Chapter 15
It’s midnight before I trudge back to my room sans Evie. She left earlier to meet up with Astrid, so I walk alone, except for the new soldier assigned to follow me. I don’t even bother telling him off. It’s not like it does any good.
We managed to do a few test runs of viruses in my blood. Each time, the vampiric white blood cells immediately set out to destroy the invading entity before it even had a chance to replicate.
The problem is that once the virus was destroyed, the vampiric cells went after the other healthy white blood cells and replicated themselves until every white blood cell had the vampire symbiote attached.
We have no idea what that truly means, what it would mean for the majority of the human population to have that living in their blood.
What we need is an antigen, something to create the virus-killing response without the permanent addition of the symbiote.
I worked until my eyes were going bleary. Wyatt was already asleep at his desk. I shook him awake and sent him to bed.
Yawning, I get ready for bed then climb into my bottom bunk. Closing my eyes, I unravel my thoughts from antigens and proteins and think about Valen. “Where are you?” I ask silently.
I don’t hear an answer, but I do sense a heightened awareness, as if he’s looking right at me. And then I get a tinge of irritation, as if he’s pissed at someone else.
I was hoping he’d be here, that he’d come to me like he did the night before, but it’s too dangerous. He shouldn’t be anywhere near this base, not if there’s any chance Gregor could get wind of it. I press my cheek to my pillow and hope he’s safe, hope he’s helping people, not hurting them.
“Worried for me?” His voice is like the touch of a feather.
I sit up, my skin prickling. “Valen?”
Nothing. No response. I lay back down, that tingle of awareness still rushing through me.
I keep listening, focusing on him. My eyes closing. My thoughts drifting.
“The hour is late, my Blood.” He’s dressed all in black, crouched down on top of a building in the moonlight.
I look down. I’m wearing my gray, base-issued pajamas. What I wore to bed. “I’m dreaming.”
“Something like that.” He glances up.
I yelp as Coal lands right beside me, his wing passing through me. “What the—”
“They’ve got some anti-aircraft artillery and plenty of guns. Tantun is advancing steadily, but they’re suffering heavy casualties.”
“Good.” Valen’s still looking at me as I gawk at Coal.
I pat my side where his wing seemed to cut through me. Nothing’s there. No wound. And I’m solid.
“What is this?” I ask.
“Projection.”
“Hmm?” Coal looks right through me. “Who are you talking to?”
“My Blood. She’s accessed projection already.”
“She has?” Coal searches the spot where I’m standing. “Humans can do that?”
“Apparently so. My Blood is exceptional.” The pride in his voice sends a pleasant rush through me.
I wave my hand in Coal’s face. He doesn’t so much as blink.
If it’s a dream, it’s an oddly specific one. No, I think it’s real. “I’m asleep, right?”
“Yes.”
I just go with it. It’s not as if I have any other option. “Are you all right? What did Gregor do? Did he hurt you?”
“Nothing to trouble you with.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“He ordered me to raze Atlanta to the ground.” He gestures toward the darkened city. “To stamp out the resistance that’s sprung up here.”
“Some of my best work.” Coal smirks.
“You helped them?” I ask, but of course he can’t hear me.
“We’ve disobeyed as much as possible. Ensuring your people survive. But that’s all. Vampires and humans will still die. The war will continue. Nothing can change or end until Gregor dies.”
“I know.” I tangle my fingers together. “If I could make the poison and somehow get it to him, this would be over. Then we could start rebuilding, find some way forward.”
“Listen, my Blood.” Valen’s expression is stark in the moonlight.
“Gregor is fading faster now, but he’s even more erratic.
There’s nothing he won’t do; nothing left for him to fear except death.
” His eyes sear into me. “I don’t think he’ll have any qualms compelling me from here on out.
That’s the only reason I’ve left you at that base with the humans. ”
“You left me there because I told you to,” I correct him.
He only smirks.
Ass.
Valen turns his head with predatory quickness, and Coal does the same.
Someone scrabbles over the edge of the roof right behind me, then stands.
I back away until I’m behind Valen.
“You’re safe here in this form. No one else can see you or hear you,” Valen’s voice is in my mind.
He stands to his full height. “What, Tantun?” he snarls the word.
The vampire approaches and dips his head slightly in deference. “Lord Specter, we’ve broken through their front lines, but their weapons are much improved as of late. They’ve added silver to the slugs. We’re taking heavy losses. If the Corvidions could—”
“Is there a reason you’re here instead of following orders?” Valen’s tone could cut through steel.
I wince back.
“We—” He wavers for a moment, his adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows. “We’d like to request air support from the Corv—”
Valen has him by the throat so quickly I stumble back, then he slams him so hard onto the roof that the cement cracks, a light plume of dust rising around them. “You will return to your troops and attack the humans’ position as instructed or you will die right here, right now.”
“S-sorry, my lord. Please,” the Tantun wheezes.
Valen rises, bringing the vampire with him, then flings the Tantun off the roof as if he were tossing a bit of trash into a wastebasket.
A thud and a groan follow, and Valen pulls a black handkerchief from his pocket and wipes his hands as if he’s touched something filthy.
Something explodes, and I whirl to see a plume of fire rising only a block or so away. The blast sends a shockwave and a torrent of dust rushing past. I don’t feel any of it.
“Looks like our petrol barrel finally got hit.” Coal crosses his arms, his black wings folding at his back. “About time. You’d think humans would have better aim by now.”
“I told them to wait until the mass of Tantuns were close. Maybe they followed my instructions for once.” Valen gives me an apprising glance. “Though I know of one who never does.”
“That’s not true, not to mention unfair. I do what I think is right. You—”
“I do what is necessary,” he gives me a withering look.
“Oh, and I don’t?” I put my hands on my hips.
“I went to DC because it was necessary. I worked on a cure, and worked with a particularly rude vampire, might I add, to save people from the plague. I do all kinds of things that are necessary. I’m not out here twirling through the hills and having a great time like you’re implying. ”
“I wasn’t implying anything.” He advances on me, towering over me, his eyes glinting. “I was simply stating the facts that you, my Blood, are stubborn and often do the exact opposite of what you’re told.”
“Because I’m not your dog!” I yell.
“That’s true. You’re my little rabbit.”
I point my finger in his face. “If I could touch you right now, I’d slap the—” I scream when he yanks me into his arms, one of his hands gripping my hair as he pulls my head back.
“You’d do what, my love?” He kisses my neck, his fangs sliding along my skin.
“You can touch me?” I gasp.
“I can do anything I want to you.” He laughs low and sultry, then nips at my ear.
“Ugh.” Coal turns his back to us.
I grab onto him, his mouth hot against my skin. “This is impossible.”
He wraps his arm around my waist and lifts me, pressing me against his chest as he claims my mouth with a growl.
I twine my arms around his neck, holding onto him as he steals my breath, wiping every bit of incredulity from my mind with each swipe of his tongue.
Something else explodes, another burst of light and sound. He ignores it, holding me tightly, setting my body on fire with his touch until I’m reeling.
When he sets me back on my feet, I feel a special sort of vertigo. Floating, effervescent, almost upside down.
He puts his palm to my cheek, his touch warm. “Now I need you to listen, my Blood. I won’t be back to the base. Not until this is over. I expect you to remain there. Stay underground. Stay safe.”
“Over? What do you mean over?”
He doesn’t answer, his face solemn. His silence sows worry inside me like seeds in a field.
“Valen, what are you talking about? What are you planning?” I demand. “I haven’t found the right proteins for the poison yet. I can’t—”
“We’re out of time.”
“No.” I shake my head. “Why are you saying that?”
“Because Gregor knows about the base. Your base.”
My stomach drops. “How?”
“I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter anymore. After I’m done here, he’s given orders for a full assault to wipe out the heart of what’s left of the country. Everyone inside will die. And if I refuse, he’ll compel me. The base will fall unless I can stop him. I have to try.”
Goose bumps break out along my skin. “No. We’re close. We’re so close. We could have a vaccine soon. And the poison, I’m certain I have what I need; I just have to find it. I need more time.”
“There is none.” His voice is softer now, scaring me more deeply than his fury ever could, his eyes luminous in the dark. “There was never enough.”
“Valen.” I clutch his shirt, the enormity of what he’s saying making my knees go weak. “Don’t.”
“Kedves verem.” He holds me in his arms, his lips in my hair as he murmurs in his ancient language.
“Valen, please.” Tears choke me. “Please, don’t do this.”
“Forgive me.”
I wake in a cold sweat, the hum in my veins gone. “Valen!” Despite the panic rising like a black tide, I close my eyes and concentrate on him.
Nothing.
There’s nothing there.
Our link is gone. Not just quiet. Severed. Numb.
I burst into tears, an integral piece of me shattering, the shards piercing every organ, every vein. He’s gone. That small, wiry thread between us that seemed to tie to a spot beneath my ribs is silent.
I clutch my chest, my heart still beating as I struggle to catch my breath.
“No.” I wipe my eyes and throw my legs over the side of my bunk. “No.”