“I’m not in the mood for logic right now.”
“I can understand that. So I’ll go right to what’s important. He’s going to be angry and frustrated. There’s no telling what Jelak will do. Expect anything.”
“I always do.” He paused. “Particularly from you.”
“That’s very intelligent of you. I hate to be predictable. But remember that I’m a very good ally. You may need allies soon.” He paused. “What about enlisting a little help from your friend in a better place? It worked before.”
“It was difficult. She told me not to ask her again.”
“But you may anyway. Isn’t that right?”
A teenager celebrating her sixteenth birthday. “Yes.”
“And so you should. Priorities, Quinn. Call me when you find out something.”
Priorities.
His job was keeping people alive. Keeping Eve alive.
Any way he could.
And now he had to bite the bullet and call Eve and tell her about Nicole Spelling.
THIRTEEN
“BUT YOU’RE NOT SURE,” EVE said. “She could still be alive.”
“It’s not looking good, Eve.” Joe was silent a moment. “Damn, I didn’t want to tell you.”
“No, I had to know,” she said numbly. “You always try to shelter me. Let me know when you find out for sure.” She hung up.
Nicole Spelling. Sixteen years old. All her life before her.
Stop thinking about her. Go on with her own work.
She turned back to the reconstruction. It was almost finished. She could see the curve of the little boy’s lips and the plumpness of his cheeks. “We’ll find your home,” she said softly. “We’re almost there, Matt.”
But that young girl would probably never go home again. What horror had she gone through? Her cell phone rang and she tensed. Joe again to tell her they’d found Nicole Spelling?
No, not Joe. She didn’t recognize the ID.
“Hello, Eve.” She didn’t recognize his voice either. Thick, deep, a slight Southern accent. “This is very unusual for me. But I felt I had to allow myself the pleasure. I deserve it since that son of a bitch that you’re screwing has put himself between us.”
She stiffened. “Who is this?”
“Your master, your partner. Gift to Gift, Eve.”
“Jelak?” she whispered.
“I haven’t heard your voice in a long time. Perhaps five years ago when you gave that TV interview on 20/20. You were magnificent. All the qualities that I look for in a kill. But there are so few women who can bring those to me. I knew that you’d be the final piece that would assure that I’d win the game. But I wasn’t near enough to the end then to come and take you. But I kept my eye on you.”
“While you were murdering all those other women.” She added, “And children. You murdered children, didn’t you?”
“And that does bother you. Actually, very few. Children are only good to feed, and I had a host to furnish me with that.”
“Henry Kistle.”
“Yes. I followed him when he left Atlanta. I knew what he was and how he took his pleasure. There were so few individuals who I knew would be able to help me with the blood. Even then, I was aware of the hunger though I didn’t know what it meant. When I came back from Fiero, I knew my destiny and my place in it.” He added scornfully, “The fool didn’t even realize I was shadowing him, taking my fill. He’d do the kill, and I’d follow and take the blood. It went on for years. I might have had to reveal myself at some point, but then you came back into his life. Competition. I couldn’t allow him to kill you. I was saving you for the final ritual. If you hadn’t killed him, I would have had to do it. It would have been a pity. After all, I did owe him a debt for all those years of saving me from making those boring kills.”
“You’re a monster.”
He chuckled. “They’ve been calling us monsters for centuries. At the same time they worship our power.”
“Vampires? You actually think you’re a vampire?”
“Not what those fools call vampire. They have no idea. But you’ll know soon. You’ll feel the beat of our hearts, the flow of the blood. Gift to Gift, Eve.”
Dear God, she could feel it now.
Imagination.
“You’re mad.”
“That’s not nice.” He was silent, then said softly, “You didn’t ask me if I’d fed on your Bonnie after Henry Kistle killed her.”
