truth burned at her lips. “Yes.”
“And able to somewhat resist a glamour, as well as see companions.” She chuckled, leg swinging out and beckoning. “Yes. You’re coming home with me, sweetling.”
Samantha rose, but didn’t step forward, clenching her hands again. She didn’t know what was happening, but whatever this woman had planned, she suspected it would be worse than anything Eli might have done. “No, I don’t think so.”
Again, the raised eyebrow. Samantha growled, forcing her hands to move of her will, her might, her thought. With her thumb, she twisted her ring around until it bit into the flesh of her palm.
Awareness flooded her mind, and Samantha whipped her head around to break the hypnotic stare of the pale woman, looking at the crow. It huffed, feathers ruffling out, and then screeched. Down its throat, Samantha saw roiling, impossibly bright fire, as if the bird had swallowed hell itself.
“What are you doing, girl?” the woman demanded as Samantha staggered back, ice cream in a long forgotten puddle underfoot.
“No,” Samantha whispered. “No. Stay away!” She threw her arm over her eyes, willing herself to run away, and the bubble of silence around them shattered. Samantha ran.
“Girl! Girl, where are you going? Be careful,” the woman called after her. Samantha kept running, long past the park, long past her house–what if the woman followed her? The crow could fly–she should keep running, run until she was in the next borough, past the Great Lakes, on the other side of the country even!
But only five blocks from the park her progress was blocked. “Samantha!” The voice was male. It couldn’t be the woman. She didn’t stop, arm still shielding her eyes, hand still clamped so tightly her ring was drawing blood.
“Samantha Parker! Hey.”
She careened into someone’s chest. Strong hands gripped her shoulders. She didn’t stop to think who it could be as she started to strike, still breathless with fear and exertion. The hands shifted, grabbed her wrists, and she struggled even harder. The silence came again. Terrifying, pervading silence. She was alone with whatever caught her, and she screamed.
“No! No, you can’t have me. I won’t go with you.”
“Samantha…” whoever she’d run into breathed, taken aback, surprised, and actually worried.
She blinked, heaving for breath and looking at her captor for the first time.
“Samantha. It’s me. Eli. I’m not going to hurt you, Samantha.”
She recognized him. He looked the same. But now she saw him. His eyes were swirls of black and white, mixing to gray in some places. His skin was stark white. He faintly smelled of death at first, but it faded quickly except to memory. She shook her head as her mind went numb. This must be what it felt like to go mad, she thought. “Stop it,” she whispered. “Stop it.” She tried to pull away, but Eli stayed strong, frowning.
“Samantha, tell me what you see.” His voice kept a calm, assured tone, so different from the woman. “When you look at me, what do you see?”
“White,” she whispered, shaking. “White, and red, and black. Your skin is white. I see you, I see you! What are you?” She half screamed, half sobbed. “I’m going crazy.. What’s happening to me? First the lady, then the crow, then you. You’re like her... I-I can feel it!”
“Like who, Samantha?” he asked.
“The woman in the park. The woman with the crow.” She took deep breaths, trying not to let the color of his skin get to her, the crimson claws which didn’t touch her skin but hovered near, keeping her close to him. “You’ve got everything hushed, too. It’s too quiet, we’re in the middle of the street–what’s happening, Eli? What’s happening?”
Eli watched her, holding her in place for so long sweat dripped into her eyes. He grimaced. “You’re going to have to trust me, Samantha. It’s time to go.”
Her gaze whipped up to meet his, mouth half open. “No. No, she can’t know where I live.”
“She’s gone, Samantha.” Eli murmured, and bundled her close. Quiet settled around them again, this time secretive and almost soothing as he walked them down the street. “But if you ran, more will come.”
* * * *
By the time they reached the apartment she was half asleep and he was practically carrying her.
“Samantha. Keys.”
“Huh?”
“Your keys.”
“I…” She pawed at her jacket pocket, fumbled out a key ring with three USB drives and more keys than he could count. Somehow, though, she brought out the correct one, fit it in, and turned the lock.
He spread out his hands. “I can open the door, but you’re going to have to walk in yourself and invite me in.”
She blinked. “Wha? What are you, a vampire?”
“Not exactly.” He averted his gaze.
She worried at her lip. “Can I trust you? You still haven’t told me I’m crazy. Anyone else would have taken me to the hospital.”
“You’re not crazy.” Eli said. “Anything but. Right now, you’re one of the sanest members of the human race in existence. I’m just trying to keep you that way.”
“And you’re not going to rape me? Or kill me? Or hold me hostage for money?”
“Right now, it’s more important to get you inside your home, where you hold the advantage. That’s why we’re not at a hospital. If you want, I’ll just push you in the door.”
She frowned at him. “If I let you in, will you tell me what’s going on?”
Eli thought about that. Should he? He was meant to be gaining her trust so that he could harvest her, and he looked to be about half way there. But she’d run from a Damned, and judging by her terror, a Damned more powerful than him. Who was hanging around New York like that? He had to know. “Yes. Or rather, I’ll tell you everything I know.”
* * * *
She watched him again. He was so deeply sketchy, everything about him was. She knew it logically but right now she was just so relieved to have someone telling her she wasn’t insane. Just this morning he’d been stalker number one, now he was helping her run away from the monster on the street. She couldn’t trust him, could she?
Well, she’d trusted him so far, and it had worked out. She was alive and unmolested. It was a leap of faith, but she judged that the ground wasn’t too far down, so she reached out to grasp the door and stepped into her apartment.
As frazzled as she was, she immediately felt better, more calm, safer. She leaned on the shoe-stool, just drawing several breathes. Her senses reeled.
She could feel Eli at the door jamb. Not just sense him at the corner of
