Chapter Nineteen
Briar
When Briar was still in high school and spent nights awake, reading and studying and wishing she could see the sun, her brother, Jamie, was off at college and living the life she wanted to live.
One autumn break, he’d returned with his girlfriend. She didn’t last long. The end of their relationship came on the heels of that visit home, but to Briar, that girl was the epitome of cool.
She and Jamie holed up in his room with a record player. A record player. Jamie raided their father’s collection for records—sorry, no, vinyl. It was a very pretentious time for her brother, but every day for a week, Briar listened to the scratchy strains of The Doors through the lath and plaster walls. And there was this one song that Piper loved. It was called, The End. She and Jamie played it over and over until Briar, who’d never heard it before, went to sleep with the music replaying in her head.
Now, as Hudson rushed her through the cold streets of Boston on an early fall morning, the song came back into her head. It was the same lyric, one from the very beginning of the song. Jim Morrison’s haunting voice echoed in her mind, telling her this was the end. She hadn’t liked the song very much the first time she heard it, and she liked it even less now, when she recalled lines about the beautiful ends of elaborate plans.
Her vampires were art in motion. Perhaps she was as bloodthirsty as Sylvain claimed to be, but when she saw them, a tornado of color, it took her breath away. Blood spattered everywhere, but not red. The sun hadn’t risen in the sky enough for it to be anything but black. Perhaps that was its color even in the light, but to Briar’s human eyes, it seemed thicker, and darker.
Hudson’s grip on her bordered on painful, with one hand locked under her legs and another around her waist. His fingers dug into skin, but it only made her feel anchored to him, like anything that tried to grab her would have a heck of a time prying her from his arms. So she’d take the bruises she knew she’d find, because it was evidence of Hudson keeping her safe for as long as he could.
They were pushed closer to the water when the guys seemed to change tactics. Rather than waiting to be attacked, Marcus, Sylvain, and Valen fanned out. They snatched soldiers from all sides and tore them apart. Their attack allowed them to move out of the open and away from the water. From the corner of her eye, Briar could see the building they were angling for. It was a warehouse, but would give them some protection from the sun. The sheer number of soldiers Asher had sent after them would make it impossible for them to get home. The most they could hope for was protection for a little while.
This is the end, my beautiful friend.
Briar wished she could get the song out of her head, because she refused to believe this was it for them. Her vampires were shredding the enemy; they would do everything in their power to stay alive—to keep her alive.
“Now!” Sylvain yelled, and Hudson jumped.
No, jumped was too weak a word, he rocketed into the air. He let go of her legs for a second to break the remains of the glass in the warehouse’s upper story window. They flew through it, his body curled around hers, shielding her from most of the glass, though she felt pinpricks along her arms and neck. He couldn’t protect her from everything.
He landed in the dirt easily, knees bending so she was barely jostled. Valen, Sylvain, and Marcus came through after them, landing in front of them and pushing them toward the back of the warehouse.
It was too much to hope the soldiers wouldn’t follow. They streamed through the windows like insects, a swarm of deadly, mindless drones with only one mission.
“The sun will be up soon,” Valen yelled as he attacked the first wave of soldiers. Their bodies piled up in front of them. “Asher will have to call them back soon.”
“Unless he plans on sacrificing them,” Sylvain yelled back.
Briar glanced up at the windows that framed the upper level of the building. Weak rays of sun were beginning to stream inside. Now, she could make out the soldiers’ faces. Men and women, some old, most young, but all with the same vacant gaze. Even when Marcus shredded their throats and ripped their head from their shoulders, they didn’t make a sound, didn’t beg for their lives, or scream in pain. They didn’t wince or grimace when her vampires’ sharp teeth bit into their bodies.
“They should be getting weaker,” Hudson whispered to himself. Briar followed his gaze to the windows. He stepped back into the shadows, but soon, with windows on every wall, there would be no place to hide from the sun. “Why aren’t they?”
A sharp whistle sounded through the air, and Hudson jerked, like he’d been struck. He released Briar’s legs, and her feet slid to the ground. As she fell, she studied him, and caught the gleam of metal. A dark, small, sliver was embedded in his neck. Hudson gripped it between his fingers and removed it, staring at the sharp tip in disbelief. Immediately, the whistle sounded through the warehouse. To Briar, it seemed louder than the grunts and growls of her guys as they fought.
Each of them paused when they were struck with the same dart as Hudson. They dropped the darts on the ground and continued to fight, but it threw them off. The next time a soldier attacked Sylvain, he made it under the sweep of his’s arm, sending her growling man flying backward.
Hudson suddenly whirled, the rush of air masking the whistle of sound. But he was too late, and Briar felt a dart embed itself beneath her skin. Her arm turned cold, like ice following the path of a river. Her blood seemed to freeze in her body, beginning in her arm before moving across her shoulder and down her chest. Hudson yanked the dart from her, sniffed it and threw it. “You’ll be okay,” he whispered. “It’s the medicine I made. It won’t hurt you.”
“It’s freezing,” she replied, shaking out her arm.
He frowned, but didn’t answer and rubbed the spot where the dart had hit him. His hand, when it fell away, moved awkwardly, heavily, like he didn’t have full control over the limb. Hudson glanced at the windows again and stumbled.
It took Briar a moment to process what she saw. People stumbled all the time. But not her guys. They were graceful, controlled.
Something flew over Briar’s head, smashing into the wall behind them, and then, suddenly, all motion stopped. It was getting lighter by the second, the sun beginning to shine through the windows closest to the water. She watched it, creeping toward them, closer and closer like the tide. Hudson stumbled again and shook his head. Valen, Sylvain, and Marcus gave one final shove to the soldiers closest to them, toward the light, before retreating to cover her.
The sun touched the soldiers’ shoulders, but it didn’t bother them. They stood, side-by-side, and stared at the five of them sightlessly. Waiting.
The door to the warehouse slid open, metal hinges shattering the rusty sliders. When Asher walked inside, it was like a king entered his throne room. He swept his gaze across his soldiers, pausing on the dead ones, before coming back to them. From over Hudson’s shoulder, she met his eyes, and in that moment, knew exactly what was happening.
As Hudson swayed in front of her, she caught Valen reach for Marcus’s shoulder to steady himself.
The darts had contained the antidote to the medicine Hudson had made. Now, instead of being able to walk in the sunlight the way they had for decades, the sun sapped their energy. The natural rhythm of their body overtook them, dragging them toward the vampiric sleep they’d described but she’d never seen.
“Getting sleepy?” Asher asked, a smile growing with every step he took toward them.
Sylvain growled warningly, and he stopped, canting his head to the side to watch them. The sun backlit him like a saint, or an older god, one who required blood as sacrifice.
Your blood. The voice came into her head, piercing her skull like the dart had pierced her skin.
“You never had a chance.” Asher’s voice carried across the warehouse, echoing against the metal walls and tin roof. “I’ve let you believe you were free of me, but you never were. Your discoveries, Hudson? I took them, made them mine. Strategies. Battle plans. All worthless. But I let you have them because I knew it would make this moment sweeter.”
“That’s what you wanted?” Hudson asked, his voice slurring. “To kill us?”
“No!” For the first time Asher showed an emotion other than pride. Maybe he was lying. Probably he was lying, but it looked to Briar as if the idea of Hudson, Marcus, Valen, and Sylvain’s deaths filled him with sadness. “No. I never wanted you to die. You are my sons. My pride. But you are mine. You can only ever be mine.”
“The world has changed, Asher. You have no need of us,” Marcus answered. “Vampires live in shadows. We don’t start wars or fight over territory. Not anymore.”
“You’re a fool, Marcus, if you believe those things have changed. What is a vampire supposed to do with immortality? We build families. Civilizations. Everything you see around you is here because vampires willed it into existence. Because I willed it into existence.”
Briar shivered at the pride in Asher’s voice. He truly believed what he said. Sylvain stepped backward. She touched his back, letting him know she was still there. He stepped back again, pushing until her back was against the wall. This was as far as she could go.
“Come back to me,” Asher whispered. His gold eyes lowered, hidden under dark lashes—the tortured saint. “Please. Be my sons again. Be my family.”
“And Briar?” Valen asked. “What would you do with her?”
Standing on her tiptoes, Briar met Asher’s gaze. For a brief moment, he couldn’t mask what he felt—rage. Hate.
“No one can come before me,” he answered through clenched teeth. “Ever.”
Sylvain shrugged. “It was never going to happen, Asher. Send your soldiers after us. We have plenty of fight left.”
“Do you?” he asked and spread his arms wide—now he was a merciful god. “Because the sun is rising, and you aren’t the only ones who will burn.”
Sylvain hissed, and as if challenging him, stepped into the light. There was a smell, it filled the warehouse in a flash. Sylvain cried out, but Valen was there, yanking him back into the cool darkness. “Hudson.” Valen glanced back at him, and then down at Briar. Blond brows were drawn low over his eyes, and he frowned. “The medicine.”
“I have the antidote,” Asher called out and reached into his pocket. The vials he withdrew refracted the sunlight like a prism, splitting the colors into a rainbow onto the dirty ground. “Be mine again, and you’ll live.”
“Fine,” Sylvain answered. His voice was tight, and the acquiescence came too easily—it gave him away. Even Briar knew that he didn’t mean what he said. He’d get the antidote and then fight again. None of them had any intention of joining Asher.
Which meant they would die here.
Briar could see it in the set of Asher’s shoulders. He was prepared to watch the vampires he’d made burn in the sunlight if they refused to place themselves under his wing.
“Sylvain,” Asher said his name on a weary sigh. “You are always too brash, too thoughtless. Do you think I’d make it easy? Do you think I’d accept this without a sacrifice?”
Sacrifice.
Me. Briar met Asher’s golden gaze and waited for what she knew was coming. “Briar was given a medicine. One that may, or may not, work on her. If she can step into the light and take these vials from my hand, you’ll live.”
“Forget it,” Marcus said. “We’ll fight. We’ll kill you.”
“Maybe.” Asher shrugged. “But it is certain my soldiers will kill her. It is their directive. Their one purpose. Look at them, see how their gaze fixes on her? All they wait for is a sign.”
“So our choices are death or death?” Marcus asked. “I’ll take the death that comes after we kill you.”
“Your choices are maybe she lives or certainly she dies. Are you so willing to give her up?”
Sylvain didn’t wait, he leapt at Asher. But the soldiers swarmed him, and while they weren’t as skilled as Sylvain, not by any means, there were more of them. They piled on top of him. Briar cried out, and Valen threw himself into the pile, throwing the soldiers against the wall, tearing them apart. Marcus and Hudson stood with her, shifting from side to side. They wanted to go to them, to fight and save them, but they weren’t willing to leave her vulnerable.
Briar wished she was stronger. If she put her arm into the sunlight, maybe she wouldn’t burn and they wouldn’t be afraid of leaving her or rushing her across town to Marcus’s house.
They’ll only follow you.
Whatever was going to happen today, was going to happen here, in this dirty, run-down warehouse on the edge of the Atlantic.
Valen and Sylvain were slower than she’d ever seen them. Earlier, they fought too fast for her to track, but now, they got hit more than they connected. The soldiers threw them to the floor, overwhelmed them, and then jerked them upright, holding them locked in their grasp. Valen bit the first one, ripped off an arm, and they swarmed again. This time, instead of holding them upright, they kept them on the ground, soldiers on every limb. Valen and Sylvain growled, swore, but were held fast.
“Two down.” This time Asher met her gaze, daring her to do something. “What do you want, Briar? Do you want them to live eternally, without you? Or would you damn them to death? So no one else can have them?” This was exactly what he was doing. They could exist with him or not at all. The vials in his hand slid against each other, glass clinking like guests at a party giving a toast. From the corner of her eye, Briar saw something else slide from the darkness. Their gray skin glimmered as they crawled over the floor.
Crawlers.
Like murky water, they flooded inside the warehouse, oozing over the body parts littering the floor, pausing to flick gray tongues in the pools of blood gathered beneath their fallen comrades.
They flowed toward Valen and Sylvain on the ground. Without thinking, Briar started toward them, to stop them somehow, but Hudson wrapped his arms around her. “No,” he whispered. The crawlers glanced their way, gazes intelligent. Briefly, they paused over Valen and Sylvain, striking like snakes too sink sharp teeth into their bodies, before sliding away to rest at Asher’s feet.
Venomous. Briar remembered the story Marcus told about crawlers—she remembered their purpose—torture. The air suddenly filled with Sylvain and Valen’s cries. They writhed on the ground. Briar started toward them again, and now when Hudson wrapped her in his arms, she fought him. “Let me go to them!”
“No!” Valen yelled. “No, you stay away, Briar!” It took all his energy to scream those words at her before his eyes rolled back in his head.
“It won’t last long,” Asher said. “Even now, their body is fighting the poison. See how they still? Their cries become quieter?” He studied them curiously. “Again,” he directed to the crawlers.
Marcus moved without thinking. He darted forward to stop the crawlers, Hudson yelled for him to come back. He whipped the first crawler into the wall, but like Valen and Sylvain, his actions were uncoordinated with the sun higher in the sky, and another crawler was able to clamp onto his heel before he could grab it. It sent Marcus to the ground immediately.
Back arching, Marcus clamped his teeth together to keep in his screams, but the crawlers slid over and around him. Briar screamed as their yellowed fangs gleamed, biting over and over, leaving oozing red welts across his face, neck, and hands. They bit through clothes, through his coat. Nothing stopped them until Asher called out one word. “Stop.”
Briar’s chest heaved. Somehow she’d landed on her knees, Hudson wrapped around her from behind, holding her in his arms to keep her in place. Asher had taken them from her, one-by-one, until there was no chance.
But there was still hope. The medicine in his hands, it could save them.
“I’ll do it!” she screamed. “I’ll get it.”
The soldiers and crawlers rushed them, yanking Hudson from her even though he held on so tightly. She could make out all of their voices, yelling at her, cursing at her.
“Briar! Fuck! Briar, listen to me!” Sylvain.
“No! Stop! Briar, please,” Valen begged.
Marcus cried out, the poison overwhelming him so it was all he could do to force sound past his vocal folds.
And Hudson. She’d never heard Hudson’s voice break. “It won’t work! Briar, I tried it. It won’t work. Don’t do this!”
The sun was higher now and the shadows inside the warehouse fewer. Asher stepped back into full sunlight while the soldiers moved her four vampires into the darkness.
Briar forced herself to stand. Between her and Asher was a pool of sunlight, bright, unfiltered ultraviolet rays.
It could kill her. It would most certainly burn her.
And it would hurt.
Already, her nerve endings were firing. Her brain had shut down—fight, flight, or freeze. Heart pounding, muscles clenched, she was ready for battle. Asher held out the medicine, golden hand bathed in golden sunlight. “Come on, little human. Take them.”
Briar shut her eyes, ignoring the guys as they yelled at her, begged her not to try it. She remembered the ice filling her veins when the dart hit her, and stepped forward.
It didn’t work.
Right away, she felt the burn. It began slow, at first, a tingle on the surface of her skin, but then, it burrowed beneath her skin and exploded outward.
She heard Sylvain scream, heard Valen cry, but it couldn’t stop her. She couldn’t go backward, she could only move forward. One step. Another. It felt as if the clothes on her body were on fire, and maybe they were. Her face swelled, eyelids burning so she could only see through a slit that grew narrower. “Briar!” Hudson’s voice broke, and with it, her heart. She didn’t want to hurt them, and she was. She was hurting them badly. As bad as it hurt her to see them bitten and smothered by Asher.
All of her attention went to the hand holding the glass vials. Another step. This was what it felt like to die and walk through the gates of hell.
Another step. It was right there. The hand that reached for the vials wasn’t hers—blistered, bloated, peeling. She could see her bone beneath melted skin, but couldn’t feel the vials when her ruined fingers touched them.
They fell to the ground as her legs gave out, rolling out of the sunlight to the darkness.
Things got louder then. Hudson, Valen, Marcus, and Sylvain screamed, yelled, and cried while Asher gathered the vials and flung them at the soldiers. “One more moment, then dose them.”
The ground seemed to tremble beneath her cheek, as if the guys were destroying the earth to get to her.
“One more moment.” Asher’s golden eyes met hers, and he smiled before reaching for her face. It was harder to breathe now. Briar opened her mouth to suck in air, but her lips and tongue were swollen, and she couldn’t pull it into her lungs. Asher drew his wrist to his mouth and bit. A drop of blood rolled down his wrist and landed in the dirt by her nose. She imagined if she could breathe, she would smell it. The coppery tang. The metallic sharpness.
“I’m curious,” he said and traced her lips with a ruby red finger. In a flash, he was thrust away from her, and Sylvain had her in his arms.
Arms that were blistered and black from where they’d been exposed to the sun. “Briar,” he cried, tears running down his beautiful face. “Briar. No.”
He bit his own wrist and held it to her mouth, but her tongue and lips wouldn’t work right. Maybe it touched her skin. Maybe the blood rolled from her lips, to her tongue and down her throat, but she didn’t know. All she knew was the pain was going away, and the night was closing in. It wasn’t daylight anymore. It was a cool, pain-free darkness.
As her eyes closed, she imagined Sylvain rocking her—kissing her hair.
Briar drew in one more breath, and then nothing.