Chapter 35
Chapter
Thirty-Five
Simon could think of nothing but that first taste of blood flooding his mouth.
Not just any blood. Charlie's blood.
Vampire blood.
The moment it touched his tongue, something inside Simon stirred. Reuben's presence in his mind, that cold, controlling weight that had directed his actions since the injection, recoiled slightly, as if disturbed by an intruder.
Simon's fangs sank deeper into Charlie's neck, and the blood flowed stronger. With each swallow, Simon felt Reuben's hold weakening, but something else was rising in its place, something ancient and hungry and powerful.
Something he'd been fighting his entire life.
With sudden, terrible clarity, Simon understood what was happening.
He'd spent the last decade of his life suspended in a half-state between human and vampire.
Now Charlie's blood was nudging him over to the vampire side, feeding the infection inside of him that longed to complete his halted transformation.
Simon froze, his fangs still in Charlie's neck but no longer drawing blood.
Could he become a vampire?
Could he?
Kill him, Reuben's blood command insisted in his mind. Remember your mother. Remember what these monsters do.
"Simon?" Charlie whispered, not moving, completely surrendered beneath his hands.
Simon stood suspended between two futures. If he pulled away now, Reuben's blood would reassert control. He would remain Reuben's weapon, his mother's death unrevenged, Charlie destroyed by his own hands.
But if he drank, he would become what he had hunted. What he had hated. What he had feared becoming.
He had to make a choice.
"Simon! What are you doing? Kill him!"
The command tugged at him, trying to pull him back from the edge. But Simon wasn't looking at Reuben. His eyes met Charlie's, focused on the fear and hope there, the absolute trust despite everything Simon had just done to him.
Simon made his decision.
He drank.
One sip. Two.
The transformation hit like a tidal wave.
Every cell in his body seemed to rupture and reform at once.
Simon's back arched, his grip on Charlie tightening involuntarily as pain ripped through him.
Reuben's presence in his mind shattered completely, replaced by white-hot fire that coursed through his veins.
"NO!" Reuben's voice came from far away now.
Simon fell to his knees, still clutching Charlie, as his body convulsed. His heartbeat thundered in his ears, faster and faster, until it seemed impossible that it wouldn't explode from his chest. Then, with sickening finality, it stopped completely.
Silence.
For one terrible moment, Simon felt nothing. No heartbeat. No breath. No connection to the world around him.
Then his senses exploded outward. Scents hit him first—Charlie's blood, Reuben's sweat-soaked fear, the antiseptic undertones of the room. Then sounds—the hum of the building's ventilation, distant footsteps three floors up, Charlie's unnecessary but comforting breathing.
Colors sharpened. The white walls burned with previously invisible variations of shade. The red of Charlie's blood seemed to pulse with its own light.
And the bond—their bond—it didn't just connect them anymore. It enveloped them, wove them together with threads of gold and crimson.
It was beautiful, the most beautiful thing Simon had ever seen.
But he didn't have the time to marvel at it all now.
A gunshot barely missed his head.
And it had only missed because Simon dodged reflexively, with more speed than he'd ever possessed even as an enhanced hunter.
Simon's new senses registered Reuben's movements with preternatural clarity. The hunter had drawn the same kind of gun Simon had carried for years.
"You chose to become the very thing that destroyed your mother?" Reuben's voice shook with rage and something that went even deeper than mere disappointment. "After everything I taught you?"
Simon rose to his feet, steadying Charlie with one hand. The stake Reuben had given him was still clutched in his other. "You mean after you arranged my mother's death to shape me into your perfect hunter?"
Reuben's face contorted. "I made you extraordinary." He raised the gun again. "And now I'll unmake you."
Simon pushed Charlie behind him as Reuben fired. With his new reflexes, Simon could track the bullet's trajectory, could almost reach out and pluck it from the air. He dodged again, moving with impossible speed toward Reuben.
But Reuben hadn't survived decades hunting vampires by being slow. He sidestepped, bringing the barrel around for another shot. Simon knocked his arm upward, the bullet embedding in the ceiling, and drove his shoulder into Reuben's chest.
They crashed into the medical equipment, glass shattering around them. Simon felt a surge of savage pleasure at the fear in Reuben's eyes. The man who had controlled him, manipulated him, used his mother's death to forge him into a killer…
Simon would make him understand what it was like to be prey.
"I should have put you down the moment you started straying from the path," Reuben snarled, driving his knee into Simon's ribs. "Just like all the others who couldn't handle the process."
Simon barely felt the blow. His newly acquired strength made Reuben's attacks seem almost laughable. He grabbed Reuben's throat, pinning him against the wall.
"How many?" Simon demanded. "How many children, how many families did you sacrifice?"
"Only the weak ones." Reuben's hand moved to his belt, fingers closing around something Simon couldn't see. "Not as many as I've saved."
The silver blade slashed across Simon's forearm before he could react. Pain exploded at the contact—sharper, deeper than anything he'd experienced as a half-turned. Simon hissed, his grip loosening just enough for Reuben to duck away.
"Hurts more now, doesn't it?" Reuben wiped blood from his lip, circling Simon with the silver knife in one hand, gun in the other.
Simon glanced at his arm. The edges of the cut sizzled slightly, the tissue around it turning an angry red.
Reuben lunged again, but this time Simon was ready. He caught Reuben's knife hand, twisted until bone snapped, and tore the blade from his grip. The gun, however, came up between them.
The shot rang out, deafening in the enclosed space.
Simon stumbled backward, a burning sensation spreading across his side where the silver bullet had grazed him. The pain sent him to his knees.
"You see?" Reuben stepped closer, aiming for a killing shot. "In the end, you're just a vampire. And vampires need to be destroyed."
"Simon!" Charlie's voice cut through the haze of pain.
Reuben shifted his aim toward the sound. "Perhaps I'll eliminate your little pet first. Make you watch, the way you watched your mother die."
Simon tried to stand, but the silver's effect had spread further than he'd anticipated. His muscles seized, the wound refusing to close. He reached for Charlie through their bond, trying to urge him to run.
Instead, he felt something snap tight between them.
A surge of intent so bright it burned.
The next moment, a small brown rabbit crouched at the edge of the room, ears pinned back, eyes glowing red. And then he moved, darting at Reuben while Simon heard a war cry in his head. Reuben barely had time to process what was happening before the world's most furious bunny slammed into him.
Reuben stumbled, his shot going wide, embedding in the wall. The rabbit that was Charlie didn't stop. He ran straight up Reuben’s leg, launching himself onto the hunter’s chest with enough force to knock the air out of him.
“GET—” Reuben choked, stumbling backward. He spun, trying to shake Charlie loose, but the rabbit held fast, fighting as if he was predator rather than prey.
Finally he bit down on the wrist holding the gun.
Reuben cursed, dropping the weapon. "What is this thing?" he spat.
It was all the distraction Simon needed to gather his strength. Fighting through the silver's burn, he forced himself upright while Reuben was still struggling to dislodge Charlie. The moment he managed to shake the rabbit, he lunged for his fallen gun, fingers closing around the grip.
But Simon was faster.
He slammed into Reuben, driving him into the wall. The impact cracked the concrete, and Reuben slumped to the floor, dazed but conscious, the gun spinning away across the polished tiles.
Simon retrieved the weapon, standing over the man who had manipulated him for a decade.
That was all going to end now.
He pressed the barrel against Reuben's forehead.
"Simon, wait." Charlie had shifted back to human form. "Don't kill him."
"Why not?" Simon's finger tightened on the trigger. "After everything he's done?"
"Because if you kill him now, you'll never be free of him." Charlie moved closer, placing a gentle hand on Simon's arm. "And I want you to be free."
Simon's jaw clenched, every fiber of his being wanting to end Reuben's life. But Charlie's words penetrated the red haze of his rage. Freedom. Wasn't that what he truly wanted? To break the chains that had bound him since he was fifteen?
The door burst open. Viktor entered first, weapon drawn, followed by Brent, whose wide eyes suggested he was still processing everything he'd witnessed tonight. Noah came last, his expression unreadable.
"You're late," Simon said, not lowering the gun.
"Looks like you had things under control." Viktor surveyed the room, his gaze lingering on Reuben's slumped form. "Mostly."
Noah approached, kneeling beside the injured Reuben. "The Organization runs deeper than just this man. Even with him gone, others will continue his work."
"So what do we do?" Charlie asked.
"We expose them." Viktor holstered his weapon. "All of it. The experimentation. The children they sacrificed. The deal with the vampire elders."
"No one would believe it," Reuben rasped, blood trickling from a cut on his temple. "Vampires? Half-turned hunters? The world isn't ready for that truth."
"Maybe not." Noah produced a small device from his pocket. "But financial records, experimental logs, medical files detailing human rights violations? Those speak for themselves." He held up what appeared to be a flash drive. "I got everything I needed tonight."
Simon lowered the gun slowly, a new purpose forming in his mind. "You're going to face justice," he said to his former mentor. "And you're going to see your life's work fall apart."
"No," Reuben whispered, his voice weak but venomous. "We did important work. The world needs protection."
"Not your kind of protection." Simon stepped back from the fallen hunter with disgust.
Brent, who'd been silent until now, finally spoke. "So...what now? Police? FBI? Who exactly do you call about vampire hunter conspiracies?"
Noah pocketed the drive. "I have contacts. People who can ensure the right information reaches the right hands."
"We need to move quickly," Viktor urged. "The security systems won't stay down much longer."
Simon nodded, turning away from Reuben. The pain in his side had dulled to a persistent throb, his body slowly fighting off the silver's effects. Charlie moved to support him, he didn't even have to be told.
"You'll never survive without us." Reuben's voice had grown feeble. "Vampires will run rampant in this city if we don't control them."
"We'll handle it," Simon replied. "Without you."
As they moved toward the door, Simon felt a sudden warning pulse through his bond with Charlie. He turned just in time to see Reuben lunging forward, a hidden second knife in his hand, its blade aimed directly at Charlie's back.
Simon didn't hesitate.
The gun barked once.
Reuben's body crumpled, his final expression one of disbelief as the silver bullet—his own ammunition—found his heart.
Simon watched the light go out of his mentor's eyes. He regretted many things, but not that.