Kitty and the Midnight Hour
Page 35

I developed a mental picture of her. She'd look young, painfully innocent even, with the clean looks and aura of allure that most vampires cultivated.
"When did you decide you didn't want to be a vampire anymore? What made you seek out Elijah Smith?"
"I had no freedom. Everything revolved around the Master. I couldn't do anything without him. What kind of life is that?"
"Unlife?" Ooh, remember the inside voice.
"I had to get away."
If I were going to do the pop-psychology bit on Estelle, I'd tell her she had a problem with commitment and accepting the consequences of her decisions. Always running away to look for a cure, and now she'd run to me.
"Tell me what happened."
"I was mortal now—I could do whatever I wanted, right? I could walk in broad daylight. I was assigned screening duty at the front gate two nights ago. I lost myself in the crowd and never went back. I found a hiding place, an old barn I think. In the morning, I walked past the open door, through the sunlight—and I burned. The hunger returned. He—he withdrew his cure, his blessing. His grace."
"The cure didn't work."
"It did! But I had lost my faith."
"You burned. How badly are you hurt, Estelle?"
"I—I only lost half my face."
I closed my eyes. That pretty picture of Estelle I had made disintegrated, porcelain skin bubbling, blackening, turning to ash until bone could be seen underneath. She ducked back into shade, and because she was still a vampire, immortal, she survived.
"Estelle, one of the theories about Smith says that he has some sort of psychic power. It isn't a cure, but it shields people from some of the side effects of their natures—vulnerability to sunlight and the need for blood in the case of vampires, the need to shape-shift in the case of lycanthropes. His followers must stay with him so he can maintain it. It's a kind of symbiotic relationship—he controls their violent natures and feeds off their power and attention. What do you think?"
"I don't know. I don't know anymore." She sniffed. Her voice was tight, and I understood now where her hushed lisp was coming from.
Matt came into the studio. "Kitty, there's a call for you on line four."
Four was my emergency line. Only a couple of people had the number. Carl had it. I bet it was him, still trying to be protective.
"Can't it wait?"
"No. The guy threatened me pretty soundly." Matt shrugged unapologetically. He'd let me mess with the threats from the supernatural world. One of these days he was going to quit this gig, and I wouldn't be able to blame him. I needed to get Ozzie to give him a raise.
"Estelle, hang on for just a minute. I'm still with you, but I have to take a break." I put her on hold, punched the line, and made sure it wasn't set to broadcast. The last thing I needed was Carl lecturing me on the air. "What?"
"Hello, Katherine," said an aristocratic male voice.
It wasn't Carl. Oh, no. Only one other person besides my grandmother ever called me Katherine. I'd met him only a couple of times in person, during territorial face-offs with Carl and the pack. But I knew that voice. That voice made my bone marrow twinge.
"Arturo. How the hell did you get this number?"
"I have ways."
Oh, please. On the phone, behind the microphone, I had the power. I switched the line over to live. "Hello, Arturo. You're on the air."
"Katherine," he said tightly. "I wish to speak to you privately."
"You call me during the show, you talk to my listeners. That's the deal." Maybe if I was brazen enough, I'd forget that he'd tried to have me killed.
"I do not appreciate being treated like your rabble—"
"What do you want, Arturo?"
He took a deep breath. "I want to talk to Estelle."
"Why?"
"She's one of mine."
Great. This was getting complicated. I covered the mike with my hand. "Matt, how does three-way calling work again?"
A few seconds later, I had Estelle back on the line. "Estelle? You still there?"
"Yes." Her voice was trembling. She swallowed.
"Okay—I have Arturo on the other line—"
She groaned like I'd just staked her. "He'll kill me. He'll kill me for leaving him—"
"On the contrary, my dear. I want to take you home. You're hurt and need help. Tell me where you are."
Her breath hiccuped. She was crying. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry—"
"It's far too late for that," he said, sounding tired.
I couldn't believe what I was about to say. "Estelle, I think you should listen to him. I don't know what I can do for you. Arturo can get you to a safe place."
"I don't believe him. I can't go back, I can't ever go back!"
"Estelle, please, tell me where you are," Arturo said.
"Kitty?" Estelle said, her voice small.
"Arturo—you promise you aren't going to hurt her?"
"Katherine, you're being harsh."
"Promise."
"Katherine. Estelle is mine. She is part of me. If she is destroyed, part of me is destroyed as well. I have an interest in protecting her. I promise."
Drama, tension, excitement! What a great setup for a show! But at the moment I would have given my pelt to have the whiny goth chicks back.
"I'm going to break for station identification. When we return, I hope I'll have a wrap-up for you on our sudden special broadcast of 'Elijah Smith: Exposed.'" I switched the phone lines off the air and said, "All right, Estelle. It's up to you."
"Okay. Okay. Arturo, come get me. I'm at the Speedy Mart on Seventy-fifth."
Arturo's line clicked off.
"You okay, Estelle?" I asked.
"Yeah. Yes, I'm all right." She had stopped crying and seemed almost calm. The decision had been made. She could stop running, for a little while at least.
I had one more call to make—to the cavalry, just in case. I should have called the police. Hardin—she'd help Estelle. Yeah, she'd take Estelle to a hospital. And they wouldn't know what to do with her. They wouldn't understand, and it would take too long to explain.