Faustus?
I could almost feel his pause. Then he said, Who are you?
It’s me, Eva. I’m glad you are alive and well.
I am alive, at any rate.
The Consortium hadn’t implemented their “kind” option of killing him. Or maybe the Committee to Kill Prisoners hadn’t convened yet. I wondered if I had made the list of consideration. The very idea that a group who knew nothing about me or what I wanted could decide to assassinate me made me feel helpless. And angry.
Is that you down the hall, Eva?
Yes. I woke up in this cell. I don’t remember how I got here. I don’t remember anything.
I can be of no help in that regard. Do you know what they plan for us?
No.
It does not matter. Death is what awaits me. The only question is by which method I will be dispatched.
Faustus . . . there is still hope.
He chuckled. Do you know the story of Pandora’s box?
Of course. But the box was probably a jar. There is some confusion about the origins of the myth and even about Pandora—
Another chuckle caressed my mind. The origin of the tale is unimportant, as are all of its incarnations. Scholars argue over the silliest things. So, to the point— When Pandora opened the box, all the evils were released into the world.
And hope, too, I pointed out. Hope helps us through the disappointments and the sorrows.
Hope is evil, too. Hope gives us false beliefs. It allows us to distort reality and live in denial. Is it not better to face life squarely? To live with honor and to face the truth without flinching, no matter how painful . . . is that not better than hope?
I didn’t want to concede his point, although it sounded uncomfortably close to my mother’s philosophy. I believed my mother had decided she would rather pass from this life than fight an illness that had already won. After her death, I had devoured numerous books about every kind of spiritual philosophy and life-after-death theories. I remember one author saying that we all had exit points—that we decided when to die—we could stay or we could go. I wondered what the same author would think about vampires. Did near-immortals have exit points?
I turned my thoughts back to Faustus.
Why are you with the Wraiths?
I am no one’s friend and no one’s enemy. I felt his sigh ghost across my mind. I contracted the taint. We were told that a lycan-blood transfusion was the first part of the cure. They blackmailed us into doing various tasks to get the second part.
What was your task?
I was supposed to capture you, but both attempts failed. They promised me the final part of the cure if I would bring you to them.
I was surprised to know that he and the others had intentionally sought me out that first night. If I hadn’t been looking for Lucky, would they have come to the house? Realization dawned. Oh, my God. Nefertiti had lured me to her location so that Faustus could take another go at me. She had known about my telepathic abilities. But how?
Why did you go with us? I asked.
Because you wanted me to go. I felt . . . compelled.
I glamoured you? I didn’t mean to do that.
You would do well to learn your powers and harness them.
What’s the point? I have the taint, too.
I am sorry. He hesitated. Then, Do you have hope, Eva?
Yes, I lied. I always have hope.
He was silent for so long, I thought he was done speaking to me. Then he said: Eva, do you know where your daughter is?
Chapter 23
Lorcan, why didn’t you tell me Tamara is gone? I didn’t want to worry you. We are all searching for her, Eva. You have no need to worry.
You lied to me.
I am protecting you. Just as I intend to protect Tamara.
You are failing miserably!
Grief held me hostage. I would not lose my daughter. I was her mother. She was mine to protect, mine to care for, mine to rescue.
Damn it! Let me out!
I will contact you the minute we have her. I’m sorry, Eva. It is in your best interest to stay in the facility.
He cut off contact. I wanted to scream. If my friends wouldn’t help me, I had no choice.
Evangeline.
Lucifer sat on the end of the cot. Stunned, I stared at her. How the hell had she gotten in here? The cat watched me for a long moment, then tilted her head.
“Nefertiti,” I whispered.
“Meow,” she agreed. She leapt from the bed. I watched in amazement as she morphed into a petite, caramel-skinned beauty. Her long black hair fell to her waist. Except for the ankh necklace draped around her swanlike neck, she wore nothing.
I pointed at her, embarrassed. “Do you have to be naked?”
“You Americans,” she said in a disgusted tone. Her voice was lovely, etched with an accent I couldn’t place. “Such a distorted sense of modesty.” She wandered around the cell. “Is this how your friends treat you? It appears you don’t need enemies.”
Too curious to stall the question, I asked, “How could you Turn Johnny, then bind with him?”
“Because it was necessary.” She laughed, but the sound was cruel. “I gave him immortality and power beyond imagining.” She lifted an elegant shoulder. “I am royalty. He is nothing.”
I wanted to tell her that she was selfish and unkind. Johnny deserved better than her. What would she do after the requisite hundred years were over? Probably find another victim.
“The taint worked much faster than we thought possible,” she mused. “I hope you are able to serve your purpose before you die.”
“Gee, thanks,” I said. “But I called you, remember?”
“Did you?” she asked slyly. “They stuffed you into this cell and left you. That’s so sad.”
“I must’ve done something. They would never . . .” My tongue felt thick and unwieldy. I was suddenly glad I couldn’t cry because I couldn’t bear to show such weakness in front of this heartless woman. I thought getting the taint was bad enough. But losing my daughter and my friends and Lorcan, not to mention my freedom, was much worse.
Smirking, she sauntered toward me. She put her palm on my forehead and looked deeply into my eyes. “You will accompany me.”
The words flowed into my mind with cool arrogance. I envisioned each word as a soap bubble and popped every one. I pushed her arm off my head and said, “No.”
She stared at me, her expression flabbergasted. “It should not be possible.” Then her eyes narrowed. She leaned forward and touched the gold rose. “Lorcan’s symbol. He protects you, but does not claim you.” She pulled off the brooch and tossed it onto the bed. Cold rushed over me. The chill made me shiver inside and out.
Once again, Nefertiti put her palm on my forehead. I let her because I was curious about her so-called power. I prepared for her glamour, clearing my mind and erecting a psychic barrier.
“You will come with me,” she uttered.
I looked into her dark eyes, assumed a zombie look, and said, “Noooooooooo.”
Rearing back as though I’d slapped her, she looked at me from head to toe. She didn’t stay unsettled for long. Her expression turned calculating. “Do you know why Lorcan isn’t here? Why everyone is gone?”
“I suppose you’re going to tell me.”
She smiled sweetly. “They are trying to rescue your precious Tamara.”
Nefertiti was manipulative and untrustworthy, but in this case, I knew she was telling the truth. “You took her.”
Sighing deeply, as though I had bored her beyond her capacity to tolerate, she sat on the cot and crossed her perfect legs. “The beasties have rebelled. We can no longer control them.”
“So you need me to corral the mutants you created?” Zarking fardwarks. A werewolf round-up and me without my cowboy hat.
“A bargain, Eva. What you want in exchange for what I want.” She lifted her slim hand and studied her nails. Her gaze flicked to mine. “I, too, once viewed the world as you do. Right and
wrong. Good and evil. Cleopatra was my queen. The Romans won Egypt—and she died. They thought they owned us. They thought they could do anything they wanted.” She sighed, a little too dramatically. “I was raped and killed by a Roman soldier. When I awoke, I was Turned and abandoned.”
I felt a sliver of empathy for Nefertiti. I quickly squashed it. Feeling sorry for her would only lead me to assume she had the ability to feel sorry for others. Her humanity had been reshaped by her vampire experiences. Unlike Lorcan, Nefertiti didn’t question the morality of her actions. She didn’t care if she hurt others to reach her goals.
Lorcan, I sent out, have you found Tamara?
He didn’t reply. Argh! I leaned my forehead against the wall and tried to decide what to do next. Other than Lorcan, the only people I could connect with weren’t really people. Desperation raked me. Damian, are you there?
Nothing. Not even a whisper of thought from that guy.
My fears about Tamara’s safety multiplied a hundredfold. I was her mother. I had relied too long on others to watch over her.
I had to use Nefertiti to get me out of this place and find out what was going on. My problem, of course, was that I carried the taint. For whatever reason, I felt good, but who knew how long that would last?
Indecisive, I paced the cell. Frustration roared through me. I had no one. Not one person to count on or to trust or to . . . help me.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” quoted Nefertiti.
“I don’t trust you.”
“That is your prerogative. But every moment you waste debating right and wrong is a second on the clock of your daughter’s life.”
“You are such a bitch.” It might not have been the most original description of a backstabbing, morally bankrupt woman, but it was all I could think of at the moment.
“Aw, now you’ve hurt my feelings.”
“You don’t have any feelings.” I couldn’t risk Tamara’s safety, which meant I had to risk everyone else’s. Once I made sure my daughter was unharmed and protected I would voluntarily return to my cell.
Nefertiti had managed to get inside a secured house, then into an even more secure lab without being noticed. Though she probably had the ability to sparkle in and out of places, she couldn’t have gotten into the cells that way. During my first tour of the facility, Stan had explained that the cells were immune to that skill, mostly because of preventive spells cast by Lorcan and Patrick.
She toyed with the ankh necklace. “I will help you rescue your daughter.”
That wasn’t a good incentive for me. I didn’t want Nefertiti anywhere near my child. All the same, I wouldn’t be satisfied until I saw that Tamara was safe and sound. And I could use this opportunity to free Faustus. The man deserved to live—or to die as he wished.
“I want to take Faustus with us.”
“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes. “You’ll have to get undressed. The spell doesn’t work on clothes.”
“What spell?”
Gripping the ankh, she whispered incomprehensibly. I expected her to turn into the cat, but instead her body turned translucent. She offered her hand. “You must hold on to me.”
I found myself peeling off my pajamas. As vile as it was to touch Nefertiti, I grasped her hand. It felt squishy and cold. In an instant, my own body turned clear. I felt like a walking blob of Jell-O as we stepped through the cell door. Passing through a solid object hit number one on my Top Ten Weird Vampire Talents. It felt like being squeezed through a strainer.
When we arrived in the hallway, we solidified. Nefertiti let go of my hand.
“I need clothes,” I said.
“Why?”
“Because I can’t put on a cat suit and slink around like you do.”
She led me to the entrance to the prison. On the left side of the door was a row of pegs. Each held a long white lab coat. I was getting seriously tired of the color white. “Beggars can’t be choosers,” I muttered as I took one and slipped it on. I buttoned it to my chin.
“You have two minutes to convince the lycan to come with us, Eva.” Her eyes reminded me of obsidian. I think it riled her to know that she couldn’t control me. “Do not betray me.”
If I had been a tough heroine in a blockbuster movie, maybe Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider, I might have snapped off “Or what?” But as Eva the animal-loving librarian, my response was . . . nothing.
The floor was as white and smooth as the walls. My bare feet slapped against the slick surface as I walked to the end of the hall to Faustus’s cell.
Faustus waited for us. He gaze flicked to my ankles; he growled menacingly. I looked down and saw Nefertiti, now in the cat form of Lucifer, giving herself a bath. Yuck.
I don’t like her, either. But she can free you.
Faustus raised his head to stare at me. You cannot trust her. She never agrees to any pact unless she gains something from it.
You wanted to get out, remember? She says that your friends have rebelled and they’ve stolen my daughter.
She lies.
Does she lie about you?
His black lips pulled back and he bared his teeth. I was getting better at mind reading. I had seen an image flash into his mind, but that instant gave me all the information I needed.
Revenge is a terrible thing, isn’t it? You killed her, so she Turned you.
Laughter filtered into my mind. Ah, so she fed you that bullshit story about the Roman soldier who raped and killed her. I never raped her. I loved her.
But you killed her?
Crime passionnel. She was fucking half the Roman army. She made a fool of me! Nefertiti craves power and wealth, just like her bitch queen. At least Cleopatra did what she did for Egypt. There is honor in sacrifice for your people, for your country. Nefertiti serves only herself.
His gaze once again flicked to Nefertiti. She had wandered away to look into the cell next to Faustus’s. I had never known anyone as cold-hearted as she.
I will stay here, Eva. I would rather my enemy’s sword pierce my heart than my friend’s dagger stab me in the back.
I was disappointed by his decision, but it was his to make. Take care, Faustus.
Fac fortia et patere. He put his palm against the barrier. I put mine against it, too, and matched where his palm pressed. Do brave deeds and endure.
Chapter 24
I shed my clothing again so we could liquefy and go through the thick metal door that led out of the prison ward. I found another lab coat draped over a chair and slipped it on.
No one was in the laboratory, not even Stan, who practically lived down here. Uneasiness prickled my scalp. I followed Nefertiti up the stairs. The security door was wide open.
“Where is everyone?”
“Gone.”
So Nefertiti wasn’t so much clever as opportunistic. I really did not like her.
The house was dark and had the feel of hurried abandonment. In the foyer, I could see through to the formal living room. Furniture was knocked over, cushions ripped, glass shattered.
“What happened?”
“I told you,” said Nefertiti. “The beasts rebelled. They attacked your friends and took your daughter.”
Lorcan, Jessica, and everyone else must be dealing with the fallout. Had the mutant lycans or the Wraiths attacked? And was Tamara safe— or not?
“Take me to my daughter.”
“Or you’ll do what?” asked Nefertiti. “You’re a librarian, for the love of Isis.”
Her smirk grated on my last nerve. Before I could second-guess my actions, I grabbed her chin and stared into her soulless eyes. I seized her mind and demanded, “Take me to Tamara.”
“Yes,” said Nefertiti immediately. “I will do as you ask.”
I released her chin. To make sure I was in control, I pointed to the curtains that framed the windows on either side of the front door. “Wrap one of those around yourself.”
Nefertiti yanked off the pretty gold fabric and created a toga for herself. She looked
at me, her eyes glazed.
“Very good. Now take me to Tamara.”
We left the house and walked down the curved driveway. The bushes that lined the drive shook, and then Bert bounded out of the shrubbery, barking joyously.
Nefertiti nearly shot out of her skin. She reared back and hissed. Bert paid no attention to her reaction. Instead he danced around me and barked some more.
Then he poked his cold, wet nose into my crotch. Oh, yuck. I gently pushed him away. “Whoa, there. I’ve told you this before, sweet-heart. We’re just friends.”
He sat down and panted. I heard his thought: Ham bone.
“Later, Bert.” I looked at Nefertiti and pointed to the Great Dane. It was wrong to give in to the childish urge, but I couldn’t resist. “Pet the nice doggie.”
She walked forward as if pulled by puppet strings. Her palm flattened stiffly against Bert’s head. He growled and shook her off, backing out of her reach.
“You have good taste,” I said to the dog. I looked at Nefertiti. “Let’s go get Tamara.”
We walked for a long time, down streets, through weed-choked yards, and around the broken and battered grounds of Putt ’Er There, the old mini-golf course. We didn’t meet a single soul on our travels. Had everyone been drawn to the other side of town? I wondered what kind of catastrophe could rally every citizen. Then another thought struck: What if everyone had evacuated to the Consortium compound? What if they’d left me and Faustus to our fates? I couldn’t believe that.
We followed the curve of a gravel road to a single, dilapidated house. It had been abandoned long before the vampires took over Broken Heart and started encouraging the humans to leave. Tucked into the embrace of tall trees and surrounded by scraggly hedges, it looked like the house that kids always dared each other to go into on Halloween night.
The flaking paint was so old that the color had faded to gray. Both of the front windows were broken and jagged glass glittered in the bright moonlight. The porch had collapsed and the front steps were missing, but that didn’t stop Bert from leaping onto the rickety wood and sniffing around.
“Tamara is in there?”
Nefertiti nodded. I wondered if she was lying. Had she faked being glamoured by me to get me here? I looked at the creepy place, my nerves stringing tight. Why hadn’t I thought about the possibility that Nefertiti might very well be leading me away from my daughter and into a trap? Doofus giganticus.
Don't Talk Back To Your Vampire Page 16
