Murder in Vein

by Sue Ann Jaffarian

  Madison felt her jaw fall to her chest. "Her son?"

  "Seems she and Winthrop Senior divorced ages ago. There's no doubt she was the one behind the kidnappings and killingsthe big brains of the outfit."

  "But she seemed so sweet and laid-back."

  Mike scoffed at her words. "Yeah, so sweet she had a soundproof, completely furnished torture room in her home"

  Madison nearly stopped breathing at the news. She had been in that home.

  "One of the bedrooms had been tricked out with a false wall with a hidden door. Behind the wall was quite the dungeon. It's no wonder the guy in the can was scared shitless. As soon as he found out Ben and Ethan were dead, he broke down and told the cops everything. Guys like him were hired to kidnap specific targets. They were paid when the victims were handed over. He claims they never did any of the killing."

  "Do you believe him?'

  Mike gave it some thought before answering. "Yeah, I do. He doesn't seem the killing type. His priors were mostly assault and robbery. Kidnapping alone was a big step up for him."

  Madison leaned forward in her chair, both fascinated and repelled by the turn of events. "And what's happening with Lady Harriet? Did they arrest her?"

  "She's disappeared. Probably sensed everything went sour and took off. No one in her coven has any idea where she's gone. 11

  "How do you know all this?"

  "My partner told me at the hospital just before I was released."

  "You have a partner?" Madison paused, then blurted, "Partner as in another cop, or partner as in gay couple?"

  "As in cop." Mike laughed, then grabbed his side as a stab of pain radiated through him. "You seem more surprised at that than the dungeon." When she didn't respond, he added, "You know, I am a real detective with a real caseload when I'm not on vampire duty."

  Madison shrugged. "Just that you never mentioned him ... or her."

  "It's a him."

  They remained silent for a while, each lost in their own thoughts, before Notchey asked, "So, you going to take the job with the council and live here?"

  Madison drew in a long drag of air and blew it out. "Yes, I am. I'm in up to my neck now, so why not?" She glanced at Notchey. "Besides, I'm quite fond of the Dedhams. It might be nice to see what having a family is like, even if they are vampires."

  "You could do worse."

  "Yep, and I have."

  She'd broken the news about her decision to both Samuel and the Dedhams the night before. The Dedhams had been elated. Samuel had taken Madison to dinner at Scarlet to celebrate. While at dinner, he'd handed her a jewelry box. She started to protest, but he'd stopped her and told her to open it.

  Inside wasn't a fancy, jewel-encrusted trinket but a sturdy handmade bracelet of woven material. Madison took it out of the box and held it up, puzzled. "Thanks?"

  The question in her tone made Samuel smile. "Put it on and leave it on," he told her. "It will protect you."

  Madison studied the homespun bracelet. "What is it, some voodoo trinket?"

  "In a matter of speaking." Samuel took the bracelet from her and slipped it onto her slim wrist. "It has my hair woven through the fabric."

  "But you're bald," she pointed out.

  Samuel laughed. "Who said the hair came from my head?"

  Madison grimaced and stared at it. "Does this mean we're pinned in some creepy vampire way?"

  "Sort of." He touched the bracelet. "As long as you wear this and I'm alive, no other vampire will hurt you."

  "Oh, so it's really like a pet ID tag." Madison frowned. "`If found, return to owner'-that sort of thing?"

  She started to take it off, but Samuel stopped her. "It is to protect you," he insisted. "We don't know why this works, but thousands of years have proven that if a living person wears the hair of a vampire, no other vampire can hurt them. But this is just temporary. The council is having a special one made for youseveral, actually, in case of loss or damage. Your new one will be more feminine and will contain hair from each council member. As long as one of us is alive, you will be protected. In the meantime, wear this. It was one of Gordon's spares."

  "What about you?" Madison asked, looking for clarification. "Can you hurt me?"

  "Yes. Only the vampire whose hair is worn can hurt the person wearing it."

  Madison gave that some thought. "But what if I wanted...," she whispered, looking around the restaurant until she spied a handsome vampire with blond hair. "Say I wanted him to bite me. He couldn't?"

  When the blond vampire turned her way and flashed a wide grin, Madison blushed, realizing he had super hearing like Colin and the Dedhams.

  Samuel turned to look at the vampire in question. "Keep your fangs to yourself, Eric," he told him. "The lady was just making a point."

  Ignoring Samuel, the other vampire raised his blood glass to Madison. "Just say the word, beautiful."

  Turning back to Madison, Samuel explained, "If you give another vampire permission, he or she can bite you or hurt you. Otherwise, you're off-limits. Once you're wearing the council's bracelet, you will be protected by all of us, and none of us will be able to harm you or bite you without permission from the others or from you yourself."

  "In other words, when it comes to the council, I'll get my day in court before execution."

  "That's one way of looking at it."

  Madison studied the bracelet again. "I've seen something like this on Pauline, but I always thought it was some Jamaican thing."

  "Her bracelet contains hair from the Dedhams."

  "And Mike Notchey? Does he have one?"

  "We've offered him one, but he refused."

  "I didn't know refusing was an option."

  Samuel shook his head. "For you, it's not-not if you're going to work for us. We need you to be protected, not just for your sake, but for ours."

  Sadness crossed Madison's face as she looked at the bracelet again. "I'm so sorry about Gordon. Too bad his bracelet couldn't protect him against living freaks."

  They were quiet while their food was served, then Madison spoke again. "I have a question. And please don't read my mind," she added quickly. "Let me ask it like a normal person."

  Samuel raised his glass of imported blood. "Normal is boring."

  "Are you through?"

  He smiled, indicating for her to continue.

  "What happened to the blood those creeps took out of me? Last I knew, Colin had it."

  "Then why don't you ask him, not me?"

  "I haven't seen him since that night." Madison took a bite of her grilled salmon, chewed, and swallowed. "And something tells me you know. You seem to know everything." She paused to sip some iced tea. "Don't you ever get bored with knowing everything?"

  "I don't know everything," he admitted. "Just most of the things important to me."

  "So make this important enough for you to know."

  Samuel gave her a coy shrug but said nothing.

  Madison leaned forward and hissed, "He drank it, didn't he, the little bloodsucker?" She cut another piece of fish and stuck it in her mouth, chewing with annoyance.

  "Don't be angry with Colin, Madison. He just did what comes naturally." Samuel lowered his sunglasses and winked at her from across the table. "And he shared, like the good sport he is."

  Madison dropped her fork.

  THIRTY-FIVE

  n hour after dropping Madison off at the Dedhams' house, Samuel had changed his clothes and was heading across his back lawn toward the ivy. When he arrived at the council room, he was pleased to see everything in order.

  The prisoner was seated, her hands tied in front of her. Her feet were also bound and her mouth gagged. Standing guard next to her was Isabella. The prisoner's chair faced the large council table. Behind the table sat various council members.

  A quick head count told Samuel the required number of council members was in attendance. Not wanting to alert Madison that something special was up with the council, Samuel had instructed Doug Dedham to remain at hom
e. It was enough that Madison had witnessed Lilith's execution. She would have to be handled like Mike Notchey, with care and sensitivity. Like Notchey, Madison wasn't stupid, but it would serve no purpose to make her a direct accessory to the council's harsh but necessary governing methods.

  Samuel took his place at the head of the table. With a slight nod of his bald dome, he indicated for Isabella to remove the prisoner's gag. The woman coughed and cleared her throat before staring at her captors with a mixture of defiance and fear.

  "How dare you?" she began, looking straight at Colin. "You know who I am, yet you and this ragtag coven treat me like this?" The woman sputtered, using her indignation to mask her fright. "This is an abomination! Totally against all coven rules of conduct."

  "This is no coven, Lady Harriet," Colin informed her, his voice even and solemn.

  Lady Harriet looked at the face of each person on the other side of the table. "Then what is this? An abduction? A kidnapping to extort money from my ex-husband?" She cackled. "Good luck," she said with scorn. "Conrad stopped caring about me long before he divorced me, and now that Ben is dead, he cares even less." At the mention of her son, Harriet's voice cracked, and her defiance faltered as she lowered her head.

  "I can assure you, Lady Harriet," began Samuel, looking directly at her, "this is no kidnapping." With a short sweep of his hand, Samuel indicated the council members. "We are the California Vampire Council. You are here because you are on trial for murder and conspiracy."

  Harriet's head snapped up. "Trial? Murder? You can't be serious." She looked to Colin again. "You said this wasn't a coven."

  "It's not, Lady Harriet," Colin told her again. "We're the governing board for vampires living in California. Real vampires." Colin flashed his fangs. Kate Thornton, Stacie Neroni, and Eddie Gonzales followed suit. Samuel and Isabella kept their fangs covered.

  Lady Harriet's eyes widened, but she didn't look shocked. "I always knew you existed," she told the council with a tight-lipped smile. "I had to convince Ben and Ethan, especially Ethan, but I always knew it was just a matter of time before I found you."

  "And what about Lilith?" asked Stacie, getting to her feet to stand in front of the prisoner.

  "Her? She was insignificant. Ethan convinced her to join us. She'd have done anything to save that sorry-ass coven of hers"

  Stacie continued with her questions. "And who told you about the bloodlines?" Stacie turned her bare left hand out and tapped her palm to get her point across.

  Lady Harriet looked down at her own left hand but couldn't see her bloodline because of the way her hands were tied. She looked back up at Stacie, her fear gone, replaced with budding confidence and hope. "During some recent research and studies, I found a very old text on vampires. It was in a foreign language I didn't recognize so I couldn't read it or have it translated, but the drawings showed someone sucking the blood out of a young woman with one of these hand marks. Then the person sucking the blood became a vampire."

  "So you thought if you drank the blood of those marked as such, you'd also become a vampire? Is that correct?" Stacie waited for a response.

  "Yes. At first I thought it was just the blood of young women, but when Ethan met Geoff, and he had a bloodline, too, we decided to try his blood."

  Stacie came in close to the prisoner, her fangs still out and menacing. "And what about your own bloodline? Weren't you worried that Ben or Ethan would try to kill you for your blood?"

  Lady Harriet scoffed. "Ben was my son; he'd never kill me. But he never had a real backbone or leadership qualities. Ethan was smarter, but not by much. They needed me and what I knew if they wanted to become vampires."

  Stacie turned to the table and picked up a cell phone. She showed it to Lady Harriet. "According to the messages and voice mails on this, it seems you controlled the whole operation."

  "That's Ben's phone." The older woman's eyes narrowed. "How did you get that?"

  Colin answered, "I took it off his dead body."

  "You? You killed my son?"

  Shaking his head, Colin clarified, "No, the police killed him. I just happened to be there after, when you were trying to call him." He paused and looked at Samuel, who gave Colin leave to continue. Stacie sat back down. "You see, Lady Harriet," Colin explained, standing, "you got it wrong. Only people with those bloodlines can become vampires. Had he lived, your son could have told you that. I understand he learned of it just before he was shot."

  No!

  Colin ignored her cry and continued. "To turn a human into a vampire, a vampire must suck the blood of a human with a bloodline. At the exact moment the human is about to die, the vampire forces the human to drink his-the vampire's-blood. It's like a transfusion. It's very dangerous, and if it's not done correctly, the human can die. If the human survives, he will come back from the brink of death a new vampire." Colin reached out and touched Lady Harriet's left hand. "All along you had the power to become a vampire, but only a real vampire could have turned you. Humans have no ability to do it without one of us."

  Looking down again at her bound left hand, Lady Harriet stared at it as if seeing it for the first time. "All this time." She looked back up at Colin, her eyes red and wet, yet bright with new eagerness. "Colin, please-I beg you-turn me. It's all I've wanted my entire life."

  "It's too late for that, Lady Harriet." Colin turned away and took his seat with the other council members.

  "It's not too late!" the high priestess of Dark Tidings shouted. "Turn me," she begged. "My son is dead because of wanting to be a vampire. Turn me so that his death was not in vain."

  "And what about the innocent blood you shed in your ignorance?" Samuel demanded, standing at his place at the head of the table.

  Now Lady Harriet really did look surprised. "What do you care if people were killed? You're vampires. Surely you understand my desire to become one of you-to live for eternity." Passion filled her voice as she pled her case. She stopped to sniff as her nose started to run from her tears. "What's a few deaths when you're seeking the higher calling of immortality?"

  When she received no answer, Lady Harriet snarled at the vampires before her. "It's not like a single one of you have clean hands. How dare you judge me for killing so that I can have what you have."

  Samuel addressed the council. "Lady Harriet, high priestess of Dark Tidings, is charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder against bloodline holders. You've heard the accused. What is your verdict?"

  Samuel went around the table, asking each council member to verbally cast his or her vote. It was a unanimous vote of guilty.

  Samuel nodded to Isabella, who lifted Lady Harriet to her feet to stand before the council. The legs of the high priestess shook in terror, but her face was set in anger and disbelief.

  "Lady Harriet," Samuel pronounced, his rich voice steady and stern, "you are found guilty as charged and are hereby sentenced to death."

  Isabella and Colin lifted a struggling Lady Harriet to the table and secured her to it, then proceeded to tear her clothing away from her body.

  "You can't do this," the condemned woman shouted at the council. "If I'm guilty, then turn me over to the police."

  Samuel leaned in close. "When it comes to vampires, we're the only law that matters." He unleashed his fangs. "And besides, if we handed you over to the police, it would spoil our fun."

  With a nod from Samuel, the remaining council members rose, unfurled their fangs, and approached the table.

  The Lady Harriet's screams went unheard by a single living soul.

  Lord Wilhelm parked behind Bat Beauty. Being Monday, the club was closed and the parking lot deserted. He'd just come from a date with a promising young acolyte and had a spring in his step.

  Wilhelm was about to unlock the back door to the club, the door that led to his private quarters, when he heard a soft weeping coming from the alley. Curious, he followed the sound until he found a woman crouched against the wall of his building. She appeared to be in her late si
xties and didn't look homeless.

  "May I help you?" he asked.

  "Bless you," the woman sobbed.

  Wilhelm held out a hand and helped the woman up. Her outfit was smart but dirty.

  "I was coming home from playing bridge and took a wrong turn," she explained. "When I stopped a young man to ask for directions, he pulled me from my vehicle, stole my purse and the car." Her crying increased. "I'm so confused. I've been walking in circles for hours."

  "Come, dearie," Wilhelm told her, taking her arm. "Come in, I'll make you some tea, and we'll call the police."

  "I don't know how to thank you."

  As soon as Wilhelm turned his back to unlock his door, the old woman jumped him, pushing him down to the ground with surprising strength.

  Stunned, Wilhelm tried to get up but couldn't. Then the woman turned him over and flashed her fangs at him.

  "You're ... you're...," Wilhelm stammered in horror. "You're real?"

  "You bet your hiney, she's real," said a tall, good-looking older man stepping out from the shadows. He looked down at Wilhelm and flashed his own fangs. "And so am I."

  "Oh, dear," said Dodie, still holding Wilhelm down. "I do believe he's wet himself."

  Doug Dedham shook his head in disgust. "Don't you just hate it when they do that?" He moved in toward their prey, but Dodie stopped him.

  "Samuel said he's mine. He gave permission to me, not you."

  "Then by all means, my love." Doug gallantly bowed to his wife. "I don't mind taking sloppy seconds."

  Dodie studied Wilhelm. "You really should be ashamed of yourself, Lord Wilhelm, for taking advantage of impressionable young people. But your fatal mistake was sinking your fake fangs into our granddaughter."

  Wilhelm, speechless with terror, looked into the burning eyes of the vampires, something he'd wanted to do all his life. As the first bite ripped through the flesh of his thin neck, his eyes rolled back in a mixture of excruciating pain and ecstasy. Then the irony of the moment hit him, dulling both his pleasure and pain: he knew he'd never live to tell anyone.

  THE ID