Tall, Dark & Fangsome ib-5 Read online

  Besides, what would Thierry say about this little situation I’d gotten myself into? It was best he never found out about this, either. Unless it worked. In which case I might throw a small party to celebrate.

  The candle’s flame flickered and turned blue. I inhaled sharply as the temperature in the room cooled about twenty degrees in five seconds.

  The Darkness nodded slowly. “I see the price beyond money that you must pay.

  Performing this eradication will remove half a year of life.”

  A chill went through me. “Which means what?”

  “The results are specific to the subject; in this case, you. Six months will be gone and with it everything that happened during that time. Any injuries, any illness, all of it will leave your body forever. It will still be today, but you’ll be like you were then.”

  I looked at George as my heart slammed inside my chest. My eyes were so wide I could feel them quickly drying out. “Does that mean what I think it does?”

  His eyes were just as wide. “I don’t know.”

  I reached forward and poked The Darkness in the chest. “A lot has happened to me over the last few months.”

  He nodded without opening his eyes. “I can feel it. The curse is not the only thing that will be removed. There is also the fresh vampire virus inside you.”

  Was this kid saying that when he eradicated the curse, I wouldn’t be a vampire anymore?

  The light from the candle flickered against his face. “When I eradicate the curse, you won’t be a vampire anymore.”

  Okay. I guess that’s exactly what he was saying.

  Chapter 5

  My cure. This was it.

  Holy crap.

  In the beginning, adjusting to vampire life was so traumatic for me that I’d latched on to the rumor that there was a cure. The journey had led me to a whole heap of trouble, but didn’t result in anything but disappointment when I learned there was no real cure for vampirism. Once you were infected, that’s just the way it was.

  Forever fanged.

  But this wasn’t a cure. It was an eradication. A completely clean slate, an erasing of everything that had happened to me. Along with getting rid of my curse, I would become human again.

  No more worrying about getting staked by an overzealous hunter. No more pointy teeth.

  No more drinking blood to survive.

  I’d get my reflection back. I could eat solid food. I’d have the chance to live a normal life and not need to fret about finding a vampires-only club to hang out at that served my favorite blood type.

  “This is great, Sarah,” George said. “I know it’s what you’ve wanted all along.”

  Of course it was.

  This was seriously too good to be true. Which meant only one thing.

  “What’s the catch?” I asked.

  The Darkness’s eyes were still closed. “The catch?”

  “I go through with this and it removes my curse and my inner vamp.”

  “And six months of your life.”

  Then it dawned on me. “My memories will be gone, won’t they? Everything that’s happened to me in the past six months.”

  “That’s right.”

  My heart sank down to my toes. It was one thing to come here looking for the solution for my nightwalker curse. The cure for vampirism was a gift with purchase. But losing my memories of everything that had happened to me as well?

  Including everyone I’d met. Everything I’d experienced. Everything that had changed me, for better or worse, into the person I was today?

  And aside from that fact, if Gideon found out that I’d played deal or no deal with Goth-

  boy to get rid of the part of me that he was counting on to cure his own problems—and I no longer even remembered who he was in the first place…

  He probably wouldn’t take that news very well. Call it a hunch.

  He wouldn’t be trying to give me jewelry then. He’d be following through with his threats—whether or not I remembered who he was or why he was doing it.

  Rock and a hard place. My new sucktastic address.

  “Listen… Darkness—”

  “It’s The Darkness.”

  “Whatever. Can we adjust this? Any way we can just lose the curse, and maybe come back later for the other stuff if I happen to have a change of heart?”

  His eyes snapped open. I drew in a breath and grabbed George’s hand when I saw that his eyes, even the whites, were fully dark red. I guess he really was a wizard after all. Normal eyes didn’t do that. Obviously.

  “You’re joking, right?” he snapped.

  “Uh… no. I’m not.”

  “Look, lady, this is a one-shot deal. You pay me, I do the eradication. You leave. Besides, this sort of black magic doesn’t usually work in a browse-now-pay-later way. It’s already assessed you. If you don’t do it now, you’re tainted.”

  “Tainted?”

  “Yeah. Which means if I try this again, there’s a good chance the demonic power I’m channeling might mess me up. Badly. We’re talking a lobotomy and a whole lot of drooling. Even if you weren’t tainted, my mom and me are moving to Germany and we’re not coming back. I’m just lucky she’s letting me stay to see the Death Suck concert. After that, it’s all over.”

  “Maybe you should go for it, Sarah,” George said. “What’s the difference of a few memories for something this major?”

  “Speak up soon.” The Darkness’s voice was even less friendly than it had been before.

  “Because the moment this candle goes out, the deal is off.”

  George squeezed my hand. “You can get rid of your curse. Poof. Gone. That alone is worth it, don’t you think? Don’t you want to forget all this and be normal again?”

  He didn’t know the reason I was stalling. He thought the idea of losing my memories was my only reason for hesitating.

  Every possible scenario raced through my mind like a bat out of hell. My head ached. I really wished I could think of another solution, but there wasn’t one. Not today. Not tomorrow. Possibly, not ever again.

  “I guess normal—” My voice sounded as strained as I felt “—doesn’t live here anymore.”

  I blew out the candle.

  The Darkness, otherwise known as the Germany-bound Death Suck fanboy Steven

  Kendall, pitched a hissy fit when I asked for the thousand-dollar retainer back. We left without it. George pulled his car away from the curb just as the wizard’s mother drove up to the house.

  That wasn’t very much fun. To say the least.

  I was disappointed. It was as if a piece of chocolate cake—cake that could solve all of my problems—had been dangled deliciously in front of my face a moment before I was reminded I was one of the vampires who couldn’t eat solid food.

  Wiping away six months of my memories was a much heavier price than two thousand dollars. At least money could be paid back.

  Forget about six months. It was the last three months that had contained some of the worst moments of my life. But they’d also had some of the best.

  If I hadn’t become a vampire, I wouldn’t have met Thierry.

  Or George.

  Or Barry.

  Well, at least there was one bright spot.

  My cell phone vibrated, and I grabbed it out of my purse to look at the screen.

  G CALLING.

  The day was not looking up.

  I considered letting it go to voicemail, but then with a glance at George, whose attention was firmly fixed on the Gardiner Expressway, I pressed the talk button.

  “Yes?” I began.

  “Did your appointment with the young wizard go well?” Gideon asked.

  The hair on my arms raised. He seemed to know almost every move I made as if he had supernatural powers instead of spies. It was so unnerving. “It didn’t.”

  “You’re still cursed?”

  “Afraid so.”

  “Who is it?” George asked, reaching over to lower the volume on the radio. “Is it
Amy?”

  “Nope,” I told him. “Definitely not Amy.”

  “Amy’s having a facial right now after receiving a French manicure,” Gideon informed me.

  “At a quaint little spa slash hair salon called Studio V. She tips exactly 15 percent, in case you were wondering.”

  A vampires-only business probably wouldn’t be thrilled to learn that somebody like

  Gideon had discovered it. Easily, too. Any sense of security from hunters I’d ever felt vanished. We thought our vampire clubs were remotely safe from harm?

  “I can’t talk,” I said.

  “Wouldn’t want George to know about our little partnership.”

  “I’d hardly call it that.” I swallowed as I thought about how I had left him last night in his hotel room. “So, are you feeling better today?”

  “See, I knew you cared about me.”

  I gritted my teeth. “Hardly. But you were in pretty bad shape.”

  “I thought I was looking pretty good now, all things considered.” He was quiet for a moment. “But you’re right. I’m not well. If I can hold on for two more days everything will be better.”

  “What do you want? Or did you just call to remind me about that? Can’t you leave me alone until I absolutely have to see you again?”

  “If I leave you alone, you go running out of town to try to change things. Maybe if you could try behaving yourself for a few more days, then I might be inclined to give you more space.” Some of the charm had left his deep voice. This was my warning. My slap on the wrist. Did he know how close I’d come to screwing up his plans?

  “I am behaving myself.”

  “I know you saw Thierry this morning. I’m fairly certain we agreed that wouldn’t happen.”

  I felt fingers of panic reach toward my heart and squeeze. “It was nothing, just a coincidence he was there. I didn’t mean to see him.”

  “I believe you.” But there was something in his voice that made me think he didn’t believe me. I’d made him doubt me. “Please don’t let it happen again.”

  “Well, since you said please.”

  “I have to see you later. I need something from you.”

  “What? Witty repartee? You dialed the wrong number.”

  “Something else. Come to my hotel room at eight o’clock. I’ll be waiting.”

  He hung up. I clutched the phone so tightly that my fingers were numb.

  I cleared my throat. “Okay, Mom. Great to hear from you. Hope to come visit you and

  Dad again real soon. Bye now.”

  I flipped the phone closed and looked at George, who stared back at me with confusion.

  “That was your mom? I only heard one side, but that seemed like a strange conversation.”

  “You obviously don’t know my mother very well.”

  I thought I knew what Gideon wanted. Now that he knew my search for a curse solution had fallen through, he figured I was desperate enough to give him the Red Devil in exchange for that grimoire.

  He was right about that.

  I didn’t know the guy. Maybe he was evil. Maybe he did deserve to end up on the wrong side of Gideon’s stake.

  Then again, maybe he didn’t.

  That teeter-totter style of thinking wasn’t going to get me de-cursed. I twisted my fingers through my chain. I needed more time to figure everything out. I’d have to put him off a bit longer. As long as I could.

  * * *

  I tried to have a nap after George dropped me at home and then went to his job interview.

  I couldn’t sleep. No big surprise. The events of the day repeated over and over in my brain like bad Mexican food.

  So I paced. And I watched TV. And I researched stuff on the Internet.

  Vampires didn’t get common colds. It was very good to know.

  Then I tried to find out as much as I could about Gideon Chase. There was lots of information and some very flattering pictures with him and a variety of arm candy at movie premieres and fancy restaurants. He gave money to charity. He bankrolled wings of children’s hospitals.

  He was a freaking hero. At least, on the surface.

  I had to dig a little deeper to find any references to his even being associated with the vampire-hunter organization. Most regular web surfers wouldn’t pay any attention to that at all, considering 99 percent of the world was ignorant or in denial of vampires existing outside Hollywood. They might think it was just a rumor—much like my nickname of

  Slayer of Slayers. Or that vampires were completely fictitious. To them, Gideon Chase was simply a billionaire—a rich, handsome dude who liked to travel and have fun.

  Now he was—as far as everyone in the rest of the world believed—dead.

  And about to be resurrected as a vampire in two days, courtesy of me.

  I could totally sell the film rights if I lived long enough.

  Amy obviously got the message that I’d been looking for her earlier because she called me late in the afternoon wanting to meet me for coffee. Since I didn’t have any plans aside from my eight o’clock meeting with Gideon, I decided to stop obsessing about my problems and meet up with her.

  I dragged my butt to a place called Bodacious Bean, a local Starbucks rip-off that had a mighty fine Colombian hazelnut blend. Amy was already there, sitting at a table in the corner of the café. She had a moccaccino and a piece of banana bread in front of her.

  Another vampire fact: Some vamps could eat solid food without wanting to immediately vomit out all of their internal organs. Other vamps, like me, didn’t have that luxury.

  Amy could eat anything she wanted. And she usually forgot that anyone might be different from her.

  “Banana bread?” she offered.

  I waved a hand. “No thanks.”

  I sat down across from her and slid my sunglasses up to the top of my head. The always busy Yonge Street was the view from the window, and it looked like your average bustling, chilly Sunday in late February.

  She seemed as if she was attempting a smile, but failed. Her mouth seemed to be stuck in

  Downward Dog. “How are you, Sarah?”

  “You sound a bit melancholy. Your manicure didn’t go very well?”

  “It was fine.” She looked down at her airbrushed French manicure with her ring finger sporting both a ring with a tiny diamond—courtesy of Barry—and a tiny airbrushed bat on the nail itself. “Barry said you stopped by.”

  “I’m surprised he’d even mention it considering how much he hates my guts.”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know why he’s so cranky lately.”

  “Lately?”

  “He said that Thierry was there when you were there and you looked extremely unhappy about that.”

  “He said that?” I took an awkward slurp of my coffee.

  She nodded gravely and I frowned at her. What was up? She was far from her bubbly blond self today.

  There was silence for a long time.

  Amy let out a long, shaky sigh. “I’m worried about you.”

  My eyebrows raised. “Moi?”

  She nodded. “I know you’re trying to convince everybody that you’re okay, but I can see that you’re not. Sarah, we’re friends. You can’t lie to me.”

  This wasn’t starting off very well. “I don’t know what you mean. Everything’s fine and dandy. Wonderful, really.”

  “I know that you said you were the one to break things off with Thierry, but that’s not true, is it?”

  I felt sick. Was I so bad a liar that I couldn’t even convince Amy? I loved her to death, but she wasn’t the brightest star in the sky. She normally accepted news as it was presented to her, with no questions asked. I’d told her that I’d finished things with Thierry and she’d believed it. Been happy for my break from “that miserable jerk.” Those were her exact words, actually.

  “Of course it’s true. I broke it off.”

  “Then why were you over at my house earlier wanting to talk to him?”

  I took a moment to visual
ly scan our general surroundings. Since Gideon seemed to know what I was doing all the time, I was sure he had somebody spying on me right now. But who? The convincingly distracted-looking group of teenagers? The old woman with the double espresso over by the rack of overpriced, hand-painted ceramic coffee mugs? The guy with the seeing-eye dog and the chai latte? He looked shifty. For that matter, so did the dog.

  “I went there to see you, not him,” I explained. “The fact Thierry was there was coincidence only. I can’t help it if your husband happens to be my ex’s slave boy.”

  “I really don’t like that term. I prefer valet.”

  “Right. Well, whatever he is, I didn’t stay very long. Didn’t want to intrude on whatever he, Thierry, and Veronique were meeting about.”

  “It had something to do with the Ring,” she said. “They contacted Thierry recently.”

  The Ring? Very interesting and enough to near-painfully pique my interest. The Ring was the vampire council, based in California, that had representatives spread across the entire world. They’d been interested in me when my Slayer of Slayers reputation came into being.

  I frowned. “I wonder what they want now?”

  “It’s your curse,” she said matter-of-factly. “They heard about it and they wanted to know if you’re a threat to life, liberty, and the vampire way.”

  My eyes widened. “And?”

  “I know Thierry defended you. He said that the curse is a temporary condition and doesn’t reflect on you overall.”

  My hero. “That was sweet of him.”

  “Although he did tell them you’re extremely unpredictable at the moment.”

  Bad hero. “He said that?”

  She shrugged. “That’s what I heard.”

  I’d only met one member of the Ring’s elders before. He’d tried to kill me. Even though he was crazy, it didn’t leave me with a favorable impression of the organization.

  “So that’s why you wanted me to meet you here?” I asked. “I appreciate your concern, but I’m not going to freak. Thierry can handle the Ring, and as long as I have my gold chain I’m not a threat to anybody.”

  Yeah, as long as I keep it around my neck. Forever. A flash of the fledgling’s scared, pale face came to my mind. And the tasty pulse at her throat. I dug my fingernails into the side of the table until my knuckles whitened. Then I forced myself to take a shaky sip of my coffee.