by Parker Blue
“My sister is still missing,” I said without preamble. Alejandro’s smile faded a little as he shook his head sadly. “I’m afraid you were right about her being controlled.”
Dan sat forward like a dog on point. “How do you know?”
“A human can only be controlled by one vampire at a time. So, to test her, I had one of my lieutenants try to control her.”
“Which one?” I demanded.
“That would be me, ma’am,” Austin said.
“And?” I asked.
“I couldn’t get her to do a darned thing.”
“Confirming that she’s being controlled by someone else?”
Alejandro and Austin both nodded.
“Then who?”
Alejandro spread his hands. “I’m sorry, we have no way of knowing that, but I’m doing everything I can to find out.”
Dan scowled. “How about her father? Are you aware he came to one of your blood banks and was thrown out?”
Alejandro nodded gravely. “Yes. What would you have us do? He was causing a scene.”
“Were you also aware that some vampires grabbed him and said they were going to force him to join your little undead club?”
The vamp leader seemed truly surprised. “You do not think my people did it, do you?”
In answer, I handed him the note.
Dan added, “That was thrown through my window this afternoon. We followed the scent of your delivery boy back to here.”
Alejandro stared at us incredulously. “Surely you do not think I left such a note?”
Maybe. On one hand, he had readily agreed to see us, which argued that he was innocent of any wrongdoing—in this, anyway. On the other hand, all clues seemed to lead here.
Fruitlessly, I wished I had thought far enough ahead to have something of Rick’s for Fang to sniff. If I had, we might be able to tell if Rick was here or not. Jen wasn’t. Fang had pretty thoroughly used his nose all the way in. If he’d smelled my sister, he would have let me know.
“I don’t know what to think,” I said honestly as I rose in preparation to leave. “But I can tell you this. If any of my family is harmed in any way, I will personally hunt down the monsters responsible and feed them to the sun. Is that clear?”
“Just let us know if you need any help,” Austin offered.
I took a step back in surprise. That wasn’t the response I’d expected at all.
Fang looked up at me. YEAH, AND I DON’T TRUST IT.
Alejandro rose and took my hand in both of his. Strange how they had no warmth in them. “Austin is quite right. We are fighting for an accommodation with humans, fighting to assure our place—peacefully—alongside you. The beasts who have done these heinous acts are not welcome within our organization, nor this city. We will root them out and destroy them.”
“O-okay,” I said. That was exactly what I wanted, but again, they had managed to surprise me with the unexpected.
Alejandro’s hand tightened on mine. “If we hear any word, get any lead, we will let you know.”
“Good, good,” was all I could say. I pulled my hand away and followed Austin out the door.
As all three of us got on the motorcycle, Dan asked, “Do you believe him?”
I sighed. “Yeah, I think I do.”
“I think we’re making a big mistake.”
“Maybe. But what can we do? Everything we’ve learned points to Jen and Rick not being there.”
“We can do some more good old-fashioned detective work.”
“Okay.” None of our other leads were panning out, so it was our only choice. But I had a feeling I’d better find them soon . . . or it would be too late.
We decided to head back to the blood bank. It was a long shot, but maybe Lorenzo could give us more information about the vampires who took Rick.
About three-quarters of the way there, Dan tapped on my shoulder and signaled for me to pull over. I swerved over to the side of the road and gave him a questioning look.
“Phone,” he said briefly. He answered it and listened for a moment, then handed it to me. “Micah gave Shade my number. He wants to talk to you.”
I had been kidding about Shade being a potential boyfriend, but surprisingly, the disapproving glint in Dan’s eyes indicated he thought I was serious. Interesting.
Amused, I answered the phone.
“About ten minutes after you left, four people arrived at the mansion—two men and two women. One was your sister.”
My heartbeat quickened as my amusement vanished. Finally—a lead. “Are you sure?” And why hadn’t we seen Shade?
“Yes—she matches the picture Micah gave me.”
“Did you recognize any of the others?” Maybe Rick was with them.
“No, they were all in a car, and she’s the only one I got a good look at.”
“Did they say anything?” Like how long they were going to be there?
“The only thing I heard didn’t make sense.” Shade sounded uncertain. “I just caught a snatch of it as they went through the gates.”
“What did you hear?”
“Something about performing a . . . blessing at midnight?”
Oh, crap. “What did they say?” I demanded. “Did they say who was going to be blessed?”
“No, just something about having delayed it long enough.”
Delayed whose? Jen’s? Rick’s? Fear pounded in my chest, making my voice more abrupt than I intended. “Is that all?”
“I’m sorry,” Shade said. “That’s all I heard.”
It wasn’t his fault he didn’t know more “Thank you,” I said fervently. “If you hear or see anything more, will you call us?”
“Of course.”
I hung up and handed the phone back to Dan, turning sideways on the motorcycle to fill him in on what Shade had told me. The more I thought about it, the more angry I became. “Damn it, he played us.”
“Alejandro?”
“Yeah. He acted so damned innocent, when all along he must have know what was going on.”
Dan’s lips tightened, probably restraining himself from saying, “I told you so.” Instead, he said, “We don’t know for sure that he’s involved in this blessing thing . . . and it might not be your sister they’re talking about.”
I glared at him. “Would you chance it with your family?”
“No—”
“Well, one thing’s for sure—she’s there. At least I can remove her from danger.”
“If her controller will let you,” Dan said.
Okay, point taken. “I don’t care. I’ll make her come with me whether she wants to or not.”
I turned back around, but Dan stilled my hand on the throttle. “It’s too dangerous.”
“I don’t care. My sister—”
“It’s too dangerous for her if we go in, weapons blazing. Especially with only two of us against a houseful of vamps. Backup will increase our chances of getting her out unharmed.”
I twisted around to look at him again. “And where are we going to get that?”
“Ramirez.”
I thought for a moment, then nodded. “Okay, let’s call him.”
“This is probably best done in person—it’s a hell of a big favor to ask.”
“It will take too long—”
“You heard Shade—nothing’s going to happen until midnight. We have hours yet.”
He was right again, though the energy sizzling through my blood didn’t like the delay. “Let’s do it fast, then.”
I gunned the motor on the Valkyrie and zoomed off toward the West Substation. Fang elected to wait outside as Dan and I went inside. Ramirez was in, though he had someone in his office.
I blurted out, “We need to talk to you. It’s urgent.”
Ramirez glanced back and forth between us, then dismissed the guy he’d been talking to. “What’s up?”
“We need a raid on Alejandro’s mansion,” I said urgently.
“Why?”
“He’s go
t my sister in there.”
Ramirez looked sympathetic, but said, “I can’t perform a raid just because her big sister doesn’t like who she hangs out with.”
“But she’s being controlled by a vampire,” I protested. “They’re going to hurt her.” This wasn’t some frivolous request—Ramirez knew that.
“Do you have proof of that?”
“No, but—”
Dan cut in. “Alejandro admitted that she’s under control.”
“By him?”
“No, but—”
“That’s not proof,” Ramirez said apologetically.
“There’s something going down tonight,” Dan said. “They may be planning to turn Jennifer into a vampire.”
Oh, Lord, it sounded even more real, even more plausible when he said it aloud. “We have to save her,” I insisted. “She has no free will. She can’t choose this for herself.”
Ramirez leaned forward, looking intent. “Do you have proof of this?”
Annoyed by his stupid refrain, I snapped, “One of Micah’s people saw her go in to the house, heard them say a blessing had been delayed too long.” Quickly, I explained what Lorenzo had told us about the term blessing and what I feared.
Ramirez looked disappointed. “That’s it? That’s all you have?”
“I know it doesn’t sound like much—” Dan began.
“Wait,” the lieutenant said. “Let me get this straight. Up until now, you’ve found nothing to indicate that Alejandro or his movement has done anything wrong, correct?”
I scowled. “Yes, but—”
Ramirez cut me off with a sharp gesture. “You said this Lorenzo didn’t recognize the vampires who took your stepfather, that he thought of them as unaffiliated, which means they probably don’t belong to the Movement.” Overriding my protest, he continued, “And your sister has been working for them for at least a month, unharmed. Do you think your concern might arise from the fact that you’re scared for your sister, that you have no other leads, that you want this to be true so badly that you’ve convinced yourself it is, despite the evidence to the contrary?”
I stared at him for a moment, surprised steam wasn’t coming out of my ears. Forcing myself to sound calm and reasonable, I said, “Look, I know it sounds flimsy, but if you give us the people, we’ll get the proof.”
“Sorry, I can’t do it. I can’t commit city resources on a tenuous possibility. And without some kind of evidence to back up your claim, I won’t be able to get a warrant and I can’t justify invading a private citizen’s residence without it.”
I couldn’t believe I was hearing this. “Private citizen? He’s a vampire. Can the undead own property? Do they have the same rights as the living?”
“The law doesn’t recognize the existence of vampires, so as far as it is concerned, if he’s walking and talking, he’s alive. And entitled to the same protection as everyone else.”
I appealed mutely to Dan.
He gave me an apologetic look. “He’s right. His hands are tied.”
“Well, ours aren’t,” I declared.
Ramirez rose from his desk and jabbed his finger at me. “You two are not going in there alone, do you hear me? It’s suicide if you do.”
And homicide if we didn’t. “So you admit it’s dangerous?”
“Going into a vampire’s den, uninvited, with intent to kidnap or do bodily harm? It’s dangerous—and it has nothing to do with whether they’re guilty or innocent.”
“But—”
“Enough. Promise me that the two of you won’t do anything so stupid or I’ll toss your butts in jail right now.”
“Can he do that?” I asked Dan incredulously.
Dan shrugged. “Probably.”
I glared at him. “If we promise, what the hell do you expect us to do?”
“I expect you to do your job. Get out there and get me proof. With that, I can help you.”
“All right,” Dan said. “We’ll do that.”
Ramirez speared me with a glance, silently demanding my agreement as well.
It went against everything I knew was right, but I had too much respect for the lieutenant to lie to him. Then again, I couldn’t do anything to help Jen and Rick if I was in jail. “Okay, okay. But when we get proof, you’d better not slow-roll me.”
“I won’t,” Ramirez confirmed.
I stomped out of the police station, Dan right behind me. As I swung my leg over my motorcycle, I asked, “How can we get proof ?”
“Let me think a minute.”
Well, I knew what my first thought was—go in anyway and damn the consequences. Those were my second and third thoughts, too. I didn’t want to break my promise, but Jen and Rick’s lives were in danger. I had to see if Jen was all right, had to find Rick, had to see his fangs for myself.
Mom certainly wouldn’t be satisfied with anything less. If I didn’t have first-hand knowledge of exactly what had happened to Rick, Mom might do something stupid . . . like go after him herself.
No, that couldn’t happen. I couldn’t lose another family member to the vampires—even a mother who didn’t want me. They might not consider me a part of the family any more, but damn it, they were part of mine.
I had to find out the truth for myself, no matter what the lieutenant said. If only I could rescue them without breaking my promise. I went back over the conversation, looking for a loophole . . . and found it. We’d promised that the two of us wouldn’t go in after Jen. Fine—I’d make it just one of us. This was too dangerous for pure humans anyway—Dan’s injuries during our previous encounters proved it. Better to let demons battle monsters.
Fang shoved my hand. THAT’S THE TICKET.
But I’d better not share my thoughts with Dan. He’d just try to talk me out of it, or insist on going along. I didn’t want to have to worry about him as well.
Dan sat behind me on the bike and got Fang settled. “Let’s find out more about the blessing ceremony. If we can prove it’s being done, show that the humans who go in to Alejandro’s come out as vampires, maybe that’ll be enough proof.”
“Do you really think that’s enough?” I asked.
“Do you have a better idea?”
“No.” Besides, I wanted him safely out of the way and this looked like the best way of doing it.
“Okay, then let’s check out Micah’s database, see what we can find.”
Since it was Sunday and the club was closed, Dan called first and Micah agreed to meet us there.
As we drove to Purgatory, I rethought my strategy. When we arrived and parked in the rear, I said, “I’ve been thinking. You don’t need me here, so I’ll do some investigation on my own.”
“Like what?”
“I’ll check out my Encyclopedia Magicka, see if there’s any mention of the ceremony.” Though I knew there was nothing—I would have remembered. “Then I’ll visit a psychic friend of mine.”
Dan raised an eyebrow. “How will that help?”
“She might be able to tell me what to do, what path to take.”
He narrowed his eyes at her, looking suspicious. “You’ve never mentioned her before.”
Because she didn’t exist. “Yeah, well, you haven’t exactly been open to talk about magic users, have you?”
He shrugged, conceding the point.
“Okay, I’ll call you and check in whether I learn anything or not. Then I’ll be back to pick you up.” If I survive.
“Okay.”
Dan went inside the club and I sat for a moment, contemplating Fang. What should I do about him?
WHAT’S TO WONDER? YOU TAKE ME WITH YOU.
I glanced around and saw a reserved parking spot marked “Blackburn.” The fancy car in it must be Micah’s . . . and it was unlocked. Perfect. Without letting my true intentions show in my conscious mind, I said, “Let’s take Micah’s car.”
But when Fang jumped inside, I shut the door.
Fang stared at me with a mixture of disbelief and fury on his furry face.
YOU DID NOT JUST DO THAT.
“I’m afraid I did.” He was a very small dog, and no matter how much hellhound he had in him, he was no match for an entire vein of vampires, though he had heart enough to try. I couldn’t bear to lose him, either.
LOSE ME? WHO SAYS YOU’LL LOSE ME? He pawed at the window. LET ME OUT.
“I’m sorry, Fang. I have to go to the mansion, and you’ll be safer this way.” And if I didn’t make it back, Micah would take care of him.
NO. NO WAY ARE YOU LEAVING ME HERE. LET ME OUTTA HERE! Fang went nuts, leaping around the car and barking furiously. Ignoring his temper tantrum, I headed home to stock up on weapons. I needed to be ready for anything and everything . . . including the possibility that I might fail, that I might die.
I squared my shoulders. Well if I did, I’d make sure I took the whole freakin’ vein of vampires with me.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
I paused at the edge of Alejandro’s property, considering my options. This time, I didn’t want to announce my presence. Unfortunately, there was a clear line of sight from the front door to the gates. The guards would see me if I used the code to get in.
I scouted the fence. Good—there were some trees alongside. Lousy security, but if you were already dead in a city of mostly humans I guess you didn’t worry too much about security.
I hooked a crossbow on my back belt loop and settled a scabbard across my back so I could easily reach the sword’s hilt behind my head. Once I was sure they were secure, I shimmied up the trunk then swung up onto a limb. One of the branches conveniently crossed over the dangerous fleurs de lis on the top of the wrought iron fence, and I crawled out until I was over the estate grounds.
I paused, assessing the threat. The guards didn’t have the advantage of the excellent senses the vamps had, and I hadn’t seen any sign of electronic security or dogs—animals wouldn’t work for vamps. I was probably safe. I dropped to the ground, relieved when no alarms went off.
The guards remained at the entrance and exit, not patrolling the grounds, so it was easy to make my way silently to the window where I’d seen Alejandro twice before. It seemed to be the happening place.
Sure enough, when I peered in the window, I spotted Jen inside, with Alejandro and three of his lieutenants. Four vamps.