A Dream Forbidden (Lillith Mercury ) (21 page)

Dracula obviously had talent when it came to his seductive ways; I just never intended to say it out loud.

"You are of course referring to my considerable acting skills," he commented smoothly.

"Of course." I could feel myself blushing deeper.

Luther rolled his eyes. "Well, at least he's more tolerable than the ballerinas."

Luther and I had been sharing a dressing room ever since the theatre opened. Not because he didn't have one of his own, he just somehow always ended up in mine. But like I'd said before, I didn't like to change clothes in front of Luther. I think it's because I could still remember him as human and Bade had always been an animal to me. Maybe I was just a little bit afraid of breaking Luther's heart too. There was a changing screen in my dressing room where I went if I had to get naked. Other than that I was alright with being scantily clad.

"Just so you remember," Luther teased, "she ends up with me."

"But it was a hard decision," Dracula purred as he put his hand on my waist and led me into the hall.

He and Luther were having entirely too much fun playing opposites in this production. They teased each other relentlessly, but at least it was entertaining. Once again Dracula did not remove his mask during rehearsal. As I sat on the steps, still wearing the white gown from the last scene, I closed my eyes and remembered how he used to be. I saw his face in the candlelight the night we'd spent together. I had only known him for two days at the time, but I'd felt his presence in my mind for a lifetime. Touching him came easily, because I already felt I knew him. Every part of him was a new and yet familiar discovery.

While I cherished this memory Luther came running back from behind the stage.

"Lilith, come quick."

"Why, what is it?"

"Just come," he said breathlessly. "And where's Dracula?"

We were just taking five between scenes and Dracula was talking to Alek in their shared office. I went to get him before we both met Luther in his dressing room. There we found the willowy vampire ballerina who'd given Dracula the once-over a few weeks ago. I remembered her vividly as the one who wanted to know if he was the "real Dracula."

"Luther, I know you hate the ballerinas, but isn't this a bit much?" I asked.

She was bound to a chair with silver chains and she looked near tears.

"You don't understand," he said quickly. "I caught her talking on this."

He handed me her cell phone and I obviously failed to see the significance.

"I followed her back here because she smelled familiar," he said, still talking fast. "I just couldn't place where I'd picked up that scent before. Then it hit me. The night we were in an accident trying to get to you." He paused before saying more calmly, "The night Mary was killed. I stepped out of the cab to get a breath of air and I caught that scent. And just now I heard her calling someone Khan."

Well, that was a horse of a different color.

"Is this true?" Dracula asked, his voice soft and deadly.

When she didn't answer I backhanded her, knocking the chair and the ballerina to the floor. I really hadn't liked the way she looked at Dracula and enjoyed hitting her more than I should have.

"He asked you a question, bitch. Do you or do you not know the vampire Khan?"

She spit on my shoe and I nearly went blind with rage. It wasn't that I was so fond of the shoes. It was the fact that I'd tolerated her presence while she made eyes with Dracula for months now. Every rehearsal, always batting her eyelashes at him, and all the while she was helping to plot his murder. Not that he'd returned her affection, but it still made me angry.

I took off the shoe and rubbed it in her face. She struggled, but the silver chains kept her bound. Vampires, who were all descended from Dracula, had an extreme allergy to silver, though not as bad as werewolves. They wouldn't die from a silver bullet, but it would really make for a shitty day. He was the only vampire who could touch silver. My guess was he'd developed a weakness from carrying it with him so long. It was a cat o'nine tails with silver tips that had left the scars across his back. He could touch the metal without pain, but a silver weapon would still leave a scar.

I had an idea, and it wasn't pleasant.

"Luther, go get some plastic, enough to cover the bathroom floor," I said darkly.

Luther had a bathroom attached to his dressing room which was where I intended to put the ballerina. His dressing room adjoined mine through the other side. I crossed our shared bathroom and locked my dressing room from the inside. Dracula went out to tell Alek to have the dancers finish rehearsal without us.

"What are you going to do?" the ballerina asked me.

She was still tipped over on the floor.

"Why?" I asked as I began to remove my dress.

She didn't respond. She only watched as I stripped down to my white corset and stockings. I moved the lovely white gown to my dressing room and when I returned Dracula and Luther were back.

"What do you plan to do?" Luther asked, taking in my appearance with a glance.

But Dracula seemed to know what I planned, and the look on his face said that he approved.

"Put the plastic on the bathroom floor, make sure the shower is closed, and anything covered that might stain," I said matter-of-factly.

I had never tortured anyone before. I wasn't even sure I was capable of it. Alfred had always handled that sort of thing, but Alfred wasn't here anymore and this woman had had something to do with Mary's death and a plot to kill Dracula. If I was going to start, now was the time.

Even if this wasn't the norm for me, she didn't know it and I doubted Luther or Dracula would give me away. I was at the very least a good actress and determined to scare her into telling me what I needed to know.

"Move her into the bathroom please," I said to Dracula.

She hissed and snapped at him as he lifted her, chair and all, and sat her in the middle of the plastic covered floor. There was a neat little table with a vase of flowers beside the shower. I removed the vase and sat the table closer to her.

I walked back into Luther's dressing room and returned with a drawer I'd pulled from his table. You'd be surprised what actors have lying around as props. I pulled out a large silver ring, a bowie knife, a lighter, and a cigar.

"Do you believe in God?" I asked.

"What's it to you?" she spat.

I pulled a crucifix from the drawer and slapped it to her forehead before she finished speaking. The vampire shrieked as the holy object burned into her flesh.

"I'll take that as a yes," I said, setting the cross on the table.

"What the fuck do you want?" she hissed.

"I want to know where Khan is and what part you played in Mary Jasper's murder."

"Who's Mary Jasper?"

"The young girl you got by mistake," I said coldly.

The vampire didn't speak, but I saw recognition in her eyes.

"I'll ask you one more time, where is Khan and what part did you play in Mary's murder?"

Luther was turning pale, but I knew he was in this for the long run. Elijah was his friend too, and he'd known Mary. He would do what it took to punish all those responsible. He also liked Dracula, no matter how much they harassed each other, and he hadn't taken kindly to the idea of someone wanting to kill him. He liked the idea of them trying to kill me to hurt Dracula even less.

?

Chapter Twenty One

"I suggest you tell her," Luther said.

"What are you going to do to me?" She laughed as if we were insects buzzing around her.

I didn't know if I could follow through with the threat. But I took her hand and placed it on the table.

I put the knife over her index finger as I said, "Where is Khan?"

She laughed and I hit her across the face with the hilt of the knife. I couldn't bring myself to do what I had threatened.

"What's the matter?" she taunted. "Lost your nerve werewolf hunter? You're not used to dealing with vampires are you?"

She ranted on for a minute or so. Dracula and Luther remained very quiet. Luther stood behind me and Dracula watched from behind the ballerina. My pulse was racing so that I could hear my heartbeat in my ears.

"What did you do to Mary?" I asked.

For several minutes she didn't answer and I pressed the cross against her forearm. The vampire screamed and started cursing me in what sounded like French. After this she spit at me again and said, "You really want to know the things that were done to her?" Then she laughed sadistically. "Unfortunately, you killed the ones who could have given you a more graphic description. You see, they were directly involved. I just watched."

May God forgive me, but that was all the provocation I needed. I chopped off her index finger as I roared, "What did you do to her!?"

She screamed and cried so loudly that I began to worry if someone would hear us. I looked around nervously and Dracula assured me, "I told Alek not to turn off the music. We are far enough behind the stage that it should muffle the sound."

With that out of the way I turned back to the ballerina.

"Well?"

"Bitch," she hissed. "If you think I'm telling you anything now you're fucking crazy. You're dead anyway, you're fucking dead!"

No sooner had she said these words than I chopped off another finger.

Her scream was a mixture of anger and pain as she said, "It doesn't matter what you do to me." Then she began to laugh maniacally. Her fangs were fully extended and it made her thin face look even more gaunt. "Khan will kill you for this."

"Fuck Khan," Luther said. "Do you really want to lose all your fingers tonight?"

"They'll regenerate," she said, sneering up at him.

Now it was my turn to laugh. The evil sound that came from my throat chilled my blood and caused the ballerina to look truly afraid for the first time.

"Luther," I said handing him the ring and the lighter. "Heat this up for me, will you?"

"What are you going to do?" she asked shakily.

"Why, I'm going to cauterize the wound."

Vampires could regenerate just like werewolves. That is unless you cauterize the wound with silver. Of course she could always have her entire hand cut off in order to regrow the fingers at a later time. But who wants to do that? Besides, if I didn't cauterize the wound she might bleed out before I was finished with her.

Luther had put on a pair of thick gloves to touch the ring and as he burned the hot metal into her flesh she screamed, "They raped the shit out of that little girl and they would have done the same to you if I hadn't fucked up the description!"

I screamed with rage as I snatched up the cross and pressed it into the side of her face.

"You fucking bitch," I said, digging the holy object into her flesh.

I was crying now, but it didn't matter. The beast had taken over and I couldn't stop even if I had wanted to.

"I didn't know it was a wig," she said as Luther finally finished his grizzly task.

"Then he will not save you," Dracula spoke from the corner as he moved into her line of sight. "If you were the one who led to the capture of the wrong person, it is you that Khan will kill."

She seemed to absorb this information with growing horror.

"You lie," she hissed.

"Why don't you tell us where he is?" I asked.

"Fuck you," she said, spitting at me again.

"That's it." I slapped her so hard that she was knocked into the floor again. "If you spit on me one more time I will kill you, but I will take my time," I growled.

Luther looked afraid, but only for a moment.

"I think I know where to find some more silver," he suggested darkly.

"Fuck you," she said again as he sat her back up.

"Now there's an idea."

I knelt in front of the ballerina and began unfastening the ribbons and bows on her corset with the knife. I would never actually do to someone the things I was about to threaten and neither would Luther or Dracula. I just wanted her to feel the fear that Mary must have felt, knowing what was about to happen to her.

"You watched them rape Mary, right?" When she didn't answer I said, "How about I stick this knife up your ass and leave you to bleed to death? Do you like that idea?"

I had no intention of doing this, but she didn't know it so I continued to threaten the worst things I could think of until she said, "He's out of the country."

"Where?" Dracula said, taking a step forward.

"I don't know." When I raised the knife she said, "I swear! He didn't tell me. I only know that he's overseas somewhere."

After a minute she said to me, "That's all I know. Kill me quickly."

I rose to my feet as I asked, "Did Mary ask you for mercy?"

The look in her eyes said yes.

"And did you show her any?" She only cried in response as I continued. "Did you show my friend one ounce of kindness that would make me reconsider what I'm about to do to you?"

"No," she whimpered.

"Get her out of this chair," I said to Luther. "And put her in the shower."

Rather than risk setting her free Luther stomped the chair legs and broke the rest to pieces, pulling it from the chains. All except the back. He left the back of the chair tied firmly to her in order to maintain the tension in the chains.

He threw her in the shower and as I leaned over to cut her throat I said, "This is for Mary."

We left the vampire to bleed to death and locked the door. Someone would throw her out to meet the sunrise first thing in the morning. My hands shook as I washed them in the sink. Dracula and Luther followed me through to my dressing room where I put on a black robe and began to walk down the hall. The music was still loud and I doubted whether anyone had heard what had just happened.

Neither of them tried to stop me when I stepped outside into the cool night air. Despite the fact that it was the middle of May we were still having unseasonably cool weather. One day it would be in the seventies the next it would drop into the forties at night. All I had on underneath the robe was my white stockings and blood splattered corset, but I wasn't cold. I was in shock.