The Last Vampire by Jon F. Merz

Author:Jon F. Merz [Merz, Jon F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2017-10-14T22:00:00+00:00

19

Around two in the afternoon, I got us up and moving again. We needed to be back in the area of Diablo before the sun set and sitting by the lake wasn’t going to get me any closer to killing the Source. I was also worried that her hunt tonight would be much more intense than it had been last night. She’d known we were out there, but she couldn’t pinpoint us. That was liable to make her more angry and more determined. And frankly, the safest place for us wasn’t outside: it was in Diablo itself.

As we started walking, Ares held up the chain. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

I looked at the chain and then took it from her, gathering it up in coils as I did so. I walked over to the first bath pit I’d dug, the one with the most filth in it, and dropped the chain into it before covering it up with sand.

“We’re in this together,” I said. “And if we work well, then we can discuss your future once we kill the Source.”

“You’re supposed to use me to kill her,” said Ares. “And after what I told you about my daughter, I’d be shocked if it hadn’t hardened your resolve. I’m just bait, after all. Right?”

I stopped and looked at her. “You know, when people make mistakes, you have two choices. Really. You can wallow in it. Live in the experience of misery. Just completely lose your way and any hope you ever had to ever getting out of it.”

“Or?”

“Or you can resolve to learn from it and never make that mistake again.”

“Easier said than done,” said Ares.

“Which is why most pick option one. It’s easier.” I nodded at her. “You told me you were getting sober. Is that the truth?”

She nodded. “Yeah. It’s the truth.”

“Then you’re trying to choose option two. I respect that. It takes real strength to attempt it. And frankly, all of the other baits I’ve used in the past were just losers on their way out anyway. Whiners. People who would rather be a victim than do the work to become a winner. I didn’t mind when they got turned and I had to kill them as suckers. I didn’t care about them.”

Ares stayed quiet for a moment. “You care about me, Declan?”

“I respect you,” I said. “The chain needs to go because I don’t think of you as bait anymore.”

“You don’t?”

“You’re my partner in this.” I smirked. “You know, unless you’ve got something else going on.”

“You’re saying I’m free?”

“Not yet. I need your help. But I’d like you to give it voluntarily instead of me forcing you to do it.”

Ares chewed her lip for a moment. I watched she took a glance around at the lake, the forests, and the sky. Maybe she was trying to figure out what the odds of her surviving on her own. Personally, I didn’t think they were that good. Not yet, anyway.

“I don’t know that I have a choice just yet,” said Ares.

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