“Hell, finally,” Waterson came back. “The ME got a report on our acid corpse yet?”
“No, amigo, that’s the thing.”
There was a weird note in the partner’s voice, and Alex stopped walking completely.
“The corpse is gone.”
“What do you mean gone?” Waterson demanded.
“Gone, like in, poof! Like it just got up and walked out of the morgue.”
Chapter Nine
Kimberly sat in a chair on one side of the mansion’s long, elegantly set dining room table, with the other four Dragon women, Maggie, Ellen, Hannah, and Beth, seated next to her.
A marvelous spread was artistically arranged before them: Ladyfingers on crystal plates, petit fours and daintily iced cookies on tiered stands, a gaudy silver tea service with delicately flowered china cups and small plates. All of it to celebrate the Fab Five’s first meeting with the “new acquisition.”
The guest of honor was seated across from them, her hands folded on top of the table and her expression closed. She hadn’t spoken a word.
Kimberly had been tempted to greet the new girl with a Rah! Rah! Way to stick it to Roth, sistah. Word had it that Toni, as she preferred to be addressed, and Roth were locked in a showdown: Toni had refused to date any of her mate-choices the whole week she’d been here, and Roth had countered by not allowing Toni out of the mansion until she did.
Toni’s hutzpah brought warmth to Kimberly’s heart, oh, yes it did. Such gumption made Toni a perfect candidate for Kimberly’s Evil Plans of Doom, although with all this showdown stuff going on, Kimberly hadn’t been able to approach Toni about it. Yet.
That left her with here and now, in front of the other Dragons, to set her scheme of mutiny in motion. But since all of the Dragons had to get on board with the plan eventually to make it work, anyway, now was actually good timing.
“Would you like a cookie?” Maggie of the short curly blonde hair and pastel-colored clothes peeled tinfoil off the top of a fluted tray. “Homemade Oatmeal Butterscotch,” she coaxed Toni in her soft southern drawl.
Kimberly nearly rolled her eyes. To Maggie, there wasn’t any problem that couldn’t be solved with a pinch of Southern hospitality. Not that such a thing had worked for her own adjustment. From what Kimberly understood, Maggie had spent her first six months in Ţărână crying. Hopefully, those memories would put Maggie firmly in Kimberly’s camp.
“I brought you some books as well.” Hannah’s golden blonde hair was in pigtails today, her big belly close to popping with her fourth pregnancy. She sat straight in her chair, holding herself with the royal composure that came with being Ţărână’s premier reproducer; Hannah Crişan was pretty much treated like the Town Princess on any given day.
She was the one Kimberly had to worry about. Ask Hannah Banana about Ţărână, and she’d swear they all lived in MunchkinLand.
“I run the library in town,” Hannah told Toni, “so if you want a specific book, just let me know.”
Still mute, Toni gave Hannah a flat stare.
Ellen took a swing. “You’re a doctor, right? I’m a dentist, so whenever you’re ready, I’d love to share my observations with you.” Today, like every day, Ellen’s shoulder-length light brown hair was in serious need of doing battle with a comb. “I think you’ll find my research about Vârcolac dentistry fascinating.” As a logical thinker, Ellen could be counted on to keep a level head about Kimberly’s plan, whether she agreed with it or not.
More silence.
Beth Costache, owner of The TradeMark and the most stunning of all of them – which was really saying something – let out a long sigh. “She thinks we’re a bunch of brainwashed bimbos.” Beth was the wild card. She was sweet and caring, yes, but so gaga over her heartthrob of a husband that she might not want to go against him, even for the greater good.
Ellen nodded. “Suffering from Stockholm Syndrome or full-on Patty Hearst hopefuls.”
“From where I’m sitting,” Toni finally spoke, her tone crisp, “all of you are pretty much poster girls for the Stockholm Syndrome. If not that, then you’re cult devotees. Either choice means you’re brainwashed.”
Kimberly laughed. “Sounds about right.”
Hannah shot her a repressive look. “This community is not a cult,” she corrected. “I assure you, Dr. Parthen, every one of us began our time here the same way you have—taken from our lives and forced into a strange place with unfamiliar people, feeling scared, angry, and frustrated.” She smoothed a hand over the mound of her belly. “But we all ended up giving this place a chance, and if you’re willing to let us tell you about this community’s incredible benefits, maybe you’ll decide it’s worth a chance, too.”
Toni arched her brows. “Benefits like contracting Black Lung from days on end of breathing cave dust?”
Ellen’s brows drew together. “Oh, we don’t –”
“I think we should clear up the Fiinţă issue right away.” Maggie took one of her own cookies and placed it on a napkin before her. “I really hate it when the new girls think we’re addicts.”
Toni looked curious, probably despite herself. “Fiinţă?”
Ellen slid a cucumber sandwich off one of the crystal trays. “That’s the elixir that comes out of a Vârcolac’s fangs when he or she feeds. It serves several important medical functions you might find interesting; it mixes with the blood of the Vârcolac’s host to create a more useable blood for them, and it has a repairing and clotting function so that when he pulls out his fangs, the punctured vein closes instantly.” She took a bite of her sandwich. “But mostly Fiinţă is Mother Nature’s way of making sure hosts never balk at being fed upon. The elixir gives incredible pleasure.” She smiled as she chewed. “Suffice it to say, most Vârcolac couples make love and feed at the same time.”
Toni didn’t react – which had to have been an effort.
“But,” Maggie added adamantly, “even though Fiinţă does have addictive properties, our husbands only feed on us about every three days to avoid that issue. Okay?”
Toni let out a sigh, the exhale sounding like what-ever. “FYI, this is exactly why all of you sound like cult crazies. The whole idea of Vârcolacs or “vampires” or whatever they claim to be is ludicrous.”
“Understood,” Kimberly said quickly. Toni’s predictable skepticism actually worked better for her plans. Kimberly’s ability to get Roth by the short and curlies would die fast if Toni was seduced the same way the rest of them had been. And with Toni being a Dragon, with a Dragon’s inevitable history of distant relationships and rejection, the question wasn’t a matter of if, but when. “However, the issue isn’t who brought you here, but how. You were kidnapped, and I think each of us owes you an apology for that.”
Kimberly glanced around at the surprised expressions of her Dragon comrades. “Yes, ladies, we have to own up to our part in this. Since we ‘gave this place a chance,’ as Hannah described it, and then became oh-so-hunky-dory with our circumstances, we didn’t make Roth pay for his actions. By doing so, we aided and abetted the perpetuation of his crime. I believe that until Roth experiences consequences for his actions, he’ll continue abducting women.” She gestured to Toni. “Case in point. On top of that,” she went on, pouring herself some tea, “Roth makes us come here and try to convince the new girl how privileged she is to have been brought into this wonderful new life, when every single one of us knows that what Toni’s going through right now is really damned awful.” She dumped a teaspoon of sugar in her tea and stirred. “The whole thing is sick.”
Maggie scrunched a napkin in her hand. “Oh, my God, how come we’ve never talked about this before? I, for one, have always felt really wrong about being so complacent.”
“Because we are brainwashed.” Ellen dragged her fingers through her unkempt hair. “Complaints rise in my mind, I’ll admit that, but then my husband kisses me in that way that lets me know how much I mean to him – to the entire race! – or I go to book group and have
a blast with friends, true friends, or my kids do something so utterly adorable that I can’t help thinking how lucky I am.” She sighed. “I’m going to bet you all have the same experiences.”
Everyone went silent for a moment.
Maggie let out a long sigh. “We couldn’t do anything even if we wanted to, anyway. We don’t have any power here.”
Kimberly pounced on that. “We do in one area. We could all agree to cut off our husbands from feedings until Roth promises to cease and desist all kidnappings.” She smiled narrowly. “We could call it a Hunger Strike.”
Maggie snorted. It sounded a bit like a laugh.
“That isn’t funny,” Hannah snapped, her face pink. “What you’re proposing is appalling, Kimberly. Feeding is one of the most intimate acts that occur within the Vârcolac relationship. Our husbands depend on our blood for their very lives. We can’t just use that in a power play.”
“Plus,” Ellen put in, “you’re thinking too much like a lawyer, Kimbo. Topside, you could’ve written up an iron-clad contract against Roth reneging once the danger of the Hunger Strike had passed. But here, that won’t hold water, not with Roth being the only law.”
Kimberly cursed. That’s exactly what she’d been thinking.
Toni’s eyebrows lifted. “Is this man Roth a dictator?”
“Almost.” Kimberly twisted her lips. “In the old days, the Vârcolac system of government operated as a monarchy, and they just can’t seem to get away from that culture. Roth, as supreme emperor, doesn’t –”
“Everyone is making Roth sound like a monster,” Hannah interrupted with clear annoyance, “when he’s not.” She pinned a heated gaze onto Toni. “I happen to know that he cares very much about our well-being. He hates how unhappy we are when we first arrive, and he’s only doing what he does to save his species.”
“Boo-fucking-hoo.” Kimberly rolled her eyes.
Hannah’s face stained a livid shade of red. She kept her eyes on Toni, though. “I ask you to please understand their history, Dr. Parthen. After the Vârcolac fled Romania, they settled in England for a time. For about … I don’t know, thirty years. They lived among regulars again, careful to hide their true selves, but they were discovered anyway and forced, once again, to flee for their lives. So Roth has to be adamant about keeping everyone securely hidden down here. He’s not purposely trying to cause unpleasantness with his strict attitude. It’s just life or death for them.”
Toni’s brows came together. “Are you saying you never get to go back up?”
“Have a baby,” Kimberly drawled. “Then you’ll be allowed topside to visit family for birthdays and Christmas.”
Toni took a moment to digest that, then she glanced around at the other faces. “Do you all have children?”
“Everyone except for me.” Kimberly turned her teacup in its saucer. “I haven’t seen the light of day in three years. But, God, no, Roth’s not a monster.”
Hannah’s body went rigid enough to crack in half.
“Have any of you ever tried to escape while you’re up top?” Toni pressed.
“Our husbands come, too.” Ellen shrugged helplessly.
“Where would we go, anyway?” Maggie added. “What would we do?”
“What you’d do,” Toni declared, “is shake things up around here. Because it sounds to me like no one’s listening to you.”
“We can’t be sure of that,” Ellen countered in a reasonable tone. “We haven’t been complaining, as I said, at least besides some initial kicking and screaming.”
“I have,” Kimberly qualified, “for two straight years of marriage. And I think my husband speaks for all of the men in Ţărână when he says that he doesn’t have the power to change anything.”
“Yeah,” Ellen conceded, “that’s actually true. They believe that to be true, anyway.”
“Which means none of them,” Kimberly kept going, “will take a stand against Roth about the repopulation program.”
Ellen nodded.
“So the kidnappings will continue unless we” – Kimberly banged her fist on the table – “make the stiffs around here sit up and take notice. I’d say a mass exodus of Dragons from the community would be just the ticket.”
“Oh, for crying out loud,” Maggie exasperated. “If it was possible to escape from down here, don’t you think we would’ve done that back when we were new and miserable? This is all just talk. We don’t have any power, as I keep reminding you.”
Ellen sipped her tea, looking at Kimberly over the rim. “Unless either you or Beth could finagle a key code card out of your warrior husbands. Then we could get past the secured exits.”
Kimberly snorted. “No way in hell on my end. But Beth might be able to charm one out of Arc. He’s totally smitten with her. One look at her boobs,” Kimberly teased, glancing at the fashion designer, “and he’ll go so sloppy-stupid Beth could slip a nuclear bomb into his pants and he wouldn’t know it.”
A blush rode up Beth cheeks. Her mouth opened, then closed. “But I … I ….”
Hannah quickly pressed her hand over the top of Beth’s. “You don’t need to respond to that, Beth.” She glared at Kimberly. “We’re not going to get drawn into this ill-behaved scheme, Kimberly.”
“Ill-behaved?” Kimberly repeated incredulously. “Well, golly, Funshine Bear, it seems to me that it’s a mite ill-behaved to go around abducting women.” She glared back at Hannah through narrow lids. In her old life, she used to consume fusty librarians like her in a single yummy bite. “As happy as you are in this community, Hannah, can you honestly sit there and tell me that you support the abduction of women? Because if you can, then you and Beth are excused from the rest of this meeting.”
A profound silence descended over the room, the very air seeming to shudder with it. For a long, tense moment Hannah’s eyes clung to Kimberly’s, then she looked away, her lips trembling. “I just don’t want our husbands to get hurt,” Hannah said hoarsely.
“We don’t, either,” Maggie said gently, then she sighed loudly. “And that’s the problem: Roth knows that. If we escape topside, so what? Roth realizes that as soon as any one of our husbands plunges too deep into his blood-need, we’ll come running. All he has to do is wait it out.”
“Let him wait.” Kimberly hardened her jaw. “In a game of chicken, we have the upper hand.”
“Why, because we’re the holders of life-sustaining blood?” Maggie shook her head. “No. As I said, Roth knows that we love our men too much to allow them to truly get hurt. Being married to a Vârcolac makes it impossible for us ever to have any real power.”
Kimberly threw her hands up. Maggie was like a dog on a piece of meat about this issue. “Well, I think it’s pretty freaking clear that we absolutely don’t have any negotiating power down here. Escaping topside would at least put us in a position to play chicken.” She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over his chest. “And I happen to be a damned good bluffer.”
“So how do we get our hands on a key card?” Toni asked.
Kimberly exhaled a breath. “Only the warriors carry them.” She glanced once at Beth. No help would be coming from that quarter. “The warriors live in the mansion on the same floor as you do, Toni, so you might be able to get access to a key card. Give it a try.”
Toni looked slightly taken aback by the suggestion, but after a moment’s pause, she nodded. “All right.”
“Once we have a card, we’ll figure out the rest.” Kimberly’s heart jumped ahead a beat. They were really going to do this! She cast a smile over the group. “Meanwhile, ladies, mum’s the word.”
Chapter Ten
Beth Costache couldn’t sleep. Curled on her side under one of her grandmother’s crocheted afghans, her thick honey blonde hair still damp from the shower she’d taken an hour ago, she stared at the mechanical clock on her nightstand. Shh-flip, another number flapped over to the next. She blinked slowly, her eyes gritty from her recent crying jag. God, why did she have to be such
a baby about confrontations. The whole time Kimberly had been stirring up mutiny at the tea party, Beth’s throat had been tight, leaving her unable to do much more than sit in place and not talk.
She might as well have been back in high school.
Unlike most of the other Dragon women, Beth had had tons of friends growing up, but the relationships had been shallow, which was just like a typical Dragon story, kids hanging out with her because she was The Best Looking and Most Popular Girl. Whenever she’d opened her mouth to say anything, her so-called friends would invariably look at her like her head had turned into a cauliflower. To this day, she wasn’t sure if she’d said stupid things or not, but she’d soon learned it was better to act like a pretty ornament rather than risk it.
She was sick of still being worried about that. In her heart, she knew she wasn’t just some dumb blonde, but –
The door to the bedroom eased open and Arc stepped inside, pausing to watch her sleep, even though she wasn’t. From the corner of her eye, she saw that he was still dressed in his all-black warrior gear, which meant he’d just come off duty. He was running late tonight, but then the warriors always went on super high alert whenever there was a new acquisition in town. Until a woman was marked through mating to a Vârcolac, she was up for grabs as a potential reproducer by their Om Rău neighbors, making her dangerously vulnerable to capture.
Arc headed into the master bathroom, shut the door, and turned on the shower. She tucked her hand beneath her cheek as she pictured him undressing, his clothes falling away to reveal the broad shoulders, solidly sculpted chest, and ripped abs of a natural born soldier. He had a fantastic body, hands down the best of any man she’d ever been with. Which was saying a lot, because, modesty aside for a moment, she’d never lacked for some seriously handsome boyfriends in her dating years.
The shower turned off and she heard Arc moving about, brushing his teeth and such.
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