Blood Price (New Breed Book 1) Read online

  Angelique’s original plan had been for Tela to get the sand and then go to John so they wouldn’t know who took it. But she wasn’t going to take the risk. For one, she wanted to get out of the building as soon as possible. If they found out the sand was missing right after she checked in, they’d come knocking on John’s door in minutes. And then John would be put in the position of protecting her against who knew how many vampires, and she didn’t want to do that.

  She was well aware that her actions could lead to John’s death, and that was a reality she was trying her best to not think about. She’d have to try to protect him as much as possible from the actions she was about to take, and that meant avoiding him during this little mission of hers. Besides, John could read her way too well. If she walked into his place with that sand, he’d know something was wrong immediately.

  A knock sounded on the front door, and Tela’s head shot around. Damn it, she was jumpy. She walked to the door and glanced through the peephole to see Sam. “Dani, are you ready?” she called as she opened the door.

  She averted her gaze as soon as Sam walked in. He’d been there when Angelique had asked for help. He’d been there when she’d said no and walked away. If anyone knew how directly she was to blame for her death, it was him.

  No. Today wasn’t for guilt. Today was for being a badass. But she supposed true badasses didn’t refer to themselves as one. Well, strike one for that little dream. “Dani!” she called again. She glanced at her watch. It was almost three p.m. and the car should be waiting for her soon. Considering this might be one of the last things she ever did, she’d splurged and ordered a car to drive her to the Sorenson. At least she wouldn’t have to walk three miles to her death.

  “Do you have everything you need?” asked Sam from where he stood awkwardly in the doorway.

  “I should be good.” Not that she needed much. Her donor bracelet. Herself. That was about it. Her survival bag with a collection of items she might need, assuming she actually made it out of the Sorenson with the sand.

  She was well aware of how bad the odds were, but she was going to try, damn it. For once, she was really going to try.

  “I’m ready.” Dani came out of her room with a backpack over her shoulder. It wasn’t a lot, but it should be enough for her to get out of the city. If the wall went down, Dani had promised to make a run for it, with Sam at her side as protection. In her bargaining with the resistance, she hadn’t asked for much. Just for a guarantee that Dani wouldn’t be alone. And, let’s be honest, Sam would be better protection for Dani than Tela. At least physically.

  And Dani was headstrong and stubborn, but she was also basically an adult. The best way Tela could protect her would be to do this one thing. Simple, really. Walk into a room. Grab some dirt and then get it down the road. Not far, even. Just two buildings. She could do that. She could do that. She could do that. She kept on repeating it to herself, hoping that she’d believe it eventually.

  “All right. I need to get out of here. You have the rendezvous point?”

  Sam had given them the address of Travis’s apartment. That was the designated meeting place once they both made it out of the Seattle. Tela didn’t know whether she’d ever make it there, but she was determined not to act defeatist in front of Dani.

  If she didn’t believe she could pull this off, what was the point? She would have a better chance than Angelique, and that was important. That was what she needed.

  “I have the address. It’s written down in three different places and I have it memorized.”

  “Great. I’ll meet up with you soon.” She smiled and gave Dani a quick hug. Dani tried to hug her longer, but Tela pulled away. She didn’t want this to be some dramatic good-bye. She didn’t want this to be dramatic. Because the more dramatic it was, the more it felt as if she were going off to die. She was just going to run a quick errand and then she’d meet up with Dani later. No big deal.

  “I love you. I’ll see you soon,” she promised as she gave Sam a quick nod and walked out of the apartment.

  Everything felt so final. If this failed, she’d never make it back. If it worked, she’d get the hell out of Seattle and then she’d probably never voluntarily come back to the place she’d been a prisoner for months.

  But she kept her head down and her pace steady as she made her way up the stairs and out to the street. The car was waiting for her already; she sat in the back seat and gave the driver the address.

  Then she sat back against the seat and took out her headphones. She opened up her downloaded music and put on her favorite workout song. It was powerful and motivating and made her feel stronger than she was.

  This was what she needed right now. Now, as she felt lonelier than she ever had before, she needed to draw motivation from anywhere she could get.

  She let her head fall back, and all too soon the ride was over. She paid the driver the overpriced fee and then gave a sizable tip, too. Fifty bucks total for the three-mile drive. If there was any day to spend like crazy, it was today.

  She grabbed her bag from the seat next to her and clutched it close to her like a safety blanket. If there was any time to back out, it was now.

  Taking one deep breath, she slung the bag over her shoulder and walked up to the front desk, where the normal receptionist was waiting and smiling.

  “Hello. Tela, right? I always remember an unusual name. Are you here for John again?”

  “Yep. The usual today,” she said with a wide smile. Was she smiling too much? Was it too out of character? She wasn’t usually so happy when she came here. Not that she came all that often. Tela toned down the smile a little bit. “Have things calmed down?”

  Carol immediately paled. “As calm as they ever are.”

  Now that she was here, she wondered what exactly happened when Angelique had checked in. How had they found out she wasn’t a real blood donor? Had Carol turned her in? Was the change in attitude because she felt guilty?

  “That’s good to hear,” said Tela, as though everything were normal. “I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t increased security I should know about.”

  “Nothing that I know of. You know these Vopura. They’re scary enough without needing security.”

  Tela forced out a fake laugh. “Tell me about it.”

  Carol handed out a keycard and slid it to her.

  “You have a nice night.” Tela took the key.

  “You’re here a little early, aren’t you?” said Carol as she started to walk away.

  Tela froze and turned, as if she wasn’t about to try to one-handedly destroy the invading force. “John and I have more time together during the day.” She hated to use his name in her defense, but it was the first thing that came out.

  Carol gave her a wink. “You two have fun!”

  “Oh yeah.” Tela pivoted around again. “We will.”

  Now it was showtime. So far she’d done nothing wrong. She could go to John’s apartment and say she was just there to see him. He’d believe her and, judging from prior experience, he’d show her a damn good time.

  But when she got into the elevator and ran her card over the electronic pad, she knew there was only one choice. Fourteen was John’s floor, but that wasn’t what she entered. Instead, she pressed forty-one. She had the folded-up instructions in her back pocket, but she didn’t take them out. She didn’t need to. She’d long since memorized the map. She closed her eyes and visualized the steps she’d need to take. Turn right out of the elevator. Walk past eleven doors and then, the twelfth door on the right, was the room she needed.

  The door needed a physical key, not an electronic one. Because the vampires still didn’t trust electricity. Someone on the inside had given them a key that supposedly would open the door.

  And if the key didn’t work.... Who knew? Maybe she’d have time to make it down to John’s before anyone knew she was here. Maybe she would get caught as soon as she failed.

  The resistance had seemed very convinced that the ke
y would still work, even after Angelique was discovered. They were under the impression that she was captured before she ever got to the elevator and the key was never found. She had no idea how they knew that, but she took their word for it.

  She didn’t really know how she got from the elevator to the door. One second, she was in the elevator and the next, she stood in front of the twelfth door. It was like she was on autopilot. All that was left was to put the key into the hole and turn. Easy. She took a nervous gulp and pushed the door open. No one was inside. No one had shown up suddenly to take her to vampire jail.

  The fact that there were no guards was shocking, but she thought back to what Angelique said. The vampires were nothing if not arrogant. Maybe this would be their downfall? Their pride?

  She stepped inside the room. It wasn’t an apartment, but a storage closet. What an odd place to store something so important. Her unease shot up. Could this really be that easy? Walk in, grab the sand, and then get the fuck out?

  Of course, she wasn’t looking for just any sand. She needed the special magic sand that was used in the spell.

  Stupid magic. Everything had been fine before magic got involved. Something she’d been trying her best not to think about. But now that she was the one tasked with defeating this spell, magic was a much bigger part of her life.

  The jar of black sand was on the top shelf. This was really it? The magical key? The trick to bringing down the wall? Okay, then. She reached up and had to stand on her tiptoes to reach the jar of dirt. It looked so simple. What if she went through all this, only to have the dirt be worthless?

  Well, that sounded like future her’s problem. For now, she just wanted to get out as soon as possible. She tucked the jar into her bag and headed for the elevator. Her heart pounded so hard that she was sure that all the vampires would be able to hear.

  She put her backpack over her shoulder even though she really wanted to clutch it to her chest as though it were her most prized possession because right now, it really was. It might be humanity’s most prized possession.

  She got to the elevator and hit the down arrow. She was sure Carol would comment when she walked by. She’d have to bullshit some story about John being busy, but it really wouldn’t matter. By the time she reached Carol, she’d be close enough to the sun to feel at least semi-confident that she’d get out scot-free. Just one more minute and she’d be good. All she had to do was make it—

  The elevator doors opened, and she found herself face-to-face with Mikel.

  John knew something was wrong when his door was broken down and the swarm of Vopura came in. He knew something was very wrong as he was led out and saw Dante’s disappointed face. Not angry. Not pissed. The sad resignation of disappointment.

  There weren’t many people Dante answered to, so John knew that whoever was summoning him was in Mikel’s inner circle. The fact that there were silver handcuffs burning his wrists was just a sign of how dire it was. But even then, he maintained his calm. He hadn’t done anything wrong. Whatever they were calling him in for was a misunderstanding, and he was sure he’d be able to talk himself out of it. Panic wouldn’t serve him any favors.

  But when he entered the ornate offices that Mikel called his inner sanctum, he saw Tela on a sofa alone and his vision went red. He started to run for her, but one of the guards intercepted him and rammed into his chest so hard he went flying back.

  He hit the ground hard and rolled, practically crushing the arms still behind his back. When he came to a stop against the wall, Tela jumped up. As Mikel put a hand on her shoulder, her eyes went wide with fear as she was pushed back to a seated position.

  “I’m so happy you’re here,” said Mikel. “I had so many questions for your friend here, but I decided to wait until all of us were present.” As he spoke, he rested his hands on Tela’s shoulders. He didn’t move those hands, but the threat was evident.

  John knew that his eyes had turned and his fangs were out. There was nothing he could do about that. All he wanted to do was rush Mikel. He envisioned all the ways he could put the bastard out of his misery. Run him into the bookshelves on the side and ram a shard of wood through his heart, traditional human vampire-slaying style. Get his hands in front of him and use the chains of the handcuffs to decapitate the son of a bitch. Or maybe go old-fashioned and bash his head into the floor until his brains decorated the walls....

  “John didn’t know I was here,” said Tela in a quiet, obviously terrified voice.

  “Allow me.” Dante stepped between John and Tela. “Do you know what’s going on here?” he asked, his attention directed at John. He was obviously trying to be calm in the face of this chaos, but John didn’t feel calm.

  “I have no idea.” Oh, he had multiple ideas, just not ones he wanted to say out loud. He saw the way Mikel had looked at Tela. How he coveted her. He wanted to test to see whether John was loyal, and this was it. If Mikel touched one hair on her head, he swore to fuck he would—

  “The blood donor you have been frequenting, Tela Beckford, was caught breaking in to level forty-one. She was found in possession of an artifact that would allow her access to the wall. This is not up for debate. These are the facts.”

  John looked over to Tela, and as soon as his eyes touched hers, she averted her gaze. No denials. No pleading. John took a nervous gulp as Dante continued.

  “We are here to determine the extent of your involvement.”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” said Mikel. “He was half bonded to the mortal bitch. They were working together.”

  “Nothing is obvious to me,” bit out Dante. “John is as surprised as anyone else would be. I personally monitored his relationship with his human, and no barriers were crossed. She didn’t use him to gain access to the building. She could’ve checked in to see anybody. From reviewing the tapes, it’s the receptionist who first brought up the idea that she was there to see John. Though I do believe the mortal was using him, I don’t believe he was an active participant.”

  Mikel scoffed and ran a finger down Tela’s cheek. She tried to sit still, but John could see the shudder that she couldn’t suppress. He knew Mikel was just doing this to get a rise out of him, but damn it, it was working. He shouldn’t touch her. He shouldn’t have his dirty fucking hands on her.

  “It’s obvious they weren’t working together, because if they were, John could’ve gotten the artifact in and out with no trouble at all, without putting his human in danger,” pointed out Dante.

  “He’s right,” said Tela in a small voice. “If John had helped me, I wouldn’t be here. And if I told him what I was planning, he would’ve reported me. His loyalty was never in question.”

  Mikel’s hand wrapped around her throat, pulling her up enough to lift her a few inches from the seat. Before John could run to her, Dante was in front of him, his hand biting into his shoulder to hold him in place. He didn’t feel the pain. It wasn’t until he smelled the blood that he realized Dante’s claws were stabbing through his clothes and into his skin.

  The smell of Tela’s fear overrode the blood. Her heart beating frantically in her chest was deafening. But her eyes were calm. Resigned. She was expecting to die.

  He knew that if he went for her now, he’d never make it. He was outnumbered, and she was too fragile. All it would take was a flick of Mikel’s wrist and she’d be gone. He curled his hands into fists and focused on the pain from where Dante was holding him back. He used that pain as a focus point to rein in his emotions, even though his black eyes and fangs were an obvious tell.

  Mikel released Tela and she fell in on herself, crouching down as if to make herself as small as possible on the couch.

  “This is getting ridiculous.” Mikel walked back to his desk. “Two humans in two weeks attempting a break-in. And your little mortal got farther than the first.” He opened the jar and unceremoniously dumped the contents on the floor. A cloud of dust billowed around the room. “From this point on, we’re on lockdown.” And then, with the flick of
a lighter, he set the dust on fire.

  Tela’s eyes squeezed shut and she winced as though she were in pain.

  “What is that?” demanded John. “What did you do?”

  “That was the only chance the humans had of getting through the wall. From here on out, we have no supplies. No food. No help. Thanks to your girlfriend, all the humans are hopeless now.”

  Fuck. If the humans ran out of food, it would only be a matter of time before the Vopura ran out of food. Dante squeezed John’s shoulder tighter, a silent warning to keep that bit of logic to himself.

  John looked at Tela and then to Mikel. He knew exactly what he had to do, and it would mean leaving her. “If I’m cleared, I want to leave. There’s nothing I can do here.”

  Tela looked at him once more, and he could see tears welling behind her eyes. She was going to leave him. She was going to take that witch’s trick and her sister and leave him forever. Without a last word. Without a good-bye. He couldn’t blame her, but damn, the thought hurt. “I can see now that any feelings I had for the mortal were a mistake on my part. If you’re not going to punish me for using the blood donor program, then I suggest you let me go.”

  Mikel walked slowly over to Tela. He stared at John intently as he brought one long nail up to her delicate cheekbone and, in an abrupt jerking motion, stabbed the nail into her cheek. Tela let out a small moan, obviously choking back a scream.

  John forced himself back. Back to the punishments he’d endured in the past. The beatings. The torture. All the times his free will had been sucked away from him. He forced himself to go numb as he looked back at Mikel, hiding the disdain he felt so deeply.

  He must’ve passed whatever test it was because Mikel pulled his claw from her flesh. “Your future isn’t decided yet,” warned Mikel. “This devious little bitch will suffer the same fate as the one before her. Come dusk, she’ll be drained and hung out for everyone to see her failure. Get him out of here.”

  Before Dante could pull him up, John was on his feet and going for the door. He risked one more glance back at Tela, who now had a drop of blood dripping down her cheek, like a tear.