by Maria Arnt
“Seth who?” He did not accept the card.
Behind him, Tatiana badly suppressed a snicker.
“Seth Walker,” he replied, and let loose the tight rein he kept on his power.
The bouncer took half a step backward, and several nearby club-goers turned to look as well. Swallowing, the lackey snatched up his card. “I’ll see if he’s available.”
“See that he is,” Seth smiled.
“I thought you were something of a celebrity?” Tatiana leaned against the wall next to him, tapping a foot impatiently.
“Johnny knows me, as do most of the older Masters. But I don’t exactly broadcast my power unless it’s necessary. Your pulse is ninety beats per minute,” he chided.
She stood back up and took several deep breaths, working to slow it down. He worried if she was really ready for this challenge. He had been severely distracted last night, and he doubted Johnny would fall just as easily. His weaknesses lay in other areas.
Before long, another vampire came back the way the bouncer had left. She was much older, not quite a Master, and she bowed politely. Seth wondered if their meaty friend had gotten in trouble, it was likely Johnny had felt his little display all the way in the back room.
“Mr. Volpino will see you right away,” she said with a nervous smile, and gestured for them to follow. They went through several private rooms and hallways before they came to a stairwell leading down. At last, they reached a door flanked by two vampires.
“May I take your coat, Miss?” one of them offered.
“No, thanks.” Tatiana grinned, playing the perfect ingenue. “Kinda chilly down here.”
Johnny’s three lackeys eyed each other, and Seth. “I’m afraid we’ll need to pat you down, then, miss. With your Master’s permission, of course,” the other guard explained.
“I hardly think that will be necessary,” Seth said darkly. “Johnny and I are very old friends.” There was a subtle shifting in the room, as the three of them weighed their odds. Even Tatiana fidgeted at the static.
Not surprisingly, he won. The one who had led them downstairs nodded, and one of the door guards turned the knob. They walked in, and the door was closed behind them.
“Maestro Seth!” A stocky man with salt-and-pepper hair stood, opening his arms wide. “I haven’t seen you since... when was it? ‘54?”
“Nineteen fifty-six,” Seth corrected.
Tanya watched as the two men embraced, taking the lay of the room in quick glances. There were a couple couches arranged in a U-shape, facing a fully-stocked bar with several TVs above it. On the couch were two vampires and a handful of human women. Most of the latter were spaced out in feeding trances. One looked like she might have passed out. Or died, it was hard to tell. Between the music and the other people, it was difficult to listen for a single heartbeat that might not even be there.
When the hug had finished, with much back-slapping and laughter, Johnny took both Seth’s hands and quickly kissed them. It didn’t look like an affectionate gesture, more like something an old-world knight would do when greeting his king.
“And who is this charming young thing? Your newest protogè?” He turned a slightly predatory grin on Tanya.
“This is Tatiana Cooper, the latest of my scions,” Seth announced proudly.
“Call me Tanya,” she said, forcing a smile.
Johnny took one of her hands in both of his. They were warm and dry and enveloped hers completely. “It would be my pleasure. It’s quite an honor to meet you, Tanya. Normally it would irk me to be outranked by such a young chit, but when it’s someone as beautiful as you....” He sighed. “It’s not so bad.”
She didn’t know how to respond to that, so she didn’t.
Johnny chuckled, and let go of her hand. “I like her. Fierce. Proud. She suits you well.”
“Unfortunately, I didn’t come to show her off,” Seth said seriously. “We must talk, alone.”
“Of course, Maestro.” Johnny barked a few orders in Italian, and the room quickly cleared out. To her relief, the unconscious girl was roused enough to stagger out the door.
She was so focused on making sure the girl was alright that she almost didn’t notice the vampire she was leaning heavily on. His hair was long and lanky and obscured his eyes for a moment. But then he shook it out of the way and looked directly at Tanya.
His eyes were like cold, dead metal, the color of steel.
Tanya froze. Surely she was mistaken. But then he smiled, perhaps recognizing her, and there were those impossibly perfect, white teeth, and she knew.
This was the man who had attacked her all those years ago.
Her heart was going a million miles an hour, and she could feel Seth glaring at her in warning. How could she possibly calm down now? Right outside that door was the man she had spent years tracking down. But she had to get a hold of herself, or she could ruin the whole mission.
Worse yet, Johnny seemed to sense her discomfort. “I could arrange a private room for your figlia to wait in...” Johnny offered awkwardly when she did not leave with them.
“Tanya is very young,” Seth brushed a few knuckles against her cheek gently, and without thinking she leaned into the touch. A measure of his soothing influence flowed from his fingers, and she finally found her calm. “I’m afraid I can’t leave her alone for even a moment just yet.” There was a question in his glance, but she had no way to answer it.
Johnny chuckled. “And who can blame you? Have a seat.” They made their way towards the couches, and Seth and Johnny sat catty-corner to each other. Tanya remained standing at Seth’s side, fighting the urge to glance at the door behind her.
“Would you like something to drink?” Johnny offered Seth.
“Thank you, that would be lovely. Tanya darling,” he turned to give her his best smile. “Would you fetch me a bourbon?”
She nodded, grateful for the distraction. “Of course.” As she went, she distantly realized her path would allow her to pass behind Johnny on her way back. It was her opportunity. Stay focused, Tanya! she chided herself. You can deal with your past afterward.
But a terrible thought occurred to her. If the man with metal eyes was Johnny’s child, then he would die with his Master. Sure, she’d have accomplished her goal, but there was something very unsatisfying about the idea. It wasn’t personal enough, she wanted to kill him herself. She let the anger burn within her, sharpening her focus.
“How can I be of service?” Johnny asked with an ingratiating gesture.
“I’m looking into the unfortunate end of a young gentleman named Justin. Seems he turned up dead after one of your parties.” Seth got right to the point.
Johnny leaned back into the sofa. “Manache,” he groaned. “Really? That’s what this is about? You of all people should know not to fuck them unless you’re going to keep them or kill them! That boy was a mess, I gave him what he wanted.”
“Be that as it may,” Seth growled through clenched teeth. “It was done badly.”
He scoffed, leaning forward again. “One dead junkie is not going to blow our cover. Humans these days are like sheep. They come to the slaughter willingly! It’s an effort just to keep them alive.”
By this time, Tanya had prepared a glass, careful to make sure it was actually bourbon she poured. From here Johnny would easily smell the difference, and she wanted as little attention as possible. Pushing all thoughts of her attacker aside, she gripped her blackjack inside the pocket of her coat. Tanya held the drink in her free hand, just in case he turned at the last minute, so she could throw it in his face. Taking a slow, deep breath to keep her heartbeat even, she began to head back towards the couches, careful to take the route that passed behind Johnny.
“And that is why I am here. It’s my responsibility to hold you accountable for your actions,” Seth said.
“Your responsibility!” Johnny stood. “This is my city, Seth. I don’t care how old you are, or what the legends about you say, I run this town. And nobo
dy tells me how to do it!”
Tanya brought the blackjack down on his neck, a perfect strike. Johnny collapsed, unconscious. “Not anymore,” she growled.
The door burst open, and Johnny’s guards poured in. Seth moved from the couch so quickly, she didn’t even see it. As tempted as she was to watch him in action, she knew she had to move fast. Pulling the piano wire from her pocket, she got it around Johnny’s wrists in a record six seconds by pulling so tight she drew blood.
Catching a glance, she saw Seth dislocate the second guard’s shoulder. The first was already dead on the floor. Footsteps on the stairs let them know more were coming.
“What are you waiting for?” Seth shouted.
Tanya flipped the dead weight of Johnny’s body over. His eyes fluttered open, and he stared up at her in shock. “Che cazzo...?” he muttered.
Before she could bite down, though, the next wave of guards burst through the door, fanning out. And at the far left side, was him.
“Don’t go anywhere,” Tanya patted Johnny’s cheek with a little more force than necessary and stood.
The vampire in question stood in a fighting stance, glancing between her and Seth, who was currently occupied fighting three vampires at once and blocking the doorway to prevent more from entering. When she stood, he turned his full attention on her and smiled.
From a sheath inside his motorcycle boot, he pulled out a knife. It was so big it was almost more of a dagger, although it was serrated towards the handle. It looked like the sort of thing Crocodile Dundee would sleep with.
“Oh, fuck,” Tanya muttered, but squared herself in a ready stance. She could take this asshole, and she would enjoy it.
Before she could figure out a good approach, he went on the attack. He stabbed at her midsection, and she sidestepped the strike, but just barely. Stepping forward, he stabbed again, this time at her neck. She ducked, only to get kicked in the face. Reeling back, she blinked, trying to clear the tears from her vision as she listened to his laughter.
“Tanya!” Seth shouted, still bogged down fighting four or five goons. “What are you doing?!”
“I got this!” She shouted back with more confidence than she felt.
As she continued to dodge most of the vampire’s attacks, she felt a wave of gratitude for Seth not pulling his punches in training. She was no match for this guy, and it was taking all her skill just to dodge him. She was losing precious time, though, and could see Johnny beginning to wriggle on the ground as his spine began to heal.
Grabbing her attacker’s jacket, she was surprised when he slipped out of it easily. He snatched the other end of it and quickly wrapped it around her arm, preventing her from running away. “Got you now, girly,” he hissed in her face.
However, this put her well inside his guard and made his knife a little too long to be used effectively. A thought occurred to her, and, wincing in expectation, Tanya turned into a stab. The blade went into her stomach just below her right ribs, and out her back near her spine.
“Tatiana!” Seth screamed, his voice unstrung.
It hurt much worse than she expected, not at all like being shot. She felt like she had been cut in half, like fire had been poured inside of her.
Despite this, she brought a hand up to the vampire’s neck. A few ratcheting clicks, and a quick swipe to the side, and suddenly the front of his black shirt looked much wetter.
His knees buckled, but she held him aloft, cutting him again when the wound started to close. His eyelids flickered, and she shook him a little.
“Keep your eyes open,” she growled. “I want you to watch.”
If he hadn’t recognized her before, there was no question that he knew who she was now. The flash of recognition in his cold steel eyes was the last intelligent expression before the light died out entirely.
It was done, and Tanya felt a deep, satisfying sense of completion. It is finally done.
Tanya pushed him, and he fell back, blood pooling on the floor. His grip on the knife stayed tight in death, and the serrations cut further into her stomach as it was ripped out.
Hand pressed to the wound, Tanya turned. Seth fought like an animal, the ground around him littered with bodies.
“Get Johnny!” He yelled over the screams of the man whose arm he was breaking.
To her surprise, she saw that Johnny the Fox had not yet escaped the piano wire. He had managed to get up on his knees but was having some trouble getting his hands to pass over his ample rear.
Forcing herself to walk, she felt a wave of satisfaction at the abject terror on his face as she approached. He scrambled to get up and only succeeded in falling over.
Collapsing on top of him, she jabbed the box cutter into his neck and quickly pulled it out.
And then she bit down.
She hardly even heard the scream. His blood sprang hot into her mouth, coating her throat with its richness. It wasn’t the pure ecstasy of Seth’s blood, but it was damn good. Within moments she could feel his ka, a pulsing bundle of light far larger than any human’s she had ever brushed. She had no question that she could make it hers. Little by little, it spun out between them, as she drained him as quickly as she could.
He thrashed beneath her, but it wasn’t enough to break her grasp. Already he was mostly dead, and her body was on fire with the power she pulled from him, her wound already closed and healing. She watched the ka dim, loosening from him, and pulled it to her. It was like swallowing a dying star.
At last, she pulled away, nothing but a dead corpse beneath her. Her heart was racing, and she turned to see Seth, out of breath but not terribly disheveled, wading through the now complete pile of bodies towards her.
“Are you alright?” he asked. “How do you feel?”
Tanya stood, and it was effortless. She caught sight of her reflection in the mirrored walls, and her eyes blazed with the power within her.
“I feel... incredible.”
In that moment, she was willing to forget everything she had gone through.
Forget losing her humanity.
Forget having to lie to her parents.
Forget Seth and whatever fucked-up relationship he wanted with her.
If she could do this, if she could feel like this again, she would do anything.
Seth eyed her cautiously. “You did well. You’re ready.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “I am ready to kill.”
Epilogue
Detective Bradley stared at the yellow tape around the crime scene and sipped his fifth cup of coffee that morning. He was waiting to get clearance to come on the scene and could overhear the rookie he’d strong-armed into asking as he bantered with dispatch.
His partner Davis had thrown a fit when he’d taken a leave of absence after Shiro’s death. That wasn’t what angered her, of course. It was the transfer request to Chicago that did it.
The autopsy report had revealed that Detective Ken Shiro had died of an aneurysm, but something about it didn’t feel right. Why was he found in an alleyway, miles away from his car, while he was off-duty? Why was there a round missing from his gun? Knowing that Shiro had been investigating Tanya’s new benefactor, it just didn’t sit right.
So he’d endured Davis’s lecture about conspiracy theories and how he was too old for them, packed up his few belongings, and found a cheap apartment in South Chicago. He’d only just settled in when he caught wind of this case.
It was all over the news, of course. Wasn’t every day that a quarter of a club’s patrons drop dead all at once. He knew it was a vampire nest from that alone, although the media was trying to play it off as a bad drug batch.
When he poked into it, though, he found that witnesses had reported a strange man with black hair who had asked to see the club’s owner and suspected mob boss, Johnny Volpino. The reports said this man had a girl with him, and the girl had red hair.
It could be nothing, but at this point, Bradley couldn’t afford to assume it was a coincidence. He’d tried getting
a hold of Tanya, had even tried talking to her parents. He’d gotten the mother, who had insisted that her daughter had “cleaned up,” and now had a “real job” and wasn’t interested in talking to him anymore.
Bullshit.
So here he was, waiting for Chicago dispatch to check with St. Louis and decide if he was allowed to be on a scene he had no business looking into. It was a long shot, but he wanted to see for himself if Johnny the Fox had been stabbed through the heart with a dagger.
“Good morning, Detective,” a smooth voice behind him said.
He turned, expecting a fellow policeman. Instead, he saw the last person he expected: Professor Seth Walker. He recognized the shaggy black hair and thick glasses from his profile on the Field Museum’s website.
“Good morning, sir,” he said gruffly. “Can I help you?”
Dr. Walker gestured towards the crime scene. “Just curious about the investigation. I knew one of the deceased.”
“Did you now?” He kept his poker face firmly in place. “Were you there that night?”
“I might have been. The question is, what are you doing here now? That’s a Saint Louis uniform, not Chicago,” he pointed out.
Bradley narrowed his eyes. What did he want? “I’m on transfer. Bit of a specialist on this kind of case.”
“Really. Fascinating. Do you mind if I give you some advice, from an archaeological point of view?” He smiled affably.
“Not at all.” Bradley was tired of pretending anyway.
Professor Walker leaned in close, close enough that the detective could see that the wrinkles were makeup, and the glasses were flat, with no prescription.
“Stay away from Tanya Cooper.”
The inhuman growl left no question: Shiro had been right.
He leaned back again, smiling. “Good luck with the case!” And he strolled away casually, whistling in the sunlight.
Bradley fought the shake in his knees. He had been close to death many times, but never so close to a monster.
But why would he show his hand? he wondered. As a Detective, he knew people kept their secrets at any cost. What advantage did Seth Walker gain by letting him know the truth?