Selena
Ulvic led the way to the cabin and I trailed behind him with my father, my heart beating a little too hard.
“I would have spoken with all of you, but Ulvic is...” Brendan trailed off.
“Difficult,” I finished for him, nodding.
“He's only seen Vampires at their worst,” Brendan said, glancing down at me, his breathing heavy as we climbed the steep hill. “Remember that.”
I narrowed my eyes at him and he looked away. “But you've seen them at their best?”
He nodded once, throwing me a cautious smile.
The light of the cabin swept over us and I quickened my pace as the fire called to me from inside. Ulvic held the door open as we stepped inside and the heat enveloped me, thawing me through to the bone.
“Drink?” Ulvic offered, heading to the bar.
“I'll keep a clear head tonight, if it's all the same to you,” Brendan said, helping himself to a seat in a large armchair.
I waved Ulvic away before he offered me one, perching on the edge of another chair.
“Suit yourselves,” Ulvic muttered as he poured himself a large brandy in a glass marked with the Spanish flag. He took a swig of it before joining us and I noted the heavy circles beneath his eyes. Had he slept at all since we'd returned here?
Brendan folded his hands in his lap, seeming completely at ease. There was an air about him that commanded a room; both Ulvic and my gaze were pinned firmly on him as we waited for him to speak.
“I understand the Helsing boy was a casualty in the recent outbreak?” Brendan tipped up a brow, his eyes not giving away his feelings on the matter.
Ulvic's lips tightened as he nodded.
“I'm sorry, truly.” He bowed his head to Ulvic and my heart rate shot upwards.
“Sorry?” I blurted, but my father held up a hand before I broke into a full-blown rant.
“I'm not sorry that he is dead, but I am sorry for Ulvic's loss.”
My gaze swivelled to Ulvic, his cheeks blotchy and his eyes watering. “He tortured you,” I breathed, unable to believe Ulvic could have any sympathy left in his heart for Ignus.
Ulvic dropped his eyes, sucking in a small breath and nodding defeatedly in response.
“I don't understand,” I said, as softly as I could, trying to figure out how Ulvic was feeling. How he could possibly regret Ignus's death even for a second?
Brendan's features skewed, looking as if he were trying to come up with an explanation for me.
Ulvic answered first. “When you have lived as long as I have...” His lower lip quivered as he battled to keep his composure. “You learn that love is such a very rare thing. My heart once belonged to Ignus. And even now, after all he did, even with how much I hated him and wanted my revenge, I cannot say that I truly ever wished for his death. There is a part of me, perhaps, that never stopped loving him, even when the rest of me despised him.”
His heartbroken expression drilled its way through my anger, crumbling it to dust. I nodded slowly, finally understanding. And perhaps he was right. Perhaps I didn't know enough about love to judge Ulvic for his reaction to Ignus's death. But I despised the way he blamed Varick, how he hated him for what he'd done to Ignus.
Ulvic drank his brandy with a shaky hand, before saying with more strength, “But we are not here to discuss that, are we?” He looked to Brendan who nodded in confirmation.
“No. Actually, I'm here to offer you all sanctuary in my home.” Brendan cast his eyes over me. “But there is something you should know before you agree to come with me.”
“What?” I asked, cautious.
Frown lines formed around his eyes. “Your blood...”
“I know,” I said before he could go on. “Varick told me.”
“Told you what?” Ulvic butted in.
I looked to Brendan for guidance, unsure if Ulvic should know the truth. Evidently he trusted him enough as he said, “Selena's blood holds the cure to Vampirisim. As does mine.”
Ulvic's mouth fell open, looking almost comical as he gawped at us. “There is no such thing.”
“Believe me, there is,” Brendan answered.
“Do you know how it works?” My heart lifted in excitement, hope. Varick could soon be free from the thirst. He could see the sun rise again, walk in the day, experience summer and spring and all the things he'd missed.
“It is...complicated.” Brendan's brow furrowed, dowsing my dreams in cold water.
“But it works?” I pressed.
He sighed. “Not yet.” He glanced at the door. “This can be explained better at my home. I fear the Helsings will come for you soon, it is only a matter of time.”
Ulvic folded his arms. “I believe I can still slip under their radar, so long as the others leave.” He gave me a pointed look.
“I think you'd be a fool to believe such a thing,” Brendan said simply. “But if it's your wish to stay here, that is up to you.” His gaze flicked to me before Ulvic could reply. “And you? Will you come with me?”
“I...” My heart wanted to trust him, but I still knew nothing about him. Where had he been all these years? I plucked up my courage to ask the question I'd longed to know the answer to my whole life. “Why did you leave us...me and mum?”
His eyes darkened to two murky pools. “There's a company...an organisation of sorts, called IDAHO. The Immortal Discernment and Advancement for Humanity Organisation. They keep Immortals in captivity, test on them. They find ways for Immortals to benefit humans. They learnt of Varick's work towards a cure for Vampirism and-”
“Varick's work?” I cut him off. “What do you mean?”
“I assumed he'd told you?” He glanced away and my heart caved in.
“No,” I muttered.
“He was part of a coven who were trying to find the cure.” Brendan glanced at Ulvic who looked as surprised about this news as I was. “They injected a girl called Kaitlin, our ancestor, with the serum. But one of the Helsings found them before they could test her blood.” Brendan lowered his voice to a whisper, “Varick saved her life.”
“How do you know this?” I breathed, my heart racing.
“I know one of the Vampires he worked with. She fled from the Helsings, only later returning for the girl.”
“So Varick knew I was the cure? Ever since we met?” My voice was rising but I couldn't help myself. Doubt poured through me like a dam breaking in my chest.
“Perhaps so,” Brendan said.
“Explains a lot,” Ulvic muttered.
My breathing became rapid as I tried to fight back the horrible possibility that the only reason Varick had protected me for so long was that I offered him a chance of returning to his human form. Something he'd wanted ever since he'd been turned. Something he wanted more than blood. More than anything.
I realigned my thoughts to my first question, not knowing Brendan well enough to share my fears with him and certainly not wanting to voice them in front of Ulvic. “What does this have to do with you leaving home?”
Brendan's brows pulled together. “That same organisation who were hunting for the cure discovered my existence. They came for me one night as I was leaving work.”
“Who?” I breathed.
“Vampires,” he growled. “IDAHO used them to find me. They didn't know about you. And I never told them...”
I shook my head, my heart splintering and cracking. “Oh.”
“I'd never give you up.” His eyes sparkled at me.
“It's true that they took him,” Ulvic said, clearing his throat. “I met Brendan at one of their institutions. Though I didn't know what purpose he served there...”
“You worked for them?” I gave Ulvic a horrified look before facing my father. “But you were their prisoner!” I snapped. “How could you be friends with anyone who worked for the people who did that to you?”
Brendan eyes darkened. “It isn't like you imagine. I wasn't kept in a cage. At first, I fought them, I tried to escape. But after many years, I found comfort in assisting their work. I grew curious about my own blood, the cure. I wanted to understand it, too.”
“So you just stayed there? You gave up on trying to get back to us?” My lower lip trembled.
Brendan shook his head, but Ulvic answered before he could, “Your father had no choice, Selena. You don't know these people. Their cages might not be made of iron bars, but they're up here.” He tapped his temple.
I took a calming breath, gazing at Brendan. “So how are you here now? How did you get away from IDAHO?” I narrowed my eyes on him. Did he still work for them? Is that why he wanted us to go with him?
“I escaped a couple of years ago,” he said quietly. “With some of the others being kept there. There was a rebellion of sorts and I decided to be a part of it. I may have cooperated with them for a long time, but ultimately...I wanted to leave.”
“But you didn't come home?” I asked in a small voice, feeling like a young girl once more.
Brendan bowed his head. “It was too dangerous. I couldn't risk bringing IDAHO to your front door. They've been hunting me ever since.”
Ulvic nodded. “And they keep tabs on those who've worked with them, like me. To make sure their work doesn't get leaked.”
Brendan nodded. “If there's one belief I share with IDAHO, it's that the less who knows about the cure, the better.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because it could cause a war, Selena. Hunters would seek to destroy it to keep their games, and Vampires would kill to find it.”
I nodded, sniffing as a tear trailed down my cheek, thinking of how different things could have been if Brendan had never been taken away.
“There is much more that needs to be said.” Brendan said gently. “But I fear staying on this island any longer. Will you come with me, Selena?”
My heart softened as I gave in to the idea, heading somewhere safe with my father...
I nodded slowly. “As long as the other Vampires are welcome, too. And Thames.”
My father smiled, clearly relieved. “Of course. Everyone on this island is welcome in my home.” He turned to Ulvic. “That invitation will remain, even after we have departed tonight.”
Ulvic nodded briefly, sipping his drink again.
“What about the wolves?” I asked, frowning, thinking of Jameson. “Will they be given a choice to leave?”
Ulvic tutted. “Of course they won't leave. They would never abandon their pack. Their home.”
I ground my teeth, praying Ulvic was right in thinking that the Helsings wouldn't come here after we left.
I glanced back at Ulvic as he polished off his brandy. I didn't have many possessions here. And the last thing I wanted to bring with me was the dress from the game. “Goodbye,” I said to him, stepping toward the door. “And thank you,” I added as an afterthought.
“Good luck, Selena,” he muttered, though I wasn't sure why.
I followed my father back to the beach, soaking in the calm of the snowy world. The clouds were drawn like a curtain across the sky, dipping the forest in deep, inky tones.
When Varick came into view on the beach, standing amongst the other Vampires and the circling wolves, I fought back my doubts about him.
The intensity in his gaze was surely love? He looked as though he'd he'd throw himself in front of a bullet for me. But a cruel, all-knowing voice in the back of my mind whispered my worst fears.
You...or the cure?
Varick rushed to my side, searching my gaze. “Is all well?”
“Yes,” I lied quickly, diverting my gaze to my father's boat out in the bay. “He wants us to go with him.”
I felt Varick's eyes burning holes in my head, but couldn't bear to meet them in case he read the doubt in my expression. “And?”
“And I think it's a good idea.” I forced myself to face him, glancing up beneath my lashes. “He says he knows about the cure.”
Instead of excitement or intrigue, I only saw trepidation in his eyes. “Did he now...”
“Yes.” I tugged Varick's sleeve. “And I trust him.”
He nodded slowly, absorbing my words. “If you trust him, then I do too.”
I gripped his arm before he could step away, preparing to voice the question in my mind. “He told me you worked on the cure once. That you saved my ancestor...Kaitlin?”
He inclined his head. “I hid her from the Helsings.”
I chewed my lip a moment before asking in a tiny voice, “Did you know I was the cure since you met me? Is that why you're drawn to me?” My voice was rising but I couldn't help myself, my breathing growing ragged.
Varick's eyes flared with anger. “Is that what you think? That I'm using you?” he spat.
Cass floated toward us, evidently sensing the tension between us.
“How long have you known?” I repeated, glaring up at him.
“I suspected, that's all,” he said in a resigned voice. “Towards the end of the first game, that's how long.”
I fell silent, soaking in his words.
“After I kissed you,” he growled, shifting closer. “After I felt hope again. After you awakened so much more in me than anyone had in my entire immortality.”
He reached for me and I melted, dissolving into his arms. “I'm sorry,” I breathed. “I shouldn't have doubted you.”
Ulvic appeared from the trees, clearing his throat. He gestured to his wolves and they all hurried to line up before him, everyone but Jameson who stayed at Cass's side.
“Alpha,” Ulvic growled and Jameson tentatively padded over to join them, sitting at the forefront of the group. Ulvic pointed back at the trees before commanding in a powerful voice, “Return to the cabin. None of you will be leaving this island with them.” His gaze landed on Jameson who barked his fury. “I order you to go,” Ulvic snarled and the wolves thundered into the trees. All but Jameson who dug in his paws, whimpering as if in pain.
“He can make his own choice!” Cass snapped, her crimson hair flowing behind her in the wind.
“Let him speak for himself,” Varick snarled, squaring up to Ulvic, but Ulvic snapped his fingers and Jameson charged off into the trees.
My heart rate rose as Ulvic gazed from Varick to Cass, daring either of them to challenge his authority. “I've been good to you Vampires. But do not test my generosity. Jameson is part of this pack. And I will not let him out of my sight again.”
“You have no right,” Cass growled, baring her fangs.
Varick took her arm, keeping her back.
“No, you have no right,” Ulvic spat. “Get off my island.” He pointed toward Brendan's catamaran and Varick guided Cass back down the beach, nodding to Kodiak in encouragement.
I threw Cass an apologetic frown as I walked beside her, following my father toward his catamaran. The furious howls of Jameson carried to us from the trees and I slipped my hand in to Varick's.
“I'm sorry,” I said quietly as we stepped onto the boat.
“Don't be,” he muttered, turning his eye back to the island. “This isn't over.”