Page 44 of Nightmares and Numerology

“Yes, a bond,” I said impatiently, glaring at her. “Tease me about monogamy later. We have a gypsy to rescue now.”

Wanda bounced her keys once in her hand, smirking. “So we do. Get in the car, loverboy. Let’s find your lady and save her from the mean old vampire.”

My eyes narrowed. “I’m going to get you back for that.”

Wanda bared her teeth in a feral smile. “Oh, I’m looking forward to kicking your ass. I still owe you for that shitshow with Fifi a few years back.”

“Just as long as we save Lydia’s life,” I agreed. “Then we can duel as often as you like. Just don’t go crying to your vampire lover if you lose.”

“You’re on.”

***

Lydia

I woke up to someone grinding their heel into the back of my palm, cruelly digging a stiletto into the fragile bones as though considering snapping them in two. I couldn’t stop myself from bolting upright with a scream, trying to pull my hand away. The heel pressed harder, squashing my fingers against the carpeted floor. Something ground into my hand, and my stomach revolted; I barely turned my head in time to avoid splattering myclothes with vomit.

That, at least, succeeded in freeing my hand. The owner of the shoes didn’t appreciate vomit on the expensive footwear. When I could wipe the tears streaming from my eyes, I found a light layer of soot plastered to my skin, the aftereffect of a nearly complete demonic transformation. Someone had attempted to wipe it off my body with limited success and had completely removed the clothing I’d worn to the hospital. The scrubs they’d taken from the hospital hung off me, barely concealing the evidence of what I’d done. I wondered how they’d gotten me out of the hospital without anyone noticing… and promptly found the answer, hovering near the ceiling.

The foot that had pinned my hand to the floor like a struggling moth was attached to a long and scrumptious-looking leg. And just the leg. What should have been rounded hips leading to a dramatic curve of a waist stopped short, ending in a bloody stump. But worse than that was the thing gripping the ceiling tiles above. I vaguely recognized the venue as a nearly defunct community center. Another, grander place had been built across town, leaving this one for kids’ birthday parties and church groups handling baby showers and dinners after funerals. No one would find me here—not until it was too late. I doubted anyone would discover my body until it was ripe, drawing blowflies from the world outside.

The thing near the ceiling was worse. The creature that had called itself Andrea Reyes had shed bits of its skin so that whatever remained stretched tight against its frame. I had the impression of bloat near the stomach, with a nest of dangling entrails extruding from the remnants of a nice bodice. The original color was lost in a burst of blood. It seemed impossible that something so mutilated could be alive, but here we were. I was staring at a flying torso with its guts out.

I’d finally seen everything now.

“You and me both,” Indigo said, equally put out.

To my surprise, I actually remembered the name of this particular creature. It didn’t fit perfectly with any of the creature feature books I’d sold in my store, but the visual of hanging intestines was unmistakable.

“You’re a manananggal,” I said, my voice coming out as a rasp. My throat still burned from the violent tossing of my stomach.

Andrea’s face split into a wide grin. Too wide, in fact; her lips peeled back farther than they should have, revealing rows of sharp, needle-like teeth. In full monster form, she made a vampire’s bite look like a playful nip from a puppy. If her jaws locked onto my throat, I was a dead woman.

“The little bookworm actually decided to learn something useful before she died. I personally hoped you’d be a little slower. It’s always more fun to get the drop on a completely unsuspecting victim. Their screams are so satisfying.”

“Like Rodney?” I guessed.

I belatedly realized my aggression had been misplaced. Rodney was a bad ex. He was a terrible person in general and pathologically incapable of admitting it. That didn’t mean he deserved to be a meal for this sadistic creature.

“I’d originally planned to take your mother,” Andrea said pleasantly. “Take her in one bite one night and leave you to find what I left behind. But Murrain said I had to be more oblique. Your ex-husband is a vile little man, isn’t he?”

“Sure is,” I agreed, trying to scoot away from the legs that had parked themselves beneath her torso. I wanted to be able to run if she glued herself back together. “Is that why you tried to kill him? To get to me?”

Andrea shrugged one shoulder, managing to convey grace that this twisted monster shouldn’t possess. “Among other things. I knew I could manipulate you into situations more easilyif you were distracted by that pathetic waste of skin. And it worked. I would have had you sooner if Vin could have done his job worth a damn.”

A movement in my periphery drew my gaze to the incubus in question. It was satisfying to see he hadn’t come away from the fight in the bathroom completely unscathed. Rings of yellow-brown bruising had formed beneath his eyes. Indigo had broken his nose when she’d thrown my skull against the planes of his face. He’d managed to feed on someone long enough to make the wound appear weeks old, but it was still something.

“You said I should be able to lure her with my pheromones,” Vin muttered. “You and your boss were both wrong on that count. If I’d known she was going to cause this much trouble, I would have bailed. You better double my pay. A romp with you isn’t enough, especially when you look like this.”

Andrea’s mouth twisted in distaste. He didn’t catch the longing glance downward or the flexing of her intestines, as though she was dying to wrap them around Vin’s throat. The man was either stupid or spectacularly arrogant to think he could dictate that she give him anything. He was lucky he was alive and still had a penis. If he knew the alternative, he’d take what he had and be grateful.

“You’ll get what Murrain has promised you,” Andrea said, her sweet tone completely at odds with the flickering flesh above his head. I kept expecting it to burst into a flurry of movement and come after one or both of us stuck on the ground.

“I’d better. Take what you want from her and go. I want to leave town before my cousin realizes she’s gone. He’s strangely protective of this one, but he won’t be so keen when I’ve put a few extra miles on her.”

I’d kill myself before I let him have me. There was only one demon in the Hollow that I wanted, and he was at a police station, reviewing footage of what had attacked him. I knewhe’d come to the right conclusion eventually. I was just afraid it would be too late to do me any good.

Andrea’s legs marched away from me as she descended toward me. I barely had time to think, let alone move, and then she was on me, her weight settling like a smelly boulder on my chest. I flailed, getting nowhere. When I tried to push her off, I found only a slippery mass that oozed through my fingers. I couldn’t get a grip on anything.

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