The Shadow's Son (23 page)

"I'll carry you."

"Oh, no you won't. You almost killed me in that car!"

"I healed you."

"Lucky for you I was still alive."

His eyes began to darken and he turned away before she could push him any further. "You have legs," he snapped. "Use them."

Coraline only groaned and began to walk down the side of the highway, looking past him back down the road, but it was empty, the only sign of the crash the broken barrier.

They'd only walked half a mile when Zac looked back and found she'd fallen behind. "You walk too slow," he huffed, his breath vaporizing in the icy air.

"Not all of us have super vampire strength you know," she said sarcastically as she caught up.

"Here," he said, beckoning her over. "Jump on my back."

"What?" She hugged her arms around herself, turning a shoulder towards him.

"I said, get on my back. It'll be faster."

"No way."

"Coraline," he rolled his eyes, annoyed at her reluctance. "I'm not going to eat you and I'm not going to hurt you. I swear you won't catch a horrible disease by touching me."

She looked at him warily, glancing back down the road.

"Yeah, they'll be coming soon enough," he said, but she still didn't move. "For fuck's sake. It's freezing, you'll catch your death standing out here."

"If you're not with them, then who are you with?" she asked quietly.

"Is that what this is?" he scoffed.

"Who?"

Zac sighed loudly, running a hand over his face. If he was on a side, he supposed it would be hers. "We're on the same side, Coraline. Now get the fuck on my back."

Reluctantly, she jumped up onto his back, curling her arms around his neck and he hooked her knees around his elbows.

"Hold on," he said sharply. "If you fall off, I'm not going back for you."

"This is it," Coraline said, tapping Zac on the shoulder.

He shrugged her off his back and she almost fell on her backside.

"Hey!"

"Thirty minutes is better than six hours, huh?" he said, ignoring her.

They stood out the front of a small cottage, warm light glowing from the downstairs windows. A think layer of frost had already settled on the grass and Coraline was shivering, despite wearing his coat. Well, Nye's coat. She shucked it off and threw it at him like it was laced with poison.

"A thanks would be nice," he cocked his head to the side, watching her in the half-light.

"Thanks," she rolled her eyes and walked up to the front door, rapping on it sharply. A moment later the door inched open a crack and a man peered out at them.

"Coraline?" he exclaimed, throwing the door open wide. A second later he saw Zac loitering in the shadows and he swallowed hard, looking him up and down as the witch ducked inside.

Zac laughed at him, shaking his head. "Invite me in Maximus."

"I'm not even going to begin to wonder how you know who I am," the priest said. "Thank you for freeing Coraline. I assume that's what you did vampire, but I can't let you in."

"You can and you will."

"Compulsion won't work on me."

Zac laughed again. "I'm not trying."

"What else could you possibly want from us?"

"You want to finish the Coven and I want to finish the Romans."

Maximus' eyes widened.

"Let him in, Max," Coraline placed a hand on his shoulder. "He's an arse, but he's with her."

He frowned at her, obviously confused. "Fine, come in."

Zac pushed past him into the house. "I need to go back to London, but you have to do something for me first, Coraline."

"What?" she asked warily.

"You're going to help me put an end to Regulus once and for all."

"And how am I meant to do that? If I have to go back with you, then why did you bother bringing me all the way here in the first place?"

"No," Zac shook his head. "You need to give me something."

Understanding flashed across her face. "You mean?"

"He's protected against you."

Coraline's eyes widened. "But not against you."

"I can see your brain cells are rubbing together."

"You're not much of a people person are you?"

"Firstly, I'm not a person."

"Guys," Maximus interrupted their bickering. "I know witches and vampires are not the best of friends, but we're on the same side. At least I hope we are, so hold your tongues."

Coraline sighed and led them through to a cozy sitting room where a fire burnt merrily in the hearth. "How is that even going to work?" she asked, sitting in an old leather armchair and pulling a rug around her shoulders.

"How is what?" Maximus interrupted. "What does he mean Corrie?"

"He means to borrow my power," she said.

"But I don't understand. Is that even possible?"

"Victoria was the vampire who turned me," Zac said, amused at the shocked expressions on their faces. Max and Corrie - something was going on there. "You can give me your power."

"You have Celestine blood?"

"Neat, huh?" He rolled his eyes, annoyed.

"But what about you?" Maximus seemed alarmed at the notion of her giving away her Celestine power, even as minuscule as it was.

"He won't have it all," she reassured him. "Only a strong dose of it." Turning to Zac she said, "You'll only get one shot at this, so make it count."

"Oh," he sneered. "I plan on it."

T
ruth was, Zac was expecting the shit to hit the fan when he walked back into the apartment. Maddox and Pyke were on their feet when he came through the door, Rix not far behind.

"What the fuck, Zac?" Maddox pushed him hard, his shoulder hitting the wall.

"What kind of stunt was that?" Pyke slammed Zac's head against the wall, cracking the plaster.

The warm trickle of blood that ran down his forehead was enough to darken his eyes and Zac pushed the vampire back with all the force he could muster, sending him hurtling across the room into the island in the middle of the kitchen. He landed with a grunt, holding his side. Rix took a swing and before his fist could connect, Zac grasped his wrist and squeezed, feeling the bone crack with a satisfying snap. Before Maddox could have a go, Nye was pushing him away, a hand on Zac's chest.

"Hands off," Nye snapped holding them apart. "What the hell is going on?"

"This fucker crashed our car and snapped my neck," Maddox seethed, pointing at him.

"And the half-breed witch is gone," Pyke exclaimed.

"Zac?" Nye looked him up and down.

"Get your hand off me," he spat, knocking the spy's arm aside.

"Hey, calm the hell down," the spy pointed a finger at him. "And you," he turned to the three vampires, "No blood in the house. You know the rules."

"Fuck the rules," Pyke spat.

"If he's double crossed us, then we have more problems than blood in the house," Rix said.

"Leave this with me," Nye said sharply, staring down the two vampires.

"If you can't sort this, Nye, then I'm going to Regulus," Maddox declared, waving a finger at him.

"Piss off, Maddox."

"If I find out you've helped him, so help me god, you'll go down with him."

"Get the hell out before I kick the shit outta all three of you idiots." Nye asserting his authority was something else. The three vampires backed down immediately, but not without a great deal of tension in the air. They walked from the room, shooting glares at Zac before the front door slammed behind them.

Nye was listening to their footsteps recede downstairs and when they faded, he turned to Zac. "What exactly are you playing at mate?"

"Revenge," he said simply.

Nye's eyes widened as he suddenly realized what he was doing.

"I thought you of all people would have gotten it by now."

"Obviously not," the spy said. "She turned you didn't she? When you said she tortured you..."

"She didn't turn me," Zac exclaimed, offended. "I was never turned to begin with."

He watched Nye as he ran a hand over his face, whatever he was thinking carefully guarded. He would either hand him over to Regulus or kill him on the spot. Which one would it be? His money was on turning him in, there was no way he could know that Coraline had given him her power. Then it would be done sooner than he thought.

"What did you do with the witch?"

"Coraline," he said, reminding the spy of her name. "She's safe."

"You're going to kill Regulus?" Nye looked up at him in disbelief when he finally put two and two together. "It can't be done."

Zac didn't reply, instead waiting for the inevitable, but deep down he hoped that this semblance of a friendship he'd struck with the spy would win out.

"Zac, you can't be serious."

"He has no right to do the things he's done. He has no right to know the things he does. Regulus deserves to die. And I will be the one to deliver him." 

"But, mate, you're linked to him. If you kill him, then you'll die as well."

"I'm aware of that."

"You'd really sacrifice yourself to end him?"

"I can't control this thing I am, Nye. Every time, every fucking time I lose it I slip further away. And the corpses keep piling up. Innocent fucking people who don't deserve to have their throats torn out. I've fought wars as an excuse to sate my hunger. I do that and I can't stop it. One day I'll be so far gone, I won't come back."

"Mate…"

"If I die ridding the world of Regulus, then it will be worth it. All this time I've spent struggling with this thing inside me would have been worth something."

For once in his life, Nye seemed lost for a comeback.

Zac looked away, shaking his head. "She was wrong to try and protect me."

Nye clapped a hand on his shoulder, making him look into his face. "No," he said. "Protecting someone you love is never wrong."

Zac snorted, "Maybe not, but there's got to be a better way of going about it."

The spy let his hand drop. "You've got some explaining to do, mate. The sooner the better."

"I know. But, it's a long story."

"We've got time," Nye said, glancing at the front door. "But, lets go someplace else. Something tells me that we don't need those three idiots listening in." He walked into the kitchen and came back with another coat on, since Zac was already wearing his. "Do you trust me?"

"Do
you
trust
me
?" he grinned, wryly.

Nye looked him up and down. "Yeah," he said. "Strangely enough, I do."

Nye didn't take Zac far away from the apartment. They sat on a rooftop above a bar called
Gilgamesh, that
sat smack bang in the middle of Camden Market. It was broad daylight and thousands of humans swarmed below them, music and various food smells filtering upwards into the cool air. Everyone was too busy looking at the stalls around them to bother looking up. It hadn't rained so far, but the sky was heavy with promise.

"I don't know where to start," Zac said, fiddling with the buttons on what was now his coat.

"How about at the beginning?" Nye said with a chuckle. "Once upon a time…"

"It's just… it's too much, you know. The Romans and Aya. I mean
,
it's more than just who pissed off who."

"I understand Arturius turned the Hunter, but why? Zac, what exactly is she?"

"You don't know, do you?" Zac was a little shocked. "I thought you had it all worked out."

"Know what? I have no idea what she is a hybrid with, but I know it has something to do with the half-breed you busted out. Are they the same?"

"Kind of," he shrugged. "That's something I only know second hand."

"Then what?"

"She was a Celestine."

"Celestine…" Nye said thoughtfully, testing the word out. "I've heard that before."

"You have?"

"Yeah, but I have no idea what that means."

"The Celestines were the ones who made the first witches. They were creatures of power," Zac said with
a  sigh
. "Katrin was one of the Five and betrayed them. Aya was one of the last of her kind before
she was taken by the Romans
. Taken by Regulus."

"Oh, man. It's all starting to make sense now."

"Katrin wanted to know the secrets to their power and thought by creating the first vampires she could take by force whatever she wanted. Take from their blood."

"She obviously failed," Nye said, watching Zac with an odd look on his face.

"Yeah, when they all realized Aya couldn't give them anything, Arturius took it upon himself to turn her. She escaped, killing one of the Romans, but they killed her entire family as retribution."

"Fucking hell," the spy hissed. "That's bloody brutal and I'm guilty of some brutal stuff myself."

"They're all dead save for Regulus. After what he did to me through Victoria and what he's doing to me now, can you understand why I want to end him? Not just for Aya, but for myself."

Nye nodded with a grimace and looked out across the market. "He never told us any of this."

"For the longest time, Aya believed that if she gave away her secrets something horrible would happen. I have no idea what, some kind of curse maybe, but nothing ever did."

"We've hunted her ever since I was on the scene," Nye said. "But I never knew the reason for it."

"All this time Regulus has never told you why? And why he wants into the Coven?"

"I can see it's got you all worked up," Nye said. "Explain the Coven part to me, then I might just help you in your crazy suicide mission."

"The Coven 
believe
 they are trying to wake the Original Witch.
The first in their line.
From what I understand, she was made with Celestine blood, which is why her decedents carry it. Why Victoria did and why I do."

"Regulus wants the Original Witch?"

"Aya said that this witch would be unstable. The Five were never given Celestine blood, it would be too much for a human to handle."

"Oh great," Nye threw his hands into the air. "Another psycho witch? That's just great. My favorite thing."

"I trust Aya will end the Coven. I know as much. What I also know is that she will never be able to get close enough to Regulus to kill him."

"Zac…"

"No, Nye, listen to me," he said sharply, not wanting to be convinced otherwise. "I'm the only one who has the ability to take Celestine power and I'm the only one who is able to get close enough to do the job."

"So that's why you busted out Coraline? So she could give you her power?"

"Neat, huh?" he said dryly.

"Neat when you're dead."

"A matter of consequence."

"Zac, are you really sure you're ready to die?"

"I already told you my reasons, Nye. Nothing is going to change." He looked over to the spy, gauging his reaction. "What I want to know is what you're going to do. Turn me in to Regulus or kill me now. It's up to you."

Nye regarded him for a moment and Zac was almost ready to fight him then and there if he had to, but the spy let out a long sharp breath, his head dropping to his knees. "Fuck, Zac," he said. "You haven't thought about door number three, have you?"

"Door number three?" he asked with a scowl.

"The one where you get to say goodbye to the woman you love? You know? Hello? Don't just go and off yourself, mate. What are you going to do about her?"

"Nothing."

"Screw that."

"So, you're going to help me then?" Zac said to change the subject.

"I'm a man of the world. I've always been my own and Regulus knew that he never had me. I stayed and took his orders because it was better than going it alone. I needed someone to order me around in the beginning. It was all I knew. Soon enough it was just easier to stick around. Then you came along with
all your psycho
Celestine shit and now it seems I've got something to fight for. Something right," he said, looking out over the market.

"Wow."

"Don't get a big head, mate. I've done some pretty fucked up shit in my time. Maybe now this is my chance to repent for some of it."

Zac snorted.

Nye glared at him. "You believe in what you're doing. So does Regulus, but he doesn't have half the conviction you do. And I like to think that we're mates on some macabre level. I'd throw my lot in with a mate over a founder any day."

"I've never sworn fealty to anyone, Nye…"

"Mate, first rule of being a bad ass vampire is never to swear fealty to anyone. Not even the founders of your race."

"Suppose that makes me bad ass, then."

"Right on, brother," Nye declared with a lopsided smile.

Brother? Sam would kill him if he knew what his big brother was doing. He couldn't even stop to think about Sam. Poor fucking Sam who had had his life stolen as
well.
He would be shattered to hear of his death. And Liz… he'd loved her once but now that was a different kind of love. She was with Sam and that made her his little sister. And then there was Alex. They had never been the best of friends had they? But he'd helped Aya when he couldn't and for that he'd be ever grateful.

He'd fought it and fought it, but he'd really had a family in death no matter how mismatched it was, and he would do anything to protect them.