Blood Forever (20 page)

“Is this her?” Pyrus demands, rising from the sofa and giving me a critical once-over. “Why, she’s only a little girl.” He walks over to me and chucks me under the chin. “Are you the big, bad monster who’s got the entire Blood Coven shaking in their boots?”

“We’re hardly shaking,” Lucifent corrects, looking offended.

Pyrus turns on his heel, his expression full of condescension. “Well, maybe you should be,” he says sweetly. “Seeing as somehow this little human girl managed to outsmart your entire organization. Got through your blood-mate program, wormed her way into your inner circle. Hell”—he gestures to Magnus, who’s currently staring down at his feet as if they hold the secrets to the universe—“this one was ready to turn her into an actual vampire.” He rolls his eyes. “Imagine, having a vampire slayer as a member of the Blood Coven.” He laughs, as if it’s the most ridiculous thing in the world. If only he knew about my sister…

“I’m not a slayer,” I feel the need to interject. You know, since we’re being honest now.

Pyrus focuses back on me, stepping forward and invading my space. He’s a good-looking guy—but his breath reeks like rotten fish. I remember in the
Lost Boys
movie Rayne and I rented that bad breath was supposed to be a telltale sign of a vampire. As if his impressive set of fangs doesn’t already clue me in.

“Well, then you work for Slayer Inc.”

I square my jaw. “No. I don’t.”

SMACK!
My head flies backward from the force of his sucker punch. I bite down to avoid screaming, and my mouth fills with the metallic taste of blood.

“I’ll ask you one more time,” Pyrus says, his jaw tightening. “And then I’ll stop playing nice.”

“You can ask a thousand times,” I growl, hocking the mouthful of blood onto the plush carpet at my feet. The vampires immediately stiffen. I’d forgotten how sensitive they could get over even the tiniest bit of the red stuff. Better be careful or I might end up as room service. “My answer will be the same. I’m not a slayer. I don’t work for Slayer Inc. I’m just a concerned party looking out for the best interests of the human race.”

“Do you think I’m stupid?” Pyrus demands, looking this close to losing his cool. “You enroll in our vampire-in-training program. You seduce one of our top vampires. You attempt to win his trust by warning him about a threat to his sire’s life. A
threat, I’m assuming, you engineered to begin with. And then, when you think you’re in, you try to talk that vampire into turning against his own people and sparking a civil war.”

I grimace. I have to agree, it does sound kind of bad when you put it that way. “Hey, at least I’m not planning to unleash an army of zombies onto the world.”

Lucifent’s expression pales. Magnus looks up in interest. The House Speaker turns and shoots Lucifent a death look. “I thought you assured me that no one knew about Project Z,” he seethes.

Lucifent squeaks, dropping his shot glass. Blood splashes on the carpet. “I swear, Lord Pyrus,” he stammers, his confident swagger having completely abandoned him. “The only person who knows is General Jareth, who’s overseeing the program. And I can assure you he can be trusted.”

Pyrus opens his mouth to speak, but Magnus suddenly interjects. “So wait,” he says. “The whole zombie thing she was talking about is true? That’s really what Project Z is about?”

“I told you that you should have believed me,” I mutter.

The House Speaker shakes his head wearily. “Great. Now everyone and his sire is going to know by morning.”

But Magnus isn’t listening to him anymore. He’s turned to Lucifent, a furious expression on his face. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he demands. “I’m supposed to be your second in command.”

Lucifent rises to his seat. “Perhaps because I knew you’d act like this,” he challenges his protégé. “What did you think we were going to do to Slayer Inc.? Ask them nicely to stop
murdering us and hope they agree? They tried to kill me!” he reminds him. “They need to be punished.”

“And what about the rest of what Sunny told me?” Magnus continues, this time addressing Pyrus himself. “About using the zombies to enslave the humans once Slayer Inc. was out of the way? Is that part of the plan as well?”

Lucifent frowns. “Of course not! That’s ridiculous.” He pauses, then turns to me. “Um, isn’t it?”

“Why don’t you ask your fearless leader?” I suggest.

The two vampires look at Pyrus. He releases an annoyed-sounding sigh. “Oh, don’t go soft on me now,” he says. “The human race has it coming to them. Why should they continue to control the world—to run the show? Face it, they’re nothing more than parasites, devouring our planet like it’s going out of style. One must only look at the disappearing rain forests, the melting ice caps, the fading ozone layer, global warming. Over only a few short years, humans have caused irreparable damage to the planet we share.” He frowns. “But hey, why should they care? If they’re lucky they might live a hundred years. Then they’ll be food for worms. While we vampires are stuck inheriting the wasteland they leave behind them.”

I bite my lower lip, wishing I had a response. Wishing his speech didn’t actually make quite a bit of sense. I mean, I’m not suggesting zombie warfare is the answer, mind you, but I admit humans haven’t really been the best caretakers of our planet.

“Eternity is a very long time to live,” Pyrus adds. “And I don’t want to spend mine on a postapocalyptic Hell on earth.”

“I know what you’re saying,” Magnus tries to reason. “But
genocide isn’t the answer here. We should be educating them. Using our vast resources to fund research programs that can find solutions to these problems. We should be helping the humans, rather than figuring out ways to destroy them. After all,” he adds, his eyes shining with his passion, “we were all humans once ourselves.”

I smile to myself, mentally cheering him on.
Go, Magnus! You tell him where it’s at!

“We
were
humans,” Pyrus corrects. “But we’ve since evolved. And for thousands of years we’ve been helping others evolve, too. Artists, scientists, musicians, politicians—we’ve taken the cream of the human crop and turned them into vampires through our blood-mate program. Those who are left behind are useless. Except, of course, as entrées.”

Ooh, he’s such an ass. I squeeze my hands into fists, unable to fight down the anger welling up inside of me. “That’s ridiculous,” I find myself saying.

Pyrus turns to me, one eyebrow arched. “Is it?” he purrs. “But of course you would say so. Seeing as you’re defending your own kind and all.”

“Actually,” I correct, wondering if I’m making a big mistake by bringing this up, “I’m not. I’m not a human. I’m not mortal. I’m a fairy. Princess Sunshine of the Light Court, if you must know.”

Pyrus gives me a sharp look. “What?” he cries, losing his cool for a second. “But that’s impossible. Where are your wings?”

“My parents left Fairyland before I was born,” I inform him, trying my best to keep my voice from shaking. “They believed
there was enough good in humankind to raise their children among them.” I shrug. “Sure, people have made mistakes. Violence, war, destroying natural resources,
Keeping up with the Kardashians
…” I shudder. “But they’ve also done amazing things. Cured disease, built the Internet, created awe-inspiring art and music. And through it all, they’ve done nothing to harm the vampire race.”

“Um, have you seen
Twilight
?”

I roll my eyes. “And sure, you can turn someone into a vampire once they’ve shown their genius. That’s easy. But what about all those future geniuses that are yet to come? What if the woman you drain dry today was destined to give birth to a girl who would someday invent a way for vampires to walk in the sunlight?”

The vampires are silent, as if each is lost in his own thoughts. To my surprise, it’s Lucifent who speaks first.

“Maybe this was a bad idea,” he starts, his young voice full of hesitation. “I only wanted to offer up the zombies to destroy Slayer Inc. I’m not sure it’s in our best interests, to be honest, to wage war with humans. In fact, some of my best friends are humans…”

I grin. Score one for the pint-size prince. Maybe we did do a service by saving him after all.

“Perhaps the best thing to do would be to bring this matter to the Consortium,” Lucifent continues. “Let’s have a real vote. See what the membership wants. After all, we are a democr—”

His words are cut off as Pyrus grabs him, rips out his throat, then throws his little body against the wall. I cringe at the
sickening crack of his backbone, breaking on contact. The Blood Coven Master crumbles to the ground and remains there, still as the grave. As Magnus and I watch in horror, Pyrus casually walks up to the body, reaches down, and twists off his head.

Then he looks up at us.

“Democracy,” he says, spitting out the word as if it’s poison. “There will be no democracy. You are either for me or against me. This is a pinnacle moment in our history. And I can’t have dissenters bringing me down.” He stalks over to Magnus, his hands still dripping with blood. “What about you?” he demands. “What side are you on?”

Magnus doesn’t answer at first. He’s still staring at his sire’s lifeless body in disbelief. Then he glances over at me—for only a millisecond. But it’s enough for me to catch the regret in his eyes. He knows now he should have listened to me. Not that this knowledge does him any good.

Finally, he turns back to Pyrus, dropping to his knees in front of the Speaker. “I am, as always, your humble servant,” he says meekly. “And I trust your judgment without question. If you believe the humans are worth exterminating, then I will do everything in my power to carry out your wishes.”

I swallow hard, hating to watch him grovel. I know he’s probably just trying to bide his time, gain Pyrus’s trust while figuring out a plan to stop him. But it’s still hard to see the brave and honorable vampire bowing before the evil master.

Luckily, his words seem to work. Pyrus’s lips curl into a smile. He takes Magnus by the shoulders and pulls him to his
feet, patting him on the back. “Well, then,” he says. “I guess I should be congratulating you…Master of the Blood Coven.”

Magnus’s shoulders drop in obvious relief. Though I can see he’s still shaken. I suddenly realize that we’re almost back to where we were the first time around. Lucifent’s dead. Magnus is Master. Pyrus is ready to kill me all over again…

“Thank you, m’lord,” Magnus finally manages to say. “Now if you don’t mind, I will take this fairy here”—gesturing to me—“and show her what the Blood Coven does to spies.” He grabs me roughly by the arm and starts dragging me out of the room. I pretend to struggle, going along with the game.

“You’ll never get away with this!” I cry, because that’s what they always cry in movies.

We’re almost to the open door—to our escape—when, without warning, it slams shut, seemingly by itself. We whirl around and see Pyrus standing directly behind us, arms crossed against his chest.

“Wait,” he says in a calm, smooth voice, laced with menace.

“Y-yes?” Magnus manages to stammer. My heart starts pounding hard and fast in my chest. I don’t know what he’s going to say, but I can pretty much bet it’s not going to be good.

“If she’s telling the truth—about being a fairy—killing her would be a very big waste,” Pyrus says, reaching out to pluck Magnus’s hand from my arm. He wraps his own arm around me and leads me over to the couch. “Not to mention a sign of war to those in Fairyland, whom I’d very much like to have as
allies.” He sits me down and takes a tray of small cakes off the coffee table, offering one to me. I shake my head, disgusted.

“But…” Magnus stammers. “I thought…”

“You think too small, as usual,” Pyrus rebukes him. “That’s why I am the one in charge.” He smirks. “Imagine, an alliance between fairies and vampire royalty. Fighting side by side, on the same team. We would be unstoppable.” He smiles sweetly at me. I manage to hold back my scowl. I’d love to tell him off right now, but I know that speaking my mind may lead him to losing his temper. And I can all too clearly see the results of that, currently bleeding out on the carpet floor.

“So what are you saying?” Magnus asks, finding his tongue after a moment. “You want her to be my blood mate after all?”

“Of course not,” Pyrus replies disgustedly, looking at Magnus as if he were a dim-witted child.

“Then…?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” The House Speaker smiles widely, revealing blinding white fangs. “I want her to be mine.”

“
Y
ou are now free to
eat
around the cabin…”

The plane erupts in chaos as the queen finishes her speech. The same zombies, who up until this point have been pretty darn well behaved, considering their lack of working brain cells, start going crazy—ripping off their headphones and rising from their seats, growling and groaning and gnashing their teeth. One grabs the seat cushion in front of him, ripping it from its frame and taking a huge chomp. Bits of foam start flying everywhere. Yikes.

Guess dinner-and-a-movie time is over. Well, at least the movie part…

I look at Jareth. He looks back at me. Then we both turn to Glenda. “Look, Glenda,” Jareth tries, though I think we both know by now it’s a losing battle. “It’s not what you think.”

Glenda narrows her eyes. “I saw you kissing her,” she reminds Jareth. “What else should I think?”

“Actually I kissed him,” I interject. “And he didn’t like it. At all. In fact, Jareth, you thought it was super-gross, right? And you were about to remind me that you have a girlfriend that you love very much and—”

“Silence!” Glenda commands. “Do you think I was born yesterday?”

“Glenda, darling, I can assure you I don’t think that—”

Her gaze locks down on him. If looks could kill, he’d be on the floor. “You used me,” she seethes. “Pretended to love me just so you could gain access to my children.” She shakes her head. “Well, guess what?” she says. “You now have a full-access pass…to get ripped apart!”

And with that, she turns back to her impatient brood, who have gathered behind her in the doorway, struggling to be first in line for fresh meat. “Have fun, kiddos,” she tells them, then ducks back into the cabin, leaving a doorway full of zombies behind her.