through my tears. He picked up the discarded syringe and injected the full dose into my arm, and when he was done, he followed it up by giving me the second one. A double dose. There was no way to know what Iâd been injected with. It could be the Ebola virus or bubonic plague or mad cow disease. But I was very aware that I couldnât allow Gabriel to feed from me as long as my blood was tainted.
Perhaps that was his plan . . .
âDid you make that for Anasztaizia too?â I sobbed as he put the empty syringes back in the case.
âYes, but it can be used on any human.â
Are you still human? I mean, technically?
I gave my inner bitch the mental equivalent of a who knows? shoulder shrug.
âWhat do you want to do with her?â Gus asked. He seemed a little hesitant, but I think that was due more to Petrovâs unexpected reaction to me than to any real threat I might pose.
âI really donât care. Sheâs of no use to me,â Petrov told him. âDo whatever you want.â
âReally?â Rat Boy, snickering like a perverted schoolboy with his first porno magazine, gave me a speculative look.
âJust make it quick, although I donât think that will be a problem for you.â He gave Rat Boy a disdainful look before turning and addressing Gus. âShe should last for about thirty minutes, but if I were you, Iâd be gone long before that.â
âWhy?â
âJust in case someone does come looking for her.â
âWhatâs gonna happen in thirty minutes?â Rat Boy piped up.
I donât know if it was the second injection suddenly kicking in and giving me a rush, or maybe my brain releasing endorphins. Either way, my body recognized that if I was to survive whatever was coming, I needed help. The pain in my hand began to subside, changing from an agonizing shriek to a manageable pulsating throb. The change allowed me to focus on what was going on around me.
âWhatâs gonna happen in thirty minutes?â Rat Boy repeated, and I could hear the curiosity mingle with his excitement.
âSheâll be dead,â Petrov told him, âbut if your sexual proclivities run to necrophilia . . .â He let the rest of his sentence hang.
Rat Boy looked confused.
âFucking a corpse,â Gus told him.
I hurt too much to be impressed that he knew what Petrov was talking about. But at least I now knew what a double dose of his just-something-Iâve-been-playing-with formula was supposed to do.
Yeah, but that still doesnât mean youâre going to die.
Well, I guessed weâd find out in about thirty minutes.
Chapter 7
P etrov vanished. One minute he was there, and the next he was gone. I didnât know how it was that he could be awake during the day anyway, but for all I knew the stars could already be twinkling in a midnight sky.
If they were, Gabriel would already be here.
Okay, not nighttime then, but maybe close to sunset, and being in a pretty dark placeâin more ways than oneâwas probably okay for the vampire.
Iâd been telling myself that I could survive anything because Gabriel was coming for me. That was as certain as celebrating Independence Day on July 4, but the throbbing in my hand was making it difficult to hold onto that belief. Was Petrovâs inhibitor drug actually working as he intended? If so, then Gabriel wouldnât be showing up anytime soon, and until he did I was on my own with homicidal Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
As for whether or not I was going to die, the validity of my demonic deal was about to get its first real test.
I dropped my swollen hand to my side, gritting my teeth as the tips of my fingers brushed against my leg. The pain had definitely lessened, but I think that was due to a combination of released endorphins and compressed nerves numbing my fingers. I gripped the bars with my good hand and pulled myself to my feet. No way in hell was I going to let