sunlight, injecting them with vile things like a distillation of black hellebore, which really weakens us Fangborn.”
I swallowed. “And now he thinks I’m one? Why take Danny, then?”
“I don’t think he’s hunting you because you’re Fangborn. If we only discovered you, chances are he doesn’t know, and if you’re lucky, he’ll never find out. I think it’s really the artifacts, just as he said.”
“But why? Why does he hate you—us—Fangborn so much?”
“It’s not that he hates us. He wants to
become
us. He still thinks we can turn him, but we’re born, not made.” Gerry ran his hand through his hair, frowning. “And I think he believes the artifacts you have will make him a werewolf.”
Chapter 7
“Wait, you just said we were born.” So maybe I couldn’t have turned Sean by biting him. “If we’re born this way, how can these artifacts make him—?”
“They can’t,” Gerry said. “Reason’s not Dmitri’s strong point, if this is our guy. The files we have about him, his family history, tell us he’s obsessed with the mistaken idea he’s descended from werewolves—”
“We’ll discuss it in the car.” Claudia reappeared suddenly; I hadn’t even seen her leave the room. “Zoe, do you need anything else besides what I found in the guest room? Do you need to go somewhere to get the figurine?”
I hadn’t even had time to unpack since I’d arrived at Danny’s. I’d made sure the figurine was in the bottom of my bag, made sure my passport was where I put it when I left Salem. “No. I’m good.”
She threw a bag to Sean, who had dozed off. “We’re heading to the airport, Sean. I’m glad we had a chance to meet you. Time for you to go home.”
“I’m coming.”
“You got your passport on you?” I piped up.
“Go out partying in Boston on Friday night, wake up Tuesday in Cabo, you learn to take precautions,” he said.
“You can afford to leave your job?” I demanded. “I doubt it. And those guys who broke into your place in Boston, they won’tbother you anymore.” I didn’t want to drag Sean into this. I didn’t want him to find out that I was a monster. I didn’t want to worry about him while I tried to save Danny’s life.
But the selfish part of me didn’t want to leave him behind. He was the last shred of normal I could call my own.
Besides, as long as Claudia was with me, she could keep rearranging Sean’s world to a reality where I wasn’t a werewolf. However imaginary or chemically induced that world was, I wanted to hang on to it.
In the car, however, nerves overtook me. I couldn’t shake the feeling I’d be better off without the Steubens. They were exactly what Ma had warned me about. They were clearly adept at manipulation, and I’d known them, under adverse circumstances, for less than a day. A day during which I’d been threatened and my cousin had been kidnapped, his blood spilled.
But they were helping me so far, and they weren’t telling me I was crazy.
Claudia drove her BMW like someone used to getting where she needed to go, fast and without getting caught. Gerry sat with a notebook computer, working on the files he’d acquired at Danny’s place. Sean sat up front, asleep, at Claudia’s suggestion. He’d always called shotgun for as long as I’d known him. Didn’t matter that he was almost thirty.
“So, how could Dmitri kill Fangborn? Aren’t you guys pretty much impervious?” It was only then it clicked for me: Claudia hadn’t been affected by daylight. If anything, her color had improved since we left the apartment. And didn’t she say Dmitri tortured vampires by keeping them in the dark? Not even what I knew from fiction was accurate.
“We’re not immortal, just long lived. Hard to kill and quick to heal,” Claudia said. “Forget what you know about a stake through the heart—it
would
kill me, but the same as any massive trauma. But holy water, crucifixes—” She touched the little gold cross ather
I swallowed. “And now he thinks I’m one? Why take Danny, then?”
“I don’t think he’s hunting you because you’re Fangborn. If we only discovered you, chances are he doesn’t know, and if you’re lucky, he’ll never find out. I think it’s really the artifacts, just as he said.”
“But why? Why does he hate you—us—Fangborn so much?”
“It’s not that he hates us. He wants to
become
us. He still thinks we can turn him, but we’re born, not made.” Gerry ran his hand through his hair, frowning. “And I think he believes the artifacts you have will make him a werewolf.”
Chapter 7
“Wait, you just said we were born.” So maybe I couldn’t have turned Sean by biting him. “If we’re born this way, how can these artifacts make him—?”
“They can’t,” Gerry said. “Reason’s not Dmitri’s strong point, if this is our guy. The files we have about him, his family history, tell us he’s obsessed with the mistaken idea he’s descended from werewolves—”
“We’ll discuss it in the car.” Claudia reappeared suddenly; I hadn’t even seen her leave the room. “Zoe, do you need anything else besides what I found in the guest room? Do you need to go somewhere to get the figurine?”
I hadn’t even had time to unpack since I’d arrived at Danny’s. I’d made sure the figurine was in the bottom of my bag, made sure my passport was where I put it when I left Salem. “No. I’m good.”
She threw a bag to Sean, who had dozed off. “We’re heading to the airport, Sean. I’m glad we had a chance to meet you. Time for you to go home.”
“I’m coming.”
“You got your passport on you?” I piped up.
“Go out partying in Boston on Friday night, wake up Tuesday in Cabo, you learn to take precautions,” he said.
“You can afford to leave your job?” I demanded. “I doubt it. And those guys who broke into your place in Boston, they won’tbother you anymore.” I didn’t want to drag Sean into this. I didn’t want him to find out that I was a monster. I didn’t want to worry about him while I tried to save Danny’s life.
But the selfish part of me didn’t want to leave him behind. He was the last shred of normal I could call my own.
Besides, as long as Claudia was with me, she could keep rearranging Sean’s world to a reality where I wasn’t a werewolf. However imaginary or chemically induced that world was, I wanted to hang on to it.
In the car, however, nerves overtook me. I couldn’t shake the feeling I’d be better off without the Steubens. They were exactly what Ma had warned me about. They were clearly adept at manipulation, and I’d known them, under adverse circumstances, for less than a day. A day during which I’d been threatened and my cousin had been kidnapped, his blood spilled.
But they were helping me so far, and they weren’t telling me I was crazy.
Claudia drove her BMW like someone used to getting where she needed to go, fast and without getting caught. Gerry sat with a notebook computer, working on the files he’d acquired at Danny’s place. Sean sat up front, asleep, at Claudia’s suggestion. He’d always called shotgun for as long as I’d known him. Didn’t matter that he was almost thirty.
“So, how could Dmitri kill Fangborn? Aren’t you guys pretty much impervious?” It was only then it clicked for me: Claudia hadn’t been affected by daylight. If anything, her color had improved since we left the apartment. And didn’t she say Dmitri tortured vampires by keeping them in the dark? Not even what I knew from fiction was accurate.
“We’re not immortal, just long lived. Hard to kill and quick to heal,” Claudia said. “Forget what you know about a stake through the heart—it
would
kill me, but the same as any massive trauma. But holy water, crucifixes—” She touched the little gold cross ather
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