Murder in Vein (2010) (14 page)

"But what about Kate?"

"Kate was turned in Paris in the 1920s, quite against her will.
At the time she was a budding writer, keeping company with the
likes of Gertrude Stein and Hemingway, and having the time of
her life. After, she had to build a new life, which has been quite
colorful but bumpy. I'm one of the many rest stops she's made
along the way." He smiled a knowing smile. "We met when I was
lecturing on, of all things, vampire legends and myths. She came
to my lecture and heckled me. After, I invited her to join me for
a drink, my intent being to convince her my lecture was sound.
Of course, I didn't know at the time she was a real vampire." Jerry
winked at Madison. "Turns out my lecture was rubbish, after all."

Madison leaned forward, getting closer to Jerry. "Does ... does
she bite you?" she whispered.

Jerry tilted his head back and laughed. "Yes, on occasion, but
mostly in the throes of passion."

Madison blushed and considered shouting TMI.

"But am I a food source?" Jerry continued, smiling at Madison. "No, I am not. Like the Dedhams, Kate is mostly into animal
blood, but human blood is better for them, so once in a while I
oblige her."

Madison thought about the human blood Dodie had enjoyed
the night before and the animal blood in the fridge.

"It's quite stimulating, you know," Jerry added. "Being bitten,
I mean. Nothing quite like it."

Madison shuddered and leaned back in her chair with her tea,
trying hard not to think about anyone's teeth embedded in her
flesh.

The two were quietly sipping tea when the door to the den
opened. Kate Thornton and Dodie came in. Kate settled next to
Jerry and slipped an arm through one of his with affection. "I'm
exhausted, dear," she said to him. "Let's go home and go to bed."

Madison looked at the middle-aged couple and tried to push
the thought of comfy Kate feasting on the neck of the professorial Jerry. She shook her head like a wet dog and looked away.

Dodie's attention was on Madison. "They'd like to see you
again, Madison."

"Why?" Madison wasn't sure she wanted to face the council
again.

"Come along," Dodie encouraged. She turned to Jerry and
Kate and smiled. "We'll see you two soon." She returned to Madison. "Kate and Jerry are two of our best friends. We play bridge
with them every week."

Madison put down her teacup and got to her feet. Kate and
Jerry stood up along with her. Kate took Madison's hands in her
own. "We are so counting on you to help us out. But don't let
Colin frighten you. He's like most young men, more bark than
bite. Though you're so pretty, I'm sure he'd love to sink his fangs
into you."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Madison asked.

Kate gave her a throaty laugh. "Colin's been perfecting that
bad-boy routine for hundreds of years. But don't worry, you'll do
fine." She turned to her husband. "Won't she, dear?" Jerry agreed,
and the two of them took their leave.

When Dodie and Madison were alone, Madison stalled
by picking up her teacup again. She took a big swallow of tea.
"Something tells me," she said, glancing at Dodie, "that I'm going
to need something a lot stronger than tea to get through this."

When she took her seat back at the dining table, Madison was
surprised to see that along with Kate, Stacie and Mike had also
left. Dodie took the seat Kate had vacated. Doug was in his same
seat and so was Samuel. Colin was pacing, agitated, and in an
even more foul mood than when she'd last seen him.

am not going to be bait for some psycho!" Madison yelled,
jumping to her feet.

After she'd returned and taken her place back at the table,
Samuel had told Madison their plan. It hadn't gone over well.

"We just want you to visit a few of the vampire-themed
groups and nose around," Samuel explained to the frightened
woman as she moved to and fro like a caged animal. He got up
from his chair and moved to her end of the table, taking Colin's
former seat. "Get to know the people involved, Madison. Many
of these groups are just harmless clubs populated by people
romanticizing vampires. But some, we know, dabble in very dark
things. Based on the recent murders, somehow someone found
out about bloodlines and for whatever reason is killing women
who have them. They have to be stopped. We're not even sure it's
someone from one of the covens, but it's a good place to start."

Madison paced on the side of the room opposite Colin. "So
you're just going to send me in there to ask questions, hoping
I stumble on something?" She stopped long enough to put her hands on her hips and stare at each of them, particularly the
Dedhams. "Guess the life of a beater doesn't mean shit to you
deadbeats. And why should it? In relation to your sense of time,
my little life is nothing but that of a flea's, if even that."

"Madison, dear," started Dodie, "it's not like that, really."

"Then what is it like, Dodie? You're sending me into a hornet's nest of lunatics I know nothing about, and without
protection."

"That's not true, Madison," Doug threw out. "Colin's going
with you."

Madison stopped in her tracks and pointed at the sullen
Colin. "Him? He doesn't even like me. What's to stop him from
killing me himself?"

"Bloody perfect." Colin leaned against the back of the sofa, his
arms crossed in front of him. "I told you this would never work. I
should just handle this alone."

"You can't, Colin," Samuel told him. "They are targeting
women. You can only go as her escort."

Madison stalked back to the table and looked down at Samuel. "They are targeting women with bloodlines." She held her
left palm out like a stop sign. "In case you've forgotten, I don't
have one."

Samuel leaned back in his chair. "You will have," he
announced casually. "At least a temporary one."

Madison exploded with frustration and anger. "So you're
going to give me a fake bloodline and send me out to meet a
killer?" When Samuel said nothing, Madison continued her rant.
"At least have the balls to look me in the eye when you sentence
me to death." She snatched Samuel's sunglasses off his face and
slammed them down on the table.

Everyone in the room caught their breath in shock, except
Samuel. Like lightning, he grabbed Madison's wrist and pulled
her to him until they were nearly nose to nose. Her breath hit his
face heavy and fast, but no breath escaped his lips or nostrils. She
turned her head rather than look into his cloudy eyes.

"Look into my dead eyes, Madison," the head vampire
ordered, his fangs unfurled and menacing. "Look, I said." He
jerked her wrist. "You can die now or you can take your chances.
It's entirely up to you"

Against her will, Madison turned to look into Samuel's eyes,
blue-white with hints of fire, like opals. She stared into them,
mustering her inner core to hold strong. "Most of my life," she
told him, eyes locked onto his, "people have threatened me to get
me to do what they've wanted. Bullies at school, other kids in the
foster homes. No one ever gave me a choice except between doing
what I didn't want to do or receiving beatings for not doing it."

She wrenched her arm free from Samuel's grasp and rubbed
her wrist. Walking over to the wall, Madison leaned against it
and addressed the vampires, who were watching her with intense
interest. "Ever since I came into this house, I've been battered
around like a rowboat in a hurricane. One minute I feel safe; the
next, my life is on the line. Same shit I've put up with since I was
eight."

Leaning against the wall, an exhausted Madison slid downward until she was sitting on the floor with her back against the
hard surface. Her body may have surrendered, but not her spirit.
"Well, that shit's stopping here and now."

"See here," Colin started to say, but Samuel stopped him with
a hand gesture.

Madison drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her
arms around them. Locking her eyes back on to Samuel's face,
she said, "Give me a real reason why I should help you, then let
me make the choice whether I do it or not. My life, my decision.
If you don't, you're no different from the bastard who raped me
from the time I was ten until I was nearly twelve. He told me he'd
kill me, too."

No one moved. Except for the sound of the wind in the trees
outside, the room was silent.

"Come on, vampire," Madison taunted, her voice beginning
to crack as a tear ran from her left eye down her cheek. "Give it
your best shot."

Both Doug and Samuel got to their feet. Doug went to stand
behind Dodie, resting his hands on her shoulders. She reached
up one hand and covered one of his.

Samuel walked up to Madison. Squatting in front of her, he
studied her, taking in her scrapes and bruises and staring deep
into her wet brown eyes without speaking. She never took her
eyes off his face. The pull he had on her was strong, but so was
her resolve. Taking each of her hands in his, he unwrapped them
from her knees and held them while he continued to look at her.

After a few moments, Samuel said in a low but strong voice,
"We need your help, Madison. We'd like you to help us stop the
killings. We need a live woman to infiltrate these groups and
see if one of them might be responsible for these deaths. Colin
knows enough of these people to get you inside. They don't know
he's a real vampire, and he's a man and has no bloodline, so I
doubt he would attract much attention from the perpetrator."
Samuel paused. "But you might." He squeezed her hands gently. "Please help us. It could mean saving a lot of lives. Think about
what happened to Evie."

Madison removed one of her hands and wiped her wet face
and nose on the sleeve of her sweater. She sniffed back more
tears. "And if I say no?"

Again, the room went deathly silent, everyone waiting for
Samuel's determination.

"If you say no," Samuel replied, "we will return you to your
prior life ... unharmed."

Colin took a step forward. "You can't be serious, Samuel. This
beater knows way too much about us."

Samuel didn't turn to look at Colin but continued staring
into Madison's eyes. "I believe, Colin, that whatever decision Miss
Rose makes, she will keep silent about us. Won't you, Madison?"

Madison nodded, then squeaked out a yes. She cleared her
throat. "Yes, I will never tell anyone. On that you have my word."

Samuel raised the hand he still held and kissed the knuckles
lightly. Then he let it go and stood up, still looking at Madison's
face. He returned to the table. "She's telling the truth." He turned
to look back again at Madison, still crouched on the floor. "About
everything."

After returning to his seat at the head of the table, Samuel
glanced at his watch. They'd been handling the issues at hand for
three hours. "The sun is up," he told everyone. "We need to finish
and go home. We need our rest."

Samuel addressed Madison. "I'm afraid we'll need your
answer right now, Madison. We'd hoped to put our plan into
action tonight."

Madison got to her feet and walked to the table, standing at
the end opposite Samuel. She was emotionally and physically exhausted but had been thinking about Evie Banks and the other
women, those in the police photos. She wanted to go back to
bed-her cramped bed in her tiny apartment. But she also didn't
want any more women to die. She could easily have been one of
them-had nearly been one of them but for Doug and Dodie's
intervention.

She looked at the Dedhams. Doug was still standing behind
his wife, his hands protectively on her shoulders. His face was
kind and encouraging. Dodie looked concerned and sad. Madison glanced at Colin. The young-looking, arrogant man still
leaned against the back of the sofa with his arms crossed. He
was dressed in black jeans and a black turtleneck sweater, his
pale skin a stark contrast to his dark hair and clothing. Watching Madison as she watched him, he left his post by the sofa and
walked back to the table.