I was speechless. Everything whirled around in my head and I couldn’t grasp onto one solid thing.
“You of all people know that I wouldn’t lie about something so . . . far-fetched.”
“If you were on drugs you would.” God, I’d been so stupid. It all fit now. Jedrik and Hack living here, that other guy I’d seen the night I’d hidden up in the tree. Scary shaved-head guy, Waleron. And it was winter, so they weren’t riding their bikes. Criminals. A gang. And they’d been after Balen for breaking code or something.
“Vampires do exist, Danni. You had the marks on your neck to prove it.” Anstice voice was quiet and calm.
So a vampire sucked my blood. Padded room, here I come. But I knew the Ryszard guy had bitten my neck. So maybe it was true. Could it be true? I sure as hell didn’t want it to be.
“Ryszard released you, and Balen led him to me,” Anstice said.
Oh, fuck. I felt my knees weaken and sat beside Anstice. “That’s what he meant.”
“What?”
“Balen said he betrayed someone. He betrayed you. He risked your life to save mine.” How could he make that choice? Why pick me? Anstice was his sister. God, this was getting shittier by the second. If this was all true and I wasn’t having some kind of hallucinations, maybe they had drugged me.
“Balen had been tortured for weeks and needed healing. Ryszard knew this, so he . . .” She paused. “He made a bargain—Balen had to consume Ryszard’s blood, which would make him into a vampire and then lead him to me. If Balen did this, Ryszard would let you go. Balen made the deal and when you were released, Jedrik took you to the hospital. Of course, Waleron—he’s our Taldeburu, our leader—erased your memory.
“Balen came back to us so I could heal him and then lead Ryszard to me. Balen had tainted blood, but it had yet to take effect, and none of us knew Balen was infected until it was too late. I healed him and then I was taken to Trinity’s.”
Could that explain Balen’s mangled leg healing? God, could Anstice really heal? I was beginning to realize that making all this up wasn’t possible. “Trinity?” I asked.
“Umm, yeah, Trinity is a . . . well, a witch.”
“Oh God.” Vampires, witches, and her best friend was a Healer for a group known as the Scars. That weren’t a gang, but had their own laws. What next? Werewolves?
“Trinity has a safe house. It’s protected so no one can enter without an invitation. When Balen came to the house, Trinity thought he’d come to protect me and invited him inside. In turn, Balen invited Ryszard.”
This was so surreal. Anstice’s words were like a mythical story of hell. Could it get any worse? Probably. Anstice had yet to tell me what exactly the Scars were. What Balen was.
“Trinity sent Waleron a warning. But Ryszard knew I wouldn’t go with him willingly, so he was prepared. He had one of his underlings take you from the hospital.”
The memory hurtled into me. “He held a knife to my throat. You were there and so was Balen. Balen attacked the guy with the knife and . . .” Oh, shit, I’d been terrified. Balen had stabbed the guy in the neck and taken me into the basement. I looked at Anstice. “I fought him. I fought your brother. I tried to get away. I saw you struggling to escape Ryszard. Then, there was all this noise and . . . I don’t remember anything else.” I rubbed my temples as the nagging memories assaulted me.
“Abby is a witch from the coven. She took you back to the hospital.” Anstice lowered her head and her voice softened. “Balen vanished. The vampire blood he drank had to have been taking hold of him. He had to run or he might have turned on you . . . and us. He knew the effects, the consequence, of the poison in his veins.” Anstice closed her eyes for a few seconds. “God, he must have been in so much agony, trying to fight it. Leaving was the only thing he could do. The Scars would’ve had to kill him if he’d stayed.”
The thought of Balen being killed sent a wave of panic through my body. I felt vulnerable when it came to him and I hated it. My father had been that way with my mother and look where it led him. I drew my hand from Anstice and stood. “Balen left you there? He left you to Ryszard?” That so didn’t sound good.
Anstice nodded. “Yes. But he knew Keir and the others had come to help me. Balen would never have left me to Ryszard otherwise.”
No, he wouldn’t. I knew that even though I barely knew Balen.
“I believe in my brother, Danni. He thought of nothing but you when he consumed Ryszard’s blood. He knew he would turn, knew he’d be hunted and killed by Scars, yet he saw an opportunity to set you free and took it. He knew Keir would protect me.”
There was no question Balen would’ve protected both me and Anstice. I saw it every time I looked at his painting, the agony at what he’d done, the turmoil over leaving and the guilt that sat like a cement block on his shoulders. “But why keep this from me? Why couldn’t you just explain like you are now?”
“The Scars have laws. Can you imagine if humans knew people with these abilities existed?”
“So scary as hell guy wiped my mind clean?” Whoa, that guy had way too much power.
Anstice nodded. “Waleron. And there’s more.”
“Great, just what I want to hear. Don’t tell me that Finn is really a werewolf. ‘Cause I love that dog.”
Anstice shot to her feet then dove for me, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the door. “Get out of here. Go to the basement.”