Ascension (14 page)

"Eve, there's a lot you don't understand," he says and turns to face me. "You're a weapon. In the wrong hands, you could be a threat to us all. When one of you is taken to the other side, when you're corrupted, compelled, the only solution is death. We've tried hiding them, but their masters hunt them down unrelentingly. This is the only way."

I shake my head. "It sounds like genocide."

Julien moves to my piano and plays a key. "It isn't," he says. "It's targeted assassination. If Adepts go on the wrong side, we have to kill them."

I frown. "You'd kill me?"

He remains silent.

"You didn't answer me."

"Don't make the wrong choice," he says. "Then I won't have to."

I can't let it go. "So, you would kill me."

He gives me a weary look.

"Eve. I'm a soldier. I kill enemies. Don't become my enemy. Lying psychopaths aren't the best enemies to have."

"You're not a psychopath."

He seems amused at that.

"Oh, yes, I am," he says, shaking his head. " Yes. I. Am. Vampires can't help it. We like to kill humans. We love it. It takes a hell of a lot to keep us from being monsters. Didn't you read your mother's files?"

"Maybe some of you are, but you don't have to be. You’re not," I say, remembering him with Kate. "Michel's not. You both care. You look after Kate. A psychopath wouldn't do that."

"It serves our purposes to keep her alive. I already told you that she was a source of blood for Michel so he wouldn't have you. That's it, Eve. Mortals are a means to an end for us."

"I don't believe it."

"Whatever. It's true."

He leaves the bedroom and I can barely see him through the open door. He stops by my desk. Oh hell. He’s reading my letter to Cecile.

He comes back and climbs on top of me and leans down, sniffing my neck. Presses his nose under my ear where I daubed perfume and he inhales deeply.

"That's why Michel didn't want to fuck you. He wanted to keep his distance, so he could use you like a tool. A weapon. If he fucked you, his feelings would soften him, make him less likely to use you properly. But he's always been such a softie. I can fuck you and it won't matter. I'm tougher than he ever was."

"Why are you telling me this?"

He plays with my hair, twirling it in his fingers.

"So you don't get the wrong idea. I want you, sure. I'll enjoy you. I'll enjoy making you my pet. But I won't love you."

"I don't want you to," I say, trying to sound as if I don’t care, but my heart squeezes at that and sadness fills me.

"Good. I don't want to either." He runs a hand down from my throat to the swell of my breast. I can't help but respond, despite how mean he's being, how blunt. A blush rises to my cheeks.

"Oh, poor Eve. Did it hurt you to hear the truth? Does it sting to respond to me despite hating me?"

I can't say anything for tears bite at the corners of my eyes. He already knows.

"Don't worry," he mouths against my neck. "I told you I'm not a rapist. Sex has to be freely chosen. It has to be offered. In your case, it has to be begged for."

I try to pull away from him but he tightens his grip on me.

"If you think I'll beg," I gasp. "You're crazy."

He presses against me even harder, his mouth poised over mine.

"I'm not crazy. And you will beg, Eve. You will. I know you. And you know what?" he says and takes my bottom lip between his teeth for a moment before letting go. "When you do, I won't even have to remind you that I told you so. When you do beg me, you'll look in my eyes," he says, sniffing my neck, "and you'll remember this precise moment, word for word.
And.
It. Will. Be. So. Good." His lips just touch mine, his breath on my skin, and then he kisses me, his lips crushing mine, his tongue finding mine, his breathing harsh. Then, it’s like he switches off and he hops off the bed, leaving me lying there, aroused, and reaches into a bag and pulls out a roll of duct tape.

"I hate to do this, but I have to make this look real. If you try real hard, you might get loose by morning – you know, just in case I miscalculate and die in an unfortunate stake accident. I don't want you starving to death, the police breaking down your door to find your rotting bloated corpse. I’ll call in an anonymous tip that you’re here so you won’t be here too long."

He tapes my mouth shut and then sits beside me, a hand brushing my hair from my face.

"Don't miss me too much. Pretty soon, you'll be back at the warehouse and we'll start Act Two of this farce."

And then he's gone.

CHAPTER 13

“Love is all we have, the only way that each can help the other.”

Euripides

I lie on the bed and listen to the sounds of my quiet apartment now that Julien’s gone. I can’t do anything about the plastic ties that bind my wrists, but I can jiggle those attaching my feet to the bedpost. The bed frame’s constructed so that the ball-shaped top of the corner post is screwed on. I try to shimmy my way down towards the bedpost in the hopes I can find a way to unscrew it. I work my feet up so that my toes just touch the ball at the top of the post and try to turn it, but it’s screwed on too tight.

I pull at my restraints with all my might, but all that does is cause them to bite into my flesh, leaving raw welts around my ankles and wrists.

Hours pass – the slant of the light through my window tells me that. Finally, I hear footsteps in the hallway – is it Julien? I hear a knock at the door and then a crackled voice.

"Eve? Eve? Are you in there?"

Mrs. Barnes from down the hall – God bless her! I try to call out, but all I’m able to manage is a muffled groan that deaf old Mrs. Barnes is surely not able to hear.

I glance around in a panic – what can I do to get Mrs. Barnes' attention? I turn to the night table and wonder . . . perhaps I could wriggle my way over to the side of the bed and somehow make the lamp fall over . . .

After tremendous effort, I succeed in worming my way over closer to the edge of the bed and start rocking it, hoping that the bed will knock the night table and then the lamp . . .

It falls with a crash.

"Eve? Is that you?"

Silence.
Damn
. She mustn't have heard the sound and has gone away. Resignation fills me. Julien said he’d call this in, but in how long? Then I hear keys at the lock and my hopes rise. My heart races and I felt a surge of adrenaline as the door opens and . . . it’s the Super! He has a master key.

He takes one look at me and picks up a cell phone from his belt.

"Send the police over to number 3b,
14 Parkside Lane
. I just found Eve Hayden and it looks like she’s been harmed."

Relief floods me and tears filled my eyes, obscuring my vision.

Now I have to act all scared and surprised that Julien would kidnap me. This worries me. I am not an actor.

The Super removes the duct tape with a quick tug and it hurts like hell.

"Ow," I say. "Thank you. I thought I was going to die here."

Ed arrives and rushes in to me.

"Are you OK?"

I nod. "Just a bit raw where the restraints were."

He stands with hands on hips and glances around the room. "I don't understand why he brought you here. We would have eventually checked out your apartment as a matter of course. In fact, I had a few men scheduled to come over here in the morning. It's like he wanted you to be found."

He looks me over.

"Did he," Ed says, his voice soft. "Did he harm you in any way? Did he assault you," he hesitates, "sexually?"

I shake my head. "No. Why do you ask?"

"It's just that," he says and points to my face. "Your lipstick. It’s smeared."

"Oh," I say, wiping my mouth with my fingers. I shake my head. "It must have been when he was putting the duct tape on."

"Why would he take you hostage?"

I shrug. "He said it was just to show you that he could and that I wasn't safe."

"Yeah," Ed says. "He likes rubbing our faces in our mistakes. I'm glad your neighbor saw someone leave your apartment and thought to come and check. She said you never had men over."

Being a spinster had some benefits after all.

"No, I," I say and falter, embarrassed to admit it. "I'm not very . . . active socially, what with finishing my degree."

"Well, it's lucky for us you have such a good neighbor and we were able to get here before he returned."

I rub my ankles, the skin red and raw where the plastic chafed.

"What happens now? Do I need to hide? Should I go to stay with my foster parents or something? They live in
Ipswich
in the summer."

Ed helps me off the bed. "We need to debrief you and then yes, please, stay with a friend or family member. I think you should take some time off work until we get Julien back into custody."

"Do you think you'll be able? He escaped from the SCU."

"I know – it was an operation carried out with military precision. Disabled the alarms, knocked out security, power. Used flash-bangs to startle everyone."

"He told me he has military training."

"He or one of his gang." Ed motions me to my bathroom. "Maybe you want to pack a small bag with your things. If you have nowhere else to go, we can put you up in a safe house."

"I'll call my friend Frances, from school. Maybe she can pick me up from the SCU when we're done. I," I say and glance around. "I can't leave my cats alone for too long – I'll have to get someone to come by and feed them and . . . "

"Don't worry about that now. We'll take care of the details later."

I go to my small bathroom and throw my few things that remain into an overnight bag.

I call
Frances
when we get to the SCU. She’s also a pre-med student
.
I
'll
stay with her rather than go to a safe house. When we arrive back at the SCU, Ed gives me a lecture about safety.

"He may be gone," Ed says, his voice soft. "Or he may still be in the city. If he is, you're not safe. I got the feeling he has a sweet spot for you. Whatever happens, don't let him bite you or in any way taste your blood. If he did that, you'd be tied to him. Don't let any vampire bite you unless it's to save your life. You do and they consider you theirs for life.
 
They taste your blood, and they're connected to you. Word to the wise."

He can’t see my bite? Has Julien compelled him?

"Don't worry," I say. "That's the last thing I want." Of course, it's already too late. I'm his if that's the case. Not Michel's as I want to be. Or, as I thought I wanted to be. After reading the pages Julien gave me, I don’t know if I want either of them.

 
“He's very dangerous." Ed says, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes. "But we'll get him, one way or the other." He puts his glasses back on and regards me steadily. "What's your assessment of what's motivating him? What is his goal?"

I put on my most professional face.

"We hadn't really gotten that far in the interview but I'd say he wants Dominion but he also wants to show how much smarter and stronger he is than everyone else."

"Yeah, but the thing is," Ed says ruefully. "He is."

"Do you think so?"

"Like other vampires, he has no fear. He doesn't believe he'll be defeated and he doesn't believe that the normal laws and morals apply to him, so he's free to do whatever he can get away with to achieve his ends. And most of the old ones are very smart. Above average intelligence. Julien? From what I heard he's fought in pretty much every war in the western world since he was made. He isn't stupid at all. Call your friend," Ed says. "Get her to come and pick you up. We'll put a detail on you, watch you in case he tries something else."

"He won't. He told me he was going out of town and wouldn't be back."

"Yeah, like I believe that." Ed leads my out of the interview room. "He'd like us to believe it and get all complacent with you. Then he'd come right back under our noses just to prove that he could and snatch you. Remember, you Adepts are like gold."

A week passes. I’m in lockdown mode at
Frances
’s apartment. I make two trips to my apartment accompanied by some Council guards assigned to me. The cats go crazy, rubbing against my legs, almost tripping me in their enthusiasm for my presence.

"I'm so
rry, kitties," I say as I fill their
water and food dish. "I won't be gone for much longer."

Tucked in the corner of my mirror in my bedroom is a card. I open it. One of my guards comes over to me.

"What is it?"

I hand it to him. A card a huge white peony in the center. Beneath it black script.

'Remember me.'

Ed calls me at
Frances
's place later that afternoon.

"I take that as an indication he doesn't want to forget you," he says. "He must have snuck into your apartment when one of our guys wasn't looking. We're searching your apartment for anything else, a bug or something but so far, nothing's shown up."

"Thanks." I feel strangely violated knowing that Julien had been inside my apartment again. "I think it means he's actually leaving town. Why else ask me to remember him?"

I hang up.

Later, before supper, I go to the window in
France
's apartment and see the unmarked car on the street – Ed insisted on having the apartment watched 24/7.
Frances
is at work and isn't due back for an hour or so. I call one of the guards and ask if he'll take me out for a while.

"Where to? We have to call in for our log."

"Anywhere. I just want to get out for a while."

"I'm sorry, but I need a destination."

I think for a moment. What do I feel like doing?

"The conservatory," I say. "I miss having a piano around. I can rent some time and go and practice for a while."

"Ok. Whenever you're ready."

I call the conservatory but they had no small sound rooms left. I'll have to make do with an empty lecture hall that has an old grand piano on the stage. I pull on a sweater and my jeans and brush my hair. Before I leave, I write a note to
Frances
, just in case she comes home before I return.

"Out for a bit – be back soon. XOXOX"

The two guards take up positions at the front and back doors of the building to keep any eye out in case I've been followed.

It's good to feel the keyboard under my hands again. I have to play the old stuff – pieces I know by heart without my sheet music. Alone in the empty lecture theatre, I play my entire repertory, and soon became lost in the music. Years ago, when I was younger, before my mother's death, they dreamed of me being a soloist. My father taught me for a few years when I was age three to five, but he found new teachers because I learned so quickly. Music is tied to my father so intimately that I can't play without feeling some grief for his loss to insanity.

I finish playing and rest my head on the piano. It brings back memories of my childhood and gives me a choky feeling of regret. I start to play another piece but then feel someone sit down beside me and turn only to be staring into Julien's face. Before I can react, he has a hand over my mouth and a finger to his lips.

"Shh."

I nod and he withdraws his hand.

"Sorry to startle you. Go ahead," he says and motions to the piano. "Play some more. I was enjoying it."

"How did you know I was here?"

He smiles. "Do you really think I'm going to answer that?"

I don't respond. Of course he must have someone on the inside of the SCU feeding him information.

"Why are you here?"

He points to the keys.

"I heard you were coming to play. I rearranged a meeting so I could listen."

"I already finished playing."

He points to the instrument. "Play some more."

I shake my head.

"I don't feel like it."

"Eve," he says and I can hear exasperation in his voice. "I don't want to have to force the issue. Just play something. Do you know any Bach?"

"You don't like Chopin?"

"I prefer Bach."

I play a Bach Prelude – C Sharp Minor – and he closes his eyes until the piece is over. He opens his eyes and smiles at me, but his smile is sad.

"I heard it played a few years after he wrote it," he says. "After it was published, all the students in
Vienna
learned to play pieces from The Well Tempered Clavier."

 
I shake my head.

"God, I can't imagine what its like to live so long."

 
"It's wonderful and terrible at the same time.
 
My kind call it the curse of immortality. To watch people you love grow old and die. Most of us refuse to make connections with humans as a result other than through feeding, but sometimes, you meet someone and you're helpless."

"That's happened to you before?"