The much anticipated next Night 3 page us home.”
Eighteen hours later, Maximus and I
arrived in Gibsonton, Florida, also known
as Showtown, USA. The heat and
humidity assaulted me as soon as I got out
of the car. It was only May, but the
temperature had to be near one hundred
degrees. Maximus got out, too, looking at
the homes lined up like splotches of dough
on a bakery assembly line.
“Why do I smell elephant manure?”
“That’s Betsy,” I said, pointing at the
gray modular house. “Her trainers keep a
pen for her in their yard . . .”
My voice trailed off as I looked past the
line of houses. I should’ve been able to
see Marty’s trailer since this was the
shortest route into the RV park, but the
spot where his 1982 Winnebago should be
was empty.
“Oh no,” I moaned.
Instantly Maximus was on alert, a silver
knife appearing in his hand. “What’s
wrong?”
“Nothing that knife will help,” I said,
cursing to myself. “For once, Marty
must’ve decided to get on the road early.”
Both golden brows rose. “He’s not
here?”
“No.”
I should’ve called, but Marty never
started the season early. Plus, I’d wanted
to tell him in person what happened.
Maximus put his knife away and pulled
out a cell phone. “Call him. Find out
where he is.”
I gave him a jaded look. “You don’t
know Marty when he’s on the road. He’s
doing great if he remembers to bring his
phone, let alone charge it or answer it. But
don’t worry. I know another way to find
out which carnival he’ll be at.”
After a quick stop to talk to some of the
other carnies, Maximus and I got on the
road again. At least Gretchen and
Shrapnel had continued by air after
dropping us off in Florida. If I thought I
had a chance at convincing Maximus to let
me catch a bus, I would’ve, but he
wouldn’t leave until he’d fulfilled his
sire’s instructions to the letter.
Several hours later, in a north Georgia
carnival parking lot, I saw a Winnebago
with our stage names of Mighty Marty and
the Fantastic Frankie painted on the side.
“There,” I said, pointing at the RV.
Maximus parked as close as he could
get. At this predawn hour, everything was
quiet in the employee section of the
carnival. I got out, so tired I almost
stumbled past the vehicles, tents, and
cages along the way, yet I was also
relieved. I was back to my old life where
Marty and I traveled state to state
performing our act. In a few months, if I
was lucky, my time with Vlad might even
feel like a strange, faraway dream and it
wouldn’t hurt so much. Propelled by that
thought, I banged on the trailer door.
“Marty, open up! It’s me.”
The door opened so fast it bashed into
me. I caught a glimpse of bushy black hair
before Marty’s quick grip saved me from
toppling. Then I was enveloped in a fierce
hug around the waist. I bent until I was
even with Marty’s four-foot height and
hugged him back so hard that a current
made him yelp.
“Sorry,” I gasped.
He chuckled. “My fault. Forgot to brace
for one of those.”
Then Marty pulled back to get his first
real look at me. He inhaled, and his mouth
thinned into a single slit while green
enveloped his chestnut-colored eyes.
“You smell awful, kid. What
happened?”
I knew he wasn’t talking about it being
a day since I showered. Vampires could
scent emotions and I was probably serving
up a stink platter of brokenheartedness.
“What you warned me about,” I
responded with an unconvincing attempt at
nonchalance. “Guess I’m one of those
people who learn the hard way.”
Marty sighed before giving me another
hug, and then he patted my back when he
let me go.
“No one’s died of a broken heart yet, so
you’ll survive. Now come inside, you
look like you’re going to collapse.”
I felt like it, too. Then Marty scowled,
looking past me.
“What’s he doing here?”
“How do you think she got here?”
Maximus replied coolly. “Now help me
with this luggage.”
I was about to reiterate that I didn’t
want it when someone else appeared in
the trailer behind Marty.
“Who’s here?” a groggy feminine voice
asked.
If the moonlight hadn’t broken through
the clouds at that moment, the darkness
would’ve made me miss the sheepish look
that skipped over Marty’s face. In the next
moment, I figured out why. A slender girl
with long black hair blinked sleepily at us,
and she couldn’t have been more than
twenty.
“Marty, you’re a hundred and thirtyeight!”
I exclaimed before realizing the
hypocrisy behind that statement.
“It’s not like that, we work together,”
the girl offered, smiling hesitatingly at me.
“I’m the new Fantastic Frankie.”
Chapter 6
Maximus offered to drive me five states
away to Gretchen’s. Marty refused and
said we’d figure this out. I didn’t know
how, but I wasn’t about to involve
Maximus any further. I gave him a hug and
told him I’d be fine. That was getting a lot
easier to say. Maybe soon, I’d even
believe it.
Marty waited until Dawn—the new
Fantastic Frankie’s real name—went back
to bed in my old room before offering his
idea.
“I’ll tell her she can finish this event,
then she has to find another gig. Bill the
Beetle Man could use an assistant—”
“You can’t do that,” I said, exhaustion
making my voice sharp. “Being a carnie
isn’t most people’s first or second career
choices. Dawn’s broke and desperate,
isn’t she?”
He nodded glumly. “Yeah, plus she’s
got a warrant on her. Petty theft, multiple
counts. People seem to forget that eating
isn’t free. She could pull a small stretch if
they catch her.”
How like Marty to come to this girl’s
rescue by giving her a job, a place to live,
and safety by green-eyeing any suspicious
cops that came sniffing around. He’d done
the same for me when I was Dawn’s age
and only a little more desperate. I couldn’t
take a young girl’s best chance away from
her, no matter my own crappy
circumstances.
I smiled and hoped it didn’t look like a
grimace.
“See, you can’t fire her. Don’t worry
about me. I, ah, have some jewelry I can
sell that’ll keep me flush for a year or so.”
Good thing Vlad had insisted that I leave
with everything he’d given me. “In the
meantime, I’ll create my own solo act.”
He reached across the fold-down table
and grasped my hand. “You’ll stay here
until you’ve booked some slots for that
act.”
“No, really—”
“Don’t argue,” he cut me off, squeezing
my hand. “You’re not my daughter by
blood but I love you as much as Vera, God
rest her soul, so shut up and let’s get you a
place to sleep.”
I laughed at that, blinking past tears that
were caused by happiness for a change. “I
love you, too, Marty, and I’ve always
thought the couch was really
comfortable.”
She’s pretty good , I thought a week later
as I watched Dawn perform with Marty.
Granted, he had added some of the more
complicated flips and tumbles to his part
of the routine, but Dawn had a good sense
of showmanship that made up for her
acrobatic weaknesses. By the time she
landed on his shoulders at the end, I could
almost pretend I’d been watching myself.
We looked alike with our slender builds
and long black hair. Aside from wanting
to shield her from the law, no wonder
Marty hadn’t bothered to change Dawn’s
stage name from the one I’d used. I
doubted any of the spectators who’d seen
our act before realized that I’d been
replaced with a younger, less-electrified
model.
I’d gone to their show to prove that I
was okay with how things had turned out.
Dawn was a sweet girl who needed this
break and I did have other options.
Limited ones, true, but options
nonetheless. Starting tonight, I was
reclaiming my life. Cheering Marty and
Dawn on was step one.
Step two was talking to Edgar. He
might be nicknamed The Hammer for his
fierce negotiating tactics, but he was more
honest than your average pawnbroker.
Despite Marty’s assurances that I could
stay as long as I wanted, the Winnebago
really was too small for three people,
even if one of us was a dwarf.
Most of the crowd left while Marty and
Dawn took their encore bows. I waited in
the uppermost section of the stands,
wanting to avoid as much contact with
spectators as I could. I wore specialized
gloves, but even casual contact would feel
like static electricity to anyone who
touched me. That’s why I had on long
sleeves and long pants though it was
eighty degrees in the tent. The hat, well.
That and my hair were to hide my scar
from nosy onlookers.
When there was no one left in the upper
stands except me and a strikingly
attractive brunette, I rose. She did, too,
still staring at the stage as if waiting for
Marty and Dawn to reappear. They
wouldn’t. This had been their final show.
I was about to say that when the woman
leapt off the top of the bleachers, landing
with more grace than an Olympic
medalist. That, more than the thirty-foot
jump, told me she wasn’t human. She
must’ve realized she’d outed herself
because she glared up at me and her eyes
changed to glowing green.
“You saw nothing,” she hissed.
I nodded, not bothering to tell her I
already knew about her kind. Or that the
vampire blood I had to drink every week
to keep my inner electricity from killing
me meant I was immune to mind control.
She left and I continued down the
bleachers at my humanly slow pace,
making a mental note to tell Marty he’d
had a vampire in the audience tonight.
From there, I headed to the employee
parking lot. Edgar’s trailer wasn’t far
from Marty’s, but he wanted to do
business at his place. Maybe he was
worried that Marty would green-eye him
into overpaying me for the jewels if Marty
witnessed our transaction. Edgar wasn’t
immune to mind control and he, like a lot
of the regular carnies, knew what Marty
was.
I knocked before a gruff voice told me
to come in. Once I did, I blinked at the
glare. Edgar had every interior lamp on,
all the better to appraise what I had inside
my purse.
“Frankie,” he said, using the name most
carnies knew me by.
I smiled wryly at the bony, white-haired
man. “One of them.”
Edgar waved at the dinette table. I sat
opposite him and began to empty out the
contents of the velvet pouch inside my
purse. This was the first I’d dared to look
at the jewels, and I silently willed myself
to be unemotional.
It didn’t work. Each piece had a
memory that tore at my heart. How warm
Vlad’s fingers felt when he slid the ruby
and diamond cuff onto my wrist. The
stunning aquamarine earrings he’d said
matched the color of my eyes. His lips on
my throat as he fastened the black
diamond necklace around it. Then the
ancient-looking gold ring with the
dragon emblem . . .
I froze, clutching it instead of placing it
on the table. Why had Vlad included this
with the things he’d had packed for me?
Edgar didn’t seem to notice my shock. He
was too busy looking at the other pieces
through a magnifying glass.
“No flaws in the stones . . . excellent
workmanship and design . . . highest grade
of gold and platinum.” He glanced up at
me while still holding the magnifier to one
eye. “Whoever he was, you should’ve
held on to him a little longer.”
“Some things are more important than
money,” I replied, still reeling from the
presence of the ring. Vlad said only
vampires in his line had one of these. Had
one of his servants made a mistake
including this with the other pieces? Or
was it a sign that his invitation to change
me still stood?
Edgar finally noticed that I clutched
something. “Whatcha got there?”
“Nothing.” I’d starve on the street
before I hocked this.
He grinned. “Trying to whet my
appetite by pretending I can’t have it?
Nice try, but I’ve seen every trick before
—”
A deafening roar cut him off. Then the
whole trailer shuddered and the windows
shattered. I didn’t have time to scream
before a wall of fire swallowed us both.
Chapter 7
“We’ve got a live one!”
I wish I hadn’t heard the voice. Then I
wouldn’t have felt the pain that followed
as consciousness reared its pitiless head.
In addition to that, something so heavy
was on top of me that it hurt to breathe.
Then I regretted breathing as the scent of
scorched meat filled my lungs.
I really regretted opening my eyes. A
blackened skull wrapped in a hideous
pale cloak was the first thing I saw. It
pressed down on me, crushing my limbs
and sending fissures of agony through me.
I screamed, but it came out as a choked
gasp.
“Don’t move,” an urgent voice
instructed.
I craned my neck as much as I could. To
the right of the skull, behind the twisted
cloak, was a helmeted fireman.
“We’re going to get you out,” he went
on, his voice muffled from the breathing
device he wore. “Don’t move.”
I couldn’t if I wanted to. My eyes
burned, but after some hard blinking, I
saw the skull on top of me wasn’t wearing
a cloak. What surrounded it was too thick
and hard, like plastic . . .
The last vestige of confusion lifted. Not
plastic. It was the white acrylic dinette
table that had been between me and Edgar
when the explosion went off, which meant
the charred skull belonged to Edgar. The
fire must’ve been so hot it melted the table
around him like a grisly shroud. That—
plus something else, from the heaviness—
pinned me beneath it.
“What happened?” I managed. “Is
anyone else hurt?”
The fireman didn’t answer. I asked
again, but my only response was an
oxygen mask placed over my face. Then a
flurry of activity began as more firemen
arrived and tried to clear away the debris
on top of me.
“Looks like the furniture melted around
her,” one of them muttered, disbelief clear
in his tone. “How is she still alive?”
I knew the answer, but it was the least
of my concerns. Marty and Dawn
would’ve gone back to the RV to change
after their final show. That was only a few
trailers away. What if the explosion had
reached them, too?
“My friend is a dwarf,” I said despite
how much it hurt to talk. “His trailer isn’t
far. Has anyone seen him?”
No response, but they exchanged pitying
glances. Then I remembered the words I’d
woken up to. We’ve got a live one! Fear
mixed with pain shot through me. Marty
was a vampire, yet he wasn’t fireproof.
Only I was. What if Edgar hadn’t been the
only person killed tonight?
I angled my head until I moved the
oxygen mask partially aside. Then,
forgetting the pain, I began to scream as
loud as I could, hoping desperately that he
was alive to hear me.
“Marty! Marty, where are you?”
Heavy hands forced the mask back in
place. Someone said to give me a
sedative. I kept screaming, anguish rising
as only more medical workers appeared.
Marty should’ve come by now. Even with
all the other noises, he should’ve heard
me. I screamed louder in desperation.
Please, Marty, please be okay!
Suddenly a path cleared as the people
clustered around me were shoved aside
with inhuman force. Relief turned to
confusion when I got a look at the vampire
who knelt down next to me.
“Leila, you’re alive,” Maximus
breathed.
He started to say something else, but my
hearing faded and a cottony taste filled my
mouth. The last thing I saw were his eyes
changing to blazing green as he rose and
turned around.
This time when I woke up, I wasn’t in
pain. That awful stench was still there,
though, as if someone had overcooked a
roast and rubbed it all over me. I coughed,
relieved my lungs didn’t feel like closed
fists anymore. Then I opened my eyes.
Walls the color of old mustard met my
gaze. Not pretty, but better than a charred
skull. I rolled over, seeing the rest of the
tiny room in that single glance. It made the
blond vampire on the opposite bed look
even larger and more imposing.
I had so many questions, like why I was
naked under the covers, but my primary
concern hadn’t changed.
“Marty. Is he . . . ?” I couldn’t finish the
sentence.
“He’s gone, Leila.”
Maximus’s tone was gentle, but the
words hit me with more force than the
downed power line I’d touched when I
was thirteen. I sucked in a breath that
ended on a sob. At the same time,
something dark rose in me, causing my
right hand to spark. I wanted to do so
much more than cry. I wanted to lash
Maximus with all the voltage I had in me
for saying such an awful thing that
couldn’t—couldn’t!—be true, yet all I
could do was fight for control while
absorbing the news that my best friend
was dead.
Maximus didn’t attempt to comfort me.
Either he could sense the danger in my
sparking hand or he didn’t care how I felt.
Then my sobs subsided as suspicion broke
through my grief.
“What happened? And what are you
doing here? You were supposed to be
back in Romania by now!”
His mouth twisted. “I didn’t set the
explosion, if that’s what you’re thinking. If
I had, I would have killed you when I saw
you survived. Your being alive proves I’m
not behind it.”
Currents still throbbed in my hand.
“Who is behind it?”
“I don’t know.”
Maximus got up and began to pace,
difficult since three of his strides covered
the length of the room. His clothes were
ripped and soot smeared, making me
wonder again why he’d been Johnny-onthe-
spot when the explosion went off.
“The fireman said a gas line ruptured,”
he continued. “They’re calling it an
accident. Since it ruptured right next to
Marty’s trailer, I doubt that.”
“But why would anyone want to kill
Marty?” I burst out.
He swung a hard glance my way. “I
don’t think anyone did.”
The explosion was meant for me? If so,
it almost worked. Despite my
fireproofing, I’d nearly been crushed to
death. Maximus must have given me some
of his blood to heal me.
“If someone wanted to kill me, why
didn’t they just shoot me in the head?” I
asked, grief making my voice dull.
“They must have wanted it to look like
an accident.”
I swiped my eyes. Tears wouldn’t help
me find who’d killed my best friend.
“What does Vlad think?”
Maximus stopped pacing and turned
around, an inscrutable look on his face. “I
didn’t tell him about the explosion, let
alone that you survived it.”
“Why not? We’re broken up, but I doubt
he’d be happy to hear that someone tried
to kill me.”
Maximus said nothing. Underneath
those closed-off, rugged features, I caught
a glimpse of pity. And understood.
“No,” I whispered. “He wouldn’t.”
Maximus let out a grim snort. “Oh? You
came as close to humiliating him as
anyone has since Szilagyi faked his death
centuries ago. And you saw how Vlad
reacted to that.”
“I humiliated him?” If I hadn’t been so
torn up over Marty’s death, I would’ve
laughed. “I told Vlad I loved him only to
have him make it clear where I’d always
rank in his life, which was just a few
notches above ‘undead bed buddy.’ ”
“True,” Maximus replied without
hesitation, “but that’s more than he offered
any of his other lovers, yet you turned him
down. Then you had the temerity to leave
him.”
“Temerity?” I repeated in disbelief.
“No woman has ever left Vlad.
Cynthiana, his lover before you, even
seduced Shrapnel trying to make Vlad
jealous after he ended things between
them.”
“Did it work?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“Aside from cutting off his protection
for Cynthiana because she callously used
Shrapnel for her own gain, he didn’t
care.”
“How long was Vlad with her?”
Maximus thought for a moment.
“Around thirty years.”
I was incredulous. “That’s longer than
I’ve been alive! If Vlad walked away
from that relationship without a backward
glance, he’s probably forgotten me
already.”
Maximus slanted a look my way before
resuming his pacing. “Not likely.
Regardless of what he does or doesn’t
feel for you, your double rejection will
burn him for years.”
Enough to incite him to murder me? The
thought made me feel like a drowning
victim who’d been dunked under one more
time.
“Let’s say Vlad does want me dead. I
doubt he’d be so cowardly as to fake a gas
line explosion when he could’ve killed me
while I was still at his castle.”
“Yes, but then he’d have to kill
Gretchen and your father, too, making the
whole business look very emotional on his
part.” A weary sort of cynicism replaced
the pity on his face. “Being emotional is
seen as a weakness among vampires. Vlad
knows his enemies would fall on him like
wolves if they suspected that weakness in
him.”
First Marty’s death, then realizing the
explosion was meant for me, now the
suggestion that my ex-boyfriend might be
behind it. I closed my eyes. How much
more could I take?
“You’re Vlad’s right-hand man” was
what I said after an extended pause.
“Wouldn’t he tell you if he planned to kill
me?”
Maximus was silent so long, I opened
my eyes. “What now?”
“I don’t think he would,” Maximus
finally said. “He’d know I would have a
problem with it, and why strain my loyalty
if he didn’t have to? Instead, he could’ve
ordered someone else to make your death
look like an accident. If I hadn’t been
here, I might’ve even believed it.”
Back to that question. “Why were you
here?”
He sighed, returning to the bed across
from mine. “Partly because I wanted to
make sure Marty really did let you stay
with him even though he’d replaced you
with that other girl. You need vampire
blood to keep your electricity levels from
killing you. If Marty wouldn’t have kept
providing it, I would have made other
arrangements. But mostly, Leila, I didn’t
go back to Romania because of how I feel
about you.”
If I wasn’t overloaded from grief, I
would’ve been shocked. As it was, I
could only muster up faint surprise.
Maximus leaned forward, brushing my
hair back.
“I told you when we met, you’re
beautiful, ballsy, and your abilities
fascinate me. I’ve also seen your courage,
your loyalty, and your strength in leaving a
man you loved because you knew he’d
never love you.”
More surprise, but that was trivial
compared to my anguish and the growing
need I had to avenge my best friend and
the young girl who’d never had a real
chance at life.
“Maximus, you’re very attractive and
I’m flattered, but I can’t even think about
this right now.”
He leaned back, a hard little smile
curving his mouth. “I know, but we are
having this conversation again.”
I didn’t argue. I was too busy trying to
figure out who was behind that explosion.
I still doubted it was Vlad, but if Maximus
thought it was possible, I shouldn’t throw
caution to the wind by automatically
discounting the idea.
Besides, even if I was right and Vlad
wasn’t behind this, I doubted news of my
alleged death would rock him. He’d gone
out of his way to prove that I didn’t mean
much to him.
I shook off that thought before it brought
me even lower than my rock-bottom state.
“I need some clothes.”
Maximus got up and rummaged through
the suitcase on the dresser. Then he pulled
out a shirt and a pair of boxer shorts.
“These won’t fit, but the fire burned
your clothes off and I haven’t had time to
get you new ones.”
“This is fine,” I said, accepting the
bundle. As soon as I touched it, colorless
images exploded across my mind.
I stuffed my clothes in the suitcase and
then slammed it shut. Time to take Leila
home. No one expected her to leave Vlad,
yet she had, and soon she’d be an ocean
away from him. I smiled at the thought.
She might have refused me once, but that
was before she realized Vlad couldn’t
give her what she needed. I could, and
now I finally had a real chance to show
her that.
“Maximus,” I whispered once the hotel
room with its putrid yellow walls
surrounded me once again. “It’s back!”
Chapter 8
Maximus pulled out a lighter, turning the
flame up. I held my hand over it—and
immediately snatched it back with a yelp.
“That hurts!”
He flipped the lighter closed. “You’re
saying for several weeks it didn’t,
because Vlad’s aura rendered you
fireproof?”
“That’s right. Fire skipped over me like
it does with him. How else do you explain
me surviving an explosion that was so
intense, it destroyed the trailer I was in?”
And killed another vampire, I didn’t
say aloud. If I dwelled on Marty’s death,
I’d start sobbing and wouldn’t stop.
“Being in such intense flames must have
used up the remains of his aura in you,”
Maximus said in a thoughtful tone. Then he
frowned. “Vlad told me about your
psychic abilities malfunctioning. Why
didn’t he tell me this?”
I sighed. I didn’t want to think about
Vlad now. “Maybe because he’d never
done it before and he wanted to keep his
ability to render someone temporarily
fireproof a secret?”
“Perhaps,” he mused.
I didn’t care why Vlad hadn’t told
anyone. My fireproofing was gone, my
abilities were back, and someone who’d
tried to kill me had murdered my closest
friend, an innocent girl, and many others,
too. Finding that person and making him
pay was my new goal in life.
“Okay, picking up impressions from an
object works. Let’s see if I can still find
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