face the remaining two guards, a maniacal grin on his face as they rushed forward.
With a howl, Jackal leaped into the fray, grabbing a dead guard's sword as he charged Sarren. I spun on Zeke. "Stay down!" I hissed at him, and lunged forward, too. But my goal wasn't Sarren, not yet. Dodging a blade that buzzed overhead, I threw myself at the first dead guard, my fingers closing around the handle of my katana.
A familiar cry made my blood run cold. I whirled just in time to see Jackal fall, clutching the hilt of the blade in his chest as Sarren shoved him back. The other two guards lay nearby, one with a crossbow shaft protruding from his eye socket, the other missing a head.
So fast. It had happened so quickly. Drawing my sword, I rose to face Sarren alone.
The vampire smiled at me from the center of the massacre, blood painted across his face, seeping into his many scars. It covered his arms, his chest, running down his white skin and dripping to the carpet. "Hello, little bird," he whispered, stepping over a dead vampire, backing me toward the wall. I raised my sword and tried to calm the terror sweeping through me. "I believe we have unfinished business, you and I."
"Stay away from her."
Sarren turned. Zeke stood beside a dead vampire, a crossbow in hand, pointed unerringly at Sarren's heart.
"What's this?" Sarren watched Zeke in obvious amusement. "A human? Ready to die for a vampire? What a loyal little pet you are. But your master has no control over you now." He gestured to the carnage around him and smiled. "Run, little human," he crooned. "Run. The end draws nigh, and the sun will soon set for all your kind. How long can you evade the dark, I wonder?"
"Zeke!" I hissed, still keeping my gaze on Sarren, knowing how fast he could move, how he could suddenly be right there with no warning at all. "Listen to him! Get out of here!" Didn't he see what just happened, Sarren slaughtering four vampires and the Prince in the blink of an eye? He couldn't take on Sarren. Hell, I was pretty sure I couldn't take on Sarren. "Run!" I urged him. "Find Stick. Tell him what happened. Tell him to send help. Go!"
"Allie," Zeke said calmly, not moving an inch. "I'm not leaving you."
Sarren blinked, looking back and forth between us, and suddenly laughed. The raspy, dead voice sent chills up my spine as Sarren shook his head. "Ohhhh," he said, as if just figuring something out, "this is interesting. A little bird, making a nest with a rat. Are you a Prince then, little rat?" he asked Zeke, who frowned in wary confusion. But Sarren ignored him, turning back to me. "Well, this is quite the dilemma. Who shall I kill first? Shall I kill the prince's little bird in front of him?" His grin stretched wider as he stared at me, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Or shall I take apart the human, slowly? Peel the skin from his body, snap every bone, savor every scream, before I tear out his heart?" He chuckled and ran a tongue along his pale lips. "Would you like that, little bird? Or...perhaps you would like to watch?"
My fear vanished. The thought of Zeke at the mercy of this madman awoke a savage, almost desperate fury, and I acted without thinking. Baring my fangs, I lunged at Sarren with a roar, slashing at his neck. Sarren blocked the strike, reached in and grabbed my throat, spinning me around. Twisting my sword arm behind my back, he turned us toward Zeke, who had raised the crossbow and had it trained on us.
"Go on, little human," Sarren said over my shoulder. His bared fangs were inches from my neck, and the hand on my wrist was threatening to break my arm. I struggled, but he wrenched my arm up, and pain lanced through my shoulder. "You can probably hit me, if you shoot through us both."
"Let her go." Zeke's hand didn't waver, but his voice shook, just a little.
I felt something cold and wet touch my cheek-Sarren's tongue-and cringed in revulsion. "How do you taste?" Sarren whispered in my ear. "Shall we peel you open and see? Is your blood as dark and thick as Kanin's, little bird?"
"Get off me, you fucking psychopath!" I spat, nearly hysterical. He chuckled, and his fangs lightly scraped my skin.
"Hey."
A new voice, familiar and tight with pain, echoed behind us. Sarren glanced over, to find Jackal on his knees, one hand pressed to his bleeding chest, the other pointing a crossbow at us. "You missed," he rasped, and fired the weapon.
Sarren jerked back, throwing me to the floor. I hit the ground and rolled as a painful screech rang out behind me. Coming to my feet, I saw Sarren stagger backward, a wooden dart through his shoulder, his fangs bared in agony.
I grabbed my katana, but Sarren hissed like a furious snake, turned and flung himself toward the far wall. There was a deafening crash and glass exploded in all directions as the vampire hurled himself through the window and dropped from sight.
I shivered, gripping my katana so it didn't drop from my nerveless fingers. It didn't seem possible that we'd won, or at least, that we'd survived. The room reeked of blood, the carpet beneath my boots felt like a swamp, and the oncepristine office looked like a war zone.
"Allie." I turned as Zeke dropped the crossbow with a muffled thump, stepped forward and pulled me close, holding me tightly against him. He was shaking, his heart pounding against his ribs, loud and frantic. My eyes slipped shut, and my free arm reached around his waist to hug him back. The Hunger stirred, and my rational side prickled a warning that this was dangerous. I was getting too close, was already too close. I ignored it. Zeke felt warm and safe, and I had missed him, more than I thought I would ever miss anyone. I could allow myself this one moment.
"God, I thought I'd lost you," he whispered in a husky voice. "When Sarren grabbed you, my heart nearly stopped." Pulling back, he ran his thumb over my cheek, brushing the hair from my face. My senses buzzed from his touch. "Are you all right? I'm sorry...I couldn't get the shot off fast enough. Did he hurt you?"
"No." I reached up and wrapped my fingers around his wrist, feeling the pulse beneath my hand, assuring us both that we were okay. Hard to believe. I'd faced Sarren twice now when he was intent on killing me, and come out alive. How long would that luck last, I wondered. Especially since Psycho Vamp was still out there and hated us even more. "I'm fine, Zeke," I told him, squeezing his arm. "We're both still here."
He drew in a slow breath. "Allie..."
"Oh, don't mind me," came an extremely sarcastic voice near the wall. "You two go ahead and make out-I'll just sit here and bleed quietly."
Guiltily, we broke apart. Jackal sat against an overturned chair, surrounded by bodies, managing a smirk even through the horror around him. "That's okay," he said, gritting his teeth. "No need to thank the guy who just put a stake into Sarren and made him run away like a little girl. Though, I do feel that I'm missing something... What was it? Oh yeah, I just saved your lives, didn't I?"
Zeke started forward, but I grabbed his arm. "No," I told him urgently. "Don't go near him, he's lost a lot of blood. He might not be able to stop himself from biting you."
"I'm run through, not deaf," Jackal remarked from the floor. Honestly, he was the loudest mortally wounded vampire I'd ever heard. I figured that if he could make this much noise, he was in no danger of dying. "Although..." He grimaced, and his voice became lower, more like a growl. "You might want to get the meatsack out of here if you want his blood to stay on the inside. His inside, not mine."
"Go find Stick," I told Zeke. "Let him know what happened. Tell him Sarren is on the loose and that there's a wounded vampire who needs blood immediately." I glanced toward the wall where Salazar's body lay, motionless, behind the desk. "And that they're probably going to have to find a new Prince."
I winced, thinking how Stick would take that. Hell, how the entire vampire city would take that. "Actually," I continued, "it's probably best not to mention that quite yet."
Zeke nodded, though he looked reluctant to leave. "I'll be right back." He glanced at the dismembered corpses, the blood-spattered walls, the severed heads scattered around the room, and grimaced. "Will you be okay?"
"Yeah." I gave him a tired smile. "I'll be fine."
He brushed his fingers across my cheek, leaving a lingering trail of warmth, and turned away. Stepping around bodies, he wove his way through the blood-soaked room until he reached the doors and slipped through. They opened with a creak and groaned shut behind him, and the room seemed colder when he was gone.
Jackal grunted and shifted to a more comfortable position, leaning back against the chair. "You know you're playing a dangerous game," he said, watching me with glowing yellow eyes.
I started to snap that it was none of his business, then let my shoulders slump. "I know."
"When are you going to tell that kid that he doesn't have a chance? You'll have to let him know soon-looks like the poor sap has it bad." Jackal watched my reaction then raised his eyebrows. "You're not going to say anything, are you? You're going to let him tromp merrily down this road until the day the Hunger gets to be too much, and then the little bloodsack won't know what hit him." He chuckled, wincing, and shook his head. "And I thought I was a heartless bastard."
"It's not like that," I argued. Jackal snorted.
"What, then? Don't tell me you feel something for the little... Oh." The vampire blinked, then curled his lip back, disgust and pity crossing his sharp features. "Oh, sister. Really? That's just sad."
"Shut. Up. Jackal."
Jackal snickered again but fell silent. A few minutes later, the doors burst open and an armed regiment of vampires swept into the room. Most immediately surrounded me and Jackal, heavy crossbows pointed at us, while the rest searched the room, nudging the dead vampires and poking into dark corners.
"Little too late, chums," Jackal said from the floor. "If you're looking for the psychotic murdering vampire, he already went out the window."
"Master Salazar!"
Stick swept through the doors, followed by two more guards, of the human variety this time. One of them carried a white cooler, the lid coiling with frost; the other held a gun to the back of an unresisting Zeke. I bristled, but Zeke met my worried gaze and gave a short nod, indicating he was all right.
"Oh, God." Stick gazed around the room in shock, his face draining of color. Looking at me, his eyes widened. "Allie!" he snarled, stabbing a thin finger at me. "Where is the Prince? What have you done to him?"
"We didn't do anything!" I protested. "Sarren did this. We were just trying to stay alive."
"Sarren?" Stick paled even more, one hand going to his mouth. "No. No, you're lying. Sarren wouldn't do this. That's..."
He trailed off, his gaze falling on the desk and the crumpled form behind it. "Master Salazar!" Stick cried, rushing over and kneeling beside the motionless body. I watched, bemused and, absurdly enough, a little hurt. Stick had never shown me that kind of concern.
"He's still alive," Stick whispered. "Master, can you hear me?"
A strained, choked whisper came from the body behind the desk, and I stared in shock. Salazar had taken a wooden quarrel right to the chest. A shot like that would've put me into hibernation. If I'd had any doubts before that the Master vampire was strong, they had vanished completely.
"You!" Stick stood and pointed at one of the human guards, who straightened. Walking around the desk, Stick pointed back to the floor. "The stake needs to be removed. Take it out!"
"Sir!" Putting down the cooler, the guard rushed forward. Quickly, he hurried around the desk and dropped to his knees beside the Prince. Bending down, he vanished momentarily, and then stood a moment later, the bloody stick gripped triumphantly in one hand.
"I have it, sir," the guard said, looking at Stick. But Stick didn't move, didn't say anything. Just watched him with hooded, patient eyes. The guard frowned, confused, and opened his mouth to speak-when Salazar rose up from behind and plunged his fangs into the side of the man's neck.
I jumped. The guard let out a strangled gasp and went rigid, the stake dropping from nerveless fingers. Salazar tore at his throat, shredding flesh and muscle, blind in his Hunger, and the guard started to spasm. Stick and the vampire guards looked on impassively, their faces blank. But I glanced at Zeke, standing forgotten behind Stick and the other human, and his expression was grim, his fists clenched at his sides.
The Prince dropped the still-twitching guard to the floor with a hollow thud and turned blazing dark eyes on me. Blood smeared his lips, was spattered in vivid flecks across his face, and soaked his once-white collar. There was a crimson stain on the front of his shirt where the stake had been. I tensed, gripping the handle of my sword as the Prince stepped forward, over the corpse, his fury a terrifying storm that filled the whole room.
"Kanin's daughter!"
I winced as his booming voice shook the walls, making the air tremble. Even the guards looked nervous, and a few backed away from me.
"You," the Prince snarled, baring his fangs in my direction. "A curse on you and all your line! If my city was not in such dire straits, I would hang you outside my window to meet the sun. As it is, Kanin's daughter, you will find Sarren, and you will bring him to me alive. I don't care what it takes or where you must go, if you have to scour the streets of the Fringe and fight your way through infected madmen until you reach him, that is what you are going to do. If Sarren knows how to stop this plague, he will tell me. If he knows of a cure, I will peel the truth from him, bit by bit. One way or another, I will get answers, and if you wish to leave my city alive, you will deliver him to me."
It's never a good idea to argue with a pissed-off Master vampire, but I still raised my chin, met his furious gaze, and said, "I'm not going anywhere without Kanin."
His glare grew even colder. "I am in no mood to play games, Kanin's daughter," Salazar said in a low, controlled voice. "You tread on dangerous ground right now, so think very carefully on your demands."
"Why do you need us to find Sarren?" I asked in a calm, reasonable voice. "You have a whole tower of minions-"
He cut me off. "Sending humans after Sarren is useless. I might as well tear their heads off myself. And with the chaos out in the Fringe, I find myself rather short staffed at the moment." He seemed to grow even more irritable, admitting that. "I do not have the resources needed for a full-scale manhunt, so I will have to be content with what is available. You claim to have dealt with Sarren before-bring him to me and I will let you live. Fail me and you will die, either at Sarren's hands or my own. Make your decision."
"Okay. Fine." I swallowed and kept my voice calm. "You want us to find Sarren and bring him back. He's the only one who might know of a cure. He's also completely insane, and he's already taken apart four vampires and nearly succeeded in killing us all. Besides that, we don't know where he's gone, and the more time we spend chasing him, the worse New Covington will get." I paused to gauge Salazar's reaction to this. His expression was cold, unimpressed, but he wasn't arguing with me or ordering his guards to kill us. That was something, at least.
"The one who knows Sarren," I went on, praying this would work, "the only one who might be able to tell us where he is, what his next move will be, is Kanin. And if we do run into Psycho Vamp again, Kanin is the only one who might be able to stop him. You want Sarren?" I took my last gamble. "Let Kanin go. He's your best chance to save this city."
Salazar's jaw tightened. The idea infuriated him, to have Kanin right where he wanted him, only to have him slip through his fingers. But his hatred for Sarren was stronger now. "Very well," he said with great dignity. "I will release the damned one to you, on the condition that he will help you bring Sarren to me. However, if he tries to escape, or if you attempt to flee New Covington, I will hunt you both down myself. And if that happens, you will wish I had chosen to leave Kanin chained to a wall."
I tried to contain my relief. Kanin was free. I would finally rescue my sire. If-and my stomach curled-if there was still anything left of him in that mind shattered from Hunger and torture.
Salazar seemed to read my mind. "Of course," he added, looking faintly pleased now, "let us hope that Kanin is sane enough to help you. We might go down to his cell and find nothing remains but a Lost One."
And that would just make your night, wouldn't it? I swallowed the anger and bit my tongue, stopping the words that would get me into trouble. You'd love to see Kanin reduced to that. But it's not going to help you in the end, because if Kanin is gone, I'm not going to bring Sarren back. I'm going to kill him.
"About time." Forgotten beside me, Jackal suddenly stirred and pulled himself to his feet, gritting his teeth. His fangs were out, and his eyes gleamed a little too brightly as he straightened. "Don't anyone get up, I wouldn't want my near death to inconvenience you." He eyed the cooler, still sitting on the floor, then stared at the remaining human guard standing beside it. His lips curled, making him look as if he was barely holding himself back, and the human gulped. "You gonna eat that, Prince, or should I find someone else?"
Salazar made a dismissive gesture. The guard quickly opened the cooler, pulled out a blood bag, and tossed it to Jackal, who caught it and, even though he was starving, took a moment to give the Prince a mocking salute before biting through the plastic. Blood spurted, ran through his fingers and dripped to the floor, and I saw Zeke look away.
"Maybe you should stay here," I told Jackal, who ignored me in favor of savaging the blood bag. Uneasiness flickered. I knew that one bag wouldn't completely heal him, and I didn't want another half-starved vampire at my back when I went down to see Kanin. Plus, according to Jackal, he and Kanin hadn't parted on the best of terms. Our sire wasn't in the clearest state of mind right now; seeing Jackal might send him over the edge into violence. I couldn't afford that. "Wait up here," I told Jackal again. "I'll be back with Kanin as soon as I can."
He tossed the empty bag to the floor and grinned at me through a wet smear of red. "You do that," he said, licking blood off his bottom lip. Turning to the guard still beside the cooler, he snapped fingers at him, and the human pulled out another bag. Jackal caught it with a grimace. "You go ahead and play with Kanin," he told me. "I'll be here. Oh, and the little bloodbag should probably wait this one out, too. If Kanin is that starved, one whiff of human will make him absolutely nuts."
Dammit, I hadn't thought of that. I did not want to leave Zeke with a bunch of hungry, sadistic vampires. I especially didn't want to leave him here with Jackal. But Jackal was right. It was hard enough to resist biting a human when I was a little hungry. I couldn't imagine the depth of torment Kanin was feeling, but I knew that the mere sight or scent of a human would probably drive him completely insane. Zeke couldn't be there.
Zeke crossed the room, coming to stand beside me. His voice was low and calm as he leaned in. "What do you need me to do, Allie?"
I swallowed. "Jackal is right." I looked up into his solemn blue eyes, hoping he would understand. "I need you to stay here."
He nodded. "I don't like it, but...I trust you know what you're doing." He squeezed my hand, and I looked away. "Just promise me you'll be careful. I know we need him, and that he's important to you, but don't get yourself killed, okay?" He stepped closer, his voice dropping to a near whisper as he leaned in. "You're important to me, too, so remember that when you're down there."
"Zeke." I caught his gaze as he pulled back. His face was sincere, unguarded, no shadow of mistrust or suspicion lingering in his eyes. And something else in that open gaze made my stomach clench. I'd seen that look before, right before he had kissed me. I remembered his lips on mine, the warmth of his touch, the feelings he stirred. They were still there, rising up from the darkness, the part of me that refused to submit to the monster and the Hunger raging inside. The part that was still human.
I also caught Stick watching us from across the room, his mouth pulled into a thin line, his expression hooded and dark.
"If you are quite ready." Salazar's voice was coldly exasperated, and he turned hollow black eyes on me. "Wait for me in the hall. I must take care of a few things here, and then I will show you to the dungeon."