So I smiled at Gerald Holms and thanked himfor his offer. “I’ll think about it,” I lied, pulling Taylor towardthe lobby exit.
“You do that. Here.” He produced a card withhis name and number on it, then pressed it into my hand. “You’llsee,” he said darkly. “When something happens to someone you loveand a vamp’s behind it—you’ll get it then. But then it’ll be toolate.”
“Uh, thanks.” I accepted the card and, withhis morbid goodbye ringing in my ears, I hauled Taylor out to thecar and drove us both home.
I wished later I would have listened to hiswarning. But he was right—by the time I was wishing that, it wastoo late.
I spent the night worried about my bestfriend but she went to sleep naturally enough and the next day sheseemed fine. A little subdued, maybe, but nothing really out of theordinary. I had a job as an adjunct to one of the biologyprofessors—it wasn’t my field but all I really had to do was set upand take down the labs—so I had to leave her alone for a nightclass.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked her forthe hundredth time as I was walking out the door.
Taylor made a face. “I swear to God,Addison, if you ask me that one more time…”
“Sorry, sorry. You just had me reallyfreaked out last night. It was like you were some kind of a robotor something.”
“Well, I’m fine now. So go on and go. You’regoing to be late and you know how much Dr. Pincer lovesthat.”
“Well…” I had my hand on the knob and Taylormade a shooing motion at me.
“Go. I’m fine and I’ll see youtonight. We’ll order that pizza we wanted last night and drink agallon of Margaritas if you want.”
“Extra salt on the rim.” I pointed a fingerat her.
She laughed. “Like I would forget? You’retalking to the queen of saltoholics here.”
Hearing her sound so much like her old selfput me at ease. I gave her a grin and stepped out the door, intenton getting to the class in time to set up that night’s lab. I toldmyself that she was fine and that the effects of the vampire’sglamour had worn off.
How could I know that would be the last timeI saw my best friend alive?
When I came back from my class, Taylor wasgone. Just gone. Her car was still in the parking lot and herclothes were in the closet. Her cell phone was lying on her bed—shehadn’t even taken her keys.
I was frantic. It was clear to me thatsomeone or something had come into the apartment and taken her awaybecause there was no way she would leave without those things.Unfortunately there were no signs of forced entry or a struggle andTaylor was over twenty-one so the police refused to let me file amissing person’s case until twenty-four hours went by.Incidentally, that’s almost exactly how long it takes to turnsomeone into a vampire but I didn’t find that out until later.
Of course my thoughts immediately went toCeleste and I was sure she had something to do with my friend’sdisappearance. But when I went to the Embassy Suites where theVampire Bedazzlement had been held, I found nothing. The show hadmoved on and one of the hotel employees told me it was only heldthere every other week anyway.
I was frantic and so were Taylor’s mom anddad. We scoured the city for days, putting up posters while Icontinued to try and track down Celeste. I visited glam-sex clubs,vamp topless bars and even a vampire-friendly nudist colony, whichis something I would so like to be able to forget, but noone would give me more than hints. Then, finally, exactly a monthafter she’d disappeared, I got a call.
“I understand you’re trying to find me,little human.” The sultry feminine voice on the other end of thephone couldn’t be mistaken. It was Celeste.
I took a deep breath. “I am, yes. My friendTaylor was one of your vic…er, volunteers at a show you did about amonth ago. And the day after your show, she disappeared—do you knowanything about where she might be?”
I expected her to deny it but Celesteobviously didn’t believe in lying—or else I was so far beneath hernotice she didn’t fear any retribution from me. “The beautiful onewith long dark hair? Oh yes, I know where she went,” she said atonce.
I felt my breath catch in my throat. “You’veseen her? Where is she?”
“She’s here, with me.” Celeste let out adeep, throaty laugh that made the short hairs on the back of myneck stand up. “She’s my new pet. You may visit her if youlike.”
“She…I…where are you?” I asked, barely ableto get the words out.
“Sheila will give you the address.” Celestealready sounded bored. Another voice took over and gave medirections to a community in the New Tampa area where none of thehouses started below the two million mark. It was a long haul fromour apartment in Beach Park—the poor part of South Tampa—but I madeit in record time.
When I got there I found Taylor sitting on acouch beside the petite Celeste. My friend didn’t look particularlyhappy but she didn’t look as miserable as she would soon becomeeither. I found out later that this was a pattern for Celeste—shelatched onto a human she thought had “potential” and turned them toserve as her companion. For a few months—sometimes even a fewyears—everything was all right. But the moment her new prodigydisappointed or displeased her in any way, the gloves were off.
“Taylor, what are you doing here?” I asked,thinking how unlike herself she looked. Her normally tan skin wasas pale
