Page 106 of High Stakes and Soulmates
“I’ll tell you everything you want to know!” Casimir’s victim cries after Casimir simplylooksat the man. “Phil offered to have his maker turn us into vampires, but first we had to do what he said. He told us to find some people to kill, which we did. His maker turned us months ago, but once he wandered into your territory, he started… setting things up to make it a spectacle. Staking them to the wall, doing things like that. And it was Phil’s idea to start with his parents. He said only the humans who helped him kill the people he listed would be given eternal life. And those who failed would face damnation.”
“So the couples who were drained and staked to the walls were originally people who were seeking a way to be turned into vampires?” Cyrus asks in disbelief. I guess that explains why they were at the elderly couple’s house but weren’t the killer.
“Right! They didn’t make the cut. They weren’t good enough,” he says. “It was a test! A trial! They had to do it without faltering and they would be gifted eternal life. They weren’t good enough. They panicked. They went back to the scene… afraid they’d left evidence there, and I believe they planned to turn it in. But our maker was watching and he knew that they faltered.”
Cyrus’s jaw tightens. “So they had to be good enough to be turned? And being good enough is killing a defenseless elderly couple and then your own people?”
“All of us knew what we were getting into when we agreed to this. And they couldn’t handle it, so they had to be eliminated to avoid the risk of exposure,” the man says. “Only those worthy would be turned, and the rest were sacrificed so we could become vampires.”
Sacrificed? So would Louis stake one to the wall to fuck with me and Cyrus, and then use the other person as the blood source for a newly turned vampire? So every “sacrifice” resulted in a new vampire? A new vampire doesn’t have to drain and kill a human, but it was originally seen as the best way to give them strength for their new life. It was a fucked-up tale that the last drops of a dying person would give you the most strength. So they’d drain one and stake another, and these people were just fine with it.
And all the while, Louis was simply toying with lives. I can see him dragging around these humans desperate for a longer life and forcing them to do depraved acts just for an ounce of fun for himself.
“So that means you both should die then, right?” Casimir asks. “Sounds like you haven’t kept this guy’s code.”
“No! I didn’t say anything! I didn’t open my mouth and blab shit to anyone!” the guy I’m holding protests. “He did! He’s the one who deserves to die.”
“Evidently, a sense of comradery between you all doesn’t exist,” I say.
“We don’t care for those who can’t follow the rules,” the man I hold snarls.
The one Casimir holds looks up at him as he desperately reaches for him. “Please. They’re going to kill me, please.”
Out of the shadows walk about eleven vampires, and two more come out of the club. Some are young, but not all of them.
“He’s told them everything!” the man I hold yells. “He told them everything!”
“Is there a problem here?” Phil asks as he joins the rest. I can’t help but wonder if someone told him we’d shown up. Were they waiting for us?
“Where’s Louis?” I ask.
He shakes his head with a smirk. “I don’t know a Louis.”
“Where’s your fucking leader? What’s he go by now?”
“He told me to keep an eye on you, and I’ve been doing just that so I’d know where you guys were going and when. He’s been quite pleased,” he says. “And you guys welcomed me in with open arms. How sweet of you.”
Casimir throws the guy he’s holding to the ground and turns to Phil. “What’s your plan here? Do you have absolutely no idea how underpowered you are?”
“I don’t think we even need power, do we?” he asks as I see more vampires stepping out of the trees. Anxiety weighs on me. Why the fuck did I bring Cyrus here? I knew it was safest to leave him at home. I should never have taken him somewhere so unsafe.
“So you’re just going to throw a bunch of young vampires at us?” Casimir asks. “I see some older ones, but most of these vampires are practically defenseless, they’re so young.”
Phil grins. “We don’t have to live to win.”
My stomach tightens as I draw Cyrus in close. “Stay with me. Please. Stay with me.”
“I’m right here,” he assures me.
There are at least twenty-five of them now, and even if we’re stronger and older, there are only six of us.
“We’re getting Cyrus away,” Casimir orders. “Move, now.”
I grab Cyrus while Yorick and Atticus stand on either side of me and Julian shifts. The first man who attacks Casimir is beheaded faster than anyone can even react. I think it surprises a couple of them, but the older ones aren’t deterred. They rush usand while they can’t knock Casimir down, they swarm him and Atticus.
“This way,” Yorick says as I clutch Cyrus’s hand, knowing this means that Louis is around here somewhere. He has to be. He’s going to try to take Cyrus from me. He knows that Atticus and Casimir are likely stronger than anyone he can throw at us, so he has numbers on his side.
Why did I even let Cyrus out of the house? Why did I ever do this? Why?
