Breathless (32 page)

Rave drew her into his embrace. For several long moments they just stood there, hugging and saying nothing. Tears streamed down both their faces.

“I’ve never been as close to anyone as you are to your brother,” Rave said at last. “Not until now, at least. It’s not how we volkaanes are. Balin is the closest thing to family I have, so it’s hard for me to understand how you could make such a sacrifice, how you could do what you’re planning to do.” He looked down at Leesa, his pained expression softening. “But I think I do understand. Because I know I would do anything for you, Leesa. Anything.”

Leesa squeezed him even more tightly. She knew he meant it, and she was glad to hear him say it, because it would make it easier to ask what she still had to ask.

Rave gently disengaged from their embrace and guided her back to the rock bench. “Before you do this, let me try to get your brother out.”

She looked at him longingly. If only there was some way he could. But she knew he was grasping at straws.

“How?” she asked. “You told me there’s nothing you can do.”

Rave sighed. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “Maybe I
can
sneak into their lair and get your brother. At least let me try.”

Leesa shook her head. “You’ll just get yourself killed. And I’ll still have to do what Stefan wants to save Bradley.”

Unless I manage to destroy Stefan before I die, Rave thought. At least then Leesa would be safe. But he knew that wouldn’t be fair, to ruin her only chance to save her brother. And he knew Leesa wouldn’t give up even if Stefan were gone. “Perhaps I will die trying,” he said. “But I’d rather try and die than lose you forever.”

Leesa took his hand and squeezed it. “No, Rave, I can’t let you do that. Because there’s something I’ll still need from you.”

Rave’s brow furrowed. “What could you need from me, once you become…?” His voice trailed off, unable to complete the question.

She stared hard into his eyes. “I’ll need you to kiss me, Rave. With the full force of your volkaane fire.” She hated the agonized comprehension she saw in his eyes.

“You mean…?”

“Yes,” she said. “I want you to destroy me. I don’t want to spend eternity as a vampire, hunting humans for their blood. If I can, I’ll come to you—make it easy for you. But if I can’t get away, I want you to promise you’ll never stop hunting me. Until you find me and destroy me.”

“Oh, Leesa,” Rave moaned. He pulled his hand free and stood up, walking in tight, aimless circles in front of her. “How can I do that?” he said. “How can I kill the girl I love?”

“I won’t be the girl you loved, Rave. I’ll be something much different. You said you’d do anything for me. So do this, please, for the girl I know you do love. Let me at least know that the last thing I’ll ever feel will be the heat of your burning kiss.”

Rave leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead, letting his lips linger against her skin. “I promise,” he whispered. “I’ll do as you ask.”

Leesa hugged him with all her strength, her cheek pressed against his chest. “Thank you,” she said. “At least then, in some small way, we’ll be together forever.”

33.  BITTEN

I
t was a dark and stormy night. Not long past sunset, but it might as well have been midnight for all Leesa could see outside the windows of Professor Clerval’s old VW van. Lightning crackled to the west, sending twisting yellow forks ripping through the umber sky, followed by rumbling explosions of thunder that seemed ready to shake the van apart. Every time the lightning flashed, Leesa’s muscles tensed in preparation for the next fusillade of thunder. The rain was intermittent, at times pelting down in gust-driven torrents that rattled against the van, then subsiding to a light drizzle that floated quietly down, enveloping them in an eerie silence until the next peal of thunder. No screenwriter could have scripted a more fitting night for what she was about to do.

She was alone with the professor, parked beside the road just outside the closed parking lot for the Hadlyme Ferry. She had considered asking her uncle to drive her, but decided Dr. Clerval was the better choice for dealing with Stefan and for taking care of Bradley afterward. While the professor was distraught about the reason they were here, Leesa could tell he was looking forward to seeing an actual vampire.

When lightning illuminated the sky, she could see the macabre outline of Gillette Castle looming above them on a wooded hillside a quarter mile away. The odd looking structure, full of angles and asymmetrical towers, was built mostly of rough gray fieldstone collected from the surrounding area. She had googled the castle after Stefan selected this spot for their meeting and learned it had once been the home of an eccentric stage actor who gained fame playing Sherlock Holmes in the early 1900s. He’d designed the place himself, and since his death, the castle had become the centerpiece of a sprawling state park. The structure would have looked strange even in the daylight, but at night, with the rain and lightning, it appeared foreboding and sinister. If the castle hadn’t been part of a popular park, she would have thought it a perfect home for vampires. She wondered if Stefan was displaying a dark sense of humor by choosing this spot, but thought this was not a matter he would treat lightly. More likely, they were simply somewhere near the vampire lair.

The rain began to fall more heavily again, pounding upon the roof of the VW and streaming down over the windows, turning them opaque.

“You certainly picked a miserable night for this,” Professor Clerval said.

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Leesa said. “But if I don’t do it now, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to.”

“Are you absolutely certain about this? It’s not something that can be undone. Ever.” He rested his bony hand atop Leesa’s. He knew her mind was made up, but felt he had to make one last attempt to persuade her to change her mind. “We can still drive away. No one would blame you.”

Leesa shook her head. “Believe me, I’d rather be anywhere but here. But I don’t have a choice. I have to do it. For Bradley. He’d do the same for me, I know he would.” And probably wouldn’t have agonized over the decision nearly as much, she thought.

She had explained her bargain with Stefan to Professor Clerval the day before to prepare him for what was going to happen. He’d tried hard to talk her out of it, but she’d been resolute, and finally he had given in and agreed to help. Once her plans were made, she’d spent most of yesterday and all of today with her mom, cherishing every moment. She’d hung out with Cali, Caitlin and Stacie for a couple of hours last night, drinking wine and trying to have fun. At the end of the evening, she told Cali she was going to meet Stefan tonight about helping Bradley. But she didn’t tell her what that really meant.

So her unsaid goodbyes were done. She hadn’t trusted herself to see Rave again, instead letting their time beside the stream be their final farewell. All that remained now was to wait for Stefan.

She didn’t have long to wait.

A flash of lightning revealed three dark silhouettes by a trailhead in the closed-up park, maybe fifty yards from the van. So brief was the illumination, Leesa wasn’t even sure she’d actually seen them, but if she had, it had to be Stefan—nobody else would be out on a night like this. But was one of the figures Bradley? Desperate to see, she squinted hard into the darkness, but it was impossible to pierce the blackness.

“Did you see someone?” she asked the professor, pointing anxiously through the front window. “Over there, a little way up the trail?”

“I think so.” Professor Clerval leaned forward, trying like Leesa to see where seeing was impossible. “Three of them?”

Before Leesa could answer, Stefan glided into the pale glow thrown by the van’s parking lights. He was alone. As usual, he was dressed in black—jacket, jeans and boots. He seemed oblivious to the rain streaming down his uncovered head and dripping from his long hair and his chin. He smiled at Leesa through the window.

Leesa grabbed her umbrella and climbed out of the van, snapping the umbrella open as soon as she was out the door. She heard the driver’s side door thunk closed, and a moment later, Professor Clerval was standing beside her, also shielded by an umbrella.

Stefan turned to the professor. “Professor Clerval. We’ve not met, but I’ve sat in on your class several times over the years. I assume Leesa has told you who I am?”

Dr. Clerval swallowed hard, scarcely able to believe he was talking to a vampire. He almost forgot why he was here. “She has, yes,” he said evenly.

“Then this must be quite a moment for you. To actually stand before the object of your lifelong obsession.” He let his fangs drop slowly down from his jaw. “To know now without a doubt that we exist.”

Leesa faltered back a step at the sight of Stefan’s fangs. Even though she knew he was a vampire, the sight of the pointed teeth startled her. An image of those yellow fangs piercing her throat rose unbidden into her mind. She shivered.

Professor Clerval was similarly distracted, but for a different reason. He stared at Stefan’s fangs, studying them. They looked exactly like the ones on his prized skull. He forced the thoughts away and returned his gaze to Stefan’s eyes. “Please don’t make Leesa go through with this.”

Stefan raised his eyebrows quizzically. “I’ve not yet even heard what her choice is,” he said. His fangs disappeared, replaced by a thin smile as he turned to Leesa. “Am I making you do anything, Leesa? Or are you here of your own free will?”

Leesa studied his face, annoyed that a part of her still found him sexy. “I’m here of my own choice,” she said. “To save my brother.”

“You know what I mean, Stefan,” Dr. Clerval said, still trying to make this turn out differently than these two intended. “You’re forcing her to make this horrible choice for her brother’s sake.”

“That’s where you and I differ, Professor. I don’t see it as horrible. Indeed, I relish my current existence. I would not undo it even if I could. As for Leesa’s brother, my kind do not lightly meddle in one another’s affairs. What I’m offering her is no small thing.”

Leesa spoke before Professor Clerval could respond. “Enough, you two. I’ve made my decision.” She looked past Stefan, trying to probe the darkness, but still could see nothing. “Is Bradley out there?”

“He is,” Stefan said. “Shall I bring him to you? Do you accept my offer?”

Leesa took a deep breath. This was it. She could still turn back, could still return to her old life, could still enjoy life with her mom, with Rave, with Cali and her other friends. As Professor Clerval had said, no one would blame her. Indeed, except for Rave and the professor, no one would even know what she had done. Or failed to do. No one but me, she thought. “Yes. I do,” she said, her voice little more than a whisper. “Get my brother, please.”

Stefan nodded, then vanished into the darkness. Leesa kept her eyes fixed on the spot where he disappeared, waiting to see her brother. The seconds dragged by. The rain slackened, floating down now in a misty drizzle. Without the drumming of the rain on the ground and on their umbrellas, the night was suddenly silent. After what seemed an eternity, she heard the splash of slow, heavy footsteps, and a moment later Stefan and Bradley emerged from the blackness. Lurking behind them, Leesa saw the outlines of three more dark figures. Stefan knew she had a volkaane friend and was clearly taking no chances Rave might be somewhere nearby. She guessed there were other vampires out there besides the three she could see and was glad she hadn’t let Rave talk her into letting him come with her.

As Stefan and Bradley splashed nearer, Leesa’s hand rose unbidden to her mouth. She’d thought she was ready for anything, but she was not prepared for this. Not even close. Bradley lurched forward woodenly, his arm around Stefan’s shoulders, his weight supported almost entirely by the vampire. His blond hair was longer than she’d ever seen it, plastered by the rain in twisted strands across his cheeks and shoulders. Soiled clothes hung loosely from his gaunt frame, and his pale skin looked almost yellow. But none of that was as distressing as his eyes. Eyes that should have been as bright and blue as hers were instead dull and lifeless, staring vacantly into nothingness.

This was not the Bradley she’d expected, not the Bradley she could return to their mom’s joyous embrace. This was a zombie straight from some horror movie. She should have rushed forward to hug him, but was unable to move. Her vocal cords seemed frozen as well.

“He’ll recover,” Stefan said, reading the distress on Leesa’s face as he brought Bradley forward the last few steps. “His blood level is very low. He’ll need rest, and lots to eat and drink.” He looked at Professor Clerval. “And keep him warm. Very warm.”

Leesa stepped forward and placed her hand lightly against Bradley’s cheek. His skin felt like rubber and was icy cold. “Bradley?”

Bradley lifted his head. His eyes seemed to find some focus as he looked at her. “Pumpkin?”

Tears streamed down Leesa’s cheeks at the sound of that single word. She dropped the umbrella and threw her arms around her brother, holding him close and trying to will her body’s warmth into him. If only Rave were here to lend his heat.

She was suddenly aware that Bradley had put his arms around her, returning her hug, and she squeezed him even more tightly. The brother she adored was still inside this frail body. Her bargain would be worth it after all.