by E G Bateman
“Not quite,” the vampire explained. “Those lower-level demons were still coming through a portal we didn’t know about. Apparently, there are hundreds of them.”
“Oops!” The younger man shrugged. “My bad.”
Dick narrowed his eyes at Lexi. “What are you looking at?” He turned in his seat.
She nodded toward a table near them. “That table of three guys is now only two guys. I’m going to check on Betsy.”
Before she could take a step toward the bathroom, Betsy came through the crowd with a dazzling smile. “I’m ready to go when you are.”
They moved together to leave the restaurant. At the door, Lexi turned and as the crowd parted, saw the third creepy guy on the floor near the restroom, cupping his balls. She smiled.
On the street, she took the older woman’s arm. “Have I told you that you are an absolute joy to be around?”
“Why Lexi, how sweet of you to say that.” Betsy looked puzzled for a moment. “Where are we going now?”
“Dick has found somewhere else to stay. We have a place too if we want it. We’re going to have a look,” Scott explained.
As they wandered along Bourbon Street past the revelers, Lexi realized that she received a few strange stares. Not only that, people crossed the street to avoid her.
Dick had noticed it too. “Shifters are worse gossips than old ladies.”
“Hey.” Betsy tottered closer and thumped his bicep.
He took her arm. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think a jury of your peers would find you guilty of being over twenty-five.”
She smiled and raised her chin. “I’m thirty-two today.”
“Hmm.” He studied her for a moment. “You looked less trouble when you were eighteen.”
The woman giggled.
They turned a couple of corners and stopped halfway down the street at a door beneath a gallery covered with baskets of flowers.
“This is delightful.”
Lexi smiled. Betsy looked young but spoke like she was from another time, which of course, she was.
“I bet there’s no gym or rooftop pool,” Scott muttered.
They made their way to the third floor where the two apartments were located.
Dick produced a key and handed it to Scott. “Here’s yours.” He dangled another in the air. “And here’s ours, Betsy dear. You’ll have your own room and I’ll feel better knowing where you are.”
“Come on then, jailer, let me in.” The woman smirked and rolled her eyes.
As always, Lexi walked into their apartment first. It was surprisingly modern, decorated in subtle grays with polished hardwood floors and modern furnishings. The only indication that the building was old was the high ceiling. The air-conditioning, along with ceiling fans, made the air crisp and cool, and she sighed.
She made her usual check of the rooms and ended in the bedrooms. One had a king-sized bed and the other held two queens. Even with two bedrooms, she knew they would bunk in one room. Some Kindred habits never left. Both rooms had floor-to-ceiling windows and doors onto the balcony at the front of the building.
Satisfied, she wandered across the hallway and into the other apartment. Being on the back of the building and closed in on both sides, it had no windows. It was perfect for a vampire.
Scott appeared in the doorway. “Do you want me to scoot back for the bags?”
Betsy shook her head. “Not for me. I’ll need to pack. I’m afraid I went through the new clothes like a Tasmanian devil and they’re everywhere.” She headed into Lexi and Scott’s apartment to have a look at it.
“I can bear witness to the fact that they are indeed everywhere.” Dick rolled his eyes. “I haven’t even opened the trunk yet—”
“Say no more.” Scott disappeared.
Lexi returned to their apartment and stood at the doors to the balcony.
Betsy came in behind her. “What a lovely balcony.” She stood beside her and stared out. “What will you do while I play the tourist?”
She retrieved the photograph she carried and stared at her young face smiling at her. “First, I’ll go to where this was taken to see if it rings any bells. I’m not hopeful, though, and I suspect this memory is lost with a thousand others, wiped by Kindred.” She returned the photograph to her pocket. “Then, I’ll see a local witch, someone Dolores knows. She’ll give me access to records about Kindred activity here about ten years ago. We might be able to trace the man in the picture.”
Scott reappeared with Dick’s trunk. He set it down, vanished again, and returned two minutes later with his and Lexi’s bags. With a small smile, he passed the toothbrush and knife to Lexi. “I repaired the wall. The toothbrush was really embedded.”
Her face colored. “Let’s head to the hotel. Betsy can gather her gear and we can check out properly.” The four of them locked the apartments and wandered downstairs.
Once on the street, they began to walk in the direction of Bourbon Street and their hotel beyond it. A clatter of footsteps made them all turn. A girl of about eleven or twelve years old ran toward Lexi. “You’re needed,” the youngster said, a little out of breath. “I been looking for you all over.”
“Excuse me?” She was perplexed.
“There’s been a robbery. They said to come get you.” The girl was insistent and Lexi could sense that she was a shifter, although she was probably too young to have shifted yet.
Betsy glanced up and down the street. “Honey, maybe you should call the police. Don’t you have an adult with you?”
“It’s a community problem. I was told to come get you.” The girl attempted to pull her now, her expression urgent.
Dick frowned at her. “Isn’t this something your pack can deal with?”
“She’s supposed to come. It’s her job,” the girl hollered and the words seemed to echo in the street.
Lexi looked up quickly and confirmed that a few people had stopped to watch them. Her gaze scanned the buildings, where people watched from windows.
“Fine, I’ll come.” She turned to Dick and Betsy. “Would you mind dropping our key card at the front desk?” She slid it from her pocket and passed it to him.
The two friends followed the messenger. Within a few minutes, she’d led them to the corner of a street and pointed to a store where a small crowd had gathered. “Over there.” She ran quickly down the street before they could ask any other questions.
They stopped on the corner to speak, still a short distance away from the crowd.
“What do you want to do?” Scott asked. “We could simply leave town.”
“What I want to do is run in the opposite direction like she did.” Lexi pointed at the girl who’d already covered considerable ground. She sighed and thought for a moment. “With Kindred out of town, we won’t have a better chance to follow up on the photograph, though. Okay, they think we’re Kindred so let’s be Kindred until we can get out of this.”
They crossed the street and approached the store. She noted its name with a small frown. The Museum of Death wasn’t what she’d have chosen for a tourist outlet, but maybe her experiences left her a little cynical.
She studied the crowd and briefly caught the gaze of an old man with dreadlocks who wore a monk-like cowl and carried what looked like a wizard’s staff. He narrowed his eyes as he returned her gaze, then nodded once.
Weird.
A man stood in the doorway with keys in his hand and she focused on him. “So, what happened?”
He raked his fingers through his hair. “We think there’s been a robbery.”
“You think?” Lexi glanced at the small crowd and confirmed that the guy with the staff had disappeared as she’d suspected he would.
The key-holder continued. “The alarm on the front door tripped. When I got here, the door was unlocked—apparently from the inside—and a glass display case inside was shattered. We’re not sure if anything has been taken as the manager’s on vacation. I’ve looked after the place but I don’t know the exhibit
well. I can’t tell what, if anything, is gone. I was told if anything happened to not call the police but to contact the owner’s friend, Alice.”
A woman stepped forward, who she guessed was Alice. “I tried calling but no one picked up. In the end, I had to send the kid out.” Okay, so she wasn’t Alice and was most likely the mother of the young girl.
“No worries. Let’s see what we have.” Lexi entered the museum and turned to find Scott still standing outside. He looked like he was working himself up to enter the building. Even with her stunted legacy abilities, Lexi could feel the presence of something within and already knew he wouldn’t like it at all.
Once inside, he looked around and his face darkened.
They followed the man through a curtain to a back room.
He pointed at the coffin on a stand. “This isn’t usually open. I think someone sneaked into it and climbed out after we’d closed for the night.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t only a prank? Maybe you should have simply called the cops.” She looked at a shelf that held things in jars she’d rather not have seen.
The sorcerer gazed around. “There are…things in here. Things that aren’t safe to be removed.”
‘That’s why we called you,” the man agreed.
Lexi looked at a row of death masks on the wall and scratched her scar absently.
This place is as creepy as hell.
Their guide pointed to a pile of broken glass in a cabinet with a few objects protruding from it. “This is the case they broke.”
She looked at the glass. “I see that. Is everything usually left in darkness at night?”
“Back here is, yes.”
“And no CCTV?”
“It’s being upgraded. We’re kind of between systems.” He shrugged apologetically.
“Okay, leave us to work.” She was keen to get out of this little shop of horrors.
The man walked through the curtain without protest and left them alone.
Scott gazed around. “I can’t see the reflective surfaces being of much help if it was dark.” He stood in the center of the room, faced the casket, and closed his eyes. She stood out of the way as he moved his hands in circles.
A shift in the air gathered a swirl of dust before it coalesced into the shape of a young woman with long hair seated in the casket. She dropped nimbly to the floor and looked around before she approached the case. Her hand rested on a photograph at the back of it for a moment before she retrieved some kind of implement, which she used to shatter the glass. She reached down, jerked back and appeared to look at her hand, then picked something up and ran out of the room.
Lexi walked to the picture. It was the only thing still upright above the mess of glass and artifacts.
“Hi,” she shouted.
The man pushed through the curtain.
She tapped the woman’s face. “This picture—who is it?”
He gaped at her. “Are you kidding?”
“Listen, I’ve had a long day and night.”
“It’s Marie Laveau. The Voodoo Queen.”
“Oh right, of course.” Even she had heard of her. “And what was directly in front of the picture?”
The man stared at the mess. “I think it was her ring.”
“Okay. Don’t touch anything with your hands.” She removed a sharp-tipped knife from her pocket and handed it to him. “See if it’s missing.”
His expression a little anxious, he stooped and poked through the glass with the blade. “There’s blood here.”
Scott’s eyebrows raised and his mouth opened, but she shook her head discreetly.
After a few moments, the man stood and handed the knife to her. “Yes, there’s a ring missing.”
Lexi slid it into her pocket. “It looks like a small, slim girl hid in the coffin, broke the cabinet and took the ring, and ran. See if any staff members can remember someone fitting that description entering the museum today. In the meantime, we’re done here for now.”
They walked out and headed toward the apartment.
“What do you think?” Scott asked as they walked.
“I think the real Kindred can deal with it when they get back. We have our own stuff to do.”
He nodded. “Is that why you didn’t want me to take the blood for a locator spell?”
“Exactly! I won’t reveal myself for a two-bit crime like this. Hopefully, we’ll be out of town by tomorrow.”
“I wish you hadn’t said that.” He grimaced. “It always feels like you jinx us when you say that.”
They reached their building and she put her hand out to open the door when it was thrust open.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Dick stared at the katana a fraction of an inch away from Betsy’s face. “Lexi, you are not to kill Betsy. She’s my dearest friend.”
Lexi slid the blade into her pocket. “I was preparing to defend myself.”
“Against me? The most dangerous thing I’ll ever approach you with will be a cupcake.” The woman laughed but it was a little strained.
Scott checked his watch. “Where are you two going? It’s after two am.”
The vampire extended his arm to his companion. “Betsy’s never seen The French Quarter so I’m giving her a tour.”
Betsy took his arm but before they walked away, she turned to Lexi. “What happened with the little girl?”
“It was a break-in at a creepy death museum. Someone stole…” She looked at Scott.
Scott rolled his eyes. “Marie Laveau.”
“Marie Laveau’s ring,” she finished. “She was some kind of—”
Dick held a hand up. “I know who Marie Laveau was. Lexi, your education is somewhat lacking.”
The older woman’s eyes widened. “Did you catch the perp?”
Everyone looked at her.
“The perp?” Dick asked and fought to hide a smile.
“Yes, dear. The unsub.” She seemed to be warming to her subject.
The vampire put his other hand over hers and addressed Lexi. “Marcel’s snoring his little head off in the apartment. We collected our bags from the hotel and settled up. Come along, Nancy Drew.”
“Have fun,” Scott called from behind them as they headed up the street.
Betsy rested her head on Dick’s arm for a few moments, then looked at him. “How long did you live here?”
“A few years. Not long. It’s good to be back, though. New Orleans has a way of getting under your skin, even if the heat is somewhat uncomfortable for someone of my disposition.”
They approached a street corner and he led them purposefully straight ahead. She glanced at him. “Where are we going?”
He patted her hand. “I think my oldest friend should meet some of my oldest silent friends.”
They chatted as they walked through the streets while he pointed out hotels, stores, and bars he knew, although many had changed since he’d last been there. Finally, they reached a metal gate.
“A cemetery?” Betsy stopped abruptly.
“You’re safe with me, dear. I like to check up on who’s no longer with us since I was here last.”
He guided her through the side gate and they walked along the narrow, tomb-lined paths.
The moon was almost full, which allowed her to read the tombstones as they passed. “Were the friends you’re looking for all supernaturals?”
“Heavens, no. Some are, of course.” He stopped facing a small family plot. “This is Marianne. I stayed with her while I waited for my house to be renovated. I see her son has joined her. He didn’t like me very much—in fact, he assaulted me.”
“He what? I hope you beat him senseless.” Betsy shook her fist in the air.
“I couldn’t catch him. He kicked me and ran away. He was quite fast for a five-year-old.” Dick touched the stone plaque. “That was forty years ago. Forty-five is very young to die, isn’t it?”
Betsy looked at the stone, then at him again. “You must have died around the same age.”
Dick merely nodded.
Along the next aisle, they stopped before a large, ornate tomb. “This is Stephen and many of his ancestors. He was the alpha of a local shifter pack. I had tremendous respect for Stephen. Everyone did. He was fair and forward-thinking.”
“He liked you too,” a voice said behind them.
They turned toward it and he narrowed his eyes to stare at a woman with long hair he thought might be equal parts of gray and brown. She looked gaunt. “Geraldine? Why, you’ve barely changed.”
“You’re kind, but I think there have been one or two changes between twenty and sixty.” She walked forward but stopped a little distance from them.
The vampire didn’t move but he introduced the women. Betsy stepped up to the other woman and put her hand out. “It’s lovely to meet a friend of William’s.”
Geraldine flicked her gaze briefly to him and they shared a look that said, “Humans, they haven’t a clue,” and she shook the proffered hand.
Dick looked around. “This is a strange place to find the living at such an hour.”
The newcomer shrugged. “I’m contemplating my mortality and visiting old friends.” She broke into a wracking cough and it took her a few seconds to regain her composure. “Are you here to choose a side?”
He smelled blood on her breath, took a handkerchief out, and stepped closer to her, holding it out like a white flag. “Good heavens, no. I’m trying to avoid whatever’s going on and I certainly don’t want to be here when this place finally erupts. I can’t get out of here fast enough.”
She took the handkerchief and wiped her mouth. “Did you know Kindred left?”
“I heard they’re back already.” He thought it might be prudent to bolster Lexi’s fake Kindred identity.
Geraldine raised her eyebrows. “Really? I’m surprised. As I understand it, something has happened to draw them across the country, but it’s not entirely an accident they left no one here.”
Dick stepped to Betsy’s side. “Do you think they’re looking the other way? Leaving the city unprotected? But why?”
She held the handkerchief up but he gestured for her to keep it. She stuffed it into her pocket. “They aren’t always as impartial as we’d like them to be.”