by E G Bateman
Lexi chose a table at the back and they sat and took the menus from the center of the table. She ran her fingers down the options. “I don’t even recognize half of this stuff.”
Dick raised an eyebrow. “It’s British-themed so I assume this is British food.” He glanced at the options. “Good heavens. They have faggots on the menu.” He leaned back, folded his arms, and stared at her.
She looked up. “What?”
“I’m waiting for you to tell me to run for my life.”
“Don’t be silly.” She shook her head.
He smirked at her thinly veiled disappointment.
Scott glanced at the vampire between picking condiments up and studying them. “Have you ever been to England? The real one?”
“Yes, a few times. I entertained the troops during the war. Bing and Bob went to the South Pacific and I went to South Birmingham. I’ve been a few times post-life too, but I’ve always flown cargo in a crate. You think standard-class is bad. At least you can watch movies and drink bourbon.”
Lexi felt a twinge of guilt for the trick she’d played on him and for the way she’d judged him for traveling first class.
The sorcerer tapped her arm with the menu. “Do you know what you’ll have?”
She glanced at the menu again. “I think they’ve taken this English-themed food a little too far. I’ll play it safe…chicken pie maybe.”
The waitress came to the table.
Scott looked up enthusiastically. “I’ll have faggots, chips, and mushy peas, please.”
Dick looked at Lexi. “The gauntlet has been thrown down.”
She looked at the menu again.
The vampire took the opportunity to place his order. “I’ll have two double bourbons, no ice.”
“I’ll have…” She lifted her head. “Toad in the hole with bubble and squeak.” She placed her menu down like a winning poker hand. She and her friend looked at each other, neither sure who had won.
The waitress didn’t look at all fazed by their strange requests.
After she had left, Dick looked at them. “Do either of you know what to expect on your plates?”
Scott grinned. “Not a clue.”
Lexi shrugged.
The drinks arrived. Dick took one bourbon and tipped it into the other.
One of the people at the other table stood. He looked the worse for wear and stumbled around chairs and tables as he headed toward the Bathroom sign.
When the food arrived, they looked doubtfully at their plates, then swapped.
They had finished eating when the door banged open. The waitress had been setting cutlery out on the tables and jumped with fright.
A heavy-set, angry-looking woman with a silver whistle on a chain around her neck entered and looked around the room. The people at the other table immediately fell silent.
She delivered a stare at the elderly people, so frosty that it made Lexi uncomfortable. “I might have known,” the woman snapped.
The two ladies at the table slumped and groaned. The man gave the angry newcomer a drunken wave. “Hi, Nila. Come and have a drink.” He slapped his knees as though offering her a place on his lap.
“If I don’t see you in the back of my car in ten seconds—” She spoke coldly and gritted her teeth.
“You’ll what?” asked the drunken man. “Y’old sourpuss.”
The woman glanced at the waitress but didn’t seem to notice the others at the table at the back of the room. “We’ll talk about that later.”
Lexi was shocked by the menace in her voice.
The two ladies stood immediately, although it seemed to be a struggle. One of them negotiated a somewhat shaky path to the door with two walking sticks and the other shuffled along behind her. The man stood and finished his drink. She suspected he was being deliberately slow. He joined the others at the door and the three elderly patrons filed out in silence. As they exited, the woman took her whistle and blew hard, and the lady with the sticks wobbled in fright.
Instinctively, she grasped Scott’s hand. They didn’t have the link anymore but she knew him well enough to know that he was about to jump to his feet. The door closed. His face was outraged.
Dick shook his head. “Well, she’s a piece of work.”
The waitress who had stood nearby returned to collect their plates. “She scares the crap out of me. What a dragon.”
The vampire smiled. “I think that comparison might be unfair to dragons.”
She giggled and blushed under the gaze of his topaz eyes.
Lexi made a mental eye-roll. What is it with him and waitresses?
The bathroom door opened and the man who had gone in there about a half-hour earlier stumbled out. He looked around the room when he realized his friends had left. He wove to the waitress. “Ahh, feck it. I fell asleep, Gina, and they abandoned me.”
The old man’s musical Irish accent was appealing.
Gina smiled at the old man. “You dodged a bullet there, Patrick. Nurse Ratched turned up.”
He sighed. “Jeez, I’d best start walking then. Here’s hoping my hip doesn’t fail me before I get there.”
The girl patted him on the shoulder. “I’d give you a lift to Emmersley but I have another two hours here.”
Dick turned in his seat. “If it’s Emmersley House you’re going to, we’re about to head there if you’d like a ride.”
The man’s face became guarded. “And who might you be?”
“We’re weary travelers about to check in there.” The vampire held his drink up encouragingly.
Patrick chuffed a laugh. “I can guarantee that you’re nowhere near as weary as you’d need to be to get into there.”
Dick pushed the fourth chair at the table out. “Would you like to join us for a drink? Patrick, is it?”
“Well, if you’ll give me a lift, it would be rude not to.” The man sat and proffered his hand. When he looked at him, his brow creased. “You look mighty familiar.”
The vampire's face brightened immediately. “Well—”
Lexi kicked him under the table.
He shrugged and gave a tight-lipped smile. “I’ve been told I have one of those faces.”
The newcomer leaned forward and looked at each of them. “So what will you be doing at Spandau prison?”
Lexi fixed him with a confused look. “Span what?”
“Kids!” The old man rolled his eyes.
“Spandau was a German prison,” Dick explained. “It was famous for housing Nazi war criminals.”
Patrick grinned. “An educated man. I like you already.”
Scott mumbled, “This place sounds less and less like a spa.”
The vampire turned to him with a disgruntled look on his face. “It might be time for you to check that message from Dolores.”
After a quick nod, he scrolled through his phone, then held it out so Lexi could read the message with him. She sighed and deflated. “It’s not a spa. It’s a residential care facility for elderly and convalescing supernaturals.”
Dick slapped his palm to his forehead. “Now I know why I recognize the name.” His shoulders slumped.
Scott’s jaw dropped. “No. No, it’s a spa. Caleb said it’s a spa.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I believe his exact words were ‘a kind of spa.’”
“But a residential home isn’t any kind of spa.” He looked utterly despondent. “Not even a little.”
Patrick looked at them all in turn, his eyes narrowed. “Now that we’ve ascertained that you’re not spa guests, who are you?”
The vampire sighed. “I don’t even know what my cover is and it’s already blown.”
Lexi kicked him again.
He brushed his pant leg with his hand. “Would you please stop kicking me? This is a thousand-dollar suit.”
The old man’s eyes widened. “Cover? You’re investigators? I’m confused. When that guy from Kindred visited, he said there was nothing to investigate and told Maisie to stop wasting your time
.”
Scott exchanged a look with her, then turned to Patrick. “We’re not Kindred. I’m Shaun, this is Lena and Richard. Can you tell us why you called Kindred?”
He gestured to the waitress. “Gina, could we have a last round before we go—and one for yourself.”
His voice lowered. “It was my friend Maisie who reported that two of our friends had disappeared. We were worried about reporting it to Kindred because they own the place now. But who else do we turn to? Something’s not right there. Maisie said she could trust the Kindred team from her local town, so she made the call. Then she went missing too.”
“When did the disappearances start?” Lexi asked.
“A month ago. The last one was…” His voice caught. “Maisie, a few days ago.”
Scott took his cell phone out and tapped quickly. “And how many?”
“Three residents. But you’re not here because of that?”
Lexi shook her head. “It’s likely that your disappearances are connected to our investigation, though. Did they start happening after the change in ownership?”
Patrick nodded excitedly. ‘Yes. About a month after. We had great hopes when we heard about the buy-out. The place has needed a few repairs for a while. Then we learned it was Kindred who took over, sticking their big nose in where it’s not wanted again.”
Scott paused his finger over his screen. “Can you give me details? What exactly happened?”
“A couple of my friends disappeared in the night—a week apart with no notice and no goodbyes. Just gone. Nurse Ratched—that’s Nila, who you had the pleasure of seeing this evening—said they’d moved back with their families but neither of them had any family to speak of. Maisie was much more vocal about it than I was. She suddenly went to live with her son in Australia a few days ago but I know she doesn’t have a son in Australia. She doesn’t even have a son, period. I haven’t said a word about it since I’m terrified. We all are.”
They stopped speaking while Gina put the drinks on the table. Lexi took a sip of hers and decided to risk a question specific to their case. “Have they brought any new residents in over the last day or so?”
He paused, clearly thinking. “None that I’m aware of.”
“And how about construction work?” Dick asked. “Is anything going on?”
Patrick shook his head. “But it’s a bloody big building with large land around it.”
“Have you seen any Kindred other than your local unit?” The last thing she wanted was to run into Caleb before she had her legacy abilities back.
“They’ve visited a few times, but I haven’t seen any sign in the last few days. They might not be staying in the main house. There are a couple of lodges on the grounds.”
She leaned forward. “I assume that while we carry out our investigation, we can rely upon your discretion, Patrick.”
He responded with all sincerity, “Of course. But can I ask—who are you? I’ve never heard of Kindred being investigated by anyone. In my experience, they act with impunity and we simply suck it up.”
Lexi and Scott flicked a glance at each other. She felt ashamed and she guessed he did too.
“I’m a sorcerer—”
“Let’s get up to the house,” she interrupted hastily. “It’s getting late.” She didn’t want to hear how Scott would describe her—or worse, if he stumbled over his words or was unsure. If he said she was a legacy, she’d feel like a fraud, and God forbid he’d introduce her as a normal human. How humiliating. She shuddered inwardly.
Soon, I’ll find Alicia and get my abilities back and I’ll never complain again that I’m a dud.
Lexi wondered if getting her abilities back meant never seeing her sister after that. She shook the thought away. One problem at a time was more than enough to deal with.
Chapter Sixty-Eight
The car eased between large iron gates and wound slowly around a tree-lined drive to the house. It was late and the only sound was the crunch of the tires on gravel. Scott gazed out of the window. “This place is huge.”
Patrick nodded. “It sure is.”
They parked at the side of the main building and walked toward the entrance.
The old man smiled. “Now, if you don’t mind distracting young Stuart on the night desk for me, I’ll sneak past.”
Lexi chuckled. “You’re a rascal. I’ll have to watch you.”
She entered through large glass doors with Scott and Dick. A small desk was situated on the side of the lobby and a young man was seated behind it. He tried to balance a pen on his forehead. When he noticed them, he fumbled to right himself and opened his mouth to speak, but his attention was drawn down the hallway. “Oh no. Not again.”
When the clerk’s attention was diverted, Lexi glanced over her shoulder to where Patrick darted from the door to duck behind the stair rail and start climbing.
Satisfied, she looked in the same direction as the clerk. A door at the end of the hallway burst open and an elderly, naked gentleman shuffled through, swinging a pair of underpants. It was the drunken man from the pub and he was singing. “Look for the bare necessities—”
Lexi looked down and smirked. “I think I found them.”
The old man let the underpants fly and headed through the front door.
The clerk glanced at Lexi, then looked at Scott. “We cool?”
The sorcerer cleared his throat without looking at her. “Yeah, we’re cool.”
She stood in silence while he placed his pen down and stood. Her shoulders drooped. “We cool” was something supes said in front of humans to ascertain whether or not it was safe to reveal their supernatural nature in their presence.
Belatedly, she wondered if she should have tackled the old guy but a man in white and holding a robe pushed through the door and raced after him. He was followed a moment later by another man, also in white, who ran through the door, saw the three of them, and slowed to a walk.
The clerk pointed at the door. “They’re fine. Just go.”
He shifted—or, rather, his bottom half shifted. The man was a satyr and now raced away on his goat legs. He picked up speed and continued through the front door.
When the clerk stepped out from behind the desk to retrieve the underpants—now hanging from a large potted plant—it was evident that he too was a satyr.
Dick muttered, “I’m remembering more and more of the things I’ve heard about this place.”
Lexi glanced at Scott, who picked up a brochure titled Emmersley House Residential Care Home, Senior Living and Rehabilitation. He flicked a final glance at the instructions from Dolores on his cell.
The clerk stepped behind the desk and returned his attention to the three of them. He smiled as though they’d only now walked through the door and nothing whatsoever had happened. “Hi, I’m Stuart. How can I help you this evening?” His gaze darted toward the door the absconding naked man had fled through and returned to the three of them.
Scott took the lead. “I’m Shaun Green and this is Lena Hearne. We’re here with Mr. Richard Pick. You should be expecting us?”
“Hmm?” Dick glanced up from the brochures. He stepped to Lexi and asked with his voice lowered, “What exactly is our cover?”
She shushed him.
“Yes. Mr. Pick. I’m afraid we were only notified of your transfer earlier today. We’re still organizing your room downstairs.” He continued to read the notes, then looked at Scott. “Are you certain he’s no longer a risk to himself or others?”
The vampire’s whispers into her ear became more insistent. “What have you done now?”
“This is all Dolores,” she responded quietly but impatiently. “I haven’t a clue. You’ll have to ask Scott when he’s done.” She glanced up the stairs to where Patrick lingered to listen to the conversation.
“Absolutely. He’s only here to recuperate and is no longer delusional.” Scott smiled at the guy, turned his smile to Dick, and tried to shrug discreetly.
At the word “delus
ional,” the vampire’s eye began to twitch.
Stuart looked from Scott to Lexi and passed two room keys to the sorcerer. “Your two rooms are ready. You’ll be in the old servants’ quarters on the top floor. The rooms there are quite small so I hope they’re okay for you. Most of us are local so we only use a couple of the overnight rooms here for standby shifts. The top floor hardly gets used at all, so you’ll have it almost to yourselves. It’s unusual for a resident’s personal staff to stay here, though. He must have some pull.”
Dick smiled. “Oh, I couldn’t survive without Shaun and Lena. You know, you could always give me a room upstairs too.”
Scott turned and stared hard at him before he smiled at Stuart. “He’s kidding.”
The clerk looked dubious. “Are you sure he’s cured?”
The sorcerer nodded confidently. “That’s what they tell me.” He turned to the vampire. “You don’t think you can walk in the sun anymore, do you, Richard?”
Dick’s jaw worked as he fought back the instinctive response. “The malaise has left me. I only need a little rest.”
Lexi looked at Stuart, who studied the new patient with discomfort.
Stuart narrowed his eyes. “He’s…erm, lowered his pointy parts.”
She swung to face the vampire, who stared dead ahead with his fangs bared. Her first instinct was to pull her foot back to kick him but she stopped when he turned and stared at her. Dick could look quite dangerous sometimes and this was one of those times.
“He hasn’t eaten,” Scott said quickly as the vampire retracted his teeth.
The clerk raised an eyebrow. “There’s a refrigerator in his room.” He took two bracelets from a box, wrote on one, and passed it to Scott. “Put this on him, please. What are you—a mage?”
“No. I am a sorcerer, but I’m in Mr. Pick’s employment, not Kindred.”
He held the second wristband out. “You need to wear one too.”
Scott passed the first band to Lexi, who held it out and stared at Dick. After a few moments, he sighed and extended his arm to allow her to close it with a click.
Lexi waited, then asked. “What about me?”