SONS OF DESTINY

THE SAGA OF DARREN SHAN

BOOK 12

SONS OF DESTINY

THE SAGA OF DARREN SHAN

BOOK12

Discover your Destiny with Darren Shan on the web at

www.darrenshan.com

For:

Bas, Biddy and Liam – my three pillars

OBE’s

(Order of the Bloody Entrails) to:

“Lucky” Aleta Moriarty

A and Bo – Bangkok’s best banshees

Emily “Lilliputian” Chuang

Jennifer “Stacey” Abbots

Saga Editors:

Domenica De Rosa, Gillie Russell, Zoë Clarke and

Julia Bruce – you done good, girls!!!

Bloody Brilliant Buccaneers:

The Christopher Little Cutthroats

And an extra special thank you to all of my Shansters,

especially those who have kept me company on Shanville.

Even in death may you all be triumphant!

Contents

Prologue

PART ONE

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Interlude

PART TWO

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Other Books in the Series The Saga of Darren Shan

Copyright

About the Publisher

PROLOGUE

If my life was a fairy tale and I was writing a book about it, I’d start with, “Once upon a time there were two boys called Darren and Steve…” But my life’s a horror story, so if I were to write about it, I’d have to begin with something like this instead:

Evil has a name — Steve Leopard.

He was born Steve Leonard, but to his friends (yes — he had friends once!) he was always Steve Leopard. He was never happy at home, didn’t have a dad, didn’t like his mum. He dreamt of power and glory. He yearned for strength and respect, and time in which to enjoy it. He wanted to be a vampire.

His chance came when he spotted a creature of the night, Larten Crepsley, performing in the wondrous magical show, the Cirque Du Freak. He asked Mr Crepsley to blood him. The vampire refused — he said Steve had bad blood. Steve hated him for that and vowed to track him down and kill him when he grew up.

Some years later, as Steve was preparing for his life as a vampire hunter, he learnt about the purple-skinned, red-eyed vampaneze. In legends, vampires are wicked killers who suck humans dry. That’s hysterical rubbish — they only take small amounts of blood when they feed, causing no harm. But the vampaneze are different. They broke away from the vampire clan six hundred years ago. They live by laws of their own. They believe it’s shameful to drink from a human without killing. They always murder when they feed. Steve’s sort of people!

Steve went in search of the vampaneze, certain they’d accept him. He probably thought they were as twisted as he was. But he got it wrong. Although the vampaneze were killers, they weren’t inherently evil. They didn’t torture humans and they tried not to interfere with vampires. They went about their business quietly and calmly, keeping a lower-than-low profile.

I don’t know this for sure, but I’m guessing the vampaneze rejected Steve, just like Mr Crepsley did. The vampaneze live by even stricter, more traditional rules than vampires. I can’t see them accepting a human into their ranks if they knew he was going to turn out bad.

But Steve found a way in, thanks to that eternal agent of chaos — Desmond Tiny. Most just call him Mr Tiny, but if you shorten his first name and put it with his surname, you get Mr Destiny. He’s the most powerful person in the world, immortal as far as anyone knows, a meddler of the highest order. He gave the vampaneze a present many centuries earlier, a coffin which filled with fire whenever a person lay within it, burning them to ash within seconds. But he said that one night someone would lie in the coffin and emerge unharmed. That person would be the Lord of the Vampaneze and had to be obeyed by every member of the clan. If they accepted this Lord, they’d gain more power than they’d ever imagined. Otherwise they’d be destroyed.

The promise of such power proved too much for Steve to ignore. He decided to take the test. He probably figured he had nothing to lose. He entered the coffin, the flames engulfed him, and a minute later he stepped out unburnt. Suddenly, everything changed. He had an army of vampaneze at his command, willing to give their lives for him and do anything he asked. He no longer had to settle for killing Mr Crepsley — he could wipe out the entire vampire clan!

But Mr Tiny didn’t want the vampaneze to crush the vampires too easily. He thrives on suffering and conflict. A quick, assured victory wouldn’t provide him with enough entertainment. So he gave the vampires a get-out clause. Three of them had the ability to kill the Vampaneze Lord before he came fully into his powers. They’d have four chances. If they were successful and killed him, the vampires would win the War of the Scars (that’s what the battle between the vampires and vampaneze was known as). If they failed, two would die during the hunt, while the third would survive to witness the downfall of the clan.

Mr Crepsley was one of the hunters. A Vampire Prince, Vancha March, was another. The last was also a Prince, the youngest ever, a half-vampire called Darren Shan — and that’s where I come in.

I was Steve’s best friend when we were kids. We went to the Cirque Du Freak together, and through Steve I learnt of the existence of vampires and was sucked into their world. I was blooded by Mr Crepsley and served as his assistant. Under his guidance I studied the ways of vampires and travelled to Vampire Mountain. There I undertook my Trials of Initiation — and failed. Fearing death, I fled, but during my escape I uncovered a plot to destroy the clan. Later I exposed it, and as a reward I was not only accepted into the fold, but made a Vampire Prince.

After six years in Vampire Mountain, Mr Tiny set me on the trail of the Lord of the Vampaneze, along with Mr Crepsley and Vancha. One of Mr Tiny’s Little People travelled with us. His name was Harkat Mulds. Little People are grey-skinned, stitched-together, short, with large green eyes, no nose, and ears sewn beneath the flesh of their heads. They’re created from the remains of dead people. Harkat didn’t know who he used to be, but we later found out he was Kurda Smahlt in his previous life — the vampire who’d betrayed the clan in the hope of preventing the War of the Scars.

Not knowing who the Vampaneze Lord was, we missed our first chance to kill him when Vancha let him escape, because he was under the protection of Vancha’s vampaneze brother, Gannen Harst. Later, in the city of Mr Crepsley’s youth, I ran into Steve again. He told me he was a vampaneze hunter and, fool that I was, I believed him. The others did too, although Mr Crepsley was suspicious. He sensed something wrong, but I convinced him to grant Steve the benefit of the doubt. I’ve made some terrible mistakes in my life, but that was certainly the worst.

When Steve revealed his true colours, we fought, and twice we had the power to kill him. The first time we let him live because we wanted to trade his life for Debbie Hemlock’s — my human girlfriend. The second time, Mr Crepsley fought Steve, Gannen Harst and an impostor, who was pretending to be the Lord of the Vampaneze. Mr Crepsley killed the impostor, but then was knocked into a pit of stakes by Steve. He could have taken Steve down with him, but let him live so that Gannen and the other vampaneze would spare the lives of his friends. It was only afterwards that Steve revealed the truth about himself, and made the bitter loss of Mr Crepsley all the more unbearable.

There was a long gap between that and our next encounter. I went with Harkat to find out the truth about his past, to a waste world full of monsters and mutants, which we later discovered was Earth in the future. Upon my return I spent a couple of years travelling with the Cirque Du Freak, waiting for destiny (or Des Tiny) to pit Steve and me together again for one final clash.

Our paths finally crossed in our old home town. I’d returned with the Cirque Du Freak. It was strange revisiting the past, walking the streets of the town where I’d grown up. I saw my sister Annie, now a grown woman with a child of her own, and I ran into an old friend, Tommy Jones, who’d become a professional footballer. I went to watch Tommy play in an important cup game. His team won, but their celebrations were cut short when two of Steve’s henchmen invaded the pitch and killed a lot of people, including Tommy.

I chased after the murderous pair, straight into a trap. I faced Steve again. He had a child called Darius with him — his son. Darius shot me. Steve could have finished me off, but didn’t. It wasn’t the destined time. My end (or his) would only come when I faced him with Vancha by my side.

Crawling through the streets, I was rescued by a pair of tramps. They’d been recruited by Debbie and an ex-police inspector, Alice Burgess, who were building a human army to help the vampires. Vancha March linked up with me while I was recovering. With the ladies and Harkat, we returned to the Cirque Du Freak. We discussed the future with Mr Tall, the owner of the circus. He told us that no matter who won the war, an evil dictator known as the Lord of the Shadows would rise to rule and destroy the world.

As we were trying to come to terms with the shocking news, two of Steve’s crazed followers struck — R.V. and Morgan James, the pair who’d killed Tommy. With the help of Darius, they slaughtered Mr Tall and took a hostage — a young boy called Shancus. Half human, half snake, he was the son of one of my best friends, Evra Von.

As Mr Tall lay dying, Mr Tiny and a witch called Evanna mysteriously appeared out of nowhere. It turned out that Mr Tiny was Mr Tall’s father, and Evanna his sister. Mr Tiny stayed to mourn the death of his son, while Evanna followed us as we chased after her brother’s killers. We managed to kill Morgan James and capture Darius. As the others hurried after R.V. and Shancus, I stole a few words with Evanna. The witch had the ability to see into the future and she revealed that if I killed Steve, I would take his place as the dreaded Lord of the Shadows. I’d become a monster, murder Vancha and anybody else who got in my way, and destroy not just the vampaneze, but humanity as well.

As shocked as I was, there was no time to brood. With my allies, we tracked R.V. to the old cinema where Steve and I had first met Mr Crepsley. Steve was waiting for us, safe on the stage, separated from us by a pit which he’d had dug and filled with stakes. He mocked us for a while, then agreed to trade Shancus’s life for Darius’s. But he lied. Instead of releasing the snake-boy, he killed him brutally. I still had hold of Darius. In a blind, cold rage, I prepared to murder him for revenge. But just before I stabbed the boy, Steve stopped me with his cruellest revelation yet — Darius’s mother was my sister, Annie. If I murdered Steve’s son, I’d be killing my own nephew.

And with that he departed, cackling like the demon he was, leaving me to the madness of the blood-drenched night.

PART ONE

CHAPTER ONE

Sitting on the stage. Gazing around the theatre. Remembering the thrilling show I saw the first time I came. Comparing it to tonight’s warped ‘entertainment’. Feeling very small and lonely.

Vancha didn’t lose his head, even when Steve played his trump card. He kept going, picked his way through the pit of stakes to the stage, then raced down the tunnel which Steve, Gannen and R.V. had fled by. It led to the streets at the rear of the theatre. No way of telling which way they’d gone. He returned, cursing with fury. When he saw Shancus, lying dead on the stage like a bird with a broken neck, he stopped and sank to his knees.

Evra was next across, following Vancha’s route through the stakes, crying out Shancus’s name, screaming for him not to die, even though he must have known it was too late, that his son was already dead. We should have held him back – he fell and pierced himself several times, and could easily have perished – but we were frozen with shock and horror.

Fortunately Evra made it to the stage without injuring himself too severely. Once there, he slumped beside Shancus, desperately checked for signs of life, then howled with loss. Sobbing and moaning with grief, he cradled the dead boy’s head in his lap, tears dripping on to his son’s motionless face. The rest of us watched from a distance. We were all crying bitterly, even the normally steel-faced Alice Burgess.

In time, Harkat also climbed through the stakes. There was a long plank on the stage. He and Vancha extended it over the pit, so that the rest of us could join them. I don’t think anybody really wanted to go up there. For a long moment none of us moved. Then Debbie, sobbing with deep, wracking gulps, stumbled to the plank and hauled herself up.

Alice crossed the pit next. I brought up the rear. I was shaking uncontrollably. I wanted to turn and run. Earlier, I thought I knew how I’d feel if our gamble backfired and Steve killed Shancus. But I’d known nothing. I never truly expected Steve to murder the snake-boy. I’d let R.V. march the boy into Steve’s den, certain no harm would come to my honorary godson.

Now that Steve had made a fool of me (yet again) and slaughtered Shancus, all I wanted was to be dead. I couldn’t feel pain if I was dead. No shame. No guilt. I wouldn’t have to look Evra in the eye, knowing I was responsible for his son’s needless, shocking death.

We’d forgotten about Darius. I hadn’t killed him — how could I kill my own nephew? Following Steve’s triumphant revelation, the hatred and anger which had filled me like a fire, drained away from me in an instant. I released Darius, having lost my murderous interest in him, and just left him on the far side of the pit.

Evanna was standing near the boy, idly picking at one of the ropes which encircled her body — she preferred ropes to ordinary clothes. It was clear from the witch’s stance that she wouldn’t interfere if Darius made a break for freedom. It would have been the simplest thing in the world for him to escape. But he didn’t. He stood, sentry-like, trembling, waiting for us to summon him.

Finally Alice stumbled over to me, wiping tears from her face. “We should take them back to the Cirque Du Freak,” she said, nodding at Evra and Shancus.

“In a while,” I agreed, dreading the moment I’d have to face Evra. And what about Merla, Shancus’s mother? Would I have to break the terrible news to her?

“No — now,” Alice said firmly. “Harkat and Debbie can take them. We need to straighten some things out before we leave.” She nodded at Darius, tiny and vulnerable under the glare of the lights.

“I don’t want to talk about this,” I groaned.

“I know,” she said. “But we must. The boy might know where Steve is staying. If he does, this is the time to strike. They won’t expect–”

“How can you even think about such things?” I hissed angrily. “Shancus is dead! Don’t you care?”

She slapped my face. I blinked, stunned. “You’re not a child, Darren, so don’t act like one,” she said coldly. “Of course I care. But we can’t bring him back, and we’ll achieve nothing by standing around, moping. We need to act. Only in swift revenge can we maybe find a small sliver of comfort.”

She was right. Self-pity was a waste. Revenge was essential. As hard as it was, I dug myself out of my misery and set about sending Shancus’s body home. Harkat didn’t want to leave with Evra and Debbie. He wanted to stay and chase Steve with us. But somebody had to help carry Shancus. He accepted his task reluctantly, but made me promise we wouldn’t face Steve without him. “I’ve come too far with you to … miss out now. I want to be there when you … cut the demon down.”

Debbie threw her arms around me before leaving. “How could he do it?” she cried. “Even a monster couldn’t … wouldn’t…”

“Steve’s more than a monster,” I replied numbly. I wanted to return her embrace, but my arms wouldn’t work. Alice pried her away from me. She gave Debbie a handkerchief and whispered something to her. Debbie sniffed miserably, nodded, gave Alice a hug, then went to stand beside Evra.

I wanted to talk with Evra before he left, but I could think of nothing to say. If he’d confronted me, maybe I’d have responded, but he had eyes only for his lifeless son. Dead people often look like they’re sleeping. Shancus didn’t. He’d been a vibrant, buzzing, active child. All that vitality was lost now. Nobody could have looked upon him and thought he was anything but dead.

I remained standing until Evra, Debbie and Harkat had departed, Harkat carrying Shancus’s body tenderly in his thick, grey arms. Then I slid to the floor and sat there for ages, staring around in a daze, thinking about the past and my first visit here, using the theatre and my memories as a barrier between me and my grief.

Eventually Vancha and Alice approached. I don’t know how long the pair had been talking together, but when they came to stand before me they’d wiped their faces clean of tears and looked ready for business.

“Will I talk to the boy or do you want to?” Vancha asked gruffly.

“I don’t care,” I sighed. Then, glancing at Darius, who still stood alone with Evanna in the vastness of the auditorium, I said, “I’ll do it.”

“Darius,” Alice called. His head rose immediately. “Come here.”

Darius went straight to the plank, climbed up and walked across. He had an excellent sense of balance. I found myself thinking that was probably a by-product of his vampaneze blood — Steve had pumped some of his own blood into his son, turning him into a half-vampaneze. Thinking that, I began to hate the boy again. My fingers twitched in anticipation of grabbing him by the throat and…

But then I recalled his face when he’d learnt he was my nephew – shock, terror, confusion, pain, remorse – and my hatred for the boy died away.

Darius walked directly up to us. If he was afraid – and he must have been – he masked it bravely. Stopping, he stared at Vancha, then at Alice, finally at me. Now that I studied him closely, I saw a certain family resemblance. Thinking about that, I frowned.

“You’re not the boy I saw before,” I said. Darius looked at me uncertainly. “I went to my old home when we first came to town,” I explained. “I watched from behind the fence. I saw Annie. She was bringing in laundry. Then you arrived and came out to help her. Except it wasn’t you. It was a chubby boy with fair hair.”

“Oggy Bas,” Darius said after a second’s thought. “My friend. I remember that day. He came home with me. I sent him out to help Mum while I was taking my shoes off. Oggy always does what I tell him.” Then, licking his lips nervously, he looked around at all of us again and said, “I didn’t know.” It wasn’t an apology, just a statement of fact. “Dad told me vampires were evil. He said you were the worst of the lot. Darren the cruel, Darren the mad, Darren the baby-killer.’ But he never mentioned your surname.”

Evanna had crossed the plank after Darius and was circling us, studying us as if we were chess pieces. I ignored her — there’d be time for the witch later.

“What did Steve tell you about the vampaneze?” I asked Darius.

“That they wanted to stop vampires killing humans. They broke away from the clan several hundred years ago and had battled to stop the slaughter of humans ever since. They drank only small amounts of blood when they fed, just enough to survive.”

“You believed him?” Vancha snorted.

“He was my dad,” Darius answered. “He was always kind to me. I never saw him like I saw him tonight. I’d no reason to doubt him.”

“But you doubt him now,” Alice noted wryly.

“Yes. He’s evil.” As soon as he said it, Darius burst into tears, his brave front collapsing. It can’t have been easy for a child to admit his father was evil. Even in the midst of my grief and fury, I felt pity for the boy.

“What about Annie?” I asked when Darius had recovered enough to speak again. “Did Steve feed her the same sort of lies?”

“She doesn’t know,” Darius said. “They haven’t spoken since before I was born. I never told her I was meeting him.”

I breathed a small sigh of relief. I’d had a sudden, terrifying flash of Annie as Steve’s consort, having grown up as bitter and twisted as him. It was good to know she wasn’t part of this dark insanity.

“Do you want to tell him the truth about vampires and vampaneze, or will I?” Vancha asked.

“First things first,” Alice interrupted. “Does he know where his father is?”

“No,” Darius said sadly. “I always met him here. This is where he was based. If he has another hideout, I don’t know about it.”

“Damn!” Alice snarled.

“No ideas at all?” I asked. Darius thought for a moment, then shook his head. I glanced at Vancha. “Will you set him straight?”

“Sure.” Vancha quickly filled Darius in on the truth. He told him that the vampaneze were the ones who killed when they drank, though he was careful to describe their ways in detail — they kept part of a person’s spirit alive within themselves when they drained a human dry, so they didn’t look upon it as murder. They were noble. They never lied. They weren’t deliberately evil.

“Then your father came along,” Vancha said, and explained about the Lord of the Vampaneze, the War of the Scars, Mr Tiny’s prediction and our part in it.

“I don’t understand,” Darius said at the end, forehead creased. “If the vampaneze don’t lie, how come Dad lied all the time? And he taught me how to use an arrow-gun, but you said they can’t use such weapons.”

“They’re not supposed to,” Vancha said. “I haven’t seen or heard of any others breaking those rules. But their Lord’s above such laws. They worship him so much – or fear what will happen if they disobey him – that they don’t care what he does, as long as he leads them to victory over the vampires.”

Darius thought about that in silence for a long time. He was only ten years old, but he had the expression and manner of someone much older.

“I wouldn’t have helped if I’d known,” he said in the end. “I grew up thinking vampires were evil, like in the movies. When Dad came to me a few years ago and said he was on a mission to stop them, I thought it was a great adventure. I thought he was a hero. I was proud to be his son. I’d have done anything for him. I did…”

He looked like he was about to cry again. But then his jaw firmed and he stared at me. “But how did you get involved in this?” he asked. “Mum told me you died. She said you broke your neck.”

“I faked my death,” I said, and gave him a very brief rundown of my early life as a vampire’s assistant, sacrificing everything I held dear to save Steve’s life.

“But why does he hate you if you saved him?” Darius shouted. “That’s crazy!”

“Steve sees things differently,” I shrugged. “He believes it was his destiny to become a vampire. He thinks I stole his rightful place. He’s determined to make me pay.”

Darius shook his head, confused. “I can’t understand that,” he said.

“You’re young.” I smiled sadly. “You’ve a lot to learn about people and how they operate.” I fell silent, thinking that those were some of the many things poor Shancus would never learn.

“So,” Darius said a while later, breaking the silence. “What happens now?”

“Go home,” I sighed. “Forget about this. Put it behind you.”

“But what about the vampaneze?” Darius cried. “Dad’s still out there. I want to help you find him.”

“Really?” I looked at him icily. “You want to help us kill him? You’d lead us to your own father and watch while we cut his rotten heart out?”

Darius shifted uneasily. “He’s evil,” he whispered.

“Yes,” I agreed. “But he’s still your father. You’re better off out of this.”

“And Mum?” Darius asked. “What do I tell her?”

“Nothing,” I said. “She thinks I’m dead. Let her go on thinking that. Say nothing of this. The world I live in isn’t a fit world for children — and as a child who’s lived in it, I should know! Take back your ordinary life. Try not to dwell on what’s happened. In time you might be able to dismiss all this as a horrible dream.” I placed my hands on his shoulders and smiled warmly. “Go home, Darius. Be good to Annie. Make her happy.”

Darius wasn’t pleased, but I could see him making up his mind to accept my advice. Then Vancha spoke. “It’s not that easy.”

“What?” I frowned.

“He’s in. He can’t opt out.”

“Of course he can!” I snapped.

Vancha shook his head stubbornly. “He was blooded. The vampaneze blood is thin in him, but it will thicken. He won’t age like normal children, and in a few decades the purge will strike and he’ll become a full-vampaneze.” Vancha sighed. “But his real problems will start long before then.”

“What do you mean?” I croaked, though I sensed what he was getting at.

“Feeding,” Vancha said. He turned his gaze on Darius. “You’ll need to drink blood to survive.”

Darius stiffened, then grinned shakily. “So I’ll drink like you guys,” he said. “A drop here, a drop there. I don’t mind. It’ll be kind of cool, in a way. Maybe I’ll drink from my teachers and–”

“No,” Vancha growled. “You can’t drink like us. In the beginning, vampaneze were the same as vampires, except in their customs. But they’ve changed. The centuries have altered them physically. Now a vampaneze must kill when he feeds. They’re driven to it. They have no choice or control. I was once a half-vampaneze, so I know what I’m speaking about.”

Vancha drew himself up straight and spoke sadly but firmly. “In a few months the hunger will grow within you. You won’t be able to resist. You’ll drink blood because you have to, and when you drink, because you’re a half-vampaneze — you’ll kill!”

CHAPTER TWO

We marched in silence, in single file, Darius leading the way like Oliver Twist at the head of a funeral procession. Following the massacre at the stadium after the football match, a series of road blocks had been set in place around the town. But there weren’t many in this area, so we made good time, having to take only a couple of short detours. I was at the back of the line, a few metres behind the others, worrying about the meeting to come. I’d agreed to it easily enough in the theatre, but now that we were getting closer, I was having second thoughts.

While I was running through my words, thinking of all the things I could and should say, Evanna slipped back to walk along beside me. “If it helps, the snake-boy’s soul has flown straight to Paradise,” she said.

“I never thought otherwise,” I replied stiffly, glaring at her hatefully.

“Why such a dark look?” she asked, genuine surprise in her mismatched green and brown eyes.

“You knew it was coming,” I growled. “You could have warned us and saved Shancus.”

“No,” she snapped, irritated. “Why do you people level the same accusations at me over and over? You know I have the power to see into the future, but not the power to directly influence it. I cannot act to change that which is to be. Nor could my brother.”

“Why not?” I snarled. “You always say that terrible things will happen if you do, but what are they? What could be worse than letting an innocent child die at the hands of a monster?”

Evanna was quiet a moment, then spoke softly, so that only I could hear. “There are worse monsters than Steve Leonard, and worse even than the Lord of the Shadows — be he Steve or you. These other monsters wait in the timeless wings around the stage of the world, never seen by man, but always seeing, always hungering, always eager to break through.

“I am bound by laws older than mankind. So was my brother and so, to a large extent, is my father. If I took advantage of the present, and tried to change the course of a future I knew about, I’d break the laws of the universe. The monsters I speak of would then be free to cross into this world, and it would become a cauldron of endless, bloody savagery.”

“It seems that way already,” I said sourly.

“For you, perhaps,” she agreed. “But for billions of others it is not. Would you have everyone suffer as you have — and worse?”

“Of course not,” I muttered. “But you told me they were going to suffer anyway, that the Lord of the Shadows will destroy mankind.”

“He will bring it to its knees,” she said. “But he will not crush it entirely. Hope will remain. One day, far in the future, humans might rise again. If I interfered and unleashed the real monsters, hope would become a word without meaning.”

I didn’t know what to think about these other monsters of Evanna’s – it was the first time she’d ever spoken of such creatures – so I brought the conversation back to centre on the monster I knew all too much about. “You’re wrong when you say I can become the Lord of the Shadows,” I said, trying to change my destiny by denying it. “I’m not a monster.”

“You would have killed Darius if Steve hadn’t said he was your nephew,” Evanna reminded me.

I recalled the hateful fury which had flared to life inside me when I saw Shancus die. In that moment I became like Steve. I didn’t care about right or wrong. I only wanted to hurt my enemy by killing his son. I’d seen a glimpse of my future then, the beast I could become, but I didn’t want to believe it was real.

“That would have been in revenge for Shancus,” I said bitterly, trying to hide from the truth. “It wouldn’t have been the act of an out-of-control beast. I wouldn’t become a monster just because of a single executioning.”

“No?” Evanna challenged me. “There was a time when you thought differently. Do you remember when you killed your first vampaneze, in the caves of Vampire Mountain? You wept afterwards. You thought killing was wrong. You believed there were ways to resolve differences other than through violence.”

“I still do,” I said, but my words sounded hollow, even to me.

“You would not have tried to take the life of a child if you did,” Evanna said, stroking the hairs of her beard. “You have changed, Darren. You’re not evil like Steve, but you carry the seeds of evil within you. Your intentions are good, but time and circumstance will see you become that which you despise. This world will warp you and, despite your noble wishes, the monster within you will grow. Friends will become enemies. Truths will become lies. Beliefs will become sick jokes.

“The path of revenge is always lined with danger. By following the ways of those you hate, you risk turning into them. This is your destiny, Darren Shan. You cannot avoid it. Unless Steve kills you and he becomes the Lord of the Shadows instead.”

“What about Vancha?” I hissed. “What if he kills Steve? Can’t he become your bloody Lord of the Shadows?”

“No,” she said calmly. “Vancha has the power to kill Steve and decide the fate of the War of the Scars. But moving beyond that, it’s either you or Steve. There is no other. Death or monstrosity. Those are your options.”

She moved ahead of me then, leaving me with my troubled, frantic thoughts. Was there truly no hope for me or the world? And if not, if I was trapped between death at the hands of Steve or replacing him as the Lord of the Shadows, which was preferable? Was it better to live and terrorize the world — or die now, while I was still halfway human?

I couldn’t decide on an answer. There didn’t seem to be one. And so I trudged along miserably and let my thoughts return to the more pressing issue — what to say to my grown-up sister who’d buried me as a child.

Twenty minutes later, Darius opened the back door and held it ajar. I paused, staring at the house, filled with a sense of foreboding. Vancha and Alice were behind me, and Evanna further behind them. I looked back at my friends pleadingly. “Do I really have to do this?” I croaked.

“Yes,” Vancha said. “It would be wrong to risk his life without informing his mother first. She must decide.”

“OK,” I sighed. “You’ll wait out here till I call?”

“Aye.”

I gulped, then stepped over the threshold into the house where I’d lived as a boy. After eighteen long years of wandering, I’d finally come home.

Darius guided me to the living room, though I could have found my way blindfolded. Much had changed within the house – new wallpaper and carpets, furniture and light fittings – but it felt the same, warm and comfy, layered with memories of the distant past. It was like walking through a ghost house — except the house was real and I was the ghost.

Darius pushed the living-room door open. And there was Annie, her brown hair tied up in a bun, sitting in a chair in front of the TV, sipping hot chocolate, watching the news. “Decided to come home at last, did you?” she said to Darius, catching sight of him out of the corner of her eye. She laid the cup of hot chocolate down. “I was worried. Have you seen the news? There’s–”

She saw me entering the room after Darius. “Is this one of your friends?” she asked. I could see her thinking I looked too old to be his friend. She was instantly suspicious of me.

“Hello, Annie,” I said, smiling nervously, advancing into the light.

“Have we met before?” she asked, frowning, not recognizing me.

“In a way,” I chuckled drily.

“Mum, it’s–” Darius started to say.

“No,” I interrupted. “Let her see for herself. Don’t tell her.”

“Tell me what?” Annie snapped. She was squinting at me now, uneasy.

“Look closer, Annie,” I said softly, walking across the room, stopping less than a metre away from her. “Look at my eyes. They say the eyes never really change, even if everything else does.”

“Your voice,” she muttered. “There’s something about…” She stood – she was the same height as me – and gazed steadily into my eyes. I smiled.

“You look like somebody I knew a long time ago,” Annie said. “But I don’t remember who…”

“You did know me a long time ago,” I whispered. “Eighteen years ago.”

“Nonsense!” Annie snorted. “You’d have only been a baby.”

“No,” I said. “I’ve aged slowly. I was slightly older than Darius when you last saw me.”

“Is this a joke?” she half laughed.

“Look at him, Mum,” Darius said intently. “Really look at him.”

And she did. And this time I saw something in her expression and realized she’d known who I was the second she saw me — she just hadn’t admitted it to herself yet.

“Listen to your instincts, Annie,” I said. “You always had good instincts. If I’d had your nose for trouble, maybe I wouldn’t have gotten into this mess. Maybe I’d have had more sense than to steal a poisonous spider…”

Annie’s eyes widened. “No!” she gasped.

“Yes,” I said.

“You can’t be!”

“I am.”

“But … No!” she growled, firmly this time. “I don’t know who put you up to this, or what you think you’ll achieve by it, but if you don’t get out quick, I’ll–”

“I bet you never told anyone about Madam Octa,” I cut her off. She trembled at mention of the spider’s name. “I bet you kept that secret all these years. You must have guessed she had something to do with my ‘death’. Maybe you asked Steve about it, since he was the one she bit, but I bet you never told Mum or–”

“Darren?” she wheezed, confused tears springing to her eyes.

“Hi, sis,” I grinned. “Long time no see.”

She stared at me, appalled, and then did something I thought only happened in corny old movies — her eyes rolled up, her legs gave way, and she fainted!

Annie sat in her chair, a fresh mug of hot chocolate cupped between her hands. I sat opposite her in a chair I’d dragged over from the other side of the room. Darius stood by the TV, which he’d turned off shortly after Annie fainted. Annie hadn’t said much since recovering. Once she’d come to, she’d pressed back into her chair, gazed at me, torn between horror and hope, and simply gasped, “How?”

I’d spent the time since then filling her in. I spoke quietly and rapidly, starting with Mr Crepsley and Madam Octa, explaining the deal I’d struck to save Steve’s life, giving her a quick rundown of the years since then; my existence as a vampire, the vampaneze, the War of the Scars, tracking the Vampaneze Lord. I didn’t tell her Steve was the Lord or involved with the vampaneze — I wanted to see how she reacted to the rest of the story before hitting her with that one.

Her eyes didn’t betray her feelings. It was impossible to guess what she was thinking. When I got to the part of the story involving Darius, her gaze slid from me to her son, and she leant forward slightly as I described how he’d been tricked into aiding the vampaneze, again being careful not to refer to Steve by name. I finished with my return to the old cinema theatre, Shancus’s death, and the Vampaneze Lord’s revelation that Darius was my nephew.

“Once Darius knew the truth, he was horrified,” I said. “But I told him he mustn’t blame himself. Lots of older and wiser people than him have been fooled by the Lord of the Vampaneze.”

I stopped and awaited her reaction. It wasn’t long coming.

“You’re insane,” she said coldly. “If you are my brother – and I’m not a hundred per cent convinced – then whatever disease stunted your growth also affected your brain. Vampires? Vampaneze? My son in league with a killer?” She sneered. “You’re a madman.”

“But it’s true!” Darius exclaimed. “He can prove it! He’s stronger and faster than any human. He can–”

“Be quiet!” Annie roared with such venom that Darius shut up instantly. She glared at me furiously. “Get out of my house,” she snarled. “Stay away from my son. Don’t ever come back.”

“But–” I began.

“No!” she screamed. “You’re not my brother! Even if you are, you’re not! We buried Darren eighteen years ago. He’s dead and that’s the way I want him to stay. I don’t care if you’re him or not. I want you out of my life – ourlives – immediately.” She stood and pointed at the door. “Go!”

I didn’t move. I wanted to. If it hadn’t been for Darius, I would have slunk out like a kicked dog. But she had to know what her son had become. I couldn’t leave without convincing her of the danger he was in.

While Annie stood, pointing at the door, hand trembling wildly, face twisted with rage, Darius stepped away from the TV. “Mum,” he said quietly. “Don’t you want to know how I fell in with the vampaneze and why I helped them?”

“There are no vampaneze!” she yelled. “This maniac has filled your imagination with lies and–”

“Steve Leonard’s the Lord of the Vampaneze,” Darius said, and Annie stopped dead. “He came to me a few years ago,” Darius went on, edging slowly towards her. “At first we just went for walks together, he took me to the cinema and for meals, stuff like that. He told me not to say anything to you. He said you wouldn’t like it, that you’d make him go away.”

He stopped in front of her, reached up, took hold of her pointing hand and gently bent her arm down. She was staring at him wordlessly. “He’s my dad,” Darius said sadly. “I trusted him because I thought he loved me. That’s why I believed him when he told me about vampires. He said he was telling me for my protection, that he was worried about me — and you. He wanted to protect us. That’s where it began. Then I got more involved. He taught me how to use a knife, how to shoot, how to kill.”

Annie sank back into her chair, unable to respond.

“It was Steve,” Darius said. “Steve who got me into trouble, who killed the snake-boy, who made Darren come back to see you. Darren didn’t want to – he knew he’d hurt you – but Steve left him with no choice. It’s true, Mum, everything he said. You’ve got to believe us, because it was Steve, and I think he might come back – come after you – and if we aren’t ready … if you don’t believe…”

He ground to a halt, running out of words. But he’d said enough. When Annie looked at me again, there was fear and doubt in her eyes, but no scorn. “Steve?” she moaned. I nodded unhappily and her face hardened. “What did I tell you about him?” she screamed at Darius, grabbing the boy and shaking him angrily. “I told you never to go near him! That if you ever saw him, you had to run and tell me! I said he was dangerous!”

“I didn’t believe you!” Darius cried. “I thought you hated him just because he ran away, that you were lying! He was my dad!” He tore himself away from her and collapsed on the floor, weeping. “He was my dad,” he sobbed again. “I loved him.”

Annie stared at Darius crying. Then she stared at me. And then she also started to cry, and her sobs were even deeper and more painful than her son’s.

I didn’t cry. I was saving my tears. I knew the worst was yet to come.

CHAPTER THREE

Later. After the tears. Sitting around the living room. Annie had recovered from the worst of the shock. All three of us were drinking hot chocolate. I hadn’t called the others in yet — I wanted some personal time with Annie before I dumped the full fallout from the War of the Scars upon her.

Annie made me tell her more about my life. She wanted to hear about the countries I’d visited, the people I’d met, the adventures I’d had. I told her some of the highlights, leaving out the darker aspects. She listened, dazed, touching me every few minutes to make sure I was real. When she heard I was a Prince, she laughed with delight. “Does that make me a princess?” she smiled.

“Afraid not,” I chuckled.

In return, Annie told me what her life had been like. The hard months after I’d ‘died’. Slowly returning to normal. She was young, so she recovered, but Mum and Dad never really got over it. She raised the question of whether or not they should be told I was alive. Then, before I could speak, she said, “No. They’re happy now. It’s too late to change the past. Best not to drag it up again.”

I paid close attention when she spoke about Steve. “I was a teenager,” she said angrily, “mixed-up and unsure of myself. I had some friends but not many. And no serious boyfriend. Then Steve came back. He was only a few years older than me, but he looked and acted grown-up. And he was interested in me. He wanted to talk to me. He treated me like an equal.”

They spent a lot of time together. Steve put on a good act — kind, generous, loving. Annie thought he cared for her, that they had a future together. She fell in love with him, and gave her love to him. Then she found out she was expecting a baby.

“His face lit up when he heard,” she said, shivering from the memory. Darius was by her side, solemn, silent, listening intently. “He made me believe he was delighted, that we’d get married and have lots of children together. He told me not to tell anyone — he wanted to keep it secret until we were husband and wife. He went away again. He said it was to earn money, to pay for our wedding and the baby’s upkeep. He stayed away a long time. He returned late one night, while I was sleeping. Woke me up. Before I could say anything, he clamped a hand over my mouth and laughed. ‘Too late to stop it now!’ he mocked me. He said other things, horrible things. Then he left. I haven’t heard from him since.”

She had to tell Mum and Dad about the baby then. They were furious — not with her, but with Steve. Dad would have killed Steve if he’d found him. But nobody knew where Steve was. He’d vanished.

“Raising Darius was hard,” she smiled, ruffling his hair, “but I wouldn’t give up a day of it. Steve was wicked, but he gave me the most marvellous gift anyone could have ever given me.”

“Soppy old cow,” Darius grunted, fighting hard not to smile.

I was quiet a long time after that. I wondered if Steve had meant to use Darius against me even then. This was back before he met the vampaneze and learnt of his abominable destiny. But I bet he was already planning my downfall, one way or the other. Did he deliberately get Annie pregnant, so he could use his nephew or niece to hurt me? Knowing Steve as I did, I guessed those were his exact intentions.

Annie started telling me about her life with Darius, from how Mum and Dad helped rear him until they moved away, how the pair were managing now on their own. She worried about him not having a father, but her experience with Steve had made her wary of men, and she found it hard to trust anyone. I could have listened to Annie talk all night, telling tales about Mum, Dad and Darius. I was catching up on all those missed years. I felt like part of the family again. I didn’t want it to stop.

But we were in the middle of a crisis. I’d delayed the moment of truth, but now I had to tell her about it. The night was drawing on, and I was keen to conclude the business I’d come about. I let her finish the story she was telling – about Darius’s first week in school – then asked if I could introduce her to some of my friends.

Annie wasn’t sure what to make of Vancha, Alice and Evanna. Alice dressed normally, but Vancha in his animal hides, with his straps of throwing stars and green hair, and the hirsute, deliriously ugly Evanna draped in ropes … They would have stuck out like a couple of gargoyles anywhere!

But they were my friends (well, Vancha and Alice were, whatever about the witch), so Annie welcomed them — though I could tell she didn’t entirely trust the trio. And I knew she sensed they weren’t here just to make up the numbers. She guessed that something bad was coming.

We made small talk for a while. Alice told Annie about her years on the police force, Vancha described some of his Princely duties and Evanna gave her tips on how to breed frogs (not that Annie had any interest in that!). Then Darius yawned. Vancha looked at me meaningfully — it was time.

“Annie,” I started hesitantly, “I told you Darius pledged himself to the vampaneze. But I didn’t tell you what precisely that means.”

“Go on,” Annie said when I stalled.

“Steve blooded him,” I said. “He transferred some of his vampaneze blood to Darius. The blood isn’t very strong within him, but it will strengthen. The cells will multiply and take over.”

“You’re saying he’ll become like you?” Annie’s face was ashen. “He won’t age normally? He’ll need to drink blood to survive?”

“Yes.” Her face crumpled — she thought that was the worst, the part I’d been holding back. I wished I could spare her the truth, but I couldn’t. “There’s more,” I said, and she stiffened. “Vampires can control their feeding habits. It isn’t easy – it requires training – but we can. Vampaneze can’t. Their blood forces them to kill every time they feed.”

“No!” Annie moaned. “Darius isn’t a killer! He wouldn’t!”

“He would,” Vancha grunted. “He’d have no choice. Once a vampaneze gets the taste of blood, his urges consume him. He goes into a kind of trance and feeds until he’s drained the source dry. He can’t stop.”

“But there must be some way to help him!” Annie insisted. “Doctors … surgery … medicine…”

“No,” Vancha said. “This isn’t a human disease. Your doctors could study him, and restrain him while he was feeding — but do you want your son to spend his life imprisoned?”

“Also,” I said, “they couldn’t stop him when he was older. As he comes into his full powers, he’ll grow incredibly strong. They’d have to keep him comatose to control him.”

“No!” Annie shouted, her face dark with stubborn rage. “I won’t allow this! There must be a way to save him!”

“There is,” I said, and she relaxed slightly. “But it’s dangerous. And it won’t restore his humanity — it will merely drive him towards a different corner of the night.”

“Don’t talk in riddles!” Annie snapped. “What does he have to do?”

“Become a vampire,” I said.

Annie stared at me in disbelief.

“It’s not-as bad as it sounds,” I went on quickly. “Yes, he’d age slowly, but that’s something you and he could learn to cope with. And yes, he’d have to drink blood, but he wouldn’t harm when he drank. We’d teach him to master his urges.”

“No,” Annie said. “There must be another way.”

“There isn’t,” Vancha huffed. “And even this way isn’t certain. Nor is it safe.”

“I’ll have to trade blood with him,” I explained. “Pump my vampire cells into his body, and accept his vampaneze cells into mine. The vampire and vampaneze cells will attack each other. If all goes well, Darius will become a half-vampire and I’ll carry on as before.”

“But if it fails, you’ll become a half-vampaneze and Darius won’t change?” Annie guessed, trembling at the thought of such a horrible fate.

“No,” I said. “It’s worse that that. If it fails, I’ll die — and so will Darius.”

And then I sat back numbly and awaited her decision.

CHAPTER FOUR

Annie didn’t like it – nobody did! – but we eventually convinced her that there was no other solution. She wanted to wait, think it over and discuss it with her doctor, but I told her it was now or never. “Vancha and I have a mission to complete,” I reminded her. “We might not be able to come back later.”

When we’d first discussed the transfusion, Vancha had volunteered. He didn’t think it was safe for me to try. I was in the middle of the purge — my vampire cells were taking over, turning me into a full-vampire, and my body was in a state of flux. But when I pressed him, he admitted there was no real reason for thinking that the purge would have any affect on the procedure. It might even work in our favour — since my vampire cells were hyperactive, they might stand a better chance of destroying the vampaneze cells.

We’d tried to quiz Evanna about the dangers. She could look into the future and tell us whether it would succeed or not. But she refused to be drawn. “This has nothing to do with me,” she’d said. “I will not comment on it.”

“But it must be safe,” I’d pressed, hoping for reassurance. “We’re destined to meet Steve again. We can’t do that if I die.”

“Your final encounter with Steve Leonard is by no means set in stone,” she’d replied. “If you die beforehand, he will become the Lord of the Shadows by default and the war will swing the way of the vampaneze. Do not think you are immune to danger because of your destiny, Darren — you can and perhaps will die if you attempt this.”

But Darius was my nephew. Vancha didn’t approve – he would have preferred to overlook Darius for the time being, and focus on Steve – but I couldn’t leave the boy this way, with such a threat hanging over him. If I could save him, I must.

We could have handled the blood transfer with syringes, but Darius insisted on the traditional fingertips method. He was excited, despite the danger, and wanted to do it the old way. “If I’m going to be a vampire, I want to be a real one,” he growled. “I don’t want to hide my marks. It’s all or nothing.”

“But it’ll be painful,” I warned him.

“I don’t care,” he sniffed.

Annie’s doubts remained, but in the end she agreed to the plan. She might not have if Darius had wavered, but he stuck to his guns with grim determination. I hated to admit it – and I didn’t say it out loud – but he had his father’s sense of commitment. Steve was insanely evil, but he always did what he set out to do, and nothing could change his mind once he’d made it up. Darius was the same.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Annie sighed as I sat opposite Darius and prepared to drive my nails into the tips of his fingers. “Earlier tonight I was only thinking about doing the shopping tomorrow, and being here to let Darius in when he got home from school. Then my brother walks back into my life and tells me he’s a vampire! And now, as I’m just getting used to that, I might lose him as swiftly as I found him — and my son too!”

She almost called it off then, but Alice stepped up behind her and said softly, “Would you rather lose him when he’s human, or when he’s a killer like his father?” It was a cruel thing to say, but it steadied Annie’s nerves and reminded her of what was at stake. Trembling fiercely, weeping quietly, she stepped away and let me proceed.

Without any warning, I dug my nails into the soft flesh at the tips of Darius’s fingers. He yelped painfully and jerked back in his chair. “Don’t,” I said as he raised his fingers to his mouth to suck them. “Let them bleed.”

Darius lowered his hands. Gritting my teeth, I dug my right-hand nails into my left-hand fingertips, then did it the other way round. Blood welled up from ten fleshy springs. I pressed my fingers against Darius’s and held them there while my blood flowed into his body, and his into mine.

We remained locked for twenty seconds … thirty … more. I could feel the vampaneze cells as soon as his blood entered my veins, itching, burning, sizzling. I ignored the pain. I could see that Darius was also aware of the change, and that it was hurting him more than me. I pressed closer against him, so it was impossible for him to break away.

Vancha stood guard, observing us, calculating. When he thought the time was right, he grabbed my arms and pulled my hands away. I gasped out loud, stood, half smiled, then fell to the floor, writhing in agony. I hadn’t expected the cells to kick in so soon, and was unprepared for the brutal speed of the reaction.

During my convulsions, I saw Darius twisting sharply in his chair, eyes bulging, making choking noises, arms and legs thrashing wildly. Annie hurried towards him but Vancha knocked her aside. “Don’t interfere!” he barked. “Nature must take its course. We can’t get in its way.”

For several minutes I jackknifed wildly on the floor. It felt like I was on fire inside my skin. I’d experienced blinding headaches and loads of discomfort during the purge, but this took me to new heights of pain. Pressure built at the back of my eyes, as though my brain was going to bulge out through my eye sockets. I dug the heels of my hands hard into my eyes, then into the sides of my head. I don’t know if I was roaring or wheezing — I could hear nothing.

I vomited, then dry-heaved. I crashed into something hard — the TV. I rolled away from it and smashed into a wall. I dug my nails into the plaster and brick, trying to make the pain go away.

Finally the pressure subsided. My limbs relaxed. I stopped dry-heaving. Sight and sound returned, though my fierce headache remained. I looked around, dazed. Vancha was crouching over me, wiping my face clean, smiling. “You’ve come through it,” he said. You’ll be OK — with the luck of the vampires.”

“Darius?” I gasped.

Vancha raised my head and pointed. Darius was lying on the couch, eyes closed, perfectly still, Annie and Alice kneeling beside him. Evanna sat in a corner, head bowed. For a horrifying moment I thought Darius was dead. Then I saw his chest lift softly and fall, and I knew he was just asleep.

“He’ll be fine,” Vancha said. “We’ll have to keep a close eye on the two of you for a few nights. You’ll probably have further fits, less severe than this one. But most who attempt this die of the first seizure. Having survived that, the odds are good for both of you.”

I sat up wearily. Vancha took my fingers and spat on them, rubbing his spit in to help close the wounds.

“I feel awful,” I moaned.

“You won’t improve any time soon,” Vancha said. “When I turned from vampanizm to vampirism it took my system a month to settle down, and almost a year to get back to normal. And you’ve got the purge to contend with too.” He chuckled wryly. “You’re in for some rough nights, Sire!”

Vancha helped me back to my chair. Alice asked if I’d like water or milk to drink. Vancha said blood would be better for me. Without blinking, Alice used a knife to cut herself and let me feed directly from the wound. Vancha closed the cut with his spit when I was finished. He beamed up at Alice. “You’re some woman, Miss Burgess.”

“The best,” Alice replied dryly.

I leant back, eyes half closed. “I could sleep for a week,” I sighed.

“Why don’t you?” Vancha said. “You’ve only recently recovered from a life-threatening wound. You’re in the middle of the purge. You’ve pulled off the most dangerous blood transfusion known to vampires. By the black blood of Harnon Oan, you’ve earned a rest!”

“But Steve…” I muttered.

“Leonard can wait,” Vancha grunted. “We’ll send Annie and Darius out of town – Alice will escort them – then get you settled in at the Cirque. A week in your hammock will do you the world of good.”

“I guess,” I said unhappily. I was thinking about Evra and Merla, and what I could find to say to them. There was Mr Tall to consider too — everyone at the Cirque Du Freak had loved him. Like Shancus, he was dead because of his association with me. Would the people there hate me because of that?

“Who do you think will take over from Mr Tall?” I asked.

“I’ve no idea,” Vancha said. “I don’t think anybody ever expected him to die, certainly not in such sudden circumstances.”

“Maybe they’ll break up,” I mused. “Go their own ways, back to whatever they did before they joined. Some might have left the stadium already. I hope–”

“What was that about a stadium?” Annie interrupted. She was still tending to Darius – he was snoring lightly – but she’d overheard us talking.

“The Cirque Du Freak’s camped in the old football stadium,” I explained. “We’re going back there when you leave, but I was saying to Vancha that–”

“The news,” Annie interrupted again. “You didn’t see tonight’s news?”

“No.”

“I was watching it when you came in,” she said, eyes filling with fresh worry. “I didn’t know that’s where you were based, so I didn’t connect it with you.”

“Connect what?” I asked edgily.

“Police have surrounded the stadium,” Annie said. “They say the people who killed Tom Jones and the others at the football match are there. I should have put it together earlier, when you were telling me about Tommy, but…” She shook her head angrily, then continued. “They’re not letting anyone in or out. When I was watching the news, they hadn’t moved in yet. But they said that when they did, they’d go in with full, lethal force. One of the reporters–” She stopped.

“Go on,” I said hoarsely.

“He said he’d never seen so many armed police before. He…” She gulped and finished in a whisper. “He said they meant to go in as hard as they could. He said it looked like they planned to kill everyone inside.”

CHAPTER FIVE

First things first — make sure Annie and Darius got away safely. I couldn’t concentrate on helping my friends trapped inside the stadium if I was worrying about my sister and nephew. Once they were free of Steve’s influence, safe somewhere he couldn’t find them, I could focus on business entirely. Until that time I would only be a distracted liability.

Annie didn’t want to go. This was her home and she wanted to fight to protect it. When, after telling her about some of the atrocities Steve had committed over the years, I convinced her they had to leave, she insisted I go with them. For years she’d believed I was dead. Now she knew otherwise, she didn’t want to lose me again so quickly.

“I can’t come,” I sighed. “Not while my friends are in danger. Later, when it’s over, I’ll find you.”

“Not if Steve kills you!” Annie cried. I had no answer for that one. “What about Darius?” she pressed. “You said he needs training. What will he do without you?”

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