"Kacy doesn't smell that bad," I said.
Paxton's hand shot at me with lightning speed. His fist smashed into my gut.
The blow stunned my kundalini noir. Electric bolts of pain shot through my limbs. The guards grabbed my arms and wrenched my shoulders back.
Paxton's fangs extended from under his upper lip like two ivory stalactites. He clenched and unclenched his right fist. His arm drew back. I saw the second blow coming like a boulder crashing down the mountain but I was helpless to move out of the way.
His fist hit the same spot as before. My insides were torn apart by an explosion of pain. I doubled over.
The guards let go and I dropped to the floor. Paxton kicked my ribs. Blinded with agony, I curled into a ball and lay on my side.
Paxton dug his shoe into my throat and levered my chin up with his heel. He rubbed the sole of his shoe against my Adam's apple.
"I've got the ass with you, smart guy." His voice sounded like words dragged over sandpaper. "Twice you've escaped. First in Pacoima. Today at Trixie's. So that's two times you made me look bad. I can't kill you now because the council-woman wants an audience. But the third time will be a charm."
Paxton withdrew his shoe. He nodded to the guards, who pulled me upright. I leaned against the wall and waited for the nausea to pass.
My sunglasses sat askew on my nose and the Chicano guard adjusted them. "Tough luck, ese."
An air conditioner hummed and a gust of cool air brushed against me. It took a moment to get the strength to say something. "Paxton, so we'll see each other around?"
His fangs retracted. "I wouldn't count on it, shit for brains."
My two escorts took me to an elevator and up to the third floor. We stopped before a door in the middle of the hall. The Chicano guard reached over my shoulder and knocked.
"Enter," answered a woman's voice, sounding brisk and authoritative.
The guard opened the door. Kacy pushed me into a haze of menthol cigarette smoke.
Petale Venin stood behind a desk of polished cherry. She looked exactly like the photos I'd seen of her. A woman in her midforties. Blue, searching irises. Tiny creases around her eyes.
Those eyes. She had a lazy eye. I couldn't decide which one to look at. The left stared at me and the right was a bit off center. Or was it the right eye that stared at me?
A thin, prominent nose was centered between the fleshy cushions of her well-fed face. Skin the color of a manila envelope toasted by the sun. Rouged cheeks. A perfectly normal human, except for the eyes.
Venin toyed with a set of eyeglasses in her manicured hands. She wore a long-sleeved silk blouse. A pleated brown skirt covered her substantial hips. Still a perfectly normal human except for those eyes.
She motioned in a maternal manner to come close. "Felix, you may take off your sunglasses."
I did.
The shock turned my guts into liquid.
A red aura surrounded Petale Venin, a vermillion corona placid as still waters. My naked eyes bore into hers and nothing happened.
Venin was immune to vampire hypnosis. She was definitely more than human.
Chapter Thirty-six
I clutched the back of the chair to steady myself.
How was it possible that Councilwoman Venin could resist vampire hypnosis? My kundalini noir sputtered and jerked in dismayed confusion.
Kacy retreated, closing the door. The Chicano guard stood behind me, submachine gun at the ready, orange aura shining, his face as impassive as an Aztec statue.
I sat, squeezing the arms of the chair to still my trembling fingers.
Petale Venin was human. Or did she merely have the red aura of a human?
I had only met two other creatures who could resist vampire hypnosis-a delightful forest sprite and a lying, cheating extraterrestrial. The sprite had a green aura, and the alien, yellow.
So was Venin human? Or a mutant hybrid between natural and supernatural? Or something else completely?
"Felix, welcome." Venin sat and put her eyeglasses on. Both pupils latched onto me, walleyed behind the thick lenses. Her wavy black hair was so stiff it looked chiseled. Silver and henna highlights marbled the dark glossy locks. "Thank you for agreeing to visit me."
"What did you mean, 'agreeing'? I wasn't given much choice."
"You could've run," she said. "Of course, then you'd be dead and I'd be talking to myself right now."
I cleared my throat, stalling for time as I took stock of my situation. Venin wanted something; otherwise, her goons would have pumped me full of silver bullets long ago.
Other than an ashtray, I saw no personal effects of Venin: no nameplate or computer on the desk; no plaques or photos on the wall; even the trash was empty. This wasn't her office, rather a place she came to for «special» business. There was a door to her right, which opened to the hall, or to another room? Did another surprise wait in there?
So here we were-Venin, her crooked eyes, an armed vampire guard, and myself. My Colt automatic and holster remained clipped to the back of my trousers. Why hadn't they searched me? Either they didn't have to-bad news for me-or they were complacent-bad news for them.
"I understand you visited my office yesterday." Her voice had a peppy California accent.
"How do you know?"
"Call it woman's intuition." She gave a motherly grin. "Felix, I understand your confusion. Let me answer the questions you might have. Yes, I am human. And yes, I know you are a vampire."
She admitted knowing the big secret? My grip tightened on the chair. Could she read my aura as well?
"There have been some misunderstandings since you've come to L.A. and I want that you and I"-she paddled her hands back and forth between us-"come to an agreement."
"What misunderstandings?"
"The attempts on your"-she made quote marks with her fingers-"life. What happened in Pacoima and today at the bistro."
"Those were misunderstandings? You weren't trying to kill me?"
"No. Those were Paxton's ideas."
"Was he acting on orders? From you? Or Cragnow Vissoom?"
Venin smiled, the way a snake might if it had lips… and a lazy eye. "Cragnow's afraid of you."
He had good reason. "Then he's the one who ordered the hits on me?"
"Please don't hold anything against him if I say yes. We've moved on since then." She opened a drawer and pulled out a packet of Newports.
"So plan A was me dead. Plan B is this meeting."
"Plan A? Plan B?" Venin looked puzzled. After a moment she gave a tinny laugh. "I get it. Yes, plan B. Here you are. Plan B." She lit a cigarette with a cheap plastic lighter and stared cross-eyed at the flame.
"How did you and Cragnow Vissoom get together?"
"Ah that," she drawled, exhaling smoke. Her painted fingernails clicked on the desktop. "He wanted help with zoning variances concerning his porn business. My staff and I were meeting with him in my council office when he took off his sunglasses and gave us that look."
"The vampire stare?"
Venin nodded. Cigarette smoke surrounded her head. "Everyone else in the room sat fish-mouthed and stupid-looking. But nothing happened to me. Cragnow gave another stare. He showed his big teeth and claws. It would have been a great Halloween gag… except that it was May."
This is how she recalled her introduction to an undead killer? As a joke? "And Cragnow's reaction?"
"He acted more confused that I was."
With those eyes of yours, no shit.
"Afterward, I realized I should have screamed and wet my panties-that is what women are expected to do when they meet a vampire." Venin took a long drag on the Newport. "At the time I was thinking this guy knows how hard it is to schedule a meeting with me and here he was doing a bad impression of BelaLugosi."
In those situations, a vampire would've attacked. "I'm surprised he let you live."
"Cragnow needed a zoning variance. I couldn't do that dead." Venin crushed the cigarette into the ashtray. "He demons
trated the trance: mesmerizing my staff was no trick when they answered any question, no matter how personal." Venin paused and smiled. "I learned who on my staff cheated on their spouses, who embezzled money, and who leaked stories to my opponents and the press. At that point I grasped the significance of Cragnow's gift."
Venin paused again. "Imagine, Mr. Gomez, searching all your life for an edge, a leg up on the competition. And one day, that supreme advantage walks in your door."
"You're talking about the hypnosis?" I asked.
"What else? If I teamed with Cragnow, no one could keep secrets from us."
"Team with Cragnow? Why would he do that?"
"Because I told him he had this potential, and all he wanted was a zoning variance to make nudie pics. What a waste of an opportunity. That also made me realize how small my own ambitions were, especially when he revealed what he was."
"A vampire," I replied. "And that didn't scare you?"
"He had come to my office asking for a shortcut through the red tape. So he wasn't all-powerful."
"And you haven't wondered why his hypnosis doesn't affect you?"
"Neither does Jenny Craig, and you don't hear me whining about that." Venin readied another cigarette, as if the room didn't stink enough.
"You're the only human I've met who can resist hypnosis," I said.
"Apparently."
"Why? How?" My kundalini noir knotted and thrashed. "You're among vampires. They drink blood."
"How my constituents gain sustenance isn't my concern." Venin spoke despite having a cigarette in her mouth. One eye followed me, the other bounced along with the cigarette tip. "This is L.A., the home of fad diets."
"Constituents?"
She lit the Newport and dropped the lighter into a drawer. "Cragnow told me about your 'undead' society and that he was the leader. Mr. Gomez, open your eyes."
I couldn't decide which of her eyes to look at.
"One moment I'm Petale Venin, more councilwoman, the next moment I have access to super hypnosis and a secret army of vampires."
Here it was, the target of my investigation-vampire-human collusion.
"With this knowledge," Venin said, "my ambitions grew and grew as we crossed one threshold after another."
"Threshold?"
"Some thresholds involved eliminating those who stood in my way."
"You mean murder?"
"You're a vampire. What do you care about murder?"
"I care about one. Roxy Bronze."
Venin grimaced. "Her again." An ember from the cigarette dropped onto her blouse. Her right eye tracked the falling ash.
"Her name bothers you?" I asked.
"Not as much as it used to."
"Why?"
Venin brushed the ash off her blouse. "Because she's dead."
"How much do you know about her murder?"
"Only what was in the media."
Like I would believe that. "Do you know who killed her?" I didn't expect Venin to jump up and yell, "Me, me," but I had to ask.
"If I did," she replied, "I'd name a street after them."
"Them?" I asked.
"Them. Him. Her. Whoever."
"Considering this arrangement you have with Cragnow, why so much trouble with Roxy? Why didn't you use hypnosis or sic vampires on her?"
"As you know, there are limits to those powers and when you can use them."
"So you tried something?"
Venin stabbed the cigarette butt into the ashtray. "I didn't bring you here to discuss Roxy. I have an offer for you." Her mouth curved into a smile. Both eyes stared in my direction. "Join me."
Join her? This was no public radio membership drive. "Does Cragnow know about this? He is trying to kill me."
"Don't concern yourself with him. Cragnow has no say in this matter." Venin's smile cooled.
"I'm sure he'll object and-"
Venin interrupted, her voice chilling several degrees. "Cragnow has no say in this matter."
"Meaning what?"
"You misunderstand the relationship between Cragnow and myself."
"What's to misunderstand? As the vampire, he-"
Again she interrupted, her tone ice cold. "Cragnow Vissoom will do as he's told."
Told? Cragnow was the head of the L.A. nidus. Petale Venin-a human-was his boss? She commanded the undead in Southern California? The vampire-human collusion was worse than what the Araneum feared.
"How can you be in charge?" I asked.
"Because I understand Cragnow. I know what he wants. I know how he can get there."
"You've lost me."
"This arrangement he and I have is not about petty zoning variances. It's about laying the foundation for a new tomorrow."
"What kind of new tomorrow?" I recalled Lucky Rosario paraphrasing Cragnow… lifting humanity to a new partnership with the unseen realm… the next step in social evolution.
"That doesn't concern you, Mr. Gomez. Not yet."
"Then when?"
"I'll tell you."
"Why aren't you a vampire?" I asked. "Wouldn't you want to take advantage of supernatural powers?"
"Because I know everything, Mr. Gomez. I own many chalice parlors, including the Majestic Lanes."
That admission knocked the breath out of me. Venin mentioned this to flaunt how familiar she was with the secret vampire underworld.
My talons and fangs grew. My kundalini noir coiled upon itself, tensing to strike. I forced myself to keep still and not lunge to decapitate her. At the first instant of an attack, the guard behind me would stitch my back with silver bullets.
Venin nodded, enjoying my discomfort. "I know your strengths and weaknesses. The hypnosis, levitation… strengths. Your appetite for blood… weakness. Your vulnerability to sunlight. Another weakness. And your biggest weakness of all, the fear of being discovered and exterminated by humans."
She didn't mention auras or our transmutation into wolves. So maybe she didn't know everything.
"I join your team and then what?"
"You'll be given a special mission. For some reason, this arrangement between Cragnow and myself is a big taboo. Word of our collaboration got out, and vampire spies were sent to question Cragnow."
Did she mean the agents from the Araneum? "What happened to these spies?"
"Two I witnessed getting roasted by the morning sun. A marvelous spectacle." Venin wrinkled her nose and smiled, as if sniffing a freshly baked cinnamon roll.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Infiltrate the Araneum."
I might as well shove dynamite up my ass. "Why me?"
"Because Cragnow suspects you may be one of their vampire spies."
I faked a chuckle. "That's ridiculous."
"You'd become a double agent, working for me. So what is your answer? Join me or not?"
"This is a serious decision. I'd have to think about it."
Venin's lips scrunched together, as if she had sucked on a tart lemon. "Think about it? That's a polite way of saying no. My offer is withdrawn." One eye cut to the guard, the other stared at me. Her aura surrounded her like a steady red flame. "It's been a displeasure to know you, Mr. Gomez."
Chapter Thirty-seven
Venin didn't change shape, but in the moments that I'd been here she had transformed from a plump matron to one of the most threatening creatures I'd ever seen. I wouldn't have been more surprised if she had grown mandibles and a stinger tail.
The guard rousted me from the chair and pushed me toward the door. I knew better than to resist and get ventilated by silver bullets. A last glance at Venin showed a tiny, smug smile curving her mouth and the mismatched focus of those eyes.
My death was as certain as the coming night.
Except the guard made two mistakes.
One. He still wore his sunglasses, which prevented him from reading my aura.
Two. I had my pistol.
The guard clasped my left shoulder and pressed the muzzle of his Uzi against the small of my back.
My kundalini noir writhed and twisted on itself in anticipation.
Strike. Destroy. Kill.
My talons and fangs jutted out.
I whirled to my right and knocked the submachine gun away from me. The gun fired a burst that tore into the door. I popped the guard with an upper cut, hitting his chin hard enough to daze him.
I drew my pistol and thumbed the safety.
I kicked the guard in the crotch, and he doubled toward me. I pressed the muzzle against his forehead and fired once. Vampire blood sprayed into the air and turned into red dust.
The guard fell and landed on his back. Smoke plumed from the hole in his forehead. I aimed for the center of his chest and fired again.
The bullet punched a hole in his shirt. His aura dimmed and was gone, like the flame of a snuffed candle. His body would last until sunlight cremated it into ash.
Now for Venin. With my pistol raised and my talons ready, I panned the room. She was gone, having fled through the door beside her desk.
The elevator pinged. The reports from my pistol summoned attention like an alarm. The doors clicked open and fast, heavy footfalls rushed toward me.
I had learned enough and there was no reason to risk more danger by staying around. Which way out?
The hall? I'd run right into those coming to get me.
The door? I didn't know what waited on the other side.
Then up.
I leaped and clawed through the acoustical tile. The ceiling hung from a concrete slab that separated the floors. The concrete was too thick to break, so I scrambled between the tile ceiling and the concrete, levitating so that I moved as lightly as a beetle. The galvanized ducting of the building's air-conditioning glittered before me.
The ducting was wide enough for me to shimmy through and escape. I tore open the galvanized steel wall.
Cool air tousled my hair. The breeze came from the left, the direction of the air conditioner that should sit on top of the building. I slithered into the ducting and crawled upwind.
Even though I was levitating, to move I had to brace my elbows, knees, and feet against the metal sides and push. The galvanized steel buckled and sent groans echoing down the ducts.
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