Blood Lily (Lilith Adams Vampire Series Book 1) (46 page)

“Insane?” Ashcroft crept closer to Alvarez, his attention completely focused on him. This was her chance. Lilith stooped down, her gun still clutched in her right hand, and crept inch by slow inch around the corner. She kept her eyes glued to Ashcroft’s back, watching every shift in his posture for some sign that he would turn around. “
How is what that monster you call master did any different from the crimes you slander my name with?”

Lilith didn’t really hear the rest of the conversation. Her entire world was narrowed to the lines of Ashcroft’s back.
Her body was trembling with the tension of each carefully controlled footstep. She didn’t dare even breathe. She just pushed through the paralyzing fear that hummed through every muscle, making her way closer to Gregor.

Movement caught her attention and her eyes flickered over to the source with panic screaming
down her spine. Cohen saw her and he was moving himself into a sitting position. Lilith held a finger to her lips and shook her head. He held her gaze for a significant moment and then straightened his wrist. He was healing. Now that she really looked, the welts and bruises that had covered his face were much lighter. As long as he stayed on their side, he could be an ally. She nodded at the Detective and swung her attention back to her true concern.

Alvarez and Ashcroft were still arguing back and forth. She didn’t care about the words. What she cared about was right in front of her, the ropes binding Gregor to the column. With one final glance at the
monster’s back, she looked carefully at the ropes. The knots didn’t look too complicated, which was fortunate since she didn’t actually have a knife. Lilith tucked the gun into the pocket of her track suit and bent down to focus on the knot binding his feet. She had to stop several times, clenching her fists to try and control the shaking. It felt like her heart was beating in her throat and blood was roaring in her ears, blotting out any other sounds. Ashcroft could turn around at any second and the column wouldn’t completely hide her. She just had to get Gregor free first.

There was a thrill of excitement when the first knot came free and she
slowly worked the rope to the ground. Then she moved on to the one binding his thighs. Lilith glanced up at Ashcroft just in time to see him backhand Alvarez. The slap was enough to rock his head back, but the monster was just making a point. If he’d wanted to, he could have backhanded Alvarez’s head clean off his shoulders. He was looming over him, running his bony fingers over Alvarez’s balding head and gloating with malicious glee.

The knot came free in her fingers and
after she slowly lowered the rope to the ground, she moved on to the one at his waist. There was no excitement this time, just panic. Ashcroft would be bored with him soon. Any second he would turn around, he’d see her and then it would all be over. She’d be at his mercy and she knew he had none. Lilith fought to control her panicked breathing, trying to make as little noise as possible. Alvarez was screaming now, some of his words reverting to Spanish. He was definitely pissed. She stole a glance at Cohen while her shaky fingers worked the knot. He was definitely looking better. It had to be the fight. He wasn’t touching either of them, but then she got the feeling that he didn’t really need to. She could feel energies around her and she was just suffering from the side effects of his blood. It made sense that he might be able to tap into them. It made her wonder if Alvarez knew that.

The knot fell apart in her hands, freeing Gregor’s waist and wrists.
Only two more to go. Hope started to mingle with the blind panic. Very slowly she raised herself up, feeling the pins and needles trickle down her legs again. They weren’t really used to this kind of abuse and the horrible tension didn’t exactly help. She bit her lip to keep from wincing as her fingers went for the knot at chest level.

Lilith put all her focus into the knot. She couldn’t spare any more time looking around. Come on, come on,
come on. This knot was tighter and her fingers kept sliding around the rope. Frustration and pure animalistic panic made her whole body shake. Two more knots. Just two more. She wanted to look for Ashcroft, make sure it was still safe but she couldn’t spare the time. Gregor was almost free.  The knot came free in her fingers and she almost laughed in pure joy. She lowered the bulky rope to the pile at Gregor’s feet and her fingers dove for the last knot with fierce determination. One more. Just one more.

“You’re a disgrace to our kind! There are plenty of ways to get what you need without being a monster. Your son was a demented psychopath and so are you!” Cohen’s voice almost sounded desperate, it surprised her completely. Why was he drawing attention to himself?
Ashcroft would see that he was healing. Any possible element of surprise would be gone.

Lilith glanced up and only saw Ashcroft’s back in front of Alvarez. He was looking over at Cohen now, which put her in his peripheral. Damn. She froze completely still, using the column to hide as much as possib
le but still be able to see. Ashcroft turned, stepping toward Cohen and her world fell away. She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood just to keep from crying out as tears stung her eyes. Alvarez’s balding head slumped forward at an unnatural angle. Blood covered the front of his shirt and was starting to pool on the floor. Her partner was dead. Gloria and the kids would never forgive her. They’d never see their father, their husband, again. Her heart ached as she leaned her forehead against the cool cement column. It was all her fault. If she’d listened to her father, he would never have been here in harm’s way.

“Just because we can doesn’t mean we should. Humans can survive on plants, yet they choose to slaughter animals for their food. It is no different. Can you honestly tell me that you’ve never had a taste of something darker, my dear detective?
It’s delicious. The screams, the quivering muscles, the way the pale skin blushes around the knife as it slices in, that little trickle of blood that first blossoms…It’s intoxicating.” He sounded like a school teacher lecturing some idealistic student at first, and dissolved into some serial killer version of dirty talk. It was beyond disturbing. Her stomach churned and bile rose in her throat, but she kept coming back to the thought that the bastard just killed Alvarez. Just slit his throat like he was nothing. Get it together. She couldn’t let his death be for nothing. If she stayed here, crying, she’d just get herself caught and that would be the end of everything.

“Did you resort to torture because seduction wasn’t a viable option for you?
I mean even barmaids and peasants have standards after all.” The snide comment from Cohen actually made her smile, but it quickly faded. She could feel the growing bubble of anger coming from Ashcroft like an electrical storm gathering strength. It was huge and ominous, making the air taste sour. One more knot. Lilith hid as much as she could behind the pillar and started attacking the final knot. Thankfully, Gregor was staying perfectly still. He definitely didn’t want to draw any attention to himself when Ashcroft was in an epic rage.

“You know nothing of true power!” His words were barely
discernible. He sounded like a snarling beast. The sound slithered over Lilith’s skin like a snake full of venom. Lilith forced her attention back to the knot, her panic only growing with every passing second. She wanted out of this room, away from Ashcroft. He was an abomination. Just being near him made her sick to the point of passing out.

“Do you think that flirting with some imbecile girl could really compare to the power gained by careful, controlled pain? You can never truly know a person, feel their deepest energies,
caress their very soul until they are at the mercy of your knife! The unfortunate gift that Vampire bestowed on me has only made it sweeter. The taste of blood saturated in fear, pain, terror and hatred is far more potent. Imagine not just drinking in their energy, but their physical life force, devouring their very soul.” His words started to sound wistful, like some young man talking about the love of his life. It made her sick even thinking about it, but what if it was true?

It could explain how he was so much faster than both species, so much stronger, how he could heal so fast and to such an extent. He was literally drinking in every bit of blood and emotion that his victim had. He might as well have been eating their souls.
She was sure that’s how Ashcroft viewed it. Somehow that made everything a million times scarier. He wasn’t torturing people just because he enjoyed it. He had a clear, calm purpose, as insane and atrocious as it may be.

“You’re an abomination.” Cohen’s voice was soft and breathy. There was no confidence in his tone. It sounded like he was trying to convince himself, not Ashcroft. God, the last thing she needed was Cohen being seduced to the dark side. With him as an ally they had a small chance in hell of living, but if he switched sides…It wouldn’t just be Lilith, Chance, Duncan and Gregor in trouble, it would be the whole world.

The knot slid through her fingers and it took her a second to realize that Gregor was actually free. Her entire body sang with jumbled nerves as she lowered the last of the rope to the ground. Ashcroft was still focused on swaying Cohen to his cause. Lilith crouched behind the column and kept her eyes glued to the soul-eater while Gregor very slowly moved toward the corridor one tiny step at a time.

When her father made it to the corner, she let out a silent breath of relief. He turned to face her and it was the first time she’d gotten a good look at him. Besides being dirty and sweaty, he didn’t look any worse for wear. Ashcroft was waiting for her. At least she’d managed to keep him alive and in one piece. Her eyes lowered to the floor as she thought about the people that already hadn’t made it. She hadn’t been able to save Alvarez or Whitmore and she’d almost killed Humphries herself. If she’d moved faster or actually had some kind of useful weapon like her UV flashlight, maybe they would still be alive.

Gregor motioned to her frantically from behind the corner. He glanced out at the room and then stepped back to wave her forward again. Lilith peeked around the column to see Ashcroft’s back again. He was still using his silver tongue on Cohen and thankfully, Cohen was still resisting. Maybe his mind control only worked on humans. Either that or he hadn’t tried it on the Detective yet. She started to back away, one step after another, keeping her eyes glued to the monster. When she finally reached the corner she glanced back, looking for Gregor, but he was gone. Anger rose in her throat and she nearly choked on her shallow breath. How could he just leave? Duncan and Cohen were still alive in there. How was she supposed to just abandon them?

Lilith never considered her father a coward, but right at that moment she had an entirely different view of him. The whole point of getting Gregor out was so she would have an ally to help her save the others. Now it was just her again.
One woman with a 9 mm and a flashlight versus a soul-eating uber vampire-demon. All she could do was lean her head against the wall, close her eyes and silently breathe the word fuck over and over again.

A hand touched her left shoulder and she just barely managed to stifle the yelp in her throat. Gregor was shaking his head at her in silence. He mouthed the words “Trust me” and jerked his head behind him toward the corridor. The two of them crept down the long corridor and he swung open the door to the stairs. Once they were both inside he collapsed on the stairs with his face in his hands.

“I am so sorry, Lily.” She could hear the tears in his voice and it made her eyes water. She wished she could just go back in time, to see her father as she had less than a week ago. Things would never be the same. Even if they all managed to get out of this mess alive, she would never have the same wide-eyed blind trust in her father. She would always question his motives, wonder what he was hiding. In a way, it was like another person had died. The person she used to be when she looked at her father and she mourned that loss along with the others.

Lilith crouched down, ignoring the screaming pains in her legs and put a hand on his knee
. “Dad, I know. I know you didn’t think any of this would happen, but it has. You can’t fall apart right now. There are people depending on us, plus we have to end this here and now. You know that if we run Ashcroft will only track us down again and he can influence an entire army’s worth of people if he needs to. You saw what he did to Whitmore and Humphries.”

“And Coffee.”
Gregor added.

“Yes, Security Officer Coffee, too.”
She grabbed his hand and waited for him to look at her. “We have to go back in there and finish this. The odds suck, but it’s our best chance.”

Gregor’s eyes widened as if
he was just realizing something. “Where is Chance? Why isn’t he here with you?”

She hesitated and Gregor jumped at the logical conclusion. “Humphries killed him?”

“No. I mean almost. I managed to save him, but he’s injured…bad. I set him up in an empty office upstairs with a shotgun, but you heard Ashcroft. He sent Coffee upstairs to find him. It’s only a matter of time. We have to get the others out before Coffee finds him. I can’t let him die, Dad.” Just the possibility of him not making it brought fresh tears to her eyes. It was the only positive thing that had happened in the last week. She couldn’t go through all this, losing so many people, discovering so many horrible truths, for nothing.

“Go find Chance now and get out of here. I’ll try to get to the others. This is my fight, not yours.”
Gregor sat up straighter, a determined set to his jaw. He looked like a brave man about to walk to the electric chair. He wasn’t posturing, he meant it. He was still her father, still willing to die to keep her safe. He loved her more than anything, even himself, and she knew that without a doubt. It had to count for something.