by Jana Denardo
His da looked surprised to see Luc when he came into the office; then he narrowed his eyes. “Why are you back?”
“Wasn’t in the mood to go out.” Luc sat across the desk.
Da took a swig out of his beer bottle, eyeing him like he was a bug floating in his drink. “So whydja come here? You ain’t gonna ask for another shift.”
“No.” Luc took a deep breath in, jamming all his emotions down into his feet and pretending he was standing on them. He couldn’t show his da how upset he was or bad things would happen. “I ain’t getting into Giancarlo’s house.”
Da’s thick brow puckered up. “Who?”
“The rich biker dude.”
“What didja do, peeshwank?”
“We had a fight.” Luc steeled his jaw. “I don’t think he’s going to be talking to me anymore.” That wasn’t true, Luc realized. Arrigo would talk to him, try to explain himself. Luc was the one who wasn’t going to listen, but he couldn’t tell Da that.
“C’est sa couillon, you had one job. How could you mess it up?” He pounded the flat of his hand against the pockmarked desk as he lumbered up to his feet.
“It wasn’t my fault. Can’t we forget about it? That place would have dozens of security cameras and guards anyhow. It’s better this way,” Luc reasoned. Not that he’d mind his brother and da going to jail, but knew they’d throw him under the bus too.
Da picked up his beer again. Quick as a cottonmouth, he swung it and caught Luc across the face with it. Something cracked, and Luc toppled out of his chair. Da got up, still holding the bottle. Standing over Luc, he took a swig from whatever was left in it.
The cracking must have been me. His cheek ached so much he couldn’t breathe.
Da grinned, patting the bottle. “You never learn.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
LUC TRIED to get his feet back under him, vaguely aware the side of his head hurt too. He must have hit it on the way to the floor. He had to get up before his father really started in on him, but his head swam. Luc thought he might vomit.
The office door swung open, and Freedman, Da’s friend, came in. “Henri, the Closes are at it again.” Freedman stopped, staring down at Luc.
Da put his beer on the desk. “Toss those two drunks out before someone calls the cops like last time.”
Da followed Freedman out. Using the desk for leverage, Luc pulled himself up. His brains felt scrambled. The urge to throw up hit again. Luc battled it down. Did he have a concussion? It felt like it. He wanted to get the hell out of there. First, he staggered into the bathroom to assess the damage. He didn’t want to walk these particular streets looking like wounded prey.
His cheek had a huge purple egg on it. He probably should go to the urgent care, but he had no insurance and even less money. His other temple had a developing bruise too. At least nothing bled. Luc tried to go out the back but found it locked. That couldn’t be legal, but it wasn’t his worry.
Trying to look as unconcerned as he could, Luc walked past the patrons. A few gave him startled looks. A blue-haired woman with full sleeves of tattoos running down either arm detached herself from the pack and came up to him. She put a hand on his arm.
“You poor thing.” There was something familiar about her voice, a hint of the accent. He felt he’d met her before even if his scattered wits weren’t as sure about her looks. He didn’t remember a blue-haired biker chick being there in a long while. He’d probably remember the tatts and the cute freckles on her tanned skin. “Why don’t you come with me?”
“Where?” Luc didn’t know what she was playing at, but after tonight what did he actually care?
“I’ll take you home.”
He blinked. Even that motion hurt. “Why?”
“I can fix you up. Get some ice on those bruises. I’m Julia. I wanted to ask you out, remember? The least I can do is help out now.”
Luc glanced back at the bar. His da was busy trying to round the Closes up. Those two were domestic violence waiting to happen. This was his best chance to get out of there. What did he have to lose? She was pretty and seemed nice. She wasn’t blonde and pale as a doll like Arrigo’s ex, and it wasn’t like he could run off to Arrigo’s now or even Taabu’s. He couldn’t go there while he was fighting with Arrigo.
“Yeah, sure. Thanks.”
“Come on. My car’s down the block.”
Luc took a final look back and grinned when Mr. Close punched Da right in the jaw. Served him right. Luc knew it would only put his da in a bad mood, but tonight he didn’t care. Julia was his salvation for the night.
He followed her to her car. Luc studied her face as she started the engine. He thought again there was something familiar about her, but he couldn’t tell what. Model pretty, maybe she looked like an actress. Her eyes held a hardness in them, not that Luc cared. Julia was a path out of his father’s reach. All that mattered at this point was how much his head hurt.
He told her where he lived and sunk into a miserable swamp of self-pity, surprised to feel like Arrigo’s betrayal hurt more than the fact his father had just broken his face with a bottle. Luc’s mind was fuzzy as if trying to shut off for the night. Exhaustion pinned weights to his eyelids.
The woman talked to him, but he could barely make sense of it. He probably should have her drive him to the hospital and dump him out. Maybe he had a concussion. Had he thought that before? Luc tried to focus himself by watching the road signs go by. Clearly Julia wasn’t taking him home. Instead, she drove into an older housing area, which had seen better days but wasn’t as craptacular as the one where Luc lived. Travis lived around there. Luc recognized the bodega on the corner. The houses were small and close together, but generally well-kept. It didn’t seem like her sort of place somehow. He wasn’t sure why he felt so. He didn’t know Julia. She seemed more upscale than this.
Once Julia had pulled into the drive, Luc walked with her inside the house. He wasn’t sure why. In the back of his scrambled mind, a voice said he should call someone and go to the ER, but the more alert part of him said he should follow her. The house shocked him. No one in his family had much, and while his relatives were hardly neat, Luc wasn’t used to this level of clutter. Plastic horses and dog figurines dotted every surface. He glanced over at Julia again, eyeing her peacock hair and multiple tattoos. She didn’t seem like the type who’d collect this stuff, but he guessed you couldn’t tell by looking. She took his hand and led him past the collection of junk into the bedroom. Luc balked. What did she think he was going to do with her?
Julia smiled at him. “Relax. Why don’t you lie down on the bed and I’ll get some ice for your face and some bandages.”
Luc hurt too much to argue. “Thanks.” She left, and he kicked off his shoes before stretching out on the bed. Did she really have plastic horse bedside lamps? That was one step too far. He wondered where her dog was. A woman with that many dog figurines surely had to have a real dog. Why wasn’t it barking? Ti-Jean back home had the kind of dog breed in the figurines, and they never stopped barking. Luc gave a moment’s thought to calling 911. His head pounded, but he had no money for that. He’d see how the ice made him feel. If it got worse, he’d impose on Julia to take him to the ER or at least to a bus stop.
Julia came back with ice wrapped in a damp towel and a box of bandages. She sat on the bed next to him, eyeing his cut cheek, a strange look in her eyes. Maybe it was still bleeding. Some people didn’t do well with blood.
She gently pressed the ice to his cheek. “There, that might help. Your poor, pretty face.”
Luc winced at the cold pressure. “I probably should go have it checked out.”
“Later. You’re sleepy now.”
And he was. “Hurts too much to be sleeping,” he argued anyhow.
“Try to sleep.” Julia ran a hand over his hair.
Luc thought sleep did sound good, but people with head injuries shouldn’t sleep, right? He shut his eyes. His neck hurt suddenly. Sleep seemed like a bad idea.
Luc moved, and Julia dug her fingers into his arm.
“Need to sit up,” he insisted, groggy as hell. Luc pulled away from her, catching a good look at Julia. Blood smeared her mouth. Luc couldn’t breathe. What kind of freak had he gone home with? A serial killer?
“Merde! What the hell?” Luc rolled off the bed. “Get the hell away from me.”
“You’re not in charge here, little boy.” Julia launched herself across the mattress, snaring him with insanely strong hands.
Her nails cut runnels into his arm, blood flowing quickly. Luc swore. He didn’t want to hit a woman, but Julia was nuts. He slapped her hard, making her head snap back. Her blue hair peeled away, letting blonde curls peek out from under the wig.
“Let me out of here!”
She laughed. “You think there’s a chance.”
Her gaze caught his, and Luc felt the fight go out of him. What the hell was wrong? He forced himself to move, and Julia jumped on his back. She bit him, tearing open his broken cheek. Luc screamed, managing to dislodge her. He ran for the door and threw it open. A man stood there, taking him by complete surprise. The stranger knocked him down.
Luc tried to get up, but Julia kicked him in the gut. “Why?” he managed to rasp out.
“You should ask Arrigo.” Julia squatted down and grabbed a handful of his hair. She yanked his head back.
Cold realization slapped him. “You’re Eleni!”
“Shit.” The man scowled. “He definitely knows!”
“Better make this quick, then,” Julia said, and sank her fangs into Luc’s neck.
Luc barely had time to register the idea she had fangs. His mind began to shut down, like he no longer controlled his own body, barely aware of his limbs going limp. He’d die here, and no one would ever know. Arrigo had brought him to this, damn him. As his vision dimmed out, something salty and minerally pressed against his lips, then came nothingness.
“I DON’T understand why we’re leaving him here,” George groused as he helped to put Luc in the tub of a now-abandoned, half-finished housing development on the edge of the city.
“It’s no good if Arrigo doesn’t know what happened. He needs to know I can destroy him and his friends at any time.”
He cocked his head to the side, a baffled expression on his face. “You think being a vampire is bad?”
Eleni laughed. “Not at all. But like I said, Arrigo is self-loathing. He thinks it’s bad. He’ll be crying after he sees his precious little human boy isn’t so human anymore. He loves them too much.”
Dropping Luc’s legs into the tub, George said, “You don’t like humans. You must not like me, then.”
Eleni sensed that bothered him. “I like some humans, of course. You are a perfect companion for me, after all.” That wasn’t entirely a lie. George had proven himself helpful time and again, like finding this defunct would-be subdivision.
George nodded, apparently mollified. “But why here? I can understand turning him and keeping him as your fledgling because that would make Arrigo insane, right? But why are we dumping him in a tub in the middle of nowhere? Shouldn’t you be keeping him close?”
“It’s not like the movies where a fledgling must do what his sire says.” Eleni ruffled Luc’s hair before resting his head against the tile gently. “He could run off or try to hurt me. It’ll take twenty-four to thirty-six hours before the virus works through his system and he wakes up. When he does, he’ll be starving. If he escapes from here, he won’t know what to do, but that virus will find a way. It always does. It’ll make him feed, and without instruction he’s likely to kill.” She beamed. “And won’t they all hate it if Arrigo’s precious boy becomes a killer? And if he ends up stuck here because he’s too afraid to leave—which he will be if he wakes up when the sun is out—then he’ll starve. I’ll come back for him then. He’ll be weak but out of his head. I’ll turn him loose in that Goth club and let him rampage.” Eleni chuckled, delighted by the images in her head. “He could go so bad Arrigo will be forced to terminate him. That’s what I’m aiming for.”
“But what if Arrigo finds him first?”
She shrugged. “Like I said, he’s self-loathing so no matter how this plays out, he’ll be in pain and that makes me smile. Just for added fun, we could probably sic Luc’s family on him. They look stupid and violent.” She relished the damage they might do.
“So what do we do now? I figured we were getting out of town, but I guess not.”
“What fun is it if I can’t see the destruction? We’ll stay for now, but it will probably be more dangerous. They’ll send more reinforcements. I doubt we’ll get close to his lady friend again. For now we’ll watch and see what happens next.”
“This guy must be an ass. He doesn’t seem to have many friends.”
“He does, but they’re mostly not human. That’s why you haven’t found them. You’ll have to leave it to me. I’m getting a bit hungry. It takes it out of you to turn someone.” Eleni rubbed her forehead, feeling a bit woozy. “I need to find an after-hours club.”
“I know just the one.”
They left Luc unconscious in the tub and drove back into the city proper. It didn’t take Eleni but a minute to find a guy so drunk hypnotizing him to keep him quiet was unnecessary. She didn’t even have to leave the parking lot. She took him down next to his car. Really, she was doing the city a public service. Someone this drunk shouldn’t be driving.
After she got to her feet, she noticed George leaning on their car watching people going in and out of the club. One ghostly pale man, closer to the establishment, seemed to be doing the same. Eleni snarled under her breath, jogging back to the car. She waved for George to get in. He startled and fumbled with the door.
She slid into the passenger seat. “Drive!”
He didn’t argue. George turned over the engine and slammed into gear. Once they were down the street, Eleni looked out the back window but saw no signs the mage was following them.
“What is going on?”
“Spotted one of the Chiaroscuro by the club. A weather mage. He’s a nasty character when it comes down to it. I killed his partner once. I don’t think he saw us but, just in case, take the longest way home you can.” She glanced at the horizon. The sun wouldn’t be up for a couple hours.
“Right.” George drove a very winding path to their brand-new home. She had moved them to the other end of town.
If Luc didn’t accidentally cook himself to death, he might remember where she’d taken him. His brains had to be pretty addled from the beating he’d taken, not to mention the mind control she had used on him, but Eleni knew better than to count on that.
“I didn’t see anyone following us. The road is empty.” George parked the car.
She nodded and went inside the house. At least it wasn’t full of ridiculous plastic horses and schnauzer shit. No, this old woman had had cats. Four of them still skulked around, eyeing Eleni like the intruder she was.
“It was an excellent night’s work. I’m going to have to find new places to eat, though, if they’re staking out the after-hours clubs.”
George shrugged. “This is a huge city.”
“Which works to our advantage.” She stretched. “I need rest. You’d best get some yourself. In a couple days, we’ll go back and check on him.”
“Sounds good.”
Eleni slept well, completely pleased with herself.
ARRIGO TOOK off his shirt and then shoved Gaius off his pillow, worn out from another night of tracking and finding nothing. He’d gone past the Alibi, Delilah’s, and even Luc’s home but didn’t spot him. Worry ate him, but Luc was pissed. He might be hiding somewhere Arrigo didn’t know about. Gaius waited for him to get in bed before meowing his protest right in Arrigo’s ear.
Luc wasn’t answering his phone. He could still be out of minutes or forgot to charge the phone. More likely he wanted Arrigo to fuck off and die. Arrigo couldn’t blame him. Luc already doubted why Arrigo wanted him. After seeing him with
Siobhan, Luc should be hurt and pissed. Luc hadn’t let him explain, and what could he say? That he was trying to convince a vampire and her Renfield he was dating Siobhan? Even saying he was trying to convince his stalker ex he was dating her would bring up the question of why he was painting a target on anyone at all. He felt his skin quiver as Siobhan embraced him from behind.
“Still no word?”
He took his cell out of his pocket and set it on the nightstand. “None. I wanted Eleni and her Renfield to think we were a couple again, and all I did was piss Luc off and probably fucked every bit of his trust and self-confidence.”
“You couldn’t have known he’d walk into a Crypt-Kicker.” Siobhan kissed his shoulder. “And for all you know, it worked, and the enemy saw us too.”
“I wished that helped.” Arrigo hung his head.
Siobhan undid his ponytail and massaged his scalp. “I know it doesn’t, babe. You’re falling for that little sweetie. Who could blame you? He has the face of a sad angel. You just want to hug him and tell him it’ll be all right, even though you know it’s a lie.”
He nodded. “That’s how it started.” His phone buzzed and Arrigo snatched it up.
“Is it Luc?”
“Fuck!” He showed her the text. It’s 6:00 AM. Do U know where your friendly neighborhood tap monkey is?
“She’s got Luc!” he cried.
Siobhan didn’t even try to argue it could mean anything else. “What the fuck do we do now?”
Chapter Twenty-Five
LUC STRUGGLED into a sitting position with nightmare images of being attacked strobing in his brain. He sprawled in a tub in an unfamiliar bathroom. What the hell had happened?
Rubbing his face, Luc wondered why he didn’t hurt. He remembered the broken bones from catching a beer bottle to the face. He should hurt, but only his neck throbbed in a raw, pulled muscle sort of way. Sleeping in a tub would do that to you.