“Karn found a way into Broken Heart. Him, and half a dozen other assholes. They snatched me and Dove and then holed up at the Thrifty Sip. It’s an abandoned burned-out convenience store on the edge of town.”
I wanted to scream. Fury roared through me, but I sucked in a deep breath because I knew being reactionary wouldn’t help the situation. My hands fisted at my sides, and I swallowed my anger. It pulsed like a second heartbeat inside me, but I quelled it. For now.
“Is she alive?”
“She’s breathing,” she said. “But she doesn’t have a lot of time. Karn’s bleeding her out.”
My vision blurred, and I sucked in a grief-stricken breath. “He’s going to kill her.”
“Worse,” said Patsy. “He’s going to Turn her.”
It took me a minute to process the information. “Turn her? Into a vampire?”
“No, into a pumpkin. Look, the process isn’t always successful,” she said. “We estimate only one in ten humans make the transition.”
Well, that was just more good news. Karn couldn’t have Dove. Although I was fairly sure Dove wouldn’t mind being undead, she sure as hell wouldn’t want Karn to do the Turning. Oh, my God. What was I thinking? Dove would die. She was tough, street tough, but a bad attitude wouldn’t help her now. I thought about watching the Turning of Amahté, and I could see why humans might not make it. It was certainly difficult to be made the undead, and damn, it shouldn’t be easy. In fact, the kinder option seemed to be death.
But not for Dove.
“How do you know Dove is still breathing? You’re not taking his word for it, are you?”
“I know because I’m sitting in the fucking basement with her. Karn got me, too. And I’m trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey, and the manacles are magicked, so my powers are muted. Otherwise I’d kick his ass, or call up a zombie army to do it for me.” She held out her arms and looked at herself. “I guess the magical cuffs can’t prevent me from soul traveling.”
I was still wrapping my brain around the idea that Patsy could call up a zombie army. I imagined all the mummies in Egypt shuddering to life and marching on Cairo.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “But I’m glad you’re there. For her.” Honestly, Patsy being there was saving Dove’s life. Not from Karn’s perspective, certainly. But having the queen trapped meant the other vampires would be very, very careful about how they approached Karn. Otherwise, they might’ve gone in full bore, not particularly concerned about saving one small human’s life.
So, Patsy was their priority . . . and Dove was mine.
“There’s not a lot I can do,” she said. “Watching that bastard tor—” She stopped, and shook her head. “I didn’t know I could pop out of my body. Dove was the one who told me to try. She knows all about us . . . Theodora’s books, you know. She said Amahté could do it, so I probably could, too.”
“She’s smart,” I said. My voice quaked.
“He wants the ambrosia,” Patsy said softly. “It’ll fix his vampire problems and make him unkillable.”
Shit. “Is that all?” I asked.
“He wants you to murder Shamhat and Amahté. Obviously, we don’t want you to take out the Ancients,” said Patsy. “My understanding is that waking from a three-thousand-year nap takes a while. But once you get them free, we can help you.”
“We who?” I asked.
“Everyone who is not Karn’s prisoner,” she snapped.
“How long do I have?” I asked. Now, there was a ticking clock that was counting down even as I had this conversation with Patsy. Karn’s little nightmare clock where he was killing my best friend.
What a fucking jackass.
“Not long. She’s such a little thing.”
“Could the ambrosia save her?”
“Yes,” said Patsy. “Brigid told us that ambrosia is extremely rare. It’s a cure-all, though. And there is that whole immortality thing that goes with it.”
“If you can’t save Dove, then promise me you’ll give the ambrosia to her.”
It didn’t appear that Patsy knew I was supposed to receive the ambrosia as a thank-you gift for handing over my blood-filled body to the Ancients. And that was fine. If the last earthly thing I managed to do was save that kid, then that was worthwhile.
“I’ll be goddamned if Karn gets it,” said Patsy. “You’re doing us a huge solid, Moira. Once you awaken the Ancients and get the ambrosia to us, I promise you I’ll use it to save her.”