Bloodfever
Page 67
I rolled over gingerly. There was bread and a small pail of water inside my cell. I fell on them like an animal.
As I tore off chunks of dry, crusty bread and stuffed them in my mouth, I watched Malluc through the bars. His back was to me. His hood was down. The back of his hairless, swollen head looked gangrenous. Froths of lace rimmed his neck and black-gloved wrists where his robe fell away. Even decaying, he was still dressing in the height of Goth. He was seated at the low stone slab and if I wasnt mistaken, he was eating something, too, making disgusting noises while he did it. I saw the flash of silver slicing, the sound of blade against stone, crunching sounds. I wondered what decaying vampires dined upon. According to the authors of Vampires for Dummies, they didnt eat. They drank blood. His body and the chairs blocked my view of the slab.
I finished the bread too quickly, resulting in a hard, sour lump of dough in my stomach. Despite raging thirst, I sipped the water carefully. There was no bathroom in my cell from Hell. Ironic, the humiliations that occur to us in the midst of significantly larger problems, as if being killed by ones enemy isnt quite as terrible as being forced to urinate in front of him.
Where was Barrons? What had he done when Id not shown up at the bookstore that night? Gone hunting for me? Was he still out there looking? Had Malluc and the Hunters captured him, too? I refused to believe that. I needed hope. Surely if Malluc had gotten Barrons, hed be bragging about it, would have imprisoned him somewhere I could see him. Was he back at the bookstore, furious with me, thinking Id gone off with Vlane again and would turn up next month, bikini-clad and suntanned?
Where was the cuff?
Why, oh, why hadnt I let him tattoo me? What was my problem? He could have branded me between the cheeks of my petunia for all I cared, if itd get me out of here! What had I been thinking? I was such an idiot!
A cuff can be removed, Ms. Lane; a tattoo cant.
Id learned that lesson the hard way. Question was would I survive it?
Wheres my spear? I asked Malluc. If it was here, perhaps the cuff was, too.
Not your spear, bitch, the vampire said, raising an arm, bringing another bite to his mouth. I caught a glimpse of his hand; he was wearing shiny, stiff black gloves. I wondered if his hands had begun to rot and he wore gloves to contain their shape. He chewed a moment. You were never worthy of it. Ive put word out that I have it. Whoever restores me gets it.
Do you really think you can be restored? He looked like something that had been resurrected from a grave. I couldnt see such damage being undone.
He didnt answer me, but I felt his anger; it chilled the room.
If you were the Lord Masters right hand, why doesnt he heal you? He leadsthe Unseelie. He must be very powerful, I fished.
He spat something from his mouth. I caught a glimpse of a red gristly thing before it hit the floor beyond the slab. Was he eating raw meat?
He is nothing compared to the Fae! Its a true Fae I need now, a full-blood. Perhaps the queen herself will come for the spear, and give me the elixir of life in exchange for it, make me truly immortal.
Why would she do that when she could just kill you and take the spear?
He whirled and glared at me, citron eyes maddened with fury. Clouds were my illusion. The queen granting him eternal life was his, and Id just shattered it.
My body retched before my brain processed what I was seeing. Some things dont have to be filtered through the consciousness; they get you in the gut. A chunk of raw flesh dangled, half in, half out his rotting mouth, and he held another piece of it in his hand. The flesh was pinkish gray, seeping, and glistened with white pustules. I could see beyond his half-turned body to the slab. I knew now what he was eating.
A Rhino-boy was chained to the slab. Alive. What was left of it writhed in agony. Malluc was eating Unseelie!
My bread metamorphosed instantly to a spoiled lump of yeast that expanded and threatened to disgorge. I refused to give it up. I needed my energy. I swallowed, hard. Who knew when he would bother to feed me again? You! Youre the one whos been eating them! But why? Of course. It was no coincidence the half-eaten bodies had been found where my specter was seen. It had been Malluc eating the Rhino-boy in the graveyard that night Id searched it for Barrons. It had been him right outside my bookstore, whod left the half-eaten nightmare in the Dumpster! So close and Id never even known!
He shoved the bite into his mouth with his fingers. It quivered, resisting the entire time. I could see his food moving behind his cheeks. The flesh he was eating wasnt just raw; like the Unseelie on the slab, it was still alive. Do you wonder about me, bitch? I wondered about you. After you stabbed me, I sickened immediately. I didnt know what was wrong with me. I lay in my lair, poisoned, realizing in slow degrees what your spear had done to me. It was then that I projected myself to you, spied on you. I was too weak at first to do more than watch you and plan, but vengeance made me strong. That and eating most of my followers. He laughed. While I lay in that room, stinking to high hell, watching myself rot, I had so many conversations, so many intimate little encounters with you while I waited for this moment. In all of them you worshipped me before you died. You want to know me? Youll know everything soon. Youll call me Lord Master. Around another mouthful, he said, Hes the one who taught me to eat them.
As I tore off chunks of dry, crusty bread and stuffed them in my mouth, I watched Malluc through the bars. His back was to me. His hood was down. The back of his hairless, swollen head looked gangrenous. Froths of lace rimmed his neck and black-gloved wrists where his robe fell away. Even decaying, he was still dressing in the height of Goth. He was seated at the low stone slab and if I wasnt mistaken, he was eating something, too, making disgusting noises while he did it. I saw the flash of silver slicing, the sound of blade against stone, crunching sounds. I wondered what decaying vampires dined upon. According to the authors of Vampires for Dummies, they didnt eat. They drank blood. His body and the chairs blocked my view of the slab.
I finished the bread too quickly, resulting in a hard, sour lump of dough in my stomach. Despite raging thirst, I sipped the water carefully. There was no bathroom in my cell from Hell. Ironic, the humiliations that occur to us in the midst of significantly larger problems, as if being killed by ones enemy isnt quite as terrible as being forced to urinate in front of him.
Where was Barrons? What had he done when Id not shown up at the bookstore that night? Gone hunting for me? Was he still out there looking? Had Malluc and the Hunters captured him, too? I refused to believe that. I needed hope. Surely if Malluc had gotten Barrons, hed be bragging about it, would have imprisoned him somewhere I could see him. Was he back at the bookstore, furious with me, thinking Id gone off with Vlane again and would turn up next month, bikini-clad and suntanned?
Where was the cuff?
Why, oh, why hadnt I let him tattoo me? What was my problem? He could have branded me between the cheeks of my petunia for all I cared, if itd get me out of here! What had I been thinking? I was such an idiot!
A cuff can be removed, Ms. Lane; a tattoo cant.
Id learned that lesson the hard way. Question was would I survive it?
Wheres my spear? I asked Malluc. If it was here, perhaps the cuff was, too.
Not your spear, bitch, the vampire said, raising an arm, bringing another bite to his mouth. I caught a glimpse of his hand; he was wearing shiny, stiff black gloves. I wondered if his hands had begun to rot and he wore gloves to contain their shape. He chewed a moment. You were never worthy of it. Ive put word out that I have it. Whoever restores me gets it.
Do you really think you can be restored? He looked like something that had been resurrected from a grave. I couldnt see such damage being undone.
He didnt answer me, but I felt his anger; it chilled the room.
If you were the Lord Masters right hand, why doesnt he heal you? He leadsthe Unseelie. He must be very powerful, I fished.
He spat something from his mouth. I caught a glimpse of a red gristly thing before it hit the floor beyond the slab. Was he eating raw meat?
He is nothing compared to the Fae! Its a true Fae I need now, a full-blood. Perhaps the queen herself will come for the spear, and give me the elixir of life in exchange for it, make me truly immortal.
Why would she do that when she could just kill you and take the spear?
He whirled and glared at me, citron eyes maddened with fury. Clouds were my illusion. The queen granting him eternal life was his, and Id just shattered it.
My body retched before my brain processed what I was seeing. Some things dont have to be filtered through the consciousness; they get you in the gut. A chunk of raw flesh dangled, half in, half out his rotting mouth, and he held another piece of it in his hand. The flesh was pinkish gray, seeping, and glistened with white pustules. I could see beyond his half-turned body to the slab. I knew now what he was eating.
A Rhino-boy was chained to the slab. Alive. What was left of it writhed in agony. Malluc was eating Unseelie!
My bread metamorphosed instantly to a spoiled lump of yeast that expanded and threatened to disgorge. I refused to give it up. I needed my energy. I swallowed, hard. Who knew when he would bother to feed me again? You! Youre the one whos been eating them! But why? Of course. It was no coincidence the half-eaten bodies had been found where my specter was seen. It had been Malluc eating the Rhino-boy in the graveyard that night Id searched it for Barrons. It had been him right outside my bookstore, whod left the half-eaten nightmare in the Dumpster! So close and Id never even known!
He shoved the bite into his mouth with his fingers. It quivered, resisting the entire time. I could see his food moving behind his cheeks. The flesh he was eating wasnt just raw; like the Unseelie on the slab, it was still alive. Do you wonder about me, bitch? I wondered about you. After you stabbed me, I sickened immediately. I didnt know what was wrong with me. I lay in my lair, poisoned, realizing in slow degrees what your spear had done to me. It was then that I projected myself to you, spied on you. I was too weak at first to do more than watch you and plan, but vengeance made me strong. That and eating most of my followers. He laughed. While I lay in that room, stinking to high hell, watching myself rot, I had so many conversations, so many intimate little encounters with you while I waited for this moment. In all of them you worshipped me before you died. You want to know me? Youll know everything soon. Youll call me Lord Master. Around another mouthful, he said, Hes the one who taught me to eat them.
