Breathe in. Breathe out.
“Okay.” I clenched my hands as I tried to keep calm. “But the others need to see, too.”
I explained to Joshua, Ice, and Colin that Desmond had something to show us. We had to wait for the PTF before we could leave. Fortunately that took only moments.
In our various forms we were able to get to the Wall Street apartment quickly. Colin took me and Desmond, and Ice transformed into a snow-white falcon. Every form Ice took was white.
Joshua traveled as a shadow. He’d saved my life once when I’d been blasted out a window by Volod and fallen twenty-four stories. Joshua had shot down from the shattered window as shadow, passed me, then transformed into a human and caught me on the ground. I never knew how he got to me so fast.
When we were all together, we headed up to the apartment we’d been in earlier that day and made our way inside.
A horrible, sick feeling came over me as I took in the wreckage. I faced Desmond, a dread so vast building up inside me that it was almost crippling in its intensity.
Desmond had his eyes closed and a pale green light seemed to roll up and down his arms and over his body, something I’d never seen before. The tendons in his neck stood out, his muscles tightening until they bulged.
His body trembled as he seemed to absorb energy from the room. Negative energy, I thought. It couldn’t be good.
Joshua, Ice, Colin, and I circled Desmond, waiting. I didn’t know if I wanted him to hurry or not, because I was afraid of what I would see.
Desmond opened his eyes and held out his palm. A small ball of light floated above his hand. It reminded me of the first time he’d shown me Zombies in a hologram.
He released the ball so that it drifted up until it hovered in the air between us. He made a motion with his fingers and the ball expanded … until there were three forms floating in front of us all.
Nymph One, Nymph Two, and Rodán.
The Nymphs’ bodies were slender and petite, their faces stunning, their hair long and golden. Their perfect breasts threatened to spill from the bodices of the matching red dresses they wore, and their nipples were hard enough to show through the gauzy fabric.
“Come to our place this time,” Bubbles was saying to Rodán as he put his arms around each of their shoulders and walked them toward his chambers. “We have something we want to share with you.”
Rodán paused, bringing the three of them to a halt. “What would that be?”
Bubbles gave a wickedly sexual smile. “You’re going to love what we have in store for you.”
“Absolutely love it,” Trixie said.
No, Nyx wanted to yell. Don’t go.
But Rodán seemed to gain more sexual energy from the way the pair looked at him, the excitement they appeared to have for the night to come.
“And what would that be, ladies?” Rodán repeated, his voice low and sensual.
Bubbles leaned closer. “We have whiteberry potion.”
Rodán raised an eyebrow. “How did you come upon something so rare? Are you certain it’s authentic?”
With a devious grin, Trixie leaned in close. “We gave a private performance to a very wealthy individual. And yes, it is real. We tried a tiny bit.”
“And we’ve been saving it for you.” Bubbles rose up on her tiptoes and nipped his earlobe.
“Not a drop will go to waste.” Rodán kissed Trixie, then Bubbles. “Shall we go?”
I shook my head, wanting to tell this memory of Rodán that he was heading into a trap.
The hologram swirled, everything blending together like oils in a painting. Then the apartment we were in appeared—only everything was intact. It was exceptional, even by human standards. Rich mahogany furnishings, crystal chandeliers, original oil paintings, and polished wood floors.
All of it lying shattered and broken in the present.
In the living area, Rodán settled onto the couch, the cushions of which were whole and beautiful, not shredded. Trixie scooted onto his lap and straddled him. She kissed him and slid her fingers through the length of his hair.
“No fair hogging Rodán.” Bubbles knelt beside him on the couch, took his hand in hers, and placed it on one of her breasts. He tweaked her nipple.
“Why is this still on?” Rodán lightly pulled at the material.
She gave a blissful sigh of pleasure and nuzzled his ear before tracing the point with the tip of her tongue.
Rodán’s love of females and sex might be his undoing.
“First things first,” Bubbles murmured. “A drop of whiteberry potion.”
Trixie leaned back as Bubbles brought a tiny vial to Rodán’s lips. A minuscule drop landed on his tongue.
No, no, no! I cried in my mind.
Rodán frowned. “It should not taste bitter,” he said. “Whiteberry is as sweet as a cherry—”
His words cut off and he suddenly looked dizzy.
Trixie and Bubbles watched him as if expecting something to happen.
“Wrong potion,” he whispered. “Something’s wrong.”
“Is it working?” Bubbles said as she looked at Trixie. “He’s relaxing like they said he would.”
Rodán’s eyes looked bleary and when he tried to move he seemed tired, lethargic. As my heart pounded and my mouth grew dry, I could almost feel his muscles turn to limp blades of grass, his bones tired and old, as though every year he’d lived was now etched upon him.
Unwanted thoughts and images came to me … As if Rodán was a frail being with no past, no future—instead of the Elvin prince he was.
My jaws hurt from clenching them so tightly as Rodán struggled to talk, struggled to move. I’d never seen him like that. Never. Rodán, helpless?
“You’ll have fun, Rodán.” Trixie kissed him on the lips and slid off his lap. He watched her stand, and she looked away. “You can come by and thank us tomorrow. We can get a double payback on this one. We love you, Rodán. Enjoy the experience.”
Bubbles joined Trixie. “Where’s our potion?”
“It will be given to you,” said a female voice I thought I recognized.
When I saw her, I stepped back from the hologram in shock. The San Francisco Proctor.
“Monique,” Rodán managed to say to the Elvin female, her name coming out raspy and impotent from his lips.
“Move.” The power in Monique’s voice had the Nymphs scrambling to get away from Rodán.
Monique sat beside him. She was gorgeous with her hair long and shining, dark around her shoulders and her delicate features. Her fair—no, pale—skin was a lovely contrast with her dark hair, and her pointed ears peeked through the strands.
A single diamond pendant glittered at her throat. She wore a tight thigh-high black dress, her legs smooth and elegant, and her feet clad in expensive designer shoes. She looked exquisite, one of the most beautiful beings I’d ever seen.
“It’s so wonderful to see you.” She reached out and caressed the side of his face. “I’ve missed you.”
I sensed Rodán’s feelings—something wasn’t right about the beautiful female beside him. But his senses were dulled from the potion.
“Leave.” Monique waved away the Nymphs with one hand. “He is in the sitting room. He’ll pay you there and give you your vial of potion. A couple of males, the lookalike Vampire friends that you were promised, are in there with him. I’m sure you two will enjoy them very much.”
Vaguely I wondered who was in the sitting room. The males had to be the two we’d dealt with tonight.
“Thank you,” Trixie said, bubbly enthusiasm coming from her as she turned away.
“Have fun, Rodán!” Bubbles waved before she and Trixie giggled and ran toward a door on the far end of the living area. In moments they were gone, closing the door behind them.
“What has been done to me?” Each word sounded difficult for Rodán to say, almost painfully so.
“The only known thing that can weaken the powers of Elves is a potion made from the center of
the eye of a Basilisk,” Monique said. “Many beings died to produce this potion for you.”
Potion from the eye of a Basilisk. As far as I knew, no one had used such against the Elves in centuries. I only knew about it from my father’s stories when I was a youngling. It had been so long that my father had thought the recipe for the potion had been lost.
“Why?” Rodán didn’t try for long sentences. It seemed that any effort made him weaker.
“It had to be done.” Monique caressed his arm. “This is so very important and we need you to listen.”
Rodán managed to straighten a little in his seat. Perhaps the potion wore off sooner than expected?
“We?” he said.
Through the connection I had with the holographic vision of Rodán, I felt him struggle to keep Monique from realizing that the effects of the potion were beginning to fade.
She shifted on the couch so that she could look at him better. “Soon you will meet him. Or rather you will meet him again. I understand you’ve had encounters before.”
Rodán frowned. “Who?” he mumbled.
Monique’s smile was radiant. She looked more beautiful than I could have believed possible for anyone to look. “I cannot express how pleased I am to have you here,” she said. “To have you become one of us, and to know that I shall be the one who makes you one of us.”
The female was making no sense whatsoever. She leaned forward as she cupped his face in her palms. “You feel so warm, and you look so good to me, Rodán.”
“Your hands are so cold,” he said.
Monique brushed her lips over Rodán’s and he recoiled.
“Vampire.” Rodán looked stunned. “You have been turned.” Shock compounded on shock made me weak.
The San Francisco Proctor was now a Vampire?
Suddenly it made sense that the two Vampires in the Nymphs’ apartment were also paranorms.
“What happened to you?” A hard look came into Rodán’s expression. “Who did this?”
“It is not what you think.” She was standing now, talking with her hands. “It is wonderful. Amazing. There is nothing like it.”
Rodán narrowed his gaze. “There is nothing wonderful or amazing about Vampirism,” he said as he pushed himself to his feet.
Monique flinched as he spoke, and she looked shocked that he was able to stand. “You have no idea of the truth. But you will.” Then as Rodán took a step toward her, she yelled, “Backups.”
Rodán turned to face a new threat. Six Vampires rushed the room and were coming at him.
I felt him using every bit of mental focus he had to generate power to fight through the cloud of the potion that now controlled him.
He seemed to sense something else to his left and turned.
And came face-to-face with Volod.
I almost screamed.
But for Rodán, it was as if he’d been expecting to see Volod from the beginning.
“Rodán.” Volod smiled. “Listen to Monique. It will be easier for you.”
The other Vampires were coming after him, and he glanced at them. Monique came up from behind. The San Francisco Elvin Proctor was powerful, but she could not possibly be a match for Rodán.
I sensed a power surge within him. He sent a mental blast of magic at a wooden table six feet away. The table exploded in splinters. Each leg split in half, leaving eight shards of wood.
A second blast of power sent the splintered legs hurling in different directions at the eight Vampires.
Six of the splintered stakes buried themselves in the chests of six Vampires.
All six collapsed. Dead.
But Monique and Volod were not affected.
How could that be? Rodán seemed as surprised as I was.
I’d seen the stakes make it all the way to their chests. But now wood lay in splinters before them. Some form of a shield must have stopped the entry.
Volod and Monique advanced on Rodán.
My heart beat faster as I watched the holographic scene unfold. I cried out and ran forward to help Rodán without realizing what I was doing.
The hologram vanished like sparkling dust all around me.
“No!” I looked around me and saw the grim faces of my teammates, then met Desmond’s gaze as panic sent razor-sharp arrows of fear throughout me. “Bring it back.”
“Step away,” he said. I realized I was in the center of the room.
When I was out of the way, Desmond released another ball of light. My heart wouldn’t stop racing so fast that it felt like it was going to burst through my chest.
The ball spun before it dissolved into images again.
Volod and Monique were going after Rodán.
Monique fired her own blast of power.
Rodán stood his ground. Somehow, despite the remnants of the potion, he still had the strength to withstand her. He sent a surge of concentrated energy her way and then one at Volod.
Monique gasped as she flew back, over the couch, and landed on her knees. Volod was thrust against the wall and then fell to the floor looking slightly dazed.
“You don’t know what you are doing, Rodán.” Monique slowly rose to her feet. “It is better for you if I do this. Don’t fight me.”
He held his hand up. His strength had not fully returned, but I could feel power building within him. Centuries of magic was breaking through the hold the Basilisk potion had on him.
Monique cried out as the strength of his next burst slammed into her and flung her across the room.
Glass shattered. Wood snapped and splintered.
He did not look. I knew he didn’t feel any remorse. She was a Vampire now. An enemy.
Volod had recovered and was coming at Rodán. He flung his magic at Volod, wrapping thick ropes of it around the Master Vampire.
Hope built up inside me. Centuries of power were within Rodán to command. He was far older, far more experienced than the Vampire, who was a child in comparison.
But the Basilisk potion still reined in some of his power. He should have been able to fling Volod across the room and drive one of the pieces of splintered wood into the Vampire’s heart.
Instead he fought to keep Volod wrapped tight in his ropes of magic. A fight that was weakening him in ways I was certain he’d never experienced before.
Volod’s eyes gleamed red as he fought back.
Rodán gave an Elvin warrior cry like I’ve never heard before.
He dropped Volod and raised his hands. In his grip was pure light—a sword made of light. He swung the magical sword at Volod’s head.
The Master Vampire dodged the blade, barely saving himself.
Rodán’s raised his sword again.
He put all of his focus into going after Volod.
Monique grabbed Rodán’s shoulders from behind, catching him off guard. Something she would never have been able to do if his senses hadn’t been dulled.
Volod drew a handgun with frightening speed.
He aimed it at Rodán. Before Rodán could use his magic to knock it away, Volod shot.
The bullet slammed into Rodán’s chest.
I screamed.
Rodán gasped, shock on his features as he looked down. The hole steamed, but no blood rolled out.
“A bullet capsule filled with Basilisk potion,” Volod said as he rose to his feet. “That’s one you won’t recover from for a long time.”
Shock made my body numb as I reached out, only to have my hand slide through the holographic image.
Rodán turned his head, his eyes suddenly more glazed over, and met Volod’s gaze.
At the same time, Monique sank her fangs into the vein on Rodán’s neck.
I clapped my hand over my mouth, holding back a scream.
In the next instant the Master Vampire was gripping Rodán tight as Monique drank from him.
“No!” I heard myself screaming. But I couldn’t stop watching.
The combination of the Vampire sucking his blood and the Basilisk bullet left Rodá
n too weak to fight back.
My mind spun as Monique made sounds of pleasure and Volod grasped Rodán too tight for him to move.
The world started to fade … sounds became muffled … his breathing slowed … and somehow I knew his heart all but stopped.
“One more bite tomorrow by Volod, and you will be one of us,” Monique whispered in his ear.
Everything faded away.
THIRTEEN
Terror for Rodán ripped through me like a jagged blade. My mind raced. I had to pull myself together.
“We have to hurry!” I swung my gaze to Colin’s. “There’s still a chance we could get to Rodán before he’s bitten again. Vampires must wait at least twenty-four hours before biting their victim a second time in order to turn them.”
Colin studied me. “That gives us less than three hours. We know virtually nothing about effects of Vampires on paranorms, though. Maybe the wait is less, maybe it’s more. We don’t know. We just know now that they can turn paranorms.”
Less than three hours? What if that wasn’t enough? I raised my hands as I spoke, my words coming out almost frantic. “We need to let the other Trackers know what happened. And I have to interrogate that Vamp we caught tonight myself, unless Max got anything out of him.”
The Werewolf Tracker was a good interrogator, but since we hadn’t heard anything from him I knew he hadn’t gotten the Vampire to talk yet. “We have to do whatever it takes to track down Volod now. That bastard.”
“I’ll let the others know.” Joshua came up to stand on one side of me, Ice on the other. “I’ll text everyone an alert that a conference call meeting will start in fifteen minutes.”
“Send out the call-in number and the access code with the alert,” I said. “I want to make certain there is no confusion. Everyone is to be on it.” I looked from Joshua to Ice and Colin. “I’ll make the call from my conference line at my office. Any Trackers who would prefer to join us at the office, that would be fine.”
Joshua gave a nod.
“After our call I’ll interview the Vamp we caught tonight,” I said.
“I’ll go with you to interrogate him.” Desmond came up beside Colin. “I’ll know immediately if there’s anything I can read from him.” The Sorcerer added, “I do know a few interrogation techniques.”
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