The Ripple Effect (Rhiannon's Law #3)(86)

Once he was free of silver, I brought my wrist to his mouth. “Drink,” I whispered, pushing my skin against his lips. “Drink, Gabriel.”

Although he didn’t open his eyes, he parted his lips. His tongue stroked the surface of my flesh, wetting it before he struck. I bit my lip, trying not to think about how much it hurt. His first swallow was small, barely a sip, and his eyes opened. I gazed into the blue depths, so f*cking grateful I was seeing them again, realizing that Paine had been right and I wouldn’t survive losing Disco a second time.

“I love you so much.” The words were actually weak when I thought about it. I didn’t just love this man, I breathed him like oxygen.

“I love you. More than anyone or anything I’ve ever held dear.”

“Sweet talker.” I couldn’t prevent a smile from spreading across my face. I caressed his hair as he fed, combing my fingers through the silken strands. He started to draw hard on my wrist when I heard a faint whisper, so light I almost didn’t catch it.

“Rhiannon?”

I whipped my head around, recognizing the voice, my smile vanishing.

“Jenny?”

Then I saw her, at the end of the room in one of the silver cells. She was standing, looking at me with a combination of curiosity and confusion. Disco needed more blood, but I still found myself pulling away.

Jennifer was alive. I’d found her.

“Don’t,” Disco murmured and tried to reach for me.

I felt his fingers brush my back before I jumped to my feet and ran toward my sister, longing to touch her, to tell myself she wasn’t a figment of my imagination. When I made it to her cell, I lifted the latch keeping her inside and opened the door. She didn’t move, remaining where she stood.

“Get away from her.” Disco’s voice was a snarl in my head. “Now.”

I didn’t understand why he wanted me to stay away from Jenny. For the first time, she appeared lucid. She was looking at me, not through me. She took a step in my direction, then another. I mirrored her actions, bringing us closer to each other. For years I’d hoped this moment would arrive, that we would be given a second chance to make amends and leave the past behind us.

“Listen to me. Walk out of that cell and close the door.” Disco sounded stronger and angry as hell. “She’s no longer your sister. I have listened to her mind and there is only madness. She has partial memories, but her thoughts are broken. She can’t piece the past and present together. The vampire within is all she knows. She’s gone, Rhiannon. Your sister is gone.”

I didn’t want to believe him. I couldn’t. Jenny was right in front of me—she was f*cking looking at me. She’d even called me by name. That had to count for something. Perhaps becoming a vampire was the reason her thoughts were scrambled, or the fact that she was in a f*cking prison in the basement of a murderer’s home. Either excuse worked for me. I’d be a mental mess, too.


Slowly, I lifted my hand, reaching out to her. “Jenny, it’s me.” She blinked several times and shook her head. Working out the cobwebs, I hoped. “That’s right,” I said, wanting her to gain control. “It’s Rhiannon. You’re safe. I promise.”


My heart sank when her eyes narrowed. Her lips pulled back, and she revealed her fangs. Two beats of my heart later and she had my arms in her hands, forcing me against the wall. She was strong—unbelievably strong. More powerful than I thought a newly turned vampire would be. I cried out when she whipped me around and trapped me against the bars of the cell, my shoulder a raging ball of fire as the joint nearly came out of the socket.

“So thirsty,” Jenny hissed and took a deep breath at my throat, nostrils flaring. “Smells so good.”

She lifted her head, meeting my eyes, and I knew Disco was telling the truth. My sister was no longer there. Once hazel irises were now glowing gold, a predatory beast revealed from within. Not just insane, she was an animal now. One who would exist only to eat, sleep, and survive.

Something inside me broke, a permanent scar in my soul.

I howled at the injustice of it. I thought Jenny had been given back to me only to have her taken away. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. Yet it was the tragedy that was my life.

Anger and distress gave me strength. Even though Jenny was a vampire, she didn’t know how to fight. That gave me the advantage when I looped a foot around her ankle, put both hands against her chest and shoved. She didn’t fall but she did stagger, swaying on her feet. As she stared at me, she hissed—a deranged, awful sound I never wanted to hear again. Then she ran in my direction.

I avoided her by stepping to the side, out of her range.

I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t fight her. I couldn’t harm her. And I could only avoid her for so long. I considered doing as Disco instructed, trapping her inside the cell. But was that fair? Did I really want to leave her behind in this hellhole? And if I didn’t, what alternatives did I have? She was psychotic as a human and a lunatic as a vampire. There was no place for her, no hospital capable of keeping her sedated and under control.

Someone, please help me. I can’t do this alone, I screamed silently, begging once for an easy way out, admitting I wasn’t as strong as I wanted everyone to believe. In truth I was as weak, cowardly, afraid. I’d just managed to do a damn fine job of hiding it.