To Curse the Darkness (13 page)

Chapter Eleven

Armand could hear the sound of arguing coming from the salon the moment he opened the front door.

“I can't believe you read my letter! That was private—do you even know what the word means? What part of that was too hard for you to understand?”

“It wasn't me—I swear. I would
never
have read it. This is all on Heather.”

The first voice was Julie's. The second though, that was harder. It sounded a lot like that vampire Marc had sent over the other night. But why would he be here again?

Armand was not even sure he wanted to learn the answer. Certainly he was grateful for Hawk's assistance in saving Julie's life, but if he was now the subject of Julie's latest infatuation, Armand did
not
want to have to witness it.

His frustration with having to stand by and watch as Julie fell for one man after the next was a big part of why Armand had left town in the first place. He could not go through all of that again. He'd just head back to his room and—

“So what are you saying? You
didn'
t read it?”

“No! I mean…fuck. Yes, okay? Of course I read it. That's why I'm here, right? But it wasn't my
idea
to read it.”

“Oh, it wasn't your
idea
. Well, that's entirely different, isn't it?”

“Yeah. Exactly.”

“No, it's not, you big idiot! Do I have to explain sarcasm to you now too? I don't fucking believe this!”

“Neither do I,” Armand grumbled as he changed direction at the last minute and headed toward the salon. It was the outside of enough. Maybe it amused Julie to waste her time with idiots, and, if so, that was her business. Armand had no right to stop her. But that didn't mean he had to have it shoved in his face. She could at least have the decency to shut the door and keep her relationship problems to herself.

“Listen,
chérie
—” he began, stopping midsentence when he realized that Julie and Hawk were not alone. Conrad and Damian were also in attendance.

Damian, his arms crossed, stood seemingly at ease with one hip propped against his desk, but Armand was not fooled by his casual pose. He could read the tension in his muscles. If Hawk was not careful, he'd find himself engaged in a nasty battle. Conrad, seated in his usual armchair, watched the action with an inscrutable expression. Maybe he was as bored as he appeared, but it seemed unlikely.

Like it or not, however, Armand could not deny that this was Conrad's call to make; if he had not protested the commotion, who was Armand to offer an objection? Still, it was Hawk—an outsider to the family—with whom Julie was arguing, and surely that, in itself, deserved to be challenged. “What are
you
doing here again?” Armand demanded. “There are people who live here, members of
this family,
who spend less time in this house than you do.”

Hawk blinked in surprise. “I'm here to stop her, of course. I figured someone needed to.” He glanced around, seemingly mystified. “Am I really the only one who has a problem with this? What's wrong with y'all?”

“Stop her from doing
what
exactly?” Damian asked in a tone so cold it seemed to lay a rime of frost upon the entire room.

Hawk appeared to feel it as well. He blanched slightly before turning to Julie. “You didn't tell them?”

She sighed loudly. “No, actually, I hadn't. I figured I'd sort out the details first. But I guess there's no putting it off any longer, is there?”

“Uh…no, probably not. Sorry about that.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“They were all gonna find out sooner or later, weren't they?”

“I guess.” Julie glanced around at the others. “Okay look,” she said, “here's the deal. I've been talking to Christian. I've decided to help him with his experiment.”

“You…
what
?” Armand stared at her in horror.

“You heard me. I'm going to see if I can't do something to save Georgia's life.”

“Oh, no you are
not
,” Damian insisted hotly, taking a step toward her. “Have you lost your senses?”

“Julie,” Conrad began in a voice of unutterable weariness. “What do you mean you ‘talked to Christian'? When did you do that?”

Before he got any further, Damian turned on him. “This is
your
fault.
Dios mio
, I knew something was wrong when you insisted on putting things off. I thought it might lead to trouble—but this! How could
you allow this to happen?”

“I
didn't
allow it,” Conrad replied. “In fact I expressly told her I would not permit her to risk herself in such a fashion.”

“Nonsense!” Damian snapped in response. “You did not. Do you think I don't know what you're capable of? You're her
sire
, Conrad. If you'd said no, it would be no!”

“He
did
say no.” Julie turned to Conrad and added, “The thing is, though, you didn't really mean it.”

Anger flared in Conrad's eyes. “On the contrary. I assure you, I meant it
very
much.”

Julie's smile held a tinge of sadness. “No, you really didn't.”

“
Chérie
!” Armand gasped in alarm. “Enough with this foolishness! You do not argue with your sire.” If Damian was crazy enough to challenge Conrad—and get himself attacked in the process—that was his problem. But the thought of Julie placing herself in that much danger caused Armand's blood to practically freeze in his veins.

“Oh, for heaven's sake.” Julie glared at them. “Would you all just stop it already? Nothing bad is going to happen.”

“You don't
know
that. It might.”

Julie rolled her eyes. “I know you're trying to protect me, and I appreciate that—really I do. But there's no need for it. And, Conrad, no matter what you say, you do
not
want to kill her. Not if there's any other choice.”

“Of course I do not
wish
to kill her,” Conrad growled, clearly making an effort to stay calm. “But if you somehow imagine this will be the first time I've had to do something I did not wish to do—or the last time either—let me assure you that is not the case.”

“Of course it's not!” Damian said. “Which is precisely why this should have been taken care of by now. Since when has putting off the inevitable ever made anything easier to bear?”

“Stop it!” Julie stepped between the two men. She glared at Damian. “Don't say that, D. You hear me? You have
no
idea what that would do to him.” Then she turned to Conrad once again. “You need to tell them. You need to tell them exactly what you told me. It's the only way they're ever going to realize how important this is.”

Conrad raised an eyebrow. “Speaking of realizations, child, I hope
you
realize that some of the knowledge you wish me to dispense still carries a death sentence. Anyone who possesses it without proper authorization, along with any who disseminate it, are automatically marked for death. Is it really your intention to endanger all our lives?”

“That's just silly,” Julie scoffed. “Who's going to kill us? You?”

“No,” Conrad replied in level tones. “For, I would be equally guilty—and equally at risk. I am hardly the only person prepared to enforce this rule. There are others. And many of them have waited a long time to take my place. I fear they will not be merciful.”

His calm certainty was somehow even more terrifying. Armand found himself fighting the urge to slink quietly away. Julie, on the other hand, just smiled.

“Yes, and I'm sure that when these ‘other people' get here you won't lift a finger to stop them from killing us all, will you?” She shook her head. “C'mon, I think we all know better than that. Besides, how will anyone even know what you told us unless one of us says something about it? And we're not going to do that, so it's fine.”

“Okay, hold up a minute,” Hawk interrupted. “I don't know
what
y'all are talkin' about right now, and I don't wanna know. I came here tonight because it seemed like the right thing to do. I'm trying to stop trouble, a'ight? I'm not looking to get my ass stuck in the middle of
more
of it. And this stuff right here? This is
way
above my pay grade.”

Julie looked at him for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, okay, you're right. This doesn't have anything to do with you. So just don't worry about it anymore. Leave it to me. I know what I'm doing.”

“Finding that a little hard to believe,” Nighthawk muttered, glancing pointedly around the room.

Julie sighed. “Look, I told you, you're off the hook. Okay? If anything happens to me, you just tell Marc you did everything you could to stop me—which is completely true, by the way. If he still blames you, or if somehow he gets it in that thick head of his that there was something else you could have done, or that there was any way at all that you were
ever
going to be able to change my mind, you can tell him for me that he's an idiot.”

“Yeah, I'll just do that.” Hawk rolled his eyes. “I'm sure that'll work out real good. I dunno, sweetheart. I hear what you're saying, and walking away right now sounds like a righteous plan, trust me it does, but I still don't think I can just head on out and leave you in the middle of this.”

“Oh, I think you can.” Conrad's voice sliced through their conversation. The menace in his tone caused even Armand's heart to race. A deadly smile, complete with fangs, curled his lip. “In fact, I insist upon it.”

The blood drained from Nighthawk's face. “Oh, man. Not this shit again.”

“I know it might not seem like it at the moment,” Conrad continued speaking in that deceptively silky voice that generally spelled big trouble, “but this
is
still my House and I am still in control here. Is that understood?”

Nighthawk nodded. “Fuck yeah. I mean, yes, sir, I understand. It's just—”

“No more arguments,” Conrad snarled. “Julie is
my
responsibility.
No one else
need worry about her safety. Not even Marc. And you may tell him that from
me
the next time you see him. You, however, do not belong here; Armand was right about that. You are not of my House, and I wish you to leave it. Now.”

“I think maybe you should go too, Armand,” Julie said quickly. “I don't want to put you in danger either.”

Armand stared at her in surprise. “I'm not afraid to…to face this with you.”

Julie smiled sadly. “Yeah, you are a little, not that I blame you. It's okay though. Really. I've got this.”

“Do you?” he countered. “What do you have? You said you spoke to Christian. Did he tell you what he has in mind? Do you even know what this ‘experiment' of his consists of?”

“Kind of. I mean, I don't know
all
the details, obviously, but, yeah, we talked about it. It's some kind of blood transfusion. Georgia needs my blood in order to survive, so I'm going to give her some—enough so that it will clean her system and knock out the disease. It works on the same principal as a vaccine, I think. Or…or, I dunno, maybe it's more like dialysis, or something.”

“Your
blood
?” Damian snarled angrily. “Is that all they want from you? Well, I'm sure no one here could ever
possibly
object to something like that! Conrad, really. If you don't put a stop to this, I will!”

“No,” Julie snapped. “You will
not
. It's my decision, no one else's, and I'll make up my own damn mind.” She leveled an impatient look at Armand and Hawk. “Okay, guys, I really need you out of here. Would you please just leave? Now?”

“Come along.” Armand nodded at Hawk. “I'll walk you out.” He didn't like this situation any more than Damian did. But if Julie was determined, and Conrad unwilling to stop her, arguing about it was just a waste of time. Meanwhile, one thing seemed clear. If Julie was relinquishing some part of her blood tonight, she'd need a way to replenish it. He might not know much about the science involved, but he did know her. He knew just what she needed and just where to get it.

As he ushered Hawk out of the room, Armand glanced behind him once again. Julie appeared to have regained some measure of calmness. She had perched herself on the arm of Conrad's chair, with the air of someone perfectly at ease to be braving the beast in its own lair. But it was Conrad's expression that caught Armand's attention. Such a bewildering combination of resignation and pain, it shook Armand to his core.

Everything was changing. His entire world was turning upside down, and nothing in it was ever going to be the same again.

“Sit down, D.” Julie gestured at the empty armchair. “You need to hear this.”

“Really,
chica
,” Damian growled unhappily as he threw himself into the chair. “I don't understand what's gotten into you. Nor do I see any reason for all these theatrics. But if you imagine there is anything you or…or
anyone
could possibly say to change my mind on this subject, you're sorely mistaken.”

“We'll see about that,” Julie said as she clasped Conrad's hand. “But, just for the record, I think you're wrong.”

“Yes? What of it? For the record, I think
you're
wrong.”

“I know. And, like I said, we're about to find out.”

“Conrad, can you not talk to her, please?” Damian demanded. “What's this all about?” The look on his lover's face frightened him; it was cold and bleak and…hopeless. He'd never seen him look so defeated, not even during those first few weeks on the run with the twins, when death and discovery had seemed both imminent and inevitable, when the obstacles they faced seemed insurmountable and they'd both been continuously on the verge of despair. If he looked like that now, their present circumstances must be ten times worse.