"What are you talking about?" I asked.
At this point, I was being intentionally obtuse. Like Jane said, when faced with a villain, keep him monologuing. Maybe Ben would come out to check on me. If he wasn't dead inside with a lot of people I loved.
That wasn't a helpful thought. I needed to focus on something else, something that would help me get some sort of control of this situation. Ophelia. What would Ophelia do? OK, no, I wasn't capable of doing what Ophelia would do in this situation. The gouging alone would be problematic for me. Georgie. What would Georgie do?
Georgie told me once that people underestimated her because of her cuteness, and that was their mistake. They thought she was vulnerable, helpless. They relaxed their guard, and then she moved in for the kill.
"Your little friend, Ben Overby. I was hoping to collect him, too. It would have been interesting to see how his test results compare to yours. But you are the purer of the two samples, so I'll content myself with you."
Playing dumb was my only option. How did he know about Ben? Jane had been so careful to keep Ben's turning private. Damn it. I supposed Dr. Fortescue had met up with Dr. Hudson at some point. I hated Dr. Hudson.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Please, just let me go, and we'll talk to Jane, and I'm sure we can get this whole misunderstanding worked out." I widened my eyes to creepy Internet kitten levels. And I blew my floral neovamp breath toward him in a long, slow exhale. He was going to be putty in my damn hands.
Or I would overcorrect and end up with another science-vamp stalker.
He jabbed the gun toward me, making a tsking noise. "Please don't insult my intelligence, Miss Keene. I will tolerate a lot from you but not that."
"What makes you think that I'm coming with you?" I asked him.
Fitz's breathing was barely audible now, his chest making weak little movements under my palms.
Stall, stall, stall. Please, someone, come outside and look for me.
I stared at the long barrel of the gun, flexing my fingers. Could I grab it? If I got shot in the hand, would the silver poisoning spread throughout my body? Was he buying the whole innocent act?
Dr. Fortescue pressed the barrel of the gun against my temple, forcing me to stand. "Make one quick movement, and I will shoot you in the head."
That would be a no, then.
Dr. Fortescue nudged me backward, forcing me toward the back of the property. I glanced over my shoulder at Fitz's still form. I checked the windows of the house, still bright. I couldn't see anyone moving inside. Did that mean they were dead? Would I ever see Ben again?
"Hands behind your back, if you please," he said, holding the gun on me. He tossed me a pair of zip-tie cuffs that burned the moment they touched my skin.
"Put them on," he said pleasantly. "No dawdling. I don't want to have to threaten to shoot you in the head twice in one night."
"I'm going to kill you," I told him, hissing as the silver-laced plastic slipped over my wrists. "And it's going to hurt."
He smiled at me like a doting father. The expression made my stomach turn. "Oh, I don't see why we have to get off on the wrong foot. You are my crowning achievement, Miss Keene. Imagine vampires not having to wait for three days to rise. Imagine simplifying the transaction of blood so they don't have to give so much of themselves to make a childe. Imagine how grateful they will be. How they will reward me." He jammed the gun into my back, forcing me to walk faster.
///
"So you did this because you want to make vampire friends?"
"No, I did this because I'm the only man who can." Again with the gun jabbing. The gun jabbing was seriously getting on my nerves. "I was the only one with the vision to advance thousands of years of evolution."
"How did you find me?" I asked as we reached the little gravel road near the cow pasture. "No one outside the Council is supposed to know where I am."
"I helped him there."
I turned and saw a woman in a poncho, her frizzy hair standing around her head like a halo.
I knew only one person who thought a poncho was an OK fashion statement.
Tina.
15
There will be times when you think you've hit rock bottom in terms of vampire parenting. Remember, it can always get worse.
-The Accidental Sire: How to Raise an Unplanned Vampire
"You're supposed to be dead," I told her.
"Well, I'm happy that you're wrong," Tina chirped. "It's really good to see you, Meagan. I feel so lost when one of my birds is out of the nest."