“So, you never told me your full name,” he said, as we reached the bottom of the stairs.
“Katrina Deaton.” The name Nathanial had given me still felt weird, but I gave it to Justin anyway as I glanced around the narrow alley. Nothing moved, but… It didn’t feel as empty as I’d first thought.
“Deaton? The name doesn’t ring any bells. Not a regular mover or shaker here in Demur, are you?”
“I hope not.” The last time I’d been to Demur I’d accidentally created a rogue—which I’m sure had shaken quite a few things up. Now I just had to make sure I hadn’t created more than the one. First I had to ditch Justin.
“Listen, thank you, but I have—” I cut off as heavy material landed on my shoulders, and I glanced at the tux jacket Justin tugged around me.
“You must be freezing,” he said, stepping closer.
“You really shouldn’t—”
He waved away my argument.
“You hang onto it. I’ll be warm enough,” he said, but undermined the statement by blowing on his hands. His breath fogged in the cold air. Mine didn’t. “There’s a nice little diner down the block. How about I buy you a coffee?”
I was barely listening anymore. There was something at the end of the alley. I was sure of it. And I couldn’t seem to look away. My dress dragged in puddles of dissolved snow and street-salt as I walked toward the back corner of the building.
“Hey, wrong way. The diner’s in the other direction.”
I didn’t response. Something in the darkness moved, but even my vampire eyes couldn’t make sense of the shadows. I took another step closer. Justin grabbed my arm, stopping me. The tingling exploded along my spine like small tongues of fire. That I’d felt before. Oh crap.
I pushed Justin back, my eyes flying wide. “Get out of here.”
“What the hell—”
Justin hadn’t finished the sentence when Avin stepped out from the shadows of the building, his deformed figure hidden in a dark trench coat.
“This one is perfect, Kita,” he said, shuffling toward us.
No. No. No. I tried to shove Justin out of the alley. He didn’t move. Dammit.
“What’s going on?” he asked, his eyes flicking from me to the decrepit figure shambling forward.
“Run, you idiot!”
Justin backed up a step. But he didn’t run. I stepped between him and Avin.
“Kita, behave,” Avin chided. Something flashed in his hand.
A globe. Lightning. I fell to my knees.
Pain roared through me like liquid lava coursing through my veins. My fangs exploded from the roof of my mouth, but I strangled my scream. The pain only lasted a second. Then I fell forward onto all fours.
“Stop.” My whisper came out hoarse.
“Then give me my payment.” Avin was right in front of me now.
Justin still stood beside me, eyes wide and uncomprehending.
“I’m calling the cops,” Justin warned, but he fumbled pulling the phone out of his pocket, and it hit the snow by his feet.
Avin ignored him. I pushed off the ground. My legs trembled under me, but held. Snow clung to the front of my dress. Turned the scarlet a deeper red as it melted.
“He’s Justin Morgan of the Morgan Suites fortune. He would be missed.” Let him recognize the name.
“An heir? Dammit, that won’t work.” Avin turned away, cursing under his breath. “Get rid of him.”
I grabbed Justin by the arm, dragging him from the alley, but my feet didn’t seem to be working right, my movements jerky and uneven as I tried to run.
“Not you, babe,” Avin called after me, and pain roared through me again, stopping me in my tracks.
“Run,” I yelled at Justin.
He didn’t hesitate this time. “I’ll get help,” he called over his shoulder as he rounded the corner.
Now it was just me and Avin.
I whirled around and he pulled back the hood, revealing the monstrous features left of his face.
“It’s after midnight. I don’t see my new body. Do you know what happens to oath breakers?”
Energy crackled through the air. If I thought the pain was bad before, it was nothing compared to this. Fire ate me from the inside out as my skin flaked off in charred layers. There was no holding back my scream this time. It ripped from my throat. The pain built, the fire all consuming.
Time froze. Stopped. The pain ended.
I blinked away snow. I was face down in the dirty alley. My mouth tasted of blood, but the fire in my skin had passed. My flesh wasn’t charred. I pushed away from the ground.
Avin squatted beside me. “It’s no fun if you black out, babe. You owe me a body, and you don’t seem to be doing anything to acquire one for me.”
“I got kidnapped.” I spat out the words. They were moist, filled with my own blood and terror. My fingers jerked violently as I gestured to the alley. “Look around, this isn’t my city.”
“That’s not my problem. My problem is that I look like Frankenstein’s monster.” He stood and pulled the hood over his head. “If you don’t call me by the end of the night with a body, expect me to be there when you wake at sunset. If you know what’s good for you, babe, you don’t want that.” Magic danced through the air, and he vanished.
Chapter Twenty-One
I stumbled up the concert hall steps as the door flew open.
Nathanial rushed out. His frantic eyes swept over my ruined dress, my tousled hair, the blood I’d tried to wipe from my face. Then he pulled me into his arms.
“What hurt you, Kita?”
I didn’t answer or pull away. I just leaned against his chest and breathed in his scent. My hands trembled where I clutched them by my sides. I couldn’t make the shaking stop.
I’d tried. The tremble stayed.
“I’m cold,” I whispered into the front of Nathanial’s tux. His arms wrapped tighter around me, but his warmth offered me no comfort. The only warmth in my body was building behind my eyes. The first tear tripped down my cheek.
Nathanial took a step back and examined my face.
“You are in shock. What happened?” When I didn’t answer, he went on, “I felt your fear, but I did not realize you had left the hall. What happened?”
I scrubbed the tear off my cheek but another slipped free to blaze its own bloody trail. The harder I fought not to cry, the more the searing pressure behind my eyes built, the more bloody tears slipped free. Vampire tears. I drew in a deep breath. It was supposed to be calming. Instead it was ragged, tasting of blood and fear.
Dammit. I hated this. I hated the fear. I hated the tears. I hated the whole damn situation. I was stuck in one shape, in a strange place with creepy vampires who wanted to show me off as a freak, and I had an insane necromancer who wanted me to find him a new body.
But at least no one’s trying to kill me.
Yet.
A laugh slithered up my throat. I convulsed with it, fresh tears burning their way free. Nathanial pulled me against him again, as if his arms could shield me from the hysteria shredding me. I wrapped my hands in the front of his tux.
Held on.
I took another breath. It still shook, still cut through me with violence, but it was cleaner than the last. Stronger.
Nathanial held me. Kept me in one piece. I still hadn’t told him about Avin. I wasn’t sure what would happen if I tried, but I was at the point I’d risk the consequences. I opened my mouth to begin, but my gaze landed on the Collector and her retinue as they walked out of the concert hall. I couldn’t tell him. Not here. Not with so many ears around.
“I need to talk to you,” I whispered, and Nathanial’s arms tightened around me.
“Well, no one’s stopping you,” Aphrodite said, snapping a pair of gold opera glasses closed. “So the missing fledgling has been found all safe and sound. Are we returning to the gala?”
“No.” The Collector strolled down to stairs. “I believe this will end the night. Hermit, it is time we had a talk.” She turned to Jomar. “Summon the cars.”
I pushed away from Nathanial. A light tremor still shook through me, but it was inside, not evident in my limbs. Just to be sure, I hugged my arms across my chest, tucking my fists into my armpits. I walked to the bottom step, trying to find some distance from the vamps.
It didn’t work.
Elizabeth broke from the Traveler and daintily made her way into my flimsy bubble of solitude. She remained on the last step, giving her a height advantage as she looked down her small nose at me. “If you insist on sneaking about, you should choose better chaperones than Justin Morgan. He will never amount to anything.”
“I wasn’t sneaking anywhere. And I don’t need a chaperone.”
She sniffed. “It’s disgraceful and no way for a companion to act. I’m surprised the Hermit tolerates it.”
She’s lecturing me on proper companion etiquette? I so couldn’t deal with this right now. I walked to the curb.
All I wanted in that moment was to tuck my tail and find a nice, small cat-sized hole to hide in and lick my wounds. Not like that was an option, but even fading into the background proved futile as the Collector strolled down the steps. She stopped far enough away that her location could have been misconstrued as impatience as she waited for the limos.
I wasn’t fooled. She’d moved closer to me, which she proved when the chill of her gaze landed on my bare shoulders.
“I suppose you slipped away in an attempt to meet that boy, Bobby,” she said.
So they had been listening to my call. I wasn’t surprised.
Based on the way the Collector studied me, I probably should have pretended to be. But my nerves were too raw, too close to the surface, to lie with my reactions.
“Now, this ‘Bobby,’ is he a shapeshifter?” She stepped closer. “I would very much like to meet him if he is. I could be very generous if someone were to capture a functioning shapeshifter for me.”
Her eyes had bled to black, and I dropped my gaze. She’d bespelled me once before with just a glance in her eyes. I wasn’t going to hand her the opportunity to do it again. Can she compel me to reveal other shifters to her? A shiver ran down my spine.