Chapter Thirty-six
Kyle sprang to his feet as the door across the way opened and a tall man with graying brown hair and dark eyes entered the room. He wore a white lab coat and carried a notebook in one hand and a tray holding half a dozen bottles and vials in the other. A stethoscope hung from his neck. He placed the tray on the metal table before he approached the cage.
“So, Mr. Bowden, how are we feeling this evening?”
“I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling like a rat in a trap.”
“An apt description,” the man agreed with a faint smile. “I’ll need some information.”
“Who are you? Where the hell am I? What do you want with me?”
“All in good time. For now, for your own good, I suggest you answer my questions.”
“And if I don’t?”
The man let out an aggrieved sigh. “I can promise you that you’ll regret it.”
Looking into the other man’s eyes, Kyle had no doubt that he spoke the truth. “What kind of information do you want?”
“Let’s start with your age.”
Kyle hesitated a moment, but could think of no good reason not to answer. “I was twenty-eight last November.”
“Any childhood illnesses?”
“No.”
“Have you been sexually promiscuous?”
“What the hell does that have to do with anything?”
“Just answer the question.”
Kyle shrugged. “No moreso than most men my age.”
“Ever had a blood transfusion?”
“No.”
“Any sexually transmitted diseases?”
“No.”
“Ever been bitten by a vampire?”
At the word vampire, alarm bells went off in Kyle’s head. Was this guy one of the Undead?
“Mr. Bowden?”
Kyle shook his head. “No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Hell, yes, I wouldn’t forget something like that.” But even as he said the words, he wondered if it was true. Could Mara have bitten him without his knowledge?
“Do you know where Mara is?”
Kyle gripped the bars in both hands, his earlier suspicions surfacing once again. “What does she have to do with any of this?”
“All in good time.”
Kyle’s hands tightened on the bars. “Where’s my son?”
“I need to draw some blood.”
“Go to hell.”
“Bowden.” The man’s voice wrapped around him like liquid iron, holding him immobile. “You will do as I say. Roll up your sleeve, then sit down on the floor and make a fist.”
In spite of his desire to refuse, Kyle discovered he was helpless to disobey. When he was sitting on the floor, the man retrieved the tray from the table, unlocked the door to the cage, and stepped inside.
Kyle glanced at the open door. He willed himself to lunge at the man, but again his body refused to obey. Unable to move, Kyle watched as the man filled several vials with his blood and then, to Kyle’s horror, the man forced Kyle’s head to one side and sank his fangs into his throat.
And everything went black.
Chapter Thirty-seven
Lou McDonald held the phone to her ear with one hand while she tapped the end of her pencil on the desktop with the other.
“Anyway,” Cindy said, “he told me I was fired and that he was closing up the office.”
“Why would he do that?” Lou asked, frowning.
“I don’t know, but I forgot to take my suede jacket with me when I left, and when I went to get it the next night, the place was locked up tight. I called Ramsden at home, and his wife answered. She doesn’t know where he is, either, or if she does, she’s not telling.”
“That’s really strange.”
“Yeah,” Cindy muttered. “Anyway, I’m out of a job and that jacket cost me five-hundred credits. I’ll bet his nurse took it with her. Anyway, I was thinking about coming to stay with you, if that’s all right.”
“Sure, I’ve got room. Do you think this has anything to do with Mara?”
“I don’t know,” Cindy said, her frown evident in her tone. “Why?”
“I called Kyle sometime back to remind him that he still owes me a few hundred credits, and his number’s been disconnected.”
“So? Do you think he skipped out on you?”
“I doubt it. He’s too much of a Boy Scout to pull a fast one. Seems an odd coincidence, though. Ramsden and Bowden both having links to Mara and both of them disappearing like that.”
“Well, you know what Dad always said.”
“Yeah, that there’s no such thing as coincidence. Mara would have had the baby by now,” Lou said, sorting things out in her mind. “She’s missing. Kyle’s missing. Ramsden’s missing. I think if we find one, we’ll find them all, and . . . holy crap!”
“What is it?” Cindy asked. “Lou? Lou, are you all right?”
“You’ll never believe who just walked in the door. I’ve gotta go.”
“Lou . . .”
“Call ya later.” Disconnecting the call, Lou gained her feet, one hand delving into the pocket of her slacks, her fingers curling around the bottle of holy water she was never without as a male vampire and a woman entered her office. Lou had never seen Mara before, but she recognized her immediately from the various descriptions she had heard in the past. The ex-vampire was as beautiful as everyone had said. “Mara.” The name whispered past Lou’s lips.
Mara inclined her head, but said nothing.
It was true, Lou thought. The one-time Queen of the Vampires had lost her powers. Lou took a deep breath, careful not to look the male in the eyes. Preternatural power radiated from him like thick black smoke from a forest fire. He was old, centuries old.
“Can I help you?” she asked, pleased that her voice didn’t betray her fear.
“Only time will tell,” the male said.
“What do you want?”
“I want you to find a vampire for me.”
“I’d think you’d be better at that than I am,” Lou said dryly.
“Ordinarily, you’d be right, but this one has found a way to mask his presence from our kind.”
Lou grunted softly. She had heard rumors that some of the vampires had accomplished that during the War. She hadn’t believed it at the time. She’d have to look into it, now that it appeared to be true. “Who are you looking for?”