40. EDWINA’S REVENGE
BARELY A WEEK AFTER receiving her warning from Stefan, Edwina slipped out of the vampire caverns into the gray morning light. Thick clouds blanketed the sky from horizon to horizon, bringing a smile to her lips. The sun’s absence would make things that much easier and more comfortable for her today. Only the barest hint of a breeze brushed her cheeks, lending hope the clouds would remain in place the entire day.
Heading north, she glided silently through the woods along the river’s edge, in no real hurry. Her pace betrayed no indication of her eagerness, lest one of her fellows happen to see her leave. Nor would her speed draw attention from any sharp-eyed humans who might be watching from across the river. With the leafless trees providing little cover, a dark blur racing through them at vampire speed would raise eyebrows—and questions. Questions the coven would not be too happy about.
When she felt she was far enough from the vampire lair, she pulled a cell phone from the pocket of her black hoodie. The phone belonged to the guy she had killed in Hartford a week ago—he certainly had no more use for it. Keeping the cell for herself broke another of the coven’s rules, but she didn’t care. Most of her brethren would not know how to work a phone even if it was allowed, but she used one now and then during her interactions with the humans. Today, she definitely needed one for her plan. She had turned it off and removed the battery, leaving no chance the phone could suddenly go off and reveal her transgression, or that its location could be traced.
Sitting down on the smooth trunk of a fallen tree, she pushed the battery back inside the cell, making several attempts before it slid in properly. She switched the phone on and tapped in a number, waiting anxiously while it rang. If she got no answer she would have to disassemble the cell and hurry back to the caverns, hoping her brief stay outside would not be noticed by Stefan, or if it was, would not count as the one last outing he had allowed her. If her target answered, she would proceed with her plan.
The ringing stopped, replaced by a familiar female voice. Edwina smiled and licked her lips. It was time to put her plan into motion.
Just before noon on Saturday morning, Leesa lay on her bed reading “Catch-22” for her lit class. She was having a little trouble following the book’s unusual narrative style, but she was enjoying its absurd, satirical humor. She had just reached the part where the actual “Catch-22” rule is first explained when Pink’s “Perfect” suddenly sounded from her cell, startling her. Slipping her bookmark into the book, she wondered what Cali wanted. They already had plans to get together later that afternoon. She hoped Cali wasn’t cancelling.
She pushed herself up from the bed and grabbed the phone from her desk.
“Hey, what’s up?” she asked.
“Hi, Leesa,” said a female voice on the other end that was not Cali. The girl sounded familiar, but Leesa could not identify her voice.
She looked down at her cell, checking the caller screen. Only Cali’s phone should have played “Perfect.” The screen confirmed the call was from Cali—or from her phone, at least.
“Who is this?” Leesa asked.
“It’s Vanina, Leesa.”
Now that Vanina had identified herself, Leesa recognized her voice. Vanina had always called Cali in the past, so Leesa had never heard her voice through the phone. She wondered why Vanina would be calling her now—and from Cali’s phone.
“What’s going on, Vanina? Where’s Cali?”
“She’s right here,” Edwina said. “But she can’t come to phone right now.”
“I don’t understand. Why not?”
“She’s in a spot of trouble,” Edwina said. “There’s no time to explain. We need to you to come out here as quickly as you can.”
Leesa paced in a small circle around her room. Vanina’s call made no sense. Spot of trouble? Who talked like that? She had heard the phrase in an old movie or two, but never in real life. And what kind of trouble could they be in? If something dangerous was happening, Vanina had the cell—why didn’t she just dial 911? If it was something else, why wasn’t she telling Leesa what it was? And what did they expect her to do, anyhow? Was there something she should bring? Someone she should tell?
“I don’t get it,” she said after a moment. “What do you want me do to?”
“Just get out here to Brennan Field as fast as you can. We’re at the far end, by the edge of the woods. Please hurry.”
Brennan Field was the grassy field where Leesa and Rave had lain on the blanket a week ago. It wasn’t very far. She could make it there in less than fifteen minutes if she hurried. There was no one she could call who could get there any faster.
“I’m on my way,” she said. “Call me back if there’s anything else you need to tell me.”
She hung up and shoved the cell into her pocket. Still puzzled by it all, she grabbed her parka and knit cap and rushed out the door.
Rather than wait for the elevator, she raced down the stairs as quickly as her limp would allow. Outside, the day was cloudy, but not overly cold. She pushed her cap into her pocket and hurried down the sidewalk. While she prided herself on being able to walk as fast and far as almost anyone, her leg prevented her from running at anything faster than an awkward half-walk, half-jog pace. She knew she probably looked ridiculous clomping across campus, but she didn’t care. She had to get to Cali and Vanina and find out what was going on.
Brennan Field was empty, except for two figures standing at the far end. When the weather was warmer the field was a popular spot for throwing Frisbees or kicking soccer balls, but it got little use in the dead of winter—unless you happened to have your own portable volkaane heater with you, Leesa thought. She could not imagine what had brought Cali and Vanina out here today.
Cali was leaning against a slender tree, her hands behind her back. Leesa was surprised to see a scarf wrapped over Cali’s mouth and chin—it wasn’t that cold out. Vanina stood a couple of feet closer, watching Leesa approach. They did not seem to be in any immediate trouble, so Leesa slowed to a walk. As she drew nearer to her friends, Cali began shaking her head vigorously back and forth. Leesa had no idea what that was about. She noticed a black hoodie lying on the ground behind Vanina, who was wearing only a charcoal gray long sleeve shirt and dark blue jeans.
“What’s going on?” Leesa asked, trying to catch her breath and talk at the same time. She wondered why Cali was still leaning against the tree.
“Oh, just a little surprise for you,” Edwina said, smiling.
Something about Vanina looked different today. Nothing Leesa could put her finger on, but somehow the girl looked less friendly. The word “sinister” popped into her head.
“What do you mean?” Leesa asked. She looked over at Cali, who still had not moved from the tree. “What kind of surprise?”
Edwina crossed to Cali and pulled the scarf from around her chin. Cali immediately spat a wadded up rag from her mouth.
“I’m so sorry, Leesa,” she said. “I didn’t know.”
“Didn’t know what?” Leesa asked as cold fingers of fear began to prick at her.
“Didn’t know this,” Edwina said. Two curved fangs slowly descended from her mouth.
Leesa’s jaw dropped. Her stomach felt hollow. She could not believe this was happening. Suddenly Vanina’s strange behavior at the mall when Cali pricked her finger made sense. Vanina had not been disgusted by the blood—far from it. She had turned away to hide her desire for it.
“You’re a vampire,” Leesa managed to say finally.
“Aren’t you the bright one,” Edwina said, smirking. Her fangs retracted back into her jaw.
Leesa did not understand why Vanina had gone through this elaborate ruse, befriending them, going to mall, hanging out with them. Oh, Rave, how I need you now, she thought. She remembered Rave saying he could sometimes feel her thoughts, but that would do her little good now. Even if he did feel them, he was two hundred miles away.
“What do you want with us?” she asked.
“With you? Not much…not much at all. Just that you suffer, that’s all. From Cali I will take more—much more.”
Leesa glanced at Cali, who was straining to pull herself away from the tree, but with no success. Leesa could see now why Cali hadn’t moved. Her hands were tied to the slender trunk of the tree with thick cords of rope.
“Haven’t you figured it out yet?” Edwina asked. “Who I am?”
Leesa turned back to Vanina and stared hard at her face. She looked evil now, yet still beautiful, in some macabre, exotic way. Exotic—the word echoed familiarly in Leesa’s head. She had heard that word before. People had described Bradley’s girlfriend Edwina as exotic. Edwina… Vanina. The two names were too close. It was starting to make sense. Horrible sense.
“You’re Edwina,” Leesa said bitterly. “You took Bradley.”
“Yes, I did. And then he was taken from me—taken from me because of you, Leesa. I miss your brother. His blood was sweet.” Edwina grinned, but there was nothing pleasant about her smile now. “Did you know my kind can tell whether someone is a good person or a bad one by the sweetness of their blood? Bradley was one of the good ones—one of the very good ones.”
Leesa stepped closer to Edwina. “Then why not take your anger out on me?” she asked. “Why punish Cali? She doesn’t have anything to do with this.”
Edwina’s eyes darkened. “Because I’m forbidden to hurt you. But that doesn’t mean I can’t make you suffer. And making you suffer will make Stefan suffer.”
The pieces began to fit together in Leesa’s head. Stefan had taken Bradley from Edwina—his part of his bargain with Leesa. He was probably the one who had forbidden Edwina to harm her, so Edwina was going to take Leesa’s best friend instead—and make Leesa watch while she did it. The third dream finally made sense. She knew why the girl in the cavern seemed so familiar and why the rock wall had been replaced by a tree. The girl was Cali, and the dream had foretold this moment. The full horror of Edwina’s plan hit Leesa like a punch to the stomach. Edwina was going to make Cali her feeder.
Edwina grinned again. “I can see by the look on your face that you finally understand. Cali will replace your brother. But not here in Connecticut, where your volkaane boyfriend knows how to find our caverns, and where Stefan has the power to release her. No, I’ll keep her far from here, in a place where none of you will ever find her.”
Edwina’s fangs descended slowly from her jaw again, glistening with saliva this time. She moved closer to Cali. “Say good-bye to your friend, Leesa. But do not worry, I’ll take very good care of her, I promise.”
“No!” Leesa shouted, stretching her hand out in front of her chest. “Get away from her!”
Suddenly, Edwina flew backward, soaring through the air with her arms outstretched until she crashed into a tree twenty feet away with a loud thud. Her face bore a stunned, bewildered look.
Leesa looked from Cali to Edwina in disbelief, unsure what had just happened. One second Edwina was leaning toward Cali’s throat and the next she was smashing into a tree. An image of the wastebasket flying across her room rose in Leesa’s head. Had she somehow done the same thing to Edwina—made her fly across the field with the power of her mind? It did not seem possible, but she could think of no other explanation.
She rushed over to Cali and began pulling at the ropes that bound her. Before Leesa could even partially untie the knots, an icy hand grasped her wrist.
“I don’t know how you did that,” Edwina said, her voice cold with anger. “But I am not done with Cali.”
She yanked Leesa away as if she weighed next to nothing. Leesa struggled to free herself, but Edwina’s grip was unbreakable. She dragged Leesa a few feet from the tree then suddenly kicked out at her good leg. Leesa fell sprawling to the ground.
“Let’s see if you can do that again,” Edwina said. She bent into a protective crouch, bracing against a possible second onslaught.
Leesa pushed herself up into a sitting position. Despite the pain in her leg, she focused all her thoughts on Edwina, trying to picture her flying back across the field again. As hard as Leesa tried, nothing happened. She had no control over whatever power was inside her.
“I thought not,” Edwina said, her voice dripping with disdain. “Now watch closely, Leesa, while I begin draining your friend of her sweet, hot blood.”
Once again, Edwina’s fangs dropped down from her upper jaw. Leesa watched helplessly as Edwina opened her mouth and bent toward Cali’s neck.
Dominic studied his list of Connecticut colleges as the bus carried him north from Hamden, where he had spent a day searching Quinnipiac College for any sensation of Leesa, toward Hartford. He needed to decide soon whether to go directly to the Hartford area with its half dozen colleges, or to make side trips to two schools a few miles west of the freeway in New Britain and to another in Middletown, ten miles to the east.
If he was going to head to Middletown, he had to decide by the time the bus reached Meriden, just one exit ahead. There was no real reason to decide one way or the other—he would have to choose on instinct.
Suddenly, a brief blast of magic rocked his senses. He whipped his head around to the east—toward Middletown. Could it have been Leesa? The magic seemed far too powerful. How could she have produced magic of such strength without training? Yet the magic felt familiar, though slightly twisted somehow. If it was not Leesa—and he didn’t see how it could be—then it could only have been the work of his enemies. He wondered if it might be some kind of trap. That didn’t make sense, though. His foes would have no way of knowing he was searching for Leesa or for magic. They should not have any idea where he was, either. There was no reason for them to expect such a trick to accomplish anything—unless he had slipped up somewhere and given himself away.
The bus was nearing the Meriden exit. He had to decide quickly. In the end, the decision was an easy one. This was the first real inkling he’d had that he might be nearing his goal of finding Leesa. He would be careful, but he had to chance it, trap or no trap.
Grabbing his jacket, he got up from his seat and headed for the front of the bus. He could be in Middletown in less than an hour.