Kiss of the Vampire (The Vanderlind Realm Book 2) (24 page)

“Vulnerability?” I asked. What the hell was that supposed to mean?

“To see if you’d try to escape,” the bitchy eyebrow lady snapped.

Leonora shot her a look. Then to me she said, “If a person is all hell bent to escape, then that’s probably a pretty good sign that she is guilty.”

“Not necessarily,” I said, feeling angry and betrayed. “It could just mean that she’s scared to death and doesn’t think she’s going to get a fair trial.” I glared at all the vampires seated around the table and some of them had the decency to look away. “I can’t believe this is how vampires run an investigation,” I muttered, but I made sure that I spoke loud enough that all of them could hear me.

All three women were sworn in and gave their testimony. Leonora and the librarian stuck to the facts. Leonora felt obligated to mention that I had agreed to the jailbreak, but then didn’t want to go through with it.

“I didn’t think she was serious,” I exclaim.

“You’ve had your turn to speak,” snarled the lady with the impeccable eyebrows.

“But I have to be able to defend myself,” I insisted. “And I think this whole thing with sending in a plant to encourage me to break out of jail is entrapment or something like that. I don’t think it’s even legal.”

“You seemed to have confused us with the legal system of the United States,” the vampiress told me, her eyes flashing. I had no idea why she disliked me so much, but I really had to wonder if it had anything to do with Dorian.

Ilona wasn’t dressed in her usual skin-tight leather attire. She had on a loose-fitting cream colored top and black pants that could almost be described as slacks. I found it interesting that she’d changed her look from girlfriend-of-the-rock-star to upper-class-business-professional so seamlessly. Even her hair had a more conservative look, her corkscrew curls having been combed out into gentle crimson waves.

“I’ve know Dorian for a few decades,” she began. “We’ve dated off and on for years. He can obviously be very charming,” she said, glancing over at Ms. Eyebrows and rolling her eyes in that I’m-sure-you-know-what-I-mean sort of way. “Well I ran into him at a party a last month and he wasn’t his usual self. He was solemn, almost morose. He told me that he’d taken the plunge and become a maker, but he didn’t feel connected to his progeny at all. He said she was raging out of control in a little town called Tiburon, Ohio and he didn’t know what to do about it.” This caused some muttering amongst the other vampires. “He told me that he was considering staking her before things got desperate. He was worried people in Tiburon were starting to suspect his family.”

I wanted to shout, “That’s not true!” There had been some trouble in Tiburon with teens disappearing, but it had nothing to do with me. I realized that interrupting hadn’t won me any friends during Leonora’s testimony so I just gritted my teeth, assuming I would have a chance for some kind of rebuttal or something.

“I was truly concerned for him,” Ilona said, leaning forward and laying her hand on her chest. Her sincerity was so manufactured I wanted to puke. “And I was on my way to America anyway, so I thought I would swing by Tiburon to see what was what. I have a soft spot for Dorian, so I didn’t want him to get in any trouble. But I also didn’t want the out of control behavior of some little fledgling to put all of us at risk.”

I was never out of control. In fact, given the circumstances, I think I showed remarkable restraint. It’s not easy waking up a vampire. Maybe Dorian had said some of those things about me. He admitted that he’d possibly told Ilona a few things that he shouldn’t have. But there was no way they could pin the Tiburon kids disappearing on me. If anything, I had been using my influence to make my little corner of the world a better place.

“When I got to Tiburon,” Ilona continued, “I could see how Dorian had a huge problem on his hands. His progeny was feeding off random men while Dorian watched helplessly from a distance, making up excuses for her.” She shook her head in disgust. “The whole thing made me sick. I didn’t want to betray someone I care about, but Dorian had no control over his scion. I knew I had to do the right thing and report Haley Scott to the authorities. The worst part was…” Ilona took a jagged little breath. “When I tried to talk some sense into Haley before her arrest, she attacked me and tried to stake me.” She pressed her hand to her chest again, as if trying to still the anxiety welling up inside of her. “I was just trying to help and that was how she wanted to repay me.”

“You are so full of it!” I yelled, jumping to my feet. “You broke into my mother’s care facility. You threatened her, you threatened me and you threatened Dorian.”

“You need to calm down, young lady,” Everett told me. “And sit down.”

“No,” I said, although I did sit down because I saw the guards hefting their silver batons. “I’m being framed by this psycho and you’re all sitting around letting her do it. I was just trying to get away from her, but she kept following me and harassing me and threatening my family. And I didn’t try to stake her,” I insisted. “I was just trying to get in my house so I could get away from her. But she wouldn’t leave me alone. And she seriously threatened to drain my mom. Then the next thing I knew there was this crazy siren blaring in my ears and Ilona had shoved a stake in my hands. And then the cops showed up. She’s totally trying to frame me because she hates my maker.”

Ilona did a great job of pretending to be completely shocked and offended. “You see?” she said, looking at the other vampires at the table. “She’s delusional. I care about Dorian Vanderlind very much or I wouldn’t even be here. I’m just trying to do what’s right for our community.”

“You’re bat-shit crazy,” I told her. “No one that’s been around you for more than two seconds would believe a word that comes out of your mouth.”

Ilona’s eyes were so angry they were practically glowing red. “Dorian believes me,” she said in a low hiss. “He believes every word I say.” Everyone could hear her, but I could tell her words were only meant for me. “That’s why he always comes back to me. No matter how far he strays, he always comes back to Ilona.”

That was total crap and I knew it. I blinked at her a couple of times, wondering the best way to handle a crazy vampiress. “What are you talking about?” I asked. I seriously didn’t know. Was she trying to frame me or make me jealous? I had to wonder if even she knew what she was talking about. It kind of felt like she didn’t. Looking around at the other members of the undead I asked, “Is anyone else hearing this?” People either averted their eyes or gave me blank stares in return.

“Is Dorian Vanderlind here to give his testimony?” Everett asked, once Ilona was finished with her pack of gross exaggerations and flat out lies. “Would someone please check the hall?” A glimmer of hope began to swell in my chest. Maybe Dorian had come to testify on my behalf after all.

One of the guards stuck his head out the door and gave the hallway a scan. “There’s no one out there,” he reported. I felt my hopes crash like I was falling down a well. Tears stung my eyes and I angrily blinked them away. It was stupid of me to have thought Dorian was going to be there. He was probably halfway to Vienna to feast on virgin’s blood while being pawed at by a sexy vampiress or something like that. It was obvious that he had forgotten all about me. He’d promised that he would save me, but that was just a lie. One or two of the undead shot me sympathetic looks, but I saw triumph in Ilona’s eyes. She had to be crazy. No one went to so much trouble for revenge without having a screw loose.

Everett rapped his palm on the table a few times to draw everyone’s attention. “Alright. Well, I think we’ve heard enough for the moment,” he said. “If everyone who is not on the committee would please wait outside, I think it’s time to deliberate.”

“Deliberate about what?” I asked. I’d been assured that I wasn’t on trial.

“Deliberate about what to do with you,” he said, not unkindly. “Don’t worry,” he added in a lower voice. “I’m sure everything will be fine.”

I shuffled out into the hallway with guards surrounding me. I thought they might try to cuff me to a wall or something, but all of the fight had drained out of me. I sat on a hard wooden bench feeling like a deflated balloon. Dorian hadn’t come for me, Ilona was crazy, and I would probably go to trial and end up locked in a coffin for a hundred years for crimes I didn’t commit. I wondered if Ilona had ever done any coffin time. That might have explained why she was such a nut-job.

To my surprise, Leonora took a seat next to me. “Hey,” she said.

I couldn’t even find the words, so I just turned my head and inched away from her.

“I’m really sorry,” she told me. “I know it was kind of a shitty thing for me to do, but I didn’t really have a choice.”

“Why didn’t you?” I didn’t want to speak to her, but I had to know.

“The Bishops wanted to lock me in a coffin for fifty years and then send me to reform school. I was told that if I cooperated, then I would just get reform school,” she explained. “I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t handle the coffin.”

“So you decided to stick me in there instead,” I said, bitterly.

“Yeah, sorry.” She genuinely did sound like she felt bad about it. “But to be honest with you, I think you were screwed anyway, even if I didn’t cooperate.”

I looked at her. “What does that mean?”

“It means,” she said in a low voice, leaning closer to me, “that Ilona chick really doesn’t like you. And she’s got a lot of powerful friends.” Ilona wasn’t in the hallway at that moment, even though I’d seen her leave the conference room ahead of me. “What did you do to her, anyway?” Leonora asked. “She really hates you.”

“Nothing,” I said, feeling despair sink into my bones. I’d always had hope before, but now I had none. “I didn’t do anything. I think she just hates me for being born.”

Leonora left and so did the librarian. The guards lounged around, obviously bored. I think they would have preferred a jailbreak. I wondered if vampires ever smoked. A few of them looked like they could use a cigarette to round out their whole intimidating-guard appearance.

I could hear the rumble of talking in the conference room. It sounded like a lot of people had opinions, which was funny, seeing that most of them kept their mouths shut while I was actually in the room with them. At one point I distinctly heard Everett’s voice thunder, “But that’s not fair! We can’t do that! Even to a fledgling!” Then there was more muttering and I couldn’t make anything out after that. It did not sound like things were going in my favor. I guess I was going to have to figure out a lawyer. We were probably going to trial. I didn’t even know how to hire a mortal attorney, much less an undead one. And how was I going to pay for my defense? I had maybe a thousand dollars in my bank account. And I knew I couldn’t count on any type of Vanderlind money.

Just the thought of Dorian made me want to cry. I had been such a fool to believe he cared about me. Even with all my self-help book reading, I’d still been suckered in. But I couldn’t blame myself, not like I did with Tommy. Dorian was so handsome and charming. Plus he’d been so good to me, saving me from committing some horrible acts that would have haunted me for eternity. And he hadn’t just told me he cared. I’d felt it in the way he held me. I’d felt it in the way he buried his face in my hair. I’d felt it in his kiss. His kisses had been so precious to me that it was hard to believe that they meant nothing.

I’m ashamed to say it, but I closed my eyes and wept. I didn’t care if I was making the guards uncomfortable or if they thought I was weak. They could all meet the sun for all I cared. I covered my face with my hands and sobbed.

I don’t know how long I was crying. Eventually my tears ran out and I wiped my nose on my sleeve. My life was over and my death seemed to be ending just as it had gotten started. Part of me hoped they would just stake me. I couldn’t stand the idea of being locked in a coffin for a hundred years if we went to trial. I would probably come out crazier than Ilona.

Just then the door to the conference room opened and I was ushered back inside. It was immediately obvious that things were not going my way because Everett wore a dour expression and he could not meet my eye. I felt myself starting to tremble as I took my seat. I had no idea what was going on, but it sure didn’t look good.

One of the guards was just closing the door when it was pushed back open and Ilona came strutting in. “We don’t allow witnesses during this part of the proceeding,” Everett informed her.

“Oh, cut the shit,” Ilona snared, helping herself to an empty chair. “I’m not just anybody.”

Everett looked like he was going to say something, but Ilona glared at him so intently that he changed his mind. Looking down at a piece of paper in front of him, he cleared his throat. “Haley Scott,” he began, glancing up at me. There was sympathy in his eyes. “For behavior unbecoming of a vampire and for suspicion of putting the undead world at risk of exposure to mortals, you will be locked in a coffin for a period of no less than twelve years and then you will be rehabilitated for a period of no less than a year at a designated facility to be decided upon at the time of your release.”

“What?” I shrieked, rocketing out of my chair. “You told me this wasn’t a trial! You said this was just to gather information.” One of the guards grabbed me and stuffed me back in my seat. He had his baton out and I could tell he wasn’t afraid to use it.

“This is bullshit!” Ilona screeched, also leaping out of her seat, but no one tried to shove her back down. “She should be meeting the sun, not lounging around in a coffin.”