Vanquished. Part 20

"Whoa." She smiled at him. "Whoa. Oh, my G.o.d, that's so great! So is it close to being finished? How do we protect Antonio from it? Do they want us to take him to their compound?"

"Jenn." He took both her hands in one of his. Then he locked gazes with her, the expression in his large brown eyes steady, serious. "They're not going to protect Antonio from it."

When she started to jerk away, he held her fast. He put his free hand on her shoulder and held her still. "There's no antidote."

Her face went numb. For a moment the world went dark. She couldn't see him. Couldn't hear anything. She was spinning, falling.

Then she felt him tugging on the neck of her sweater. A hand on her neck. On the bandage.

"What the h.e.l.l is this?" Noah said in a low, angry voice.

She slapped her hand over his to stop him from pulling away the dressing. She couldn't breathe.

"What do you mean, there's no antidote? What do you mean?"

Noah pried her hand off the gauze and lifted it up, revealing the st.i.tched-up wound. To anyone who knew anything about vampires, it was obvious that it was a bite.

"Who did this? Did he do it?"

"Noah, stop!" she said, batting at him. "Tell me about the virus!"

"It doesn't matter that there's no antidote," he said, biting off each word. "Because I'm going to kill Antonio right now."

He whirled on his heel and headed for the door. Jenn gripped his arm; he shook her off. She raced around him, facing him as she flattened her back against the door.

"Noah, calm down. It was an accident," she said, and then her voice broke.

"Move, Jenn, now," he said.

"No." She flattened her hands against his chest and pushed him as hard as she could. But he'd been ready for her; he wrapped his hands around her forearms as he stumbled backward, bringing her with him. Then he forced her aside, threw open the door, and stomped into the hallway.

"Don't you do anything!" she screamed, charging after him. "Noah!"

As Jenn ran into the hall, she nearly collided with Noah, who was facing Father Juan. The priest stood in front of the door Noah would have to take to go downstairs. From the other side of the doorway, the monotonous chanting rose and fell.

"There are other doors," Noah said in a low, menacing voice still audible above the prayers for Antonio's soul. "Stand aside."

"I know how you feel," Father Juan replied, holding out his left hand as if Noah were a wild animal he had to calm. His right hand was behind his back. "But he's necessary."

"Necessary? After what he did to her? I know you're there, Jenn. Stay clear of me." To Father Juan he said, "Get out of my way."

"I can't, Noah," Father Juan said. "I have cast the runes over and over, and the answer is clear. To win this war, we need Antonio."

Noah laughed harshly. "Father Juan, who's throwing those useless rocks? He's like a son to you."

Father Juan continued as if Noah hadn't spoken. "Antonio is contained. He can't get out. The monks-"

"Monks," Noah jeered. "Don't you get it, Father Juan? This is not some holy war. This is a real war. We have very few soldiers left on our side, and if you leave that monster alive to kill them, we may as well leap out of the tower of this monastery now, because the vampires will win. And I, for one, won't be taken."

"You're talking about Masada," Father Juan said. "The Israelites chose ma.s.s suicide rather than be taken by the Romans. And what was that but a holy war?"

"Don't twist my words," Noah said.

"Antonio has been chosen to help us," Father Juan insisted.

"And my people were chosen, and we were practically annihilated. The Final Solution, didn't Hitler call it? To round up the Jews and send them to camps, and then to murder them. In poison showers. In ovens. Well, guess what, priest. Our side-the good guys-they've invented a Final Solution too. A virus. It'll wipe out all the vampires. Including that b.a.s.t.a.r.d downstairs."

Father Juan turned white. Noah started walking toward him.

Father Juan brought his right hand from behind his back. In it he held a gun, and he pointed it straight at Noah's chest. Jenn covered her mouth with both hands to keep herself from screaming. She jumped backward, not because she was afraid of being shot, but to prevent Noah from taking her hostage. She couldn't believe this was happening. It was as surreal as Antonio's attack on her.

"I'll drop you," Father Juan said.

"I know a dozen ways to disarm you," Noah said.

"We'll drop you," Holgar said.

Holgar was standing behind Jenn, and Gramma Esther stood beside him. Both of them were armed with submachine guns, and their weapons were pointed straight at Noah.

And behind them Father Wadim stood in front of at least a dozen monks crowding the pa.s.sageway, all similarly armed.

Noah huffed and shook his head. "You're insane. All of you."

"Tell me about the virus," Father Juan ordered him. His voice rang out, almost vibrating with strength. To Jenn's ears it didn't quite sound human.

"Dr. Sherman invented it," Jenn said, fighting back tears. Her legs had turned to rubber, but she forced herself to remain upright.

"It'll be airborne," Noah said. He was seething. "There's no cure."

"Was Greg there?" Gramma Esther asked. "Did you talk to him?"

"Yes," Noah replied shortly, and there was something in his voice that sent chills down Jenn's spine.

"Did he mention Antonio? Is there a-what do you say-safe heaven? For him?" Holgar asked.

"Safe haven," Gramma Esther corrected him.

"He didn't mention Antonio. He didn't want any of you to know anything about it. He tried to kill me, to keep the secret."

"Oh, my G.o.d," Jenn whispered.

"How did you get away?" Father Wadim asked.

"I'm Mossad," Noah said, as if that were explanation enough.

"You're Salamancan," Jenn corrected him.

"He's not. If he were, he wouldn't try to kill his teammate," Holgar argued.

Jenn thought of Jamie's two guns, the one with silver bullets and the one with wooden ones. How many times had she feared that he would try to kill Holgar and Antonio both?

"Listen to me," Noah barked. "I know you care about Antonio de la Cruz. Jenn, I know you love him. But he's going to die either way. Sherman said the virus would be ready soon."

"No," Jenn choked out, and Noah slowly pivoted and looked straight at her.

"You can't let a monster live, no matter how much it costs you personally." A strange look crossed his face. "I think I know what my wife said to me," he said slowly, half to himself.

"I know about your wife. Chayna," Father Juan said. "I know what happened, Noah."

Noah stiffened, but kept his gaze trained on Jenn.

"She died in your arms," Father Juan said.

"I killed her," Noah said flatly, still looking at Jenn.

Jenn gasped. Holgar reached forward and pulled her back toward himself, farther away from Noah.

"She was mesmerized," Father Juan said.

"And so are all of you," Noah retorted. "You want so badly to be the good guys that you harbor a murdering demon in your midst. You risk everyone's life so that you can pat yourselves on the back." He pointed at Jenn. "You've seen her neck. Tell me, Jenn, did he stop himself from killing you? Or did someone else stop him? Did you put up a fight? I don't think so."

Jenn wanted to say that Antonio had been about to stop himself when Holgar had burst into the room. But she had been barely conscious. She really didn't know what had happened.

I didn't resist. I couldn't. Her cheeks went hot.

"I have my answer," Noah said. He shrugged, and a dozen Uzis pointed straight at him. Holgar brought Jenn against his chest.

"No," she said. "No."

"Noah, we need you, too," Father Juan said. "What else did you find out? What else do you know?"

"Nothing," Noah said. "So now . . . you don't need me."

"Don't be an idiot," Jenn said sharply, trying her hardest to regain command of the situation. But she was barely keeping it together. "You saw me kick Jamie's a.s.s."

Noah smiled. "I saw you kick a lot of a.s.s."

"And you swore to follow me as your leader."

Noah fell silent. Jenn could feel Holgar's heart pounding against the back of her head. She heard him growl very low in his throat. His arm pressed tightly across her collarbone. Loyal Holgar.

"I want you to swear again. And I want you to swear that you won't kill Antonio." His lips parted, and she narrowed her eyes. "Swear it, Noah."

He knit his brows. "All right. Unless-"

"No conditions," she said.

Resigned, Noah dipped his head. "Agreed."

THE MONASTERY OF THE BROTHERHOOD OF ST. ANDREW.

ANTONIO AND SADE.

Antonio watched.

Back and forth, back and forth, in time to the incessant chanting of monks, hidden away behind a prayer screen. Back and forth, sitting cross-legged away from Antonio, Sade rocked. It made it just a little more difficult to catch every word of the confrontation upstairs, but Antonio could hear it well enough. Noah wanted to kill him for biting Jenn. A virus was about to be unleashed on all vampires everywhere, including him.

Then it will be over, Antonio thought. And except for the mop-up, we'll have won.

Just . . . he wouldn't be there to see it. A tide of emotions surged through him-a mixture of deep fear and sorrow. Although he believed in heaven, he didn't know if he would be welcome there. And like any of the faithful-even like Christ, who had begged to be spared-he was afraid to die. His own priest had told him that the instinct for survival was the strongest driving force of the human animal. G.o.d had made it so.

His sorrow at the thought of leaving Jenn was nearly overwhelming. He could feel the ache in his unbeating heart. The thought of never seeing her again- You told G.o.d Himself that you would die for her.

She will be safe from all vampires, including you.

The voice in his head was like someone else's voice. Someone who understood. Someone who would be there, at the end.

And hearing it, Antonio found peace.

"It's a fair trade, Sade, don't you agree?" he said aloud.

Sade just kept rocking.

Silently.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

SOLOMON.

"So now we come to who opposes you," Katalin told Solomon. "That will be the obstacle in your path to achieving your ambitions."

Solomon sat across the table in Katalin's pretty little hideaway in his private quarters and watched her freeze as she put down the next card in his tarot reading. He glanced down at the image of a winged, horned demon crowned with an inverted pentagram and a naked man and woman chained to a pedestal beneath him.