02 Blood Roses - Blackthorn (22 page)

He was seconds away, seconds away from killing himself. Caleb, her beautiful green-eyed vampire who had pushed himself one step too far.

Beatrice had been right – she was too powerful. More powerful than she’d ever imagined if she was defeating him.

And as he lowered his lips to her throat again, she cried out behind his hand.

He licked in one slow steady motion and she caught her breath, her whole body seizing.

She prepared herself for the horror that was inevitable. Prepared herself with a twinge in her heart and a harsh stab of fear.

And he bit.

Leila cried out, the pain piercing through her. Pain she remembered only too well. She arched against him, but he held her fast as he sucked deeply and slowly.

She couldn’t move as she gasped for breath, her whole body in shock.

She closed her eyes, a tear trickling down her cheek.

She should have felt triumphant, relieved at the very least, but her head could only focus on the ache in her neck and the pain in her heart as he fed.

And fed.

She couldn’t move, couldn’t protest, couldn’t say anything to save him.

It was too late.

It was all over.

That much seemed obvious, until he pulled back.

She stared up at him, stunned.

Her blood still masked his lips until he licked it off, his constricted pupils dilating again, the look in his eyes bearing no shock for what he’d done.

Her heart pounded as she waited for the agony, the spasms, her blood already filtering into his system.

But there was nothing.

Nothing as he withdrew and eased off the bed.

Nothing as he strolled over to the bathroom, leaving the door ajar behind him.

She remained on her back, her pulse racing at an uncomfortable rate. Horror crept through every vein. Something had happened. Something had changed.

She’d lost it. She wasn’t a serryn anymore.

And there was only one way she’d lose it. She was attracted to him, yes. From the moment she had seen him and yes, it had intensified. But love was a whole other matter.

She didn’t love Caleb. She couldn’t love Caleb. Love wasn’t even possible between a serryn and a vampire.

She forced herself off the bed. She needed to know. In a haze, clutching her throbbing neck, she stumbled across to the door.

Caleb was leaning over the sink, splashing water on his face and neck.

She scanned his taut back, the hard muscles in his arms and shoulders illuminated by the artificial light. He ran his hands back through his hair as he stood up straight.

She was instantly drawn to the cursive design of his tattoo that spanned from shoulder blade to shoulder blade – a back as toned and flawless as his torso.

And then it caught her eye.

Another tattoo, a smaller tattoo, rested between his spine and left shoulder blade – an orb crossed with a sword, twisted black-thorned vines coiled around it in their own intricate design.

Leila caught her breath as she locked gazes with Caleb in the mirror, an ice-cold perspiration washing over her.

Taking an instinctive step back, she cursed silently as she backed into the bedroom. Legs like lead, her behind hit the bedpost and she grabbed the orb behind her for support.

Caleb stopped at the threshold as he nonchalantly towel-dried his neck.

She couldn’t move as every faculty shut down in terror.

‘You really didn’t know, did you?’ he said, raking her swiftly before turning to the wardrobe. Opening it up, he draped the towel over the door. ‘You’re supposed to be able to sense it.’ He glanced across at her, pulled a T-shirt down over his head, every muscle in his arms and chest flexing.

She
had
sensed it. Amidst all the heated attraction her guard had always remained up – her instinct constantly warning her. She just didn’t know what
it
was that she had sensed. And if she’d had more experience with vampires, she may have even detected the difference. The extremities of her emotions weren’t just because he was a vampire, weren’t just because of her forbidden attraction to him – he was
the
vampire.

No wonder it felt so right in its wrongness. The draw had been impossible to ignore – the battle lines had been laid out from the moment they had met.

Her fate, her destiny, stood less than six feet away gazing back at her with those beautiful cold green eyes.

A destiny that meant that one of them had to die.

Caleb sauntered over to her. ‘You were destined to find me, apparently. Did you know that? It seems our brother and sister meeting was fate.’

Leila’s grip on the orb tightened, her eyes fixed tentatively and fearfully on his as he stopped directly in front of her. Stunning green eyes that, from the moment she had looked into them, had told her he was going to be her downfall. And she had been right. In the past few hours she had faced the twilight, dusk and darkness of hope, only to now stare into the blackest void, any tiny glimmer of hope finally extinguished
.

‘And now here we are,’ he said. ‘Both knowing what you are, both knowing what I am. And that, my little fledgling sacrifice, must make me your worst fucking nightmare.’

Chapter Twenty-one

C
aleb could see Leila’s lower lip trembling. Her already pale skin was ashen. She was lost for words, her gaze locked in terror on his.

She had no fight left in her. Not when her body and mind were dealing with that much shock.

He had irrevocably proven what he needed to with his bite – as much to himself as to her. They both knew the situation they were in, but her eyes still emanated disbelief.

‘But it’s not possible,’ she said. ‘The chosen one has to be from the Higher Order.’

‘Our mother turned her back on her heritage on account of the Higher Order’s warped principles and treatment of lower-order vampires. She went into hiding. Our father didn’t know anything about her background when they started their secret affair. And she never told him for fear of the consequences of her absconding, especially as she was expecting Seth by him. After two more sons with her, he was coupled to a Higher Order vampire elsewhere. He betrayed her. Abandoned her. But to protect us, our mother swore to always keep the secret. Jake and I never knew what we were until after her death, when Seth told us one drunken night. Seth who extended decades of loyal service to the Higher Order in honour of our mother only to later be betrayed and dishonoured by Jarin’s lies. I think this is what they call poetic justice.’

Her eyes flared. He sensed the quickening of her pulse. ‘You couldn’t have told me this? Or just bitten me to prove you’re immune? You had to have sex with me knowing what you are?’

Even as he tried to detach himself, he couldn’t bear those accusatory eyes scorching into him, those beautiful absorbent eyes trying to read him. ‘I had to be sure. Now I am.’

‘You cruel bastard,’ she hissed quietly.

Beneath the trauma she looked genuinely dazed, realisation filling her sad hazel eyes.

A sadness that cut him too deep.

The exposure made him uncomfortable. The exposure made him want to cling to what he knew.

‘Now, now, Leila, best behaviour – particularly as I don’t need to be on mine.’

‘Why didn’t you see it through? What are you stalling for?’

He looked at her, but didn’t answer. He didn’t tell her that he hadn’t made up his mind about what he was going to do yet. He turned towards the door, glanced back over his shoulder at her to see how tightly she was clutching the orb at the small of her back, her fearful eyes locked on his.

He turned his back on her, crossed the library and stepped out into the hallway. He stood still for a moment, something inside compelling him to go back, but he couldn’t allow himself to.

He needed time and space from her. Now he had proof, he needed to get his head straight.

As soon as he reached the lounge, Jake rose from the sofa. His eyes emanated relief but the tension was still clear in his composure.

‘I told you to wait in your room,’ Caleb said as he grabbed a bottle of whisky and a couple of tumblers from the bar.

‘You were taking too long. You said you’d be an hour maximum. What happened in there? Did you confirm it? Was Niras right? Is it you?’

Caleb took the sofa opposite Jake’s, his brother resuming his seat. He filled a glass and handed it to him before filling his own. ‘Based on the fact I took a bite out of her and I’m still here to tell the tale, I think we can safely assume so.’

Jake clutched his glass. ‘So it’s real? The prophecies – they’re real?’

Caleb took a mouthful. ‘Seems that way, little brother.’

‘How did Leila react? Did she know about you?’

‘She had no idea.’

‘You’re sure?’

‘Oh, yeah,’ he said. ‘I’m sure.’

‘So you’re immune. You’re definitely immune to them?’

‘To Leila at least.’

‘Did you ask her about Sophie?
Was
this some kind of assassination attempt?’

‘If the other McKay sister was targeting us, it was for our reputation – not because of the prophecies. Leila was as clueless about Sophie as she was about me.’

‘So what now?’

‘I haven’t decided yet.’

Jake pressed his lips together as he looked down the hallway. ‘No wonder she didn’t want you to know what it meant. Shit. I can’t believe the Higher Order kept this to themselves.

So Feinith never said
anything
to you about this? Even after all those years hunting them?’

‘And discuss Higher Order business? I guess I know more than ever where I stood with that one.’

‘And you’ve never given Feinith a hint about our ancestry?’

‘We took an oath. I wasn’t going to break that and dishonour our mother just for Feinith’s benefit.’

‘But what about now? They’re going to know now.’

‘They’ll know when I’m ready.’

‘But what about Niras? This is big stuff, Caleb. What if she says something?’

‘She doesn’t know it’s me.’

‘You didn’t tell her?’

‘She thinks Feinith let stuff slip to me.’

‘So you didn’t tell her about the dream?’

‘I couldn’t, not without giving the truth away. I needed to get back here. I needed to be sure.’

‘And now you are, you have to ask her about it.’

‘It’s just a dream, Jake.’

‘A dream that scared the shit out of you.
Nothing
scares the shit out of you. A dream that scared you enough that you had the very symbol in it tattooed on you. Now you know what it means, you need to know more about the rest.’

‘And I’ll find out more. When I’m ready.’

‘Have you had that dream since?’

‘From time to time.’

‘It’s only been three months since it started. Less than two months since you had that engrained on you.’ Jake’s concerned gaze narrowed. ‘How
many
times?’

‘Jake, ease up.’

‘I’ve just found out my brother’s the Tryan. I don’t know whether to be elated or terrified. But from what I know of your dream, I’m veering towards the latter.’

‘It’s just a dream.’

‘A recurring dream with significance if that symbol is anything to go by.’ He sighed with unease. ‘And now Leila knows about you, she’s not going to want to let this one lie. Why didn’t you drug her or something?’

‘She was going to know soon enough.’

‘She didn’t have to. Not if she didn’t sense it about you. We could have done what you did before. Unless you wanted her to know. Unless you’re still playing games with her.’

He held his brother’s gaze. ‘She was going to know because I can’t do it without her.’

‘Can’t do what without her?’

‘The transformation isn’t complete. The dream was just the start. The tattoo is the protection I needed for the final stage.’

Jake frowned. ‘What final stage?’

‘The final stage of draining a serryn to death, taking her to the Brink and stealing her soul to merge with my shadow. Only a serryn soul is strong enough to survive. A transient state will mean the Global Council can’t turn me down in a position of power.’

Horror emanated from Jake’s eyes as his troubled gaze burned into him. ‘You’re going to kill Leila?’

‘We want freedom. I don’t have much choice.’

Even saying it made it sound so simple, but the wrench in his gut told him it was anything but.

Caleb stood up and strolled over to the balcony doors. He stared through the blackened glass at the muted glow of the sun.

‘That’s why they put the ban on killing them, isn’t it?’ Jake said.

‘They’ve known about the symbol for decades, but not how to activate it. Only the serryns knew that, until one of our own uncovered the truth, then the protection order was put on them. We weren’t going to rise to supremacy without one of them alive.’

‘Leila knew all this?’

‘She sure did.’

‘And she still came here.’ He stood from the sofa and joined his brother. ‘She came here to save my life knowing all this?’

‘She came here to save her sister’s life, Jake. And don’t you forget it.’

‘Caleb, there has to be another way around this. If this is our destiny, fate will deal us another hand.’

‘Because the serryns are out there in abundance, right?’

Jake frowned. ‘You can’t really be contemplating this.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because if all it takes is that, why haven’t you done it already? You could have finished this already.’

‘I need to come to terms with it, that’s all.’

‘And not deliberate.’

‘Deliberate over what? You said it yourself; I can’t let her go now, Jake.’

‘You know she doesn’t deserve this.’

‘And our kind deserves another week in this squalor – left with nothing but unwanted scraps off the ones who destroyed all this? We both know what’s going on out there, Jake. I do this and we’ll be able to walk through green fields again, see clear blue skies and breathe fresh air. We’ll be what we once were. When our kind comes into power, we will spread beyond Blackthorn. We’ll no longer be confined to this prison, forced to share our space with the human scum they couldn’t be bothered to detain or prosecute.’

‘I hear what you’re saying and you know no one wants this more than me, but taking Leila’s life for it. You really think you can do that?’

‘You’re seriously asking me that?’ Caleb asked, his gaze locked on his brother’s, irritation stirring at his protests. He needed him telling him it was the right thing to do, not making him question himself even more than he already was. ‘A sacrifice needs to be made, Jake. And Leila’s that sacrifice. Now that she knows the Armun has come to fruition, she’ll have only one mission and that’s to stop it happening.’

‘Which is why you let her know. You want her to make this decision easier for you. Because you know this is wrong, don’t you?’

‘I’ll tell you what is wrong. That this already overcrowded district will only increase in its density and pollution – increase to the point where the Global Council decide they need more drastic management to prevent the overspill. Where, deemed no better than the criminals we’re forced to reside with, we’ll be subject again not only to the powers that be, but our own Higher Order. The Higher Order that take their backhanders to manage the district with injustice, while they keep themselves in luxury. The Higher Order that have no more loyalty to their own than the Global Council itself. I won’t let that happen.’

‘So you’ll spill the blood of an innocent girl. A girl who saved my life. A girl who wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for me. I don’t want to win that way. And the brother I know and love, the real Caleb, doesn’t want that either or you’d already be in there feeding her dry.’

‘It doesn’t matter what I want, Jake. What matters is doing what I can for our kind beyond those doors. What matters is knocking the Higher Order off their pedestal. And if I’ve got to kill Leila to do it, so be it. I will not beat myself up over some little witch I’ve known less than two days.’

‘But that’s not all she is, is she? And you’re lying to yourself if you think she is.’

‘It was too late the minute I bit into her. I either lock her up and throw away the key or I end this.’

Jake stepped over to the bar. He braced his arms on the counter and lowered his head. ‘This is all my fault.’

‘If not this way, I would have met her somewhere else and some other way. You bleeding that girl to death has given us the upper hand, Jake. And this is our chance to make the most of that, to turn things around, to change everything we know.’

Jake shook his head and pulled away from the bar. He sat back on the sofa, his head in his hands.

Caleb followed him over, took the seat opposite. ‘You know it makes sense, Jake.’

Jake looked back up at him. ‘And that’s what you’re going to keep telling yourself is it, despite the feeling in your gut?’

‘Hundreds, maybe even thousands of lives turned around for the sake of the death of one serryn, Jake. Whatever the feeling in my gut, I can ignore it. I have to.’

❄ ❄ ❄

Lying, devious, manipulative bastard.

Leila tried pacing. She tried burying her head in her lap. She tried rocking. Now she sat clutching the edge of the bed, her foot bouncing in agitation on the floor, her eyes fixed on the melting candles to her right.

She’d been thirteen at the time, when she’d first made the promise to Alisha. She’d been at her desk with her piles of schoolwork pushed aside. Her grandfather’s texts had been spread in front of her, pages of scribbled notes and diagrams spilling out onto her bedroom floor.

Sophie had been causing a racket downstairs, pouncing over furniture, slamming doors. Alisha’s laugh had resounded up the stairs a couple of times, assuring Leila that everything was all right or, at least, not bad enough that she’d have to intervene. Grandfather had another meeting so he had left her in charge again. Usually she didn’t mind, but she’d found some interesting pieces in his books whilst reading into the early hours and with school since having consumed most of the day, she’d been keen to get back to it all that night.

‘No!’ The protest had been somewhere between a scream and a cry. ‘I don’t want to I said!’

Leila had listened for a moment to Alisha’s aggravated and shrill little voice.

‘No!’ she’d protested again.

A bang. A clunk.

A scream.

Leila had slammed down her pencil, shoved back her chair and swept down the stairs.

The living room door had been wide-open but there was no sign of them – just the chaos of toys, strewn around cushions, the chenille throw from the sofa in a bundle on the floor.

A cup had smashed in the kitchen beyond.

‘Get away from me!’ Alisha’s cries had been more panicked, sobs beginning and ending the sentence.

Leila had propelled herself through the open door, her heart pounding.

She’d walked in to see Alisha curled up on the floor against the dishwasher, her large tearful eyes wild in panic, her black cape spread around her, flour all over her face, red liquid smeared around her mouth.

Sophie had been stood over her, padded up in a body warmer, a headlight plastered to her skull, a pointy wooden stick in her hand, something else clutched in the other.

They had both looked to Leila at the same time.

Sophie had folded her arms as Alisha scrambled towards Leila for protection, grabbing her leg.