Always the Vampire

“Got it.”


We piled out of the car and fanned out around the derelict house, Saber with his Glock held in both hands and pointed down, Triton with the flashlight. The scent of the Void hung over the property like a musty shroud, and I reached to sense its essence the way Lia had tried to teach us to find Pandora. I didn’t feel the Void inside or a presence that might be Starrack, but then I hadn’t been able to find Pandora, either. When I sucked energy, I sucked more memory of the Void than the Void itself.

When Saber and Triton circled to the back of the house, I followed to find the exterior door hanging by a single hinge. Pungent odors emanated from the house itself, but the oily Void smell was stronger from the field behind us. Strong enough to make my nostrils itch.

“Guys,” I whispered, tilting my head at the gap in the rotting fence. “The smell gets worse that way.”

Saber hesitated, and I knew he wanted to search the building. I sent the thought, Later. He nodded, then led the way through the fence into the high weeds. Keeping two arm spans apart, the three of us walked slowly forward until we’d gone roughly two blocks. I stopped and raised a hand.

“What, Cesca?” Saber whispered.

“The smell is dissipating fast. Do you see or hear anything?”

Triton panned the light over the field in a complete circle, he and Saber peering into the shadows. Nothing moved, except the bugs attracted to the flashlight’s beam.

“Want me to try echolocation?” Triton said softly.

“Can’t hurt,” Saber answered.

I braced myself, but Triton’s clicks and whistles, even a shrill screaming sound, didn’t do a thing but flush a bird from the scrub brush.

“Damn. Cesca, is the scent still fading?”

“Afraid so. Starrack must be dragging the Void around like an ugly puppy.”

“You sense the wizard here now?”

“No, but if he parked the Void somewhere populated, it would smell like an oil slick. The neighbors would be screaming complaints.”

“Good point. Let’s go check out the house.”

Oh, great, another stink hole. Bad as the Void smelled, the sour stench in the house made me wish I had a mask handy. Urine, vomit, booze, unwashed human, and who knew what else. The combination nearly drove me back as we eased inside onto a sticky, cracked linoleum floor. Triton played the flashlight around what had been a kitchen in a happier incarnation. We edged past a sink teetering on skeleton plumbing and through another doorway.

Watch your step, Saber said in my head, and Triton nodded, too.

Triton panned the bright beam steadily around the room, and I about jumped out of my skin when a raccoon waddled from the far corner. I sent a nudge of “Go” energy, and it took off through a hole in an interior wall just as we heard a distinct and very human moan from our right.

I stayed put while Saber and Triton checked the man curled in a fetal ball, his face mashed into floor. He seemed to be cradling one liquor bottle, laying on another, and more bottles and beer cans littered the floor around him. Saber toed one bottle out of the way as he bent to peer at the form.

“Is he injured?” I asked.

“Just passed out drunk. Cesca, get some gloves and bags for us, and my other flashlight. We’ll check the rest of the house.”

I knew what he meant. The crime-scene evidence supplies he kept in the back of the SUV. Where I’d also find a mask. I sprinted into the relatively fresh air, out to the car, and donned a mask before trotting back inside.

Saber took the second, smaller flashlight and two gloves.

“You’re bagging the booze?” Triton said with a frown. “Why?”

“Most of this stuff is rotgut variety alcohol. Cheap wine, vodka, gin, malt liquor. But look.”

Saber motioned to the debris, and I read several labels. Thunderbird. Mad Dog. 20/20. Then Saber eased another bottle from under the drunk man’s bent legs.

“That’s ouzo,” Triton said. “And it’s one of the more expensive brands.”

“That’s why I’m bagging the booze. Remember when Lia mentioned Starrack’s drinking?”

“She didn’t mention ouzo,” I said.

“Yeah, but the ouzo is the anomaly in this mix. The booze that doesn’t fit the pattern here. If Starrack was this guy’s drinking buddy, maybe he left enough of his DNA on one of these bottles for Lia and Cosmil to refine their spell.”

“I suppose,” I said as I held out a bag for the ouzo bottle, then another for the 20/20. “But surely Starrack wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave bottles for us to find.”

“He might’ve if he left in a hurry,” Triton said. “Or if he was buzzed enough not to notice this guy was laying on it.”

“For now, it’s a lead,” Saber said, and bagged four more samples. “Let’s get back to see if it means anything more.”