by Laken Cane
“What?”
“Ellis said you were not yourself while I was gone, and I’ve noticed a change in you. What’s bothering you?”
Lex sighed. “Oh.”
“Talk to me.”
“You’ve had about as much as you can take for one day. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
“I can be here for you now just as well as tomorrow. I’ve neglected you long enough.” She tried for a smile, and failed.
Lex remained silent but Rune could almost feel her need to unload.
She pulled into a fast food drive-through. “Burgers and fries good?”
Lex nodded. “I’ll have a chocolate shake, too.”
The silence was thick and tense as they waited for their order. Rune was sure she was not going to like what Lex had to tell her. “Something happened while I was gone. Didn’t it?”
“Sort of.”
“Look, Lex. Just tell me.”
“Drop it until we’ve eaten. I will tell you because I…I don’t know what else to do. But let’s get to your room and eat first. Trust me. It can wait.”
Once they were inside her room Lex flipped on the TV for background noise as they ate, then Rune took a long, hot shower.
She didn’t want to delay whatever Lex had to tell her, she really didn’t. But at the same time, she so did.
Sometimes a person just needed a break from bad shit happening—it just didn’t seem like she was going to get one. Ever.
She leaned her head against the shower wall as hot water pounded her back, trying to keep thoughts of Strad from intruding upon her watery serenity.
But the berserker wasn’t going to leave her in peace.
She let the water run over her face, washing away any remaining stain from her earlier pink-tinged tears. She’d never been one to cry over a fucking man, but one hard blow after the other had made her vulnerable.
Yeah, that was it.
She still had to read Amy’s emails and deal with her emotions over that horror. And wait impatiently to see if Ellie was going to become a vampire.
And find Matthew…
One bad thing on top of the other.
And now Lex waited in the other room.
But at least Llodra had been captured. He couldn’t kill any more humans. Or turn them.
She sighed and shut the water off. No sense in delaying further. Maybe soon she could lie down and sleep for a few hours.
Rune walked out of the bathroom, towel-drying her hair. Lex was already in the bed. If she was lucky, the girl would be asleep and—
“Come lie down, Rune. I’ll tell you my…news and we can get some sleep.”
Her eyes heavy, Rune pulled the window shades, shut off the TV, and got into bed beside Lex. She stared up at the ceiling. “Okay, Lex. Tell me what’s wrong.”
Lex’s soft breathing was the only sound in the room. Finally, she put the back of her hand against Rune’s arm and started talking.
Rune didn’t pull away. Lex needed human contact and from what Lex had told her, any thoughts she plucked from another person’s head was jumbled and unclear if she didn’t actually make contact with her palm—which was why, when she wanted to read someone, she wrapped her fingers around the wrist, or arm.
Maybe Lex had lied about that to relax the crew. Whatever, Rune wasn’t going to shove her away.
“You saved my life when you fed me,” Lex began. “I drank your blood. I’m stronger now. I can read easier, I can tolerate silver…” She took a deep breath. “I am less weak emotionally.”
“But,” Rune said.
Lex nodded. “But. It seems as though your blood is addictive.”
At first Rune didn’t understand. “I—” And then it hit her like a bus. “Oh, God,” she said, groaning. “I’ve addicted you to my fucking blood.”
She should have known. She was some kind of freaking fucked up mutant vampire. She should have known. But with just one feeding?
“But,” Lex said again.
She couldn’t even look at the Other, whose hell she had unintentionally made hotter. “But?”
“It seems I am satisfied by drinking, you could say, of your energy. It helps me to just be near you. When you were gone, I thought…”
She didn’t have to finish her sentence. “I’m so sorry, baby,” Rune whispered. “You should have told someone. I would have left the fucking clinic…”
Lex shook her head. “You needed to get help for the hatred inside you. Did it help, Rune?”
Maybe the self-hatred was still there, but the doctors had helped her deal with it in better ways than hurting herself. They’d taught her to deal with her pain in ways that weren’t likely to kill her. “Yes.”
“Then it was worth the…” she shrugged.
“The withdrawals?”
“Yeah.”
Rune closed her eyes. My blood is addictive. She just kept hurting the ones she cared about. And then it got worse.
“Rune.”
“God, Lex. I’m not sure I can hear any more right now.”
But Lex went stubbornly on. “It’s not just your blood that’s addictive.”
“What?” Confused, she stared at Lex, frowning.
“Your bite,” Lex whispered. “Your bite is addictive as well.”
“But how would you know th—”
And then she remembered Lex grabbing Strad’s arm, remembered her yanking her fingers away as though his skin had burned her…
And she knew.
She’d addicted the berserker to her bite.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Her blood and bite were addictive. She’d fucked up both Strad and Lex by feeding one and feeding from the other.
She was horrified—not just at what she’d done but at what she was.
But at last, she was lulled into an uneasy sleep by Lex’s soft, even breathing.
When her phone rang, she peered at the display clock and realized she’d slept the whole night through. Groggy, she put the phone to her ear. “Elizabeth?”
“I’m sorry to wake you. I waited as long as possible, but we have something of a quandary.”
“Go on.” She put the phone on speaker then jumped from the bed, dragging clothes out of a suitcase. She dressed as Elizabeth continued.
“Strad Matheson’s questioning of Llodra got out of hand. He had no answers to give us about Matthew. I really don’t think the master ever had the child. He may or may not know who does have the boy but questioning him did no good. I think he wants to die.”
“He does and he doesn’t,” Rune murmured.
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. What’s the problem?”
“During the master’s interrogation...”
“Yes?”
Elizabeth’s strange hesitancy was making Rune nervous. “When he had taken nearly all he could stand and had no strength to control himself, he released two dogs. Strad informed me that you are familiar with them.”
Rune held a hand to her chest. “Blood and Fire. But what do you mean Llodra released them?”
“The only explanation is that they were somehow inside Llodra. During the torture, the animals escaped. They aren’t exactly…they don’t seem purely flesh and blood.”
“They aren’t. I’ll be right there.” She put her phone in her pocket, eager to get to the dogs.
“Rune?” Lex said, pushing herself up on her elbows. “What is it?”
“I have to go to work. Do you want to come?”
Lex sank back down into the bed and pulled the sheets to her chin. “I want to sleep.”
Rune left her there and hurried to RISC, to Blood and Fire. She had no idea what to do with them—she only knew she had to help them. They hadn’t left her mind since she’d first seen them in Llodra’s evil grip.
She called Ellis’s room on the way to RISC. “How are you?”
He sounded happy. “I’m good. Did you get some sleep?”
“Yeah, I slept all night. I’m on my way to RISC now. Blood
and Fire have appeared.”
“Appeared?”
“I’ll explain when I visit you. Ellie…”
“No news yet. No manifestations of fangs or cravings for blood.”
She regretted bringing it up. “Do you need me to bring you anything?”
“No. Levi has been taking care of me.” A definite smile in his voice.
“I’m glad for you, sugar.”
Ellis was a born optimist. Even the horror he’d experienced wouldn’t keep him down for long. She loved that about him. Now if he could just remain human…
She hung up and pulled into RISC, eager to see the spirit dogs, or whatever the hell they were.
Elizabeth was waiting for her. “Follow me.”
There was no sign of the berserker and when she caught herself looking for him, she immediately stopped.
She walked with Elizabeth down the long, branching hall until finally they reached one of the interrogation rooms used for vampires. It was sunlight proof, soundproof, and equipped with a number of devices—most of them used for torture.
A single large desk was positioned near the door and was crowded with a panel of switches and blinking blue lights. They operated, among other things, the currently shielded window high on the wall.
The hard floor contained a large drain, down which the blood and gore would be washed when an interrogation was over.
Rune hated the interrogation rooms. They echoed with the screams of agony of those who had the misfortune to end up there. Energy from long dead beings seemed to swim through the air, clogging her throat with horror.
In the middle of the large, cold room sat Blood and Fire. They dogs were huge. Even sitting, their heads would reach her chest. Their eyes were watchful, ears stiff.
She shivered as gooseflesh erupted on her skin. There was a connection. She knew it, and they knew it.
Elizabeth felt no such connection. “Will you be all right?”
“Yes,” Rune answered. She’d forgotten the woman had entered the room with her. “I’ll bring them out when they’re ready.”
Elizabeth nodded and hurried from the room, her clicking heels the only sound in the room. And then it was just Rune, Blood, and Fire.
Rune took a step toward them. “This room is not a good place for you. Or for me. Will you follow me out?”
She had no idea if they’d understand her. Carefully, she walked closer. At last she stood before them, and they stared up at her with eyes that were eerily human.
They didn’t flinch when she held out a hand. She caressed Fire’s head, nearly jerking away in surprise at the heat emanating from his skin.
“I won’t hurt you.” She petted Blood with her free hand and smiled when the two dogs finally relaxed. “I will never hurt you.”
Fire began to pant, gently.
“You’re thirsty, aren’t you?” Did ghost dogs even drink? They didn’t feel like ghosts. No, they were something else.
She continued petting them, running her fingers through the matted fur. They’d leaned against her stroking fingers, eyes half closed.
They clearly liked affection. As soon as she stopped petting them they sat once more at attention, all signs of relaxation gone.
“What the hell am I going to do with you?” But she had an idea. She’d take them to Wormwood.
She walked away, then looked back when they didn’t follow her. “Come on, guys.”
Immediately they arose and padded to her, then stared up at her as though awaiting further instructions. Their eyes were limpid and dark, like pools of melted chocolate.
“Follow me,” she told them, and walked out of the room.
They followed her with no hesitation at all. She glanced through the window of the “watch” room as she passed it. The room was for those who wished to be in on the questioning without actually entering the interrogation room. Against the large one way mirror stood Strad.
She met his stare for a second, then continued on her way with the dogs at her side. Strad was a problem she had no idea how to fix.
But she’d be okay. Besides, he wasn’t hers to fix. His son was her mission. The father could kiss her ass.
Elizabeth waited down the hall. “Where will you take them?”
“Wormwood,” Rune answered, and led the dogs into the early morning sunlight.
Getting them into her SUV was harder than she’d thought it would be. They did not want to climb inside the hunk of metal, and she couldn’t blame them. At last, after their balking had wasted a good half hour, she had to order them inside.
And as though she was their new master, they obeyed without hesitation.
But no one should master these creatures. It wasn’t right.
“I don’t know what else to do with you, or what you need me to do. I’m taking you to Wormwood.” She glanced into the rearview mirror and found Fire staring back at her, his eyes intense.
“Fucking creepy,” she murmured, but she hadn’t meant it. She felt like she’d known them forever.
Five minutes before she reached Wormwood they both began an extremely high pitched keening. The sounds shot needles of pain into her brain and she let down her window to get some of the cold, fresh air.
The whining wasn’t loud. But something about it, the high pitch, the hurt, the feeling that she needed to help them…she couldn’t handle it.
“Stop it, you two. We’re almost there.”
They hushed, but when she finally parked in front of Wormwood they were both pushing against the doors in their eagerness to get out.
They did not enjoy a car ride.
She opened the doors and followed them to the gates. Gunnar stood on the other side, his long fingers wrapped around the bars.
“Gunnar,” she greeted.
“Your Highness. How did you free them?”
“I didn’t. They managed to escape Llodra.” She led the dogs inside. “I don’t know what to do with them or how to get them back where they belong.” She shrugged. “I’m going to leave them here.”
Gunnar laughed. “They will come and go as they please. The only walls they know are the walls of capture from those such as the vampire.”
“How did he do it, Gunnar? Capture them?”
“I do not know the process. It is said there are ancient, guarded words that can control the spirits. Llodra has obviously obtained the knowledge.”
She and the ghoul stared at the dogs and the dogs stared back. “What do they need?”
“I cannot know that. Only they and those who have charged them with their mission have those answers.”
“But what are they? Why are they here?”
He sighed. “Things are as they are, Your Inquisitiveness.”
“What does that mean?”
“I cannot enlighten you.”
She put a hand on her hip. “You’re pissing me off.”
“That causes me no end of distress.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Uh-huh.”
Blood and Fire sat on either side of the tall ghoul, their solemn but curious gazes going back and forth between her and Gunnar.
Rune sighed. “I’ll leave them here and walk away. They’re free to do whatever they want to do.”
He nodded. “They are aware.”
She rubbed her temples, hoping the headache beginning to throb wouldn’t turn into a migraine. “Do you want candy?”
His eyes brightened at once. “Of course I would not disrespect you by turning down such a gift, Your Highness.”
“Of course not.” She pulled two Baby Ruth candy bars from her pockets. King size. “These should hold you for a while. We couldn’t find the berserker’s son. I need some answers. Do you still feel he is alive, or… ”
He dragged his gaze away from the candy. “The boy’s spark is still there. He lives.”
“I need to know where he is.” She tried not to sound too desperate, but was pretty sure she failed in that attempt.
He put a long finger to his chin and his gaze g
rew distant. “His mother knows where he is,” he said finally.
Rune’s legs weakened as horror shot through her. “What did you just say?”
“Talk to her, Your Meticulousness. She knows, but she is not aware that she knows.”
“Okay, how the fuck would you know that?” She wondered if the ghoul wasn’t blowing smoke up her ass.
“I get sensations from those you have touched in your daily life. That is all.”
She shook her head. “Whatever. If this pans out I’m going to be forever in your debt.” She tossed him the candy. “Here you go, sexy. Enjoy.”
He stopped her as she turned to go. “One more thing.”
“Yes?”
But he changed his mind. “It is not important. Go to work, Your Horror.”
She left Wormwood, the gazes of Blood and Fire heavy on her back. But she knew Wormwood wouldn’t hold them if they needed to leave.
And somehow, that made her feel safe.
Chapter Twenty-Three
She didn’t want to talk to Tina.
Nothing that had happened was Tina’s fault, but still little sparks of rage jabbed at Rune’s brain every time she looked at Strad’s wife.
And if the other woman’s angry face was any indication, the feeling was mutual. She motioned Rune into a chair and sat down on the couch.
Rune sat, then got to the point. “I need to ask you some questions.”
Tina shrugged. “I’ve told you everything I know about that night. Unless you mean you want to ask questions about Strad and me?”
Rune ground her teeth. “I know a…sensitive person. His name is Gunnar. He told me you know where Matthew is, but you don’t realize you know.”
Tina frowned. “What does that mean?”
“I’m not sure, but I think you hold the answers. I just have to dig them out of your mind.”
“Then please, dig away. Anything to find my son.” She hesitated, her eyes darkening. “Is this the ghoul who said Matthew is still alive?”
“Yes. And he still believes it’s true.”
Tina nodded and blinked back sudden tears. “Then ask your questions.”
Rune had no idea what to ask. She blew out a quick breath and plunged in. “Did you notice anyone following you or watching Matthew? Did you ignore something that seemed too silly or benign to make you suspicious, but still gave you a little gut warning? Anything or anyone that seemed a little off?”
