by Fatima Fayez
"What are you going to do?" Noor asked.
"I'm going to visit each location and see if anything stands out. I may find more hints there."
"How long will it take you to scout out the places?"
"It depends. A few days, maybe more. I don't have much time to find him." I chewed my lip. "A few of those places could just be areas he was passing by, and there's no way of knowing what neighborhood he's staying in. I'll have to trust my instincts."
"Good luck."
I looked down at the map and the spread-out grapes. I grimaced. I was going to need all the luck I could get.
"Do you need anything, or shall I head back to work?" Noor asked me.
"No, thanks for showing up."
"Any time. I'll text you later."
Noor left, and I stood staring at the map. I glanced at my phone. I had enough time to go to one location today, so I decided to go to the one near Eixample.
Once I arrived, I decided to walk around the neighborhood. The camera Sebastian had been caught on was a supernatural's pet store, so I started there. I twisted my lips. The shifter inside was friendly as I showed her a picture of Sebastian and asked if she had seen him. She had no idea who he was.
I left the store and took a stroll around the place. The streets were wide, and it had a friendly community vibe. The people here were happy and content with their lives. Strangers smiled at me as I passed them. There were less than a handful of supernatural stores, and they didn't stand out because they blended in with the human ones.
There was a large sign on the nearby building. It said, "Continental Times." With a start, I realized it was the same newspaper that Sebastian used to read daily. I was fully aware that on any other day I would have walked past the building without noticing it, but with the knowledge that Sebastian was alive, I kept seeing things that reminded me of him. I had to focus that energy and make sure I saw more of these things. They could be helpful in locating him. I made note of the newspaper's building and moved on.
I kept a sharp eye out and tried to see why Sebastian would have been in the area. The fact that there weren't many supernaturals around had to be one of the reasons. There was a reduced likelihood of bumping into someone he knew. Here he could be almost invisible. Almost.
I figured that Mateu might have some ideas about where a rogue vampire might hide. I wouldn't put it past the gargoyle to know a lot more about that than the Alliance. I pulled out my phone from my back pocket and glanced at the time. It was late, so I decided to visit Mateu tomorrow. Now it was time to return to the apartment.
I had blades to sharpen for my date tonight.
Chapter Thirty-Six
My blades were sharpened and tucked into their sheaths. I headed out to Immortal Blood, the vampire lounge. When I stepped up to the entrance, the bouncer simply stared down at me. He was so tall I wondered if he had giant's blood in him. He glared at me, and I knew it was because I didn't have a vampire escort. It was time to see if the vampires would bend their rules for me.
"I need to see Ethan," I said. I was pretty sure he was a regular. The lounge might be new, but Ethan was always out and eager for people to think he had an active social life, when the truth was he had few friends.
"Do I look like your errand boy?" The bouncer's voice was wispy. It surprised me. I wondered if people made fun of him for it.
"You can either get someone to see if he's in there, or I'm going to bust through you. Your choice." I glared back at the large man.
The bouncer and I stared at each other for several seconds. He blinked.
"I'll wait here." I took a few steps back.
His eyes narrowed. He raised a hand to his earpiece and said a few words. I tapped my foot. A few minutes later, a woman came outside and exchanged words with the bouncer. He pointed at me, and the vampire made her way to me, looking me up and down as she approached. I guess I didn't impress her, because she wrinkled her nose slightly.
"I've been told you have a message for Ethan. He's asked me to relay it to him."
"This message is for his ears only." My instincts hadn't let me down; I knew he'd be desperate to be part of the scene.
"I'm afraid you can't go in without an escort." Her apologetic smile was insincere.
"Good thing you're here to provide me with one." My smile was as sharp as the blades I held covertly against her torso.
She whirled on her heels and turned around. She was smart not to make a scene or call my bluff. The bouncer arched an eyebrow, and she raised her hand as we passed. The hostess weaved her way through the lounge until we arrived at the bar. There were two vampires sitting there with a stool separating them. One of them was Ethan, who was hunched over his drink. He had the look of a man drowning his sorrows.
He looked up when we reached his elbow. "I thought I told you to take a message," he hissed at the hostess.
"The message was for your ears only. Do you require anything further?" Her voice was ice cold.
He bared his fangs. She turned away and left us, her shoulders stiff as she walked away. He glared at me. "Didn't I tell you to stay away?"
"You should know that I'm not good at taking orders."
He snarled. The other vampire glanced up, but he looked away when he saw my face.
"Stop acting like you're an alpha. You're not cut out for it. At best you're a Master's toy," I said.
"Well, this toy annihilated you the other day."
I smirked. "Only because I allowed it. If you're not convinced, we can take it outside and have a rematch." His eyes narrowed. I leaned forward and made sure only he could hear me. "Tell Sebastian that I'm coming for him."
He turned away from me to take another sip of his drink. He was buying time. He hadn't expressed surprise or denied it, which meant he knew where Sebastian was. I didn't need to know anything more.
By the time he turned back around, I had already left. There was nothing more to say to Ethan. I could follow him, but he would be on his guard, expecting me to do that. Giving him a warning to pass on to Sebastian was the next best thing. I knew Ethan would call Sebastian and let him know.
Sebastian had always been curious. He would expect me to know more than I actually did. There were many ways to catch a vampire. Setting a trap like this was one of them. Ethan would flush Sebastian out, and he would come to me. I wouldn't have to scour the neighborhoods for him.
I pushed past the dancers and stepped out into the evening. The bouncer glared at me, but he was the least of my concerns.
There was one other thing left to do. I had to go to La Barceloneta and leave Sebastian a message there. He'd know by the time Ethan delivered his message that I was circling around him like a shark. It would cause him to be erratic and careless. Careless bounties always made mistakes, and that's what I counted on. Leaving him a message at his favorite movie theater would further mess with his head. Psychological warfare was necessary to get to him.
I shoved my hands in my jacket pockets and weaved down the streets of Barcelona, thinking about my next move. It was a shame I couldn't have fought Ethan. I badly wanted to show him that I had allowed him to beat me the other day, but I couldn't let my ego affect my strategy. I needed Ethan focused on contacting Sebastian.
The night was cooler than the day, and I pulled my jacket closer to my body. Music drifted from open apartment windows nearby. I thought about the message I was going to leave for Sebastian. It had to be noticeable to the vampire, and had to strike the right balance between unnerving him and compelling him to seek me out. Something as simple as "I know" usually worked, because it implied that I knew more than he thought I did, but it would cause just as much panic. I had no idea who Sebastian had been speaking to or what he had been doing for the past year, but he didn't need to know that.
I was so distracted by my thoughts that it took me some time to realize I was being followed.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
I kept walking, aware that I was being followed. I wondered if Etha
n had trailed me after I left Immortal Blood. He may have decided to act on his threats and fight me anyways. To confirm I was being followed, I changed directions and took another street. I stopped at a window display and studied the merchandise. It allowed me a glimpse of my follower.
All I could determine was the silhouette was a man’s, but I didn't know if it was Ethan or another supernatural. I debated on what to do as I started moving again. There was no reason to change my path now. I continued heading toward La Barceloneta. There were plenty of quiet streets to find out who was following me.
I slipped into an alley and extracted my dagger from my jacket. I waited, lightly gripping the hilt.
My follower turned the corner and found me standing there, dagger in hand. He halted in his tracks. It was a vampire. He was my height with a thin build. He had dark hair that was cropped close to his head.
I narrowed my eyes. I recognized him. He had been sitting next to Ethan at the bar. "Who are you?" I asked.
"A friend of Sebastian's."
I narrowed my eyes. "I don't know you."
"That's because I'm a new friend of his."
"What do you want?" I wondered if Ethan had sent him after me, and if Ethan had followed me, too. I scanned the area to make sure we were alone. I was a good fighter, but I knew when the odds were against me. Thankfully, I didn't see anyone.
"I want you to stop asking questions about Sebastian."
"Or what?" There was no sign of Ethan anywhere. I frowned.
The vampire appeared confused. "What?"
"Or what? A threat is only powerful when you give consequences. You want me to stop asking questions about Sebastian or what?"
The vampire's expression darkened. "Are you making fun of me?"
I rolled my eyes. There was nothing worse than a thin-skinned vampire.
"Don't make fun of me." He bared his teeth, his fangs elongating, showing his anger.
"Don't give me easy material."
This vampire was short-tempered. I guessed anything I would say would trigger him.
I was right. He rushed at me and slammed me into the wall. I winced as my body hit the rough bricks. I reached for my magic and whispered a chant. Nothing happened. He was using a magic dispeller. He must have felt the spell buzz. "I knew you'd use tricks, you witch. None of you scum can be trusted to fight straight."
Fine. Physical contact it was. I raised my knee and kicked him. He lurched away from me. "Filthy witch!"
I had to identify where his magic dispeller was, or I would have trouble getting to his heart. I needed to distract him. Insults would help. "Are you one of Sebastian's puppets?" I taunted.
"I'm no puppet, but where he leads, I follow!" He threw a fist at me. I ducked the blow. No bracelet on that wrist.
Heavens help me, he was a believer, too. Believers were dangerous with their zealous behavior. You couldn't use logic to reason with them. I continued to goad him. "You do his dirty work?"
"It's not dirty work to protect your friends."
"He's leading you astray." I slashed my dagger at his neck and made contact with his shirt. There it was, a glint of metal. That had to be the magic dispeller.
"He knows what's best for us all," he snarled.
"So you agree with what he's planning to do? You want to unleash humanity's wrath upon us?"
"You're blind just like the others. You don't see it. A change is coming. It's time for us to rule openly."
"You're a danger to our world. You aren't worthy of your immortality. Killing you is a pleasure." I pulled him to me by the collar of his t-shirt. He raised his hands to defend himself, but I tore at his necklace. I threw it on the ground and grabbed my other dagger. I stabbed it down into his neck. Letting go of his shirt, I used my other hand to plunge my secondary knife into his heart. He yelled and tried to bite me, but I avoided his snapping jaws, twisting the blade farther into his heart.
A small gasp made me turn my head to the alleyway. A teenage girl stood there, her eyes wide in shock, her mouth agape. She had long brown hair. A human.
She moved her hand, and I noticed the charmstone necklace around her neck.
Fire and brimstone. That meant she’d seen the vampire for what he was. I could have handled a regular murder sighting, but the Alliance would get involved in this. I couldn't afford that.
The vampire made a sound and grabbed my neck with weak hands. I turned my attention to him and finished the job. I looked to the entrance of the alleyway only to see the girl's shoes retreating around the corner.
I let her go.
The vampire struggled in my arms, trying to break free. I twisted my blade in. Thankfully the fortified strength plunged past his bones and through his heart. He dropped to the ground. I straddled him, cutting out his heart.
I'd take care of the girl later.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Standing over the dead vampire, I realized I was amassing a new record of dead bodies in a week. Well, except for that one week a few years ago.
The girl remained an open end. She was the only one tying me to this incident. The Alliance couldn't know what had happened with this vampire. They would cause a scene and I could get locked up. It was too early to test our fledgling alliance. I wasn't going to voluntarily tell them I had killed a vampire. I had to find the girl.
I destroyed the vampire's heart and turned his body to ash with an incantation. I had no time for my usual routine; I had to hunt for the girl quickly. I went to the Gothic Quarter, directly to Mateu.
"Hey," I called up to the gargoyle.
He climbed down to me. "You've been visiting me a lot recently. You haven’t given me enough time to catch up with the gossip."
"It's been a busy week."
“Did you hear about the lynx that showed up?” Mateu asked me.
I shook my head. “What about it?”
“Rumor has it he’s here to challenge Diego.”
I frowned. “A lynx will take on a dragon?”
Mateu shrugged. “Stranger things have happened. He disappeared shortly after he was sighted. We haven’t seen an Iberian lynx in these parts in years.”
We reached the outer perimeter of the cathedral. There was no one around except for a few homeless sleeping against the walls.
"What is it?" Mateu asked me.
"I'm looking for a girl. She's a human teenager with a charmstone."
"Why are you hunting children?"
I ran a hand through my curls, shaking them free. "I'm not hunting her. I'm looking for her."
"Aren't they one and the same to you?"
"She saw something she shouldn't have."
"What will you do to her?"
I frowned at the gargoyle. "I'm going to erase her memory of the incident, if that's okay with you. I didn't know you'd be so concerned."
"You won't harm her?"
"No, she's a kid. Why would I hurt a kid?" I just couldn’t afford witnesses that the Alliance might get ahold of.
Mateu studied me carefully. Whatever he saw on my face must have decided for him, because he asked me, "What kind of charmstone?"
"A necklace. It was a little long, reached about here." I pointed at my chest to show him the length of the chain.
"Was it gold?"
"Yes."
"I met her," Mateu said. "She's one of the new DRAC recruits I told you about."
“Fire and brimstone,” I cursed. That meant she was living at the Dragon Research Authority Center. I'd have to go into Diego's territory to get to her. Despite myself, I felt a thrill at the idea. I had never been there, but with Diego knowing where I lived it seemed only fair that I go see his place.
"Do you know her name?" I asked Mateu.
He shook his head. "You know what it's like when they see a talking gargoyle. They get excited and ask me a million questions."
Actually, I didn't know what it was like, but I nodded all the same.
“Dina must know the girl’s name. She has to because of the charmst
one,” he added.
"Thanks for the information. I don't need to tell you this, but keep this conversation close to you. I might be doing something stupid."
"I think that's a guarantee if you're thinking about entering dragon territory without Diego's knowledge or consent. I'll check out tomorrow's obituaries for your name." Mateu chuckled. The gargoyle had a twisted sense of humor. "It's a shame really, I was looking forward to that fight."
"Hopefully it won't come to that. Did you put money on me for the challenge?" I gave him a grin.
The gargoyle let out a high cackle. He struggled to breathe because he was laughing so hard.
"What's so funny? You may have decided to cheer for the underdog."
He wiped at his eyes. "Not in this fight. I really hope you survive this so I can see the Enforcer wipe the floor with you later."
I glared at him. "You'll be crying once you lose all your money."
Mateu chuckled again. "I'm sure. Thanks for the laugh. I needed it. Everyone's been so morose recently. Got any gossip to cheer me up?"
"Yes, here's something new. You'll enjoy this." I paused for dramatic effect as his eyes lit up in anticipation. "Sebastian's alive."
"Sebastian? Your ex-boyfriend Sebastian?" Mateu's eyebrows almost flew off his head.
"Yes, the one and the same. And there's something else."
Mateu's ears perked up. He loved getting great gossip.
"You know that chatter you've been hearing about supernaturals being exposed? He's behind all that."
"No," Mateu gasped, scandalized.
"Let me know immediately if you catch wind of him. He's next on my list."
"Sure. He can't reveal us to the humans. They'll destroy our world." Mateu stopped. He opened his mouth as if to say something and closed it again.
"What? Just ask me," I prodded.
"Rumor has it you're working with the Alliance now."
I didn't know why I was surprised; I knew the gargoyle knew everything. "That was quick."
He was smug. "I have good sources."
"Well, yes, when the option is either go to jail or join them, then there's really only one option available. I didn't have a choice."