Shows what you know, Stark.Charlie was out there rounding up the bad vampires to stave off a war, in addition to ensuring the Repurposed People Act would get shot down.
And what was Stark doing? Bupkus.
Sadly, I couldn’t shove any of this in his face. In fact, it would be wiser to lead his calculating mind away from our plans.
“A worthy match?” I said. “You mean like your brother?”
Stark’s smug grin melted off his handsome face. I’d hit a nerve. Good. I didn’t want him focused on why I’d really kissed Charlie.
“Lazlo was a fool and in no way my equal,” he said with a snarl.
“You sure? Because like you, Lazlo only cared about power. He’d lie, steal, and kill to get it. Sound familiar?”
“How dare you speak to me in such a manner? Lazlo kidnapped and tortured you. Whereas I was willing to give up everything to help you.”
Help?Stark got me put away for murder all because he’d been jealous of the time I’d spent with Lazlo. As a freaking prisoner! With my sister!
Now I was triggered.
“No,” I corrected. “You did it foryou. All you care about is coming out on top no matter what. You said so yourself.” He would only take a stand against the bill if he gained sufficient support from other powerful vampires. Otherwise, tough noogies, humans!
“It is called living to fight another day.”
“How many days does one man need before he’ll step up? When does he decide thatthisday is worth fighting for? Because you’ve had five hundred years of days, and here you are, doing nothing but playing politics while the world is about to sink into a pit so dark and bloody, there’ll be nothing left worth livin’ for. Not even for a vampire. Because without free, happy people and our love of sunshine, friends, and family, there’ll be no vineyards, no wine, no festive holiday air fresheners to mask the scent of your putrid antiques. Every tiny thing that makes your shallow life enjoyable will die when you turn us into nothing more than food.”
He narrowed his eyes, but he knew I was right.
I added, “I see you, Montgomery Stark. But do you see me? Do you see what’s really at stake?”
“Twenty-twenty vision, woman.” He turned to leave.
“And don’t even think of making my living room look like aDatelineepisode again!” Though, going to prison with a bunch of murderers was probably safer than being out here.
He stopped for a moment, as if contemplating afew final words, but then marched out the door instead.
Maybe he knew there wasn’t much more he could say. I was ready to fight to the death for this world, and he wasn’t.
“In case you’re still listening,” I yelled, “we are over. Done. And there’s nothing you can do about it.” Not even if he pickled me in moonshine. “And stop drugging my family!”
The irony was that I planned to help Charlie save the world with the exact substance Stark had used against me.
Does that make me just like him?I wondered. I was about to drug a few dozen people in order to make them do our bidding.
No, Mas. You never had sex with all those people and said I love you.All I wanted was to stop a group of monsters from turning us into pork chops.
Without a doubt, my motives were pure, and what Stark had done to me was terrible, but in the back of my mind, I still felt guilty.
Why?
Early the next morning, I still hadn’t received a reply from Charlie, but I got a call from the warehouse manager at the Flaming Rooster about an unmarked, refrigerated shipment that had come in. A good sign that maybe Charliewas still alive? Then I remembered what was in it.
Vampire brains…A shiver of repulsion rolled through me. How would I explain any of this to Joe when he came in to brew the moonshine?
“Oh no. Joe!” With the commotion, I’d completely forgotten to call him. “Bad, bad Masie.” I went for my phone on the kitchen counter and dialed. It went straight to voicemail.
“Joe! Masie. I need you to call me back. It’s…”What should I say?“…a whiskey emergency. We have a problem with the equipment and—”
My other line went off. The caller ID read Joe.
