Fang Me

by Parker Blue

  Alejandro nodded."One of my people will drive you."

  Cocking his head with a slight grin, Trevor murmured,"Would it be possible to have the charming Rosa?"

  "Of course," Alejandro said smoothly and left to get his lieutenant.

  While he waited, Trevor shook Micah's hand and murmured some pleasantries, then crossed the room to shake mine. Lola didn't seem at all interested in him, but I urged her to enthrall him . . . just a little. Maybe if he was feeling a little happy, he'd be more willing to share what he knew.

  Nothing. Nada. Zilch. It was like trying to get lust from a stone.

  His eyes widened and he placed his other hand on top of mine."Oh my, a little succubus. I would never have guessed."

  What the hell did that mean? I yanked my hand out of his, wishing I could come up with a great line that would skewer him and his amusement, but my mind went blank. Help me here, I begged Fang.

  SORRY, BABE. I GOT NOTHIN'.

  Too late anyway as Alejandro came back in with Rosa. Trevor's eyes gleamed in appreciation as he looked her over. For some reason, it annoyed me.

  Fang huffed. WHY DO YOU CARE WHAT HE THINKS, ANYWAY?

  I don't, personally. But he should have responded to Lola and thought she was all that. Why hadn't he?

  Alejandro closed the door and the three of us looked at each other. Micah spoke first."I don't trust him."

  "Nor do I," Alejandro said."But I think we must work with him in order to locate the encyclopedia. I would like it found before we announce our existence to the world, if at all possible." He glanced at me."I would like you to assist him, Ms. Shapiro. Accompany him on his search."

  Somehow I knew that was coming. I grimaced, but nodded.

  Micah added,"I noticed you used your gift on him, Val. How did it work?"

  "It didn't. I guess the same shield that kept Fang out of his mind kept Lola out of his chakras. He could feel Lola, but Lola couldn't feel him."

  "I was not able to penetrate it either," Alejandro said."That shield would be a very useful thing to have. If it would keep humans from being enthralled by my kind, they would feel safer, more likely to respond positively to our coming out. Perhaps you could persuade him to give you the secret of it."

  I shrugged."I doubt it. Rosa is more likely to get something from him."

  "Perhaps," Alejandro conceded."She will call when she drops him off. Let's see what happens then."

  While we waited, they discussed the Movement's coming out, Alejandro politely pressing Micah to join them, and Micah just as politely refusing. Way too civilized for me.

  When Rosa called, Alejandro talked to her then hung up and said,"She didn't learn any more from him, except that he has rented a condo nearby."

  Not a hotel? Dang."That probably means he thinks it'll take a long time to find the books," I said. More time to spend with the self-absorbed demon. Great.

  Micah frowned."You're right. Val, I'm not sure it's safe for you. If your powers don't work on him . . ."

  "No problem, cuz. As long as I have my strength and power, I'm good."

  SO LONG AS YOU AND SHADE DON'T HOOK UP, THAT IS. Strangely, that thought from Fang didn't come out snarky. Instead, his furry little brow wrinkled in concern.

  And he must have broadcast it to the other two also, because Micah said,"Fang's right. Until this guy leaves, maybe you and Shade—"

  I cut him off with a gesture. I soooo did not want to discuss my love life here. Not only was it embarrassing, it was none of their business."Don't worry about me," I snapped."I can control myself . . . and Lola."

  Alejandro glanced back and forth between us, looking curious."What is it that you and Shade should not do?"

  Crap. I'd forgotten he didn't know. Apparently, so had Fang because he licked my hand in apology. As I hid my face behind my hand and stared at the plush blood-red rug, Micah explained the whole lose-your-virginity-lose-yourstrength bit to the vampire leader.

  Could this possibly get any more embarrassing?

  Apparently, it could. Alejandro cleared his throat and said,"Ms. Shapiro, I find myself in the regrettable position of having to echo Mr. Blackburn's sentiments. If you would kindly refrain from—"

  "I already said I would," I bit out."Sheesh, it's not like we're horn dogs or anything." Jeez, even if I did do the deed, it wasn't like I'd be helpless—I'd still have the powers of your normal, average nonvirgin succubus—no strength or accelerating healing, but plenty of ability to cloud men's minds."Can we change the subject, please?"

  Alejandro looked concerned, but nodded."Let me call Mr. Jackson to confirm we would like to work with him." He dialed and held a brief conversation, then handed the phone to me."Mr. Jackson would like to set up a time for you two to meet."

  I took the phone and asked Trevor,"Where?"

  "I don't know San Antonio very well, but I do know where Alejandro and Rosa live. Why don't I get some sleep to get rid of the jet lag, then meet you back there first thing in the morning?"

  "I usually work midnight to dawn, but I can meet you outside the mansion after I get off." I didn't really need that much sleep.

  Trevor hesitated, then said,"Okay. Dawn it is."

  "You got it."

  We hung up and I handed Alejandro his phone back, saying,"We meet here at dawn tomorrow."

  "Good," Micah said and stood."If you don't mind, I'll send Josh and Andrew in, then take off. I'm needed at the club."

  I didn't doubt it. Micah ran the popular Club Purgatory down on the River Walk. Not only was it a great place to employ the more obvious demons in the Purgatory theme of the club, it brought in quite a bit of money. It should be hopping at this time of night.

  After Micah scratched Fang behind his ears and left, Alejandro gave me an approving nod."An excellent arrangement with Mr. Jackson. Though this is not how I planned to use your services, it will do almost as well."

  "How did you plan to use me?" I asked, curious.

  He played with a pen on his desk for a moment, then said,"We strive for acceptance, not fear. Therefore, before we announce our existence to the world, I would like to . . . deter . . . the unaffiliated of my kind from causing any trouble that would put us in a bad light."

  HE MEANS HE WANTS YOU TO HELP HIM KILL THEM, Fang said.

  Yeah, I got that. He wanted to make it too miserable for them to continue attacking humans. I definitely approved."Okay, I'll do that, whenever Trevor and I aren't searching for the books. In fact, we have the rest of the night left, so why don't we go kick some bad vamp butt?"

  Fang scrambled to his feet and yipped to show his approval. I'M IN!

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Before we could go hunt fangbangers, the doorbell rang—Josh and Andrew, no doubt. When Alejandro didn't move from the thronelike chair behind his desk, I said,"Uh, are your people gonna be cool with having the two demons here who hurt—"

  Before I could finish, he was up and out of his chair, and down the hall with his lightning-fast speed. I hoofed it after him, glad to see that most of the bloodsuckers had left. Only the three lieutenants and a few others remained in the great room, cleaning up the mess. Luis had his hand on the door handle but Alejandro stopped him with a word. They whispered for a little bit, then Alejandro opened the ancient-looking wooden door.

  Sure enough, Josh and Andrew stood there, looking more than a little apprehensive. Ludwig, the massive water demon, loomed behind them. Since Ludwig had saved the mansion when the redheaded fire demon tried to burn it down, and was humongous enough to make anyone think twice about attacking him, he was a good choice to escort them. Good—Micah had been thinking.

  Alejandro stared sternly at the two.

  Andrew looked sullen, but Josh had turned white under his wavy blond hair. I feared he'd phase out right there, but Ludwig had a firm grip on him so he couldn't.

  Luis, of course, wore a sneer, though whatever his boss had told him must have him in check.

  "Has it been explained what we require of you?" Alejandro as
ked the demons.

  They nodded.

  "Good. You will be under Luis's direction. Tonight, you will accompany him and Ms. Shapiro to assess the vulnerability of the blood banks. You must do exactly as he says, do you understand?"

  They both jumped as if they'd received an electric shock and stared at Luis as if he were evil incarnate. What was that all about?

  Fang chuckled. LUIS JUST ENTHRALLED THEM AND SHOWED THEM WHAT HE COULD DO IF THEY SCREWED UP.

  I hid a grin. Luis had his uses. But I wasn't thrilled about going hunting with him and two newbies. I'd have to watch out for them as well as myself.

  Ludwig frowned and glanced between the demons and the vamps, not letting go of Josh. He didn't have a hell hound explaining what was going on, so he must be confused.

  "I'll take care of them," I told him.

  Apparently reassured, the man mountain nodded and left.

  Andrew stuck his hands in his pockets and hunched his shoulders."Now what?"

  Luis's lips spread into a smile . . . and it wasn't a pleasant one. With his dark goatee, long hair clubbed back into a ponytail, and slashing eyebrows, he appeared really sinister."Now you do exactly as you are told." He gestured toward the string of dark luxury automobiles Alejandro kept lined up on the long driveway."We shall take one of the cars."

  We followed him to the last one."Whoa, what's this?" Andrew asked, running his hand over the gleaming black finish. Apparently, he liked shiny things.

  "A Lincoln town car," Luis said with pride."Top of the line, of course." He opened the door and the two miscreants piled in the back seat as I got in the front.

  Fang jumped up to curl in my lap. I'M GONNA TAKE A NAP. WAKE ME WHEN WE GET THERE.

  The warm weight of him was nice, comforting. As the guys talked cars, I zoned out and stroked Fang's wiry fur. The hellhound pretended to be gruff and macho, but he enjoyed the petting as much as I did. He just wouldn't admit it.

  Fang opened one eye. CAN YOU STOP THINKING SO LOUD? I'M TRYING TO SLEEP HERE.

  Then stop listening.

  He pointedly put a paw over his ear. Okay, I got the message. Unfortunately, being left alone with my own thoughts meant returning to the one thing that had been spinning through my brain ever since I'd learned what losing my virginity would really mean.

  It wasn't an easy decision. I mean, sure, it was a huge deal for anyone, but in my case, doing the deed meant the Slayer would no longer have the ability to slay. My reflexes would slow and so would my speed and healing.

  All my life, I had longed to be normal like my half-sister Jen . . . not to have to worry about accidentally turning men on by getting too close, not to be treated like a freak by the full human side of my family. But now that I faced being normal, I still kind of wanted that, but I kind of didn't, too. It was part of me, what I'd always known.

  Things had changed. The Demon Underground proved there were others like me, others who understood what I was going through or at least valued me for my abilities. Plus, those same abilities gave me respect from the humans in the Special Crimes Unit. My demon side made me special . . . maybe I wasn't as big a freak as I thought after all.

  But how special would I be if I all I could do was make men lust over me, once I lost the slaying ability that had defined me for so long? Women all over the world could make men lust—not like it was that hard. And how about when the vamps learned I was no longer as powerful? Would they come after me? Would I have to leave San Antonio, the city I loved?

  It was a depressing thought, but the alternative wasn't much better. To keep my slaying ability, I had to keep my virginity. That hadn't been an issue so far, but with Shade letting Lola feed on him whenever she needed it, I was afraid it would only be a matter of time before something irreversible happened. Especially since Shade was so totally hot.

  Sure, he had a dark side. Shadow demons acted as conduits between our world and other dimensions. If Shade got too angry or lost control of his demon side, all hell could break loose. Literally. Demons on the other side could seize control and pour through into our world.

  But Shade was such a white hat he'd rather kill himself than let that happen. Luckily, I seemed to be able to keep his demon under control while he kept Lola happy. It's as if we were meant for each other.

  Cue sappy music here.

  Yeah, it was pretty inevitable that we'd hook up eventually, but I wanted to be able to choose when. While I still worked for Alejandro, not such a good idea. And if I lost my powers, I'd have to find a new job, too. I wouldn't be much use to the Special Crimes Unit then. I'd still be able to enthrall men, but I'd never really liked using my succubus powers. And if I let Lola have her way too much, she might take over completely.

  If I did lose my strength, what would life be like? Though Micah was an incubus, he got along fine without the extras, but being a guy, he'd lost his cherry way early and never knew what powers he'd lost along with his virginity.

  Also, if I did the deed, would it be worth it? Would Shade even stick around? Look what had happened with Dan and me. Would it all be for nothing?

  Lots of questions. No answers. Not good ones, anyway.

  I sighed. For now, it would be best to stay away from Shade as much as I could. Fighting vamps seemed to satisfy my demon's lust. With any luck, we'd find some to whale on tonight.

  We arrived at the old brick hotel that had been converted into a blood bank, and Luis parked in the back. I'd been here before, but not through the back way. Luis got us in easily past the security cameras and fancy intrusion detection system and headed for the elevator.

  "Why are we going upstairs?" I asked. The bad guys would be downstairs or outside.

  He pressed the elevator button."To give these pups some way of defending themselves," he said, raking them with a look that said he considered them pond scum. Or worse—a greasy layer below pond scum.

  He used a key card to take us to the fourth floor, to the penthouse executive suite. I'd never thought about it before, but I wondered what was on the second and third floors. Probably where the other members of the Movement slept during the day, since they obviously didn't all stay at the mansion.

  Made sense. No wonder most of the blood banks were converted hotels.

  FOCUS, VAL, FOCUS, Fang reminded me.

  Yeah, I needed to do that. But when Luis led us into the"living room," it was hard to focus on anything but the décor. It wasn't something I'd ever choose. Brilliant white contrasted with dead black. Add splashes of blood red and hard angles, and the room screamed modern design.

  Strange—it was so different from Alejandro's warm, comfortable home. This was where the vamp leader had brought me the first time we met, so I gathered it was how he chose to show his public face. What message was he trying to portray? It was as if he'd taken the Hollywood vamp stereotype and aggressively brought it into the twenty-first century.

  I felt uneasy here—which could be the point—but Josh and Andrew seemed impressed by it all. Or maybe they were wowed by the state-of-the-art electronics everywhere. Luis seemed really comfortable here, which was strange. It didn't appear to be the kind of place a Spanish aristocrat would like. At least, that's what I'd always assumed he'd been when he was alive. He sure had the attitude.

  IT SUITS HIS PERSONALITY, Fang muttered. COLD AND LIFELESS.

  "Stay here," Luis ordered."I'll be right back."

  He returned quickly, carrying a couple of crossbows and some stakes.

  "Whoa, dude," I exclaimed."What are you doing with vampire-slaying equipment?"

  His lips stretched in a thin smile."We took them off some would-be slayers who couldn't tell the difference between the people of the Movement and the filth who prey on the weak."

  Josh and Andrew seemed impressed by his passion, so I didn't ask him how long he'd been one of the filth before he joined Alejandro.

  Luis added,"Lately, it has become necessary to arm our volunteers and customers occasionally when the dregs come calling."


  That seemed dangerous, but I guess he could compel them not to use those weapons on his own undead body.

  TOO BAD, Fang muttered.

  Yeah, Luis didn't exactly endear himself to anyone. Except maybe Alejandro.

  Luis led us to an area in the back that resembled a gym or training room, with padded blue mats lining the walls and floors. He showed the guys how to use the crossbows and let them practice a few times. They did surprisingly well. I gave them a few pointers on how to use the stakes and avoid a fanging, but they were nowhere near ready to go mano-a-mano with angry fangbangers.