He was silent for a moment. I imagined he was annoyed that was the only reason I had contacted him. “I’ll answer if I can.”
“Thank you. Can you tell me if it’s possible to stop a person from becoming a ghoul by turning them into a vampire before they die?”
Silence. This time he let me sense his displeasure along our connection. I wasn’t surprised. Nothing I did pleased Silvano. “It’s not possible, and even if it was, I hope you would contact me for my guidance before you turned anyone.”
The tightness in his tone made me wonder if he spoke the truth. “Are you sure? You aren’t just speculating?”
I could almost hear him grinding his teeth. “Ghouls are similar to us. They grow stronger with age. They are also undead. Their disease—or fever as the humans are calling it—is powerful and unstoppable when a human is infected. You could say the instant a person is bitten by a ghoul, they are a ghoul and no longer human. Rue, you cannot turn anyone other than a human into a vampire.”
While he spoke, I held Georgia’s hand, and she stared at me wide-eyed and hopeful. I knew she thought I was considering her plea. Yet, I had to tell her it was impossible. After I broke off the connection with Silvano, I stood.
“Georgia, I need to make a quick call. I’ll be right back.”
“No, don’t go,” she pleaded, squeezing my hand. The gentle pressure she placed on my fingers didn’t compare to Violet’s hold.
“I promise. I’ll be right outside.”
Somehow, I convinced her to let me go, and I moved to the hall. Bill was on my speed-dial, and I phoned him to back up Silvano’s story.
“I’m afraid he’s telling you the truth, Rue. Your kind is powerful indeed, but you can’t stop a ghoul’s disease that way.”
“That way,” I repeated, knowing he meant killing them.
I thought of how I had ended Carl’s life without any emotion. Could I do the same with Georgia, especially when I did feel when it came to her? All of my friends made me feel. That’s why I kept them close, and Georgia as much as she bugged me was a good friend.
“Thanks, Bill,” I said. “I appreciate you answering me without the run around this time.”
I wondered briefly if he could read my mind over the phone.
“I can’t read your mind across distances.”
“You just did.”
“A guess with age.”
I smirked. “All right. I’ll talk to you later.”
I ended the call with him and entered Georgia’s room again. A couple hospital staff had come in while I had been distracted talking to Bill. Both of them wore masks and gloves, and they were rigging an enclosure around Georgia. The man whirled to face me. “You’re not supposed to be in here. She can’t have visitors. We’re now on quarantine, and a rep from the CDC is on the way.”
The woman looked at the man. “Should we make her stay and have her examined? I’ve never had to deal with this kind of situation.”
“Me either,” the man said. “I didn’t sign up for this.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “If you two are done lamenting your career choices… Whether I stay or go is my decision.”
He snorted and walked to the phone on the bedside table. I had the impression he assumed my tiny self couldn’t stop him from making a call to security. Oh no, the big man is making a phone call. I’m so scared. Yeah, I was officially in a bad mood.
“Put the phone down,” I growled.
He did, and I elbowed the woman aside and parted the enclosure to step into it. Georgia now lay in bed shaking like a leaf, wide-eyed, and by the sound of her heartbeat, she was close to popping.
I looked into her gaze and took her hand. “Calm down, Georgia.”
Her heartbeat dropped to a normal level in seconds, which startled me. That couldn’t be good. I had to be careful with my words.
“I want you to be take it easy from now on. Everything is going to be okay.”
“B-but I’m going to die,” she whimpered.
I found it interesting that she could protest against my words even while I glamoured her. Perhaps it was the effects of the ghoul infection that interfered with the works. This time, I couldn’t lie to her, knowing the truth. “Yes, sweetheart, but you’re not going to be afraid of it. I’m going to be with you when it happens, so you won’t have to worry. Right? You’re not going to be scared.”
“I won’t be scared,” she repeated, giving herself over to my control.
“Good girl. Now, just lay back and rest. I’m going to sit here with you until almost sunrise. These two pointless characters over here won’t bother you at all.”
I felt a couple of angry looks directed at me, but I didn’t pay them any mind. Georgia’s eyes fluttered closed, and I drew a chair up to do just what I had promised her. The night passed slowly. Anyone who entered Georgia’s room, I sent on their way. Beyond her door, there was a hive of activity, and from the voices I picked up when I wasn’t focusing on my friend let me know New Orleans was indeed in a state of emergency.
My phone had rung once or twice, but I turned it off and sat without moving until I sensed the day coming. At last, I stood and bent to kiss Georgia’s cheek.
“I have to take my rest now, Georgia, but I’ll be back tonight. Don’t worry. I will come back.” She was sleeping and didn’t stir, but I was confident in my previous glamour, and I left her to return to Nathan’s apartment.
When I strode into the bedroom, I remembered to turn on my phone and tossed it on the bed. Yawning, I unbuttoned my blouse and threw that in the closet basket. My gaze fell on the window. I had discovered after I returned from the past that all the windows in Nathan’s apartment were fitted with sun blocking enclosures. These weren’t cheap items one could rig up oneself. From the quality and sturdiness of them, I’d say they had been professionally installed. I’m sure they weren’t there before I changed the past, and it gave truth to Nathan’s saying I had been living with him for six months. He had gone to lengths to be sure I was safe.
My cell phone rang, and I checked it. Nathan was calling. I answered.
“Baby, I called before. Are you okay?”
“We talked earlier. Why wouldn’t I be?” I yawned again.
“I’m sorry I’m calling so early. I know you’re about to rest, but they’ve closed the borders, and I wanted to let you know I’m going to find a way in no matter what.”
“In where?” I frowned, confused. “What borders? America’s borders?”
“No, New Orleans. No one in or out. The ghoul attacks are central to our city, and they’re getting out of hand. The humans see it as a disease that can be contained if they make sure no one gets out. I guess they’re right, but their decision means I can’t get a flight in.”
“Oh no.”
“Like I said, don’t worry. I’ll get back.” A slight rumble entered his tone.
“Nathan, don’t get arrested. I’m sure everything will be resolved soon.”
“Not good enough. You know I can sniff out anything. They need my nose.”
I smirked. “Yes, I guess they do. Okay, just be safe.”
“You got it. Have a good sleep.”
“Mm, thanks.”
When night fell again, I headed off to the hospital without pausing to get a drink. A bit of panic like what I had felt from Georgia came over me as I moved. My agitation started with a hunch and then became full blown suspicion. The nearer I drew to the hospital and then to the floor where Georgia’s room was situated, the more positive I became. While Georgia’s scent lingered in the area, it wasn’t strong. Even if she turned—and it was too soon for that—she would still have a familiar scent. After all, I hadn’t seen a major change in Carl’s scent when he became a ghoul.
I traversed the hall with as much speed as I could without hurtling into someone. At Georgia’s door, I stopped cold with a palm on the wood. My darn hearing wouldn’t lower itself so I wouldn’t find out that there wasn’t a heartbeat inside this room. Nor
was there breathing.
I imitated a breath myself just to delay and then walked inside. What I found wasn’t Georgia dead too soon, but Georgia missing. Her bed lay empty and cold, the sheets hanging half on the floor as if she had run off.
Chapter Twelve
No, no, no! That couldn’t be it. Georgia didn’t run off. She couldn’t. I glamoured her, and while euphoria didn’t last long, the command should have held. She wanted me to stay with her, so surely she would wait until I returned. In the short while I had been a vampire and practicing my glamour with less fear, I discovered the more eager a person was to do what I order them to, the longer the effects held.
I zipped out into the hall, almost forgetting to curb my movements to what was possible among humans. A glance to my right and left showed the staff still scurrying about, except now there were new scents, humans in protective gear who hadn’t been there the night before.
Heightening my cloak, I moved among them, searching for Georgia. Yet, I already knew her scent was nowhere inside the hospital. Still, because I was somewhat in denial, I located the man who had been in her room setting up the enclosure. He sat in the cafeteria with coworkers, casually enjoying a meal. I jerked him to his feet with a hand at his nape.
“Where is she?”
He gaped at me and tried to free himself without success. The other men at the table laughed, and I glared at all of them.
“Let go of me, you crazy woman. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The man tried to shove me away, but I moved to his other side, still holding him immobile. While I knew I pushed the bounds with these actions, I couldn’t stop myself. Georgia was important. What if another nonhuman found her and scented the ghoul infection in her? What if Violet came across her? I knew what would happen. After Violet lost her friend and with the pregnancy, she was much less tolerant. Not that the werewolf had been very tolerant before, mind you.
“My friend,” I enunciated and tightened my grip. “Where is my friend, the woman who was in the room on the fourth floor?”
“If she was there, she’s still there. None of the patients on that floor are getting off it, not on their own.”
The laughter at the table died at the news. I didn’t sense any deception in what the man told me, and I let him go. Thinking back, I recalled how Carl had behaved when he died. As a spirit, he became much more self-aware. He begged me to banish him because he knew he would return to his body. There was no way a human would know it would happen that way unless someone told them. From the rumors spreading among the humans, the infected came to the edge of death and then went crazy with a hunger for flesh.
I realized there were inconsistencies in what was being said. Everyone with a fever dies. People with the fever develop a hunger for flesh. So far, the humans weren’t claiming everyone dies and then walks again. However, Georgia was aware of the paranormal world. I began to believe as she lay alone, she had pieced the truth together. She ran because she didn’t want to face her fate. What she didn’t know was I could stop it from happening. I had to find her.
I scoured the city, looking into every nook and cranny. The cities of the dead were combed two or three times, and for good measure, I touched various crypt walls to see if there might be a spell that needed breaking. No reactions whatsoever, but I did get a few disturbing visions I never wanted to see again.
In one cemetery, I found a crypt with the door ripped from its hinges. I peered inside, but whoever or whatever had vandalized it was long gone. The place was empty, and when I say empty, I mean picked clean. You get the picture. I shivered with disgust just thinking of it.
More searching, and I was beginning to get discouraged. My indomitable personality waned a bit. I decided it was time to call in help. Rather than connect with Silvano inside our heads, I thought I would pin him down in person. Silvano turned out to be at his warehouse where I had previously visited with the werewolves in tow.
When I walked onto the property, one of his henchmen greeted me stone-faced. I suppose I shouldn’t have thought of them as henchmen, but I couldn’t get Silvano out of my head as a type of mobster, so it went along with the territory.
“I need to see Silvano,” I told the man in the black suit, muscles straining against the material. All he needed were a pair of dark glasses, but it was nighttime, so maybe that would be a bit much.
“Do you have an appointment?”
“I wasn’t aware I needed one.”
He narrowed his eyes at me, and his mouth tightened. He looked like he wasn’t prepared to say more.
“This is important,” I insisted and laid a hand on his thick forearm. “I know he’s busy, but can’t you do me this tiny favor?”
The man’s eyes widened as if it shocked him to think I would try my wiles on him. Well, darn, I am a woman, and he’s a man after all. Nope. He shifted his shoulders, and the movement knocked my hand away. I almost choked in offense. My head had been getting too big of late.
“Let her past.”
The guard and I both swung around at the voice, and Francis stood there. Francis, my anti-hero, the vampire whose life I had saved and maybe the closest of Silvano’s guards.
“She’s one of us, and she doesn’t deserve to be treated like an outsider.”
The guard sneered. “She joined the coven, but she’s not one of us. You know it. I know it, and it’s sure as anything Silvano knows it. She prances around—”
“I said let her past.” Francis’s eyes burned bright red for an instant, and the other man fell silent.
He backed off. “It’s on you, Francis. I’m not responsible if Silvano gets mad.”
I joined Francis as we walked farther into the warehouse and along a hall I hadn’t visited the last time I was there. At the end of it, we turned a corner, and another long hall presented itself. I glanced up at the ceiling. “What do you ship from here, Francis?”
“I’m not at liberty to tell you.”
I eyed him. “Thanks for helping me out back there. It seems no one likes me.”
“That’s not true.”
I waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t.
“So a few like me?”
His empty gaze met mine. For some reason, I waited for Francis to probe my head, but he didn’t. He just looked at me. I wanted to look into his but didn’t dare. He gave a small nod that almost made me think he invited me to, but I refused. When I didn’t, he turned his head to face forward again.
“It’s not a matter of whether you are liked. We most often relate to each other based on usefulness.”
“That seems cold.”
“Yes.”
“So I’m not useful?”
“You’ve only been needy.”
“Well, I never.” I wasn’t offended with Francis this time, more amused than anything. The fact that he chose to describe my asking for help once as needy was absurd. Sure, I was back with another request for help. Hmm, maybe I was on a bad trend. Well, it wasn’t as if I had been invited to share in the shipping and receiving of whatever it was Silvano was involved in. Then it occurred to me I could have asked Silvano for a job.
“Thanks for your help, Francis,” I said when he knocked on Silvano’s office door for me. He didn’t acknowledge my gratitude but continued to stand there. Silvano called out enter, and Francis opened the door, ushering me ahead of him.
Silvano frowned at both of us and settled on Francis. “You’re doing a little too much, Francis.”
“I apologize, sir.”
I linked my arm with Francis’s. “Oh, don’t bully him, Silvano. He’s been a good friend to me. I needed to see you, and he got me here.”
“Friend.” Silvano’s repeat of the word cut through the air. Francis moved like lightning to unlink our arms, and the door opened and shut behind him, leaving my hair blowing across my face. I raised a hand to brush the strands away.
“You’ve certainly got them trained, Silvano.”
“Was there some
thing you wanted, Rue?”
I sat on the edge of his desk and caught his gaze roving my figure. “Yes, I need your help. My friend is missing, and I can’t seem to locate her.”
He sat back in his chair. “The same friend you were considering making a vampire.”
“I didn’t say I wanted to make her a vampire. I asked a simple question. One has to learn one’s boundaries after all.”
His eyebrows rose as if to say I would never know the meaning of the word. I chose to reinterpret the look to mean he believed I had a lot of growing to do, and he had every confidence that I would do so.
“Georgia is a sweet woman. She comes off as a bit ditzy and clingy, but I don’t mind as much as I protest. She’s um…she’s…”
“Been bitten by a ghoul.”
I did a good imitation myself biting my lower lip. “Sort of.”
He folded his arms over his chest. “There’s no sort of, Rue. I told you when we spoke previously. Once bitten, the person is no longer human. Your friend will turn unless she is destroyed.”
“Don’t say it like that!”
“My sources tell me the werewolf cop is putting them down as fast as they rise.”
“You know Violet’s name.” I was feeling waspish and swung my leg back and forth at the side of his desk.
“I have no dealings with the werewolves. Nor do I have any with ghouls.” When he said the word ghouls, he bared his teeth. The likelihood that I would receive help in that arena lessened with each passing moment.
“You’re not going to act on anything until it touches you personally, are you?”
“Do you have a problem with how I run my business, Rue?”
I shoved fingers through my hair and stood. After a few moments, I faced him. “No. You can do whatever you want.”
“Good. Now, I helped you before with something that had nothing to do with my people. I will not be offering my services again.”
I had no idea “offering” had been a part of the previous deal.
Silvano stood and walked around the desk. He surprised me when he took my hand and stroked the skin a little. I tugged, but he refused to let go.
Night Fever (A Rue Darrow Novel Book 3) Page 9
