“How am I to refuse a beautiful woman?” I quipped.
Teresa’s purse started to ring. “Oh, sorry.” She said. “It’s work. I'll be right back. You two make nice now, all right?”
“But of course.” Emily said. “I'll keep him company. Mind if we go back to your table?”
“Go right ahead. I'll be right back.” She walked away, pulling her phone out and answering.
Emily and I walked back to the booth. As we walked, I took stock of Emily. She was a beautiful woman, there wasn't any doubt of that. Her blue hair was cut short and spiky, which worked with her violet eyes. She wore a Clash t-shirt and jeans, which struck me as very unlike what a classical violinist would wear.
“So, Eric, what do you do?”
“Well, I tend bar at Cameron's. It's a place down by SF State.”
She leaned forward and smiled. “A bartender? Fascinating. And how did you end up at the Last Drop? You look a little too...white-collar for a vamp club.”
“Some personal business.” I said.
Emily smiled wider. “That just makes me more curious. After all, what kind of human bartender has personal business with Ishmael?”
I figured then to go on the defensive. Emily might have been a friend of Teresa's, but I wasn't by any means fond of her. She was working me over for information. For what, I couldn't tell. “A man who values his privacy.”
If she got the hint, she didn't take it. “Indeed. But you're not just anyone. Your aura is fantastic.” Her striking eyes met mine. “Tell me, have you ever met a Red Angel before?”
Her eyes sent a shiver through my spine. It wasn't an unpleasant one either. Her eyes spoke for themselves. This woman was wicked, and she was very interested in me. And whatever I seemed to think, she was drawing me in.
“No,” I shook my head, trying to break the eye contact. Her eyes seemed to just follow mine, and I couldn't quite draw mine away.
“How fun.” She slid closer to me in the booth, so that we were sitting next to each other. “How about we go somewhere quiet, and you can tell me all about what you're doing playing in the big leagues, sugar?”
A very physical part of me wanted to say yes. It had been way too long since I had been with a woman, and Emily was hardly ugly. If it had been Matt, he would've already spilled everything he could have. I told myself I needed to break this. She was working something over me, a power of some sort. I forced myself to focus. I needed anything to get out of this. Mentally, I took stock of what I could do, and took a deep breath.
“Is something wrong?” She smiled, and leaned in close to whisper into my ear. “Is it because you've never met a Red Angel before? We can be quite charming when we want to be.” I really wanted to surrender to her, to just feel those lovely lips.
I forced myself out of it. Score one for logic. In a quick motion, I reached for my belt, and had the knife out. I pressed the dull end of the blade against her stomach, and I applied just a little force. At that moment, I was rather glad there was a table between us and the now-noisy bar.
“I don't think so.” I hissed. “Listen, I don't give a shit what your game is. But I'm warning you now. Just back off, and I won't have to use the business end of this.” I kept my voice at a whisper. “Now, I'm not an expert on Arcanes, but it seems like Red Angels don't have the developed sense of smell vamps and weres have. So, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that I'll have to tell you this is a silvered blade.” I wasn't in the mood for a repeat of what had happened with Darius-even if she looked a lot better than Darius had.
Almost instantly, her demeanor changed. The lust flowed away from me, but she still smiled. “Clever man.” She slid away, and I closed the knife. “Tell me, are you really Teresa's date? Or are you the new blood bag bodyguard?”
“I'm not a bodyguard, by any means. We were having a nice date, until you were introduced.”
She chuckled. “I'll have to tell her you passed the test.”
I glared at her, almost ready to flip the knife out again. “What test?”
“Your mental fortitude. You passed with flying colors. Most men don't last two minutes.” She smiled. “It's a little game we used to do. Teresa is rich, powerful, and she is next in line for power over the dominant supernatural power in the Bay Area. She screens potential dates, subtly.”
“Subtly? You were damn near humping my leg.” I decided then that I would rather not deal with this. “I think you should excuse yourself before Teresa comes back, Emily. I won't mention this to her, mostly just because I'm a really freaking nice guy. Personally, I can't trust you on this 'test' thing, so I'm just not going to talk about it.”
“Very well, as you wish.” She smiled, and stood up. “Until next time, Mister Carpenter.”
“If, next time, you try working whatever that was on me, I can assure you there won't be a third time.”
“Control issues, much?” She laughed. “Au revoir.” She swung her hips as she left, leaving me looking just for a moment. I didn't want to, but Emily's body was magnetic. Something was different about Red Angels, that was for sure.
As she walked away, I saw Teresa walk back into the bar. She gave me a quizzical look before sitting down. “Emily left?”
“She had to go help pack up the sound equipment.” I tried to keep a straight face.
She shrugged. “Oh, well, I'll have to catch up with her later.”
“So, that was Ishmael, I take it?”
She nodded. “Yes, and I hate to cut our date short, but I believe we have a lead on Darius.”
“Darius?” I gave her a pointed look. “You’re serious?”
She nodded. “Yes. Would you like to accompany me?”
“Yea, I really would.”
Chapter 15
Teresa covered the drinks, much to my protest, and we headed out to her car. I didn’t want to cut the date short, but if she was going to go out, and hunt Darius herself, well, I had to. I never said that I was particularly wise in my decision making, but I will say that I was damned curious, and I had a sense of closure that prevented me from wanting to back down.
It only took a few minutes for me to realize something. “We’re leaving San Francisco.”
“Yes, we are. The source gives Darius at a beach house down the coast. We’ll move to engage him before sunup, and we’ll be able to get your answers.”
“Sunup,” I echoed. Which, actually, brought up a question. “So, how do you actually deal with sunlight. I know you guys don’t actually burn up like in movies, but what actually happens?”
“We lose most of our powers. We’re not as strong, or as fast. We’re weaker, but not incapable. It’s why we tend to have a staff or employees. It’s for protection.” She looked at me, serious, and said. “I trust you can keep this in confidence?”
“I won’t go spreading rumors around. Besides, with so many people spouting random facts about vampires, what makes mine any more valid than some crazy Joe in the tabloids?”
“Smart man.” She said. “What armament do you have on you? I only smell that silver knife.”
“That’s all I have.”
“Oh, hell.” She rolled her eyes, treating the statement like some sort of curse. “Open the glove compartment.”
I did, and found a pistol in the glove compartment. “Oh, no.” I said. “I don’t know how to use a gun.”
“The fundamentals are simple. You hold it in a firm grip, use the sights to aim it at your target, and apply a moderate amount of pressure to the trigger.” She smiled. “Simple, yes?”
“What about a safety?”
“It's an older pistol. You can't engage the safety until a round's chambered.”
I laughed. “Well, when you put it like that…” I murmured. “It sounds so much easier.”
“When we get there, I’ll show you a proper grip for it. A gun’s a pretty powerful thing. Respect it, and it will treat you well. There should be an extra magazine in there as well. Take it as well.”
I
did, and for the next twenty minutes, as she drove, Teresa gave me my first gun safety lesson and operational instructions.
“Take care of it, please. That gun’s easily several times your age. I got it in the Depression.”
“Seriously?” I looked down at the gun. It was extremely well kept, then, if it was that old. The gunmetal was polished and maintained. The grips were, however, newer, some sort of polymer. “I’m guessing silver bullets.”
“Indeed. When you shoot, you shoot to kill.”
“Right.” I murmured, and practiced loading and unloading the magazine, just to familiarize myself with the action. When I learned something, I never went half-assed. Well, except maybe in chemistry.
We pulled off to the side of the road after about forty minutes of driving. She shut off the lights, and opened the door. “We go on foot from here. No lights.”
“You know, unlike vampires, I can’t see in the dark.” I remarked.
“It’s a full moon. You’ll do fine, Eric.” She looked to me, and even in the darkness, her eyes still looked lively. “I have faith in you.” She went to the back of the car, pulling out a tactical vest, a black thing that had a pistol holster and some pockets for various objects. She opened up a case, which had a much more modernized pistol and a butterfly knife. She stowed both on her.
We walked down from the highway to the beach. Built into the cliff side that the highway sat on was a wood staircase, with sand on it from many happy beach goers scaling up from the shore.
One of the things I loved about California was the Pacific Ocean. The moon was high in the sky, casting light with the stars over the dark water. We were far away enough from San Francisco that there wasn’t as much light pollution. It was fantastic.
And a beautiful night for a hit, I supposed. I loaded the pistol, and shoved the extra magazine into my back pocket. I felt my blood race, anticipation crawling up into me, practically narcotic as we moved towards the beach house.
It was a small house, by most standards, but due to its location, I was sure the property had to be worth several times what it would be in the suburbs.
As we approached, Teresa smiled. “I can hear your pulse quickening. It’s been years since I’ve hunted with a mortal. Exhilarating, isn’t it?”
“I’m not sure that’s exactly the word I’d use.”
“You never went hunting, or something, with your father?”
I chuckled. “Not exactly. My grandfather raised me, and he was a Broadway actor before he married my grandmother. He wasn’t exactly the gun-totin’, whiskey-drinkin’ southern man.”
“An actor? Any of those genes work their way down the line?”
“Are we seriously flirting while we approach a house we’re about to break into? Damn, woman.”
She gave me a fanged grin. “What can I say? I get in a good mood when I hunt.”
We moved towards the house, and I could hear movement inside. I’d never heard vampires move before. Either there was a non-vamp in there, or someone was just a clumsy idiot.
I kept my pistol out. I racked the slide, chambering a round like Teresa had instructed. I walked behind Teresa, and a little to the side. I kept scanning the house, looking for any signs of movement.
I didn't know where the first shot came from, only that it kicked up sand near us. “Son of a gun!” I
I ducked down. “They're shooting at us!” I hissed.
Teresa dropped to a knee, firing off a pair of shots. “Yes, I am quite aware of that!” A low growl ripped through her throat. “Fangless bastards.” She brought herself up, and moved forward. “Eric, you need to follow my directions, all right?”
“Sure thing.” I moved up with her. “Just tell me what!”
“We're going to press on!”
“advance?” I called back. “You're insane.”
She looked back, but only for a moment. “Maybe. But you need to be a little crazy in this line of work. It's charge or die, all right?”
And so, there I was, a step behind a vampire, about to run up to a house and charge in while people shot at us. All this, with only a few minutes of training and the directions of a vampire.
I know some seriously crazy women.
The first thing that went through my mind was to think of any relevant tactical knowledge. The only experience I had was reading accounts from World War 2 and Vietnam, and some experience playing video games with Matt.
It was a survival skill that, when shots came at you, you got behind the first piece of cover you could find. Put anything to stop a bullet between you and the guy shooting at you. That seemed like a solid plan, with one problem. The only other thing between me and the house was Teresa, and I wasn’t going to hide behind a meat shield, especially one that had asked me out on a date.
So, I did the stupid thing and charged ahead. I’m sure this is the kind of thing that got you killed. But, as we ran ahead, neither of us got shot. Bullets flew in our general direction, but I got the sense that they either weren’t very well trained, or maybe they were trying to scare us off.
Teresa ran up to below the deck of the house, and I got in under it a second later. The house was raised up, to prevent it from going underneath in some freak storm. The deck was, thankfully, between us and the bullets.
“How’s your throwing arm?” Teresa asked.
“My throwing arm?” I shrugged. “Decent, but I wasn’t exactly first-string quarterback. Why?”
One of the pockets on Teresa’s vest came open, and she handed me something that I recognized, from Hollywood, as a flash bang grenade. “Pull the pin, toss it through a window. Then, we go up.”
“Uh, okay. Gotcha.” I nodded, and I accepted the grenade when she gave it to me.
Teresa smiled, and she kissed my cheek. “You’re doing great, Eric. Just keep being insane and fearless. I like it.”
I peeked my head out from beneath the deck, and thought about how I’d have to arc the throw. It wasn’t a baseball, and the weight wasn’t exactly balanced. However, with such a short range, I figured I could do it.
I shifted the pistol to my off-hand, and stepped back into the open. I didn’t even think about it. I just pulled the pin with my teeth and threw. I scurried back under the deck just as a BAM filled the air.
Teresa was already moving. “Go go!” She whispered loudly.
My ears were ringing, and I knew it had to be hell for Teresa’s vampire ears. We moved to the front of the house, and I adopted the two-hand grip on the pistol as we went up to the front door.
On my mark.” Teresa said, and held up her fingers. She counted down from three in a second, barely giving me time to register she actually was counting. When she hit one, she hissed. “Mark.”
She kicked open the door, and we moved into the main room of the house. There were two men on the ground, covering their eyes and ears.
“Are they vampires?” I asked.
She nodded. “They look like weak ones, probably newborns. That flash bang must have damaged their senses.” Out of another pocket came some zip ties. “Tie them up. I’m going to look for Darius.”
I took the zip ties, and went to bind one of them. He hissed at me when I did so, but I whipped him in the face with a pistol. It took me a few seconds of struggling and wrestling, but I was able to bind his wrists eventually. When I went down to bind his feet, I got a bare foot in my face. “Son of a bitch!” I growled, and eventually sat on the vamp's legs to get his wrists bound.
“Teresa, where-“ I was about to ask, but she was already gone, searching through the rest of the house. I stood up, looking around, and saw, out of the window, a figure.
The figure was running towards the stairs we’d come from. “Teresa? Teresa!” I waited a moment. No response came back. Maybe she couldn’t hear me, from the flash bang’s effects.
I ran out to the front door, onto the deck of the house. I racked the slide on the pistol, chambering a round. I yelled to the running figure. “Freeze, jackass!”
&n
bsp; The figure kept running, faster than I would have expected. Probably another vampire. I didn’t think about what I did next. It was the last thing I did the night that was stupid, not thought through, and totally reckless.
I focused, slowly, and closed my eyes. I reached out with my senses, searching the air around me. Like a beacon in front of me, the vampire's energy faintly pulsed.
I lined up the shot, and I took a deep breath. On the exhale, I squeezed the trigger.
The bark of the pistol filled the night air, and I felt the gun kick in my hand like a car on the worse roads in California. A moment later, I saw the figure topple over, like someone had cut the strings of a marionette.
I made a fist and pumped it. “Hell yea.” I hissed. “Teresa, we got someone on the beach!” I yelled.
I made a run for the body, flipping the safety on the pistol so I wouldn’t accidentally shoot anybody or anything while I was running. My entire body was humming with adrenalin as I ran up to the figure, lying face first in the sand.
I put my foot on the figure’s back. “All right, asshole, just stay where you are, and I’ll consider not blowing your head of. Got it?”
The man underneath my foot grunted. “Who are you?” I recognized the voice immediately. Darius.
“I’m the guy who you attacked Wednesday night, jerk.” I hissed. “What comes around, goes around.”
Chapter 16
Teresa found me a few minutes later. She’d been unable to hear me, from the flash bang’s effect, and had found me when I was still standing over Darius, with my gun trained on him.
We dragged him up to the house, and tossed him on a couch. I looked to the other two vampires. “So, what do we do with those two?”
“Cut them loose. If they know right, they’ll head out of town, and find a new court to submit themselves to. Am I correct, boys?”
Both vampires nodded furiously. I flipped out my knife, and cut their bonds. They scurried out the front door, and I turned back to Darius. Teresa had tied him to the chair using the zip ties. In the light, he wasn’t by any means as scary as he was in my memory.
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