Page 13 of Kissed the Mark
“Anything?” she sneered. Her voice soundedodd, lilted. “Tell me where I am.”
Her knees squeezed into my sides painfully.I didn’t understand the question, but I wasn’t about to sass herwhen she had my life in her hands. “Dandelion Meadows,” I said.
“That means nothing to me. Where are thedandelions?”
“In Mayfair?” I tried, my throatconstricting.
“Mayfair in London?” she asked, scoffing.“You talk like a Yankee.”
“We’re in the U.S., not London,” I said,sweat beading on my forehead. What kind of sick game was this? “InMissouri.”
“And what year is it?” she asked.
My panicked brain took in her period dress.This had to be some kind of prank. “I’m about to piss myself,Leandra. Please stop this.”
“Did you do this to me?” she asked then, andI saw that she wasn’t all animal now, her instincts having pulledback. Thank God she had the chance to feast on that raccoon beforeme. I could’ve been toast.
“I don’t know what happened to you,” I saidcautiously. “What do you know?”
“I went to bed in London in 1925,” she said,“and I woke up here. I do not understand what this is. Have Ientered a new world or…a new time?”
Visually, I checked her for any obviousinjuries. I was pretty sure vampires couldn’t get concussed. “Youlost your memory, maybe,” I said, and as soon as it was out of mymouth, I was sure of it. She was confused and upset, her bodytrembling with newfound fear.
“I’m hungry,” she said.
“I’ll get you something, if you get off ofme.”
Half an hour later, the butcher had sold mea plastic container of pig’s blood. Leandra gulped it down like anormal person would tip back the last dregs of soup, with hugeswallows that made the column of her throat slide up and down.
I felt increasingly nauseous. Not just theblood, but the situation had unsettled my stomach. Surely it wasn’tonmeto fix whatever had happened here.
“Where did you get that dress?” I asked.
She looked down at herself. “Stole it off ahuman, I guess.” The plastic container clattered as she finisheddraining it and tossed it aside.
Usually I kept an eye on the St. Louisconventions, because they were high potentials for malevolentsupernaturals to take advantage of, and thus high potential for bigbounties, but I truthfully hadn’t checked recently. Maybe it wastaken off someone who had cosplayed as an anime character that worean Edwardian-era dress. If she’d suffered from memory loss, thiswould’ve been the closest thing to home. Hopefully she hadn’tmurdered them for it.
I watched her wipe off her mouth and pressher hair back into place. It didn’t look nearly as flawless asusual. I considered our options. The easiest thing would be to takeher right to the abandoned mall and let the vampire queen deal withwhatever happened here. There would be zero liability from me—I’dhave done my duty by dropping her off, and she’d be in the besthands to help her.
Even then, I hesitated. There had been somany inconsistencies around Mayfair these days, and I didn’t quitetrust the vampires to handle this. Turning her into the mayoralcouncil was another option, but one that I dismissed quickly,considering how they’d brushed off my very serious concerns.
The logical side of me, the one that wantedthis whole situation over as soon as possible, warred with the sideof me that empathized too much with others. Leandra was scared andin foreign territory, and as soon as I handed her off to someoneelse, she’d be subject to the whims of people whose motives Ididn’t trust.
In the end, it was no debate at all. I wouldfigure out what had happened before making any moves, and hopefullywouldn’t get in trouble for reporting anything too late—especiallyconsidering I was treated as an annoyance for reporting anything atall. “I’ll take you back to my place,” I said.
?
I unlocked the door and headed up the steps.We were some hours from sunrise, and Leandra let me know it,yawning ceaselessly and stretching her tall limbs every which way.She stopped at the doorway, gawking at the insides of the shabbystairway that led to my apartment door.
“You have to invite vampires in if you wantme to enter,” she said. “Foolish fairy.”
I’d had an appointment with Beatrice Newellto get the place saged, and given my e gui landlords instructionsto let her up if I wasn’t home. The appointment had been yesterday.If I invited Leandra in now, I’d have to make another appointmentwith Beatrice to uninvite her.
I sighed at the inconvenience. “Come onin.”
She leaped up the steps, humming anold-fashioned-sounding tune to herself, and promptly made herselfat home on my rug. “This used to be a wolf,” she said, rubbing herface on it.
“It’s faux fur, so I don’t think so,” Isaid. Out of the corner of my eye, Yuki came into the room, sniffedthe air, and then scurried out yowling. She had taken so well toLeandra before, but Yuki had an even stronger sixth sense thanother cats for when something was off.
