The door creaked open, and several footsteps entered the room, followed by an instantly familiar voice.
"Thank you for waiting. I'm Mr. Stephen, Prince Salazar's aide. I understand you want an audience with the Prince?"
I turned slowly and met Stick's pale gaze across the room.
Chapter 11
He had changed.
The Stick I remembered had been tall and skinny, a ragged scarecrow with straw-colored hair and frightened, watery blue eyes. The person in the doorway, surrounded by four armed vampires and two humans, was still tall and thin, but he wore a business suit and carried a suitcase in one spidery hand. He wasn't nearly as skinny now, and his hair had been cut short and combed back, replacing the shaggy nest I remembered.
But the biggest change was in his eyes and the way he carried himself. Back in the Fringe, Stick had cringed and skulked his way through life, relying on me for survival. He was afraid of everyone and everything and often got picked on because he expected me to save him instead of standing up for himself.
Now, he carried himself tall, his tone and expression clear, almost arrogant. But maybe that was because of his entourage, the two humans and four vampires surrounding him with guns and crossbows, smaller versions of the one Zeke had given away. Seeing him, I felt the last piece of something inside me-hope, stubbornness, disbelief-shatter and die. I'd always wondered what had happened to Stick, if he really had sold me out to the Prince once he knew what I was. I'd been hoping, deep down, that it wasn't true.
But here he was. Salazar's personal aide, staring at me as if he'd just seen a ghost.
"A-Allie?" His voice was a choked, horrified whisper, and the guards stared at him, and us, in rising alarm. "No. No, it can't be you. You're supposed to be dead!"
"Stick," I said, taking a step forward. But Stick threw himself backward, into the hall, pointing wildly.
"Stop her!" he screeched to his guards, who immediately pulled their crossbows and aimed them at our hearts. Jackal cursed and shot out of the chair, and Zeke tensed, going for his gun. "Stop them all! She's here to kill me!"
"I'm not here to kill you!" I shouted, holding up my hands. Several wooden darts were leveled at my chest, making me cringe inside. Dammit, if I didn't get a handle on this, we'd all be skewered like rats. "Stick, wait!" I called desperately. "I didn't come for you. We want to see the Prince, that's all! I didn't even know you were here."
He peered into the room again, eyes cold and suspicious. "I don't believe you."
"Believe what you want. I'm telling you the truth." I kept my hands raised as he edged back into the room. "We're not here for you, or anyone. We just want to see the Prince."
He eyed Zeke and Jackal, then glared back at me. "You're not supposed to be here, Allie," he accused, sounding like his old sullen self. "Master Salazar said you were dead, he promised you had been killed. You're not supposed to be here."
Irritation, and something darker, flared. "Sorry to disappoint you. But I'm still alive."
Stick's gaze narrowed and an ugly look crossed his face as he turned to the guards. "Arrest them," he barked, and the guards straightened. "They want to see the Prince? We'll take them to see the Prince. I'm sure the Master will be very interested in meeting them."
I swallowed the growl as two vampires came forward, reaching for me while the others kept their weapons trained on us. Dammit. What now? We couldn't fight our way past the Prince's Elite, not with a whole tower of vampires between us and the exit. Even if Jackal and I got out, Zeke would be torn apart before we reached the front desk. And if we did manage to escape, we'd never be able to get back in. Stick knew I was here, and soon the Prince would, too. I glanced at Zeke and Jackal, wondering if they had any brilliant ideas to get us out of this, but they looked as grim as I felt. No way out. We were caught.
I clenched my fists as one guard grabbed my katana and drew the sheath over my head, barely stopping myself from breaking his nose as he took the blade away. I felt nak*d without it. The other guard pulled a pair of black metal cuffs from his belt and reached for my arms. "This isn't necessary, Stick," I said as the vampire yanked my arms behind my back and snapped the bands around my wrists. The weight of the chains dragged at me, thick and heavy, obviously designed for vampires.
"It's Stephen now," Stick corrected, his voice smug. "Mr. Stephen. And I decide what's necessary around here, Allie." A faint smirk twisted his lips as he raised his chin. "No one tells me what to do, not anymore."
I could only watch as Zeke and Jackal were stripped of weapons and cuffed, as well. Jackal rolled his eyes and seemed annoyed with the entire event, but Zeke looked pale as his gun and machete were removed and the shackles were locked in place. He met my gaze, and I could see the resignation on his face, the expectancy that he wasn't going to make it out alive.
I'm sorry, Zeke. I didn't mean to drag you into this. I'll get us out somehow, I promise.
When we were restrained, Stick gave a self-satisfied nod, his pale eyes lingering on me. "This way," he stated grandly, as if he was announcing a tour. "Prince Salazar is expecting us."
A guard nudged me in the shoulder with the crossbow, and I went, following my former friend into the halls of the vampire tower.
Dammit, this was not the way I'd wanted to meet Salazar: arrested and in chains, unable to defend myself and those around me. Things had gone very wrong, but there was nothing I could do but try to bluff my way out when we met the Prince. I wondered if Jackal was already working on a plan, some kind of speech or con to get us out of this alive. He was the one who knew about vampire politics, not me. Of course, he was part of the reason we were in this mess to begin with.
I wanted to talk to him, and Zeke, too, but the guards to either side of us made that impossible.
We came to a pair of elevators, working ones, at the end of a hall, and Stick eyed us warily as the doors opened.
"Take them to the top floor," he told the four vampire guards, and stepped toward the other elevator across the hall. "I'll meet you there."
Coward, I thought, as Stick went into a box with his two human bodyguards, smiling and folding his hands before him as the doors slid shut. Doesn't want to be in a tight space with the vampire he stabbed in the back, I guess.
The guards drew their weapons and herded us into the elevator, standing at the corners as we huddled in the center. The doors glided shut, plunging the box into darkness, and the lift began to move.
"Damn you, Zeke," I growled. "You're really going to ask me to stand there and watch you die?"
Zeke opened his eyes, his face just a breath away. In my mind the guards disappeared. Jackal vanished. It was just me and Zeke now, facing each other in the dark. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I know it's selfish, but I'm not like you, Allie."
Hurt, I drew back and curled my lip, showing fangs. "You mean evil and soulless?"
"I mean, I'm not as strong as you are," Zeke went on earnestly. "I can't do what you do, what's required to be a vampire. Please." His gaze turned pleading. "If it comes to that, let me die as a human. Promise you'll let me go."
"You can't deny him that choice," Jackal muttered behind my shoulder, shocking me again. "It takes a certain mindset to be one of us. If you Turn someone who can't handle it, they end up destroying themselves, going out to meet the sun. I've seen it before. Better to let the little bloodsack die, if that's what he wants."