Accidental Sire (Half-Moon Hollow #6)

“Fitz!” I yelled, dashing after him as he ran toward the house. “Hold on!”

Just as I got close enough to the house to call for help, I saw the outline of a man, backlit by the floodlights in Jane’s eaves. He was wearing UERT gear, but the antiseptic smell rolling off him was damn near gagging me. Dr. Hudson? He seemed too stocky to be Dr. Hudson.

Fitz skidded to a stop between us. He growled, ears bent back and hackles raised as he advanced on the man, the human whose heartbeat seemed so out of place at Jane’s house. The man raised his arm, and I could see a flash of metal in his hand.

“Fitz, don’t,” I commanded him. “Stay.”

But Fitz was already gathering for the leap, ready to launch himself at the shadow.

Psst!

“No!” I screamed as the shot hissed out through a silencer. Fitz yelped and slumped to the ground. “Dr. Hudson, you asshole!”

I dropped to my knees, pressing my hand against the wound in Fitz’s chest. His blood spilled, sticky and warm, over my hand as he whimpered. “Fitz, please, just—please.”

The asshole in question slid the tactical screen from his helmet. “I’m not Dr. Hudson, but I’m sure that sort of language isn’t necessary, Miss Keene.”

“Dr. Fortescue?” I asked, tears streaming down my cheeks. That explained the heartbeat. The very human mad scientist was holding a pistol, pointing it at my chest. And I suspected it was loaded with silver bullets, given the UERT member’s reaction.

He grinned, cherubic cheeks spreading over teeth that were too white and perfect. “The one and only.”

I took a deep breath to scream for help, but I heard the hammer on the pistol cock back.

“I wouldn’t do that, Miss Keene.”

“You think you can shoot me before I get to you?” I asked, my fangs sliding out. I had to be strong, be brave. Fitz’s breathing was slowing to nothing underneath my hands. But I had to make Dr. Fortescue think I was badass enough to kill him where he stood. “I can hear your heartbeat. I’ve got news for you, pal. That gun won’t work on me. It will sting, but I’ll still get to you before you can get off more than one shot.”

“Yes, but these are silver bullets, which will affect you. Given your reaction to silver, do you really want to take the chance?” He smirked when I recoiled. So much for my poker face. “Now, come along.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“You’re my intellectual property, my dear. I’ve come to collect what’s mine.”

“What?”

“It was my work that turned you into the remarkable specimen you are today. There would be no you without me. You would have died on that lawn, your bones crushed and your organs jellied. Then again, you wouldn’t have had your bones crushed and your organs jellied if I hadn’t arranged that, too, but details, details.”

“What?”

“Your little accident,” he said. “I arranged it.”

Even though I knew my “accident” had likely been a setup to put me in the position of being turned, it was pretty infuriating to hear it out loud. I did not like Dr. Fortescue.

“I needed you to be in distress when I had one of my ‘carriers’ nearby save the day.”

“Carriers?”

“Oh, I’m getting ahead of myself. We’ll get to that later. You know, I was hoping for the matched set, but I guess I’ll have to settle for just you.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

At this point, I was being intentionally obtuse. Like Jane said, when faced with a villain, keep him monologuing. Maybe Ben would come out to check on me. If he wasn’t dead inside with a lot of people I loved.

That wasn’t a helpful thought. I needed to focus on something else, something that would help me get some sort of control of this situation. Ophelia. What would Ophelia do? OK, no, I wasn’t capable of doing what Ophelia would do in this situation. The gouging alone would be problematic for me. Georgie. What would Georgie do?

Georgie told me once that people underestimated her because of her cuteness, and that was their mistake. They thought she was vulnerable, helpless. They relaxed their guard, and then she moved in for the kill.

“Your little friend, Ben Overby. I was hoping to collect him, too. It would have been interesting to see how his test results compare to yours. But you are the purer of the two samples, so I’ll content myself with you.”

Playing dumb was my only option. How did he know about Ben? Jane had been so careful to keep Ben’s turning private. Damn it. I supposed Dr. Fortescue had met up with Dr. Hudson at some point. I hated Dr. Hudson.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please, just let me go, and we’ll talk to Jane, and I’m sure we can get this whole misunderstanding worked out.” I widened my eyes to creepy Internet kitten levels. And I blew my floral neovamp breath toward him in a long, slow exhale. He was going to be putty in my damn hands.

Or I would overcorrect and end up with another science-vamp stalker.

He jabbed the gun toward me, making a tsking noise. “Please don’t insult my intelligence, Miss Keene. I will tolerate a lot from you but not that.”

“What makes you think that I’m coming with you?” I asked him.

Fitz’s breathing was barely audible now, his chest making weak little movements under my palms.

Stall, stall, stall. Please, someone, come outside and look for me.

I stared at the long barrel of the gun, flexing my fingers. Could I grab it? If I got shot in the hand, would the silver poisoning spread throughout my body? Was he buying the whole innocent act?

Dr. Fortescue pressed the barrel of the gun against my temple, forcing me to stand. “Make one quick movement, and I will shoot you in the head.”

That would be a no, then.

Dr. Fortescue nudged me backward, forcing me toward the back of the property. I glanced over my shoulder at Fitz’s still form. I checked the windows of the house, still bright. I couldn’t see anyone moving inside. Did that mean they were dead? Would I ever see Ben again?

“Hands behind your back, if you please,” he said, holding the gun on me. He tossed me a pair of zip-tie cuffs that burned the moment they touched my skin.

“Put them on,” he said pleasantly. “No dawdling. I don’t want to have to threaten to shoot you in the head twice in one night.”

“I’m going to kill you,” I told him, hissing as the silver-laced plastic slipped over my wrists. “And it’s going to hurt.”

He smiled at me like a doting father. The expression made my stomach turn. “Oh, I don’t see why we have to get off on the wrong foot. You are my crowning achievement, Miss Keene. Imagine vampires not having to wait for three days to rise. Imagine simplifying the transaction of blood so they don’t have to give so much of themselves to make a childe. Imagine how grateful they will be. How they will reward me.” He jammed the gun into my back, forcing me to walk faster.

“So you did this because you want to make vampire friends?”