"What will they do to her?" he asked, thinking of Jaden.
"They will judge her," Pietro answered. "And they will more than likely kill her."
"Will you help her?" Mack asked in dejection. "Can you bring her back to me?"
"I"ll try," Pietro promised coolly. "When it becomes time to decide, I"ll vote for life. Now, prepare yourself. I"ll come back for you, but for now I must join the council. They will be expecting me."
The boat rocked on the choppy sea as the knights made the pa.s.sage to Delos. The bound boatman stood at the helm, used to the vampiric pa.s.sengers. He ignored them, though they were an imposing sight--standing stock still on the uneven water. Their vampiric eyes glittered in the silver of the moonlight, their hair lifted gently in unison on the breeze, and their black clothing clung to their bodies like second skins to hide the tell-tale paleness beneath.
The boatman"s old k.n.o.bby fingers ran over the smoothed wood of his boat, his thin legs planted unfalteringly on the deck. He knew better than to ask questions of the strangers at his back, having ridden them on the water most of his life. During the day, he was allowed to ferry humans to the sacred island and at night he was roused from bed to do the same for his vampiric masters. It was the lot of his family line to serve the dark ones, and they did so without complaint for they had been well rewarded and taken care of in return.
The Dark Knights in turn ignored the loyal servant. They rode noiselessly over the short distance, each keeping their thoughts in their own heads. The dhampir and mortal captives laid quietly by their feet. Their bodies were for the most part motionless, though they rolled and swayed quietly on the deck with the waves.
Tyr let his eyes drift downward. Jaden"s face was turned away from him, pressing close to Rick"s side. The man"s arm arched over her head. The waves scooted them intimately together until they looked to be lying peacefully. Tyr didn"t need to see her features to recall every detail of her fine appearance or the legendary jade of her gaze--a gaze made all the more potent by the accursed gift he had given her.
The wound on her shoulder was healing, the worst of it over. Tyr stared at it and felt his stomach tighten. Instantly, his companion"s heads turned to him, sensing his torment in a brief anguished moment he forgot to hide. Tyr forced all feeling out of his chest, leaving in it a cold numbness. He lifted his pa.s.sionless eyes to the approaching dock emerging out of the night, refusing to answer their unspoken inquiry. He didn"t deem to look at her again and his quiet companions turned their curiosity away.
Jaden awoke with a start from the strange sleep induced by the power of the knights. She was surrounded by stone walls. Her lungs softly panted with breath out of human habit until she realized they didn"t need the air. She stopped breathing, sitting in the surreal shadow casting of light coming dimly from a narrow slit at the bottom of the door. The tiny edge allowed a thin beam to illuminate within. She was again in a prison cell, a dark dungeon in the vampire council hall.
Her vampiric eyes cut through the darkness with ease. She still hadn"t grown used to trusting them. Her vision focused too quickly and she shut her eyes to stop them from wavering. Her other enhanced senses had been easier to handle, since being a dhampir had given Jaden a lesser degree of them her whole life.
Peering into the door, she knew the tribal council was close. She could feel the concentrated energy of the tribes thumping all around her, pumping in her veins, flowing like electricity from the old stones. It made her s.h.i.+ver with the coldness of it and she was very afraid.
Tyr was gone. She couldn"t detect him beyond the thick metal. Her body contracted with a sob that found no release. Her limbs quivered violently. Death was all around her, had become part of her. All she wanted was one last smile from Tyr, one last gentle touch of his hand, the press of his body.Hearing someone else"s breath in the darkness, Jaden paused. Her eyes closed in languid pleasure. She realized a mortal shared her cell. The smell of blood curled in her nose with a predator"s accuracy. A faint heartbeat unfurled in her head. Her lips parted with new-found instinct, begging her to eat, to bite, to drink. The meals of rats and fish swam inside of her. The borrowed life in her blood was painfully inadequate.
Jaden cracked open her eyes. She wondered if a meal was left for her. Turning her attention to the ground, she saw Rick. His body was still, his chest falling in even sleep. She forced the bloodl.u.s.t to subside and her fangs back behind her lips.
Going to the immobile man, she touched his cheek lightly. Rick jolted awake as if burnt. His eyes darted open. Seeing her, he weakly scrambled away.
"Rick," she began softly, unaware of how her eyes glowed with an eerie green light.
He shook his head, squinting into the dimmed light. "Stay back, Jaden."
"Rick," she continued with a soft plea. She moved to reach out to him, but pulled back when he flinched. "Don"t be scared of me."
"You"re one of them," he defended wearily. Proudly lifting his chin, he knew he could never fight her. He saw her eyes and knew he could never hurt her, not even now. "You"re dead."
"Yes." Her gaze fell mournfully to the ground.
"How could you do it, Jade?" he hissed in aggravation. "How could you have allowed it to happen?"
"I--I didn"t allow it to happen," she defended halfheartedly, thinking of how she trapped Tyr in the cave and forced him to bite her. Looking back, what exactly had she expected him to do? Let her die? She should have known better.
"You could"ve resisted," Rick spat. "You could"ve refused to drink his blood."
Jaden looked at him. A dark, bitter chuckle escaped her tired throat. She wouldn"t defend herself to him. He would never be able to understand the body"s forceful cling to life in that last instant of death.
Bitterly, she countered, "You drugged me, left me helpless. If not for you, I wouldn"t have been in the position I was in."
Rick choked with guilt. "Then it is true? Oh, G.o.d, Jaden! I am so sorry. Mack said that he ill-used you and--"
Jaden softened. She shook her head. "No, I was treated better than could be expected."
He shot her a look of utter disbelief.
"It"s not your fault, Rick," she amended, sorry that she had lashed her anger out at him. She could never hate Rick, could never blame him. "He was coming for me that night. I wouldn"t have been able to fight him off. You saved me the humiliation of trying. I should thank you."
"But, both of us--together," he offered.
"No," she said firmly. Rick couldn"t see her sad smile in the darkness. "Not a whole army of us. Whatever has happened, will happen, you must promise me not to blame yourself. My fate was sealed long before we met."
"What happened to you, Jade? What changed between us?" Rick bemoaned the loss of his love. "I could"ve made you happy."
"I can"t make myself happy," Jaden said under her breath. "What makes you think you could"ve done so?"
"I--" "No," she broke in. "My whole life has been a mistake. Mack tricked my mother into becoming pregnant with me and then he killed her when she turned into a vampire to be with my father. My uncle has manipulated my entire life. He hasn"t allowed happiness in it. He took my family from me. You couldn"t have changed all of that, Rick."
"We should have never trusted Mack," Rick stated in dejection. Seeing that she didn"t move to bite him, he relaxed. Rubbing his head, he drew up to sit against the hard, damp wall.
"I know," she said sadly. "I, too, foolishly trusted him. He is the reason I am. He is the reason I was born. He worked a spell over my parents and he has molded and raised me to do his bidding. Out of all of us, I am his most favorite puppet. And like a puppet, I was led like a child by my strings."
"When did you start to suspect?" Rick grunted, pressing his fingers into his temple. When he drew them back, he saw drying blood.
"New Orleans," she whispered, crawling close to him. Rick eyed her cautiously, but allowed her to sit next to him. There was no warmth in her, just the coolness of the stone reflected from her skin. "I knew I couldn"t trust him in New Orleans."
"What did happen that night?" Rick asked. He watched her suspiciously, flinching when she lifted her fingers to touch his wound.
Gingerly, she probed it. "You changed so much after that. Were you truly so mad at me for stomping on your turf? I"ve racked my brain a thousand times and so help me I can"t figure it out. Duncan was a loser. He deserved to die."
"Yes," she agreed. "Duncan was a loser and did deserve to die. But he didn"t die in New Orleans. He died later in New York."
"Then--"
"My father," she whispered with a mournful pant. "I killed my father in New Orleans."
"Oh," Rick blew softly in surprise. He let the news sink in. It made sense. Mack had been so insistent that they go and help her.
Giving them a load of c.r.a.p about her getting emotionally involved. "Jade, I"m so sorry. But you didn"t kill him. Mack did. I did. I am the one who didn"t listen. I"m the one who called for the sunlight."
Jaden swallowed. Wearily, she laughed through her unending pain. Rick narrowed his eyes, trying to see her clearly in the darkness. His reward was the sinister toss of her tongue, as she queried, "Trying to comfort the vampire, Rick? That isn"t like you."
Rick reached for her, pulling her to his chest against his better judgment. Jaden drank in his comfort, feeling nothing beyond friends.h.i.+p in his hold. Rick squashed his feelings, finally realizing that what he wanted could never be. Jaden was lost to him.
Lightly stroking her hair, he said, "We"ve been in many sc.r.a.pes, you and I. So how are we going to get out of this one?"
"I don"t think we are," Jaden whispered. "It"s already too late for me."
Rick nodded in understanding. He knew there was no escape from this h.e.l.l. They weren"t fit to fight the council and Mack wouldn"t be coming for them. Easily, the vampires had overtaken the best of Mack"s mortal army. They had been foolish to think they could make a difference under such unfair odds. Until now, they had been fighting vampire babies--weak newborns without the eternity of skill the older ones possessed. Only horrors awaited them outside their prison walls--torment and pain. Death was preferable to both.
"But if I can help it, your end will be easy," Jaden whispered soothingly. She felt Rick"s sudden turmoil.
"You won"t let them turn me."
It wasn"t a question, not even a request. Jaden felt his heart beat speed beneath her cheek. She felt his strength that he was trying hard to cling onto. Rick was a good man. He deserved better than this. If he hadn"t come after her, he wouldn"t have been captured, waiting for the end like a wrongly accused prisoner on death row. "Promise me that you"ll kill me," Rick insisted, "I"d prefer it if it was you."
"Yes," she agreed. Her lips opened to bite. Rick knew what was coming, could sense it in her gaze as she lifted up from his arms.
He closed his eyes, letting his head fall back to expose his neck to her. Jaden"s hand raised to his cup his face, gentle and soothing to his warm skin.
Inside, they felt their heartbeats joining. Jaden"s lips caressed his hot skin in a tender kiss, not hurting him as she ran her lips and tongue over his neck, relaxing him. His hand lifted to her waist, smoothing over her hip. She felt his throat working. Rick s.h.i.+vered beneath her, tensing slightly as he awaited her bite. Whispering against his skin, she vowed, "I won"t let them turn you."
Tyr rose from his knees, having bowed gracefully before the council, as was the long clung-to tradition from the time of his turning.
Walking to Ragnhild, he placed his hand on the old vampire"s shoulder. The greeting was returned by his maker.
Ragnhild"s eyes glowed softly as he nodded in approval of his knight. In truth, their ages were separated by only a few hundred years. At the time of Tyr"s making, it had made all the difference. But now, after they both traveled the centuries well past a millennium, the age difference was minuscule and they held each other in the well tried affection of brothers.
After a similar greeting had pa.s.sed with the other attending knights to their respective tribal leaders, the vampire soldiers moved to face the council, standing at attention behind Pietro. Tyr held rigid between s.h.i.+va and Ares. His undead eyes stared forward with detached responsibility. He didn"t look over the familiar old stones, having stood thus many times over the years in judgment of mortals and immortals alike. Never before had his stomach tightened in repulsion of that duty. Never had he felt anything for the one standing trial. Before now, it was only a job he had done. He knew what was to come. But knowing didn"t make it easier.
"You have brought the dhampir?" Theophania asked quietly. Though her lips moved as she spoke, it wouldn"t have been necessary. They could all hear her well in their heads.
"Yes," Tyr answered in an even tone. No sentiment showed on the contrasted faces in the chamber. The unearthly gazes, embedded within statuesque features that echoed an aching beauty, beheld the knights with a strange mix of boredom and antic.i.p.ation. "And one of MacNaughton"s mortal soldiers."
"What has taken you so long?" Pietro growled, his eyes narrowing as he spun in his chair to glare at Tyr and the others. "Why are you late?"
"All in due time, Pietro," Theophania scolded with a pretty pout on her crimson stained lips. She looked around the table. The Moroi were not represented, but all others were present. Amon and Vishnu nodded in silent agreement of her decree. Pietro turned his eyes to the center flame to brood. They dismissed him easily. Ragnhild lifted his chin with pride.
"Tyr"s delay is not important," the Drauger leader said in a stern tone. "His loyalty shouldn"t be questioned. Nor should his judgment."
"It is not," Chara said easily with a purse of her cherry lips. Andrei smiled adorningly at her, reaching absently in her direction as if he could touch her over the distance. Ragnhild shot Pietro a challenging glare.
Pietro met the yellowish cast eyes focusing on him as they awaited his response. Grimly, he muttered, "My apologies, Tyr. You are a faithful servant to the tribes."
Tyr nodded in acceptance of the old vampire"s words. Pietro didn"t turn to watch, unconcerned with the knight"s thoughts.
"Continue," Ragnhild directed."As ordered, I have been trying to discover which vampires have been a.s.sisting MacNaughton in his crimes against our tribes,"
Tyr said.
"And," Theophania urged.
"The one called Duncan was helping him to change mortals into vampires for a fee. He also a.s.sisted MacNaughton"s men in capturing and tracking other young ones. I read it in him and put him to death," Tyr said quietly.
"Good," Chara murmured in approval.
"Was he alone in it?" Vishnu asked, her words clipped short.
"He was the one turning mortals for MacNaughton"s pleasure," Tyr restated. The council nodded in acceptance. The other knights held still. "And he was not aware of any others that MacNaughton might have employed. He thought himself to be a G.o.d. I showed him how little he truly was."
"And what do you suspect, Tyr?" Theophania asked quietly.
"Yes," Chara added. "Do you think Duncan was alone in his deceit?"
"No." Tyr"s admission was soft. He couldn"t avoid answering the direct question, but didn"t feel the need to elaborate.
"Before we send for the dhampir," Amon said with a stark bite to his tone. His low voice rumbled with the primitive beat of his homeland. "What is your judgment of her? What have you discovered?"
"As suspected, she is responsible for the death of Bhaltair," Tyr said. His eyes looked coldly at each of the leaders in turn as he spoke. His stomach twitched. He refused to let them feel his turmoil. He swallowed it into his gut. He felt s.h.i.+va"s eyes on him as he spoke. Tyr ignored his friend"s mild disapproval in the curtness of his tale. Tyr had revealed to him the whole story while they traveled. Unable to bear s.h.i.+va"s continued censure, he added, "She didn"t kill him, but she did track him and stake him in the chest to slow him for others."
"Then she shall be executed," Vishnu acknowledged with ease. Tyr stiffened at the vampiress" easy dismal of Jaden"s life. It was as he had expected, but he was not ready to hear the words. "And what of Alan MacNaughton?"
"No, Vishnu," Amon whispered. She turned surprisingly to him. "Let us hear from the dhampir before we condemn her. I am very curious what she has to say for herself."
Amon"s keen senses had picked up on the underlying thread of emotion pa.s.sing between s.h.i.+va and Tyr. He didn"t trust the complete lack of sentiment coming from the Drauger knight. It was unusual for even the hardest of them to feel so little. Tyr was hiding something and Amon was determined to discover what that was.
Tyr kept his eyes sightlessly forward. He felt himself being probed.
"Yes," Ragnhild said quietly. He sensed something amiss as well. "The reports about her have been conflicted. It is said she spares as much as she kills."
"And," Theophania added, "She might know more of her uncle. We should at least explore her before we kill her."
"Osiris," Amon commanded. "What happened on the beach tonight?"
Osiris quickly gave an accounting of the brief battle. The leaders nodded in approval. All except for Pietro, who stared lifelessly at the center flame. Finis.h.i.+ng, Osiris said, "MacNaughton was not with them."
"Well done," Theophania said. "Your loyalty is duly noted by this council.""Yes," Chara said, her eyes roaming over the handsome vampire knights. Licking her lips like a kitten contemplating which saucer of milk to drink from, she murmured seductively, "Well done."
"Ares, Aleksander," Amon said "Your duty is done this night. You may go and seek your leisure. After meeting with Chara and Pietro, you may leave the island."
The two knights nodded, gliding effortlessly from the room. Amon turned his attention to Osiris.