The stranger was ahead of them, wheeling down the corridor at a rate of knots. A weird little light rotated above his head, sending flickers of red and green up the walls. They reached some stairs and stopped. The light above the stranger's head pulsated, fading in and out of color. The stranger levitated in the air, scooting forward. Matthew gulped. Lizzie chuckled and dug her nails into his back, propelling him up the stairs.
They came to a doorway, then a small room. It hadn't been used for a while and was filled with dust. Mom would have had a fit. They didn't stop, heading into a warm, well-lit corridor.
"One wrong word, and you're dead meat,” Lizzie whispered, then licked his ear. It felt like she was tasting him. He shuddered and sidled away. She chuckled again. A woman stood at a counter, serving a couple of men decked out in shorts and sweatshirts. The stranger greeted her. She smiled and waved and didn't even look at him and Lizzie. It was like she didn't even know they were there.
They went down the hall and into an office. Computers lined the wall. Lizzie locked the door, and the stranger stopped in the middle of the room, then swung around to face him.
"You once boasted you could get into any computer you liked, even government ones." He'd said many things he hadn't meant. “Yeah? So?"
The stranger smiled. He had teeth like Lizzie's, long and sharp. “What about bank computers?"
"Oh yeah, that's easy.” Banks thought they were clever but they weren't. They'd never picked up any of the cash he'd transferred.
"Could you transfer money from one account to another, then on to another, creating a trail of money so confusing the authorities will never sort it out?"
"I suppose.” He frowned. “These your accounts? I don't want to be involved in anything illegal.” Not too illegal, at any rate. Stealing a few extra dollars was one thing. Stealing thousands was another. He didn't want to end up in jail.
The stranger's smile turned nasty. “You will do as we ask, one way or another.” His gaze slid past him.
“Elizabeth? I think another session is called for. He's not quite pliable enough." A hand grabbed him. He tried to scream, but it lodged somewhere in his throat. He felt her hands, felt her teeth, felt her thoughts in his mind. But his scream became silence, just endless silence...
* * * *
...Nikki's silent scream reverberated through Michael's soul. He wrenched her free from Matthew's memories, and caught her as she slumped forward. Her whole body was trembling, her mind a tangled mess of Matthew's memories and her own.
"Well, well, well, what have we here?” a dry voice said behind him. He froze for a second and silently cursed his luck. Elizabeth was the one person he didn't need right now. He must have been so caught up in watching Nikki that he hadn't even sensed her nearness. He pushed Nikki back against the wall, holding her upright with one hand, then turned to face his maker. She leaned casually against the door frame, a smile touching her ruby lips and ice in her eyes. He wondered briefly what he'd ever seen in her.
"There was no need to destroy the teenager's mind, Elizabeth. We both know you could have achieved control without going to this extreme."
Her shrug was grace itself. “You know I have a taste for virgins. Sometimes excitement gets the better of my control."
If she'd wanted to control her instincts, she would have. But she liked destruction just as much as she liked the fresh taste of an unwoken mind. Or body. Matthew had no doubt provided her with a double dose of pleasure.
"What brings you here? There's nothing left of the boy to play with.” He glanced briefly at Nikki. She still looked out of it, but awareness stirred through the link.
Elizabeth raised a dark eyebrow. “I might ask you the same question, only I guess the answer is somewhat obvious. You always did fancy yourself mankind's savior."
"Not a savior. Just a protector."
She waved an elegant hand. “Same thing. When will you learn they are not worth it?" Never, if it meant joining the likes of Jasper. And maybe even Elizabeth. “Why are you doing all this?
You certainly don't need the money."
"It was just a game at first.” She hesitated, shrugging. “Now I have little real choice in the matter." He frowned, not understanding why. Elizabeth was nearly eight hundred years old. There weren't many vampires left alive who had the strength of mind to overpower hers. And the brief glimpses he'd had of Cordell certainly hadn't led him to believe he could. So why did she have no choice? Why couldn't she leave, as she seemed to want to do?
Then he remembered the heat in her touch. “Cordell put an imp in you."
"You always were quick.” Amusement glimmered in her eyes. “Yes, one of the energy creatures now shares my body, and through his control over it, Cordell governs most of my actions." Most, but not all. Maybe because of her age, she'd retained a degree of control over the imp that Rachel and the other vampires had not.
"It will kill you, you know."
"It cannot. It merely resides within me, controlling me when I'm within Cordell's boundaries." If her actions now—or lack of them—were anything to go by, then she was currently well outside those boundaries.
"The imp killed the young vampire who was supposed to meet us at the airport, Elizabeth. His body could no longer contain the imp's heat, and he literally melted. Ginger has already told us her form will not long contain her. What makes you think your fate will be any different?" A frown flickered across her face. “You lie."
"You would taste it if I did."
"Yes.” She hesitated, then shrugged and glanced at Nikki. “Is this your thrall? Does she taste as pretty as she looks?"