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"Blackstone."
Blackstone? "I heard Michel talk about it before. They're out for Dominion."
He nods.
"Now, Eve," he says and leans forward. "I'm going to tell you what Michel didn't want to tell you. He wanted to protect you, but I figure you're mine now. I want you to know. To understand. Maybe you'll stop fighting me."
I nod, a bit ill at ease because I'm scared now by his tone.
"To achieve Dominion, the Blackstone group plans to destroy modern electronic technology and send humans back to the steam age. Then, vampires will no longer be under threat. You humans have just developed too much advanced technology and now it’s a threat to us."
I sit in silence, a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.
"How?"
"That's the question. We don't know the details. Just the broad strokes."
"Destroying all electronic technology? That would kill so many people. People rely on technology to keep them alive. People on ventilators. People with pacemakers. Airplanes, navigation."
"Humans have to get real, Eve. Vampires are coming for you. You need people like Michel and me to fight them."
I cover my mouth with a hand and look away.
"Is Blackstone a vampire group?"
"Not just vampires. Humans as well. Collaborators who want a place in the new order. Blackstone wanted to create this super vampire warrior to use in this war against humans. You see, even with recruits offering to fight for Dominion – and there are – you’d be surprised. Even with them, war is hard on your average human," Julien continues, his voice taking on an amused tone. "There's a real need for warriors who can kill without all that messy emotional stuff to hold them back. Why not create a special private army of natural born killers? Hunters of humans? I thought I was going to be a warrior protecting the Treaty and I find out I'm protecting those out for Dominion. I have to prevent that at all costs." He stares at me. "That's what my whole life –Michel'swhole life – is about. Preventing Dominion. Michel and I? We're infiltrators. We're fighting from within."
“Soren’s part of Blackstone?”
“No,” he says. “Soren’s out to control Blackstone. He has his own agenda.”
“Can we fight them?”
“We have to. I don’t want Dominion.”
“Why not? Wouldn’t it mean you vampires would have power? Isn’t that what you want? Power over us?”
He leans forward, his face intense.
“Eve, I was a priest. Sure, I wasn’t a good one, but I was. Sure, I love blood. I love the hunt. I love feeding. But I don’t want you to be like factory-farmed cows. What makes it so sweet,” he says and closes his eyes, inhaling deeply. “What makes it so sweet is when you’re free and you choose it. Chooseus.” He shakes his head. “You can’t possibly understand. But know this, what Blackstone wants is for you to be nothing more than slaves and cows.”
Tears sting at the corner of my eyes and I bite down hard on my lip to stop them. I know he has no patience for sniveling, and really, if what he says is true, anger is the only proper response to his story. I can't summon it. My overwhelming response is horror and grief.
Fighting Dominion is what killed my mother.
I don't want to even look at him and show my weakness. I leave him in the main bedroom and try to close myself in the bathroom but the lock is broken and the door won't shut. I sit on the toilet, covering my face with a towel so he won't hear me cry.
He knocks on the door, and it opens on its own. He comes in, looks at me sitting there with a wet facecloth in my hands to mop up my eyes, and he picks up the knife, pocketing it as if concerned I'll use it again.
I wipe my eyes once more, get control over myself.
"So, you'll help me?" he says. "No more resistance?"
He stands there in the bathroom doorway, his figure taking up most of its space, his shirt opened a few buttons, his hair tousled and he looked so damn strong and desirable. I know that if I'd met him first, I'd want him. I go to him and put my arms around his waist, not intending it in a sexual way, but out of care for him, for the human he once was and for how honorable he is now. He's startled at first by my embrace – I can tell by the slight hesitation before he returns it. Then he pulls me closer, his breath hitching just a bit.
"Eve," he says, amusement in his voice. "If I'd have known this would be your response, I'd have told you the whole sob story right away."
I squeeze harder, my head fitting perfectly in the space beneath his chin. Then I pull away when I feel his body respond to me.
