At that moment, she pulled with every ounce of strength she possessed. She thought of how carelessly, how heartlessly, Angelus had destroyed her home and flung her hands out toward him. A spear of fiery energy seared straight into the pulsating heart of her target.
Chapter Fifteen: Unusual Bedfellows
Tatya dug her heels in, she wasn't moving one step further than was necessary with this vampire. Okay, she'd experienced a momentary weakness toward Vanse after he'd saved and healed her, but until he told her the truth about what was going on, she wasn't budging. She didn't need a degree to see that joining with both Angelus and Vanse had increased her powers and played a major part in precipitating this disaster.
"No. I'm only going with you if you promise to explain." She stood, green eyes sparking defiance, her hands on her hips, and stubbornly refused to move. Yes, he could drag, throw her over his shoulder, or compel her, but she was getting a handle on how this vampire operated.
"Are you a woman or a child?" Vanse's eyes sparked gold at her. "Angelus knows where you are. We need to leave and get you to safety." His habitual facade of cool detachment was disintegrating.
Good, she liked seeing him rattled. "Well, if you treat me like a child, what do you expect?"
"All right. I promise to answer your questions. In the car."
"Not good enough." Her enjoyment at his discomfort grew.
"What then?" He glared at her, fireworks flashing in his eyes.
"You will explain every little detail, even the ones you think are unimportant, because bright though I am, I might not know what questions to ask. So, you will tell me why Angelus wants me. You will tell me why I'm remembering you killed me. Or another version of me. Or whoever that person was I thought was me, who you stabbed to death more than once. You will tell me every last little detail. Okay?"
"Yes."
He grabbed her arm, and strode along, hurrying her toward the car. Her legs had to move twice as fast to keep up with his long ones. Hustling her into the backseat, he sat beside her while Sean drove. The usual motorcade followed.
Tatya turned and took one last look at the wreckage of her home. A thin autumn rain was falling, dampening the last wisps of smoke. The ruined house looked sinister in the encroaching gloom of evening. She would not cry. She would get the bastard who'd done this, and didn't care how much supernatural power he had—she swore she would have her revenge.
"Right, you've got my attention." She twisted in her seat to observe Vanse's face. Although the link would tell her if he was lying, she was more comfortable with the human way of doing things.
"Angelus has been hunting you for a very long time, Tatya."
A shiver of premonition as crimson and black flickered at the edge of her sight. She wasn't anyone's prey.
"Angelus is first, a demon. An exceptionally powerful demon. When an alliance of supernaturals and humans banished demons from this plane of existence, he evaded detection by becoming half-vampire."
Tatya listened. This sounded like a European myth or legend, Or would have, if she hadn't met Angelus, and he hadn't been sucking at her throat.
"But, as half-vampire, he doesn't have complete access to all of his demoniac powers. He needs to strengthen his demon aspect and reduce the vampire part of himself. If he can do this, his powers will magnify, making him undefeatable. To accomplish his goal, he requires a certain power to negate the darker, vampiric influences. However, the person possessing that power has to give themselves willingly to him."
She snorted. "Are you saying what I think you're saying? That I hold that kind of power, and I'm the only one? And I have to willingly have sex with him so this change can take place? Please tell me I've misunderstood what you're telling me."
"Physical surrender completes his dominance on all planes, and he'll gain complete control of your power."
This was getting weirder and weirder.
"Do you remember how you felt when he drank your blood?"
She'd attempted to bury that memory deep below the other, more recently accumulated miseries, but it haunted her. It wasn't the pain he'd inflicted that bothered her; it was that as he'd drunk her blood, an overwhelming desire to please him had consumed her. She now recognized this had been the beginning of the transformation into a vampire because she'd experienced similar emotions when Vanse activated his link with her. But with Vanse, she was aware he loved her, whereas, with Angelus, a corrosive lust had coursed through the link. Vanse had halted her transformation. Angelus wouldn't have stopped until he'd achieved the domination he wanted.
"There's more. If—"
"Stop talking," she didn't care if he thought her rude. "I have to think for a minute."
The car entered the town's outer suburbs, and the quiet roads with streetlights casting pools of yellow light on the pavements looked everyday normal. People here woke in the mornings, spent their days working, arguing and loving; they built their lives ignoring other realities. She'd never envied them what appeared to be a mundane, humdrum existence, but today, she'd give anything for an ordinary life. Tatya had always known she was different, but Vanse was introducing her to a whole new meaning of the word.
"So why doesn't he rape me?"
"There is a curse. If he forces you, the curse ensures his demonic side will weaken almost to nothing. If he loses his demon powers, he'll be just another vampire struggling to create his own little fiefdom. With your powers, he can enhance his latent demoniac capabilities, and enslave the entire race of vampires."
The car turned onto the road leading to the hospital. Tatya, as a healer, was accustomed to illness and tragedy as part of the human experience, but this—this other thing that was happening, didn't have a place in her world. She thrust demons and their curses into a back drawer. It was too much information to absorb on top of today's heartbreak.
"I'll see Aunt Lil first. I want to break the news about the house to her. Alone."
"There's a meeting later. Corwin asked for you to attend."
"He couldn't tell me himself?"
"He didn't deem it appropriate to mention it while you watched your home burn."
As they entered the hospital grounds, they sat silently as Sean drove around to the back entrance. Visiting hours were over and Tatya watched families with sick parents or children, husbands with sick wives, and wives with sick husbands as they left. Disease and death were difficult enough to face, and despite what Vanse or Angelus thought, she wasn't anybody special. She was just an ordinary person, trying to survive in the struggle for existence.
"I've killed you more than once."
In the driving mirror, Tatya noticed Sean's eyes flick back at them. Was this new to him? She'd assumed he knew, but maybe not. "How many times?"
"How many dreams have you had recently?"
Sean parked next to the doors.
"I'm not finished with you yet," she told Vanse, getting out of the car and heading for the bright lights of the hospital.
Aunt Lil wept soft tears as Tatya described how their home had burned. Afterward, she took a deep breath, wiped her eyes, and told her niece they would start over and build a new house once the doctors declared her well enough. “I'm thinking they find my case so fascinating, they'll never let me out of here," she joked.
Tatya shushed her and sat by her bed till she slept.
"Tatya!"
Vanse's voice woke her. She'd dozed off in the chair. "Oh, come to kill me have you?" She stretched.
He looked pained. Good. He experienced guilt. He should.
"It's time for the meeting."
Tatya didn't bother asking him why they were meeting; she wanted as little as possible to do with this good and evil, vampire and demon crap. Leave her out of it. Her life before all this started was paradise compared to what was happening now.
The meeting was held in a room on the first floor. Corwin had commandeered what appeared to be the doctors' lounge. Several coffee tables were pushed together in the center and comfortab
le chairs arranged around the edge. Tatya nodded to Corwin and Bellamy when they entered. The two seats on either side of Corwin were empty. She took one chair, Vanse the other. Casting her eye around the table, she noticed the same local law enforcement officers as at the previous conference, except the FBI men were absent, and there were more vamps, plus some new military types.
"There are developments," Corwin said without preamble. "Oh, and so as I've ticked the boxes, this is Major Bryson and his men," he waved a hand toward the three military men, "who are from a special government unit for supernatural events, and are replacing the suits. They," he indicated the four new vamps, "are working with Vanse. Bellamy, update us on the coma patients." Corwin leaned back and gazed at the ceiling.
Bellamy opened the little black book in front of him; his fingers flipped the pages with practiced ease. "Number of patients in a coma, one hundred."
Tatya wasn't surprised she hadn't known of these events. Being kidnapped, run over, and having your house burned down could make you forget life wasn't all about you.
"Number of patients previously in a coma, but who woke and were killed, twenty-five."
How sweet of him to omit the running amok, Tatya thought, remembering the dark red stains being washed off the hospital walls.
"Number of patients in a coma, but who woke and escaped, fifteen. Total number infected so far, one hundred and forty-five."
Bellamy closed his notebook.
"We've no clue as to the why of it yet," said Corwin. "Smith, Burton. Anything to report?"
Jane Smith had a thin face and sharp intelligent eyes that missed nothing. "Increased levels of every crime from shoplifting, prostitution, drug arrests, assault, and murder. It's as if people have no fear of consequences. Our jails are full and we're sending people over to Knoxville for processing. The mayor isn't happy. The citizens aren't happy."
Corwin nodded. "Leipman, what have you and Rathmore got on the victims?"
"No specific connection, sir, other than they're young and healthy. The majority play football and most are linebackers."
"Vanse."
Tatya noted Corwin had stopped giving Vanse any title. The time for politeness was over.
The vampire master leaned forward on his elbows, his fingers steepled. He gestured at the three vamps; the female, white blonde hair falling to her waist, examined the humans with a predatory eye; of the other two, one was a teenage Goth, while the third was Mr. Everyman. "My colleagues report a surge in the number and variety of supernatural manifestations. Sightings from all directions including ghost hound packs, living gargoyles, and every creature in between have been noted. Movement seems to be toward Orleton."
"Thank you, Vanse."
Tatya looked askance at Corwin. Thank you? Since when did Vanse and Bill get so cozy?
"Major?"
"Yes, we've been monitoring events and started mobilizing our units. The FBI has informed me that crime drops to more usual levels the farther you go from Orleton. Local rates of suicide are on the increase." The major turned to the soldier on his right. "Lieutenant."
The lieutenant in question produced a rolled canister, uncapped it and took out a map. He fixed the map to the wall behind Corwin, moving with precise economy. Chairs scraped as everyone shuffled and shifted to view the map.
"Here's Orleton." The lieutenant pointed to the town. "These blue dots are where supernaturals have been seen, and the red dots are where crime is at proportions never experienced before in those areas."
Tatya stared at the colored dots on the map. The closer you came to Orleton, the greater the concentration of dots of both colors. Was this Angelus's influence? Her stomach did a weird flip.
"Thank you, Major," Corwin turned back to the group. "Vanse?"
"We know Angelus's power is growing, and he's the instigator of this escalation of undesirable elements. I regret we have not, as yet, located him."
"Do we know why he's concentrating on Orleton? What's here for him?" This came from one of the deputies.
Tatya's heart beat faster. She blew out a quiet breath, and breathed in, focusing on the rise and fall of her diaphragm. She didn't look at Vanse. All of this, these people here, the coma victims, the increasing crime rate, the supernaturals heading here because Angelus wanted her? The weight of this knowledge was a burden. If she was in charge, she'd hand her over and be done with it. She clenched her hands together under the table, feeling the familiar tingle grow sharper and stronger as her power sought release.
Vanse's eyes remained fixed on the Major. "No, not yet, but I'm sure he'll inform us of his demands in due course." He opened the bond just enough to let her know he would never leave her. She wasn't alone.
Tatya pursed her lips, and breathed out slowly, feeling calmer.
"Keep us updated on any developments."
"Of course."
"Smith, Burton, liaise with Vanse's, um, er," Corwin struggled to find the proper word, and in the end settled for 'people'.
The two detectives didn't seem pleased, but said nothing.
"Leipman, Rathmore, you're with the military."
The relief on the faces of the latter two couldn't have been clearer.
"Bellamy, check out—" Corwin stopped talking as the three guest vamps blurred toward the door. The Sheriff’s unfinished sentence dangled in the air.
Tatya didn't see him move, but Vanse was instantly beside her. He gripped her arm and hauled her to her feet. "What's going on? Vanse, stop, you're hurting my arm."
A policeman thundered along the hallway. "Sheriff, there's a bunch of them this time. They're heading this way."
The room exploded into action. The military officers drew their weapons as they and the police ran toward the screams and shots coming from upstairs.
Vanse released his hold a fraction but didn't let go as he hustled her out of the room in the opposite direction to the one everyone else had taken. Stopping in front of a blank wall, he muttered a word, and a door opened where a second before there'd been none. He bundled her through, warding the door afterward.
She let him lead her down several flights of steps, through another warded door into a long corridor, and hurried her into a suite of rooms without protest. "Vanse. I can help. My powers are getting stronger."
"And so are Angelus's. If he drinks your blood again, I might not be able to stop him."
He took her face in his hands, forcing her to look up at him, bent and touched his lips, feather light, to hers, without the link and with no glamour. "I could not bear to lose you again. Promise me, no matter what happens, you will not leave this room. Do you understand?"
She nodded, compliant for the moment, allowing his will dominate.
"Say it."
"I promise.
Chapter Sixteen: The Lair
Tatya couldn't settle down. Was Aunt Lil safe? What was going on upstairs? She stalked back and forth, caged in what she could only assume was Vanse's personal suite. This would have disturbed her had there not been more pressing issues at hand, such as this vampire-demon stuff. Aka random slaughter amidst bedlam. The chaos, inky-black and crimson, scraped against her aura, seeking entry. She abstained from scrying.
Looking for something to take her mind off whatever was happening upstairs, she explored the walk-in closet, which looked about the size of her bedroom and rooted through Vanse's clothes. She found color-coordinated rails full of suits and shirts, full drawers folded with knife-edged precision, with everything down to his underwear and socks bearing designer labels. A bathroom with a walk-in shower and giant bathtub, and a bedroom with emperor-sized bed. She trailed a hand over the silk sheets, paused, and turned her thoughts elsewhere. She didn't want to go there. Not now, anyway.
Everything in the living room, a desk in one corner, couch, and a couple of armchairs was a mixture of modern mixed with what looked like expensive, authentic antiques. The wall-mounted large screen TV, and the sound system were top of the range design. She opened the cupboard below
the TV to find it full of DVDs and CDs, where the sight of Handel's Messiah nestling next to the Pogues' Rum Sodomy & The Lash, and shelved above The Wizard of Oz made her smile.
Vanse spared himself no expense when furnishing his surroundings. She pushed the question of how much this luxury cost out of her mind, but couldn't help wondering, did all his vamps have luxurious living quarters? And how did he fund this lifestyle?
Frustrated at the inactivity, Tatya sat, stood, seated herself again, and resumed patrolling the perimeter of the room while her brain worked itself into a Gordian knot trying to make sense of the madness taking place.
Desperate to do something, but unsure if it would work, she sat cross-legged on the carpet, distracted for the moment by the luxurious pile and intricately worked designs. Probably hand-woven she thought before closing her eyes and directing her attention to her breath. The manic mood eased, and her mind decelerated as she withdrew her awareness, and disconnected her senses from the outer world. Here, in this quiet space, there was no turmoil, only stillness, and the sea of her breath.
Tatya sent a questing tendril down the link to Vanse. Yes! The connection worked and she could see what was happening, but Vanse moved so fast it was hard to register what he was doing. One minute, he was looking down a corridor, the next he was at the end. There, he glimpsed three reawakened coma victims entering a ward, and was through the doors. He wrenched the head back of the first young man, twisting and breaking his neck in an instant, then moved on to the next. Patients screamed; high, piercing shrieks that petrified Tatya as the deluge of raw emotion swamped her defenses.
She wanted to cut the link. The slaughter horrified her; she needed to cauterize that place where she was joined to this emotionless killer. The next young man turned, and Angelus's blue eyes looked right through Vanse to Tatya.
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