Secret Life of a Vampire(54)

"Under attack. No hope," the guard whispered. He stiffened suddenly, and his eyes turned glassy. "There can be no survivors." He reached inside his toga and pulled out a knife. He turned the knife, pointing it at his own chest.
"No!" Jack dropped his sword and teleported behind the guard. He seized the man's wrist just as he attempted to stab himself.
Jack wrenched the knife from the guard's hand and knocked him on the head with the handle. When the guard slumped forward, Jack dropped the knife and caught him.
There can be no survivors. Jack muttered a curse. He tossed the guard over his shoulder and strode to where Robby had stashed the first guard.
"Did you hear what he said?" Jack dropped the guard on the floor.
"Aye, no survivors." Robby cuffed the guard.
"Phil, make sure Lara's all right," Jack ordered. "And the other women, too. They're in the kitchen."
Phil raced to the double doors. He reared up on his hind legs to push a door open, then dashed through.
"You can find the other mortal woman in the back," Jack whispered to Robby. "Behind a red door."
Robby nodded, then a voice rang out.
It was Apollo.
Jack pulled Robby behind a column. "I'll take care of him. You get the girl," he whispered.
"What the hell is going on?" Apollo strode around the thrones. His golden toga was all askew as if he'd thrown it on in a hurry. He stopped when he saw the sword on the floor and the bag of spilled chips on the dais.
"Hello, Apollo," Jack greeted him in Czech as he walked over to where he'd dropped his sword. He'd discovered the night before that Apollo was actually Anton, from Prague.
"Henrik, what are you doing here?" Apollo answered in Czech. "You've got the stupid guards thinking we're under attack."
Jack needed to say the right things to make Apollo stay, or the bastard would simply teleport away. He picked up his sword. "You are under attack. I've taken four of your guards."
Apollo stiffened, then his face flushed red with anger. "You scum-sucking pig! I welcomed you here. I even gave you a maiden to fuck. And you repay my generosity with betrayal? Why?"
"I want to keep the girl." Jack glanced quickly to the right. Robby was still hidden behind the column, waiting for his chance to run to the back rooms.
Apollo scoffed. "Well, shit, you idiot! Why didn't you just say so? I've got eight women to spare. If you want one of the bitches, just take her." He gave Jack a disgusted look. "But you'll need to hurry, 'cause my head guard just left to kill them all."
A chill crept across Jack's skin. Lara had to be all right. Phil was there. And Phineas should be back by now.
Apollo leaned over to pick up the sword in front of the dais. "You've screwed up my whole operation, you bastard. I should kill you."
"You're welcome to try." Jack retreated, hoping to draw Apollo away from the thrones and make it easier for Robby to sneak to the back rooms.
"You asshole." Apollo stalked toward him. "I'll have to start over and completely restock."
"No." Jack switched to English. "You're not starting over. You're finished."
Apollo's eyes narrowed. "Your accent is different tonight. Who are you?"
"I am Giacomo di Venezia."
Apollo's face turned red, and he visibly shook with rage. "You're one of the butchers from the DVN massacre!"
"Yes, I killed six of your friends that night. And I saw Jedrek Janow die. He was so pathetic and weak that a mortal killed him."
"No!" Apollo ran at him, swinging his sword.
From the corner of his eye, Jack saw Robby zoom toward the back rooms.
Jack jumped to the side and parried Apollo's attack. He spared one last prayer that Lara was safe, then focused all his attention on staying alive.
                       
       
           



       Chapter Twenty-six
 

"You make the best cookies ever." Vanessa stuffed another chocolate chip cookie into her mouth.
"Thanks." Lara stacked more on a plate and set it on the table. She'd spent all afternoon baking so she could lure the girls to the kitchen. "More milk, anyone?"
Several hands went up. Lara grabbed the milk jug from the fridge and circled the table, refilling glasses.
Miss Forbidden gave her a confused look. "Why are you being so nice to us? I thought you hated being here."
"I saw how worried you were last night when Hades chose me." Lara returned the jug to the fridge. "I was really touched. This is my way of thanking you."
"I thought I'd never see you again." Vanessa shuddered. "I thought Hades would take you to hell."
"Me, too." Kristy bit into a cookie. "How-how was he?"
All seven maidens turned to Lara, eager for her answer.
"He was …  great. Hades is a real gentleman."
"I don't think Zeus is," Miss Forbidden muttered as she glanced at her bruised arms.
"Shh," Cook hushed her. "Someone might hear you."
Kristy finished her cookie and reached for another. "I swear I'm going to gain five pounds tonight."
The other maidens commiserated. While they complained about being overweight, Lara wedged a steak knife underneath the linen ties around her rib cage. She wanted a weapon, just in case Jack was right and Apollo sent a guard to attack them. Jack had also wanted her to get the girls down the road to where the werewolves were waiting with the SUVs. Convincing them to go through the gate would be tough.
She approached the table. "If you really want to lose some weight, you should get some exercise. We could take a walk down the road."
The girls gasped.
"We can't leave," Cook said. "It's forbidden."
"And there are terrible beasts in the woods," Kristy added. "With great gnashing teeth."
Vanessa grimaced. "I heard they drag people to hell."
"I asked Hades about that," Lara said. "And he said the woods are perfectly safe. The beasts know that we're special, so they would actually protect us."
The maidens remained silent while they pondered this new information.
Cook shook her head. "I'm not sure we can trust anything Hades says."
"And you think you can trust Apollo?" Lara asked. "He kidnapped us all from college. We were taken from our friends and families. Vanessa, I met your friends."
Vanessa jumped in her chair. "You know my name?"
"Yes. And I met your roommate Megan. And your friends Carmen and Ramya. They're worried sick about you. All of you have friends and families who are worried about you."
"So?" Cook frowned. "What's the point? We can't go back."
"Yes, you can." Lara pointed in the direction of the road outside. "Half a mile down the road, there are people waiting for us. Nice people, and they want to take us back home. You could all go back to your real lives."
"Are you serious?" Miss Forbidden's eyes widened with a hopeful look.
Vanessa wrinkled her nose. "But I'm failing three of my classes."
"I was flunking, too," Kristy grumbled. "Life is a lot easier here."
"What life?" Lara asked. "You're told what to wear, when to eat, when to clean, when to guard a false god-"
"Don't say that!" Cook looked around nervously.
"I like it here." Vanessa bit into another cookie. "Life is too hard back on Earth."
"It's not supposed to be easy," Lara said. "If it was always easy, we would never grow or learn. And when awful stuff happens, that's when we stretch beyond ourselves and become better than we ever thought was possible."
She thought back to how much she'd grown since the car accident. Now she could be grateful for the suffering and the struggle, because it had left her strong enough to handle this situation and strong enough to embrace a future with Jack.
"And sometimes, we have to make really hard decisions that will affect the rest of our lives." Lara knew her decision to stay with Jack could ultimately cause her to become a vampire. But it was the right decision, and she would stick by it.
She was pulled from her musings by a voice yelling outside. One of the guards. Her heart lurched. What if Jack was right, and the guard meant to kill them? She ran to check the lock. What if the guard had a key? She grabbed a chair and wedged it under the doorknob.
"What are you doing?" Cook stood.
"Is the back door locked?" Lara asked.
"Yes," Cook answered. "But what-"
The doorknob rattled. "Open the door!" the guard yelled.
Lara recognized his voice. It was the head guard, the one she called Squeaky.
"Let me in!" He pounded on the door.
"Yes, master." Cook headed for the door.
"No." Lara held up a hand to stop her.
The other maidens stood.
"We can't disobey a guard," Kristy said.
Squeaky banged on the door. "I order you to open this door. The Elysian Fields are under attack!"
The maidens gasped.
"What should we do?" Vanessa whispered.
"We must open the door." Cook stepped toward the door.
Lara pulled out her knife. "Stay back."
Cook's eyes widened. "You-you're in league with Hades! You're trying to get us all taken to hell!"
"I'm trying to save you," Lara said.
"There can be no survivors," the guard yelled.