chapter 3
His “hide-out” as he so succinctly put it, turned out to be a seedy little bar with sticky floors and bartenders who looked like they’d rather bash your face in than give you a drink.
One of the bartenders stood at least seven feet tall with scars crisscrossing his broad, tanned face and he polished glasses with a rag that hadn’t looked like it’d been washed in centuries. He nodded at Jase, by now looking rather ridiculous with the hood still over his head. “You bring a date here? Classy, jackass, real classy.”
“She’s not my date.”
I followed him to the counter where he took a seat. For someone who wanted secrecy and privacy, sitting in the middle of a loud establishment didn’t seem quite right. “Are you sure this is the best place?”
“Are you kidding me?” He sounded incredulous. “This is the best place to talk. Martinez, scotch. On the rocks, if you can spare the ice. Glenfiddich.”
The bartender never stopped polishing the glass. At the rate he was going, there’d be a hole in it soon. “Can you pay? I seem to recall a couple unpaid tabs. Truth be told, the only reason you’re here is because Mimi’s soft on you. If it wasn’t for her, you wouldn’t even get three feet past the door.”
I held up my hand and took a seat on a rickety barstool that felt as though it would spill me onto the sticky, sawdusted floors without so much as a by-your-leave. “I can settle his tab.”
Seemed like the least I could do.
Martinez’s eyebrow went all the way up to his greasy hairline. “Good god, man. Looks like you’ve caught yourself a live one, this time. What’d the hell you do?”
“Like I said, she’s not my damn date.” Jase smacked a hand down on the counter, the one I scored with my dagger. It should’ve hurt. The lack of expression on his face only made me curious. “And I don’t need you to pay off my tab. I can pay for myself.”
I placed a bill on the counter. Money held little meaning for me. “This should cover our drinks, and some, if not all, of his tab.”
Martinez whisked the hundred dollar bill out from under my hand with a low whistle of appreciation. “Yeah, this should about cover it. Your lover boy over there isn’t too picky his drinks. He’d drink gasoline if he thought it’d get him drunk.”
“For Christ’s sake, Martinez! Shut the f*ck up, man!”
I bet Jase was probably crimson red under his hoodie. I would be.
“Scotch on the rocks for you, Jason,” he said and turned strangely-hued amber eyes in my direction. Was this man one of the Other? His aura seemed fine, no demon taint, but those eyes…”What would you be having, ma’am?”
“Screwdriver,” I replied. “Virgin.”
“Right you are,” he replied with a hint of laughter in his low, baritone voice. “One exceptionally expensive glass of juice coming right up.”
“A virgin screwdriver?” Jason sneered. “What the hell is that?”
“It’s orange juice.” I pulled the sword, safely enclosed in a black nylon training bag, off my shoulders and leaned it against the bar next to me. Easier to get to if shit ever decided to hit the fan. “I don’t drink alcohol.”
“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”
Martinez slid over a glass of the amber colored liquid I had the grave misfortune of drinking. Once. “She’s Asian, dipshit. A lot of Asians don’t have a tolerance for it. If you had half a brain, you’d know dumb shit like that.”
I felt silly for being impressed. “I expect since you’re a bartender you see a lot of people like me here?”
He grinned and two golden canines caught the dim, dirty lights. “Most of the time, one drink and they’re done. Two and I’ve got to peel them off the floor.”
I shouldn’t have asked. “What about three?”
His grin widened. “Got to call a funeral home.”
That sounded about right. Of course, there were always anomalies, but most Asians I knew couldn’t hold their liquor even if you gave them a bucket.
Jase stared down at his glass. “No alcohol. That’s got to suck.”
The bartender poured me a tall glass of orange juice straight from the box. Minute Maid, no pulp. Just the way I liked it. “Only to a*sholes like you. Now shut up and drink before you make more of a fool out of yourself.”
“F*ck you, Martinez.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” he replied and made his way down the counter where a couple of frat boys, judging from their letterman jackets, tried to hail him down.
I stared at the glass of orange juice, all the while aware of the brooding young man slumped next to me. “You’ve got a good friend there.”
He snorted. “Yeah. Whatever. He’s not bad.”
A couple of minutes passed, all of it incredibly noisy as the bar began to fill and slowly, I saw the wisdom in Jase’s suggestion. “People will think nothing of seeing us together. Most won’t care to listen to us, will they?”
“Nope.” He swirled the drink in his glass, having only taken one sip since receiving it. “Besides. We’re in this together. I want to know who you are before we start digging.”
“You know who I am.”
He lifted his head, and I watched his eyes follow a tall, slim girl with light brown hair as she walked to her pack of friends near the bathrooms. Interesting. If he was a vampire, I would’ve suspected his hunger, but as he was not, I had no idea. Perhaps he was into brunettes. None of my business. “Wrong. I know of you. But who you are? I don’t think anyone in the Fellowship knows who you are.”
I took a sip of the wonderfully astringent and sweet juice and set it down carefully on the cardboard coaster. “What is there to know? I hunt for the Elders.”
“For how long?”
That required some thought. “Five years, give or take a couple of months.”
He huffed out a breath. “From all the rumors, I would’ve thought a lot longer. But you don’t look older than me. How old are you?”
“None of your business.” I wasn’t against telling him, but this man was due to die soon. I had no intention of becoming close to someone who would soon die by my hand. I’m heartless, but I’m not evil. “Tell me about Shannon. That’s her name?”
He nodded. My ploy at changing the subject worked. Either that or he didn’t really care how about my age. “Yeah. Shannon Donahue. God, I miss her.”
“How long ago was it?”
It was starting to get difficult hearing him, as the noise level rose. Most likely due to the pack of frat boys and Brunette girl with her girlfriends playing a game seemed to involve a ping-pong ball and several plastic containers of beer all in various states of fullness. Fascinating and yet pathetically infantile.
I moved closer to him, close enough to brush my body along his.
He flinched. Hm.
“Don’t touch me.”
“I beg your pardon,” I said solemnly. “It was not my intention. It’s getting loud in here. I didn’t want to shout at you.”
The set of his shoulders seemed to relax. Barely. “Okay. Fine. But keep your distance.”
He didn’t have to tell me twice. I didn’t trust jittery people. “How long ago did she…disappear?”
“Almost four years ago.”
I blinked. I hadn’t thought he was that old. Unless he was the type to get engaged in high school. And yes, he did seem like the impetuous type to do just that. “That’s a long time. And you’ve made no progress so far?”
He shook his head and tossed down half the whiskey. “Couldn’t. That’s the whole reason I joined the Fellowship. Was told they would help me find the son of a bitch.”
The pattern become uncomfortably clear. “But they didn’t.”
“No.”
Ah. “They promised. They told you they’d help you find the vampire who turned her and bring him to justice?”
“Yeah.”
How familiar. “And now they’re sending you to die.”
“Basically.”
I rolled the half empty glass between my palms, warming up the chilled glass. How refreshingly metro in an establishment that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in a decade. “They couldn’t find the vampire who did it. It could be they’re sending you because you’d be willing to take a chance at killing a vampire. It could be they’re trying to get rid of you before you make…problems.”
“Probably.”
He tossed down the rest of the whiskey, and I became aware of music beginning to filter through the large speakers placed over the shelves containing expensive-looking bottles. Low, throbbing, almost sexual in nature, it didn’t seem like the sort of music you’d play in a bar. Maybe a strip club, but not a bar. I kind of liked it.
“For what it’s worth, they probably tried.”
Why was I defending the Elders?
He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Not anymore. I’ve got you now. You can help me.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“Yeah, me too.”
It was strange, to see a man so resigned with death. In my years of hunting, I had never come across prey that fell on their knees to readily accept the end of their life. The chase always ensued and then things got messy. In truth, I was starting to expect it that way. “Tell me what you know about Shannon and…”
I didn’t know what to say.
He stared at the ice slowly melting away in his glass. “We grew up together. Went to the same schools together. When she wanted to go to California for college, I followed her. Had to practically cheat on my SATs, but I got in.”
I really didn’t want to know his life history with her. It hardly seemed pertinent. “Fine. Whatever. I don’t care about your girlfriend and how you went wherever she went. That’s nice. But it won’t help.”
Jase didn’t seem perturbed at my abrupt tone. “Sorry. I think I’m a little drunk.”
“With one whiskey?” I didn’t bother to mask my skepticism.
“I haven't really had anything to eat today.”
“Doesn’t surprise me,” I said and leaned closer to him as a pack of young men, loud and annoying with their perfect hair and sparkling, white teeth shouldered in between me and a short, stout blond who seemed intent on taking the drunk guy next to her home.
Jason flinched again, like a beaten dog who only sees the hand as a weapon, never comfort. It was sad and pathetic.
“Was there any sign of aberrant behavior before she turned?”
Half expecting him to ask me “What’s aberrant mean?”, I didn’t expect him to simply shake his head. “No. Nothing. We went out that night. She wasn’t feeling well, you know, being pregnant and all. She said she was going to hit the bathroom before we left. I decided to wait outside.”
He stopped and for a moment, I waited, convinced his story wasn’t over.
After a couple of minutes, it became patently clear that it was over.
“That’s it?” I stared at him. Or rather, stared at the chin sticking out of his hood. “That’s all there is to it?”
“That’s all,” he said, voice listless. “I waited outside the restaurant for an hour. When she didn’t come out, I asked the hostess about Shannon and she went in. Said there wasn’t anyone there matching her description. I didn’t believe her. So I ran in and almost got myself arrested in the process.”
“She wasn’t there.”
“No.”
I couldn’t pretend to understand his pain. “I’m sorry to hear that. Did you call the police?”
He laughed under his breath” Yeah. I did. They couldn’t tell me a damn thing. Just told me to stay by the phone and let them know if I ever got any news about Shannon. I almost went crazy waiting for some kind of word. Then I get a letter. A f*cking email at that. Something along the lines of how sorry she was, but she got bit by a vampire and decided this was better for the both of us. Better for the both of us? How the hell can it be better for the both of us?”
An email. Luckless bastard. “I have a friend. Adrian. He knows people. With any luck, we’ll be able to track her down, if she hasn’t changed her name.”
“That’s the problem.” He leaned back on his barstool. Apparently, his stool was made of sterner material than mine. That or he had better balance. “She hated her name. If she’s turned…where’s the guarantee she’s kept it? Most vampires, when they turn, don’t they usually change their names?”
A valid point. “And you think she changed it?”
“If she hasn’t, that would be weird,” he replied. “She used to talk about getting her name legally changed after we got married.”
“Do you know what name she wanted to change it to?”
He shook his head slowly. “Not for certain. She had a hard time trying to decide on one.”
The sounds of the bar washed over me and lazily, I watched a bartender mix a drink and then put it on fire. Personally, I’d never drink something flaming, but apparently the auburn haired girl with acne and big breasts didn’t feel as strongly as I did. She tossed the drink down as the rest of her friends cheered her on, not caring if she burned her eyebrows off. Or maybe they hoped so. Women didn’t seem to be such good friends with other women, especially those who were single, even more so when they competed for the same man. Treachery, thy name is woman. At least, that’s how it seemed in my opinion. “And that’s all you know.”
“Yeah.”
Grabbing the sword bag off the counter, I stood up, no longer willing to sit and see how long I could stay upright until the seat fell off. “I’ll give you three weeks. If after the three weeks are up and we still haven’t found them, I’m afraid our business relationship is over.”
I thought I saw the glimmer of his black eyes in the shadows of his hood. “You’ll kill me.”
This was certainly a strange conversation to have in a bar, but it appeared most people around us were occupied with other things. Like drinking. Flirting. Trying to find someone to take them home, trying to find someone with whom they didn’t feel so alone.
Alone. Had I ever felt truly alone?
I didn’t think so.
Not when I walked with Death at my shoulder.
“I will,” I said. “Your death will bring about an end. An end I must achieve, whether I wish or not. I’m sorry, Jason. There are some people who are nothing more than sacrificial lambs. You are one of them.”
He didn’t try to nay-say me. I took it as a good sign. “I don’t care. If I can get the bloodsucking motherf*cker, I’ll die happy. I’ll die willingly.”
There seemed little point in staying anymore. “We’ll meet again. Tomorrow.”
I barely heard his voice over the roar of the steadily growing crowd. Perhaps it was better to leave now; crowds always unnerved me to a certain degree. Too easy for someone to slip a dagger through my ribs and walk away. Paranoid? Not at all. Like Jason said, better safe than sorry.
“I’ll give you my number.”
I decided to take a chance and reached forward.
His hand moved so fast I didn’t register a thing until his fingers wrapped around my wrist, fingers a bare inch from his injured palm. “I told you not to touch me.”
“So you did,” I said smoothly, briefly wondering how I kept my voice so nonchalant, when I was anything but that. “I thought to test you.”
“Don’t touch me. I mean it.”
For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. “I don’t think you’re anything like you pretend to be, Jason.”
“Don’t kid yourself. I’m exactly as you see me. Nothing more.”
He let go of my hand roughly, almost pushing me off balance.
Such speed.
Such strength.
That I could not see his movement…was curious.
And frightening.
And exhilarating.
“I’ll give you my number,” he said, as if the last thirty seconds had never happened.
But it had.
I saw the way his eyes narrowed.
Saw the way his lips curved.
I took a step back, put space between us. “Don’t bother. I can find you. Blood of my blood, blood of your blood, don’t you remember?”
“Fine. Nine work for you?”
“I hope you mean nine at night.”
He snorted. “Did you think I meant nine in the morning? Lady, I’m going to fall asleep at nine in the f*cking morning.”
It was none of my business, but… “And why would that be?”
“It’s night right now,” he said. “They’ll be up. Now that we’ve got a plan, there are some things I’ve got to look into. You say you’ve got friends, but I’m not entirely without help, either. I’m not going to wait anymore. Not when I’ve got someone like you on my side.”
“Seems prudent. I’ll meet you then.”
He nodded and turned back to the counter, hunched over his empty cup like he meant to find salvation at the sticky bottom.
The door was obscured behind the crowd and by the time I managed to slip outside, my shirt was damp with sweat.
Downtown Centennial City never truly slept, no matter the time or season and I pushed my hands into my pockets, navigating my way through the crowds of people, most of them talking loudly as if afraid of the silence.
I never understood that. There was much to learn from silence, a strange sort of comfort you couldn’t find anywhere.
I walked two blocks of busy, bustling night establishments before I recognized a pattern of walking steps behind me.
Someone was following me. Low heels, judging from the muted staccato beat on the pavement.
The back of my neck prickled, but I continued walking, mind whirling with questions, possibilities.
I never had anyone follow me before. I was usually the one doing the following and it was a strange feeling, to be on the other end of the mirror, or so to speak.
Should I stop? Should I keep on walking?
I stopped.
So, too, did the steps.
Fingers creeping up my wrist where I could feel the warm metal of the dagger on my fingertips, I took a deep breath. “May I help you?”
“Leave the man alone.” A feminine, husky voice. “You’ll leave him alone or else there’ll be hell to pay.”
I resisted the urge to turn around. What if she should flee? “And who would I have the pleasure of speaking to?”
“I’d rather not say,” she said. “You don’t need to know who I am. Leave him alone. If you attempt to contact him, I might as well finish you off here.”
“Will you? You speak such words, but I don’t think you have what it takes to actually pull it off.”
The woman let out a small sound low in her throat and I stepped aside as a rush of air brushed past my bare neck.
I flicked the dagger into my hand, felt the reassuring leather handle in my palm and turned to face the woman who would have slashed my throat open.
Crouching low on the balls of her feet, hands extended out to her sides, her light brown hair glimmered like honey, tied back in a simple knot at the nape of her beck.
This far from downtown, the streets were deserted, the apartments all dark with a decrepit, depressed appearance. “How convenient for you. You have no weapon, so you could stand to attack me in public without worrying about someone calling the cops. Whereas I…am not like you.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What are you?”
“Human.”
“Liar.”
I shrugged. “I suppose I’ve been called that as well, although it is through no fault of mine, I assure you.”
The dagger seemed woefully inadequate when she had the equivalent of ten at her fingertips, literally, but I kept it out. Better to be a perceived threat than nothing at all. Besides, it was all I had. I couldn’t pull out the sword, not here in the middle of town, and my martial arts were not so good to battle a vampire head on, even one as young as the one in front of me. Not when I had no allies within eyesight“What do you want?”
She straightened up to her full height, which wasn’t very impressive. “The man you’re with. Stay around him any longer and you’re going to find yourself in a f*ckload of trouble.”
“Fascinating. Why would you go out of your way to warn me?”
When she grinned, her sharp canines caught the light in a rather convincing way. “Let’s just say I’m someone who considers his well-being to be in the best of my interest. We know about you and your habit of getting people killed around you. I’d like him to survive, even if it’s just for a little while.”
“Does he know about you?”
“He knows nothing about me nor the organization that supports my action.”
“I don’t suppose you could enlighten me as to which organization this would be?”
She had no discernible marks that would put her in a certain House or gang, but perhaps they were hidden behind her knee-length black trench coat. “We’d like to keep our name under wraps. For now.”
“I see.”
For the moment, it seemed as though I was safe, that is to say, she wasn’t in an immediate position to disembowel me. Then again, it doesn’t take much for a vampire to do it. I am, after all, only human. “What can you tell me about the man I was with?”
She let out a small laugh. The vampire was quite pretty, but they were all very nice to look at. Too bad beauty really only went skin deep with them. “Not much, I’m afraid. Just stay away from him His safety is assured by me and my organization.”
I stowed the tiny bi-su back up my sleeve, all the while aware of how her shoulders seemed to relax almost infinitesimally. “And if I stay away from him?”
“Then you will continue to breathe,” she said with a broad wink that just seemed wrong, coming from a bloodsucker. “I think you’ll find this arrangement to be comfortable for all parties involved.”
“Of course, I do,” I said without a modicum of sarcasm. “Thank you for warning me in advance.”
The wind picked up then, ruffling the bottom of her coat up, up enough so I could see she wasn’t wearing pants. Nor anything else, for that matter.
“You’ll want to stay away from him,” she said. “He’s a dangerous man to be around. Just like you. So, how about you stay alive and then he does too? Do you have any questions?”
I shook my head slowly, wisps of hair tickling my jawline. “No. You’ve made everything very clear.”
“Good. Very good,” she said with a satisfied grin. It reminded me of Sylvester the Cat when he thinks up an idea to eat Tweedy.
The only problem: Sylvester’s plans never worked.
“Is that all then?”
“Indeed, it is.”
She turned on one heel and walked into the shadows, one hand held up in farewell. “Remember what I said, Hunter. Stay away from the man if you want to live.”
I hated vampires.
So why should I listen to this one?