last effort, I abruptly realized exactly where I'd seen a water dispenser like this—in a hamster cage.
"That bitch," I said, gritting my teeth. Amanda had installed it so I'd have to lick it. On purpose. My incubus hunger growled from its cage. Great. One more thing to worry about.
I heard a giggle. Amanda, her phone camera trained on me, came from outside the door.
"You're so pathetic," she said. "Oh no, the big bad spawn is turning into a demon!" She held her hands up and opened her mouth in mock horror. "Please save me!" A nasty grin curled her lips. "Guess what, moron? Even you can't break diamond fiber."
"Must be hard being you," I croaked. "Your life obviously sucks so bad you have to torture someone who can't fight back to feel good about yourself." I forced a grin and glanced at the bird nest she called hair. "Maybe if you owned a hairbrush you could get a date."
Her fist lashed out. My head rocked sideways and fireworks exploded behind my eyes. "Shut up. Shut up! I'll make you sorry you ever opened your mouth."
"Your breath is already making me sorry," I said.
All the air exploded from my lungs as she pounded a fist into my stomach. I opened my eyes and would have shouted had any breath remained in my chest. I saw her face an inch from mine. Her breath smelled of fresh blood. Her eyes gleamed bright with menace and anger. Pissing her off had probably been a bad idea.
"Amanda, what the hell are you doing?" said a familiar voice. "Maximus isn't going to be happy with you beating on his pet spawn."
The guard whirled, hands crooked like claws. Her yellowed fingernails lengthened by an inch. She panted and seemed on the verge of attacking the newcomer.
"Get a hold of yourself," said the voice again.
I knew that voice. It wasn't Felicia, though. My mind was too wrapped up in the drama of the moment to run a database search and make a match.
Amanda lowered her hands and growled. "I should suck you dry and blame his bruises on you."
"Yeah, right. As if I was strong enough to hurt a spawn." The owner of the voice stepped around the angry vampire and my jaw went slack.
Katie?
The vampire turned and saw my shocked expression. She laughed. "Guess I punched him too hard." She glanced at the tray of food in Katie's hand. "If he tries to get inside your head, let me know so I can clock him in the face again."
Katie stuck her tongue out at the vampire's back as Amanda turned and left the room, slamming the door shut behind her. Loud music sprang up from somewhere outside the door. Amanda shouted in fury, her voice fading down the hall as she demanded the instigator turn it off.
"What in the hell—no, how in the hell did you get here?" So many words, mostly curses sprang to my head, I had trouble speaking. "Are you effin' crazy?" Somehow, I remembered to whisper my questions, though Amanda probably couldn't hear them over the music. I remembered I was in my underwear with adult diapers beneath, and felt a hot blush creep from my head to my toes.
Tears pooled in my former crush's eyes. Her pretty green eyes. I couldn't believe how much I'd wanted this girl, back when I'd been a hopeless nerd. And then I'd met Elyssa. Katie had stumbled into my world—the Overworld—when she'd come to my house just as hellhounds had attacked. This was far more than stumbling in, however. Had Katie decided to become a vampire?
"Oh, Justin, I can't believe what they've done to you." She kissed my forehead. "I've got to get you out of here." Her eyes wandered across my scantily clothed body.
"Water?" I asked, too thirsty to worry about such trivial things as clothes any longer.
Her eyes brightened, and she nodded, bringing out a bottle of water with a flexible straw. I gulped so fast, I choked and broke into a violent coughing fit. Katie pulled out a phone and looked at it.
"Justin, just keep calm. In a few hours, I'm going to break you out of here."
I gave her a crazy look. "You?" I checked her eyes again to be sure they weren't vampire red. "Are you here to join Maximus's vampire army?"
She shook her head. "No, absolutely not. Something terrible happened, though."
Chewing on a chunk of cheese she put to my mouth, I raised my eyebrows to prompt her to