Crimson Psyche (29 page)

Devereux was levitating inside a massive energy field filled with thousands of skeletal shapes, all slithering around and through each other like bony serpents, each with huge, bulging eyes. It looked like a vast, loathsome amniotic sac — the fluid thick, nebulous, and toxic — containing the partially formed embryos of a demonic breeder. Or the undigested remains in the distended stomach of a psychic cannibal.

He didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary as his grasping hands floated in a thick, dark, bloody liquid, which made up an inner layer surrounding an emaciated, contorted, charred-black thing in the center.

My attention had been so transfixed by Hallow’s grotesque form that it took me a few seconds to realize that Devereux appeared the same as always. Maybe his skin was a touch whiter, a shade more corpse-like, but I couldn’t see any other changes.

So why was Hallow such a monstrosity?

The soulless creature in the holographic nightmare had no face that I could make sense of, but still it glared at me.

The torment in my head built to a crescendo and I screamed. Suddenly, as if I were watching several movies simultaneously, each featuring one of my scattered sub-personalities, the pictures speeded up. The volume cranked. Certain my head was about to burst into flames, I braced myself to scream again, when it all—

—stopped.

There, standing alone on the center stage of my inner world, stood the part I’ve spent most of my life considering “me.” Her eyes were closed. The aspects who had splintered off during Hallow’s take-over of my mind wafted in like metaphorical ghosts and merged back into the physical form of the main personality. My psychic skin stretched as if to accommodate the gossamer reintegration.

Lust sauntered over slowly. “I’m stronger now. You can’t sweep me under the carpet. Everything is different.”

She fused into me, and all my puzzle-pieces locked into place.

Heat rushed through my body, and I reeled, as if I’d been hit by a truck. Victoria shook me and yelled again, “
Aspicio!
Excito!
” and at her words, something snapped inside me. A lifetime’s worth of repressed rage splashed over the crumbling metaphorical dam in my psyche, and suddenly I was drowning in anger, so lost in outrage that I could barely catch my breath. My fists clenched as I thought about all the risks I hadn’t taken in the name of being somebody else’s idea of a good girl — the perfect rule-follower.

My mouth went dry with the fury of truths unspoken, desires swallowed. My body shook with the wrath of allowing myself to be bullied and dominated my whole life. I’d become so disempowered, so afraid of my own wisdom that retreating into my intellect was the only safe place. Bitterness rose in my throat, as relentless as fiery magma, building toward eruption.

An unknown darkness awakened inside me.

“Yes, that’s it,” Victoria whispered in my ear. “Feel his blood in your veins. Let his evil fuel your resurrection. Turn it against him.”

I opened my eyes in time to see Hallow’s form flipping back and forth between the beautiful demon and the metaphysical cancer reaching for me. He’d managed to momentarily stun Devereux and now he rushed over to retrieve me, his
prize.

He yanked me to my feet and pulled me against his body, which stayed humanoid for only a few seconds this time before the illusion gave way to the grisly aura it had been superimposed upon. I fought against him, jabbing my elbows into his gut, enjoying his grunts of irritation.

Victoria struggled to her feet, thrust her bruised arm into the air, fist closed, and screamed, “
Expugno!
”

The hairs at the back of my neck prickled and chills rippled over my skin. I didn’t know what she’d said, but the word rattled the atmosphere.

Now that I could see exactly how monstrous Hallow was, my stomach twisted and my skin went clammy. I had to remind myself to breathe while he pressed me against him. I closed my eyes and cringed as I thought about what I was really immersed in. My intuitive radar was wide open now, and I could sense every foul nuance of his alien nature. He was sickeningly obscene.

“Enough of this nonsense.” He grabbed my hair, tugged my head back and exposed my neck. He began repeating the same phrase, over and over, in his enticing, hypnotic voice: “Do you choose me? Do you choose me?
Do you choose me?
”

I was becoming drowsy, the edge of my anger dulling. Several hundred pairs of eyes stared back at me from Hallow’s incorporeal death camp. I screamed, my rage rebounding, and forced out the words: “No!
No!
I don’t choose you.
Let. Me. Go!
”

And as I screamed, Devereux tackled Hallow again, sending them both back to the ground. It seemed they’d been fighting for hours, but time had ceased to have any meaning.

My body was shaking now. Even if I hadn’t been quaking with anger, being naked in the below-freezing temperatures was taking its toll.

The vampires struggled, switching positions every few seconds when one gained dominance over the other. As Hallow straddled Devereux, his sharp fingernails gouging out flesh from Devereux’s neck, his voice rang out. “I’ve changed my mind, laddie. You’ve been a worthy adversary, and I don’t know how you managed to shake off my control, but you’ve become much more trouble than you’re worth. Time to put an end to this.” He slid his hand across the floor and picked up one of the stakes that had restrained Victoria. He raised it over Devereux’s heart, preparing to strike.

Devereux’s vampires lurched toward him, but Devereux roared, “Get back! He is mine.”

The useless bloodsuckers glanced at each other and stepped away. I couldn’t believe they were just going to stand there and watch. The time had come to replace mindless obedience with common sense. Devereux was a force to be reckoned with, but it was insane to think that something as old and freakish as Hallow could be bested by anyone.

Hallow had become the quintessential symbol of every tyrannical person I’d ever allowed to override my free will. He’d put me and everyone I cared about in danger for his own selfish needs, leaving a trail of death and destruction in his wake, and
I was not going to have it.
I’d finally awakened from a long sleep and I refused to stand by, passively allowing Hallow to complete his foul plan.

We all sensed a turning point approaching. The room crackled with energy. Maxie managed to free herself from her dentally challenged captor and took a step toward the bloody battle. Except for her aura, which was still thick and dark, she’d transformed back into the beautiful woman I’d befriended.

After watching Hallow flash back and forth continuously between his two forms, I discovered if I focused on the likeness I was more used to, he would stay like that, but if I softened my gaze and viewed him with my peripheral vision, the horror show emerged. It was definitely less hideous dealing with the monster in his human shape.

Devereux had managed to slough off the demon sitting on his chest and they were both on their feet again, circling, Hallow brandishing the spike.

A couple of feet behind me, Victoria chanted.

“Bring me the witch!” Hallow yelled at Maxie, who startled at the harsh sound of his voice.

She pivoted like a robot, stomped over to Victoria and backhanded her with such ferocity that she fell back on the ground, unconscious. Maxie grabbed her arm and started dragging her toward Hallow.

Shocked by the savagery of Maxie’s assault, I jumped in front of her and pressed my palms against her chest. “Let go of her, Maxie,” I pleaded. “You don’t have to do this — don’t give in. You’re more than just his slave.”

“You’ve seen what I am.” She stared at me with wide, glazed eyes. “I serve at his pleasure. I can’t fight him.” She shook her head. “I don’t want to.” She raised her fist, reared back and hit me in the jaw.

The blow took me down. I’d never been struck in the face before and I was shocked at the violence. The punch radiated pain across the bones of my face and stunned me. I sat, dazed, on the cold earth for several seconds, rubbing my jaw, opening and closing my mouth, trying to gauge the damage.

Maxie dumped Victoria near Hallow and gave her a vicious kick to the ribs. Seeing her attack my friend shook me out of my stupefaction. Heart pumping, adrenaline surging, I leapt to my feet, took a running jump and landed on Maxie’s back. I wrapped my arm around her neck and pulled hard, and I must’ve caught her by surprise because she lost her balance and we both crashed down a couple of feet away from Victoria.

Old ideas about my physical limitations combusted in the raging fire of my anger. I savored the dark satisfaction of having a stranglehold on her throat. Who knew aggression could be so good?

But Maxie was by far the more experienced fighter. She sloughed me off, straddled my hips and pinned me beneath her. She braced my wrists over my head and smirked, keen intelligence once again shining from her eyes, replacing the entranced gaze she’d had moments before. Our unexpected trip to the ground must have altered the zombie-like trance Hallow inflicted on her.

I struggled, bucking my hips, and actually managed to shift her off my lower body and free one arm before she regained control.

“Gee, Doc, I’m impressed.” She raised her eyebrows. “A little of Hallow’s blood flowing in your veins and you turn into Wonder Woman.” Her expression became pensive and she leaned down to whisper, “Your boyfriend’s a little busy and I doubt he’ll be riding to your rescue tonight, so I’m going to have to change the game plan. I guess I’ll have to get rid of you permanently. Hallow will punish me, but we’ll both get over it. He needs me.”

Delusional thinking. She needs a twelve-step program, like Vampire Slaves Anonymous.

“He might need you, but he doesn’t care about you — you mean nothing to him.” I laughed, trying to goad her into a strong reaction. “You’re an empty husk. Why would he want you when he could have me? For a smart woman, you’re pretty dense.”

She didn’t disappoint. Her eyes narrowed and she gathered both my wrists into one hand.

Bull’s-eye.

She reached over and grabbed another of the stakes that had held Victoria, pointed it over my heart and laughed. “Say good-bye, Ethel.”

I twisted my body with enough force to bounce her off my hips, making her release my wrists, then rolled on top of her and grabbed for the stake, hoping to wrest it from her grip. We grappled. Evenly matched due to my newly enhanced physical strength, we both held onto a portion of the wood as it angled between us.

“How arousing,” Hallow crooned from above us.

Maxie lifted off my body and released her grasp on the stake, but I held on. Having the sharp weapon in my hand added to my illusion of control, sort of like carrying an umbrella in a hurricane.

We both stood, staring at the madman.

Hallow spoke directly to Maxie, his expression dark. “Kill my new slave and suffer a fate much worse than death, old woman.”

He’d apparently found a way to escape Devereux long enough to grab Victoria’s unconscious body from the dirt. He cuddled her body against him. Quick as a cobra, he pierced her neck with his long, sharp fangs and drank deeply before raising his crimson mouth from the holes in her skin. He licked his lips. “Ah, yes. Elixir of the gods. The perfect pick-me-up when battling a jealous bloodsucker.”

Devereux stood in front of Hallow, unmoving and silent. His blood-covered chest was still, breathing unnecessary. His gaze locked on his adversary.

“I’ll have to reconsider my plans to be rid of the old in favor of the new,” Hallow observed as he studied Maxie and me. “In fact, I’ve decided to take the voluptuous witch along for the ride too. After all, she
is
powerful, and one simply can’t have too much blood available.”

He bent down as if he were dipping Victoria in a macabre dance, preparing to sink fangs into her neck again.

I couldn’t let that happen.

He turned his back to me and I lunged, my spike poised to impale, but with unnatural speed, Maxie streaked by me and leapt in front of Hallow. My momentum had decided the course of action and there was no time to pull back. The spike pierced her skin, slicing through bone into organs. Vibrations radiated up through the wooden weapon.

I screamed, “Maxie, no!”

Maxie’s body crumpled to the ground, blood gushing from the gaping hole between her breasts.

My stomach churned and I fought back vomit as her physical form disintegrated within seconds, leaving a semi-transparent puddle of dark green-grey sludge that oozed like an extraterrestrial life form into Hallow’s death-aura.

Hallow retracted his fangs from Victoria’s neck, pushed her away and snapped into a rigid posture, his spine ramrod-straight. He shrieked, the sound rising into the register probably only heard by dogs, and his face transformed into a mask of fear and outrage. Growling, he tore at his hair. Blood dripped from his fangs.

Devereux’s arm slid around my waist from behind as he pulled me backward, away from Hallow. “Come. It is over now, my love.”

“Over?” Shock and confusion overwhelmed me. “How could it be over? Insane Hallow is still here.” Did Devereux think Hallow cared that Maxie was dead? That he’d stop his homicidal behavior to mourn her passing?

Victoria opened her eyes and groaned at Hallow’s feet.

Devereux freed his arm and wrapped me in a thick blanket that suddenly appeared before pulling me against his bloody chest again. I didn’t know where the warm cover had come from — Devereux must have mentally contacted one of his vampires — but I wasn’t going to turn it down. A muscular male popped up next to us and hurried over to Victoria. He removed his own heavy woolen cloak and threw it over the wounded witch before lifting her into his arms.

“Take her to the penthouse,” Devereux ordered.

“No, Devereux — wait. Not yet. I need to witness the end of this nightmare,” Victoria urged, her voice barely audible.

At Devereux’s curt nod, Victoria’s rescuer moved to stand beside us.

My head spun as I remembered the wet, thick sound of the spike penetrating Maxie’s chest. I couldn’t have killed her. No, this had to be another horrible nightmare. I’d reacted without thinking when I went for Hallow. I couldn’t stand watching him suck the life’s blood from Victoria. But why had Maxie gotten in the way? I didn’t really need to ask that. I knew the answer: she couldn’t help herself. Protecting the source of her addiction was all that mattered to her. But after her years with him, she had to know that Hallow couldn’t be killed. Had she
wanted
to die?

I didn’t understand why we were all just standing there, staring at the madman. “Why is the fighting over?” I whispered to Devereux, fear clenching my stomach. “Tell me what’s happening.”

He pressed me closer. “Watch.”

I made myself stare at Hallow. I’d been so caught up in remorse about Maxie’s death that I hadn’t noticed what was happening to him.

His terrified face reminded me of
The Scream
. His silver eyes went abnormally wide and his high-pitched keening wail descended the frequency scale and could once again be heard by human ears. While I watched, his beautiful body — or rather, the image he’d projected — began to blister and swell, as if he had been dipped in acid. Within seconds the familiar façade was gone and all that remained was the grotesque specter.

Frightened by the fog of impending doom permeating the air, I glanced up at Devereux again. My mouth went dry. “Am I hallucinating?”

He gave me a gentle squeeze. “The Slayer has lost his tether to the physical world.”

What?

Devereux rubbed his cheek against my hair. “From what I just read from his mind, he cannot remain without a slave to feed from. You have bested him.”

“
Bested
him?” I said, distracted by the horror show in front of me. “You aren’t making any sense. I don’t understand any of this.”

Hallow’s vast, malignant aura pulsed and writhed, oscillating around the distorted, twitching thing in the bloody center that looked like a gangrenous cell. The holographic image shifted as I studied it from slightly different angles. Hundreds — no, thousands — of bony creatures swam or floated in thick, slimy liquid — or maybe it was heavy, noxious air. All the lost souls trapped in Hallow’s metaphysical hell stared at me, wide-eyed and desperate, somehow communicating terror without having actual faces to express anything. Lightning-like energy arced throughout the putrid sac.

The entire energy field began to spread, mimicking the shockwave around a nuclear explosion, and my heart pounded as the edge of the toxic mortuary rolled toward me like a foul tsunami. I raised my arms up to cover my face and braced myself for the impact as I waited to be swept inside Hallow’s psychic abyss—

—but nothing happened.

I lowered my arms to discover the grisly aura deflating, almost as if it were in the throes of birth contractions. As it transitioned from one dimension to another, it pushed itself through an invisible fissure, becoming translucent. A face — the only one I’d seen in there — floated into the remaining section of the sac and as I watched, Maxie’s familiar form appeared. She gave a sad smile before dissolving back into the sea of death.

With a deep rumble, the Hallow-thing vanished.

A heavy silence fell in the underground asylum.

What just happened? If others hadn’t been present to witness the incomprehensible delirium, I would have feared for my sanity. A chill ran through my body. Could it really be over?

A deep voice boomed, “Master, the human is near death. Do you wish me to transport him to the penthouse?”

The human?

I gasped and stared toward the vampire squatting next to a very-blue Tom. We’d all forgotten him, and now he was freezing to death on the chilly ground.

“Tom — please, no!” I broke free of Devereux’s arms and ran to him. Even through the haze of my previously altered state, I recalled the fight between my rarely courageous friend and the monster. He’d tried his best to save me.

Devereux knelt down next to me and hugged me against him. “I can barely hear his heartbeat. He has little time left.”

My body went cold inside the warm blanket. I grabbed Devereux’s arm. “Can’t you do something? Transport him to a hospital? Cast a spell to heal him?” For the second time that night, I cried, but these tears were not caused by anyone’s influence. They were pure grief.

Devereux touched his head against mine. “I am not able to bring back the dead, my love. I am sorry.”

I jerked away and turned to him, excited. I grasped his arm, my fingers pressing into his cold skin. “Yes, you are — you
are
able to bring back the dead! He wanted to be a vampire. You can transform him.
You can!
Please, Devereux. I don’t want to lose him this way. There has been enough death and misery tonight.”

Devereux laid a hand on Tom’s chest and closed his eyes, then he lifted Tom’s hand and met my gaze. “I would not do this, not even for you, if I had not seen him take extraordinary action on your behalf. You must understand that there is no guarantee. Not everyone survives a turning of this sort. He is weak already, and he might not withstand the challenge.” He stroked his finger down my face. “Are you sure you wish me to make your friend one of the undead? He will not be the man you knew, not for a long time — perhaps never again.”

No, I didn’t want him to transform my oldest friend into a bloodsucking creature of the night, but since Tom had made his desires known, and he was nearly dead already, I didn’t see what other choice I had. I simply wasn’t ready to let go, not when Tom was dying because of me.

“Yes,” I whispered, “I’m sure.”

Devereux stood and spoke to the vampire still crouched at Tom’s head. “The dawn is less than an hour away. Take him to the penthouse and prepare him. I shall follow.”

The vampire gathered Tom into his arms and they vanished.

Then Devereux ordered the vampire holding a limp Victoria, “Take her.”

As they vanished, I stared down at the ritual circle in which Victoria had been held prisoner. The colorful symbols and letters looked so benign in the remaining candlelight, but the last few hours had been a nightmare — one I would never forget. Even while the sane part of me had been locked away, I’d still been observing everything, every hideous detail was seared into my brain.

Maxie was dead.

I’d killed her.

My mind was numb, empty. “How can I simply go about my normal life as if the last few days haven’t happened?” I asked myself, out loud.

“Do not torture yourself, Kismet.” Devereux enfolded me in his arms again. “The responsibility for the death and destruction of the recent past can be laid at Hallow’s doorstep alone. It was his abuse of his
lýtle
that caused her willingness to die.” He tightened his grip. “Come. I must attend to your friend before the sun rises, and you must sleep.”

I relaxed my head against his chest, closed my eyes and felt the familiar sensation of freefall. A soft breeze blew against my face as we transported from the hidden gentlemen’s club under the streets of Denver to Devereux’s high-rise penthouse. When Devereux released me, I opened my eyes.

He stepped in front of me, looking like a war casualty. His hair was so saturated with blood, it appeared brown instead of blond, but nothing could dim the brilliant green-blue of his eyes. “My staff is here to assist you in my absence. As always, my home is yours.” He held my face in his hands and gently kissed my lips. “I will do what I can for Tom.”

He disappeared.

Several unfamiliar women swarmed toward me, startling me. They’d been so quiet, I hadn’t noticed them. I pulled the ends of the blanket tighter around myself.

A tall, elegant, dark-skinned woman stepped forward and offered a warm smile. No fangs. “Welcome, Dr. Knight. I’m Carolyn. You must be exhausted. Devereux said you usually prefer a shower, but we thought, after the night you’ve had, you might enjoy soaking in the tub, so both are available. We’ve also prepared food and drink for you, when you’re ready.” She tilted her head, waiting for my response.

“Are you vampires?” They didn’t feel like vampires to me, but I wasn’t sure how keen my awareness was at the moment. It would be a while before I trusted my instincts again.

“No.” She chuckled. “Garden-variety humans. Devereux has hundreds of human employees, although not all of them are aware of his true nature. We” — she pointed to her companions — “have been with him for years. He’s a wonderful man.”

She didn’t refer to Devereux as master. That was one point in her favor. I didn’t ask what they were employed to do.

“He also asked me to get your permission to call the clients you have scheduled for today and tell them you have a personal emergency and will need to reschedule. Is that all right?”

My first reaction was to insist I’d see my clients, but that idea quickly deflated. A traumatized, grief-stricken therapist certainly wouldn’t be at the top of her game, so for all intents and purposes, I was temporarily useless to them. “Yes, thank you. If you would tell them I’ll call later...” I paused. “Just out of curiosity, when exactly did Devereux tell you all this? He’s been with me for the last several hours.”

“Devereux communicates with me telepathically. He told me shortly before you arrived here. Shall we go?” she asked.

I started to say I didn’t need any help, that I could run my own bath and find my own food, but I realized that simply wasn’t true. I was exhausted, and my heart was so filled with pain, I could barely breathe. Help would actually be great.

Carolyn led the way and I shuffled along behind her with the other women bringing up the rear, like an impromptu royal procession.

After a hot bath, a small meal and a glass of wine, I let them tuck me in.

Sleep sucked me under.

***

The smell of coffee once again caressed my nostrils and enticed me to rejoin the land of the living. I was beginning to associate Devereux’s penthouse with the aroma of high-quality java.

I put on a comfortable bathrobe and wandered out to the dining area, expecting to find another breakfast buffet, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Victoria sat at the end of the table, stirring a cup of tea. She was dressed in one of her lovely goddess gowns and she smiled as I approached. “I could get used to this.” She chuckled as she flicked a hand toward the feast.

I hurried over and pulled out the chair next to hers and sat. “Are you all right?” Her neck and cheek were a mass of multi-colored bruises and her lip was split and swollen. My stomach tightened in anger as I confronted the damage Hallow had inflicted on her.

“Yes. I’m better than I would’ve expected, considering.” She sounded surprisingly perky. She patted my hand and added, “And I’ll be even better by tonight, after my coven has performed a healing ritual on me.” She took a sip of tea. “You’re welcome to come, you know. I think it would be good for you to deepen your occult knowledge and practice your skills. And we could help heal that terrible bruise on the side of your face.”

I stared at her until she sighed and dropped the false cheerfulness. “Okay, it was
horrible
. I feel defiled and broken —
slimed
. I’m almost sorry he’s dead — or whatever he is — because now I can’t take my revenge. I can’t make him
pay
for what he did to me.” Her breathing was coming fast and ragged now, and her face was flushed. “I’m left with all these layers of hatred, with nowhere to put them.”

She started to cry, and I scooted closer and hugged her.

We stayed like that, silently holding each other, for several minutes, until Victoria sniffed and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. She shifted back in her seat, and I took that as a cue to give her more space, so I moved my chair back and poured myself a cup of coffee while I waited for her to continue.

“When he came into the lobby yesterday morning—” She stopped, then said, “Was it really only yesterday? Anyway, I was so shocked by what he really was that I hesitated too long. I should have pressed the alarm button under my desk, but my brain froze. I couldn’t think. And before I even realized, he’d transported me out of there into that disgusting, freezing-cold underground pit.” She gave a cynical laugh. “I did manage to fight him off for about two seconds before he entrapped me with those demonic eyes. I think I pulled out a handful of his hair.”