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“Make a choice, and I will grant freedom.”
“To them both?”
“To the one you love most.”
“No!” I yelled. The house shook with my scream, and my shadow on the wall grew taller for a fraction of a second. I would have thought I was hallucinating, but I saw the Deacon flinch.
When he spoke again, his toying tone was gone. “Choose, or I will take them all. Every person you love,” he hissed.
I looked at Kyrie and Valerie again. I knew who I would choose. I would choose Kyrie. Kyrie with so much life to live. Kyrie, who was innocent. Kyrie, who could see. Maybe Valerie wouldn’t know what was happening. Maybe it would be fast. Or maybe he couldn’t hurt her. Maybe he’d become attached to her.She’s always been mine.I didn’t believe belonging to someone made you safe but had to hope there would be a second chance to set her free.
“Kyrie. Let Kyrie go,” I whispered, clenching my teeth and closing my eyes.
The Deacon laughed, snapping his fingers. Valerie’s hand dropped the blade, and she leaned back, letting go of Kyrie. Kyrie fell forward, reaching for the cloth at her face, pulling it away. She coughed and heaved on her hands and knees on the dirty floor.
“Go to him,” the Deacon commanded. And Kyrie scrambled up, running to me. My eyes were fixed on Valerie, even as Kyrie hugged me tight. She looked like a dog, frozen in place. The puppeteer was no longer moving her limbs, but the strings were still in his grasp.
“What are you going to do to her?” I asked as I clutched Kyrie to me.
The Deacon did not speak as he removed his crisp white button up. I watched his muscles move as he folded it neatly in his hands before turning to Valerie. He placed it in her lap, and she pressed her palms to the fabric, content.
As Kyrie turned in my arms, the Deacon wiped the hair from Valerie’s face and leaned down, opening his mouth. When his tongue came out, it was long, forked, and I stepped back. In my arms, Kyrie did not recoil in surprise, as any normal or coherent person would, and I wondered if she was in shock.
The Deacon licked the blood from Valerie’s temple, and I wanted to kill him for doing what I had just done to Sorina.
When he was done, he placed a tender kiss on her temple, then stepped away. “I’m not doing anything to her.”
“But you said—”
“I said you had to choose the one you love the most. You’ve chosen. He didn’t choose you,” he said, his head turning to the side slightly. The last sentence not directed at me.
I stepped to the side, pulling Kyrie with me, and glanced in the direction the Deacon was speaking. From the dark of the kitchen behind us, Sorina stepped out.
The Deacon smiled wide, his sharp teeth making me stare at him again. “Did you hear that, Sorina? He didn’t choose you,” he said, his lips peeled back, sharp teeth menacing.
Sorina walked past us, into the room, a dagger in her hand and tears of red down her face. I could barely breathe, fearful for everyone but myself, half ready for death.
The Deacon turned Valerie around, hand on her shoulders. Her black eyes darted wildly for a movement until the Deacon pulled her forward, opening his mouth.
I heard a noise come from Sorina, but I didn’t know what it meant.
The Deacon’s long tongue slid into Valerie’s mouth, and she closed her eyes and moaned into him. When he pulled away, he looked at her with his white eyes, and she seemed dazed again, blinking. He let her go, and she stumbled a little.
“Go home, my love. I’ll be there soon. You don’t feel well,” he said. “You had fun at the dance, but needed to get home to rest. You bid your nephew goodnight before your departure. When you hit our bed, you will fall into a deep sleep.”
Valerie nodded, walking past Sorina, toward Kyrie and me.
“Valerie, Valerie, wake up,” I yelled as she passed me, reaching for her hand as Kyrie flinched at the woman who’d held a dagger at her throat. I let Valerie pass, whispering that it would be okay into Kyrie’s hair.
“Don’t worry,” the Deacon smiled as Valerie left. “She will get home safe. She will sleep well. She will remember none of this in the morning.”
“What the fuck are you?” I yelled, watching Sorina, who didn’t move—eyes trained on the Deacon.
“I think you know what I am. I think our dear girl here warned you. Don’t be a dumb dog. Open your ears.” The Deacon smirked.
“You’re a vampire, then?” I asked. I knew it. I’d felt it. I’d smelled it.
But I wanted him to say it.
