Page 37

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

ENDER

Finn twists back in the passenger seat to look at us. “You mentioned Grady… are you talking about Patrick Grady? The guy who released the drug that caused vampires to attack humans? After his attack at the concert, he was arrested and has been serving time in prison.”

“Yes.”

“And how do you know him?” Marcus asks.

Mads takes a deep breath, but I feel like he’s finally understood that this group is likely the only ones who will be able to help him. “He was a student of mine for one semester. He did an overseas short-term program where we became acquaintances.”

“You helped him create the drug he used to cause vampires to lose control?” Marcus asks.

Mads shakes his head. “No. At least not intentionally, if I was involved at all. I would have to look at the composition of the drug to give you a better idea. I mean, I can’t deny he might have learned something from me that helped him concoct it, but that was his own creation.

I had no say in it, but what I did create…

was the drug that just killed Vivian…” Mads says as he looks down at her still form.

“And the drug that killed the council members and those at the pier. My intention was to put it in ammo form to kill the vampires who killed my family. I was a human whose whole fucking life had been torn apart by two vampires, and I wanted them to suffer for it. I don’t even know if I really ever was going to go through with it.

But I had this idea. This big fucking idea of how I would kill the two who murdered them.

And Grady encouraged me and made me see that it was a possibility.

He had a similar sob story, told me a tale about a family member being killed which might not have even been true.

I had no idea what he was doing. I had no clue he was part of some…

movement. He stole some of my research and the drugs I’d made, and now here we are. ”

He’s quiet as he stares at the dead woman before looking up. “Vivian was helping me find him so that I could put an end to this. Instead, it looks like I’ve snagged the attention of a man who wants to use me to eradicate a significant portion of the vampire race.”

“Have you told anyone how to make it? Even Vivian? Or anyone else?” Finn asks.

“No. Grady is the only person who knows, and he only knows how to make a diluted form of it. But I can’t tell you who he has told.

He took my research and ran, well aware I wasn’t going to help him ruin the lives of others.

No one seems to know what happened to him since the location he was supposedly at has never seen him.

I’m unsure if there’s a malicious reason behind this or if it was an attempt to hide him from those who might use him for evil.

If we can figure it out, we can find him and…

fuck if I know… force him to never tell anyone? ”

“That can be done,” I say.

Mads looks uncertain about what I’m implying.

Marcus tells Mads, “We’re going to stop at the VRC to deal with Vivian. I’ll have DeGray and Briar meet us there and they’ll handle that while the four of us take you to Orin’s to get Rylee, and then we’ll move you to a different location. We cannot have anyone learning what you know.”

“How do we even trust him?” Alexei asks. “I think we should hold him at the VRC until we know more.”

“Abel tortured him for days and he didn’t cave,” I say, positive that Mads isn’t the one we need to be wary of right now.

Mads bows his head. “I know a promise isn’t much, but I truly don’t want this to get out.

There are people I really do care about…

I wish I’d never made it. I wish I’d never gotten drawn into Grady’s ideas of revenge…

of making those who hurt us pay for what they did because we were so weak compared to them.

I was allowing grief to push me forward and I know I now must pay for that mistake.

If I have to die to do it, then that is my only option.

But I will tell you this. I do know an antidote.

I was smart enough to know that I did not want to create something so powerful without a way to counteract it.

Grady was against it. He called it a waste of time, so I know he doesn’t know how to make it.

Hell, he probably doesn’t even realize that I accomplished creating it, which means that if Grady does end up in Abel’s hands, we’d be the only ones aware of how to counteract the drug.

Get me to a lab where I can make the antidote, and then after that, you can do whatever you want with me. ”

“If we take you somewhere to make it, how will we know you’re making the antidote and not the drug to kill people?” Finn asks.

“I watched him make it. He administered the antidote to me after I’d been shot. I will watch him again to make sure he’s mimicking the same steps,” I assure them.

“You can lock me in the lab for all I care, and I will inject myself with the antidote to prove it to you,” Mads says.

“I really am not a horrible guy. I just… I was forced to watch as two vampires slaughtered my family. I was left bound in the house with their bodies until someone found me. It fucks with you… and I made a mistake because of it.”

“Why?” Claude asks. “If someone was merely doing it for fun, why would they have left you alive? Did they want something out of you back then?”

Mads looks pained as he slowly shakes his head.

“They wanted… what I created. I just hadn’t created it yet.

During a trial of a different sort, I’d accidentally made something that caused a vampire I worked with to not heal.

She touched what I’d made, and as she jerked back, she burned her fingers, but they wouldn’t heal because of whatever properties were in what she’d touched.

It took her about five minutes or so before she healed from such a minor burn.

“It was at that moment I realized that on a lower scale, I’d created something that could harm the healing abilities of vampires.

I destroyed every ounce of it. I don’t know who spread the information of what I’d done, but it reached the vampires who hunted me down and slaughtered my family.

Much of that night remains a mystery to me.

They tried to torture the information out of me, but since I didn’t even know how I’d made it, I had nothing to give them.

So why did they just give up? Why didn’t they keep torturing me until I finally figured it out?

Unless… I don’t know. At times I’ve wondered if it was tied to Grady.

“When they held us hostage, I tried to give them what they wanted so I could save my family but I just… I had no idea how to recreate it. And instead of pushing me harder, they just killed them… first my sister, then my father, and then my mother. After that, they simply… left. And it made me wonder why… it made me question if they truly never expected me to create it as they killed my family but wanted to drive me toward some idea of vengeance. To give me a reason to make it. I asked myself that question again and again after Grady betrayed me. I truly don’t have all of the answers you want,” Mads says.

“I was foolish enough to let someone use me for their own gain.”

“I get it,” Finn says quietly. “If I… the bullets you made are the only reason I’m here right now.

I illegally took them to kill my own monster…

but if I was smart enough to have created something that could kill him?

I would have again and again. And I’m not sure if I’d have ever thought of the consequences.

Hell, I joined the VRC to kill him. I joined with some fucked-up idea of using the vampires on the team to save me.

I was putting lives at risk for my own gain.

I really can’t say that I’d have done anything differently than you if I were in your shoes. ”

“It’s hard when you’re a human,” Alexei agrees.

“You feel so insignificant compared to a vampire. I knew how to fight them as a human, but I was taught from a young age how to fight. And I would have done whatever I could to protect those I cared about. You have an excuse for what you’ve done. Where the fuck is Ender’s excuse?”

I stare out the window, positive that if I don’t look at him, I won’t have to answer. It’ll irritate the shit out of him, and he’ll probably try his best to kill me, but it is what it is as we sit in this vehicle, locked in together.

“Did Ender tell you he tried killing Finn and Claude?” Alexei asks Mads. “You seem eager to defend him, but did he tell you that he threw Finn off a bridge and nearly killed Claude?”

Mads looks over at me. “Was there a reason why?”

When I don’t defend myself, Alexei says, “Because he’s a fucking psychopath who only cares for himself.”

I refuse to engage with them. “I just want Rylee back in my care and Abel dead, and then I’m gone. You’ll never have to deal with me again.”

“Ender, I really can’t imagine you did that without reason,” Mads says. “Why don’t you tell them so they understand?”

I grit my teeth, well aware my reasons won’t be enough. “I knew Marcus would catch Finn. I wanted to keep him from stopping me and I knew that would preoccupy him.”

“What if I hadn’t?” Marcus asks, voice cold. “What if I hadn’t caught him?”

Their voices just crash around me as I stare out the car window and question if I should just get out.

“Ender, if you’re truthful, they’ll be more willing to help you. It’s obvious we can’t do this alone,” Mads says.

“I don’t want their fucking help.”

“I want to punch you so fucking hard,” Alexei snarls.

“Guys, it’s fine,” Claude says. “Please, let’s stay focused. I know you’re upset, hon. But let’s just focus on stopping this Abel guy. And then we can fixate on hating Ender. Sadly, it seems like he has information that we need.”

Mads is staring at me as I clench my jaw.

“His voice,” I whisper.

“Claude’s voice? What about his voice?” Alexei snaps.