baring fangs.
“Enough,” Dayne said, stepping between them. “Her memory is completely gone. She doesn’t even remember her own name. Greta tells me she had to get it from a card in her wallet. I used her blood for a spell; it led me to you. You’ve done it, and now you have to undo it.”
Anthony had a vague sense of what had happened the night before; how he’d almost killed her, the guilt, wiping her memory. He supposed he might have done the memory wipe a bit more forcefully than was necessary, but he hadn’t been himself.
“I can’t undo it,” he said.
Greta poked a finger in his chest, “Well, you better figure it out, buddy, or I promise I will find a way to unmake you.”
Anthony retreated a couple of steps. “When did the kitty get claws?”
Dayne smiled. “I suspect she always had them. You will need to figure out what to do about the girl.”
Vampires routinely took and manipulated memories. Millions of people all over the planet who didn’t believe in their existence had been fed on. Many of them more than once. Every human had a different flavor, and most vampires had favorites they fed from multiple times. Unless the human was kept with them, they were never the wiser for it.
Vampire fangs could kill, but vampire saliva healed at a rate impossible outside magic. After feeding and sealing the wounds, there was no trace of physical evidence. After wiping the memory, there was no evidence at all. But no vampire had ever returned a memory. As far as Anthony knew, it wasn’t possible.
Sure, he could implant false recollections until she had a more-or-less intact memory from her perspective. But it wouldn’t be hers, not her actual life. Though he’d been inside her mind, read it and manipulated it previously, Anthony had never watched the full movie of her history. What he didn’t know, he couldn’t replace.
“I’ll talk to a couple of vampires older than me and see if there is a way to bring them back, if you’ll keep her here with you. I’ll be back in a few days.”
This was going to take away from the time he could be using to prepare for the tournament. His taking leadership wasn’t preordained. The coven was large and spread over several states, and many vampires were coming in from out of town, some of them fierce competitors.
“She can’t stay here,” Dayne said.
“Why in the hell not?”
Greta poked Anthony in the chest again. “Because, moron, she believes he’s a medical researcher. He put a big glamour over the magic dungeon here and kept it going long enough to draw blood and get Charlee upstairs. Now it’s gone. He’s barely holding onto the glamour on the rest of the house that covers up the magic books.”
Anthony growled. If the therian poked him once more, he was going to unmake her. “Well, she can’t be left unsupervised.”
“Why not?”
“Linus would take her.”
Dayne understood, but Greta didn’t. Anthony figured Dayne would fill her in later if he cared to. Linus was one of his rivals and older by a few centuries. He would arrive soon for the tournament and had a particular interest in mistakes and failed experiments. Anthony wasn’t aware of another vampire having taken a full memory before, but if his rival found her, he would take her for his collection.
Linus had a menagerie of girls whose memories hadn’t been properly erased, girls with permanent scars because an inexperienced fledge hadn’t healed them properly, girls who’d been tortured by sadistic vampires who didn’t clean up after themselves. The list went on. It was his collection of other vampires’ messes. He got off on making these women live in a state caught between grateful and terrified.
If Charlee was running loose, Anthony’s signature could be found just as easily as Dayne had found it. Easier in fact. A vampire only had to taste a human’s blood to instantly glean a full mental history of his or her previous experiences with their kind.
“Then I suggest
“Enough,” Dayne said, stepping between them. “Her memory is completely gone. She doesn’t even remember her own name. Greta tells me she had to get it from a card in her wallet. I used her blood for a spell; it led me to you. You’ve done it, and now you have to undo it.”
Anthony had a vague sense of what had happened the night before; how he’d almost killed her, the guilt, wiping her memory. He supposed he might have done the memory wipe a bit more forcefully than was necessary, but he hadn’t been himself.
“I can’t undo it,” he said.
Greta poked a finger in his chest, “Well, you better figure it out, buddy, or I promise I will find a way to unmake you.”
Anthony retreated a couple of steps. “When did the kitty get claws?”
Dayne smiled. “I suspect she always had them. You will need to figure out what to do about the girl.”
Vampires routinely took and manipulated memories. Millions of people all over the planet who didn’t believe in their existence had been fed on. Many of them more than once. Every human had a different flavor, and most vampires had favorites they fed from multiple times. Unless the human was kept with them, they were never the wiser for it.
Vampire fangs could kill, but vampire saliva healed at a rate impossible outside magic. After feeding and sealing the wounds, there was no trace of physical evidence. After wiping the memory, there was no evidence at all. But no vampire had ever returned a memory. As far as Anthony knew, it wasn’t possible.
Sure, he could implant false recollections until she had a more-or-less intact memory from her perspective. But it wouldn’t be hers, not her actual life. Though he’d been inside her mind, read it and manipulated it previously, Anthony had never watched the full movie of her history. What he didn’t know, he couldn’t replace.
“I’ll talk to a couple of vampires older than me and see if there is a way to bring them back, if you’ll keep her here with you. I’ll be back in a few days.”
This was going to take away from the time he could be using to prepare for the tournament. His taking leadership wasn’t preordained. The coven was large and spread over several states, and many vampires were coming in from out of town, some of them fierce competitors.
“She can’t stay here,” Dayne said.
“Why in the hell not?”
Greta poked Anthony in the chest again. “Because, moron, she believes he’s a medical researcher. He put a big glamour over the magic dungeon here and kept it going long enough to draw blood and get Charlee upstairs. Now it’s gone. He’s barely holding onto the glamour on the rest of the house that covers up the magic books.”
Anthony growled. If the therian poked him once more, he was going to unmake her. “Well, she can’t be left unsupervised.”
“Why not?”
“Linus would take her.”
Dayne understood, but Greta didn’t. Anthony figured Dayne would fill her in later if he cared to. Linus was one of his rivals and older by a few centuries. He would arrive soon for the tournament and had a particular interest in mistakes and failed experiments. Anthony wasn’t aware of another vampire having taken a full memory before, but if his rival found her, he would take her for his collection.
Linus had a menagerie of girls whose memories hadn’t been properly erased, girls with permanent scars because an inexperienced fledge hadn’t healed them properly, girls who’d been tortured by sadistic vampires who didn’t clean up after themselves. The list went on. It was his collection of other vampires’ messes. He got off on making these women live in a state caught between grateful and terrified.
If Charlee was running loose, Anthony’s signature could be found just as easily as Dayne had found it. Easier in fact. A vampire only had to taste a human’s blood to instantly glean a full mental history of his or her previous experiences with their kind.
“Then I suggest
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