Agent Dark- Vegas

by Lane Mason

  Picking up her gun, Kat switched ammo and shot each of the demons in the chest. Each of the slumped over immediately, and within a second burst into flames and disappeared into tiny clouds of ash. Kat couldn’t help but wonder if the silver thread made the demons even more susceptible to holy water. As tough as these demons had been, they’d disappeared fast.

  “You OK?” Mad Mike asked as poked his head out the front door of the building.

  “Yes, I’m fine. I think it’s safe now.”

  Mad Mike walked out and examined the ground where the demons had been. “Amazing how there is no evidence of the fight. I would’ve sworn there would be blood and demon parts everywhere after watching that.”

  “You were supposed to be hiding, not spectating,” Kat light-heartedly scolded him.

  “And miss a supernatural fight in my own yard? I don’t think so. Besides, I had to make sure you actually were winning, otherwise I would’ve done something foolish like come out with my gun and tried helping. My family all served in the military. We aren’t going to run and hide from a fight, although in this case I made an exception. You seem far more capable of dealing with that stuff.”

  “Yes, I’m afraid your guns wouldn’t have done much against those demons. They were particularly nasty. Normally a good shot to the chest will send a demon back to hell. Those little buggers just kept coming.”

  “Well, it looks like you came out fairly well. I can only see a few cuts on your legs. We should probably go into the office and clean those up. We can do that while we get the paperwork done for the Ford.”

  “You’re still selling me the truck after that?” Kat asked.

  “Why not? You’re one of the good guys. Someone needs to keep creatures like that from thinking they can turn our world into an all-you-can-eat buffet.”

  Kat looked at her shoulder. “Speaking of all you can eat, I think one of them bit me.”

  “You probably should get a tetanus shot. Do they have one for demons?” Mad Mike asked.

  Kat had to laugh. Mad Mike was one cool cucumber. He’d just witnessed a demon-filled battle and he wasn’t terrified, he was just curious. “I don’t know, but I will be looking into it.”

  “You should. I’ll bet hell, or wherever those things came from, has all sorts of nasty germs. Come on, let’s go get you cleaned up.”

  Kat nodded. That was a good idea. She then noticed that during her attempts to shoot the demons she’d hit at least one of the cars. She cringed. That was probably going to cost her. “Um, Mike, I think I might’ve hit a couple of cars. That seventy-two Charger has a bullet hole in the trunk.”

  Mad Mike looked at the car in question. He chuckled. “Good. Now I have evidence that I didn’t dream the whole thing. I’ll be keeping the Charger now for myself. Don’t worry about any other damage that happened. I have good insurance.”

  “When I file my report about the attack, it will help. There will be a record of a skirmish with unknown assailants. We can’t say demon attack, but it will help.”

  Mad Mike looked around. “I don’t see any obvious damage to any other cars. If another car took a bullet, we’ll probably keep it too. My nephew will want a souvenir as well. I imagine he’s already making an ‘I survived a demon attack’ bumper sticker.”

  Kat laughed as she followed Mike inside to finish her paperwork. She was in pain, but Mad Mike’s positive attitude, along with the fact that no one had been hurt during the attack, was keeping her in a good mood despite the pain.

  17

  Vesper

  Vesper walked into the hotel room and headed for Kat’s room. She’d finished her meeting with Uncle Sebastian and had started wandering around the Strip, checking things out, when Kat had texted her to tell her about the attack.

  “Kat?”

  “In here.”

  Vesper walked into the bedroom. Kat was lying on top of the bed with a towel wrapped around her leg and another below her shoulders. “You just can’t stay out of trouble, can you?”

  Kat shrugged. “It’s Vegas, people come here to find trouble.”

  “No, they come here to gamble, party, and have a good time. Not get mauled by demons. You are a demon magnet.”

  “It seems so, but I don’t think they were looking for me in particular.”

  Vesper frowned. “You haven’t even been in Vegas for twenty-four hours, and you left the hotel for what, half an hour before you were attacked? In what reality were they not looking for you?”

  “Oh, they definitely tracked me, but the man who controlled the demons wanted Chuck Ringle. When I told him over my dead body, he must’ve thought I been being literal.”

  “Hold that thought,” Vesper said before leaving the room. She grabbed her bag and headed back into the room. She pulled out a bottle of lotion and applied it liberally to Kat’s wounded leg. “Any other wounds?”

  Kat pointed to her right shoulder. “I think one of them bit me.”

  Vesper checked the wound. There were puncture marks and a light green tinge to the skin around them. She applied more of the lotion and then pulled a vial out of her bag and handed it to Kat. “Drink this.”

  Kat drank it and smacked her lips. “Tastes like cream soda. Why can’t doctors make medicine that tastes like cream soda?”

  Vesper shook her head. “Probably because they don’t use magic to make their medicines. And it only tastes like cream soda because you like that flavor. I can make any flavor I need. It would actually be very nasty if I didn’t flavor it. It would make Buckley’s taste like candy. Now tell me more about the attack.”

  “I was talking with Mad Mike when I got a strong whiff of demon—”

  “Mad Mike?”

  “The guy who owns the car lot I was at. It’s like half salvage yard half used car lot, but he’s a good guy and he sold me a fifty-seven Ford.”

  “You’re getting sidetracked. I’m not interested in hearing about old junker trucks right now. I want to know about the attack.”

  “Right,” Kat said. “So, I noticed the smell of brimstone. I went to the front of the lot and this guy is walking towards me, wearing a strange hoodie, but it wasn’t a hoodie. It was weird, and I couldn’t see his face. He tells me to give him Chuck Ringle. I tell him to piss off and then four demons attack. And they were so damn fast. I hit one with paranormal rounds, but they didn’t do much. Then they were on me. Eventually, I fought loose and started spraying them with silver thread magic. It works really good at close range.”

  “And the strange guy just stood there? He didn’t attack?”

  “I don’t even know how long he stood there. Once I had the demons restrained, I switched to holy water rounds and finished them off. Then I turned to see what he was doing and he was gone.”

  “Strange,” Vesper said. “Sounds like someone was testing you.”

  Kat sighed. “Mazi said there were others from Unreha here and that I shouldn’t use my silver-thread magic for a while. He said it would mark me as being unique. That I could be royal blood.”

  “I guess your secret is out of the bag, then.”

  “It seems so. It wasn’t like I had much choice, though. Guns aren’t very effective at close range, not against demons, anyway.”

  “Sounds like you need more weapons. There are magical weapons you could get. I bet there are plenty of magical weapons right here in Vegas.”

  “We should look into that,” Kat said before her phone buzzed. She frowned as she picked it up. “It’s Dexter. They’re moving another prisoner today for the trial and want backup. He’s sending someone to pick me up.”

  “No rest for the wicked.” Vesper wasn’t too worried about the wounds from the earlier demon fight. They were mostly superficial, and the potion she’d made her drink would take care of any infection from the demon bite. Holy water didn’t just kill demons, it killed any germs they carried. And even though Kat was going back into what could be another battle, Dexter was sending backup. She wouldn’t be fighting alone.


  Kat got out of bed. “With any luck I’ll be back in time for lunch.”

  Vesper doubted they’d be that lucky. But it was Vegas, one could always get lucky. Pulling her own phone out, Vesper texted Uncle Sebastian. She really didn’t know if there was a magical weapons dealer in Vegas or not, but she certainly knew who to ask. Need weapons for my friend. Recommendations?

  De Luna’s Delights. Ask to see Sofia. Tell them I sent you.

  Vesper smiled. Having a rogue warlock for a family friend could be handy at times.

  18

  Kat

  A knock on the door told Kat that it was time to go. She opened the door and was surprised to see her old vampire friend. “Thomas, what are you doing here?”

  Thomas grinned. “Good to see you too, Kat.” He looked past her. “Hey, Vesper.”

  “Thomas. Good to see you. No Tarantino references today?” Vesper said.

  Thomas laughed. “She told you about that?”

  “Of course she did. I’ve been looking forward to finding out how you’d top that this time. I must say I’m sorely disappointed.”

  Kat nodded. “I’m with Vesper on this one. The first time you showed up uninvited at my house, and that was forgiven for the Tarantino quote. But this time you came up empty. Very disappointing.”

  “Well, technically I was invited both times. Dexter sent me over to grab you. That is, if you’re fine after your morning encounter.”

  Kat frowned. “How’d you know about that?”

  “I realize Vegas is rowdy, but gun fights in the middle of the day do get attention. The local cops have been on the lookout for anything strange all week. Anything that looks remotely paranormal gets checked out. Are you saying that wasn’t you at the car lot?”

  “No, it was me. I just didn’t think it would be reported so fast.”

  “With the trial, the locals aren’t leaving much to chance. Nor are the MBI for that matter. Which is why I’m here. You up for a little car ride?”

  “Of course,” Kat said. She liked working with Thomas. He’d been there for them when Vesper had been framed for murder, and she owed him. Beyond that, there was the fact that he was gorgeous and a genuinely nice guy, for a vampire.

  “How long is this going to take?” Vesper asked.

  “If everything goes according to plan, a couple hours. I’ll have her back before you know it. I know this is supposed to be your holiday, but with the number of times demons have been involved with these attacks, Dexter decided that it would be better to have our demon huntress on hand.”

  Kat sighed. “Demon huntress? Which one of you yahoos came up with that?”

  “Actually, it was April,” Thomas said. “She worries that if I get hurt, Dexter will have to work too hard. She was the one who insisted on you being part of the team. According to Dexter, she gave him quite the lecture, said if he was going to train a demon huntress then he better damn well use her when there were demons around.”

  Vesper laughed. “I really like that girl.”

  “Me too,” Kat said. “Well, let’s get going. If things go smoothly, I’ll be buying April extra drinks tonight.”

  As they went down the elevator, Kat glanced over at Thomas. “I haven’t heard from you in a while.”

  “After the Edgar Jones case, I got called to do some undercover work. The investigation into the human and paranormal trafficking between Earth and Unreha was just starting to wrap up, but they needed to get someone into the gangs involved.”

  “I see,” Kat said. Undercover work made sense. He couldn’t risk phoning or texting an active MBI agent. That would blow his cover and possibly get him killed.

  “How are things with you?” Thomas asked. “I’ve been thinking about you.”

  “Complicated. I’m been tracking down demons, and working on my magic. I’ve progressed enough that I don’t use the magic ring the Unreha Council gave me anymore. Turns out it was holding me back.”

  “That’s good, but it doesn’t sound that complicated,” Thomas said with a wink.

  Kat laughed. “I haven’t gotten to that part yet. The magic that the ring was holding back is called silver thread. At first, I thought I was going to end up being Peter Parker with boobs, but it turns it isn’t that bad.”

  “Nothing wrong with being a female superhero. The world could use more of them.”

  “Ha, I don’t have the personality to be a superhero. Too much swearing and inappropriate and juvenile humor, but I appreciate the sentiment.”

  As they walked through the lobby of the hotel Kat, spotted Hector, the werewolf Vesper was seeing. He turned and walked down a different hallway, but she was sure it was him. She frowned. Was he here to surprise Vesper? Here on a holiday? Or something more sinister? The chances of him being in Vegas at the same time as them seemed remote. The fact he was in the same hotel seemed even less likely. But right now, she didn’t have time to track him down and see what he was up to.

  “You seem distracted,” Thomas said.

  “I just saw Hector. Vesper’s new boy toy.”

  Thomas laughed. “It surprises you that a guy would come to Vegas to see Vesper? She’s pretty hot.”

  “I know she is, but he hasn’t said anything yet. So, he’s either a stalker or up to something weird.”

  Thomas shrugged. “If you’re worried about it, text Vesper. She can handle herself.”

  “And if it is some crazy romantic gesture? I’d have ruined it. No, you’re right. Vesper can handle herself. I’ll wait and see what happens.”

  They left the building and headed to the short-term parking where Thomas had one of those big black Suburbans that federal agencies must get a group discount on buying.

  As they headed away from the Strip, Kat thought about what she’d seen in the lobby. She was positive it had been Hector, but it just seemed wrong. She was tempted to text Vesper, but it seemed like it could easily be something innocent.

  “Still thinking about Vesper’s guy?” Thomas asked.

  “Yes. I can’t help it. It’s bugging me.”

  “What do you know about him?”

  “Just that he’s a werewolf from Boston and that he seems nice, and Vesper seems to like him a lot.”

  “Well, you are an MBI agent. It wouldn’t hurt to check him out.”

  “Isn’t that an invasion of Vesper’s privacy?”

  “Not if you have a reason. I wouldn’t suggest doing a background check on all of her boyfriends or guys she brings home, but in this case, I think you should consider it. If he’s here, there is the possibility that he isn’t who he seems. I’d look into it quietly.”

  Kat frowned. “What do you mean, quietly?”

  “What I mean is that you can do an official background check—I’m sure Henry or Judah could find lots of facts out about him, see if he has a criminal record or any known associates. Or you could talk to someone you know that keeps an eye on all of the werewolves in Boston.”

  Kat thought about it. Checking to see if he had a criminal record or anything like that was easy enough. She could get Henry to do it. Judah was out of the question because he was interested in Vesper and asking him to get involved would just be asking for trouble. Perhaps Thomas was right, maybe a less official inquiry was required.

  “What are you doing?” Thomas asked as Kat pulled out her phone.

  “Taking your advice,” Kat said.

  “Hello, Lola speaking.”

  “Lola, this is Agent Dark.”

  “Kat. What can I do for you?”

  “I have a question for you.” Kat wasn’t sure if calling Lola was the best idea ever, but it didn’t hurt to try. Besides, she did want to build a relationship with her. Lola was the head of the vampires in Boston, and being on good terms with her would make investigating vampire crimes easier.

  “Ask away. I may or may not be able to help you.”

  “I’m looking into a werewolf from Boston. Name is Hector. He’s tall, probably six foot two, short dark hair, chocolat
e-brown eyes.”

  “That should be enough for me to get started with. What are you looking to know?”

  “Any criminal associations, anything that should concern me if he were hypothetically looking to date my roommate, those sorts of things. Oh, and I’d like to know where he is right now if possible.”

  “I’ll call you back at this number within a few hours,” Lola said before hanging up.

  “What’d she have to say?” Thomas asked.

  “She’ll call me back in a few hours.”

  “I didn’t know you knew Lola,” Thomas said.

  “I went to see her a while ago. I was attacked by a vampire, so I went to see her.”

  “I can’t see her having anything to do with an attack on you. That isn’t her style.”

  “That’s the vibe I got too. She seems to want to keep her clan out of trouble.”

  “She’s smart. Not all of the vampire leaders are so forward thinking. They jumped at the opportunity to join Ruton, and when he failed, several of them tried to rebuild what he’d started. A lot of vampires have died in the last five years, and for nothing. The idea of a new world order run by vampires is stupid. It would never happen.”

  “Are you sure? Everything I heard says it came close to happening.”

  “Yes, they came close. But vampires always underestimate humans, and they forget about all the other paranormals that like living among humans. Any vampire reign would’ve been short lived. Vampires like Lola know that. That is why her clan will survive far longer than the ones without that type of leadership.”

  Kat nodded. She could understand Thomas’s point of view. The idea of a superior human race hadn’t worked out well for those who’d tried to push their ideology onto the world, either. “Well I just hope she finds out that he’s a good guy and I just saw his doppelganger.”