The patrons who’d been eagerly watching edged away, too, eyeing me with fear.
I tried not to be bothered that they hadn’t given Tetiana and Brody the same looks of fear—my outfit was designed to intimidate, after all. Besides, if my presence kept an open circle around us, that would be beneficial if this guy tried to run.
Brody folded his arms across his chest, making his biceps pop in the tight sleeves of his uniform—he still hadn’t swapped to the long-sleeved uniform, yet. “I don’t think you understand just how dangerous it is to misrepresent yourself.”
“I get it now,” the man garbled. “I swear, I get it.”
“Oh, he’ll learn!” His target called, halfway down the bar and still hopping mad. She was aggressively tapping away on her phone. “All of Magiford is going to find out about his little sob story act! Public shame will teach him.”
I scanned the pub. People were starting to get rowdy and as they’d been imbibing in alcohol, I wasn’t sold that they could make sound decisions. “We should head out,” I said.
Brody cocked his head. “Bring him with?”
I pivoted so I could watch the pub patrons in case any of them were feeling filled with righteous justice. “Yeah.”
“Got it.” Tetiana peered back over her shoulder, addressing the male bartender hovering nearby. “Is he all squared up—his tab is closed?”
The bartender nodded. “He can go.”
“Great. Come on, Twilight,” Brody drawled as he grabbed the fake-vampire by the shoulders and frog marched him towards the door.
I followed, still watching the crowd, and Tetiana strolled along beside me—though she wasn’t half as casual as she appeared based on the sharpness in her red eyes. She turned to the bar to nod to the bartender who had called the Cloisters.
The bartender had braced herself against the bar but waved when she saw Tetiana look her way. “Thank you,” she mouthed to us—she wasn’t audible over the music and the buzz of the crowd.
We stepped out into the cold night air. When the door swung shut behind us, it cut out most of the noise—I could hear only the faintest chords of music escaping The Lucky Clover.
“P-please let me go,” the fake-vampire said, choked up in his fear and desperation. “I promise I won’t do this again!”
Brody pressed him against the pub’s wall, then turned to look back at me.
I shrugged—despite our act there wasn’t much we could do. Humans breaking supernatural law was usually something the human police handled, and as we’d stopped him before he’d actually done anything I didn’t think they’d be able to charge him.
Brody then turned to Tetiana, who chewed on her lip as she studied the shivering human. To my surprise, she abruptly leaned into my direction, then whispered, “If you don’t mind following my lead, Blood?”
“Have at it,” I said.
Tetiana nodded, then sidled up to Brody’s side. She tilted her head back, lowering her eyes to half-mast so she looked arrogantly down at the human. “We’ll let you go, human, with this warning. If you try this little charade again, the Curia Cloisters will respond to you as the threat you claim to be not the threat you actually are. And disobedient vampires are our slayer’s priority. She solves things with bullets and daggers, and she doesn’t stop to ask questions.”
The human’s eyes flickered from Tetiana to me.
Prepared for my role, I plucked two daggers from my belt—one for each hand—and spun them in my fingers. It was a basic party trick, but matched with Tetiana’s words, my blank mask, and the dark night, I looked like I’d stepped out of a human horror flick.
The fake vampire must have thought so, too. He squealed and shook so hard he mashed flat the wax he’d used on his canine teeth to make them look fang-like.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” he shrieked, repeating it like a mantra.
“Don’t do this again,” Brody growled. “Understood?”
“Understood, understood, understood,” the fake vampire chanted.
Brody let him go and the guy sprinted down the sidewalk, his baggy suitcoat flopping on his shoulders.
Brody waited until he was almost a block down before turning to Tetiana. “That was fun.”
“It was insulting.” Tetiana frowned and folded her arms across her chest.
“Oh, you mean because he absolutely nailed how whiny vampires are?” Brody asked.
Tetiana rolled her eyes. “He was as convincing as a vampire as a house dog is a werewolf. I cannot believe anyone actually believed him!”
I put my daggers away as I watched the thoroughly terrified human unlock his car and fling himself into it. While I was focused on him, I was still listening to Brody and Tetiana’s exchange.
I wish I could be so casual, but I get the feeling that if I said anything negative about vampires, it would come off as judgy.
“And why is it always that people think the most impressive part about being a vampire is our money and air of mystery?” Tetiana continued her rant. “No one ever admires our history chops or our knowledge of historic geography.”
“That’s because what you know is old and outdated,” Brody said.
“Oh, as if you can talk,” Tetiana scoffed. “Werewolves are only known among humans for their rippling muscles and wolf forms.”
“At least that means humans like us for who we are and not for our money,” Brody said.
My slayer senses kicked up, and I felt a vampire enter my range. “Vampire,” I said in a lowered tone. “Just showed up.”
Brody growled. “What’s the likelihood it’s Ruin?”
Tetiana turned in a circle. “Since we’re with Blood, I’d say high.”
I pulled a dagger from my belt, then—after a momentary pause—my hair stick, which I held in my left hand.
In case he tries to get close.
I heard a whoosh and whirled around, striking out with my dagger. The blade intercepted the pebble that had been tossed at me, and the small rock bounced off the blade and landed in the street with a clack.
“It’s Ruin,” I said with dead certainty.
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
Considine
Iwatched Jade with interest. While I couldn’t see her face because of that blank slayer mask of hers, I could tell by the tiny movements of her head that she was scanning the street looking for any sign of me.
I grinned as I shifted my seat—I was sitting on a raised wall that edged the roof of the Irish Pub, my legs dangling over the side so they hung over Main Street. The building was only three stories tall—the first floor being the pub, with some apartments and offices on the second and third floors.
Jade moved on the sidewalk down below. “Come out, Ruin. I know you’re there.”
Unsurprised she’d realized it was me so quickly—of course she was sharp, or I never would have liked her slayer or daytime persona—I picked up a bit of mortar that had chipped off the brick building, then tossed it at Jade when she turned her back to me.
Jade spun and again struck out with her dagger, batting the bit of mortar away. She stood, tensed, for a moment, then I saw her head start to tip up.