I clenched my teeth. It was about all I could do without pain slicing into me. "Who was this punk? What was his name?"

She shrugged. "He only gave the name Vad."

"This Vad came to your house and killed your father in front of you?" My mouth hung open and I felt sick to my stomach.

"No, my father went to it and commanded us to remain home. My mom went nearly mad with grief. My Aunt Nancy, his sister, begged the spawn to take her instead, although she screamed and cursed at Dad once she found out the bargain he'd made."

"He didn't tell her?"

"No. But that's not the worst part." The tears stopped and her fists clenched tight around her teacup until it sprang from her grasp and clattered on the wooden floor. "I hired a seeker to find the identity of the spawn who struck this bargain. The seeker found more, so much more than I wanted to know. This spawn had allies, dark creatures I'd never heard of before. One of those had given my aunt the tumor. It was a regular con job this spawn ran."

"You've got to be kidding me," I said, feeling sick and dizzy and furious all at once. "This thing gave people cancer?"

"Yes." Her voice grew very quiet. "But I found its weaknesses. I caught it. And I tortured it to death."

My skin went cold.

Stacey's eyes widened and she pressed herself against me. "I do not mean to insult you," she said, "but you don't seem the torturing type."

Meghan's dull eyes met ours. "Sometimes you have to be a monster to deal with one."

"And, I think that's about enough," Ryland said, coming over and taking Meghan by the shoulders. "You're starting to scare your guests, sugah."

She shook her head as though clearing a fog, and a contrite look passed over her face. "I'm sorry. I really am." She stood shakily. "I've become as bad as them, haven't I?"

"No you haven't," Ryland said. "Not by a long shot, hon."

Stacey gave Ryland a wondering look. "Did they neuter you when you were a pup?" she asked him with a wicked gleam in her eye.

He laughed. "You're a lively one, sweet thang." He looked her up and down. "I think I liked you better when you were naked, though."

Her eyes grew huge as her face glowed scarlet. "You met me at a rather low point in my life." She sniffed and leaned against me.

I groaned.

"I'm sorry, lamb."

"Meghan," I said. "I need to get on my feet. Do you have some kind of painkiller you can give me?"

She shook her head. "I don't think it's a good idea."

"I don't care. A painkiller, please. I'm sure I'll heal up just fine."

"You don't understand. I used a great deal of your blood and with it, the special blood plasma storing essence when you feed, to create the healing agent. Your supernatural healing relies on that essence, so even if you feed—" She shuddered and took a breath before continuing. "Feeding won't help much until your blood plasma regenerates. That will take a day or two."

I thought of Dad. Of Elyssa. I didn't know what in the world Mom was up to or what to make of the strange dreams I'd been having. I knew one thing though: I had to get off my ass and meet Smith. I had to do it now and not waste another minute lollygagging in bed.

"Stacey, please move," I said, despite how good it felt to have her warmth pressed against me. I tried to tell myself it wasn't because she had such nice curves in all the right places and, when she was fully human, kissed really well. Elyssa would break me over her knee if she found out about that kiss.

"But Justin."

"No buts, girl. Move it."

She stood, worry creasing her brow. "Shall I help you?"

I shook my head. "No." My voice sounded gruff so I took another swallow of water and wrestled it down my esophagus as it tried to squirm back out again.

Every muscle felt like a heavy slab of raw pain as I gripped my left leg and swung it off the cot. I repeated the process with my right leg, using my arms to rotate my body with it, biting back the cries of pain best I could.

"Stop it, Justin, stop!" Meghan said, pleading, but not going quite so far as to touch me.

"No!" I pushed my hands against the cot frame, straining my legs as scorching agony exploded in every joint and muscle. The pain grew so blinding I didn't realize at first I was standing up.

Stacey took my arm as I wobbled. Ryland gripped my other, an amused expression on his face.

"You're one stubborn son of a gun," he said, his smile widening.

"More like a bloody fool," Stacey said, pressing her lips into a pout. "I try to care for you, my lamb, but you simply won't listen."

"Believe me," I said, panting with the strain of standing. "I want to lie down and go to sleep so bad right now, it's not even funny. But my dad is going to die if I don't meet Smith, unless Shelton comes up with something. And I don't plan on taking chances." I took a step and almost fell, held up only by Ryland and Stacey. I gritted my teeth and groaned at the pain of their touch against my sore arms. "Just give me a minute."

"Are you talking about Harry Shelton?" Meghan asked, her eyes going hard.

"Yeah. He's kind of a jerk, but besides my mom and you, he's the only sorcerer I know."

"And how do you know him?"

"He tried to capture me and my dad and bring us in for a bounty. Then he ended up helping me rescue my dad from a bunch of rogue vampires who kidnapped him for his blood."

She shook her head slowly as if jiggling her brain around would help her understand the situation. Even I had issues figuring out how in the world my life had come to this point. After a moment, Meghan went into the kitchen and returned with a cup. "Drink this," she said.

I gave it a suspicious look and sniffed. It stank like sewage. "You better not be putting me to sleep or I swear when I wake up I'll hug you and kiss you until you barf."

Her eyes went wide as she leapt back from me, her wand held defensively. She took a breath to calm herself. "It's only a painkiller."

"Woman, you need to calm down. I won't give you spawn cooties, I promise."

Stacey and Ryland both laughed while Meghan narrowed her eyes at both of them. "Don't mock me."

"I'm not," I said. And then I remembered something from the memory Meghan had cleared for me. "That writing on the bloody scrap of paper. What did it mean?"

"I don't know. My mom…" She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second. "She was giving it to Alice. The information on the paper was why your mother came by that day. She seemed to think it was very important."

"What did it say?" Stacey asked.

"It was like the last three letters of a word and ended in 'ance' with the numbers four, three, one, one." I grimaced at a fresh onslaught of burning tingles in my legs.

"Maybe code for a spell?" Meghan said.

I tried to shrug and failed miserably. "Maybe you'll remember something else. Heck, maybe I will. I hope so. In the meantime, Meghan, I want to thank you for helping Stacey. Thanks for everything." I held out a trembling hand.

She stared at it for a long moment before swallowing visibly and grasping it. "You're welcome, Justin." She let out a deep breath, her next words coming in a rush. "But there's something you should know about Shelton."

"You know him?"

A scowl turned her pretty face into a mask of anger. "My seeker discovered Shelton also worked with the spawn who devoured my father's soul."

Chapter 13

"What?" I would have fallen over if not for the steady grips on both my arms. "What else do you know about him? Is he a con artist?" My dad was alone with him. What if Shelton had really been the one to tag him? What if he was playing us for fools? A wave of fear overcame my anger.

"The connection he had was tenuous, but enough to link him not only to my father's murderer, but to other bad elements in the Overworld community."

"He sounds rather nefarious," Stacey said, quirking an eyebrow. "How interesting."

"'Interesting' isn't the word I'd use," Ryland said.

"I don't know how deep the connection goes," Meghan said. "But be careful."

I groaned. I wasn't sure if I should rush back to Dad or go on to meet Smith. I tried to reach for my cell phone, but the pain in my arms and the bad angle from Stacey and Ryland's grips on my arms made it impossible. "Can you get my phone from my front right pocket?" I asked Stacey.

A mischievous grin spread on her face.

"Come on, this is serious," I said. She seemed abashed which surprised me since I didn't think she ever felt ashamed about much of anything.

She withdrew my phone and handed it to me. I dialed Dad and got his voicemail. I tried him again, not wanting to talk with Shelton. For all I knew he could lie to me about whatever I asked.

Dad answered. "Justin?" Static crackled in the earpiece.

"Hey, Dad, how are things going?"

"Can't hear you well. Bad reception." Or at least that's what I think he said as the connection faded in and out.

I repeated myself in loud slow words.

"Shelton…computer…blocking spell. Going…and feed," I heard through the static.

I almost sighed with relief. "Okay. I'm going to meet Smith soon."

The connection hissed again. "…careful, son."

"I will." I hung up and Stacey tucked my phone back without even trying to feel me up.

"Things okay?" Ryland asked.

I nodded. "Well as they can be, all things considered."

My limbs tingled, feeling a bit numb—the effect of Meghan's painkiller, I hoped, as opposed to worse alternatives. I took a tentative step and wasn't met with another dose of hurt so I took it as a good sign. Meghan handed Ryland car keys.