Sacrifice (Crave (Quality)) Read online

  “That’s not up to you,” Millie said.

  “Then I’ll tell Ernst,” Richard replied. He shot an imperious look at Gabriel, and it felt like a slap. Other than their father, it had always been Gabriel in charge. Well, at least since Sam. Gabriel was the eldest, the second-in-command. No one had ever said it, but no one had ever had to.

  “You took my place while I was gone,” he said softly, looking his brother in the eye. “You’re not happy to see me, Richard.”

  Richard had the decency to look embarrassed, but only for a split second. “I’m not happy that you chose to expose us all to danger of the worst kind, no,” he said. “And I don’t understand how you can stand it—either of you.” He glanced at Millie. “The stink of that thing repels me.”

  Gabriel fought the urge to breathe in deep, to revel in Shay’s scent on Millie. The smell of her was intoxicating to him, as it had always been. Enticing, almost unbearably so . . . and deadly. He’d drunk from Shay once, and it had almost killed him. The blood of a vampire was poisonous to another vampire. And his own blood had been pumping through Shay’s veins when he drank.

  “It doesn’t smell human,” Luis commented. “I didn’t smell it when you arrived, or at least I couldn’t tell it was human.”

  “She,” Gabriel put in. “Why do you all need to use such hateful terms? Shay is a she, not an it. She’s Sam’s daughter. She’s a part of all of us.”

  “He’s right,” Millie said.

  “What?” Richard barked.

  “It’s just that we all keep thinking of her as a human,” Millie said. “But she’s a halfblood. And is it really fair to blame her for that? Whatever her parents did, it’s not her fault.”

  Luis looked troubled, but Richard sneered. “She’s the living result of Sam’s betrayal of his own family. See? I can call it a she too. That doesn’t change the facts.”

  Gabriel felt a wave of exhaustion, a heavy, almost nauseating feeling.

  “It’s almost sunrise. We’ve got to sleep,” Luis said, his voice thick.

  “You’re sure the halfblood is secure?” Richard asked Millie.

  Millie nodded, but her eyes darted to Gabriel again. Gabriel allowed himself a wry smile. He didn’t need the communion to know that his family was confused. Now that he was back, should they look to him for guidance, or to Richard?

  Look to Richard, he wanted to say. I won’t be here for long. He’d come home expecting his family’s acceptance, and he still wished he could convince them that Shay had the right to be here. But he couldn’t take the time, not with her so close to death. He’d have to escape with her, now, tonight, and never look back.

  The thought was painful. He loved Millie. Loved his father, loved them all. They had been his entire world. But that was Shay now.

  Luis headed toward the hallway that led to their sleeping chambers. Everyone had their own room, except Richard and Tamara, who shared. It hadn’t been that way in Gabriel’s first vampire family. Back in Greece, he and Sam and Ernst had slept in one big cave along with the rest of their family. It felt more natural that way. But after the massacre Ernst had insisted on separate rooms. He thought it would be harder for humans to kill them all at once if it meant breaking into several different rooms.

  Richard followed, his feet dragging.

  Gabriel’s limbs felt like lead. Just standing up made his head swim. The sun sapped his strength more than Martin’s IV lines ever had. Sleep pulled at him.

  “I hope Tamara found a place to hide,” he said, forcing the words out as they walked toward their rooms.

  “She did,” Richard replied. Even though there was no anger in his voice—how could there be, through the exhaustion?—the words stung Gabriel. Of course, the others could feel Tamara. They could tell from her emotions that she was safe.

  “I wanted to talk to Ernst.” Millie’s voice, beside him, was weak. “Why is he still in the caves?”

  “He’s safe there. We would feel it if he was in trouble,” Richard murmured before closing his thick metal door. Only Millie and Gabriel were left in the hallway.

  “I didn’t tie her hands,” Millie slurred. “She called someone.”

  A sharp pang of worry stabbed through the tiredness. “Shay did?” Gabriel asked.

  “I took the phone. She said she didn’t tell anyone where we were, but I don’t trust her. Do you trust her?” Millie was swaying on her feet, clinging to Gabriel’s arm. Her eyes held fear, but he could see that she was losing her battle with the death sleep.

  “I trust her,” he whispered. He caught his sister as she stumbled and helped her into her room. Millie fell like a rock onto the hard cot, dead to the world.

  Gabriel pulled her door closed and leaned against the wall, watching the hallway swim around him. Blackness crowded his vision.

  I’ve got to get to Shay.

  The sun felt like a fire in Gabriel’s mind. He hadn’t seen it in almost four hundred years, but he could feel it now as if he were lying on the beach in Greece, baking in the Mediterranean heat. The orange light glowing through the lids of his closed eyes, the strong beams of light pulling the strength from his arms . . . his lungs . . . his heart. It was difficult just to take a breath. Difficult to move. So much easier to lie down, pinned by the heat of the sun.

  Gabriel forced his eyes open. The fluorescent lights of the hall danced through the darkness of his vision. He had to sleep.

  I’ve got to get to Shay.

  It was their only chance. Now, while his family slumbered. If he got her out, she could handle the rest. Shay wasn’t in thrall to the death sleep. She could be awake enough for them both.

  Gabriel took a step—and fell.

  The sun is too strong. I’m not meant to conquer it. Gabriel’s thoughts swam, confusion crossing an eternity of time.

  With all his strength, Gabriel got to his hands and knees and crawled forward. He had never fought the death sleep before, but it could be done. Ernst had done it the night of the massacre and had even managed to wake him and Sam. Sam had done it once as well, to be with Gabriel on his final day as a human.

  The day on the beach. Sam in the cave above, Gabriel lying in the sun, its warmth wrapping around him like a blanket.

  His arms collapsed beneath him, his head slamming onto the rough carpet of the hallway. Gabriel groaned, desperation swirling beneath the exhaustion. How could he fight the death sleep? It meant fighting the sun itself. It burned him now, pulling at him, heating his blood just like it had that day on the beach.

  Sam in the cave.

  “You should sleep,” Gabriel had told Sam. His brother looked so tired.

  “I’ve wakened for this long; I can make it through the day.” Sam had smiled weakly. “I will wait.”

  He knew I would need him, Gabriel thought. I needed my brother to comfort me as I bid farewell to the sun.

  Love. That’s how Sam fought the death sleep. He loved Gabriel, and it gave him strength.

  I love Shay, Gabriel thought. I love her, and she needs me.

  He drew in a long, labored breath. He loved her. But would it be enough?

  “Wonky lock,” Shay said under her breath. “Yeah, maybe if you’re superstrong.” She’d been twisting and pulling at the doorknob for what seemed like an hour, and it hadn’t budged at all. The lock was a dead bolt. How could there be anything wonky about that?

  Shay sighed in frustration and forced herself to back away from the door. She needed a breather. Her body was weakening, and the fact that she hadn’t slept all night didn’t help. It had to be morning now. She couldn’t feel the sun and the moon the way Gabriel could, but she knew it had been a long time since Millie left. And nobody had come to yell at her about the doorknob turning. The vampires must be sleeping. Nothing could wake them up when they were like that.

  “It’s okay,” Shay said, talking out loud just to keep herself from going nuts. “I have all day to find a way out.” She refused to think about what she’d do once she escaped from this
little room, or about how she’d get far enough away from the remote lab that the vampires couldn’t catch up to her in five minutes once they woke up. She knew they could hunt her by her smell. They were practically bloodhounds that way. Bloodhounds, Shay thought, a hysterical little laugh bubbling up in her throat.

  She looked around the closet. Maybe that letter opener Millie had used could work to force the lock? Shay grabbed it, turned to the door, and had no idea what to do. She tried to pry the faceplate off the lock, but that just bent the flimsy metal letter opener. The rest of the supplies in here were of the paper goods/manila folders/mechanical pencils variety. And some printer cartridges. Nothing that screamed “break the wonky lock.”

  On TV, they’d just kick the door in, she thought. Kaz had explained it to her once, on one of those nights that Olivia dragged him over to make poor, sick Shay feel normal by watching lame shows together. Kaz only ever wanted to watch things with guns and explosions, and Olivia wanted reality shows about obnoxious people. They always ended up bickering for most of the night.

  “Kick right next to the doorknob,” she murmured, remembering Kaz’s withering tone as he dissected the stupidity of TV thugs. “Kick next to the lock and you splinter the wood. Don’t kick in the middle, moron.” Shay smiled. Just thinking about something as basic as Kaz’s voice made her feel better. Olivia’s boyfriend was solid, dependable, normal. Just like Olivia. Shay had never appreciated normal before, because it was something she could never have, not with her blood disease. But right now a little normal would be nice.

  She studied the door. The knob—and the lock—were at hip level. Could she even get her leg up that high? Kickboxing was not a thing that sick girls practiced. Walking from one classroom to the next at school took about the limit of Shay’s strength on a typical day.

  I have to try, she thought. She focused her eyes on a spot about two inches to the right of the metal lock. If she hit the wood hard enough there, it would give. But the metal lock wouldn’t, and so the wood would shatter around it. Once it was broken, she could shove the door open. It seemed almost impossible.

  Shay took a deep breath and thought about Gabriel, about how she had inhabited his body whenever she drank from him or received a transfusion of his blood. Each time, she had known what it felt like to be Gabriel, to enjoy his effortless strength. Gabriel would kick this door in without so much as a thought.

  Be Gabriel. Not the sick girl.

  She kicked. High up and as hard as she could. Her boot hit the door exactly where she wanted it to, and a jolt of pain shot up her leg. Shay winced, stumbling, but there was a loud splintering sound. The door had cracked. Shay gazed at it, stunned that it had worked.

  Before she could think about it any further, she hurled herself against the door with her entire body. The wood shattered the rest of the way, and the door swung open, sending Shay falling out into the hallway.

  The floor was hard and cold, made of cement, and Shay’s entire body hurt from the impact. She’d fallen on her shoulder, so now that entire arm hurt along with her leg. She lay there for a moment, feeling stupid. Nobody on Kaz’s shows ever broke through a door with this much injury.

  That’s because they’re stunt people, she thought. And because they didn’t need vampire blood to give them strength. Shay sat up slowly, running through a self-check. Breaking out of the room had taken its toll. She felt close to Shay-normal, which was ten steps below regular strength for most people. She doubted that she would have the stamina to get outside.

  “Maybe there’s a phone in the lobby,” she whispered, climbing slowly to her feet and starting down the hall. This was officially a laboratory funded by Duke University. They had to have a phone line. And maybe if she called for help during the day, and the vampires were sleeping, she could come up with some kind of story to keep the authorities from discovering the truth about Gabriel and his family. She could say she got lost and they let her use the phone, but they went into the caves to work. Or something. It wouldn’t matter. If she got the fire department here, they’d see that she was sick. They’d focus on getting her to a hospital.

  And they’ll call Mom and Martin. They’ll give me a blood transfusion of human blood. I’ll put my mother near the vampires who want to kill her, I’ll be back in Martin’s clutches, and I’ll end up dead from lack of vampire blood anyway.

  Shay started up the stairs, then paused. It seemed hopeless. Maybe the Escalade was still here and she could drive herself to a hospital without putting anyone in danger. She could stay off the grid, steal some blood and IV supplies. A transfusion would keep her alive for a day or two. Long enough for Gabriel to find her.

  She kept climbing, hanging on to the cold metal railing for help. One thing was clear: She couldn’t stay here, where they thought she was an abomination.

  At the top was the door leading to the research center. Shay waited until her heartbeat had slowed a bit, then pushed it open.

  The hand grabbed her immediately.

  “No!” Shay cried, instinctively jerking her arm away. It wasn’t fair to get caught now. The vampires should be sleeping.

  “It’s me. Shay, it’s me.” Gabriel’s voice was rough. It was the most wonderful thing Shay had ever heard.

  Shay threw her arms around him, pressing her body against his as he hugged her back. It felt incredible. It felt like life. But it wasn’t enough. She needed more. She buried her face in the side of his neck, breathing in the scent of him. Not enough. She shoved her hands under his shirt and ran her fingers over his bare back. Yes, this is what she needed. She needed the feel of his flesh. She needed proof that he was really there with her. She tightened her hold on him, her fingernails digging into his skin.

  Gabriel groaned, deep in his throat. He wound his fingers through her hair and urged her face up toward his. Then his mouth was on hers, his tongue brushing against hers, and Shay let herself get lost in the sensation.

  He pulled away a tiny bit and gazed into her eyes, cupping her face with his hands. “I love you. I saw them pulling you away and it was . . . and I knew. I love you, Shay.”

  She wouldn’t have believed there was anything better than the relief of feeling his arms around her, his mouth on hers. But hearing those words, it was. Completely, totally, exponentially better.

  “I love you too,” Shay breathed. “I didn’t want to. It seemed like a stupid, stupid idea. But I couldn’t help it.”

  Gabriel smiled at her. She hadn’t been sure she’d ever see his smile again. “It was a stupid idea. Stupid and wonderful.” He stepped back, his voice becoming urgent. “But, Shay, we need to get out of here.”

  Shay jerked away from him. “No!” she cried. “I’m not going back down there.”

  Gabriel’s eyes widened . . . and then he got it. She could see it on his face—the shock, the fear, the devastation. Everything she had felt a split second before, when she saw Ernst appear in the doorway of the lab room across the hall.

  She cowered away from Gabriel, ignoring Ernst, pretending she hadn’t spotted him. “Just let me go. I won’t tell anyone anything.”

  Play along with me, Gabriel, she silently begged. She didn’t know what would happen if the other vampires discovered that he’d been about to escape with her. He might end up locked away somewhere too.

  “What is going on here?” Ernst demanded. “Gabriel. How are you awake?”

  “I thought she might try to get out, so I wanted to keep watch. I thought you’d decided to sleep in the caves,” Gabriel said. “I fought the death sleep with all my strength.” His eyes were still locked with Shay’s, and she could see the torment of his emotions. He had conquered the death sleep, and she couldn’t imagine what it had cost him. And now it was all for nothing.

  They couldn’t fight Ernst. He was old and strong. Shay was too weak to do much of anything, and even Gabriel looked drawn and tired. He’d always said that it was nearly impossible for a vampire to stay awake during the day. And she couldn’t ask him to bat
tle his own father anyway.

  “Well done, my son.” Ernst lay his hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “You go back to your chamber now. I’ll handle the halfblood.”

  Shay blinked away tears, gazing at Gabriel’s face. He looked as if he’d been punched in the gut. Devastated.

  “What will you do with her?” he whispered.

  “We can’t have her wandering around when we’re vulnerable,” Ernst replied. “We need her someplace more secure until we spring the trap. I’m moving her to the vault.”

  He grabbed her arm and jerked her roughly through the lab room and past a thick metal door. Gabriel gasped in horror, but Shay didn’t dare turn back to look at him. She didn’t want Ernst to think there was anything between them. It was bad enough that she was a prisoner. She couldn’t risk Gabriel’s freedom as well.

  Ernst dragged her down a long corridor and through a door that led to another stairwell. The door slammed shut behind them, cutting her off from Gabriel.

  Shay bit back a sob. Would she ever see him again?

  CHAPTER

  THREE

  IT’S FRIDAY. I don’t know what time, not since Millie took my phone. The weird thing is that Ernst didn’t say anything about that. Maybe Millie didn’t tell him? I thought they all had a psychic link, but I guess it doesn’t mean they have a hive mind or something. Gabriel said it was more that they shared emotions, they could tell when a family member was upset or in danger. So it’s not mind reading. Still, I didn’t think Millie would cover for me.

  I’m in a different room now. Ernst called it “the vault,” which freaked me out because it sounds like something out of a horror movie, but it’s really just another storage room. It’s in a different part of the compound, under the lodge where they live, I think. I saw a tricked-out living room through an open doorway when I was being dragged down the hall.

  This room has paper, so now it’s my journal. Why bother? I’m not sure. Maybe Gabriel can get these pages to Mom after I’m dead? Or maybe it’s just to keep me sane. Martin always said that habit = comfort. And I am in the habit of writing a journal.