“I’m not sure this means anything, but it was weird. Remember how I told you the first Kallikantzeroi’s stomach contents were made up of fruitcake? Well, this one was clutching half a fruitcake and it looked there was a trail of fruitcake leading to where it was found.”
According to the grimoire, Kallikantzeroi loved fruitcake. It’s like Kallikanternip. “Someone lured it there.”
“Like an ambush?” Dawn asked.
I did not like that I was thinking it, but there it was. “I don’t know, but it looks like a possibility, doesn’t it?”
“But who?” she asked. “Why?”
“Excellent questions.” Too bad I didn’t have any answers.
When I got back to the apartment, the joint was jumping. Ted had gotten home from his shift. Alex had stopped by to help Norah with her babysitting duties, Paul had come over, and Sophie had shown up.
I looked around the room. “Norah ate all the brisket. There is none left.”
Alex rolled his eyes and I couldn’t help but smile. As a vampire, he didn’t really eat food the way we did. Or, more to the point, we were his food. Well, Norah was. It was not something I wanted to think too much about, but it actually seemed to do her good. She basically glowed all the time these days. Paul was not really a candidate for the meat my mother cooked for hours and hours on end either. Werewolves tend to like their meat rare, even when they’re in human form and the meat isn’t. Ted was most likely the only one who was disappointed and he had had plenty the night before.
“Is Clara asleep?” I asked.
Norah nodded. “She nodded off about eight.”
“Perfect,” I said. I sank down onto the floor and looked around the room. It was good they were all there. “Listen, I think we may have a problem.”
They all listened as I filled them in on the two Kallikantzeroi Dawn had found.
“You think they’re coming up through the Golden 1 Center?” Paul stood up. “Let’s go then.”
“Go where?”
“To. The. Golden. One. Center.” He enunciated each word as if I was dim. Which maybe I was because it hadn’t occurred to me.
Ted, Alex, Paul, and Sophie all started putting on their jackets. “Wait. What about Clara?” I asked.
“I’ll stay,” Norah said. “But it’s going to cost you.”
“What’s your price?”
She crossed her arm over her chest. “Some of that chopped up fruit stuff. The stuff that’s supposed to be like mortar, but is mainly just delicious.”
It took me a second to figure out what she meant. “You mean charoset?”
“Yeah. That’s the stuff. The kind your mother makes with the dates and the apricots.” She nodded happily.
“Wrong holiday. Charoset is for Passover, not Hanukkah.” Norah might make dietary exceptions for Jewish holidays, but she still never could keep them straight.
“Fine, then. What else is traditional for Hanukkah?”
I thought. “Jelly doughnuts? Really anything fried. That whole miracle of the oil thing.”
She shook her head. “Nope. I want the fruit stuff.”
What could it hurt? “Fine. I’ll see if I can get my mom to make some.”
“Then you have yourself a babysitter.”
I looked at the chain link fence that surrounded the Golden 1 Center construction site. It wasn’t too high. I could make it over easy. Post-pregnancy I was a tiny bit slower than I’d been in my prime and my center of gravity was off a little bit. Still, it would take a lot more than a ten-foot fence to keep me out.
“Do you think there are dogs?” I asked Paul. For whatever reason, dogs hated me. I though they sensed that I wasn’t what I seemed to be on the surface.
Paul raised his head and inhaled deeply. “Don’t think so.” Then he smiled and started making chicken clucking noises.
“You wouldn’t think it was so funny if they chased you,” I said.
“Good point. Want a leg up?” He cupped his hands for me to step into.
Ted stepped between us. “If my wife is going to step on any of us, she’s going to step on me.”
“Suit yourself, man. She lose all that baby weight?” Paul grinned.
“I lost enough of it,” I snapped. Seriously, why did they always talk about me like I wasn’t there? Oh, yeah. I remembered why. Because they knew it drove me nuts. It was like working with a bunch of thirteen-year-old boys sometimes.
I stepped into Ted’s cupped hands and vaulted myself over the fence. I didn’t exactly stick the landing, but it was graceful enough. “The rest of you coming?”
Ted came over next with an assist from Paul, then Alex, then Sophie with Paul on her heels.
“Now what?” Sophie asked.
We all stopped and reached out with whatever senses we had to see if we could locate any Kallikantzeroi. Then we pretty much all started choking.
“What is that smell?” Alex asked.
I braced myself and gave a little sniff. It was the same smell that had been in Dawn’s lab. I hadn’t smelled it on the first Kallikantzeroi, probably because it was too badly burnt. “I think we’ve got a live one.”
“What smell?” Ted asked.
“The one that smells like dozens of teenaged boys put their sweat socks into a giant stock pot and stewed it with some milk that’s gone bad and seasoned it with something dead,” Sophie said.
Ted shook his head. “Yeah. Not getting that at all.”
“Consider yourself lucky.” Although if Ted couldn’t smell it that might explain why the construction workers weren’t running off the job site with their eyes streaming. Maybe that was why Dawn hadn’t seemed bothered by it in her lab either.
We picked our way through the darkened area. I glanced over at Ted to see how he was doing. Everyone else had enhanced night vision. It’s one of the perqs of being a Messenger, or a werewolf, or a vampire. Not so much one of the perqs of being a cute cop. He glanced back at me and winked. I was relieved. I didn’t want him tripping and falling, but I also didn’t want him using a flashlight. The less attention we attracted, the better.
“This way,” Paul said. He’d taken the lead, which made sense. He was, after all, arguably the best hunter among us, which was saying something. He turned right to go deeper into the site.
“Oh, by the way,” I said as I followed Paul. “Don’t let it get on your back.”
“Why?”
“You’ll have to carry it around all night while it talks to you.”
“Thanks for the heads up.”
“My pleasure.”
The smell got stronger. We had to be getting close. Then I smelled something else. “Does anyone else smell … fruitcake?”
Paul stopped and we looked around on the ground. Ahead of us was a trail of chunks of sweet bread with those weird fake fruit chunks. “Where does that go?”
“One way to find out,” Ted said and started following it, again heading deeper into the construction site.
“Maybe we should follow it the other way, too? See where both ends of the trail go?” Sophie suggested.
“Hard to know. I figured it was best to just pick one end and go with it,” Ted said.
Alex snorted. “That explains a lot.”
My eyes narrowed. “Really? You think now is an appropriate time for that kind of teasing?”
“One thing I have learned in my vast number of years upon this earth is that it’s almost never the right time for anything so you might as well do what you want when you want.” Alex walked after Ted.
I hurried after him. “So exactly how many years is that vast number?” Alex has never told me how old he is. Vampires have extremely long life spans. They’re hard to kill unless you’re specifically trying to vampire slay and most people aren’t.
“Long enough, Messenger. Keep moving,” he said over his shoulder.
I trudged behind them. I pulled part of my shirt up over my nose to mask the smell. Ted was lucky.
We came to an area wh
ere a pit was being dug. The sides went straight down approximately twelve feet. The whole pit was probably fifty by fifty. Over in one corner of the square, there was an area that had crumbled away. “Do you think they could be coming up through there?” I pointed.
Paul sniffed. “Yeah. I do.”
“So what do you think is at the other end of the fruitcake trail?” I asked.
“I’m pretty sure there’s only one way to find out.” Paul tilted his chin at the trail.
He was right. “We should leave someone here to guard the entrance in case one of them comes out.”
“I’ll stay,” Sophie raised her hand.
“I’ll stay with her,” Ted volunteered.
The rest of us started back along the fruitcake path. “So here’s what I don’t understand,” I said. “Why? Why do this? These things are only nuisances. Why go to the trouble of trapping them and killing them when all you would have to do is set out a colander?”
“Maybe we’ll find out at the end of this trail of fruitcake,” Paul said.
I giggled. “There’s a sentence I bet you thought you’d never say.”
“Since I’ve met you, I’ve said a lot of sentences I never thought I’d say.” He didn’t sound angry about it, though.
“What kind of sentences?” I pushed.
“Melina …”
“Seriously, what kind? Lovey dovey sentences? To Meredith?” I made my voice all sing-songy.
“Melina,” he said, his voice a little more urgent.
“Paul and Meredith sitting in a tree …” I sang.
“Melina!” Paul’s voice was sharp.
Sometimes werewolves were no fun at all. “What?”
“Stop talking and pay attention. Do you sense anything?”
I stopped, froze really. I closed my eyes and let my other senses take over. There was something there, something terribly faint. I looked up at Paul and nodded. “It’s ‘Cane, but not very ‘Cane.”
He looked around, eyes narrowed. “I got the same thing.”
We swung around to look at Alex.
“Smells a little like food to me,” he said. Vampires didn’t feed on other supernatural creatures. Their tastes ran pretty much only to human blood.
“How far?” I asked.
“Up ahead, around that corner.” Paul pointed.
I didn’t see anything. “Do you think it knows we’re here?”
“Maybe. It’s being awfully still,” Paul said.
“So maybe we should proceed with a little more subtlety and subterfuge?” Alex said, his head cocked to one side.
I accepted the rebuke. I deserved it. The three of us melted into the shadows. I was pretty sure I could only make out Alex because I knew he was there. Paul was a little easier to spot, but still difficult enough to find to fool most human eyes. We moved through the stacks of lumber and pieces of large equipment on feet that were nearly silent.
There was a scraping noise. Whatever was ahead of us had finally moved. I caught Paul’s eye and he nodded. I skirted around a stack of metal beams and saw the end of the fruitcake trail. I held my hand up to stop the other two from coming any farther. Whoever was out there – and there was someone and not something out there – didn’t need to know how many of us there were.
I skirted around the open area where the trail ended. I could hear breathing now, harsh and scented with fear. I guessed that it knew I was there, but didn’t know exactly where I was. Advantage: Melina.
I took a few more steps and it – or should I say he – bolted. I felt a breeze as both Paul and Alex took off after him, but seconds later I heard the sound of a car engine and knew the chase was off. They were fast, but they weren’t car fast. Sure enough, they came trooping back a few minutes later.
“He got away.” Paul looked like he might pout.
“I gathered.”
We walked back along the trail to Ted and Sophie.
“Did you get a license plate?” Ted asked when they’d told him the story.
Alex smiled and rattled off a series of numbers and letters.
Ted pulled out a notepad and jotted it down. “I’ll look it up tomorrow at work.”
“Any sign of any Kallikantzeroi?” I asked.
Sophie shook her head. “I didn’t see or sense anything.”
I blew out a breath. “Let’s head home. Maybe this will make more sense tomorrow.”
That was when the smell went from bad to hellacious gag-worthy fetid worse. “There!” Sophie cried, pointing to the corner of the pit. A small dark figure emerged, tail whipping energetically behind it.
Paul jumped down into the pit. “Got it,” he said.
“Paul, no!” I shouted. “If it gets on your back you’ll be walking all night.”
He shrugged. “I could use the exercise.” He knelt down so it would be easier for the creature to climb onto his broad shoulders.
Even from this distance, I could barely stand the stench. “How are you going to be able to stand it?”
Paul laughed. “Motherhood has made you soft, Melina.
Clara was an early riser. Surprise! I mean, what eight month old wasn’t, right? I was spooning mashed bananas and cereal into her adorable pink mouth when my cell phone buzzed. Paul.
“You’re alive?” I asked.
“Just. Can I come up? I’m on your doorstep.”
I hit the buzzer and waited by the front door. His steps dragged up the stairs. “You’ve looked better,” I observed as he came into view.
“I’ve smelt better, too.” He plucked at the shirt on his chest. A funky miasma rose from it and assaulted my nose.
I pulled the collar of my shirt up over my mouth and nose. “Truth. Maybe you should shower before we talk.”
“It’s all over my clothes.” He looked pained.
No way was that kind of funk going to wash out. At least, not enough for Paul’s and my sensitive noses. “Maybe you should burn them.”
“You have anything I could change into?” There was a hopeful glint in his dark brown eyes.
Paul was taller and broader than Ted, but sweats stretch, right? “We’ll find something.”
Paul started stripping down as he walked into the apartment. Seriously, werewolves have no modesty whatsoever.
I rolled my eyes. “Dude. Not in front of the kid.”
“Or my wife, please.” Ted walked into the hallway stretching.
The smell became overwhelming. Clara made a face and started to whimper. I put my hand over my nose and mouth. “Never mind. Just Get those things off and let’s get them out of here.”
Ted took Paul’s clothes down to the Dumpster while I finished feeding Clara and getting her dressed for the day. Ted had coffee made by the time Paul got out of the shower. He looked like he was about to burst out of Ted’s sweats, but it was better than smelling like a Kallikantzeroi. “So what did you find out?”
“I found out a lot. Herb is quite the talker.” Paul picked up Clara and bounced her on his lap. She giggled and grabbed his beard.
“Herb?” I asked.
“Yeah. The little guy. His name is Herb. What? Did you think they didn’t have names?” Paul picked Clara up and blew a raspberry on her tummy. She shrieked with joy, kicking her little legs and waving her fat little arms like a wind-up toy.
I hadn’t actually thought about it. “Fine. Herb. Go on.”
“Anyway, the parts that actually are pertinent to us are like this: somebody’s been picking them off one at a time since they started coming up on Christmas Day night. Some of them have been lured places.” He settled Clara back onto his lap, his face suddenly grim.
“Like with the fruitcake?” Ted asked.
Paul nodded. “Some have been followed. Some have been killed as they came out.”
That set me back on my heels. It was bad enough when I thought two of the little stinkers had been killed, but apparently those two were only the tip of the Kallikanter-ice berg. “Do they know why?”
“Not
a clue. They’re not the sharpest claws on the paw, but they’re sharp enough to figure out that they’re in danger.” He rolled his shoulders.
And now for the six million dollar question. “Do they know from whom?”
Paul shook his head. “From what Herb described, it’s a bunch of ‘Danes. No magical powers. No super strength. Just ‘Danes.”
“‘Danes that know Kallikantzeroi exist. That’s got to narrow the field.” I chewed on my lip.
“To what? Every person of Greek descent in the Sacramento metropolitan area?” Ted asked.
I shot him a look. “I didn’t say it would narrow it a lot. Just that it would narrow.”
I bumped the jogging stroller down the stairs of the apartment building with Clara on my hip. Once I got to the sidewalk, I strapped her in and we took off for the park. I didn’t run as far or as fast as I used to, which quite honestly was fine with me. Running was one of those things that I always wanted to have done, but didn’t want to do. Right after Clara was born, I’d had the excuse of not wanting to jostle my lady bits anymore than they’d already been jostled. Eight months later and that excuse no longer held water. Plus, a jog through the park seemed to be the easiest way to get Clara to nap. Apparently all that stuff about fresh air was actually true.
The tule fog had started to lift, but the edges of everything still looked soft and blurry. I tucked the blanket a little higher under Clara’s chin and zipped my jacket. The chill would feel good in a mile or so. Right now it made me want to turn around and go back to bed.
I tried to vary my route. There was nothing more dangerous than mindless routine, but there were only so many directions to go jogging in Mansion Flats. So I also tried to keep my guard up, especially when I had Clara with me. Precious cargo and all that, right?
We made it to the park and started weaving our way along the bike path. We were only a few yards in when I felt the prickle on the back of my neck. And this was a full force prickle. Not the tiny needle sticks I’d felt at the construction site. I slowed to a walk. Chances of me being able to outrun whatever it was were wafer thin, especially while pushing a jogging stroller. Trying to would only be a waste of energy and quite possibly make us into even more inviting prey. The thing about hunters was that they actually liked to hunt. If you run, they’ll chase you even if it’s just for entertainment.
Tinsel and Temptation Page 6