by S D Hegyes
“You never told me why,” she said instead, choosing to focus on what she could remember.
“Why they’d want to kill you?”
She nodded.
“Well, for one, their abilities don’t work on you. You’re just as fast as a vampire, despite your injured knee, believe it or not; probably just as strong; and your mind can’t be manipulated.”
“Vampires manipulate people?” She thought back to the times she’d encountered Frank.
“I mentioned Dracula’s children can’t hide their features unless they file their teeth down or wear contacts, right? Younger ones do that, as they are still learning what it means to be a vampire, but the older the vampire, the more they can control what someone sees. They’ll see a natural eye color and regular teeth. Gloria’s a perfect example.”
“How so?”
“She said the man who attacked her had both blue and red eyes. That means it was a young vampire, but not one so young he needed contacts to hide his eyes.”
If they went by that information, the vampire who attacked Gloria was old enough they could control what people saw when they looked at them but young enough to lose that concentration when on the hunt.
“Do vampire’s teeth grow back if they’re filed down?”
Larz opened his mouth to answer but then closed it, his brow drawing together. Had he never questioned why they filed their teeth down? Human teeth didn’t grow back. Once they were damaged or removed, they were gone. “Interestingly enough, their teeth are more like claws than teeth because yes, they do.”
Sorsha pretended she didn’t see him run his tongue over one of his canines, as if to check its length. Satisfied with what he found, he continued. “While normal humans and other supernaturals can’t see a vampire’s illusion, you see a vampire’s true nature.” He grinned at her.
“So I can see vampires for what they really are when I look at them. Even if they’re wearing contacts or have their teeth filed?”
“That I don’t know. You’re the first phantom I’ve ever met. I can assume so. Maybe? I don’t think it matters much. Most vampires don’t do that once they learn how to take a human’s mind.”
She snorted. “That still doesn’t explain why they’d want to kill me. At least, not just based on that.”
Larz shifted in his seat and grinned at her. “Well, there’s a prophecy Kazal learned a long time ago. One that says a phantom will be the end of vampires—both kinds.”
She snorted. “I have no intention of being the end of any race.”
He shrugged. “It’s hard to shake a reputation that’s been building for centuries.”
Again, she snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. “If someone really thought about it, it doesn’t make any sense.”
Larz laughed. “Prophecies never do. They generate fear and people react based on that fear, which might ultimately cause that prophecy to come true.” He glanced at her. “That’s my theory at least.”
She pondered that, tapping her bottom lip with one finger. “I agree.”
Finding Frank’s home wasn’t that hard. He lived on the far side of town, opposite Sorsha and Larz, in what she might have deemed the country if they hadn’t passed next to a couple really nice suburban neighborhoods. Next to those neighborhoods, a wrought-iron fence wrapped around several acres of manicured lawn, and Larz parked in front of a large gate with a call box. The house directly in front of them was a two-story house with a modern build. White paint coated the house, dark colored shutters adding a bit of color to an otherwise bland building. She couldn’t decide if the shutters were navy or black.
She’d loved the house from afar for many years, always wondering who owned it but never daring to check it out herself.
Larz pressed the button on the call box and a guard, or what Sorsha assumed was a guard, asked who was there to see.
“Frank Thirst,” came the reply.
“And who’s here to see him?”
“Larz Kazal and—” He glanced over at Sorsha. “—a guest.”
A few moments later, Larz and Sorsha were admitted. Larz gave Sorsha a quick grin that was quickly replaced with a frown before he drove inside.
Sorsha stared around in wonder. Large bushes with various kinds of flowers lined the drive. She rolled her window down and brushed her fingers along the petals of one as they drove past, enjoying the velvety feel against her fingertips.
Larz’s demeanor shifted the closer they got to the house. He grew tense, and Sorsha could feel an air of violence waft from him. It made her shudder, but she’d felt it hundreds of times herself when she and her men were in the field.
She frowned, wondering just how much she was going to regret her decision to come to the vampire nest. She’d never seen Larz look as serious as he did at that moment. “Is it really that bad?”
He glanced at her as he parked in front of the house. “If I were alone, no. Frank’s nothing to sneeze at, but he and I have a mutual understanding of one another.”
Because you’re one of Kazal’s children, I bet.
“But since you’re here,” he continued, ignorant of her thoughts, “this could get a little more dicey.”
“I can handle myself.”
He leaned toward her. “Says the woman with the ability to command spirits to do her bidding but doesn’t want to.”
She snorted. “If you had the ability to command an army of spirits, would you?”
He grinned. “Of course.”
Sorsha turned away, saying, “Maybe it’s a good thing I’m the one who can then. Just because they’re dead, doesn’t mean they deserve that kind of treatment.”
“Imagine that: a phantom with concern for the rights of dead people.”
She shrugged. “When we die, we still get a say in whether our organs can be donated or whether our bodies can be used for science.”
“Yes, but that’s all still decided while you’re alive. This is different. They’re already dead.”
“Maybe, but Gloria still had the same thoughts and feelings of someone alive, didn’t she?”
He opened his mouth to argue, but then he closed it again with an audible snap. He sighed. “Fine. You win. Ready to go into the lion’s den?”
“"Guess it’s a good thing I brought my wooden chair and whip today, huh?”
He frowned, puzzled.
“Oh, come on. The circus? Surely, you got that?”
He winked at her. “Come on, Lion Tamer. Let’s get this over with.”
An honest-to-goodness butler answered the door. Sorsha stared at the man, eyeing the suit. He reminded her of a vigilante’s butler, but she didn't make a comment.
Right before the door opened, Larz had warned her to follow his lead and let him do the talking, but Sorsha had no intention of listening. This wasn’t his show, but hers, and she’d be damned if she let him take over just because he and Frank had history together. For all she knew, that history was more hostile than her own with the vampire lord.
“The master’s expecting you.”
“Good.” The gentleman took their coats, and Sorsha followed Larz through the house. He seemed to know his way without needing the butler’s guidance. He stopped before a rich mahogany door and knocked twice.
“Come in,” came a voice from the other side.
The pair entered upon command, and Sorsha’s nose wrinkled as soon as she entered. The scent of blood and sex was so heavy, she could have choked on it.
The door opened into a study with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves behind a large desk. There were two chairs on their side of the desk and an occupied chair behind it. A small table on the right side of the room held a large sepia-colored globe. A large world map became the centerpiece of the wall behind it. Several pins and tacks marked the map in various places.
She hadn’t a clue what was marked on the map, and she wasn’t certain she wanted to know.
In comparison, the opposite wall was plain, except for the liquor cabinet. Sorsha assum
ed the bottom of the cabinet held various kinds of alcohol while displaying various types of containers behind the glass doors of the cabinet’s upper half.
Frank sat behind the desk, leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head. He looked presentable in his three-piece suit, but the scent lingering around him told another story.
Sorsha felt a sense of relief that she couldn’t see anything on his side of the desk. There was no doubt in her mind that he wasn’t alone.
“Larz Kazal,” Frank said, a smirk on his face. “What brings you here this fine Christmas Day?” Larz stepped aside and Frank’s gaze shifted to Sorsha. “Miss Phantom,” he greeted, the smirk turning into a predatory smile. “We meet again. Merry Christmas.”
“What brings you two here? Weren’t you the one to warn me away from our little phantom?” His red eyes brightened once more as his gaze shifted back and forth between the pair. “Or are you here to turn her over. Still avoiding Daddy?”
She didn’t need to see Larz’s shudder to know who Frank meant by “daddy”, and she couldn’t let the vampire bait Larz.
“I told him to bring me.”
Larz hissed at her, but she ignored him.
“Did you now?” Frank’s attention turned toward her fully, and he leaned forward in his seat and stood. “Where are my manners? Would you two care for a drink?” Without waiting for an answer, he moved toward the liquor cabinet. He pulled out three wine glasses and sat them on the counter.
He pulled out a dark bottle from the lower half of the cabinet and uncorked it. A dark red liquid poured into the glasses, and Sorsha’s hair rose as she caught the strong scent of blood.
Larz walked over to the cabinet and took the bottle from Frank. “AB negative. Nice.” He spared Sorsha only a glance before he took one of the wine glasses and sipped at the liquid inside.
Sorsha recognized the power game for what it was. Not to be outdone, she took a glass for herself. She met Frank’s smirking gaze as she lifted the glass to her mouth and sipped.
The metallic taste of blood washed over her senses, and she felt her power rise inside her, weaving its way through her like a river through a canyon. She knew her eyes had changed colors too from the way his widened. She didn’t dare look at her hands to confirm it.
“It’s still warm.”
“Donated less than an hour ago.”
She gave him an innocent smile and raised her glass in salute. “The perks of owning a blood bank, right? Fresh blood at your disposal? Although, I have to wonder how you manage to bottle it without it congealing.”
Frank chuckled as he tugged at the collar of his shirt. “That’s a secret I don’t think I’m willing to divulge with you, Miss Phantom. No offense.”
She shrugged and took another drink from her glass. The direction of the conversation had changed, and the pleasantries were over. She ignored the looks of both men. They probably found her insane, and she didn’t feel like confirming or denying the idea when she wasn’t entirely sure of it herself. Let them wonder why she was actively partaking in a vampire’s pastime.
Frank returned to his seat. Once settled, he asked, “What brings you to my abode? If I recall, Larz, the last time I saw you, you were threatening me.”
“That’s correct, and this is me at it again.”
“Why should I listen this time? You brought the one you were trying to protect from me right into my home.”
That explains a few things.
Larz glanced over at Sorsha, but she didn’t wait for him to speak. If she was going to lead this operation, she needed to move forward and make it clear to Frank she was the one he needed to speak to. She sat her glass down, careful not to slosh the contents, and sat down opposite the vampire lord.
“I’m here to find someone.”
Frank leaned toward her, clasping his hands together. He knew who was in charge. Good. “I’m listening.”
“A vampire who’s killed recently.”
He nodded, but she saw the way his eyes flickered with anger, and she knew it wasn’t aimed her way. “And because I run the local vampire nest, you thought. . . What? You’d walk into my home and demand I give you one?”
Sorsha smiled. “Yes. You see, the way I figure, you like remaining a secret. You like that no one knows who and what you are. You’re hidden and you’re perfectly okay with that.”
He didn’t deny it, so she continued.
“That means you don’t allow anyone under you to kill. It’s probably why you’ve invested so much into the blood bank.”
Frank’s hands clapped together and then he spread them wide on either side of himself. “You’ve caught me, Miss Phantom, but that doesn’t tell me why I should be handing over one of my vampires to you?”
Without a word, she tossed Gloria’s file on her desk. She waited until he’d spun it around and flipped it open to speak. “Meet Gloria Murphy. She’s been dead a month, maybe, and I have reason to believe one of your vampires has gone rogue.”
His gaze flickered to her. “You’d know better than I would, wouldn’t you, Miss Phantom?”
“I would. She remembers a blond vampire with blue eyes.”
He snorted. “Do you know how many vampires I have in my care that fit that description?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” she told him honestly. “I only care about Gloria Murphy. She was a child and didn’t deserve to die.”
Frank snorted. “How do you expect me to figure out which of my vampires might have done this?”
She knew she had him. He didn’t want a killer among his vampires. She leaned forward and put her hands on the desk, standing. “When did Larz demand you to leave me alone, Mr. Thirst?”
Behind her, she heard Larz’s intake of breath, and she watched Frank glance at him before meeting her gaze again. “Does it matter?”
“It does to me.”
“Why don’t you ask him?”
“He’ll lie.”
“And you think I won’t?” Frank smirked.
“You have no reason to,” she told him. Practical.
He considered that. “Life preservation.”
“We both know you see me as more of a threat than him.”
“Do you know what he is?”
“I do.” Another intake of air behind her.
The vampire before her grinned, red eyes sparkling with mirth and elongated teeth gleaming. “You trust him? Even knowing what he is?”
“I do. When did he demand you leave me alone?”
“The same night you and I saw each other last.”
She nodded, standing straight and narrowing her eyes. That was information to contemplate further later, but for now she needed to help Gloria. “You seem to have rules for your children, and I fully believe one of them had every intention of ignoring those rules. The vampire we’re looking for owns an ice cream truck, or may have access to one.”
Frank’s nose wrinkled, as if he’d smelled something that disgusted him, and it was Sorsha’s turn to gloat.
“I take it you have a problem child you think matches my description?” She knew he did.
“If I bring him to you, will I get a demonstration of your abilities?” he asked.
“Maybe. Why?”
Frank closed the file and passed it back to Sorsha. “Call me curious.”
“Isn’t that why you hired me in the first place, Mr. Thirst?” It was something she’d been mulling over since they arrived. He had to have thought, based on her last name alone, that she might be the mythical being meant to bring death and destruction to his kind. He had access to her employment records at least, and if he was as powerful as he seemed to be, she knew he had connections in the world that probably allowed him to access more about her—even without needing to manipulate anyone for it.
He chuckled. “Indeed, Miss Phantom. You’re the first phantom I’ve ever met, and somehow you’ve made it to adulthood. Yes, I’ll admit that I’ve held a lot of curiosity about you over the past couple
of years. Enough so that I wouldn’t have harmed you even without your current protector’s threat.” He tipped his head toward Larz, who’d moved to stand behind Sorsha. “I’ll admit, the protection of a monster like him was a brilliant strategy. Even I wouldn’t have touched you if I wanted to. I don’t have a death wish. You two certainly are a formidable pair now that you’re working together.”
The vampire lord stood once more, straightening his suit jacket. “Give me about an hour, and I’ll have who I believe matches your description.” He walked toward the door and opened it before he looked back and grinned at her. “I actually hope you’re right. I’d love to see the full power of a phantom.”
19
Instead of leaving and coming back, Sorsha decided to make herself comfortable in her chair and wait. What was an hour on Christmas Day when she didn’t have any other plans? She looked over at Larz. “You good waiting?”
He nodded but didn’t make much more effort to respond beyond that.
“I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you,” Sorsha told him. He glanced at her. “I won’t lie and tell you I’d planned on listening in the first place, but I am sorry.”
“I honestly thought you’d be in danger around him,” he said after a moment of stony silence. Long enough Sorsha didn’t think he was going to reply. “I forget you’ve been his employee for the past two years, and he’s probably known about you the entire time.”
“Maybe more,” she admitted with a shrug. “I’ve lived here longer than I’ve worked for him. If he’s as influential as he seems, he probably suspected I might be a phantom as soon as he saw my last name.”
Larz nodded. “I know. It’s a dead giveaway.” He sighed. “I just want you to be safe.”
“I know.”
At that, he met her gaze. “You know what I am?”
“Yes.” It was all she could say on the subject before the door behind them opened.
“That was fast, Mr. Thirst. It hasn’t even been five minutes.” Sorsha stood and faced the door as she spoke, her eyes landing on Simon Blanchard as Frank closed the door behind the two of them.