Page 43 of Secret of the Vampire
The Garden District, maybe. It was where he’d found me before, and with all of the witches back at Lizzy’s shop, it would be the safest place for us to have this conversation.
I started to walk toward Canal Street to catch the streetcar, but halfway there, I stopped again. I suddenly had the inexplicable feeling that this was all wrong. I didn’t know how I knew that; I just did.
I needed to play this smart, not go rushing off half-cocked. I couldn’t fuck this up, or Kenya could be lost to me forever. And the more time that went by, the more certain I became that Marcus was at the center of her disappearance, and that it had nothing to do with Kenya and everything to do with me. I had no idea what he planned to do with her, but I would do whatever the fuck he wanted if he just let her live.
As I walked down the sidewalk as quickly as I could without drawing undo attention, I’d never been more grateful she was a creature of the night. Wherever he had her, he couldn’t risk moving her during the day if he wanted to keep her alive. And if by some chance he didn’t have her, perhaps the best place to begin searching was the last place I’d seen her.
I turned up Conti Street. I hadn’t walked two blocks when I could feel the djinn’s presence. I stumbled over a break in the sidewalk, my chest tight with fear. Not for me, but for Kenya. Although I’d believed this entire time Marcus was behind her disappearance, a part of me had hoped it wasn’t true. That she had just gone somewhere and lost track of the time—maybe to feed—and forgotten her phone. And she was just hiding out somewhere waiting for the sun to go down.
The breeze picked up, changing direction, and with it I was able to pinpoint the direction I needed to go. He was close, but not close enough.
I started walking faster. Past the Prince Conti Hotel with its flying flags and wrought iron details. Past the Three Legged Dog tavern, and across Rampart Street. At the church on the corner, I stopped again, closing my eyes and opening myself to the call of the djinn.
His magic felt different than what I was used to, yet also so very familiar. It was easy for me to follow. Or maybe he was laying out a trail of breadcrumbs, waiting for me to walk blindly into his trap. Either way, it didn’t matter. I might be playing his game, but I’d be walking into it with my eyes wide open.
I was almost there.
A few minutes later, I found myself standing outside of the cemetery where I’d met Kenya the night before. He was here. I felt it all the way to my bones. And how fucking poetic. I guess this was his way of telling me that I’d been fucking stupid last night, thinking just because I couldn’t sense him around, we were safe to be together. His way of telling me that I, because of my raging need to see her, was the one who’d put her right into his path.
My teeth began to ache and I realized I was clenching my jaw. Forcing myself to relax somewhat I stopped by the gate, blending in with the group of people about to take a tour, easily convincing the tour guide I’d been there the entire time with a few softly spoken words. Once inside, I lost the group and slipped around a tomb, then headed toward the djinn.
I found Marcus at the back, leaning casually against a tall statue. He smiled when he saw me. “Hello, nephew.”
I stopped a safe distance away. “Where is she, Marcus?”
He cocked his head to the side. “Don’t you think you should start calling me ‘Uncle Marcus’?”
“No,” I told him. “Now tell me where she is, and what you’re planning to make me do to get her back so I can tell you to fuck off and go get her.”
His smile faltered a bit. “You remind me of my brother. I didn’t like him much.”
I didn’t respond, and eventually, he gave an exaggerated sigh.
“Fine. We’ll get right to business.”
“That would be fuckin’ nice.”
His expression tightened. It was so brief I might have missed it if I hadn’t been paying attention. “I can tell you’re eager to know about your lady love, so I will tell you now, the vampire is fine,” he said.
“I want her back.” This last was practically spit at him.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible.” He pushed himself away from the tomb and came to stand in front of me. “I need her.”
My heart stopped, only to start up again, hard and fast. I tried to calm myself down, knowing he would sense my fear. “You don’t need her.” If this was his way of trying to win me over, I had some bad news for him.
“Oh, but I do. And contrary to what you’re thinking right now, it really has very little to do with you.”
Nothing to do with me? Why the hell else would he want her? Memories of her lying in bed, rotting from the inside out as she died before my eyes, flashed through my mind. Terror for Kenya had me unable to speak for a long moment. And when I could, all I could do was grind out through my teeth, “What are you talking about?”
But he just smiled. “I’ll tell you what you want to know. But first, let’s talk terms, shall we?”
Linking his hands behind his back, he started to pace back and forth in front of me. I took the opportunity to reach into my pocket and wrap my fingers around my cell phone as I tried to think of a way to alert the others without pulling it out of my pocket. If I could manage to get the screen open and call someone by feel, maybe he wouldn’t hear it ring or the person who answered, what with all of the cars driving by and the chatter from the people touring the place.
My only other option was to try to reach out to Alice through our bond. I’ve never done it before, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t work. We weren’t only witches, we were twins. Twins did that all the time, right?
Marcus suddenly stopped his pacing. His head snapped up and his dark eyes zeroed in on me. “I wouldn’t, if I were you.”
My hand froze on my phone. I had no idea if I’d managed to type in my code by feel or not, or to get the damn thing to call anyone. “Wouldn’t what?”
