“I’ll never forget that day,” Jareth says, staring down at his desk, looking miserable. “The day we were asked to vote on whether or not to let Slayer Inc. in as an official police force for the vampire community…”
He trails off, but it doesn’t matter. He’s told me the story a thousand times before. How the vote was split right down the middle. How he was forced to become the tie-breaker. How his vote effectively established Slayer Inc. into the role they still hold today.
Of course he could have never known the consequences of his actions…
“It didn’t take them long to come after us,” he says in a hoarse whisper and I wonder suddenly if he even remembers I’m still in the room. “We held out for days in our family’s castle—trying to outlast the siege. But the blood ran out and our hunger overtook our good senses. We tried to fight our way out. But they were too strong.”
I walk around his desk, trying to put a hand on his arm—in an effort to comfort him. But he shakes it off, rising to his feet, his body seething with anger.
“I will never forget the look on my sister’s face as that damned slayer struck her in the heart with his stake.” His voice cracks. “She looked straight into my eyes, condemning me for what I had done—blaming me for her death.”
He stands silent for a moment, fists clenched at his sides, in such agony I can’t bear it any longer. I grab him, holding him tight against me, fighting his attempts to shake me away. Finally, his body slumps, as if in defeat, crumbling against my own, soaking in the strength I so willingly try to give him.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I can’t imagine what that would have been like.”
Half of me still wants to argue my case. That the Slayer Inc. of today has introduced so much good into the world—keeping the peace and saving so many lives. With their donor program, for example—which allows humans to be compensated for donating blood to vampires, rather than be murdered as twisted cattle to satisfy the beastly hunger we vampires share.
But I know in my heart Jareth cares little for the thousands of mortal lives saved by my employer. He thinks only of those lives they ended. His sister’s and brother’s—for a crime they didn’t commit. His parents—for trying their best to protect them. I guess I can’t really blame him for feeling as he does.
He looks down at me with bloodstained eyes. “And now they want to take away your sister,” he says slowly. “Just as they once took mine.” His face twists with rage and he shakes free of my grasp. “I won’t let them do that. I won’t be responsible for another innocent death!”
I squeeze my eyes shut in frustration, then open them again, entreating him. “But Jareth, you don’t understand,” I try. “Things are different now. Slayer Inc. doesn’t want to slay Sunny. Or Magnus, for that matter. They know Pyrus is a tyrant and they want to bring him down as much as we do. They’re on our side this time.”
“I will never, ever be on the side of Slayer Inc.”
I give up, walking around and slumping back into my chair. How can I argue with a vampire who holds a 700-year-old grudge?
“Look, I’m not asking you to sit around the campfire with them, singing ‘Kumbaya,’” I remind him. “Just let me work with them for now. Let Pyrus think I’m on the job. And in the meantime, Slayer Inc. can work to build their own case against him and his reign of terror. I mean, imagine if they were successful! We could get rid of him forever. Magnus and Sunny could come back home. The Consortium could return to a democracy. These are all things I know you want, Jareth. And Slayer Inc. is the only one right now that can give them to us.”
My boyfriend rakes a hand through his blond hair. Considering vampires never age, he’s suddenly looking kind of old. I guess stress can do that to you.
“I see what you’re saying,” he says at last. “I can’t make a move against Pyrus while still running the Blood Coven. If he suspected disloyalty, he’d have me removed from power—leaving the vampires in my protection in danger.”
“Exactly,” I say, rising from my chair, excited he’s finally seeing the point. “So why not let Slayer Inc. do the dirty work instead? After all, that’s what you hired them for in the beginning, right?” I hold my breath, waiting for his reply.
“Right,” he says at last. “But I still don’t like the idea of you involved in any of it. It’s dangerous. And don’t think for a moment Slayer Inc. won’t throw you under a bus if it allows them to keep their cover. Are you prepared to deal with that possibility?”
I nod my head resolutely. “Absolutely. If it means saving my sister and Magnus—not to mention the Blood Coven.”
He stares at me for a moment and I stare back, my shoulders squared and my chin held high. Sure, I’m scared as hell, but he doesn’t need to know that right now. He needs to see my dedication to the mission ahead. He needs to know I’ll do whatever it takes to save my family. Just as he once tried to save his own.
And then he’s on me in a movement so quick I can scarcely track it, pulling me into a hot embrace, burying his face into the top of my head. I find myself melting into his arms, rejoicing in the feel of his strong body, pressed against mine. God, I love this vampire so much, it hurts sometimes.
“You’re so brave,” he whispers in my ear, stroking my hair with trembling hands. “So fierce. I wish I were more like you. Maybe then I would have been able to save my family, too.”