Til Death (Jane #5) (6 page)

Anson sat back on his heels and cleared his
throat. "Well, I guess it's time to come clean with you. I, um,
well, I was kind of hoping that if I helped you, if I helped Felipe
get you out, that you would put in a good word for me and maybe I
could get back in with a sanctuary. I mean, if they would take me.
I'm hoping they would. I've done some pretty awful things, but I
regret every day that has gone by. If I could take it all back, I
would. But I can't. All I can do is move forward."

He looked up at me, his eyes wide with tears.
"Please help me, Jane. This is not the life I wanted when I signed
on to be a vampire. This isn't what I was meant to do. I'm better
than this."

His voice cracked and he bowed his head,
placing his forehead on my knee. I tried to reach out to comfort
him, but with my wrists being cuffed, I could only go so far. I
frowned, knowing I would have to come up with something encouraging
and witty to say.

"It's not all that bad. If you help us out of
this, I would back you, and I know Felipe would, too. And if Father
Bellini comes out of it, I'm sure he'd help."

Anson cleared his throat and wiped his eyes
before looking at me. "I meant to update you about the priest. The
doctor came. He said there was some internal bleeding and had to
cut him open, but he got it stopped. He claims the priest will pull
through, but, honestly, I'm not sure. He's said that before to
appease Raymond and the guy didn't make it."

I blinked away the tears, determined not to
cry until the tears were needed, and coughed until I could speak
again. "Thank you. I'm sure the doctor will do everything in his
power to keep him alive."

Anson gave me a wry smile. "If he wants to
keep his head, he will. You heard Raymond's not-so-veiled threat.
And I can tell you that when he makes a threat, he keeps it. If it
is possible, the priest will survive. And I will make sure he
remembers the threat whenever I see him."

I returned the smile, though deep inside I
felt my heart constricting painfully.

Anson squeezed my knee encouragingly as he
stood up. "Just hang in there a little longer, Jane. Soon." Then he
was gone and I was alone.

I expected him back shortly, as with the last
time, but the minutes passed without a footstep in the hall. I
began to grow nervous. Had he been found out? Did Raymond discover
his treachery and punish him for trying to help me? Had Felipe
arrived? Crazy thoughts started spinning through my head, bashing
into each other and making me dizzy and nauseated.

Then there were footsteps, moving at a normal
pace, and I breathed a strange sigh of relief. Why, I don't know.
It just meant I was going to be tortured again, but it also meant
nothing crazy had happened and my friends weren't in danger. When
the door opened, Anson proceeded through first, taking up his
position in the corner. Raymond followed him, a dark and wickedly
twisted look on his face. His eyes met mine and the corner of his
mouth twitched up into a cruel smile.

He leaned outside, gripping something in his
hand, and swung around. A lump of black cloth landed in front of
me, banging into my shins. It was Father Bellini.

"No," I breathed as my heart sped up. Its
incessant thumping nearly drowned out everything else as I stared
at the motionless man at my feet.

Raymond cackled. "He's alive. Barely. You'll
give me what I want, Jane, one way or another."

As the wooden mallet came down on my hand,
all I could think was that he still hadn't told me what he
wanted.

Chapter 8

Raymond alternated between beating me with
the mallet and laying the random kick into Father Bellini's side.
The priest would groan, giving me assurance that he was till alive,
but moved little aside from attempting to curl around his wounded
innards. The vampire would get a sick smile on his face as he
watched the injured man on the floor and I longed to tear his
throat out.

Scoffing, my captor picked up the wooden
mallet again. He had already broken every finger on my right hand
and smashed it to a pulp, and he was starting to work on the left.
He advanced toward me, wiggling his eyes in an ironically seductive
manner even as he raised the torture device to bring it crashing
down.

I closed my eyes and flinched involuntarily
as he swung it. My chair rattled and I squeaked despite myself, but
no pain blossomed up my arm like before. Opening one eye into a
slit, I looked at Raymond. He was standing there with the mallet
just above my hand, looking at the door. I couldn't see his face,
but the look on Anson's made my heart soar with hope.

"Anson, go find out what's happening out
there." Raymond pointed the mallet toward the door before turning
back to me. The sadistic smile on his face settled back into place
as he put his hands on my arms and leaned forward. His face was a
bare inch from mine and the stench of old blood was on his breath.
"I think your knight in shining armor might be on his way, my
darling Jane."

I coughed, spewing spittle across his cheek.
"You know, even vampires should brush their teeth on occasion."

Snarling, he pulled back the mallet and made
to crack me across the face.

"Stop!"

Raymond turned to look at the door. We both
expected Felipe to be standing there, but he wasn't. Instead, Anson
stood outlined by the lights in the hall. He held the gun steady
with its nozzle pointed straight at Raymond.

The older vampire sneered at his minion.
"What do you think you're doing? I told you to go."

Anson shook his head. "No. I won't let you
hurt her anymore. You're done, Raymond. It's over. All of it."

A deep cackle filled the small room. "Over?
Are you trying to tell me what to do? Oh no, I think not. You would
be dead if not for me. You would have been slaughtered by the
Council years ago. I gave you life, you ungrateful wretch. I gave
you a hope. Without me, you would be nothing."

Raymond spit at the ground and another rumble
echoed through the air. Anson stared at Raymond, a challenge
sitting firmly on his face. Before I could even react, Raymond
spun, his vampire speed turning him almost into a blur. At the same
time the mallet connected with my skull, a small pop-pop-pop
reverberated around the room. My attacker roared, wheeling away
from me and toward the back wall.

I turned my head in the neck clamp as well as
I could to follow his movements. He collapsed against a cabinet,
snapping the door in half and knocking it askew. His hands pressed
tightly to his chest and blood dripped through his fingers. I'd
been shot before and that was not the reaction I had. Most vampires
could fight through the pain of a small wound when their life has
been threatened.

"What did you do to him?" I asked Anson as he
walked past.

"Special bullets. They open when they leave
the barrel of the gun, forming a star so that they rip through
their targets. A lot harder to heal quickly. Perfect for
vampires."

He knelt in front of Raymond, his weapon
still trained on the stunned man.

"You..." Raymond's voice was rough with pain
and blood was dripping from his lips. "You shot me. You shot
me."

Anson gave him a pleasant smile. "I only wish
I had done it sooner."

The red-headed vampire leaned down to check
the wounds, keeping his gun trained on his former master. As he
pulled Raymond's hand away, I heard a muffled thump and a groan.
Anson stood up and staggered away. He hit the back wall, gripping
his side, and sank to the ground. A hole in his stomach glowed
eerily.

"Anson!" I'm pretty sure I screamed like a
little girl before I began pulling at my restraints like a rabid
dog. "Anson!"

Anson's head rolled slightly and he met my
eyes. His lips began to move, but no audible words came out, then
he slipped to his side and lay still even as the wound began to
bubble.

A half cough-half laugh told me that Raymond
was still alive. I turned to look at him as he shoved himself into
a standing position. He was pulling the bullets from his chest and
it looked extremely painful. Each came away with flesh attached to
at least some of the spokes and blood poured from him. As the last
one clanked to the ground, he heaved away from the broken cabinet
and stumbled to my chair.

"Jane, darling Jane." Blood and spittle
spattered across my face as he spoke and his eyes were red and
glazed when I looked at them. I swallowed hard and tried to turn
away. He laughed a little before falling on the floor. I could see
a pool of blood forming around him as he pulled himself across the
tiles toward Father Bellini.

"No!" I screamed and began thrashing in the
chair, trying to free myself for one last desperate attempt at
saving my friend.

Another laugh was replaced with a hacking
cough as Raymond rolled onto his side to look at me. "I do not
understand your attachment to humans, Jane. They are food, nothing
more. And right now, this one looks very tasty."

I screamed again, long and loud, forcing
Raymond to cover his ears with his bloody hands. My voice broke
before I ran out of breath and I could scream no longer. Raymond
gave me a sly smile and gripped Father Bellini's hair with one
hand. He tilted Joe's head back, exposing the pale neck of his
victim. I screamed again, but my throat was raw and it came out
raspy and quiet. Tears rolled down my cheeks as Raymond's teeth
descended and headed for my mentor's neck. They pierced the skin,
drawing blood. I sobbed, unable to do a thing but watch.

A vicious roar sounded in the room and
suddenly Raymond was flying through the air. He crashed into the
back wall and a crack blossomed on the hard stone. Felipe stalked
after him, covered in blood and full of animal rage. Raymond tried
to stand, but an invisible fist smashed into his face. His nose
broke, along with his cheekbones, and his head thudded back into
the wall. Felipe took the man's face in one hand and beat his head
into the little hole that had already been created.

By the time he was done, Raymond's head was
nothing more than a mess of flesh, splintered bones, and brain
pulp. The body slumped to the floor, twitching in death. Felipe
leapt to Father Bellini's side. He pressed his hands to the neck
wound, trying to stop the flow of blood.

"No, no, please no," he kept whispering as he
worked. "No, please."

I held my breath and clenched my teeth to
keep from going into hysterics as I watched Felipe bite his own
wrist and drip it into Bellini's mouth. Time ticked by and Felipe
nearly drained himself in the process. Finally, he sank to the
floor, leaning against my legs for support.

"Is he..." I couldn't bear to finish the
question. Inside, my heart felt like it would simply shrivel up
from pain.

Felipe said nothing and refused to meet my
eyes. He stood and took hold of the arm of my chair. With great
effort, he snapped the wood in two, freeing my wrist. He repeated
the process for my other arm, my neck, and both legs, then he
lifted me up into his arms. When he finally looked at me, his face
was streaked red with tears and his eyes were blood-red.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed
my lips to his skin before resting my head on his shoulder. With
one last glance at Father Bellini, he walked out of the room,
leading me past several broken bodies and numerous guards from the
local sanctuary. We emerged through a heavy door into the night
sky. A cool breeze was blowing and it danced across my bruised
skin. It felt wonderful and I closed my eyes to enjoy it.

"Felipe! Felipe! Oh my God, you got her."
Donna was running up from behind, dirty and disheveled as if she'd
been fighting recently. "Where's Father Bellini?"

Felipe kept his back to her and I could feel
a tremor run through his body. I turned to my friend and shook my
head.

She had to take several breaths before she
could even speak. "He's..." That was all she managed before she
collapsed to the ground, her body wracked with sobs.

Annie ran to her, wrapping her arms around
the broken woman. She joined her in her tears, though Annie's were
more silent and less bloody.

"Where is he?" Jax stood beside Felipe, arms
crossed tight over his stomach, his own tears clear, though no less
bitter.

"Downstairs, all the way. Last room on the
right."

Jax nodded at Felipe's directions and went to
retrieve the priest's still form. When he returned, Annie coaxed
Donna up from the ground, and we all piled into an SUV. Bellini was
laid tenderly in the back and his body was covered by a sheet. We
returned to the sanctuary where he had been staying for my wedding,
placing his body at the altar of the church like a sacrifice to the
Lord.

Chapter 9

For the next three days, I mourned, answered
questions about my kidnap and rescue, and generally just existed in
a plane of numb confusion. We held a small ceremony for Father
Bellini, led by Ronin, before his body was shipped back to Rome for
a proper burial. Felipe asked me if I wanted to go, but I just
shook my head. I didn't want to go through that. It was hard enough
dealing with his loss without the added torture of going through a
second funeral.

I was sitting next to Felipe in the common
room of the sanctuary the night after Bellini's body left, staring
at the wall behind a TV that hadn't changed channels in hours. Jax
and Annie sat in a similar state on the opposite couch with the
others arrayed in various dejected positions around the room. Only
Donna was missing.

A banging door drew us all out of our stupor.
"Come on, then. We have to finish this."

I looked up. Donna was setting my massive
four-foot wedding cake on the table in the corner of the room. How
it survived the craziness of my reception, I have no idea.