The keepers, four of themtwo men and two womenarmed with tranq guns, marched straight to me. But only one met my eyes, and I remembered her. She was Callista, the one who had always been as kind as she could without being discovered. And now I knew why that was. She was not truly one of them, never had been. She was a Sister of Athena, working here undercover, to learn the DPI's secrets.
I met her eyes, felt her anguish, and, I hoped, let her know that I knew who she was. Then I quickly lowered my head again, not wanting to risk anyone else seeing any hint of a message passing between us.
Callista was blonde, blue eyed and small in stature. Her movements were quick and sharp, and I sensed a strength in her that wasn't readily apparent. The other woman had straight brown hair, very bad skin and no hint of such inner power.
"Shouldn't we drug her again?" one of the men asked.
"She's still plenty weak from the first dose," Callista said.
"You sure?" The men looked at me closely. Perhaps too closely. These bastards, I realized, were used to dealing with the Chosen, not with the Undead. They were afraid of me, as well they should be. Given half a chance, I would gladly tear out their hearts.
Callista shot their curious looks right back at them. "I'm the medical officer here, gentlemen, but if you think you know more than I do, feel free to drug her again. Guidelines, however, state that four hours between injections is sufficient to keep a vampire weakened and unable to fight. And it's only been two."
The men looked at each other. One said, "They want her conscious for the end. I supposed we'd better not tranq her again so close to dawn."
"I thought we were taking her to the holding cell and the execution would take place tomorrow?" Callista said.
"That was before the latest incident," the brunette said. And I heard her mind as she recalled that two prisoners she thought of as rebels had escaped within the past hour. "Now they powers that be want to move things up."
In case those rebels had help, I suspected. And I opened my mind to feel for himfor Ethan. Was he here? Had he come after me? Would he, when coming back here was the last thing he had ever wanted to do?
"How close is it to dawn?" I asked.
They all looked at me as if shocked I had spoken at all. I hadn't meant to, but I had to know.
"A couple of hours," Callista said softly. She approached me, and I tensed. But I sensed something. I saw the intensity with which she looked at me while her back was turned toward the others. As if she were trying to speak to me with her mindthe way vampires could do with each other.
Frowning, I probed her mind with mine and found the message waiting there.
I'll slip you something before it happens. I promise you won't suffer. I'll slip you something before it happens. I promise you won't suffer. I'll slip
I met her eyes and nodded once, by way of thanks. It was a small kindness, but all she had to offer.
She unlocked the shackles that held me to the wall, but I was still too weakened from the drug to break free and run for my life, though it was what I wanted more than anything else to do.
Another keeper came close, and knelt, intending to attach the chains that dangled from my wrists to the ones that held my ankles, but I wasn't too weak to deal with that. I brought my hands down fast on the back of his head, forcing it downward just as my knee came up to connect with his chin.
When I let go, he slumped to the concrete floor. Not just unconscious. Dead.
I lifted my gaze to the others. "You really shouldn't get too close. I'll take as many of you with me as I possibly can."
They all kept their distance after that, even Callista, who had no cause to be afraid but was anyway, and stuck to pointing their weapons at me.
I glanced at James as I shuffled out, but he only watched me go. Mindless twit. The man must have the will of a grapefruit. Thank goodness Ethan wasn't so weak.
They led me through the compound. It was a fair distance to the parade grounds, not that there had ever been any parades thereat least not within my memory. But this had been a military base once, and the name, I supposed, had stuck. We passed things that were familiar to me. The barracks where I had once lived. The school building where I had spent my days. The gymnasium where I had learned kickboxing and Tae Kwan Do and swordplay. The firing range where they had only let us use blanks.
Then, finally, they led me onto the parade grounds, and I saw that a pole stood upright in the very center. Its bottom was embedded deeply in the earth. And there were iron rings high and low.
They led me right up to that pole, motioned with their guns for me to turn around and told me to raise my hands above my head, so they could fasten my shackles to the rings.
I shook my head. "I'm not aiding you in any way. Come and, do it yourself, if you have the nerve."
One of the men did just that. With an angry sigh, he yanked something from his rear pocket, lunged at me and jabbed me in the belly with it. It sent a jolt through me that had me screeching in pain, then sinking to the ground as my entire body vibrated.
"Stun gun. And I'll use it again if you keep up with the bull," he said. He gripped my wrists, lifted me and slammed my arms against the pole, over my head. With a quick snap the chain between my manacled wrists was anchored to the ring. A moment later and the chain between my ankles was attached to the other.
"There, bitch. Enjoy the sunrise." He smiled slowly, and then, before I knew what he was about to do, he jabbed me with the device again, sending another shock through my body.
I screamed as tears of helpless rage ran like rivers over my face.
Ethan lunged at the sound of Lilith's scream, only to feel himself gripped by four strong young hands and tugged back. It would have been easy to overpower them, of course. They were only mortals.
But he let them pull him back behind the metal-sided building where they'd been crouching. He knew he would be killed if he dashed into the open, as he had nearly impulsively done. And if he allowed himself to die before Lilith was safe again, she would never survive.
"That came from the other end of the compound," Ellie whispered. "God, how did her voice carry so far?"
"We're vampires. Everything's intensified. Strength, speed, every sense, and the volume and resonance of our voices."
"We need to get closer, see what's going on," Ellie said.
"I need to get closer," Ethan told her. "You two need to go gather your band of rebels and get them ready to fight their way out of here. We'll meet in, say, thirty minutes."
"Okay," Ellie said. "At the far end of the compound, by the fence. We'll find you there. Thirty minutes."
She gripped Marissa's hand, but she pulled it free.
"I'm going with Ethan," she said.
"No," Ethan told him. "You'll only slow me down."
"I'm going with you. You might need my help, and Ellie won't. Rounding up the group is an easy job. All she needs to do is stay out of sight and tell one or two of them. They'll spread the word and meet us. But you might have to fight, and if you do, I'm going to fight at your side."
"You couldn't even begin"
"I'm going, so stop wasting time."
Ethan sighed but gave in, then turned in the direction from which the scream had come. "Try to keep up, kid."
"Try to outrun me," the girl said with a cocky grin.
Ethan took off at full preternatural speed, rendering him no more than a blur, there one moment, gone the next, to Marissa's mortal eyes. And all to make a point. He stopped near a tree a few hundred yards away and waited, watching with undisguised amusement, for the girl to catch up.
Marissa came running, carefully keeping herself concealed from view, using trees and brush for cover.
When she got there, she braced one hand against Ethan's tree, let her head hang, and sucked in breath after breath.
"That was pretty fastfor a mortal," Ethan said. "Well, for a mortal who's been tortured for the past several days, at least. Which, actually, isn't very fast at all."
"Yeah, yeah. You were right."
"You've never seen a vampire before, have you?"
"No. Only other Chosen ones, like me. Once they change you over, they we never see you again."
Ethan nodded. "I remember."
"I had no idea you could move that fast."
"You can climb on my back for the rest of the way."
The girl's brows went up questioningly.
"Our strength increases just as much as our speed when we become what we are."
"It seems to me that I'd be a lot more help to you if youyou know, transformed me."
"There's no time. You'd need a day to sleep while the change fully took hold, and I'd need a day to recover from the blood loss, or a ready supply at hand to replenish myself."
She nodded, but Ethan could tell she was still thinking about it. Craving the power, the strength, the illusion of immortality. And that was all it was: an illusion. They could diequite easily, in factwhich was why he was so afraid of losing Lilith right now. If he hadn't already lost her.
Perhaps that pain-racked scream he'd just heard had been the last sound she would ever utter.
The thought made his stomach heave. "Come on, kid." Ethan turned, presenting his back to the girl, who wrapped her arms around Ethan's neck and her legs around his waist. "Hang on," Ethan said, and then he launched into motion.
By the time they stopped again, they were crouching in some scrub brush behind a metal building that was surrounded by its own fence, a smaller, shorter version of the one that encircled the entire compound. A sense of Lilith's presence there brought Ethan to a grinding halt.
"This is where they would be keeping her," Marissa said. "The few who've ever been put to death have been kept here beforehand. Though we're not supposed to know that."
"I didn't know they'd ever put anyone to death."
"Only in the past six months. One prisoner who tried to escape. Two keepers caught breaking some rule or other."
"They're getting desperate," Ethan mused. "Your resistance movement, my escape and then Lilith's. They must sense they're running out of time."
"Good," the girl muttered. "I hope they're scared shitless."
"Crude turn of phrase. Not that I disagree."
"Do you you know, sense her inside?"
"I sense something. I don't know."
"How do we get in?" Marissa asked.
"We don't. I do." Ethan looked around, spotting a barrel nearby. Sniffing the air, he frowned. "Do you have a lighter? Or some matches?"
"I know where to find them," Marissa said. "Why?"
"I want you to give me five minutesthen I want you to twist up a rag, stuff it into that barrel over there and light it. Then get under cover."
"Five minutes."
"Count them off. One, one thousand, two, one thousand"
The girl picked up the count. Bending his knees before giving her a chance to get to four, Ethan pushed off and cleared the small perimeter fence that surrounded this one building. He landed near the rear of the building, pressed a hand to the window, wiped the pane clear of the accumulated dust and stared inside.
At his brother.
He scanned the rest of the room, but he saw no one else. Nor did he sense anyone else inside, though the essence of Lilith teased his senses, and he realized that she must have been there recently but had clearly been moved elsewhere.
Ethan! James called mentally. Ethan, is that you? What the hell are you doing here?
Ethan drove a foot through the window, then dove inside, rolling over the floor and springing to his feet, ready to defend against attack.
"It's all right, Ethan," James said. "There's no one here. They've all gone."
Ethan's eyes focused on James, first in fury, and then that eased, when he saw the marks of torture on his brother's face. "I thought you worked for them, big brother. So why are you in chains?"
Lowering his eyes in what appeared to be shame, James whispered, "I only gave them half of what they wanted. The DPI doesn't like to settle for partial portions."
Ethan blinked. "You gave them Liliththe woman I a woman I care about. You deceived me in order to get your hands on her. You used meused my love for you and my trust in youto capture her for those DPI bastards. You betrayed me, James."
It hurt Ethan beyond measure to speak the words, but they had to be said. His throat convulsed, painfully tight, and he could barely force air through it. But as hard as it was to speak those truths, it was harder yet to know them beyond any possibility of doubt.
"I didn't betray you," James insisted. "I betrayed her, but, dammit, Ethan, that's my job. It's what I've been trained"
"Programmed, you mean."
"Fine. It's what I've been programmed to do."
"Lilith was right about you all along," Ethan said as he strode closer to his lying excuse for a brother.
"They wanted you, too, Ethan. They tortured me. But I didn't tell them where to find you. I didn't betray you. The only person I betrayed was a woman who means nothing to me."
Ethan gripped the front of his brother's shirt and jerked him against his chains. "Well she means something to me."
James couldn't meet Ethan's stare. "I didn't have a choice," he said. "I tried to talk myself out of handing her over for your sake, Ethan. Again and again I tried to convince myself that I didn't have to go through with it. But in the end, I knew I had to." Lifting his gaze at last, he looked Ethan in the eye, and there was regret in his own gaze. "I was afraid of what they would do to me for disobeying orders again."
"I don't blame youwhen this is what they do to you for obeying." Ethan shook his head. "Where is she?"
"Set me free and I'll take you to her."
Ethan couldn't believe his brother thought he would leave him imprisoned, whether he promised to take him to Lilith or not. But he said nothing, just pried the manacles away, using both hands and all the strength he could muster.
"The only guards are out front. And they're most likely distracted."
"If they're not," Ethan said, "I can assure you that they will be." He led his brother to the exit of the otherwise empty building, gripped the knob and opened the door just slightly.
As James had predicted, two keepers stood outside the door, cradling their automatic weapons. Closing his eyes, Ethan tuned listened for Marissa's thoughts and heard, Two-ninety-nine, one thousand, three hundred. Now!
As the explosion rocked the grounds, James drew back, instinctively ducking and raising his forearms, as if to shield himself from falling debris. Ethan gripped his wrist "The guards are running off, just as planned. Come on."
"Thatthat was you?"
"It was a friend." They trotted down the steps, and Ethan asked, "Which way?"
"A vampire friend?" James demanded.
"I'm not going to tell you who it is, James. But if you don't guide me to Lilith, I'm going to blow you up next. So where the hell is she?"
"That way. Parade Grounds."
Ethan felt his stomach twist at the words. "Why?"
"Hurry, Ethan. It's too close to daylight as it is. Just go." And with that, James pulled free of him and ran.
Ethan's eyes were powerful enough to follow the blur that was his brother as James darted behind the building in which he'd been held and leapt the perimeter fence. Then he ran straight at the larger electrified fence that surrounded the compound and leapt that.
And then he was gone.
Ethan was surprised, even after all he'd learned about his brother, that James had abandoned him. He'd half expected his brother to offer his helpto try to redeem himself by finally doing the right thing. But he hadn't.
The disloyal, addlebrained bastard.
Squaring his shoulders, Ethan shook off the bitter disappointment he felt in the brother who'd been his lifelong hero. Instead, he focused dead ahead and continued striding toward the parade grounds, alongside the guards and keepers who continued spilling out of buildings and racing toward the explosion.
No one even noticed him as he moved with the flow of bodies, and when he veered off to the right and cut around to the Parade Grounds, he kept under cover by moving between buildings until he neared the edge of the open expanse.
And then Marissa was beside him, running to keep up. "Was she in there? Did you find her? I couldn't see when you came out, butEthan? Ethan, where are we going?"
The buildings ended abruptly, and the well worn dirt track they'd been following curved away, looping to form a complete circle around a large grassy area about an acre in diameter. On the far side of that circle stood a bare flagpole, its cords snapping in the night wind. At sunrise, Ethan knew, an American flag would be hoisted as the captives stood at attention and the National Anthem played over the loudspeakers. It was the way they began each and every day here.
But tonight the view included a different, heavier pole, erected in the center of the circle, with a woman chained to it. Her arms were stretched over her head, her ankles bound as well. Her hair, coppery curls tumbling free, fell around her shoulders, strands flying with every touch of the breeze.
"Oh shit," Marissa whispered.
As Ethan stood there in the last of the cover provided by the alley between two buildings, staring at Lilith, aching for her with everything in him, she lifted her head and met his longing gaze. Her lips trembled into a small smile, and a tear spilled onto her cheek.
You came for me.
He only nodded, then stepped toward the open ground, eager to get closer to her. Marissa reached for him. "Wait, Ethan!"
You really came for me.
"Take her back to the Holding cell!" someone shouted, and Ethan automatically drew back, still unseen, as men in uniform surged forward around Lilith.
"Double the guard," the ranking officer commanded. "Anything goes wrong, it's on your heads."
"Yes, sir."
As Ethan watched, two of the uniformed men moved closer and began fumbling with Lilith's bonds.
Others took up sentry positions, bearing rifles and watching in all directions as the first two released Lilith's bound wrists and ankles. A few of the guns were pointed at her, others aimed outward, as the leader gripped Lilith's upper arm and jerked her roughly across the open grounds toward the buildings.
Keeping to the shadows, Ethan followed, with Marissa sticking close to his side.
