“I don’t mind,” he said, setting down his empty wine glass and leaning back against the sofa with a playful look. “What would you like to talk about?”
“How much I missed you today,” I said softly, setting my glass on the coffee table before turning to him with a shy smile.
“I’ve missed you too.” He leaned in and kissed me softly. “But I don’t want to talk about that,” he said and stood up, pulling me up off the sofa as well.
“You don’t?” I asked, somewhat confused until he put his arms around me and buried his face in the crook of my neck.
“No,” he whispered, letting his lips dance lightly against my earlobe, giving me very pleasant chills. “I want to remedy that.”
As he led me up the stairs to our bedroom, I was glad I kept what I knew about the painting to myself. Moments when we had more than a few minutes of time alone together were too few and far between to waste arguing about ghosts.
“It’s almost eight. Do you want to get up and go for a jog before breakfast?”
I pulled the comforter up over my head in an attempt to block out the sunlight streaming through our bedroom windows. “Mmph, no. I like it here. It’s warm. You’re warm. Cancel everything. I’m staying in bed for the rest of my life.”
“As wonderful as that sounds,” Andre laughed, inching the comforter away from my face, “I’m afraid I don’t have the authority to cancel everything. Come on, the weather’s perfect. I’ll buy you a coffee from that place you like on the way back.”
“Ugh, fine,” I grumbled and pushed myself up into a sitting position, immediately regretting the sudden motion. “Just… give me a moment.” My head had begun to throb again.
“Are you okay?” he asked, noticing my pained expression.
“I’m fine,” I lied, but immediately felt bad about it. “It’s a headache, but I’ll be fine. I’ve been getting them off and on, but I went to see Abe last night and there’s nothing wrong with me other than stress.”
“If you’re stressed enough to get headaches then it’s something to worry about,” Andre said with a frown, making me feel worse about telling him than I did about hiding it.
"Abe wasn't that worried," I said dismissively and dragged myself out of bed and into a pair of sweat pants.
"But I am," Andre informed me sternly. "I'm serious, Lucy. Don't hide things like this. I don't care how minor you think a headache is, telling me isn't going to inconvenience me. Communicate, okay?"
"Okay," I promised with a quick kiss before heading down to the kitchen. The fact that I had just lectured Cynda on the importance of communication was not lost on me. Still, I wasn’t quite ready to tell Andre what prompted me to go to Abe in the first place.
Ben was already awake and eating cereal in front of the television, watching Saturday morning cartoons.
“Andre and I are going to go for a jog in the park. You wanna come with us and give Monster a little exercise?”
“Rory’s dad is picking me up for soccer tryouts in a few minutes,” he answered around a mouthful of Cocoa Puffs.
“That’s right! I forgot that was this morning. Good luck then, slugger!”
“Slugger?” He gave me a look that indicated I had said something to show my obliviousness to sports.
“It’s a sports word, right? Sluggers, um, catch slugs or something.” Perhaps I was a little oblivious. The snooty private school I attended didn’t offer the same extracurricular sports as most public schools. Instead of football or baseball, our star athletes were members of the archery and horseback riding clubs.
“A slugger is the name for a batter who hits a lot of homeruns,” Andre supplied from the kitchen. “Soccer doesn’t involve baseball bats.”
“Sorry, girls aren’t born with sports terms dictionaries implanted in our brains,” I informed him and stuck out my tongue. At least that got a laugh out of Ben.
After seeing Ben off, Andre and I left for the park, towing along Monster, who seemed more interested in sniffing every tree in the neighborhood than getting any exercise. Luckily, he lost interest by the time we reached the jogging trail, so we were all able to get in a few good miles of running before his puppy legs gave out and he began whining for a rest.
“Ah, perfect timing,” I said with a laugh when I noticed the coffee stand up ahead. “Good boy, Monster. Water for you and coffee for me.”
“Water for you as well,” Andre said sternly. “Hydration is important.”
“Coffee is mostly water,” I shot back with a wink, but still grabbed a bottle from the cooler for myself.
After a brief rest, we turned down the wooded trail that would take us back to our neighborhood. Andre had used our rest to catch up on everything that had happened the day before, so I was expecting a conversation. Unfortunately, he went right for the one I least wanted to have.
"So, Oscar still refuses to stay dead."
It was hard to ignore the subtle accusation in his tone, so I didn't.
"I assure you, Oscar is dead, Andre. But you know who isn’t? Karen."
"Karen? Did I miss something?"
"Kind of hard to miss when she’s shoving her boobs in your face every chance she gets," I snapped, my good mood slipping away faster than I could rein in my temper.
"Okay, look, I don't know what this has to do with anything, but in case you didn't notice, I haven't exactly encouraged or enjoyed Karen's attentions,” Andre said with a hurt look. “Why are you all of the sudden acting like I'm guilty of something?"
"Because it isn't pleasant, is it?” I said with an exasperated sigh. “Do you think it doesn’t hurt me whenever I see Karen hitting on you? It does. It hurts and I get jealous, but I don’t take that out on you because I know you love me and wouldn’t do something to hurt me like that. Andre, Oscar is dead. Beyond that, he was a murderous stalker who abducted me and tried to kill you. I did nothing to encourage his obsession with me. Nothing at all, yet every time he’s brought up, you act as if I’m somehow to blame. Can’t you see why this upsets me?”
"I'm not accusing you of anything, Lucy,” he replied. “But you have to admit, it seems like more than a coincidence that he's somehow involved in this."
"Oh, I'm not naive enough to think this is a coincidence,” I informed him. “But Oscar is dead, Andre. You personally confirmed this when you pulled his body out of the wreckage. Oscar is not a threat to anyone, but someone is. Can we concentrate on that for a moment?”
“Of course, but we can’t ignore this either. What we need to do is… Oof! Hey, Monster, come on!” Andre was tugged backwards as Monster’s leash pulled taut. The dog had found something particularly interesting in the bushes and didn’t respond to the gentle tug on the leash.
“Probably a dead bird or something,” I said and grabbed Monster, who was making a weird whimpering noise, by his collar. “Come on boy, get away from there. What? It’s just an old… oh my god.” I jumped back. What I had thought was just an old gym shoe was attached to a leg, which was attached to a body. A horribly and brutally murdered body. “Andre, call the police,” I said as I turned away.
“I just sent an alert,” he replied, causing me to jump again. I hadn’t realized he was right behind me.
“An alert?” I asked. Alerts were sent to headquarters as well as the special police unit that dealt with our organization and vampire issues.
“That’s definitely a vampire and that’s definitely a message intended for someone.”
I took a deep breath and turned around to take a closer look at the body. An iron railroad spike had been hammered into the chest, presumably through the heart. The head had been severed from the body and a whole head of garlic had been shoved into its mouth. I recognized all of these as traditional methods of killing a vampire from folklore, none of which were practical. Andre was right. This was clearly intended as a message for someone.
“Your father just sent a message. Evan’s on his way and someone from the force will be here as soon as possible. He
didn’t go into details, but apparently, they’ve been busy this morning. I don’t like the sound of that.”
Nor did I. Already, my head was starting to ache and seeing the mutilated vampire corpse wasn’t helping keep back the growing nausea. In fact, by the time Evan arrived, along with Miles and two government agents, I was nearly ready to excuse myself and find a private area so I could go throw up.
“Which is it, vampire or victim?” Miles asked as Evan went to inspect the body and the agents began blocking off the crime scene.
“Vampire,” Andre replied. “Well, a dead one, so I guess he’s a victim as well. What’s going on?”
“A mass murder from the looks of it. Bodies are turning up all over the city this morning. Human and vampire bodies. The humans have bites on their necks and have been drained dry. The vamps all look like they were killed by traditional methods. It has been a goddamn nightmare.”
“Why weren’t we called?” I asked, both upset that Andre and I were currently out of the loop, and more than a little freaked out by the implications.
“You probably would have been soon. Evan just called me in an hour ago.” Miles replied. “Half the hunters are out assisting the police right now. More feds are on their way.”
Evan jogged up to our group. “Where’s Ben?” he asked.
“Soccer tryouts,” Andre replied. “Actually, it’s over in about ten minutes and I don’t like the idea of him being home alone right now.”
“Get him, grab whatever you may need for a few days, and go straight to headquarters. Mike will brief you on what’s been going on. Be ready to move, both of you. I have a bad feeling I might be calling you out to assist with this.”
We sprinted the half mile back to our neighborhood, slowing down to a jog only after we were once again on the residential streets.
“Three weeks,” I said with a sigh. “I was hoping for a whole month this time.” Andre and I had only moved into our house by the park two months earlier and already we had been evacuated back to headquarters four times for everyone’s safety. I understood why Evan wanted us all in one secure location, but it still annoyed me. Both Andre and I felt that the constant threat of danger was setting back Ben’s progress.
“Yeah, me too,” he replied. “Pack extra this time. Halloween’s next week and I doubt Evan’s going to let us go back before then.” Considering the scale of the attack on our organization last Halloween, and the fact that Andre would have likely died if his blood type hadn’t been compatible with mine, he was probably right.
Our bags were already in the truck by the time Ben was dropped off. The huge grin on his face as he waved goodbye to his friends nearly broke my heart. It was horrible, but I had almost hoped that he would have hated sports for no other reason than I wasn’t sure if it was safe for him to join the league under the current circumstances. While Ben was changing, I mentioned this to Andre.
“I’ll deal with Evan if it comes to that,” he said fiercely. “Ben’s going to have as normal a life as I can give him. It’s the least he deserves.” I just hoped that it was a promise he could keep.
After sending Ben and the dog up to the rooftop garden to play with some of the other kids who were already at headquarters, Andre and I went to see Mike, who acknowledged us with a brief wave as we entered the security office. From the bags under his eyes and his haggard expression, it looked as if he hadn’t left his post since he began his shift the evening before.
“Dennis just reported back, the area is secured. Andre and Lucy just arrived… Got it… Be safe out there, Evan.” He disconnected the call and looked up at us with a weary smile. “I hope you’re both well rested because there doesn’t seem to be an end to this madness in sight.”
“What happened?” I asked. “Miles said that bodies have been showing up all over town.”
“Sixteen so far,” Mike confirmed with a grimace. “And it’s all over the news, though I would advise against even looking at that cluster fuh… um, mess.”
“The one we found had an iron stake through the heart and a severed head,” Andre told him. “It looks a lot like someone is trying to inform the general public that vampires exist.”
“That’s exactly what we’ve come up with, but we’re having a bit of trouble with the 'who and why.'”
“Or how,” I added. “Sixteen dead is a lot of bodies and that doesn’t even account for the time it probably took to stage the Hollywood theatrics.”
“It’s not out of the realm of possibility for the Daughters,” Andre suggested. “Look at how big their attack on us last year was.”
“Not to mention that they are still suspect number one,” Mike added. “But alerting the public to the existence of vampires isn’t going to work in their favor in the long run.”
“But as a terror tactic, it’s brilliant,” Andre replied.
“Yeah, I guess,” I said with a heavy sigh. “I know I’m going to start sounding paranoid, but this kind of attack has the government written all over it. I mean, look, if people discover that vampires are real, how many of them are going to sit down and listen to the facts about natural versus mods and everything that we already know? I’m guessing none. People are going to panic and they are going to want the government to protect them. If that means labeling innocent people as criminals because of their genetics, so what, right? That’s only about ten percent of the US population and I’m sorry, but we as a society don’t exactly have a stellar history of caring about minority rights. Especially when we perceive them as being some sort of a threat against us.”
“I’m pretty sure Evan’s taken that into consideration,” Mike said with a nod. “I’m also pretty sure that’s why he informed them of the issue in the first place. In fact, he specifically asked for the two of you to pair up with certain agents. I’m guessing he wants a read on their reactions.”
It made sense. Between my observational skills and Andre’s photographic memory, we were probably best suited for doing just that. Unfortunately, I had a bad feeling Evan was going to purposefully pair us with the agents who were least tolerant of vampires and I had a bad habit of not knowing when it was in my best interest to keep my mouth shut.
The door opened and Holly, the other security officer, slunk into the room with a huge cup of coffee, looking as though she had only just woke up.
“Morning folks,” she said with a breezy smile, setting the cup down on the console.
“Is that for me?” Mike asked with a hopeful smile.
“Hell no, this is mine. You are under official orders from Evan to, and I quote, get your ass to bed and don’t show your face again until the sun has gone down.”
“You’ll get no argument out of me, lass,” Mike said with a yawn. “I’ve no doubt I’ll see you all this evening. You kids be careful out there.”
Holly plugged her own headset into the console and gave me a conspiratorial smile.
“Late night?” I asked. Holly had recently admitted that she had begun something of an internet relationship with one of the members of the Paris team, but as of yet, she had been reluctant to tell me who it was. Given the mental and physical abuse she had been through prior to joining the outreach, it was a pretty big step for her. While I was happy that she felt comfortable enough to start chatting with someone online, I still worried about her and had told her as much.
“Maybe,” she drawled coyly, but her face quickly fell as she hit a few keys on the console. “It’s show time, guys, and just a heads up, this one sucks. Audubon Zoo. Bring blanks. The regular police, park security, and a news team are already at the scene. Agents Goff and Timmons are in route.”
Chapter 7
Holly’s assessment of the situation was an understatement. As it was, it was almost eleven on a pleasant Saturday, so the zoo was packed with families. By the time we arrived, the news crew had expanded to three channels including a national cable network. As we pushed our way up to the police blockade, I heard snippets such as “apparent mass murder,” �
�gang initiation,” and even “a speculated act of terrorism.” I should have been relieved that I didn’t hear the word “vampire,” but it didn’t matter. Once the word terrorism started getting thrown around, there was really no way the government or the city were going to be able to keep the situation under wraps.
Goff and Timmons met us at the blockade and handed each of us a badge that read, “FBI Special Investigation Unit.” The menacing, yet vague titles above our names and passport photos allowed us to enter the scene without incident.
“Looks like we’re government contractors again,” I muttered sarcastically.
“Not exactly,” Goff replied with an icy smile. “No such unit exists and we’re only FBI on a technicality. You have to admit, it’s a convenient cover.”
“It was meant as a joke,” I replied with a forced smile. I hadn’t worked with her partner, Timmons, before, but Goff was a puzzle of an agent and admittedly, I didn’t like her very much. Aside from being a bit standoffish, she was never outright rude to me or the other members of the organization, but she was firmly anti-vampire. Interestingly, Goff was a New Orleans native and carried the hunter’s enzyme. She had even been asked to join the team a few years back, but declined. I wondered if she realized that this made her just as much a minority as the vampires she disliked so much.
We reached the area where the body had been found, but Andre and I hung back, allowing the agents to photograph the scene and make notes. It was another vampire, staked through the heart with a wooden crucifix this time, just off the footpath leading to the primate area. I didn’t want to think about how many people probably saw the body before the police arrived.
“Odd,” Timmons remarked, looking both fascinated and horrified. I got the impression he was relatively new to this line of work. “There is no way that a wooden stake could have broken through the breastplate without the use of a sledgehammer or similar force. In order for that to have worked, it would have pulverized the heart, yet there’s no blood.”
The Eyes of the Sun: The Complete Trilogy Page 69