Harold laughed. “You are cured. I’ll get it for you.”
I had no idea why Harold thought that Glenda getting a glass of water meant she was cured. Seemed like a somewhat silly sign to me. Or maybe vampires were only thirsty for blood?
Harold headed out the panel toward his kitchen area. When he was safely gone Glenda looked up at Aahz, the anger clear and at full force in her eyes.
“Why didn’t you just stake me when you had the chance?”
I was stunned by the question. And her anger at Aahz for not killing her.
“I thought about it,” Aahz said.
He pointed to a sharp stake on top of an antique dresser beside the couch she was sitting on. I hadn’t noticed it before. Again I was stunned. Aahz went on.
“I figure you can be of help to all of us, something you haven’t done much of up to now.”
“You know I’m going to have to wear that rope for the rest of my life,” she said, “on every full moon, every time I hop dimensions, every night?”
“I know,” Aahz said, his voice cold and low and sounding just about as mean as I had ever heard him sound. “And if you don’t help us, I’m going to free you into the countryside here, in this dimension, without the rope. You’ll be a cow for most of the rest of your life.”
I stared at him, seeing a side of my mentor I didn’t often see. It seemed that, as always, he had known more than he was telling me, and that helping her had just been a ruse to keep her with us and under his control. He tucked the rope into his pouch and crossed his arms.
“And if you want the rope to stay alive tonight, you’re going to work with us and not pull any of your tricks. Understand?”