Eventide

“It’s me he wants,” I argue. “I can handle myself. Estelle is almost seventy. She might know how to concoct potions but she can’t handle herself against a strigoi.” I head out into the living room and grab my Jeep keys off the counter.

By the time I make it to the door, Eli is already there. “You’re crazy if you think I’m going to let you walk out of here alone, Riley,” he says. “Hell no. I’m going with you.”

For a split second, I think of my dog and glance around. It takes me a second to realize Chaz is at the Dupre House. Good. Because I didn’t want to leave him again.

Just like I don’t want to leave Eli. Or do what I was about to do.

There is no choice. Valerian will kill Estelle, and he’ll not only enjoy it, but he’ll flaunt it. And he’ll have no regrets. He fears nothing.

That’s about to change.

“Riley,” Eli warns, his eyes locked solid onto mine. He senses something, and his nostrils flare. His body tenses. “Don’t.”

Before the word is out of his mouth, I use the one tendency Julian taught me to use before leaving Romania. I’d not tried it on anyone, save Julian.

Concentrating, I hold Eli’s gaze. I speak to him in his mind.

Stay where you are, Eli. Don’t move. Don’t leave here until after I’ve gone. Your body is heavy, and my will is stronger than yours. You know it. You feel it. The synapses in your nervous system aren’t firing. You’re paralyzed. You’ll stay that way until I’m gone. Until ten minutes after I’m gone.

The moment my words sink in, I can tell. Eli’s eyes glaze over as he stares at me. I know he sees me, knows I’ve used something on him, and that he hears and knows everything around him. He’ll be pissed. I can’t worry about that now. I waste not even a second. I turn and run from my apartment.

Pelting rain slashes in stinging bullets as I kill the motor of the nineteen-foot skiff I borrowed from Bell’s Landing and let it slide onto the deserted beach of the research facility. One of the smaller barrier islands, it was purchased years ago for the sole purpose of using it for the facility. I can’t imagine what Valerian is using it for. Doesn’t matter. He knew exactly what to use to get me here, and it worked just as well as if he had used mind control on me. Grabbing the rear anchor, I plop it into the water and tie it off. I pull the drain plug and jump out.

No sooner do my feet hit the sand than six newlings descend from the trees. I sense them before they drop to the ground. Crouching, I whip out two blades and down two newlings before they attack me.

Surprisingly, I’m not killed.

Ah, you trust me, Riley. That touches me deeply. It truly does. So to show you my good faith and word, I’ll send your beloved surrogate grandmother back to the mainland with a trusted servant. You’ll remain here. With me. Understood?

“I want to see her,” I say, and I glance around, searching for Valerian. Instead, a newling emerges from the palm fronds and scrubs, leading a slow-walking Estelle.

“Baby, why you come here?” Estelle says angrily. “I told dat evil boy you wouldn’t do it.”

I struggle against my attackers. I have to stop and think about what’s inside of me, what grows and changes daily. I’m strigoi. I’m Arcos. I’m Dupre. I’m Gullah.

A deep breath, and I summon all of my strength. Although it takes four newlings to hold me, I knock them all in different directions. I take off, send the last newling sprawling, and pull Estelle into a fierce hug. “Grandmodder,” I say, checking her over. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, girl, yes,” she says, and I can hear the relief in her voice. “I’m fine, now, stop all dat.” She looks at me, her ebony face smooth, her eyes searching mine. “You shouldn’t have come here, dat’s right. You shouldn’t have.”

I hug her again, drawing in the familiar scent of Downy and Gullah herbs. “No way would I let them keep you out here, Grandmodder. No way.”

I’m waiting, Riley. I don’t like to wait.

A newling appears—young, no more than nineteen, wearing ripped destroyed jeans and a leather jacket. Although not morphed completely, his eyes are white, pupils pinpoint and fire red. He looks to be in a trance as he moves toward the skiff.

“No way am I letting my grandmother get into a boat with him,” I say out loud. “Hell no, Valerian.”

He’s perfectly capable, Riley. Trust me. I’ve instructed him to take her straight to River Street. He’ll help her up the dock and off to her home she can go. I give you my word.

“No, baby,” Estelle says. “Come with me.”

I kiss my surrogate grandmother on the cheek. “I can’t.” I smile at her. “But it’ll be okay. I promise. Now go quietly, please. I’m begging you.”

Without another word, the newling grasps Estelle by the arm and leads her to the skiff. As though he’d been around boats all his life, the newling pulls the anchor, plugs the drain, and starts the motor. Estelle’s gaze stays on mine until they’re out of sight.

The moment I let down my guard, something plunges into my neck. A pinprick. A needle. A dart. I don’t know. But in seconds, I’m slipping to the ground…

Part Ten Redemption

I think Riley’s tendencies have surpassed my own abilities. Doesn’t bother me. I like how strong she is. The control she’s learned in the short time we’ve been back from Romania blows my mind. It takes everything I have not to interfere. Her reflexes are scary fast. And the mind manipulation she exerts? No one is unaffected. Not even me. Especially that bastard Arcos. It’ll be interesting to see if Riley can keep from killing him. For the sake of all of us, I hope she can. A war between the Dupres and Arcoses wouldn’t be pretty. And I’m not willing to risk losing Riley. Without her, my existence is meaningless.

—Eli Dupre

Something hot and wet trails my cheek and rouses me from a drug-induced slumber. Forcing my eyelids to open, I squint into the near darkness. I try to move, but I’m shackled to a cot. The room is cold. Damp. Smells moldy. I turn my head.

And stare into a pair of dark eyes. Human. With tendencies.

“Awake now, are ya?” the man, apparently a guard, whispers in my ear. “‘Bout goddamn time.”

My first reaction is to bite off his damn ear, then head-butt him into oblivion. He can see me in the moonlight, but I can see only his shadowed shape. With my arms and legs bound, I can’t budge.

Instead, I slide him a slow, sexy smile. I trace my bottom lip with my tongue. “God, you smell good,” I lie. “Come closer.”

The guard pauses, probably stunned from what I’ve said, but then his brain cells rush to the winning muscle and he leans over me, just like I ask. “Yeah? You think I smell good?”

“Um-hm,” I croon, thanking God above that the man indeed didn’t smell overly stinky. “I bet you taste even better.”

Again, he pauses—but only briefly. His mouth moves to mine. “Why don’t you find out?” Moving a hand to my breast, he squeezes it hard and shoves his tongue in my mouth.

Biting back the urge to barf, I kiss him back, a furious, fast kiss, just to turn him on. It does. He gropes at me then, lifting my shirt and pushing my bra up, ignoring the tape wrapping my ribs, and grasping my bare breast and squeezing. He moans, and starts to climb on top of me. “You’re gonna like this, baby,” he grunts.

Fighting back the urge to kill him now, I move my mouth to his ear. “Wait,” I whisper, licking his earlobe. “Slow down.” I bite the shell of his ear to get his attention. “This would be a lot more fun if I weren’t tied up. Don’t you think?”