Read Online In the Blood by Nancy A. Collins - Free Book Online Page B

what he did?"
    A flicker of sympathy softened her features. "There's no shame in admitting what happened to you. Renfield may not have raped you physically, but the result was the same."
    "Yeah, well-" Palmer looked away. He did not know what to say. He doubted he ever would.
    "As to why Renfield hurt you-he was trying to twist you."
    "Come again?"
    "In order for you to be of any use to Pangloss, or any vampire, for that matter, he has to make sure you're twisted to suit his needs. That involves a complete and utter destruction of superego and restructuring of the ego. The sensitive's needs and desires must revolve around his master. He must be willing to live-and die-for his master. Sometimes this emotional dependence is reinforced with drugs or sex.
    Inclinations to evil are fostered while any vestige of human emotion, except those required by the master, are systematically destroyed. While this may take some time, the initial programming is usually done within a matter of minutes, assuming the attacker is a skilled psionic. If the programming is pushed too hard, too fast, death occurs.
    "Obviously, Renfield had orders to twist you, to add you to Pangloss's stable, so to speak. But he was jealous and rebelled. You're lucky he wanted to kill you, or you'd be Pangloss's slave right now."
    "Yeah. Lucky."

    Sonja Blue squatted on her haunches, listening to Palmer's breathing with half an ear. She doubted the ogre had the brains to come looking for them, but she'd learned the hard way never to underestimate the good doctor. She plucked Pangloss's letter from inside her jacket, flattening the paper against the attic floorboards.
    There is much I must tell you, my dear, and it concerns one whom I know you are
    interested in.
    Morgan.

    Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( http://www.novapdf.com ) Her hands balled themselves into tight fists. She exhaled a nervous, shaky breath.
    She had spent the better part of twenty years-her entire unlife-searching for the vampire that had raped a teenaged girl, tainted her blood, and turned her into something that called itself Sonja Blue. Now Pangloss, the vampire responsible for Morgan's own creation, was tempting her with information concerning his whereabouts. It wasn't the first time he'd tried it. The last time had been under the streets of Rome, in a catacomb held sacred to the shadow races that manipulated mankind. She had been too proud to agree to Pangloss's "business proposition." She was lucky to have escaped.
    What was Pangloss planning this time? It was not in his nature to volunteer information. He wanted-or needed-something from her, that much was certain.
    You can contact me through the human, Palmer.
    It was obvious that Pangloss meant to lure her closer by using the human investigator, then putting him into thrall once his usefulness was at an end. Pangloss was astute enough to realize she would never allow a twisted sensitive or a Pretender within sniffing distance and allow it to live to tell about it. So what was she to do with Palmer? Part of her, that which she thought of as the Other, knew what it wanted to do with him, but she refused to listen to its counsel.
    Palmer moaned in his sleep, shifting uneasily on the narrow bed. Renfield's pasty face, as wide and pale as the moon, filled his dreams. The dead man's eyes were as flat and black as buttons, his lips thin and blue. Palmer could hear Renfield's voice, even though the satellite-sized face's mouth remained caught in a rictus grin.
    Like me. Like me. She's going to make you like me. Lap dog. Lap dog. Lap, dog, lap!

    Palmer sat up suddenly, the sweat running into his eyes. His mouth was dry, his head aching as if the lobes of his brain were dividing like amoebas. He stared at the circular window set near the peak of the roof. He got up and swiveled the window open on its pivot, inhaling a deep breath of Mississippi River-saturated air.
    Somewhere on the river, a barge sounded a