by Misty Evans
Definitely bad. If it hadn’t been for the gravity of the situation, I would have been out of there in a flash.
It helped he didn’t move, didn’t try to take control of the kiss. I brushed my lips against his, felt the spike of magic between us. His breathing sped up and he parted his lips. To breathe better or to invite me to do more? I gave him my breath and my lips, kissing him self-consciously and half-ass wishing this was one of Di’s crazy fairytales where my kiss would break the curse and he would be healed.
This was real life, not a children’s story, and so my kiss had no effect on his ailing body other than raising his blood pressure. I broke away, leaned my forehead against his. “How long do you have?”
“The doctor gives me twenty-four hours or less. I prefer less. This waiting is a bitch.”
I held out my wrist. “Please. Take my blood.”
His long fingers reached out, stroked my skin where the pulse beat. It sped up under the pressure from his stroking thumb and a warm flush washed over my body. “I want you to do me a favor.”
“Anything you want if you’ll just take a sip.”
A sad laughter came from his chest. The rattle grew worse. “I want you to stake me. Properly.”
Shit no. Hell no. Absolutely no way on God’s green earth. My lips moved—nothing came out.
Noting my obvious blank stare and fish-sucking-air antics, he patted my hand. “I’ll call my brothers as witnesses, so there will be no backlash on you. You owe me this, as queen of Carpathia. It’s a duty in service to your Master and your liege.”
“Che cavolo. You’ve got to be kidding.”
“In the Canon, it expressly states the king or queen of a House must perform duties required by the Master. Plus, I’m sorry, but I’m pulling the liege card. You are my blood slave. You must obey me.”
“I know what the fucking Canon says.” That was a lie. I’d read maybe three pages of one volume, and there were something along the lines of a hundred volumes of the Undead Canon. “And you can blackmail me all you want, but you can’t ask me to stake you.”
“As Master, I’m afraid I can.”
“I’m not talking about Master to queen. Or liege to blood slave. I’m talking about friend to friend.” A hard pressure filled my tear ducts. My jaw tightened. “I can’t do it, Dru. I won’t.”
He released a tired sigh. “It is only because we are friends that I’m asking you for this distressing favor. You’re a professional when it comes to these things. I trust you far more than most of the vampires in my life. You aren’t motivated by politics or love. You will perform the job skillfully and with competence.”
I withdrew my hand from his, stood and gathered my cape. How could he put me in this position? Tears overflowed my eyes and I brushed them away, searching for the willpower I needed not to punch him for asking me for such an outrageous favor. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”
Feeling like I couldn’t breathe, I hurried across the room heading for the door. Nice, right? Bailing on him when he was dying. I hated myself, but I couldn’t stop my feet from running away.
“Kali?” he called, another cough racking his body.
I faced him, hoping he was going to take it back. Ask me to stay and watch TV or listen to music or that he was going to relent and agree to take my blood.
“Think about it. Please. It’s the only thing I’ve ever asked you for.”
Swallowing hard, I took one last look at him. “You think about my offer. It still stands. Call me if you change your mind.”
I blew out the door, scrubbing the tears off my cheeks and hurrying down the corridor. Maddy was slumped on the floor next to the door, texting or playing a game on her phone. “Hey. Wait up.”
She asked several questions, gave up when I refused to answer. Cole was outside on the steps talking to Brianna.
As soon as the fresh night air hit my face, I bent at the waist and gulped lungfuls of it. Maddy rubbed my back and Cole grabbed my arm and steered me toward the car. None of us said anything as we drove away.
Hitting a speed dial button on my phone, I called JR. “Do you know anything about the vampire Canon?”
“Uh, a little, but it’s not my specialty.”
“Is there anything that states the Master of a House has to agree to do what the queen of a region demands?”
He thought for a minute. “Maybe if it has to serve the greater good of the Undead in that region.”
“Good. Find it. A rule, a law, hell, I’ll take a fucking footnote. Just find me something that forces Alexandru to do what I want him to.”
“It’ll take a while.”
“You’ve got until noon tomorrow. Hurry.”
I reached over and turned on the radio, cranking up a song by Theory of a Deadman, which seemed ridiculously appropriate. Then I laid my aching head against the cold window.
A few miles outside of Lake Forest, Maddy cleared her throat from the backseat loud enough for me to hear over the music and tapped my shoulder. “I need a favor.”
Crap. Apparently it was my night for them.
Shutting off the radio, I put my head in my hand. “I’m not staking you.”
Cole gave me a funny look. Maddy said, “O-kay. I’m sure I don’t want to know what that’s about, but thank you. I guess.”
“What is it, Maddy?”
She blew out a heavy sigh. “I want to go see my parents. Tonight. And I need you to go with me.”
Chapter Thirty-seven
Since the death of my parents and little sister, and Rad’s abandonment when I was seventeen, there have been many days, weeks, years even, when I felt alone. Empty. Destined to live a life of sleeping away my days and working away my nights.
Yes, I’ve had friends in my lifetime. Not many, but a few. They cared about me and helped fill the void left by the absence of my family and Rad. But each of us walks this world alone—or at least I do, which I guess confirms Di’s theory that I believe I’m an island. There are times for me when the next hour seems like it will last an eternity. When my job as enforcer is a burden rather than a blessing. When even Sweet Investigations and the work I do in this world to save humans from supernaturals like myself seems absolutely pointless.
My heart was raw after my meeting with Dru, but I couldn’t say no to Maddy. So I put my rattled emotions in lockdown and asked her for directions to her parents’ house.
Cole shot Maddy an irritated look in the rearview mirror. “Maybe this isn’t the best time.”
“I know.” She chewed at a fingernail. “But after seeing Dru…you know…I just…”
I did know. Vampires feared death just like the rest of us, and that fear drove a lot of emotions. Maddy needed to see her family, find some kind of peace. “Tonight’s fine. Let’s go.”
Maddy’s home was a small bungalow in Elmhurst squeezed between several larger houses that looked to have been built in the past five years. Where the modern houses on either side filled out their yards to the max, her parents’ house sat back from the street with a quaint sidewalk and two large oak trees out front.
All her nails were bitten to the quick by the time we arrived. “What do I say?” She gripped my seat with both hands. “How do I tell them?”
There was no script for this. Some humans accepted there were supernaturals in the real world. Others thought they were fiction. “You knew this was going to be a tough encounter,” I reminded her. “But whatever happens, I’m here for you.”
She got out of the car, stood staring at the house. A Christmas tree stood proudly in the bay window, lit up with white lights. Behind it, the glow of a lamp was the only other light on in the house. No other outside decorations, as if Maddy’s folks had only had enough energy to put up the tree.
The moon reflected on the snow in the yard and gave the scene a bluish tinge. “Keep the car running,” I told Cole. “We won’t be long.”
He nodded and switched the radio to a Top 40 station, started humming along.
Col
e was humming. Maybe miracles really did happen. Obviously, his time with Brianna was mellowing him out.
I climbed out of the car, my heart heavy. Over Dru, over what Maddy was about to encounter. I had no doubts this was going to get ugly and what kid, Undead or not, needs to be kicked in the ass by her own flesh and blood?
Starting up the sidewalk which was free of snow, I hesitated when she didn’t join me. She’d shoved her hands in her pockets and stared hard at the Christmas tree in the window. I walked back, put my arm around her. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Yeah, I kinda do. I’m just…scared.”
I gave her shoulders a squeeze. “Come on. Big girl panties.”
She drew a breath that had to come from the bottom of her feet. “Right. I can do this.”
“I’m right here beside you all the way.”
On the porch, her hands stayed in her pockets so I pressed the doorbell. Chimes resonated inside. A moment later, the porch lights came on and a face appeared in the sidelight. A woman.
It was too late for carolers and a crease appeared on her forehead when she saw me in my red cape, leather pants and motorcycle boots. But then Maddy stepped out from behind me and the woman’s expression switched to total shock.
“Roger!” We heard her yell. The thunk of a deadbolt sliding open.
She threw the door open, a man rushing up behind her. The two of them, completely bewildered, stared openly at the skinny girl standing next to me. “Madison?”
“Mom. Dad. Merry Christmas.”
Maddy’s mom looked like an older version of her, which she was, with about forty extra pounds on her frame. Maddy’s dad was tall and thin compared to his wife and his hair was prematurely gray. The woman flew out the door, grabbed Maddy in a bear hug and started crying.
Unfortunately, it went downhill after that. We were motioned inside, the hugging and crying continued from Mom. Dad drilled us with questions. Who was I, how did I find Maddy, blah, blah, blah. Maddy introduced me, explained that she’d been sort of living with me, and it came out sounding weird even to my ears. Dad accused her of running away while Mom sat us down in the kitchen and made us cocoa.
Maddy started to explain what had happened to her at Nudra’s hands, but her father overrode the explanation and accused her of getting mixed up with drugs and proceeded to allege she’d been prostituting herself.
That was a mistake.
The house had been built during the middle of the twentieth century and the interior boasted a traditional look with lots of religious paraphernalia and pictures of Jesus on the wall. Maddy’s mother wore a gold cross around her neck and as the interrogation continued, she narrowed her eyes at me and started asking pointed questions about what I’d been doing with her daughter and if I was the reason she’d been led astray. As Maddy ripped into both of them, I stayed quiet and pretended to be intently interested in the décor and my cocoa.
“I’m a vampire,” Maddy announced in a loud voice. Silence fell for the first time since we’d entered the house. “I went to that concert with Jordon and Avery back in the summer and ended up a freakin’ vampire.”
“Language,” her mother chastised. “And blasphemy. Really Madison. There are no such things. You’ve always had such a vivid imagination.”
“She’s always made bad choices.” Her father waved a rather large hand in front of her face. “Are you delusional? Are you on drugs right now? How dare you upset your mother all these months, letting her believe you’d been kidnapped by some serial killer, some heathen animal, when all this time, you’ve been doing drugs and acting like this?”
Maddy came out of her chair. Her anger bounced around the room, but tears flooded her eyes. Her voice came out low and strained. “I’m not on drugs. I never did drugs. You know that. If you’d shut up and listen for a minute, I can prove I’m a vampire.”
He pointed a finger in her face. “Don’t you tell me to shut up, young lady. You weren’t supposed to be at a concert that night, but as usual, you broke our rules and did what you wanted. Now you want us, after all this time, to take you back when you’re obviously doing drugs and God knows what else?” His fingers made air quotes. “‘I’m a vampire.’ That’s your excuse?”
My heart ached for the kid as she searched her brain for a response. Thing was, she wasn’t thinking with her head, she was thinking with her heart.
My parents had been killed, effectively severing our physical bond, and there had been nothing I could do about it. Maddy’s parents were here, and yet their family bond was ripping at the seams. “Vampires are very real, Mr. and Mrs. Weber. I know it’s a lot for you to take in, but…”
Maddy’s dad walked over to the kitchen phone, picked up the handset and shot some righteous scorn my way. “Miss Sweet, I’m calling the police to tell them you’ve been aiding and abetting a runaway and providing her with drugs.”
Looked like it was time to go. Sucked that we had to end things here, but the energy coming from Roger and his wife told me we argue this point for days and never change their mind. Keeping Maddy safe was my foremost goal, and if the cops got involved, I couldn’t do that.
I rose from my chair and pushed it in. Meantime, Maddy showed off her Undead speed, crossing the kitchen floor in the blink of an eye and ripping the phone from her father’s hand. “Don’t you dare,” she seethed. Her fangs were out and her eyes were flat and predatory. “Kali’s been the only person I could count on since Nudra changed me. You can blame me and curse me and reject me as your daughter, but don’t you dare threaten her.”
Daddy-o scrambled backwards, speechless, and ran smack dab into the counter. “What have you done to yourself?”
A small cry came from Mom and she heaved herself up from the table and made her way to Roger’s side. “Are those implants? Tell me you didn’t ruin your beautiful smile with those awful things, baby.”
Maddy deflated like a popped balloon. She tossed the handset on the island counter and turned to me. “Let’s go. This is getting me nowhere.”
As she vacated the kitchen and headed for the door, I nodded at her parents. “Thanks for the cocoa.”
She was in the living room, giving the Christmas tree one last look. When I came up behind her, she yanked a small handmade ornament with her name in an off-kilter child’s handwriting from a branch and stomped out the door. Her mom and dad stood several feet away, still shell-shocked.
I shrugged. “Kids these days.”
And then I followed my friend into the moonlit night, got in the waiting car and took her home with me.
Chapter Thirty-eight
“Why don’t they understand?” Maggie paced my kitchen. “They never listen to me.”
I made supportive noises as she continued to rant about her parents and the unfairness of her life while I restocked my pantry with groceries we’d stopped for on the way home. She was right on most counts, although overdramatizing others, but she needed to blow off steam. No harm in that.
“You always have a home with me, Mouse.”
She hugged me, continued her rant. My mind wandered, her complaining just background noise as I put the groceries away on autopilot. All I could see was Dru’s face, the rattle of his breathing continuing to echo in my ears. Forcing myself to put it aside, I purposely focused on Maddy’s situation. She was really torn up, and rightfully so, and deserved my full attention.
Withdrawing a couple of the teen magazines she loved to read from a bag, I handed them to her along with a container of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia. “I’m sorry, Maddy. How about we watch one of those happy Christmas movies you like so much?”
Taking my offerings, she sighed deeply. Her lashes were damp with unshed tears. “I’m not much in the mood for happy.”
That made two of us. “There’s still a couple of hours of darkness left. We could go beat up a few supernaturals who need their asses kicked.”
She sniffed, thought about it for a moment and looked me in the eye. “Can I bring th
e ice cream?”
I tossed the bag onto the counter. “Of course. Bring two spoons.”
“Make that three.” Cole walked in carrying two more bags of groceries and set them on the table. He slipped a bottle of his favorite whiskey from the bag and pocketed it. “If you’re going out, I’m going with you. Damon’s orders.”
“The Noctifectors are busy with Toel, and you can’t protect me against Maria.”
“Orders are orders.”
“I call shotgun,” Maddy said, heading for the door.
I took off after her. “Hey, that’s my seat.”
“We are not listening to that awful music again. I’m sitting in front with Cole and we get to pick the music.”
Glad to have her back, I still gave her grief all the way to the car. When she tried to make good on her promise, I hauled her skinny butt out of the front passenger seat and deposited it in the back. She cussed me out and Cole and I shared a smile over the roof of the car before we got in.
Three hours later, we had served Bridge papers to a couple of out-of-town demon visitors who were recruiting humans for dark magic spells and wiped out a small but vicious renegade vampire nest on the South Side whose members were kidnapping human kids and draining them of blood. We also wrapped up a couple of Sweet Investigation cases before Cole forced me to return to the Institute. Damon wanted to talk.
I didn’t. He wanted an update on Dru and I wasn’t ready to discuss it. The fieldwork had cleared my head. My emotions were back under control. If Damon wanted an update, he could call the House for it. I wasn’t his messenger demon. And he sure as hell didn’t need to know the details of my visit.
The early morning workout staking vamps and clearing cases off my desk left me feeling lighter. Once I was inside the Institute’s walls, that feeling evaporated. Cole headed for the training center, Maddy headed for the media room, magazines in hand. There was no reason for me to be there. I wanted to be home to watch the sunrise. I needed to hunt down Maria.
