Til Death (Jane #5) (4 page)

Bloody tears came to my eyes and I fought to
blink them back. My friends would come for me, all of them. Felipe
wouldn’t be alone. He had a solid team backing him, and no matter
what the vampire in the suit thought, he wouldn’t rush in like a
bull in a supermarket with no plan of attack. Felipe was a
calculating man. He was smart, and he was resourceful. He would
come for me, but he would do it on his terms. I just had to hold
out long enough. And I had to hope Father Bellini could hold out
that long, too.

I finished wiping what blood I could from
Bellini’s face and hands and settled back onto my heels. His left
cheek was swollen and black with a bruise and his lip was missing a
small chunk. I was pretty sure his leg was broken and from the way
he was breathing, a couple ribs could have been, too.

A knock at the door startled me. I hadn’t
heard footsteps and that made me more uneasy than my visitor did.
Had I been so absorbed in my own thoughts that I neglected to pay
attention to my surroundings? A small nearly invisible window at
the foot of the door opened and a bottle was shoved through. I
leapt for the door, but before I reached it, the opening was closed
and locked. I used my fingers to try to pry at the small grooves,
but they were almost non-existent.

Growling in frustration, I picked up the
bottle and plopped into the chair by the table. I drank slowly,
plotting ways to do exactly what my vampire captor had pleaded with
me not to do.

Chapter 5

Minutes turned into hours and I found myself
pacing the room. Father Bellini hadn't stirred, though his
breathing hadn't changed, and there was nothing to keep my thoughts
from getting the best of me. I pried again at the little window in
the bottom of the door, but all that I succeeded in doing was
ruining my perfectly manicured nails.

The floor was cold stone. Water dripped down
the walls and made it slick under my bare feet. The train on my
dress caught around one of my ankles and I went down like a log. I
was still snarling and swearing when the door opened.

The dark-haired vampire in the suit stood
framed by light from the hall. His face held a mocking grin. "You
are not having a very good day, are you?"

He stepped into the room, followed by his
enforcer, and leaned over to offer me a hand. I grabbed it and
pulled. He wasn't expecting it and I got a thrill when he thumped
heavily beside me.

I turned to him, a smirk on my face. "I'm
having a wonderful day. I just got married, after all. What bride
doesn't enjoy her wedding day?"

The man pushed himself to his feet, brushing
off help from the other vampire. He glared at me, one side of his
top lip rising slightly. "That was a mistake, little girl. I could
have you killed right now, you and your precious priest."

I laughed at him even as my heart sank into
my feet. "You won't kill us. You need us. You want Felipe, and you
need the leverage we give you."

He stood there seething for a long time. Then
without warning, a vicious, cruel smile spread across his lips.
"You are right, of course. I need you. And I can't kill you." He
leaned over, bringing his face close to mine. "But I can hurt you.
And I can make you wish you were dead."

He straightened and walked over to Father
Bellini. I moved to get up, but the other vampire was beside me,
his hand on my shoulder. The man in the suit checked Joe over and
blew out a frustrated breath of air. "How far away is the
doctor?"

"He should be here within the hour."

"He better. If this man dies because he was
not where I told him to be, he will be missing a head faster than
he can say his Hail Marys."

He strode to the door and opened it. "Bring
her."

A rough hand on my upper arm pulled me to my
feet. My dress was still tangled around my ankles and I struggled
to keep up. The door thudded shut behind us and I looked back,
praying Bellini would be safe.

"You would do well to worry about yourself
instead of your friend." The vampire still had his hand on my arm,
but he had loosened his grip noticeably and was leaning in close
enough that the man in front of us couldn't hear what he was
saying.

I turned to look at him, really seeing him
for the first time. His hair was red and cropped very short and he
had stubble growing along his cheeks. His eyes were green and shone
like an emerald in the sun whenever we passed beneath a light. A
small scar ran along his neck, just below his ear, and disappeared
beneath the black shirt he was wearing. Wrinkles had formed at the
corners of his eyes and his mouth had a slightly downturned cast to
it, as if he were perpetually sad.

"Who are you?" I whispered as the vampire in
front of us rounded a corner.

I could see his jaw move as he gritted his
teeth before answering. "Someone you need to trust."

He pulled me around the corner with him and
into an open door to one side. The room we entered was very much
like the one we had left, only slightly larger with many
vile-looking contraptions laying about. A heavy chair that looked
like an old throne from the medieval ages sat in the middle. Thick
metal straps were attached to the legs, arms, and back.

I bit my lip as I was led toward it and my
heart sped up involuntarily. The fingers on my arm tightened
gently, almost comfortingly as the man pushed me down into the
chair. His eyes met mine as he leaned over to snap the cuffs shut
and I saw the corners of his lips pull up briefly before he stepped
away. He took up a position in the corner, hand on the pistol
strapped to his side, eyes on the wall.

The other vampire walked over and looked down
at me. I lifted my chin and met his stare, defying him with my
silence. His hand moved quicker than I would’ve thought possible
and my chin hit my shoulder as my head snapped to the side. My jaw
had healed from the previous attack, but I felt it pop out of
position again. After spitting out blood, I worked my jaw, trying
to settle it back into place. When it was usable again, I
straightened back up, meeting my attacker’s eyes with bloody rage
in my own.

He smirked, and my heart ached for Felipe.
Gathering up all my courage, I leaned my head back, then spit into
the vampire’s face. Blood splattered across his pale skin, sticking
to the flesh with force. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see
the man in the corner roll his eyes and shake his head, but he
didn’t move otherwise.

The vampire in front of me snarled and wiped
at his face with a white cloth he pulled from his jacket. He raised
his hand again, preparing to strike. He paused, though, andlowered
his hand as his lips pulled into a smile.

“Oh, Jane. Jane, Jane, Jane. You have such
spunk. It is no wonder that Felipe has claimed you as his own.” He
ran a hand along my cheek and I pulled my head away, eliciting
another laugh from him. “Too bad I have to ruin that pretty face of
yours. Oh well, you will still be welcome in my fold once I have
broken you. Let’s get started, shall we?”

He walked to the back wall where I had seen
two cabinets. I could hear a door opening and the clanging of
metal. He was at the cabinets for a very long time.

“Anson, where is the Solicitor?”

The red-headed vampire straightened and
glanced my way. “It is in the interrogation room, sir.”

“Ah, yes. I remember now. Watch her closely.
She is a wily one.”

Anson nodded once and set his gaze on me. The
door shut behind the man in the suit and we both listened to his
retreating footsteps. When they were gone, Anson moved to kneel
beside me.

“You have to be strong, Jane. You cannot give
into him. You cannot break. The future of this country relies on
your strength and that of your husband. You must--”

We could hear footsteps once more and Anson
jumped back into the corner, resuming his position as watchman. His
face turned from fearful into a facade of hatred. He narrowed his
eyes and glared at me, hand once more on his gun.

The door opened with a bang and Raymond burst
through. He held an object high over his head, a triumphant grin on
his face. Anson rolled his eyes at the unnecessary dramatics.
Raymond strode over to me and ran the thing over my cheek. It was
about half the length of a baseball bat and was studded with tiny,
fat spikes over most of it. The bottom three inches were left bare
aside from a leather grip.

I could feel the tips of the spikes scratch
my face, but I did not flinch. Instead, I focused all my attention
on Raymond and willed his brain to burst. It didn't, unfortunately,
but the intense concentration kept me from feeling the slight pain
that was blossoming along my jaw as he pressed harder into my skin.
Soon, blood was running down my chin and neck. I straightened,
drawing my head up higher, and met Raymond's stare. He smiled, but
I could see the anger sitting in his eyes.

Before I knew what he was doing, he drew back
his hand and slapped me with the stick. My head jerked to the side
and burning fire blossomed up the left side of my face where a
hundred tiny holes had been created. My neck grew sticky with the
blood and the device made a horrible sucking sound as Raymond freed
it from my skin.

Lucky for me, he missed my eye and I could
already feel the small wounds closing. I smiled at him and said in
the sweetest voice I could manage, "Is this how you treat all your
guests?"

He laughed long and loud. "Yes, my dear Jane.
This is how I treat all guests to this room." He spun, pointing at
the walls.

"And what, exactly, is this room if not the
interrogation room?"

He stopped spinning and leaned in close,
lifting my chin with the Solicitor. "This, my darling unfortunate
girl, is the Room of Release. It is where I free you from the bonds
of your former life, where I break you down until you are no longer
a useless, sniveling creature who is bound to the ancient ways of
the past, where I embrace you as my own and draw you into the
future."

At that, he raised his arms, basking in a
glow that existed only in his mind. His eyes were shut and his head
was turned to the ceiling, so I raised an eyebrow at Anson. He
shrugged, giving me a "he's nuts" look.

I was still looking at Anson and Raymond was
still looking at the sky when my head snapped suddenly backward. I
felt my jaw pop again, but instead of simply being dislocated, it
cracked in two at the point from the force of the blow. The back of
my head split open as it slammed into the chair behind me and
blackness pulled at the corners of my vision.

When I was finally able to focus again,
Raymond cupped my busted chin in his free hand. "Now, Jane. Tell me
everything you know."

Chapter 6

It went on like that for only God knows how
long. Raymond would say "Tell me everything you know", then I would
spit in his face if I could and he would hit me again. At first, I
couldn't respond because my jaw was shattered, but after several
hours, it began to heal and he never hit me there again. Instead,
he took shots at my arms, shoulders, legs, even my feet and hands.
By the time he was breathing heavily and covered in sweat, my
fingers were useless lumps of messy flesh and I didn't even want to
know what my feet looked like.

"Clean her up, feed her, and get her ready
for the next session." Raymond tossed the Solicitor into a corner
and stomped out, slamming the door behind him.

Anson followed behind him after once again
admonishing me to not do anything stupid. But what did he know? The
moment the door closed behind him, I began working at the cuffs on
my wrists. My hands burned with pain, though, and every time I
tried to pull them through the gap, the torture was almost more
than I could bear. Tears were rolling down my cheeks and I bit down
on a scream as the metal pressed tight against my flayed skin. It
quickly became too much and when Anson returned moments later, I
was panting and sobbing like a child.

He sighed and knelt beside me. Pulling a
cloth from the bucket he had brought in, he began washing blood
from my face. It stung whenever he hit an open sore, but the wounds
there were nearly healed. He finished my face and lifted a bottle
from the floor, popping the cap off so that it spun in the air and
clanked to the stones.

"Drink," he said, holding the bottle to my
lips.

I glared at him, but took a sip. He had
warmed it up for me and the blood tasted like liquid heaven in that
moment. I followed that sip with a big gulp, sucking on the bottle
until he pulled it away from my lips.

"You're not an animal yet, Jane," he said
with a small quirk of his lips before he picked up the cloth
again.

He started wiping my arms, clearing away the
spots not still covered by my ever-shrinking dress and I watched
him for a bit.

"Who is Raymond?"

My question startled him and he looked at me
with squinted eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, who is he? What does he want? Why is
he like this?"

Anson frowned and went back to washing. I
didn't think he would answer until he spoke, his voice a bare
whisper. "He is insane. He wishes to take over the world,
essentially. He feels that vampires should rule, not humans. He
chafes under the rules that are thrust upon our kind and desires
to, well... He intends to turn humans into slaves, into cattle. And
he wants to be the one to lead the vampires, though he would never
say such a thing outright."

"And he's the one who hurt Victoria?"

He nodded as he gently moved the cloth
between my mangled fingers. I flinched once, but held still as best
I could.

"He kidnapped her, with my help. He intended
on using her, making her his queen and his pawn. She was much
beloved in the vampire community and I believe she would have been
able to sway quite a few of the younger kids to his cause. But she
broke too easily. He expected her to last beyond the first few
torture sessions, but she broke in the second. And she did not just
break, she was destroyed. Her mind was gone. She was useless to him
at that point. So he gave her to one of his newer vampires, one of
his pets. And that is how you found her."