Chapter 9
Lock
After getting Sam situated in the bed, I began to pace. I had no idea what the hell had happened out there. After what she’d done to Vera, I assumed she just needed a minute. Then we were outside and I thought she’d benefit from some fresh air. When she smelled that blood, I figured I might have to intervene to make sure she killed them somewhere out of sight. Instead, she’d fucking snapped her own neck.
It was impossible to know what was going on with her. If she’d actually talk to me, maybe we’d get somewhere, but clearly that was too much to ask for. Every time we worked out our shit and agreed to be open with each other, one of us failed miserably at it. Not this time. She was going to talk, even if I had to torture everyone she cared about. Our relationship was far more important than their pain.
Desperation was for the weak and simple-minded, but right now I was beginning to feel something like it. This was an emotion that would drive people to make mistakes all for a sliver of hope. I wouldn’t do that.
We were meant to be gods. It was time she embraced that reality.
Since she was apparently committed to virtue today, I left her in the room. When she woke, she’d be alone, but it wasn’t like she wanted to be around me anyway. Half the time I thought she was trying to avoid me. At this point, she’d succeeded in pissing me off and it’d been far too long since I’d been given an outlet for my rage.
When I burst into one of the torture rooms, the man inside shouted in alarm. He was one of the unaffiliated vampires that succumbed to the pill’s effects and drained a human. Either he was weak or he’d been sent here for some purpose. I found it strange that we’d picked up two of them without covens. Not everyone joined one, but it was pretty uncommon.
“Who are you?” he asked in a shaky voice. Oh, this was going to be fun.
I kicked the door shut behind me, smirking when the lock engaged. Advancing on him, I unsheathed my dagger and tossed it in the air, then caught it by the hilt on its way down. He backed up against the wall, as if he could somehow continue through it. They always tried that. Clearly, they were only trapping themselves, but nobody ever said all vamps were smart.
“You don’t know who I am?” I grabbed him by the hair, tipping his head to the side as I dropped into a crouch. “Let’s change that.”
Even as he struggled against me, it took barely anything for me to hold him. He was basic, mundane. As I sliced through the skin around his jaw, I could smell the weakness of his blood. He wasn’t worthy of the sort of greatness my bloodline would achieve. Even my lowliest vamps, the ones that couldn’t smoke shift, could hold his heart in their hands within five seconds.
The blade traced the curve of his jaw, up past his ear, then arced around his forehead. When it reached the place I’d started, my ears were ringing from his screams. Once I stopped, he quieted to a continuous whimper and my blood cleared the ache in my head.
“That was step one,” I said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t even take the edge off. Before we go any further, I have some questions.”
“I-I-I…”
“Are you a yappy dog? Jesus.”
He shook his head the best he could. The cuts were starting to heal, so I decided to forgo the questions until I’d finished this task. Gripping the flap at his hairline, I began to pull it downward. He resumed his pathetic whining, which was really starting to get annoying.
I let him go and pulled out my phone, trying and failing not to get blood on it. Since I was constantly upgrading this place, I’d installed Bluetooth speakers in each of these rooms a few years ago. I’d never been more glad to have thought ahead.
“Any requests?” I asked, glancing at him. His skin had half-healed, but I didn’t really mind starting over, especially if I found the perfect song.
When he didn’t answer, I turned on Last Resort by Papa Roach and twirled my dagger. Once the beat dropped, I bobbed up and down and dove back in. Now that the screams were being drowned out a bit, I actually got the lines neater. Without hesitating this time, I gripped the top and pulled the skin down to his eyebrows.
“Hm. Rip it off like a Band-Aid or go slow?”
“P-p-p-please.”
“Slow will make it prettier.”
Very carefully, I switched between cutting and pulling at the skin. He passed out a few times, but with his vamp healing, he kept waking up, which just made him freak out all over again. When I’d finally reached the last bit, I made a neat slice and freed my new skin mask. I didn’t plan on actually wearing it, although it might freak Sam out in a funny way. Then again, she might end up blowing me to pieces.
He was unconscious until his skin began to regrow. It would probably take hours and it wasn’t going to be pleasant, but at least he’d have a face again. Until I came back to do it again, of course. I wondered if it would drive him crazy to use his skin as wallpaper throughout the entire room. It couldn’t be good for one’s psyche.
“Now that we’ve gotten to know each other a little, why don’t you tell me your name?”
He opened his mouth, then whimpered when it caused him pain. “Gabe.”
“Nice to meet you, Gabe. I’m glad your name isn’t something stupid like Brendan.”
“I don’t know what’s going on,” he said, moving his lips as little as possible.
“You came into my kingdom and did a bad thing.”
“Kingdom?”
I waved a dismissive hand. “My territory. SF and the surrounding area. What were you doing here?”
“I just travel around.”
“Why?”
“What else is there to do?”
“Plenty, actually. For one, you could’ve joined a coven.”
He managed to laugh a little, then pulled himself up to sit straighter. “Covens are cesspools of outdated hierarchical separation. Pitting people of different strengths against each other and valuing the powerful over the average.”
“Sounds like something the average would say.”
“My point exactly.”
“Clearly, you’ve never seen my coven.” Settling criss-cross on the floor, I traced the mask in my hand. “Actually, I agree with what you’ve said. I’m surprised, if I’m being honest.”
“Why?”
“I’m always the one in here giving philosophical speeches and nobody ever has anything useful to add.”
“Maybe they’re just too busy screaming.”
“That’s what happens when you kill someone and I have to use my resources to cover it up.”
“It was that fucking pill.”
I cocked my head. “You know about it.”
“Of course. I’ve been around. A while back, a group managed to intercept one of their shipments and stole their product.”
“How’d they manage that?”
“No idea. There are plenty of vamps that choose to exist in the world of heists and burglaries.”
“What did they do with the stolen supply?”
“Sold them. Five thousand each.”
“For what purpose?”
“Why do humans seek out meth? It’s the high.” When my brow furrowed, he rolled his eyes. “If they give it to someone, then drink them, they’re energized off that amped up blood. Some use it just for the feeling, while others use it to have an advantage against someone in a fight and whatnot.”
Shaking my head, I couldn’t help but laugh. “Vamp street drugs. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. We’re slaves to our desires, just as humans are.”
“Right. So, now that I’ve answered your questions, could we get on with it?”
“With what?”
“Whatever you have planned. I’m not dumb enough to believe you’ll let me go, but the faster we finish here, the sooner I can be left to my thoughts.”
“And what is it you think about, alone in this room?”
He leaned forward. “You’ll have to torture it out of me.”
“I like you, Gabe. One more question and I’ll be merciful enough to be done with you for the day.”
“Fine.”
“What do you know about what happened before my people apprehended you?”
“Nothing, really. I’d stopped in that city just to buy cigarettes before continuing on. That’s when it hit me. If I had to guess, it was probably some peddlers.”
“Peddlers?”
“Yeah. These guys will come through and use some of their supply to drug a human, with the intention of introducing a vampire or two to the effects. Then they rope them into buying. Most older vampires have the money, so it’s just a matter of getting them interested.”
“It’s a legitimate drug ring. Have they only hit the one shipment?”
“As far as I know. I just hear things from others I come across. I don’t get mixed up in any of that shit.”
“You just travel continuously?”
“You already used your one question. Actually, I answered a couple.”
“Hm. It’s too bad you’re a low-power vamp. You seem smart.”
“I’ve got quite a few PhDs under my belt.”
“Intriguing. Well, since you’ve been so accommodating, I’ll stay true to my word.”
I stood and headed for the door, carrying my skin mask in one hand. Gabe let out a relieved breath, slumping against the wall. I turned back before stepping into the hallway.
“Sorry. I never introduced myself. I’m Hemlock Giudice.”
His eyes were comically wide when I shut the door behind me. He’d heard of me. It wasn’t surprising, considering his nomadic life. It seemed like he knew quite a lot from his conversations during his travels. Maybe it had been a good thing that he’d found his way here. I didn’t know how useful the information about the drug peddlers was, but it could help us weed out the attacks that were made by Seraphim or by others. There had been a few outliers, which I could now consider attributing to the dealers.
There was one more stop I needed to make before heading back to my mate. Hopefully she’d had some time to pull herself together since I’d been gone. She would also need blood, since she would’ve burned some off to heal. I didn’t want her to be short on it. It would only lead to more issues in the long run as her body began to demand it more urgently.
I knew she was afraid, but it was that fear that was holding her back. With power, you couldn’t learn to control it if you didn’t understand what it was capable of. I had the perfect opportunity to do just that after I was turned. I’d unleashed myself and left five hundred bodies in my wake.
She needed her own moment of liberation. It didn’t have to result in a massacre, but she had to figure it out. There was no other choice.
Before she made her first kill all those months ago, I’d told her that denying the thing you hungered for led to being overwhelmed by the urge. Once that happened, you’d do something far worse. These things couldn’t be stifled. They had to be harnessed, owned, and mastered.
As usual, I would have to be the bad guy. Funnily enough, that was exactly who I’d choose to be either way.