“I’m not telling you anything,” Jane said.
Miriam laughed. “I bet you’ll talk once I start pulling those fangs of yours,” she said. “I’ll be particularly happy to pull yours. You deserve it after trying to take my son.”
“For your information, he asked me out,” Jane said.
“Only because you glamored him,” said Miriam. “He would never fall in love with a creature like you. He might think he loves you, but once you’re dead and the spell is broken he’ll come to his senses.”
“And just what are you going to tell him about where I’ve gone?” Jane asked. “Or where any of us have gone?”
“That’s easy,” Miriam replied. “You and Mr. Fancypants here ran off together. The young man decided to move on. Young people do that. As for this other one, I don’t even know who she is.”
“I’m Charlotte Brontë, you dolt!” Charlotte screeched.
Miriam laughed. “She’s Charlotte Brontë,” she said, clearly not believing what she was hearing. “And I suppose you’re Jane Austen and Mr. Fancypants is Oscar Wilde.”
“Here now!” said Byron. “I most certainly am not. Do I look like a tired old washerwoman to you?”
“I’ve had enough out of you,” said Miriam. “Beverly, bring me the stakes.”
Jane couldn’t see what was happening, but she heard Beverly walk to another part of the room. Half a minute later she came back.
“Excellent,” said Miriam. “We’ll start with the boy.”
Again Jane heard movement. Then she heard the trussed-up twin say, “Wait a minute. I’m not even a vampire! That’s my brother.”
“Ted?” Jane called out. “What are you doing here?”
“Ned paid me to take his place tonight,” said Ted. “He said he couldn’t stand one more date with Beverly.”
Beverly hissed. “He said he cared for me,” she whimpered.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Miriam. “We’ll use this one as bait to get the vamp after we finish the others off. Let’s do Miss Brontë instead.”
“You can’t kill me,” Charlotte shouted. “I’m Charlotte Brontë.”
“Well, I do love your books,” said Miriam, clearly still not believing Charlotte. “Even so, I’m afraid your time is up.”
“Jane!” Charlotte yelled. “Tell her who I am.”
“She’s Violet Grey,” Jane yelled back.
“She’s lying,” said Charlotte. “Do you know who she is? She’s Jane—”
She was cut off by the sound of Miriam’s body hitting the floor. The woman had fallen several feet in front of Jane and Byron, and Jane could see the gash where she had been struck in the head. A thin line of blood trickled from the wound.
“I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time,” Beverly said.
A moment later Jane felt herself pulled to a seated position and pushed against the wall. Byron was likewise arranged. The two of them were facing Ted and Charlotte, who were still tied to their chairs. Charlotte glared at Jane but said nothing.
Beverly walked over to Miriam’s body and pushed her with her foot. Miriam didn’t respond. Beverly then turned to the others. “I suppose you all want an explanation,” she said.
“Just untie us,” Charlotte said, straining against the ropes holding her still.
Beverly laughed, but there was no humor in her voice. “Untie you?” she said. “Why would I want to do that?”
“That’s enough, Doris,” Charlotte said. “Do as I say.”
“Doris?” said Jane. “Who’s Doris?”
“I am,” Beverly said.
“Doris!” Charlotte said. “Untie me. Now.”
“I don’t understand,” Jane said. “What’s going on here?”
Beverly—now Doris—sighed. “I suppose I do owe you an explanation,” she said.
“She’s my servant,” said Charlotte. “And if she knows what’s good for her, she’ll untie me at once.”
Doris ignored her. “It’s true,” she said to Jane. “I am her servant. At least I was.” She turned back to Charlotte. “But that’s all over with. I no longer take orders from you.”
“What are you talking about?” Byron said.
“And you,” said Doris, wheeling around to look at him. “None of us would be here if it weren’t for you.”
Byron looked at her, squinting. “I don’t remember turning you,” he said.
“You didn’t,” said Doris. “You turned her.” She nodded at Charlotte, then took a deep breath. “And she turned me as revenge against my mother, then made me serve her.”
“Your mother killed me!” Charlotte yelled. “She gave me typhus!”
“Your mother was Tabitha Ackroyd?” Byron asked.
Doris nodded. “After you turned Charlotte she came after me, turning me because she blamed my mother for her death.”
“I took her child because she took mine!” said Charlotte.
“I was no child,” Beverly snapped. “And my mother no more caused your death than I did.” She stepped toward Charlotte. “But now I will have my revenge.”
“You wouldn’t dare kill me,” said Charlotte.
Doris laughed. “I don’t intend to kill you,” she said. “I’m going to have you arrested and jailed for the murder of Jessica Abernathy.”
“You’re the one who killed her,” Jane whispered.
Doris nodded. “Yes,” she said. “And I put the note from Violet in her pocket.”
“They’ll never believe you,” Charlotte said. “Jessica was my sorority sister.”
“Please,” Doris said. “You only befriended her because you hoped she would publish your novels once she established herself. Then when she became Jane’s editor you saw an opportunity to get your revenge on your enemy.” She clapped her hands together. “No, I think you’ll be going to prison for murder. Or maybe you’d like to tell them that you’re Charlotte Brontë, as well as a vampire. What do you think they would do to you then?”
“I’ll kill you,” Charlotte growled.
“What do you think it would be like being a vampire in prison?” Doris asked, addressing Jane and Byron. “Not much fun, I wouldn’t think. And what would a life sentence be when you’re immortal? How long do you think it would be before other prisoners started turning up drained of blood? And how soon would it be before someone noticed that the prisoner in cell block C looked exactly the same as she did when she entered her cell sixty-eight years before? I suspect the scientists would be very interested in such a specimen.”
“It doesn’t sound very nice,” said Byron. He looked at Charlotte. “I hope you have a good lawyer.”
“I’m still confused,” Jane said. “You killed Jessica to frame Violet. That makes sense. But what about Miriam? Why were you working with her?”
“That was Charlotte’s idea,” Doris said. “You see, after your last run-in Charlotte decided to look into your boyfriend’s family to see what kind of mischief she might make. Imagine her surprise when she discovered that his own mother was one of the world’s most feared vampire hunters.”
“I don’t know how you couldn’t have known,” Charlotte said to Jane. “You’re really very stupid.”
“Says the vampire who just got framed by her own servant,” said Jane.
“I’m not her servant!” Doris said. “Stop calling me that. Both of you.” She waited until both Jane and Charlotte were quiet, then continued. “Charlotte arranged for Miriam to catch me,” she said. “I then begged her to let me live and made a bargain with her. I would help her find other vampires.”
“But you had to agree to be defanged,” said Byron. “Now I see.”
“At first we thought we would tell Miriam that her son’s girlfriend was a vampire,” Doris said. “Then Charlotte decided it would be more amusing if she found out by accident, so I told Miriam I knew of a vampire living here.”
“That would be me,” said Byron. “Correct?”
“Yes,” said Doris. “As it happened, it was very convenient for all of us. By having Miriam kill you, Charlotte would have her revenge on you for turning her. It would also put Miriam in contact with Jane.”
“A little something for everyone,” Jane said. “It’s very nice, but there seem to be an awful lot of coincidences in this story.”
“Please,” said Doris. “As if the two of you don’t have books filled with convenient coincidences. You can’t have an entertaining story without them.”