Chapter 28 – Lily #2
“What is this place?” I ask, my voice wobbling.
“Welcome to the Hollow, Lily. Cozy, isn’t it?” he says, gesturing to an enormous candelabra. “It’s the place many of my most loyal vampires call home. It’s not usually such a mess, of course, but your friend Cassini had some aggression to work out. Still, no harm done.”
“What are you going to do with me?” I whisper. “Are you going to drug me? Or…kill me?”
Lazaro’s brow knots together in concern. “You dear sweet girl, no. Of course not. Why on earth would you think such a thing?”
“The women at the club. Amber, Megan, all the other—”
“They were all willing participants, believe me,” Lazaro says, leaning back in his chair. “Perhaps the Fontaine girl was more of a personal vendetta, but her policeman father was too curious for his own good. He was interfering in our business, and he had to be taught a lesson.”
A chill runs through me, chased by a wave of blistering fury.
“So that’s all Megan was?” I splutter. “Someone’s daughter.
Someone who grew up with hopes, dreams, and aspirations, drugged and left to rot while parasites fed on her blood.
A human being reduced to collateral damage in some sick power play?
What kind of creature would use a person like that? ”
Lazaro looks half amused by my tirade, but I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing me angry, so I turn away and face Cass instead. This whole time he’s been trying to catch my eye.
Megan is safe. I’m so sorry. I had to…
“Now, now,” Lazaro says with a condescending smile. “That’s not what we agreed, Cassini. Remember? Don’t do that again, or I’ll have Julian fire a warning shot. He’s usually very accurate, but he’s been off his game lately, so who knows what he’ll hit.”
My head snaps toward Lazaro, who watches me curiously, trying to gauge my reaction.
It doesn’t make sense. Why would Cass tell this man about my abilities?
I haven’t breathed a word to anyone—not even my stepfather—because Cass warned me my gift would put me in danger.
There has to be a link somewhere. Paloma? Surely not.
Before I can process what’s happening, Lazaro’s velvety voice cuts through the silence, but this time it’s not in the room. It’s in my head.
I know what you are, Lily.
My heart speeds up, pounding itself into my ribs the second he confirms it. He knows. He knows I’m a medium.
You don’t have to be afraid. I won’t hurt you. You’re far too special. Just like your mother was.
“What the fuck? How did you—”
Lazaro looks pleased with himself, like a cat who’s knocked a canary off its perch.
“Lily, please. Do you think anything happens in this city without me knowing it? I’ve been watching you for quite some time.
Waiting for your wonderful gift to develop.
” He leans in and clasps his hands together, lowering his voice for dramatic effect.
“Imagine my delight when I found out my two most prized assets were not only in cahoots, but were falling for each other. How predictable.”
I shake my head, and when I do, a hot tear that’s been welling in the corner of my eye comes loose and spills down my cheek. “I don’t understand.”
Lazaro rises from the table and stands behind me, and when he places his hands on my shoulders, I flinch. His fingertips trace over my collarbone, but his touch is firm. Another uneasy reminder of who has the power here.
Cass is silent, but his jaw is locked in a scowl, his fangs barely concealed as he watches Lazaro’s hands stroking me like a caged animal offered a chew toy. He flicks his eyes down to the laser on his chest and back to Julian. He’s weighing his odds, I can tell.
I pulse a single word in his direction. The first since the betrayal at the club.
Don’t.
“I don’t expect you to understand everything yet,” Lazaro says. “You just need to listen. That’s all I want from you. Your wonderful gift of listening.”
He crouches to look closer at me, his hand never leaving my shoulder.
His breath is ice-cold on my cheek. “You’re going to listen for us.
For me, specifically. Like your mother did before you.
You’ll serve the Sixth Clan exclusively, and you’ll be paid well for your gifts.
You’ll help me weed out traitors and get an advantage over our rivals and enemies.
In exchange, I will offer you something that no one—not even that man who sits across from you at this very table—can offer. ”
He leans in and brushes my hair away from my ear. With his icy lips just an inch from my skin, he whispers, “My protection.”
I can’t concentrate. I keep thinking about what he said. “Like your mother did.” I’m standing over Pandora’s box.
This is it. This is the moment of truth. All I need to do is open it.
I swallow, and my voice trembles. “You knew my mother?”
“Quite well,” he muses. “She really was one of a kind, until you came along.”
I swallow. “Did you… What happened to her? Do you know?”
“I do. Such a pity.” He fixes me with a steely look. “I’ll make sure to keep you safe. No mistakes like last time. You’ll be under my protection, with the finest, strongest vampires guarding you around the clock.”
I shake my head, and the lie tumbles out effortlessly. “I don’t need your protection. I’ll be fine. I’ve survived this long without it.”
“Beg to differ,” he says with a smile.
“And why’s that?” I shoot back.
“Because the stakes are different now. Soon every supernatural creature this side of the equator will be looking for you.” He pauses to let the threat sink in. “Trust me, I’ll make sure of it.”
“Fine,” I say, exasperation creeping into my voice, “but I don’t want to spy for a thing like you. I don’t want to be blackmailed and manipulated into doing something that will harm other people. Even if those people are vampires.” I jut my chin up defiantly. “That’s just not who I am.”
Lazaro’s face darkens, the kindness in his eyes disappearing. He rises to his feet so he’s towering over me and places his thumb under my chin, turning me and forcing me to look at him.
“You’re going to help me,” he says, his voice dropping to barely above a whisper, “because it’s no different from what you have already been doing. Your friend Cassini has already been using you for his own purposes. Haven’t you, Cassini?”
I feel the blood drain from my face as I turn to look at Cass. The guilty expression on his face tells me everything I need to know.
“You see, my dear, your vampire may have convinced you that your gift was an altruistic act to save the Fontaine girl, but in reality, it was much more. Every time he encouraged you to use your gift, every moment he pushed you to listen harder, to reach further—it was all so he could locate her and end his bloodbinding with her father. He wanted his strength restored, you see, and you were the key.”
The room spins around me.
“That’s not true,” I say, but the prickling sensation on the back of my neck tells me different.
“Tell her, Cassini,” Lazaro commands, his grip tightening on my chin.
“Tell her how your strength was fading with every passing day. Tell her how weak you were getting. Tell her how you needed her to break the magical binding that was killing you so you could be strong enough to go on the run again.”
Cassini’s mouth opens, then closes. He shifts uncomfortably. The laser sight remains fixed on the center of his chest, and I can see the conflict tearing him apart. Finally, he speaks, his voice barely audible.
“Lily, I—yes. But you have to understand, the pact was killing me, and I needed to be strong enough to protect you from—”
“Protect me?” I cut him off, my voice breaking. “You used me to save yourself?”
“No, that’s not—Lily, please, it wasn’t like that—”
Lily, please.
But I’m already slamming my mental walls up, cutting off any attempt he might make to reach me. The betrayal cuts deeper than any physical wound—he turned my pain into a tool for his own survival.
The tears come thick and fast. Rolling down my burning cheeks and splashing like summer rain on the taco I’ve been neglecting.
Lazaro hovers behind me, awkwardly patting my head like I’m a Labrador. “My sweet girl. Let me tell you something, right here and now. I’ll always be a monster—that will never change. But I promise you, I will always be honest about it.”
I lift my wet face up to look at him. His expectant face is soft again. Friendly, like it was before, except now it just feels sinister.
“So?” he says, pulling out his pocket watch and flipping it open with a single, fluid movement. “My once-in-a-lifetime offer has a shelf life of five minutes.”
He places it in my palm and turns his back to me, walking away and reclaiming his place at the head of the table.
“The clock is ticking. The choice is yours. Become a bright, shiny beacon for every power-hungry vampire in the world. Or take your rightful place here, among the Sixth. Under my protection and mentorship. What’s it going to be?”