“I’m fine,” I replied. “Please have Portman send someone over to pick up the body. I’ll set it in a hidden zone at my location.”
I heard a tone that told me Lydia had a fix on me.
“I’ve put in the request, puddin’.”
“Thanks, baby,” I sighed and disconnected.
I was still unclear as to what had just happened. I’d never been in a situation where a djinn was able to do the mental hokey pokey on me. That made me think he was another uber, just like Reese, Shitfaced Fred, and so on. But this guy was too easy to kill. If he had been an uber, I doubt that a quick bite…
I paused at the memory of my chomping into his throat. Doing that would have required me to have fangs. Right?
Fuck.
I gingerly reached up and ran a finger along my teeth. They felt the same as always. Nothing pointier than normal, anyway. But I had the sneaking suspicion that if I really wanted them to pop out…
Shit. They did.
“Thon of a bisch,” I lisped and then, hearing myself, I added an eye roll. “Great. Tho I have fangth and I thound thtupid. How do theth guyth pick up chickth tho eathily?”
I pulled my fangs back in while rolling my eyes once more.
Ugh.
“Okay, Ian,” I said to myself as I tried to comprehend everything that had just happened, “you were touched by a djinn who was actually able to mess with your mind, you were bitten by a vampire who was also suckered into this by the djinn, and when that vampire’s venom sank into your system, you went seriously fucking ballistic.”
So why would the venom do that to me?
The fact was that components of all races had been found in my genetic makeup, including vampire, but this was the first time fangs had ever popped out. Could that mean other things could show up at the surface, too? Was Ian the Werewolf in my future? I groaned at the thought, hoping it would not be the case. The last thing I needed was to start marking trees in my neighborhood.
I had to figure this shit out.
Seeing that I wasn’t hungry anymore, I started heading back to my condo, wondering who I could turn to for help.
There was only one person I could think of who may have answers.
Gabe.
The problem was that he had a tendency of only showing himself after my crew and I finished whipping the crap out of an uber. Or maybe it was after I used his special code words? Maybe both? When we’d defeated Reese, I had no special words. Bah! Who the hell knew what his triggers were? Regardless, I’d already used the Antitoxin word he’d given me. If he somehow knew that, maybe it would be enough to bring him out of the shadows.
Honestly, I wished I could just speak with the Directors about this stuff. They were my bosses. They should have my back. But they’d become increasingly more tight-lipped as of late. Getting anything from them was nearly impossible.
“Hey, babe,” Rachel called through the connector just as I was about to hit the lobby of The Martin, “I’m back and about to take a shower. You nearby?”
I didn’t want to tell her what had happened until I had more information, or at least until I’d tried to get more information.
“I was just about to come up,” I replied, “but since you’re back, I’m going to snag the car and make a quick trip.”
“Where are you going?”
“Three Angry Wives Pub,” I replied, knowing she wasn’t a fan of my frequenting the place. “Need to see if Gabe is there.”
“Why?”
“I was thinking on my walk about things and I need his input,” I answered somewhat cryptically. “It’s not a big deal. I should be back to pick you up in about an hour.”
I could sense she wasn’t happy with my lack of information, but she let it go. That was good because I wasn’t exactly in the mood to discuss it with her. I knew she’d want to help, and that was cool, but her first reaction would be to freak out. That wouldn’t help the situation.
We disconnected and I made my way to the Aston Martin and drove off.
The pub was about twenty minutes away, off the main Strip. When you spent your time working primarily on the Strip, it was nice to have a place to hide out in. Besides, they had good burgers. Not that I was hungry anymore. In fact, the thought of my ripping into that djinn’s neck made me so nauseous that it may have served to curb my appetite for days.
I walked in, snagged a booth, ordered a Rusty Nail, and waited.
Gabe walked in before I’d even had the glass half drained.
Chapter 4
There weren’t any pleasantries this time. He signaled the waiter and then strolled over and took a seat, staring across at me.
I gave him a look.
“So are you my fairy godfather or something?”
I had to ask.
“No.” He smirked.
“Then how do you know when I’ll be here?” I challenged. “And how do you know when I’ve been in a fight?”
He nodded slowly. “It’s in my best interest to know, Mr. Dex. Frankly, it’s in yours as well.”
It wasn’t so much the response as the aloof nature with which it was served that made me want to punch him in the head. To be fair, though, I was going through a rumble of emotional angst at the moment. Suddenly having fangs when you are notorious for being irritable when people mistake you for a vampire will set you on edge.
“How is it in my best interest, Gabe?”
“Because you don’t exactly get help from anyone else, Mr. Dex. Unless that has changed?”
I sniffed.
“Yes,” he went on as his drink arrived, “I thought not. Pity, but expected.”
He took a few sips of his bourbon and set the glass down with measured control. See, he was a vampire. They were all into that prim and proper crap, except when they were feasting like a rabid jackal, of course.
But my anger was bubbling. I was containing it, but it wasn’t easy.
“What’s the deal, Gabe?” I asked.
“I’ve already told you that I’m not in a position to give you further information, Mr. Dex.”
I wasn’t the type who had eyes that smoldered, but my chemistry was in a serious state of flux and I knew if I didn’t release some of this steam, the teapot would start to whistle.
Thus, my eyes smoldered.
“Okay, you fuck wart,” I seethed, fighting to keep my voice to a low grumble so as not to freak out the rest of the clientele, “I want some goddamn answers. I’ve just been fooled by a djinn, bitten by a vampire, and I can now grow fangs. Where you may enjoy being one of the fanged ones, I don’t.”
He sat back, looking nonplussed. He was an arrogant bastard. Of course, that just gave me pause. On a conscious level anyway. Underneath my slowly-waning control raged a beast who was ready to pounce.
“First, Mr. Dex,” he said without inflection, “I shall request that you keep the name-calling to a minimum.”
“Dick spout,” I replied.
He paused and shook his head at me. “Secondly, we have been through this already, and you shall not be changing my position on the matter through threats and intimidation.”
“Then why are you here, Gabe?” I asked while pounding the table. Some guests looked over and I gave them a fake smile and a wave before turning back to the vampire before me. “Are you planning to give me another fun word to play with? Maybe Tickle or Jump or…oh, I know! How about Bite? I’ve got the fucking teeth for it now.”
The glass of bourbon came back up to meet his lips.
Oh, I just wanted to kill him.
And why shouldn’t I?
He was a vampire, and apparently I was too, now. Didn’t vampires always jostle for position? Wasn’t that the kind of game they…we play?
I cursed to myself.
“Worse than fucking mages,” I hissed.
“Pardon?”
“Pardon?” I mocked like a child. That only served to piss me off even more. “Look, Gabe, you’re either going to tell me what I want to know or I
’m going to kick your ass all over this bar.”
He tilted his head calmly. “Are you now?”
Okay, that slowed my aggression. I wasn’t ready for a relaxed response to my threat, especially not from a vampire. He was supposed to puff out his chest, show his fangs, and get his eyes going all red and glowy. No doubt like my eyes probably appeared at the moment.
“Yes?” I said, inadvertently making it sound like a question.
Damn it.
After another casual sip of his drink, he leaned forward.
“Mr. Dex, there is nothing to be gained by our fighting. Whether or not you can see it at the moment, I have been your only true asset throughout these last many months.”
He kept eye contact, which couldn’t have been easy. Smoldering eyes, remember?
“Who else has provided you with any tools needed to defeat the ubernaturals you have been facing?” He sniffed derisively. “Have the Directors been helpful?”
“No.”
“No, they have not,” he affirmed. “In fact, I would assume they’ve only become more distant with each demand for information you’ve given them.”
He was right, but he knew that, so there was no reason for me to reply.
“And have you threatened to do them physical harm as you have just done to me?”
I thought back on that. Nothing came to mind.
“No,” I replied after a moment. “I did call EQK names, but he’s kind of a titty swizzle.”
Gabe winced. “It appears as though your command over vulgarities is still intact, though I doubt that this has anything to do with the Words power I had provided before. Surely that’s worn off by now.”
“It has,” I replied, “and don’t call me Shirl…” I stopped myself. “Never mind.”
He had a point here, though. Why was I starting to use these colorful names? I usually just went with “dickhead” or “asshole” or something like that. The last few slurs I’d used were a little more creative than I was used to.
My jaw hung open.
“Oh, fuck,” I whimpered. “Are you saying that I’m not just doing the vampire thing, but I’ve got a little pixie in me?”
Yes, in hindsight I realize that sounded very wrong.
To his credit, and likely maturity and class, he didn’t reply with a giggle. I would have.
Instead, he merely said, “Tell me everything that happened earlier.”
I did, and not just the basic fight stuff, either. I laid out the emotions and everything. It felt like I was in a room with Dr. Vernon’s brother or something.
When I was finished, he sat back and pulled the glass of bourbon to his lips, drinking it slowly.
“The venom has unlocked some of your unique characteristics,” he mused, glancing around the room. Finally, his eyes came back up to meet mine. “You will need to keep yourself in check, Mr. Dex. Be wary of who you share this information with. Trust should be provided with extreme caution.”
“Even with you?” I asked pointedly, even though it was clearly too late.
“Again, Mr. Dex, I’ve been your only true help in all of this.” He pushed away from the table and stood up. “Can you say that about anyone else?”
“Yes,” I replied without hesitation.
He stopped and furrowed his brow. “Oh?”
“My entire team, Gabe.”
“Ah, yes.” His smile was weak. “Sorry, I meant someone of power.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
“Good evening, Mr. Dex,” he said, heading out. “There are no more Words for you, I’m afraid.”
Chapter 5
When I returned home, I found Rachel waiting for me on the couch. She didn’t look irritated or anything, but I could sense she wasn’t exactly happy about me being cryptic with her earlier.
“Hey, babe,” I said, wrestling with whether or not I should tell her what had happened. “How was your meeting with the good doctor?”
“It was fine,” she replied, looking me over, clearly noticing how my suit was all messed up. “How’s Gabe?”
“He’s…Gabe.”
I took off my jacket and looked at it. While I healed just fine, my clothes didn’t. I really needed to invest in getting one of those magical tailors to hook me up. Yes, I could afford a few thousand of these suits, but that didn’t mean it was good financial sense to indulge in such a way.
“So are you going to tell me what’s going on or should I just wait for the made-for-TV movie?”
Honestly, I’d prefer she waited for the movie. I mean, you gotta admit that it’d be pretty cool to have a movie about all the crap that’s happened to me. Right?
But looking into her eyes made it quite clear she wasn’t planning to wait for production houses, casting directors, and a budget.
I blew out a long breath.
Rachel was my girlfriend. No, she was more than that. She was the closest thing I’d likely ever get to a wife, life partner, soul mate, or whatever the hell people called it these days.
I took a seat next to her.
“Okay,” I said slowly, “I’m going to tell you what happened tonight and I don’t want you to freak out.”
“Why would I freak out?” she asked pointedly.
I told her everything that had happened, except for the bits where I got really emotional. I left that junk out.
“So you’re telling me that you’re a vampire now?” The question came with a couple of disbelieving eyebrows.
“I knew you wouldn’t believe me,” I groaned, “and I really didn’t want to have to do this, but here you go.”
My fangs popped out.
Her eyes nearly did, too.
Then a little sinister grin came over her.
“Sexy,” she said in a cat-meow sort of way.
“Theriouthly?”
She did a pig-snort laugh in response, quickly covering her mouth.
“Nice lisp.”
“Well, it’th not like theth thingth are eathy to…” I trailed off as her laughter broke out in full. The fangs went back in. “I’m incredibly happy you find this funny, babe.”
Rachel clearly caught on that she was being ridiculous. This wasn’t a joke, after all.
“Shit,” she said, instantly recovering. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” Then she shook her head. “But you’ve always been partially vampire, so this can’t be a huge shock to you. My guess is that you just had some sort of reaction to the vampire venom and it’ll pass as soon as your body has time to properly process it.”
I hadn’t considered that. Gabe didn’t point it out as being an option either. Maybe he didn’t know? He seemed to know a lot more about me than others did, but that didn’t mean he knew everything.
“That’s actually a good point,” I started, but then reality struck. “Wait, no, that’s not right.”
“Why not?”
“Because, Rachel, I’m also using creative foul language when I’m really riled up.”
She squinted and looked up to the left. “So?”
“So that means the pixie components of me have also been unleashed.” I held up a hand before she could respond. “No, Rachel, a pixie did not bite me, too.”
“Hmmm.”
My lady leaned back on the couch and crossed her arms. Usually when she did this, it meant I’d done something wrong, was doing something wrong, or was about to do something wrong. She was known to cross her arms rather frequently around me.
“Does anyone else know?” she finally asked.
“Just Gabe.”
“Do you trust him?”
“No,” I answered. “I mean…not a lot.” I moaned and began rubbing my temples. “Fuck, I don’t know. He has been the one feeding me these special skills that have helped us defeat these damn ubers as of late.”
“True,” she said. “Still, though, you might consider telling the Directors what’s going on.”
My eyes shot over at her so quickly that she seemed taken aback.
&n
bsp; “Not a chance,” I said, “and I’m telling you right now not to say anything to anybody about this until I have more information.”
She put her hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay. No need to bite my head off.”
That brought back the image of what I’d done to that damn djinn. Yes, he’d had it coming, but it still didn’t sit well with me. The thought made me sick.
“I’m sorry,” I rasped, putting my hand on her knee. “Look, I’m kind of mentally screwed up right now. My hormones are all out of whack, my emotions are completely shot, and I have the intense urge to kill anyone who even thinks about fucking with me. Do you have any idea what that’s like?”
Her response was in the way of a dull look, followed by, “If you’re having cramps, I’ll get you some Midol.”
I cracked a smile at that.
“Nice.”
We sat in silence for a few minutes. Obviously, she was processing things as much as I was. If there was any one person I could count on, though, it was her. The jury was still out on Gabe. I was hopeful, but I’d been around the block too many times to put my cards on the table with him just yet.
“What about the rest of the team?” she asked.
“I’m not sure yet,” I answered her sadly. “I want to trust them, and I probably will, but for now…no.”
Just as I was about to go into my reasoning behind this, my connector went off.
“Chief,” said Warren, the PPD wizard, “you there?”
“Hey, Warren,” I said aloud and through the connector as I shrugged at Rachel while patching her in. “What’s up?”
“You’re not going to believe this,” he replied, “but I’m down at New York-New York—”
“Why wouldn’t I believe that?” I asked, making an I-think-Warren-has-been-drinking sign at Rachel. “I’m sure you go to many casinos during your free time.”
Rachel rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, okay,” he said, sounding confused. “Anyway, I’m calling because there are a bunch of goblins down here wearing pinstriped suits, smoking cigars, and waving tommy guns around.”
“Well, that’s not good.”
“Nope. They haven’t done anything yet, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
Curse of Fangs: An Ian Dex Supernatural Thriller Book 6 (Las Vegas Paranormal Police Department) Page 2