Amnesia Bites (Shady Arcade Book 1)

by Sharon Stevenson

  Chloe had frowned as she took in Mary’s story. She’d asked what she meant by saying someone had tried to start a fire. It turned out she’d found a pile of black ash, the keys lying on the ground close to it.

  Chills had run down Chloe’s spine at the image the cleaner had planted in her head. Had Bridget done something to Larry? Her suspicions faded quickly as she realised the time frame didn’t allow for her friend to be turned and then staked. It was probably coincidental. She shivered.

  The blonde vampire had most likely compelled Larry to give her the keys. It would be too much to hope for that Bridget might be the pile of ash the cleaners had binned.

  She confirmed it wasn’t when she heard the bitch’s heels clacking out there not long after she’d gotten to her own shop. She peered out, getting a quick look. Bridget was most definitely not the pile of ash. That meant another vampire had been in town. Not just in town, but in the arcade. She knew what that meant, and it made her stomach clench.

  Picking up the phone, she called her contact on the Council. Every necromancer was assigned one when they passed their training. A senior person they could turn to, someone who would decide when the Elders were needed. She shivered again, pulling on her jacket as she dialled.

  “Hello?” He cleared his throat, sounding groggy as he answered.

  “Kenny, something’s happened. We need the Elders.”

  He sighed, and she pictured him rolling his eyes. He’d never had much patience with her. She’d seen him shake his head at her decisions too many times. This was different. He had to see how important this was.

  “What is it this time?”

  She closed her eyes and tried to summon some patience. “There was a vampire in the arcade.”

  “Was?”

  “He or she was staked. The point is—”

  “So there’s no problem.”

  “You’re not listening.” Her voice had taken on a sharp tone. She couldn’t seem to help it when she spoke to her contact. She’d requested a new one several times. Apparently, someone high up hated her because she was still stuck with Kenny the Dick.

  “Bridget will have gotten rid of it. Vampires aren’t a problem, Zoe. We have complete power over them.”

  “But something’s—” She narrowed her eyes at the phone as she removed it from her ear. The dial tone sounded insufferably loud. She slammed the receiver down hard, sending a shock of pain up her arm. “Damn it!”

  She didn’t know why she’d called that idiot. He only ever wound her up and made her want to punch something hard enough to shatter bone. Whatever was going on, she was going to figure out what to do on her own. If there’d been a vampire sniffing around the arcade, there was no doubt he’d been after Zack. The species didn’t generally risk coming to necromancer towns. There had to be something worth coming for.

  She tapped Larry’s keys with her nails. One vampire wouldn’t usually be a problem. It was what that one vampire’s appearance signified that was the issue. One of the clans knew about Zack. They would send more.

  ***

  Zack’s insistence on stopping to buy sunglasses made Bridget tetchy. He said it would only take a minute and then he stalked down the arcade, peering into the shop windows as he passed. The shop that supplied Cassandra’s work wear sold women’s clothes only. He’d leave it off as a last resort, certain he’d end up with something with pink frames or rhinestones if he ventured inside. The alternative store a few shops down seemed more hopeful. He could see a stand with leather cuffs, earrings, and sunglasses that looked at least unisex.

  Bridget was at his side within seconds. She put her hand on his arm. “We should go.”

  He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something in her voice that told him there was more to her protest than the risk of burning five minutes of daylight.

  “I’ll only be a minute,” he insisted, pushing the door open and breaking her grip on his arm. He glanced at her as he went inside. Her face was rigid. She was pissed. He let the door swing shut behind him.

  The girl behind the counter glanced his way and did a double take. He sighed inwardly. People were always weirded out by the reclusive amnesiac. A second later, she was smiling stiffly and busying herself with something under the counter.

  He went to the stand he’d seen through the window. There were Ray-Ban-style plain shades that wouldn’t look too bad. He tried them on, acting as if he was looking in the mirror. The resonances he picked up were confined to his hands and his taste-buds, but he didn’t like to make any assumptions when it came to that stuff. The shades didn’t seem to be hiding any nasty surprises. He took them off and headed to the counter.

  The girl was still smiling in that strange, awkward way that made her appear nervous. He wondered how much she knew about what had happened to him. Was she afraid of him?

  “Kind of dull for sunglasses outside,” she said, flinching as the words left her mouth.

  He shrugged. “Could brighten up later.”

  She rung them up, and he got his wallet out. He’d gotten used to opening it with his gloved hands, but he still felt weird doing it in front of anyone. Most normal people handled cash without them. He felt his face flush as he passed the money over. “Thanks.”

  She shrugged as he picked up his new protective eyewear. There was something in her expression that made him pause. She turned away quickly, opening a door behind the counter. Her eyes had seemed watery, like she’d been about to cry.

  ***

  Bridget folded her arms. Her plan could be shot to shit if Zack got tangled up with his old girlfriend now. She’d just have to hope he was as hopeless around all women as he was around Cassandra.

  He came out with a pair of sunglasses and started heading towards the exit. He glanced back at the shop once, but it was enough to make Bridget change up her strategy. She couldn’t risk losing him to her. His crush on Cassandra was bad enough. At least, he seemed to realise that woman was out of his league. The last thing she needed was to lose him to the necromancer. Plan C was nowhere near as pleasant as Plan B. She shuddered as she followed him to the exit.

  The sky was still grey, and the first droplets of rain were starting to fall. She stepped outside and hurried along. Zack stopped leading to follow her, seeming to realise she was sticking to shaded areas. The day was cloudy, but there were a few breaks in the coverage, and she didn’t want to risk bursting into flames in the middle of the street.

  “It’s up here,” Zack said, pointing out the street sign.

  She already knew where it was. She could sense the vampire now that she was close. This was why she’d been assigned to protect Zack. The necromancers could control the dead, but they couldn’t sense them, not like she could. There was no way for them to know when vampires were in town. Bridget was Zack’s first line of defence. He needed her. Almost as much as she needed him.

  “She’s awake,” Bridget murmured. A conscious vampire was a deadly vampire. “Ready?”

  Zack gulped. He put on the sunglasses he’d just bought. He nodded, but he smelled tastier suddenly. It was almost enough to trigger her fangs. She shook off the hunger and moved forward, towards the new vampire.

  ***

  Chloe took a few calming breaths. It was the first time she’d spoken a word to Zack since the hospital. The first time, and it had all been meaningless small talk.

  There was nothing else it could have been and she knew that, but that didn’t make her feel any better. She bit at her lip. She had to forget him like he’d forgotten her.

  The problem was, she wasn’t sure she could. She looked down at the keys she had clutched in her hand. She could go to Larry’s place and hopefully find out what had happened to him. She knew where he stayed now, from helping him make it back to his flat after Bridget had bitten him. She should at least check his place out, anyway. As much as she dreaded finding out what his fate had been, it came with the upside that it might actually take her mind off Zack.

  She laughed as
she moved out from behind the counter and got her own keys out to close the shop. There wasn’t a chance in hell that it might take her mind off him. Nothing had been able to do that. She knew the bitter truth, and it stung every time she was faced with it.

  It would take a lot longer to erase Zack from her life than it had taken a single vampire to erase her from his.

  Chapter Ten

  Zack followed Bridget to the house. She walked with confidence, her hips swinging, gait long and even. Little tremors rippled over his skin. What if the girl really was a vampire? He shuddered. He was sure his arms must be covered in goose bumps under his clothes. He couldn’t believe what they were about to do. He knew he wasn’t exactly in any position to question anyone’s sanity but this… this went beyond insanity.

  “Wait,” he said as they got to the front door. “What are we doing?”

  She smiled. “Killing a vampire. What did you think we were doing?”

  She knocked on the front door. Waited.

  He swallowed. “What if… I mean, could this be considered murder?”

  She laughed, a gentle noise that birthed baby goose bumps on top of his pre-existing goose bumps.

  “You can’t murder a dead person.”

  “What about… Don’t vampires have rules about this kind of thing?”

  Her smile tightened. “She’s a direct threat to you, Zack. That makes her a staked vampire walking.”

  He tried not to think about it anymore. Bridget knew what she was doing. He was safe.

  The door went unanswered. Bridget sighed, turned the handle. The door was locked.

  “Oh, well,” Zack said. “We should probably—”

  Bridget did something to the door with her thin, girlish hand. Something snapped and it swung inwards. She looked at him. “Well, I hate to do this, but I need you to lure her out of the house.”

  “Uhn, what?”

  “I can’t walk in since I’m not invited. You have to get her to come outside.”

  “Eh, no.” That was not happening. Not in a million years. He shook his head.

  “She’s hungry. You go inside, she’ll smell you, and you’ll just need to run back out here.”

  Like that made it sound any better. He looked into the house. It was dark, but everything was dark. His sunglasses had a downside. He still wasn’t taking them off.

  “Zack, I hate to ask,” she said, sounding resigned. “But it’s the only way. Listen, she’ll be able to smell you if you just get a little bit closer. Just walk in to about that door there,” she said, pointing inside. “Stand there for five seconds and then run right back out here.”

  He frowned. It didn’t sound particularly hard, but he was freaking the hell out. Maybe if Bridget hadn’t told him what the vampires wanted to do to him…

  “She’s new, Zack. She barely knows what she’s doing. She’ll just try to bite you,” Bridget went on.

  “Great,” he muttered, trying to psych himself up.

  Bridget came down a step and brushed his hair behind his ears. It was definitely getting a bit on the long side, but he hadn’t been able to force himself to go and get it cut. Something about sitting still while some guy stood behind him with a pair of scissors made him queasy. He had no idea how he’d done it before the incident, but he knew he must have since it had been a lot shorter then.

  Bridget apparently wasn’t done touching him. He watched in surprise as she straightened up his shirt collar, a look in her eyes he’d never seen before. Did she actually like him? Was that even possible?

  “You’ll be fine. I’ll make sure of it. Trust me, I don’t want you getting hurt.”

  He was glad the sunglasses were there to hide his shock. Bridget had always been cool around him; she’d never shown any real sign of affection before. He’d assumed she didn’t really like him or her assignment. He hadn’t thought she could even separate the two.

  “You know what I am now, Zack,” she went on. “You know, and you trust me. Trust me when I say I’ll burn up out here if you don’t hurry up.” She stepped back.

  He rushed up the stairs, the realisation that Bridget was under threat for every second he hesitated making him panic. He needed her.

  He darted into the house and stopped at the door she’d pointed out. Five seconds, she’d said. He counted them out slowly in his head, glancing around as he did so. He was waiting for a hungry, out-of-control vampire to come tearing out thirsting for his blood. He hoped to God the plan worked like Bridget thought it would.

  The sound of a door banging open grabbed his attention as he got to ‘four’. His head snapped around. The girl burst into the hallway, right in between him and his escape route. She wore only underwear and a shit-ton of blood. He stared, a scream trapped in his throat as she sniffed the air and grinned at him with blood-coated fangs.

  Seeing the girl who’d dropped dead right in front of him standing there looking like a monster gave him uncontrollable shudders. It was too much to take in, and his escape route being blocked was cranking his fear up. Vampires were real. He couldn’t deny that any longer. He fought to pull in a breath as his chest constricted in panic. He couldn’t believe it. He just couldn’t…

  “Steve, man, you’ve got to help me! I just saw a vampire. I swear to God, I’m not taking the piss. She wanted to bite me. I’m never going to sleep again…”

  “Zack, have you been taking your pills? Because it doesn’t sound like you have.”

  “I need help. I can’t keep having these visions. I took the pills. Maybe they don’t work.”

  “What have I told you before? Vampires aren’t real, Zack. Take deep breaths. Tap your neck.”

  “My neck?” He wondered why it felt so hot. It was like he was being tattooed or burned with a cigarette, over and over again.

  “Tap it,” Steve told him.

  “I don’t think I can move.”

  “Why can’t you move?”

  Zack blinked. The room came into focus and he realised the vampire was on top of him, her blood-stained body pinning him to the floor. The pain in his neck was her fangs. He could feel them inside him as she sucked his blood out of the wound they’d created.

  He wasn’t sure how long his mental break had lasted, but she sure as hell hadn’t wasted any time getting her teeth into him. Shit! He pushed at her, hard. She didn’t move, not a fraction of an inch. His head was fuzzy; blood loss, he supposed. He could hear something, though, someone making a racket close by, and when he finally managed to focus on it, he recognised Bridget’s voice.

  “Hey, Bitch,” Bridget called out, her voice clear and demanding. “Get out here. I command you.”

  He pushed at the vampire again. She got up of her own accord, he assumed, since she moved swiftly and without further prompting. The pain of having her teeth extracted from his neck made his stomach heave. He rolled onto his side and puked onto the stranger’s carpet. Blood spattered his vomit, pulsing out of his neck. He clamped his hand over the wound as he dragged himself up.

  He saw the vampire rush at Bridget. Her crazy plan had at least worked. He’d console himself with that fact when he was bleeding less copiously or maybe after he died from the loss.

  Bridget moved quickly, and Zack saw the girl go from a blood-spattered, half-naked teenager to a mass of blackened, smoky-smelling dust. So that’s what happened when vampires died? He got onto his knees, not quite steady enough to make it to his feet yet. His head was swimming as Bridget tried to get closer. He wondered why she wasn’t rushing over to help him. Then he remembered. She couldn’t get into the house; she hadn’t been invited.

  “Zack, you need to get over here. I can help you but you need to get over here, now!”

  The helpless look in her eyes was unfamiliar and kind of terrifying.

  He felt his eyes roll up in his head as he fell forward onto the carpet.

  ***

  Witnessing this from the other side of the doorway, Bridget took her mobile out of her pocket and cursed as she waited f
or Kenny to pick up. She’d fucked up badly, and she needed help. Nothing she could do on her own would get Zack out of that goddamned house. Kenny was ignoring his phone or he was sleeping. She cursed again and realised he wasn’t her best choice right now, anyway. Chloe would make a much better accomplice.

  She dialled the girl’s mobile number, having been given the contact details when she’d taken the job guarding Zack. Every necromancer in town had a place in her phone book. If she’d known which of the others was the closest, she might have called them. As it was, Chloe would need to do.

  “What do you want?” the girl asked, pleasant as ever.

  “Help,” Bridget said. “Zack’s been bitten. He’s passed out. I can’t get to him.”

  “Where are you?” Concern was now evident in her voice.

  Bridget gave the address, smiling at the hint of anxiety in Chloe’s tone as she repeated it back to her.

  “I’m on my way.”

  Bridget hung up and glanced around. The bushes surrounding the house would have hidden her little scuffle with the newbie vamp. The neighbours didn’t appear to be nosy. Or they were all out at work, more likely. She tried to contain her impatience, pacing and rearranging everything she touched from her hair to the buttons on her coat. Finally, she caught sight of the necromancer and was able to calm herself.

  Chloe jumped out of a taxi, rushing towards her as the cab drew away.

  “Where is—” Her eyes widened as her gaze moved past Bridget. She pushed her out of her way without a second’s hesitation and ran into the house.

  Chloe managed to get Zack to the threshold within a few seconds, dragging him out with her arms under his. He was still unconscious. She held him for a few seconds, lowering him to the ground and sitting with his head on her knees. She brushed back his hair and checked his pulse at his neck.

  Bridget watched the panic fade from the necromancer’s face as she confirmed her old lover’s heart was still beating.