Dracula did not look to his second-in-command as he spoke. He did not take his gaze off the girl sitting unconscious on the ground. How he wanted to go to her. But it was not yet time. He would comfort her in her dreams, and that was all he would allow himself for the moment. “Certainly not, no.”
“Then why do it?”
“To deny the artist his canvas and paint too long is to drive him mad. Some hungers are not so easily fed as others.” He gestured idly at a monster in an alley that was quite contentedly ripping the flesh off a young woman it had run down. She was still alive, although her gagging cries of pain revealed it was only for the moment. “And Zadok has a talent in such regard. He will destroy them from the inside out. And when he is finished, when they split, then we will be done with them.”
“And what of the girl?”
Vlad smiled sadly. “Her fate is hers to write. Not mine. She has learned my kindness…now I shall have her learn my cruelty.”
Walter was silent for a long time. “You love her. Why put her through such agony?”
“Do you remember what you endured before I agreed to turn you?” It was only then that he looked at his second-in-command. Walter’s face was drawn tight and cold with the memory, but there was a flare of fresh pain in his red eyes. “And you understand now why I did it.”
“You test her mettle, then, to see if she is strong enough to survive you.” Walter grunted wearily and rubbed a hand across his eyes. “She may hate you for this.”
“It is likely. I will deserve it if she does. But I would have my hopes shatter and not atrophy. If she will loathe me, I would have her love die in a blaze of glory, not wither and fade as she comes to slowly be disgusted by my true nature.”
“Master, may I speak frankly?”
“Of course.”
“Do you think you are worthy of love?”
Vlad flinched. He paused for a very long time before responding, debating whether he should speak the truth. But if Walter was not trustworthy, no one was. “I am not sure.”
Walter let out a thoughtful hum. “So that is what this about.” He stepped to the edge of the building. “Very well. I will go along with this. I can only pray to the gods in Hell that at the end of this farce you find your answer once and for all.” He exploded into red bats, soared up into the sky, and was gone.
Vlad laughed.
The hunters had finished dispatching the monster they had found. Eddie had gone to Maxine’s side and was now shaking her shoulder, trying to rouse her. She jolted awake, thrashing in a panic. Eddie stroked her covered arm, trying to soothe her. Vlad watched as someone else gave her the comfort he wished he could provide.
His heart ached for what he was going to force her to suffer. But it was a path he must walk. He would not keep her sheltered from the truth of his soul and let her love only a facet as so many others had done. Like the cards in Maxine’s tarot deck, he chose to be whatever they wanted him to be. Oh, his former lovers would always say they knew him for what he was, but it was always a naïve lie.
It was a fate she had begun to share. But he would not spin that falsehood for her. After all, they had made an accord, hadn’t they?
She would be forced to see all of him firsthand.
Will you love me when all is said and done? Or am I beyond all salvation?
3
Eddie pressed a flask into her hand. Maxine unscrewed the top and took a sip. She didn’t even care what kind of alcohol it was. It didn’t matter. She screwed the cap back on and returned it to him, nodding once in thanks.
“I threw up the first time I saw a real fight,” Eddie said with a helpful smile.
“It wasn’t that.” She rubbed the back of her neck slowly, feeling the tightness in the muscles. “I don’t even think I saw much of it.”
“What’s wrong, then?” Bella was also standing nearby, her brow creased in concern.
“It’s the whole city.” Alfonzo’s tone was dark and flat. He was wiping the blood from his sword. “Isn’t it?”
She nodded as she pushed herself up to her feet with Eddie’s