Ethan emerged from behind the crowds of huddled vamps, his eyes glittering with silver and gold, his fangs gloriously extended.
“What do you think you’re doing here, Sorcerer?” he demanded in a calm voice laced with undertones of simmering rage.
Theodore giggled in that high-pitched way of his before answering, “I thought I’d pay a visit so that we could play a little party game.”
“Go. Now,” Ethan commanded, but Theodore shook his head slowly and waggled something in his hand. It looked like a tiny black remote control.
“Ever heard of a nail bomb?” Theodore asked, and Ethan stilled.
“What have you done?” he seethed.
“No?” Theodore chirped, ignoring Ethan’s question. “Well, I’ll tell you. A nail bomb is just like a regular bomb, except it’s packed with nails in order to maximise the damage caused. I’ve always found it a fascinating idea and decided I’d come up with my own version: a stake bomb.” There was a collective intake of breath. “Much larger in size and slightly more cumbersome, a stake bomb is a wonderful device when taking down vampires.”
Theodore spoke as though he was a presenter on the Shopping Channel describing the latest design in electric toothbrushes. A heavy sweat broke out on my skin as I started to hyperventilate.
“I’ve rigged several of these bombs in various locations around your club, Mr Cristescu, and oh look,” he paused and pressed a button on his remote, “I’ve just activated them.”
A clock in the centre of the ceiling lit up and began ticking down from fifteen minutes. Several vampires advanced on Theodore, but he held his hands up to them.
“Now, now, don’t be so hasty. I can deactivate the bombs easily, but the deactivation requires a spell that only I know how to cast. Also, if you kill me now, the bombs will instantly go off, so hold your horses and hear me out.” A titter of laughter escaped him before he continued. “All I want is for you to play my little party game.”
Ethan looked like he was ready to commit mass murder when he said, “What is this game?”
“Oh, goody,” Theodore exclaimed, clapping his hands together in glee. Rita stood stoically by him all the while, not uttering a single word. “Well, this is how it works. Before you, there are five humans and five vampires. Actually, no, I stand corrected. Five vampires, four humans, and a dhampir.”
Theodore slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small silver gun. “So, what you need to do, Mr Cristescu, is play a game of pseudo-Russian roulette. There are no empty chambers in this gun. It’s fully loaded. However, if you shoot a human in the head, they will die. If you shoot a vampire, they will heal. What you need to do is figure out who are the humans and who are the vampires.”
Theodore stopped speaking and walked to Ethan, handing him the gun. There was a brief second as the gun was transferred from Theodore’s hand into Ethan’s that my lover looked like he might kill Theodore anyway, even if the bombs were going to go off. But he didn’t. He took the gun calmly and turned to look at the line up in front of him.
“If I play this game of yours,” Ethan said. “Who’s to say you won’t allow the bombs to go off anyway?”
“Trust,” Theodore said with a sickening grin. “Blind trust, and the fact that you don’t exactly have another choice.”
Once the words left his mouth, I suddenly realised what was going on here. Theodore might not have the physical strength to go up against Ethan, but he had cunning. This whole scenario had been cleverly designed to make Ethan lose face in front of his people, the same way Theodore lost face when his chalk circle plan with the humans didn’t pan out as he’d wanted.
“Go ahead, my friend,” Theodore said. “Pick a number.”
Everything seemed to move in slow motion as I focused my attention on the lineup. My gaze lingered on each individual and panic seized me. This wasn’t ten random people. The first person I recognised was number three, Finn. Then I made out Amanda, Gabriel, Alvie, and, I guessed, Alora, though I didn’t know her body well enough to be sure. The rest were five vampires, and I was willing to bet they were the ones Ethan left to keep guard over his house while he was gone.
I felt like I was going to be sick.
Ethan didn’t know my friends as I did. He might not be able to discern them from the vampires, not with those fucking bags and matching jumpsuits. I dashed from my spot and ran straight onto the dance floor, screaming one word, “Wait!”
I tried to throw myself in front of Finn, but suddenly my body wasn’t moving anymore, and my mouth was clamped shut. Rita stared at me, her hand raised in the air in a spell to prevent me from moving or speaking. Furious tears ran down my cheeks.
“What have you done to her?” Ethan fumed as he flashed to my side.
I wanted to say so much to him, but I couldn’t move, couldn’t utter a single word. All he could see were my tears.
“We wouldn’t want our dear little Treasure giving you any clues, now would we?” Theodore chirped. “Tick-tock, Mr Cristescu. You better get a move on.”
Ethan stared at him murderously, turning back to the anonymous bodies in front of him. He raised the gun, and a look of indecision crossed his face. I stared at him, desperately willing him to make the right choice. What if he didn’t see what I saw? What if he didn’t see my friends but ten anonymous strangers?
Then, quick as a flash, he shot at number seven, and my gut squeezed in relief because I knew it was a vampire. A disturbing thought hit me. Theodore was even more cunning than I realised. This game meant that even if Ethan guessed correctly, he was still shooting his people in the head to save a handful of humans.
“Time to pick another,” Theodore said. “You’ve only got eight minutes left before it’s stake bomb time.”
Vampires all around extended their fangs at Theodore and hissed, but they were powerless to do anything other than that small show of aggression. Ethan successfully pinpointed another vampire, and the guy instantly dropped to the floor when he shot him. I had to keep reminding myself that he would heal. Bullets weren’t fatal to vampires. Humans, however …
No, I refused to think about that.
Minutes passed, and Ethan shot another two vampires. Hope seized me as I started to see light at the end of the tunnel. He only had to guess the final vampire and my friends were safe. Unfortunately, my hope vanished when he aimed the gun at Amanda. Thanks to Rita preventing me from moving or speaking, I was powerless to stop him from making the wrong choice.
Seconds later, he pulled the trigger, and I could practically see the bullet whizzing through the air towards Amanda’s head. My heart pounded, but then Lucas appeared out of nowhere, diving in front of her and taking a bullet in the chest. He fell to the floor, bent over in pain.
“No, no, no that’s cheating. That’s not how you play the game!” Theodore cried.
His expression contorted into that of a madman as he glanced up at the clock on the ceiling. There were only sixty seconds left before the bombs ignited.
Instead of deactivating them like he said he would, Theodore disappeared into his trademark cloud of purple smoke with Rita by his side. The witches and warlocks who’d been guarding the exits vanished, too. Absolute mayhem broke out as vampires fled in every direction. I ran straight to my friends, yanking the bags off their heads and hurrying to get them out of the building before the bombs went off.