The Heart's Ashes
Page 15

His eyes widened and his brows rose high above his smirk. “Oh yeah, you wouldn’t know. Everyone’s kinda running scared.”
“Scared? Of who?”
“Arthur Knight.”
“Is that...” I swallowed. “David’s uncle.”
“Yup. He’s on this crusade to change century-old laws, you know, bring a balance between the Two Worlds.”
“The what now?”
“The Two Worlds—Humans and Vampires.”
“Of course. Shoulda known,” I said sarcastically. “So, what’s that got to do with killing me?”
“You started it all.”
“What, the change?”
“Seat?”
“I started a seat?”
Eric, rolling his eyes, offered me the park bench on the side of the road across from my car.
“Oh. Seat. Yeah, sure.”
The vampire waited until I sat down before positioning himself a little too close to me. I inched away; he followed. I stayed put, smirking.
“Anyway, so...what do I have to do with Arthur changing laws?”
“David was Arthur’s favourite—everyone’s favourite, actually. And when he disappeared after he lost you, it broke Arthur’s heart. He thinks that if these new laws were in place, none of this would’ve happened.”
“Well, what laws?”
Eric rested his arm along the back of the bench, facing me as I stared forward. “A law that protects humans so that no vampire is allowed to hurt, touch or change the lover of another vampire. Ever. And the consequences will be dire.”
“What? What consequences?”
“For most things it’s usually a seven-day burial or starvation. Only serious offences warrant torture. But Arthur wants touching another vampire’s mate to be ruled a crime—one punishable by cruel and unusual methods. You know we feel pain more intensely than a human, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, try a year of torture. You never die, never get any peace.”
“That’s awful.”
“It’s horrible—and they know exactly how to build on the intensity, so you suffer unendingly.” He shrugged then. “But how else do you make blood-hungry, powerful beings behave? You hurt them.” He nodded, breathing in through his teeth and rubbing the tops of his thighs. “Pain is a very good motivator.”
“If they can catch you. Can’t you just run or hide?”
“Ha!” Eric shook his head. “They will catch you. You can only run for so long, Amara.”
“Have you ever been punished like that?”
Eric laughed. “No—but David has.”
“What?” My hand flew to my lips. “Why?”
“He never told you?” Eric’s brow pulled together.
“No, he never really told me anything.”
“Let me guess—he gave you the ‘top secret’ spill.”
“Yes.”
Eric laughed louder. “It’s not true. Ideally, humans aren’t supposed to know about the Set, but we’re free to tell you if we want. It’s just on our own shoulders if you spill.”
“What do you mean by ‘on your own shoulders’?”
“We have to kill you.”
“Then why wouldn’t David ever tell me anything? I would never have told anyone?”
“Wouldn’t you?” Eric gave a sceptical brow arch.
“No! I mean...I thought about it. But I wouldn’t have.”
He shrugged. “Maybe he wanted to protect you from the truth then—about himself.”
“What truth?”
“I dunno; his past—his job—his overall personality. Put it this way, David’s done some pretty awful things, Amara. And that’s by vampire definition. I don’t know what you knew about him or how he was with you, but before he became the ‘new David’, he was the most ruthless punisher on the Council.”
“Wait, he did the punishing as well?”
“Oh yeah—he was vile. I’ve heard stories from vampires saying they’re sure they saw the white light when he was torturing them. And then there was Pepper.”
“What did he use pepper for?”
“Not the table seasoning, dummy. Pepper was his girlfriend.”
“Oh.” I looked down. “Well...what happened to her?”
“He never spoke of her?”
“No. He told me once that he had a girlfriend who was taken away. Was that her?”
“Probably. Pepper was taken away, so, I guess it could’ve been.”
“Well...what happened? Why did they take her away?”
“They didn’t. He did.”
“What?”
“Yeah. She broke one of our most supreme laws, and he sentenced her.”
“Why did he do it?”
Eric shrugged. “He was appointed judge of her hearing.”
“And he actually did it—to someone he loved?”
Eric cleared the laughter from his throat. “David is the law. You break the law, he will punish you. Doesn’t matter who you are.”
“Well, what law did Pepper break?”
He leaned his elbows on his knees, his jaw jutting out slightly. “She turned a child.”
“What, made a vampire child?”
“Yep.”
“Why?”
“Natures instinct, to procreate—women and babies, you know—she wanted a kid, so she went and got one.”
“Oh, my God.” I covered my mouth. “But vampires can’t die, so...it’s just…”
“Just living out eternity.” He leaned back then and placed his arm over the chair. “We call them the Immortal Damned.”
“They? There’re more of them?”
“Hundreds—cursed to spend eternity as a child. They lose their parents, their childhood. They can never go to school or be normal. The Council keep them locked up in a cell. It’s the worst kind of hell—especially for the babies.”
“Babies?”
“Mm-hm.” He shrugged. “So anyway, Pepper changed a young boy, and the Council found out. David was torn apart—as any boyfriend would be—but he had a duty to uphold. He looked her in the eye, and he made an example of her.”