Deal with the Devil

by Kevin Lee Swaim

  Cornelius and Minerva followed us out, and Cornelius swung the doors shut. I started to speak, but he shook his head curtly and waved us down the hallway. When we had reached the exterior door, he spoke quietly.

  “Nothing is as it should be, Sheriff. The queen is … full of malaise. Desmond and his pack control the city now.”

  Callie gave the vampire a calculating look. “Why do you stay with her?”

  That was a good question. I had almost felt sorry for the Vampire Queen, but then I remembered what she was and the sorrow turned to bitterness.

  They may not have killed since Henry warned them, but they have murdered before.

  Minerva regarded us with distaste. “She made us. She gave us the gift. How can we leave her? She’s not just our queen. She’s our…”

  “I understand,” Henry said.

  Cornelius leaned closer to Henry. “If someone has been killing the humans as you say, then it must be Desmond. He was always too … determined.” He withdrew a small notepad and a pencil and jotted something down, then tore the page off and handed it to Henry. “This is the address of Desmond’s club.”

  “I remember Desmond’s club,” Henry said.

  Cornelius shook his head. “That was his old club. His new club is something more suitable to his ambitions.”

  * * *

  Desmond’s club turned out to be an eight-story brick building with a granite face on the corner of Dearborn and Erie, next to a State Farm Insurance agent. We had parked in a parking deck one block north of the club, and while Callie had gazed longingly at the tailgate, she had left her shotgun behind. Henry had left his sword behind as well.

  As we walked south through the growing heat, I asked, “I hope you’re carrying.”

  Henry turned to me and his mouth quirked up in a smile. “Desmond is a businessman. Or he was the last time I spoke with him. I don’t expect trouble.” He took a few more steps and said, “And, yes, I’m carrying.”

  “Silver?”

  Henry snorted. “This ain’t my first rodeo, so I’m gonna pretend you didn’t just ask that.”

  I caught Callie’s eye and smiled. Then I remembered we were on our way to confront another pack of vampires, and my smile faded.

  Once we reached Desmond’s club, Henry took the steps to the front door, ignoring the boarded-up entrance to the left, and rapped his knuckle against the thick glass.

  Inside, a young woman with ebony skin, frosted white hair, and a black leather jumpsuit stared at us before finally opening the door. “What do you want?”

  “My friends and I would like a word with Desmond,” Henry said.

  The woman considered that. “You got an appointment?”

  “No,” Henry admitted, “but Desmond will want to speak with us.”

  “No appointment, no admittance, no exceptions,” the woman said as she closed the door.

  Henry’s hand shot out and caught the door before it could close, and his voice lowered an octave. There was a weight and pressure behind it that churned my stomach, just like at Lottie Graham’s warehouse. “Tell Desmond, or one of his people, that the sheriff would like a word. Do it now.”

  The woman’s eyes went glassy, and she stumbled back, then caught herself and said, “You’re one of them.”

  Henry turned to us. “It won’t be but a moment.”

  The woman’s eyes focused on us, and then she removed a walkie-talkie from her jumpsuit and whispered into it.

  Barely thirty seconds had passed before I felt the oily presence of a vampire in the back of my head, barely noticeable compared to the waves radiating from Henry. Inside, a powerfully built man in his thirties with mocha-colored skin and a precise buzz cut approached the woman and tapped her on the shoulder. “I’ve got this, Jordan.”

  The woman watched us warily before finally nodding and leaving.

  “Asa,” Henry said.

  The man said nothing for a moment before finally rumbling out, “Sheriff.”

  “It’s been a spell since we last met.”

  “What is time to us?”

  There was an uncomfortable silence.

  “I need to speak to Desmond.”

  Asa’s tongue flicked over his lips. “Will you promise not to kill anybody?”

  “Why?” Henry asked with an edge to his voice. “Does someone deserve killing?”

  “Not that I know of,” Asa said, opening the door and motioning for us to enter.

  Callie and I followed Henry in, and Asa’s mouth dropped open. “Are they…?”

  “They’re with me,” Henry said.

  “But, they’re—”

  “They will do you no harm, nor will any harm come to them. Do we have an accord?”

  Asa looked like he wanted to be anywhere but in the building’s small lobby. “Yes, Sheriff, we have an accord.”

  “Good.” Henry glanced around at the black marble. “Mighty upscale in here. Not at all like the old place.”

  Asa led us through the lobby and down a hallway to an elevator. The doors were shiny steel, and when he pushed the button, the doors opened immediately. Inside, it was antiseptic chrome and steel, with only two buttons. Asa pressed the top button, and the elevator rose quickly, then opened into a room with a thirty-foot ceiling. The walls and floor were covered in black marble, and a bar ran the length of one wall. Against the wall next to it was a small stage, with a circular catwalk in front. The room was full of tastefully decorated tables and chairs.

  In short, it looked like a fancy nightclub I wouldn’t have dreamed of visiting.

  Asa led us to the bar. “Would you … like a drink?”

  Henry raised an eyebrow, and Asa turned to us. “I meant, would the humans like a drink?”

  Callie glared at the vampire. “That’s not going to happen.”

  Asa nodded at her and looked questioningly at me. I shook my head and said, “Where’s Desmond?”

  Asa looked like he wanted to say something, but he shook his head. “I’ll get him.”

  Before he could take a step, I felt movement behind me and turned to find that two vampires, a man and a woman, had appeared behind us.

  “Who is this?” the man asked. He was also in his early thirties, over six feet tall, with bushy black hair and a crooked, wide nose. His skin was dark, darker than I thought possible, and his white teeth flashed in the light. A purple suit clung to his powerfully built body like a second skin.

  The female vampire was thin, all sharp angles and bones, but had a beauty that would make most men weak at the knees. Her red cocktail dress clung so tightly I thought I could see goose bumps, assuming vampires could even have goose bumps. She sniffed the air and said, “They’re humans and…”

  “And me,” Henry said. “Elijah. Greta.”

  The woman took a step back. “Sheriff. What brings you back?”

  “Just thought I’d make sure you are still honoring our agreement. You are honoring our agreement?”

  The man, Elijah, held up his hands. “You have nothing to worry about, Sheriff. We have honored the agreement.”

  “That’s good to hear,” Henry said, “but I’d feel a lot more comfortable if Desmond told me himself.”

  Footsteps echoed from a hallway, then a set of doors at the end of the bar opened, and a man stepped through. He wore an expensive dark suit and the gold rings on his fingers flashed. He was a little shorter than me and a little older. His head was shaved, and his dark skin almost glowed. He approached us and smiled.

  “Sheriff,” he said in a smooth baritone. “Good to see you, my friend.”

  “We’re friends now?”

  “Aren’t all vampires friends?” Desmond’s eyes flickered to us, then back to Henry. “Speaking of friends, I see you got some interesting friends yourself.” He turned to Callie, and his smile grew wider. He held out his hand, and when Callie didn’t move, he slowly lowered his hand and took hers and gave it a slight shake.

>   Callie pulled her hand away and rubbed her fingertips.

  Desmond turned to me. “You must be Sam Harlan.”

  I didn’t bother to hide my shock.

  “You look like Jack,” Desmond said. “I heard about what happened in Indianapolis. Silas was an animal. He gave all of us a bad name. I’m sorry about what happened to your wife and daughter, too. I’m glad Jack finally put him down.”

  I blurted out, “I’m the one that put Silas down.”

  If you’ve ever stood before the onslaught of a storm, you know that sometimes the air pressure drops and everything goes still. That’s how it felt in Desmond’s nightclub.

  All of Desmond’s clutch turned to me, and it was like standing in a spotlight. Desmond smiled, and his teeth sparkled in the light. “That’s how it happened? We heard stories, but the details were a little lacking, if you know what I’m saying.”

  “Who told you those details?” Henry asked.

  The smile never left Desmond’s face. “Tessa Spurlock. She was in the mansion when Jack attacked. She mentioned a young man and woman.”

  I glanced at Callie. Technically, it had been her sister, Katie, but Callie just clenched her jaw and nodded.

  “Spurlock?” Henry asked. “Where is this Spurlock?”

  “Are you looking for her?” Desmond asked pleasantly.

  Henry smiled back, but his face was hard. “Young men are missing.”

  “You don’t say? You think maybe Tessa has something to do with it?”

  “I didn’t say they were bled.”

  “You didn’t say nothing, Sheriff. Tell me why you’re here. Maybe I can help.”

  “Some of the missing men have been found,” I said. Henry gave me a small nod, so I continued. “We spoke to the queen. She said she didn’t do it. Now we’re here to speak with you.”

  “That’s unfortunate for those men,” Desmond said. “I promise you, Sheriff, we ain’t done nothing to violate our agreement. Tessa might have had something to do with it, but she’s gone missing.”

  “Missing?” I asked.

  “That’s right,” Desmond said. “A few weeks ago. Here one minute and gone the next. Maybe Garski knows where she went.”

  “You think Garski killed her?” Henry asked.

  “He is a hunter,” Desmond said. “He’s killed every vampire dumb enough to come to Chicago.”

  “You’ve spoken to him?”

  Desmond’s smile faded. “Not since the last time you was here. He creeps around the city. Sometimes he breaks in and ransacks the club. Not as much, since we moved, but I’ve seen him outside. Watching. He knows he can’t kill all of us, so he doesn’t risk attacking any of us.”

  “Why would a hunter track you if you’ve done nothing wrong?” I asked.

  Henry sighed. “Because they haven’t killed anyone since I warned them.”

  Desmond nodded. “Yeah. Before … we were … it’s in our nature, you know? But that’s the past. We get our blood without any humans being harmed.”

  “How?” Callie asked. “How can you drink from them without harming them?”

  Asa laughed, and the other vampires turned to glare at him. “What?” he asked. “That’s funny. They don’t get it. Not even the sheriff.”

  “What don’t I get?” Henry asked.

  Desmond was smiling again, this time more subdued. “What do you think of this place? I call it … the Crimson Dragon.”

  “I liked the Boom-Boom Room better,” Henry said.

  “That was the Checkerboard Lounge,” Desmond said. “This place ain’t like it. It’s no dive bar. We went upscale. We got the rich and powerful coming here. We got businessmen from the Chicago Board of Trade. Even the lieutenant governor comes here.”

  Henry sighed. “So?”

  “We ain’t wasting time with no monkey junk. It’s a new world, Sheriff, and we aim to rule it.”

  “I’m sure the Ancients would disagree. What you have, or what you think you have? You have it because the Ancients allow it.”

  “Ain’t nothing to allow,” Desmond said, spinning around with his hands held wide. “I’m taking this. Where are the Ancients? They ain’t here.”

  “I’m here,” Henry said softly. “Have you told your customers what you are? What you really are?”

  Desmond blinked. “They know, but they don’t know. They suspect. They come for the music, and the food, and the booze. It’s a thrill for them. Are vampires real? They don’t know and they don’t want to know. It’s part of the ambience.”

  Henry raised a hand. “You sell them your food, and booze, and music. You may even have a healthy amount of drugs and prostitutes in this building. That’s your business. But if you disclose our existence? You’re treading on the Ancients’ business.”

  There was a pressure in the room like there had been with the Queen of Chicago. The other vampires sensed it, and they all took a step back.

  “The missing men,” Henry said, his voice low and guttural. “I will find out what has befallen them. I will ascertain Tessa Spurlock’s involvement. The truth will come out. And, if I determine you broke our agreement, if you put your interests against the Ancients’ laws? You will suffer accordingly.”

  “Wait, wait, wait,” Desmond said. “Shit. We ain’t done none of that. We have people banging down our door, volunteering to give blood.”

  “We have a phlebotomist on staff,” Asa offered.

  I blinked. “You have someone to take blood for you? Like, with a needle?”

  “That’s what they were trying to tell you,” Greta said. “You men. You’re always about showing your power, strutting around with your cocks out. This nightclub is legit. I sing. The humans are entertained. A few of them offer up their blood. We don’t feed from them anymore. We gave that up years ago.”

  “You have tamed the thirst that plagues us?” Henry growled. “Not just the blood, but the spirit? The one thing that makes us feel truly full?”

  “No,” Desmond admitted. “But we get by. It ain’t us, Sheriff, I swear on my life.”

  “You are,” Henry said. “You are swearing on your life.”

  “If it ain’t Spurlock,” Desmond said, “it might be Garski. He is crazy. Obsessed. He might be trying to frame us.”

  “Frame you?” Callie asked. “Joe Garski is a good man. A holy man. You think a … a hunter could murder someone in cold blood?”

  Desmond smiled sadly. “I’ve seen a lot of monsters in my day, little miss, and they weren’t all vampires.”

  * * *

  I followed Henry through the heavy traffic. The sun was past its zenith, and the tall buildings cast long shadows. The streets were packed as people power-walked to their destinations, and we carefully avoided running over a group of tourists on a Segway tour of downtown. Within a few minutes, we were following Henry through a steel gate into a small driveway next to an honest-to-goodness four-story brick mansion.

  As I pulled up next to Henry’s Suburban, Callie shook her head. “This … looks so out of place here.”

  From the brick-paved driveway, the house looked like something out of an old gangster movie. Before the steel door rumbled shut, I caught a glimpse of the skyscrapers of downtown Chicago less than a mile away. “What do you think we’re doing here?”

  Before Callie could answer, Henry climbed out of the Suburban and motioned for us to join him. As we did, I asked, “Do we need any weapons?”

  Henry offered us a rare smile. “There’s no danger here. This is my home.”

  I turned to stare at him. “I thought you lived in Thermopolis.”

  “I do now. This was from before I met Alma.”

  “Wait,” Callie said. “You own a mansion?”

  “Well,” Henry allowed, “it’s more like the Ancients own it. Anyway, let’s go in. I need to think for a spell on what’s happened.”

  The steps to the back door were guarded by a pair of leering stone gargoyles w
ho watched us with frozen faces, and I was reminded of the Foo Dog I had battled right after Christmas. I shuddered and turned to see Callie staring at the gargoyles.

  An unpleasant look crossed her face, and she muttered, “I hate those things.”

  Henry turned to us and said softly, “They’re only sculptures. They won’t come to life and rip your throats out.”

  I had told Henry of what had happened at Allerton Park, and how the witches there had animated the Foo Dog, and how the demon Haagenti had tried to sacrifice us to learn the secrets of vampires. “It’s fine. Just … not something we take lightly anymore.”

  “Point taken,” Henry said. “Always good to be cautious.”

  We followed him up the steps and into the foyer. Dark oak wainscoting covered the walls, and it matched the well-maintained oak flooring. The house had clearly been built shortly after the turn of the century.

  The nineteenth century.

  Henry led us down a hallway, opened a pair of elegant glass doors, and ushered us into a room easily the size of Jack’s house in Toledo. He glanced around and muttered, “That’s odd. Xavier should be here.”

  “Xavier?” I asked.

  Henry stopped and held up his hand, sniffing the air like a dog. “Xavier takes care of the house. He’s—”

  I felt something then, something that brushed against that place where the dark vampire urges lay quietly still. “Something’s wrong.”

  “What’s wrong?” Callie asked.

  Henry’s voice was hoarse. “A trap. It’s a—”

  There was a pinging of metal as something struck the oak floor and bounced closer, then a bright flash of light blinded me. Before I could react, there was a soft spoosh and then a sharp pain in my gut. I blinked, trying to clear my vision, and the acrid smell of smoke filled my nostrils, then every nerve in my body fired as electricity jolted through me.

  In a fraction of a second, while my body was on fire, I had time to realize what was happening.

  I’m being tased!

  Callie screamed next to me and then I heard the meaty sound of flesh against flesh. Callie’s screams stopped as suddenly as if someone had thrown a switch.

  “Stay away from her,” Henry gasped.

  The electricity coursing through me stopped, and I collapsed to the floor. Over the sound of Callie’s soft whimpering, I heard footsteps approaching.