Make Me (4 page)

David added softly, “How about the parents who treat their daughter like a freak, encourage her to fight deadly vampires, then kick her out of the house when she turns eighteen?”

“M—me?”

Pia nodded solemnly. And I finally heard Fang’s voice in my head. YOU, he confirmed.

Startled, I glanced at him.
What’s this all about?

PLEASE, JUST HEAR HIM OUT, Fang said. HE’LL EXPLAIN.

If I could hear Fang, maybe I could reach Lola. Yes, I could. Maybe I could reach David, force him to let me out. I’d still listen to him, but on my terms.

I WOULDN’T DO THAT IF I WERE YOU, Fang warned.

Why should I listen to you?
I sent a few tendrils toward David.

“What are you doing?” David asked suspiciously before I even reached him. Apparently, I couldn’t hide the purple eye flash.

Pia’s eyes narrowed as she whipped up her hand to yank out one of those hairsticks and threw it at me. It thumped into the chair arm and pinned my sleeve. Startled, I let Lola go.

TOLD YA, Fang said. BUT WOULD YOU LISTEN? NOOOO, NOT THE SLAYER. SHE ALWAYS THINKS SHE KNOWS BEST.

I glared at him, and David said, “That was just a warning. She’s very, very good with her knives.”

That was a knife? I pulled it out of the arm and checked it out. Sure enough, it was a small thin blade, the handle made to look like a hairstick. Very sharp, very deadly. “Who’s going to protect
me
from
her
?” I asked.

Pia’s fear turned to a smile and she laughed silently. Never to be able to talk, to sing, or even laugh… I couldn’t imagine. I put the small stiletto down on the floor and slid it back to her, hilt first, as a sort of peace offering.

Okay, I got it. She had reason to be frightened. I fingered the hole in my sleeve. And if she was still afraid of me, even with those lethal weapons of hers, then she must really need the reassurance of me behind bars and out of David’s chakras.

SHE DOES, Fang confirmed. PLEASE, HUMOR US IN THIS? HE’LL MAKE EVERYTHING CLEAR.

Okay.

As Pia retrieved her knife and inserted it very carefully back into her hair, David said, “So long as you don’t harm us, we won’t harm you.”

“All right.” I glanced at Pia. What were we talking about, again? I mentally rewound the conversation. Oh, yeah. “My parents didn’t abuse me,” I said.

David cocked his head. “There are other kinds of abuse than the physical.”

Pia nodded solemnly, and I imagine she had experienced both. Despite myself, I hurt for both of them.

David said, “Be honest. Did you grow up in a loving family? Did they care about you, nurture your gift, help you to find others like yourself, encourage you to be all you could be?” When I remained silent, he continued, “Or were they ashamed of you, did they hide you away from the world, did they try to turn you into something you were not… stunt your powers?”

“It was for my own good.” But I didn’t believe it, not really.

He was only voicing the thoughts I’d had for so long. Wonder where he’d learned that?

I glanced at Fang.

I DIDN’T TELL HIM, Fang said defensively. I DIDN’T HAVE TO. THEY KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE.

I sighed. “Okay, I get your point. It sucks being part demon in a human world. So?”

“So that’s why the Demon Underground was really formed,” David said, sounding intense. “Tonight is the winter solstice. In times past, all of the part-demons who turned eighteen during the year would be brought in on this night to participate in a ritual to make them full-fledged members of the Underground. They would be kidnapped and bound to experience the horror of the past, learn about the history of our persecution, then set free to make a choice. Join the Underground and be protected… or leave and have their memories of the Underground removed, as well as the memories of everyone they’ve ever told about us.”

“So that’s why you kidnapped me? To initiate me?”

“One reason,” David confirmed.

“So let’s do this ritual and get it over with.”

David grimaced. “I can’t. I don’t know what it is. Micah does, but he’s not sharing.”

“What do you mean?”

“Micah and the other Underground leaders throughout the US want to pretend we’re past the hatred. They won’t do what needs to be done.” David’s voice rose. “So what happens? My family is killed, Pia is maimed, and you’re left without training, bound to a family who doesn’t love you. And who eventually shunned you.”

I wasn’t sure I’d go that far, but he had a point. “I’m sure if Micah knew—”

“What makes you think he didn’t?” David spat. “His father knew we were in danger, but chose to leave us where we were. He knew what might happen, but decided to give the humans the benefit of the doubt.” He leaned forward. “See what happens when you do that? You get Pia, me, you. Damaged goods.”

WHOA, DUDE, Fang said. INTENSE MUCH?

Just what I was thinking.

David relaxed a little. “It was preventable. If only he’d held to the old ways. The rituals and traditions were there for a purpose. They were put in place to keep us
safe
.”

Standing up for Micah was getting me nowhere. “Okay. Why am I here? What do you want me to do about it?”

“
Think
. You’re a victim of the new ways, just like us. We want you to stop helping the damned vampires. We want you to convince Micah to reinstate the old practices, convince him to be the leader he should be and help his people, not hurt them.”

Pissed off now, I said, “And how are the old ways any better? You can’t make people accept you. You can’t force them to change their ways. People will still get hurt.”

“Not demons. The only people who would get hurt are those who try to hurt part-demons who can’t help the way they were born. Do
you
want to see someone else maimed like Pia was?”

I stared at the poor siren, her abilities cruelly ripped out of her by her own father. I didn’t want that to happen to anyone. I shook my head mutely.

“Then, please, help us.”

“Why me? Why not ask Ludwig or Tessa or someone else?” They’d been in the Underground a lot longer than I had.

“Because you were one of those who should have been helped. And because, with the
Encyclopedia Magicka,
you’re a catalyst for change in both the vampire and demon communities.” He shrugged. “Or you can be, if you choose. So, will you cut all ties with the vampires and convince Micah to reinstate the old ways?”

I watched him for a moment. He obviously believed what he was saying, and was certainly passionate about it. But I couldn’t promise anything without hearing both sides of the story. “Okay, I’ll talk to Micah before I do anything else, I swear.”

David glanced at Fang, who told him, VAL IS TELLING THE TRUTH. SHE WON’T HARM YOU AND WON’T GO BACK ON HER WORD.

How could I, when they’d been through so much pain already? “Okay, now let me out and I’ll talk to Micah.”

David smiled crookedly. “Not necessary. We’ll go get him for you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Kidnapping again? Seriously?”

“Again, not necessary. He’s just upstairs.” He nodded at Pia who opened a door at the far end of the room and let Fang out.

“Huh?”

“Don’t you know where you are?” David asked.

“No. Where?”

“You’re in the basement of Micah’s club.”

I knew it was the Underground’s headquarters in this city, but… “Club Purgatory?” I asked incredulously. “I-I had no idea this was here.”

David snorted. “So ask yourself, what other secrets has he kept from you?”

A very good question—one I was suddenly determined to learn the answer to.

GO DOWNSTAIRS AND YOU’LL FIND OUT.

Micah rushed down the stairs. Part of the basement was used to hold wine at the proper temperature, but there was a hidden door to another section that others rarely saw… and Micah knew all too well. One of the wine racks was hinged, and he swung it out from the wall, then opened the hidden door. Beyond the door, several cells stood side by side, each kept private from the others by solid walls. Val was in the closest one, clutching the bars from the inside. What the—?

The only light came from a fat, stubby candle. He reached for the light switch, but Fang said, NO, DON’T. SHE’S BEEN DRUGGED WITH PERDO.

Perdo? Who would want to remove her powers and lock her up… in
his
club’s secret basement? Alarmed, Micah grabbed the key ring on the wall and hurried to unlock her cell door. That’s when he saw David and Pia standing in the shadows.

“You,” he said in annoyance. The Underground’s two biggest troublemakers. And Pia was one of the few women he couldn’t control. Incubus abilities were too similar to a siren’s for his power to work on her. “Did
you
do this to her?”

“They did,” Val confirmed. “But they think they had good reason.”

He unlocked the cell door to free her. “Oh, yeah? Like what?” And why couldn’t they have let her out instead of sending Fang after him?

Val slipped out of the cage. “They wanted to tell me a few things, have me ask you some questions.”

“So they locked you up?”

Val shrugged. “There were safety concerns.”

He glanced from Val to the two troublemakers who had yet to speak. Yeah, well, he understood how cornering Val might be a tricky proposition, but locking her in a cage… “I’ll deal with you two later. Come on, Val.” He nodded toward the stairs, not knowing how much she knew or had seen. “Let’s talk upstairs, where it’s more comfortable.”

Val leaned back against the bars. “No, thanks, cuz. I think I’d rather do this here.”

Hell. What did that mean? Micah’s mind whirled as he debated how he could keep her in the dark about everything that was down here.

Fang snorted. SORRY, DUDE. AIN’T GONNA HAPPEN.

“So, how about a few questions?” Val asked.

Annoyed, he said, “Okay, ask.”

“Why do you have jail cells in your basement?”

He told her a partial truth. “My father put them in, in case we needed to restrain vampires or violent demons. It’s where we held Josh and Andrew for a while after they stole the encyclopedia, until we figured out what to do with them.”