A Stone-Kissed Sea
Page 32
“Don’t you understand?” Lucien crouched down, his bare feet flexing in the gravelly sand of the sea cave. “You’re going to die. You are not leaving this cave alive. You stole her life, Philip. You must answer for that.”
Terror filled Philip’s eyes. “I can give you names.”
“I know you can.”
“I was hired in Istanbul. Zara Olegovna hired—”
“Zara is dead,” Lucien said. “Who else can you give us?”
Panic as waves lapped at the rocks near the entrance. Tiny sea creatures were beginning to skitter along the pebbles.
“I don’t know! Aris was my boss, but it was Zara who—”
“I told you Zara is dead, Philip. Give us something new, and we’ll kill you before the crabs begin to nibble your face.” Lucien took a stick and flicked it along Philip’s ear. “They have very small claws. It might not hurt much at first. It will probably be the tide that kills you.”
“Laskaris!” he cried. “Rumors were everywhere in the city. He wants to take over the Greek court. Kill his rivals. Regain the glory of Athens and that kind of bullshit.” Philip descended into panicked blathering in his mother tongue.
Laskaris. It was exactly who Lucien had suspected based on his mother’s reports and the information he’d received from allies, but he needed more than rumors. The old Greek was the de facto leader of the oldest vampire court in Europe. Athens had once ruled the Western world, and many vampires still looked to it as the epitome of wisdom even though the four immortals that made up the court had become lazy and self-indulgent.
“Laskaris is funding production of Elixir?”
“I didn’t work for him. Not directly. I worked for Zara. She’s the one who brought it to him. She came up with the idea… Laskaris ran with it. He wants an empire. Wants to fucking take the world back to the Stone Age and shit. That’s all I know.”
“Why kill off humans?”
“He says there’s too many. They’ll be too hard to manage. The Elixir is population control. He takes out enough humans and vampires, the rest will be easier to conquer. He’ll take out his rivals, starting in the Mediterranean, then move on from there. He thinks he’s fucking Alexander the Great or some shit.” Philip blinked rapidly, his eyes never leaving the waves. “You’re going to kill me.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t want to drown,” he whimpered. “Please God, don’t let me drown.”
Lucien looked at the waves creeping into the cave. “Yes, I imagine it’s quite terrifying.” He looked back at Philip. “Do you think Makeda was terrified when she couldn’t steer your Jeep and she started sliding toward the trees?”
Philip began to sob.
“I’ve never liked cars,” Lucien said. “They can trap immortals just as they can trap humans. The difference is, vampires are much harder to kill. Not like Makeda.” He ran a cold finger under Philip’s jaw, tapped on the pounding pulse. “She was like you, Philip. Soft. Breakable. She didn’t survive the crash.”
The human would be useless for any further interrogation. It didn’t matter. He’d confirmed what Lucien had suspected. He stood and turned to Baojia. “Keep the waves back until I can speak to her.”
Baojia raised an eyebrow. “Offering up her murderer?”
“It’s her decision to make,” he said, looking over his shoulder at the quivering human buried in sand. “Besides, she needs the blood.”
Lucien walked out of the cave and up the rocky path leading to the bungalows where his patients had once lived. No patients anymore, just the burgeoning power of a woman who tested every one of his instincts. When he reached her door, Ruben stopped him with a single raised hand.
The stocky vampire had been his assistant for almost three years, leaving his home in San Diego and following Baojia to Northern California when he’d learned of the scientific research Katya was funding. He’d been a biologist as a human. Now he was Lucien’s assistant and Baojia’s pupil.
“Sorry, boss,” Ruben said. “She doesn’t want company. She specifically mentioned yours.”
“I have her murderer buried in a cave down by the beach. I need to know what she wants to do with him.”
Makeda pounded on the door, and Ruben turned and unlocked it. As soon as the dead bolt slid free, an irate Makeda wrenched the door open.
“Who?”
“Your neighbor, Philip Marin.”
Shock. Then awareness. “The steering. I remembered something about a deer. Thought I must have swerved… But no, it was the steering. I couldn’t move the wheel. I started down the hill, and the road started to twist.”
“Marin tampered with the power steering. He was desperate to stop you from reaching the lab, and he took a chance you’d reach the cliffs before it gave out. If it had gone out on the highway, you’d have had no issues. But once you reached the hills—”
“He wanted me dead.” Her eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“He works for the vampire funding production of the Elixir. He was ordered to watch you. He panicked when he thought you were close to a cure.”
“Where is he?” Makeda bared her teeth, her fangs long and already red with her own blood. “Where is that bastard?”
Lucien caught her arm before she could take off into the night. On her own, Makeda could go on a killing spree. There were still humans at the compound, including Natalie and her children. If bloodlust overwhelmed her senses, she wouldn’t know a loved one from an enemy.
Terror filled Philip’s eyes. “I can give you names.”
“I know you can.”
“I was hired in Istanbul. Zara Olegovna hired—”
“Zara is dead,” Lucien said. “Who else can you give us?”
Panic as waves lapped at the rocks near the entrance. Tiny sea creatures were beginning to skitter along the pebbles.
“I don’t know! Aris was my boss, but it was Zara who—”
“I told you Zara is dead, Philip. Give us something new, and we’ll kill you before the crabs begin to nibble your face.” Lucien took a stick and flicked it along Philip’s ear. “They have very small claws. It might not hurt much at first. It will probably be the tide that kills you.”
“Laskaris!” he cried. “Rumors were everywhere in the city. He wants to take over the Greek court. Kill his rivals. Regain the glory of Athens and that kind of bullshit.” Philip descended into panicked blathering in his mother tongue.
Laskaris. It was exactly who Lucien had suspected based on his mother’s reports and the information he’d received from allies, but he needed more than rumors. The old Greek was the de facto leader of the oldest vampire court in Europe. Athens had once ruled the Western world, and many vampires still looked to it as the epitome of wisdom even though the four immortals that made up the court had become lazy and self-indulgent.
“Laskaris is funding production of Elixir?”
“I didn’t work for him. Not directly. I worked for Zara. She’s the one who brought it to him. She came up with the idea… Laskaris ran with it. He wants an empire. Wants to fucking take the world back to the Stone Age and shit. That’s all I know.”
“Why kill off humans?”
“He says there’s too many. They’ll be too hard to manage. The Elixir is population control. He takes out enough humans and vampires, the rest will be easier to conquer. He’ll take out his rivals, starting in the Mediterranean, then move on from there. He thinks he’s fucking Alexander the Great or some shit.” Philip blinked rapidly, his eyes never leaving the waves. “You’re going to kill me.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t want to drown,” he whimpered. “Please God, don’t let me drown.”
Lucien looked at the waves creeping into the cave. “Yes, I imagine it’s quite terrifying.” He looked back at Philip. “Do you think Makeda was terrified when she couldn’t steer your Jeep and she started sliding toward the trees?”
Philip began to sob.
“I’ve never liked cars,” Lucien said. “They can trap immortals just as they can trap humans. The difference is, vampires are much harder to kill. Not like Makeda.” He ran a cold finger under Philip’s jaw, tapped on the pounding pulse. “She was like you, Philip. Soft. Breakable. She didn’t survive the crash.”
The human would be useless for any further interrogation. It didn’t matter. He’d confirmed what Lucien had suspected. He stood and turned to Baojia. “Keep the waves back until I can speak to her.”
Baojia raised an eyebrow. “Offering up her murderer?”
“It’s her decision to make,” he said, looking over his shoulder at the quivering human buried in sand. “Besides, she needs the blood.”
Lucien walked out of the cave and up the rocky path leading to the bungalows where his patients had once lived. No patients anymore, just the burgeoning power of a woman who tested every one of his instincts. When he reached her door, Ruben stopped him with a single raised hand.
The stocky vampire had been his assistant for almost three years, leaving his home in San Diego and following Baojia to Northern California when he’d learned of the scientific research Katya was funding. He’d been a biologist as a human. Now he was Lucien’s assistant and Baojia’s pupil.
“Sorry, boss,” Ruben said. “She doesn’t want company. She specifically mentioned yours.”
“I have her murderer buried in a cave down by the beach. I need to know what she wants to do with him.”
Makeda pounded on the door, and Ruben turned and unlocked it. As soon as the dead bolt slid free, an irate Makeda wrenched the door open.
“Who?”
“Your neighbor, Philip Marin.”
Shock. Then awareness. “The steering. I remembered something about a deer. Thought I must have swerved… But no, it was the steering. I couldn’t move the wheel. I started down the hill, and the road started to twist.”
“Marin tampered with the power steering. He was desperate to stop you from reaching the lab, and he took a chance you’d reach the cliffs before it gave out. If it had gone out on the highway, you’d have had no issues. But once you reached the hills—”
“He wanted me dead.” Her eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“He works for the vampire funding production of the Elixir. He was ordered to watch you. He panicked when he thought you were close to a cure.”
“Where is he?” Makeda bared her teeth, her fangs long and already red with her own blood. “Where is that bastard?”
Lucien caught her arm before she could take off into the night. On her own, Makeda could go on a killing spree. There were still humans at the compound, including Natalie and her children. If bloodlust overwhelmed her senses, she wouldn’t know a loved one from an enemy.
