Survivor (27 page)

Rotting darkness seeped into my mind.  I could sense
intent there.  He still thought there was something special about me.  I had
killed his minion, so I must have some sort of special ability.  He wanted
whatever it was I had.  He thought it would help him get to Leah.  He didn’t
understand- couldn’t have even guessed- that Peter and Leah, and even Haine were
the kind of people to protect someone simply out of kindness.  I suppressed my
will and let him come, not fighting it as I felt the slimy presence flow from
Haine to me.

Greed and hatred filled me, coiling around my
conscience like a wisp of black smoke.  The master vampire was old, older than
anything I could imagine.  His presence was choking, but I drew it in until I
felt him fill me.  Then I stopped being passive. 

I knew the moment he realized that I was aware.  The
presence started to leave me, but I clung to it, holding his mind- his will-
inside my own.  Haine’s arm tightened around me in a spasm of surprise, and he
was once again in control of his own body. 

The oozing blackness inside my head began to burn. 
“
Son of a bitch
!”  I dropped to my knees, jerking away from Hiane to hit
the floor with a jarring impact.  The presence inside me wanted me to crawl to
Leah.  It was desperate, focused only on her death.  If I died in the process,
well, that would just be a bonus.  He was furious that I had managed to trick
him, that I could overpower him enough to contain him.

I dropped to my hands and knees and started to crawl,
then took control again and wrapped my arms around myself, falling forward to
hit my face on the floor.  I curled up in the fetal position, refusing to
move.  The black thing inside me clawed at my brain.  It tried to tear me to
shreds from the inside out.  Raw, brutal screams reached my ears through the
haze of pain, and I dimly realized that they were my own. 

I felt Peter’s aura grow and knew he was about to
try to control me.  I risked a glance and saw that he was still guarding Leah. 
Some of her vampires had come into the room and they were heading our way. 
Haine stood before me, shielding me. 

“Haine,” I panted, still fighting for control.  It
was hard to focus on the outside world.  Everything kept wanting to go black. 
“Keep him away from me. “

His sharp silver eyes darted behind us, looking for
enemies and I lifted weak hand toward Peter.  “Don’t.”

Haine moved in a flash, knocking Leah’s vampires aside,
and squaring off with Peter.  I could feel the hostility in the room.  No one
quite trusted Haine.  “Peter,” he said urgently.  “Don’t touch her aura.  Leave
her be!”

Peter’s eyes were snapping with rage.  “Who are you
to tell me what I can and cannot do with
my child?”
  Aw shit, he was
going territorial.  Haine rushed to explain, even as he continued to beat down
the vampires that were trying to get at me.  I couldn’t hear what he said.  I
couldn’t stay out there anymore.

The inside of my skull felt like it was on fire.  I
mustered up my anger at being used like this and pushed back. 
Leave us.
 I demanded, putting force behind my thoughts. 

The foul thing screamed and raged in my mind.  I
thought of pressure, of crushing and suffocating, of squashing the thing inside
me.  I drew from my aura, sending power tingling through my body and slowly,
painfully, began to beat him back.  I could see him then, lying huddled in the
darkness somewhere, while my consciousness entered his mind.  He was fading, filled
with bitterness and hatred, and hopelessness.  He wanted to take the legacy of
his enemy to the grave with him.  He wanted the world to fall into chaos.  He
loathed the vampires John and Leah cultivated.  Qualities like gentleness and
mercy only equated to weakness. 

And yet, he was the one cowered, fading and alone. 
Weak.  With a twang, I left his mind and returned to my own, leaving the old
thing wasted and spent.  I realized I was lying face down on the floor,
gasping, though I didn’t really need to breathe.

I pushed myself up onto my knees and stayed there, swaying. 
A roomful of vampires stood staring down at me with looks ranging from
suspicion to outright hostility.  They stood outside a circle of about eight
feet, as close as they could get with Haine defending me like a jealous lover.

“Melody?”  It was Peter’s voice, and I found him
still at Leah’s side.  Always where a good soldier should be.  I let out a
soft, bitter laugh.  Haine was over here protecting
me.
  Of course, it
was Haine’s fault that I needed protecting in the first place. 
Damn it.

“It’s her.”  Haine’s rich voice was close.  His arms
enfolded me and he scooped me up off the floor.  I was starting to shake. 

Leah’s voice rose, telling everyone to back the fuck
up.  She’d had a rough night.  I thought maybe the old vampire had broken
something inside me.  I felt dizzy, and the room was getting all red around the
edges.  God help me if I suffered blood lust twice in one evening.  Peter had
come to us.  I could smell him, and feel the stress in his aura- fear, hurt,
anger.  “Give her to me.  Please.”  He sounded desperate.

Haine turned his back to Peter, shielding me.  “No,
the price is mine to pay.”  My eyes met Peter’s over Haine’s broad shoulder, as
I sank my teeth into his neck.  The pain in my head eased instantly and I
closed my eyes, filling myself with Haine’s rich power.

My protector took me across the room and collapsed
into an overstuffed chair.  He was the only one who understood the horror of
what I had just been through- of having something so deeply evil take over your
mind.  I shifted closer, making sure I didn’t break my connection, and drank my
fill, refusing to think of anything else.  I had never felt so drained of
power, so completely empty. 

Ever so slowly, I began to feel balanced again.  I
realized that Haine’s heartbeat was growing slow, even for a vampire.  I lifted
my head and looked at him.  He had his head thrown back and his eyes closed,
but he met my gaze when I stopped draining him.

“Better?”  His voice was his own, soft and warm,
with a hint of humor.  I grimaced.  “Much, thanks.”  No one else spoke.  It was
eerie.  There was a heavy sense of waiting hanging over the room.

Haine stood and set me on my feet.  I wasn’t shaking
anymore.  His blood was unbelievably rich and strong.  He ruffled my hair and
gave me a sad smile before crossing the room to Leah and the others.  I trailed
in his wake, wondering what was going on. 

Haine knelt in front of the coven leader and bowed
his head.  She stood looking down on him as if he were a foreign creature. 
“Mistress, please take my life.”

I nearly bit off my tongue.  I started forward, but
Peter’s command halted me in my tracks.  “Melody!” 

Leah sighed.  “First explain to me.  Everything.”

Haine’s soft voice filled the hushed room.  “My
master fades.  Seeing his weakness, I took the opportunity to leave his side.” 
Leah nodded.  This wasn’t news to her. 

He kept his eyes on her feet.  “He slipped into my
mind once before, when I was unaware.  He realized where I was.”

Peter frowned.  “He bore a grudge against John. “

Haine nodded.  “He has been using lesser vampires,
taking over their minds and using them as puppets.  It usually only works on
the weak, but he was working his way up toward our coven using groups of lesser
vampires to take out the stronger ones- like he tried to do with Cashern and
his bunch.”

He gave a heavy sigh.  “I knew what he was doing,
and yet I stayed.  I should have left at once.  I brought danger to the coven
and I’ve put your life in danger mistress.”

I put a hand on his shoulder and he glanced up to
meet Peter’s eyes.  “I never meant any harm to come to Melody.  I genuinely
care for her.”  He shrugged.  “I slowly figured out that there was something
that made her special.  I wasn’t sure what it was- and I didn’t want to know. 
I didn’t want
him
to know.”  He squeezed my hand where it rested on his
shoulder.  That’s why he hadn’t let me tell him.  “I used her as a safeguard. 
I didn’t really think he could get at me, but if I were weakened, if he did-
then Melody could reach me through our bond.  And I suspected that she could
stop him.”

Peter’s lean cheek flexed as he clenched his jaw. 
“You risked too much,” he said angrily.

Haine nodded agreement.  “I did.  I accept my
punishment.”

Viktor’s surly voice piped up.  “Why didn’t you just
tell someone what was going on?  Or get the hell out of here?”

It was Leah who answered.  “He couldn’t tell anyone
because he was under a geas from his master.”

Haine nodded.  “I couldn’t speak of it.  But I could
have left.  I should have.  I was just… too weak.”

Viktor snorted, and my anger got the best of me.  I
squeezed Haine’s shoulder and stepped closer.  “You’re not weak.  It wasn’t
something you could help.”  I met Leah’s eyes defiantly, not caring that I was
shouting at my coven leader.  If she meant to harm him, then she was blind.

“He couldn’t leave because he fell in love.” 
Cynthia let out a bitter laugh at my corny statement and I turned my glare on
her.  “Old vampires form deeper connections.  What happens when they find their
mate?”

Leah had moved forward.  “Haine,” her voice was
flat, betraying nothing.  “How old are you?”

His muscles tensed.  For a moment, I thought he
wouldn’t speak.  Then he lifted his head and met her eyes.  “I was one of my
master’s first children.  I am over six hundred years old.”

She closed her eyes in a long blink and took a deep
breath.  “And have you found a mate in this coven?  Is that what caused you to
stay?”

He squared his shoulders and stood.  I dropped my
hand and shut my mouth, hoping he would forgive me for this if it saved his
life.  “Yes, I have.”

All of the other vampires were staring at me.  Haine
and I were often together.  We shared a blood bond that none of them had been
aware of.  We had just saved each other’s lives and he had nearly let me drain
him.  I glanced at Peter.  He had to know the truth.  His expression had closed
down, and I could feel his aura vibrating.  He knew
… didn’t he?

I ignored him and looked at Haine and Leah.  She
picked up the knife he had tried to kill her with.  She took a step closer and
I jumped.  “No!  You can’t do this.  He…”  Peter crossed the space between us
in two steps and grabbed my arm, jerking me away from Haine’s side. 

The beautiful old vampire didn’t look away from
Leah’s eyes as she drew the knife.  Peter’s power over me held me still, and I
couldn’t fight against it.  I clenched my eyes shut, praying to God for a
miracle.  How could Leah be so blind?

Then the smell of blood filled my senses and my eyes
flew open.  It wasn’t Haine’s blood.  It was Leah’s.  She offered her wrist to
Haine and he hesitated only a second before he took it.  “This vampire is
mine.”  She spoke for the benefit of the room at large, but her eyes never left
Haine as she gazed down at his bent head. 

I let out a sigh of relief and Peter let me have my
will back.  “I thought she wouldn’t get it.”  Haine had been in love with Leah
for some time now.  Apparently, she wasn’t as oblivious as he thought.

The room was quietly emptying, now that Leah had
bound her attacker.  Peter took my hand and pulled me out the door.  “You’ve
done your good deed for the day,” he said flatly.

I didn’t ask where we were going.  I didn’t care, as
long as we could be alone.  If I never saw another vampire again for as long as
I lived, it would be too soon.  The politics, the customs, the stupid magic
that bound them- us - together…  I was just sick of it all.  Neither of us
spoke as we made our way through the park.  I had no idea what he was
thinking.  The emotions coming off him were all confused, and I was too tired
to sort them out.  The moon was a beautiful, golden color and its reflection
danced across the water as we stood at the river’s edge. 

A night bird called somewhere, breaking the
silence.  “Are you safe?”  Peter’s voice was gentle.  “That monster… will he be
back?”

I shook my head in the darkness.  “No.”  I was
absolutely certain the ancient thing wouldn’t ever trouble anyone again.  “I…I
broke him.”  I had stolen what was left of his will.  He was nothing now.  He
would fade, something that should have happened long ago.

Peter let out a sigh of relief.  “Good.”  He took my
hands and turned to face me in the moonlight.  “When you were alive, I got used
to caring for you.  You were weak and I could protect you with my strength.” 
He snorted depreciatingly, “but now… now the things that you struggle with
aren’t physical.  I’m useless.”

I shook my head.  “You’re wrong.  You helped me
tonight.  You trusted me… so much that you did nothing.”  In the heat of the
moment, I had been angry at him for just standing by so callously, but now that
I had cooled down a bit, I could see what he had done for me.  If I hadn’t
begged him to help, if he hadn’t had enough faith in me to trust that I was
right, he would have acted as the soldier he was.  He would have killed Haine,
and me.

He chuckled and pressed his forehead to mine.  “Just
please,
please
, never do that again.  It was the hardest thing I’ve ever
had to do to stand there and watch you like that.”