Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 55221 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55221 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
“You mean he can still control you?”
“Yes.” Despair soaks the word. “He could use me to hurt you.” He tilts his head back and sighs again. “I won’t risk—” His head turns quickly, as if he hears something far away.
“What? What is it?”
“David. He says whispers about Carlotta have already begun. I have to go now. You’re safe here.” He disappears.
My palms go sweaty as I stare at the empty doorway. Gregor is a maniac. Valen seems to know his next moves, but is that even possible? Gregor has decreed the annihilation of an entire species. There’s no reasoning with him, no bargaining. A million what-ifs torment my mind, all of them ending with Valen impaled on a spike like Melody. I press the heels of my hands to my eye sockets at the memory. Her scream. Her light going out.
Will I ever see Valen again? The thought is like a bucket of cold water. My tormentor, my savior—Valen is both, and I don’t know if I can come to terms with that fact. What I do know is the worry that eats away at me at the thought of him dying. Of him never coming back.
I try to untangle the nest of my thoughts, to find some way through this thicket. Instead of Valen, I try to focus on what I can do. I know how to make the compound that can kill the vampires—and I have to assume it could also kill Gregor—but I have nowhere to make it, no access to the equipment or supplies I’d need. How can I get them?
I glance at my scarred wrists, the blue veins running underneath my skin. I have the blood I’d need to create a possible cure for the plague. Same problem, though—no way to work it up and analyze it. No way to run tests.
I climb out of bed, my body sore from running, sore from simply existing in this upside-down hell. “David?” I call and stride to the doorway.
He appears almost instantly; his wings tucked at his back.
“Yeah?” He has a sandwich in one hand as if he’d been making it when I called.
I grab the sandwich from him and take a bite, chewing slowly. “I need a favor.”
“A favor? I don’t like the sound of that.” He gives me a wary look, his brown eyes narrowing. “What kind of favor?”
4
“Itold you I hate this dreary place.” Fatima struts in, her heels clicking on the stone floor.
I look up from the books on bloodlines and Romanian translation, then slide my notebook underneath them. “You got here fast.”
“I was at the Black Cavern.” She sits in the armchair across from my table, her appraising eyes glancing around at the threadbare furniture and dusty tomes. “It’s not terribly far.”
Her appearance still stuns me; her beautiful dark hair loose and her lips a blood red. “And I rather like David.” She smiles. “He’s delicious.”
“Leave him alone. He’s a good kid.”
One of her perfect black eyebrows arches. “He’s older than you.”
“In human years, sure. But you know what I mean.”
“Do I?” she taunts.
“I don’t have time for your games.”
“If you didn’t want to play, why did you summon me?” she snaps.
“I need your help.”
“What a surprise.” She folds her hands in her lap, a bored look on her face.
“I need equipment. Lab supplies. Medical supplies. I need—”
“Do I look like a nurse to you? A hospital administrator, maybe?”
“I know you don’t have these things,” I barrel ahead despite her venom. “But you probably know where to find them. There are still hospitals and universities out there. They can’t all be gone. I’ve made a list.” I grab a piece of paper and push it across the table toward her.
She doesn’t move to take it.
“Fatima.” I stare at her. “You can do this for me. I know you can.”
“Why should I?”
“Because I can try to fix this. I can—”
“Fix what?” She inspects one of her blood red nails, the tip sharpened to a point.
“You’re a vampire. You need humans to survive no matter what Gregor says. You know that.”
“Of course.”
“If I can create a vaccine for the SierraVirus, it will ensure—”
“Can you?” Her gaze cuts through me.
I feel like I’m clumsily playing poker, some of my cards turned to face Fatima. “Can I create a vaccine?”
“Yes. You never did in DC as far as I know. What makes you think you can do it now?”
I wrestled with whether I should tell her the truth, but I see now that it’s my only bargaining chip. “I can do it.”
She considers me, her feline eyes lacking every bit of warmth they used to have. “You’re certain?”
“Yes.” I hold her gaze.
“And what if I don’t care?”
“I know you do.”
“Is that so?” She smiles coldly. “What makes you think I care if the vast majority of you die? As long as there are enough cattle to keep me fed, the rest are none of my concern.”