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"Do you really think we can take him?" Camille asked, suddenly sober. "What about the rest of the Elwing Clan?"
"They might present a problem. Odd thing is, we've heard reports about Dredge one after another, but nothing about his marshals. We'd better take him down, though, because if he gets away, we're going to be looking over our shoulders every fucking day of our lives. And we'll never again be able to have any friends or family nearby without putting them in danger."
Worst-case scenario, I could get away from Dredge. And Roz could probably escape. But the others—Chase was most at risk, but my sisters and Morio weren't invulnerable by any stretch of the imagination.
As we approached the building, I motioned for everybody to move to the side, out of the sight line of the windows overlooking the lot.
"I need to figure out what floor he's staying on. I doubt we'll be able to pry the info out of the registration desk. Dredge is charming, even without the vampire thang. You can bet they won't have a clue as to who we're asking about, or why, and he'll have them charmed into not handing out any pertinent information on our boy."
I scanned the windows, then turned back toward the pier. There—a statue of a figure carrying a large sack over his back as he stepped off a gangway. The Deckhand. That was the statue I'd seen when I'd looked through Dredge's eyes. And right behind it, the Sushirama. That meant… I glanced back at the hotel. "Fourth window from the left. I'm sure of it. Now let me figure out which floor he's on."
Slowly I began to hover, floating up. One story, nope. Two stories—no. Three—maybe, I thought. At the fourth, I snapped my fingers and immediately descended. "Four stories up, fourth window from the left. Come on, let's go." I led them into the lobby.
The Halcyon Hotel and Nightclub was just that—a hotel with a nightclub off the lobby. Like a number of the Supe clubs that had been springing up throughout the city, it catered to Earthside Supes more than Otherworld inhabitants, but welcomed just about anybody as long as they didn't cause trouble. The sounds of music and laughter came pouring from the lounge as we entered the lobby. The Doors were wailing away on the jukebox.>"Tim. Tim!"
Startled, he blinked and looked up at me from his prone position. "Huh?"
"Get back. Slowly crawl away from her. Now. She's had enough for the moment." I waited until he rolled away, then gently turned Erin around to face me. "Erin, do you know who I am?"
She gazed at me for a moment, then nodded. "Menolly. But… what happened? Where am I?"
"Do you remember being kidnapped?" I spoke slowly, wanting to break it to her gently in case she didn't fully understand just what had happened. But she surprised me here, too.
"Yeah," she said, her gaze dropping to the ground. "The vampires captured me. They almost killed me."
"They did kill you," I said. "But before you died, we found you. Do you understand?"
As the blood raced through her, strengthening her, she glanced over at Tim. "I'm one of you now," she whispered, looking back at me. "I'm a vampire, and I just fed on my best friend and liked it. I want more. What's going to happen to me?"
I gathered her into my arms and held her tight. The older woman—who would be forever middle-aged with short hair and a little bit of a tummy—hugged me for all she was worth.
"You'll be okay. You don't have to follow a path of terror and destruction. You don't have to turn into a monster. We are predators, true. We feed on blood. Nothing can—or will—change this fact. But you can choose how you respond to the urges, and you can choose who you feed on, and whether you hurt them or give them pleasure. I'm here to help you, and my friends at Vampires Anonymous will help you."
After a moment, I pushed her back to arm's length, looking at her sternly. "But, Erin, know this. I'm your sire. If you do decide to head off into the sunset and go on a killing spree, I'll come for you and I'll stake you. I'll always be able to trace you. Do you understand me?"
Erin shivered. "Yes. I asked for this. I'll never blame you, Menolly."
I bit my tongue. If it hadn't been for me, this never would have happened. Dredge wouldn't be here causing havoc, preying on my friends. But what might have been was irrelevant. What mattered now was where we were.
If there was one thing I'd had to learn over the past twelve years, it was to let go of regret. Baggage, sure, it would always be there, but there was no turning back the clock. We could only change the present and future. And now, my cords to Dredge cleaved, I could focus on destroying him and ridding the world of a terror that should have been obliterated hundreds of years ago.
I looked up at Tim. "Go get Delilah, would you?"
He nodded, scurrying out the door.
Erin gasped suddenly. "I can't breathe!"
"No, remember? You can't, not like you used to. Don't try. Don't let it worry you. As I told you, you won't die, you won't suffocate. You see, we only breathe when we consciously make the effort. Your brain is trying to repeat the patterns that worked for your body in life, but as a vampire you don't need oxygen so your body won't know what to do with it."
"How am I going to learn all of this?" she cried, for the first time looking petrified.
I grabbed her shoulders. "Listen to me. Listen. First, stop struggling. Exhale. Don't inhale, just let go of the breath you tried to take."
She focused on my gaze, and I felt her deflate, the air whistling out of lungs that no longer needed to breathe.
"Good. Now I want you to close your eyes. Look inside of you and pay attention. Are you dizzy? Do you feel like you'll pass out if you don't breathe?"
She obeyed and after a moment of stillness, said, "No. No, I think I see—if I don't struggle for breath, I don't notice that I'm not breathing."
