She looked up at me with fear. “Vampires.”
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t know they really existed.”
“They do.”
She let out a shuddery breath. “What’s your name?”
I gathered my long black hair, pulling and twisting it to the side to keep it out of my face. “Jill. That’s Declan. You?”
“Laura.” Her gaze moved to my throat. Whatever damage she saw there made her gasp out loud.
“Well, Laura. Let’s get the f**k out of here, shall we?”
“Good idea.”
We went back to the stairwell and started climbing. We were deeper than I thought. I was in decent shape from being a bit of a gym rat back in my regular life, but this was rough going, especially after being knocked around and fed upon. Declan brought up the rear, but he kept pace with us, which was pretty impressive considering his injuries.
Finally, we reached the main level, which appeared to be nothing more than an abandoned warehouse. It was dark in here. A hundred feet ahead of me was the exit. I saw the line of light around the large door through which we’d entered.
“Leaving so soon?” The voice froze me in my tracks before I took another step.
Declan moved to stand in front of me and Laura. “Get out of our way.”
Lawrence came far enough into the dim light for me to see him. His eyes were still black. The crazed look in those black eyes seemed worse now. Bigger. Scarier. Mostly because he was smiling, drawing my attention to his mouth stained with blood right down to his chin. “Can’t do that.”
He wasn’t a bad guy. I’d seen him before he’d received that phone call. He was smart and reasonable. And, yes, obsessed with finding his wife. And willing to assist Dr. Reynolds with injecting Declan with my blood without a second thought.
Maybe he’d been crazy all along, just better at hiding it before.
But maybe he could still be reasoned with. “Lawrence, this can end here. You don’t have to do anything else you’re going to regret.”
He laughed, and the sound sent a shiver down my spine. “I don’t regret anything. This was meant to happen. I’ve been a pawn, a flunky. So eager to embrace my past that—do you see what I’ve been doing?” His voice broke and his bloody smile disappeared. “I’ve been betraying my kind. I’ve been offering up vampires just like me like lambs to the slaughter. Months now. So many have died here.”
Declan wiped at the blood on his face with the sleeve of his coat. “Those vampires deserved to die.”
He wasn’t quite as good at negotiating.
Lawrence glared at him. “Are you God? Do you have the right to say who lives and who dies?” His expression grew pained. “You—you’re just like Victor—taking other people’s lives and using them for your own gain. It makes me sick.”
I pressed my hands together to keep them from shaking. “Lawrence, please, listen to me. You’re not thinking straight right now.”
Lawrence laughed again and it sounded sharp, like breaking glass. “Wrong. Blood brings clarity, and I’ve drank my fill today for the first time in my new life. Why have I resisted for so long?”
I was wrong. He couldn’t be reasoned with. I had no idea how many people he’d killed in the basement after he’d dealt with Dr. Reynolds. A lot. Enough to change him from a conflicted research assistant to a single-minded mass murderer. There was no coming back from that. At a glance, it didn’t seem as if he wanted to.
I locked gazes with Declan, but I couldn’t read his expression past his black eye patch. Mine, however, must have been clear. I was scared to death, but I wasn’t ready to give up yet.
“Lawrence,” I began. “Dr. Reynolds was wrong in what he did, but you need to think about—”
“Shut the f**k up.” He took a step toward me, and Declan pushed me farther back.
“Don’t come any closer,” Declan snapped.
Lawrence’s brows drew together, and his head cocked to the side. “You care what happens to her, don’t you?”
Declan’s expression was dark. “Yes.”
“She’s poison to my kind.”
“Jill can’t be blamed for what’s in her blood. It wasn’t her decision.”
“Doesn’t change anything. Blood is something that should never be tainted—it’s a sacred communion. I’ve tasted blood today, felt it hot in my mouth while a heart ceased to beat beneath my touch. I’ve never felt anything so amazing in my life. It was primal. Incredible.”
Declan’s expression didn’t change, although I’m sure mine paled, as did Laura’s. She trembled next to me, her arms crossed over her chest.
“How many have you killed?” Declan asked. “Guards? Researchers?”
The eerie, wistful smiled returned. “All of them, I think. I lost count.”
“What about Jackson?”
“You care about his life. How interesting. Do you know he’s the reason behind all of this?”
He wasn’t making any sense to me, not that I was surprised about that.
Declan’s fists tightened at his sides. “What?”
“Jackson knew what happened to Victor’s wife and who was responsible. He offered to bring you in. Kill two birds with one stone. Victor wanted you dead. It was all he could do to not kill you the moment he first saw you yesterday.”
Declan’s stony expression shifted a little to something more raw. “Jackson sold me out. Sold us out.”
Lawrence nodded, his smile growing wider. “Don’t trust friends with huge gambling debts. One of many lessons for the day.”
The vampire hunter hadn’t made a great first impression on me, even less when he hit on me yesterday, but I’d been convinced he was trustworthy. Declan had assured me of that and I’d believed him. He’d been wrong. Jackson knowingly brought him here to be killed or tortured—with my blood.
The thought made me see red. I wanted to tear Jackson apart with my bare hands for betraying Declan.
Declan was a bit more reserved than I was. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
“You don’t. And you won’t ever know for sure. He’s dead—four vampires were gnawing on his bones last time I saw. I would have joined in, but I was already full.”