Incarnadine

Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

"Since I was bitten in a stormy, stormy night when I was promised the glitter of immortality." He rolled his eyes when he looked at my expression. "Jeez. I don't know how people even come up with that."

"No. Don't say it. You're born as one."

Nick's eyes widened in surprise. "How did you know that on second guess?"

"Duane said he was born a werewolf. I figured you must be kind of the same."

He snorted and flashed the row on sharp canines at me. "He's nothing like me. He's not even a noble—his blood isn't pure. Rou garou are only the bastards of the French werewolf nobility."

"Loup garou?"

"Yes. And I'm a Nosferatu. I descend from the House of—"

"Count Munchula?"

"No!" He shot me a familiar glare. "I'm one of the thirteen princes from the House of Dracul."

"Ah, so Bela Lugosi is your great, great, great grandpa?"

"Shut up!"

In the past, this had been going on a lot between us. Bites, bickers. We tried to keep it off as much as possible when Jamie was around.

"But how come," I wondered aloud, "you've been hanging out with us all this time? I mean, you obviously are allergic to sun, although I didn't see you glitter like Robert Pattinson or burst into flames."

"That's because my powers weren't supposed to emerge yet. I'm just seventeen. A Nosferatu is supposed to show sign of blood craving when they hit twenty-five, at least. Contrary to the myths, we vampires have the same short lifespan as the humans. And we don't get physical. It's more like feeling a thousand needles pricking your skin." His face turned bitter with rage. "They gave me something to speed up the process. I turned rabid for the first night, so they shot something to catch me mid-transformation. Turns out I got paralyzed instead." He peered at me with an impenetrable look. "I heard they're going to use it on you, too. If they haven't already."

I remembered the syringes—particularly the blue one. Oh my god. I hadn't actually believed they would work. They had sounded all too mythical. Thomas hadn't been trying to threaten me. He had really been showing me a glimpse of what he was going to do with me.

"Wait—how long have I been here?"

"They brought you in yesterday in the evening."

"How did you end up here anyway? Was Jamie with you?" I had a sudden panic attack involving the thought of Jamie knowing anything about supernatural world.

"She's safe. Long story. Basically the underground community needed a lab rat to try out their drug. My cousin Aaron is one of them, so he had the brilliant idea to try it out on me, the perfect powerless candidate." He frowned. "What did Jamie think about my absence?"

Aaron? The same Aaron they tried to matchmake me with? "She's tried to get into contact with you since the movies. She thinks you're breaking up with her in some way."

"What? I got captured after driving her home. I'm not some ass who'd do that! I—" Nick looked at me, suddenly curious. "What about you? All that fuss about protecting you, and here you end up, anyway."

My heart squeezed. Does Duane know where I am? Will he even look for me? "It was Mr. Harrington."

"No surprise there. We vampires have never been buddies with the Vigil." His mouth twisted. "My mother threw a fit when she knew I'm dating Jamie."

"But Jamie isn't a Vigil."

"She's not. She is the only daughter of one of the Vigil most influential leaders. That makes her a legacy."

I really couldn't picture Mr. Cadwell as a leader of the supposedly covert group.

"I hope they don't hurt her," he said, remorse clear in his voice.

Just as this strange thought I had about how Nick must love Jamie very much that he might be worthy of her after all fleeted in my mind, the sound of footsteps from outside the room made both of us freeze. The sound of key clinking woke my nerves with a jolt. Maybe I could try to escape when they opened the door.

I scrambled to my feet and looked at my hand, trying to release the claws that had appeared that night in the movies. I was concentrating so hard that cold sweat broke on my temple. For a second I thought I saw a glimpse of fur, and my nails seemed sharper and harder, but they faded out as soon as they appeared.

I was screwed.

"Don't bother, Ms. Cadwell. We're going to help you with that."

I wished being a kitsune was something more like Cyclops rather than Wolverine. I'd love to shoot lasers with my glare at Mr. Harrington. A sharp shock a betrayal stabbed me.

He was standing beside Thomas.

Thomas had a clinical look on his face that told me he wasn't up for chat today. He looked like someone observing an animal inside a cage. If I weren't bound, I would gladly scratch his scarred face with my regular nails. Anything to hurt him.

He said, "Harrington."

I knew what was coming this time—the gun in Mr. Harrington's hands and the keys they haven't even used. I ducked out of the way when the shot headed to me. It was a needle filled with liquid. A drug. The syringe flew past me and landed an inch away from Nick.

"Dodging bullets now, are we?" Thomas shook his head. "You'll only hurt your friend's little lover there."

Mr. Harrington kept on shooting. I knew I wouldn't be able to move fast enough—I haven't grown into my powers yet. One of the shots hit me on my calf. Another went to my side. Absently, I heard Nick yelling at them to stop, because I would end up rabid and hurting him. But Mr. Harrington never stopped.

The drug worked fast through my system. I tried to eject the needles from my body, but I found that the liquid had been automatically emptied to my bloodstream. I thought I got at least three shots in already.

My vision blurred. My skin felt like it was burning. The fourth shot they got on me definitely hurt.

And then I was taken into oblivion.

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