by Megan Hawke
"Hey, Cujo, you home?" I said. I didn't shout or call out. He was a werewolf. His hearing was supposedly almost as good as mine. I could hear his heart beating, and it was racing. I whistled, and made kissing noises. "Come on, boy, you can do it. Come to Sable, Cujo. That's a good boy."
"Werewolves really don't like 'dog' jokes and references," Fritz muttered.
He was still inside, behind closed doors. I heard him perfectly well, but then I was listening for his response. My smile spread wider.
"I know. It ruffles your fur, so to speak," I said. He growled but from a human throat. "Oops, another dog reference."
I felt Fritz morph. At first, I didn't realize what the change I felt within him was all about. I thought he was just getting tense and agitated. By the time I figured it out, it was too late to rush in and shot him. The deed was done.
It took a long time, considering a vampire just did it. Barely a thought involved, and snap – wolf. Another thought, and we're a bat. Just like that. Sometimes it was good to be the vamp.
"Hey, you're fast," I said, feeling his transformation finish within ten seconds. "Oh, nice. Definitely an Alpha Wolf."
He gave a very wolflike snarl and smashed through the front window. I turned to face him as I closed my eyes, still smiling and lifted my pistol. He paused, waiting for the talisman to slap me down, waiting for the Coeur de Sade to do his dirty work. It didn't work.
"Surprise," I said, and pulled the trigger.
I was a second too slow. Fritz moved with lightning speed. Wolfmen could move faster than a wolf. Something to remember, just in case.
Even with my eyes closed, my vampiric senses allowed me to follow him almost as well as I could with my eyes. Considering the spike in his stress level, I believe I was spooking him. Really, freaking him out.
"Why isn't the magic working on you, Black Heart?" he growled. I could barely understand his words. Strangely enough, "Black Heart" came out plain enough. "It worked on you before."
"I took my vitamins today," I said. "Give me the Coeur de Sade, and I'll let you go. Enough people have died."
"Vampires aren't people," he said.
"Damn, got me on that one," I said. "Let me try again. You've made your point. You don't like vampires. I don't blame you. Neither do I. Give me the talisman, and we can both stop dealing with them for a while."
"Fuck you," he said.
"If that's what it takes, I'm game."
I think it shocked him. I laughed, which only freaked him out more.
"Crazy fucking vampire bitch," Fritz growled.
He turned and ran between the houses. There were privacy fences, so I couldn't follow on the Ninja. I hoped he'd turn around and reenter the house. It wasn't to be. He headed out and didn't slow down until he passed out of my senses' range.
"I guess we're going to do this the hard way," I muttered.
With all due modesty, I walked into his house to morph into a wolf. First, though, I took the time to undress. Then I rolled up the thigh boots and stuffed them into the pack, followed quickly by the latex pants and matching top. Everything went into the pack, and then I shouldered it. An elastic strap across my breasts held the straps tight.
Morphing into a wolf, I paused to get the feel of the pack on my wolf body. I wasn't doing this for the first time. I'd been experimenting with in from since before the council tagged my sweet round butt, and put me on this wolf hunt. I'd like to claim it was an original idea, but I saw them do it on one of Desiree's vampire shows.
I morphed into a gorgeous black wolf, all modesty aside. Boney took a picture of me once, and I loved it. Imagine a jet black wolf with sapphire blue eyes. As wolves, vampires and some alpha werewolves kept our natural hair and eye color. Most werewolves had the fur and eyes of real wolves.
Satisfied the black nylon book bag with all my clothes and supplies was secure, I headed out after Fritz. On all fours I was closer to the ground and his scent, and could travel a lot faster on four legs than in four and a half inch stiletto boots.
He really didn't go that far. I misjudged him, because he didn't run to hide with friends or family. Fritz went to a bar. The sign out front said it was the Harvest Moon Beer Garden. It could've been a Friday's like restaurant, except for the walled beer garden. From what little I could see of it through the two wrought iron fire escape gates it was extremely nice. Four impressive oaks stretched thick limbs out over it, with a gurgling water feature in the center and numerous bistro tables scattered about between flower beds.
The beer garden portion was packed with laughing, drinking, and eating werewolves in human form. I didn't see any actually morphed into wolves or wolfmen. So Fritz was probably the only one that ran over. Which explained the parking lot. It was packed, mostly with pickups, SUVs, and motorcycles. I guess werewolves didn't drive "sissy" cars.
Not wanting to be made a fool of, I circled the Harvest Moon three times, looking for Fritz's scent. He went in, and didn't come out. Considering how many werewolves were inside, he probably thought he was safe there.
He didn't understand my determination.
My momma didn't raise no fool, though. Well, not a total fool. I knew I needed to ensure my escape if things got dicey. So I ran back to Fritz's house, morphed back into human form and got dressed. Then I fired up the bike and rode over.
After circling the beer garden once more, in human form, looking for his trail leaving and not finding it, I knew I would either have to wait for him to come out or go in. I wasn't feeling real patient.
As I approached the front door Fritz's scent became increasingly muddied with that of others. Entering, I put on the mirrored, wraparound glasses and sniffed the air, trying to locate him. Everyone felt too much alike in there for me to distinguish him just with my vampiric senses. I didn't know Fritz that well. I could've easily found Desiree, Dane, or Gabe in there. Not Fritz, though I caught a whiff of him.
Changing my perspective, I looked at their auras. Mostly they had the standard halo aura, but a surprising number had the filled in halos of alpha werewolves.
"No vampires allowed!" a slim young man called.
He was a waiter in uniform and apron, with a plate of ribs balanced in one hand. His words stilled the room. Countless angry glares turned toward me. Almost everyone's heart rates ramped up. All that surging blood made my mouth water and stomach rumble.
"Just looking for someone," I said. "I shouldn't be long."
"Out!"
"Let her stay," a patron at the centrally located bar said. He was about ten feet from me, dressed in dark blue suit and loosened red power tie. Very clean cut looking, but his eyes were feral as he looked me over. "We'll have some fun."
I felt werewolves coming up to the door outside. They must've exited out another door and circled around. Was this how they always greeted vampires? You'd think they were rival street gangs or something, the Bloods and the Furries.
"Can't we be reasonable?" I said. "I don't want trouble."
"Too late, Sweetie," the patron said, starting to morph into a wolfman. I pulled my pistol and aimed it at him, mid-chest. He started towards me, only half morphed but transforming quickly. "That won't save you. We're as immune to bullets as you are."
"Not quite," I said, and pulled the trigger as he finished morphing and leapt at me. My aim was perfect. The silver bullet hit his right shoulder. He couldn't hold the wolfman form with silver within him, so he started morphing back to human. I kicked up and around, catching his body just below the armpit and pushing it aside to fly past me. "I'm shooting silver, boys. Like I said, I don't want trouble."
"Not inside!" the waiter called. "Drag her outside if you must play with her."
"Idiots," I said. Then I sucked in a deep breath, and shouted at the top of my lungs. "Fritz Rotmensen! Get your mangy, flea-bitten butt out here before I have to kill one of your pets!"
"Mangy?" a werewolf to my right said.
"Flea-bitten?" a female alpha, already morphed into a wolfwoman, sai
d incredulously.
"Pets?" the waiter said, and set down the ribs.
"You better hurry!" I shouted. "I've already wounded one, and these dog pound rejects aren't smart enough realize I'm packing silver bullets!"
The man that didn't like my "mangy" comment leapt at me, still in human form. I shot him in the stomach. He dropped, doubled up at my feet. Then the alpha woman charged, and I had to shoot her twice, once in the belly and then in the neck. She dropped, groaning.
"You can't shoot us all," an alpha male already morphed snarled.
"Idiots," I said, turned and kicked the door open. I backed out slowly, followed by the pack. I only had to shoot one of the werewolves outside, before they parted and let me pass. No alphas outside the door. "You can't hide in there forever, Fritz!"
I started spraying the crowd with silver bullets. They scattered and dropped. A second later I was running as fast as my stiletto heeled feet would take me. Fast, but not fast enough if they really tried to catch me.
The Ninja was across the street in a 7-Eleven parking lot, parked next to the street. I almost got run over by a kid in an old hopped-up Chevy Nova. As it was, I reached the street bike seconds in front of my pursuit, started her up, and slipped into first.
"Yeee-haaaiiii!" I cried, burning rubber as I gunned the gas.
I smoked the rear tire for a good twenty feet. I was going fifty when I left the parking lot. I could hear engines starting in the Harvest Moon's parking lot, but there was no way any of them could catch me on my Ninja.
Chapter 17
Maybe I was a little paranoid, but I drove to Deep Ellum, passed through twice and then headed over to Greenville Avenue, and took it north to Northwest before heading west and back towards the home I shared with Desiree. My only two stops were a "blood bar" in Deep Ellum for large cup of blood and a gas station on Greenville. Had to feed the Ninja and myself.
I was tired of my outfit, and wanted something different. I was thinking jeans and knee boots. Maybe a red tank and a biker jacket. I could hide a shoulder holster under the jacket, and ditch the pack.
The house was dark and the garage door open. The garage was empty. Desiree's car and bicycle was gone. The only thing left inside was the big plastic trash can. I didn't recall leaving the garage open.
Rolling up onto the back patio, I pulled my pistol and tested the back door. Locked. That was good. So I unlocked it and pushed the door open hard. No response, no shouts or gunfire. Peeking inside, it was pitch black.
There was no one to be seen. My vampiric senses felt no one. But that didn't mean it was safe, it just meant no mortals were inside waiting in ambush. Lolita Giorgi could be back, waiting for me. Or worse, Antoinette and her kinky little vampire family.
Slipping inside, I slowly looked around. The room was empty. Cleaned out. Going from room to room, I found the same thing. Emptiness. I angrily flipped on a light.
“We've been robbed,” I muttered, my temper barely contained.
The robbers left nothing behind but the dirt and dust under all the furniture. Oh, and all of the blood. I couldn't even look at the spot Lolita tossed Desiree's limp body. It reminded me how close to dying she came.
It had to be those thrice-damned Giorgi sisters. I vowed to kill them slow. Down in the basement, I found the same thing. All of my clothes, everything I owned, was gone. They even took my toothbrush and half-used bar soap. I was seething as I pull my phone from my back pocket. The battery bar indicated it was almost gone.
“Desiree!” I said when she answered. “The house is cleaned out. Everything is gone. Did you get your car?”
She hesitated a second, “Oh, I forgot to tell you. Boney moved everything out today. It's all in storage until I sell that house and find a new place.”
“What about all my stuff? All my clothes and makeup?”
“Oh, um, I guess that is all in storage, too,” she said sheepishly. “Sorry.”
“Desiree, I have no money, nothing but the clothes on my back and the Ninja,” I said. “I need my stuff back.”
“I'll call Boney,” she said. “I'll get it for you. Where are you staying? Not with Gabe, I hope. You can't trust those damned slayers, Sable.”
“I know. I may have hooked up with a nice guy, not really a minion, but a wannabe,” I said. “He has a house and said I could stay there, but I'm not sure I want the commitment.”
“Maybe he just wants a fling?” Desiree said. “Go for it! I would. Is he cute? What is he like? Is he rich?”
“Whoa,” I said, laughing. “Take a breath, girl. I don't think Kale wants a fling. He's wants long term, unless I'm totally misreading him. And he is cute, about thirty and a construction worker. Good enough?”
“Mmmm, sounds yummy. Send me a picture.”
“I don't have any,” I said, shaking my head.
“You have a camera in that phone, take a picture and send it to me. Enquiring minds want to know,” Desiree said. “You think he would like me? I could teach him so much.”
“Now I'm scared,” I said. “Between you and me, that boy is doomed.”
“Yeah, but he'll go with a big ole smile on his face.”
“I needed to talk to you more often,” I said. “You have a knack for cheering me up and relieving the stress just with your whacky outlook on life.”
“Whacky? Me?” she said.
“Oh, what the hell?” I said as three bats flew through the open back door. They were followed by a lot more. “Oh, crap! Bats!”
“What do you mean?”
“Hundreds of bats are inside the house,” I said, ducking and swatting at them. Some of their wings were barely missing my face and head. “They must think this is a bat cave or something.”
“Get out of there, Sable! Get out now!” she cried. Desiree went from playful to hysterical in nothing flat. “Out the front, and run for your life!”
“Hello, Black Heart,” a deep male voice said.
He was tall and gaunt and pale beyond belief. Pale as in stark white. The whitest skin I've ever seen, with long, greasy black hair and cold black eyes. He was definitely a vampire, and he was wearing all black. I thought of an undead Goth cowboy since he wore black leather trailduster over a bare, hairless chest, black leather pants, and boots. And strangest of all, the bats seemed to be flocking around him.
“You again? Desiree, it's Antoinette's pet vamp,” I said. I was trying to not panic. It Antoinette was there, I was toast. But no one followed him inside. Yet. I looked him up and down. He was one of the bastards that helped Antoinette screw me stupid the other night. “What's with all the bats?”
“It's the Bat Man! It's the Bat Man!” Desiree cried over the phone. “Oh God, please get out of there!”
A viciously pleased look spread over his face, though still no humor in his black eyes. When he smiled he exposed the longest fangs I've ever seen. How did he not hurt himself with those damn things?
“I don't think your friend likes me,” he said.
“I'll call you back,” I said, and ended the call. Heck the battery was almost dead anyway. It began ringing. Desiree calling back. I turned the cell off and stuffed it into the pack on my back. I narrowed my eyes at him, with an incredible urge to just shoot him. “Hello, Bat Man. What do you want?”
I looked around at all the bats. Let me tell you, they stank! I'm talking about a rancid, diseased stench. Worse, they were crapping all over the place. I glanced up to ensure none of them were above me.
“Council is worried. We haven't heard from you in a few days, and you aren't answering your phone,” he said.
“Council my ass,” I said. “Antoinette sent you. Tara and Jeff are my contacts with the Council. Antoinette wants the talisman for herself."
“Everyone wants the Coeur de Sade, Black Heart. Do you have it?” he said.
He took a step towards me. I took two backwards. His eyes went all crazy on me. Can't describe it any other way. The man was obvious a brick shy of a load.
“If I
had it would I be standing here talking to you? I don't think so,” I said.
His bats became more agitated, and a small flock of them swarmed around me, little wings striking me all over. One bat even grabbed my hair and flew off, jerking my head back. It wouldn't let go, so I shot it.
“No!” he cried, leaping at me.
I shot him in the chest, dropped to the floor, and rolled to the side. His long, jagged nails raked my lower back. So I shot him again as I rolled to my feet. I wanted to run out of the house, but a massive swarm of bats blocked the open back door.
“Are you fucking crazy?” I said.
“Some think.”
Now his eyes were in full crazy mode. The man was drooling. Drooling vampires creep me out.
“Stay away from me, psycho,” I said. “I will stake you. Hear me? I will stake you dead.”
“Go ahead and try, Black Heart,” he said.
I think he really did wanted me to try, and that was the scariest thing so far. Did he have a death wish? Or was that the crazy talking? I didn't have time to decide, because his pet bats became just as crazy. Every one of them started screeching and flying all erratically. A few even bit me on the arms and bare midriff.
“My mistress wants to know what new information you've found,” he said, moving closer and closer. The swarming, biting bats were seriously distracting me.
“Nothing.”
“That's a lie. Tell me everything you know,” he said. “This is nothing compared to what my mistress will do. She has ways of getting what she wants.”
Antoinette's method involved mind control, or was it libido control? Either way, she could batter down my self-control and mental defenses with ease. She'd proven that already. Once her sexual power washed over me I would do anything she asked, and tell her anything she wanted to know.
“Maybe I like being dominated like that, Bat Brains,” I said.
I tried to shoot him again, but he was ready. Almost too fast for even me to see he dodged aside and lunged at me. A fraction of a second after pulling the trigger, he ripped the pistol out of my hand and threw it across the room.