Legacy of the Shadow’s Blood

by E G Bateman

  When she drew her hand away, the sword had completely vanished. A moment later, she withdrew a shorter blade.

  It came out with several candy wrappers stuck to it.

  Scott looked at the sticky mess in disgust, his mouth open. “That’s revolting.”

  “What?” she asked defensively as though she didn’t know what his problem was.

  “That!” He shook his head. “I give you access to a dimensional pocket for storing your weapons and you use it for candy. I use my magical energy to keep it accessible, so if you could not fill it with shit, that would be great.” He laid down again. “And you smell like you’ve been in a fire.” He covered his head once more.

  Lexi wiped the sword clean, dried her whetstone, and slipped them both into the dimensional pocket. “Come on. It’s six anyway. Let’s get breakfast before we see the client.”

  He turned onto his side and away from her.

  She eyed the ceiling as if asking the gods for patience. “If you stop sulking, I’ll let you change the Gideon Bible into the Ferrengi Rules of Acquisition again.”

  No answer was forthcoming. Damn.

  Resigned, she walked around and rested her chin on the edge of the bed to give him the best puppy face she could muster.

  “What are you doing?” he asked and opened one eye.

  Lexi smiled. “Thinking about steak, eggs, and hash, bacon, pancakes, maple syrup, and coffee. Why? What are you doing?”

  A short pause followed before he sighed. “Well, now I’m thinking about food. All right, I’ll get up.”

  Scott pushed off the bed and walked across the room in shorts and a t-shirt, yawning and scratching his back.

  Dick had been right. With his tanned body and shoulder-length blond hair, he definitely rocked the surfer look. If he ever stopped behaving like a twelve-year-old, he’d be quite a catch for some girl one day. For now, he was infuriating.

  Perhaps the Good Book will teach me patience, she thought. She opened the drawer and pulled out…The Rules of Quidditch. She laughed.

  They parked across the street from the bar and walked toward it, but when she reached the other side, Lexi was alone. She turned to where Scott stood in the middle of the street with a faraway look on his face. The lights had changed but he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to move. She stepped into the street, grasped his arm, and yanked him onto the sidewalk as a horn blasted.

  Reflexively, she shook his shoulder. “What was that?”

  He stared at her for a moment, his expression bewildered. “I’m sorry. Wow! I caught a really weird vibe.”

  “You almost caught the fender of that truck, dipshit. Wake up.” She turned and strode toward the bar. Absently, she touched the unhealing scar, which had itched for a moment.

  They found the business locked.

  “Well, this is interesting.” Scott held his hands cupped over his eyes against the glass.

  Lexi looked in. “What?”

  “You see that? Hanging from the ceiling?” He guided her by pointing.

  Lexi noticed a rustic design of sticks bound together into a familiar shape. “Is that a rune?”

  “Yes, it’s Eolh. For protection from bad spirits.”

  “Or it’s a decoration left from Halloween.”

  “Eight months ago?”

  “Let’s look around.” She headed around the corner. They stopped at the side of the building.

  “That must be from the robbery.” Scott pointed to a boarded-up window.

  They continued toward the rear and found the fenced area. Lexi sniffed. The smell of gasoline was still in the air and a pile of sand lay on the ground where the burned man had landed.

  “Interesting. It smells like there’s been a fire here.” His gaze slid to her. She said nothing.

  A man walked through a gate with a beer barrel on a dolly while another man stood at the back of a truck with a clipboard. He scribbled on the clipboard and clambered into the cab of the truck.

  “Can I help you?” asked a voice from behind them.

  They turned to see a young woman in the doorway of the flower shop, surrounded by tubs of blossoms.

  “We’re looking for Kate, the owner of the bar.” Scott began to walk toward her.

  “That’s me.” She looked at them suspiciously.

  Lexi held her hand out. “Hi, Lexi and Scott. Dolores asked us to drop in.”

  The woman glanced quickly in the direction of the man moving the beer barrels. At that moment, he returned towing the empty dolly and looked at the two of them with a puzzled expression. He approached slowly.

  “Shit,” Kate muttered.

  When he arrived, Scott looked at him and muttered a word, then touched his arm. “You know what? I have a mad craving for a McRib.”

  “Aww, man! McRibs are so good.” The man dropped the dolly where he stood.

  “I know, right?”

  “What?” Kate, clearly confused, looked at her watch.

  “I’ll see you soon, sweetheart.” He kissed her head and began to walk down the street.

  “Tommy?” she called after him. “He’ll be disappointed. They’ll be on the breakfast menu for the next two hours.” She stared at his back. “Did you do something to him?” she asked Scott.

  “I made him think he had somewhere else to be. I’m sorry. It seemed you didn’t want to speak with him here, and we were told you’d asked for discretion. We might need to be quick, though. How long it lasts depends entirely on how much he actually wants a McRib.”

  “He lives on that shit.” The woman turned and picked up a tub of red roses.

  “So, you work here too?” she looked at the front of the flower shop.

  “No. I own the property but my friend Daisy runs this place. I haven’t seen her for a couple of days. Her delivery arrived and I’m the emergency contact.”

  Lexi was immediately alert. “Is it unusual for her to go off like this?”

  “She’s somewhat flaky. Every now and then she disappears to LA to party or heads to the woods with her coven to do whatever they do there.” Kate shrugged.

  Scott began to move the tubs in.

  The woman stepped out of the way, her expression surprised. “Thanks.”

  The two entered the building behind him.

  “Can you tell us what’s been happening?” Lexi asked.

  “When I first called Dolores, I was being harassed by a local gang. They want me to pay protection money I can’t afford. Then a couple of days ago, someone broke into the office. They smashed open the filing cabinet and scattered papers everywhere. It took me a day to realize important paperwork was missing. I called my lawyer to ask him if he could send a copy, but there was no response. I learned he’s gone—left town. I think there’s more going on than merely harassment from a group of thugs.”

  Lexi looked around the room. “Did the police get any prints from the robbery?”

  “I didn’t report it,” the woman admitted and blushed.

  “Why not?” Lexi asked.

  “Tommy’s uncle is the police chief and the alpha of his pack. I can’t let this get back to our families.” As Kate spoke, she moved pots from the front of the store to the back.

  “I don’t understand. If you’re a shifter, why doesn’t the local pack protect you?” Scott asked as he entered, having moved the last of the tubs.

  “If they found out about this, there would be blood on my hands. I don’t want that.”

  “How long have you been in business here?” Lexi asked.

  “Seven years. I’ve never been bothered like this before. A businessman has been buying up the stores and properties on this block. He already owns most of them and closed them down. After the break-in, I can’t help wondering if he might be behind the harassment. And something else happened last night. I came back to find the place stinking of gasoline and two dead guys out back. They must have intended to incinerate the bar. One looked like he had a broken neck and the other was badly burned. I think maybe one killed th
e other, then somehow set himself on fire instead of burning the building down.”

  “Yes, that must have been what happened.” Scott looked directly at Lexi.

  She turned to Kate. “So, where are the dead guys now?”

  “I had to…uh, you know, dispose of them.” She averted her eyes.

  Lexi looked at the boarded window. “What did you tell your boyfriend about all this?”

  “I said drunken college kids had smashed the window. I told him they apologized and left money to fix it. This morning, I told him I’d reversed over a can of gasoline.”

  “Who’s the businessman?” Scott asked.

  “Caleb Linden. He was my dad’s business partner and already owns the storage facility at the back of this building. When my dad died, the whole thing went to him. He wasn’t very happy when he learned Dad had divided the property and given this part to me.” Kate wiped her hands and passed the cloth to him.

  “We’ll ask Dolores to see what she can find out about him.” He dried his hands and pulled his phone out to type.

  “I can tell you exactly where he’ll be tonight. He’s holding a fundraiser for the mayor in Rancho Mirage. Everyone with money to throw at his campaign will be there.”

  Scott made notes.

  Kate fidgeted and seemed to weigh the two of them. “Listen, there’s something else—something I haven’t told anyone. Walking home a couple of weeks ago through the park, I was attacked.” She hugged herself as she spoke. “I’ve never seen the guy before. He dragged me into the bushes and I swear I thought he would kill me.”

  “Why didn’t you shift?” Lexi asked. “You could have finished the guy.”

  She sighed. “I did shift. I bit him but the gun went off. It scared me, and I ran away.” The woman shrugged.

  “Are you saying there’s a new shifter out there with no sire or alpha to control him?” Lexi asked.

  “Not quite.” Kate lowered her gaze and looked embarrassed. “Can I show you something?”

  She locked the flower shop and they followed her to the bar. As they headed in through the rear door, they passed barrels piled up to virtually fill the back room. It was a tight squeeze. “Tommy thinks the storeroom downstairs is flooded. I told him the plumber’s waiting for a part.” She unlocked a door and they descended the stairway through a room filled with barrels attached to pipes. They stopped at a padlocked door. The three of them stood in silence as she unlocked it and led them along a hallway. She opened another locked door and they peered in to see a man chained at the far end of the room.

  “He turned up a few days ago in wolf form, followed me down here, and simply sat there while I chained him.”

  Lexi walked halfway into the room for a closer look.

  The young man woke up. “You bitch. Let me out of here.” He ran at her. When he was about a foot away, she realized there were still a few feet on the chain so she punched him in the face. He dropped like a rock.

  She looked around the room. In the other corner was a pile of bones.

  Ahh! That’s what happened to Crispy and Clumsy.

  Lexi stepped out of the room. “I take it that’s last night’s visitors. What are you planning to do with this guy?

  Kate sighed. “I don’t know. I turned him so he’s my responsibility. But he’s a murdering thug.”

  “I suppose we could—” Scott started.

  “I told you, Scott. No pets until you’ve proven you can be responsible.”

  “I didn’t mean—”

  “Do you want me to finish him?” Lexi began to withdraw a blade from her pocket.

  “No, no. I need to think about it.” The woman closed the door and locked it again.

  “Well, the offer’s there, but you’d have to clean up yourself. I don’t do that.”

  The two friends looked at each other. This small job was getting bigger by the minute.

  “Your boyfriend doesn’t know about him?” Scott asked.

  “No. He doesn’t usually hang around here. He’s angry about the window and is looking for any evidence that I can’t handle this situation. That’s mainly because he thinks I should sell to Caleb. Tommy’s usually a nice guy but he’s been on edge lately. His whole pack has. Their latest gripe is that I should be popping baby wolves out instead of owning a business. We’re supposed to be getting married soon, but I keep putting it off. His pack makes me nervous.”

  “Okay, you’ve given us a fair amount to go on. We’ll keep in touch.” Lexi turned to the cell. “It’s good to see you’re feeding him.”

  “I take care of that when I close the bar. As his sire, I can command him to turn and he’s as pliant as a puppy. I feed and water him, and he goes on newspaper.” Kate shrugged.

  She simply stared at the woman. “That is too much information.”

  They stood on the sidewalk. Lexi glanced at a limousine with blackened windows parked at the curbside. She sensed that someone was watching from behind the wheel but couldn’t see who it was.

  “Where to now?” Scott asked.

  “I could devour a McRib,” she admitted.

  “My God! Appalling! Those things are an absolute assault on the senses,” said Dick’s familiar voice.

  “Oh! it’s you.” Lexi walked toward the car.

  “Climb aboard and let’s talk.” The vampire released the locks on the rear doors.

  They slid into the back seat and closed the doors. The locks clicked, and a dark glass partition between the front and back seats slid down.

  As they pulled away, Lexi looked at her car, which was parked across the street. “What about my car?”

  “Maybe you’ll get lucky and someone will set fire to it.” Dick smirked.

  She let that slide. There was no denying it was a piece of shit.

  “I assume you listened to our conversation with Kate?” she asked him.

  “I didn’t pull up close enough until the wolf left. Where did he go? He was in a hell of a hurry.”

  “He wanted a McRib too.” The friends exchanged grins.

  “This town is going to shit.” Dick shook his head.

  She leaned forward. “We need to crash a party tonight.”

  The vampire looked at her in the rearview mirror. “You don’t need to crash it. I could use a date, though.”

  “You’re invited?” Lexi couldn’t keep the surprise out of her voice.

  “I’m a fine, upstanding citizen. Of course, I’m invited. But Caleb Linden isn’t someone to mess with. He’s not a nice man.”

  Scott poked at the window control.

  Dick flashed him a stern look. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m trying to open the window but the button doesn’t work.” He continued to poke at it.

  Lexi stared at him until he realized he was being watched.

  “That’s intentional. I have a mild sun allergy.” The vampire regarded him calmly with one of his perfect eyebrows raised.

  The penny dropped. “Oh, God, sorry.” Scott yanked his finger away from the button and sat on his hands.

  “I’m not taking this car to that shithole of a motel. We’ll have to go to my place so I can actually get out of the car.”

  “Oh, great, a morning graveyard visit.” Lexi’s mouth twitched.

  “You live in a—” Scott started.

  “I do not live in a fucking graveyard. Seriously, where do you think I hang my designer clothes—in a crypt?”

  The car slowed on an affluent-looking road and stopped in front of a gate. A gaunt man stood beside the barrier and stared at the vehicle as it slid through. Dick clicked his tongue.

  “Who’s that?” She stared at the man through the darkened glass.

  The driver’s shoulders drooped. “My fan club.”

  He idled on the other side of the gate and watched it close in the mirror.

  “I love you,” the man shouted as the gate closed in front of him.

  “Don’t ask.” He continued up the drive and into one of three garages. They wait
ed until the garage door had closed before the locks clicked to indicate they could climb out. An internal door took them into the hallway of a spacious home.

  “Mi casa es su casa.” Dick dropped his keys into a little dish on a stand in the hallway. Lexi looked around and noted the retro decor. The huge windows and the glass doors leading to the garden and pool were darkened almost to complete blackness, but the lighting in the room was adequate.

  “You live here?” Scott asked and gazed around the extravagant room.

  “Darling, I don’t live anywhere. But yes, it’s mine. I stay here occasionally.” Dick headed to the bar and poured himself a drink.

  She peered around the room. “The furniture’s quite retro.” She wanted to say, “dated,” but decided not to.

  “Retro? Yes, you could say that. You could also say it’s the original furniture that was present when Marilyn Monroe, Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, and Marlon Brando attended parties here. I share this with the ghosts of the past.” Dick spread his arms as though introducing them to those ghosts.

  “I’ve heard of Marilyn Monroe but I’m not sure who the others were,” Scott admitted.

  “Philistine.” The vampire turned away and gave his head a little shake.

  “Hey, here’s a picture of you with some dude.” The other man pointed at the wall and looked at the picture.

  Dick turned. “That ‘dude’ is Errol Flynn.”

  “Should I know who that is?” Scott squinted at the writing on the picture.

  “Give me strength.” The vampire pinched the bridge of his nose.

  “It says November 1935. You’re really old.” The younger man was clearly impressed.

  “I should have dropped you at that shitty motel,” Dick muttered as he walked to where Lexi poured coffee for herself from a carafe.

  Scott wandered the spacious living area and peered at the photographs on the walls. He looked from one picture to the corner of the room several times.

  “James Dean sat on your thing?” he asked.

  Lexi spat out a mouthful of coffee and coughed.

  Dick smoothed his eyebrow. “I will neither confirm nor deny that James Dean sat on my thing.”

  “But there’s a picture of it.” The other man pointed at the wall again.