by E G Bateman
The vampire returned his gaze to his unwanted visitor. “Really? My Givenchy scarf?”
“I’m sorry, sir. He wouldn’t shut up.”
For now, he needed the knife to move away from Jesús. “Geoffrey, what are you doing? I said you would be welcome here when you were healed, but you keep running away from the hospital.”
“I couldn’t bear to be away from you and they’ll never let me leave. Not now.”
He narrowed his eyes. “What have you done?”
“She was giving me pills—pills that would turn my blood bad. I had to make her stop.”
A muffled squeak issued from Jesús.
Dick glanced at the trickle of blood on his houseboy’s neck. “I see. And you thought getting blood all over my Eames lounger would encourage me to welcome you home?”
“I didn’t think—”
“No, you didn’t. Well, if you’re back, you’re back. I’ll get changed. You would absolutely not believe what these stains are. I don’t know if they’ll ever come out.” He washed the glass out and turned it upside-down on the drainer.
The two men both watched as he walked to the little bowl and lifted the keys out.
“You’ll have to get yourself a key made.” He threw the keys across the room to Geoffrey, who instinctively moved his hand to catch them. By the time they were in his hand, Dick was at his throat.
The vampire pulled the scarf from Jesús’s mouth, used the box-cutter on the ties, and walked to the bar and poured them both a large drink.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Lexi and Scott were very pleased to be back in their piece-of-shit car and headed out of Palm Springs.
She looked at her companion, who grinned broadly as he drove. This was a real treat for him as she rarely let him take the wheel.
In all honesty, she didn’t have the energy. Edward had invited them to stay the night and she’d been tempted. If they’d stayed, though, they’d have to get involved in the clean-up and that really wasn’t her thing.
Relieved that she’d at least avoided that, she took the opportunity to close her eyes.
“Holy shit!” Scott swerved and the car spun, left the road, plowed through a fence, and impacted with a billboard.
Lexi put out her arms and was hauled against the seat by her seatbelt. “What the fuck? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I only—” He looked at the road over his shoulder, his expression dazed.
“Then what the fuck?” She leapt out of the car and walked to the front. “Well, this is going nowhere.”
“I’m sorry. There was someone on the road.”
“Really? Or did you nod off, you jackass?” She punched him in the arm.
“Could I offer you a ride somewhere?”
She turned to the familiar voice. “Dick?”
“Dude, was that you? Why were you standing in the middle of the road?” Scott leaned heavily on the hood and dragged his fingers over his scalp.
“I was worried you’d miss me.” The vampire walked around the car.
Lexi folded her arms. “You’re lucky we missed you. What are you doing here?”
He released a huge, dramatic sigh. “I am so over Palm Springs.”
She raised an eyebrow. “What’s up? Wouldn’t Kate give you back your house?”
“Oh, we resolved that. Jesús will look after it for a while.”
“I thought you were going to check on Betsy.” Scott pulled his duffel out of the trunk.
“I’ll write.” Dick turned to Lexi. “Can I come along for the ride?”
Lexi narrowed her eyes. “You’ve already agreed on this with Dolores, haven’t you?”
“Well…” He spread his arms and shrugged.
“We seem to be shit-out-of-luck in the engine department, anyway.” She began to walk toward his day car.
The three of them climbed in and the vampire locked the doors. “So, where are we heading?”
“New Orleans.” She smirked.
He looked in the rearview mirror. “Wait, what? No. It’s too humid. I’ll die.”
Scott raised a brow and smirked. “You’re already dead.”
“You know what I mean.” He rolled his eyes.
“It’s your own fault. You gave me the clue.” Lexi held the photograph up.
“Well, shit. Buckle up. Do you want the radio on, or should I simply ask Alexa to play something?”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Scott lay across the back seat with his hands over his ears. “We’ve been driving for days. I can’t listen to this noise anymore.”
Dick glanced into the rearview mirror. “It’s been three hours, you insufferable child. My car, my rules—and take your feet off the window. People will think there’s a monkey in the car.”
Lexi snorted and turned to face the young sorceror. “I quite like it. I’ve never really listened to old music before.”
The vampire slid his gaze to her. “It’s not old, it’s classic.”
Scott moved his feet, sat, and rested his chin on the back of her seat. “It’s so disturbing I can’t even meditate.” He slumped in his seat. “I’ll go into my dimensional pocket to—”
Dick’s cellphone rang. He passed it to Lexi and she answered it. “Hi, Dolores, how’s it going?”
“It’s going remarkably well.” The fae sounded pleased. “Caleb has surfaced. He’s in Mexico.”
“You’re kidding!” Lexi had thought he would never be seen again.
“Right, where can I turn?” Dick had heard Dolores clearly.
“What? What’s happening?” Scott straightened again.
The vampire glanced at him. “Caleb’s in Mexico.” He raised his voice and added, “Where in Mexico, Dolores?”
“Cabo San Lucas,” she continued. “He appears to be on vacation. I have to say I’m a little surprised. There’s a large community of duende in the area. How he thought he’d fly under the radar there is beyond me. He checked into the resort this morning.”
Dick’s face lit up. “Cabo? I adore Cabo. And I don’t need to turn around. It occurs to me that I have an old friend with a private plane based in Phoenix.”
Two days later, Lexi gazed out of the window of their suite onto the pool area in the resort hotel.
Upon their arrival, Dick had connected with the duende who had first seen Caleb and recognized him from pictures Dolores had distributed through her large network. Once in their room, they didn’t risk leaving it and monitored his movements through the strange young duende.
They waited for their opportunity to eliminate him.
Lexi spoke to Dick as she watched the people at the poolside. “I still can’t believe you called Betsy.”
Scott nodded. “I can’t believe she hopped on a plane and flew down here.”
The vampire’s voice came from the body bag. “She has as much if not more right to be here as the rest of us. Although I’d have preferred it if she watched from the window. I had forgotten how strong-willed she can be.” He paused. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing.” Scott continued to point his finger at the bag and he smiled as little diamantes appeared where he indicated.
“I don’t see why we couldn’t do this at night so I could do it. I should be the one doing this—to his face.” The vampire sounded sullen.
She watched Caleb through the scope as she spoke. “You know why. He comes out to sunbathe at the pool for an hour a day. It’s the only time he’s accessible. Anyway, you will be doing it.”
He ignored that and continued to complain. “I can’t believe I’m back in Cabo. I haven’t been here since I was alive. This whole burning-in-the-sun thing is such an inconvenience.”
Scott looked astonished. “Really? I think I could fix that.”
“I doubt it.” Dick sighed. “I think I’d have heard about that by now.”
Lexi glanced at her friend. They both shrugged. Why not?
“It’s kind of against the rules to even try something like that,” the
young man continued, “but since we’re fugitives, I’ll see what I can do.”
“Are you shitting me?” The vampire sounded indignant.
“Shh! It’s going down.” Caleb sat in his usual lounger, reading his newspaper. Lexi’s gaze followed a beautiful young server who carried a tray. She approached from behind and to his side, put the drink down, and turned to walk away.
Unfortunately, she turned at the sound of a click.
Caleb, still reading his newspaper, had produced a fifty-peso note and held it up between two fingers. The young woman’s gaze shifted uncertainly to Lexi’s window.
“Shit!” She shook her head to indicate that the woman should get out of there.
Dick half-sat in the bag. “What’s going on?”
“He’s trying to tip her.” She couldn’t keep the disappointment out of her voice.
Scott stood to look out of the window. “If she takes that note, he’ll sense the magic.”
Her gaze remained focused on the scene through the scope. “If she doesn’t take the tip, he’ll know something’s wrong.”
The server looked at the other guests around the pool, then glanced at the window. She raised her hand to a thin chain around her neck and pulled.
As it broke, so did the spell. Had anyone been looking, they would have seen the beautiful young woman instantly turn into a little old lady.
Betsy leaned forward and snagged the note from Caleb’s fingers. “Gracias.”
She walked as far as the bar, then turned to watch.
“Is she inside?” Dick asked.
Lexi shook her head. “No, she’s at the bar, ordering a drink.”
“What if he sees her? We shouldn’t have involved her.” The vampire wriggled so much inside the bag that she was tempted to tell Scott to sit on him.
“It was your idea.” She rolled her eyes.
Caleb put his newspaper down and picked the glass up. She focused on his lips as he muttered a word. He seemed satisfied that the drink was safe, glanced at the little pot of olives and cocktail sticks, and smiled. With a practiced movement, he snagged an olive and dropped it into the drink before he knocked it back.
“I’m glad she’s here. I’d never have thought to put it in the olives.” She shrugged.
The sorcerer sat bolt upright, instantly aware that something wasn’t right. He looked around and his jaw dropped at the sight of Betsy seated at the poolside bar with a glass of gin. She toasted him with a broad smile.
He muttered a word at the woman, then muttered again. He seemed to have discovered that his magic wasn’t working.
“What’s happening?” Dick punched the bag from the inside.
Lexi took the shot. The gun was shielded by magic so no one heard it. The bullet was a Scott special, a combination of tech and magic, and it found Caleb’s heart without breaking his skin.
She addressed the body bag. “It’s done. Over to you.”
The sorcerer clutched his chest. It was clear he knew something was coming.
Dick paused for a moment before he said, “Stop.”
His heart stopped and he sagged onto the lounger, dead.
Lexi stared at the ocean from a little table on the promenade.
Betsy placed a hand on her arm. “Where will you go now?”
“We only got as far as Phoenix when the call came. I guess we’ll go back to pick up the car and continue to New Orleans. How about you?”
“I’ll return to the house. Dolores will contact me about visiting Todd in Fae. It’ll take some time for him to heal.”
Dick turned to the older woman. “What’s the point in knocking around that big place alone? Why don’t you come to New Orleans with us?”
“Dick, I’m eighty years old. I’m too old to be gallivanting around the country fighting monsters.”
Scott stood, removed the chain from his pocket, and placed it on the table in front of Betsy. “You don’t have to be too old to do anything.”
She picked it up with two fingers and dangled it in the air in front of her face. “I’ll admit it was good to move around without arthritis pain.”
“Here it comes.” Lexi sat up excitedly.
The vampire passed Marcel to Betsy. “If this doesn’t work—”
“Dude, have some faith.” Scott clapped him on the back and sat.
He turned to the young man. “I’m sitting here about to face the sun. I think I’m showing an extraordinary level of faith in you, Scott.”
Dick faced the ocean and saw his first sunrise in over seventy years. A tear rolled down his face in a moment so magical that nothing could spoil it.
“Okay, I got one,” Scott began. “A vampire walks into a shifter bar…”
The Bound Legacy
The story continues with book two, THE BOUND LEGACY, available now at Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.
Author Notes - E.G. Bateman
April 8, 2020
Once upon a time, I went to Bali. And that’s where my life began.
There were many reasons to go; the awesome people, the incredible conference sessions, and holy shit, it’s Bali! But I went there with one primary goal. And the day I pushed a few chapters of something I’d been working on into Michael Anderle’s hand, that goal was achieved. It could have gone horribly wrong. I knew he didn't usually accept unsolicited manuscripts at big conferences like Vegas, but Bali was an intimate gathering. I hoped the fact I’d thrown my life savings into an event that had been designed for authors way more successful than I was, would show I was serious. It was a massive gamble.
The whole experience was mortifying. After a conference session, I found him chatting with the exceptionally talented, Ell Leigh Clarke. I stood there with the chapters shaking a little in my hand. People were filing out of the room and I kind of assumed these two would stop talking and move like everyone else. Nope. Pretty soon, there were three people in the room, two of them who were (it was now abundantly clear) having a MEETING, and me, standing 2ft away, watching like it was the centre court at Wimbledon.
I know what you’re thinking. Elaine, why didn’t you just turn and leave? I know, I was being all kinds of rude. But there comes a point when turning and walking away (through the large, echoing room) looks as weird as staying put. Also, I might never get the nerve to do it again. Also, I don’t think my feet would move.
So, there I stood, thinking, come on Michael, just flick your eyes in my direction and I’ll shove these pages at you and run.
Nope!
Finally, the meeting was over and Michael addressed the elephant in the room, me. I was surprised he didn’t call me out for being so rude. But he was very kind, he took the sheets, and I bolted.
I was mortified by the barefaced cheek I’d shown. For the next day or so, I actively hid from Michael, to the point that I actually waded, fully clothed through the swimming pool to avoid passing him on a walkway. Okay, only up to my knees, but still. Then, I got a grip of myself. I knew he wasn’t going to read it until after Bali, so I stopped hiding and enjoyed the conference, the socializing, and the sun.
After two weeks of fearing I’d just blown the bank on a pipe dream, I got the call.
Forming the characters and bouncing dialogue around with Michael has been a hoot. I fell in love with Lexi the moment I visualised her clinically decapitating a vampire with her thighs (sorry, Dick). I love them all, and hope that you will come to love them too.
Elaine
Author Notes - Michael Anderle
April 13, 2020
THANK YOU for reading our story!
We have a few of these planned, but we don’t know if we should continue writing and publishing without your input.
Options include leaving a review, reaching out on Facebook to let us know, and smoke signals.
Frankly, smoke signals might get misconstrued as low-hanging clouds, so you might want to nix that idea…
SERIOUSLY?
I don’t remember the part of Elaine’s story in Bali nearly lik
e she did. Also, I thought I DID read what you gave me to read (your other story) while in Bali, and you were right.
I read it because you spent that much effort to get the stuff into my hands.
I don’t do Vegas like that because it is MEANT to be an all-inclusive event that just about anyone can get to (or as close as we can make it.)
So, feeling a bit of guilt that she did all she could to make her dream happen, of course I would read it.
And yes, Ellie and I argue like that because we are friends and she has problems. I’m the normal one, I promise.
Me normal, her not. Not her, me.
Her problems start and end with “she’s British,” and there are a whole lot of funny other reasons in the middle of that British sandwich explanation.
But, this isn’t about ELC. This is about Elaine.
One thing that hit me in the gut with Elaine was her super funny dialogue. Her challenge was fitting that dialogue into a story.
Bali was something like January 4th, 2019.
Elaine and I started discussing a collaboration and just having conversations on writing in general on January 16th, 2019. (I had stayed over on that side of the world for extra days. I don’t think we hit the shores of the US again until about the very end of January.)
Then, Elaine went “all-in” and took time off work to finish her trilogy. I warned her that writing as your only occupation is very hard for those not accustomed to having no rules.
Elaine didn’t believe me.
Here are a few snippets from our conversations. Note the dates.
February 4th, 2019
Elaine 10:55 AM
Cool, me too. Maybe catch up there. (London Book Fair – Mike.)
10:59
You were dead right about people not working not being efficient writers. I'm on kind of a sabbatical. Today was the first writing day. Anyhoo, turns out The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is really good.