Authors: Amy Corwin
The waitress frowned
. “Runaway, too?”
“No
.” Kethan smiled and recaptured the waitress’ attention with a small gesture. Her face relaxed unconsciously, reflecting his casual attitude and posture as she leaned against the counter and listened. “Just out too late. We’re worried about her. He may have decided to dump her—we don’t know—but she wouldn’t have enough money for a taxi to get home.”
“Bastard.”
She scratched behind her ear and resumed leaning on the counter a foot away from Kethan, casting him quick sidelong glances. Her crossed arms tightened, plumping her chest to the maximum. The lacy edge of her black bra edged past the low neckline of her blouse and although she didn’t look down, her smile widened in sly temptation. “Well, there might have been a blond guy in earlier—maybe a half hour ago.”
Quicksilver stepped forward and gripped the edge of the counter
. “Was he with anyone? A girl?”
“He sat at the counter, I remember that
. Didn’t even want anything to eat. Maybe he was too drunk to eat.”
“Did he appear drunk?”
Kethan asked.
“No, that’s the funny thing, he didn’t.
But he was real pale so I thought maybe he’d already gotten sick somewhere. Thank God it wasn’t in here. I didn’t feel like cleaning up that kind of mess, again.”
“Did he talk to anyone?”
he asked.
“Sorry
, but like I said, it was real busy. I just don’t remember. I mean, he was a good-looking guy, except for being so pale. And it kind-a annoyed me that he didn’t order anything to eat. He took up a place at the counter, though, even when we had a bunch of people waiting for seats.” Her aggrieved tone and the angry creases bracketing her mouth almost made Quicksilver smile.
“Did you see him leave?
” she asked. “Was anyone with him?”
The waitress’
eyes flashed to her before she fixed them again on Kethan. “Sorry. Like I said, that was our busiest time. I only remember him because he didn’t want anything. Thank God he didn’t stay long, wasting that space at the counter.”
There seemed to be little else the waitress could tell them.
Kethan gave her a generous tip for her time and guided Quicksilver out with his hand barely touching her lower back.
“That was a waste,” she commented as she climbed into the car.
“Not necessarily.”
“You don’t even know if that was Jason.”
“A pale, blond guy who didn’t eat anything? Jason was there.”
“Fine
, but that waitress didn’t see Kathy.”
“W
e know more than you think. The waitress would’ve remembered if he was with a girl, particularly a young girl. And when he left, he only freed one space at the counter. Not two. He was alone, so that tells us something. It means Jason might’ve been here for the same reason we were—he was looking for Kathy Sherman.”
“I don’t see it that way.
Why look for her? All he has to do is call to her.”
“If she was near.
A half hour ago, she wasn’t near enough for him to make a mental connection and force her to him. And he was looking for her which means unless he found her, she’s still alive and unharmed.”
“Unharmed?
She’s mind-fucked. She’s at risk.”
Or is she just a risk
to others? Maybe I’ve grown soft….
Two
years ago, Quicksilver would not have sent Kathy back to the orphanage after such close contact with a vampire. Once a vampire gained control over a victim’s mind, that was it. She’d betray everyone to her master. If Kathy returned to the orphanage, she’d let Jason inside if he requested it and he could feast on the rest of the children. The only safe option was to kill the vampire, or failing that, the victim.
However, i
t took a great deal of rage to kill and at the moment, all she wanted to do was to find Kathy safe and sound.
In the back of her mind, she was aware of her anger, her rage, simmering close to the boiling point.
Despite her efforts to control it, force it back into the depths, it arose without warning, controlling her as forcibly as a vampire. She rubbed her temple.
Pretend to be normal. Nice
. She wanted desperately to be nice. She wanted to rescue Kathy and make sure Jason could never hurt her again.
Kethan’s
dark brows rose. “Then why should he try so hard to find her?”
“S
he’s not a vampire—yet,” she said, hoping to reassure herself that she was not making a terrible mistake like she had in Mexico. “If we kill Jason, she’ll be all right.”
“We aren’t
going to kill him or anyone else.” He studied her. “You’ve been hoping that when we found Kathy, she’d be with Jason. You wanted another opportunity to kill him, didn’t you?” He seemed so sure of himself, so in control.
In that
instant, she’d happily have kicked him in the groin. She wanted him to lose his colossal calm and
feel
the same urgency she felt and to understand her rage.
“One can only hope
.” She turned away to stare down the nearly empty street.
“Get it out of your mind.”
“What’s your solution?”
“Take her back to Theresa
. Make sure the teachers are warned.”
“That’s a
great
idea. Leave the school vulnerable? She’d let him in if he asked.”
“
Focus on finding Kathy. We may disagree on why we want to find her, or what we intend to do when we find her, but at least we can agree on that short-term goal,” he replied with the same infuriatingly calm tone as he closed the car door for her.
S
he waited until he slid into the driver’s seat to reply, “Spoken like a true negotiator.”
“Thank you.” Despite his words, h
is hands clenched the steering wheel, his grip tightening until his knuckles went white. She’d finally gotten under his skin. Unfortunately, it lacked that special zing of satisfaction she expected.
In fact, she realized that what she felt was more like shame than pleasure. However, that didn’t change her fear that
he would place them all in danger while he prayed to achieve the impossible. She knew, knew from bitter experience, that you could not trust the word of a vampire.
When he shook his head, her heart contracted. He
disapproved of her, she could feel it. Maybe he guessed that she was broken and barely functional as a human. He’d seen her scars and come to his own conclusions without even asking her about them. She was damaged goods.
S
he stiffened and tried to convince herself she didn’t much care for him, either. He was too nice and self-controlled, the perfect, modern man: reasonable, calm, caring.
“
Where else would she be?” He maneuvered the car out of the parking lot, keeping his eyes on the road. “You’re a young woman, where would you go if you didn’t want to go home?”
She
laughed. “I’m not that young. I’m almost thirty, over the hill.”
“Thirty?”
“Okay, twenty-eight.”
He gave her a surprised look.
“You look so young.”
“Gee, thanks.
How flattering. How old are you?”
“Thirty-one.”
“Never trust anyone over thirty.”
“You know, that went out with disco and the
‘80s.”
“Never trust anyone who uses words for his living
, then. You know, like lawyers.”
“And negotiators?”
“Sure. Same difference.” She stared at the darkness outside her window, regretting her sharp replies and all her failures that evening. She’d failed to control herself, to act normal, and she’d failed to save Kathy Sherman.
A light flicked on in
the narrow, kitchen window of a solitary house as they drove by. People were starting to wake up, and dawn was near.
She moved restlessly in her seat, feeling tired and yet too keyed up to relax.
A headache surged through her head, zinging from one temple to the other. She slumped against the seat and closed her eyes until the sharpness of the pain dimmed into a low throb.
They drove around slowly, searching unproductively for another half hour. Finally, they stopped at a fast food restaurant for coffee. Serendipitously,
as they turned away from the counter, cradling the hot cups, they noticed Kathy sitting at one of the tables.
“Kathy!” Quicksilver called in relief
as she ran over to the girl. “What are you doing here?”
Kathy blushed and
straightened, picking up wrappers and shoving them into a bag. Smiling with relief, Quicksilver looped an arm over Kathy’s shoulder and gave her a squeeze before straightening. “Breakfast?”
“
It’s better than what they serve at the home.”
She
kept a smile on her face despite Kathy’s sulky expression. “Everyone was worried.”
“I
—” She broke off when she noticed Kethan and her eyes widened.
“This is Mr. Hilliard,” Quicksilver said.
“You want a ride? I know tomorrow is Sunday, but you do need a little sleep, you know.”
“I don’t have to go to Mass.
” Kathy’s face hardened in defiance.
“I know
, but aren’t you tired?”
“I guess so.”
“Come on, ladies, the taxi meter’s running.” With a firm hand on their elbows, Kethan guided Quicksilver and Kathy to the car.
When they dropped Kathy off
at the orphanage, Quicksilver drew Theresa aside. “Jason can control Kathy. He can get her to invite him inside. I think he’s still looking for her.”
“W
e can handle it. Don’t worry.”
“Handle it?
How?” Kethan asked.
Theresa
gave him a flickering smile. “While nothing is certain in this world, I believe we can manage this situation. I’ve been working with a doctor….” She shrugged. “We have so many cases of trauma here that we keep a psychiatrist on staff. He believes he’s found a drug to break the connection.”
“What?” Quicksilver asked, stunned.
“You can break a vampire’s hold?”
Why hadn’t anyone told her? A chill settled in her stomach
. She involuntarily rubbed the scars on her neck. So much death and violence over the years…. Had it all been unnecessary?
No wonder Theresa
shook off her touch. They didn’t need a damaged, psychotic woman around a houseful of children. They had drugs to protect them now. Quicksilver was just a liability, an out-of-control psycho with anger management problems.
Theresa nodded. “Some of our
young people experienced terrifying things. They needed to forget.” Her voice grew intense. “They had to forget, and they don’t want to be at the mercy of those who attacked their family or friends. We had to develop a way to help them. To break the connection with those who caused them so much pain. It isn’t perfect, but it helps.”
“
What do you do if they
want
to be controlled?” She tried not to sound happy at the concept, but that slim possibility made her feel less useless.
“
Would the drug work if Kathy wants to contact a vampire?” Kethan turned aside to face Theresa.
His slight movement cut Quicksilver out
as his shoulder blocked her view of Theresa. It felt like a subtle, but firm, rejection.
She slid around him so she could see Theresa’s face.
“If I can persuade her to take it, she won’t be able to make contact,” Theresa said.
“Tell her it’s a vitamin.”
Kethan smiled easily as if convinced they had found the right solution.
Theresa frowned.
“I don’t lie.”
“Tell her it’s for her own good.
Tell her it’s for
our
own good,” Quicksilver suggested, pushing away her raw emotions and trying to think clearly, positively. She wanted to be a member of the team instead of an outsider they couldn’t trust.
Theresa sighed
and exchanged a long, troubled glance with Kethan, reinforcing Quicksilver’s sense of exclusion despite her attempt to belong.
On impulse, she stepped forward, forcing them to include her.
“Tell her Jason is a madman who’s into mind-control and gave her something that you can counteract. No one likes to be controlled.”
Kethan remarked in a dry voice
, “Leave it to Theresa. She knows what she’s doing.”
T
he strong urge to tell them both that she understood better than either of them, filled her, but for once she refrained from voicing her thoughts. “Well, that’s it, then. Call me if you need anything.”
“Be safe.” Kethan shook Theresa’s hand.
Feeling bitter pride in her self-control, Quicksilver let Kethan guide her back to her motorcycle. Her spirits sank lower and lower with each step, but the light touch of his fingertips warmed the inside of her elbow, and the sky was already beginning to brighten. The thought of sunshine flowing over her shoulders filled her with a profound sense of relief.