Jess Haines: Enslaved By the Others

It wasn’t rational, but for a second—just a second—I had to wonder if the memory of that night and the desire I had felt for him was something he had planted in me, too.

He turned back to the other two girls, repeating the process.

When he discovered one of them did not speak English, he called over Clarisse.

“See if you can figure out where she’s from and who we have in town who speaks her language. No outside interpreters. If you can’t manage, let me know and I’ll see what I can do. Oh, and see to those two. Get Mouse to give you some petty cash to make whatever arrangements are necessary and get them out of here as soon as possible.”

Clarisse got to her feet and sauntered over to the dazed-looking woman who was lucky that a language barrier was the only reason she’d dodged a mindfuck bullet. The vampire took her arm and led her out. The other vampires were also drawing the other humans away, probably to their own rooms. Most of the people were looking confused, but a few were licking their lips and clinging to their new vampire hosts in a way that made me awfully uncomfortable. All traces of fear radiating off of them were gone.

That was the worst thing—their choices had been taken from them, all because they’d been made victims of a madman. What bothered me more was that, even though it frightened and disgusted me, I had an inkling of why twisting their thoughts and wiping their memories had been necessary.

“Neat trick,” said Gideon, who had been watching these goings-on with avid interest. “Teach it to me sometime?”

“If you become one of us, perhaps,” Royce said.

Now that was curious. Unless there was some sarcasm in that statement I couldn’t detect, I hadn’t known magi or their ilk could be turned into vampires.

That new train of thought derailed at the station when I realized Royce was looking down at me again. His black eyes glittered like glass, reflecting none of the thoughts that must have been roiling in his head. With a start, I dropped my gaze and bit my lip, clenching my hands into fists in my lap so he wouldn’t see my fingers shaking.

I hadn’t given any thought to what kind of position I must have put him in by bringing those people here, or what it would mean for the vampire community if word got out to the mundane world what Max had been doing.

Aside from the obvious—so many innocent lives lost—the problems that Max had caused with his murder spree in one of Royce’s clubs had been numerous and lasting. Even though it had been proven Royce and the vampires of New York had nothing to do with it, they were often blamed for the deaths. Even my name had come up in connection with it a few times. Within weeks, there had been a couple of states that passed emergency bills allowing wholesale hunting of vampires. Last I heard, those laws were being reviewed in the Supreme Court, but many vampires, and even people who dressed too Goth for the tastes of those with a need to take out their fears on any convenient target, had died. I couldn’t imagine how much worse things would get if word about Max’s activities somehow leaked to the press.

What made me feel sicker yet was the realization that I was thinking more in terms of protecting my friends than to look out for the best interests of Max’s other victims. They had not chosen to be part of that slave ring, I was sure. They all must have had friends and families that they would want to return to. But if they signed the contracts, then at some point they could return to their former lives—albeit with some changes—and no one would be the wiser as to what had been going on.

No one but me and the Others who had been involved in shutting Max’s operations down.

That sent a brief pang of alarm through me. Was Royce going to make me forget, too? I didn’t have the charm or Other blood anymore. I had no way to stop him if he wanted to alter my memories. I wouldn’t even know if he did it.

My fingers crept to the scar on my hip, and I couldn’t help but blanch remembering what Max had told me. “ I’m going to do something to remind you of your place and ensure you never forget the time you spend with me, however long you may live. ” Maybe, in some twisted way, Max had known it would come to this. His own sick, perverted version of looking out for me. Even if the specifics were wiped away, I would always have a reminder etched into my skin that I was no better than some prize horse or cattle.

Even worse than that, I was a traitor to my own kind. I did nothing to step in to stop the vampires from wiping the memories of captivity from these peoples’ minds. I did nothing to stop them from walking right into another form of slavery. Even if these other vampires were nowhere near as cruel or heartless as Max, these people would never again have a chance at regaining their free will.

Royce had saved these peoples’ lives, and mine. Those who could safely go back to their homes and families without risk were being given that option. Only the ones who were unlucky enough to bear scars couldn’t be trusted to be released out of the spheres of vampiric influence. Not yet.

Inevitably, if they did go free, someone would see the damage. Question it. Report it. The thought of Royce, or Clarisse, Angus, Ken, Wesley, or any of the other vampires I had met, who had helped or watched over me at one time or another, being hunted or killed for a crime they didn’t commit was why I stayed silent.

And that decision would haunt me for the rest of my life.

Royce’s touch, a light brush of the back of his fingers over my cheek, was surprisingly reassuring. Considering our proximity, he must have picked up on my fears and doubts. The part of me that was still in a semi-panic about having my memories wiped was being buried under the fierce need to be comforted. Of course he would know just what to do to make me feel better.

Not that I would do the stupid thing and look him in the eyes anytime soon, but far be it from me to push the guy away if he was going to kiss away my fears. Considering how I felt like such a shit for sitting back and doing nothing while the vampires used their black enchants to bend those people to their will, anything that might make me feel a little less like the worst person in the world would have been welcome right then.

I reached up to clutch his fingers before he could pull away, needing his skin against mine to have something to focus on other than my own cowardice. There had to be something I hadn’t thought of that could improve the situation for those people. Some better solution than sending them from one cage straight to another. If not for his reassuring touch, I might have given in to the overwhelming urge to fall apart and let my many failures destroy me.

“Try not to worry. Things aren’t as dire for them as you think,” Royce said, his thumb brushing back and forth along my jaw as I held his knuckles to my cheek.

Voice thick, I pulled back to rub the building moisture from my eyes. “Are you kidding? That was a horrible thing you did to those people. And I just sat here and let it happen.”

He knelt down in front of me, his hand staying pressed to my cheek, the other settling on my knee. Though I made an effort to focus on his chin instead of his eyes, I could feel the draw of his gaze pulling at me. Determined not to fall into the same trap as the other girls, I scowled and shut my eyes.

“If you had even a fraction of the experience I have had with such things,” he said, “you would wonder at my mercy. Thank your influence for that. Before that unfortunate incident with the sorcerer, I would have taken them as spoils and sold them to the highest bidder to recoup my costs for retrieving what is rightfully mine.”