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CHAPTER NINE
FINN
“Marcus! Tell your horse to share!” Claude cries as Marcus’s new horse pins his ears any time Alexei’s horse tries to go for his hay.
“I’m confused. Aren’t there multiple piles of hay for them to eat?” I ask. “Why does he have to eat the same hay Alexei’s horse is eating?”
“Because he’s like Claude,” Alexei determines. “He gets pure enjoyment out of harassing others.”
“But hon! I don’t harass anyone!” Claude says. “Finn, tell them they’re being mean to me.”
I hurry over to Claude and give him a hug. “I love your harassment.”
“Thank you!” he says, and he squeezes me back and even kisses the side of my head. “Wait… no! You were supposed to declare that I don’t harass people.”
“But if I love it, it makes it all better,” I assure him.
He scoops me up for some reason and hugs me to him. “Alexei, can we keep him? He’s just so delightful.”
“No, put him back. We have to let him stand on his own two feet and grow up someday.”
“Grow up? Dammit, it’s just because you guys are all tall and shit. Or…”
“Don’t say it,” Alexei warns.
I’m grinning manically, loving the fact that he doesn’t want me to say anything. “Orrrrrr…”
“I’m never talking to you again if you say it,” Alexei threatens.
“Sounds like a win,” Marcus says. “Definitely say it.”
“Orrrrr are you saying I’m only half a man because I don’t have an arm and a leg?” I ask.
“And he said it,” Alexei mutters.
I grin, very much pleased with myself. “Well, it’s cold out here, so I’m heading in. Don’t want to freeze off the remaining limbs, you know?” I decide, leaving them to it.
Inside, I curl up on the couch as Artie, our Irish wolfhound, and Hela, the teeny mutt, curl up on top of me. Artie likes it best when he crushes my body, but I can never move him because whenever I try, he gives me the saddest look and I am the biggest sucker.
I open a book and start to read before realizing that it’s been quite a while since I left the others and Marcus hasn’t returned. “Do you think they got lost?” I ask the dogs, even though the house is right next door.
Artie doesn’t care enough to get up, so I slide out from under him and peek outside. The lights are off in the barn that Claude made workers build in an astoundingly short time. While the interior isn’t quite finished, the temporary stalls are up and it’s enough to house the horses if the weather is too bad for them to be outside.
I stuff my feet in my shoes and Hella and Artie join me on my jog over to Claude’s house, which is right next door. I don’t even bother knocking since I’ve been told not to… I mean, I guess it’s quite apparent I’m here when the vampires can likely hear me long before I reach the door.
The dogs head inside with me as I discover that it’s rather cold in here.
“What’s going on? And why’s it so cold?” I ask.
“Our furnace went out,” Claude says as Alexei fixes up a little heater aimed near the pipes. “Marcus tried to help.”
There’s so much emphasis on “tried” that I immediately reach for the furnace room door, but Marcus quickly sets his hand against it.
“It’s dangerous, you don’t need to go in there,” he informs me.
“It’s… dangerous? Like did the furnace turn carnivorous or something?” I tug at the doorknob for all I’m worth, but Marcus simply has a finger pressed against the door, keeping it shut. “Artie, attack!”
Artie, having no idea what’s going on but pleased to be included, bounds over to see what’s happening. I use the distraction to open the door and look at the way the furnace is hanging at an odd angle.
“Oh wow, Marcus. Your assistance was certainly unforgettable,” I say.
“Claude told me to jimmy it while Alexei gave it a kick… it really was a joint effort.”
“It was dead before Marcus got his hands on it,” Alexei assures me. “We have a new one coming but not until tomorrow.”
“We’re going to have to stay at your place tonight,” Claude says. “It’s much too cold in here for us.”
“Aren’t… you… vampires?” I ask.
“I think if we all sleep on our sides in spoon position, we’ll fit just fine,” Claude says, ignoring my comment. “Marcus and I used to snuggle all the time. It was so cute how he’d just hold me tight and tell me everything was going to be okay. Aw, little Marcus was the cutest.”
“That does sound super sweet and cute,” I agree.
“You can sleep on the couch,” Marcus says, clearly no longer sweet enough to hug his brother to him.
“Do I get the bed?” Alexei asks.
“You guys can just stack on the couch,” Marcus decides. “Or you could just sleep in your house.”
“My cat will get cold,” Alexei says. “Otherwise I would sleep here.” Then he scoops the cat up and heads for the door like the decision has been made.
Claude reaches for Alexei. “Hon, do you think my clothes will get cold? Do you think we should put a heater in there?”
“Yes, I’d definitely pull a heater away from the necessary areas and put it in your room with clothes that I’ve seen you wear outside in the winter,” Alexei says.
“You’re right!”
“It was a joke,” Alexei says before muttering something under his breath.
“He just said he loves my clothes,” Claude announces.
“I’m pretty sure I heard him say that he hopes you put the heater so close to your clothes that they all burn up so you can get a new normal wardrobe,” Marcus says.
Alexei smirks. “I didn’t say that but now I’m questioning why I didn’t.”
“But my zebra striped jogging suit! I thought you said it was sexy!”
“I’ve never seen you jog, but you’re right, I love you in anything you wear so we must protect them. But solnyshko, I really do think they can brave the weather. Let’s go. The quicker we get to their house, the better chance of snagging optimal sleeping positions.”
“Ooh, you’re right,” Claude says and off they go, leaving us alone in their house.
Marcus looks around before eyeing me. “You positive you don’t want to stay here?”
“I would freeze to death! You can stay, I really don’t mind being spooned by Alexei and Claude,” I tell him with an evil grin.
Marcus’s eyebrows lift as he stares at me, so I lean forward and give him a kiss, which makes him immediately forget what I said.
By the time we get back to our house, Claude is already popping popcorn and Alexei is finding a movie.
“I want something with blood in it,” Alexei decides.
“Like… in the popcorn? You want to suck the blood out of it?”
“In the movie.”
“Ahhh, makes more sense. Alexei, my dear, do you want to sit on my lap, and I’ll sit on Marcus’s lap so we all fit on the couch?” Claude asks since Artie has made himself a spot on the couch next to Alexei.
“Nothing would make me happier,” Alexei deadpans.
“Where do I go?” I ask as I think about this arrangement of stacked vampires.
“You’re like the little angel on top,” Claude says. “Come now, Marcus. We need you first.”
Marcus simply picks up Artie and deposits him on the dog bed that the dog is reluctant to use and then drags the recliner over so it’s facing the TV. Honestly, it’s quite boring compared to what it could have been.

The beeping of multiple phones wakes me up. I groggily reach over to grab mine so I can see what it is, and instead, smack Claude in the face. True to his word, he managed to cram us all in the bed, leaving no room for Marcus who slept on the couch. After Marcus was gone, Claude confided in me that he’d done all of it to pester him… except that when Marcus easily caved, he realized this bed was quite comfortable and immediately fell asleep.
I smack around on Claude long enough that he wakes up enough to hand me my phone as Alexei goes, “It’s Brooks.”
“What’s he want?” I mumble as I read it myself. He only put an address and a “Now.”
The lights go on and I cry out in despair at the assault my eyes are going through.
“Marcus, why?” I whine as I shield my eyes.
“Did you not read the text or were you too busy spooning my brother?”
“Does it look like any of us are comfortable?” I ask as I glance at the dogs piled on us.
Marcus grins and gives Artie a belly rub, which results in Artie kicking Claude. Claude just grunts.
I sit up and reach for my prostheses that I’d talked myself into removing last night. Not that long ago, I would have refused to do so, but between Marcus and being stuck without them for extended periods of time, I’ve learned that I don’t have to have them on to feel complete. And that I’m safe surrounded by the people I love who I know would protect me no matter what. “Just borrow clothes from us to save time,” I tell them.
Claude’s eyes go wide. “Oh… honey… no.”
“You will survive,” Alexei says.
“But…” Claude opens the closet and looks at Marcus’s clothes. “I will look hideous.”
“Excuse me?” Marcus growls. “You will look hideous because you’re wearing my clothes?”
“I sure will. Where’s the joy? The color? The prints?”
“Pick something and let’s go,” I say since the rest of us are nearly dressed.
“It hurts, Finn.” Claude is literally cringing away just from the gentle touch of the fabric of a dark blue shirt.
“We’re leaving you,” I warn him.
“Dammit,” he whines as he pulls on the blue button-up and black pants. It is quite shocking to see him in something so plain. “It hurts. My body feels ill. Every inch of me is on fire.”
“It doesn’t hurt,” Alexei assures him. “You look very nice.”
“Thank you, lovely. I know you’re just saying that to make me feel better. I really do appreciate it.” Claude isn’t quite so sure but follows us out to the car as we head for the address we’ve been given, which turns out to be a hotel.
There are police cars out front, so we hurry inside where Brooks meets us in the lobby. “This way.”
“What happened?” Marcus asks.
“Multiple vampires are dead. They must have attacked Mads, because most of the incident happened in his room and he’s missing.”
“Oh shit…” I say as we ride the elevator up to that floor.
People are getting escorted out of their rooms as the police do their best to keep them from looking at the massacre that happened in the hallway. From here, I can see blood splattered up the walls just past a screen to keep people from looking at the bodies. It doesn’t help that it appears like a lot of the fighting happened right outside of their rooms. There are three bodies out in the hall. One that is currently being examined is missing their head and another seems to have had their heart torn out of their chest.
We put our protective gear on so we don’t disturb the crime scene before Brooks leads us into the bedroom where two more lie dead.
The bed is rumpled, and the sheets are thrown to the foot of the bed, like someone tried to flee out of it and toward the window. There’s a large pool of blood on the floor and fingerprints smeared across the ground, as though someone was trying to crawl away.
“This is blood splatter from a gun,” Marcus says as he notes the splatter on the wall.
“Oh shit, do you think someone shot Mads with that special ammunition?” I ask. “Is he even old enough to live through that?”
Alexei steps closer to get a better look. “He appeared young to me, but it can often be hard to tell. Marcus?”
“I do think he’s younger, but I couldn’t quite tell how young. He seemed fine walking around in the daylight and carried no protective gear with him.”
“I noticed that too,” Claude says. “I don’t know that he’s super old, but his ability to walk freely in the daylight tells me he’s older than we think… but to survive one of those bullets… I’m not quite certain he’s that old. He’d have to be a true vampire to live through that, and I sure didn’t get that impression from him.”
“But if he didn’t survive, where is the body? Why would they take his body?” I ask.
“I… could be totally wrong, but I’m under the impression that Mads didn’t kill these people,” Marcus says as he waves to the bodies. “They died quickly and with a practiced hand. This level of finesse…” He trails off and I’m not sure why until I see members from the council standing in the doorway.
“You know who did this?” Leona asks.
“No, I haven’t removed any of their masks, but it appears as though their target was Mads. We will remove them once we’ve documented everything,” Marcus says. “You all are staying in the same hotel?”
“We are,” Ha-joon replies. “But I’m ten floors up. I didn’t hear a thing until I heard the sirens.”
“What floors are the rest of you on?” Marcus asks.
“Seventh floor for me,” Leona says.
“Callum?” I ask.
He grimaces. “I was only one floor up… I apologize that I didn’t hear anything or react sooner. I… struggle to sleep in hotels with all of the noise so I keep headphones on with music playing. Why would someone attack Mads? I mean… yes, he’s a part of the council, but he’s new and has very little pull. Was he involved in something I wasn’t aware of?”
“We will hopefully know more shortly,” I say as Marcus looks at the others, likely wanting to know if they heard anything.
“I didn’t hear anything,” a woman with a Kenyan accent says.
“You think Mads did all of this?” Leona asks. “I didn’t take him for a fighter.”
“We will know more shortly,” Marcus says, voice stern as he repeats what I said.
Brooks tries to usher them away, but a man whose name I don’t know shakes his head. “If someone is killing off people from the council, we should know. We have risked our lives to come here, and apparently one of us is already dead. Did this Ender guy do this?”
“Ender works alone,” I say.
Marcus is getting irritated from having to deal with them. “Get out and let us do our jobs.”
“How do we know you’re not hiding something?” he asks. “I don’t know you. I just know that someone from the council is now dead and that one of us could be next.”
I decide that I really need to do something about this before Marcus gets pissed. “What was your name?”
“Afonso.”
“Afonso, I really understand your concern, but at this point, we need to make sure none of the evidence gets disturbed. So please, give us some time and we will inform all of you what we’ve found.”
Quite a few of them aren’t pleased with this, but they do allow Brooks to escort them out, leaving us to the crime scene.
“Before they interrupted, you were going to say that the only person who fights this well against this many people is Ender, weren’t you?” I ask.
“It does line up with what he’s done in the past,” Alexei says. “But why would he protect Mads?”
“I can’t imagine that he would protect anyone but Rylee and maybe Finn,” Claude muses. “Everyone wants to protect Finn.”
“You… don’t think it was Ender they shot… do you?” I ask. “I know vampires can heal, but whoever lost this blood lost a lot of it.” I stare at the spot on the floor before looking up at the blood splatter. “I guess they could have gotten shot and then bled quite a bit here.”
“Why, though?” Marcus asks. “If you’ve shot someone, they’re going to die. Why would you bother attacking them?”
“Let me call Orin. Just… see if Ender is there or not,” I say.
I step back and call, but it takes a few rings before Orin answers. “A bit early to be hearing from you,” he comments.
“Is Ender there?”
“He is not. He stepped out, oh… an hour or so ago… why?”
“We have reason to believe he was at our current crime scene.”
Orin grows quiet.
“Orin?”
“Should I refuse to let him back in? Did he do something wrong?”
“I don’t think… he was the one doing the crime,” I admit. “We’re considering the possibility that maybe Mads was the target of a group of vampires and Ender stepped in to protect him? That sure doesn’t sound right. Maybe he just stepped in for the hell of it. Or maybe the vampires who attacked Mads are the ones he’s been looking for. I honestly don’t know. Hopefully we’ll know more shortly.”
“You don’t know where Mads or Ender are now?” Orin asks.
“No… we’re afraid one of them got shot.”
“You mean with that ammunition.”
“Yes. We’re not quite sure whether either could live through it. Maybe Ender could? He’s certainly different in some way… unusually strong and fast. But if Mads was… I have a hard time believing he’d live through it.”
“I’ll let you know the moment I hear from Ender. He hasn’t been leaving Rylee for long. I would hope he’s here soon.”
“Thank you,” I say. But I know that he’ll only be there soon if nothing has happened to him.


CHAPTER TEN
MADS
Dangling from the ceiling is not one of my favorite pastimes. The tip of my bare foot can only slowly skid across the floor. My arms are strung above my head and my ankles are chained together. I’ve tried my hand at swinging this way and that, but it does very little to help when I really have nowhere to go. I’ve also attempted to break the metal that holds me, but I’m so weak from blood loss that I can’t do much against it.
At least I’m not alone, although my current roommate is a bundle of joy as he hangs like he’s dead. How he’s not dead is beyond impressive. I wasn’t even aware that someone could live through being shot with that ammunition unless they’re a true vampire, which I’m pretty certain he’s not.
But he’s likely my only way out of this.
I swing a bit, hoping to nudge Ender. When I collide with him instead of nudging him, he jerks awake.
“Fucking hell,” he groans.
“How’s it hanging?” I ask.
He lifts his head and slowly looks over at me just to offer me a glare. Clearly, he didn’t enjoy my joke. Can’t fathom why.
Ender immediately tries to break the binds, but he can’t get them to budge at all. “Fuck.”
“Fuck is right. You going to live?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” he grumbles, like I have offended him by asking a pretty reasonable question.
“Well, you got shot with something that would kill most vampires.”
He glances at his shoulder. “Oh.”
“You tried saving my life. That’s the most romantic thing anyone’s ever done for me. Thank you,” I say as I give him a smile.
“I’m horribly sorry if that’s what you thought I was doing. Since you’re the most suspicious man I’ve ever met, I assumed you were up to some shit. I planned to sneak into your room and smack you around a bit, not save you.”
“Like… in a fun way?” I ask, a little hopeful.
“And if that didn’t work, I planned to torture you.”
“Like… in a fun way?”
“And if that still didn’t work⁠—”
“I feel like maybe you’re slightly evil, but I’m hoping there’s just a misunderstanding between us,” I say. “I’m sure that’s the answer. There’s simply a misunderstanding.”
“There’s not. I fully planned to torture information out of you.”
“But why? I’m like a baby council member! I joined around seven months ago! Why wouldn’t you torture someone else who knows more?”
“I didn’t say I’d only torture you. I was just planning on starting with you and working my way up to someone more significant.”
“But I’m significant! And I was over here believing that you were saving me out of the goodness of your heart. Are you sure you didn’t and are just shy and embarrassed that it was so romantic?”
“I would never help anyone out of the goodness of my heart,” Ender assures me.
“Well… maybe you’ll learn how to. It looks like we get to be buddies for a bit, so hopefully our bond will grow by leaps and bounds. By the end of this experience, I bet we’ll be willing to die for each other.”
“I would consider offing you to get out,” he declares.
“But why?”
“You’re a council member; I honestly don’t need more reason than that. I’m sure I could find more but I don’t need more. Now have you figured a way out of here or did you waste your entire time trying to come up with some joke about us hanging here?”
“Do you think I would still be dangling here with my butt crack on display if I had? I can feel the cool breeze caressing it. Like… you don’t think they ever considered pulling my trousers up a little when they tied me up?” I try to twist a bit so he can see what I’m talking about.
“That’s what you’re worried about?” Ender asks as he blatantly glances down and smirks. He obviously thinks it’s funny and doesn’t understand my woes at all! Maybe it’s because his trousers are perfectly in place! Like… how can he have been shot, dragged off to who knows where, and hung from the ceiling and still look completely put together? His hair doesn’t even seem to be out of place. Although his complexion does seem off.
“Can you take me as seriously when you see my ass crack?”
“I never took you seriously to begin with.”
“Yet you took me seriously enough to pick me to torture,” I remind him.
“A mistake.”
I nod. “Ah, understandable. I was really counting on you to break us out. So go on, now. Let me see your moves.”
His skin is an odd color that I’m not sure I’ve seen too often in humans or in vampires. While he didn’t suffer from as much blood loss as I did, what that ammunition released into his system has to have fucked with him to the point where he looks worse off than I do. He swings a bit, and I assume he’s just going to try some odd swinging nonsense that will get him nowhere, but instead, he hooks my legs with his.
“What are you doing? Are you trying to pull me free with your feet? A bit ambitious, but I’m willing to see if it works.”
“I’m going to eat you and then I’ll have enough strength to get out of here.”
What the fuck? This man is a fiend! “Ah… ha ha. I’d rather not!”
“Lean over a bit so I can get your throat.”
“The more I talk to you, the more I feel like you don’t overly like me.”
“I’m not sure what would ever give you that impression. Just swing this way.”
“Weirdly, I’d rather not! Especially after you declared not even five minutes ago that if you could ‘off’ me to get out of here, you would!”
“You are a council member. How hard is it to understand that they are evil? What if I promise not to drain you completely?”
“I feel like I have so little blood that if I stepped on a thumbtack, I would just die instantly! They practically drained me all over the hotel room floor. Holding my head up feels like a chore I’m barely capable of!”
“Did you kill any of them before they knocked you down?” he asks, but he had to have seen what I did.
“I… uh… smacked one!”
“Aren’t you a vampire?” Ender asks.
“Not a very good one!”
“So then you might as well let me eat you. I have a child at home.”
“You’re like those humans with the ‘baby on board’ stickers. Like oh, I guess I won’t hit that car since there’s a baby in it!”
He doesn’t care. All he cares about is trying to eat me as he keeps trying to catch me with his feet. I try to kick him away, but with my legs tied, it’s wildly unsuccessful.
Ender must exhaust himself because he slumps down. “Dammit.” He grits his teeth. “FUCK. Fuck… fuck.”
He’s starting to sound less cocky and more panicky. He’s tearing and pulling so hard that I hear his shoulder dislocate. Ender grimaces but it doesn’t slow him down any.
“Hey, with limited blood and the drugs from that ammunition running through your veins, you’re not going to heal quickly, so don’t hurt yourself to the point where you can’t fight when you need to,” I caution him.
“I need to get out of here,” he says as his nails dig into the chains, but all he’s doing is hurting his fingers. Obviously, I’m also not having the time of my life here, but I really don’t think hurting himself is going to get us anywhere.
“Ender, please. Stop. Let’s think this through.”
“You don’t know what they’re going to do,” he says.
“Do you?”
“Of course I fucking know. Of course I…” He trails off.
“What do you think they’re going to do?” I ask, voice gentle in the hope he tells me something that I don’t know. Something I can use.
I hear a noise and he stills, but they don’t seem to be coming toward us. “Think,” I say. “We’re going to think about how to get out of here. Let’s start with what we know. Do you know who they are?”
“Fuck if I know,” he growls. It’s honestly not very helpful or even believable if he claims to know what they’re going to do. “Here’s the thing—if I tell you everything you want to know, how much are you going to tell me?”
“I mean… a reasonable amount at the very least. I can tell you that this isn’t the first time I’ve been dangling from the ceiling, but it’s the first time someone’s doing it because they want to kill me.”
“I don’t want to hear about your sexcapades. Do you know who created the council?”
I think about it for a bit before telling him what I do know. “I know the council began in Europe before spreading to other locations. It was an attempt to keep unruly vampires in control. Wasn’t it started to deal with you and other vampires like you? It was built to unite vampires and control those who refused. Right?”
He grins at me. “There’s a reason you’re here. There’s a reason they wanted you.”
“If you are aware of it, I’d love to know.”
“This is what irritates me. You want me to work with you, you want me to listen to you, but everything you say is vague and lies.”
I watch him for a long moment. “I honestly was under the impression the council was created to deal with vampires like you. And I’m aware you were around at the time they created it to keep other vampires from ending up like you. That is not a lie. If it’s incorrect, you’re the only one present who can explain to me why it is.”
I hear footsteps before the door swings open and two men walk in. They’re not wearing masks, but I still don’t recognize either of them.
“Are you ready to talk?” the taller man asks.
“I’m sorry, I think we got off on the wrong foot. I’d shake your hand but as you can see, my hands are a bit preoccupied. Ha! I’m Mads Nielson. And you are?”
“That wasn’t the question.”
“You asked if I was ready to talk so I started talking. I’m actually quite good at talking. Ask my buddy over here. Ender saved my life, did you know that?”
The man I’m speaking to punches me in the stomach. “You know what I mean.”
“Ow, fuck, the hospitality in this place sucks. I’d like to speak to a manager⁠—”
He punches me again, this time hard enough to do some internal damage. I groan as I grit my teeth and curl in on myself. Of course I’ll heal from it, but lacking this much blood, it’ll take a while, and before I can heal, he punches me again.
“I-I’m sure we can talk this over, yeah?” I ask, positive he’s going to be a dick no matter what I say or do.
Apparently, we can’t talk it over as he punches me again, this time in the face. Blood coats my mouth and drips from my nose. I have my doubts he’s going to stop until he gets what he wants to hear.
“Fine, I’ll tell you. Just… I don’t want him to hear, so come closer,” I say as I nod at Ender. The vampire glances at Ender before walking up close to me. “You sure you want to know?”
“Fucking spit it out.”
“Alright,” I say before I spit blood in his face.
I’m a bit proud of that one until he grabs me by the throat, squeezing hard enough I don’t think I can speak even if I wanted to.
“How the fuck do you think he’s going to answer now that you’ve crushed his throat?” the second guy asks.
“I… possibly didn’t think that through. Just seeing his face irritates me,” he grumbles as he wipes his face off.
“We’ll come back later; maybe he’ll think it through by then,” the second guy says. I decide that once I get free, he’ll die last since he’s a smidge more reasonable than the first guy.
I close my eyes and chase the pain away as I think about how to get my ass out of here.
“You just going to take a nap?” Ender asks.
Opening my eyes, I glance over at him, but my throat still isn’t healed enough to talk—the joys of lacking blood.
“The one upside to this is now I don’t have to listen to you spew your council bullshit,” he says as he goes back to trying to hook me with his leg so he can eat me.
I give him a solid kick, and then suddenly, we’re kicking each other. It’s gaining us absolutely nothing but we’re both pissed and there’s no one else to take it out on. By the time we finish our tantrums, my throat has healed enough I can speak.
“I was trying to be reasonable with you,” I say.
“Fucking hell, he can speak again,” Ender complains.
“My voice is beautiful. It’s like angels singing.”
“Thank god I’m headed for hell, then.”
“Let me kick you again.” I try, but when he’s not joining the fight, it’s hard to reach him.
“Let me eat you. I like that you’re finally dropping your ‘I’m so sweet, look at me, I’m the nicest’ bullshit routine. The others might fall for it, but I knew you were a conniving asshole under that act.”
I glower at him. “You just think I’m an asshole because you hate everyone in the council. But I feel like most people would act a wee bit different when they’re hanging from the ceiling half dead with someone who wants to eat them.”
“I said I wouldn’t eat all of you.”
“You also said you’d off me! And I don’t have much of me left!” I say.
“Just a sip and I’ll get us out of here.”
“I thought your drinking vampire blood was just… a tale, but you really can use it the same as human blood? Like… the rest of us can’t solely consume it.”
He ignores that question.
“What if we do two truths and a lie? But each time we have to slip something good in? Eh? I’ll start. I taught chemistry at a university, I know how to fly a plane, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to die.”
“You’re quite cocky, and I’m confident you think you’re going to live through this. Honestly, you told me absolutely nothing of value. Like what do I have to gain from any of that?”
“Ha. Wrong. I don’t know how to fly a plane. Your turn.”
“Oh yes, let’s waste my time. Let’s see. The council wasn’t created to eradicate me, the council is filled with lying pieces of shit and seeing as you’re on it, I have to assume you’re the same, and I love unicorns.”
“Oooh, the first one’s definitely the lie, then. You very much look like a unicorn man.”
“See? What exactly did we accomplish besides wasting time? Now get over here so I can eat you.”
“I gave us both time to heal a little,” I say. “You see that light up there?”
“My eyes do work.”
“Can you swing up and kick the light out? If you manage to drag the wiring down, there’s the possibility you could use something to tamper with the locks on these cuffs.”
“That’s your big idea? You’re going to miraculously pull a lockpick out of a ceiling light?”
“If there isn’t anything else, you could use the wires to strangle me.”
“Now we’re talking,” he says as he tries to pull himself up enough, but he’s still so weak he can’t get his legs up to do anything of use.
“Why the fuck did you have enough energy to kick me and no energy for this?” I ask.
“It was worth it,” he mumbles, seeming to have exhausted himself.
“I’ll try,” I say. “Are you ready? Once you see this, you’re going to feel so inferior you’ll never be able to look me in the eyes again.”
He just stares at me. I dig my fingers into the metal chain hanging from the ceiling and lift my body up.
“I really can see your ass crack now,” Ender says. “It’s actually getting worse—and what is this?”
“I’m not very flexible,” I whine as I try to lift myself up to kick it. My foot goes right through the bulb, shattering it and raining fragments of glass down on us.
I lower myself back down and stare at the wall.
“Are you refusing to talk because you’re so embarrassed over your idea and the execution of it?” Ender asks.
“No, dammit.”
He doesn’t seem convinced.
And all I know is that there’s more breeze on my ass cheeks than ever.
The minutes stretch on into hours as I decide that there has to be a way out of this. There has to be something I’ve missed, but Ender clearly isn’t doing well and I have nothing to work with.
When the two men come again hours later they rough me up, but when I refuse to talk, they surprisingly leave me be with a broken nose and bloody face.
“Hey, Ender, buddy, how are you doing over there?”
He slowly lifts his head. The effects of the drug that entered his body seem to be making him suffer even more. I bet it’s because the longer he goes without blood, the harder it is on his body to recover from it.
“You’re looking a bit…” I cock my head. “Ghastly. Yes, that’s the word.”
“Fuck. You.”
“I would consider it. I have been known to make horrible decisions in the bedroom,” I say.
“Do something of use.”
“I’m pouring all of my smarts into the grandest of escapes,” I assure him.
“We’re doomed, then.”
“Now that’s the spirit!”