Make Me (26 page)

He went farther than he ever had before, farther than he ever believed possible. He brushed across several other sleeping, unresponsive targets before he finally found one that seemed to yield a bit. Maybe she was only partially asleep.

Micah thrust his energy into her pleasure centers, urging her to wake, to help him. The response was tentative at first, then became more focused, more pliable.

Finally.

Val had been able to send messages to her subjects along the energy path, so he should be able to do the same.
Get up,
he urged.
Rise and shine. For me.

He felt her acquiescence, and assumed she’d risen. Excellent.
Now go to the phone.

She hesitated, and he concentrated everything he had on her. This had better work. He was at his very limit.
Go to the phone,
he repeated, gritting his teeth and gripping the edges of the mattress.

He felt her obey his command. When she stopped moving, he said,
Now dial this number…

“That looks painful.”

The unexpected voice startled him into letting go of the strands. No, no! He reached for them again, but they felt limp and drained. Useless.

He opened his eyes to see Lilith standing in the doorway again, wearing Gwen’s body.

“Well, well. What were you doing?” she asked, cocking her head in curiosity. Her smile suggested she knew exactly what an incubus on a bed might be doing.

He wasn’t about to explain. “Lifting weights,” he snapped.

“Fine, don’t tell me,” Lilith shot back.

“What do you want?” Micah asked, closing his eyes against the exhaustion. Was she here to taunt him again?

“I thought you might like to see what I’ve done with this body, see the new me.”

His eyes flew open and he searched her body with his gaze. She didn’t look any different. Then again, vampires usually didn’t. “You didn’t have time to find a vampire,” he said, hoping he was right.

She shrugged. “Like it was hard. Ever hear about the colony of bats under the Congress Avenue Bridge?”

“Vampires don’t turn into bats,” Micah said, managing to sit up. “That’s a myth. Besides, the bats aren’t there this time of year.”

“Yes, it is a myth, sadly. But that doesn’t mean vampires don’t hang out there to, you know, encourage the rubes to believe it.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Why not?”

“You don’t look like you’ve been drained of blood.”

She laughed. “How quaint. You believe what you see in the movies.”

Feeling a little uncertain now, he asked, “Isn’t that how it works?” He didn’t know of anyone who had actually witnessed a vampire being sired.

“Well, there is an exchange of blood, but it doesn’t require buckets of the stuff.”

“How much?”

“Oh, he didn’t charge much, just the use of my body for a roll in the hay. It was kind of fun.”

He closed his eyes in pain. She was obviously trying to get to him. Unfortunately, it was working. In fact, she was trying so hard, maybe she was lying. “If you were really turned tonight, wouldn’t you be lethargic, unable to move yet?” Maybe mindless?

“No, quite the contrary. It takes very little time for the conversion to happen. My blood mingled with his, creating a chain reaction. A few sips of that heady wine is all it took to let the change sweep over me. The vampire virus, if you’d like to call it that, kills all life in the cells in a matter of moments, replacing them with vampire vitality.” She fanned herself with one hand. “It’s a hell of a rush.”

It certainly sounded plausible, but he couldn’t believe it. “Why would you do that?”

“Hello? Immortality? I’ve been dead and I didn’t like it. This time around, I plan to be here a looong time.” She ran her hands down Gwen’s sides. “It’ll take a little bit to get this body in shape, but I have lots of time. Forever, in fact.”

Micah bristled at the aspersions on Gwen’s appearance. He liked her just the way she was. He still couldn’t believe it, still couldn’t imagine someone choosing an undead existence. “Prove it.”

She sauntered a little closer. “You want proof? Here’s proof.” She pulled aside her collar and there, on her carotid artery, were two punctures.

No.

She flew at him inhumanly fast, grabbed the front of his shirt and hauled him to his feet, then slammed him against the wall with the strength of five men. “How’s this?” she asked and bared her fangs. “Proof enough?”

I hoped he was right, but I wasn’t sure we could pull it off without getting Micah, Gwen and Princess killed. But convincing him would take too long. “Who is he?” I asked Dina. “The mage demon. What’s his name?” Maybe Dan could do a search on credit cards or something.

She made an impatient gesture. “He called himself Asmodeus. That can’t be a real name.”

“King of the demons,” Shade murmured.

No way. He wasn’t going to rule any kingdom I was a part of. “Come on,” I told my guys. “Let’s go.”

Fang met us at the door. Dina followed. “Aren’t you going to help me find the kidnapper?”

I noticed she didn’t offer to help us. Not that I’d accept it. I still didn’t trust her.

WE DON’T NEED YOUR HELP, Fang said. BACK OFF, BITCH. WE HAVE FRIENDS TO SAVE.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. We hurried back out to Austin’s car.

“What’s your plan?” Dan asked.

“The books, I presume?” Austin asked as he opened the trunk where I’d stashed the girly backpack.

“Right.” I grabbed the backpack and closed the trunk. “Let’s get out of here.”

We all piled back into the car as another vehicle pulled up in front of Dina’s house. David, Pia, the large Ludwig, and the Memory Eater had arrived.

I rolled down the window and waved at them. “Follow us!”

Pia waved back in acknowledgment and Austin got the hell out of Dodge. I pulled the books out, cursing myself for not understanding what they were trying to tell me in the first place. Why hadn’t I realized it was a mage demon who wanted the books? It should have been obvious. Mage demons were the only ones who could use their whole potential, besides keepers like me. The fire demon angle had thrown me off.

DON’T BEAT YOURSELF UP, Fang said. WE ALL MADE THAT MISTAKE. LOTS OF DEMONS WANT THE BOOKS AND THE POWER THEY REPRESENT. LOOK AT DINA.

“You look at Dina,” I muttered. “I don’t want to.”

Dan twisted around in the seat to glare at me. “What are you doing? Do you actually have a plan?”

One of the books was glowing softly. “Yes, I—” My phone rang and I held up one finger as I looked at it. “I don’t know the number. This might be Asmodeus.” I answered it.

“Do you have the books?” the kidnapper asked.

“Yes, and I’m almost to Austin,” I said, trying to buy us a little more time.

“Ask for proof of life,” Dan said in a fierce whisper.

I nodded back at him. “Are my friends okay? Can I talk to them?”

“They’re fine. Here, I’ll prove it.”

“Val, it’s me,” Gwen said. “We’re all alive. But please, do everything he says.” With a relieved smile, I nodded at Dan and gave him a thumbs-up.

The mage demon came back on. “Okay, here’s how it’s gonna work. You come alone and bring me the books at a place I specify, then I’ll tell you where you can find your friends.”

“How do I know you’ll keep your part of the bargain?”

“You don’t,” he said, sounding arrogant. “You’re just gonna have to trust me.”

Yeah, right. But I let him think he’d won. “You promise you won’t hurt them?” I asked.

Dan looked like he was about to say something, but Fang jumped up to place his paws on the back of Dan’s seat and growled at him. The hellhound could read my mind, so he knew my plan.

“Wait,” Austin said quietly to Dan.

Dan’s mouth formed in a grim line but he kept his mouth shut. He had to know he could trust me to do what was best for Micah and his sister.

“I don’t have any reason to hurt them,” the demon assured me. “I don’t care about them or you. All I want is the books. But I
will
hurt them if I don’t get what I want.”

I sighed heavily so he’d think I was resigned to the situation. “Okay. Where and when?”

I listened to his instructions but didn’t plan on following them. “I’ll be there,” I said finally and hung up.

“Give me the number,” Dan said. I handed him the phone and he punched some information in on his, asking, “Where does he want to meet?”

“It doesn’t matter. We’re not going there.” I opened the glowing book and it flipped open to the spell for finding mage demons. “The spell will tell me where Asmodeus is at this moment, but if he moves, it won’t follow him. So, we’re going to where he is right now. That’s where Gwen is.” And Micah and Princess.