Page 50 of Bitten By Desire

The headache that had started behind my eyes had inched up to a dull thrum, and I was exhausted yet again. I didn’t even know what time or day it was anymore. But we were running on a deadline that I couldn’t ignore.

“I can help you,” Lorraine said, suddenly back to her perfectly put together self, save her hiked up skirt and pieces of hair that had escaped her twist. “If what you say is true, I should be able to fight the fae or the demons. You could use my help tomorrow night.”

“That’s nice except for the fact I can’t trust you. You are losing your mind and are apparently driven to try to seduce men and maybe kill them after. So, no thanks.”

“Charlotte,” Julian spoke my name cautiously and I faced him, still frozen on the couch. “We may have no choice. Perhaps she can even be of help if we keep her with us and use your mind bending, at least until we figure out what the hell to do with her.”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Was he still trying to help her? Did my command not work?

He huffed as though reading my mind. “I’m mortified at my behavior; you must know that. But I’m trying to think how to manage this situation. She might even be able to help us figure out who the changeling is that’s been sent after you.”

My mouth snapped shut. Then I opened it again. “If I had a lab to work in, I could run tests on her. But how can I do that on the Island under their noses?”

Julian glanced at Lorraine again. “I believe she was the one who attacked MorningStar,” he said as she smiled back at him like she hadn’t heard what he said. “She must’ve done that going after Binx. And also procured more elixir.”

“Intelligence is such a turn on,” Lorraine said. “As if you weren’t sexy enough.”

“Shut up and stay still,” I ordered her, then turned back to Julian. “So you’re saying…”

“I’m saying you can use whatever’s left of their lab. They won’t return after that, and anyone else interested would have already picked it over.”

I didn’t like the idea of being back in the place where Julian was almost killed. But at the same time, I thought maybe I could find some data that had survived on the silver injection they’d given him that might help me figure out a way to help him.

“Alright,” I agreed, dropping my hands. “Lorraine—or whatever your real name is—don’t drug anyone else again. Don’t try to seduce Julian or anyone. Now I’m going to sleep for a while if you think you can actually manage to watch her without being manipulated.” I shot the last at Julian then turned and walked to the hall entrance, pausing just long enough to release them from their hold. Then I dragged myself up the stairs, into the bedroom, and locked the door before collapsing on the giant bed face-first.

Chapter 16

Dr. Devaux at Work

My lab was always my happy place. This lab…well, I tried to ignore the chunks of debris and dirt that littered the space as Julian cleared the least damaged station for me. It happened to be the one closest to the table where he’d been tortured, and I couldn’t seem to keep from staring at the empty cot, now turned on its side, and remembering his screams of anguish as he’d writhed against the silver restraints. The way the silver had sizzled and burned against his smooth skin, sending coils of smoke into the air, would be something I’d never get out of my head.

Desperately, I attempted to tuck it away with the other memories I tried not to look at, including those of my father being murdered and turned and the way so many vampires had assaulted me in the hopes of controlling my powers and my body. Silas drinking from me and the sickening sensation of wrongness as he forced pleasure…

I shook out my head and gripped the edge of the counter, glad Julian was busy zipping around the room to retrieve any and all items he could find that seemed untouched by the maelstrom of destruction. He’d removed the bodies before he would allow either Lorraine or I in the space. I didn’t fight him on that bit of protection. I appreciated it.

“Are you okay?” Lorraine asked, and I jerked my head up, having forgotten she was even there. I’d had her stand to the side and not move until I gave her more instructions.

“It’s a lot,” I answered truthfully. “Grab that chair and have a seat near me.”

She wrinkled her nose at the overturned stool but did as I asked while Julian dropped an armful of vials and equipment before me.

“Thank you,” I said, meeting his eyes that, at the moment, had the look of the pale blue water at the base of an iceberg. “Go feed while I do this work. It’ll take time.”

“I volunteer,” Lorraine said, leaning forward so her cleavage was on display.

Julian nodded to me, and I had to press my eyes closed against the gust of wind caused by his rapid departure. I grimaced and sterilized a needle so I could draw some of Lorraine’s blood.

“Ouch,” she said as I stuck it in her arm. “Not as fun as feeding a handsome vampire.”

The urge to jab her harder came to mind, but I fought it away. She couldn’t help that her directive had to do with seducing then killing Gerard. She was being used by the fae as much as they wanted to use me. I’d seen firsthand how powers like my own could force innocent people to do the worst things imaginable. The things Julian had been forced to do by Silas…

“A vampire bite won’t help you regain control of your faculties so you can live a normal life,” I countered, pulling the needle out and covering the spot with a wad of tissue, pressed hard against her vein. “I might need more, but I’ll start with that.”

Lorraine sniffled as I went about my business. After a few minutes, she started spinning on the stool. I sighed. I couldn’t believe she’d been the one to cause all this destruction in her frenzy to snatch Binx. The picture of Mama’s body clawed open flashed in my head, eager to escape the other suppressed memories. I glanced at Lorraine’s manicured nails.

Either she physically changed when in directive mode, or she was far stronger than we realized. I shuddered, glad I’d told her not to harm us.

“Can I look around?” she asked as I raised one of the small tubes I’d placed her blood in up toward the light.

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