Hunting Daylight (9781101619032) (27 page)

“And you were with a vampire
dog
,” Dr. d’Aigreville said in a gravelly, tobacco-stained voice.

“Are you a vampire like Raphael?” Vivi asked.

“No, I’m like you and your mother.” The doctor paused. “A hybrid.”

She showed them into her living room, her stubby reflection moving over the glossy parquet floor. The walls were white, with ornate plaster trim. Two sleek, modern sofas faced a marble fireplace mantel. All of that was white, too. On the opposite wall, five doors opened onto a terrace, and a breeze stirred the white silk draperies. Beyond the terrace, the city spread out. Cars and motorcycles moved around the brightly lit Arc de Triomphe.

The view was totally awesome, Vivi thought, but the traffic noises hurt her ears.

Dr. d’Aigreville and Caro went onto the terrace and shut the door. Raphael set the wiggling Sherpa on the floor. “Arrapato smells Marie-Therese,” he said.

“Who?” Vivi asked.

“Sabine’s cat.”

Vivi stepped closer to a baby grand piano, where a mewling sound was coming from under the bench. The orange cat gazed up at her with furious copper eyes. Damp white beads clung to its whiskers, as if it had just finished lapping milk. The cat gave her a look that seemed to say,
We’re going to own your ass
.

“Raphael, I don’t trust the doctor,” Vivi said. “What if she pushes my mom off the balcony?”

“She won’t.”

“Why did they go outside to talk?”

“I don’t know.”

“Can’t you listen in?”

“No.”

Vivi chewed her thumbnail. “How long will they be out there?”

“As long as it takes,” Raphael said.

CHAMPS ÉLYSÉES

PARIS, FRANCE

I walked to the balcony rail and stared down at the nighttime view of Paris, watching car lights sweep around the Arc de Triomphe. Even though it was after ten
P.M.
, tourists wandered down the sidewalks.

The psychiatrist walked up beside me, the wind stirring her little-girl bangs. The top of her head was even with my breasts, and her hair shone like copper wires. A small white scar ran under the bangs.

“You have a lovely view, Dr. d’Aigreville,” I said.

She smiled. “Call me Sabine.”

“I saw you at Chez Georges. Are you a regular patron?” I paused. “Or were you stalking my daughter?”

“Both. I wanted to observe Vivi in the wild, so to speak,” Sabine said. “I arranged it with Raphael—please
don’t be angry. I asked him not to tell you. He resisted. But he finally agreed.”

I felt a pinch of irritation. “Did you learn anything useful?”

“Vivi is an Inducer.”

I spread my hands on the balcony rail, feeling the rough, cold limestone. “What does this mean?”

“Your daughter can influence another person’s thoughts through neurokinesis.”

“How? She can’t read thoughts.”

“No. Not now, anyway. Who knows what will happen—hybrids mature slowly. But I digress. Right now, Vivi cannot read thoughts, but she can impose her will upon another person. She’s also hemakinetic.”

I knew what this word meant—Vivi could make people bleed. But I didn’t understand how it worked. “Can you elaborate?”

“Hemakinesis is the control of blood. It’s closely aligned with the skill of Induction.” Sabine crossed her fingers. “When Vivi feels passionate about an issue, her thoughts can influence another person’s thoughts. Meanwhile, Vivi is having a physiological reaction. Her pulse and respiration increase. Her body hums with adrenaline. To prevent harming you or others through an accidental hemakinesis, Vivi must learn to control herself. One example: She must master the depth and rapidity of her breaths. Right now, she can’t. And her energy spills everywhere, without direction. Like water bursting through cracks in a dam. When those cracks get bigger, and they will, she could cause you to have a cerebral hemorrhage.”

My eyes burned as I looked toward the Champs Élysées. I cupped my hand over my mouth.

“I’ve given you a simple explanation,” Sabine said.

Of course. What else?
I lowered my hand and curled my fingers into a knot. “Is this why we’ve been hunted? Because my daughter can make people bleed?”

“It’s possible. But doubtful. Raphael believes that your child is being pursued by prophecy fanatics. They are not motivated by money. You cannot reason with them. They will not stop until they have Vivi.” Sabine touched my arm. “I can teach her how to defend herself.”

“What if these vampires are hemakinetic, too? How can Vivi defend herself?”

“Vampires have limited psi abilities,” Sabine said. “Some are telepathic. Some aren’t. I’m sure you’re familiar with Raphael’s talents?”

I nodded.

“His telepathy is slightly above average, but his audiokinesis is rare.” Sabine paused. “It’s different with hybrids.”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“It would take too long to explain hybrid genetics. We can be extraordinarily kinetic.”

“I’m not.”

“You will be. Eventually. As I said, hybrids are late bloomers.” She gave me a shrewd look. “I don’t mean to boast, but I am an expert on this subject. One very famous quarter vampire could project illusions—Alexander the Great. He used projection as a military weapon.”

Under normal conditions, I would have quizzed her about Alexander, but I was too numb to speak.

Sabine leaned against the rail. It came up to her chest. “How old is Vivi?”

“Thirteen. She’ll be fourteen in August.”

“This is the optimal time to begin her training. If Vivi is being pursued by assassins, she will need to protect herself—and you.”

“How?”

“As I’ve already said, she must learn how to use hemakinesis as a weapon. For example, in the future, let’s say that five murderers—human or vampire—break into your home. Vivi will be able to disable them all.”

My mind was still caught on the word
weapon
.

“I will also show her how to focus and distribute her energy. In other words, she’ll learn how to improve her aim. She will hit the target and won’t injure you or Raphael.”

A target?
I lifted my hands from the railing and tugged my sweater sleeves over my fingers.

“After Vivi learns how to control her powers, she won’t be vulnerable to anyone. Vampires may always hunt her, but if they do, God help them. They’ll do so at their own peril.”

“And you’ll be teaching her?”

“Yes.”

“But you’re a psychiatrist. I assumed that you would make a diagnosis and refer us to someone else.”

“To whom? I’m an Inducer, and I’m hemakinetic. I’m damn good at both. Would you like me to demonstrate?”

“No.” I pushed up my sleeves. If only I had flatware to straighten. Or a pepper shaker. Sabine was watching me, so I tucked my fists under my arms. “How long will the training last?”

“Two months, maybe three. I know that sounds protracted, but just think how long it takes to learn a foreign language.”

“I’m not sure we can stay in Paris that long. Especially if we’re visiting you every day. Someone might notice.”

“Vivi will live with me for the duration of her training.”

A burning pain spread around my breastbone, as if I’d swallowed hot coffee. I turned away from the view. “Please don’t take this the wrong way. But I barely know you. We met fifteen minutes ago.”

“I understand your concerns.”

I heard a scritching noise and looked at the terrace door. The orange cat was raking her claws over the glass. Sabine gave the animal an adoring look. “I’ll be with you in a moment, Marie-Therese,” she told the cat.

Normally I trusted people who talked to animals, but I honestly didn’t know what to think about Sabine. And I couldn’t be too careful with my child.

“Vivi has never been away from me,” I said. “Not even one night.”

Sabine placed a stumpy hand against her chest. “I could never leave Marie-Therese with a stranger.”

Was she telling the truth? Or patronizing me? “I’m sorry we wasted your time,” I said.

“I’m not worried about my time,” she said. “I’m worried that Vivi won’t harness her powers.”

“She won’t hurt me.”

“She already has.”

“I’m not scared. Vivi is coming home with me, and that’s the end of it.” I started walking toward the door.

“No, it’s not the end,” she said.

I heard a grinding noise, the kind an old car makes when a dog races across the road and the driver stomps the brake. I felt the tug of gravity, and my chin tipped back. Suddenly I was looking up at the night sky.

“Please listen to me, Caro,” Sabine said.

Inside my head, a thought took shape and hardened. The truth lay inside me, the truth of me and Vivi, everything we were and everything we would become. But my logic was skewed and selfish. I was protecting my child for the wrong reasons. If she had diabetes, would I refuse to give her insulin because the needle might cause too much pain? No, of course not. If I delayed Vivi’s treatment, I was thinking of myself, not her.

The gravity retreated, and my head snapped back.
She’s Inducing me.

Sabine’s gaze met mine, and it seemed to move through me, as if she’d looked all the way to my childhood, back to the night I’d hidden behind the waterfall.

“Your mother protected you,” she said. “Now you must protect Vivi.”

“Don’t you dare look in my thoughts,” I whispered.

“I understand why you don’t like me. I’m brash and pushy. I say the wrong thing at the wrong time. But I am the only person who can help your daughter—without betraying her. My blood is the same as yours.”

“You may be a hybrid, but we’re not alike.”

“Your father was Philippe Grimaldi. My mother was his cousin—Aimée d’Aigreville. She and her sister Esmé turned Raphael into a vampire.”

“That happened in the eighth century. Aimée couldn’t possibly be your mother.”

“She was.”

I studied Sabine’s face. Her complexion was smooth. A few wrinkles fanned away from her eyes. Small lines were etched on her upper lip. I’d assumed that she was in her early fifties. “Just how old are you?”

“I was born in 1928.” She smiled. “You’ll age slowly and gracefully, too. So will Vivi. I know what it means to be caught between two worlds, human and vampire. We don’t fit into either place. Maybe you’ve made peace with this sense of dislocation. But Vivi hasn’t If she doesn’t learn the parameters of Induction, she will put herself and others at risk.”

“Your scare tactics aren’t working.”

“One day Vivi might walk into a coffee shop and order a latte,” Sabine said. “The waitress could be having a horrible day. Let’s say that she brings Vivi a double espresso. If Vivi complains, the waitress might smart off. Maybe Vivi’s had a worse day. Or the waitress reminds her of the girl who stole her boyfriend. So Vivi blasts her—
Bring me a latte
—and the waitress starts to bleed. After a series of these incidents, whoever is tracking Vivi will be able to pinpoint her location. She’ll attract others, too. People who will wish to exploit her.”

My throat felt raw, and it hurt to breathe. “But you said Vivi was a weapon. She could kill the trackers.”

“Not unless she knows how.” Sabine paused. “There’s more, and you’re not going to like it. Vivi must learn how to resist the allure of Induction. The more one uses it,
the more one enjoys it. It can become a harmful coping mechanism, a way to blow off anger. She might become dangerous. And that will attract dangerous people.”

“I understand what you’re saying, Sabine. But I’m not leaving my daughter with you. You are welcome to live with us. We’re always moving around, but—”

“No.”

“I’m sorry. She can’t stay here.”

“Oh, yes I can,” Vivi said from the doorway.

I turned. She was holding the cat.

Sabine’s eyes flicked from Vivi to Marie-Therese.

Vivi walked up to me, the wind lifting her fake curls. “Mom, it’s okay. Let the doctor help me. I won’t mind being here.”

I shook my head.

“I’m scared to be around you and Raphael. Just go home and let me get better. It’ll be like summer camp. I always wanted to go, and you wouldn’t let me. Please, Mom. I made you and Raphael bleed—and I wasn’t even really mad.”

“We don’t know anything about this doctor,” I whispered.

“Raphael can vouch for me,” Sabine said.

“He can also vouch for supermodels,” I said.

Sabine smiled. “You’ll have trouble finding a woman he can’t endorse.”

“Look, Mom,” Vivi said. “I’m the one with Induction. I get to make the decision. You’ve got to trust the doctor.”

“It’s too soon.”

“I’ve got an idea. What if you exchange prisoners?”
Vivi put the cat in my arms. “Sabine keeps me. And you keep Marie-Therese.”