“There’s a cell phone and about thirty dollars. The debit card is useless ‘cuz I’m outta work right now.”
Instead of reaching for the bag, he tore off his sunglasses and revealed pale blue eyes that flashed iridescently in the low light of the shade.
“Cut the shit, Lucinda.”
At the sound of my full name, I froze. My index finger twitched instinctively to release a CPA from the wrist holder that I always wore, only to find that it was missing. That was impossible! Aside from showering and sleeping, I never took it off. The vampire noticed my action and grinned wickedly. He held out his hand, palm up, and with a flick of his wrist, my holster appeared, as if by magic, in his grasp.
“You ain’t the only one handy with smoke and mirrors, doll.”
“Who are you?” I asked sharply. “And what do you want from me?”
“Don’t matter who I am,” he sneered, “and what I want is you to listen carefully. You ain’t much use to me dead, but you so much as look like you gonna scream and I won’t hesitate to nail you with one of your own weapons, y’hear me?” For emphasis, he unsheathed a CPA and flicked it to active, using the same two-fingered technique that was my own signature move.
I nodded silently and didn’t have to fake the fear this time. His speech and mannerisms struck me as strangely off base. While most vampires who troll for victims around New Orleans affected a slight dialect, they were programmed to know their superiority over humans and it came through in the way they spoke. This guy was straight up backwater hick and I had a bad feeling he wasn’t local. As in, somewhere two hours north of Baton Rouge in the middle of the swamp, not local.
“Good girl,” he leered, flicking the CPA on and off with an eerily practiced ease. “Now listen, I got my truck parked just outside this fence here, see? You and I are gonna walk on out of here like we just been enjoying a day in the park and we’re gonna get in my truck, okay?”
I nodded again. My mind raced for an opportunity to turn the tables without losing my life. Unarmed against a vampire was bad enough. I may be half-mod myself, but I didn’t inherit the super strength most mods I’ve tangled with had. No, the real problem was trying to outwit a vampire who appeared to know every cheap parlor trick that I did and would likely anticipate my next move before I even made it.
“Are you taking me to Blackthorn Plantation?” Apparently, the plan I chose to go with was my other talent, which was not knowing when to shut up. It worked though. He looked at me with surprise and confusion.
“How’d you know about Blackthorn?”
“My father’s there,” I said with a nonchalant shrug. I figured that honesty might not only buy me time, but get me some answers as well. “His name is Isaac Gillman, do you know him?”
“That crazy negro my daddy got locked up? I don’t know what you tryin’ to pull, but you making me jumpy,” he pointed my CPA in my face for emphasis, “and you make me jumpy, you die, got that?”
Once I got past the automatic revulsion from the racial slur, I was shocked by his use of it. Not that I didn’t realize racism still existed. Seeing it in action on a regular basis was one of the unfortunate side effects of living in the south. But just like his mannerisms, it was extremely out of character for a vampire. To them, all of humanity was one, homogenized, inferior race with no regard to skin color or culture. Besides that, I realized he had just called Bluebeard his 'daddy,' a term no vampire would ever use unless they were defective. I was willing to bet anything that this guy was part human and that intrigued me as much as it scared me.
“Sorry, I’m not trying to make you jumpy,” I said gently. “I just wondered if you knew him. You knew my real name, that’s all. Did you know the other Lucinda? The lost one?” I was pressing my luck and I knew it, but I was close. My questions were throwing him off.
“I don’t know about any lost nothin’, so you better stop talkin’ and start walkin’, you get me?”
“Okay, okay!” I put my hands up in defense. “I just wondered because the last guy your daddy sent after me mentioned the lost one.”
“Last guy? What last guy?” That finally got him. He made the mistake of putting his hands on his hips, which meant he was no longer pushing my CPA in my face.
“The last guy your daddy sent,” I said sweetly, “the one I killed.”
I lashed out with a kick to the groin. Cheap, I know, but it worked. He dropped the CPA as he crumpled forward. My first instinct was to go for it, but I was betting on his anticipation of my doing exactly that, so instead I landed an elbow on the back of his head and brought my knee to his groin again. I threw him to the side opposite the fallen weapon and dove for it. I grabbed the CPA and rounded, ready to strike, but with a gasp, I pulled back. A spent CPA stuck out of the back of his neck. I lifted my gaze and found Andre, who was suddenly standing over him and glaring at me.
“How?” I wheezed.
“How did I know you were going to take off on another halfcocked adventure or how did I know you were going to get into trouble? You really haven’t mastered the art of subtlety, have you?”
Andre removed the spent CPA from the vampire’s neck and sent a message back to headquarters for an emergency retrieval. I snatched my holster off the ground and secured it firmly back on my wrist. I avoided looking at or replying to Andre because the last thing I needed to do was start a very vocal fight in a public cemetery with a dead vampire at my feet. Instead, I started going through the vampire’s pockets.
“Lucy, what the hell are you doing?”
I ignored the comment and kept digging. He had been wearing cargo pants, and between all of the pockets, this guy could have given most women’s purses a run for their money. He had keys, a switchblade, several watches and bracelets, four different wallets all with different out-of-state IDs. Apparently, my first impression had been right, he was a first class pickpocket. Another trait that went against everything I knew about mods. I piled the magpie collection of stolen items to one side as I searched. Finally, I pulled out a stack of business cards and hit pay dirt.
His name was Jonesy Barker and he ran ‘swamp tours’ for Blackthorn Adventure Vacations. The agency’s address was printed on the card, and to my surprise, I had been right again, it was just two blocks from the cemetery. I pocketed one of the cards and held the stack out to Andre.
“You can’t take the body back to headquarters. I’ll bet money he’s chipped.”
Andre read the card and looked up at me. “You’re probably right, but that doesn’t explain what you were doing out here.”
“I was trying to stay alive if you hadn’t noticed.” I said sarcastically. “I was trying to squeeze past a tour group and he grabbed me. I thought he was a garden variety mugger.” Ha, garden variety, Garden district…okay it probably wasn’t that funny. “I was wrong.”
“I meant what were you doing all the way down here when Evan told you to stay close?”
“I needed some exercise, Andre,” I said with a sigh. “I told Evan I wouldn’t leave town. This is still New Orleans.”
“We have a gym, Lucy.”
“Maybe I didn’t want to stare at the gym walls! You’re acting as if I’m guilty of something. You’re the one who followed me. It’s not like I knew I was going to be followed or attacked.”
“That’s not what it sounded like to me.”
“Huh?”
“What was that you said about the last vampire that came after you?” Andre’s voice didn’t rise, but it was laced with anger. “What other vampire came looking for you and what were you doing wandering off when you knew there were people after you?”
I started to get angry right back. “First of all, it was the night I found Cynda. I had no idea at the time that the vampire was looking for me. I only just now put two and two together. And second of all, I’m getting sick of you telling me what I can and can’t do! I can’t go a few blocks by myself, but you can leave the country for months without letting me know? You’re as chauvinistic as
a mod!”
“I’m not the one being hunted,” he hissed. “You would have been dead if I hadn’t shown up.”
I glanced down at the CPA in my hand, the one that Jonesy had just threatened me with. The one that I would have used just seconds later if Andre hadn’t shown up. Getting mad at me for taking a walk alone was bad enough, insulting my ability to defend myself was a slap in the face.
“Well if that’s the level of confidence you have in me then why fucking bother?” To my credit, I didn’t raise my voice, but it was husky with anger and hurt. I picked up my bag from where it had fallen and slung it over my shoulder. “When you’ve got the transmitter figured out, have Evan tell me and I’ll start making plans. But until then, stay the hell away from me.”
I turned my back on him and walked as quickly as I could while maintaining as much dignity as I could muster. I made it twenty feet before he grabbed my arm.
“Lucy, don’t you dare leave. If you want me to leave you alone fine, but you’re not walking all the way back alone, not after this.”
“Fine,” I jerked my arm out of his grip and gave him the most hateful glare I had in me. “I’ll take the streetcar.”
Chapter 13
As I stepped off the streetcar and onto the corner of Canal, I realized it was almost five and Miles wanted me to join him for a workout. I considered shooting him a text to cancel. Headquarters was the last place I wanted to be and I didn’t want to risk running into Andre. But after our fight, I was still too amped up on anger and adrenaline to go home. I hesitated on the corner for a moment and finally decided that if I wasn’t going to let Andre dictate where I went, then that included headquarters.
“Well, look who decided to show up?”
“That’ll be fifty bucks, Miles. I told you she’d want to let off some steam.”
I grabbed a box of practice weapons off the shelf by the door and glared, which only made them laugh. “Oh we’ll see who is laughing when I wipe the floor with you!” I challenged, which made them laugh harder. I should have laughed right along with them, but after Andre pretty much told me I was useless, I had a chip on my shoulder. I grabbed two practice weapons and tossed the box aside. With a flick of my wrists, I had them in an attack position.
“Well? Who’s first?”
The practice session was exactly what I had needed. Sure, I was rusty and within twenty minutes, I was so soaked with sweat that I had to wring my hair out, but all the running, jumping, dodging, and jabbing melted away my anger and I began to truly enjoy myself. By the end of the hour, I was even laughing and joining in the trash talk that Miles and Hugh were throwing at each other.
“Thanks guys,” I panted. “I really needed that.”
“We’re here every day at five, Lucy,” Hugh reminded me.
“I might just take you up on that.” I grabbed my water bottle and tossed my towels into the bin by the door. “I’ll see you guys later.”
“Where you going?” Miles asked.
“Probably back home. I’m starved and I kinda want to just chill out. It’s been a…crazy day.” I didn’t elaborate, but I’d bet money they at least heard something about the fight with Andre, even if they were too polite to bring it up.
“Chill out later. You are cordially invited to dinner with me and the missus.”
“Thanks Miles, that’s sweet of you but…” Despite my earlier resolution, I really didn’t want to deal with Andre. Not that he spent much time in the dining room, but knowing my luck, today would be the exception.
“No buts,” Miles said firmly. “Lona misses you and for some crazy reason, I do too. Besides, you don’t have to worry about running into anyone.”
“Oh? Who would I be worried about running into?” I asked coyly.
“No idea.” Miles grinned back at me. “But Andre ain’t been back, and Evan and Abe high tailed it out of here the minute they found out that vamp wasn’t coming to headquarters. Did I mention Ida’s making gumbo?”
“All right, all right!” I threw up my hands in mock surrender. “I’m going to go see if I have any spare clothes. I don’t think anyone misses me enough to smell me right now.”
Luckily, I still had a pair of jeans and some shirts in my old room. After a shower, I headed down to the dining room, where Lona waved to me from a table by the window.
“Hey Lona! I thought you’d want to sit outside?” When I was living at headquarters, Lona and I usually took our meals up to the rooftop garden.
“I can’t,” she replied with a frown, “the humidity bugs me now.”
“More joys of pregnancy?” I teased.
“I can’t wait to be a mother, but wow, the last two months make me think he’s going to be an only child.”
“What? I want my army!” Miles slid into the chair next to Lona and dropped a tray laden with steaming bowls of gumbo and fresh baked rolls on the table. The scent of the rolls made my stomach growl.
“We’re just going to have to adopt your army,” Lona told him.
“That might end up being easier than you’d think,” I muttered with a grimace.
“Good point,” Lona said with a sad smile. “Any new progress on that?”
“Hopefully,” I said through a mouthful of bread. “I know it makes sense to try and get those kids out of there before we go after Bluebeard, but I don’t like that while we’re here safely planning, their lives are in danger. I don’t see why we don’t just take the entire team down there and raid the place. Just have half the group go round up the kids and have the other half storm the main house and kill Bluebeard and his cronies.”
“I asked Evan the same thing. According to Cynda, the whole place is rigged with traps and he’s been known to use the pain those transmitters let off as punishment. Evan thinks it’s likely that Bluebeard could use that feature to kill them if he thinks he’s been compromised,” Miles explained.
“Well they need to hurry up and figure the technical stuff out because I’m starting to lose it a little. The more I learn about this place and the more I find out about my… never mind,” I sighed. As much as I was dying to have someone to talk to about the strange events of the last few days, I wasn’t entirely comfortable thinking about it let alone talking. But Lona and Miles were the first real friends I had ever made and I knew everything about them, even the uncomfortable stuff like Lona’s horrific past. “I don’t know what rumors are going around, but I can assure you that the truth, at least what I know of it, is probably a lot worse.”
“What are you talking about?” Lona asked.
“Remember how you noticed that Cynda and I looked alike?”
Lona nodded. “I’m guessing she’s Isaac’s daughter too? Oh yeah, we pretty much confirmed the rumor that Isaac is your father.”
“Well yes and no. Isaac is my father, but Cynda is only technically his daughter. She’s my…” I sighed at how ridiculous and dramatic I sounded. “She’s got my DNA. All of it, plus a few modifications. She’s my clone.”
“How?” Miles asked.
“I don’t know, but Isaac told me that he pretty much spent most of my life trying to make sure Bluebeard didn’t find me. All I can guess is that he was a little too late. I’m lucky I wasn’t abducted or anything. But I think they found me again.” I told them about the vampire that called me Lucinda on the night I found Cynda. “I thought he was talking about her, but then there was that vamp today.” I shuddered. “He called me Lucinda. God that was so scary! He disarmed me without my knowing and then threatened me with my own CPA. He used my technique to unlock the safety! I mean, sure, he had a bunch of stolen wallets and he took my holster off without my noticing, so he already knew some tricks, but how did he know how to unlock a CPA? Someone had to have been watching me for a while and that freaks me out.”
Lona looked surprised, but there was something telling in Miles’ frown that I didn’t like.
“What do you know that I don’t?” I asked him.
“What? Nothing, I didn’t know
any of that. Well except about Isaac, but you got me thinking, Lucy, and I don’t like it.”
“What about?”
“Well, you aren’t gonna like it either, but Andre’s right. You can’t be wandering off. I’d hate to think what might have happened if he hadn’t followed when he saw you were gone.”
He had no idea how much I didn’t like that. Andre being a jerk hurt, but at least I was used to it. Miles though, that I didn’t expect.
“Okay, hold up a second. I don’t know what bull crap he fed you, but if Andre hadn’t shown up, I would have killed the vampire two seconds later. I had already attacked him and got my weapon back by the time he showed up acting like a smug asshole. Yeah, I’m going to be on guard and not do anything reckless, but I’m not going to hide when I am more than capable of defending myself. Something you taught me in case you forgot!”
“Hey, no one is trying to keep you hidden away, but come on Luce, you were on a crowded street in the middle of the day and you were attacked. Sure, maybe you would have survived, but getting mad at Andre for caring enough about you to make sure you did isn’t right.”
I almost laughed out loud at the concept of Andre caring about me. He stopped caring the day he left for Paris. The glimmer of hope I had carried upon his return died earlier in the day along with the vampire. “Look, I can take care of myself. Andre is aware of this. I get that he’s over me and I’m over him as well, but that doesn’t give him the right to talk smack about me behind my back.”
“Are you really?” Miles asked with an annoying smirk.
“Am I really what?”
“Over Andre.”
“I’m not even going to answer that,” I growled and attacked another dinner roll.
“You might try talking to him,” Lona said quietly.
“I have,” I pouted, “but he’s not the easiest person to talk to, you know.”
“You didn’t seem to have any problems before,” she reminded me. I didn’t want to think about it.
The Eyes of the Sun: The Complete Trilogy Page 43