Vampires Dead Ahead

NINE



“No one has seen Rodán since last night.” Unease stirred in my belly as I set my phone on my desk and looked at Olivia. “He had an appointment with Angel at seven this morning and then a lunch appointment with her team at noon but he wasn’t there.”

Olivia shrugged. “She’s a blond. She probably got confused on the time.”

I rolled my eyes. “Considering Angel has an IQ equal to a savant’s, I don’t think so.”

“Blonds get confused all the time.” Olivia waved my comment away. “For that matter, Rodán is blond. It was bound to happen sooner or later.”

I shot her with an eraser before she even realized I had loaded the rubber band.

“Hey.” Olivia rubbed her temple but was holding back a grin. “Just sayin’.”

“Uh-huh.” I glanced at her chocolate-brown T-shirt.



I’M NOT SHORT

I’M FUN SIZE





“Oh, is that what you’re calling it now?” I said. “Fun size?”

“Scott thinks so,” she said with a wicked grin. “Real fun.”

“Whatever you say, short stuff.”

That earned me a volley of erasers.

“Besides, it’s barely two in the afternoon,” she said. “Isn’t that a little soon to start worrying about a big boy like Rodán?”

“You’re right.” I frowned. “However, not only did he miss Angel’s seven AM appointment, but he missed the lunch appointment, too. He also mentioned the lunch appointment to Nadia, so Rodán was aware of it. It’s not like him.” I rubbed my arms as I felt an odd chill. “And something just doesn’t feel right.”

I picked up my phone and dialed the Pit. “I’ll check with Fred.”

Fred answered on the third ring. When I asked him about Rodán, he sounded puzzled. “Haven’t seen him. He’s never been late and he’s never missed showing up for anything here at the Pit.”

Another twist in my belly. “Maybe he went to Otherworld to see the Great Guardian.”

“I dunno.” I had the image of Fred scratching his head. “This just doesn’t happen with Rodán.”

“He’s supposed to meet with me in a couple of hours.” I rubbed my forehead. “He’ll probably be back by then.”

“Probably.” Fred still had concern in his voice. “See you in a bit, Nyx.”

Olivia and I spent the two hours before I left working on the possible link between the missing humans and the missing Trackers.

When it was time, I grabbed my handbag and walked the short distance to the Pit to meet with Rodán. It was still early. There was plenty of time to talk with him before the place started to get busy.

After I said hello to Fred at the entrance, I made my way through the mostly empty nightclub. The entrance to Rodán’s chambers—which I’d referred to as the dungeon on occasion—was well hidden behind a wall of gray fog. Very few were favored enough to get close enough even to see the doorway, much less enter through it.

The fog smelled of rain and moist earth as I passed through and made my way down a torchlit passageway. At the end was an arched black doorway that looked as if it came from a medieval dungeon.

Torches flared to life at either side of the door when I neared it. To the right was an oblong black pad, and I placed my hand on its spongy surface.

My palm itched as the colors swirled beneath my hand until they stopped at blue, the same shade as my eyes. A brief burst of white light flared in the hallway from within the blue, just like the dangerous flash in my eyes when I’m angry.

Cool air swept over me as I entered his large bedchamber. I frowned. Normally it was warm in here, enough to cause me to break out in a sweat. The room’s usual firethorn and woodland scent had faded. A hard ball started to form in my belly.

I passed the wall that had a huge framed oil painting of a Faerie and past a display of artifacts from Otherworld and the Fae places in the Earth Otherworld. Instead of glowing, the Dragon scale looked dull in the torchlight. And the Faerie cone—normally lit like a city within a pinecone—was dark. The Pixie dust in its jar didn’t sparkle, and the Sirens’ rare golden seashell didn’t gleam.

With every step I took my heart beat faster and my throat grew drier. Something was wrong. I knew it with everything I had. Something was really wrong.

Another fog-shrouded wall led toward his den. The normally chilly air was almost freezing as I stepped through the fog to the landing atop a staircase. I walked down the steps to his den, my shoes soundless on the stone.

Rodán’s den wasn’t exceptionally large, much smaller than the bedchamber above and smaller even than my bedroom. Rows of heavy books and rolls of parchment lined the earthen walls, and wisteria climbed across the otherwise bare places.

All the wood, including Rodán’s desk, had been commissioned from the Dryads. They didn’t give anything up without a price, but this time I didn’t wonder what Rodán might have paid.

The desktop was spotless as usual. It didn’t look like anything was out of place in the den.

I clung to my purse as I stood in the center of the still, lifeless room.

Hair prickled at my nape, as if someone was watching me. I spun around then placed my hand over my pounding heart when I saw nothing.

How could everything be so awfully quiet?

The feeling of being watched didn’t pass. Dread built up in me like a living thing. Like black snakes sliding through my abdomen and pausing to squirm just enough to make me want to throw up. Why was I having such an extreme reaction? Rodán hadn’t even been missing for a full day yet.

I hoped he was with the Great Guardian. I’d have to kill him for scaring me, but I could live with that. At least then I’d know what happened to him.

Okay. I had to calm down. Look at things logically and not jump to conclusions. I needed to treat this like any missing person case.

I made my way back upstairs, trying to shake the eerie feeling that his empty chambers gave me.

I had to find out who had last seen Rodán.

“Fred.” I reached the Doppler bouncer as he was letting a trio of Pixies into the club. It was way early, but Pixies like to party long and hard.

“Did Rodán show for your appointment?” Fred asked, his puppy-dog eyes looking big and worried.

I shook my head. “When was the last time you saw him?”

Fred’s forehead wrinkled and he looked deep in thought. “Just after the Tracker meeting, around ten. He was talking to Angel. Then he went toward his chambers and she went out the front.”

“Thanks.” I offered him a smile because he looked so worried. “It’ll be okay. We’ll find him.”

Fred gave a nod and tried a smile himself. “I know you will,” he said despite the concern in his big brown eyes.

I patted him on the arm then left to see who else I could question.

Two waitresses and a barman later, I had as much information as before. Nothing more than vague recollections of Rodán in the nightclub through one AM. At least I had that much to go on.

I needed to use the facilities, but when I went into the restroom designated for females, I ran into Kathy, one of the Shifter cleaners who helped keep the Pit in order. I asked her if she’d seen Rodán last night.

“Backstage,” Kathy said with certainty in her voice. “He watched from there until the band quit for the night, around one thirty in the morning.”

My heart began to race a little. “Did you see him leave with anyone?”

Kathy leaned on her mop. “Those trampy Nymphs who sing backup for that awful band.”

The same two Rodán and I had seen at dinner not long ago. Maybe he’d decided to take them up on the invitation they’d extended.

“Trixie and Bubbles,” I said.

“Tramps.” Kathy rolled her eyes. “The three of them left together. Arm in arm.”

I thanked Kathy, went back out into the club, and dug my phone out of my purse.

When I reached Olivia I said, “Can you track down two Nymph backup singers for Festival? I only know them by the names Trixie and Bubbles.”

Olivia choked with laughter. “You have got to be kidding me. Stage names, right?”

I couldn’t hold back a grin. “No kidding.”

“You’ve got it.” Olivia cleared her throat and I heard the click-clack of keys on a keyboard. “What’s up?”

I explained everything, from my search of Rodán’s office to talking with the Shifter cleaner.

“Got it,” she said just as I finished filling her in. She gave me an address on Fortieth Street, where they apparently lived together. “I’ll swing by and pick you up at the Pit.”

“Bring my clothing and weapons belt, please,” I said. I would have to shift soon. “Take my ’Vette,” I added. I preferred my car over her bucket-of-bolts GTO anytime.

Five minutes later Olivia swung my Corvette onto Seventy-second Street and I climbed into the passenger seat. I realized my mistake as Olivia cackled, the wheels screeched, and we took off.

I braced my hands on the dashboard. “Should have let me drive.”

“Buckle up and shut up.” Olivia maneuvered through New York City like one of the cabbies who took people’s lives in their hands every day.

I had to remind myself that if I could defeat Demons, Vampires, Zombies, and mad scientists, I could certainly live through Olivia’s driving.

At least I prayed I would every time she drove.

After we made it to our destination alive and managed to find a parking spot, we went up to the apartment building. It was fairly nice. Not exceptional, but nice. We took the elevator to the fourth floor.

When we got to the apartment, we heard squealing laughter and the fast beat of music coming from inside.

Olivia and I looked at each other. “You don’t suppose Rodán is in there?” she said.

I shook my head. “No amount of ‘playtime’ would keep him away from his responsibilities.”

She knocked. The laughter quieted. We heard rustling sounds from the other side of the door, then nothing. Olivia knocked again, and we heard giggles and voices. Even with my Elvin hearing, though, I couldn’t make out what was being said.

This time Olivia knocked harder. “Open up,” she said. “We need to speak with Trixie and Bubbles.”

Finally I heard the bolt unlock and the rattle of a door chain.

The door opened just enough to reveal Trixie’s pretty face. “What do you want?” she said, almost belligerently.

“We need to speak with you and your friend.” I spoke before Olivia could say anything.

“We’re busy,” Trixie replied. “You’ll have to come back later this afternoon.”

“It will only take a few moments,” I said. “It’s urgent. We need to ask you a few questions that can’t wait.”

“I said we’re busy.” Trixie started to shut the door.

That was all it took to set off Olivia. She stuck her foot in the way then hit the door with such force that the chain snapped and Trixie fell on her butt on the floor.

I’d only seen the Nymph from her neck up as she peered around the door. Now I saw that all she had on was a pair of black panties.

Behind her were three males and Bubbles and a disaster of an apartment. Clothing was scattered from one end of the living room to the other. Food and drink containers were on all the surfaces, not to mention lots of dust. Apparently cleaning was not on the top of these Nymphs’ list.

“What are you doing?” Bubbles also wore nothing but panties. She glared and put her hands on her hips as she stood in front of the males, who were in various stages of dress and undress.

The three Shifter males looked a bit shocked that Olivia had broken in the door, but didn’t seem to care much that we’d caught them in the middle of play. Actually they looked amused, not to mention intrigued, by having two more females in the room.

“Throw on some clothes and bring your asses out here,” Olivia said to Trixie and Bubbles. “We have some questions for you.”

Trixie scrambled to her feet, her beautiful face set in a scowl. “We don’t need to put clothes on for you. If you’re not comfortable with us like this, it’s your problem.”

That is so Nymphish, I thought.

Trixie added, “I don’t care what you want, we’re not answering questions. We don’t have to tell you anything.”

“Either you can do this nicely,” I said, “or we’ll get the Paranorm Task Force down here. They’ll haul your butts off to the detention center and we’ll question you there … dressed or undressed.”

Bubbles looked flustered. “You don’t have the authority—”

“We’re Trackers.” I gave her a long glare. “That gives us all the authority we need.”

Trixie and Bubbles looked at each other then back at me and Olivia. Fear had started to creep onto their faces.

“Okay,” Bubbles said.

Trixie nodded. “That’s fine. Whatever you want. We didn’t know.”

As soon as they heard that we were Trackers, the amusement left the males’ expressions. Olivia directed the Shifters to get their clothes on and leave or they’d end up in the detention center, too.

They were gone within seconds, not bothering to get fully dressed. The males just scooped up their clothing and bolted.

We stepped into the apartment and shut the door behind us.

“You were seen leaving the Pit last night with Rodán, and now he’s missing.” I narrowed my eyes at the pair as their faces started to pale. “We need to know what happened after you went off with him.”

“He’s missing?” Trixie’s throat worked as she swallowed. She hurried to add, “We don’t know anything.”

Bubbles’s eyes widened. “All we did was get him to go there with us.”

“Shut up, Bubbles.” Trixie narrowed her gaze. “We just walked to the car, right?”

“Um …” Bubbles shifted her stance like she couldn’t decide how she should stand or what she should do. “Yes.”

Olivia’s voice was deadly, like a cobra ready to strike. “Don’t give us this ‘just walked to the car’ bullshit. Details now or I swear you will look like a couple of beat-up Trolls who no one will ever want to hook up with when I’m done with you.”

The Nymphs looked at each other.

“What did you mean when you said ‘all we did was get him to go there with us’? Where is ‘there’?” I asked. My stomach started to feel queasy again. “Tell me everything. And you’d better start this second.”

“An apartment in the Wall Street area.” Trixie rushed to get the words out. “Like Bubbles said, all we did was get him there.”

“And give him a tiny drop of potion,” Bubbles said right before Trixie elbowed her.

“Potion?” Chills ran down my spine. “What did you give Rodán?”

The Nymphs looked at each other again. “A male and female met with us the day before yesterday,” Trixie said. “They didn’t tell us their names. She said she was one of Rodán’s ‘personal play friends’ and was putting together something fun for him.”

“He has so many females,” Bubbles added.

“Somehow they knew that we know Rodán and that we … well, that we enjoy each other’s company,” Trixie said.

“They told us we needed to get Rodán to that apartment and get him to drink a potion.” Bubbles looked anxious to speak, and this time Trixie didn’t try to stop her. “It was whiteberry potion—but I think they mixed it with something else.”

“Do you know what whiteberry potion is?” Trixie said. “It’s an aphrodisiac like no other in the world.”

Bubbles had clasped her hands and was now wringing them, obviously agitated. “They said they added something to it that was supposed to make it better. It was supposed to relax him.”

“It was all made to be fun for Rodán,” Trixie added.

The two of them were now talking a mile a minute.

Bubbles sat on a couch in the messy living room. “It was part of a sexual fantasy of his of being drugged and kidnapped, and to lose all control and to be taken by a male and a female in charge, the female had told us.”

“Yes,” Trixie said. “We love Rodán and thought it would be fun to make it happen for him. He had even mentioned a similar idea to us at one time. We were told that we just couldn’t tell him what was happening. It had to be a surprise. We got him to the apartment, gave him the potion, then got paid.”

Dread had built up like a huge weight in my chest. “Was Rodán conscious when you left?”

“He was just a little groggy, but he was fine,” Trixie said, and Bubbles nodded. “We would never want him hurt. Is he hurt? What’s wrong? What’s going on?”

“So you were paid and you left.” Olivia put one hand on her hip and leaned forward a bit as she glared at the Nymphs. “Was it only this male and female who were there?”

Bubbles gave Trixie a quirky smirk. “Well, sort of,” Bubbles replied. “Part of the deal, besides the potion and money, was that we were able to play with two Vampire look-alikes and we left with them.”

Olivia looked as stunned as I felt at that moment. She shot me a look of concern.

“Two Vampire look-alikes,” Olivia repeated. “What happened with them?

Bubbles stopped wringing her hands. “We left and went to a place they had a mile or two away.”

Trixie nodded. “We played with them. They were so real looking and acting. We’ve done the Vampire thing before and Bubbles loves it. I’ve never been as big on it as she is. Well, not until last night. It was totally amazing.”

“Yes, they were amazing.” Bubbles added, sounding like a teenager describing her first kiss with a new crush. “They even pretended to bite us and it seemed so real.”

“It was an incredible time,” Trixie said, interrupting her Nymph partner. “We’re supposed to meet up with them again tonight for a second round.”

I suddenly felt jittery as I asked what I really didn’t want to know. “Let me see where you were bit.”

“Right here.” Trixie pointed to the right side of her neck. “But there’s no mark. It felt like he bit me on the neck, then licked the spot.”

Bubbles gave an emphatic nod. “It felt so real and it looked so real. They even had blood on their mouths.”

“I don’t know how they did it,” Trixie said. “It was amazing. We were sort of out of it for a while, like we heard a real Vampire bite would make you feel.”

Bubbles was grinning now. “Then we started to go down on—”

“Okay, that’s enough.” Olivia glared at Bubbles. “Where and when are you meeting them next?”

“Right here this evening, around eleven. We’re not on stage tonight.” Trixie stared at Olivia’s ample breasts. “You two should come tonight. You would love it.” She gave us each a flirtatious look. “We would love it.”

“Yes.” Bubbles looked excited, too. “Six isn’t a crowd, especially with you two a part of it. I’m sure the two Vampire players would enjoy it.”

“We’re not interested in the kinds of games you have in mind,” Olivia said.

But we would be there to see the Vampires arrive. The Nymphs just wouldn’t know it, because I would bring a team cloaked by glamours.

“What we’re interested in is finding Rodán,” Olivia said.

I studied the two dimwits. “When was the last time you saw him?”

Bubbles shrugged and looked at Trixie. “Around two thirty this morning, I think.”

Trixie screwed up her face in concentration. “We ended the show at two as usual, then met with Rodán, then went to the apartment. So yes, that’s about right.”

I was amazed these two could tell time. I checked my phone. Close to five thirty in the afternoon. “Going on fifteen hours ago.”

“Is Rodán okay?” Trixie looked suddenly concerned.

I ignored her. “Get them to detention now,” I said to Olivia.

“Detention?” Bubbles said.

Trixie’s expression changed to panic. “We haven’t done anything illegal.”

I felt an urgent need to rush over to the apartment they’d taken Rodán to. I didn’t have time to mess with them.

“Give me the address.” I got out my phone and input the location when Bubbles gave it to me. I pulled out a pair of cuffs warded to keep almost all paranorms from getting free.

“We talked.” Bubbles backed away. “We told you all we could.”

Olivia was on the phone requesting PTF backup as I advanced on them.

“Give me any problems now and I’ll make sure they give you the worst cells in the darkest, dankest places in the detention center,” I said.

The Nymphs looked like they were about to burst into tears as they held out their wrists and I cuffed them. Two afghans were lying on the couch, and Olivia threw one around each of them.

As soon at the PTF arrived, Olivia and I hurried to the Wall Street address.

We’d called Colin, Joshua, and Angel for backup, and they met us on the street level after we parked the ’Vette. I gave them the rundown as we headed into the apartment building.

We showed the doorman our fake human law enforcement credentials. Paranorm creds just didn’t have the same effect. The five of us split up into two groups. Olivia, Joshua, and I took the elevator. Just in case whoever was in there got wind of us coming, Angel and Colin headed up the stairs to cover that exit.

It didn’t take us long to locate the apartment. The hallway was quiet as we stayed out of view of the door. Colin and Angel showed up at virtually the same time. Colin could have beaten us if he wasn’t on the lookout for anyone coming down the stairs. Angel had likely zipped upstairs in her squirrel form.

I nodded to Joshua, who faded. The Shadow Shifter flowed over the carpet and slid under the door. For a moment everything was quiet.

The door opened and Joshua held it aside for us to join him in the apartment. “I don’t know what happened in here,” he said in his thick Australian accent. “But it doesn’t look good.”

It felt like the black ball of snakes in my belly was unraveling and curling, twisting and turning.

When I walked into the apartment I caught my breath. The place was a wreck. Crystal chandeliers lay in heaps. Furniture was splintered. Cushions were ripped to shreds. Paintings hung askew or lay on the floor in broken messes. Burn marks were on the walls. Blood was splattered on the wooden floor.

Colin stepped over what had been a vase but was now only shards. “What the hell happened here?”

Angel put her hands on her hips. “Damn.”

“If he was here, I’d say Rodán put up one hell of a fight.” Olivia said.

To realize that Rodán had been in some kind of battle here, but was now missing, made me feel even sicker inside.

The whole world seemed to tilt.

Something horrible had happened to Rodán.