Page 66 of Night of the Vampire
"Aye. That's what I'm asking."
To my surprise, she didn't immediately respond. "No," she said after a pause. "None of them would risk being banished from the coven."
She was probably right. "If it wasn't any of you, then who was it?"
Judy shook her head slightly. "I don't know, but I don't like it."
My anger was swiftly cooled by an icy layer of hopelessness. If the witches hadn't put the curse on Kenya, then it was very possible they wouldn't be able to heal her.
"Will you come see her?" I asked. "Kenya?" Much as I tried, I couldn't completely disguise the pang of desperation in my tone.
Immediately, Judy shook her head as she got to her feet and grabbed her coat. "No. I'm sorry. We can't interfere."
"What the hell do you mean? She's dying, Judy." I didn't bother to tell her that only the blood I'd forced from her niece had kept her alive this long.
Still, my words were enough to bring her up short. When she turned back toward me, I could see true empathy in her blue eyes. "I'm very sorry for that. I am. I liked her."
I rose to my feet. "Don't you dare talk about her like she's already dead. She's not gone. We still have a chance to save her if you'd just help me."
But again, she shook her head, her lips pursed together. "I can't. We can't. And please, do not try to get Lizzy to help you. If I'd known this is what you were asking of her I would've forbidden her to speak to you anymore." She paused. "I still might do that." She looked up at me. "It's for her own good, Killian. And ours. I'm sorry, but we can't get involved. And she would be no help to you. Lizzy is a witch, yes. But she's completely unaware of her magic."
I tried to keep the smirk off my face, I truly did. But I was angry at her refusal. Angry she would do nothing at all to help one of us. And I wanted to hurt her the only way I could. "You can't keep Lizzy away from me, priestess."
Satisfaction filled me as her eyes filled with alarm. "She cannot help you, Killian. Cannot help Kenya. What else could you possibly want with her?"
"Why don't you ask her yourself?"
"Because I don't know where she is, you bastard. Apparently, there was a fire at her apartment she never told me about and her assistant tells me she hasn't been to the store all week."
"Maybe it's not me she's hiding from."
I didn't know why I was antagonizing her like this. Angering a witch was dangerous, as Kenya could well attest to. But I couldn't seem to help myself.
"But when I see her again," which I would, very soon, "I'll tell her you're looking for her."
Magic curled around me, raising the hair on the back of my neck as she came around the desk to stand directly in front of me, each step slow and precise, until she was so close she had to crank her head back to stare up at me from her meager height.
It took everything I had to hold my ground and not back away.
"Do not play with me, vampire. Or what Kenya is going through will seem merciful in comparison to what I do to you." Shifting her coat to one arm, she stuck her finger in my face. "Stay away from my niece. I'm ordering you. Or our nice little arrangement we have going on here will be finished."
"That's not happening, Judy. Lizzy is mine."
The outer layers of my skin began to burn.
"She is NOT yours. You have no claim to her."
I smiled. "Oh, aye, but I do. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but we've recently discovered Lizzy is my mate. Given to me by the fates, you see. And you've been around long enough to know that there is no way in hell I'll be staying away from her. And I truly believe she feels the same about me." Or, at least, she would. Lizzy already craved my body. Soon, she would crave my blood. And then my soul. "So, if you truly care about your niece, you'll take a step back and stop trying to burn me alive with your magic. She'd never forgive you."
Judy stared at me for a long moment. "That's impossible."
I leaned down into her face and bared my fangs. "Ask her yourself." I cocked my head. "When you find her, that is."
I felt her feeling out the truth of my words, and I allowed her to do it. A moment later, the fire left my skin, leaving it feeling warm and raw but unharmed to the eye.
"Then it will be you who'll need to protect my Lizzy," she ordered. "At least for now. I don't know who or what we're dealing with here, and she cannot do it herself. Not yet."
I acknowledged her demand with a nod of acquiesce.
