The Forever Song (20 page)

“Oh, will you, bloodbag?” Jackal sneered. “That’s awfully generous of you. But you’re missing the point.” He gestured back at the balcony. “I don’t give a shit about this place, or the minions. I can get more if I really need to. They were always just a means to an end.” He narrowed his eyes. “But I’ll be damned if I let any spawn of Sarren’s share space with me. That kind of crazy sneaks up on you when you least expect it, and everyone around you suddenly has their throats cut.”

“That’s not going to happen,” I argued, and Jackal shot me a disgusted look. “He’s fine, Jackal. He’s not a threat anymore.”
And even if he is, I’m not going to let you kill him now.

“If you believe that, then you’re more gullible than I thought.” Jackal shook his head. “Stop trying to fool yourself, sister. You know what’s happening here. You’re not that stupid.” He jerked his head in Zeke’s direction. “Look at him. Take a good, long look at your precious Ezekiel and tell me he’s exactly the same. But I bet you can’t stare lovingly into his eyes for two seconds without seeing Sarren looking right back at you.”

I shuddered, and Jackal nodded slowly. “You know I’m right, sister. His mind is broken. It’s only a matter of time before it falls apart. I’m not killing him because he screwed up my city, took my minions, and, frankly, pissed me off. I’m putting him out of his misery.” He gave an evil, indulgent smile. “Consider this a mercy. Like shooting a threelegged deer.”

“No,” I growled and moved with Jackal as he came forward again, my katana raised. My mind was made up. “You want him, you’ll have to go through me.”

Jackal’s face twisted like he’d swallowed something foul. “I’m surrounded by bleeding heart idiots,” he muttered. “Sister, you realize you’re protecting
Sarren’s
progeny. The Grand Lunatic himself? For all we know, this is exactly what the psychopath wants.”

“I don’t believe that,” I retorted, as gunfire nearly drowned out my words, making me wince. The army was almost here. I didn’t have a lot of time to convince them—both of them, Zeke
and
Jackal—that Zeke wasn’t like his sire. Even if I was horribly unsure myself.

“Allison.” Zeke finally spoke up from behind me, and his voice was resigned. I knew exactly what he was thinking, and snarled at him without taking my eyes from my brother.

“Zeke, don’t you dare start with that!”

“What if he’s right?”

“I don’t care!” I roared, baring my fangs at them both. “I will not watch you die again. I promised I’d help you fight it, and I swear I’m going to kill Sarren. But you’re going to have to trust me, Zeke! And you,” I said to Jackal, jabbing at him with my sword. “You’re one to talk. You want to Turn your whole army into vampires. If they’re anything like you, you’ll have to watch your back every second of every day. I may not know much about sires and offspring, but I know there’s
always
a choice. You don’t have to be like your sire. I mean, look at you.” I narrowed my eyes at Jackal, curling my lip in a sneer. “Kanin Turned you, and you still became a bastard.”

“Boss!”

Gunfire rang out once more. I tensed as a horde of raiders swarmed the room from above, pointing their weapons down into the pit. It seemed the rest of the army had finally caught up. Gripping my sword, I quickly gauged the distance between myself and the balcony, and winced. I was going to get pumped full of lead before this was over.

“Minions, stand the fuck down!”

I jumped as Jackal’s voice boomed throughout the chamber, bouncing off rafters and making the water vibrate. It rang through my head, compelling and powerful, and amazingly, whether it was from force of habit or the intensity in Jackal’s voice, the humans froze.

“That’s better.” The raider king gave us all a supremely exasperated look and crossed his arms. “I could hardly think anymore, with all the gunfire and screaming. Party’s over, boys,” he stated, his clear voice carrying through the stunned silence. “Your new king and I have had a little talk. We’ve decided you worthless meatsacks aren’t worth dying over, and it’s better for everyone if we come to an understanding.” He turned and gave Zeke a pointed look, raising his eyebrows. “Fifty-fifty split sound about right to you,
partner?
”

He curled a lip on the last word, as if the thought of sharing was deplorable. But Zeke gazed at him and the raiders without interest and shrugged. “I don’t care. Do what you want. Sarren is gone, and I’m through with this place.”

I swallowed hard. The emptiness in Zeke’s voice was even worse than the sadistic taunting, and for a moment, Jackal’s warning cast a dark shadow over my thoughts.

“Which means you minions,” Jackal added, sauntering up to Zeke and draping an elbow over his shoulder, a gesture which was ignored, “are in a flying shitload of trouble. Too bad you didn’t think of that before deciding to stage this little coup. Not that it’s terribly surprising, but I’m a little pissed off at the lot of you right now.” He smiled, all fangs, as the humans shifted apprehensively. “But, hey, I’m a reasonable guy. I’ll offer you bloodbags the same deal as before—follow me, and have a shot at becoming immortal. Refuse, and the three of us—” he gestured to me and Zeke “—will systematically rip the heads from your bodies and send you to a worse hell than this one. Your choice.” He chuckled, vicious and eager, and glanced at something over their heads. “But if you meatsacks think you have a shot at taking out three very annoyed vampires
and
one stuck-up Master, then by all means, let’s get this massacre started.”

The humans turned, craning their necks up and looking behind to where Kanin’s tall, imposing figure stood perfectly still on an overhead beam, gazing down at them.

“So, wha’d’ya say, minions?” It wasn’t really a question. Jackal’s voice was hard, the edge beneath the surface hinting at barely restrained violence. He grinned at them, the smile of a killer, all fangs and glowing eyes, and several raiders shuffled uneasily. “Do we have an understanding? Grovel for my forgiveness now, and I might kill only half of you later.”

The raiders hesitated. Several of them looked to Zeke, standing motionless at the edge of the pit. “What about the other vamp’s promise?” one called. “He said he’d Turn whoever killed Jackal and brought you his head. Does that offer still stand?”

Jackal laughed, his voice booming through the chamber. “You really think that psycho would’ve Turned any of you?” he mocked. “Really? Because the messed-up face and obnoxious riddles would’ve tipped me off.” The raider king shook his head, his voice cutting. “He’s not coming back, minions,” he called. “And if any of you believed for one second that Sarren would keep his promise and not rip your hearts out through your jugulars, then do me a favor and shoot yourself in the face right now, because you’re too stupid to keep living.”

“Sarren is gone,” added a deep, confident voice from overhead. Kanin, watching dispassionately from his perch. “And as Jackal said before, he is not coming back. We are the vampires you must deal with now.” The raiders stirred, muttering among themselves, as the Master vampire continued. “You have two clear choices tonight—leave in peace, or stay and fight us all. You might win. Your numbers might overwhelm us. But we
will
decimate this city, and its inhabitants, before we are finished. And neither Sarren nor Ezekiel will protect you.”

I stood quietly, sword in hand, waiting to see what the humans would do. I felt like I should say something, but Zeke and Jackal seemed to be handling it well on their own; they were the vamps who had been in charge of this city, not me. And Kanin, by definition, was a Master and someone you’d best pay attention to. I just had to stand here and look dangerous—well, as dangerous as a thin, seventeen-year-old girl with a katana could look, I supposed. Hopefully the fact that I was a vampire made up for my height.

There were a few heartbeats of tense silence, before one raider snorted and stepped back from the edge.

“Fuck this,” he growled, lowering his weapon. His voice echoed through the chamber, and the room seemed to let out its breath. “I ain’t fightin’ a goddamned pack of bloodsuckers. They want the city, they can have it. I ain’t dyin’ for this.”

That seemed to be the tipping point. As the one raider walked away into the darkness, everyone else lowered their weapons and stepped back from the ledge. Jackal waited a moment longer, until it seemed the danger was truly past, then nodded.

“There, see? I knew we could be civil.” Though his voice was amused, his eyes glittered, hinting at future retribution. “Murder and thieving aside, we’re not barbarians. Now, get out of here, the lot of you. Your stupid faces are grating on my nerves.

“Oh, and minions?” he added as the room began to empty. Most of the humans looked back, and Jackal gave them a very dangerous smile. “Don’t think for a second you’ve gotten off easy,” he warned in a low voice. “I won’t forget this. In fact, I think it’s high time we brought back the public dismemberments, to remind everyone why it’s a bad idea to piss off a vampire king.” He grinned up at them, fangs gleaming brightly, and cocked two fingers. “Any volunteers?”

The raiders scattered. Guns clattering, they swiftly drew back from the ledge and fled the room, vanishing through doorways and even through holes in the walls in their haste. For a few seconds, chaos ensued as the army scrambled to get out of Jackal’s immediate sight. Then the footsteps disappeared, the voices faded away, and soon the dripping of water and the faint moans of the building around us were all that could be heard.

Jackal smiled into the silence, then turned to the rest of us, smug satisfaction breaking over his face. “And
that,
” he stated, looking mostly at Zeke, “is how you rule a raider city.”

Zeke didn’t answer, but I stepped forward, placing myself between him and Jackal, keeping my sword raised. Jackal eyed me and snorted.

“Relax, sister.” The raider king waved an airy hand. “Put up the damn sword before I shove it down your throat. The minions have come to their senses, and as soon as I hang a few heads from the center of town, all will be as it should. We won this round, so untwist your panties and calm down.”

I didn’t relax. “What about Zeke?”

“What about him?” Jackal shrugged. “You won’t let me put him out of his misery, he’s your problem now. Besides…” He glanced at Zeke, watching us a few feet away, and smirked. “I’d never thought I’d say this, but the little meatsack has potential. If he doesn’t have a meltdown and decide he needs a tan, he might actually be a decent bloodsucker. And by decent, I mean a proper, murdering, ‘I eat babies for breakfast’ vampire. It’s always the nice ones you have to worry about.” Jackal smiled at me, cruel and challenging. “Ironic, isn’t it, sister? Your innocent, puppy-eyed human could become a worse monster than you. Or me. Or even Sarren. Wouldn’t
that
be a hoot?”

I scowled, but at that moment Kanin dropped from the ledge, landing with a barely audible splash a few yards away. I blinked as he rose and glided toward us, his face impassive.

“I thought you and Jackal were going to wait outside the city,” I said, gazing up at him. “Wasn’t that the plan? Not that I’m complaining, but why’d you come back?”

One corner of Kanin’s mouth twitched, very slightly. “It wasn’t entirely my decision to return, Allison,” he said.

For a moment, I was confused. Then my eyes widened in shock, and I turned to Jackal, who was standing in the same place with his arms crossed, looking annoyed. “Jackal?” I sputtered, and he raised an eyebrow. “
You
decided to come back? Why?”

“Don’t read too much into it, sister.” My blood brother sneered at me, golden eyes mocking. “I didn’t come back to save you from the big bad minion army, trust me. I just wasn’t about to let lover boy get away with stealing my city. And I figured you wouldn’t have the balls to off him yourself, once it really came down to it. Looks like I was right.” He snorted and rolled his eyes. “I came to cut off a head and take back what’s mine, nothing else. So, don’t get all mushy on me.”

“Regardless,” Kanin said, interrupting us, much to Jackal’s relief, I thought, “we are wasting time. Eden is still in danger. Ezekiel,” he said solemnly, turning to Zeke, “I will ask you this only once. You know the stakes, how important it is that we reach Eden. You know we will have to face Sarren at the end of this journey. Can you do this?”

“I don’t know,” Zeke answered simply, unapologetically. “But I promised Allison that I would help you stop Sarren. That finding him comes before everything else. So, at least until we get to Eden, I’m with you. I can’t promise anything beyond that.”

“And if Sarren uses you again to stop us?”

“Then kill me,” Zeke replied. Stated so bluntly, so matterof-factly, that my stomach turned. “If something happens where it’s either Sarren or me, don’t hesitate. Stop him, even if you have to kill me, too.” He avoided my gaze as he said this, his voice dropping to a whisper. “It would be a mercy.”

“Oh, don’t say that, bloodbag,” Jackal said, ever-present grin back in place. “I was just starting to like you.”

Chapter 11

We left Old Chicago that night, heading east toward Eden once more. Only this time, things were vastly different. One, Zeke was with us. Still shaken, dispassionate, and numb with what had happened to him, but alive. I was determined to keep him that way. And two, we had a working vehicle again.

“Not the prettiest hunk of metal on the road,” Jackal remarked as we walked across the floating barge, passing rows of motorcycles to where a rusty old van was parked at the end of the line. “I would suggest bikes, but fuel’s running a bit low, and it’s a bitch to find more. Better to have to fill one tank instead of four.”

Kanin regarded the van impassively. There were slats across the windows, and metal spikes welded to the hood and bumpers, making it bristle with ill intent, but he didn’t say anything. Zeke also observed the van without emotion, which worried me. A van like this had been used to kidnap his people and take them to Old Chicago, but if he was remembering that night, it didn’t show.