Pixie didn’t stop. His only response was to paw at one wet ear, rubbing every bit of holy water off his definitely-grey skin. Jude sighed and turned away, feeling safe enough to briefly leave the room. When he returned with a towel a moment later, the shivering vampire was still there, and hadn’t un-curled. So he dropped the towel right on top of Pixie.
“Thank you,” said the dripping lump under the towel.
“Mm-hmm.” Jude stared, wondering all the while what in the hell he was doing and how to steer the situation back toward something he knew how to deal with. Fighting vampires was one thing. Having weird, awkward standoffs with them was another. When he spoke again, it was in a conversational tone even he found absurd. “So, it’s true about holy water?”
“What?” Pixie emerged, hair standing up even straighter than usual from the vigorous toweling. “Oh. No, I guess not. It doesn’t burn or anything. Which is good to know! I thought it would, honestly, learn something new every day. But you did scare the heck out of me. Also, I don’t really like being wet.”
“I scared you?” Jude stared some more, then shook his head with an aggravated snort. Enough. “Never mind—get out of here!”
“That’s not very nice,” Pixie grumbled, sounding hurt again.
“You’re a vampire!” Jude exclaimed in an ever-more-familiar combination of frustration and confusion. “I should be staking you right now!”
“Do you actually have a stake?” Pixie asked, looking up sharply and looking legitimately worried for the first time.
Jude only hesitated for a second, hoping that he was, at least, not the worst liar in the room. “Maybe!”
“Well, thanks for not using it.” Pixie seemed to relax a little, but continued to anxiously twist the towel in his hands. Something about his eyes, when they weren’t flashing glare-bright, made Jude shut his mouth. His pupils were definitely more vertical than Jude was used to seeing but, aside from that, they looked almost human. “I don’t even know if it’d work for sure either, but getting stabbed in the chest is never gonna sound fun. So, yeah, thanks for that.”
“I’m… you’re welcome.” Jude folded his arms, somehow feeling like he’d just been out-maneuvered. The fact that he wasn’t entirely sure if it was intentional didn’t make it better. “You’re still a vampire, in my house, which is about the worst place a vampire could ever be. You’re dealing with an armed, dangerous, prepared vampire hunter.” He held up the holy water and gave it an intimidating shake. Then realized the bottle was empty and quickly stopped.
“Okay, good.” Pixie nodded, not actually looking as unimpressed as Jude had expected, but not that scared either. “That’s actually why I’m here.”
“You have a death wish?”
“I mean, I’m kind of already dead, so—”
“Just talk fast and get out of my apartment so I can fix my window!” Jude was shivering already, and it wasn’t entirely from the adrenaline. Maybe cold didn’t bother vampires, but it certainly bothered him, that and virtually everything else about this conversation.
Pixie did talk fast. “Okay! So the mall’s infested, right? With a ton of pesky vampires who like to bug you, and kick me around, and basically act like bullies who own the place, right?” Pixie stopped and waited, looking like he expected Jude to agree immediately. When he didn’t, he went on. “And they’re really annoying, they scare people, they suck their blood, all kinds of, just, real bad things that vampires do, right? Except for me. I don’t—I mean, they’re out of control, someone should do something!”
“I intend to,” Jude said levelly, and hopefully menacingly. Pixie apparently didn’t know about his promise to Eva, to stop chasing vampires and start focusing on his actual job. And he didn’t need to. Not yet, anyway, not while it gave Jude even a slight advantage. “I’m out there every night.”
“Yeah, I know!” Pixie didn’t sound nearly as scared of this as Jude had expected or intended. Again, frustrating.
“You do?” Jude narrowed his eyes, suspicion re-igniting. Vampiric nature aside, this one was up to something. “What do you know?”
“Um—I hear things.” Pixie wiggled one large ear, apparently in a demonstration. When Jude didn’t smile or otherwise acknowledge this, he quickly moved on. “But so far you’ve been chasing little squirts, just catching glances here and there, and you can barely keep up? Especially with all the naughty human kids running around, right?”
“And I suppose you can change all that,” Jude said, slightly impressed despite himself. Inconvenience aside, it took serious guts to approach someone supposedly on a mission to eradicate one’s species, even if Jude hadn’t had all that much success so far. Still, he never would have thought to make first contact with a vampire, much less on its home turf. Even if this was some kind of trick, it was a daring one.
“Mm-hmm.” Pixie nodded, still altogether too perkily for Jude’s taste, or trust. “I know where they sleep.”
Jude’s skepticism and resolve wavered, but only for a moment. “The one I’m looking for is… something different than the ones I’ve seen around here.”
“Different is good, makes ‘em easier to find!”
“What, exactly, are you suggesting?” Jude asked, not at all sure he wanted to know the answer. But at least after he dismissed it he could go back to figuring out what to do with the vampire in his apartment and how to prevent it from being an issue again.
“A deal. I’ll take care of your little monsters, if you take care of mine.” Pixie smiled in a sly kind of way that reminded Jude of Jasper’s cunning ringleader face, the one that said he was cooking up many schemes, behind many curtains. Coming from Pixie’s comparatively much-more-innocent-looking face, it wasn’t quite as convincing. “I scare away the naughty kids so you can focus on important stuff, like the nest of big baddies! Then you take them out, which is safer for everybody—we both win!”
“You’re trying to get me to kill off others of your own… species?” Pixie shrugged, and Jude eyed him, looking for any hint of hostility or guile. He didn’t find one, but that did nothing to reassure him. “Why?”
“Hey, vampires only turn into vampires because we get bitten and killed by other vampires. There’s no weird loyalty system or whatever. I don’t like these guys any more than I like… actually, I like you more than them. You’re actually talking to me.”
Jude considered the proposal, studying the young man’s smiling face, pink hair, and complete lack of anything intimidating. Aside from that first flash of eyes and fangs, nothing about him was what Jude would call frightening, even to him, an unarmed and not-quite-able-bodied human. At all. “I don’t know if you’re up to this.”
“Oh, come on, give me a little credit!” Pixie actually sounded insulted at the idea, defensive and eager to prove his undead prowess. “I can scare off a couple of bratty kids! It’ll be fun!”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m not just out here hunting any random monster.” Jude’s tone dropped and expression along with it, frown deepening as he grimly remembered the initial reason for his five-year fixation. “There’s one in particular.”
“Huh…” Pixie nodded slowly as if to show he was following, and now he was the one giving Jude a cautious, searching look. “This one, uh, got a name?”
“No. No name, no face. Just claws, fangs and…” Jude shivered, remembering full moons and flames. “Fire.”
“Well, that does kinda describe a lot of us,” Pixie said thoughtfully, as if he were running through a mental roster of vampire names and reputations. Jude had to admit, such a thing might be of some use. “Even the fire part, more than you’d think. Most of us don’t like it, yeah, but some of the bigger guys like to play with it, show off how badass they are.”
“This one is responsible for more carnage than I can describe.” Jude spoke slowly, tone full of warning, surprised to find that part of him hoped Pixie would listen. “It shouldn’t have been possible. It wasn’t possible. I’ve never seen any
thing like it and, somehow, I don’t think you have either. This thing was… more.”
“Hey, I’m still a vampire!” Pixie interjected, again sounding indignant. “I have fangs! And my eyes glow, and I can turn into a bat, and do all kinds of wild stuff! I’m—”
“Listen,” Jude said in a much calmer voice than he would have expected from himself under the circumstances. “I’m sure you’re great at…those things. But if I’m going to fight fire with fire, so to speak, I’m going to need something with a little more fire-power.”
“Well, you’d be better off with me than throwing holy water that doesn’t even work. And—and!” he continued before Jude could argue. “I saw you the other night.”
“What other night?” Jude asked, instantly back on his guard. The more-than-slightly conspicuous Pixie had to have been watching for a few days at least and Jude hadn’t noticed, even at his levels of hypervigilance and obsessive watch for threats. That was sloppy. Sloppy could get you killed just as easily as fangs. “Just how much have you been spying on me?”
“I haven’t—okay, maybe I was spying, but just a little,” Pixie admitted with a sheepish-looking shrug. “In the parking lot. You went up against two of ‘em, they look like teenage girls? They’re little, but they’re nasty. And you totally froze up.”
“I did not—”
“Dude, it’s okay.” Pixie grinned, fully revealing his two small front fangs for the first time. Like most things tonight, they weren’t what Jude expected. Now that he got a good look at them, the little, only slightly-pointed nubbins were the opposite of threatening. If Jude wasn’t so annoyed, apprehensive, and contemplating the most perilously bone-headed plan of his life, they might have been cute. “Scaring people’s kind of their whole deal, and they’ve had about two hundred years to practice. They scare the heck out of me!”
Jude frowned and didn’t answer. He didn’t want to admit he knew the feeling, no matter how true. That would give away too much leverage, and that was the last thing he wanted a vampire to have on him, aside from fangs themselves.
“But yeah, you could use some backup,” Pixie continued, apparently undaunted. “And I got you covered! Just remember, those girls can be creepy, but they’re small fries. If you’re after the big fish… follow me.” He headed over to the window and casually brushed away some broken glass from the sill, which just felt insulting after what he’d done to it earlier. Then he turned back around to face Jude, meeting his hard, scrutinizing stare with an oddly optimistic look. “Just think about it, okay?”
Jude still said nothing. But he didn’t reject the request either, painfully aware of his lack of any better alternatives.
“Cool! Good talk!” Pixie smiled again, this time fang-free. Without those, or the dramatic eye-flash, he looked like… somebody Jude probably would have still avoided like the plague. But definitely not as threatening as vampires were supposed to be. Jude just folded his arms tighter across his chest. The less monstrous this undead intruder turned out to be, the more confused he got. “See you later!”
There was no cloud of smoke or flash of light. One second Pixie was there, the next he just wasn’t. Instead, on the windowsill sat a small, fluffy, familiar-looking bat. Very familiar. Very pink.
Jude and the bat regarded one another for a few seconds. It didn’t move, just stared up at him with beady little eyes, and wiggling very large ears. Finally, feeling perhaps the most ridiculous he’d been this entire ridiculous night, Jude shook his head and spread his hands in a conceding gesture.
“I’ll think about it,” he said in as level and practical a tone he could manage while talking to a flying rodent. “But no promises.”
Seeming satisfied, the small pink bat flopped the last couple inches out the broken window, dropped off the sill, and disappeared.
Alone in the silence, Jude stared at the mess of his apartment. Time to start putting the room, and his head back together. He’d start by sweeping up the broken glass. Tomorrow, he’d talk to Jasper about holy water and set a few related misconceptions straight. After he got a refund.
Jude expected Jasper to talk him out of it.
Not because he was a consistently cool head; that was Eva’s department, and sometimes Jude’s himself when it came to some of Jasper’s more legally-ambiguous activities. It wasn’t even a question of Jasper believing him. He knew vampires existed. They’d witnessed the same horror five years ago. But where Jude’s coping mechanisms involved meeting horror head-on, Jasper’s involved more evasion, more elaborate webs of intrigue. Even if Pixie had crashed into his window, Jasper was more likely to bury that fact along with so much trauma. He’d certainly tell Jude to do the same—and Jude almost found himself half-hoping for an excuse to back out.
“Well, I think you should see what he wants,” Jasper said instead, not looking up from the same heavy book Jude had seen him with last. He’d read it throughout Jude’s story and, by all appearances, seemed to find it more interesting. “And tell me everything, spare no detail.”
Jude stared at him and his complete lack of concern or surprise of any kind. Somehow, even after all the borderline-absurd events of the past couple days, this was the strangest. “You actually want me to—what, form an alliance with the monsters I’ve been trying to hunt down all this time?”
“Doesn’t sound like your new friend is one of those monsters in particular.” Jasper finally glanced up at Jude before going back to studying the near-illegible writing on the aged, fragile page. No sequins this time. Today he was in all black, probably to go with the more occult leanings of his store. Even with the thick black eyeliner, it was relatively subdued compared to his usual finery and all that popped into Jude’s head looking at him was ‘beatnik poet.’ Minus the beret. “But it does sound like this could be a mutually beneficial arrangement. I’ve made worse deals.”
“Fine, but…” The store was empty, as usual, but Jude still had to lean in closer and say the next words in a near-whisper. “These are vampires.”
“Yes, they are!” Jasper finally closed the book and gave Jude his undivided attention. “And what do you do when a vampire comes along, offering you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?”
“Opportunity for what?” Jude scoffed, incredulous. No matter the angle he looked at it, all he could see was an annoying ex-neighbor and a pair of fangs, both much closer than he preferred.
“To know a vampire!” Jasper looked like he wanted to bop Jude’s head with the book, but instead just stared at him, as if unable to believe anybody could fail to grasp this. “If somebody who isn’t supposed to be real comes to you with the chance to learn everything you’re not supposed to know—you take his offer! Who knows, you may find something you never knew you were missing. Can’t judge a book by its cover. Or, in this case, a vampire by his fashion sense.”
“I can’t believe I’m hearing this.” Jude said, bemused and still trying to wrap his overwhelmed brain around everything. And now this. “So if you were in my place, you’d just go with it and see what happened?”
Jasper smiled, and it looked genuine. Jude couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen real happiness on his face. The thought left a subtle ache in his chest. “Like I said, I’ve made worse deals.”
“Come with me, then.” Jude spotted a ray of hope and went for it with everything he had. “I wouldn’t mind getting into this mess so much if you were there.”
“Why don’t you ask Eva?” Jasper’s smile turned a little teasing. “She’d be a lot better in a fight than me, anyway.”
“Because you at least believe me.” Jude said in a low voice, leaning forward to rest his hands on the counter between them. Unlike the last time he’d been in here, it wasn’t a calculated move. No games this time, his request deserved to stand on its own. “And you know how important this is, more than anyone.”
“Yes, I do.” In response to his earnest words, Jasper met his gaze without a trace of mischief. “And I always believed. That’s why I’m stayi
ng out of it.”
“Are you serious?” Jude recoiled a bit, feeling as if the ground was shifting under his feet. He hadn’t expected Jasper to want any part of it, but that wasn’t what disturbed him. “You’re leaving me to face all this alone?”
“I’m not leaving you.” Jasper insisted, eyes hardening as if the idea were unthinkable, condemnable. “That will never happen. But some things are yours, just like there’s a lot that’s mine alone.”
“I can’t believe this,” Jude said again, feeling any control he might have regained slipping out of his fingers again. “How can you tell me to do this, while you just sit there and ‘stay out of it?’”
“Because I’m not you,” Jasper said simply, with the serenity of complete conviction. “We’re in different places, even if we’re standing in the same room. We’re trying to rebuild our lives, and that looks different for both of us. My life is here and has enough excitement in it already. And yours, I think, is about to get a lot more interesting.”
Jude gave him a long, searching look. Despite all his friend’s masks and evasions, Jude had never had a problem figuring out what he was actually thinking. Jasper had never made the habit of lying to Jude before, and he wasn’t now, Jude felt that in his bones. “I thought you supported giving up.”
“Giving up? No.” Jasper said in a quiet but very certain voice. “Accepting the end of one life, and the start of a new one? Recognizing some things are lost, but still seizing hold of something else if it comes along? Jude, the man I was going to marry is dead. The life I was going to have is dead. I think that’s true for all of us. I’m making a new life for myself but, until now, you…” He stopped, resolved expression softening again into one that was so warm and fond it made Jude’s chest ache. “For the first time since I can recall, you look alive.”
Jude shut his eyes briefly, feeling another, different kind of pang in his heart. “I don’t really remember what that feels like.”
The Secret Ingredient Is Love. No, Really Page 6