Empath (Book 1 of the Empath Trilogy) (17 page)

My parents were notoriously early, so I made certain that I was there a full fifteen minutes early.  Sure enough, they beat me there. 

Mom was first, squealing as she ran up with her arms held high coming in for the hug.  I was unusually happy to see her as well.  We hugged with limited shockwaves that gave me an extra surge of joy and I even hugged back.  Mom rocked back, shock registering on her face.  Shrugging it off, I joked, “Can’t I be excited to see you?”  Dad was next, predictably more subdued.  We were seated quickly due to the lack of customers at this hour, so no more hugs before lunch.  They were eager to hear how college was treating me. 

It was easy to make conversation with them; it really had been too long since I had seen my folks.  “My classes are great!  I love them and the professors are really interesting.  Most of them seem honestly happy to be teaching and are passionate about the subject matter.”  This of course led to a whole new round of talks about the courses and what major I might be choosing.  “I don’t know, we’ll see what grabs me.  I’m just not sure what I want to be when I grow up.” 

Dad wanted to know how work was at the library.  He was the one who had taught me to love books.  “My co-workers are fantastic and I’m getting kind of tight with Heidi.”  I felt myself gushing, a little drunk with the joy of a normal family and my night with James.  “She’s a junior and she’s really nice.”  I skipped over James and Stephen for now.  I wasn’t sure how to explain either one without giving away too much.  They would never have thought of asking about boyfriends, so I dodged a bullet there as well.

“Is your boss nice to you?”  Mom wanted to know.  She was positively beaming as she sat across the table from me.  It felt so good to know I was being a good daughter for once.   

Smiling, I replied honestly, “Henry seems to have my best interests at heart and has really put a lot into training me.  I like him quite a bit.”

“Good to hear.  Are you still thinking you might want to be a librarian?  You know they make good money and can work in any town.  You certainly love books enough and have the right mind for the reference systems.”  Dad was the expert at relocation from years of military transfers and he knew I’d considered the career but couldn’t guess why working in a research library away from the general population would appeal to me.

We talked for a few hours until we couldn’t handle any more soda and we had eaten our fill.  Agreeing to talk soon about Thanksgiving, I was able to hug Mom and Dad good-bye before parting ways.

“Honey, we can drop you at your dorm.”  Mom was upset that I didn’t want to accept a ride in the minivan.

I was being honest when I told her, “Mom, after all of that food I think I
need
to walk.  Next time you come, we can go up and you can see my room.  It’s just such a pig sty right now and I don’t want you to see it.”  Waving, we parted in the parking lot.  It was with very light feet that I started back.  Realizing Mom hadn’t had a drink all through lunch made me smile; thinking our family had a chance for normalcy.  Now I was off to get some studying in before meeting James in just a few hours.

In a happy fog, I floated for a few blocks, oblivious to my surroundings when I suddenly heard the screeching of tires in my immediate proximity.

The next thing I knew, I looked up to see a dark blue sedan stopped right next to me on the street and the dark haired dancer from the club and her Asian boy toy coming at me fast, both looking murderous.

I barely had enough time to register what was happening.  By the time it occurred to me I was in trouble, I had taken one step in the opposite direction and felt two sets of iron strong hands grabbing my arms.  “No, wait,” was all I got out before something went over my head and my feet left the pavement.  Once inside the car, we drove rapidly, into an area where the stoplights were spaced further apart.  My ears were pricked for any clues as to where we were but there was nothing outside of the occasional sound of another car passing.  I was guessing we had driven into a neighborhood just outside the city when they stopped, hauled me out and up a few steps into a house where I was tied to a chair with my hands behind my back and the bag was removed from my head. 

Glancing around, I saw my captors again.  They were angry and scary, but were uncertain what to do with me.  The woman was on her cell phone arguing with someone too fast for me to understand.  She snapped it shut and looked at me with a seething hatred.

“What the hell were you doing in our club?  How did you like the taste of your own medicine?”  She moved so fast, she closed the ten foot gap between us in a hurry and was in my face, fangs out, eyes black.  She was less human in that moment than Stephen when he changed into a mountain lion.  Sniffing at my face, she spat, “I smell vampire on you.  I know who you call Master.”

Terror doesn’t even start to describe how I felt at that moment.  I was sure I was going to die.  I just wasn’t sure how much it was going to hurt.  My friends could help me, except they had no idea where I was. I was going to die here scared and alone.  The fact that I was concentrating on my shielding was keeping me from completely coming undone; it gave me something else to focus on other than my imminent demise.

From this close, I saw that she was probably just over my age.  It was clear that she was in charge and not the young man with her.  Like Stephen he was very short, maybe five foot four and of slight build, making it hard to guess his age.  His eyes continued to flick to her for direction, giving a clear indication that he would do whatever she said.  He spoke timidly and cringed from her out of fear of reprisal.

“Gina, you heard him. He said we have to wait for him.  I don’t know what he wants from her but he wants her able to speak.”

Her black eyes were flat, that same cruel smile I’d seen last night curled her lips. “He didn’t say I couldn’t touch her though, now did he?”

My stomach twisted and I thought I was going to throw up right there.  “Please, I don’t understand.  I just went there to meet a friend.”  They had
me
, but I didn’t know if they knew about anyone else’s identities and I certainly wasn’t going to give them anything new.

Gina turned back to me showing me some tooth from under her twisted lip.  “Oh yes, your friend James.  I am very familiar with James’ ideals.  His sympathy for humans is revolting.” 

Okay, she knew James, that didn’t mean anything.  Maybe they all knew each other.  There couldn’t be that large of an underground supernatural community here in Minneapolis, could there?  My mouth was staying shut.  I’d heard that if tortured, the best way to handle it was to stay quiet as long as possible, then when it got really bad, give false information.  I could tell her a story or something.  I didn’t think she would care what she heard from me.  She had decided to kill me already.  I could see it in her eyes.  To take my mind off of it I tried to think of a story I could change the names in and get the most play out of, maybe a TV show since no one seemed to own one of those.

Distracted as I was, her slap took me by surprise.  I’ve never been hit before, and definitely not by a crazy strong vampire who liked to inflict pain.  The fact that my lip split open wasn’t a surprise.  The way her eyes darkened and she licked her lips though, that sent ice running down my spine.  The shock of the impact had brought with it some twinkling and hazy clouds on the edge of my vision.  The few remaining barriers separating our minds fell and I
felt
her thirst for my blood. 

My stomach turned and I retched, vomiting on the floor at my feet.  My lunch hit her shiny black boot and she stared at it, blinking slowly.  Looking up at me, she shook her head and growled.  She hit me again with the back of her hand and I saw an explosion of light.  Gagging, I choked on the blood running freely inside my mouth.

The little man stepped in front of Gina.  “He said she had to be able to talk.  She can’t talk if you break her jaw.  Enough for now.” 

Though it clearly took every ounce of her self-control, she stepped back and they left the room together, with her growling under her breath.  He shut the door behind them.

When the door closed, I began to cry.  My face hurt.  I could feel the swelling and my tongue found where a back tooth was now lifting out of its spot.  Blood was all over my shirt and inside my mouth and it was mixing with the acidic aftertaste of sick.  The taste made me gag, so I spit and out came the tooth.  Dammit!  I wished I could say good-bye to my family, and James.  My parents were going to be so upset.  We’d only just turned a corner.  I hoped my parents wouldn’t blame themselves for not making me ride with them. 

I lost track of time as I sat there.  I’d had enough time to get past the first taste of fear and had moved on to wondering when, or if, someone would notice I was missing.  Maybe James would miss me when I didn’t show up tonight but I didn’t believe he would be able to find me before it was too late; how could he?  Or if Stephen could follow my scent all the way here, I was guessing it still wouldn’t be in time. 

Maybe I drifted off to sleep or I blacked out, I couldn’t tell.  The blinds were drawn in the room, though I thought I saw streetlights come on at one point.  The house was deathly quiet with only the occasional clicking on of the furnace now and again to mark any sort of passing of time.  I jerked when I heard the knob on the door creak, holding my breath as I watched it slowly twist and push open.  My tongue felt like it was taking up my entire mouth and my lip was swollen, but thankfully, had stopped bleeding.

The door swung out of the way and through it walked a tall, thin man dressed so impeccably I heard the accent before he could open his mouth; British.  “Hello Miss, my name is Bradley.  I am so sorry to see you in such a state.  Are you well enough to answer some questions?”

I tried to speak, to tell him what to do with his questions, but my mouth was dry and my jaw ached.  My whispered response was hoarse and didn’t sound at all tough.  “I don’t know anything.”

He looked pleased, regardless.  “No matter.  You aren’t here for what you know, but rather for who you know.”  Bradley spoke quietly over his shoulder to someone outside the room, “Please get our guest some water.”  It was a brief moment and the small man returned to hand a glass of water to Bradley.  He, in turn, held it to my mouth and tipped it for me to drink.  I could barely swallow but was able to sip enough to wash down the blood and wet my mouth to speak.

“Thank you.”  It couldn’t hurt to try to be polite.  My eyes remained on Bradley as he handed the glass back to Gina’s boy.  It was hard to tell what this one’s plan of attack was but I wanted to be ready. 

“You’re most welcome.  Tell me, why did you enter my nightclub last night and go digging through the minds of my children?  What were you hoping to find?”  His deadly tone belied his innocently open features.

My stomach dropped. Children?  Was he responsible for these two degenerates? I stuck with the story I’d given Gina.  “I met a friend there for a drink, that’s all.”

“Interesting friends you have.  I knew James long ago when he was new, and his Master as well.  Birds of a feather those two, I did not like them then and I do not like them now.  Did you know that they are working very hard to close this city to anyone who does not share their views on humans?  There are many of our kind that do not find their position agreeable.”  He moved closer to me and bent at the waist so he could look into my eyes from less than a foot away.  His were black and cold; unfeeling.  “What a wonderful way to start a war.” 

When he leaned away I saw that he wouldn’t let me out of here.  I felt it in my bones and started to tremble; I wanted to gag and was glad my stomach was empty. 

“Tell me, what do you think your friends would do if I sent them your head, just to show them what I think of them telling me how everyone else needs to hunt?”

Past my breaking point, there was no stopping my choking sob.  I had decided not to tell them anything.  That didn’t mean I couldn’t be frightened. 

Frowning thoughtfully at me, Bradley put a finger under my chin and turned my head one way then the next, sniffing.  Deciding something, he stood abruptly.  “They don’t use her for food; maybe she has some value to them alive.  Let’s see if they are willing to trade.”  He pulled a small silver phone from his pocket and dialed.  The volume was down so I didn’t hear the other side, but I watched Bradley’s face intently as he spoke.

“Henry, I am so pleased to hear your voice.  Have you thought any further about my request for my friends’ entrance to the city?  It seems your watchdogs are unwilling to let them pass and they are growing restless.”  He listened for a moment before politely responding.  “Mmm, that is too bad.  You see, my friends are ready to come to me now.  Their business with William in Milwaukee has resolved rather quickly.”  He paused and I thought I saw a flash of a smug smile, “Yes, they were less of a challenge than anticipated.”  Not hard to guess which side his friends came out on in that one.  “I wonder if you would be willing to trade?  Maybe something that has recently come up missing?”  After a short pause I saw him smile as he gloated at me.  “I have recently found myself in possession of a human female.  Pretty little thing.  She was in my club last night without an invitation.  Though I must say, she is not quite so pretty now.”  His dead eyes rested on me and I couldn’t break away.  I watched them for a sign of my fate.