Chosen by Blood (42 page)

“During the French Revolution.”

“Before you betrayed your family by giving away vamp secrets, you mean?”

Jacques didn’t bend his head in his shame. To the contrary, he threw back his shoulders, standing tall and lifting his chin arrogantly. Absently, she noted that his resemblance to Knox was remarkable, right down to his silver hair. “Who turned you?”

“Who do you think?”

“Bianca?” she gasped, knowing how much the vamp Queen had mourned the loss of her husband, but not understanding how it was possible that husband was still alive.

“Bianca,” he confirmed, his eyes softening as he spoke his wife’s name.

“But how? Everyone knows a vamp can’t turn a human without sacrificing herself.”

Jacques smiled tightly. “Everyone but the head of the royal family, who’s sworn to keep the knowledge a secret, even from her own heirs, in order to prevent the turning of unwilling humans.”

“But what if something happened to Bianca? If she died without passing on the information . . .”

“Arrangements have been made. The information would have passed to her successor, but privately.” The vamp walked across the field, dodging several boulders and clumps of weed, only to stop where the castle’s wrought-iron fence barred the way. He wrapped his fingers around the bars and stared at his former home.

“What happened to you?”

Jacques’s mouth twisted. “An unfortunate series of events.”

Felicia joined him. “So you didn’t tell Calmet how to kill vamps?”

Jacques rested his forehead against the wrought-iron bars. “I didn’t say that.”

“So Knox was remembering correctly. You did confess to that?”

“Yes.”

“And Bianca knew? And she still turned you?”

“She didn’t know until after the fact. And she turned me because she knew I wasn’t a traitor.”

Angered by the vamp’s riddles and nonanswers, Felicia propped her hands on her hips. “I don’t understand. Did you tell Calmet how to kill vamps? Were you a traitor or not?”

“Yes. And no.”

“Dear God!” She shook her head in amazement. “I can’t believe it. You’re even more infuriating than your son.”

“Yet you love him.”

She pressed her lips together, refusing to answer.

Jacques sighed. “Okay, listen. I told Calmet the secret to killing vamps but only because there were vamps killing humans, in a deliberate and methodical manner, and I couldn’t let that continue without at least giving the humans a chance to fight back.”

“But Bianca—”

Jacques whipped his head toward her and his eyes flashed red before he visibly controlled himself. “Bianca didn’t know what I knew. What I was planning. I wanted to protect her. I realize now that was unwise, but . . .”

“Unwise?” The lunacy of a human male keeping a secret from his immortal vampire wife—the vampire Queen no less—to
protect her
from danger—was infinite. Yet, as a human who loved the vampire Queen’s son, she could roll with it. At least, she might be able to if Jacques would stop being so damn vague. Felicia clenched her fists and almost jumped up and down in frustration. “Protect her from who?” she shouted.

“I don’t know,” Jacques roared back. “Or at least, I didn’t know. Not then. All I knew was there was someone within her clan encouraging vamps to kill humans. Mind you, this was before the war between your people and ours. Humans didn’t even know about us, so any mass murders that were being committed by vamps weren’t being committed in self-defense or out of fear. They were being committed out of pure hatred. Greed. Blood lust. And I didn’t know who was involved.”

Staring at Jacques, Felicia finally understood. “That’s why you confessed. So they wouldn’t try to read your mind and find out your suspicions. It’s the same reason you didn’t tell Bianca so she would publicly intervene and plead for your life. If you did, there’d be a reason for this murderer to seek her out and find out just how much she knew. But once you were accused, why didn’t she just read your mind, with or without your permission ?”

“Because that would be as good as admitting she really did think I was a traitor.”

Stunned silent, Felicia sank to the ground. Within minutes, she began laughing, a harsh, hysterical sound. “So she let you almost die instead?”

“She risked her life to turn me, giving me a chance to live.”

“Risked her life? But you said . . . I thought . . .”

“While the death of the turner isn’t a foregone conclusion from turning a human, it’s a high possibility. Knowing that, I refused when she offered, but on the night Prime had me detained, she teleported inside my room. She told me her secret. I—I couldn’t resist her. I allowed her to do it, of my own free will. When she was done, we both passed out. By the time I awoke, she was gone. I went crazy, not knowing whether she was alive or dead. Then Prime came into the room.”

Felicia grabbed the fence bars and pulled herself to standing again. “Prime? He knew?”

Jacques nodded. “But not until after.”

“After?”

“After he tried to kill me. You see, he was supposed to deliver me to the executioner. A nice, civilized death. But he wanted to kill me himself. To make it hurt. We fought. I escaped. Afterward, Prime told everyone I’d been beheaded or more likely that’s what everyone assumed. Prime knew, however, I’d been turned. It’s the only way I could’ve bested him.”

“So he didn’t admit you’d escaped.” Felicia nodded in understanding. “Of course not. He wouldn’t want to admit you’d gotten away from him. He’s too proud for that. And you’re right, he must have maneuvered around telling a lie.”

“It’s a skill some vamps have perfected.”

“But wouldn’t Bianca have known that, as a turned vampire, you couldn’t die by behead . . .” But then she remembered. “No, wait. That’s not right . . .”

Jacques nodded. “That’s right. A vampire’s body can heal itself provided there’s no severing. The heart is the only organ that, once severed from a vamp’s body, can regenerate itself, and only if it hasn’t been burned. And since I never came back to her . . .”

“Why was that? After you turned, after you escaped, why didn’t you come back? Smoke out the rogue vamps yourself?” Felicia’s voice got louder as she spoke, automatically expressing the frustration and anger she knew Knox would be feeling if he’d been here. “Why did you let your family continue to believe you were dead? Why did you let your son continue to believe you were a traitor? Don’t you understand how much he’s suffered for that? How much he’s had to prove himself because of his sin of carrying human DNA?”

Grabbing her shoulders, Jacques shook her. “I was changed, but I’d used all the strength I had to escape Prime. I was weak afterward, Felicia. I had to find blood. Assimilate to drinking it. Then I—I—” He shook his head. “I went to a friend for help. It was a mistake.”

“Calmet,” she guessed.

“Yes,” he whispered. “And he betrayed me. He didn’t kill me, but he used what I’d told him about vamps to imprison me. By the time I was free and managed to make my way back here, my family was gone. And when I tracked them to the United States, Prime was ready for me. I’ve been his prisoner all this time. Recently, Prime decided to turn me over to the North Koreans so they could inject me with who knows what and dice me up. Killing me would be too merciful, you see.”

“But why didn’t Prime call out Bianca long ago?”

“He couldn’t know for sure it was Bianca who’d turned me. I never admitted it. Besides, what could he do? Accuse the vamp Queen of treason when he’d already told her people that I’d been beheaded?” Jacques snorted. “Besides, direct confrontation isn’t exactly Prime’s style. He knew he wouldn’t be able to turn the clan against Bianca or Knox. He had power and respect. The rest he could continue to do on his own.”

“The rest,” Felicia echoed. “Like turning Knox’s cousins against him. Like encouraging vamps to kill humans instead of trying to work toward peace.” She shook her head. “Why are you telling me all this? A human . . .”

“Not just any human, Felicia. The human who gave me her blood. The human who loves my son. The human my son loves.”

Felicia wasn’t sure she believed that, not anymore. She didn’t know what to believe. Thinking about Knox and his rejection hurt so much, but she managed to form one thought related to him. “I hope—I hope Knox rips his heart out and burns it twice over.”

Jacques smiled. “From what I saw of my son, something tells me you just might get your wish.”

 

 

“I’m not certain I like the were, Knox, but since you trusted him enough to send him after the antidote, you should probably give him the benefit of the doubt, don’t you think?”

Despite the pile driver operating in the back of his head, Knox heard Noella’s voice loud and clear. He forced his eyes halfway open, blinking to clear the film that coated them. He wondered suddenly if this was how Wraith saw the world on a regular basis; with that thought, he told himself he should really try to be more tolerant of her inner bitch.

“Come on now, Knox. We don’t have much time. Open those spectacular eyes for me.”

Knox finally got his eyes all the way open, but then they widened even farther.

Noella.

She sat on a raised table beside him. He wasn’t even sure if he said her name, but she smiled and caressed his cheek with her palm. It felt smooth and cool. It felt real. And she looked real, far healthier than she had in the years before her death. She looked like the bright-eyed, fun-natured vamp she’d been on their wedding day. He’d been a proud vamp when she’d walked down the aisle toward him.

But remembering the pride he’d felt for her on that day and every day afterward didn’t erase the fact that he hadn’t loved her. Not the way he loved Felicia. “I’m so sorry, Noella,” Knox whispered.

She pursed her lips and shook her head, then laughed, a light, tinkling sound. “Don’t be, darling. We both knew it wasn’t a love match. It was fun, though, and you never failed to make me happy. Just as Felicia did.”

“I know you consented to us being together, but—”

“No buts. Whether I’d consented or not, whether I’d died or not, it would have happened. Yes,” she insisted when Knox shook his head, “it would have. Not even you could have fought it, Knox.”

“I’m not sure the same can be said for Felicia.”

Sighing, Noella placed an arm around Knox and helped him sit up. He looked around, absently noting he was back in the lab inside the compound. “Why are we . . .” Then he remembered hearing Hunt’s voice right before he passed out. “Hunt. That—”

“Careful. You don’t want to curse him just yet. Wait and see what he has to say first. I’m certainly waiting on pins and needles. Now, about Felicia . . .” Noella said.

Swallowing with difficulty, Knox rubbed his hands across his face. “When I teleported here with the shape-shifter, when I saw my father . . .” Knox’s eyes widened and he grasped Noella’s arms, still stunned when they didn’t slip right through his fingers. “My father! He took Felicia—”

“No, she went with him willingly. You hurt her terribly, Knox. Least of all when you pushed her. Most of all when you rejected her. Her touch.”

With the barest of shoves, Noella managed to push him away and break his hold on her. “I—I was in shock,” Knox explained. “I didn’t know what to think. What to say.”

“You were angry with her because you were angry with Mahone and your father. You were also angry with yourself. Lumping all of you together because of your human DNA.”

Was that really what he’d done? Knox wondered. Unable to categorically deny it, Knox bowed his head. “You’re right. That’s exactly what I did. And she didn’t deserve it. My mother tried to warn me. She said I’d hurt Felicia someday when I chose the clan over her, and she was right. I didn’t mean to, but I did.”

“So what are you going to do about it?”

“What can I do now?” He swung his feet off the lab table and jumped to the floor to start pacing. “She’s gone. Who knows where my father has taken her.” Once again, he froze. “My father is a vamp. Humans can’t be turned into vamps without killing the turner. Who . . .”

Noella shook her head. “Sorry, but that’s not why I’m here. You’re going to have to deal with the issue of your father on your own, I’m afraid.”

Standing in front of her now, Knox gently took her by the waist and lowered her until her feet touched the floor. He looked down at her, seeing both Thomas and Joelle in her pretty features. “Why are you here, Noella?”

“To tell you not to waste any more time fighting your feelings for Felicia. She’s never going to accept sharing you with anyone else. That’s just not how she’s built, Knox, and she shouldn’t have to change. Besides, you don’t want anyone else. You never have.” For a split second, hurt flashed in her eyes.

Knox groaned. “Noella . . .” he breathed.

Her face split into a wide smile and she patted his arm. “Don’t worry about me. I miss you all, especially the children, but I’m happy. It’s better than you can ever imagine, Knox. No sickness, no pain, no suffering.”

“What happens when we die? What happens to someone like Wraith? Why is she here?”

Noella threw back her head and laughed. “That’s just like you, Knox. Your dead wife appears to bless the union between you and your future wife, and you still have the fortitude to ask questions you feel will benefit one of your friends. But I can’t answer any of those questions, darling. Please don’t ask me to.”

“Felicia? My future wife?”

“Can you really say you’re surprised?”

Before parachuting into North Korea, he’d vowed to be with her, but he hadn’t allowed himself the fantasy of marriage. “The Vamp Council—even once Dante Prime is removed,” Knox said with a scowl, “is lobbying to pass a law forbidding unions between vamps and nonvamps.”

Noella quirked a brow. “And you’re going to let a little thing like that stop you? To be honest, I’m surprised you’ve let them sway you this far. To even consider marrying another vamp out of duty? What were you thinking, Knox? What happened to the little boy that snuck a hundred toads into the Vamp Council’s chambers?”