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Book 2 Chapter III - Dani The Prisoner

Chapter 13 - Dani The Prisoner

The door of Celeste's prison swung open and a vampire entered, holding a bowl of something.

"Here's your dinner, mutt," it (she had heard this particular one referred to as "Carmilla", but refused to allow herself to give names to any of them) smirked, throwing the bowl down in front of her.

Celeste felt disgusted. She was chained up and couldn't have reached it if she'd wanted to, and she could tell from its smell she didn't want it. Except to throw it at the vampire.

"Eat the dog food yourself, dog," she spat at it.

It laughed, a genuine laugh for once. "Pot, meet kettle."

The werewolf almost lunged at it, but stopped just in time. She'd only give herself an electric shock again, and that would amuse it even more.

"Oh, by the way," it said, leaning against the side of a rack and examining its nails casually, as if they were good friends out shopping or something, "my leader has taken the liberty of having one of your friends brought here."

Celeste blinked. "Huh?"

"A human girl. Name of Danielle Tamari. Ring any bells?"

The reaction was instant. It felt like a hand had grabbed Celeste's stomach and almost pulled it out of her body. She hadn't known Dani very well, but no one deserved to be a prisoner of vampires! "What? What's she done?"

"She sold her friends out to us, now wasn't that nice?"

"What are you talking about?" Had she completely misjudged Dani?

"She was kind enough to tell one of our agents - her brother - almost everything we wanted to know. She just didn't know it. She probably knows now, though." The last sentence was added almost as an afterthought. "I think such kindness deserves a reward, don't you? My lady certainly thinks so."

Celeste's face drained of colour.

"Well," the vampire said with an eerily calm smile, "I'll leave you with that happy thought. Enjoy your meal!"

The sound of the door slamming and the key being turned in the lock drowned out the werewolf's screech of "Damn you!".

~~~~

Most of the places Terror - or whoever was acting in her place, usually Attykcca - sent missions to were far away from the manor and usually required crossing an ocean. That meant there was a lot of time, preparation and money involved in getting anyone from there to wherever they were supposed to go. It was incredibly annoying.

Abihira had been away in Belguim, on an assignment to murder the Head of the European Union. She had done so, but with great difficulty - she'd been shot in the shoulder and broken three ribs. She had arrived back yesterday. Attykcca had healed her injuries, but she had been ordered to "stay out of trouble" for the foreseeable future.

Nightmare was also away, somewhere in Ireland. She'd been gone for five days, and was due back tonight. Where she was or what she was doing was anyone's guess.

Sébastien sighed and leaned back against the wall, thoroughly bored. Everyone else was in a meeting. He would be there, too, except someone had to wait for Nightmare's return and Ruthven had suggested him. Carmilla had backed him up, naturally (he wondered; were they such good friends that they always supported each other, or was there something more between them?), and the motion was carried. The only consolation he had was that he would be just as bored in the meeting as out here, so it made no difference.

It would be warmer in there than out here, though, he thought sourly.

Half an hour later, Nightmare returned... with an unexpected passenger. Sébastien looked from her, to the unconscious girl she was holding, then back at Nightmare.