Vampire Babylon - Break Of Dawn Part 22

Eva went stony.

Down the hall, a bunch of vampires emerged from another chamber door and headed toward them in the direction of the emporium. Dawn recognized a bare-chested Jesse Shane along with the silver-eyed Groupies who were flanking him, wearing nothing but delicate chains. His long golden hair made him look like a prince among jewels.

"There she is!" He held his arms out to Dawn. "Eva, where've you been hiding our spectacular newbie?"

As one of his muscle-honed arms slipped around Dawn's shoulders, she got a hot flash. Jesse Shane, action star, had been a buried preteen fantasy of hers, and here he was, in the flesh.

He pulled her to his famous chest and her stomach flip-flopped. Jesse Shane.

You hear that, Costin?

Eva greeted the vamp group while a male Groupie petted her blond hair. She seemed perfectly at home with the attention.

"Dawn and I were just about to-"

"Come to the emporium," Jesse finished, already sweeping Dawn away. "We've finished training for the night, and it's time to . . .

er . . . meditate on our future success." He squeezed Dawn to him. "Isn't that right?"

Holy c.r.a.p, she might faint. Jesse Shane, probably the only star who'd ever risen above her low expectations of the breed. A reluctant crush that she'd kind of forgotten about until now, in his tongue-lolling presence.

She bungled an answer-sounded like a yes to her-and forgot about Eva as Jesse brought her into the domed emporium. The erotic temperature of it soaked into her skin, making it buzz.

Just watch me live, Costin. . . .

Jesse led her to a steaming pool and stepped out of his silk pants. Several female Groupies clung to him, rubbing against his sleek thighs. One even reached out to caress his, well, quite impressive package, if Dawn said so herself. It seemed natural for them to be so carnal, but Dawn wasn't sure what to do with herself. Not here, not now.

Jesse and his perfect, broad-shouldered body slid into the water, and Dawn had to remind herself that she hated actors.

As four Groupies joined him, splas.h.i.+ng one another and giggling, he motioned to Dawn.

"You allergic to water?" he asked. She tried to seem as confident as ever, because, really, this was no biggie. Skinny-dipping and flas.h.i.+ng her skin around guys was par for the course. So why was she hesitating?

She looked around for Eva, but didn't find her.

"Dawn Madison . . ." Jesse said playfully. He finger-sprayed some water at her, and the women around him laughed. "If you can't beat us, join us."

He didn't seem to mind her face-the wound from Robby Pennybaker on her check or the stunt-earned scar flicking her eyebrow.

He didn't care that she wasn't the second coming of any beauty queen.

In fact, he was looking at her like she transcended a t.i.tle, like she fit right in with all these beautiful creatures.

Join them. It was the first thing that made sense in a while. What was she holding on to anyway?

And when she saw how the vampires were watching her, with l.u.s.t and acceptance and even antic.i.p.ation, she undid her hair, shaking it out and freeing herself.

EIGHTEEN.

THE BITING TRUTH.

LOOK at me, Costin, Dawn thought as she grabbed the bottom of her s.h.i.+rt and yanked upward. I can be just like I was before I met you.

Jesse and the Groupies were egging her on when Dawn felt someone tugging down her s.h.i.+rt from behind, then hoisting her away from the pool.

"Hey-" she started.

But Eva finished. She looked fit to be tied. "Not the time for this, Dawn."

Jesse and his Groupies oooed in antic.i.p.ation of a tussle.

Her mother turned on them. "Did you think about what the Master might do if he saw you encouraging her?"

The oooing stopped. The splas.h.i.+ng of the waterfall into the far end of the pool subst.i.tuted for an answer.

Dawn took up the slack. "Am I not supposed to be having 'the time of my life' down here, Eva? Unless I'm wrong, I think you suggested it."

"I meant with the Master."

"Ah, sublime monogamy." She put on a saccharine smile. "I didn't expect you to be the only prude down here."

As her mother pulled her away from the vampires, Dawn looked at Jesse Shane one last time. He smiled his blockbuster smile, making her want to stay and be a part of what he offered.

But Eva pulled her daughter into the hallway for the second time that night, and Dawn couldn't help feeling like she was being dragged to her room for a good talking-to. Again.

"Think," Eva said. "Would the Master be happy that you're cavorting with someone else when you rejected him earlier?"

"I'd be happy. Seriously-you're protecting my virtue?" She laughed shortly. "How Kiko of you."

Her mother seemed to notice the wistful change in Dawn's tone. Eva stopped, then tilted her head in the way all vamps seemed to do when they were trying to figure you out.

"Kiko," she repeated softly.

It held a note of remorse. While disguised as Jac, Eva had developed some affection for the psychic-at least, she'd acted like it.

Dawn chose to believe it was true because, as Kik himself would've said, how could it not be?

The vamp let go of Dawn's hand and moved on, changing the subject. "Besides the Master, I have an ulterior motive for getting you out of the emporium, something that won't take long. We'll see Benedikte right afterward."

"Please elaborate. Because that was Jesse Shane in there. Jesse. Shane."

"I thought you might be more interested in trying to contact Frank."

Ears perked. "What do you mean . . . ?" Dawn caught up to her mother, keeping pace. "How?"

"I've been hoping to make an attempt down here, maybe at an old quarry entrance near the surface to try my Awareness with him.

Now that we're prepared for . . . the nameless agency you used to work for . . . it's no danger to use vampire communication Above. It was a concern before because it could be detected. We all had to be careful."

Dawn appreciated that Eva wasn't referring to Costin out loud. It was a small but important sign of simpatico.

"But," her mother continued, "I suppose Jesse is waiting."

"We're talking about my dad, Eva." h.e.l.l, she hated actors anyway, and it was simple to remember it now that she was out of Jesse Shane's s.e.xual force field.

At her mother's smile, Dawn picked up speed. They had come to a fork in the tunnels, and Eva led her to the right, where electric lights stared and the floor turned to dirt.

A question poked at Dawn, something she'd been wondering for a while now. "Eva, how strong is Frank as a vampire?"

Her mother lost a step, then continued. "I don't have a definitive answer because . . . Well, there's a lot to consider. First, I'm strong. During my last blood-taking from the Master, I overindulged, and it boosted me. And"-she lowered her voice, although what she would say out loud probably wouldn't get her in trouble if it were overheard-"I already told you what happened last time I fed Frank. Here's the thing: in our community, blood loses its power with the introduction of every new generation, so that's why we have strong vampires like the Elites and weaker ones, like the Groupies."

"Right . . ."

"What I'm saying is that Frank is no doubt stronger than any of our Groupies. He might be a cross between that and an Elite, so I'm not sure what to expect out of him. Elites aren't interested in making children, really, so Frank's an anomaly."

"And . . . how about this brotherhood I keep hearing about? The one the Master was in." Introducing . . . the detective. It'd appeared in Dawn's mental doorway uninvited, eager to take up the Costin/Jonah case again. "Are all the brothers equal?"

"I have no idea."

They kept walking, the sound of footsteps popping against rock. As a breeze whistled through the tunnel, Eva slowed down, gravitating toward a wall. She ran her hand over a slightly discolored patch, and a rumble from ahead s.h.i.+vered the air.

While her mother concentrated on her task, Dawn stole a glance at the actress's perfect profile, her forever-young skin.

"What do you think your life would be like if you looked your age?" she whispered. The vamp's hand flew up, as if wanting to touch her face, then did a slow free fall. "I try not to think about that."

"You'd be . . . what-forty-seven?"

"I don't remember."

"Oh, right." Dawn wanted to hear that her mother really didn't care so much about the youth and beauty part of being a vamp. She wanted to know that the devastation she'd seen on Eva's face in the screening room had been only a reflection from the film, not reality.

"Dawn, I don't want to talk about this."

"Too bad, because I know you've considered every angle of being a vampire. I know you've a.n.a.lyzed what would happen to you if your master died when Limpet visits."

Eva turned, her blond hair blowing from the tunnel's wind. "We don't talk about that, Dawn. You shouldn't, either."

"Would it be so bad if you went human again?"

Her mother got a look that made the skin p.r.i.c.kle.

"So it's that bad of a thing to be human," Dawn said.

"No, it's that good of a thing to be long-lived." Bit by bit, Eva collected her poise: first in her posture, then in her expression. "I know you understand what I'm saying. It's in the way you gazed at Jesse. Except, you don't want to desire what we have, so you try to hate us."

The urge to lash out was overwhelming, but Dawn resisted. "You're full of yourself."

"I'm being honest. If you'd think rationally, you'd realize that you could be just like me."

A wave of yearning hit Dawn, so powerful that it felt like her body was winding through itself, traveling paths she didn't want to explore.

Or did she want to? What would it be like to mirror Eva Claremont, to have everything she had?

The possibility knotted Dawn up. She'd tried to tell herself so many times that she liked being her everyday average self, that she didn't want anything to do with her mother. But what if . . . ?

In a last-ditch effort to hold on to her sanity, Dawn struck back, sudden tears edging her words. "It was never about giving your family a better life in the long run. You're down here because of what you need, and that's why you'll always serve your master, first and foremost."

Eva reared back and slapped her daughter.

Dawn bashed against the wall, smacking her head and seeing stardust. As a moan escaped her, Eva darted over, holding a hand to her daughter's head. The pain subsided like a wave drawing back from a sh.o.r.e, leaving froth behind.

She nudged her mother away. Eva had done some vamp healing, but Dawn could hardly be grateful for it, seeing as the other woman had caused the damage in the first place.

"I'm sorry," her mother said, one hand fluttering up to her chest. "I'm so-"

Someone cleared his throat.

Both Dawn and Eva straightened up at the sight of a severely handsome vampire. He had straight brown hair that came to just below his wide shoulders and wore all black, including a voluminous coat that undulated in the slight wind.

"More problems, Eva?" he asked in a refined voice. An accent-stronger than Costin's or the Master's-made his tone crisp and officious.

"This doesn't concern you, Sorin," Eva volleyed back.

His mouth formed something like a smile, but it didn't exactly encourage any sparkly thoughts from Dawn.

"I beg to differ," he said, "because the Master has been attempting to contact you, and he sent me to search you out. Your mind is closed to him . . . again."

Even Dawn could interpret this as a bad turn of events, especially after Eva had confided that she'd been keeping the Master in the dark about so many things.

With a defiant glare at Sorin, Eva walked a couple of steps away from Dawn, quiet, clearly getting into that Awareness groove with her master.

This left the male vampire to give Dawn the once-over. She did the same right back. He remained expressionless.

Their standoff was interrupted by Eva saying, "Oh, Benedikte."

When Dawn glanced at her, she found her mother wearing an expression a person might adapt if they disapproved of something a friend was doing but didn't have the power to stop them.

But in the next moment, she was moving in the direction of the Underground. "Let's go," she said to Dawn. "Benedikte says he has something you'll be interested to see."

Even though Dawn was still smarting from Eva's well-deserved slap, she decided to get far away from Sorin, too.

The male vampire's voice rang from behind them. "Eva?"

They both turned to see him running his hand over the control panel. A grumble of rock sliding closed made Sorin's glare even eerier. She'd neglected to shut the entrance.

"Thank you," Eva said coolly. "I suppose I'll have to try to find Frank by connecting with him another time."

"I suppose you will."