Dead Spots

It was sort of an apology, but my brain was still foggy enough that I didn’t get it. “Wait, what do you mean, a turn?”

“Scarlett,” he said patiently, “you turned Ariadne into a human. Permanently.”

My mouth dropped open in absolute shock. “You’re kidding.”

We were quiet for a moment while the implications of that sunk in.

“Dashiell, I would never turn you back,” I said hurriedly, tears rushing to my eyes, “I promise. I wouldn’t do that to you. I couldn’t—”

He held up a hand to silence me. “I know.” His eyes may have twinkled a little at me. “If you wanted me dead, Scarlett, you had plenty of chances that night at the mansion. But I must admit, this changes things.”

“How?”

“I am not sure yet.”

Another thought occurred to me. “What about your status with the other vampires? Is everything...okay now?”

“You mean, do I still have to find a scapegoat? No, I do not.” He smiled at me again, but this smile was deeply unsettling. “My vampires now believe that Ariadne was behind the killings, and I let the mystery go on so long so I could flush out those who were faithful to her. My status is more secure than ever.”

“And Ariadne?”

“She is no longer with us. I retained this video to show you, but I am not ready to let my people know about what it is you can do. Perhaps later.” He gave me a thoughtful look, and despite my blankets, a shiver slid up my spine. He wanted to use me to scare his enemies in the Old World.

He wanted me to be a weapon.

I almost opened my mouth to threaten Dashiell, but my slow-moving brain managed to stop me in time. This was not the time to plant my feet and take a stand. Especially since a) my power was currently gone, and b) I literally couldn’t stand.

“What happens now?” I said carefully.

“Now...I am very interested in your young friend, Scarlett. Have you considered taking her on as your apprentice?”

I admit, for a second, I thought about it. I pictured bringing Corry on jobs, teaching her about crime scenes and the Old World and how to survive. We could be a team, and I could be there for her, but not at all in the way Olivia was for me. I could do it right. And Corry could have a whole new future. A job, a friend, an entire new world.

The only problem was, it would be just like mine.

“No. That’s not happening.” Although I’d just promised myself not to antagonize Dashiell, my tone came out harsh and final.

He raised an eyebrow at me. I looked away quickly again. I felt suddenly cold. It’s very scary, I realized, being around actual vampires. I had never appreciated being a null more than I did at that moment.

“We could make her a very nice offer, Scarlett.” His voice was soft and dangerous.

“No. She’s out of this.” This time there was definite belligerence in my voice, and I glanced back at him, waiting for him to slap me or scream or something. Instead, when I looked over, he was calmly playing with his little silver phone. Then he held it up to me again, showing me a new video.

“Scarbo!” Jack’s tinny voice was cheerful and filled with excitement. “Can you believe this? You and I work for the same guy!” My stomach churned with horror, and I felt my hands begin to shake. In the little video, Jack was standing outside of some sort of office building, talking right to the camera. His red hair had grown out a little, and it looked as if he’d been working out, too. He looked good. “Dash owns the company I’m working for now, and I was talking about you today, and it turns out that he uses your cleaning service. How cool is that? Anyway, he told me you were out of town for a couple of days, but he was going to see you soon, so we thought it’d be fun to make a video.” His smile grew a little embarrassed, as though he didn’t know how to sign off, so he just waved and winked at the little camera. “Call you soon, Scar!”

Oh God. Dashiell didn’t just know about my brother, he’d taken steps to get Jack under his thumb. That’s what Jack’s whole move to LA had been about—Dashiell wanting to have better leverage over me, in case I got too uppity.

“You son of a bitch,” I hissed. “He’s my family. My only family.”

Dashiell’s vampire glow hummed as he gave me a mild smile and tucked the phone away, too quickly for my eyes to follow it. “Come, Scarlett, you must have realized I would have to take some measures to keep you...content with your place, let’s say.”

“But Jack...You started this with him way before we knew that I could do this!”

“Yes, wasn’t that lucky of me?”

I stared. Had he anticipated my new ability? It was entirely possible, even likely, that he knew way more about my power than I did. And I was pretty frickin’ sick of it. That will have to change, I thought grimly.

“Now, I have absolutely no intention of harming Jack. He’s quite a good researcher, or so I’m told. Lots of promise to go to medical school as well.”

My mouth snapped shut. Message received. Scarlett has to play well with others. I fully intended to do...something about this, but now wasn’t the time for that, either.

“Now, because you were so helpful to Beatrice and me,” Dashiell continued, “I will drop the issue of your young null friend—for the moment. You will spend a little time recovering, and then you’ll be back to work. For now, things will continue as they have been.” He looked at my face, his eyes narrowing, and I looked away. “But remember who you are, and who you work for, or things could become much less pleasant.”