“But the freedom of it all, the knowledge you’re breaking new ground every time you go to work? You’re really going to give that up for”—George cast a look at the surrounding streets—“boredom central?”
Ben grinned. “Yeah. It’s going to be great.”
George shook her head. “One week of ordinary and you’re going to be wishing for a ghoul or a phantom, anything to break the monotony. Trust me, I know. You don’t know how many hours I spent in that hospital, praying for a revenant to leap into that ward.” She stepped up to the door and pushed it open. “Ladies first.” She stepped through.
“If you were that bored, you should have said.” Ben followed George into the reception area.
The Registry was arranged more like the foyer of a stately home than the office building it was. An array of wooden chairs formed a line against one wall. A woman wearing pince-nez glasses sat upright behind the reception desk. Ben stepped toward her.
A man loomed out of the shadows beside the door. “What’s your business here?”
Ben jerked to a halt. “Excuse me?”
The man’s eyes flashed. He wore a suit, but it didn’t sit right on him, giving the impression of a hand-me-down from a bigger man. “State your business.”
“That’s a personal matter—hey!” Ben was too slow to stop the man snatching his application, and he didn’t dare risk tearing the papers by grabbing them back. “Are you Registry staff? I want to see some ID!”
The man ignored his protests. He thumbed through the papers and then shoved them back at Ben.
“What the hell is that about?” George placed her hands on her hips. “You owe us an explanation.”
The man growled. “I don’t owe you anything.” He stalked out the door.
Ben and George stared after him.
“That part of the application process?”
Ben shook his head. “I didn’t see anything online about it—”
The lady with the pince-nez cleared her throat. “If I can help?”
Ben handed over his application. She looked at it and then cast a sharp look at him. “An unprecedented request.”
“I know.” Ben grimaced. “I’ve included everything I could think of.”
She flipped through the pages. “You certainly appear to have made a thorough job of it. You’ve included your address? Good.”
George leaned on the desk. “What’s the deal with Mr. Personality at the door? I thought the Registry was just an office.”
“The Registry is where all the official records of New Camden’s supernatural population are kept,” the woman corrected her. “Department Seven enforces the classifications, while the Register makes the rulings on them. We’re usually quiet, but lately the council thought we should have more in the way of security.” Her expression was disapproving. “I’m afraid that this is an interim measure until the council can vote on the matter. I don’t wish to criticize volunteers but a more personable approach would not go amiss.” She stamped Ben’s papers. “I’ll take these through to the office. One moment.”
The echoes of her footsteps died away, leaving only silence. Ben became aware of just how quiet the building was. The air weighed down on them. “You feel that?”
George looked around. “Magic?”
“It makes sense. There’d have to be pretty powerful wards on the place, given what it contains.” Ben resisted the urge to shiver. The atmosphere of the building was getting to him. It feels like a grave in here—and I should know.
The woman returned with a piece of paper acknowledging receipt of Ben’s papers. “You’ll hear from us soon.”
The air was warmer outside the building, but Ben couldn’t shake off the feeling of cold that followed him. He put his hands in the pockets of his jacket, setting off down the street at a fast pace.
The man in the suit was in conversation with the two men loitering outside the Registry. He didn’t so much as glance at Ben and George as they passed.
“Someone’s in a hurry.” George jogged to keep up with Ben. She glanced as his face. “Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts already? I figured it’d be fast, but not this fast!”
Ben shook his head. “It’s not that.” He came to a halt. “The altercation with that guy in the suit. I felt pretty confident about my application before, but now… I guess he’s thrown me.”
“How sadly the former hunter declines. Once taking werewolves and vampires in stride, now he shakes before a minor official with a jacked-up sense of self-importance.”
Ben snorted. “Thanks for the understanding.” He bit his lip. “Actually, George, you busy? There’s something I wanted to show you.”
A taxi-ride later, they stood in Ben’s father’s office. George looked around the room, taking in the stately desk, business-like armchair, metal filing cabinet and ample bookcase. “I take back everything I said about you being bored. I didn’t realize you were the kind of person to have an office.”
Ben leaned against the door. “So it’s your opinion that there’s nothing in here of interest to a hunter? That’s too bad. I was going to offer you the loan of my dad’s collection.”
George eyed him skeptically. “Your dad’s collection of what, paper clips? Fountain pens?”
“Watch.” Ben took a key from his pocket and inserted it into a hidden lock above the center filing cabinet. It clicked open, sliding noiselessly back on seamless metal coasters.
“What the hell?” George squinted at the open door.
“I told you my dad was in the business.” Ben couldn’t help a surge of pride. He’d glimpsed the room once as a child, but his father had quickly sent him out of the room. He’d spent fruitless hours searching for the secret to unlocking the room. Even as an adult, it had taken him days of careful searching to find the lock. “This was his armory.”
It was little more than a cupboard. George and Ben had to duck to climb in, and there was barely room for both of them to stand in the small space. The bulk of the room was taken up with two long wooden bars on which hung axes, firearms and swords of all description.
George raised her hand reverently to the biggest axe. “An actual, useable, double-headed axe. You know how hard it is to find these? They go for hundreds on eBay.”
“This one’s worth thousands.” Ben leaned back. “Lift it.”
She did. “Feel that balance! That’s an expert’s work.” She adjusted her grip, clearly reluctant to put it back on the stand. “It’s such a waste, having these and retiring from hunting!”
“I know,” Ben said. “Which is why I want you to use them.”
She swung her head up to him. “Excuse me?”
Ben stretched out his hand to the hilt of a pistol he’d always coveted. “Dad didn’t collect these because he liked collecting them. He worked for ARX as a field agent, keeping people safe. He’d want them used, not admired.” Ben looked down. “I’d like the collection kept here. It’s safe—and it means I’ve still got something of his here. But you can borrow them at any time.”
George put her hand on his shoulder. “I’ll take good care of them. I promise.”
“Just as long as you take good care of you.” Ben gave the bandage peeking out from under her bandana a pointed look.
George took her time making her selection, debating the pros and cons of every weapon. Heavy weapons were a definite advantage when it came to big prey like the rogue werewolf, but were a definite liability when pursuing smaller, more agile supernaturals. She reluctantly returned the battle-axe to the rack, settling on a selection of smaller weaponry.
Ben fought a smile. With her candy-pink lipstick and nails, George looked as though she’d spend hours on fashion choices—not weapons. “Passing on the werewolf then?”
“A girl’s got to make ends meet. And with all the big guns in town going after the werewolf, the pickings are good for the small freelancer.”
“Glad to hear it.” Insurance agents refused to cover supernatural hunters. He knew
she had big hospital bills following her close escape from death, but she’d refused his offer of financial assistance.
She nodded, experimentally twirling a throwing knife. “Matter of fact, I’ve been picking up a steady stream of small targets. I got this really interesting gig—”
Ben held up a hand. “No details.”
“I’m not asking you to help me. Just telling you about the job.”
“I know. I’m serious about living an ordinary life from now on.”
She tilted her head, studying him. “So this is by way of cleaning house as well as helping me? You’re not worried about what you’ll do in an emergency if you get human status?”
Ben shook his head. “My dad had that covered too.” He stepped out of the armory and faced the bookcase. There was a hidden catch in one side that allowed the shelves to swing forward, revealing a room beyond. It was small, barely larger than the single bed it contained, but it was completely undetectable.
“A panic room?”
“Dad called it the VIP room.”
“It smells of vampire.”
“And that’s why.” Ben motioned to the lock. “Once you’re inside, you can lock it and no one can enter. No windows, so no risk of sunlight. And it’s warded, like the rest of the apartment.”
George shook her head. “I can’t get over the idea of a hunter working with vampires. It’s too weird.”
Ben stayed silent. How to explain that even though he’d worked for ARX just like his father, it had taken his own death and resurrection to truly understand the danger of vampires? “Hunter isn’t like a revenant. He’s entirely different.”
“You’d hope. Ugh.” George stepped out of the safe room. “You need some air freshener in there, stat.”
Ben swung the bookcase shut, hiding the room once more. He was thoughtful as he locked the armory, the file cabinets sliding back into place.
“You look really serious all of a sudden.”
Ben smiled ruefully. “Just thinking that it’s going to be harder than I thought to go back to normal.”
George watched him sympathetically, leaning against the office door. “You really think you can cut the supernatural out of your life?”
“I have to try.” Ben took a deep breath. “Look—you know I worked for ARX even before I became a vampire.”
“You were one of their top agents. I couldn’t get much info on you, but I got that much.”
Ben smiled thinly. “What you don’t know is that I was living with vampires since the age of ten—master vampires, I should say.”
George’s eyes widened. “So the rumors are true? The vampire at ARX’s head is over a thousand years old?”
“Nearer two thousand at this point. You can imagine the amount of influence he had.” Ben looked down. He didn’t need to tell George that he wasn’t talking about normal influence, but the power of suggestion that all vampires, creatures that harnessed the powerful forces of blood magic, possessed.
“Shit. I don’t want to imagine that kind of power.” She looked at Ben. “But he’s a good guy, right? I mean—”
“He uses his influence for what he believes are good motives,” he said slowly. “And while he is definitely more altruistic than most vampires, he’s still an autocrat. And his will is strong enough everyone around him agrees. It’s just—what happens when you get a vampire that old.” He bit his lip. This was still a sensitive subject. “I spent the most formative years of my life under the same roof as him. During that time, my interest in the supernatural became an obsession. The only thing I cared about was joining my father—and the vampires—in a career in ARX. Hell, I was majoring in supernatural studies when—” Ben swallowed. It was still hard to talk about his death.
George dropped her gaze sympathetically. “You think that the presence of the vampires dictated your interest in the supernatural? I don’t know. You said you were interested even before then, right? And something about you suggests to me that whatever your interests, you were going to geek out over them.”
“I just don’t know.” Ben frowned at the bookcase. “That’s the problem. I don’t know who I would have been without their influence—or who I am now. That’s why I need to cut everything supernatural out of my life. To—”
“Figure out who you are without it?”
Ben swallowed the nervousness in his throat. “Right. If I’m going to convince the Register of my humanity, I have to figure out who I was before my interest in the supernatural developed.”
“Wow, Ben.”
“You don’t think I can do it?”
“If anyone can, it’s you. But I don’t think you realize what a tall order that is. How many years of your life is that?”
Ben squared his shoulders. “I have to do it.”
“And where does Nate fit into this? He is a lot of things, but ordinary is not on the list.”
Ben grimaced.
“You’re cutting him out too? He’s your boyfriend!”
“It’s not permanent! It’s just until my application is approved.”
“Does he know about this?”
Ben nodded. “We talked about it. Just last night.”
George looked at him a long moment before shaking her head. “You’re taking a big risk, resting a relationship on red tape. What if your application is turned down?”
“It won’t be. I’m human. I have a pulse, a—”
“Yeah, I know. But best case scenario, you could be waiting months. You really think Nate’s going to stick around all that time? He’s used to a lot of attention. What if he gets bored, finds someone new?”
It was what Ben was most afraid of. “He’ll wait. He has to. Otherwise—”
“Look. Pro-tip for you from someone who didn’t grow up in Dracula’s castle. Hanging out with their hot boyfriend is high on the list of things twenty-somethings do.” George smirked at him.
Ben tilted his head. He was reminded again just how much he didn’t know about George. “What would you do? If you could do anything right now.”
“Anything?”
“Not hunting, I mean.” He tilted his head. “You don’t want to spend your entire life hunting, right?”
“Nah. I’ll retire eventually. But until then, I gotta make ends meet.” George shrugged. “I might have got into it for revenge, but now… Well, I got the skills and I got the know-how to protect other people. Might as well do it.”
“But if finances weren’t a problem, and you figured you were due some time off?”
George grinned. “That’s easy. Pennsylvania road trip.”
Ben blinked. “Pennsylvania?”
“They got the highest number of coasters in any state. And I’m going to ride them all.”
Of all the answers he’d expected, this wasn’t one of them. “You like roller coasters?”
“Love them. Don’t know if you’ve noticed this about me, but I’m an adrenaline junkie.” George smirked. “Your turn. What’s the first thing you’re going to do now you’re human?”
“I—” Ben’s brain stalled. “I don’t know.”
“College? Paragliding? Learn a new skill?”
Everyone at college knew him as the promising supernatural major who was already taking advanced postgrad-level courses as an undergrad. Ben swallowed. All the books he’d read had involved the supernatural in some way, and for relaxation he’d played Monster Wars Online. Ben looked around the office, casting for inspiration. His hand brushed the acorn in his pocket. “I’m going to make my will.”
“Ben.” George groaned. “That’s so—boring.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You’re not going to say morbid?”
“Given our friendship was cemented when we promised that the first of us to die gets put down by the other, I can’t object to morbid. But really.” George elbowed him. “You realize you can still have fun as a human.”
“I will,” he promised. “But until then, I’ve decided to embrace boredom. After all, this is my life fr
om now on, right?”
A DAY LATER, Ben stepped into the apartment elevator with distinct satisfaction. Making his will had not been difficult. His father’s lawyer joked that making a will was a lot more straightforward than his request to have his identity validated. It had been simple too. The apartment building and his possessions to Nate, his father’s armory to George. Even though he hoped it’d be a long time before his will had to be used, Ben felt pleased knowing he’d have a connection with both of them even after death.
Even better, he’d treated himself to coffee on the way home, and not one person had asked him what he thought of the werewolf case. And he had no reason to leave his apartment for the rest of the day. Ben hit the button for his floor. I might actually be able to pull it off—an entire day of ordinary.
The elevator doors opened. Ben’s first thought was that he’d got the wrong floor. Two men stood in front of the door. Ben’s penthouse was the only apartment on the top floor—but as they heard the elevator, the men turned toward him.
“Bennet Hawick?”
Ben nodded. “That’s me.”
“We’re from the Registry.” The taller of the two men handed him a business card. “We’d like you to come with us.”
Ben looked down at the card in his hand. He recognized the Registry logo, but not the name. “What’s going on?”
“You submitted an application for declassification to the Registry?” The tall man did all the talking. His companion moved to Ben’s other side, watching him wordlessly. “The Committee has requested further information.”
“Ah.” Ben forced himself to respond. “Give me a moment, and I’ll just grab some things—”
“Your immediate presence is required.”
Ben looked from one man to another. “Is that—normal?”
“Where irregularities are noted, the Registry prefers to address them promptly.” The tall man threw his hand to the elevator door to stop it from closing. He motioned Ben inside.
It wasn’t until he was sitting in their car, the tall man driving and his silent companion watching Ben from the back seat, that Ben realized this could be very bad. What if they want more tests? Or I’m arrested? Not being a vampire wasn’t exactly a criminal charge…but the way the men had hurried him into the car was not exactly reassuring.
Life After Humanity Page 5