“I live here now.” Her full bottom lipquivered but she didn’t quite dare to let herself cry.
“What do you mean you live here? You livewith me—we share an apartment. We’re roommates, remember?”
Celeste smirked at me. “Taylor is no longeryour concern. She belongs to me now.”
“She doesn’t belong to anybody,” I said,fixing the vamp with a glare. “She’s a person—not some doll you sawin a toy store and decided to buy.”
“Listen to me, little human.” Celeste leanedforward, focusing her eyes on mine. “Taylor is mine. Youwill accept this and stop hounding me all over town. It was amusingat first but now it is both embarrassing and tedious. Do youunderstand?”
I realized she was trying to glamour me.“No, I don’t understand. I don’t understand how you thinkyou can just take someone away from their normal life and own them.That’s bullshit.”
Celeste’s dark eyes widened and thennarrowed. “Ah, I see you are one of those rare humans who areimmune to our glamour. How very tiresome.” She sighed. “Very well,we will do this the hard way. Leave now and stop harassing me or Iwill have you killed.”
“You can’t do that,” I said, feeling likeI’d suddenly been ejected from my safe life as a grad student anddropped into the middle of a mafia movie. Taylor’s new mistress wasliterally making me an offer I couldn’t refuse.
Celeste gave me a very unpleasant smile thatdidn’t reach her eyes. “Watch me, little human—I am not one tosuffer fools gladly. Taylor is one of us now. You must accept thisand realize there is nothing you can do to change it.”
“You mean she’s a vampire?” DespiteTaylor’s altered appearance I couldn’t believe it. But my bestfriend was nodding, her lower lip trembling again.
“It…it’s true, Addison. I’m a vampire now.That’s why I have to stay here, with Celeste. She’s going to teachme all about it. And besides, I need a light-tight place to sleepand you know we don’t have anything like that at theapartment.”
“But…” I shook my head, at a loss for words.“But what am I going to tell your mom and dad? They’re frantic,Taylor.”
Blood tears welled up in my best friend’seyes and she blinked rapidly, trying to keep them from falling.“Tell them…tell them I love them and I don’t…don’t know when I cansee them again.”
“Taylor—” I started.
“Enough,” Celeste interrupted me. “Thisinterview is over. Go back to your human life and pursuits andforget about Taylor. She is mine now and I will hear no more aboutit.”
I wanted to protest further but Taylor gaveme a frantic look and a tiny shake of her head. Flanking me oneither side were some very scary looking vamps, obviously justlooking for an excuse to do some serious damage.
“I’m sorry, Addison,” my best friend saidsoftly as they took me by the arms and dragged me out. “Sosorry.”
As it turned out, I was sorry too. But therewas nothing I could do about it—my best friend’s life was ruinedand it was all my fault. I should have stayed with her. Shouldhave listened to that man’s advice. He said watch her for at leasttwenty-four hours, so what do I do? I leave her alone and go off tomy class. What the hell is wrong with me? Why didn’t I stay withher? Why didn’t I listen to him?
My thoughts were a vicious circle of guiltand recrimination, and there was only one thing I could do. I foundthe card Gerald Holms had given me and called him as soon as I gotback to the apartment. A week after that, I was headed for theVAB’s version of basic training.
So I guess you could say that Taylor and Iboth got new professions as a result of our little girl’s nightout. Unfortunately, neither one of us was very happy with our newjobs. And neither one of us could quit.
Chapter Three
I pulled up to my condo in Hyde Park andparked beside Taylor’s sleek little red sports car. She alwaysdressed in the latest fashions and drove the most expensivevehicles—Celeste was big on outer appearances. Only I knew thestruggle my best friend had every night to survive. She was thekindest, most straight-forward person I knew and she was living ina nest of snakes, cursed with an affliction that had taken herhopes and dreams from her and left her an empty existence asCeleste’s flunky.
To say I hated Celeste and what she’d doneto my best friend was an understatement. Vampires were considerablymore than tourist attractions to me now—they were the enemy and Iwould have been perfectly happy to see them all fry. Except forTaylor, of course.
She had a key so she met me at the doorlooking lovely in a deep blue designer gown that brought out hereyes. She was decked in diamonds and her long nails were painted adeep red color I was sure Celeste had picked out for her. In herold life, Taylor had always kept her nails sensibly short andmostly polish free—you can’t do serious medical work, even onanimals, with a three inch manicure. But that didn’t matter becauseCeleste wouldn’t allow her to finish school. Taylor was never goingto get her degree in veterinary science. It left her free to keepher nails as long as she wanted to—or rather, as long as Celestewanted her to.
“Oh Addison, I’m so glad to see you.” Sheenfolded me in a rib cracking embrace that left me gasping forair.
“Taylor …can’t…breathe,” I managed to getout.
“Sorry!” she released me abruptly. “I keepforgetting I’m so damn strong.”
It seemed to me she ought to be able toremember that she could tear a bus in two by now—she’d been a vampfor six years after all—but I didn’t say anything. I just motionedher to the couch and sat down. Taylor sat beside me and I put ahand on her knee.
“What happened this time?” I asked, when Icould speak again.
“I don’t…don’t know if I can say.” Shestarted to cry, tears of blood leaving two gruesome trails down herlovely porcelain cheeks. “It’s bad. Really bad.”
I wondered how much worse things could getfor her. She was already living with
