I placed my palms on his cheeks. “How did you get here?”
He gently brushed some of my stray hairs behind my ears. “How I got here is a long story, and I’m still not sure about everything. Monica contacted me after you had left to see Alexis. She wouldn’t tell me anything over the phone so I’m surprised I didn’t wreck getting to the house. Then when I did get there everything was a mess ... I …” Paul swallowed.
I caressed the stubble on his cheek. “It’s okay. I’m okay.”
”I shouldn’t have left like that, not that night of all nights. The way that place looked, I just knew that everything had gone to hell and you were ashes or something. When I got there, the girls and Tony were still there, and they pieced everything together for me.” He took my hands in his and looked at them. “Your poor wrists. They’re still not healed.”
I gently pulled my hands out of his grasp and held his hands. “Paul, I’m so sorry for what I said. I didn’t mean it.“
He shook his head. “I didn’t leave because of what you said. It doesn’t matter right now. Kim, what I don’t understand is how you could make the decision to die. What were you thinking? Was it me?”
”No, no, no. It wasn’t you.” I looked past him at the wall. “Mostly it was Tige and an overwhelming desire to protect him. But I’ll admit that it wasn’t all Tige. Paul, I just wanted to give up. Hell, I’m only existing on borrowed time. I’m such a fuck up at this! I have no idea what I’m doing half the time, and Tige is supposed to be here, not me“
He shook his head violently. “Tige’s life is no more important than yours!”
”Paul, it doesn’t matter now because neither of us has to die. I can save Tige’s life as well as my own.”
Paul seemed to calm down. “How?”
”I have so much to tell you, but …“I looked around, unsure of how much I could say ...
”Tony said no one can over hear us in here. What is it?”
”The sun won’t kill me. I’m a day-walker.”
Paul’s face grew hopeful, and then he looked at me doubtfully again. “I don’t see how. You’re so cold. Like death. I don’t see how.”
I told Paul about the meeting Alexis had with the Elder Council and how they decided I could take Tige’s punishment if I forfeited my life. I tried to explain how Alexis had managed to get the law amended to allow me a punishment that would normally result in death but that wouldn’t actually kill me since I was different.
Paul was just as confused as I was about that.
I told him since Alexis and I were linked, the punishment would not cause me death. I didn’t mention that we had strengthened our link in order to lessen the pain. Dying in a matter of moments was one thing. Prolonged pain was quite another. But what was done was done. Tige was free, and I would live. Beyond that I didn’t want to think about it.
Paul gathered me in his arms and held me.
“I love you, Paul,” I whispered.
He placed his lips on the top of my head. ”I know you do. Are you okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I am now. You never told me how you got in here.”
”Oh, that. Tony left us to search for you and Alexis, and he apparently had a helluva time doing it. The ladies told me how you handled yourself. They were real proud of you. I hear that you’re setting up shelters for the humans forced into slavery. Tyler said that you also put the word out that you were going to kill anybody involved in forced slavery.” He sighed. “It would be pretty bad if you allowed yourself to die after making a move like that, Kim. You’re going to have so many people depending on you and needing your protection.”
I glanced up at him. “I know, I know,” I chanted.
He kissed my forehead again. “Alexis has disappeared, and Tony ... is not as bad as I thought. I still don’t like him, but I don’t hate him either. He ... is really trying hard for you.”
It almost sounded as if Paul was giving his permission to pursue something more with Tony.
”Tony called a spur-of-the-moment meeting with the Council, and I suppose they met late into the night. He sent word to us that Alexis had brought you here, and so here I am. Before you ask where Tony is, he’s looking for Alexis.”
”I wasn’t going to ask that.”
”Tony also warned me not to try to break you out, convince you to run away, or in any way interfere with the law. His exact words were, ‘Then I’ll have two people to save.’”
”Tony doesn’t even know that I’m not going to die.”
”I’ll tell him.” Paul stood.
The warmth that had engulfed me left with the loss of his touch.
”I’ll be back,” he said.
After he left the cell, I stood and stretched. There was an exposed light bulb in the ceiling that made everything look harsh. It was truly a cell, no bigger than twenty by eight feet. Everything was cement. I had no windows, no place to sit, no place to lie down. Tige must have gone crazy in here, thinking that he was going to die.
I’m going crazy knowing that I’m going to be tortured.
I smoothed back my hair and straightened my clothes. I would have liked a shower and a change of clothes, but what was really the point?
The door opened, and Tony entered. I wanted to jump into his arms, I wanted to cover my face in shame, and I wanted to hide from his anger.
Tony watched me from the doorway. Like the first time he ever saw me, he studied me from my feet to the top of my disheveled hair. He reached behind him and closed the door.
”Here.” He tossed me a roll of bandages.
I caught the roll.
”Wrap your wrists.”
I understood. When the crucifixes were completely concealed, Tony sighed. He walked toward me. What was he doing?
I took a step back. ”Tony, don’t!”
He reached out to me. When I was flattened against the wall, he placed the tips of his fingers on my shoulder. There was a loud crack of electricity, and Tony went flying back until he hit the opposite wall.
”Ow, shit!” he shouted, shaking out his hand. He stared at me as if I had three eyes.
”Tony?”
He stood up straighter. ”You’re going to attend your first true Council meeting. Unfortunately it’s so we can punish you.” He shook his head. “For me to have to punish you is like a death sentence for me.”
”Didn’t Paul tell you that I don’t have to die?”
Tony’s eyes closed. “Alexis didn’t tell you what your punishment was going to be?”
”What?”
”To be wrapped in a sheet of silver.”
My eyes got big. “For how long?”
He opened his eyes. “From midnight until just before dawn.”
I inhaled deeply and stared at my wrapped wrists. “That’s not possible. The silver will melt through me in seconds.”
”It’s not too late, baby.”
I walked to the far wall and sat, sliding my back down it.
This was the equivalent of being burned alive. And I was going to have to ... live through it? There wouldn’t be anything left of me. How could that be possible? I needed Alexis to tell me what was going on. He couldn’t possibly think that I’d be willing to continue my existence as a hundred thirty pounds of melted flesh. I shuddered then remembered Tony was in the cell with me.
I gulped in some air. “It’s going to be okay. You didn’t tell Paul.”
”I’m not going to tell him. That’s your job. He’s going to insist on being there.”
”No.” I shook my head. I did not want that. “I just need to speak to Alexis.”
”I would kill him if I could,” he said bitterly. “I would ask him to give you a quick death, not the torture that he has arranged for you. As far as you seeing him, it’s not going to happen. I can’t contact him. No one can. He’ll just show up when he wants to.”
I sighed. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” I stood.
”I’m going to say this to you, and then
I won’t say any more about it,” Tony said.
I hesitated and then looked at him.
”I’m in love with you.”
Tears welled up in my eyes.
”And I’m really pissed off at you,” Tony said. “You’ve made so many bad decisions, and yet like a cat with nine lives, you always end up on top. I wish ... that I could hold you right now. But your bad decisions have made that impossible.”
I looked down and felt the tears sliding down my cheeks.
”I want you to know that tonight, watching you get punished is going to kill a big part of me.”
I nodded.
”I love you, baby,” he said.
I started sobbing. “I love you, too.”
For the second time in two nights I cried my heart out. When the door opened a short time later, I was too ashamed to look up. I knew that bloody tears had streaked my face. Thank goodness I was wearing black so I could use my shirt to wipe the blood off my face.
Paul sat next to me and placed his arm around my shoulders. Other than that, he didn’t say anything or make a move.
An hour later when I was feeling calmer, I turned my head in Paul’s direction. I had my head resting on my bent knees with my arms grasping my legs.
”I’m not crying because I’m scared or anything,” I said.
He nodded. “I know.”
I lay on the floor and placed my head on his lap, and Paul’s hand stroked my hair.
”What time is it?” I asked.
”Almost ten,” he said.
”Paul?”
”Hmm?”
”I don’t want you there for the punishment.”
”I know. I’m going to be there anyway.”
”It ... will make it worse for me.”
”Maybe. Maybe not.”
I tilted my head so that I could look up at him.
“Won’t work, if you’re trying to mesmerize me. You can’t do that in this room. You can’t read my mind, and you can’t influence my thoughts.”
I lowered my eyes. “It might be bad.”
”Don’t think about it, okay? Look, did you know that there are more supernatural beings out in the world then just Vampires?”
”Alexis had kinda alluded to that.”
”Mara knew a lot about it. I’ve been thinking ...”
”What?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve just been thinking about it.” He looked at me. “I don’t want to be a Vampire anymore.”
I raised a brow. “Really?”
”Yeah. I don’t ever want to be as cold-blooded as Tony or as cruel as Alexis.”
”You heard about Kaniji, then?”
”Yeah. And we’re changing the subject.”
Good.
We talked idly about random things. I told him about my Arnitra, about my first crush, and my favorite music. He talked about Amanda, his job, and his favorite vacation spots. Why hadn’t I done this with him before? Why hadn’t I taken the time to talk to him as if we were two people getting to know each other?
When the door opened, we both looked up.
It was the human guard. ”It’s time,” he said.
Paul stood first and offered me a hand up. I kept my mind blank. When we left the cell and the guard led us through the short hall and out into the main room, I inhaled deeply. I understood then that I wasn’t being deprived of air but deprived of my powers.
We weren’t alone in the room. Tony and three of the Council members were there. Kaniji wasn’t present. Cyrene and the others were dressed in white, so Cyrene looked like a goddess again.
”Council member Kim Russell,” Cyrene said. “You have made a request to be punished in the stead of Tige Lafayette. His crime was the creation of a Third level Neratomay without the authority of a Master. As the Second-in-Command to Council member Tony Yates, this crime is especially distressing. The punishment for creating a Third Generation Neratomay is death. As decreed by the Board of Elders, Council member Kim Russell will be wrapped in silver until such time that she is dead or until one hour before dawn.” Cyrene narrowed her eyes. “You have one opportunity to retract your request, Kim Russell.”
I looked at each of my colleagues. “No.”
”Then you will be escorted to the torture chamber of this Council,” Cyrene said. “Your punishment is to begin at the last stroke of midnight.”
Paul clasped my hands tightly. The human guard escorted the two of us out of the room.
Paul stayed at my side, and the Council was at my back. We were being led down a narrow hallway.
Even though I was working hard to keep my mind blank, each step down that dark hallway toward the torture chamber made me shake. I didn’t want those who loved me to read my fear, so I tried not to think and concentrated on Paul next to me. He was keeping his mind blank as well.
The hallway led to a narrower flight of stairs. We were already a great deal underground. The air became chillier and damp. The darkness was so complete that even as a Vampire I had a hard time seeing. The human in front of us picked up a lantern hanging from the wall. It was a battery-operated spotlight, and it illuminated the remainder of our journey.
The staircase wound around on itself so that I couldn’t see what was at the bottom. We were so far underground that no matter how loud I screamed no one, from the outside would ever hear me.
The human opened a door and led the way into a surprisingly large room. The ceiling was at least fifteen feet high and spanned the length and width of the house.
A long table sheathed in billowy white cloth had been set up in the middle of the room. Alexis stood behind the table with his hands clasped in front of him.
He, too, was dressed in all white, which made his pale skin look as if it was illuminated by some strange silver glow. The veins that had lined his flesh had now disappeared, perhaps because of a feeding. He watched me without expression, and I looked away.
The floor, walls, and ceiling were stone. Torches kept the room from falling into total darkness. I could hear and smell water somewhere. The room was like a cave, and I was cold and scared.
The Council filed past me to their positions behind the table. Kaniji’s spot looked strangely empty, and so did mine.
The human turned to me and took hold of my hand. He unwrapped the bandages from my wrists even though these were weapons to all present except for the human, Alexis, and Paul.
”Council member,” Cyrene said. “You will remove your clothes.”
I was trembling. What kind of freaky shit is this?
I heard Tony’s voice in my head: ”You do not want clothes to burn into your body.”
I searched in my pocket for the crucifix. I gripped it in my fist and placed it in Paul’s hand. He looked down at it and placed it around his neck.
I clenched my teeth and pulled the T-shirt over my head. I took off the black chemise. I kicked off my shoes and pulled off my jeans and panties in one fluid motion.
I wanted to cross my arms, cross my legs, and stare at the floor. Instead I threw back my shoulders and stared at the empty space above the Council’s head. I wasn’t thinking about the torture. I only wanted it to hurry up and be over.
Paul stood next to me so closely that his arm brushed mine. I didn’t want to see Frank’s eyes sweeping over my nudity—or even Keada’s. I could feel Paul’s rage. He could barely contain his desire to cover me and whisk me up the stairs and out of the room.
At least I could do one thing for him. I brushed his hand with mine. He looked at me and I caught his eyes.
”Peace, no fear,” I thought.
He forced his eyes away from mine. He didn’t want me to force him to think any thoughts, even if it would benefit him.
“Council member,” Cyrene said, “do you have any words to speak before your punishment commences?”
I glanced at her. Her face was completely expressionless. I glanced at Keada. She stared straight into my eyes with something like confusion. I glanced at Frank.
He was eyeing my breasts. I looked at Tony. He was concentrating on not looking at me. Then I looked at Alexis. He watched me with eyes that were completely blank. No message, no encouragement. Nothing.
”Just do the damn thing,” I said.
Two humans walked from one of the shadowy corners of the room carrying a long, narrow black box. It appeared to be about ten feet long. They placed the box in front of Paul and me and removed the lid.
Each human took hold of a wooden handle within the box and lifted it. It was like a shade the way it unrolled, a mesh shade made of sterling silver. I could see through it to the expression on Tony’s face. I won’t even describe it.
They held it up above their heads until they had it completely removed from the box.
Cyrene spoke in a quiet voice that trembled, “Let the punishment begin at the final stroke of midnight.”
Paul leaned to me and placed his lips on mine.
I returned his kiss.
His lips parted, and I felt his tongue touch mine.
I heard the first stroke of midnight.
His kiss became more insistent. He pulled my lips lightly with his teeth and then ran his tongue along it sensuously.
I sighed.
He pulled back, and his eyes closed briefly. He turned and walked away from me. I could hear his footsteps as he hurried up the stairs. But there was something else I had heard ... deep in his head.
Paul was leaving for good.
I closed my eyes and began putting up the wall. It went up fast until I was enclosed in a tight little circle. I slammed a roof and floor on it just as I felt the humans move forward to wrap my body in the silver mesh.
I never felt the mesh.
What I felt was fire.
I sucked in a shock of air, and then I screamed. Though I tried to move, the mesh kept me motionless, my arms pinned to my sides. The pain was so shocking and so complete that despite my resolution to accept this fate with grace and dignity, all I could do was scream one long animal peal after the other, only stopping long enough to draw in the next breath so that I could scream some more.
CHAPTER 16
The sound of waves lapping at a shore and seagulls squawking in the distance caused me to open my eyes. I squinted against the brightness of the sun and used my hand to shade my vision so I could look around.