by Jana Denardo
“It’s daylight. Eleni can’t be out, and we’ll just have to pray her Renfield won’t be willing to shoot someone in broad daylight.”
“I know. I’m going to go after him.” Arrigo jogged back the way they came. Siobhan followed. “Damn, Eleni’s managed to avoid the Chiaroscuro so far.”
Siobhan squinted at him. “So why is she back now?”
“I don’t….” Arrigo inhaled sharply. “Damn. Five hundred.”
“What?”
“Five hundred years. It’s five hundred years since I killed Dario Pena.” Arrigo slammed his fist against the palm of his hand. “Why didn’t I think of it before?”
“She’s waited five hundred years to get revenge on you? She killed your wife once, didn’t she?”
“It’s not the first time she’s tried. After she killed Arianwen, the Chiaroscuro nearly caught her. She’s popped up from time to time since then. She probably couldn’t resist this anniversary.”
“Only you could have enemies patient enough to wait half a millennium to try to destroy you.” Siobhan rolled her eyes.
He gave her a sour look as he stopped at the first bus stop. Luc was nowhere in sight. He couldn’t have gotten further than this in the short span of time. “I loved Arianwen. She’s already destroyed that.”
“And you don’t love Luc?” Siobhan wrinkled her nose. “No, you barely know him. But you do care about him.”
His chest tightened. “Yes, I do. I care a lot, but it’s far too early to be tossing around the L word.”
“I keep forgetting you don’t believe in love at first sight.” She huffed.
“I believe in lust at first sight, obviously.” Arrigo shrugged. “I think people use the word love too freely. I’m a jaded old man. I’ve seen too much in my life to believe much in locking eyes and knowing it’s love. Don’t believe in soul mates either.” He grimaced. “Don’t tell Taabu. Also I’m guessing Luc caught the bus. I’ll catch up with him later.” He turned back around, walking back to where they had left Michael.
“Probably, and I bet Taabu already knows, you cynic.” She thumped her fingers against his chest. “And do you even have a soul left? Ever wonder if any of us do?”
“I’m not up for an existential discussion, Siobhan. I have a soul. My lares is probably tired of watching over it.” Arrigo believed that. He had once firmly believed in lares, the guardian spirits of his people; but if his lares existed, the poor thing probably never had anticipated watching over him for time unending. “It’s a world-weary soul.”
“I’m sure it is.” Siobhan turned, studying the litter-strewn street. “Think Michael is ready to give over at this point?”
“I think he might be onto something. Michael!”
“I almost have it,” Michael said. “My human nose is limited.”
Arrigo glanced around, then pointed down an alley. “Siobhan, you did bring it, right?”
She pulled a leash and collar out of her jacket pocket. Michael glared at it, then shrugged. He darted into the alley. They followed him. He stripped without any sense of shame, grunted softly as his body folded and twisted into a shape far more capable of tracking after a scent. Siobhan squatted down and ruffled his fur, dark as his skin, tipped with hints of silver. Michael made for a handsome wolf. Siobhan wrapped the rhinestone collar around his thick neck. He huffed at her, and Arrigo wondered if it had to do with the collar in general or because it was glittery and femme.
Arrigo picked up the werewolf’s discarded garments and followed after them as Michael pulled Siobhan along the broken sidewalk. He wondered if their bikes would still be there by the time they were done following the trail. It would be a small price to pay if it led them somewhere. Michael started trotting, going faster and faster until they were practically running. He nosed around a doorway, then looked around before half shifting his form.
“He waited here,” he said, the words growling out, barely intelligible from his elongated maw. “Smell gun oil. Can’t tell which of them shot Hanako.”
“I’m not surprised. Eleni is smart. Witches can hit us long-distance, and a vampire fights up close and intimate. He gave Eleni an advantage Hanako didn’t realize,” Arrigo said, “though she should have. She knew Eleni had a partner.”
“This way.”
Michael shifted fully back into the wolf and started back the way they came. He sniffed around the yellow tape again, then took off in another direction. He didn’t stop until they got to a bus stop. He investigated all around it, then sat on his haunches and howled loudly. Neither Arrigo nor Siobhan needed a translation. The trail ended there.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“YOU LOOK annoyed.” George peered out from between the drawn curtains.
Eleni didn’t need to check to know the sun wasn’t down yet. Soon, she hoped, she would be old enough to withstand the sun. No longer would she be trapped by the light. At least the bottled tan she had applied earlier along with the freckles she painted on after seeing it done on a YouTube tutorial lifted her spirits a little. Maybe she should haul off another load of shitty plastic horses to destroy. It might make her feel better about being stuck in this house.
“That witch you shot was on the lookout. She hustled Arrigo’s boy toy away the moment she spotted me.”
George made sure the curtains didn’t gap. “Still, we’re not sure the bartender is sleeping with Arrigo.” He sat down next to her, offering up his wrist.
“Possibly, but I think they are more than acquaintances. Arrigo had that witch watching his boy. Either he found a local witch or, more likely, he got some members of the Chiaroscuro to guard his friends.” Eleni twisted a little so she had a better angle to bite into him.
“You expected that.” George winced as she took a snack. “Especially after she showed up with that dude in the coffee shop.”
Eleni pulled several swallows before answering. “I hoped for more time.”
“Yeah but you expected they’d come sooner or later.” George swept his gaze over her. “Because you’re smart and beautiful.”
Primping, she kissed his cheek and left a bloody imprint behind. “Thank you. I’m going out to bring him here tonight if I can. You do have our next home ready, right?”
George nodded. “You already did the hard work there, taking out the owner. I have the rest dealt with. I’ve had keys made.” He dug them out of his back pocket and jangled them.
“Good. We’ll probably need them if tonight goes well.”
George scowled, and for a second Eleni thought he might be jealous she was bringing another man back. She had no interest in Arrigo’s sloppy seconds. Oh, she could pretend if that’s what it took to lure his boy toy away.
“What if this sends Arrigo over the edge? Could he hurt you?”
“We think he knows it’s me now and that means he’ll get the full force of Chiaroscuro in, not just hire a witch or two. Some witches can divine when a Supernatural is around, so that’s how she knew I was there when she was watching the bartender.” She waved George off. “I want Arrigo over the edge. I want him to hurt.” She growled in delight, sure this would hurt him. She couldn’t wait.
George didn’t argue further. Eleni knew he wasn’t happy, but she couldn’t worry about that. His feelings weren’t her concern. She had her goal in sight. She planned to savor every second of it.
THE NO-FRILLS room in Harrah’s Hotel had the hardest couch Arrigo had ever sat on. Jammed into the tiny room, the piece of furniture sported a particularly ugly fabric design to go with its uncomfortable cushions. The new Chiaroscuro mage was booked in the room. Michael had picked him up from the airport and Arrigo met them at the hotel.
“You look exhausted.” Michael sat on the edge of the bed, not looking any more awake.
“He’s a vampire. Be thankful he can even move in the day,” the mage said, leaning on the doorjamb to the bathroom. He watched Arrigo with great curiosity gleaming in his gray eyes.
The man was so pale, Arrigo had to
look him over twice to assure himself the man wasn’t a vampire. “I’m Arrigo Giancarlo. Have we met? You look familiar.”
“Reed Sykes.” Sykes sauntered over and shook Arrigo’s hand. “I’m a weather mage. I think we had drinks at one of the annual meetings. Michael filled me in on what went down.” He sat on the task chair at the little desk squeezed in the corner. “I know Eleni. I ran across her in Portland a few years back. She killed my partner.”
“Sorry to hear that. I appreciate you coming,” Arrigo replied. “I know one lone renegade vampire isn’t usually cause to send in all the troops, but Eleni has attacked and killed multiple people, including Michael’s partner and significant other, Hanako. We tried tracking her yesterday yet again.”
“Without much success,” Michael said, the brooding expression on his face deepening.
Sykes scowled. “I’m not sure how much more help we’ll get, but I’ve already put in a call to Marina Gonzales.” Second-in-command to the regent; Arrigo knew her by reputation if not by face. “Vegas needs a bigger search crew, but Craig is busy being a dick about it. What did you do to him, Arrigo? He seems to have a hard-on for you.”
Arrigo spread his hands. “I have no idea. I’m not sure I’ve ever said two words to him. He seemed resentful at the last summit about how long I’ve been serving the Chiaroscuro, but it’s hardly my fault he’s mortal and I’m not.” He hesitated, then added, “He strikes me as a tin-plated dictator.”
“And he hates me, which isn’t helpful.” Michael showed his teeth like a wolf seeking to dominate.
“I’m going to try to have Shani, a detective friend of mine, have a look around for any reports about missing householders. As Eleni needs to have a lightproofed place, I’m thinking she might have taken over someone’s home. As you probably know, Eleni has spent all of her long life on the wrong side. She won’t be easy to find. She’s been using burner phones to send me taunting texts.”
“He thinks she wants to see him suffer,” Michael said for Sykes’s benefit. “She doesn’t know yet that we know who she is. At least we don’t think she does.”
“Yes, but she might worry on how many Chiaroscuro members I can call in, not to mention any volunteers from the local Crypt-Kicker.” Arrigo glanced out the window, feeling the heat of the midday sun. “Is this room suitable? I don’t have much spare room at my place.”
Sykes shrugged. “I’m used to living out of suitcases. It’s a room in Vegas. I’ve had much worse.”
Arrigo rose. “I need to meet Siobhan. Michael can fill you in on where we need you most. I’ll be in touch later. Whatever you need, I’ll try to make it happen.”
“I want the head of the woman who killed my Hanako on a plate,” Michael said, punching his fist into the opposite hand. Sykes didn’t bat an eye, as if this was an everyday desire. Seeing as Eleni had killed Sykes’s partner too, Arrigo didn’t doubt he shared Michael’s wish. “All I need from you is to get out of my way when we find her.”
“I’m oddly good with that. Call me if you get a lead.” Arrigo was happy to let Michael kill her. Werewolves could be creatively violent, and if anyone deserved it, it was Eleni.
LUC WONDERED when he got to the point that he went along with his brother and Henri’s idiot friends no matter what he really wanted to do. It was easier to go along than deal with Henri’s abuse if he didn’t.
Luc usually wasn’t asked to do anything illegal. They didn’t trust him enough. He wasn’t entirely sure why they wanted him around, other than they liked to have someone to be the butt of their stupid jokes. They had decided on going to one of the Fremont bars. Luc spent so many nights cleaning puke out of bar bathrooms that he didn’t want to spend time in another bar. At least he didn’t have to clean vomit tonight. Fremont overflowed with tourists, like usual. It might help to take his mind off Hanako’s death and his deep feelings of guilt for not realizing she was in danger. Luc thought about slipping away before they got to wherever it was they were going. He didn’t think he could nurse his thin wallet for long, but he’d give it a try. Henri always got a fair share from the bar takes. Luc always came up short.
Seeing something out of the corner of his eye, Luc turned. Arrigo went into one of the bars, Shifty’s Sports. “Going in there.” Luc pointed, knowing Henri probably didn’t hear him. At least he could say he tried to tell him.
Luc pushed his way past a gaggle of old women trying to get a busker barely dressed in a Greek helmet and a loincloth to pose with them. He knew this kind of street performer and the ones dressed up as popular cartoon characters made a lot of money, more than most people would expect, but he didn’t have the desire to sweat inside a Transformer outfit, and he didn’t have the body of that hot fake Greek.
Luc looked the bar over. Unlike most of the places near Fremont, it barely had any neon or flash. It was the most understated bar on the block. He wondered what Arrigo was doing there. They weren’t supposed to meet to talk until tomorrow, but Luc had grown tired of his father’s pressure to get into Arrigo’s house. He was afraid his family would try to find it and break in without him. With Hanako’s death, Luc hadn’t had time to ask Arrigo about his plan to catch his family attempting to rob him.
He stepped inside, thinking the patrons didn’t seem to be the typical sports people. There wasn’t a team shirt in sight, and for that matter, there wasn’t much of that sort of stuff on the walls. While half-empty, the patrons did seem interested in him, more so than he was used to. His skin twitched as if someone bad was watching him.
Luc couldn’t make himself care. All he could concentrate on was the sudden pounding of his heart. His head heated up like it might explode. Luc had never felt stupider. Arrigo leaned on the bar, and Siobhan pressed against him so tight she was practically part of his skin. Their mouths tangled together as if to prove to the world how much of a couillon Arrigo had made of Luc.
He couldn’t move, not even to tear his attention away. When they broke for breath, Arrigo’s head came up, his eyes widening. Luc knew he’d been spotted. Jarred into moving, he fled Shifty’s, running out onto the sidewalk swarming with tourists, half of whom were looking up at the whole Fremont Experience crap overhead, not noticing they should probably get out of the way for the idiot barreling their way.
“Luc, wait!”
He didn’t listen. He was never listening to anyone again. People only betrayed him. There were too many people under the covered street, and he got hung up in the crowd near the Golden Nugget. Arrigo slipped through them more expertly than Luc could. Why couldn’t he even intimidate old tourists into getting out of his way?
“Luc, you don’t understand!”
He spun around, his fists clenching. “Quoi? Not gonna tell me it wasn’t what it looked like?”
Arrigo’s lips pinched, his eyes seeming to shine under the neon all round them. “No, but there’s something you need to understand.”
“No!” Luc jabbed a finger at Arrigo. “All I need to understand is you’re an asshole, and you need to keep the fuck away from me.”
“Luc—”
“No!” He took a step closer, readier to stand up for himself than he’d ever been. “I don’t know what game you were playing with me. I don’t give a fuck. It’s over. Don’t let me see you coming round the bar no more either. Now get out of here before I do something we both regret.” Luc shook his fist. He didn’t have nearly Arrigo’s muscle mass, but he truly wanted to punch Arrigo right in the face. Arrigo started to say something but stopped. Luc figured the man knew how close he was to getting bloodied. “Go. Now.”
Arrigo whipped around and stalked off through the crowd, which obligingly split in a way they hadn’t when Luc tried the same thing. Hearing someone laughing, Luc looked over to see Henri and his idiot friends had seen everything.
“Figures you queens can make a scene,” Henri said. Of course, anything to make a misère.
Luc turned his back on him and walked off.
“Where do you think you’re
going, peeshwank ?”
“Away from here.”
“Get back here,” Henri demanded.
“Beck mo tchew!” Luc didn’t slow down, but Henri called after him.
“Bet you wanted him to bite your ass.”
He didn’t stop until he hit the bus stop sign. Oo ye yi, this hurt. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know Arrigo liked girls too. He didn’t think Arrigo meant he wanted both at the same time. Luc wasn’t going to put up with that shit. He climbed into the crowded bus and shoved into a seat, numb. No, he wished he was numb. He felt like crying until he broke. He’d never trusted a man as quickly or as much as he had Arrigo. He’d never gone that far with anyone before, and what did it get him? Nothing. Betrayed. Used like a tissue in flu season.
What had he expected? Mr. Moneybags was gonna take him away from his private hell and carry him up into his sky-high castle? He was so fucking stupid. He should have realized he was just a toy to play with because Arrigo was bored or something. No rich, smart man was gonna want a couillon like him. No one was gonna save him. Hell, no one was gonna give him the means to save himself. Luc didn’t know why he kept trying. Life was nothing but pain. Maybe that’s why he stayed with his family. Maybe he was waiting for the day they accidentally killed him. Jesus knew he didn’t have the strength to do it himself, though who would miss him? Certainly not Arrigo. He already had a replacement.
Luc didn’t want to go to the Alibi, but he figured he had to. Once he got off the bus, he dragged himself there, hoping Henri hadn’t already called their da. Luc knew his brother wouldn’t be able to resist getting him in trouble. He’d gleefully tell Da Luc had messed up their chance at robbing a rich guy. Luc hoped to be the one to tell Da and make it sound less horrible.
The bar was crowded. There was a vaguely familiar blonde who tried to catch his eye the moment he came in. Hadn’t she asked him out before? Luc paid her no mind and asked Freedman, who was tending bar, where Da was. He pointed to the back office, and Luc felt one of the rocks roll off his chest. At least it wouldn’t be a giant public fight.