Page 34 of The Monster of Darkspell Comics
David gives him a disapproving look but sighs as he stands and walks over to a large cabinet that is built into the wall of what looks like the inside of a camper. The appointment—was that for the camper or to meet with Adam? I groan to myself. Did it even matter now? My jaw tightens as I watch him remove a vial and turn to hand it to the vampire.
“Here. Take this the next time you feed, and the antibodies should fuse with the blood before it soaks into your system.”
“I will feed now, then,” Adam says eagerly as he turns toward me, hunger and desperation bright in his eyes.
“Not her,” David snaps angrily. “I told you how important my research here is. I told you—I need her.”
“Whatever,” Adam replies crossly. “I don’t see what’s so special about her, or why you pushed me to acquire her now for you. I don’t think a nibble would hurt anything.”
“That is because you’re an idiot,” David drawls. “She is one in a million right now, and I’m not going to allow you to screw that up by tainting her with your vampirism. I need to study her exactly in this state because, unlike vampires, who get transformed from an infection in the bite, other cases of transformation of humans into a non-human being begin with exposure to very specific pollutant.”
He proceeds to smile at me in a way that makes my skin crawl. “You see, Adam, humans apparently have a very special sort of chemistry that is lurking within their DNA, just waiting to be activated through sexual contact. You can almost consider it like the effect of an STD, if you will. The best way to try to find a cure for it is to acquire samples at the very early stage of the pollution, when the human body is in the midst of the change. Only then am I likely to find an even dispersal of changed, changing, and unchanged genetic material. It took me a long time to find her—many hours of lurking around that town and that damned mall. So, you will have to forgive me if I insist that you feed elsewhere. Just reapply the sunblock I supplied you with before you go out. The afternoon sun is going to burn off the rest of the fog cover.”
“Yeah, okay, sure,” Adam mutters. He glances over at me and gives me a small smile. “Hey, sorry about this. For what it’s worth, you are pretty cute. I just can’t live this way. The vampire life is not as glamorous as it looks in the movies.”
“What a loser,” I mumble as I allow my eyes to slide closed, shutting both of them out. It’s not like I can escape anyway,which is confirmed in the next moment when I feel the cool touch of metal cuffing my wrist to where I’m lying.
Bastard. I hope that Pashar disembowels both of them.
Chapter 26
Pashar
“Fanny, I got you something from the Flaming Chopstick this time,” I say as I enter the shop, absently studying the bag in my hand. “Dzik had The Good Char closed for some reason today. He’s been doing that a lot lately, so Anayolia wasn’t pleased when I told her that I’m going to shut down for a few days. She understood the reason for it, though, so she just bitched about the inconvenience, and threatened to hang me by my entrails if I hurt you. She was actually graciously accommodating for only going that far, but it is bad for anyone’s health to get between a rutting demon and his ma—" I trail off as I glance up only to find the shop surprisingly empty. “Fanny?”
I look around, my brow furrowing at the strange trace streams of fog dissipating in the shop. Dropping the bag on the counter, I search the shop, checking every aisle amid the racks and shelves.
“Fanny? Where are you?” I bellow. “Answer me.”
Nothing. It’s like she disappeared into the trailing wisps of fog. And not just Fanny. My eyes land on the corner where Chewy has sat for months, rapidly growing into her current monstrous size. The shelf is empty except for an empty pot with just traces of splattered dirt around it. Impossible. Nothing could have simply picked up and stolen Chewy, that can only mean... she left in the way of malcante and several other species of predatory plants. The foggy day gave her the advantage of dissolving into it to travel.
I growl in frustration. She wouldn’t do that for no reason. Getting caught out in the direct heat of the desert would kill her. Unless... “Fanny,” I rasp.
She is following Fanny. Which can only mean that someone has stupidly stolenmymate. My corethi twist beneath my illusion, hissing as they whip through the air, sending comic books fluttering to the floor around my feet. Fury thuds through me like a drum, pounding like the break of thunder. I can feel my hold on my illusion cracking, but I wrestle it back in place. Any error now could delay me from finding my mate on time.
With a whip of my tail, I storm from my shop and head directly for Anayolia’s office. It is about time the administrator does something for me besides inflicting me with ridiculous rules and regulations. I move far quicker than I should, my shadow expanding far beyond the confines of my illusion. Humans scurry out of my way like vermin, but I have little interest in whether or not I’m frightening them. It actually does serve a purpose. It has Anayolia waiting for me with her office door open and a disapproving scowl on her face.
“Get in here,” she hisses, stepping back just far enough so that I can enter before slamming the door behind me. “Just what do you think you are doing, Pashar? What the hell happened to your honeymoon that you just harassed me for?”
I shake my head, barely able to find my words my volatile demonic energy expands and warps my immediate environment. Anayolia’s gaze shoots around the room, and she slams her hands against her desk, jerking my attention to her.
“Get ahold of yourself,” she snarls. “Do you want to be hauled back to the pit for judgement? I can arrange an expedited one-way ticket to haul your ass directly there if you bring any form of demonic chaos into my mall. I will bring the book down on you so hard that, if you are lucky, you will just be confined within the mists of the nightmare realm. But knowing the Master, youwill probably end up working right beside Dzik for the rest of eternity, you pile of fetid excrement.”
“Fanny is gone,” I snarl as I turn to her, the threads of my illusion that I’ve just been barely clinging to, falling away.
The snarl falls from Anayolia’s face as she goes pale as she stumbles back. “W... what did you say?”
“My mate is gone,” I bellow as she drops into her chair.
“I... I don’t understand. I got your mating sanctioned weeks ago when I saw how good she was for you. The Master even agreed to it. He wouldn’t have sent anyone.”
That actually surprises me to hear. That explains why I wasn’t dragged into one of the upper demonic courts the moment I finished defiling my mate. I still can’t figure out how Dzik is getting away with it.
I shake my head. “Not him.”
Aside from her assurances, if it were the Master, he would have destroyed Chewy before allowing her to interfere. I draw a deep breath as I try to regain some control of my sanity. Anayolia was right. A nightmare demon falling straight into madness would be disastrous for everyone in the mall, if not the entire town. I would most certainly be punished then.
“I need to see your security tapes,” I bite out. Show me anything over the last thirty minutes that happened around my shop. Someone took her, and I’m certain that I know who; I just need to confirm it.”
