17

ow I wait.
Zachary relaxed in the corner of his cell, his eyes closed as he tried to sense beyond the walls, searching for the hunters. He was impressed with the magnitude of his father’s new home. The house in Virginia seemed like a guesthouse in comparison. SEVEN was another accomplishment he had become impressed with. Alexander had been busy.
Zachary heard noise of something falling onto the floor. He opened his eyes and found a bag of medical blood in the middle of the cell. He looked up to see a man in his late twenties standing by the door. With his clean cut hair and nicely pressed clothes, this man was the brains of Eden.
Kill the head and the body will die.
This was David.
“I don’t drink human blood,” said Zachary.
David kept his emotions in check as he spoke. “If you want to help us, then you’ll need your strength.”
“So,” he began, deciding to play his game, “my father chose not to feed me himself. You know, if he really wanted me to double my strength, then he should sacrifice one of his hunters. I would need fresh blood and plenty of it. Perhaps that Pax fellow is willing to take one for the team.”
“You wanted to speak with Evonne?” David asked.
“If he doesn’t mind.”
David placed his hands in his pockets as he began to think. “It’s not if Alex minds, it’s if she’s willing to speak with you.”
Zachary kept to his game. “You’re David, my father’s little errand-boy. Tell me, how is it to stand by his side, always asking, ‘How high?’ ”
He ignored him. “Who is the vampire after Evonne?”
“Did Alexander put you up to this?”
David crossed his arms. “This is my question.”
“Just some vampire,” he answered, shrugging. “Nothing special.”
“Why does he want her?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he has a taste for unattainable virgins locked away in castles. Or maybe he wants someone to play gin rummy with on Friday nights.”
“Is he dangerous?”
A small grin crept on Zachary’s lips. “Aren’t all vampires dangerous?”
“Where can we find him?”
He closed his eyes and sighed. “I don’t know.”
“Don’t know or won’t say?”
“Quid pro quo,” toyed Zachary. “I would like to speak with Evonne first.”
David weighed his options and came to a decision that disgusted him. He walked back down the hall. “Eat up,” he called back.

The music from Evonne’s computer filled the room. Her distractions had been limited to her room and the kitchen. Everything outside had continued to remain well out of her reach. It was her punishment. Her father didn’t verbally state the new grounds of her punishment, it was assumed that she would be grounded until she turned fifty.
Even though it was mid-afternoon, she had only been up for three hours. Her schedule of sleeping late had returned.
The old computer game she played was an addictive one. Building roller coasters and amusement parks had become a fun distraction. She always wanted to go to a theme park, to ride all of the rides and eat cotton candy until her stomach ached. She even wondered what a funnel-cake tasted like. “Stringy, fried batter, covered in powdered sugar,” Pax once told her. “Best invention ever!”
Quietly opening her door, David entered the room. He crossed the floor and took a seat on the edge of her bed. There was no leading up to his question. He just had to ask her. Time wasn’t on his side.
“How would you like to come downstairs with me,” he asked.
“Why?” she said, remaining preoccupied with her game.
David reiterated, “I mean the downstairs.”
She shot him a curious look. “Explain.”
“Someone’s here who wants to speak with you. I’m not too comfortable with the idea, but he is in one of our holding cells.”
“Who is it?” she asked. For a fraction of a second, she imagined Keelan being captured by the hunters.
“Your brother,” he said. “He wants to talk with you before he answers any of our questions.”
Evonne thought on this. “I’m not… I mean, is it all right with my father?” She wasn’t too sold on his explanation. She was forbidden to enter the lower levels, grounded or not. And to have her father send David after her, it was a little suspicious.
David replied cryptically, “What he doesn’t know…”
“Oh. Uh, sure. Why not.” She stood and slipped on her house shoes.
David led her down the staircase and toward the far end of the house, all the while keeping an eye out for Alex or Marie. The final hall they came to was the last section of house she was able to venture near as a child. Even then, he father didn’t like her playing too close to the elevator doors.
They said nothing as the elevator sent them to the first level. It wasn’t until the doors opened that Evonne became nervous. What they were doing was completely against her father’s rules, but as she looked upon the first level, she realized David’s hastiness in getting her to follow. All of the hunters were gone.
“Is it always this empty?” she whispered.
“They are on Level 3, preparing,” David replied.
“Preparing?”
“For the possible attack.” He took hold of her hand and guided her past a thick, steel door.
On the floor, in the middle of the long hallway, Evonne spotted an empty blood bag. She approached the discarded bag and looked into the cell.
Sitting against a wall was her brother, Zachary.
His eyes opened, landing on her. “I want to apologize again for our first meeting. I was rude and I am sorry.”
Evonne kept her cool. “Is that all?”
Zachary stood and walked over to the cell door. He looked at David. “Excuse us, please.”
David exchanged glances with Evonne then stepped away to wait by the wall.
Lowering his voice, Zachary urgently spoke. “When he comes for you, leave with him.”
“Keelan?” she whispered.
“Tell no one of his name, if you haven’t already. He will come for you before the attack. Leave with him and you’ll be safe.”
She was confused by his order. “Why do you trust him now?”
“I don’t,” he admitted, “but he’ll keep you safe.”
She began to ask him something but stopped when she heard the hallway door open. She turned to see her father, Jonathan, and Marie enter. Her stomach dropped.
As they approached, David cursed under his breath.
“What is she doing here?” Alex demanded. He kept his voice calm but David knew better than to believe the facade.
David nervously began, “I can explain—”
“I asked to see him,” interrupted Evonne. She took a step away from the cell to properly face her father.
Alex looked at his daughter. “If you wanted to see him, then you should have asked me.” He paused, reading further into the scene. “How did you know he was here?”
“I told her,” David said.
Alex gave a him a cold glance. “Take her back upstairs.”
He nodded and grabbed Evonne’s wrist, escorting her out of the hallway.
“What were you two talking about?” Alex asked Zachary as he stood before the cell door. He was annoyed before entering the hall, but became aggravated upon seeing Evonne speaking with him. It was his hopes that she would have remained ignorant to the fact that Zachary was here.
The vampire backed away from the door and sat down. “You, of course. But if you want to know the details, I asked if you continue to blame yourself for what happened to me. Because honestly, it was your fault.” He closed his eyes. “Have you told your hunters about me? It wouldn’t be a bright idea. If the spy gets wind of a traitor amongst them, then who is to say how they will retaliate.”
“To them,” Alex advised, “you were sent here from SEVEN to help in case this battle does take place.”
“Don’t be so hard on Evonne,” Zachary quietly said. “When I look at her, I see who I use to be. And if that says anything, it should be that you haven’t changed in over two-hundred years.”
“And you have?” replied Alex sarcastically.
“Oh, I have changed plenty. But even as much as I’ve changed, you are still that demanding father who has the same regard for emotions as he does for the creatures he hunts.” Zachary opened his eyes to stare at him. “The battlefield isn’t as bloody from your roost in these mountains. It is easier that way, is it not, father?”
“Don’t call me ‘father.’ ”
Zachary tilted his head. “Why, father? Does it annoy you? Do I disgust you even still?”
“You are not my son.”
The vampire leaned forward, keeping his eyes on the weak man. “I still carry my blood in these veins, your blood. I am your son.” He looked away, his voice lowering. “When this is finished, I will leave. And perhaps this time I will keep my promise and never return.”
Alex said nothing as he turned from the cell and left the hallway with Jonathan and Marie.
Zachary sat in silence. His father was playing right into the plan. Predictable as ever. He leaned back and closed his eyes, trying to feel the weight of the sun.
Only a few more hours.