Bitten by Darkness (23 page)

“They're
already here,” she hissed, clutching Jasper's hand. The city lights around and
below them twinkled merrily, completely at odds with how desperate she felt,
stuck out here on a ledge.

“Sienna?”
a woman's voice, weak and trembling, spoke up from the corner.

Sienna
whirled around.
“Mom?”
She
squinted,
just able to make out her mother crouched under the metal table shoved against
the corner of the balcony.
“Oh my God, Jasper.”
She
ran to the table and shoved away a chair. “Mom, what are you doing here?” She
held out a hand. Her mother grabbed it, fingers cold and thin. She pulled her
upright, trying not to panic when she saw how pale her mother's face looked.

“Mom,
what happened? Where's Sara?” Sienna asked, hugging her tightly. Her mother
didn't answer. Sienna had to hold her up on her feet when the older woman swayed
in her arms. “Mom?” she tried again, but Violet just shook her head. Sienna
didn't know how she came to be on the balcony, but she knew they had to get the
hell out of here. Looking back through the windows, she watched the inner door
of the room they'd locked fly open and crash into the wall. Wings filled the
small space.

Jasper
shut the balcony doors and shoved the heavy metal table in front of them.
“Sienna, bring her.”

She
looked at him.
How the hell is he so
calm?
she
wondered.
“Jasper?”

“If they
come through the glass, kill them,” he said, taking something from his pocket
and crouching down.

She
looked worriedly through the windows. The monsters were halfway across the
room. She pushed her mother behind her. “Jasper, whatever you're going to do,
you'd better hurry up.” She bit her lip, chewing on it nervously. A pang of
grief shot through her when one of the winged vampires made it to the glass and
pressed his face up against it, grinning. She didn't want to die, not now, not
when she'd just found Jasper. She wanted to spend a lot more time with him. She
glanced down, trying to see what he was doing.

He'd
placed a thin metal ring the size of his palm on the balcony. As she watched,
he tapped the side of it then stepped back. The ring grew. She flinched as the
creature at the window ran its fingernails down the glass. She brought up her
blade, trying to watch both the ring and their backs. It was difficult. She was
still holding her mother.

“When the
ring activates, step into it,” Jasper said, coming to stand next to her. He
took her sword from her and edged just in front of her and her mother.

“What?
Why?” Sienna glanced down again. The ring was now big enough for her to stand
in it.

“It's a
grav-lensor
,” Jasper explained.

She
frowned.
“A what?”

“A sort of transporter.
Don't worry about it.” The glass cracked.

Sienna
flinched and grabbed her mother. As soon as she stepped into the ring, the
window burst. Black wings filled the balcony and then Jasper brought up the
sword, the muscles in his back flexing as he slashed. Red ash filled the air as
the vampires began to scream, the first noise they'd made since Sienna saw them
in the elevator shaft. She opened her mouth to warn him—
Another
! On your left!
—but a flash of light surrounded her, cutting off
her air. She choked and fell down.

Chapter Sixteen

When
Sienna opened her eyes, the smell of burnt leaves greeted her. They were in a
dark forest. Her mother gasped and fell over. Sienna looked around briefly
before struggling to her feet, but there wasn't much light. She pulled her mom
up, staggering as the other woman grabbed her around the waist, hands like
claws.

“Mom,
it's
okay,” she murmured, gently prying open her mother's
fingers. Sienna helped her walk, then set her down on a rock propped against a tree.
The older woman struggled a bit, trying to get back up, and Sienna put a hand
to her shoulder, pressing gently.

“Mom.
Stay there until I can figure out where we are.” Where the hell was Jasper? She
could just make out the bare bones of a trail surrounded by towering trees.
Shadows cloaked the woods and Sienna wished she had the blade back in her
hands,
then
reconsidered. If Jasper was still trapped
on the balcony with those creatures he needed it more than her. Right now, the
trees were silent, not even a stray breeze rustling the dry leaves. She looked
down, not really seeing anything else clearly. She thought the trail looked
familiar, but her eyes were still watering from the flash of light and she
couldn't really make out any landmarks. She took a shaky breath and rubbed her
face, wondering what to do next when another flash lit the woods. Jasper
appeared in the center of a circle of charred dirt and leaves, facing away from
them, looking like he'd been through hell. His back was a mass of bleeding scratches.
Ash sifted around him like snow and then the metal ring suddenly materialized
at his feet. He stepped out of it.

Sienna
choked back a cry when he bent down and picked it up. It was small again,
somehow. He tucked it in his pocket and turned. “Sienna, thank God.”

She
didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
“Jasper?
Are you
real?” She reached out.

He
stepped forward and tucked her in his arms. She burrowed her face into his
neck, trying to convince herself that she wasn't dreaming. The scent of his blood
made her mouth water for a split-second and then the comfort of his arms
overcame everything. She held him as close as she could without hurting him.

“
Shhh
.
It's okay.” He ran a hand down her hair. His
chest was warm beneath her cheek.

A few
minutes later, when she stopped trembling, she lifted her face.
“Jasper.
What the hell?”

He
smiled. “Well, I wasn't sure it would work, but we had no choice.”

“Your
transporter thing?” she asked.

“Yes.
It's a miniaturized version of the tech I used on my star-skimmer, but I've
never had a chance to test it.” He frowned. “I brought it as a bribe, in case
Alucard
didn't accept our bond. I didn’t expect to use it
to escape I wasn’t sure it was going to work on planet.”

Sienna
sighed. “It worked.” She glanced
around,
frustrated
that she still couldn't see much. “Are we safe here? Where are we?”

He shook
his head. “We're about a quarter-mile from my house. We should approach
cautiously. I was afraid to drop us any closer.”

She
nodded, thinking of all the vampires that had come for them. “Where did he get
all those monsters?”

Jasper
ran a hand through his hair. “I suspect he's been experimenting for a long
time. While I'm not surprised that he would violate our laws with unethical
manipulation of revenants, I truly didn’t know he had done so.” He grimaced. “I
would never have pursued you had I known—”

Sienna
shook her head, interrupting him. “No regrets, Jasper. I learned that after my
father left.” She pursed her lips, remembering his wounds. “Your
back,
let me see.”

“It's
already healing.” He turned.

She ran
her hands lightly down his skin. The scratches had become delicate, pink scars,
some already fading. The streaks of blood on his back remained. She kissed him
in the middle of his spine, her lips tingling as his blood touched her skin.

“Sienna,”
he shuddered. “We need to get out of here.”

She
leaned her face against him. “I know.”

On the
edge of the clearing near Jasper's mansion, the three of them kept to the
shadows. There were vampires all over the house. Winged slaves patrolled the
skies while several revenants walked the perimeter.

“How did
they get past the cloaking-veil?” she asked Jasper.

“Sara
must have disabled it.” He sighed heavily.

Sienna
grimaced. “She’s probably dead.”

“Yeah,”
he
said,
voice curt and unhappy. He settled her mother
against a tree. The older woman slept restlessly and Sienna worried about her
losing body heat on the ground, but they didn't really have any choice. When
Sienna had asked, Jasper said he wasn't sure why her mother was so confused and
weak. They'd checked her for injuries, but she had no visible marks. For now,
they'd just have to keep her hidden. He said the ring was too dangerous to use
except as a last resort.
Something about exploding the planet
with gravity.
Sienna shivered thinking about the look on his face when
he'd explained that.

“I’ll
sneak in and try to figure out what
Alucard
is
doing.” Jasper straightened up, flexing his back.

Sienna
winced, watching his just-healed scratches stretch over his skin. She hoped
none of them broke open. “That's your great plan?
Because it
sucks.”

He turned
to her, amused grey eyes gleaming through the darkness. “What choice do we
have?”

“I don't
know, but that one sounds like a great way to get
yourself
turned to ash,” she said bitterly, not joking this time.

His mouth
settled into a grim line.
“Sienna.
The
nanites
are in my basement lab.”

Of course
they were. “Shit.”

“Yeah.”
He’d turned away and watched the activity through the trees again.

Sienna
looked him over. His pants were ripped at the knee. Thankfully his wounds had
mostly healed, but he was dusty and streaks of blood still marred his skin. He
was the most gorgeous man she'd ever set eyes on.

“I don't
want anything to happen to you, Jasper. I just found you.” She blinked, keeping
sudden tears back. What was wrong with her? Now was not the time to get all
weepy, but she couldn’t seem to help it.

“Sienna,
love,” he said, running a finger down her cheek. “We found each other.” He
cupped his hands around her face and kissed her once, twice, so gently she had
to bite her lip to keep from sobbing.

She
pulled away, frustrated with herself more than him. “There must be some other
way,” she muttered, anger stirring.

“Oh
indeed, there is another way,” a mocking voice said.

Jasper
whirled, putting Sienna at his back before she even registered that someone was
speaking. What the hell? She looked over Jasper's shoulder. Sebastian
Alucard
stood on the trail, spotless and arrogant. He held
a vial of blood. His blond hair was perfectly groomed and his shirt was as
spotless as it had been back in Manhattan. Sienna suppressed a surge of rage.
She needed to be cool in case someone else snuck up on them.
No more freaking out. Pay attention
, she
told herself. It didn’t work. She swallowed against the lump in her throat.

“Sebastian.
I hope you have a good explanation for invading my home.” Jasper's voice was
smooth and strong, showing no indication of his anger.

Sienna
didn't know how he managed it—her heart felt like it was going to explode from
the stress. After everything that had happened, having Sebastian pop up in the
middle of a dark forest right in front of them was the last straw.

“I hoped
you were dead,” she said contemptuously, curling her fingers around Jasper's
bicep. She wasn't sure if it was to keep him from attacking or to keep her from
fainting.

“Ah, no.
Just my dear father.
Well, and a few slaves, but that
couldn't be helped.
Such a waste.”
Sebastian didn't
move as he spoke.

“What of
the Countess?” Jasper
asked,
his voice still low and
easy.

“Hmm, yes.
Gorgeous Sara.”
Sebastian's face took on a hint of
true regret. “I'm sorry to say that she passed into dust when my father was
inadvertently lost. The slave bond, as you know, is rather shockingly fragile
when it's held for that many years.
Centuries.”

Jasper
trembled under her hands, though she doubted Sebastian could tell.

“So, she
was your father's slave?” she asked, to buy them some time for Jasper to
formulate a plan, any plan. Something useful had to come of this. She glanced
around, but couldn’t tell if there were revenants in the trees. The darkness
was too thick even for her enhanced night-vision.

“Yes. It
was stupid of your step-brother to bring her to
Kroy
City, but one does as one must when family is threatened.” Sebastian lifted a
shoulder minutely.

“Your
father threatened Ambrose?” Sienna asked.

“Indeed.”
Sebastian turned a pitying look on her. “My father held the Lawrence family in
thrall for thousands of years. That trip to
Dekcol
was just the latest generational contract coming up for renewal, I suppose you
could say.”