The Vault (A Farm Novel) (31 page)

CARTER

“I’m tired of your games,” Sebastian snarled from beside me. “If you don’t want the boy, then what do you want?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” she purred. “I want power and control forever and ever. It’s as simple as that.”

“Power and control are never simple.”

“No,” she agreed, almost sounding sad. “I agree. Especially not when one’s pesky ex-boyfriend is moping around begging you to take him back.”

“I never begged. I merely offered you the option.”

“The option? The option of giving up immortality and riches and infinite power merely so I could be with you? What kind of ridiculous woman would give up all that . . . for you?” Then she gave his cheek another one of those patronizing taps. “Don’t take it personally. I wouldn’t give this up for anyone.”

I slanted a look at Sebastian. “Seriously?”

I left the
this is the crazy bitch you loved?
as an unspoken addendum.

And sent a powerful shot of calm, peaceful meadow along with it. It must have reached through the haze of his anger, because he almost smiled back at me. “She was a lot more fun before Roberto mentored her. And prettier before the Botox.”

Sabrina lunged forward and made a furious hissing noise. And this, I know, is real anger. Maybe the first real emotion I’ve felt from her.

Marek stepped out from behind me and caught her. “Remember the plan, Mistress.”

Her gaze hardened as she glared at Sebastian. Then she wiggled out of Marek’s grasp and stalked away from him. She smoothed down her dress before turning back to us. “Yes. The plan.”

Either Sebastian was really pissed off, or he was enjoying baiting Sabrina, because he said, “The plan? You have a plan? That’s rich. Because if I remember right, you’ve never been very good at following plans.”

“Of course I have a plan! You don’t think I came all this way—” She broke off and gave herself a little shake, like she was having trouble keeping herself under control.

I watched her, taking in the way she kept twitching her shoulders. Like her safari outfit was too scratchy. The way she was pacing more quickly now, like a dog in a kennel. Maybe that peaceful meadow wasn’t quite what we needed here. I threw in a dose of busy subway station with a dash of amped-up Times Square.

“I, for one, would love to hear about this plan of yours,” I said.

She whirled on me, hunched over slightly, her gaze hard and sharp. “Are you being uppity?”

I shrugged. “No, ma’am. You said you were going to tell us your plan. I said I wanted to hear it. Nothing uppity about that.”

She straightened, shrugging back into her royal queen posture. “Yes. The plan.” Her mouth pinched in as she turned back to Sebastian. “The plan is simple. If you’re going to stay in my territory for very long—and I dare you to try to leave—” She made a sweeping gesture toward the guards. “Then you’ll once again have to formally seek sanctuary from
me
. Once I have granted it, I have the right to demand a boon.”

“And if that boon isn’t my
abductura
, then what is it?”

“The cure. I demand all the samples you have of the cure as well as all the research.”

“Oh,” Sebastian drawled. “Is that all?”

“Is that all?” she snarled. “Yes, it is. Make no mistake, I will destroy all the evidence that this silly cure of yours ever existed. I will wipe it from the planet. Vampires have more power than we have ever had and I will not have you messing it up with your silly ideas about human equality.”

Sebastian just looked at Sabrina, giving her a moment to simply seethe. Then he said smoothly, “You’ve forgotten one important thing.”

“I haven’t,” she screeched. “I haven’t forgotten anything.”

“Yes. You have. I can formally request sanctuary from you because I’m a signee of the Meso-Americana Accords of 1409. And when you’re in your own territory, you can certainly grant it and you can demand a boon from me. But you weren’t alive in 1409. You’re not a signee of the Accords. My power trumps yours. Always. You don’t have the right to establish a territory within my boundaries, no matter how many invaders you fight off or how many blood sacrifices you make.”

That was why Sebastian had lectured me about being so calm and so controlled. That’s why he wanted me to Bambi’s-meadow the shit out of this place. He must have known this all along. He’d needed me to fool Sabrina into thinking her bid for territory had worked.

Now I ratcheted up the Times Square and threw in a dose of rave.

She stared at him for a moment, eye twitching. “You’re wrong! I know that you’re wrong! Every time you have visited me in my own territory, you’ve formally requested sanctuary. If we’re not all bound by the Accords, then why did you formally request sanctuary? Why did you grant me my boon?”

“Because I’m polite,” he said tersely. He took a quick couple of steps toward her. “Because it’s good manners.”

Sabrina paused for a moment and then launched herself at Sebastian. He knocked her back and then sent a kick to her ribs that she easily spun away from. The flurry of moves that followed was almost too quick to even see.

Marek moved to grab Sebastian and give his mistress an edge, but no guard, no matter how well trained, is a match for a vampire, and he couldn’t even touch Sebastian. I threw myself in front of Marek, slamming my hand into his solar plexus. The guy was huge, but I hoped it would at least wind him. It didn’t. He grabbed me by my shoulders and slammed his forehead down onto mine. My brain actually rattled inside my skull and my vision blurred around the edges. Before he could hit me again, Marcus jumped onto his back. Marek reared away from me, trying to get his fingers under Marcus’s arm where it was crushing his windpipe.

I whirled around to check out the rest of the tent. The guards looked as confused as I was. They didn’t know if they should help Marek or Sabrina. I added to their confusion, pumping out a steady stream of chaos.

Sabrina seemed to be holding her own against Sebastian. There wasn’t anything I could do to help Sebastian.

Jumping into the fight with Marek was the obvious choice, but I didn’t have a weapon. And, yeah, I could fight, but I couldn’t go up against a trained mercenary. Not if I wanted to have any hope of walking away. And I did want that.

Instead, I looked around the tent and my gaze fell on Paul Workman, the poor bastard. And there, laid out on the cushions as part of the gruesome tableau, was the knife she’d used to slit his throat.

I grabbed the knife. I made it halfway across the tent before one of the guards launched himself at me. I slashed out with the knife and then dropped into a spinning kick.

In my head, I was going to bob right back up from that, but there were so many damn pillows around, my legs got tangled in one and I fell flat on my chest. The guy I’d cut grabbed my ankle. I kicked him in the jaw, but he didn’t let go.

I looked up just in time to see Marek reach behind and grab hold of Marcus’s hoodie. He actually pulled Marcus up over his head and flipped him over backward, throwing him across the tent. Marcus landed against one of the tentpoles, making the whole tent wobble. Marek stumbled backward, roaring in anger. I struggled to get my arms under me and get out of Marek’s way, but the guard kept pulling on my ankle. Marek took one more step backward and I lashed out desperately, and for once, luck was on my side. I caught him on the back of his calf. Sabrina’s knife sliced right through his Achilles tendon. He went down, reaching out for anything he could grab hold of and bringing the whole tent down with him.

LILY

From our position on the rooftop, we can’t see what’s going on inside the tent. We can only wait and watch and pray that we’ll have the chance to help.

Turns out, waiting, watching, and praying are not my strong suit.

Sitting up there, I think of all the times Carter told me to wait for him to do something and I didn’t listen. Sometimes it created more chaos. Sometimes it helped. Maybe I should have “learned my lesson” by now or something, but I haven’t. All I really know is that I’m not going to stop trying to help. I will try, though, to always be smart about it.

So now, even though I want to do something crazy and reckless, I want to run down there and kick some ass, I realize I can do more good here. Maybe. If someone—anyone!—would just take the fight outside the tent!

Off in the distance, more vehicles are arriving. A lot more. Reinforcements, but I’m not sure for whom. Sabrina, I guess. Who would come for us? Yes, we have friends in Utah, but they’re too far away. The Farm in San Angelo is barely holding its own. And it’s mostly untrained Greens anyway.

Maybe I should abandon my post. Go down and warn Carter and Sebastian. But what good would that possibly do? So instead, I stay on the roof and I watch. And wait.

Then the tent shakes, which makes me think maybe something is about to happen. I hold my breath. I wait some more. And then the whole tent goes down. People are moving inside the tent, struggling to get out. Sebastian is the first person to stand. Then, out of the folds of fabric, pops a woman. Sabrina. Even though I’ve never seen her, I recognize her instantly.

Beside me, Mel says simply, “Now.”

And I let the arrow fly.

CARTER

I stumbled out from under the tent just in time to see the arrow pierce Sabrina’s heart.

For a long second, no one moved. Sebastian was maybe five feet away from her. He looked battered. His lip had been bloodied and four deep scratches marred his cheek. This was his territory, but he clearly hadn’t fully recovered from that stake in his heart when the battle had started.

Of course, the arrow through Sabrina’s chest had slowed her down. It hadn’t improved her mood, though.

She whirled around as if looking for who had shot her.

I knew it was Lily, but I had no idea where she was. Somewhere safe, I hoped.

Then Sabrina ripped the arrow from her chest. And hurled it away from her.

“You idiots! Did you honestly think it would make a difference having some sniper in a building to take potshots at me?” She leaned and hissed like a feral cat. “I’m not some mindless Tick who doesn’t know how to take out an arrow.”

One of her guards stumbled out of the tent and she pounced on the man. With a slash of her pointy nails, she sliced open his throat and started guzzling his blood.

Lily fired another arrow. This one pierced Sabrina’s neck. Again she pulled it out. This time she hurled it at me. Before I could even pick it up, another arrow flew through the air. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that Lily wasn’t even aiming for Sabrina’s heart.

Then I grabbed the arrow off the ground and looked at it. Lily had blunted the point with something. White gauze, maybe. It was covered in blood now.

I stared at the arrow in confusion as Sebastian and Sabrina circled each other. Then I looked up. Lily was firing from one of the rooftops. She had to be, given the angle the arrows were coming down from.

I held my breath until I saw a glint of metal from the nearest building.

How many more arrows did she have? At least one more if I could still see the glinting light off the crossbow. She had to still be in position.

The only problem was, she was shooting arrows dipped in the cure and Sebastian was between her and Sabrina.

They circled each other slowly now. The battle wearing them both down, but for different reasons.

I didn’t know if Lily’s trick with the arrows would make a difference. I didn’t know how long it would take even if it did. Mel had passed out within seconds, but she’d had a full vial of the stuff shot right into her arm.

I crept around, trying to stay close to Sebastian. Then, when Sabrina was facing Lily’s building, I launched myself at him and brought him to the ground. Lily fired another arrow. This one landed right in Sabrina’s heart.

She reared back again, clawing at the arrow. “What is it with you people and these arrows?”

Somewhere off in the distance, I heard gunfire. In the tent, there was more scuffling. I just prayed that Marcus wasn’t hurt. I had no idea how Sabrina had captured him, but I sure as hell didn’t want to explain to Ely that I’d gotten his brother killed.

Sabrina ripped this arrow from her chest also. This time, she held it out and looked at it, swaying on her feet. “What is this?”

She sucked in a deep breath. Then another. Her hand seemed to spasm around the arrow shaft. Then her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed.

*  *

Things happened fast after that.

Sebastian tied her up, though in the end he didn’t need to.

I found the knife and cut through the tent fabric until I found Marek, who had been writhing in pain, useless to his mistress.

I wanted to believe that everyone deserved a second chance. That everyone who made a mistake would have a chance to redeem themselves. I just didn’t know how to give Marek that second chance. Not when he’d worked for Sabrina. Not when he’d stood by while she’d tortured and killed his predecessor.

I hoped that someday we’d once again live in a world where those kinds of second chances were given and where those kinds of decisions were made by someone wiser than I was. But today wasn’t that day and I was the only one standing over Marek with a knife. And if I let him live now, I had no idea what chaos he might cause with just his mind alone. So I killed him quickly and hoped that no one saw me throw up afterward.

*  *

Once Marek was gone, most of Sabrina’s people fled. Some stayed and fought. At first, I thought they were fighting one another. It was maybe ten or fifteen minutes before Lily made it to my side.

By that time, I’d fished Marcus out of the tent. I’d helped Sebastian tie Sabrina up with strips of red silk and I’d puked again.

Sabrina was writhing in pain, but still unconscious.

Marcus was sitting by the tent, clutching a pillow and looking like he was ready to puke, too. Lily hugged me. Hard and like she didn’t want to let me go. Like she didn’t actually have control over her arms. Then, without saying a word to me, she went and sat beside Marcus, pulling him to her and rocking him slightly, like he was small kid, even though he was taller than she was.

I crouched down in front of them. “You want to tell me how the hell you ended up here?”

Lily looked up at me and smiled. “You talking to me or to him?”

I nearly laughed. “Hey, I saw that fancy shooting from the other building. I know how you got here.”

Marcus looked like he might cry, I couldn’t blame him, since I was pretty sure he’d been damn close to being Sabrina’s next blood sacrifice. But he shrugged Lily off and said, “We needed a distraction and I don’t speak much Spanish. So I volunteered to come in.”

“We?”

That’s when Ely walked up, flanked by two very serious-looking Latino guys holding automatic weapons. “Yeah. We.”

I stood up and shook his hand. I kind of wanted to hug him, but I still wasn’t sure about those guys with the guns. “All along, you’ve been saying this wasn’t your fight. Isn’t that what you’ve been saying since you left the rebellion?”

“All along you’ve been saying this was everyone’s fight.”

“Good point.” I looked at the guys and then out at the rest of the parking lot, where the fighting had stopped. And where more guys with more guns were rounding up the last of Sabrina’s people. “So. You went to Mexico, huh?”

He grinned. “Yeah. Turns out, I was right about that wall keeping the Ticks mostly out. They’ve been struggling, but hell, at least there’s some government still standing. And when I told them about the cure, they were pretty interested.”

By now, Lily was done babying Marcus. Or maybe Marcus was done being babied.

She came back to my side while I spoke with the Mexican officials Marcus had led here. Once we were done and she and I were alone, I just held her for a long time.

When I glanced around, at first I didn’t see Mel. I felt a burst of panic until I realized that she was with Sebastian, tucked up against his side so close she was almost invisible. I nudged Lily and nodded in their direction.

Her gaze followed mine and we both watched them, frowning.

“Is that weird for you?” I asked after a minute.

“Seeing my sister that physically comfortable with anyone? Yes. Seeing her like that with Sebastian? Doubly so.”

“Are you okay with it?” I asked.

She seemed to consider it for a moment and then said, “She’s my sister. It’s not my place to not be okay with it. He just better treat her right. I’d hate to be the one to end his two thousand years of life.”

“Yeah. Me, too.” I was surprised to realize I meant it.

After a while, she looked up at me and said, “About giving the cure to the Mexican government . . .”

“Yeah?”

“I hope you don’t think I’m being paranoid, but we can’t let them have all of it. All the information. Some of the samples, sure. But we need to duplicate all Sebastian’s research and try to get it up to Canada also. And back to Utah. Anywhere and everywhere we can think to send it. It’s not that I don’t trust them, but this is too important. It needs to be in the hands of as many people as possible. As soon as possible. Maybe that’s paranoid and crazy, but . . .”

“But we just defeated a crazy, power-hungry bitch. I’m okay being paranoid for a while.”

She rose up on her toes and kissed me. “After we’re done being paranoid, maybe we can just be happy for a while, okay?”

“Yeah. I think I can manage that. Let me tell you about this great peaceful meadow I’ve been visiting. . . .”