Dead If I Do (25 page)

“We can’t leave them to their own devices,” Sebastian murmured, as he licked the spot on my ear where he’d bitten it. “She will never back down. We must finish this.”

Despite the growing dark, cold, and awkwardness of standing in front of Teréza slurping on Mátyás ’s arm, I moaned. Sebastian’s tongue lightly followed the contours of my earlobe. A hot spike of delight throbbed between my legs. “I can’t. Not here.”

“I don’t know if I can wait,” Sebastian whispered. His teeth nicked my ear again. “I’m weak.”

He’d never get enough from that tiny pinprick. I turned around and kissed him hard on the mouth. We usually avoided tongues when his fangs had dropped because they were sharp enough to sever flesh to the bone. So it didn’t take much before our mouths filled with blood.

I started to gag, but his arms pulled me tightly to him. Somehow his hands, still ice -cold, found their way under my coat and sweater. My skin raised in gooseflesh. My nipples stiffened as his fingers found the swell of my breasts. All the while, Mátyás was two feet away.

I shivered. Sebastian’s hands began to warm as he expertly stoked my passion.

Then, as a complete mood killer, I heard Mátyás moan. It was more of a weak, protesting kind of sound, but still. Meanwhile, Teréza made sucking sounds.

I pulled my lips from Sebastian. “Okay, this is just too weird.”

Sebastian looked dazed. His eyes were completely dilated, and my blood was on his lips. “Just a little more,” he said. I shook my head. “I’m all for father-son bonding, but this—”

Sebastian plunged his teeth into my neck before I had a chance to finish my sentence. My first panicked thought was: I’m going to die. But even though I’d underestimated how hungry Sebastian was, he apparently still had enough sense and willpower to aim for the muscles of the lower part of my neck. Even so, I wasn’t used to being nabbed like this. All I could do was look over his shoulder and hold on tight.

His teeth—all of them—broke my skin. Involuntarily, I gasped. Lilith began to ripple along my nerves. I could feel her strength digging my fingernails deep into Sebastian’s back.

But, after the initial bite, the violence of the experience mutated into something much, much more sexy. Sebastian ’s tongue probed and tasted tentatively. Meanwhile, his hands stayed busy, keeping me distracted by fondling and stroking my ribs, breasts, and stomach.

Lilith relaxed slightly, but I could sense her wariness just under the surface. For my part, I still felt strangely paralyzed and could only watch the growing darkness. Stars had begun to appear. I felt a little dreamy, like the pain belonged to someone else. I thought, maybe, I could let go and float up into the sky.

“You’re killing her, Papa,” Mátyás said drily. “Not that it matters to me, but you were planning on marrying this particular chew toy.”

Somewhere, far away, I heard Teréza hiss. Then, without further warning, Sebastian and I were pulled apart. Teréza grabbed my arm. The copper tang of blood on her breath as well as her cloying scent of decay choked me. “Mine,” she said, her fangs bared.

That was all the excuse Lilith needed. I felt my body go all Jackie Chan. I pulled away from her and raised my foot to slam it squarely into her solar plexus. She flew backward into the snow.

“No, child,
mine
,” I said with Lilith’s voice. I crouched, ready for action. My fists were raised slightly in front of me.

“Such a lovely moment,” Mátyás said to his father as he helped Teréza to her feet. “You must feel like the faerie princess the knights fight over.”

“Shut up,” Sebastian said quietly. Then, looking at me, he added, “Anyway, there’s no contest. I’ve already made my choice.”

“Like a raindrop in the ocean,” Teréza said. She had a steadying hand on Mátyás’s shoulder. Though, given how pale Mátyás’s face looked, I wasn’t sure who was supporting whom. “Choices are ripples.”

We all stood silently in the snow for a moment, as though absorbing Teréza’s words of wisdom. Finally, I said, “Did that make sense?”

“You’ll return to true, Von Traum,” Teréza said. “You always do.”

“Not this time,” he said. “I’ve carried your burden long enough. I’ve buried and reburied you a thousand times. But you’re free of death now. Go with my blessings.”

“You think you can dismiss her so easily?” Mátyás said with a snarl.

“If only,” I muttered to myself. The moon was coming up on the horizon. My cheeks felt frozen solid. My ear tip began to throb where Sebastian had nibbled at it.

“I’m doing more than dismissing her,” Sebastian said. Despite the dark, when I looked up into his face, I thought I could see a faint golden glow around the circle of his pupils. “I’m breaking the blood bond.”

Moving with superspeed, Sebastian snatched a fistful of Teréza’s hair. She screeched with indignation. Returning to a position some distance from her, their eyes locked.

“What? What are you doing?” Mátyás shouted. “No! You can’t!”

“I have to,” Sebastian said sadly. “Besides,” he added, looking at me, “she has another Sire. I’m absolutely sure of that now. Maybe it won’t kill her.”

“Maybe?” Mátyás repeated. “Don’t.”

He dropped his fangs and bit deeply into his other palm. Blood and hair mixed and, to my surprise, began to smolder. Mátyás had said that when Teréza had bitten Sebastian, there’d been a flash. Perhaps their bond, being mostly made of volatile magic, was literally explosive.

Teréza screamed as if pierced by an unseen arrow. She clutched at her heart and fell to her knees. After shooting Sebastian a withering glance, Mátyás sank into the snow beside her and threw his arms around her shoulders. Sebastian started muttering something in Latin . . . or German . . . or Greek. Honestly, I had no idea, but it sounded impressive. Though I didn’t know what the words meant, I could tell the sounds repeated. He was saying the same thing over and over, like a chant or a spell.

“You can’t do this,” Mátyás begged. “Are you trying to kill her?”

I glanced up at Sebastian. His face was stern and resolute as he continued to repeat the phrases.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked quietly. Teréza didn’t seem to be faring very well. Her skin had started to shrivel.

“Mother, oh God, no,” Mátyás shouted. He stood up, his hands balled into fists. He launched himself at Sebastian. “Stop! I won’t let you kill her!”

I, stupidly, stepped in between them.

We all went over into the snow like a football skirmish. I heard Sebastian grunt underneath me when we hit the ground at full force, but he went on with his spell otherwise uninterrupted. Mátyás tried to get his arms around his father ’s throat. I mostly just tried to untangle myself. Sebastian continued to drone out the magical words. I could hear Teréza whimpering.

“Maybe you
should
stop,” I said to Sebastian, once I’d freed myself from the various body parts I’d been wedged between. I was on my hands and knees. Sebastian held Mátyás’s wrists at arm’s length. Teréza had curled into a fetal position and appeared to be smoldering.

After the illicit kiss in the woods, I knew Sebastian needed to prove his love for me. But I didn ’t want him to kill Teréza to do it. The fact that he’d even consider tying to break the bond seemed like proof enough to me. Besides, Mátyás would never forgive Sebastian if he killed Teréza.

And Teréza did not look healthy.

“Stop!” I shouted, but no one listened. Mátyás continued to grapple with his dad, and Sebastian continued to repeat his measured phrase. I knew that if I called up Lilith, that would be the end of everything. She ’d see all of them as a threat and, instead of a wedding, I’d be attending a funeral. Several of them.

Things were getting desperate, so I called out to Athena again. This time, however, I took little time to prepare. I simply asked for help.

Suddenly, I felt a presence. Looking over at Teréza, I saw Athena standing over her once again. Athena wore full battle armor, including a feather-crested helmet like the one Brad Pitt wore in
Troy
. She held a spear and a short sword in her muscular hands. The Goddess looked at me and then put up her shield. I caught only the merest glimpse of bronze and serpentine hair before I remembered to look away.

Thunder clapped overhead. The sound made everyone jump. I looked down at Sebastian and Mátyás, who had frozen in place. For a second, I thought maybe the Medusa’s head had turned them to stone, but then Sebastian blinked. “Is it over?” he asked.

Daring a peek in Teréza’s direction, I saw that the Goddess had gone.

Teréza lay still—deathly still.

Ninth Aspect: Occultation

KEY WORDS:
Stumbling Blocks, Setbacks

“She’s dead,” Mátyás said, peering into Teréza’s wide
-open eyes.

“She’s in torpor,” Sebastian said, putting fingers on her wrist as though checking for a pulse. Given that Parrish didn ’t have a heartbeat, I wondered if Sebastian really sensed something or simply did the gesture to reassure Mátyás.

“She’s probably cold,” I said. I stood some distance away, shivering in earnest. I’d been out in the cold far too long. My toes had lost all feeling some time ago. “Let’s bring her back to the house. My folks are probably worried sick.”

At the thought of them, I stared in the direction of the house. I felt kind of surprised they never came out after us. Maybe we hadn’t been outside as long as it felt like.

I glanced back to see Sebastian and Mátyás looking at me like I’d suggested something preposterous.

“What?” I asked. “We could all use a cup of hot chocolate. I’m freezing.”

“You would invite Teréza in?” Mátyás said, incredulous.

“Why not?” I said. “I mean, I know she’s a vampire. . . .”

“Now she’s a vampire of someone else’s blood,” Sebastian reminded me.

“Oh, right,” I said. “Still, we can’t leave her out here. She’ll freeze to death, and so will I.”

“If she’s not already dead,” Mátyás said.

“She’s not dead,” I said, feeling quite certain of it. I didn ’t know exactly what Athena had done when she raised her shield between Teréza and Sebastian, but I was sure it didn’t kill her. Athena had sworn to protect Teréza. So had I. “I wouldn’t let that happen,” I said.

“Garnet did protect Teréza earlier from the sun,” Sebastian said, still frowning into Teréza’s glassy-eyed stare.

“She did?” Mátyás said.

“I felt it,” Sebastian confirmed.

“It’s true,” I said. “Now, can we all make nice before I get frostbite on my toes?”

Mátyás gaped at me. Then, as if deciding something, Mátyás looked down at his mother. “Fine,” he said. “We’ll take her home with us.”

After standing at the threshold for a moment to allow
us to officially invite Teréza inside, Sebastian carried her upstairs to the guest room. The guest room had belonged to Vivian, the late wife of our house ghost, Benjamin. Benjamin had probably axe murdered her in there. He wouldn’t let Sebastian redecorate it and got very violent when any living human slept in the bed. We thought Teréza might be safe, however, being dead and all. Sebastian would have a talk with Benjamin, though, just to be sure. The second they were headed upstairs, I tossed my clothes and boots into a heap by the front door and settled in as close as possible to the fire. My parents must have tended it, because it was blazing. The light scent of oak smoke mingled with the smells of butter-sautéed mushrooms, garlic, and onion. The odor of baking spinach and ricotta cheese pried me away from the fire to peep curiously in the kitchen.

My mother sat at the table reading the
New York Times
. My dad washed the dishes in the sink. Something bubbled in the oven.

Folding the paper down slightly, my mother peered at me. “Hello, honey,” she said. “Your father and I were making a late din—oh my God, what happened to you?”

Abandoning the paper on the table, my mother rushed over and cradled my face in her hands. “You’re so cold,” she said. Taking me by the elbow, she propelled me back out into the living room toward the fireplace. Before I could say, “It’s nothing, I’m fine, Mom,” I found myself wrapped in the down comforter and deposited in front of the fire. My mother clucked her tongue and inspected the bite mark on my shoulder.

“The heck,” my dad, who had followed us into the living room, said. “Did you get bitten by a timber wolf or something?”

“No, just Papa,” Mátyás said from where he’d thrown himself on the couch.

Upstairs, something crashed to the floor.

“Oh, look at your arm, dear,” my mother said, pulling up Mátyás’s torn and bloody sleeve to examine his wound. She shook her head. “I’ll get a warm washcloth for this. Do you have any antibacterial cream or anything?”

“It’s all in the medicine cabinet,” I said, starting to get up. My father put out a hand.

“I’ll get it. You tell your mother what happened.” As my father headed upstairs, the lights flickered. He paused for a moment and leaned down toward us. “You know, I think this house is haunted.”

“It is,” Mátyás and I said in unison.

Mátyás caught my eye and then said, “Jinx! Buy me a Coke.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked him.