Bare Bones Read online

  “Why did the three of you leave your home, leave Grandmother?”

  Loneliness flashed across her face before her expression hardened once again. “I’m a vampire.”

  “You’re a renegade vampire,” Dario responded. “You have no family. You have no territory. You’ve been cast out to roam the outskirts, and either starve or be killed.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “This is my Balaj. This is my family.” Her voice shook with uncertainty and fear.

  “It’s not.” Dario’s voice was cold, impersonal. “We don’t know you. We would have killed you on sight if this woman hadn’t asked us not to. The only thing keeping you alive right now is this Templar. I suggest you answer her questions before we decide you’re of no further use and rip your head off.”

  She burst into tears, curling into a little ball against the cell wall. “It wasn’t my fault. Master said I was weak, that Richard never should have turned me. I’m so hungry, so lonely, so scared. I don’t want to die. I want my family. I want my Grandmother.”

  Finally. The emotions of the Boo Hag and the vampire seemed to be in alignment.

  “You’re hungry because you can’t live on blood,” I told her. “I know you want to be a vampire, but you’re not. In time you’ll be able to fit into the human world, but you’ll never be able to fit into a vampire one. They’ll always know you’re not one of them. They’ll never accept you.”

  “I’m a vampire,” she sobbed. “I’m a vampire.”

  I was beginning to agree with Armand that crazy is what she was. But I wasn’t sure if her mental state was due to the disconnect of wearing a vampire skin, the fear that Marcielle would normally have being captured and caged by a strange Balaj, or the sudden realization that she was a young Boo Hag, alone and woefully unprepared for the world around her.

  “Do you want to go home?” I asked her in as kind of a voice as I could manage. “Do you want to go back to Grandmother?”

  She shuddered, drawing herself up and taking a deep breath. “I’m a vampire. My name is Marcielle and I want my family.”

  “And we’re back to that,” Armand commented dryly.

  I pulled Dario aside. “Is there somewhere we can talk privately? I’m assuming she has the hearing of a vampire, too.”

  He nodded and motioned for me to follow him up the stairs and into the main-floor room where Leonora tended to hold court. Neither of us sat on the gigantic, ornate chair that served as a throne.

  “I know someone who might be able to help,” I told the vampire. “But I need to make sure he can come and go safely. He’s another Boo Hag who has been living here in the area as a human for the last two years. He might be able to get through to her.”

  He nodded. “One of her own kind. That might work. How human-like is he? She looks and smells like a vampire, but there’s something strange about her scent. I’m assuming we’ll notice the same difference in this Boo Hag?”

  “I don’t know,” I confessed. “Honestly he seems completely human to me, but I don’t have your heightened senses. I had some hesitation about him at first, but I figured that was just me being paranoid because he’s dating Janice and I don’t want her to get hurt.”

  Dario blinked in surprise. “The developer? Sean Merrill? Suzette met him. She would have said if he’d seemed off, or smelled odd. Unlike our friend downstairs, he must be more skilled at impersonating a human.”

  “She met him in the last two years? Because that’s when Sean Merrill became the Boo Hag Sean Merrill.”

  The vampire nodded. “Suzette works with a lot of the city government, just to keep track of what’s happening with various buildings and long range planning. She met him last week at an evening community planning function.

  “I’d like to bring him here, if that’s okay with Leonora. This Grandmother that raises the young is supposedly on her way, but I don’t know when she’ll arrive.”

  Dario got my unspoken question. “We can continue to hold her until her Grandmother arrives, but she doesn’t look well. I’m not sure she’ll last more than a day or two, especially since she’s refusing all food but blood and can’t seem to keep that down.”

  ***

  “SHE’S BEING HELD in a vampire cage?” Sean asked. “All she has to do is shed her skin and she’s gone.”

  He’d called me back and left a message, but our game of telephone tag ended with my most recent call. Reluctant to show up at the Mistress’s house without an escort, I’d agreed to drive out and meet him down the block at a gas station.

  “I know. She’s really sick, Sean. Dario thinks she’s dying. She keeps insisting that she’s this vampire Marsielle. I don’t think she’ll leave that skin without a fight.”

  Sean ran a hand through his blond hair. “I’ve got no idea what being in a vampire skin will do to a Boo Hag. We’ve never assumed anything but a human identity, only worn human skins. I’ll do my best to talk to her, but for all I know wearing that skin might have caused her permanent damage—physical as well as emotional.”

  Great. We might not be able to get anything useful out of this girl. And she might die, wasting away in a vampire cage. “Is your Grandmother on her way?” I had hopes that their elder nanny-figure could bring these three into line.

  “She’s on her way. Grandmother is a calming and stabilizing influence. She couldn’t just leave the other young or there’s a chance what is happening here will also be happening in South Carolina. She’s had to bring in other Boo Hag to ensure the other children’s safety before she could leave. I’m confident she’ll be here by early morning.”

  I hoped that would be soon enough. “The vampires have said they’d keep Becca contained until Grandmother arrives, but I really need to know where the other two are so we can secure them before they kill again or flee the city.”

  Sean wrinkled his nose. “The vampire cage probably won’t work with them. You’re going to need something more durable, like a spell of holding and a circle of salt.”

  Neither of which I knew how to do. I wondered if Raven was strong enough to help me. Probably not, given that just typing a few sentences on the computer seemed to wear her out.

  “I’ll do my best.” I hated to tell Sean that I’d reconciled myself to the fact that I’d probably need to kill the two boys. I hated the thought. Even though they’d murdered more humans than Dark Iron had, they were children and somewhat amoral in their actions. At least I thought so. As squeamish as I was at the idea of killing them, I’d have to do it. I couldn’t let more humans die.

  We drove in silence out to Leonora’s, Sean twisting his hands together as we pulled in the circular drive.

  “I’ve met vampires before. I don’t think they recognized me as anything but human, but I’ve always been cautious. I’m really concerned about revealing who I am to them.”

  “Dario has promised me you’ll be safe,” I assured him. “They have human allies, business interests in Baltimore. They’re mainly concerned with continuing to hold their territory against other vampire groups and keeping their presence hidden from the majority of the humans. They won’t see any reason to run off or harass one Boo Hag in a city this size. As long as you don’t cross each other, you should be safe.”

  “That’s not exactly reassuring as a developer,” he commented, eyeing the vampires standing guard on Leonora’s porch. “We might sometimes have business interests that oppose each other.”

  “Then negotiate.” I parked the car smack in front of the house, pulling my sword from the back seat. “I’ve found them very agreeable to work with. If a Templar can forge alliance with vampires, then so can you.”

  Sean seem loose and casual as we walked past the porch vampires and into the house, but I could tell he was nervous. The vampires looked at him with curiosity, but kept their distance. Armand met us inside, staring at Sean in surprise.

  “This is him? Wow, if I had met him out on the street I totally would have tried to pick him up. Seems totally human to me.”
/>   “Thank you.” Sean smiled stiffly. “I try.”

  When Marsielle saw Sean, she blinked in surprise, but didn’t otherwise acknowledge him. As he approached the cage, she shrank farther against the wall. “I’m a vampire,” she told him defiantly.

  “I see that.” His voice was sympathetic and kind. “But you’ll starve if you don’t come out of that skin and feed.”

  “I just need blood. If they bring me a human to drink from, I’ll be fine. They’re starving me.”

  She was like a petulant child, lying to gain sympathy. Luckily I’d already told Sean about the blood.

  “They did do that, but you can’t drink blood. Boo Hag don’t drink blood. Take the skin off, Becca. I’ll protect you. I won’t let them hurt you. Take the skin off and we’ll get you someone to ride.”

  “I’m not Becca. I’m Marsielle and I’m a vampire. This is my skin. It’s me and I’m not taking it off.”

  She wasn’t completely delusional. She knew she was wearing a skin, even though she was insistent on keeping this particular identity.

  Sean put his hands on the iron bars, leaning in. “Why did you leave Grandmother, Marsielle? You’re too young to be out on your own. Even vampires need family.”

  “They’re not my family.” Her jaw set in a firm line and she tilted her chin upward. “I’m not Boo Hag. I’m a vampire.”

  “But you once were Boo Hag,” Sean countered softly. “Why did you leave?”

  Her lips quivered. “They made fun of me. The others made fun of me. Gary said if I helped him and Lawton escape, he’d get me a vampire skin to wear. But then Gary started to make fun of me too, so I left. I’m not a Boo Hag. I’ve never been a Boo Hag. I just needed to find a vampire skin and nobody wanted to help me.”

  “Where are Gary and Lawton?” Sean asked.

  The girl began to rock. “Lawton never made fun of me. Lawton was nice. He was always nice. I’m so hungry. Why are they starving me? I need blood. I need my family. Where is my family?”

  “Where’s Lawton? Do you know where they are, Marsielle?” Sean insisted.

  She looked up, her eyes shining with tears. “I left them. Gary wouldn’t help me like he promised, so I left them.”

  “But where were they staying?” Sean continued to press the girl. “Was there a place where they liked to hang out? A place where if you all got separated, you could meet up again?”

  “The nice house.” She furrowed her brows in thought. “I was only there once, but Gary called it the safe house.”

  That could be anywhere.

  “Do you know where it is?” Sean asked.

  “I can get there, but I don’t know the street names,” she confessed. “It’s east. It’s a pretty place with flowers and neighbors who water their lawns and have dinner with their families every night.” She wrinkled her nose. “There’s white carpet everywhere. I had to take my shoes off at the door when I went there because the woman would go crazy if I tracked mud in on the white carpet.”

  White carpet. Amanda Lewis. And now that she’d been killed, there was no one living there. It would be all the more easy to sneak in and out without a nagging sister to yell at you about taking your shoes off.

  I left Sean to continue trying to get Marsielle out of the vampire skin and went upstairs, dialing Tremelay in spite of the obscenely early hour. Becca might be starving herself, but Lawton and Gary weren’t. There was a good chance they were out “riding,” and if so, we could possibly catch them with their pants down. Or with their skins off.

  Chapter 35

  I’M GONNA GET fired for this,” Tremelay grumbled.

  I’d just be happy if we didn’t wind up dead. Sean had remained with Marsielle, promising to text me the moment Grandmother arrived. We were too close to daylight for any of the vampires to assist. Which left Tremelay and me sneaking around an upper-middle class neighborhood at the crack of dawn. The whole thing with Marsielle had taken too long and I feared we’d lost the window of opportunity to catch the Boo Hag out riding. So instead of taking their skins and setting a trap for when they returned, we were planning for a fight.

  We didn’t even have the cover of darkness to hide us as we slipped from behind the car to the row of forsythia by the garage. The plan we’d come up with was for Tremelay to enter through the front and distract them with his shotgun and official police arrest-the-bad-guys mode. I was to sneak in through the back cellar door and flank the two from the rear, dispatching them with my sword. That plan only worked if they were in one of the open floorplan rooms, like the kitchen/dining/greatroom area or hallway. If the two were up in a bedroom somewhere, or separated, we were going to have to wing it.

  Which meant we were going to have to wing it. I knew our chances were slim that we’d catch the two unawares, in the same room that happened to have multiple entrances. It was pretty much going to be the Boo Hag trying to beat on Tremelay and me until I could manage to kill them.

  The thought made my stomach revolt. I was going to kill again. I was going to kill two children. Yes, murderous non-human children, but still children. I’d come to like Sean, and I knew he was trying to bring the one woman who might end this bloodshed. But if she didn’t get here in the next five to ten minutes, it was up to me.

  And this time I would not hesitate.

  Tremelay waved me on and I darted around the corner of the garage. Around back was a basement door. Unfortunately the basement door was in clear view of the back deck and anyone who happened to be looking out a window at the time. My bigger fear was that a neighbor would see us sneaking around the house like amateur ninjas and call the police. Then Tremelay’s career would really be over and I’d have to explain to the cops why I’d broken into the crime scene of a murder victim with a large sword in hand.

  Edging along the side of the house I slipped down the cement steps and gently tried the handle. Locked. I’d expected as much and touched one of the charms on my bracelet, whispering the incantation as quietly as possible. The bolt slid free and I heard the “snick” of the handle lock retreating. Slowly easing the door open, I led with my sword and breathed easy to see the huge basement room was empty of living occupants.

  Amanda Lewis’s house was huge. The thing had to be four thousand square feet—plenty of room for a single woman and her deadbeat brother. The upstairs was carefully decorated, but the basement was unfinished. Color-coordinated storage tubs were stacked against one wall, labeled with their contents. A few shelving units held paint cans, furnace filters, and an assortment of home repair items. I got the feeling that no one ever came down here, even though the place was free of the usual cobwebs.

  I darted past the furnace and made my way up the stairs, holding my breath as I opened the door to the main floor of the house. Warm air hit my face along with the smell of cooking bacon and the lingering odor of blood.

  It seems we were lucky after all. Making my way down the hall I peered into the open space adjoining the kitchen and saw them. Ducking back I pulled the mirror from my pocket and angled it to better see what was going on in the room.

  Mirrors. Good for fighting Medusa. Good for spying on Boo Hag.

  The kitchen was a mess of dirty pans and burned bacon draining on paper towels. Beyond that, I saw three figures. Gary was once again Gary. A skin that I assumed was Travis Dawson’s was carefully folded on a chair like it was a beloved shirt. There was a guy with a mess of dyed-green hair slumped in the chair next to him, the now-familiar duct tape around his arms and legs.

  Angling the mirror I finally saw Lawton and stifled a gasp at his appearance. The other boy had no skin on at all and was sitting on the floor, knees drawn up to his chest, his head bowed onto his crossed arms. I could only see a portion of him as he was hidden by the dining area furniture.

  “I really liked being the band guy.” Gary looked with regret at the folded skin. “I hate wearing this skin. I want to go back to being Travis. Or even Bradley. Anything is better than this loser.”

  �
�The cops are looking for Bradley,” the other boy told him. “And the one who was at the concert knows you’re Travis. Just stay Gary.”

  “I don’t want to be Gary.” The Boo Hag kicked at the chair, his expression petulant. “Gary is a loser. That cop doesn’t know shit. And if you’d killed the Templar girl like I’d told you to, I could stay Travis.”

  “I did kill her.” Lawton’s voice held a faint tremor.

  Gary laughed. “Right. That’s why you won’t tell me where you dumped her body or her skin. Weak piece of shit. I’m sorry I brought you along. You’re deadweight. You’re of no use to me at all. Because of you I can’t be Travis again.”

  I tensed, hand on the hilt of my sword. Was he going to kill Lawton? Why was the boy without a skin? And could I intervene without risking the man duct taped to the chair?

  “I dumped her by the MLK, under an overpass. Homeless people sometimes stay there. It’s risky to go back to check on the body. People might see us. We’ve already gone through most of the skins we have. You get ID’d as Gary and the only one you’ll have left is that rest-stop guy.”

  “And the Strike kid you were wearing.”

  Gary moved closer to Lawton. I waited, biding my time until I felt I could get between him the potential hostage.

  “And this guy’s,” Gary added, moving back to the dining table and yanking the guy’s head up by his green hair. I saw the wide terrified eyes of their soon-to-be victim and clenched my jaw. He was awake. He’d be a witness to me killing the Boo Hag. In addition to my moral dilemma, I now had a practical one. I’d save my Baltimore pilgrims, but I’d face a whole lot more than ten hours of community service for this one.

  “I’m gonna have to cycle between Strike and this guy and ditch Gary’s skin. The cops might not know me like this but if Grandmother gets wind that we’re up here, she’ll spot Gary a mile away.”