The Vampire Hunter's Daughter The Complete Collection (25 page)

My jaw hung open. I was speechless.

“Don’t look so shocked, Chloe. I never
treated your mother badly. I loved her, and if we could have one
child, then we could have others. Everyone would have been
happy.”

He sighed. I closed my mouth.

“When Felicia found my books and research
papers containing all the information about my plan, she ran,
escaped with you in her womb.”

I watched his facial expression fade until he
appeared to be far away and lost in thought.

“She loved you so much without even knowing
you… she ran from me to protect you.”

I planted my hands on my hips and stomped my
foot. “I’m tired of hearing all this crap about how much you loved
my mother. You are a lying bastard, and I
hate
you. I should
blow us both to bits right now.”

He shrugged, calling my bluff and then stood,
challenging me, seeming almost hopeful. “Yes, I figured as much,”
he said, actually sounding disappointed when I did nothing but
stand there. “You are going to stay in here. If you try any funny
business, like trying to burn the place down, you will be removed
from this room and taken elsewhere. And believe me, this room is
far better than the alternative.”

He backed away from me, toward the door. I
was fuming, my hands were hot… they were just begging for me to
bring on the fire.

“Go to hell,” I told him as he slipped
outside the door and shut it.

I heard a lock click inside the door and
voices outside.

Great. He probably had one of his goons
standing outside the door, just in case I decided to try any “funny
business.”

As soon as I heard the lock click, I rushed
to the door and put my hands on the cold metal. I tried the door,
even though I knew it wouldn’t open and then felt along the walls
for gaps or seams. The only gap was the one where the doorframe
was. I ran my fingers over it and then tried to get my fingers
inside it but couldn’t because they were just a tad too big.
Damn it.

Panicking, I racked my brain, trying to
remember if I had anything in the room that would fit in that
crevice. I spun around, rushed to the desk and rummaged through
things on top of it, trashing the place in the process. My hands
finally fell onto a wooden ruler. It would have to do.

I gripped it and ran back to the door. It
barely fit in the tiny gap. I wanted to pry the metal away from the
door and to see how pliable it was. Sadly, the ruler snapped on the
first try.

“Piece of crap!” I screamed to the empty room
and chucked the broken ruler half at the door.

How could he call me his daughter? Better
yet, how could he call himself a father? Sick, daylight-obsessed,
murdering vampire!

“Arrgggh!” I yelled and kicked the door
several times.

Suddenly, the anger diminished. I’d never
felt a change so sudden. One second I was kicking the wall, the
next I was on the floor crying, really crying, not just tearing up,
but tears drenching my face, snot dripping out of my nose and all
the mascara I’d put on for the party smearing around my eyes.

Sitting wasn’t good enough. I fell to the
side, laying on the floor and curled up as much as I could into the
fetal position. I tried meditational breathing to stop the panic.
Slow breath in the nose, exhale through the mouth. In…out. My
little black dress was dirty and torn, but I had no desire to take
it off. And my leg was stinging from where the stick had punctured
my skin when I went over the wall.

I have no idea how long I lay there, bawling
my eyes out, but eventually I heard the locks release again. I
didn’t even move. I just stayed where I was, wishing Drew and Gavin
and the rest of the Hunter’s would hear my mental plea and come for
me.

I was in serious trouble.

When the door opened, someone slipped quietly
inside.

Whoever was there must have just stood there
watching me, because I didn’t hear anything after the door sealed
again. After a few minutes of complete silence, I heard, “Chloe,
are you all right?”

It was Oscar, the traitor.

“Go away, you phony. Just get away from
me.”

“I just came to get my guitar,” he told me.
Instead of getting his guitar, he crouched down right in front of
my face. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block him out.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

There was no way I was going to let him get
to me. He betrayed me.

“I didn’t know what Trevor had planned for
you, Chloe, but I did know he needed you to become a day walker. I
had no idea he meant to kill you.”

I opened my eyes. “How could you?”

He grabbed my hands and tried to pull me into
a sitting position. I burned him for his efforts.

“Ow! Damn it, Chloe!” He yanked his hands
away from me and stood. “Why did you do that?”

“Why do you think? You don’t get to touch
me.” I rolled over and faced the other way.

“Damn it. You have to listen to me.”

I could hear the frustration in his voice,
but I didn’t care. I was going to die here, and he had helped.

“I didn’t know the whole story. The reason I
was called on to tutor you was to keep you occupied. To keep you
from wanting to leave here.”

“Whatever, Oscar. You’re not
that
hot.”

I heard him pace the floor beside me a couple
times. “I can make you do whatever I want, Chloe. Just as you are
descended from angels and gods, I am descended from the ancient
sirens.”

Seriously? Would the mythology and
supernatural crap never end? I rolled back over and sat up. “You’re
a
what
?”

“A siren. Mythological women who could lure
men with the sound of their beautiful voices.” Sarcasm was thick on
his voice.

“I know what a siren is, but you’re a… a
guy.”

I am descended from the sirens, so I have
traits. Just as you are a Hunter and have certain traits of the
gods.”

“Ugh! This is completely insane. Why did you
agree to this?”

“I don’t know if you noticed, but you’re
father pretty much runs the vampire community. I’m not about to
deny him when he asks me to do something.”

“You suck.” I moaned, planting my face into
my hands. “How am I ever going to get out of here?”

“Look at me, Chloe.”

“No!”

“Look at me!” His voice didn’t become
angrier, it softened.

“What?” I barely whispered.

“Give me a hug.” He held his arms open.

Even as I went to him, I was thinking,
Why
in hell am I hugging this jerk?

Then, his arms were around me and it felt
good. I needed the human contact. There truly was some comfort in
his touch.

He pulled my head close to his and whispered
into my hair. “There are cameras in here. I will do everything I
can to help you. I’ll make this up to you, but I will die if I’m
caught.”

Finally alert, I whispered back, “If you get
me out, I promise you protection.”

He released me and nodded. He backed away and
turned to grab his guitar case. “It’s been nice knowing you, Chloe.
I’m truly sorry.”

With some hope finally rushing through my
body, I played up the show a bit. “See you in hell, asshole.”

Lifting his fist to the metal on the door he
rapped on it a couple times. The locks released and he slipped out.
Only seconds later, I heard the locks click back into place.

“Damn it,” I whispered and went into my
bedroom. I flopped onto the bed and stared at the ceiling,
thinking.

Well, it was September, so that meant I was a
least going to be safe until November. I still had a few months to
figure out a plan. There had to be a way to get out of here. Maybe
he was lying about the sprinklers and stuff. I tried looking harder
at the ceiling to see if I could find any evidence of hidden
sprinklers. It was pretty far up, but nothing I could see indicated
there were any up there.

Oh well. I’d just burn myself alive if I
tried lighting the place up. I hated being trapped. I jumped up and
tore the dress off my body. I wanted to get clean. I really hoped
there weren’t any cameras in the bathroom, even though I knew
chances on that were slim.

I stuck the dress into the trashcan and
turned the water on in the shower. I let it run for a few minutes
and then stepped underneath. The water was hotter than I expected,
but the sting on my skin felt good, because it was washing away
dirt and grime, the filth of the evening.

I closed my eyes and tipped my head back,
letting the water rush down over my face and shoulders, down my
hair and back. I breathed in deeply through my nose and exhaled
through my mouth. I wished for the Hunters—for my family—most of
all, for my mother.

I opened my eyes and reached for the towel
hanging over the door. I wiped the water out of my eyes before they
could begin to sting and pulled the towel away.

When I opened my eyes, Sostrate was there, in
the shower with me.

“Ah!” I Screamed. “What are you doing here?”
I tried to cover myself with my hands. When that wasn’t sufficient
I yanked the towel off the door and held it over myself.

“Shhh…” Sostrate held her finger to her lips.
“This is the only safe place to speak with you.”

Her face and body were surrounded with steam,
but I could see she wore the same crude leather over the only areas
that needed to be covered. Her beautiful dark hair was loose and
flowing. The water didn’t seem to touch her body at all.

“What are you doing here?” I whispered.

“Do you not need me?”

“Of course I need you! I need to get out of
this house. I need to get back home before my own father kills
me.”

“There isn’t much time,” she leaned in to
whisper to me. “This place is the only place you will not be
seen.”

“Great,” I muttered.

“Chloe, on the other side of this wall is the
outside.” She touched the wall above the faucet. “You can
escape.”

I think she forgot that the wall was
completely tiled over. “Sostrate, this is a shower wall. Those
tiles are grouted in there.” Even as I spoke, I realized what she
was telling me.

“You can do this.” She told me in a whisper,
and then she shimmered and faded into the steam.

Quickly, I moved to her side of the shower
and inspected the wall. It was the only part of the walls in the
whole suite that wasn’t covered with steel. The tiles were small,
blue squares, sealed in with grout. I’d once seen my mother re-tile
the back splash in our kitchen.

She was right. I could do this.

I washed my hair as fast as I could and
scrubbed the grime off my body. After I turned the shower off I
wrapped myself in the wet towel and sped over to the shelf where
the dry towels were. I wanted as little naked time in front of the
cameras as possible.

I finally wrapped the dry towel around myself
and threw the wet one into the shower. Then, I opened the medicine
cabinet behind the mirror and searched around. I needed something
for my puncture wound on my thigh. The bottle of peroxide was
hidden behind the bandages. I grabbed both and sat on the toilet to
pour the peroxide onto the wound. Afterward I covered it with the
bandage and hoped it would heal itself like my finger did that
time.

Back out in my bedroom, I shrugged into my
sweats and began to plan. It looked like I was going to be spending
a lot of time in the shower.