This Side of the Grave (Page 72)

"You all want to know why I have abilities other new vampires don’t?" I said, digging that blade in. "Because I don’t feed from humans; I drink vampire blood." And then I yanked it toward my body, cutting my hand to grip the naked edge for maximum balance, feeling more satisfaction from that public admission than I did seeing Apollyon’s head separate from his neck. All my life, I’d had to hide what I was. First as a child when I didn’t even know why other kids weren’t like me, then when I hunted vampires in my late teens and mid-twenties, and finally, my oddities this past year as a full vampire. Well, I was done hiding, hating, or apologizing for the parts of me I hadn’t chosen and couldn’t change. If some people had a problem with my differences, that was just too f**king bad for them.

"That’s right, I eat vampires," I said again, louder this time. I pushed his body away and stood, shaking the blood off my sword as I faced the remaining group of ghouls.

"World’s freakiest bloodsucker, right here," I went on. "And you know what? If that makes some of you uncomfortable, too bad. If it makes some of you so uncomfortable you want to start shit with me about it, step right up and see if I don’t eat the hell out of you next!" I’d meant that last part as a threat, but somewhere in my impassioned declaration of independence from hiding what I was, I’d neglected to think through my phrasing. I saw Bones raise a brow, a muffled snicker broke out from Ian, and then Vlad laughed loud and hearty.

"With that sort of invitation, Reaper, you might want to suggest the line form to your right."

"That’s not . . . I meant eat them in a bad way," I sputtered.

"I think you made your point, luv," Bones responded, his face carefully blank even thought I caught a faint twitch to his mouth. Then his expression hardened as he looked at Veritas, who’d turned around to watch me behead Apollyon. "And I second it," he said, all traces of humor gone from his voice.

The Law Guardian stared at me. I didn’t regret a moment of my public declaration – aside from perhaps my wording – but I knew her response carried more weight than my vampire audience or the score of surrendered ghouls. She also spoke for the highest ruling body over vampires.

At last, Veritas shrugged. "That does make you the world’s freakiest bloodsucker, but there’s no law against a vampire feeding from other vampires." And then she turned away.

I let out a laugh that died in my throat as movement at the back of the gate caught my eye.

Marie Laveau walked slowly into the cemetery.

Chapter Thirty-seven

I didn’t blink as I stared at Marie. Toanyone who didn’t know better, the sight of one lone ghoul strolling up shouldn’t have looked frightening at all. But I knew that Marie could summon a wall of Remnants to fight for her before I could even whisper, "Oh shit." Could I raise my own army of them fast enough to counter such an attack from her? Or should I focus my energy on trying to control the ones she raised, if it came to that? I’d assumed Marie gave me her power so that, in a roundabout way, she could help me defeat Apollyon, but had she been on his side all along? Had everything I thought about her been wrong?

"Why have you come here?" Veritas hissed at her.

I held up my hand, ignoring the incredulous look the Law Guardian gave me as I shushed her.

"Majestic, so nice of you to come by," I said, sounding a lot calmer than I felt. "I hope you found the place because of your ghost friends telling you about what was going down. Not because you’re just showing up late to the hate rally." Her deep brown eyes met mine, face absolutely expressionless. She walked forward, gaze flitting around the cemetery to look at the fallen bodies of the ghouls around her. Those still living who’d crouched back in fear minutes before now began to edge toward her.

"Apollyon is dead?" Marie asked, no hint of what she was thinking in her buttery smooth voice.

"Very," I replied before Veritas could speak. "Most of his top lieutenants are dead, too." Marie was now ahead of all the other ghouls, only a few dozen feet of headstones separating her from the line of Master vampires.

"And your plans for the others?"

I glanced behind her again, anticipating a seething mass of Remnants appearing at any second. We hadn’t had a chance to formally discuss among ourselves what we were doing with the surrendered ghouls, but I didn’t wait to consult anyone before I answered.

"We’re letting them go."

"You have no authority to make those decisions," Veritas snapped.

"What a shame." Marie’s voice sliced across the air, that sweet Southern twang gone and filled with the echoing tenor of the dead instead. "If Cat were correct, then I would have no cause to attack you to protect my people. I want peace. Don’t force me to war." Veritas stared at Marie, her pretty, deceptively young-looking features hard. I only hoped she’d had run-ins with Marie in the past to know that the voodoo queen’s new spooky voice was a warning that she was about to unleash all kinds of pain. If not, I didn’t have time to convince Veritas about how ferocious Remnants were. I’d only have time to try to raise my own, or this would turn into a bloodbath with the casualties heavily on our side this time. Marie had her hands clasped in front of her in a deceptively casual gesture, but I knew that just meant the sharp point in her ring was pressed to her flesh.

Only Mencheres’s power could be fast enough to stop her from drawing her blood to summon the Remnants. Even though I saw him walk up out of the corner of my eye, relieved to see Denise and Kira were also with him, I didn’t dare look over at Mencheres for fear any gesture would antagonize Marie into acting. Plus, if Mencheres froze her, he’d better kill her, too. She’d never let such a thing slide, especially with witnesses. And if we wiped out Apollyon, his lieutenants, and Marie Laveau all in the same night, we’d start the war ourselves.

"Cat has no authority to make those decisions," Veritas repeated. Beside me, Bones tensed even as I mentally braced to start counter defenses against a horde of diaphanous killers.

"But she is correct nonetheless," Veritas finished.

It took everything in me not to let out a loud whoop of relief. Some of the tension leaking off Bones into my emotions lessened as well, even though not a fraction of his posture eased.

"They’ll make us slaves," one of the ghouls called out bitterly, to a chorus of grim sounds of agreement.

"No they won’t," Marie said, managing to sound both strident and comforting at the same time. "Peace does not mean vampires will ever rule over us. They are not strong enough to do so.