In the Dark (45 page)

“Your
leader has spoken.” Specter’s voice was cold. “Back
upstairs. Now.”

The members of
the pack pushed closer, subtly. Threatening. Sebastian could either
take them up to his home, or they would force him to do so. Nothing
would change that.

He let his sword
down, stood straight. Ian said his name, small, unsure. Specter’s
poisonous grin returned as Sebastian’s blade lowered. Still
grinning, he herded them back onto the elevator. The rest of the pack
followed.

There was just
enough room for them all. Sebastian crushed Ian behind him into a
corner, using himself to shield her. He knew every pack member there
picked up on his intention. Beyond one smug and superior grin, none
of them gave any indication that they noticed.

Specter held out
his hand. “I assume there’s a key?”

Sebastian pulled
his key out of his pocket and handed it over. Specter used it. Didn’t
give it back. The elevator whirred and lifted them up, groaning at
the weight.

Behind him, Ian
grabbed his arm with shaking fingers. None of the pack faced Ian or
Sebastian on the ride up. A pointed insult. They could take Ian at
any time and knew he would not be able to stop them. Upstairs, Amanda
and Josephine would become targets as well. The pack would exult in
the opportunity to taste them both, more so at the unexpected
pleasure of having Amanda both living and dead. Unless the women hid
themselves or escaped and ran fast and far enough away. Sebastian
doubted they could.

The members of
the pack had sworn loyalty to Specter and to one another, bonds that
still applied. They would not kill Sebastian without calling
challenge. So he was safe from the pack – until Specter called
challenge on him again. As he knew Specter intended. Sebastian could
save them only by winning that challenge. His jaw tightened.

The elevator
doors slid open on the living room. Josephine stood from a chair, a
frown on her face. Sebastian watched her expression turn cold as she
saw, watched her snatch up the sword at her side.

Specter stepped
off and his pack followed him. Sebastian and Ian had to exit last.
Sebastian pushed himself in front of Ian, lifting a hand to hit the
garage button before stepping off. A thin chance, but better than
nothing. He heard Ian start forward and stop as the doors lumbered
shut.

Syren, a small
dark woman, shot her hand out to catch the doors. Sebastian knew her,
had trained her. She did not do well at hand-to-hand, so Sebastian
lunged for her, caught her arm and twisted it behind her. Another
one, a newer member, lurched forward and hit the call button before
the elevator could leave. The doors slid open again. Ian stood
inside, confused and shaking. The newer one took her arm to lead her
off. Ian jerked her arm free of him, much to the pack’s
amusement, but she followed him off. Sebastian released Syren. She
shook her arm out, grinning at him.

Damn.

“Nice
try,” Specter said, as the strange one set himself up as Ian’s
guard. The elevator slid shut and quietly left.

Specter waved a
hand at Josephine, who was trying to block the hall. Syren shot
Sebastian a glare as she drew her sword and left him, followed by
Dragon. The pair exchanged a glance. Dragon hung back, holding an
inviting hand towards Josephine. Syren drew her sword and squared off
with Josephine.

Josephine
brought her sword up in the guard position they had been working on
earlier. Syren had skill with her blade, but Josephine defended
herself beautifully, lithe and quick. When she scored a solid hit of
her own, Sebastian dared to hope she might find victory – in a
snake-quick motion, Syren bound Josephine’s sword and tossed it
away, setting her sword against Josephine’s neck none too
gently. Dragon darted down the hall as soon as Josephine was
disarmed, checking doors. Josephine glared at Syren, her lips pressed
tight. A thin line of red appeared along the blade’s edge.

Sebastian’s
chest constricted. Anger . . . and something else, something that
fueled the anger. An ache, a soreness. He took a soft, deep breath
and exhaled carefully.

Specter did not
miss it. The leader tapped his chin, his eyes boring into Sebastian.
“Well, well.”

Damn.

Specter strolled
closer to Josephine, while Syren wrenched Josephine’s arms
behind her to hold her more securely. There was a soft cracking sound
as she did. Josephine’s eyes clenched shut. Sebastian refused
to look away. As if by watching her suffer, he might ease it somehow.

“And here
I thought it was that little whelp who had you so interested. Well.”
Specter bowed ironically to Sebastian. “I couldn’t
honestly imagine it, but then, I couldn’t see why else you’d
be so intrigued with her.” He turned back to Josephine, an
appreciative smile spread over his face.

“Don’t
touch me,” Josephine hissed at him, drawing herself up
straight.

He stood back,
amused. “This one’s a little more your style, Cain.
Older, more –” he licked his lips – “experienced.”
He smiled in a parody of politeness at Josephine. “Josephine
Gray, I believe it is? Daughter of the Noble House Chester of
England, am I right?” He smiled at Josephine’s startled
expression.

Sebastian was
unmoved. Specter made it a hobby to know things about other vampires.
He enjoyed how it unnerved them.

“Made by
Lillian Gray – How is dear Lillian, by the way? Oh!”
Specter put a hand to his mouth. “That’s right. She
killed herself, didn’t she?” Specter smiled
sympathetically at Josephine, as if he had merely inquired if Lillian
had sprained her ankle. Josephine startled, her eyes going wide, then
wet. Her throat worked once, twice.

“Stop,”
Sebastian said. It would have no effect, he knew. But he could not
keep silent.

Specter turned
to him, pouting.

“I’m
simply trying to warn you, old friend. Your little plaything here
drove her mother to suicide. Do you know why?” Waving one hand
in Josephine’s face, Specter went on before Sebastian could say
he didn’t care. “Because she wouldn’t
love
her. I really think you ought to know.”

The claim would
have its base in truth. Specter wouldn’t lie. He would not tell
the whole story. But he would not lie.

Sebastian
shrugged. “Get to the point, Specter.” He knew he’d
said the wrong thing as soon as it escaped his lips.

Specter smiled
sweetly. “In due time, in due time.” He patted Josephine
on the cheek while she glowered at him, fighting her own tears. A
sudden need to shred Specter wide open hit Sebastian, leaving him
trembling.

Dragon returned
then, pushing Amanda ahead of him. Specter clapped his hands and went
to them. The child’s face had turned white, pale even for a
vampire. She watched Specter come closer, until she began struggling
to get away. She offered no challenge to Dragon. Specter grinned at
her.

“It’s
so good to see you up and about. I had thought the next time I’d
see you would be in Heaven. Or Hell.” He bared fangs at her,
and she whimpered, fighting uselessly against Dragon.

Specter pouted.
“No fun. She’s already panicking. At least she remembers
me. I’d fancied she might, but you know how death can affect
the mind.” He turned back to Josephine, trailing a finger down
her cheek. Sebastian lifted a lip. “So tell me. What attracted
you to our little assassin? Was it the number of unsolved murders to
his credit? The exemplary pack member he’s been? That his name
is known throughout the Old World and the New? You have heard of
Cain, haven’t you? He has quite the reputation.”

Josephine
watched Specter with disbelief, tears trickling down her face.
Specter waited for her answer. She breathed in, a sound that cut
across Sebastian. He closed his eyes for one second, focusing.

“I call
challenge, Specter.” Sebastian let his hate seep into his
voice. “Stop this nonsense and answer me.”

“Nonsense!”
Specter made a shocked face. “We’re just having a nice
conversation. But I suppose you’re bored. We’re not
talking to you, are we?”

“
Answer
me,”
Sebastian growled.

The pack shifted
around him. They knew Specter’s tactics, but pack members were
not ignored. Not even disobedient ones. Especially when they called
challenge.

Specter sighed
again and turned to Josephine. “I’m not done with my
conversation yet, Cain. I think you can wait that long.”

“Then you
deny my call?”

The pack shifted
again, looking between Sebastian and their leader. To deny challenge
was to admit weakness – and accept death.

Specter turned
back to Sebastian, black eyes snapping with rage. “I’ll
tell you what I’m doing, Cain.” He took the space between
them in a few long strides. “I accept your damn challenge. I
welcome it. And when I’ve slaughtered you, I’ll take that
lovely creature there –” he waved a hand at Josephine –
“and I’ll give her to your brothers and sisters. You
recall what that’s like, don’t you? How we feast on them
while they scream and fight to escape, until their struggles end and
they decay into nothing? You did it often enough. And then we’ll
have a second treat.” He aimed a gesture at Amanda. She
whimpered. “Two in one night! What a feast! But I won’t
be joining them, because I’ll have one all to myself. That
little brat of Durand’s. She seems like a sweet morsel, doesn’t
she?” He had pushed his face close to Sebastian’s now,
hissing. “In fact, I don’t think I can wait. I’ve
waited to taste her for years and I’m out of patience. I accept
your challenge, Cain, but first I want you to watch me drink that
little traitor’s spawn.”

Specter spun,
taking his face away from Sebastian’s and turned to Ian.
Sebastian turned with him, caught Specter’s expression just
before he saw for himself –

Ian was gone.

Specter’s
surprise lasted only an instant. Then his face distorted in pure
fury.

“Find
her!” he screamed. “Search the place inside and out,
bring her back, find her!” The pack jumped to respond, all but
Dragon and Syren who held fast to their victims.

Sebastian
watched, blinking. He hadn’t notice Ian slip away, despite her
standing within five feet of him. He caught Josephine’s stunned
face. She hadn’t seen Ian’s escape either.

But only four
pack members jumped to do Specter’s bidding. Dragon and Syren
held their captives – while Shroud had vanished along with Ian.

Specter was
stalking back to Josephine, his eyes dark and angry, his posture
offensive. He struck out to catch her arm in his own grip. Her body
stiffened.

“Go help
them,” Specter snapped at Syren, and jerked Josephine to him.

And Sebastian
forgot Ian and Shroud in the rush to cross the room.

W
hen
the elevator touched the ground floor, I was still waiting for them
to come after us. So I stood there like an idiot as the doors opened,
frozen and not sure what to do. The man who’d brought me down –
Shroud? – tugged my arm impatiently. I stumbled off behind him.

We’d just
walked out. Quietly, carefully, an inch at a time – but still
in plain sight. The rest of them didn’t look at us. They were
too busy watching Specter pick on Josephine. I still thought someone
should have noticed us, after all the trouble they’d gone
through to catch me. But they hadn’t. Not even Sebastian.

Sebastian.
Josephine. Amanda.

“Everyone
else – ?” I managed as we passed the front desk.

My savior
glanced at the lobby attendant and pushed out the front doors. I
followed, my thoughts thick and scared.

Outside he said,
“We have to get out of here. They’ll notice we’re
missing soon enough. Do you need anything from your house?”

I blinked, still
following. I suddenly noticed how hard his hand was clamped over my
wrist. I tugged at it. His grip stayed tight. My other questions got
swept away and I got no answer to a new one entirely:

Am I being
saved?

“But
Sebastian, and Amanda and Josephine – what’s gonna happen
to them? Specter’s not just gonna let them go?”

He shook his
head. His dark eyes flicked everywhere, up the street and down, side
to side, behind us; anywhere but me. I frowned.

“Then
what’s gonna happen to them?” I insisted.

“Don’t
think about it. There’s nothing we can do for them now. Keep
walking.”

Nothing we
can . . .

Ice ran through
me, clearing the muck in my head. A sudden, white-hot anger bubbled
up from my gut.

I yanked my arm
harder, trying to use that anger on him. I managed to wrench my wrist
pretty good, but he didn’t let go.

“Let me
go!” I dug my heels in.

He stopped and
whirled, pushing his face close to mine. I wanted to be brave, to
hold my ground and snarl right back at him – I pulled away,
ashamed at doing so. His pretty face was twisted up in anger, eyes
flashing.

“Do you
want to end up like Kent?” he hissed. “They killed him
without even thinking about it, like they’re going to kill
everyone in that apartment, like they’ll kill you if you go
back there!”

“Let me
go!” My voice came out smaller this time.

He sneered.
“Sure. Right. Let you go. And you’ll go running back
there, and then what? You can’t get back up to that apartment
without a key. Even if you could, what do you think you’re
going to do against Specter and his pack?”

“I’m
not going to run off and leave them up there!” I said back,
because I had no idea what I might do. I just knew I couldn’t
leave. I kept twisting my arm, looking for his thumb, where I should
find a weak spot and be able to yank away. Only when I found it his
thumb didn’t give.

He aimed a
finger in my face. “If you would have come with me when I told
you to in the first place, you wouldn’t have to worry about
this now!”