Blood Red Roulette

by Jana Denardo

  The car traveled behind the bus when Luc got out. He went into his craphole and peered out the window next to the door. Sure enough the car circled back and parked across the street. Luc couldn’t tell if it was Eleni or her partner, but it was something. After locking the front door, which wouldn’t stop a five-year-old child, Luc pulled out his cell phone, a burner phone in case Eleni was canny enough to be able to track his actual one. He wasn’t sure a car parking would be enough to alert Arrigo, who was probably watching the wireless camera feed.

  Arrigo answered it on the second ring. “Luc, are you all right?”

  “Not really. Someone followed the bus here and parked across the street.”

  “We’ll be there as quick as we can. Do not go out there,” Arrigo said. “Not unless you’re sure it’s not Eleni.”

  “Yeah, whatever. Just get here.”

  Luc knew he needed something beyond his fangs. He grabbed a kitchen knife because he’d left his gun back at Arrigo’s. He didn’t want to get robbed—and in this neighborhood it was likely—and someone could steal his weapon and, heaven forbid, use it. Luc turned on a bedroom light. He hunkered down so he could peer out the window by the door without looking like he stood at the window.

  Time slowed and began flowing backward. He was sure of it. The guy in the car didn’t move. He or she—Luc thought it was a he—watched the bedroom window. Luc didn’t like being told what to do even though he’d spent his life being told just that. Still he saw the wisdom of it. One against one might be something of a fair fight, but he wasn’t much of a fighter. If the driver was Eleni, he probably didn’t stand a chance. Luc ached to go out there anyhow and rip the dude’s throat open. The urge was so real it made his hands shake.

  The roar of Arrigo’s sports car registered before he saw it. Another sound—maybe one of the motorcycles—followed. The guy in the parked car seemed worried by the sound, making him turn over his engine. Luc threw open his door and raced across the street before the guy could pull away. He yanked on the car’s door handle, the metal groaning under his grasp. When the lock held, Luc punched straight through the side window. He bellowed as glass sliced his hand. The man inside screamed. Up close, Luc recognized him as the guy he’d seen in the Gold Nugget.

  Luc grabbed his shirt and dragged him through the window. “You goddamn bastard.”

  The man punched him with a Taser, and Luc met the asphalt ass-first, numbly aware his head had bounced off it. For a moment he couldn’t move, but he fought past it and grabbed for his pant leg, trying to trip him.

  “Luc!”

  Luc tried to give Arrigo a warning, but nothing came out but a moan. The man tried to tramp on Luc’s face. Luc blocked him, knocking him off-balance. The man staggered. Suddenly a dog jumped him. No, a black wolf. Michael.

  “Don’t kill him! We need answers!” Siobhan cried as Luc painfully picked himself up.

  Michael growled, not opening his jaws, tightly clamping them on the man’s arm. Arrigo raced past him, a pair of handcuffs in hand. Where he got them from, Luc didn’t want to know. Siobhan helped twist the man’s free arm behind him so Arrigo could slap on the cuffs. Michael finally let go.

  “What are you people doing? Are you insane? Let me go. Someone’s going to call the police on you,” the man cried, struggling.

  “On this street, hell no.” Luc wanted to throttle him, but he wanted answers more. Arrigo was right. They needed information more than they needed to kill this man. Of course, letting Michael savage him would be the perfect murder weapon. Who would question a dog-bite killing? That wouldn’t explain Luc’s blood on the broken side window glass, though. “You followed me here.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” The man still wiggled as if he could get free of the handcuffs.

  “You followed me from the bus stop by the diner, and you’ve been watching my house. Why? Ain’t nothing to rob here so don’t even try that,” Luc said.

  Siobhan gently pushed Luc aside. “Let’s take this off the street. He’ll give us the answers we want, Luc. I promise.”

  “I have no idea what you mean.” The man lurched away from Arrigo but didn’t break his grip.

  “Oh, you do. We know it. You recognize us from the Gold Nugget. I sure as hell recognize you.” Arrigo shoved the man as Michael growled.

  “It’s not like that.”

  Arrigo propelled the man toward Luc’s place. “I’m sure you’ll tell us what it’s like, because you know as well as I do no help is coming. Eleni isn’t in the car, is she?” He directed that to Michael who gave the car’s interior a sniff, then tested the trunk. He huffed, shaking his head, his dark fur ruffling. “You’re all alone. You know what we are, and I’m sure you know what we can do to you.”

  The man’s face transform in fear. Luc wanted to enjoy it, but he didn’t. All he could wonder was how many times had his own face done the same thing in front of his father. He turned away, stalked into his temporary house, and beckoned for them to follow before someone did have enough of this shit at four in the morning and call the cops.

  “Did you call Eleni and tell her where I live?” Luc asked the moment Siobhan shut the door behind their little party.

  “I still don’t know what you’re talking about,” the man said with less conviction than before.

  Arrigo slammed him down on the couch. The man flinched.

  “Yeah you do, couillon. You were there that night when she brought me home. You didn’t do nothing while she attacked me. Now tell me if you brought her back to my doorstep,” Luc snarled, grabbing the man’s shirt and shaking him. “Before I snap your neck.”

  “Luc, let Arrigo do this.” Siobhan took his arm and tried to pull him back.

  He snatched his arm away. “He’s gonna talk to me!”

  “Yes, he will. But let me work. You know what I mean.” Arrigo leveled a look at him, and Luc realized he meant to do that mojo vampires could do. Arrigo, as the eldest, was the best at it. The expression on their captive’s face said he understood too. That’s all the proof Luc needed that he was involved with Eleni.

  “But….”

  “Luc,” Siobhan said softly. “This needs control.”

  That word was like a slap in the face. Luc suddenly realized he tasted blood. His fangs were out, and he’d cut his tongue. Reluctantly, he moved away and sat down in the sagging chair that had come with the rental house. Why, he would never know. It was barely functional. He sat on the edge of it, staring the man down.

  The man fought with his handcuffs, trying not to look Arrigo in the eye. Luc barely heard his “Knew she’d be the death of me.”

  “Let’s start simple. What is your name?” Arrigo asked, sitting on the coffee table in front of the man. Luc hoped it would hold his weight.

  The man tried not to answer. Michael snapped at his ankle, making him jerk. That’s when Arrigo caught his eye, and the tension went out of their captive. They learned his name was George, and Eleni definitely knew Luc worked at Shifty’s. As of a half hour before, she knew he lived in this dump. George said she seemed shocked Arrigo had dumped Luc. She fully expected Luc to have meant more to him, and now it wasn’t half as fun to try to take Luc away.

  “Take me away,” Luc interrupted. “Not kill me?”

  Glaze-eyed, George slowly shook his head. “She thought it would torment Arrigo more if he panicked over what she could be doing to you. Death is final. You’re at peace. She has no intentions of that.”

  “Is she Da’s great-grand-mère many times removed?” Luc grumbled, and Siobhan gave his shoulder a squeeze.

  Michael morphed into his wolfman form. “Ask about Hanako.”

  “Did you kill Hanako?” Arrigo asked.

  George swallowed hard. “I don’t know her.”

  “She was Japanese and guarding Luc.”

  George shivered hard. He broke out in a sweat. “Eleni is responsible for all the deaths.”

  Luc wondered if it was possible to lie under the mesme
rization Arrigo had the man under. “Is Eleni coming here now?”

  George shrugged. “Told me to watch and wait.”

  “Where is she?” Arrigo asked.

  “Mandalay Bay.”

  “She’ll move as soon as she realizes he hasn’t checked in,” Siobhan said.

  Arrigo glanced out the window. “It’ll be dawn soon. She can’t move around in the daylight like you and me. Take Luc back to the Veer. I don’t want him alone here when the sun comes up. Eleni might have more helpers than George here.”

  “Ask him.” Luc nodded with his chin at George.

  “I will.” Arrigo stood. “But dawn is coming. I need to stay here until we can hand George off to other Chiaroscuro members.”

  “The whole point was for me to be bait,” Luc said, not wanting to get shut out of questioning George.

  Arrigo rested a hand on Luc’s shoulder. “And it worked. While I doubt Eleni will come here tonight herself, if she has another Renfield, he could get in here and shoot you while you’re nearly helpless. You did good.” Arrigo took Luc’s half-healed hand.

  “I had to stop him. He was trying to get away when he heard your car,” Luc said defensively.

  Arrigo nodded without comment. “If we’re lucky, we can corner her in Mandalay Bay come morning, and this will all be over. I would be less worried and distracted if I knew you were safe in the Tower. I’d let you help, but you know why you can’t.”

  Luc sighed and muttered a curse under his breath. “Yeah, I do.”

  “You can’t… just take me away,” George managed to stutter, shocking everyone.

  Luc had never seen anyone break through Arrigo’s control before. He wondered if a vampire could lend someone their mental shielding. He’d ask Siobhan on the way home. “You’ll be lucky if I don’t kill you before I go.”

  “And I can take you anywhere I damn well please. The Chiaroscuro is good at it.” Arrigo’s voice didn’t rise above normal, but it still managed to chill Luc. He turned to Luc and gave him a hug. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  “You go do what you have to. Bring this to an end,” Luc said, then waved a hand at Siobhan.

  He didn’t want to leave Arrigo and Michael there with George, but Arrigo was right. The sun was going to be up all too soon. Siobhan led him to her car.

  Once they were underway, he asked, “It’s almost over, isn’t it?”

  “I sure as hell hope so,” she replied.

  Not nearly as much as he did.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  LUC WASN’T asleep when Arrigo ghosted into the room and lay down. He could almost feel the exhaustion coming off his lover in waves. It was nearly four in the afternoon, some twelve hours after they captured George.

  Even though he already knew the answer, Luc asked, “You didn’t find her?”

  Arrigo draped an arm around Luc. “No.”

  “How could she have gotten away if she can’t go in the sun?” Luc hoped he didn’t sound like he blamed Arrigo, but dammit, it should have ended today.

  “We think George told her where you were. She might have been on her way there. When he didn’t check in, she assumed he’d been captured and bugged out of Mandalay. She was probably gone before we ever got there. Michael tracked her as far as he could before the bus and car exhaust got too much for him. We know she got in a car, and a werewolf can only track so far, even in wolf form. They’re still genetically more human than wolf, so their abilities aren’t as good as a scent hound.”

  Luc rolled up on one arm and looked down into Arrigo’s tired face. “Do you think she’ll leave? I mean she runs from you a lot since she’s been at this for centuries.”

  “She might.” Arrigo sighed, rubbing his forehead. “This feels different, like she isn’t going to go without you.”

  “Fan-fucking-tastic.” Luc flopped back down on the bed. “Of course, that’s what I think too. What now? Do I go back to my pretend apartment?”

  “No, she’d know it’s a trap by now. Only a complete fool would go back. She’ll assume you’ll come back here or go somewhere else safe.”

  “She’s not likely to come walking into your lair.” Luc grabbed a fistful of the soft sheets. “So, I get another crappy apartment?”

  Arrigo didn’t answer right away. “I guess we could try, but she’ll probably realize it’s a trap.” He shrugged. “I’d prefer if the Chiaroscuro could send a mage as a roommate for you, but it might not be possible. She knows Michael, so maybe we can use Sykes. And we’ll set up the wireless cameras again.”

  “Okay, makes sense. I can handle a roommate. I guess I’ll keep working like normal.”

  Arrigo finally kicked off his shoes. They hit the floor with a thump. “It’s a plan if you’re still comfortable with being bait.”

  “I’m more nervous now I know she’s really here, but we have her right-hand man. What happened to him, Arrigo? Did you kill him?”

  Arrigo stroked Luc’s side. His touch made Luc’s heart race in spite of the situation. “No, but I can’t say the leaders won’t eventually decide he needs putting to death or at least turned over to the cops if he pulled the trigger on Hanako. For now he’s on his way to L.A. to be interrogated.”

  “He stood up to your mental mojo a little. How does that work?”

  “Eleni put blocks in his mind. They’re good, but we can wear them down. I’m not sure how much breaking through the blocks will matter in finding her. It might give us some ideas of all the things she’s done.”

  “Like kill the lady who had all those plastic horses.”

  Arrigo nodded, his eyes fluttering shut. “I’m sure she did.”

  “You said we’d kill Eleni.” Luc knew that sounded whinier than he meant it to. He wanted to be sure of it, but he knew he should let Arrigo sleep. It wasn’t nice of him to badger Arrigo, but he couldn’t let it go.

  “And we will, no trial needed.” Arrigo yawned. “If we ever find the bitch.”

  That wasn’t encouraging, but Arrigo was tired. Luc gave him a pass.

  Arrigo reached out and touched Luc’s hair. “How’s the head, babe? You gave it a good whack.”

  “Yeah,” He tangled his fingers with Arrigo’s. “It’s fine, healing up. It’s like the best thing about being a vampire. I didn’t know I could be taken down by a Taser. That hurt like hell.”

  Arrigo snorted. “I’m sure it did. I didn’t think I had to mention electricity still works on us. It might even be better than bullets in a way, since it locks up our muscles just like anyone else’s, just not as long. It’s like those cop videos where you see them trying to Taser someone on PCP.”

  Luc rubbed the back of his head, feeling nothing more than a faint scab. The blood had soaked the back of his shirt, but he hadn’t noticed at the time. He’d thrown the shirt out when he got home instead of trying to save it. He was changing.

  “I’ll keep it in mind.” Luc snuggled against Arrigo. “Go to sleep. It’ll be dark soon. You need some rest.”

  Mumbling his agreement, Arrigo held Luc tight. “I’m sorry we didn’t catch her.”

  “It’s not your fault. I know everyone tried their best.” Luc kept the rest of the thought, that didn’t make him feel much better, to himself.

  ELENI BARELY made it to some off-Strip hotel in time, but it would never do. She didn’t trust the place. Come dark she would find herself another home like the last two times. Damn George for getting himself caught.

  She couldn’t think like that. She had to concentrate on Arrigo. It was time for him to hurt the way he’d hurt her. Eleni would take everything from him, starting with Luc. Maybe George had been right in one of his last conversations with her. Maybe Arrigo had abandoned Luc. Maybe she’d been wrong about them being lovers. It could be Luc wasn’t as queer as she thought. If he wasn’t close to Arrigo, Luc should be easy to pick off, but it wouldn’t be as fun to do if it wouldn’t cause Arrigo pain.

  She’d do it anyhow. Eleni owed both men that much for costing her Ge
orge. It wasn’t that she cared about George. It hurt not having someone who could go out in the day to help her. She would have to replace him quickly, maybe even before she could move forward with her plans to damage Arrigo.

  Eleni shifted on the hard mattress, pulling the blanket up over her head. For a moment, she thought she’d have to nap in the damned tub. She barely got the curtains to seal against the light. The ratty things were better than some of the new hotels with curtains that didn’t meet in the middle and only had those idiotic thin white sheers that kept out neither sunlight nor hotel safety lights.

  Eleni would make Arrigo and the Chiaroscuro pay for this, but it could wait until she had figured out what to do with George out of the picture.

  ARRIGO RELUCTANTLY left Luc again in a place he wouldn’t want a rat living in. Luc was brave about it. Arrigo wished this would at least give Luc a boost of self-worth. He didn’t want Luc to be entirely dependent on him. Even Luc saw the problem with that.

  The bigger problem at hand was finding Eleni before she hurt Luc, Taabu, Shani, or Lily. This was all his fault. He’d been too lax, too merciful. That ended now. They couldn’t keep being reactive. They had to move first. Arrigo knew they were trying, but it wasn’t enough. A plan formed in his mind, one he felt like an asshole for suggesting, but he wasn’t surprised Luc was willing to go along with it. They were putting it out there Luc had reconciled with his family. Luc would visit the bar area, pretend he was going in the back and then cut through the alleys to pick up a bus and go home. Sykes or Michael could watch the Alibi at night. While no one would be terribly disappointed if Eleni killed the other St. Johns—and Arrigo was aware of how bad that was—they weren’t going to let it happen. They hoped this plan would lure Eleni out.