PROLOGUE
Beth woke to darkness. And a pounding headache. And something thick and crusted down one side of her face and in her eye. It felt like she was lying on the floor, in the corner of a room. Although she was able to rationally think all of these things, she felt like she was swimming; muck like her post B.C. hangover, only not nearly as pleasant. She was obviously in trouble, but at the moment her brain wasn't functioning enough to try and figure it out. She decided the best course of action was to feign sleep.
"Beth." Her heart almost stopped as she heard the sweet, sing-song voice that had haunted her nightmares for 22 years. "You can stop pretending. I know you're awake. I can hear the change in your heartbeat." Damn vampires, Beth thought as she ever so slowly turned in the direction of the voice. She was able to open one eye – the other caked with blood. The room spun for a moment before finally settling on Coraline sitting on a bed, looking at her with mock concern.
"I'm so happy you're okay. I was starting to worry. Our dear Mick wouldn't be very pleased with me if something really bad happened to you."
A table lamp in the far corner shed soft light through the soft room. But for the pain in her head, she could have sworn she was having that horrible nightmare. The dingy room, sorely in need of renovation; sparse furniture; Coraline, now standing over her, in a white dress – modern yet so similar to the one she wore 22 years ago; and Beth huddled in the corner.
"What do you want with me this time, bitch?" It sounded jumbled to her foggy brain, but it must have come out right because Coraline let out a quit laugh and answered her.
"Beth, I don't want anything do with you now, any more than I did all those years ago. I want the same thing I did then – Mick. You're just a means to an end." She cocked her head to one side, smiling. "He's coming right now." A moment later she was proven right. He crashed through the door, eyes immediately on Coraline, never straying. Ignoring Beth altogether.
"I'm not going to let you hurt her."
"Oh Mick, you know that's not why I took her. She's just bait. I wanted to make sure you'd show." She smiled as he stalked toward her. "However, if you decide to toast our reunion, I'm sure she'd be a wonderful treat. But then, you already know that, don't you?"
"You could have just asked me to come here. You know I would have."
Suddenly she was all fangs and launched herself at Mick. The fight, just like everything else, so mirrored that night that Beth had a hard time deciding if she was dreaming or not. Slashes, bites, crashing through doorways, broken furniture. But then something happened that turned it so much worse than any of her nightmares.
Coraline had him pinned against a door frame and attacked his mouth with hers. He grabbed her shoulders and spun her around, slamming her into the frame hard enough that Beth could hear the crack of bones and wood from across the room. When Mick returned Coraline's kiss with equal ferocity, her world shattered.