“Thomas?” Another voice echoed, Maxwell joining them, eyes finding me briefly before focusing on the blond.
Thomas was having a hard time forming words as he stared at me. His whole body trembled now. Had I instilled that much fear in him? As I recalled, I’d treated him rather well in that little dungeon. Yes, he’d heard the screams of my victims as they’d begged me for their lives, but I’d never threatenedhimat all. “He’s strogoi,” he spat. “A vampire.”
The room seemed to hold its breath until Maxwell snorted. “That’s a terrible joke,” Maxwell said awkwardly, clapping a hand on his friend’s back. “Thomas, let’s—”
“It’s no joke,” Thomas insisted, shrugging Maxwell off, and stepping closer to me, emboldened with the eyes of the room on us. “This thing kept me prisoner in his dungeon for nearly a week before I was rescued. He played mind games with me, forced me to share a squalid room with others who disappeared one by one. The only time I ever heard their voices again were when they were calling out for death to end their suffering.”
That was a bit of an exaggeration, I thought, frowning.Squalid?I’d provided straw for them to sleep on. I could have given themnothing.
“Our whole community is in jeopardy while this one remains free,” Thomas continued, voice rising. “We have to put a wooden stake through his undead, black heart now if we wish to stave off the plague that follows his kind everywhere they go.”
Maxwell was frowning. “I think you’re confused, Thomas,” he said, trying to grab his arm again, but being brushed off once more. “This is Lucian, not some vampire. Weknowhim.”
“The ones with faces of angels are the worst.”
Aww. He thought I had the face of an angel.
I screwed my face into one pained and sympathetic. “I don’t know what you mean, sir. I’m sorry for whatever trials you’ve endured, but they’ve nothing to do with me. I’ve never seen you before.”
“It lies,” Thomas said to the room at large.
“He had a friend who was a vampire,” Zachariah said, suddenly amongst us. “Many people from his town were turned, maybe relations who looked similar.”
“I know this is the thing that imprisoned me. I’ll never forget its face, its whispered lies like honey.”
“But we’ve seen him in daylight,” Ambrose insisted, taking another step toward Thomas, hands up as if to calm a startled deer. “Vampires die when they’re exposed to sunlight.”
“Oh, and he has a reflection,” Isabel offered a compact mirror. She stepped up and angled it so that Thomas could see my image in it. “See? He’s no vampire.”
Thomas’s gaze was wild as he looked me over, blinking as if I would re-form into a new shape. I swallowed as I noted the fear reflected in his eyes, the same fear I’d seen in my victims before closing in, like that of a cornered animal. Sympathy tugged at my heart for this wretched soul. He seemed so broken. AndIhad done that to him. I had … toyed with him, this human being. Nausea roiled through my stomach. My hand began to shake at my side, but I forced it to still. I had to survive this confrontation. I couldn’t afford to let this man rattle me, even if my instincts told me I should reassure him that I wouldn’t hurt him. I could only look my victim in the face and deny his accusations, my heart lurching as I forced it into submission.
“But … no. It’s a trick,” Thomas insisted. “It has to be some demonic trick.”
“Here, a cross,” Zachariah said, holding a necklace he’d likely procured from someone in the audience. He held it up for all to see. “Lucian?”
I knew that the cross wouldn’t affect me. I wouldn’t feel the overwhelming sickness that crippled me. Even a glimpse was usually enough to make me feel ill. I was looking at it now, and as it drew closer, I stared, transfixed. It was so odd that such a simple shape could solicit such a violent reaction. It seemed almost comical now.
I snatched the crucifix with a smile, showing the room at large how I held it with no negative effects. For added emphasis, I kissed it before handing it back to Zachariah.
“No!” Thomas shouted. “This is him. I swear it!” He lunged at me, his fingers gripping my cravat, but strong hands held him back. Maxwell and Ambrose dragged him from me, and I straightened my clothing, letting a look of utter astonishment settle over my face. I couldn’t meet his eyes, however.
“He really thinks I’m a vampire,” I said, disbelief thick in my voice.
“I’m alright, I’m alright!” Thomas insisted after a few moments’ struggle, and his friends released him, although Ambrose looked tensed to intervene again if necessary.
Hesitantly, Thomas approached me, looking me over. He met my eyes and I had to fight with my guilty conscious not to flinch away. My heart was pounding as I held my breath, waiting for him to react. “It has to be you.”
I offered him a tight smile. “I really do sympathize with what you’ve been through. I’ve had my own struggles with vampires. They’ve left me traumatized in my own way.” That was a little bit of truth anyway. It was all I could offer him at the moment.
Thomas ran a hand back through his hair, looking miserable. “I apologize. My mind must be playing tricks on me.”
“The trauma is still fresh,” Maxwell said, nodding sagely at his elbow. “It messes with your mind. It’s not your fault, and not wholly unexpected. In time, you won’t see your tormenter everywhere you go.”
Nodding, Thomas stepped forward, Ambrose tensing behind him. But he only held out a hand to me. “Forgive me?”
I forced a smile. “Of course. It’s all forgotten.”
I took his hand, shaking with the man whom I’d been so needlessly cruel to, who would be haunted by me for perhaps the rest of his years. Shame seared hot through my chest as I tried to pour as much of an apology as I could into my hand, hoping he felt my regret.
