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“I know it sounds crazy. Trust me, I do. But it’s the truth. I mean, think about it, Thomas. All those rich people movin’ out. Ronnie Foreman and his friends just disappearin’. How I survived the attack that night when Deedee didn’t? If you don’t believe me, just ask Jimmie. Ask Maybell.”
Thomas leaned back in his chair and combed a hand through his messy hair. “Look, Masie, I’m gonna shoot straight with you here; it don’t matter if I believe you or if your entire family swears on a Bible that they seen vampires. Ain’t nobody—especially a judge and jury—gonna believe you or them. If anything, they’ll just lock you and your whole family up.”
Oh Lord.For once, Thomas was right.
He added, “And if you keep tellin’ people that the man in the morgue, whose guts are all over the place, is a vampire who did that to himself just to frame you, you’ll be locked up in a psych prison.” Thomas stood. “As your friend, I advise you to get your story straight, Masie.”
I nodded, feeling the weight of doom pressing down on me. “What am I going to do?”
“When your lawyer gets here, you tell ’em it was self-defense. Say the man broke in, attacked you, and you defended yourself. And then you lost your marbles for a minute and went a little overboard with the knife—it happens. Heat of the moment and all that.”
“You think that’ll keep me outta prison?” Because I couldn’t be locked up. I had to stop Stark. With me out of the way, he was just going to take power again and then let all those vampires back into Leiper’s Fork. I mean, that was really why I was here, right? Stark couldn’t control me, so best to get me out of the way.
My rage began to percolate with the thought of Stark running around free with all his bloodsucking monster-buddies—night golfing, collecting wine, seducing young innocent women with his incredible good looks.Only to stomp them right in the heart and frame them for murder!
If I had anything to do with it, Stark would be exiled to Siberia and never ruin another woman’s life again. He had to be stopped.
Thomas swiped a hand through the air. “You tell your lawyer just what I said, Masie. That defense works all the time. Trust me. You’ll be out in no time.”
Thomas left the room, and I whooshed out a long breath. He’d better be right because I had a big ol’ helping of revenge to serve up.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Seven Months Later.
Dear Maybell,
Thank you for your last letter. No, prison is nothing like Club Med, and the free food isn’t delicious, so please stop asking if I’m enjoying myself. I’m still in the high-security wing of the prison where, yes, I get a “room” all to myself, but trust me, this is no party.
I’d just put in my fifth request to be moved to gen-pop so I could at least get a work assignment and move around during the day. Yes, I would have to socialize with gangs, murderers, thieves, and every other flavor of criminal, but I preferred that over being locked up by myself where the only thing I had was my thoughts of revenge.
Stark…
According to Uncle Jimmie, things went right back to “normal” after my conviction. He wouldn’t say any more than that, other than assuring me he was safe and looking after my family. I knew there was more going on, but he didn’t want to worry me.
After all, what could I do to help from here?Nothing.
So I just wrote letters to every rag, blogger, and sci-fi conspiracy group, warning them about Stark and vampires in general. Maybell was helping me.
The door to my cell swung open. “Kicklighter, your lawyer’s here.” One of the prison guards stood in the doorway.
“Don’t have a lawyer. You’ve got the wrong inmate.” I went back to writing on my toilet paper.
“Suit yourself, but he told me to give you a message.”
I looked up.
“He said you must return to the throne.”
I blinked. “Sorry?”
“You must return to the throne,” he said robotically.
Something felt very off about this conversation. “Does this lawyer have a name?”
“No.”
A correctional officer wasn’t about to play messenger for some random lawyer who wandered into the prison without ID. They had very strict protocols. Plus, it was seven at night, way past visiting hours.
