“Well?” I asked impatiently. “Are you going to tell me?”
“I just wanted to see if there were any traces left of the feisty doc I know and love.”
I frowned and pressed my lips together. She was making it easy for me to hate her.
“Okay, okay. I guess I am being an asshole. It’s hard for me, too, ya know. I didn’t expect to like hanging out with you. No matter what you think, I’m not totally heartless. Anyway, do you remember when I gave you some brandy at the amusement park?”
“Brandy?” Our trip to the deserted fun house seemed so long ago, I had to mentally re-create the evening step by step, starting with crawling under the fence. It only took me a few seconds to remember Maxie’s insistence that I drink some brandy after my encounter with an invisible hand. And the strange aftertaste that made me assume it had been in her car for a long time.
“The light bulb over your head just lit up.” She smiled. “Yeah. There was a little of Hallow’s blood in the flask.”
The idea of my drinking Hallow’s blood was so disgusting, I couldn’t sit still. I scrambled to my feet, pacing back and forth.
Maxie rose from the floor behind me and I faced her.
“Why put blood in the brandy?” I inched backward. “Was it just another way to prove you were in control?”
“Well, yeah.” She shoved her hands into her jeans pockets. “There was that. But in order to save time during the big transformation ritual—and to keep you from overdosing and becoming worthless to him—you needed to acclimate by drinking small amounts of his blood. Putting it into terms you can relate to, Doc, you’re connected to him now at levels much deeper than body or mind. We’re in the realm of metaphysics or even quantum physics, here. He has begun the process of joining his aura with yours. Soon, you’ll be an extension of him.” A huge smile curved her lips. “Like me.”
Another crash sounded overhead. My solar plexus tightened and my breath caught. The notion that I already had some part of Hallow inside me was frightening. Even if Devereux did somehow manage to break through the magic and free us from Hallow, I’d still be under the lunatic’s control. All I could hope was that Devereux got to Victoria and Tom before they were killed.
Knowing that Devereux was near should have been reassuring, but since nothing about Hallow had proved to be rational, I was afraid to hope there might be a way out of this nightmare. Talking to Maxie was probably another dead end, but she had more information than I did. I was willing to repress my true feelings and appear interested in case she said anything I could use to help my friends.
I pointed at her head. “So, Hallow’s the reason your hair is white? He’s the thing that happened to transform you?”
“Yeah.” She gathered the avalanche of white into a tail. “The hair is a side effect of becoming Hallow’s lýtle. The progression is different for every woman. You probably figured out that his twin over there”—she pointed at Luna—“only resembles him because they didn’t get very far along in the transformation process. Devereux interfered. If they’d continued, her hair probably would’ve gone white, too.”
“What about your face changing?”
She laughed. “I wondered if you were going to mention that. The transformation gives each of us special abilities. I can alter the appearance of my face and body. Every person who looks at me sees what he or she wants to see. It’s great for going undercover to get a story.”
Did she expect me to believe she really worked for that tabloid? She answered before I could ask the question.
“Yeah, I really do work there. Although, I’ve only been in the Denver office for a few months. Being Hallow’s slave isn’t a 24-7 kind of gig. A girl needs other interests. And, just in case you’re remembering what I told you about visiting the amusement park when I was a kid, I actually did live in Denver earlier. I wasn’t lying about that. At least not totally.”
I’m so relieved she didn’t totally lie. Yeah, right.
“So, who was it Hallow came to harvest if it wasn’t Luna?”
She appeared confused for a couple of seconds before bursting into laughter. “Oh, yeah. The harvest thing. Well turns out Hallow’s a pretty creative liar. Much better than me. It was you he came for all along.” She nodded in appreciation. “He really got into the game, here. He littered the ground with bloodless bodies, just to tantalize the vampire community and to keep them out of his way. Brilliant, actually.”
Well, that explains Mr. Roth’s dead vampires.
Hallow’s statement about me being Maxie’s replacement came to mind. Her reaction made it pretty clear she either didn’t believe him or was in denial. Devereux said the monster had a harem of women. I hadn’t seen evidence of that. Maybe I’d regret raising the issue, but I wanted to know.
“I thought Hallow had a lot of female slaves. Where are all the rest?”
Her good humor vanished. “I don’t know about how it used to be.” She raised her chin in the air. “Since he’s had me, he hasn’t needed anyone else.”
“Until now?” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“I’m not sure why he wants you.” She frowned. “I tried to convince him that three’s a crowd.”
Ah, the seeds of discontent.
“But it wouldn’t be three. He said I’m your replacement.”
Her eyes narrowed and her hands fisted at her sides. She stood rigid. “Shut up! You don’t know anything. He won’t replace me. You couldn’t possibly be enough for him. He’s just fucking with my head.”
She didn’t appear to believe what she said any more than I did, but addicts could be masterful at self-delusion.
How far can I push her?
“Maybe he’s tired of you. Or maybe he’s just a lying bastard who manipulated you the same way he did me. You probably don’t mean any more to him than his other women.” I laughed. “I’ll bet you thought you were special.”
I must be suicidal.
Her lips curled into a malevolent smile and she took a step toward me. I only had a few seconds to cringe away from the anger radiating off of her when an entire portion of the wall collapsed behind us. Bricks and cement tumbled into the room like a chunky mudslide.
My gaze shot to the huge hole. A sea of pale faces appeared inside. Devereux had brought reinforcements, and they were all trapped behind the unseen magical boundary.
“Kismet!” Devereux roared. He threw himself against the invisible force field, repeating words in the strange language he often used. After a few seconds, he slammed his fist against the barrier in obvious frustration and shouted, “I must know which spell Victoria cast so I can dismantle it. Revive her!”
I took a step toward Devereux, wanting to ask him how to revive Victoria, since Hallow had knocked her out with his vampiric gaze. Maxie grabbed my arm, holding me in place with unexpected strength. “Nope. Sorry, Doc. No conjugal visits today.”
“That’s right,” a low voice rumbled directly behind me.
Maxie and I turned toward Hallow.
“At least not with your knight in shining armor.” He swept Maxie’s hand away from my arm and spoke to her in a brusque tone. “Sit with the witch. Be prepared to do whatever I ask.”
She sank to the ground.
He lifted me into his arms and smiled. “Now that the audience is in place, let the show begin!”
Devereux raged on the other side of the barrier. “You will pay for this, demon!”
Hallow threw back his head and laughed before turning toward Devereux. “I almost wish I had time to finish you off before I claim my prize. Killing one such as you would bring me great pleasure. But, if I have learned anything after all these millennia, it’s that a juicy human in hand is worth two—or multitudes of—vampires in the wall.”
His body shook with mirth.
I struggled to free myself from the steel bands his arms had become, but my efforts only made him press me closer. “Hallow! Why are you doing this? You already have Maxie. You don’t need me. What’s th
e point of this?”
He stared at me. “You honestly don’t know, do you?”
What the hell was he talking about? “Know what?”
He licked his lips, exposing the tips of his descended fangs. “You have strong abilities. I’ll be gorging myself at the smorgasbord of your talents for, well, for as long as you last.”
Great. We’re back to the strong abilities crap again.
He walked us to the far end of the room, to the collection of beds near where Tom still lay unconscious. Holding me easily with one arm, he snagged another of the flat, dirty mattresses by a corner and dragged it onto the floor. Pulling it along behind him, he scooted the germ-infested bedding into Victoria’s circle and dropped it, sending up another burst of dirt.
Shit. This is bad. I’ve got to keep him talking.
“Wait a minute. What abilities? Vampires keep saying that, and I still don’t know what any of you are talking about.”
“You mean your golden magician hasn’t told you?”
Devereux glared at Hallow, mumbling something. If he was trying to cast a spell of his own, it wasn’t working. His vampire companions—at least a dozen of them—kept up an ongoing clatter of shouts and threats. Their commotion was so overwhelming, I didn’t think anyone but I could hear Hallow’s ramblings.
“I think we’ve already established that I don’t know what the hell anyone is talking about. Since you’re so enamored with the sound of your own voice, why don’t you tell me?”
He grinned. “Glad to. You’re gonna love this. Drumroll, please! You’re a vampire.”
I raised my eyebrows and pursed my lips. “I’m a vampire?”
Well, what did I expect from an insane murderer? Devereux said Hallow’s mind had mutated over so many centuries. Who knew what kinds of weird neural pathways survived in his brain? But his lunacy aside, the longer I could keep him distracted, the longer I’d avoid whatever psychic lobotomy he had in store for me. The entire situation was becoming more bizarre by the second.
“You are, indeed. Oh, not the blood-drinking variety like your warrior vampire over there or even like me, but you’re a vampire nonetheless. You, my dear doctor, are an emotional vampire.” He smiled, waiting for my reaction.
I frowned. “We usually call those people psychic vampires, and I’m not one.”
He shook his head. “No, it’s not the same thing at all. Those pitiful humans live off crumbs from the psychic table. You literally attract emotions. Like a magnet. And the fascinating thing is, you don’t even know you do it! All those psychic emanations float in your aura like a vibrational buffet. And not only from your current life, but from endless others. For someone like me, you’re a feast.”
Vibrational buffet? Endless other lives?
He paused for a few seconds, a huge grin sliding across his face. “Devereux probably never told you the big secret about who you used to be, either, did he?”
Who I used to be? How crazy is this madman?
I opened my mouth to ask about those ludicrous assertions, and he shook his head. “No, don’t even bother asking. I’m going to keep that bit of information to myself for future use.”
I’m arguing with an insane vampire. Time to switch techniques.
“Well, okay. Assuming I believe anything you just said, what’s that got to do with you?”
He released my legs and my feet landed on the ground. He gripped my upper arm with his strong fingers. The heavy smokiness that had cleared slightly when Devereux punched the opening in the wall had returned, making my eyes water. My lungs ached from breathing in the thick air and I felt lethargic.
“Why, you’ll just keep on drawing in resources from the human environment and I’ll be well fed. What a glorious arrangement. Of course, your physical apparatus will eventually give out, but by that time I’m sure I’ll have found a replacement or two.”
He angled my body so Devereux—who was now yelling strings of unfamiliar words over the clamor of the other vampires—had a clear view. He stepped behind me, his hands following the curve of my waist to fondle my breasts.
I sucked in a breath, suddenly terrified. Hallow must have subdued my mind earlier to keep me from sensing the depths of his vileness. Whatever he’d done to mute his usual, predatory, insane energy had shifted, and the thing pressing himself against me now felt horrifying and alien. The psychotic vampire’s power washed over everyone.
My gaze slid to Maxie’s. Her eyes were wide, lips parted. She sat limp, her shoulders slumped—entranced. Victoria lay in her own, silent world.
Devereux pounded against the invisible force field, his expression a mixture of rage, fear, and grief. The cacophony of the vampires around him reached eardrum-shattering levels.
Hallow cupped my breasts, squeezing gently, his voice soft silk in my ear, the resonance relaxing my muscles, disarming my resistance. “Let’s begin.” He continued stroking me, whispering psychotic endearments.
As he spoke, my mind began to fragment. My perception split and I clearly saw in my psyche the two familiar aspects of myself. Once again, they stood together in my inner world, waiting. The part I thought of as my professional self—reserved, shy, even cautious—seemed to be diminishing in size. I—who was I?—wanted to call out to her, to warn her she’d been deceived, but my vocal cords weren’t functional.
The primitive aspect—Lust—stepped forward, shining with raw energy. She responded to Hallow’s unspoken invitation, excited to become whatever he demanded. I experienced the same dissonant sensation as before: being both parts of myself, while knowing the primitive was about to take control.
Hallow spun me around to face him and stared into my eyes. His silver irises began to swirl and flicker. My knees softened. The sounds of the room receded and the temperature warmed.
Like an hourglass turned upside down, the sand flowing between halves, I transitioned from one personality to another inside myself. It was a curious sensation—simultaneously reveling in the growing strength of one aspect, while grieving the distance of the other. Reality began to lose its crisp edges, morphing into an altered state.
Is this a dream?
He smiled.
I studied his face, which had become even more beautiful. More unearthly. His sculpted features, full lips, and lustrous hair fascinated me. All I could think about was touching him. Feeling his skin under my hands.
In answer to my thought, Hallow pulled his shirt off in one seamless movement. His soft hair flowed down his body. I wrapped my fingers in it, sliding the long, dark strands across his muscular, pale chest.
He wrapped his arms around me and brought his lips to mine. A wave of heat pulsed through me, creating an odd melting sensation. My very skin seemed to dissolve. I felt myself merge with Hallow—his aura consuming mine. Intense sensations rocketed through me and I heard myself scream. I recognized the sound, but knew it couldn’t be coming from my physical mouth, since my lips were still pressed to Hallow’s. My heart pounded, double-time, the rhythm so hard and fast I anticipated the sharp pain that would signal an impending coronary. But it didn’t come. Bright images, like a film on fast-forward, bombarded my brain. Scenes of death and destruction, visions of bloodless corpses and ancient graveyards. Were these Hallow’s memories?
He deepened the kiss, sending electricity along my frame. I wasn’t sure if my muscles spasmed, or I only imagined they did. He slid his tongue into my mouth and I tasted blood.
Then, suddenly he disengaged. He reared back and stared at me for a few seconds, his mercurial orbs exerting an almost-physical pull. Without thinking, I raised my chin, exposing the throbbing vein in my neck. Fast as a serpent, he struck.
In that moment, a door slammed in my psyche, locking away the only part of me with any hope of resisting the beautiful monster. She was once again sealed in the soundproof glass cage.
I shuddered in orgasmic bliss. The commonsense, rational part of me could no longer interfere and the primitive self was enraptured. My entire being ached
with need. As Hallow sucked on my vein, my body convulsed, one climax building on another.
When he lifted his bloody mouth, I groaned and raised my neck again in invitation, already craving what only he could give me. He laughed.
“That was only the prelude. The finale is yet to come.” He tugged my sweater over my head and tossed it onto the rugs covering Victoria. “Turn around so your ex-lover can see what is no longer his.” I slowly turned and faced the hole in the wall where Devereux stood. A sad expression shadowed his gorgeous face. I had forgotten he was there, but as soon as I saw him, I smiled and waved. He was so pretty. I didn’t see any reason why he shouldn’t come and take part in the fun.
At that moment, Hallow unhooked my bra and I shook it down my arms, happy to be free of the encumbrance, oblivious to my nakedness.
He stroked my breasts and pinched the nipples, making me moan with pleasure.
As he slid his hands across the chain of my protective necklace, he groaned. “Oh, yes. Such powerful magic in this trinket.” He clasped the silver pentagram in his hand. “And it would work beautifully if I were merely what Devereux believes I am.” He laughed. “But, I’m not!” He tugged hard on the chain and the necklace came free in his hand.
“Hey! That hurt!” I yelled, raising a hand to rub the tender spot at the back of my neck.
He threw the necklace across the room.
Still massaging the sore skin, I glanced down at Maxie. She’d raised onto her knees, her brows contracted, her lips a tight, thin line. I couldn’t understand why she seemed so upset. We were all going to be together, weren’t we?
Distant noises floated into my ears. Devereux’s mouth appeared to move in slow motion, exaggerating his enraged expression. Why was everyone so angry?
Hallow stepped in front of me again, unfastened my jeans, and pushed the fabric down my legs, leaving me standing in my white bikini briefs. “Get rid of them.”
I stared at the pants lodged around my ankles and couldn’t seem to figure out the process for discarding them. The portion of my brain that was in charge of such things wasn’t reporting for duty. I tried lifting one foot, then the other, but the jeans wouldn’t budge. Watching myself march in place made me giggle, and laughing felt so good that I began swinging my hips.
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