screamed in terror, knowing that his end had come at last. He would never again see his uncle or Henry, never eat Nelly’s cookies or hold Meredith’s hand, never catch snowflakes on his tongue, or read another book. His life would be over as soon as that blade fell. A thousand images flitted through his mind in his final moment-pictures of everything that he had ever loved and would never experience again-and Vlad knew that there was nothing he could do to stop his end. Death had come for him at last, wearing the face of his own grandfather, and all he could do was scream.
With his peripheral vision, Vlad saw Jasik, and in a second his plan was formed. He pushed as hard as he could with his mind, invading Jasik’s thoughts, embedding his own into the vampire’s mind, pushing Jasik to act, act now, stop this horrible moment before it was too late.
At first, he wasn’t certain that his mind control had worked, but then Jasik closed a hard hand over Ignatius’s wrist and twisted the dagger in his grasp. Jasik’s fist fell into Ignatius’s elbow, bending his arm and forcing the blade into his stomach. Ignatius staggered back, throwing Jasik a wild-eyed look of confusion. Jasik jumped high into the air, meeting Ignatius’s temple with a roundhouse kick, knocking him out cold.
Vlad glared at D’Ablo, the burning sensation within him finally subsiding. “Give it up, D’Ablo. It’s over.”
Jasik’s lips moved, his voice low, echoing the words Vlad had spoken. “Give it up, D’Ablo. It’s over.”
D’Ablo looked back and forth between them, his confusion slowly dissipating. He shook his head, snarling at Jasik. “You fool! He’s controlling your mind.”
At Vlad’s mental command, Jasik pointed the dagger at D’Ablo with one hand and undid his straps with another. When Vlad’s left hand was free, he undid his right. “Know this, you overgrown mosquito. Whatever sick fixation you have with me ends here today.”
Vlad unstrapped his feet and climbed down off the table. “I want you out of my life for good. If I have to kill you, I will.”
Jasik’s muttering caught up, echoing Vlad. “… If I have to kill you, I will.”
Vlad stood, making certain that Jasik remained between him and D’Ablo at all times. As Vlad made his way closer to the door, clutching his broken wrist to his chest, Jasik sidestepped at his command.
D’Ablo snarled, “You won’t get far once I’ve dispatched your puppet.”
Vlad held D’Ablo’s gaze as he moved. The door was only a few yards away. “You’re assuming I’m not going to make him take your life.”
Jasik’s voice followed, sending a chill into the air with his muttering. “… make him take your life.”
“We’ve both made assumptions.” The corners of D’Ablo’s mouth tugged upward slightly. Then without warning, he lunged forward and grabbed Jasik, throwing him to the side. With his fangs gleaming in the candlelight, he rushed toward Vlad, a hungry look in his eyes.
Vlad struggled to make Jasik stand, but couldn’t make him move fast enough. In a blind panic, he grabbed one of the lit candles from the table and thrust the candle toward D’Ablo, tossing hot wax into his open eyes.
D’Ablo roared in pain, clutching his face and thrashing about the room.
Finally Vlad coaxed Jasik back onto his feet, causing him to leap onto the still-blind D’Ablo with the blade in his hand. As D’Ablo struggled to keep the blade from entering his chest, Vlad bolted from the room.
It took him a second, but soon he recognized where he was and hurried through the next door to the corridor of prison cells. Vlad pushed hard and reached out, locating Otis in the cell at the end, astonished at his ability to take on two mind-focused tasks at once. What he saw when he reached the cell jolted his entire being.
Henry’s head was bent to the side, and Otis’s mouth was firmly fixed to his neck. Henry’s eyes were closed-it looked like he was sleeping… or dead. Oblivious to anything else around him, Otis drank, swallowing greedy mouthfuls of Henry’s blood.
Vlad felt his control over Jasik waver slightly, distracted by the horror he was witnessing.
Otis was feeding on Henry.
A single tear escaped the corner of Vlad’s eye and traced a line down his cheek, before falling to the floor with all of his hopes for the future.
24 A DIFFICULT DECISION
OTIS, NO!” Otis pulled away, and Henry winced as Otis’s fangs slipped out of his neck. Vlad breathed a brief sigh of relief that Henry wasn’t dead, but he was still horrified at the scene before him. “What have you done?”
Otis stood, strong once again, his wounds completely healed. “Your drudge saved my life.”
Then he met Henry’s eyes. “ Thank you, Henry. I am indebted to you.”
Henry nodded weakly and said, “Hey, you needed blood. I couldn’t let you starve to death. Besides, you could barely move and, not that I don’t have faith in Vlad’s abilities, but something tells me we’re going to need your help getting out of here.”
Otis replied, but Vlad was too distracted to hear it. His breathing had picked up in panic, his eyes blurring with tears. But these things hadn’t come from him. He focused on the part of his mind that was still controlling Jasik, pushing a bit more until he saw through Jasik’s eyes.
D’Ablo was beneath him, holding the blade at bay, his eyes fierce. “You’re weak, Jasik. Letting a boy control you like this. You deserve what fate awaits you.”
Jasik was panicking and struggling to regain control-Vlad could sense that much. But he couldn’t. Vlad, for once, was too strong-something that pleased Vlad more than he would ever admit to.
But still Jasik struggled, pushing with his mind against the part of Vlad that lurked within him. It was more than Vlad could allow, and he pushed back with all of his might, harder than he ever had before. Jasik lowered the knife momentarily, dazed. Something warm and wet dripped from his nose. It was only when a drop of crimson landed on D’Ablo’s hand that Vlad realized Jasik’s nose was bleeding. What’s more, Jasik seemed dazed, as if Vlad had caused him physical harm, all from pushing with his mind.
In an instant, D’Ablo had wrenched the blade from Jasik’s hand and shoved him across the room. Jasik stumbled and fell, only to find D’Ablo atop him with the blade, growling to Vlad through Jasik’s ears, “You’ll be next, Vladimir Tod.”
He shoved the blade forward hard, piercing Jasik’s chest and sinking the blade as deep as he could. Jasik struggled to pull it out, but it was too late. Blood poured from his heart, and Jasik’s vision blurred, then darkened.
Sharp, horrible pain crashed through Vlad’s mind. He staggered, and Otis caught him. “ Vladimir, what’s wrong?”
But Vlad couldn’t speak. The pain… the pain of death was too much to bear. He could feel the blade in his own chest, though nothing was there. He could feel his life aching and ebbing from his limbs. He was alive, and apart from his wrist, which was already beginning to heal, in good health, yet he hurt as if it were he who was dying.
And then… the emptiness came.
Vlad weakened in Otis’s embrace. He could almost feel himself going paler. It was over. Jasik was dead.
But the pain remained, coupled with the terrifying shadow of death that shrouded his being.
