“Great,” I responded, showing my hugest smile. Two could play this game.
Arianna smiled even wider, which I hadn’t thought possible, and raised her glass of champagne. She tapped the side of it with her fingernail, which made a shockingly loud noise. “Dinner’s starting, everyone! Please take your seats!”
She shepherded us like good little sheep into an enormous dining room. Two walls of solid glass looked out over the city. Was Eli perched outside somewhere watching? Arianna led me down the length of the gleaming table, which seated all thirty or so of us present. Crystal goblets and sterling silver lined the table in perfect symmetry. She pulled out an ornate brocade chair and gestured for me to sit.
The moment she sat down, an army of waiters stepped forth from the shadows and filled our wine glasses. Mine had regular wine since I wasn’t a blood drinker, but most of the rest were filled with blood. They had businesses now that collected blood from donors for money, and some rich vamps even had blood servants, but this kind of thing was frowned upon. Since Evo, vamps had agreed to subsist on synthetic blood, and these blood collecting services existed in sort of a supernatural black market. I glanced around at the other guests as they drank freely. Laws were apparently far beneath them, not that this came as a shock to me.
Dinner consisted of five courses. The first course was a blood orange gazpacho with actual blood in it, naturally. The second was a salad of chilled shrimp and watermelon, with blood balsamic. Third came an antipasto plate with an assortment of extra bloody cuts of meat, and the main course was prime rib, cooked bloody. Again, my dishes were all made sans blood. Arianna of course kept up a steady stream of meaningless small talk throughout the whole thing, so that by the end, I felt an aneurism coming on.
It wasn’t until dessert that the real games began, however. As the wait staff brought forth little chocolate soufflés dusted with gold in intricate designs forming the initials of each guest, Arianna stood up to make a speech.
“I hope everyone enjoyed dinner.” The guests all nodded and murmured their appreciation, to which Arianna beamed graciously. “And for dessert we have a special treat. In honor of my guest, Zyan Star.” Arianna indicated me with a wave of her hand like I was part of a circus freak show. “Thank you, Zyan, for inspiring this delicious evening of fine food, wine, and most importantly, good company.”
Everyone applauded and whistled, and I even heard a few people call my name. Arianna sat back down and lifted a spoonful of soufflé to her mouth. “Mmmmm.” After a moment of silence with her dessert, Arianna began the real conversation. “In addition to catching up, the reason I asked you here tonight, Zyan, is that I’m hoping you’ll consider joining us on The Assembly.”
I suppressed a snort. This whole thing was just bullshit. She wanted me under her thumb, and I needed to know why. Or at least confirm what I already suspected. So I continued our little dance. “Out of curiosity, why are you asking me now? We’ve known each other for quite some time.”
Arianna laughed. It was all things a dainty laugh hiding dark intentions should be. “The Assembly is the seat of power in the supernatural world, and over the years we’ve garnered support and influence in other circles as well—with the other supernaturals, as well as the humans. We even have sway within the angelic and demonic realms.” She paused, taking a slow sip of her blood while fixing me with a moss green gaze. “In our realm, the HRs and their angelic forces control the balance of power. But that may not be the case much longer.”
I twirled my spoon between my fingers. It kind of surprised me she was actually saying this. She was either very arrogant, or—nah, just arrogant. “What do you mean?”
Arianna smiled demurely. God knows she was anything but. “It’s been said in the supernatural gossip circles that you’ve recently been working with the HR and one of his angelic commanders. I hear he’s quite a hottie!” She winked conspiratorially with me. “And it’s just, with events that are soon to unfold, I’d hate for you to end up on the wrong side of things.”
“The wrong side of things… yes, I see your point.” I smiled. “Arianna, tell me, where is Alexander tonight?”
Her eyes flashed for just a moment before she smiled again. Her fangs showed a little this time. “Alexander?”
“Alexander Roman. My ex. Because I heard in the supernatural gossip circles that he’s staying in this house.” I smiled again as our dance changed tempo, but this time it held ice.
“He had other plans tonight,” Arianna said. Her voice had gone flat and she let her spoon clatter noisily to her silver-rimmed china plate.
I suddenly felt cold in my gut. “Plans at HR headquarters?” I asked, forcing a neutral tone.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Arianna’s sweet smile was back, the mask firmly in place.
“Of course not,” I responded. “And I’m very glad to hear that. After all, I’d hate for you to end up on the wrong side of things.” I stood, laying my napkin on the table. “Dinner was lovely. Do tell Alexander I stopped by—I’m very much looking forward to seeing him again.”
Arianna stood as well, gesturing for two servants to escort me out. These however, were not the nose-in-the-air butler types. These servants had some serious muscles, black sunglasses and those little earpiece things secret agents wore. The message was quite clear. “Thank you for coming, Zyan. I do hope you’ll reconsider my offer.”
“I won’t, but thanks.” I turned and strode out of the room, making the musclemen practically jog to keep up. And I wasn’t just trying to be annoying. Fear gnawed at my stomach. What better time for Alexander to make an attempt on the HR’s life than when Eli and I were conveniently occupied?
As soon as I got to the hallway I tried to call Eli’s cell, but he was on the other line. The elevator seemed to take an eternity to reach the ground floor. I didn’t bother keeping up any air of propriety. As soon as the doors opened, I sped out of the building.
My phone rang. “It’s Eli. Someone’s broken into headquarters.” His voice was calm, though I knew better.
“Be there in a sec,” I said.
I’d thought Alexander was simply hiding in another room so Arianna could schmooze me in a lame attempt to get me under control. But now I realized I was wrong. Dead wrong.
I had barely reached the alleyway when Eli swooped down, grabbed me by the waist, and launched into the sky. Under different circumstances, I would have protested. We shot through that space between spaces, the interdimensional freeway. I made a mental note to ask Eli more about how he did it later.
We landed hard enough to cause a crack in the pavement beneath us, proof enough that Eli was not completely calm, despite the stoic expression he wore. I realized we weren’t in the front parking lot with the marble steps and twinkling lamplights, the public front. We were at the back of the building, which looked more like a penitentiary or military encampment. Rows of armored vehicles lined one side of the barbed-wire encircled area; a number of hover crafts, motorcycles and cars lined the other. Even with the faint shimmer of the force field that domed over the roof, there was nothing peaceful or ethereal about this place.
As I followed Eli towards a door at the back of the building, I wondered how one would go about penetrating the defenses of the building. Having been through them myself, I figured it would be near impossible. Unless, that is, you had someone helping you on the inside. Mental notes two and three: get a schematic of the building, and talk to Eli about the possibility of a traitor.
When we hit the interior of the building, I noticed the lights had dimmed to a dull red to indicate a security breach. Why was it they always dimmed the light when you were trying to find the bad guy?
“The HR’s in the safe room,” Eli said to me over his shoulder. “The security cameras caught one glimpse of Alexander when he first entered the building, but they’ve since lost visual on him.”
Vamps his age had a Santa Claus size bag of tricks, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Alexander cou
ld turn himself into mist or something. Unfortunately, since the jerk had abandoned me early on, I hadn’t had a chance to learn all his moves.
Eli turned down a flight of steps leading to a subterranean level of the compound. We descended at least two stories, passing no doors or passages leading off anywhere. After a couple minutes, a door finally loomed below us. It was open, which it shouldn’t have been judging by the look on Eli’s face. I stepped through the door into something slick. Blood. Six of the HR’s warriors lay dead just inside the door. Tension rolled up Eli’s jaw, and his eyes went cold with fury.
We broke into a run down the hall. I was faster so I pulled ahead, racing for the door at the end. Another pile of warriors lay in front of the door. I leapt over them into the room beyond. The light was even dimmer here, but I could see two figures on the opposite side of the room. One standing, sword in hand, one kneeling.
“Alexander!” I screamed.
Crossing the room in a blur of movement, I knocked him to the ground. We struggled, limbs flying. I flipped him over on his back and straddled him, landing a bone-crunching punch to his jaw. The assassin looked up at me.
It wasn’t Alexander.
It was a woman wearing a mask over her eyes, ninja style. At that moment, that split second when the shock of realization hit me, something smashed into the back of my head and everything went black.
CHAPTER NINE
Something acrid was being waved beneath my nose. I jumped up and flailed violently in the general direction of the hand near my face.
“Settle down, Zyan, it’s just me.” Eli was sitting on the floor of the safe room. The HR sat next to him.
“Oh, thank God,” I breathed.
“Yes, I’m sure He had something to do with it,” the HR said, a gentle smile on his lips. Such a peaceful expression, despite coming within a hair of being murdered.
“How long was I out? Where’s the assassin?” I asked, my words and my tongue tripping over each other.
“You were only out about five minutes. And the assassins, plural, got away. It seems Alexander has an accomplice.” Eli rolled the muscles in his jaw again, his expression stony.
“The one I tackled, the one that almost…” I trailed off. “It was a woman. But she was wearing a mask, so I couldn’t identify her. Alexander must have been cloaking himself somehow… someone hit me from behind.”
“Yes,” the HR said simply. “Alexander appeared out of nothing behind you. At that moment Elijah entered the room, and the two assassins fled.”
“I tried to follow them, but they were too fast.” Eli looked down at the floor. “I have a lot of talents, but not a vamp’s super speed.”
I looked back and forth between the two of them. “I don’t get it. They’d come so close. Why not kill you, Eli, and then the HR? They cut through a dozen other warriors… it doesn’t make sense.”
“I don’t know.” Eli paced back and forth, running his hands through his hair in frustration.
I walked towards him and placed a hand on his back. “I’m sorry about your friends. They died nobly.” He met my eyes, and I was surprised to see they’d changed, deepened to a darker purple. And within that purple swam pain that took my breath away. “We’re going to get him. And her. Whoever the hell she is. I promise you.”
The HR rose from where he’d been sitting on the floor. “I will perform the blessings now.” He walked out into the hallway and squatted by the nearest fallen warrior, head bent in prayer. I watched as blood seeped slowly up into his white robes before averting my eyes.
“In order to properly do my job I’m going to need to know everything there is to know about this building and its security,” I said. Eli nodded, and we both turned as we heard footsteps coming down the hall. Backup had finally arrived. A little too late.
“I’m going to be busy here for a while,” he said. “I’ll have someone send the needed documents over to your apartment.”
“Okay.” We walked out into the hall. “Can I stay and help with anything?” It felt lame and inadequate, but I didn’t know what else to say.
“No. The bodies have to be blessed and moved according to strict ritual. Only the HR and his staff can assist.” He paused. “But, thanks.”
It wasn’t until a little after sunset the next day that Eli showed up at my apartment. As promised, he’d had someone send over all the security information shortly after I’d arrived home the evening before, so I’d gotten to familiarize myself with it. Now that I’d read through all of it, my initial hunch that someone inside HR headquarters was helping Alexander had grown even stronger. There were just some things that didn’t add up.
“Who disabled the laser grids in the passage to the safe room?” I asked Eli, after the pleasantries had been exchanged, I’d gotten him a drink, and we’d made ourselves comfortable on the couch. “Since once they’re activated they can only be turned off in the main control room?”
“It seems that’s what Alexander’s accomplice was doing while Alexander was taking care of the first set of guards at the bottom of the stairs. The warriors in the control room were dead.” He took a sip of his drink. His eyes had returned to a cool, controlled lavender.
“Okay. So, Alexander breached the back door, presumably after jumping over the walls of the compound. The alarms went off, you were called, the HR and two dozen warriors were sent down to the safe room. Then the other multitudes of warriors roamed about upstairs because no one could catch Alexander and his accomplice on the security cameras.” I drummed my fingers on the security notebook sitting in my lap. “What about the door leading down to the safe room stairs? It appeared completely untampered with. How did they get through it? And how did she even make it all the way to the control room anyways?”
“I don’t know, they must have somehow found out the layout of the building. He’s just really good. And his accomplice, too.” Eli sighed in frustration.
“I barely knew Alexander as a vampire,” I said. Eli lifted his head and looked at me. “He left shortly after revealing that side of himself. Until two days ago, I hadn’t seen him since then, over two hundred years ago. I heard things about him here and there. Being over two thousand years old, he’s extremely dangerous, that’s for sure. But it just seems to me that this was all too easy, even for him.”
Eli’s eyes flared slightly, then narrowed. “What exactly are you saying?”
“I think you know what I’m saying, Eli.” I held his gaze steadily.
“No. This was not an inside job. None of the angels would betray the HR. That’s tantamount to betraying God himself.” He shook his head back and forth vigorously.
“I’m just saying I think we need to consider the possibility—”
“And I’m saying it’s not a possibility.” He stood and began to pace like a cat, much like he had down in the safe room.
His stupidity and blindness to the situation pissed me off. “God damn it, Eli, it is a possibility. Just a possibility. That’s all I’m saying.”
He spun on me. “You know nothing of angels, and true purity. You’re a soul thief, so I don’t blame you for being suspicious, but I’m telling you—”
“What the fuck did you just say to me?” I stood and jabbed my finger into his chest. “If you’re so blinded to what could be lying right under your nose, maybe you aren’t the best person for this job. We’re trying to keep the HR alive here, not play a game of favorites.”
“I thought you were just trying to get revenge on Alexander—or did I miss something? Since when are you so holier than thou? You’re as far from it as you can get, in case someone hasn’t told you.” His face was twisted in very un-angelic fury.
“Get the hell out of my house!” I pointed a finger at the door.
He shot me one last glare, then stalked out.
I sank down on the sofa, trembling all over. Who the hell did he think he was? Douche bag angels…
Riley and Quinn popped their heads around the hall corner. “What the flip
just happened?” Riley asked, walking over cautiously.
“I don’t want to talk about it. I just want a goddamn drink. I’m going to Noir.” I got up and headed for the door.
“I’ll drive,” Quinn offered, following after me.
“Fine,” I said. I saw Riley raise his eyebrows at Quinn.
A few minutes later, Quinn pulled her little yellow car into the underground lot beneath Noir. A couple minutes after that, I was enjoying a siren’s kiss martini with extra cherries. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed the bar. I always took a couple days off a week, but even on the nights my other staff were running Noir, we almost always came up here to hang. It was my place, even more so than my apartment. Home.
Quinn waited until after my second martini to broach the subject. “So are you off the case? Or what?”
I sighed. “Maybe officially. But I’m still going to find Alexander, and I’m still going to kill him. They can’t stop me from that.” I bit into one of the vodka-soaked cherries. “Though I’m actually going to feel guilty if anything happens to the HR. I think they’re screwed without me. And I don’t want an innocent person to die because of a petty argument.”
Martinis with the Devil, Part One Page 8