Chapter 53. William
william
Lenny’s blow strikes William’s abdomen too suddenly to block it—and William rockets across the meadow, crashing into a tree.
Every bone in William’s body rattles, his ribs and spine searing with pain.
Before he has regained his balance, the silver-eyed vampire slams him to the ground and lands a series of punches to his face and ears. William’s hearing grows muffled, and his vision flickers, but he can still make out Lenny’s taunts.
“This is embarrassing for you, boy,” says the vampire. “I almost doubt you are a Stoker.”
William’s senses have yet to reset when Lenny knees him in the chest. He hears two of his own ribs snap as a sharp ache scrapes him from the inside. Then Leonardo the Bloody lifts him into the air and launches him into another tree.
“What would your dear Grandsire say if he could see how you have failed him?” Lenny does not hurry to strike again, knowing that William cannot get up. “Such a tragedy, resting all his hopes on you.”
William struggles to summon his strength, knowing he needs to move, now—
Lenny yanks him by the hair and stomps his boot into William’s abdomen, again and again and again.
“AH!”
It is the first time William cries out, and Lenny’s supporters cheer. The starry-eyed vampire takes a pause to flash them a sharp smile, then he reaches for the ceremonial dagger in his belt. He is making his final move.
“Behold, your Stoker is at my feet!” Lenny declares to his audience, and William knows what comes next.
Leonardo the Bloody will bleed him out until he concedes defeat.
If William refuses, Lenny will probably imprison him in his laboratory. Torment him until he submits. Kill Lorena.
Something protests within him, and William knows he needs to get up. Yet his whole body is in agony.
He cannot believe a moment ago he thought he could actually be a match for Leonardo the Bloody.
“The vote was twenty-eight to twenty-four. You’ve already won over more than half of us.”
Fabiana’s voice is low, and even though all the vampires can hear her, she is talking to William.
“Are you going to let us down by taking the easy way out? Or are you going to take a stand?”
She is right, and yet as Lenny raises the blade to strike, William still cannot move. His body is too broken. He has nothing to offer the world or these vampires or Lorena.
He has failed them. Failed Grandsire. Failed himself.
“What’s your love worth if you won’t fight for her when it matters?”
Fabiana’s question is the kind of challenge William has come to expect from Lorena. Her point is hard to argue with—if he does not rise now, everything he has said and done to protect Lorena will be rendered meaningless.
If he is going to lose this fight, he should at least go down swinging.
The dagger is stabbing into William’s thigh when his hand shoots out and curls around Lenny’s wrist. Then he seizes the ancient vampire’s full arm and snaps it free of its shoulder socket.
“AH!”
Now it is Leonardo the Bloody who cannot hold back his cry. William pries the dagger from his fingers right as Lenny pushes his own joint back into place.
The two vampires orbit each other.
“I was a boy of eight when I met Grandsire,” William says. “My cousins and I were introduced to him together, yet I did not speak a word to him until we shook hands in farewell.
A line forms between Leonardo the Bloody’s eyes. He looks torn between attacking and. listening.
“I said, A leader dwells in solitude…”
“What a touching story.”
“When my cousin Freddy and I were nine, Freddy pushed me out of the way so he could sit next to Grandsire.” William tosses Lenny’s dagger in the air, watches it spin, and catches it.
“I had always been a mild-mannered child. But when Freddy pushed me away, I felt a rage the likes of which I had never known. And I charged at my cousin.”
William tosses the blade up again. It spins higher this time, and he catches it.
“My attack was so brutal that Grandsire had to intercede to save Freddy’s life. It was the only time my parents ever had reason to punish me. But from that point on, I always sat next to Grandsire.”
William tosses the dagger a third time, and it flies so high that it is harder to keep it in sight. And before William can catch it, the ancient vampire leaps for the blade—
That is when William strikes.
His fangs stab Leonardo the Bloody’s neck, jaws firmly clamped around him even as the ancient vampire struggles to shake William off. Then William catches the blade in his hand and brings it to Lenny’s throat.
“I have never lost a fight,” William murmurs into his ear. “Now submit or die.”
“Die.”
William knew this would be the stubborn vampire’s answer. And yet, he also knows he cannot kill Leonardo the Bloody.
The surviving vampires are too few, and the ancient being’s experience exceeds any of theirs. Besides, far from winning him Lenny’s supporters, it is more likely to drive them away for good.
“Not a killer, are you?”
William looks down at Leonardo the Bloody, who seems to sense his hesitation. “You may be a Stoker, but you are young. We could learn much from each other. I propose we rule together. What say you?”
“Let us strike a compromise,” says William. “We sleep now, and we rule together later.”
“No,” Lenny says with a growl.
“So be it.”
And without warning, William slices Lenny’s neck open, again and again and again, not giving the vampire a chance to heal. As blood gushes out, Leonardo the Bloody grows weaker, until he finally crumbles.
Fabiana approaches William with a second flamethrower they obtained, just like the one he gave Trevor. Yet instead of setting the defeated vampire on fire, William looks out at the others watching. “Anyone else want to fight my death-sleep plan?”
No one stirs or speaks. Not even Osorio.
“Then follow me now, and together, we will bring back our lost brethren. Who will volunteer to carry Lenny?”
Silence still. Then Anne steps forward.
“You’re not going to burn him?” she asks.
“We have lost too many already,” says William. “I am not interested in making you fear me. I would much rather bring you hope.”
Anne looks at him a moment longer, then she does something that is hard for him to fathom. She drops to one knee and bows her head.
One by one, the other vampires bend a knee and bow their heads. Only Fabiana remains standing, and something about her pose makes him think of how Osorio was with Lenny, or how Cisco is with Nate. She has become his self-appointed bodyguard.
As soon as he thinks of Nate and Cisco, William scans the vampires for their faces. When he cannot find them, he asks, “Nate? Cisco?”
The others lift their heads and look around, seemingly clueless. Except Osorio, who stands up and says, “They left on Lenny’s orders before the fight started.”
Everything within William freezes. Without another word, he takes off at full tilt, entrusting Fabiana to lead the vampires to Huntington.
If anything happens to Lorena, he will make his first kill today after all.