"Are you awake?"
Johanna opened her eyes to find a woman in a white lab coat standing in front of her with a syringe in hand. The woman's black hair was neatly combed back from her face, gathered in a tight bun on top of her head. A white mask covered the lower part of the woman's face, but her brown eyes ran over Johanna from head to toe, and the flinch that her appearance evoked made Johanna chuckle.
Dr. Rebecca Lee shook her head as she moved closer to Johanna. "You look terrible."
"You don't say." Johanna did not have to look at the mirror to know how dreadful she must look. Shackled underground for years and practically starved, she knew that nobody would call her pretty. Besides, Rebecca Lee could be mean; the doctor was, after all, the only friend she had in this place.
Rebecca pressed the syringe close to Johanna's arm, but instead of sticking the needle in, she kept it outside, emptying the serum against Johanna's skin and deftly wiping it off with a handkerchief she was hiding inside her sleeve. "I truly wish I can help you."
Johanna quickly glanced at the cameras located in the opposite corners of the room. They were both aimed at her, but there were no lights blinking - which only meant that Rebecca's man was in the control room tonight.
"Where is she?" she asked the doctor, who was now taking another syringe from her collection. Johanna's lips barely moved as she voiced out the question, and her slightly bowed head made sure that the cameras would not catch her lips moving, even by accident. It never hurt to be cautious.
"You know that you wouldn't have to ask me if I knew," Rebecca answered. She repeated the procedure with the second serum: she pressed the syringe against Johanna's skin and emptied its contents there, making sure that nothing went into the prisoner's bloodstream.
Johanna merely sighed and closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. Rebecca's was the only comforting scent in this whole hell of a place.
"Are you sure you don't want to search for her yourself?"
Although tempted by the doctor's suggestion, Johanna shook her head. There were too many risks involved with an attempt to escape. She might be able to break out of her shackles and get out of the room, but then what? How would she get out of this rotten place without a full-blown fight against slayers? In her current condition, Johanna knew that she would not last.
"I need allies," Johanna whispered. "I can't break out of this prison otherwise."
Rebecca's eyes were full of worry when she glanced up at her. "You have me."
Johanna smiled. "Of course. But I can hardly ask you to fight."
The doctor sighed but nodded as she reached for another serum. This one, unlike the two before it, was for Johanna's nourishment - Michael Gilford's way of keeping her alive so that she would break. Johanna closed her eyes as Rebecca stuck the syringe in her arm, pumping the serum into her bloodstream.
"Stay strong, Johanna," Rebecca said quietly. "If there's anything else I can do..."
"There is," Johanna said. "I need you to help me reach out to Ashford Hayes-Crowe."
"Johanna..."
Rebecca fell silent, and Johanna knew that she was asking for too much. There had been no hesitation from Rebecca when Johanna asked her to work for Reginald Gilford to keep an eye on Raine; there had been no hesitation when Johanna asked her to tamper with the results of Raine's blood tests. But the hesitation - even objection - emanating from her now was hardly unexpected.
Johanna understood. Rebecca had vowed never to get involved with vampires again after the betrayal that they suffered fourteen years ago. The doctor had been James's research partner - most likely his lover. After James's gruesome demise in the hands of vampires, Rebecca could not find it in her heart to ever trust the vampires again.
But Johanna did not ask her now in the hopes that the woman herself would approach the vampires. Far from it.
"I'm not asking you to approach Hayes-Crowe yourself," Johanna said, flashing a soft smile when Rebecca met her eyes. "There's a slayer I want you to communicate with."
There was curiosity in Rebecca's eyes. "Which slayer?"
"The woman who was with Gilford the other day," Johanna answered.
"Miranda?" Rebecca shook her head. "No. There is a reason why Gilford allows her into this place. She is one of his most loyal followers."
"No, she is not." Johanna was sure of it. "I can smell the essence of a vampire all over her. She sleeps with one and takes pleasure in doing so. I don't know what her end game is, but a woman does not sleep with a vampire over and over and over if she doesn't feel attracted to him."
"How would you know this?"
Johanna grinned. "By scent. For the past two years, I have noticed the vampire's essence on the woman. On and off, on and off. Which only means that she shares their bed from time to time."
Rebecca did not look convinced. "How can you tell that she is sleeping with Hayes-Crowe?"
"Not Hayes-Crowe, no," Johanna said. She would never forget the scent that always came with the slayer's; Johanna spent years with the vampire. "Melisande."
*****
Melisande sat cross-legged on the side of the bed, sulking. Seth was away on official business - what and whose business, he would not say - and she was left alone to deal with Ashford's wrath. Her sire had come so close to killing her after what she had done to Raine. Not that she blamed him. Raine had no idea who she was -
what
she was - and Melisande's advances had awoken the wolf in her.
The wrong half, unfortunately,
Melisande thought ruefully.
She heaved another heavy sigh - the umpteenth one tonight. She had
really
wanted Raine. The woman was just too irresistible. Never mind that she was a half-breed; Melisande could feel the wetness developing between her thighs just thinking about the delicious body that Raine was blessed with. And her scent... It was so alluring. She should have smelled foul, being a half-wolf and all, but Raine smelled much too human. Sweeter than most, sultrier than most, but human. It was the scent that fooled Melisande in the first place.
The sound of the shower getting turned off broke her reverie, and Melisande smiled when she heard the humming coming from the bathroom. If nothing else worked right, at least her favourite human was available.
Melisande stood up while listening to the soft footsteps that were now leaving the bathroom and heading to the bedroom. She was not supposed to be here for hours yet, but patience was not a virtue she had ever possessed. She needed Miranda's company now, before the agitation caused by what was going on devoured her.
There was a hint of surprise in the slayer's eyes when she found Melisande in the bedroom, quickly replaced by a coy grin.
"I was not expecting you this early," Miranda said, fiddling with the belt of the bathrobe she wore.
Melisande walked over to where the woman was, stopping only a foot away. She reached out for Miranda, stroking the woman's arm gently. "Would you rather I leave?"
"What's the point?" Miranda said, stepping closer. With her lips inches away from Melisande's, she whispered, "I expect you to come back, anyway."