Destiny blurred his vision to make certain that he would not catch a glimpse of the shattered slivers of glass on the floor. “John Paul.” Her voice was melodic, silvery, the compulsion buried deep. “You must go back to your home and stay there. You want to sleep, not listen to music or tapes or talk on the phone. You just want to go to sleep.”
I am going through his house now, Destiny. There must be something that sets him off before he is given the trigger. I will find it. Vikirnoff is on his way to Mary Ann’s office to make copies of the photograph of the young lady the vampire is hunting.
John Paul muttered something and rubbed his eyes. He looked more confused than ever. When Destiny touched his mind, she felt sorry for him. He was totally bewildered, had no idea how he had gotten to the office or why he was there.
“Mary Ann?” He sounded like a small child seeking reassurance. “I think I’m losing my mind. I’m so sleepy, and I don’t know what happened.” He peered around her, squinting to get a better look. “Did I do this? Did I wreck your office?”
Destiny patted his arm in a gesture reminiscent of Velda. “Go home and sleep, John Paul. Everything will be fine.”
Mary Ann watched him go, her eyes troubled. “Will it be fine, Destiny? Does this have something to do with a vampire? Do you have any idea what’s going on? This violence can’t keep happening. It’s ruining everyone’s lives.”
“Velda told me of a woman, Blythe Madison, who had similar problems a while back. She was put in a hospital by her husband.”
“Harry’s wife. She’s a wonderful woman. I go to visit her twice a month. She doesn’t remember anything of what she did. She stays voluntarily in the hospital. I didn’t even consider that her breakdown was anything like what happened to John Paul and Martin. How could the events possibly be connected?” Mary Ann knelt near her lamp and began to carefully pick up the pieces, tossing the slivers of glass into the wastebasket.
Destiny could see that Mary Ann’s hands were trembling. Tears glistened in her eyes. Her reaction shook Destiny as nothing else could. Mary Ann cared deeply about these people, and it was painful to her when they were in trouble.
“We’re much closer to finding out what is going on,” Destiny assured her. “I don’t know who’s behind this, but John Paul was under some sort of command.”
Mary Ann looked up at her, blinking back tears. “Like hypnosis?” There was sudden speculation in her voice.
“Is someone around here into hypnosis?”
“There’s a doctor at the clinic. He comes in a couple of times a month. He believes in hypnotism for things like pain management and quitting smoking, that type of thing. I went to him once and couldn’t quite get over his bedside manner. He’s related to Harry, a cousin or something; that’s why he even bothers to come to our lowly little neighborhood. He has offices uptown and also at the hospital.”
Destiny frowned, trying to assimilate this new information. “I don’t know what you mean by bedside manner.”
Deep inside she heard Nicolae give an inelegant snort.
Well, I don’t
know
, she insisted.
He probably came on to her. Made a pass while he was examining her.
He’s a doctor!
Destiny, vampires are not the only monsters in the world. Many of them are human.
Destiny sat down abruptly beside Mary Ann. “Was the doctor inappropriate with you? Did he—”
“Touch me inappropriately? Yes. And he was a slimy little worm with a charming smile and a handsome face. Obviously, women have said yes to him and been thrilled by his advances. I was not, and made it abundantly clear. He thought hypnotism would work well on me and wanted me to let him try. What a jerk.”
“But you didn’t report him?”
Mary Ann ducked her head. “No one else was in the room. To make that kind of accusation against a professional with his reputation and money is risky. I didn’t want to risk what I do here. I just never went back to him.”
“I wonder if John Paul went to him for any reason. Or Martin. And before them, Blythe Madison.”
“If Harry is the doctor’s cousin, wouldn’t it be natural for him to ask him to take a look at his sick wife?” Mary Ann wondered aloud.
Destiny was more inclined to think the culprit was a vampire. All along she had concentrated her energies in that direction. The legions of the undead had to be involved. To Destiny, whoever was behind these bizarre character changes was deliberately tormenting and hurting people for amusement. She couldn’t conceive of a human committing such atrocities. Demons were vampire, not human.
At once Nicolae was there, sensing that her thoughts were beginning to shake the very foundations of her world view. His arms were strong, his body sheltering, his mind firmly merged with hers. Her anchor. Nicolae was always with her. She could count on him endlessly. In spite of the crouching darkness that he had fought most of his life. In spite of the tainted blood now flowing in his veins, Nicolae was unfailingly good.
Nicolae. She breathed his name in a sudden overwhelming surge of love. He was slowly handing her back her life. A little piece at a time. And all the while he was there, comforting her, reassuring her as he had always done.
“Destiny?” Mary Ann’s voice shook her out of her reflection. “If the doctor is somehow involved in this... if he actually has done something to harm Helena and John Paul and Martin and Tim and Father Mulligan... and poor Blythe living in a hospital thinking she lost her mind... I could have prevented it. I could have brought charges against him. What if I could have stopped him?” She looked lost, sitting there on the floor with her large eyes and horror in her mind.
“No! Mary Ann, what are you thinking?” Destiny gathered her close, hugged her hard in protest. “You know better than to think anything so ridiculous. How could you be responsible for something a madman chooses to do? We don’t even know if this doctor has anything to do with what’s happened. All the facts aren’t in yet, but even if he is waving a magic wand and casting spells throughout the neighborhood, you cannot possibly be to blame.”
“You sound like me. That’s all well and good in theory, but if I had brought charges against him, maybe he wouldn’t have been able to touch any of my friends.”
“Or, more likely, he would have moved his deviant behavior somewhere else where no one would notice the difference in their friends. Don’t you see, Mary Ann? This neighborhood and the people in it are so close, they don’t readily accept that someone like John Paul who loves Helena so very much would suddenly turn on her and try to hurt her. They don’t accept that Martin would attack Father Mulligan. All of them began to watch one another and try to figure out what was going wrong.”
“Please find out who is doing this and stop it, Destiny,” Mary Ann pleaded. Destiny hugged her again. “I intend to do just that.”
Chapter Seventeen
Nicolae was waiting outside the office, his long, sinewy frame leaning negligently against the banister. Destiny paused to look at him. The breeze was coolly ruffling the long silk of his hair. The moon cast a silver beam across the angles and planes of his face, illuminating the sheer sensuality there. His body was hard and powerful, a dangerous blend of predator and seductive male. He turned his head and smiled at her, robbing her of breath just that easily.
“You’re very good-looking,” she said judiciously, tilting her head to study his magnificent physique. “Are all Carpathians as good-looking as you?”
His black eyebrows arched. “I do not think that is a safe subject for you.” He held out his hand to her. Destiny studied it carefully, as if examining it for a trap. How in the world had she become so obsessed with him that the sight of his outstretched hand could send her heart somersaulting? Her fingers laced almost reluctantly with his. Up close, he would be able to feel the way he made her pulse elevate, the way her heart beat a little unsteadily. Her entire body ached for him if she ventured too close to his sheer magnetism. A humiliating fact, and one impossible to hide when he was touching her.