“I value Declan too much to lose him.” Carson looked over toward me. “He’s dangerous without the serum whether he wants to admit it or not. But it’s okay now.”
“It’s not okay. This is as fucking far from okay as I can deal with.”
“It’s done?” another voice asked. It was Dr. Gray. I felt Matthias tense up next to me. I was furious with him—why hadn’t he helped? He was a fucking vampire king with mental control abilities and he hadn’t even moved an inch.
“I’m going to kill her,” Matthias growled under his breath.
Finally, some kind of tangible reaction. I was beginning to think he had slipped into a coma.
But then he let out a shallow gasp when she came into view holding in her arms a baby wrapped in a thin pink blanket. A hulking, armed guard was at her side.
Matthias’s daughter was being cradled by his enemy.
“Yes, it’s done,” Carson replied. I assumed she was asking about Declan’s new permanent serum. I cast a worried look at his unconscious form. I wanted to go to him, but I stayed right where I was.
Carson’s gaze flicked to the holding cell for the monster dhampyr down the hall since it sounded as if the creature had thrown itself at the door. He swore under his breath. “We’ve disturbed it.”
“Deal with it,” Dr. Gray instructed curtly. “Now. There’s no more time to waste.”
“Deal with it,” Carson repeated. “Now?”
“Yes, now. Kill it. Put it out of its misery. We’ll try again another time. I can handle this.” She entered the room, passing Matthias and myself in the doorway and sidestepping Noah’s body to enter. She hadn’t even looked at where Declan lay at Carson’s feet. I cast a last look at him before I turned my attention to Dr. Gray. I looked up at Matthias’s tense face as he glared at the woman who’d stolen his child, now standing within an arm’s reach of him.
“Isn’t she beautiful?” Dr. Gray asked, gazing down at the bundle in her arms before gently laying the baby down in the crib.
“What have you done, Monica?” Matthias’s jaw was tight.
“Long time since I last saw you face-to-face. You’ve been keeping a very low profile, haven’t you?” Her gaze flicked to me. “Doesn’t Jillian have any effect on you at all?”
“Look at me, Monica.”
Her lips curved. “And let you attempt to influence me? I don’t think so. I would never in a million years look a vampire like you directly in the eyes.”
Fear flooded me at the sight of the woman I’d genuinely liked until she’d tricked me into taking the fusing potion. Until I’d found out her ulterior motives for everything she’d done. Until I’d found out she was Declan’s real mother and had hidden that fact from her son, instead allowing him to be used as a weapon to kill vampires.
I hated her.
She was seemingly without a worry about the danger of being so close to Matthias, whose hands were fisted at his sides, lips curled back to expose his sharp fangs.
I waited for him to reach out and snap her neck as he’d done with Karen. But he didn’t. He didn’t move. What was he waiting for?
Maybe he knew that she wasn’t as helpless as she looked. Sure, he could kill her, but there were guards. Security systems. I didn’t know what other safety precautions they took here, but I imagined it was enough to keep a small community of researchers safe from a clan of vampires only a few miles away.
But I didn’t know for sure. And not knowing what was going to happen next was torture.
Carson didn’t enter the room. He was following Dr. Gray’s orders to kill the monster dhampyr. The silence outside was deafening.
I couldn’t see Declan in the hallway from here. But I could see Noah. And blood. Lots of blood.
I had no idea what to do, what to say to make this better.
It was too late for better. All I could hope for now was that it wouldn’t get any worse.
Dr. Gray eyed me. “My goodness. The Nightshade has certainly settled in, hasn’t it? The poison is so fixed in your body that it literally changed the pigment of your hair and eyes. Fascinating.”
“You owe me a new wardrobe. I think I’m a winter now.”
She smiled. “It suits you. The blond made you look much too inconsequential and harmless. Then again, that was a nice camouflage.”
I clenched my hands at my sides. “The fusing potion you gave me nearly killed me.”
“It had to be done.”
That sure as hell wasn’t much of an apology.
“It didn’t even do what you wanted it to,” I said. “Matthias didn’t bite me.”
“Go to her,” Dr. Gray said to the vampire king, choosing now to ignore me. “I know you want to gaze at the face of your daughter, even if it’s just for a little while.”
He didn’t budge. “What did you do to Catherine?”
“She was very angry with me near the end when she knew I’d be taking the baby. It’s sad, really. When I had her brought here originally, she was ready to help. She was convinced you were a beast who needed to be destroyed. A lover’s spat, I assume?”
“She caught me with someone else in my bed. She didn’t like it. But my hungers must be satisfied on a regular basis or there would have been a heavier price to pay than dealing with a jealous woman.” He sounded certain, but his tone did hold regret.
“Mmm. In any case, she wasn’t executed if that’s what you think. She was shot by a guard when she tried to escape with the baby. It couldn’t be helped.”
“You heartless bitch.”
“I didn’t pull the trigger, Matthias.”
“You may as well have.”
“You want to tear out my throat, don’t you?” she asked. “Try it. Both you and your daughter will be dead before a drop of my blood hits the floor. And you know it, don’t you?”
An empty threat? Or a promise?
I didn’t know. But Matthias didn’t budge. He knew her—from a long time ago. He knew what she was capable of. If she’d left a vampire king known to tear the hearts of traitors from their chests with so few options at the moment, it didn’t put my mind at ease that we were all going to get out of here alive.
My gaze moved to Noah again to see that his eyes were now glassy and his inhales were short, jagged breaths. He’d lost a lot of blood, so much of it pooled next to him that I felt a fresh panic surge through me.
“Noah needs medical assistance,” I said, my voice strained. “Please.”
Dr. Gray shook her head. “He chose his fate by helping Matthias. There is no other end for him than this. Let him suffer.” She looked at the guard stationed outside the door who’d glanced in at us. “That’s an order.”
He didn’t budge, his expression revealed nothing but obedience.
Would Declan still be willing to help us when he woke up? Or had the serum changed him back to someone only able to follow orders and be obedient, too? What was taking Carson so long? Why did the dhampyr have to be taken care of right now?
Dr. Gray gazed in the direction of the crib. “She’s a miracle, really. You should be very proud of yourself, Matthias.”
“You need to release my daughter into my care and let me leave here in peace,” he said. “There doesn’t have to be any further bloodshed tonight. And believe me, there will be if you don’t stop this right now.”
“How do you feel, Jillian?” Dr. Gray asked me, switching her attention again so she could ignore the vampire king. “Now that the Nightshade has worked its way completely into your system?”
“I feel pissed off,” I snapped. “To put it extremely fucking mildly.”
“Physically, though,” she said. “Are you running a fever? Has there been any more nausea? Joint aches? Pain of any other kind?”
“No.”
“There may be in the future. The fuser may not last forever, and when your blood cells begin to separate from the formula, this may cause ... severe complications.”
A chill went down my spine. “Like what?”
“It’s very likely you’ll die from it. Despite how you may feel right now, you’re not out of the woods yet. Nightshade is untested except on you. The effects on a human body are still unknown. I assume it’s only a matter of time before it begins to break down. For something so powerful to kill a vampire, I can only imagine what it will do to a human if given enough time.”
My heart raced. “You’re trying to scare me.”
“Is it working?”
“Yes. But since I know you’re a fucking liar, I’m having a really hard time believing anything that comes out of your mouth.”
She gave me a patient smile—seemingly totally at ease with this situation; a dying man outside the doorway, a motionless vampire king who looked like he wanted to decapitate her where she stood, and a poisoned human woman who hated every single moment of this standoff. “I’m not lying about this. I can help you, though, by giving you regular doses of the fuser and monitoring your vitals.”
“In return for what?”
“You will work for me as an assassin—a vampire hunter who doesn’t need to know how to use any weapon other than her own body. They’ll be drawn to you like bees to pollen.” She glanced at my injured throat. “Just because Matthias can resist you doesn’t mean others can.”
“This was going to be Karen’s job?” Matthias asked.
“That’s right.”
“Karen’s dead.”
Dr. Gray didn’t look surprised by this. “Karen was strong of body, but weak of mind. Her end was not unexpected.”
“You’re kind of a heartless bitch, aren’t you?” I said.
She smiled. “Women who have power are often thought of as bitches by those who don’t understand.”
“You’ve done all this to kill vampires?” Matthias asked.
“Of course.”
“If that’s the case, then what about the Amarantos Society?” he asked. “You’re one of their human members, aren’t you?”
She looked at him sharply. “Who told you that?”
It was beginning to make some small amount of sense to me. Matthias might be concerned for his daughter’s life, but he wasn’t afraid to take deadly force when necessary. Even when it wasn’t necessary. He wanted answers—important answers that went higher than just personal gain or loss. Answers Dr. Gray couldn’t give him if he killed her.
“Humans are allowed entry, but only those associated with high-level members. You’ve been attempting to create a female dhampyr for years in order to supply them for their immortality rituals, haven’t you? And they’ve been very patient with you.”
“It’s important to have powerful friends. And when one does make friends, one will do anything to help them. Like your brother.”
“What about him?” he growled.
“You stole his throne.”
“He was a monster who had to be controlled.” Matthias drew in a breath. “Wait a minute. It’s him, isn’t it? Kristoff is your connection to the Amarantos Society.”
She gave him a wistful smile. “He’ll be restored to his rightful place now that you’re gone.”
I watched her carefully, her body language, the joy and determination that lit up her face when she spoke about Kristoff. I stifled a gasp as I made the connections, like puzzle pieces in my mind.
“Kristoff—” I said. “He’s—he’s Declan’s real father, isn’t he?”
Her eyes narrowed on me. There was only a short pause before she answered. “Yes, he is.”
“Did he rape you?” Part of me was willing to be sympathetic to someone who’d gone through abuse. There could be reasons why she had turned into a power-hungry bitch. But my sympathy didn’t last long.
She let out a short bark of laughter. “Of course not. He was my lover. I gave him my blood and he offered to give me everything else in return, including immortality. That is, until Matthias trapped him away somewhere—somewhere I couldn’t find him. Kristoff deserves to be king again. And he will be king again. I’ll see to it personally.”
Matthias stared at her blankly for a few long moments before he began to laugh. “Oh, Monica, you’re absolutely precious. And what do you think will happen when and if Kristoff is released and restored to his full strength after thirty years of imprisonment? That he’ll take you as his lover again? I hate to break it to you, but you have the body and face of a sixty-year-old woman. Not to his tastes, I’m afraid. At thirty, you were already too old for him. Even if he gave you immortality, you would remain frozen as this haggard witch for all eternity.”
Anger shadowed Dr. Gray’s face and she clenched her hands at her sides. “He’ll reward me for my devotion to him. Especially when I offer up your daughter to help him regain his strength.”
It was all she’d needed to say to snap Matthias’s thin veneer of control. He’d held himself back until now, but she’d finally crossed the line.
Matthias flew at her, grabbing her tightly and slamming her against the wall. “I’ll kill you first.”
The guard stormed in and used a taser to get Matthias to release his grip. He staggered backward and fell to the ground, twitching from the electricity that coursed through his body. Dr. Gray brushed herself off and composed herself again.
I couldn’t believe it had been that easy to stop him. What was going on here?
Dr. Gray glanced at me and smiled at my confusion. “This is the floor where all of our dhampyrs are kept. All of our vampire prisoners are brought here as well. Every wall is infused with silver. It works best on vampires—weakens them. Perhaps Matthias didn’t want you to know that he’s no stronger than a human male here. He’s currently powerless.”
Silver walls. I looked around at the shiny surfaces that I’d barely noticed since entering here. It was the reason he hadn’t done anything. Because he couldn’t do anything that wouldn’t get him and his daughter killed.
Matthias and I exchanged a glance before he looked away. “Enough of this, Monica.”
“Yes, I agree,” she said. “Enough. I was ready to give you a pleasant enough death. Look at Jillian. She’s lovely, isn’t she? Not who I’d originally planned to use against you, but she would have served her purpose well enough. It doesn’t take a great deal of talent or strength to be a meal for a vampire when one has a lovely body and face. But you refused this gift.”
Matthias shakily pushed himself to his feet. “Death is not a gift.”
Dr. Gray crossed her arms. “I’m glad you didn’t taste her. I’m glad you’re still alive.”
Matthias cocked his head to the side, now bemused, despite the silver that currently helped to imprison him. “Trying to mend ways between us? It’s a little late for that, I’m afraid.”
“You produced a perfect dhampyr female. That means you have something special inside of you.” She approached him and drew a finger down his chest, not stopping at the waistband of his pants as she cupped him. “I can use you in further reproductive testing. I’d say, a year at the most and I’ll have all the answers I need. Then I’ll lock you away like you’ve done to Kristoff and let you wither and fade with no blood or sex to fuel you. Thirty years of solitude in a locked silver box should be enough to drive you completely insane, wouldn’t you say?”
What was taking Declan so long to wake up? Where the hell was Carson? Why wouldn’t he be here right now, side by side with his vampire-researching gal pal, Dr. Gray? What would they both say if they heard Dr. Gray’s plans? Everything she’d done up till now, everything she’d done for the last thirty years, had been in an effort to kill Matthias and have Kristoff put back in place on his throne.
Her devotion to the ex-vampire king was seriously insane.
“I hold your daughter’s life in my hands and you know it.” She walked a slow circle around Matthias. “You’re powerless now and getting a taste of how Kristoff would have felt as you passed judgment on him. Your own brother. Perhaps you should have killed him when you had the chance.”
Matthias’s jaw tensed. “I tried. H
e wouldn’t die.”
“The Amarantos ritual,” she murmured. “Are you saying it worked?”
“All I know is when I sank a silver dagger into his heart, it did nothing but slow him down.”
I inhaled sharply. The immortality ritual. Kristoff drank the blood. But Matthias drank it, too. What did that mean? Was he immortal? Both of them?
“This is very good to know. I know he’ll regain his strength quickly when he’s released.” She exhaled and it sounded like a sigh of relief. Had she thought it was a possibility that Kristoff was completely gone? That she’d been holding on to a pipe dream all these years? “Now, you’ll have to come with my guard and we’ll fit you with a nice set of silver handcuffs. You understand we must take precautions with you. You’ll make an excellent stud. I think I can create many dhampyr sacrifices, thanks to you.”
“I’m no one’s slave. I’m a king.”
“Not anymore.”
He was silent for a moment, his expression stony. “Will you let me say good-bye to Jillian before you take me away?”
She cocked her head. “How romantic. If I didn’t need her for other reasons, I might have made her the first incubator for your future spawn.”
Matthias turned to me and closed the distance between us in two steps, his gaze intense and without even a glimmer of humor.
I wanted to pound my fists into his chest and wake him from whatever stupor he’d fallen into. The silver walls shouldn’t mean anything. He was a vampire. Dr. Gray was only a human. Why wasn’t he fighting this? He was just going to accept this—why? Because he feared he wouldn’t be able to protect his daughter?
I shook my head, my chest tight as my loose hold on hope began to slip away completely. “It can’t end like this.”
Fight this, I thought, flicking a look at the large guard with the taser. Do something. Don’t give up.
“You need to promise me to look after my daughter,” he said quietly, glancing toward the crib. “Don’t let any harm come to her.”
I didn’t know how I could promise that, but I knew I had to. “Yes, of course. I promise. But, Matthias, you need to—”
He took my hands in his. “I didn’t want it to end this way tonight if I had a choice, but I always make sure to have a Plan B. And it will serve me well. Better even than I thought it would.” He glanced at the crib and at the baby whose face he hadn’t yet seen up close. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”