Zombies Sold Separately

EIGHT



I jerked my arm away from the grip and felt nails scratch my skin.

My Tom Collins splashed onto my bare belly. At the same time my free hand automatically shot for the hilt of one of my Dragon-claw daggers. I whirled to see who had grabbed my arm.

“My sincerest apologies.” Council Chief Leticia snatched her hand away from me and I saw the long, sculpted nails that had scraped me. “Such a large crowd. A group of Fae bumped into me and I caught your arm to steady myself, only more tightly than I had intended.”

I froze in mid-motion and just stared at the Doppler who happened to be one of the most powerful females in the paranorm world. I had no idea what to say. The most respected paranorm representative had just scratched my arm with her nails and she looked upset at having done so.

She easily composed herself, appearing sophisticated and refined as she took a step back with such grace she could have been Doppler royalty. For all I knew, she was.

“Come.” She gave a little wave of her hand, indicating I should follow.

It was an order, not an invitation, but I paused and glanced at the Tracker corner before looking back at Leticia. I still had time before the meeting to see what the council chief had to say.

Leticia turned away from me and the lighting gleamed on her silver hair that was smoothed away from her unlined face and pulled back in a chignon. I downed my elderflower Tom Collins, set my glass on a table, and followed.

She headed toward the elevated floor where paranorms played billiards along with games like pinball and air hockey. All of the games had some kind of paranorm twist that norms wouldn’t understand. Like the Brownie pinball game where the Brownie inside fought back by knocking the metal pinball away from the bonus points. Made it a lot harder to win.

Billiards is the best game ever invented and we play it like norms do—no magic involved. No one ever beat me at pool, but I was afraid I was going to lose my edge if I didn’t start playing more often. I’d rarely had time to indulge since the Demons had almost destroyed New York City not all that long ago.

I rubbed my upper arm where Leticia had scratched it and frowned as I trailed after her. To my right was the stage. The mime was already gone, and now a comedian I’d never seen was performing impersonations of both famous norms and well-known paranorms. I wondered if he’d have the guts to do an impression of the almighty Great Guardian. I would love to have seen it.

Leticia directed us to a dark alcove on the main floor, past the stairs that led to the gaming level. Drow see well in the darkness, and I didn’t have to blink to get accustomed to how little light actually penetrated the corner we were headed to.

The council chief sank into an overstuffed chair and looked at me. “That seat will be fine.” She gestured to the straight-back chair closest to her and I took it. “There. Perfect,” she said.

The whole situation made me feel a little off-kilter. Leticia, a very sophisticated elderly female, was in the Pit of all places. The nightclub, which was a pretty nice place, looked almost primitive compared to her elegant appearance.

I had never seen her outside the Paranorm Council’s chambers, not even off the throne she perched on at the center of the crescent-shaped council table. The only thing I’d seen her in before now was a set of brilliant yellow robes.

Tonight she wore an elegant black dress that I thought might be a Dior and it fit her slender frame as if it had been tailored for her. She wore classic low heels that had to have been Burberrys and she held a Fendi clutch in her lap. At least she had good taste.

Around her neck hung a large glittering blue sapphire pendant on a long, delicate chain made from a metal that couldn’t be found on the Earth Otherworld. I know because I’m Drow. Dark Elves mine ores and gemstones deep beneath the surface of Otherworld and we’re born with an innate sense for anything to do with metals and precious gems. The pendant glittered like that only when worn by the person it rightfully belongs to.

The chain Leticia wore had to have been a gift because the metal is beyond special and Dark Elves hate to part with anything so precious. It was made from the same material as my collar, a metal normally only worn by Drow royalty.

Leticia crossed her legs at her knees and leaned forward, her hands clasped on her lap. “I am so glad to see you, Nyx. I contacted Rodán and he told me when you would be at his nightclub tonight so that I could call on you personally.”

I tried to smile but had a hard time. What did the council want with me now?

“It is my desire to express my sincere gratitude and that of the council as well.” Leticia’s statement caught me off guard. They were thanking me?

I did my best to hide my surprise as she continued. “Why council members understated that kind of horror I’ll never understand. It wasn’t just a ‘situation’ but a series of devastating tragedies and near tragedies.”

Heat began to burn beneath my skin and I felt a flush rising to my face.

“What you did for all paranormkind almost cost you your life.” She placed her hand on my knee as she continued. “All members of the Paranorm Council shall never forget your sacrifices. No one should.”

My face felt even hotter now and I wished I was off fighting a Demon instead of receiving praise I didn’t deserve.

“I was doing my job.” I tried not to squirm in my seat. “I’m a Night Tracker and I was only doing what I’ve been trained to do.”

Leticia gave me what amounted to a patient look, as if I was a child and she was trying to make me understand something. “The council plans to honor your heroics with a special award. We are requesting your presence in one week’s time when we have our last meeting before the New Year begins.”

“No.” I straightened in my seat and there must have been an expression of shock on my face, because that’s exactly what I felt.

The council chief looked surprised at my immediate refusal.

“I mean, thank you.” I tried my best to sound appreciative. “But I can’t accept any kind of award. All of the Trackers deserve recognition, not just me.”

Leticia removed her hand from my knee. “You are far too modest, Nyx Ciar.”

She stood in such a graceful movement I knew at that moment her Doppler animal form was some kind of large cat.

A lioness. With her regal bearing and commanding presence it became obvious to me. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t realized it earlier.

I stood, too. “It’s not right that I should be given recognition and not the rest of the team.”

“Accept the award on behalf of your brethren, if you wish.” The expression in Leticia’s eyes was both warm and firm, which I wasn’t sure many could pull off. “But accept it you will.”

I groaned out loud as the council chief walked away from me, toward the exit. Not that my groan could be heard over the laughter that erupted in the room. I looked at the stage in time to see a ventriloquist’s dummy walking across the stage taking bows—while the Doppler ventriloquist remained seated on his stool.

I wondered if the audience even knew that the Doppler’s dummy was actually a Brownie. An exceptionally ugly one at that.

My thoughts turned immediately back to my little meeting with Leticia. How embarrassing. And how very wrong. I almost died because of my own stupidity. My team members were the real heroes. Especially the Sprite named Negel.

Rodán had to get me out of this one.

The crowd seemed even thicker now and I shoved my way through the hoard of paranorms and toward the Tracker corner. I was just in time to see everyone leaving and heading into the meeting room. Good, I wasn’t late.

I followed Tracey, the Romanian Sânzian˘a Fae, and Hades, a Shifter, into the conference room. When I entered I did a quick scan and saw that all twenty-two other Trackers were there. I closed behind me one of the two doors leading into the conference room. The place was filled with the hum and buzz of conversation as I walked to the conference room table.

Ice, a Shifter born in Manhattan, was lucky that Mandisa, a very dangerous Abatwa Fae from South Africa, didn’t shoot him with a poison-tipped arrow when he made a smart-mouthed comment to her. I grimaced, but she just gave him one of her deadly stares. I so never wanted to be on the receiving end of that look from her.

Kelly and Fere—my two least favorite Trackers—were arguing over something, but I couldn’t catch more than a few words that didn’t make any sense out of context.

Olivia, the only human Tracker, was talking with Lawan. I was so happy to see Olivia wasn’t in the middle of some debate with one of the other beings in our crew.

We were by no means a quiet, peaceable, humble, much less diplomatic bunch. The team was made up of just about every type of personality and paranorm race, but when it came to being Trackers for the most part we were alphas.

We were tough, take charge, and kickass all the way. Even though there were the two Trackers I didn’t get along with—putting it mildly—I would still trust them at my back any day.

At the large conference table that could seat as many as twenty-six, I slid into a chair. I was sitting with Joshua, a Shadow Shifter from Australia on one side of me and on the other side was one of my best friends, Nadia, a Siren from the Bermuda Triangle.

Joshua turned his head and gave me a grin and a wink before looking away and continuing his conversation with Nakano, a Japanese Shifter.

It would have been easy to be offended by Joshua’s arrogant demeanor and what seemed like a cocky attitude, but I’d learned to appreciate him a lot over the past two cases. That despite his making a few sexist comments that almost had Angel removing his head with the barbed whip she carried at her side.

“Hi, Nyx.” Nadia scooted her chair a little to the right so that I could get to my seat more easily.

“Do you know what’s up?” I asked her. It was kind of a dumb question because I was so close to Rodán that no one else in our group found out about something relating to our work before I did. Rodán was one of my closest friends.

So it wasn’t a surprise when she shook her head. “Do you know?”

I leaned back in my chair that both rocked and swiveled. “I talked with Rodán this morning and I’m assuming this has to do with something that’s been attacking norms as well as paranorms.”

Nadia looked concerned and her thick red hair fell over her shoulder as she leaned toward me. “What is it?”

“No idea.” I kept my voice low. “Hopefully Rodán knows more now than we did when we talked.”

“After what everyone went through with the Vampires, we really need a break. Especially you.” She frowned. “This doesn’t have anything to do with Vampires, does it?”

“We’re pretty sure it doesn’t,” I said. “No doubt Rodán will be filling everyone in.”

“Hmmm…” Nadia tipped her head to the side and gave a teasing grin. “At least you got to vacation in Belize with Adam Boyd.”

A smile crept over my face. “Yes, at least we had that.”

“Where are you tracking tonight?” she asked.

I shrugged. “Rodán will no doubt make assignments whenever he gets here.”

Not having a set territory anymore felt more freeing and I didn’t miss it. Out of the twenty-three Trackers in New York City, fifteen had their own territories that they covered each night. The other eight were either rovers or special teams. We could really use more Trackers, but the Great Guardian apparently didn’t think the same.

I glanced at Angel, Joshua, Mandisa, Nakano, and Max, who had all joined us at the beginning of the Werewolf case. The GG had hired them to aid our forces but belatedly as far as I was concerned. Before the new Trackers had been moved to the city, we’d lost too many of our own to Demons. Those losses included one of my closest friends, Caprice.

The pain of Caprice’s death was still fresh and it hit me sharp and quick to my gut. I held my hand to my belly. It wasn’t that long ago that Demons had killed her, taken her away from us.

A reportedly wise, know it all being, the GG is revered by most. With all of her riddles, she drives me crazy. Nadia always said I was doomed for Underworld if I didn’t play nice. I played nice. Didn’t mean I had to like it.

“Do you miss tracking the Upper West Side?” Nadia asked.

I looked back at her and shook my head. “I really like special teams.”

“Changes things up a bit.” She gave a nod.

I’d been selected to lead the Tracker special team when my PI agency took on the Werewolf case. Almost immediately after it was solved, the five of us went on to handle the Sprite fiasco and then the Vampire “situation”—with a little help from our friends.

All went quiet and I looked up to see Rodán near the door that led to the club. When he entered a room I usually felt warmth unfold inside me and today was no exception.

One of the Light Elves, Rodán was breathlessly handsome. Every movement he made was lithe and graceful like all Elves. His crystal-green eyes were filled with intelligence and an almost ancient wisdom.

And mystery … there was always an air of mystery surrounding Rodán. I knew him well in some ways, but that knowledge was only a few leaves in the forest of possibilities that made up the whole of who Rodán of the Light Elves was.

Rodán opened the door and stepped aside. Two beings walked in and both had me catching my breath in surprise.

The first was a Sprite—Penrod, Negel’s younger brother.

Next was the Dragon who’d performed onstage.

All of us—even Ice—remained silent as the two newcomers followed Rodán to stand at the head of the conference table.

With his protuberant blue eyes, misshapen and mottled features, and tufts of blond hair, Penrod was still ugly as Sprites go, but carried himself with more confidence than Negel had when he was alive.

Tall for a Sprite at about five feet in height, Penrod had a slow gait and with his knobby joints had a clumsy appearance. Sprites are Fae, though, and a great number of Fae races are anything but clumsy. Including Sprites.

After watching Colin on stage and being a firsthand witness to him intentionally mesmerizing his audience, I expected him to be a showboat.

Right now he had the exact opposite effect on me. He looked calm and self-assured, but not cocky or arrogant like some of our Trackers. His switch was apparently set from “mesmerize” to “off,” too.

Instead of being bare-chested and in the red leather pants, Colin wore a pair of Levi’s, New Balance jogging shoes, and a sleeveless dark red and black Linkin Park T-shirt. His long golden hair was loose around his shoulders.

A scaled serpent tattoo wound up and around his arm from his wrist to his shoulder. Fire erupted from the serpent’s mouth, the flames curling over Colin’s shoulder. The tattoo moved with the flex of his muscular arm, almost looking like a living, breathing thing. I hadn’t noticed the tattoo before, but I may have been too enthralled by his Dragon magic to have noticed.

“This is Colin and Penrod,” Rodán said in his smooth, calm way as he gestured to each male. “Our two newest Trackers.”

“What?” Lawan said with a sharp intake of breath and got to her feet. “The Dragon?”

We all looked at Lawan, and I think to a one our jaws had dropped. For Lawan to have any kind of outburst was almost a greater surprise to everyone seated at the table than having a Sprite and Dragon thrown into our midst as Trackers.

Lawan’s cheeks reddened and she eased back into her seat but she kept her back straight and her head tilted high.

“Yes.” Rodán smoothed over the interruption and nodded to the Dragon. “Colin is originally from Campton, a village in Otherworld, but he has lived here in the Earth Otherworld for some time now.”

“What, get kicked out of Otherworld for pillaging and burning down the villages?” Ice said.

“Yes.” Colin’s expression was completely serious. “And for eating the peasants and a king or two.”

Ice smirked, obviously holding back a laugh. He might be a real jerk at times, but he knew when he’d been upped one.

Although for all I knew, Colin had eaten villagers in Otherworld.

“Colin has been in the metalwork trade,” Rodán said. “He is excellent with any weapon imaginable.”

I don’t know why, but we all looked at Mandisa and her poison-tipped arrows.

“Almost any weapon,” Colin said with a smile, as I heard his voice for the first time. Low, vibrant, as smooth and rich as chocolate cream. “Abatwa Fae and Elves are masters like none other when it comes to archery.”

Rodán nodded to Colin. The Dragon gave a slight bow of his head then stepped back so that Penrod was in front. Rodán gestured to the Sprite. “Please welcome Penrod to our team.”

“A Sprite?” Kelly sounded like she was going to choke on something. “The Great Guardian chose a Sprite to be a Tracker?”

Only the tiniest flicker of Penrod’s floppy ears told me Kelly’s statement had affected him in some way.

Rodán, a master at taking control, being in command, continued in a way that washed right over Kelly’s words. “You all should remember Negel,” Rodán said, “a Sprite who was instrumental in defeating the Vampires just weeks ago and who gave his life for one of our own.”

A low murmur and a few nods around the table, along with glances my way.

“Penrod is Negel’s younger brother.” Rodán looked at the Sprite before turning back to the Trackers. “Penrod was a professional thief.”

Even I dropped my jaw.

“A thief,” Fere said with a scowl. “You expect us to work with a thief?”

“Didn’t see that one coming,” Nadia murmured from beside me. “The GG never ceases to amaze me with her wisdom.”

At that moment someone could have told me there were two moons in the sky instead of one and I would have believed it. Lawan acting totally out of character, Rodán introducing a Dragon and a thief into our circle, and Nadia making a disparaging remark about the Great Guardian?

I wondered if the two moons that had to be out there now were both full.

“Yes, Penrod was a thief, but that was many years ago,” Rodán said. “He served his time, reformed, and then he served his people using his considerable skills in keeping order. He has proven his character and brings to our table many talents.”

Penrod vanished.

Paranorms can often see through glamours, but no one can see through a Sprite glamour.

It was only moments before Penrod reappeared. Only now he was holding a broadsword.

Fere’s broadsword.

The stunned look on the big Tuatha warrior’s face was truly a joy for me to see.

It was even funnier when seconds later the warrior was holding his sword.

As Penrod reappeared again, Fere growled and surged to his feet, gripping the hilt of his sword. “I will slay you if you touch anything I own again.”

A couple of laughs and a few coughs around the table greeted Fere’s anger.

The Sprite gave a slight incline of his head but there was a glint in his eyes.

“Penrod is a Tracker now.” Rodán’s voice was a little rougher than it had been. “You have only to remember that. What he did in the past will serve us well as a team. Keep this in mind—Penrod is no longer a thief. He is a Tracker. You will treat him as one of our own.”

Fere growled again but sat while he continued to glare at Penrod.

“My apologies.” Penrod smiled which almost looked more like a fierce scowl as he showed his sharp, pointed teeth. “I wished only to demonstrate my abilities.”

“Accomplished.” Rodán gestured to two of the three seats open at the conference table which could seat a total of twenty-six. Colin and Penrod made it twenty-five. Rodán would be the twenty-sixth when he chose to sit, which wasn’t often. “Be seated and we will begin.”

The Dragon took the chair between Tracey and Meryl, the Sprite between Nancy and Lawan. Nancy looked at Penrod and grimaced but Lawan was still glaring at Colin.

“We have a serious problem.” Rodán said before the two new Trackers had even had a chance to settle into their chairs. “Last night a group of paranorms and a group of norms were attacked, murdered, and mutilated. In a way unlike anything we have seen before.”

Most of those sitting at the table looked at Rodán with surprise. Only Robert, Tracey, Olivia, and I already knew some of what had happened.

Rodán gave the team the rundown of the information he had to date, including where the incidents had occurred.

“What connects these attacks is the brutality of them,” Rodán said. “Done in such a way that no human could have been responsible.

“In addition,” he continued, “in each case there is at least one missing person.”

Phyllis, a Were from the Lower East Side, leaned forward in her seat. “Just the two incidents?”

“Nyx and Olivia have the case in their PI agency and have been following up, including research,” Rodán said. “They have come across similar incidents on a smaller scale. They include a brutal, fatal attack and a missing person.”

“One thing about those cases,” Olivia said thoughtfully, “is that in each the missing person turned up again.”

“That’s odd.” Bronwyn looked pensive for a Nymph. Somehow this case must really be bothering her because Nymphs generally have a sensual expression and demeanor when not in battle. In a fight they are fierce, especially Bronwyn.

“We’re also looking at a homeless persons angle,” I said and explained why. I went on to add, “We interviewed several individuals on the street and they’ve seen some strange things at night that we’re still sorting out.”

“What do you think we’re looking at?” asked Dave, a native New Yorker Werewolf.

“Vampires?” Meryl, a Shifter Tracker as well as an artist, leaned forward with concern on her attractive features. “Are they back?”

“Vampires have been ruled out.” Rodán’s gaze moved to each one of us as he explained how the attacks could not have been Vampires. “As of now what we face is an unknown threat.”

Lawan was fair-skinned to begin with but seemed much paler, as if she were shaken up over Rodán’s statement. That surprised me because she was always so cool under pressure. “What is our next step?” she asked Rodán, seeming to have forgotten her anger at the Dragon.

“I’m assigning one of our special teams to concentrate on chasing down whatever it is that we must contend with.” Rodán rarely showed even a glimpse of emotion and he stayed true to that now. “Once we know what we’re dealing with, we will determine how we’re going to take care of and end this threat.

“We again have Angel, Ice, Joshua, Olivia, and Nyx as members of Special Team One.” Rodán gave a quick nod to me. “Nyx is leader of that team. Her expertise as a private investigator and her ability to move fluidly between the norm and paranorm worlds makes her invaluable in this capacity.”

Rodán looked at the Dragon and the Sprite. “Colin and Penrod will join the special team.”