Luther's Return
Page 3
“Better help get the newbie settled.” Norris motioned to the subdued vampire whose face and hands were covered in angry blisters. He’d gotten the full brunt of the UV lights, lying on his back when the lights had come on.
Luther had been able to look away from the rays, but his nape and the back of his head had sustained significant damage—nothing some human blood and a good day’s sleep couldn’t fix.
“And I’m not gonna be the one writing up the incident report,” Norris insisted. “I’m due for my vacation.”
McKay who held a UV gun to the head of the V-CON—whose hands were now tied with silver shackles—grunted in displeasure. “You sure know how to pick the right time, leaving the rest of us to deal with this newbie.” McKay hit the butt of his gun against the prisoner’s temple. “Who doesn’t fucking know what’s good for him.”
“Let’s go, West,” Dobbs ordered. “Unless you like it here so much you wanna stay longer.”
In spite of the pain that radiated through his head and traveled down his spine, Luther jumped up, not wanting to show the ungrateful guards that he was hurting. He gave a nod of acknowledgment to his jailor, and continued his walk out of the hellhole that had been his home for twenty lonely years.
2
“My zipper is stuck!”
Katie Montgomery whirled around in the locker room-turned-dressing room-for-the-night. One side of it was reserved for the female members of the cast. Seven-foot-high partition walls separated the area from the section where the male actors got changed into their costumes.
The drama class at the University of San Francisco, a private school, was putting on A Midsummer Night’s Dream before the Christmas holidays. And as the drama teacher, Katie was responsible for the entire production, including making sure everybody looked the part and knew their lines. In addition she was also playing one of the parts herself, since unfortunately a female student had dropped out early in the semester and Katie couldn’t find anybody else for the demanding role.
The hustle and bustle, the chatter, the excitement among the amateur actors reminded her of the years she’d spent on film and television sets in Hollywood. Her name hadn’t been Katie then. Everybody in Hollywood knew her as Kimberly Fairfax, the blonde bombshell. Well, she wasn’t blonde anymore either—in fact, she’d never really been blonde. Her natural hair color was a rich dark brown, just like her brothers’, Haven and Wesley.
She rushed to Cindy, the twenty-year-old girl who’d wailed about her zipper. “I’ve got it.” She stepped behind her and looked at the back of the pastel-blue-and-green fairy costume. “Back in the sixteenth century they had buttons and bows,” Katie mumbled to herself. She pulled on the zipper, but it was tight. “Have you gained weight?”
Cindy looked over her shoulder and shrugged sheepishly. “I swear I only have one pastry in the mornings.”
Katie tilted her head to the side, but said nothing.
“Okay, and one in the afternoon. But it’s really not my fault. I’m just always hungry. And I’m still growing. Besides, we can’t all have the same perfect figure as you. I don’t know how you do it. You still look like you’re in your twenties, and I know for a fact that your first big movie was released when I was born.”
Smiling, Katie shook her head. “Just hold your breath for a moment.” She pulled the zipper up and patted the girl on the shoulder. “It’s all good.”
Before her student could continue commenting on Katie’s appearance, Katie turned away and looked around to see if she was needed anywhere else. She always refrained from commenting when people remarked on her looks and age.
She was forty-two, but for a witch, age meant nothing. While she wasn’t quite as ageless as her vampire brother, Haven, she and her witch brother Wesley aged so slowly they could easily pass for twenty-somethings. It was one of the reasons Katie had left Hollywood and the movie business behind. Too many people had started asking questions, wondering what plastic surgeon she was using to continue looking so young. She was afraid that one day they would figure out that she wasn’t human, but a preternatural creature.
Despite her witch genes, she had no powers to speak of. A ritual her mother had performed shortly after her birth had robbed her and her brothers of their witch powers. When her brother Haven had sacrificed his human life twenty years ago to save the world from an evil witch, and become a vampire, the Power of Three she and her brothers were supposed to possess had been destroyed for good.
Luther had been able to look away from the rays, but his nape and the back of his head had sustained significant damage—nothing some human blood and a good day’s sleep couldn’t fix.
“And I’m not gonna be the one writing up the incident report,” Norris insisted. “I’m due for my vacation.”
McKay who held a UV gun to the head of the V-CON—whose hands were now tied with silver shackles—grunted in displeasure. “You sure know how to pick the right time, leaving the rest of us to deal with this newbie.” McKay hit the butt of his gun against the prisoner’s temple. “Who doesn’t fucking know what’s good for him.”
“Let’s go, West,” Dobbs ordered. “Unless you like it here so much you wanna stay longer.”
In spite of the pain that radiated through his head and traveled down his spine, Luther jumped up, not wanting to show the ungrateful guards that he was hurting. He gave a nod of acknowledgment to his jailor, and continued his walk out of the hellhole that had been his home for twenty lonely years.
2
“My zipper is stuck!”
Katie Montgomery whirled around in the locker room-turned-dressing room-for-the-night. One side of it was reserved for the female members of the cast. Seven-foot-high partition walls separated the area from the section where the male actors got changed into their costumes.
The drama class at the University of San Francisco, a private school, was putting on A Midsummer Night’s Dream before the Christmas holidays. And as the drama teacher, Katie was responsible for the entire production, including making sure everybody looked the part and knew their lines. In addition she was also playing one of the parts herself, since unfortunately a female student had dropped out early in the semester and Katie couldn’t find anybody else for the demanding role.
The hustle and bustle, the chatter, the excitement among the amateur actors reminded her of the years she’d spent on film and television sets in Hollywood. Her name hadn’t been Katie then. Everybody in Hollywood knew her as Kimberly Fairfax, the blonde bombshell. Well, she wasn’t blonde anymore either—in fact, she’d never really been blonde. Her natural hair color was a rich dark brown, just like her brothers’, Haven and Wesley.
She rushed to Cindy, the twenty-year-old girl who’d wailed about her zipper. “I’ve got it.” She stepped behind her and looked at the back of the pastel-blue-and-green fairy costume. “Back in the sixteenth century they had buttons and bows,” Katie mumbled to herself. She pulled on the zipper, but it was tight. “Have you gained weight?”
Cindy looked over her shoulder and shrugged sheepishly. “I swear I only have one pastry in the mornings.”
Katie tilted her head to the side, but said nothing.
“Okay, and one in the afternoon. But it’s really not my fault. I’m just always hungry. And I’m still growing. Besides, we can’t all have the same perfect figure as you. I don’t know how you do it. You still look like you’re in your twenties, and I know for a fact that your first big movie was released when I was born.”
Smiling, Katie shook her head. “Just hold your breath for a moment.” She pulled the zipper up and patted the girl on the shoulder. “It’s all good.”
Before her student could continue commenting on Katie’s appearance, Katie turned away and looked around to see if she was needed anywhere else. She always refrained from commenting when people remarked on her looks and age.
She was forty-two, but for a witch, age meant nothing. While she wasn’t quite as ageless as her vampire brother, Haven, she and her witch brother Wesley aged so slowly they could easily pass for twenty-somethings. It was one of the reasons Katie had left Hollywood and the movie business behind. Too many people had started asking questions, wondering what plastic surgeon she was using to continue looking so young. She was afraid that one day they would figure out that she wasn’t human, but a preternatural creature.
Despite her witch genes, she had no powers to speak of. A ritual her mother had performed shortly after her birth had robbed her and her brothers of their witch powers. When her brother Haven had sacrificed his human life twenty years ago to save the world from an evil witch, and become a vampire, the Power of Three she and her brothers were supposed to possess had been destroyed for good.
