High Society - Page 69

“Well, look what it got her in return!” Asa shouted.

I was about to intervene again when a familiar laugh came from downstairs. “Abram!” I gasped.

The three of us edged back downstairs and tracked his scent, but the only thing I could catch sight of was a sudden flash of his dark hair. He wore a Continental army uniform, allowing him to effectively blend in with all of Asa’s guests – which were still scattered everywhere throughout the manor.

It must have been Abram who poisoned Eve! I cursed inwardly at my lack of focus. I hadn’t even seen him at the party.

Just then, a scream from a room close by shattered the conviviality of music and chatter. Enoch and Asa raced in a blur to the dining room, and I arrived a few seconds later. Chaos ensued. Vampires, no doubt Abram’s latest sires, were already feeding on soldiers. One had cornered Robert Benjamin and was closing in, so I grabbed my stakes to intervene on his behalf. It turned out that we didn’t even have to fight them. Enoch released the order for all vampires to stop feeding, and then we dragged them outside and I helped Enoch and Asa kill every last one of them.

After the last one was staked, my stomach sank as I heard Mary’s cry from upstairs. “Asa! Asa, help!”

Abram succeeded in distracting us from Eve, and we walked right into his trap.

* * *

Abram

The woman helping Eve took one look at me and yelled for Asa. “You’re not gonna hurt her. I won’t let you!” she declared bravely, baring her fangs.

“I wasn’t asking for your permission,” I replied calmly as I entered the room, closing the door and toppling a wardrobe. No one was going out, and no one would be coming in easily.

“Asa! The door is blocked!” the young woman cried out.

Behind me, Asa’s arm broke through, splintering the door. He kept splitting the wood, trying to claw his way inside, but I turned back around and ignored him.

I realized that I’d seen the woman before. It took me a moment to remember where, and then it dawned on me – she was the rider who fled from Enoch’s barn the day we lit it on fire, and she was Asa’s sire, from what I could tell. She called for him, not Enoch, to help.

I took a step closer, the woman sticking her hands out to stop my advance. “I’ll kill you,” she warned. “I’m a trained soldier.”

“So am I,” I replied with a smile.

The wall beside me burst open. The wall’s inner wooden slats split loudly as Enoch entered the room in one fluid movement, grabbed me by the back of my shirt and jacket, and roared in my face.

“I didn’t touch her!” I blurted out, flicking my eyes to Eve. “I just wanted her to unlink us.”

“Don’t,” Eve rasped from the bed. “Don’t unlink us. Don’t kill him.”

Eve tried to sit up in the bed but fell over, however, the motion drew Enoch’s attention. I took advantage of his momentary distraction to jerk away from him, putting distance between us and creeping closer to the window. I decided I would jump from it just like Eve had done. Then Titus stepped into the room.

Given the deadly stare he aimed at me, he recalled the wound I’d given him in Enoch’s turret tower. I scoffed inwardly. I’m sure the injury was painful, but I knew he would heal from it. I was careful to avoid his organs. I just wanted to separate myself from Eve, and he was determined to see her home.

“I wasn’t trying to kill you, Titus. I just needed you to stop and listen.”

“That’s all I want, too, buddy,” Titus answered sarcastically. “Come on over and we’ll have a nice, friendly chat.”

“Eve is a traitor,” I told him as he stalked forward like we were in the sparring ring.

“What about you?” Titus asked with a cocky smirk. “You’ve sired more vampires in this time than these assholes have.” He glanced at Enoch. “No offense.”

Asa stepped into the room. “Did you set fire to my house?” he asked quietly.

“Unfortunately, no. I was busy killing Enoch’s people,” I replied with a feral grin.

Irritated, I noticed the color coming back into Eve’s cheeks, courtesy of the healing properties of the tech suit she wore. It lit up the space around her like a bright, white beacon. A second later, she managed to sit up with very little assistance from her helper. “Don’t kill him,” she said again, her voice strengthening.

Why is she coming to my defense?

Eve stood up weakly, her eyes wide. “You knew about the clone army, didn’t you?”