The Heart's Ashes (61 page)

“
Stop doing that—you’ll hurt yourself.”

“
Let me out!”

“
No,” he said and the car screeched around another corner,
leaving David at the mercy of his captors.

“
Why are you doing this?” I sobbed, my voice deep and
shaky.

“
I’m saving you.”

“
No, you’re not? You’re kidnapping me.”

“
No. It’s him they’re after. Not you. He’ll thank me later
when you’re still alive.”

“
But you let them take him, Jason. They’ll hurt
him.”

“
Yes.” Jason looked down.

“
How could you? He’s your brother.”

“
And you are the most precious thing in his world, Ara. If he
had to choose, you know he’d approve of this.”

“
But you didn’t let him choose—you just gave him
up.”

“
Believe it or not, girl, I didn’t. I had a choice to make. I
chose you.”

“
But—” My words came out in jagged splutters. “What will they
do to him?”

“
He’ll be taken to the Council—stand trial for evading
duty.”

“
Then what?”

“
He’s bound for Loslilian manor.”

“
What’s that?”

“
It’s where the American Order of Lilithians
reside.”

“
No!” I gasped, resting my hand over my locket. “Not the
Lilithians? They’ll torture him. I know what they do to vampires,
Jason. Please.”

“
I’m sorry, Ara. But he’ll be free one day. Until then, I have
to keep you safe.”

“
No. Let me out.” I tugged the door handle again. “Please,
Jason—let me go.”

“
Ara, trust me. Okay?” he said kindly. “Look at
me—”

I snapped the
handle off with my incessant yanking, then burst into tears.

“
Ara, look at me!”

“
Why?” Folding in on myself, I tucked my knees to my chest and
threw the broken doorhandle on the floor.

“
I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t have time to think. Just—please
stop breaking my car. That handle’s rigged to only open once from
the inside. You won’t get out.”

“
I hate you!” I kicked the door with my ballet flat and tucked
my fists under my arms.

“
Ara, I just wanted to save you—that’s all I could think of.
You can’t help him now. You have to let me help you.”

“
How do I even know you’re telling the truth?” I asked in a
wavering song, letting warm tears fall over my cheeks.

“
You don’t.” He flicked his indicator on.

“
Where’re we going?”

“
Far away.”

“
What are you gonna do with me?”

“
Keep you,” Jason said, lifting his phone from his pocket. He
checked the number and sighed. “I have to answer this.”

I dropped my
head against the side of the door and watched the world go by.

“
Jason Knight speaking.” A moment passed in silence. “Shit!”
Jason shouted; the car swerved violently onto the verge before
Jason dropped his phone, both hands taking the wheel; my fingers
dug into the leather seat and my eyes fused tightly together until
the wheels under us sung with the gentle hum of the freeway again.
“Damn it!” He sat tall, rubbing his forearm. “Where’s the
phone?”

“
It’s here.” I inched forward, grabbed his phone off the floor
of the backseat and handed it to him. “What was all that about,
Jason? And why did you just turn off your indicator?”

“
Change of plan,” he said, ditching his phone onto the
passenger seat.

“
What change?” My throat tightened as we whizzed past the
airport sign.

“
Just sit tight. We have a long drive.”

“
Where are we going now?”

“
Le Château de la Mort.”

“
Where’s that?” I sniffed, wiping my nose with my
wrist.

“
No more questions.”

“
Why?”

He shook his
head and said nothing more.

Chapter
20

The soft thud
of a car door woke my mind from restless, unending sleep, and a
dewy chill spread over my legs where they rested across the
backseat. “Shh.” Jason’s strong arms circled my body, lifting me
from the car.

“
Where are we?” I opened my eyes long enough to see a starless
night behind tall towers of what looked like a medieval castle. I
wrapped my arms gently around his neck and snuggled my brow under
his chin. “Jase?”

“
Shh, it’s okay,” he said into the top of my head. “I’ll take
you to David’s old room—just sleep, pretty girl.”

I breathed his
sweet cologne and closed my eyes; he squeezed me once, inhaling
deeply through his nose—the sound of his breath and the warmth of
his strong arms setting my heart at ease.

The night
closed in around us, bringing a cold, stone feeling from all six
sides, while the patter of his shoes echoed like plastic rocks on
marble.

Time seemed to
pass like the beat of a heart, taking me easily along the wistful
realm of sleep until I felt the soft, cool caress of cotton sheets
under the length of my body. “Jason—” I forced one eye open as he
positioned my arms and legs comfortably under a blanket. “Are you
doing that to me—are you making me sleepy?”

“
Yes, sweet girl. I’m allowing you rest. You need
it.”

I couldn’t
fight it. I just wanted to sleep. “Am I going to be okay?”

Cool lips
touched my brow, his breath brushing my forehead. “Just sleep.”

“
Okay. Goodnight.” I rolled over, tucking my hand under my
cheek. Gentle tingles trickled over my neck with the touch of
Jason’s fingers; he stroked my hair from my shoulders and carefully
unlatched my necklace at the back.

“
I’ll keep this safe for you,” he whispered as it came
free.

I reached out.
“Jason, don’t lose th—”

“
Shh. Sleep,” he said, and everything went black.

Sunlight never
came. As my mind escaped the veil of exhaustion, I quietly took
short breaths, unsure where I was, or if I was alone. I could feel
my heart just below the hollow of my collarbones, beating like a
hundred edgy little butterflies—making everything spin. The dark
room held a deep kind of cool, like dirt at the base of a hole. All
I could make out as my eyes scanned the floor, rising along the
stone walls and to the ceiling, was a kind of wet, glazed moisture
over every surface. Even the lungful of air I drew was laced with a
murky kind of dryness, like old, damp clothes left in a basket too
long.

I pushed up on
my elbows and looked beside me to the sleeping vampire; his hand
across his belly, his whole body shadowed in the dim light. Only
his sweet, familiar scent distinguished him as Jason.

My stomach
sunk a little. Why would he sleep with me? I wonder if the other
vampires know he has a live human in here with him.

He barely
stirred as I rolled off the dirty old bed and slipped my bare toes
onto the slimy stone, wincing with each step, balancing my hands
over the empty space in case the dizziness sent me to the
ground.

What a gloomy
room.

I tried to
make out the lines of a chest of drawers or picture frame, anything
to give this room an identity, but couldn’t see a thing. As the
last of sleep eased out of me, I extended my arms to the roof and
stretched deeply, yawning, and when I brought my arms down,
crossing my hands across them, gasped, feeling a thick, sticky
substance there. My fingers drew slowly back across my skin,
covered in dark muck. Blood? Is this blood? I touched my arm again,
tugging the shredded strand of my lace sleeve, dangling helplessly
over my forearm.

I looked back
at Jason, still sleeping soundly, then hurriedly spun on my heel
and continued forward in search of a door, a window, anything.

A tiny light
filtered in through a hole in the roof then, orange, as though the
sun had just risen, and as it brushed the walls at the same time my
fingers did, I gasped, seeing what my touch recognised first as
cold iron. Bars. A cell!

I spun around
to look at Jason—gone.

“
Feeling better?” he asked, suddenly in front of me—on the
other side of the bars.

“
Jason! What’s going on?” I could hardly see his face, only a
faded silhouette to show his movements.

“
Right now, nothing.”

“
What am I doing in here?”

He looked down
and toed a white foam box.

“
What is that?”

“
Look closer,” he said and squatted down to lift a small, fat
bag, about the size of a hand, filled with dark red
liquid.

“
Blood bags?”

“
Yes.” He looked at my arm then, at the small wash of colour
running the length of my wrist. “It seems you’ve reopened the
wound.”

I held my arm
out and studied it; it wasn’t bleeding before. I didn’t even feel
any pain. My head spun, watching the gushing flow run down my skin
and discolour my fingertips.

Jason wrapped
his fingers around mine as I grabbed the bar to steady myself. “No
passing out on me, Amara.”

“
What happened to me?” I swallowed the bile in my throat,
steadying my stomach with a few breaths.

He pressed his
face between the bars. “I drained you.”

“
What? Why?”

“
I needed you to be weak.”

“
Why, Jason, what’s going on?” My stomach sunk, my whole upper
torso lifting with each panicked breath.

“
Sit tight, girl—the Blood King will arrive soon, then I shall
take you to see him.”

“
The what?”

“
Honestly, Ara, don’t you know anything? The Blood King—head
of the World Council, ruler of all vampires—he wishes to meet
you.”

“
Me? Why?”

“
Because you’re special.”

Special?
“Jason? What have you
done?” I grabbed the cold, gritty bar with my other
hand.

“
I told him what you are.”

“
And what exactly is that?”

“
You’re a Lilithian pure blood.”

“
What? No, I’m not.” I tried to shake my cage. “Why would you
do that? Why would you tell them that?” My memory flashed a
conversation between Eric and I; Lilithians, how vampires killed
all but the created ones. “You told them I’m a pure blood?” I
yelled. “Don’t you know what they’ll do to me?”

“
Yes. They’ll kill you—after they punish you.” His smile
trickled with malevolence.

“
They won’t believe you, Jason. I’m a human, not
Li—”

“
Do you see how much blood I drained from you?” He looked down
at the box. “I cut through your entire arm, and you’re not dead,”
he said each word slowly, with detest. “So if you’re not a
Lilithian, then what are you?”

“
They—they didn’t change me yet. I—”

“
No, exactly, and you didn’t change when
I
bit you. But you heal fast—you
crave blood.”

“
No.” I backed away from the cell door and fell against the
bed.

“
Yes. It makes sense, doesn’t it?”

“
I—” I reached up to touch my locket, feeling only flesh where
it should be. “When you kidnapped me last year, it was never about
revenge, was it? It was always about me? You were setting me up to
look Lilithian.”

“
Not everything is about you, Ara. But did it ever occur to
you that maybe I was testing you—to see if you were human?” he
snickered. “Oh, it’s bitter-sweet, the revenge I sought on my
brother is so much greater now he’s accused of harbouring an
enemy.”

“
Wait! No! He didn’t know,” I cried.

“
It matters none,” Jason continued, “he committed a crime by
keeping you from us; a crime punishable by death—a death now
possible by
your
hand.”

“
Death—but—?”

“
Yes. He told you once, didn’t he, that only an original
Lilithian can kill a vampire?”

“
No.” I shook my head, eyes wide. “I’ll never do
it.”

“
Yes—you will.”

“
No.” I shook my head again, touching where my locket should
be.

“
When we’re finished with you—” he looked down at me, his lip
lifting over his teeth, “—you won’t even know who he is. You
will
kill him, and then
I will dispose of you.”

My ice-cold
fingers hid my lips. “Jason, please, don’t.”

“
I am sorry that it had to be you, Ara. I meant what I said
when I said I love you. But my hate for him and my desire to see
him dead far outweighs any affections I have for a filthy
Lilithian.”

“
What are they going to do to me?” I ran for the bars and
grabbed them as he turned away. “Jason. Please, what will they
do?”

He turned back
and clutched my hands, pinning them in place. “You are an
abomination. You must die. But first, the king wishes to test the
strength of your endurance. After all, there has not been a pure
blood since the original Lilithian queen was alive. We need to see
what a modern day Lilithian can survive, and then, we’ll extract
your venom, so it may be used for our own purposes.”