“No. They were hypnotized. You, too.”
“But—”
“Think about it. Ethan looks everyone square in the eye and next thing you know he’s running the whole town—except for drunks and the crazy people, and they didn’t matter. Right?”
“Were you there?”
“No. But I know what he is.” I started to say how, then thought better of it. If I told her about my boyfriend she’d lose confidence and assume I was another hypnotized victim. That kind of work gave my Jack a nasty headache, so he avoided using it. Duvert must have thought the pain worth it if the result allowed him to own a whole town and everyone in it. “So do you.”
She stared at Duvert, then at me, and whispered, “He’s a vampire.”
“More than that, he’s a dirty, low-down, manipulative, thieving bastard.”
“Thieving?”
“He stole your town, didn’t he? Not to mention your life.”
“More.” Her eyes glittered as fresh tears formed. She touched her throat. “He … fed from me.”
I couldn’t see the marks. They tended to fade fast and not leave scars. “Did he make you feed from him in turn?” It had to be asked.
She couldn’t speak, nodding instead.
“I bet it felt good, though.” I knew that from my own experience with Jack. It was always intense for us, but even more so when he and I … well .
Katie blushed to her now-dark roots. “I couldn’t help myself.”
“Don’t let it bother you, honey, it’s what he arranged, like it or not. He got your body to do what it’s made for. It’s completely different when you do things with the right guy, one who doesn’t have to hypnotize a girl into loving him.”
Oh, boy, was it ever different.
But that part aside, my having Jack’s blood in me enabled me to see Duvert sieving through a closed window. Whenever Jack pulled his vanishing act I could follow his otherwise invisible movements while others could not. It was spooky, but he was my man, and some guys had worse habits. There was another advantage, too.
“Be glad he did it,” I said. “ That was Ethan’s big mistake.”
“What do you mean?”
“Once his blood was in you it gave you immunity from his hypnosis. He couldn’t control you that way anymore. He must not have known.” Vampires don’t wake up dead knowing all the ropes about the condition. They’re only as good as their teacher—if he or she bothered to say anything. Jack was still learning.
“It was like waking up,” said Katie, “but I was alone. The only one awake in a town of sleepwalkers. No one else … I couldn’t talk to anybody, not even my mother. She’d have told him.”
“Don’t blame them. It’s his fault.”
“I do blame them. Why didn’t they wake up? ”
I reminded myself she was barely sixteen and feeling betrayed by those who were supposed to protect her. “Is that when you ran away?”
“First thing in the morning. I got a bus to Cleveland, then Toledo, then I ran out of money and had to do something. The only job I could get that paid right away and kept me moving was chorus-line work. I had tap classes when I was in school. I lied about my age, and Big Maggie and the others looked after me, but I couldn’t tell them anything or they’d think I’d lost my mind.”
“You’re awful darned lucky, kiddo.”
“Lucky?”
“That you fell in with Big Maggie and not white slavers.”
“What are those?”
“Never you mind. Who are those guys who came to the club? Did you see them?”
“The man in the suit is the mayor. I don’t know the others, but they’ll be from Sheldon. After I left, that picture of me, and a reward offer, appeared in all the newspapers. I changed my hair and wore lots of makeup and hats with veils, and it worked till now. Someone must have recognized me and sent word to Ethan.”
“This might be the first time he’s left Sheldon since his arrival.”
“So?”