Jack started answering Julia's questions after the second strike. I couldn't watch that, as necessary as I knew it was. And the smell of burning flesh turned my stomach even more than the slap of amputated meat as it fell on the floor. Silently I thanked Jack for surrendering when he did.
"Anne is alive and well," Jack's voice was hoarse, and he spoke reluctantly, as if he deeply resented giving out the information. "She embraced our union. Eventually." He sneered, and hastily continued when Julia stepped towards him, axe in hand.
"Those bodies out there were all descendents of ours, one way or another. I lost count a few decades ago. They're all male - the females weren't allowed to drink blood. It made them ugly. Seriously, would you screw something like that?" The old arrogance was back as he lifted his chin to indicate the corpses outside. "The ladies don't like them much either, so that left little old me." He sneered again and stared at me. "You really would have enjoyed it, you know. I've had a lot of practice."
"Ew," I sneered back at him, and he frowned.
"What happened to Lizzie?" Julia asked sharply.
"Who knows?" he shrugged. "She rejected me a few too many times, so I removed her limbs and left her to die. How was I to know they'd grow back. I went back a few weeks later to fetch a few things and she'd disappeared. Haven't seen her since." He looked disgruntled. Julia smiled widely at the news that her younger sister had escaped Jack's clutches.
"Where's Anne?"
"She's probably at home, mobilising the troops. You have no idea how powerful I am, do you?" He laughed before continuing. "My army will destroy you all." Then he paused as if considering something.
"If you let me go I could call them off," he offered, smirking at Julia. "Give you a head start."
"You'd come after us again," Julia said expressionlessly.
"Probably," he admitted. "But I could give you a week. Better than the hours you have now. Or is it minutes? I can't recall." He looked at each and every one of us in turn, his expression taunting and smug.
Julia stared at his face as if trying to discern some truth in what he was saying.
Oliver broke in. "He's not lying. There are dozens of them. But he didn't tell them where he was going, so they can't find us. Not yet. But they will eventually come for us when they figure out what has happened."
Jack looked livid with rage.
"He's lying!" he snapped.
"No, he's not," Angus said firmly.