The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa Page A

human was the key,” Jackal went on, glaring at me now. “He had all the information we needed. The results the scientists had on the plague, the tests they ran, how the rabids were created, everything. I was trying to save our race, sister. I came so close, and you ruined it all.”
    “You were trying to cure Rabidism so you could turn your raider pets into a vampire army and take over everything,” I shot back. “Don’t even try to sell me the saint act. You’re nothing but a scheming, bloodthirsty killer who’s out for power. And by the way, where is that raider army of yours? Did they finally turn on you once you couldn’t promise them immortality anymore?”
    “Oh, don’t worry, they’re still there.” Jackal’s smile was not friendly. “It’s fairly easy to govern a city that has no rules— the minions do what they please, and I don’t stop them. But, with that old human dead, I had to come up with a new plan. That’s when I thought you and I needed to have a little talk, and I certainly couldn’t do that with a raider gang following me about the country.” He shrugged. “They’ll be there when I get back, with the cure. You haven’t stopped anything, sister. You’ve just delayed things a bit.”
    “If there is a cure. We don’t know if this lab created one or not, even a partial one.”
    “I would have shared it with you,” Jackal said, sounding angry and hurt at the same time. “You and me, sister, we could’ve had it all. We could’ve had everything.”
    “I didn’t want everything.” I glared at him. “I didn’t want your city, your minions, your schemes for power, any of it. I just wanted to get my friends to safety.”
    “Uh-huh.” Jackal raised an eyebrow. “And how did that turn out? I don’t see any of your ‘friends’ here now. Where are they? Back in their Eden, I suppose? Why didn’t you hang around, if you’re such great pals?” He snickered and went on before I could answer. “Here’s what I think happened. You got the little bloodbags to Eden, like you said you would, but oh, they couldn’t let a vampire into the city, now could they? That would just cause a panic, having a wolf walking among the sheep. So they either turned you away or drove you off. And your little friends, the humans that you rescued from the big bad raider king, the people you stuck your neck out for, they didn’t do anything. Because they knew the others were right. Because you’re a monster who kills humans to live, and no matter how much you tell yourself otherwise, that’s all you’ll ever be.”
    “Tell me again why I’m helping you?”
    Jackal laughed. “You know I’m right, sister. You can deny it until the sky falls down, but you’re only fooling yourself.”
    “You don’t know me.” He snickered again, and I whirled on him. “And another thing. Stop calling me ‘sister.’ We’re not related just because Kanin sired us both. I have a name— Allison. Start using it.”
    “Sure thing, Allison .” Jackal bared his fangs in a sneer. “But we both know the truth. Vampire blood is stronger than human ties—our blood links us together in a way they can’t even imagine. Why do you think you could sense where I was, where Kanin is? Because you’re getting stronger, and the stronger the vamp, the easier it becomes to know where the members of your particular family are at any time. That’s why most covens are all members of the Prince’s family, the ones he sired himself. He can sense where they are, and sometimes even what they’re thinking. Makes it hard for them to turn on him. But the tie goes both ways.”
    “That’s why we’ve been able to sense Kanin.”
    “Yep.” Jackal looked off to the west as we started walking again. “And each other, to a lesser extent. But the strongest pull is toward our sire, or at least, it was until he went into hibernation. It doesn’t work as well if the vampire is close to death, but it’s still