Chapter 30

Smiling to himself, Anton was thankful that Chase Ross had been there for him in his time of need.
Anton had got Chase to stand near Ekaterina’s cage and think of something that could weaken her when he wasn’t there. Chase was successful and she smiled even though it hurt her to do so,
“Oh, Anton, how could you abuse a student? It was all to torture me to get some measly information.” Anton did not like to think that he had abused Chase; after all, he had asked Chase if he wanted to help and Chase agreed because he was as much against vampires as Anton was. Wasn’t he? Holding the weapon in his hand, Anton smiled at Ekaterina, as he put it in the top of her cage. It was a silver incense stick that had the smell of human blood leaking from it rather than smoke. The fumes were adjustable and so, he could change it to seep more smoke or less smoke. Luckily, Chase had made it so that the lycans could not smell it. Because Ekaterina was thirsty, she would not be able to handle such temptations and it would only weaken her and make her thirst for blood even greater than it initially was.
“I think we should resume right where we left off, don’t you?” He looked down at his watch and it had only been a few hours since he’d left Ekaterina unguarded. Master Colvin was not to know about that. He would lose his job. Ekaterina rolled her eyes and Anton knew how much she was hurting. He poured a small portion of blood into the shot glass and smiled,
“Now, I want you to tell me why Rayne wanted to fast track Avril’s death.”
“Is it not enough because she wanted to be human again as soon as possible?” Anton sat the shot glass beside him on the ground and then increased the amount of smoke fuming out from the incense stick. Ekaterina stopped breathing and then the scent of blood still leaped in and washed through her veins, tempting her to just reach through the glass and steal it from right beside where the relaxed teacher was sitting.
“No, it’s not.” He smiled finally, “Now, tell me.” He said that last bit authoritatively and she could not talk because her throat was so dry. Normally, he would never torture another living thing as much as he was torturing Ekaterina, but she was not a living thing. She got up his nose, so much so that he didn’t mind torturing her. Was that wrong of him to feel that way? He didn’t care. She was a vampire. She had no feelings.
“Chase would be very disappointed,” she choked out, “You are wasting such a precious vampire weapon on a lost cause. There is no way that I would sell out my own kind because I am loyal to them and because the Valeskas need to be protected. I will always be a loyal servant to the Valeskas; the original creatures of the night.” Is there more than one Valeska? Anton thought to himself, he needed to know the answer to that so that he could alert Colvin to it immediately.
“Is there more than one Valeska living at this moment?” He had suddenly changed questions and Ekaterina smiled,
“Not at this very moment; Rayne is the only... one.” Each breath she took sounded more painstaking than the last. He was not one to go back on his word and his word was that for every question that she answered for him, he would feed her some blood and so, he slid the glass underneath the bars for her to drink. She downed it so quick, cleaning the glass from every single drop of blood and then he turned down the strength of the incense stick. “That was very... merciful of you, Anton. See? I knew you wouldn’t kill me. You love me too much.” Anton snorted. He did the exact opposite to what she had said, as a matter of fact.
“I can’t get the information if I have to choke it out of you, can I?” She laughed coldly and then smiled.
“Oh, Anton. You are so clever! I wish you were my strategy teacher.” It was Anton who laughed coldly then and he said,
“I would rather stab myself with broken mirrors and silver daggers than teach you anything.”
“Ooh, harsh.” She smiled, pretending to be injured in the heart. She has no heart. Nothing will teach her heartbreak because her kind doesn’t have the emotional capacity! He thought acidly.
“You have no heart, so don’t pretend like you are hurt.” She looked hurt again, but he turned a blind eye to it. “Now, are you going to tell me why Rayne Valeska wanted to fast track Avril Mavra’s death?” She shook her head,
“Nope.” Again, he turned up the incense stick’s fume and she began choking, “Okay... I’ll tell... You. I’ll tell you...” He smiled,
“That’s more like it.” He slowly turned the fume down.
“There’s somebody... two people that want to create...” The smoke choked her and he slid her some blood so that she wasn’t choking as much.
“Create what?”
“Rayne wants to become a human because she wants to stop them.”
“What are they trying to do that is so bad?” He finally felt like he was getting somewhere after moments of just pointless trying. He threatened to turn the fumes up when she refused to tell him and then she gave in.
“They want to merge the two species together.” His eyes widened. He’d never heard of such a horrible thing. Merging the two species together was simply unimaginable, not to mention impossible. Such a thing had never been heard of in over one thousand years - Or quite possibly in the history of forever. He slid a full shot of blood this time.
“That’s impossible! What is this horrible theory?”
“Well, the two believe that there is somebody that can withstand the bite of two species. Once they find this person, they will create a vampire-lycan hybrid and then this person can breed with either one of the species to create more. They are said to have the super strength and speed of a vampire and a lycan, the ability to shape shift into both a husky and a bat and the most important; immortality. The two thought that with this species, there would be no reason for humans to exist at all. The whole world could be advanced.” He wanted to know more about it. Who are those two people? Does Master Colvin know about this and if he does, what is going to do about it? What lycan or vampire would be strong enough to withstand bites from the two? The only way she would talk was if he fed her blood and he fed her quite a lot - so much so that he was almost out of the first packet.
“Who are the two people that came up with such an elusive theory?” He did not sound demanding, this time. Merely curious because that was what he was now.
“I can’t tell you that, Anton. I’ve come to love you too much,” he looked at her and then rolled his eyes,
“Don’t give me that, Ekaterina. You have to tell me if you want to live because I will torture you until you do.” He threatened. He wanted to say he would use the vampire weapon, but he thought better of it because he felt a little odd calling an incense stick a weapon.
“Well, if I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret anymore would it? I’m not even supposed to know who they are and so, how is this fair that you should know about this as well?” She is just stalling now, thought Anton as he turned the stick’s fume up even more. She tried to ignore it, but she could not and then she whispered, “You can’t keep doing this, you know? It will get old at one stage or another.” He didn’t care, as long as he got the information he wanted right now, then he would not have to make it get old. She was not yet satisfied with the blood he had given her and so, it made it slightly easier to use the incense stick because she would give in to it easily. He would need Chase to think of something new if this was to work at all. As much as he hated asking Chase for help, he needed this and the school also needed this information. If this school is going to survive that horrible, erroneous plan, I don’t mind damaging my pride and asking for Chase’s help one more time. He thought to himself.
“Look, if you do not tell me the information I need, I can easily come into the cell and kill you myself. I have only been keeping you alive for so long so that you could give me information. If you fail to meet this requirement, then I see no other reason as to why you should live.” He was calling a big bluff here. Was he capable of killing Ekaterina? He shook all of the doubts out of his mind. Of course, he was. She was weakened and he was at his full strength and she had limited space to move and Anton was used to working in a tight space because it was initially how he had learnt to fight himself.
“I see plenty of reasons,” Ekaterina smiled dreamily and Anton urged her stubbornly to give them, whilst thinking of possible counters for each of the reasons she may come up with.
“You have such a kind heart, Anton and you couldn’t kill me; even if you wanted to.” Yeah, right. He thought and then he retorted with,
“Oh, yes, but you are a vampire and I could kill you without hesitation because you and I both know we have done it before.” He added that last bit venomously because it was true. Anton had killed a vampire without hesitation and his name was Damon Octavia. He was Ekaterina’s husband.
“Oh, but Anton, it has been six years since then. I think your heart may have softened over the years.” Anton wanted to turn the incense fume up and just leave her to choke, but she had some information that he desperately needed - it was if he would die without it. Nobody had ever accused Anton of being too soft. The last person that did - Damon Octavia - was unable to see the next full moon.
“Who are the two people, Ekaterina?” he asked threateningly, turning the fume up slowly. He watched her start to choke and turn pale. He was tempted to just let her stay there in pain, but he knew that he couldn’t. “Well?” He did not want to have to kill her without getting the information he needed but she was being rather uncooperative and if she did not give him the information he needed soon, the consequences would be severe. She started to answer but her voice was muffled and she sounded like she had been choked with a silver noose. He had to feed her some blood, he realised, if she was to give him the information he needed. It was so she could answer properly rather than just the choked murmurs that were trying to escape from her mouth.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” She insisted darkly and Anton had to think on this for a moment. Could she really be trusted to give accurate information? Or could she even be trusted, period? Probably not, he thought but he was not taking any chances. He prepared himself for the worst case scenario. What could possibly make Anton anymore incredulous than what he already was?
“The theorists are Nikolai Adrik and Alexander Colvin.”