Stakes & Stilettos ib-4 Page 16

  I narrowed my eyes. "Remove the curse right now, Stacy."

  "No."

  I blinked. "Remove it."

  "I don't think so. Oh, and if you're trying to use mind control on me, it won't work. I put the curse on you. You can't use any part of the curse to affect me. Them's the rules."

  Dammit.

  I blinked back tears of frustration. "Look, I know you had a lousy few years at high school, but so did a lot of people. Life hasn't exactly been a daily party for me either, you know. But we get by, we try to forget, and we move on."

  "Is that what you're saying I should do? Move on?"

  "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."

  "And maybe we can be friends? Put the past behind us?" It sounded like she was mocking me.

  "The fact that you've devoted all these years to hating my guts makes me think that a strong friendship probably isn't in our future."

  She laughed, and it sounded cold. "Do you think you're the only one on my shit list, Sarah?"

  "What?" I quickly glanced over my shoulder to see that George was still standing in place, now covered from head to toe in a fine layer of snow.

  "I have a list of names of people who have done me wrong, and you're way down at the bottom. I've finally come around to you, but it did give me time to do some research. The timing of the reunion was a coincidence. And the fact that you were already a vampire only made it more interesting."

  "There's a list?"

  "Some of the others didn't apologize at all. Jonathan… he didn't understand why I was so pissed at him right up until he took his last breath." She shook her head. "He was clueless.

  Totally clueless. In hindsight I think it's probably a good idea that we never hooked up."

  I stifled a gasp at that. "You killed him?"

  She looked appalled. "No, of course not. I'm not a murderer."

  I let out a deep breath. "Well, that's good."

  "I'm not a murderer because I don't have to be. I curse people and I'm very good at it.

  However, the curses usually end in death for the people on my list. Oh, well."

  "What did you do to him?" I asked tightly.

  Her eyes narrowed. "He liked to cheat on his wife. I watched him. Just like he took you to the prom when he should have taken me. He should have been faithful to me. I cursed him that every time he did something wrong he'd be caught. And one day when he was with his mistress, her husband came home with a gun." She shrugged. "He definitely got a lot of bang for his buck, if you know what I'm saying."

  "How… how many have there been?"

  She glanced up at the overcast night sky. "You're lucky number seven. And the only one still breathing, although as a nightwalker I'm not entirely sure you need to breathe anymore."

  "Please break the curse." I hated how weak my voice sounded, but I felt it now. Weak and tired and I wanted this to be over. "I can't live like this."

  "That's kind of the point." She cocked her head to the side and studied me. "You're being sincere now, I can tell. Maybe I will cut you some slack. After all, you were only a bitch to me a couple of times."

  "So you'll break it?"

  "I haven't decided yet. But I'll tell you this much. If I don't, it will be permanent after three days have passed. It's only been one day. You have two left, if you can make it that long.

  And a word to the wise, the symptoms get worse the longer you have it." She grinned, and her amusement at my distress made me furious all of a sudden.

  I took a step toward her and bared my fangs at her.

  She held up the stake. "Oh, and if you're thinking of hurting me, just remember that if I die, the curse is permanent and you can sell all of your designer sunglasses on eBay since you won't be needing them anymore. So no funny business. Maybe I'll be in touch tomorrow. Or maybe not. I'll have to see how I feel. Or if you and your boyfriend live that long."

  "Don't you dare hurt Thierry."

  "Me hurt him? I wouldn't dream of it. I was thinking that you might kill him. Or maybe a hunter might finally plunge a stake into that dusty old chest of his."

  My jaw clenched. "I guess you don't have all the information going around, because there are no hunters in Toronto right now. They're all at Gideon Chase's funeral."

  "Some of them are, sure." Two shadowy figures approached her from the other side of the park. As they got to her she handed one of them her stake. "But not all of them.

  Goodnight, Sarah."

  She turned and walked out of the park without another glance over her shoulder.

  I heard George gasp from behind me as he was released from his freeze spell.

  "Did I miss anything?" he asked, then looked at the approaching hunters and shrieked.

  The hunters were all dressed in black—big scary-looking guys wearing leather dusters.

  They looked like your average, everyday, deadly hunter types.

  "Hi there," one of them said. "You're the vampire, right?"

  "Sarah," George managed, clutching at my arm. "We need to run. Need I remind you… no bodyguard? Hello?"

  My emotions had been riding a roller-coaster all night. Highs and lows and everything in between. And now, after everything else that had happened, to be faced with two freaking hunters?

  "Now, just hold still, vampire, and we'll make this a quick one." They both took a step closer.

  I looked at them. "I bet you say that to all the girls."

  There was a definite tone to my words and it wasn't fear. I was too pissed off to be afraid of these meatheads. These stupid, brainless human hunters. I felt the fog begin to move over me and the last thing I was thinking was to be afraid. They're the ones who should be afraid.

  "Drop the stake," I said.

  The one on the right did as I commanded. He frowned. "What the hell?"

  I made eye contact with the other one. "You, too."

  The stake hit the ground.

  The thrall. The thrall was good. It was one thing I might like to keep.

  I felt a strange warmth and confidence swelling inside me as I walked toward the men.

  "Sarah, what the hell are you doing?" George breathed from behind me.

  I looked over my shoulder. "Go back to the club, George. I'll be okay."

  "I'm not leaving you."

  "That's sweet, but I'm going to have to insist." When he didn't make a move, I raised my voice. "Now. Please leave."

  "I'll go get Thierry." With a last fearful look, he turned and ran out of the park.

  I looked at the hunters again, and I put a hand on each of their chests to feel how quickly their hearts were beating.

  "Her eyes," one said shakily.

  "Are they black?" I asked. "Yeah, they do that lately. Luckily since I don't have a reflection it's not really bothering me too much. Now, if I may ask the question again, what am I going to do with you two bad boys?"

  They eyed each other. "Well, you could let us go."

  "Or you could kill them," another voice said over my shoulder.

  I raised an eyebrow but didn't turn around. "Long time no see."

  The Red Devil came to my side. "I've been watching."

  "Enjoying the show?"

  "Actually, yes. I had heard that you were the Slayer of Slayers, but to see it with my own eyes is something I never expected."

  One of the hunters whimpered. "The Slayer of Slayers? You?"

  The other hunter whimpered. "We should have gone to Vegas!"

  The Red Devil turned his scarf-covered face to the men. "Why are you in town? I was under the impression that all hunters were south for your leader's funeral."

  "Not all of us are," one said. "A lot of us are glad he's dead."

  "He was really bossy," the other added.

  "Shut up," I said. And they shut up.

  I could so get used to this if I had to.

  Just the thought made me grimace. I didn't want to have to get used to this.

  "Kill them," the Red Devil said. "They would have killed you witho
ut any conscience. The least you can do is return the favor."

  I frowned at that. Kill them? I knew I was acting all nightwalker at the moment, but I had no intention of killing anybody. Not even a hunter.

  "I don't think so," I said.

  "No?" Red said. "But you're the Slayer of Slayers. You slay slayers. Isn't that right?"

  I clenched my fists tightly and looked at the hunters. "The two of you, listen to me. I want you to turn around and leave this park. And don't look back or I'm going to do very bad things to you. And I don't mean that as a come-on."

  They both nodded and had that glazed look that I noticed was a trademark of my new thralltastic mind control ability.

  But they didn't move.

  I frowned. "Turn and leave. Right now."

  One of them finally did. With a glazed expression, he turned and ran out of the park without waiting for his friend. But the friend continued to stand there. His face was tense and strained as if he were lifting some heavy weights.

  "He's attempting to resist," Red said. "Some humans are resistant to vampire control. The weaker the mind the easier it is."

  "So this one doesn't have a weak mind?" I said, and turned to look at Red. "I find that hard to believe."

  "Watch out."

  The hunter had taken the opportunity to grab the stake off the ground and arc it in my direction, directly toward my almost completely healed chest wound.

  I caught his arm but still felt the tip graze my skin.

  "I'm going to kill you," he growled.

  I glanced at Red.

  He cocked his head to the side. "I think I'll simply observe from a safe distance."

  "Great."

  Although I had extra strength now, which was definitely helpful to hold him off a bit, the guy was a trained hunter. He twisted away from me and tried to come at me from a different direction.

  "You're dead, Slayer of Slayers!" he bellowed.

  He lunged at me. I curled my hand into a fist and punched him in the stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of him. He doubled over and tried to breathe. I snatched the stake out of his hand and with a kick to the face—not exactly kung fu but sufficient to knock him off balance—he landed hard on his back on the snowy ground.

  I clutched the stake and glared down at him. Every nerve ending in my body felt as if it was sparking and crackling with energy.

  "Please don't kill me!" the hunter begged.

  I knelt and pressed the stake against the creep's chest hard enough to make him flinch.

  "Then I suggest you make like Michael Jackson and beat it. And don't even think about coming near me again. Got it?"

  He nodded. I stood up again, and he scrambled to his feet and ran out of the park.

  The Red Devil had his arms crossed. "Hmm."

  I turned to glare at him. "Hmm what?"

  "I'm surprised that, given your reputation, you didn't end his life."

  "Maybe I'm feeling generous tonight."

  "Or maybe it's true that your reputation is only rumors and speculation."

  "Or that." I blinked. "How are my eyes?"

  He studied me for a moment. "Back to normal."

  "Thanks for the help, by the way," I said dryly. "I thought you were supposed to be some vampire-hero guy."

  "Didn't look like you needed any help." He surveyed the park. "The woman who was here before, she cursed you to be a nightwalker, is that true?"

  I nodded and felt my throat tighten. "I have two days to convince her to end the curse or apparently I'm stuck like this."

  "And would that be so bad?"

  I looked at him, at the thin line of his face and eyes visible through the scarf. His gaze seemed to burn right into me. I wondered, not for the first time, what he looked like under that get-up. "Yeah, it's bad. I kind of like going out in the day. It's a habit of mine."

  "There are ways around such inconveniences. But you've gained so much by this transition. Your strength is equal to that of a centuries-old vampire. Your mind control, if practiced, could be extremely useful."

  "Can nightwalkers turn into bats?" I asked.

  "I don't believe so."

  "In that case, I just want to be normal."

  He laughed at that and I looked at him sharply.

  "Normal?" he said. "Why would you want to be normal? You have the world at your fingertips. You've been given a true gift, Sarah, and you wish to give it away so easily?"

  "A gift? Curses aren't gifts."

  "It depends how you look at it."

  "No, I'm looking at it from the only vantage point I have. I was just getting used to being a regular run-of-the-mill vampire, and I'd convinced myself I wasn't a monster, and now I am one. I don't want to be this way."

  And that was it in a nutshell. Even if I had to get rid of the thrall, I didn't want to be this way. It felt wrong on every level.

  "This has to do with Thierry de Bennicoeur and his view of nightwalkers?" he asked.

  I clenched my jaw so hard that it hurt. "You know, Thierry thinks you're an impostor up to no good. I shouldn't even be talking to you or he'll be pissed."

  "I saved your life."

  That deflated me a little bit but not much. "You did. And thank you for that. But I'm not accustomed to trusting easily lately, and when I do make that mistake it usually gets me a stake through my chest. I am learning, though. I don't know anything about you. I don't know who you are under that stupid scarf. Maybe if you show me I might be a little friendlier."

  His eyes narrowed. "Sorry, I can't do that. At least, not yet."

  "Then I think this conversation is over."

  He studied me. His black scarf was turning white from the blowing snow. "Let me ask you this, Sarah… before this curse, is it true that you had consumed the blood of two master vampires?"

  "Maybe." I eyed him cautiously. "What difference does it make?"

  "Perhaps none." His gaze was steady on me. "And there have only been the two? Thierry and Nicolai? No others?"

  "You're a master vampire, aren't you? I've heard you've been around ever since the

  Crusades. History wasn't one of my better subjects, but I think that makes you even older than Thierry. Maybe I'll bite you. Three is my lucky number."

  "An interesting suggestion." His eyes crinkled at the sides to show he was smiling, which, since I hadn't really been kidding, was a little odd. "When the witch contacts you again, will you allow her to break the curse?"

  "In a heartbeat."

  The amusement left his eyes. "That is a mistake. Know this, Sarah. That when the nightwalkers roamed the earth they were misguided in their actions, but they weren't stupid. They longed for the sun and for control of their darker natures. Near the end, they had objects created to help them achieve that goal. Some of those objects remain to this day, but to the uneducated observer are unremarkable and undetectable."

  "What kind of objects?"

  "Typically it was jewelry. Rings, bracelets, and necklaces that the nightwalker would wear to enable them to appear as a day walker. As long as the object touched their skin they were, as you say, normal." He paused and I felt his gaze heavy on me. "If my information serves, and I believe that it does, you have already come in contact with such an object in the very recent past. This would confirm for me how you seem to be blessed with great luck and coincidence."

  I blinked at him. "Seriously? What was it?"

  He shook his head. "What do you care? After all, you will have the witch break your curse at her earliest convenience."

  "Yeah, but I'm all for having a Plan B."

  "Sarah!" Thierry called out from across the street.

  Oh, crap.

  I clutched the Red Devil's long leather coat before he could walk away. "You have to tell me what the object is."

  I was close enough to him now to sense something I didn't expect at all. In fact, it was the last thing I would have expected. Past his cologne, which I recognized as Acqua di Gio, I smelled something else. Something unmistak
able.

  My eyes widened as I moved my searching nose up his neck and immediate hunger curled in my stomach. "You're human!"

  "I'm not."

  "Yes, you are! The Red Devil isn't supposed to be human. He's a vampire."

  "You're wrong." He pulled away from me and his eyes narrowed.

  "Who the hell are you?" I reached for his scarf but he pushed my hand away roughly.

  "Don't touch me," he growled. Then he turned and walked briskly out of the park.

  "Sarah, are you all right?" Thierry's words were harsh and filled with concern as he reached my side. He watched the Red Devil disappear into the shadows.

  "I'm fine."

  But I wasn't. Not even close.

  I frowned so hard it hurt. What the hell was going on?

  Interlude

  San Diego, California, 1903

  "Where is your wife?"

  Thierry looked up from the Red Devil's journal where he'd been keeping notes on the assignment he'd just completed. His friend Nicolai's wife Elizabeth regarded him from the doorway of the small inn they currently called home.

  "Veronique has returned to Paris," Thierry said.

  "And Nicolai is in New York. My goodness. All this time on our hands and however shall we occupy ourselves?" She smiled at him and ran her hand suggestively down her side.

  Elizabeth was a beautiful woman. Blond hair, red lips, a peaches-and-cream complexion.

  As a human she'd been an actress whose talent and fame was rivaled only by that of the great Sarah Bernhardt. Men from miles around would come to see her perform and lavish gifts, money, or their undying devotion on her.

  Nicolai was one who could give her all three… and he added immortality to the list.

  His friend was completely smitten by the gorgeous actress who had agreed to marry him and then immediately be sired as a vampire. Nicolai was obsessed, devoted, and truly in love with Elizabeth and believed she felt the same for him.

  Elizabeth was an excellent actress.

  Her attire that night was, in a word, scanty, and showed bare skin that would bring a flush to a modest woman's cheek. Elizabeth was not modest. She knew what she wanted and was shameless in her pursuit of it.