Dark Destiny

Chapter Sixteen

Destiny found the sisters in their usual spot on the sidewalk with their lawn chairs set out and ready for company. They hugged her with far more enthusiasm than she would have liked, especially with the echo of Nicolae’s laughter in her mind. Destiny was still uncomfortable with physical contact, but Inez and Velda hugged and kissed her, patting her encouragingly as if she were a child they adored.

You do not dislike physical contact with me. Nicolae deliberately teased her, knowing she would react, but she would laugh, too, and the exchange would leave her amused and relaxed.

I still want to kick you, Destiny said, shutting him out firmly. Inez was already attempting to teach her a dance step she’d just learned from a video.

“Come, dear.” Inez took her hand, attempting to force Destiny’s hips into swaying appropriately to the metallic music screeching from the boom box beside their chairs.

“Sister, she should learn the tango, not that step. It isn’t romantic enough,” Velda objected. “Your young man is quite fond of you, Destiny. He’s learning the ways of true courtship, very rare in this day and age.”

“I can’t thank you enough for giving him pointers,” Destiny said. “He admitted you were the ones who thought of the roses. They were lovely.” She moved carefully away from Inez, smiling as she did so. “I’m not much of a dancer, Inez, but you move so beautifully.”

The sisters twittered, pleased that Nicolae had taken their advice to heart. “Did you get your chocolates, dear?” Inez asked slyly.

“I’m looking forward to that pleasure,” Destiny lied, blushing for no other reason than that the two women had such wicked thoughts in their heads.

Inez looked dreamy. “It will be a memory to treasure,” she advised.

“What I really came by for was to get more information about these strange incidents. Nicolae is helping me look into them, and I thought you might have some more information for us,” Destiny said hastily. “Do either of you remember similar events happening in the past?” Destiny asked. She seated herself in the chair between the two elderly ladies. “Something weird? Someone acting completely out of character?”

Inez made clucking sounds as she thought it over. “Why, yes, dear, now that you ask. Sister, you remember poor Blythe Madison. She’s in the mental institution now. What a sweet girl she was.”

“Oh, yes, Inez, I had forgotten that poor girl. We visited her a few times, but she was unresponsive and her husband told us our visits only seemed to upset her. We should have continued to make inquiries, though.”

“Sister, how awful we are.” Inez’s hands fluttered to her throat. She looked distressed. “We haven’t even asked about her lately. Poor Harry, he probably thinks everyone’s forgotten about her. Poor, dear man, carrying such a burden alone.”

“Blythe had no other family,” Velda continued. “Just poor Harry. He was so bewildered when she cracked up.”

“Blythe was a meek little thing,” Inez added. “She would hardly speak without permission. That’s why it was so difficult to believe it when she began doing bizarre things. Wasn’t it awful, Sister? Why, she ran down this very street waving a butcher knife, threatening everyone.”

Velda nodded. “It wasn’t the first incident, but it was the one that finally convinced Harry she was dangerous to herself and others. I must go visit her.”

Destiny patted her arm. “I’m certain Blythe would appreciate that, Velda, but could you give me a little more detail? What was the first odd thing she did?”

“It was right after they made such a success of The Tavern,” Velda said. “Blythe had the idea of making it a deli-bar, hoping to bring in the neighborhood after work and in the evening as a visiting place. It was a wonderful idea. Everyone loved it, and we all gravitated toward The Tavern in the evenings. Her idea turned the entire business around.”

“You liked her,” Destiny guessed.

“Very much,” Velda admitted, while Inez bobbed her head with enthusiasm. “A dear, sweet girl—she’d give you the shirt off her back. She was always rescuing animals and bringing soup to anyone who was sick.”

“A lovely girl,” Inez reiterated wistfully. “Perfectly sensible. Everyone liked her. We should have continued to visit her, Sister.”

Destiny hung on to her patience. “Do you remember what started it all?”

“We were in The Tavern to celebrate Inez’s birthday,” Velda said. “I remember because we were wearing party hats.”

“It was my sixty-fifth birthday, a true milestone,” Inez put in.

Velda rolled her eyes. “It was your seventieth birthday, Inez. You’re five years older than you tell people.”

“Why, Sister! Surely not. I am certain of my age.”

“You’re two years younger than I am.”

Inez looked shocked and began to fan herself. “I am certain you’re wrong, Sister. I am at least five years younger.”

Velda took a breath, patted her sister lovingly. “Now that you say so, I believe you’re right. I was mixed up for a moment, dear, do forgive me.”

“You were telling me about the party hats,” Destiny said to redirect the conversation, but she was looking at Velda with far more respect. There was genuine love and compassion in the woman’s eyes as she looked at her sister.

“Well,” Velda went on. “I had tried one of those new perms and my hair was all curly and sticking out from under the party hat. I was looking at myself in the mirror and laughing. Blythe was laughing with me. We pointed to each other in the mirror. She’d had a perm, too, but her hair wasn’t sticking out like mine. It looked pretty. Didn’t you think so, Inez?” Deliberately she drew her sister into the conversation, taking her mind off the distressing subject of age. “Didn’t you think Blythe’s hair was really pretty all curled the way it was?”

“Oh, yes, Sister, she looked so young.”

“But the mirror shattered. It just shattered. Nothing touched it. I was looking right at it.” Velda frowned. “There were slivers of glass everywhere. The mirror must have really meant something to Blythe. Maybe it was an heirloom. She just went for the closest person. She picked up a chair and smashed it over his back. Who did she hit, Sister? Do you remember?”

“That tall friend of Harry’s. He isn’t around much anymore. I haven’t seen him but once or twice since,” Inez answered. “Davis something.”

“Morgan Davis.” Velda pounced on the name, proud of her memory. “Of course. I didn’t like him, much too cold for me, but the young girls went for him.” She glanced at Destiny. “I didn’t like his aura. It was off color. He worked with Harry on and off for a few months and then left town.”

“That’s right. Davis is very tall, and Blythe smashed that chair right over him.” Inez grinned at the memory. “Everyone wanted to laugh, a little thing like her breaking that chair. But then she picked up a piece of the leg and began to hit him all over. She didn’t make a sound and she wouldn’t stop. Harry restrained her, didn’t he, Sister?”

“The next day she didn’t remember anything at all,” Velda said. “When we asked her about it, she denied it. She cried. I believe she began to think there was a conspiracy against her. None of us could convince her she had actually hit Davis with a chair. She just seemed to give up after a while. She withdrew from everyone, and eventually we rarely saw her. There were four incidents about a month or so apart. Finally Harry took her to the hospital. No one’s really talked to her since.” Velda’s hand trembled as she reached for the talisman hanging on a chain around her neck. “I was her friend. I should have continued to visit her.” She looked down at the ground. “I all but forgot her.”

“Velda,” Destiny said in a soothing tone. “Blythe knows you’re a good friend. She’s unable to cope at this time, but perhaps we’ll find some information that will help her.” She was turning Velda’s words over and over in her mind.

A mirror shattered, Nicolae. The other night, just before John Paul’s strange behavior, the streetlights shattered. There must be a connection. She reached for him easily, naturally. Nicolae. Her other half.

I knew you felt that way.

His voice was far too complacent for her liking.

You are my other half, I’ll admit, but you’re the worst half. The ridiculous, impetuous half that must be monitored continually.

Ah, that word again. Impetuous. Spontaneous, reckless, a lover without measure.

Destiny laughed out loud.

Where did that come from? You’re dreaming again.

“Thank you for telling me, Velda, I know it isn’t easy to bring up difficult memories. You’re always so generous.” Destiny studied the two eccentric women. The pink and purple hair. The flashy tennis shoes. Inez with her overdone makeup and Velda with a cleanly scrubbed face.

“You’re extraordinary women.” Destiny knew it was true. They gave service to others, watching over and caring for the people they loved. Some thought them busybodies, others thought them silly, but those were the people who didn’t take time to know them. To see who they really were. “I feel privileged to have met you.”

“We’re not extraordinary at all, dear,” Velda denied. “We live life very simply, without fear of rejection. Others don’t have to understand us.” As if realizing they were getting close to the topic of her hidden talents, she completely changed the subject, patting Destiny’s hand as if that would distract her. “I heard what you did for that little boy. Father Mulligan came by this morning and mentioned you brought him the child. Inez and I would gladly give him a home, but we’re too old.” She glanced at her sister. “I’m too old, and Inez must take care of me. She has her hands full with that, don’t you, Sister?”

“You’re never a bother, Velda. Of course we’ll take the child if he has no one else. Velda fusses and spoils them, but I’d see to it that he ate properly and went to school. She’d be useless, taking him for outings all the time and giving him junk food.”

“Father Mulligan has a family in mind,” Velda said. “A couple who have always wanted children and could never have any. He’s helping them fill out the necessary paperwork and talking with the social workers now. I believe he was meeting your young man and taking him along.”

So that’s what you’re up to, smoothing the way. Hope blossomed in the pit of her stomach, a starburst she tried hard to squelch. She had lived most of her life without hope, without allowing others into her life. Velda and Inez lived their lives without fear of rejection. They dressed the way they wanted to dress, and they chose to have fun in their lives. Father Mulligan had told her to have courage. She was beginning to realize that meant the courage to actually enjoy her life.

She suddenly wanted to be with Nicolae, to feel his arms around her. He had had the courage to take tainted blood from her. So she would never feel like an outcast, never feel alone. She was afraid to allow the full scope of such a magnificent sacrifice into her mind, into her heart, because she feared she might love him too much.

Destiny was instantly ashamed of herself. Nicolae deserved better than what he was getting. Impulsively she leaned over to kiss Velda, and then Inez, on their cheeks. “Thank you both. You’re the best! I’m going to go grill Mary Ann. Have you seen her?”

“Well, no, dear. This is Thursday. She always does her books on Thursday and isn’t fit for company.”

Destiny’s eyebrow shot up. That sounded intriguing. She never paid attention to what day of the week it was, but Thursday with Mary Ann sounded interesting. Destiny found the woman in her office, scowling down at a book filled with numbers. “You don’t look as though you’re having fun, my friend,” she greeted with a sunny smile.

Mary Ann glanced up at her, a frown on her face. “I detest accounting. I always find I need far more money to go out than I managed to take in. I’ve stared at this page until I’m cross-eyed and I can’t make the numbers change.”

Destiny studied Mary Ann’s large, chocolate-colored eyes. “You do look a bit cross-eyed. We can’t have that. How much do you need?”

Mary Ann laughed and tossed down her pencil with a little gesture of defeat. “Let’s just say robbing a bank is beginning to look like a way out.”

Destiny leaned onto the desk with both elbows and propped up her chin in her palm. “I could do that for you,” she offered, straight-faced. “It’s rather a specialty of mine. Walk in, sight unseen, collect what I need and get out. No one’s the wiser. And doors don’t stop me; neither can a safe. Where do you think the money I’ve donated came from?” She widened her eyes to look as innocent and sweet as possible.

There was a moment of silence. The smile faded from Mary Ann’s face and she looked horrified. “Destiny, surely you didn’t steal that money? I used money from a bank robbery for my sanctuary?” There was a squeak of alarm in her voice.

Destiny blinked rapidly. Mary Ann wadded up paper lying on the desk and threw it at her. “You’re awful! Why do I think I like you? You almost gave me a heart attack.”

“Shame on you for even thinking such a thing. Although, now that you mention it, the possibilities are endless.”

“Don’t even joke about it. That would really be the end of my sanctuaries. Funding is so darned difficult and with all the government scrutiny I have to make doubly certain every ‘i’ is dotted and every ‘t’ is crossed.”

“Are you really worried about money, Mary Ann?” Destiny asked.

“Well, of course, isn’t everyone? The sanctuaries are expensive to maintain, and I try to do job training and help each family get started. A woman on the run is difficult to hide, especially if children are involved. I have some help, but it isn’t easy to keep the funding going. Grants can only cover so much and we do fund-raisers, but people tend to forget if we don’t keep our cause in the spotlight. When you’re hiding women from violent, determined husbands, the last thing you want is publicity. It’s just complex, that’s all.” Mary Ann sighed softly. “Don’t mind me, Destiny. Thursday’s are my complaining days.”

Destiny grinned at her mischievously. “Actually I knew that. Velda warned me to avoid you at all costs this evening.”

Mary Ann groaned and rested her head on the table. “Don’t tell me the entire world knows I’m a grouch.”

“Only on Thursdays,” Destiny pointed out helpfully. “Come on, don’t be so down. Tell me how much money you need and I’ll get it for you.”

Mary Ann lifted her head to regard Destiny with deep suspicion. “You

cannot

rob a bank. I’ll find a way to pay this month’s bills without that.”

“Actually I was thinking more about robbing the drug dealer a few miles from here. He’s a nasty, slimy little man and has far too much cash for his own good. Just for the fun of it, from time to time I go and destroy all his drugs.”

Mary Ann sat up very straight. “You don’t really do that, do you? Those kinds of people are dangerous.”

Destiny shrugged. “Not to me. They can’t see me. I detest them—little worms destroying lives and thinking they know what power is. Why shouldn’t a sanctuary have the money? It ought to be put to some good use. I just have to be careful to keep from starting a drug war, or allowing anyone else to take the blame.”

Mary Ann stared with shock at Destiny’s decidedly wicked smile. “How do you do it?”

Destiny’s grin widened. “I plant memories in his nasty little mind. Every now and then he has way too much to drink or he suddenly gets an attack of acute remorse. That’s my personal favorite. He thinks he gave the money away but can’t remember to whom, and he thinks he destroyed the drugs.”

“You really do this, don’t you? Does Nicolae know?”

Destiny straightened abruptly. “Did you have to bring him into this? He has nothing to do with it. I sneak into the movie theater, too, and I don’t have his permission for that either.” There was a note of defiance in her voice that made her sound a shade childish. It annoyed her. She didn’t need to answer to Nicolae, and she wasn’t apologizing for her independence. She had no idea why she was feeling guilty.

The warmth flooding her body only increased her irritation. She knew he was secretly amused. Worse, he always managed to elicit a response from her, whether physical or emotional.

I used to be a perfectly reasonable person before you got hold of me.

“Sneaking into the movie theater is hardly the same thing. One is dangerous, one is not,” Mary Ann said severely.

Is something romantic playing at the theater? I will take you there. We could have an interesting time in the back row in a dark corner. His voice was soft and seductive, playing over her skin like the caressing touch of his fingers.

I would be happy to keep you away from trouble.

In spite of her determination, she couldn’t help her melting response. She was happy. She had never really experienced happiness.

It sounds like definite trouble to me.

But she wanted to go with him. It would be fun sitting in the theater pretending they were a regular couple madly in love and wanting to sneak a few moments together in a dark corner.

But I’ll go with you.

I think Velda and Inez are on to something here. Maybe we ought to pick up the chocolate, after all.

She loved the teasing note in his voice.

I’ll let you surprise me.

She loved sharing with him. Reaching for him and having him be there with her.

“Are you listening to me, Destiny? Dealers are dangerous criminals. They think nothing of killing people. You can’t do things like that, even for a good cause.”

Destiny turned her attention to her friend.

Friend

. She savored the word. When she had first encountered Mary Ann, it had never occurred to her that she would one day be in her office, perched on her desk, teasing her. “Let me take a look at what you need. Fund-raising is my particular forte.” She reached casually across the desk and snagged the offending book, quickly scanning the open pages before Mary Ann could snatch it away.

“No, you don’t. You’re impossible. Do you really like to go to movies?”

“It’s my favorite thing,” Destiny admitted. “I’ve gone to every vampire movie made. The old ones were very cool. I found them in a small theater that seems to be geared mainly for cult movies. It got to be an addiction. I’d go through every single newspaper looking for what was playing. Sometimes I’d sit through the movie twice.”

“Is that where you got your fear of garlic and churches?” Mary Ann teased, pleased to turn the tables.

“Since we’re talking about it, why did you accept my being different, a vampire... well, a Carpathian... so easily?” Destiny demanded. “It really bothers me that you have no sense of self-preservation, Mary Ann.”

Mary Ann threw back her head and laughed. “Easily? You think I just accepted the existence of vampires so easily? You forget I couldn’t leave the church. I sat there all night long. Praying. Screaming. Crying. Wanting to run for my life. In the end, I realized that you seemed different.”

“I still don’t understand why you accepted me, Mary Ann?” Destiny insisted. “You should have condemned me. You should have hidden yourself from me.”

Mary Ann shrugged. “I already knew you. I’d looked into your eyes. If you were going to hurt me, you would have done it a long time ago. Your eyes were...” She broke off, searching for the right description. “Haunted. Your eyes were haunted, and I didn’t want to turn my back on you no matter what you were.”

“I’m glad you didn’t. Thank you, Mary Ann.” Destiny was humbled by the truth. She couldn’t imagine Mary Ann turning her back on anyone.

Even as they were smiling at one another, the dark shadow of violence slipped into her mind. She sighed, slid off the desk, turned toward the door, all too aware of the man hurrying toward the office. “Stay behind me, Mary Ann.” Her tone had changed completely, was authoritative and firm.

Before Mary Ann had a chance to respond, the door smashed open, bouncing against the wall, splintering the door frame. John Paul stood in the doorway, breathing hard, his breath coming in hard gasps, his eyes wild, his huge, hamlike fists clenching and unclenching at his sides.

“John Paul,” Mary Ann said quietly, “what can I do for you this evening? It’s after hours and I was just leaving with my friend.”

John Paul didn’t even glance at Destiny. His glassy stare was fixed on Mary Ann as he shuffled closer. “Where is Helena? I need her, Mary Ann. Give her back to me.”

Destiny touched his mind. It was filled with his intense resolve to get to Helena. He had no real plan, no idea of what he would do when he found her, only a deep need to find her. She could sense the shadow of violence embedded deep in him, but there was no taint of the vampire. No surge of power, however slight, that might indicate he was a puppet of the undead.

“John Paul, you know Helena is somewhere safe. You wanted her to go, remember? You wanted her to be safe.” Mary Ann was firm but still soothing.

John Paul shook his head adamantly. “Give her back to me.” He shoved a large, deep-cushioned chair out of his way and stepped closer to Mary Ann. He didn’t even glance at Destiny, didn’t appear to notice that anyone else was in the room.

John Paul was so close to her, his jacket brushed Destiny’s shoulder. She cleared her throat experimentally, to draw his attention, but it was wholly centered on Mary Ann.

“I didn’t take Helena, John Paul. She

needed

some time away from you while she thought things over. Do you remember coining into this office with her? Both of you cried. You begged me to take care of her, and I promised you I would.”

Without warning, John Paul swept his heavy arm across the desk, sending papers and the lamp scattering in all directions. The lamp flew across the room, hit the wall and shattered. Tiny slivers of glass fell like rain to the carpet. John Paul’s attention was immediately caught and held by the glittering pieces of glass.

“Mary Ann, very slowly back into the next room,” Destiny said softly. “He’s under some kind of compulsion, and there’s something about the shattered glass that’s the trigger.” She couldn’t read anything in his mind other than the sudden need for extreme violence. It was an ugly roar, a need to grab and smash anything or anybody close to him. The roar was all she could distinguish at first, but Destiny dodged his swinging fists with blurring speed and concentrated on the sounds bellowing in his mind.

John Paul slammed his fist into the wall, punching a hole through the middle. Spiderweb cracks appeared from floor to ceiling, radiating out from the center.

Mary Ann groaned. “Repairs. Oh, no, repairs are so costly.”

John Paul’s head snapped around toward the sound of Mary Ann’s voice, his brows drawing together, his fists swinging.

Destiny tapped his broad back to draw his attention away from Mary Ann. “Hey, big fella, I thought you wanted to dance with me. I’m the jealous type.”

Stop playing around, Destiny. If that besotted idiot lays another hand on you, I will tear him into little pieces. I am not in the least amused, nor am I joking with you.

In spite of Nicolae’s grim tone, Destiny wanted to laugh.

Pitiful male. I’m not slow dancing with him. There’s no need for jealousy.

She ducked John Paul’s fist and slipped just out of his reach, staying close enough that the large man kept his attention on her.

“What do you want me to do? Shall I call the police?” Mary Ann asked anxiously, wincing as John Paul struck at Destiny again.

“No, don’t talk, I want his attention on me at all times.” Destiny was working at deciphering the code in his head. He was fast for a big man, but she was much faster and not worried about getting hit. The noises in his head were nearly unbearable. Loud roars and growls, piercing whistles and shrieks. A buzzing like a swarm of bees. She separated the sounds, filtering them as she dodged around the small office always just inches out of John Paul’s reach.

Something planted these sounds in his head, and it wasn’t nature. She shared with Nicolae as she always did.

Someone. He has been programmed much like a bomb might be. If shattered glass is the trigger, what is the target? What is the point of this violence?

Now she could hear it, a voice, low, mumbling something over and over. It sounded as if it were on fast forward, demonic, speaking a command. Puzzled, she amplified it for Nicolae. John Paul was unaware of the command, unaware of the voice at all. It was only part of the terrible roaring in his head.

Destiny waved her hand and silenced the voice, silenced the roaring. John Paul stood in the center of the room, blinking at her with blurry eyes. He looked puzzled. His great shoulders were shaking and he broke out in a sweat. He lifted his head and looked past Destiny to Mary Ann.

Destiny blurred his vision to make certain that he would not catch a glimpse of the shattered slivers of glass on the floor. “John Paul.” Her voice was melodic, silvery, the compulsion buried deep. “You must go back to your home and stay there. You want to sleep, not listen to music or tapes or talk on the phone. You just want to go to sleep.”

I am going through his house now, Destiny. There must be something that sets him off before he is given the trigger. I will find it. Vikirnoff is on his way to Mary Ann’s office to make copies of the photograph of the young lady the vampire is hunting.

John Paul muttered something and rubbed his eyes. He looked more confused than ever. When Destiny touched his mind, she felt sorry for him. He was totally bewildered, had no idea how he had gotten to the office or why he was there.

“Mary Ann?” He sounded like a small child seeking reassurance. “I think I’m losing my mind. I’m so sleepy, and I don’t know what happened.” He peered around her, squinting to get a better look. “Did I do this? Did I wreck your office?”

Destiny patted his arm in a gesture reminiscent of Velda. “Go home and sleep, John Paul. Everything will be fine.”

Mary Ann watched him go, her eyes troubled. “Will it be fine, Destiny? Does this have something to do with a vampire? Do you have any idea what’s going on? This violence can’t keep happening. It’s ruining everyone’s lives.”

“Velda told me of a woman, Blythe Madison, who had similar problems a while back. She was put in a hospital by her husband.”

“Harry’s wife. She’s a wonderful woman. I go to visit her twice a month. She doesn’t remember anything of what she did. She stays voluntarily in the hospital. I didn’t even consider that her breakdown was anything like what happened to John Paul and Martin. How could the events possibly be connected?” Mary Ann knelt near her lamp and began to carefully pick up the pieces, tossing the slivers of glass into the wastebasket.

Destiny could see that Mary Ann’s hands were trembling. Tears glistened in her eyes. Her reaction shook Destiny as nothing else could. Mary Ann cared deeply about these people, and it was painful to her when they were in trouble.

“We’re much closer to finding out what is going on,” Destiny assured her. “I don’t know who’s behind this, but John Paul was under some sort of command.”

Mary Ann looked up at her, blinking back tears. “Like hypnosis?” There was sudden speculation in her voice.

“Is someone around here into hypnosis?”

“There’s a doctor at the clinic. He comes in a couple of times a month. He believes in hypnotism for things like pain management and quitting smoking, that type of thing. I went to him once and couldn’t quite get over his bedside manner. He’s related to Harry, a cousin or something; that’s why he even bothers to come to our lowly little neighborhood. He has offices uptown and also at the hospital.”

Destiny frowned, trying to assimilate this new information. “I don’t know what you mean by bedside manner.”

Deep inside she heard Nicolae give an inelegant snort.

Well, I don’t

know

, she insisted.

He probably came on to her. Made a pass while he was examining her.

He’s a doctor!

Destiny, vampires are not the only monsters in the world. Many of them are human.

Destiny sat down abruptly beside Mary Ann. “Was the doctor inappropriate with you? Did he—”

“Touch me inappropriately? Yes. And he was a slimy little worm with a charming smile and a handsome face. Obviously, women have said yes to him and been thrilled by his advances. I was not, and made it abundantly clear. He thought hypnotism would work well on me and wanted me to let him try. What a jerk.”

“But you didn’t report him?”

Mary Ann ducked her head. “No one else was in the room. To make that kind of accusation against a professional with his reputation and money is risky. I didn’t want to risk what I do here. I just never went back to him.”

“I wonder if John Paul went to him for any reason. Or Martin. And before them, Blythe Madison.”

“If Harry is the doctor’s cousin, wouldn’t it be natural for him to ask him to take a look at his sick wife?” Mary Ann wondered aloud.

Destiny was more inclined to think the culprit was a vampire. All along she had concentrated her energies in that direction. The legions of the undead had to be involved. To Destiny, whoever was behind these bizarre character changes was deliberately tormenting and hurting people for amusement. She couldn’t conceive of a human committing such atrocities. Demons were vampire, not human.

At once Nicolae was there, sensing that her thoughts were beginning to shake the very foundations of her world view. His arms were strong, his body sheltering, his mind firmly merged with hers. Her anchor. Nicolae was always with her. She could count on him endlessly. In spite of the crouching darkness that he had fought most of his life. In spite of the tainted blood now flowing in his veins, Nicolae was unfailingly good.

Nicolae. She breathed his name in a sudden overwhelming surge of love. He was slowly handing her back her life. A little piece at a time. And all the while he was there, comforting her, reassuring her as he had always done.

“Destiny?” Mary Ann’s voice shook her out of her reflection. “If the doctor is somehow involved in this... if he actually has done something to harm Helena and John Paul and Martin and Tim and Father Mulligan... and poor Blythe living in a hospital thinking she lost her mind... I could have prevented it. I could have brought charges against him. What if I could have stopped him?” She looked lost, sitting there on the floor with her large eyes and horror in her mind.

“No! Mary Ann, what are you thinking?” Destiny gathered her close, hugged her hard in protest. “You know better than to think anything so ridiculous. How could you be responsible for something a madman chooses to do? We don’t even know if this doctor has anything to do with what’s happened. All the facts aren’t in yet, but even if he is waving a magic wand and casting spells throughout the neighborhood, you cannot possibly be to blame.”

“You sound like me. That’s all well and good in theory, but if I had brought charges against him, maybe he wouldn’t have been able to touch any of my friends.”

“Or, more likely, he would have moved his deviant behavior somewhere else where no one would notice the difference in their friends. Don’t you see, Mary Ann? This neighborhood and the people in it are so close, they don’t readily accept that someone like John Paul who loves Helena so very much would suddenly turn on her and try to hurt her. They don’t accept that Martin would attack Father Mulligan. All of them began to watch one another and try to figure out what was going wrong.”

“Please find out who is doing this and stop it, Destiny,” Mary Ann pleaded. Destiny hugged her again. “I intend to do just that.”