"Where's Winkler? And the Grand Master?" I demanded, angry in an instant. I had no idea what they were thinking, allowing three strangers to sit and watch me wake. That was dangerous.
"We have 'em," the gap-toothed one spoke. "And if you want to see 'em again, you'll do what we say."
"You'll do what I say," I laid compulsion. Two went blank-eyed but the third, the one with the missing teeth, didn't.
"That don't work with me," he cackled. "Now, take that mojo offa these two and those three that you're so fond of won't die."
I wanted to curse but I had to keep my wits with me. "I can kill you, instead." I lifted a hand, allowing my claws to extend fully.
"But if they don't hear from me on this," the werewolf held up Winkler's cell phone (I recognized it, all right), "then they'll kill your three and where will that leave you?" He was grinning his gap-toothed grin again. I did curse, then.
"Here, now, none of them words. Take your spell offa these two and let's get goin'. We got work for you. If you do it, we'll let all four of you go."
I'd gone to bed in my clothes the night before, after helping Winkler and the others get cleaned up after their run. There was barely enough time to crawl in the bed so I could be covered up. My cell phone was in my pocket, but I didn't remember what kind of charge it had. And while this bunch had the Grand Master and Winkler (at least I hoped they did and that they were still alive), I had to cooperate with these kidnappers and look for a chance to call someone. I had no idea who that someone should be; there wasn’t anyone close enough to get us help quickly.
"Fine," I said, removing my compulsion from Gap's two companions. He hadn't given his name so that's what he was going to get.
"That's more like it," Gap grinned again. "Now, girlie, just come with us peaceful and don't try no funny stuff, or the Grand Master dies with those other two."
I was compelled to follow them into the yard where an old van waited. Diffused moonlight filtered through thickening clouds overhead and the air smelled of snow as I was shoved into the back of the van. Gap crawled in beside me while the other two sat up front. We drove away from the cabin, and since the van didn't have windows on the sides, I lost track of where we were going after a while. It didn't matter; if I could turn to mist, all I had to do was float upward and get my bearings. As it was, these three worried me. They still hadn't explained what they wanted from me and I had no idea if the Grand Master was still alive to begin with. I shivered as we bounced along mountain roads, silently cursing my inability to wake during the day.
Gap played with Winkler's phone after a while and got somebody to answer his call. "We're comin'," he said. "Put the Grand Master on so our girlie here won't think we killed him already." He held the phone up to my ear. I didn't tell him that I could hear both sides of the conversation he'd just had quite well. It was probably better to keep my mouth shut and not tip my hand.
"Lissa?" Weldon's voice sounded rough, like he'd been beaten up or something.
"Weldon? What's going on? Are you all right?"
"I've been better," Weldon coughed a little. "Right now, just do what they say. Winkler's not in great shape at the moment." Fuck. I didn't say it out loud so I wouldn't offend Gap. I was angry, though. Very angry. I wanted to demand that Gap tell me what he wanted but had to hold it back. Merrill would be ashamed of me if he knew I lost my temper in such a volatile situation.
"I'll do what they say, Grand Master," I said. Gap grinned and ended the call.
"Never had a use for this stuff until now." He laughed and pocketed the cell phone. If I got the opportunity, Gap was going to die first, I decided right away. We bumped through the mountains over rough, narrow roads for the better part of two more hours before pulling into the yard of an old cabin built of logs. It couldn't come close to what Weldon had; the three-room square looked to be a much poorer, distant cousin. Clouds had lowered and become heavy during the drive, and a few snowflakes settled on the ground around us as I was ordered out of the van and led inside the house. I suppose I expected to see the Grand Master there but that wasn't to be.
"He's someplace else. You think we're that stupid?" Gap laughed at me. Actually, I did. That didn't mean I couldn't track Weldon down, though. I knew his scent. I wondered if any of these people knew how good my nose was. If they left me alive, I wouldn't stop hunting them until they were all dead.
"What do you want, then?" I asked sullenly.
"Our girlie's grumpy," Gap chuckled. "We have a job for you. A job only a vampire can do. You're gonna turn somebody for us."
"What?" The word was out before I could stop it.
"Yeah. My granddaughter, Lily," Gap replied. "My son got killed in a challenge. His wife was human so she took off and then my baby girl got cancer. Brain cancer and she's dyin'. You're gonna save her."
Gap didn't know anything about what turning actually meant. I was nearly as ignorant. My only experience had been my own turning and I didn't remember any of it. "You should have found an older vampire," I snapped. "One with experience. I've only been vampire since last January and I don't know how to turn someone else. If I try, your granddaughter will most likely die from the attempt." As angry as I was, I was being as honest with him as I could be.
"You got any vampire friends? Ones that know how to do this?" Gap was angry now as well. "You can call. You get one phone call and you can tell 'em it's a matter of life 'n death. We'll be listenin' in just to make sure you're not foolin' with us and get 'em to tell you how it's done."
"Show me the girl, first," I said. I was led into the back bedroom of the cabin. The girl was lying on a small bed covered in homemade quilts. She looked like she should be inside a hospital instead of where she was, and my nose told me that her death would be coming very soon—she had a few hours remaining, if that much. Wisps of thin, pale hair clouded about her face and her eyes were closed, whether in sleep or a coma I couldn't tell. Paper-thin, translucent skin covered what might have been pretty features once. I estimated her age around fourteen but she was small for those years, painfully thin and presently unconscious. I felt for Gap but honestly, even if she weren't female, the turning would likely kill her just as quickly as her disease would.
"Some things are worse than death," I said, leveling a glare at Gap, who gazed down at his granddaughter.