Catastrophe (19 page)

The house was two stories and white. Even in the dark it was beautiful and entirely un-vampire-like. We stood halfway down the block looking at the grand structure. All the houses were dark at this hour, but this one somehow seemed darker. Maybe it was just my eyes playing tricks on me, but the moon didn’t seem to touch the house the same way it did the others. The sky was at its darkest, but the sounds were already changing. Morning would be here soon and the vampires would be changed forever. Once I did this, all neutrality was gone. I was to publically take sides and change an entire race because of my own personal beliefs. All Corbin was here for was his own freedom, but at least he had a personal stake. Thomas, well, I didn’t really know what he wanted.

My stomach twisted, but it wasn’t the fight that was coming that had me nervous—I was ready for that. I was born ready to go to battle. This time, it was more about not knowing how Thomas would betray us. I wanted so much to believe him, but I couldn’t. Had we not needed him, I would have left him in the cabin. Thomas talked a good game. He was always filled with the words you wanted to hear, but he never made good on any of those pretty promises.

I studied him out of the corner of my eye. He looked calm. Too calm, considering what we were about to do. I had weapons covering practically every inch of my body, and he had two, and yet I was nervous and he was calm.

“Stop scowling at me,” he said without looking over.

“You’ve already betrayed us, haven’t you?”

“If I had, I wouldn’t tell you, would I?” He nudged me, and I thought about punching him. “No, I haven’t betrayed you. And for the record, I have no current plans to do so.”

“Then why are you here? Why are you doing this?”

“You’re the one who said to trust him,” Corbin said. “It’s now or never. There’s only so much time.”

“Just a second,” Thomas said, and he turned to me. “Can I talk to you?”

I waved the dead man’s hand for him to continue.

“In private.”

Corbin rolled his eyes, but moved away from us. Not so far that he couldn’t hear, but I guess it was far enough to appease Thomas, because he started talking.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen once we are inside. One or all of us might not make it.” He smiled a little, looking down at his feet. “This is hard.” He shook his head a little. “I’m not good with feelings and emotion. I haven’t had a lot experience feeling like… It’s been hard to accept. It’s always just been me. The loup-garou has made me look at my life. It’s undeniable. It’s always been you.”

“What has?”

Corbin snickered, but I ignored him. What in the hell was happening?

Thomas’s head fell back and he stared up at the sky. “I lov—”

“Nope.” I slapped my hand over his mouth. “I don’t want to hear it. We’re going in to fight. Get your head in the game.”

He looked down, perplexed.

I went over to Corbin. “I’m ready. Let’s do this.”

Corbin shrugged at Thomas. “Women.”

A moment later he grabbed me by the waist and the world blurred around us. I held tight to the hand as we blasted through the door. Inside he dropped me to my feet. The vampires were already charging toward us. I kicked the door closed behind us, cutting off the humans outside. Squatting, back against the door, I let Corbin and Thomas handle the first wave as I tucked the hand into the bag attached to my belt then found my knives. I scanned the room. Vampires were everywhere. They nearly filled the room, and more waited on the stairs and looked down from above. This was way too many for just us, no matter how young they were.

I rolled to Corbin’s right and jumped in the fight, knives flying as I went for the wounds they wouldn’t heal from. My arms and legs flew independent of my thoughts, fighting on all fronts as they tried to surround us. The solid silver heels of my boots might have been the best investment I’d ever made. I impaled another vampire on my shoe as I dropped two more in front of me. This was what I had been trained to do my whole life.

With each new vampire before me, I moved faster and with more strength than ever before. The goddess was with me, guiding my weapons as I went. My people didn’t understand why I wanted to leave my homeland, why I wanted to do things like this, but that was because they’d never tried. When I fought, when bodies fell at my feet, I felt her with me. I felt justice, my birthright as I had never experienced before.

Bodies fell around us, but more and more kept coming. I fought harder. Stab-twist-stab. Kick-stab-twist. Hands flew at me and I absorbed the impact. Blood ran from my arms; whether it was mine or theirs, I didn’t know. I couldn’t feel anything.

“Enough,” Paolo yelled from above.

Everyone stopped around us. I pulled my knife from the vampire’s temple and he dropped to the floor in the silent room. Paolo’s cold eyes met mine with more hatred than I had ever seen, and I winked at him. That old bastard never did like me.

“You fight your brethren,” he said, clearly talking to Corbin. “Alongside our enemies.” His eyes flickered back to me. “Her kind has never been a friend to the vampire, and yet you trust her before your own.”

Corbin looked up at him, eyes so black they could swallow worlds. “I have only one enemy in this room. No one else needed to die tonight. Come down and face me.”

“So it is true. You’ve come for me.” Paolo held on to the railing. “I had such high hopes for you.”

“You knew it would come to this. Camila. Clara. What did you think I would do? You took everything from me once… I won’t let you do it again.”

Paolo tsked. “The elf again. You were supposed to turn to me. Not to her. You were meant to love me more than any of the others.” Paolo’s gaze transferred to Thomas. “And you. You may come upstairs. You have played your part. Masterfully, as always.”

The vampires parted, but Thomas didn’t move. There were those wheels turning again. My hand twitched with the desire to end him before he could betray me a third time, but I didn’t. He nodded and did as he was told without a second glance at us.

I fucking knew it. Why did I never learn with him?

When he reached the top, Paolo kissed his temple. “You did well, my son. Your rewards will reflect your success.”

I blinked. His what? I glanced at Corbin, who showed nothing.

“They weren’t hard to lead here.” I could feel Thomas’s stare burning into me. “I want to keep the Sekhmet. I choose her as my reward.”

Paolo’s mouth pinched. “No. She has been a thorn in my side long enough. She’ll die and Corbin will watch. Then we find the elf. That is the only way.”

“Come and get me.” I attacked again. It didn’t matter if Thomas was with us or against us, or that we were outnumbered twenty to one. They wouldn’t take me without a fight. I’d take as many of them with me as I could.

The glass broke behind me, an arm curled around my neck, and I was dragged through the window.

Thomas threw me to the ground and stood over me with glowing red eyes as the change tore through his body. It was faster this time, but looked just as painful. I moved for my knife and he roared, dropping down over the top of me, gnashing his teeth as new teeth tore out of his gums. Blood dripped on my face and chest from its mouth. A low rumble tore from it as its head swiveled. The beast’s fetid breath burned in my nostrils.

It leaned in closer and I held my breath, but didn’t close my eyes. If Thomas was going to kill me, he’d look me in the eye. Its long, wet tongue started at my neck and ran up to my temple. Disgusting, rotten dog breath.

I met its red eyes. The half-wolf, half-human, distorted face caked in blood nearly brushed mine. Thomas was in there. No matter how he looked, I could see him there staring down at me. Even praying to Olivia at this point probably wouldn’t save me. My only real hope was that it killed me outright and didn’t try to curse me. I had nine lives. I could come back from whatever it did—so long as I didn’t end up in pieces—but the curse I would have to live with, and I had no idea what it would take from me.

Thomas growled again, head swiveling and teeth gnashing, but not at me. Vampires had surrounded us. Was he protecting me? The vampires charged all at once. The loup-garou sprang to life. A cross somewhere between a wolf and a human, but really neither, it was a strange creature that was made for one thing: killing. Its claws were several inches long and sliced through the vampires with ease. The beast moved faster than the vampires, shredding them as they came near us. Was that just because he was a vampire underneath? His teeth were elongated, and ripped and tore at anything they touched. Blood and pieces of vampires rained down on me. I scrambled to my feet, but the beast knocked me back down.

Then Thomas yelped as Paolo hit him fast and hard from the side, knocking him across the yard and into a huge, old tree with a sickening crack. He fell limp to the ground.

I stood up, facing off against the ancient vampire. “You have caused me quite enough trouble, don’t you think?” he said, looking down at me.

My bloody fingers clung to the knife even as the vampires surrounded me.

“Give up, Sekhmet. You have been outmaneuvered in every way. I honestly expected more from you.”

I threw the knife straight at his head as fast and hard as I could as at least four vampires took a hold of me, taking long, intoxicating pulls from my life force, turning my bones into jelly. My eyelids grew heavy and my legs ceased to support me as I hung in their arms, helpless against them.

Paolo slowly came toward me, cupping my face in his hands as he tilted my head up toward him. “There are worse ways to die than by our hands,” he said, pressing his cold, waxy lips to mine and drinking deeply from my soul, pulling me away from the others.

“Enough.” Sy’s voice came from behind me.

“So you decided to join the fight,” Paolo said, turning me around in his arms, though my head lolled forward. “I told Leilah you wouldn’t be able to stay away. Your pet is mine now, and I assure you, she is delicious.” His lips brushed against my neck and my eyes threatened to close. “The dragon gave her to me.”

Sy looked about as menacing as I had ever seen him. “She belongs to no one. You don’t want to challenge me, Paolo.”

Paolo shook his head. “Your council wants what I want. Peace among the vampires. That is all. They sent her to me so I could achieve that goal, and look what she has done. She brought me a fugitive and my wayward flock. Her function is through. Her continued existence, however, is a threat. If you kill me…I’ll take it personally. She was mine the moment they sent her to New Orleans. Leilah knew it, and now so do you. There is nothing you can do to save her.”

Darkness crept to the edge of my vision. It was too hard to hold on. My fingers numbly grasped at my side, until I hit what I hoped was a knife. I did the only thing I could and swung my arm blindly up, not knowing if it would hit me or him—but it didn’t really matter. The blade struck something, sinking in to the hilt. I didn’t feel it, but I couldn’t feel anything. “I am no one’s,” I said, though the words were garbled even to my own ears.

I kept my hand that held the knife squeezed tightly into a fist until it was pulled from my fingers and I began to fall. But I never hit the ground.

Hands were on me, pulling at me, but they weren’t feeding from me. Warmth spread through me, combating the numbness. I did my best to push them away, but they were persistent as they rubbed roughly across my skin.

“Femi. Open your eyes. Fight back,” Sy said before slapping me soundly. That did it. I opened my eyes. I took a swing at him, but my arm moved slowly and he easily avoided it.

He smiled a little. “That’s good. Stay mad. There’s no time to sleep. You have to keep moving.”

The fighting wasn’t over. I could still hear it all around us. “I’m okay,” I said, becoming aware that I was leaning against the house. “Help them.”

Sy started to shake his head, but vampires were already coming toward us.

“Help Corbin,” I said.

“Holden already went after him,” he said, pulling a sword out of thin air. Elves had all the fun tricks. He twirled it in front of him and grinned at the vampires surrounding us before beckoning them forward.

The vampires may have been faster than him, but he moved with easy, graceful, controlled swings that cut through them like they weren’t even there.

I stamped my feet, trying to get the feeling back in my legs, and moved my arms. The sun was beginning to crest and the vampires who were left standing were starting to jump ship. As they thinned out, I had a clear view of Thomas, still sprawled unmoving under the tree.

Sy was busy with the last few vampires, so I went toward Thomas, though it felt like the world was sitting sideways. I stumbled and staggered my way over before dropping down beside him. His face was normal again—bloody, but normal.

I pressed a hand to his neck. There was still a pulse. Not that he’d live long after the sun came up, and I was too weak to drag him inside. I slapped his forehead. “Thomas. Wake up.” I hit him again.

His blue eyes fluttered open and met mine. He smiled slightly, his teeth still pink from the blood. He reached up and touched my cheek lightly, his eyes closing as his fingertips dragged down over my bottom lip. “You’re still here.”

“Paolo underestimated me. He thought he had won.”

Thomas pushed himself up, air hissing between his teeth. “Is he dead?”

I pointed to the body still lying in the grass. “Holden went to get Corbin.” Corbin. Some of the fog dissipated from my mind. “You have to go.”

Thomas met my eyes. “He won’t stop coming after me.”

I nodded. It was true, and Thomas absolutely deserved it, but… “Go. I don’t want to know where you are.”

“Femi.” He gave me a soft, pleading look. “You didn’t let me say it before—”

“Go,” I said, pushing him. “Go now and don’t come back. Not for anything.”

He touched my face again. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything.” And then he was gone. He wouldn’t make it far before daylight, but then again, neither would Corbin.

I looked up and met Sy’s direct gaze. His face was blank as he looked at me. Finally he nodded ever so slightly, acceptance flickering through his eyes. I pushed myself back to my feet and went toward him.

“Your timing, it’s pretty good,” I said.

He winked at me, offering me his arm to lean on. “You have no idea.”

I bypassed the arm and went straight for his chest, resting my head against his shoulder. “Thank you,” I said. “I know the council…”

Sy ran his hand over my hair. “Don’t worry about the council.”

I took a couple slow, deep breaths then straightened back up. “I had to let him go.”

He nodded again. “I know.”

I squeezed his hand. “Thank you for coming.” I waited for his typical “I’ll always be there” speech, but he didn’t say anything. “You wouldn’t have anything to eat, would you?”

He laughed. “And you’re feeling better. Maybe you can find something inside.” He closed the shutters on the broken window before we went through the front door.

The house was quiet now. Holden and Corbin both stood in the living room with their arms crossed over their chests, probably competing to see who could use the fewest words possible.

“Is the house clear?” Sy asked.

Holden glanced at me and nodded. “Probably should call for clean-up.”

“I’m on it,” Sy said, then immediately turned around and went back outside.

I collapsed on the couch and kicked Corbin’s leg. “Glad you’re not dead.”

“Likewise. Sorry about Thomas,” he said, but he didn’t sound sorry at all. “Well, mostly I’m sorry that I wasn’t the one who got to kill him.”

I stretched my arms in front of me, still fighting off the numbness. “You didn’t do any of the heavy lifting. I killed Paolo. Paolo killed Thomas. What did you do?”

He looked around the room littered with vampires. “Nothing at all.”

I nodded. “Typical.”

Holden sat down beside me. “Nothing like waiting until the last second to call.”

I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. “I didn’t call.”

The corner of his mouth turned down as he turned to me. “Olivia said…”

I shook my head, shrugging. “It wasn’t me.”

“While all of this is fascinating, I’m knackered. I’ll see you when I see you.” Corbin left with a half-salute.

“Consider what I said,” Holden said to Corbin.

“Caring—it’s just not really my thing.” Corbin gave him a one-shoulder shrug.

“It doesn’t have to be,” Holden said.

Corbin nodded. “I’ll sleep on it.” With that, he disappeared into the darkness of the hallway.

After several moments of silence, I whispered, “You told him Thomas died?”

Holden winked at me. “He looked dead to me.”

But Thomas had changed Maggie and left us in Arizona. Holden had as much of a reason as anyone to hate him. “Why? After everything he’s done.”

“I didn’t do it for him.” Holden patted my knee. “I’m going to go talk to Liv. Tell Sy I’ll see you guys at the meeting. He’ll catch you up on what we found out.” He stood up.

“Hey, Holden.”

His cool green eyes met mine for a moment.

“You’re pretty great.”

He smiled and disappeared into a cloud of black smoke. I pushed myself off the couch and found my way into the kitchen. I opened the refrigerator.

“Gah! Damn vampires. Why don’t you eat?” I slammed the door closed. Worthless.

I opened each cabinet hoping for anything at all, but no luck. The one thing I definitely wasn’t doing was thinking about Thomas. The fact that he’d not only resisted the curse and didn’t kill me, but also fought the vampires off me and almost died, didn’t change anything. Not really.

And I wouldn’t want him to change, not for me. That wasn’t the life I wanted. Relationships tied you down. The world was huge and there was still so much left to see. And there was absolutely nothing that would keep me from seeing everything.

“What are you smiling about?” Sy asked from the doorway.

I grinned wider. “I love my life.”

He shook his head. “I know you do.”