do you?”
“I . . . I hadn’t thought about it.” Was that even possible? A cure for the virus? “There’s a cure?”
“Yes. I do believe there is.”
“A cure?” I said again stupidly.
“Is our connection bad?” Sebastian asked smoothly.
“If there’s a cure, why the hell haven’t you mentioned it before now?”
“Well, for starters, I don’t know if it’ll work. And I’m almost certain it won’t work on Ticks who are fully developed. Yet. And besides, I did mention that it’s in the hands of Roberto, did I not?”
“Oh, jeez, you make it sound so easy.”
“I’m sorry. If saving your girlfriend’s life is too difficult for you, then by all means, skip it and play some video games instead.”
“Screw you.” I was so pissed off at Sebastian, it was all I could do not to just hang up on him right then. “So you’re saying, what? That I should break into Roberto’s secret lair and steal the cure?”
“Oh, I don’t think that will be necessary. You shouldn’t have to break in.”
“I just walk up with Lily and ask for it?”
“You’d be surprised how much a polite request will get you. That’s something your generation never—”
“Focus!” I barked.
“Very well. Yes, just walk up to the front gates. I’ve been working on a little theory about the Price sisters and—”
“What, now you think Lily is an
“Sarcasm will get you nowhere.”
“Fine. Tell me about this theory.”
“Never mind.” Sebastian’s voice oozed with disdain. “I’ll let you find out for yourselves. If you still have that tranquilizer gun of yours, you should use a dart on Lily. An artificially repressed heart rate should slow the progression of the virus. Go to Roberto. He will help you.”
Chances were much better that Roberto would kill us where we stood. But I guess I could live with that. Being murdered by Roberto was better than having to murder Lily myself. I’d said I would do anything to protect her. And I guess this was it. My deal with the devil. My unthinkable bargain. I would go to Roberto and ask for help from the man who had destroyed humanity.
“Fine. Tell me where to go.”
“Roberto owns the largest contiguous ranch in Texas. In the entire United States, for that matter.”
My mind flashed back to my Texas history class. “King Ranch?” I asked.
Sebastian laughed. “No. Vampires haven’t maintained their anonymity for three thousand years by cutting endorsement deals with Ford.”
“King Ranch is the largest ranch in Texas,” I said through gritted teeth.
Lily was dying. Every second we wasted she was a second closer to turning into a monster I would have to kill. And this asshole was here making jokes.
“No. King Ranch is reputed to be the largest ranch in Texas. Roberto’s ranch, El Corazon, is the one Richard King tried to build when he started buying up property back in the eighteen fifties. Roberto’s ranch isn’t nearly as publicized. In fact, I doubt there’s anyone other than Roberto himself who knows exactly how big his property is. It is not marked on any map. It’s not listed on any county records.”
“Well, great then. I’ll just drive south until I reach Area 51.”
Sebastian chuckled again. “Good plan. Head for Calhoun County, take Ranch Road 3214 until someone either kills you or invites you in.”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Carter
After I hung up with Sebastian, I sat in the car for a minute, mulling, planning, and bracing myself for the shitstorm that was to come after I told Lily what I’d learned.
I thought of Sebastian’s suggestion. Actually just tranqing Lily when I got out would probably be the easiest way to go. Not that I was going to do that. I’d done it once, as an absolute last resort. Back when she didn’t trust me. I wasn’t going to do it again. Even if it would make things much easier. I’d just have to convince her that this was for the best.
Yeah. Because she was going to be so excited to throw in with the man who’d brought down all of humanity.
I climbed out of the Mazda to find her standing with her arms crossed. I held up my hands in a gesture of surrender as I shut the door behind me. Joe stood a little ways away. Out of the blast zone, I guess.
“I am not letting him bite me,” she growled.
“Don’t worry. He said he wouldn’t.”
Her brow creased in a frown. “Oh.”
“He had another plan.” Her frown deepened. “You aren’t going to like it any better.”
She didn’t protest as much as I thought she would. Instead, she listened, quietly. Thoughtfully. Head tilted to the side like she did when she was thinking through a problem.
Then she looked up at me. “He has the cure?”
“That’s what Sebastian said.”
“And Sebastian really thinks we’ll be able to just walk through the front door. That Bob will just let us in?”
“Yeah. He does. And maybe he’s right. The Dean obviously thought you were an
Her eyes flashed. “Then he will have to cure me. I’ll be useless to him as a Tick. If there are no vampire
Joe had stepped closer. He was rocking slightly back and forth the way people always do when they hold newborns. Somehow he made it look tough. And right.
Stoner Joe. Trader Joe. Preacher Joe. None of those names had ever really seemed right to me. But “father” did.
“But Lily, you’re not an
“No. But Roberto doesn’t know that, right?” She smiled as her mouth trembled. She seemed terrified still, but determined. “And we can get in there, to wherever he keeps the cure. We can steal it. Then we kill him.”
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Mel
I do not know what bargain Sebastian struck with Sabrina, only that they spoke for a long time in privacy. Sebastian and I left a few hours after we had arrived. Sabrina herself escorted us to the gates of her compound. She gave me a motherly hug that almost felt benign, but she smiled cruelly as she pulled back. “I suppose it’s just as well, my dear. Enemies are so much more amusing than friends, non?”
Before I could respond, she darted back into the night and Sebastian ushered me into the driver’s seat. Again, I drove, since he was still worn thin from being on Sabrina’s territory. He merely told me to head east, so I drove toward the rising sun, unsure what my future would hold.
Sebastian slept for hours while I drove in silence, thinking of all I didn’t know about this new world. He wakes near dusk, hungry and strained.
