Chapter 32 #2
“Johnny? Are you okay?” I ask, and when his eyes snap over to mine, I discover that they don’t look human.
They’re dark slits and appear feral. There’s so much rage in his expression, reminding me of what Atticus said.
What exactly happens when Johnny “loses control”? “Johnny, it’s okay. It’ll be okay!”
He jerks back, but his eyes don’t return to normal.
“I’m tired of listening to you blab on and on,” Niles snarls. “At least I’m kind enough not to prolong your death like Morpheus would.”
Niles rushes me and I move to avoid his strike, but I didn’t even need to worry because hands wrap around me, pulling me away from him.
I assume they’re Morpheus’s hands until I see Morpheus throwing Niles back. I turn and look back at Atticus, who has me wrapped up in his arms. “I thought I told you not to come.”
“I did as you asked. I showed my face at the club then ran straight here. You delayed him long enough that I could reach you,” he says as I look up and see vampires rushing in from the doorways to protect their maker. “Get Johnny untied and keep him calm. I’ll deal with them.”
“Please be careful. I know they’re all weaker than you, but with so many of them—”
What I’m saying is cut off when he dashes forward to stop a woman from reaching me. I turn from them and run over to Johnny, who doesn’t even seem to notice me while I kneel next to him.
“I’m right here, Johnny. You’re okay,” I say as I discover that the chains wrapped around his wrists are made of a metal that seems quite strong. They’re cutting into his skin, causing the metal to be slippery with blood, but I still try to break them.
I need the key, and the only person who would have it is Niles.
“Johnny, I’m going to get the key and set you free, okay?”
I’m afraid to leave him here unguarded. If I do, someone could easily kill him when he has no way to defend himself, but there’s no way Niles wouldn’t see me coming while lugging Johnny on my back.
Johnny’s eyes are almost completely black now, and I realize that this really isn’t going to be good.
“Johnny, stay with me, okay? I’m right here,” I say, but the fact that he’s confined appears to be making him more distressed. I glance back at Atticus, but he’s being overrun with vampires. I can’t ask him for help.
Morpheus is fighting against Niles, but Niles has the protection of his people, making the fight more evenly matched.
I sneak forward and note how Morpheus is determined to drive Niles into a corner of the room where the others can’t help him as freely with Atticus keeping them back. But that makes it harder for me to get to the key to help Johnny.
Should I just wait for the fight to be over? But what if Morpheus loses?
Yes, Morpheus is stronger, but Niles has spent two thousand years collecting all of these people, turning them into vampires, and having them serve him.
“Lou died because of you,” I shout.
I see Niles’s body stiffen.
“Yorick, get the fuck back over here,” Atticus yells.
Ignoring him, I continue. “I heard about her little trick of seducing men so you’d swoop in and hurt them or kill them. The second she attempted to do it to me, I knew she was trying to make you jealous and cause me pain, so I took her in the back, and you want to know what I did next?”
Rage floods Niles’s face when he turns and rushes for me.
“You’re such a fucking fool, brother,” Morpheus mocks as he uses the distraction to grab Niles and slam him against the wall. Niles tries to pull away, but Morpheus drives a stake into his chest, pinning him there.
“You’d kill your own brother over this?” Niles asks while blood runs out of his mouth. He tries to pull the stake free, but with Morpheus pinning it there, he can’t seem to get away from it.
“I sure would,” Morpheus says before he cuts Niles’s head off with one swift movement. He steps away and casually looks over at the rest of the vampires in the room. Atticus is holding his own, but there are so many of them that he’s had to draw deeper into the room to avoid being overrun.
Some scream and run toward Morpheus, and since I’m between them, I rush past Morpheus to get out of the way.
I leave him to it as I slip my hand into Niles’s pocket and grab everything that’s inside.
Seeing the key, I shove the rest into my own pocket while I get a front-row view of Morpheus killing anyone who dares try to get close to him.
“If you do not turn around and leave in fifteen seconds then I will kill everyone left standing here,” Morpheus growls.
Many leave, but some stay even though their deaths are senseless at this point.
What are they really even fighting for? I hurry over to Johnny and slip the key into the lock.
I pull the chains away from where they’d dug into his flesh, but the moment Johnny’s free of them, he slams me to the ground.
Johnny’s hand wraps around my throat as he rapidly pants. I can feel his nails digging into my flesh while he looks down at me like a predator fixated on their prey.
“Johnny, don’t!” Atticus yells, but his words make Johnny’s hand tighten on my throat.
“I told you to put that thing down a while ago. You finally see why?” Morpheus asks. “Just kill it before it kills your precious Yorick.”
Their words make Johnny’s nails dig in deeper, so I do my best to ignore them. “Johnny, it’s fine now. It’s all over, you’re with us now. And we’re like… family, right? You’re safe with us.”
I can hear his heartbeat running wild and his breaths are more like gasps, but I see him begin to shake and his nails start to retract.
“You’re okay. You’re with us now,” I say as I glance at Atticus with a very clear “Don’t you dare attack him” expression.
Atticus looks anxious, but he takes a slow step forward. “You’re supposed to be the one who gives me the least amount of headaches, Johnny. Leave all the dramatics to Yorick and let’s go home.”
Johnny’s grip softens and his head bows. I wrap my arms around him in a hug, feeling like that’ll solve everything.
“I’m sorry,” Johnny whispers.
“It’s totally fine. Atticus once tried making me dig my own grave after some slavers were going to sell me!”
Johnny sighs and pushes himself up as he looks away from us, like he doesn’t want to face us. “I don’t want to be a monster. He did this to me.”
Morpheus is simply leaning against a wall, arms folded over his chest while he watches us. He doesn’t appear to have a care in the world. He never does.
I help Johnny to his feet as Atticus walks up to Morpheus and slams a paper against his chest. “Here is the list of people Lou gave the poison to. Most have been caught or are dead. You can deal with the rest, I assume? Now get out of our lives for good.”
He stares at the paper before glancing up. “I took care of Niles, so now Yorick won’t have anyone following him.”
“Do you want a fucking award?” Atticus asks.
Morpheus’s expression is cold but also a bit uncertain. It’s as if he doesn’t know what to do with this. Like he’s… disappointed we’ll no longer be in his lives. Maybe if he hadn’t spent so long making us miserable, he’d have someone in his life he actually cared for.
“Fine,” Morpheus says. “As you wish.”
Without another word and with one last look back, he disappears.
“It’s like he’s fucking upset we’re driving him out of our lives,” Atticus says in disbelief. “Did he think I was just going to welcome him in with open arms?”
“He doesn’t seem to know how to feel things, so as the only continuous thing in his life, he’s probably reluctant to let go of something that makes him feel. But he’s gone now, and that’s all that matters. Let’s go home. I want to go home.”
The three of us stand there for a moment as I glance back at Niles’s body. All those years ago, Niles set in motion something that would torment Atticus for centuries.
My eyes shift to Atticus, but I find his expression hard to read. So I reach out and take his hand, sliding my fingers between his. His eyes snap away from Niles and drop down to my hand. His fingers tighten, and we make our way back to the car and away from this part of our lives to start another.