makes us as guilty as the ones who tasted them.”
I frowned at him. “Do you want me to shoot you?”
He nodded.
I frowned harder. “Why?”
He shrugged and dropped his eyes so I couldn’t read his face.
“You are evil and your master is evil,” said the grandma.
I looked at her. “I didn’t just rip the throat out of a man who was trying to keep you from making a fifteen-year-old girl a vampire against her will.”
Her eyes showed hesitation for a moment and then she said, “The girl wanted to be one of us.”
“She’d changed her mind,” I said.
The grandma shook her head, looking sullen. “There was no going back.”
“That’s the same thing date rapists say: ‘She agreed to the date, so it’s too late for her to say no to the sex.’”
She looked shocked, as if I’d slapped her. “How dare you compare us to that.”
“Forcing someone to be a vampire against their will is rape and murder all rolled into one,” I said.
The boy said, “You believe that, don’t you?”
“I do.”
“And yet, you cohabitate with the master vampire of this city,” he said.
“Cohabitate,” I said. “You’re older than you look.”
“Can’t you tell my age?” he asked.
I thought about it, just a tiny use of power, and said, “Twenty years dead, that’s why the eighties haircut.”
“I don’t have enough power to grow my hair long after death like the vampires closest to you. Your master steals energy from me, from all of us, and uses it to heal his people, and grow his long, black curls out for you.”
I’d known that Jean-Claude took power from his followers, and gave power to them, but I hadn’t thought how that exchange of power might affect the other side of the equation. Was Blondie here right? Did Jean-Claude steal power from them just to grow his hair long for me, when they could have used it to heal their wounds, grow their own hair? Was it true?
“You didn’t know,” he said.
“She knew! She knows!” Grandma said. Her voice was strident with her anger, but under the anger was a thread of fear like a hint of spice in a piece of cake. I looked at her, and something she saw in my face stopped her, and upped the fear in her. Was she really that afraid of me?
Zerbrowski came to me. “Anita, the bus is back. We need to move them.”
I nodded, and realized I’d made the rookie mistake. I’d let the bad guys talk me into doubting people I trusted. They say if you listen to the devil he won’t lie, but he won’t exactly tell the truth either. Blondie wasn’t the devil, far from it, but he’d spoken the truth as he saw it, and I’d ask Jean-Claude tonight when I got home.
I addressed the prisoners. “If you try to escape, try to run, we will shoot you.”
“Because of the Preternatural Endangerment Act,” Blondie said.
“That gives us the legal right to kill you, yes, but the two dead cops, killed by vampire bites, make you all murder suspects. Vampires suspected of murder can be killed if they try to escape.”
“If we were people, it wouldn’t work like that,” he said.
“With two dead cops, it might,” I said.
“Not legally,” he said. I grabbed him by the arm and helped him to his feet hard enough that he stumbled and I had to catch him.
He whispered, “You’re as strong as we are, and I felt you feed on the other officer. You’re not human either.”
I pushed him away from me, forgot he was wearing shackles to go with his cuffs, and had to catch him again. No one else in the room could have moved fast enough to catch him with barely a pause between the push, the start of the fall, and the catch—no human in the room.
“See,” he said.
I got him shuffling along with the others that were being helped to their feet. I wasn’t sure if I needed to put him close to me so I could watch him, or far away so he couldn’t keep fucking with me. Why was he getting on my nerves so badly? Answer: because I believed what he’d just said. I’d raised my
I frowned at him. “Do you want me to shoot you?”
He nodded.
I frowned harder. “Why?”
He shrugged and dropped his eyes so I couldn’t read his face.
“You are evil and your master is evil,” said the grandma.
I looked at her. “I didn’t just rip the throat out of a man who was trying to keep you from making a fifteen-year-old girl a vampire against her will.”
Her eyes showed hesitation for a moment and then she said, “The girl wanted to be one of us.”
“She’d changed her mind,” I said.
The grandma shook her head, looking sullen. “There was no going back.”
“That’s the same thing date rapists say: ‘She agreed to the date, so it’s too late for her to say no to the sex.’”
She looked shocked, as if I’d slapped her. “How dare you compare us to that.”
“Forcing someone to be a vampire against their will is rape and murder all rolled into one,” I said.
The boy said, “You believe that, don’t you?”
“I do.”
“And yet, you cohabitate with the master vampire of this city,” he said.
“Cohabitate,” I said. “You’re older than you look.”
“Can’t you tell my age?” he asked.
I thought about it, just a tiny use of power, and said, “Twenty years dead, that’s why the eighties haircut.”
“I don’t have enough power to grow my hair long after death like the vampires closest to you. Your master steals energy from me, from all of us, and uses it to heal his people, and grow his long, black curls out for you.”
I’d known that Jean-Claude took power from his followers, and gave power to them, but I hadn’t thought how that exchange of power might affect the other side of the equation. Was Blondie here right? Did Jean-Claude steal power from them just to grow his hair long for me, when they could have used it to heal their wounds, grow their own hair? Was it true?
“You didn’t know,” he said.
“She knew! She knows!” Grandma said. Her voice was strident with her anger, but under the anger was a thread of fear like a hint of spice in a piece of cake. I looked at her, and something she saw in my face stopped her, and upped the fear in her. Was she really that afraid of me?
Zerbrowski came to me. “Anita, the bus is back. We need to move them.”
I nodded, and realized I’d made the rookie mistake. I’d let the bad guys talk me into doubting people I trusted. They say if you listen to the devil he won’t lie, but he won’t exactly tell the truth either. Blondie wasn’t the devil, far from it, but he’d spoken the truth as he saw it, and I’d ask Jean-Claude tonight when I got home.
I addressed the prisoners. “If you try to escape, try to run, we will shoot you.”
“Because of the Preternatural Endangerment Act,” Blondie said.
“That gives us the legal right to kill you, yes, but the two dead cops, killed by vampire bites, make you all murder suspects. Vampires suspected of murder can be killed if they try to escape.”
“If we were people, it wouldn’t work like that,” he said.
“With two dead cops, it might,” I said.
“Not legally,” he said. I grabbed him by the arm and helped him to his feet hard enough that he stumbled and I had to catch him.
He whispered, “You’re as strong as we are, and I felt you feed on the other officer. You’re not human either.”
I pushed him away from me, forgot he was wearing shackles to go with his cuffs, and had to catch him again. No one else in the room could have moved fast enough to catch him with barely a pause between the push, the start of the fall, and the catch—no human in the room.
“See,” he said.
I got him shuffling along with the others that were being helped to their feet. I wasn’t sure if I needed to put him close to me so I could watch him, or far away so he couldn’t keep fucking with me. Why was he getting on my nerves so badly? Answer: because I believed what he’d just said. I’d raised my
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