by Lisa Olsen
Rob went unerringly to one corner, picking up a mini-crossbow armed with silver tipped wooden darts. “Here, I think this should do you well enough.”
That was what he had in mind? “I don’t know,” I stared at it dubiously. “I’ve never shot one of these before, what if I miss?” Not that I wasn’t keen to give it a shot, it looked cool as anything. Maybe he’d lend it to me for target practice sometime when I didn’t have a pissed off psycho after me?
“Alright then, can you handle this?” He unholstered a gun and handed it over, butt first.
“Not especially, but I think we’re getting warmer. I at least understand the principles in operating this one. Only, this won’t kill her, will it?”
“No, but it’ll slow her down sure enough if you unload a clip or two into her. You said it yourself, you’re stronger than she is, you just need a bit of an edge to stack the odds in your favor on the count of her killer instinct.”
“If you say so,” I took the gun, surprised at how heavy it felt in my hands. I remembered Bishop said the best ways to kill a vampire were by beheading or fire. Somehow I didn’t think she’d hold still long enough for me to lop her head off. That left fire, which was messy. There had to be an easier way. “What do I do after I shoot her?”
“Well then, once you get her attention with a few bullets, follow up close with a proper stake.” He held up a wickedly sharp, honed piece of wood about the size of my forearm, also tipped in silver. “Then you can get in close and ask her anything you like. Just be sure not to jab her in the heart or she’ll shut completely down and you won’t get anything out of her at all.”
“Sounds simple enough.” I took the piece of wood, hefting it experimentally. Not quite sure how to stow my newfound weapons, I had a surreal moment of what would Buffy do? I tried shoving the stake up the arm of my jacket like I’d seen her do, but it fell right back out again the moment I moved my arm.
“Here, try this.” Rob took the stake from me, pulling open my leather jacket and tucking it in the inside pocket, point down. “There, how does that feel?” he asked giving the jacket a tug.
“I can’t really feel it at all, so that’s probably good. I don’t know if I can get to it in a hurry though.”
“Remember, your reflexes are faster than hers, I think you should be alright. As for the gun, that’s the one you’ll have to draw a bit faster. Best to keep it in your coat pocket here, will it fit?”
It didn’t unless I kept it in there with my hand, but that seemed like a bad idea to me. Rob handed me a couple other guns to try and we ended up with a sleek .380 that fit my hand and coat pocket nicely. I knew I’d feel better if I could do some target practice first, but at the same time, the longer I waited, the greater the chance of Bishop finding out and shutting down my plan altogether. Armed and ready to go, it occurred to me, I had no idea where to begin looking for Serena.
“Do you know where she lives?” I asked, figuring he might keep tabs on some of the locals, he sure knew plenty about me.
“No, but I know where we’ll find her.”
*
Smoke and Mirrors was one of Jarrod and Leander’s vampire nightclubs (not that most residents in San Francisco had a clue). Packed with bodies swaying to the deep, throbbing techno music, the requisite smoke and mirrors gave the place an otherworldly, futuristic feel, as though we’d stepped into an episode of Buck Rogers, but with better music.
“How are we going to find her in this?” I yelled at Rob over the din, but he didn’t seem daunted at all, leading the way to the bar. His close shaven head bent to exchange words with the bartender, a pretty girl with way too much eyeliner and silver jewelry on. After a few words, he dropped a quick kiss to her cheek and caught my gaze, jerking his head towards a door marked VIP.
I didn’t have to worry about getting into the important people lounge, Rob simply exchanged nods with the doorman and we were ushered inside. The music was muted, as was the lighting, and no fake smoke pumped into the corridor. On either side of the hallway were a series of doors, most of them closed.
“How are we going to figure out which one she’s in?” I whispered.
“She’s in room three,” he replied easily. “Lori said she’s got a girl in there with her, having a bit of a snack.” That meant she’d be unprepared for an attack, better and better. “Let me go in first,” he ordered, taking position in front of the door. My hand on the gun, I nodded, stepping back just in case something came flying out of the opening.
Nothing quite so dramatic happened. In fact, neither Serena nor her… friend seemed to notice when Rob opened the door at all, they were otherwise occupied. That is, until he picked the girl up by the scruff of the neck. “Leave,” Rob barked, and the frightened girl backed towards the door, eyes wide.
“Wait,” I blocked her exit, pricking my finger to seal the puncture wounds at her neck. “Forget you ever saw any of us,” I added, catching hold of her will. With a glassy-eyed nod, the girl left without a backwards glance.
“You had no right to do that.” Serena licked at the spray of blood on the back of her hand delicately, like a cat.
I’d been thinking about how I’d play it once I actually got into a room with her, and I decided to go with the rep I’d built up in the community. “I have every right, this is my territory.” I caught the beginnings of a smirk on Rob’s lips and tried to keep my focus on Serena. If I looked back at him I might lose it and laugh or something horribly inappropriate.
“Alright, to what do I owe the honor of this visit, your worship?” Her voice dripped with malice, but she didn’t make any move to get up or stop with her gentle cleansing.
“I thought I’d give you a chance to explain yourself before you die.” It sounded sinister in my head, but Serena was largely unaffected by the threat.
“No thanks, I’m good. I guess you came down here for nothing.”
“Okay, if you’d rather I just kill you.” I withdrew the gun, somewhat spoiling the effect by making an obvious check to see if the safety was on.
“Oh no, she’s got a gun,” Serena fixed me with an unfriendly stare. “You’d better have something else to back that up or I’ll be tearing out your throat before you can reload.”
I opened my mouth to reply, but had to stop and swallow. Dang it, she came off more intimidating than I did!
“Make no mistake, girly,” Rob spoke up, his voice far more threatening than I could ever manage. “There’s no scenario where you’re walking out of this room under your own power ever again. Now tell the lady what she wants to know and I’ll try to make sure the end is merciful.”
A degree of worry furrowed Serena’s brow, and she drew herself up to her feet, eyeing the door. I shifted my stance, putting myself into her line of vision, bringing the gun up again. “Oh alright, what do you want to know?” she sighed heavily.
“Did you try to kill my sister?”
“I did. Funny thing, you having a sister, isn’t it?” Her lips curved into a smile. “Especially her being alive and all.”
I ignored that point, she didn’t deserve an explanation, instead focusing on getting my answers. “And you tried to kill me by poisoning Evan?”
“I wasn’t sure it’d kill you, but it was worth a shot. It’s a brilliant idea really. I paid a bundle to have a lab rat come up with that particular cocktail.” Serena sounded inordinately pleased with herself, and I hoped she hadn’t sparked a new kind of vampire biological warfare now that the Order had access to the formula.
“Did you have something to do with Melissa’s death too?”
“If you mean that bitchy choir chick, then yes, I did the world a favor and shut her up for good. If the police weren’t so incompetent, they would have arrested you for it too. God, I practically drew them a fucking map.”
“Why? Why would you do any of that?” My gun wavered as I shook my head in confusion. “Over that one stupid fight? That was weeks ago.”
“Ugh, because you’re a phony and a
fraud, and I’m sick to death of people kissing the ground you walk on,” she spat back at me, advancing threateningly. “I was here first, this is my city.”
A shot rang out and I flinched, staring down at the gun in my hand, which hadn’t gone off. Serena crumpled to the ground, her mouth a perfect O of surprise at the bullet wound that formed right in the center of her forehead. I stared at Rob who calmly approached her side and put two more in her head without hesitation before dragging her away from the small, vinyl couch into the center of the room.
“What the hell did you just do?” I demanded, my voice high and squeaky.
“I’m keeping you safe.”
“I wasn’t in any danger, I’m stronger than she is, you said so yourself. What happened to the plan? I’m supposed to shoot her, remember?”
“I told you, you ain’t the killing kind.” Pocketing the gun, he withdrew a small container of lighter fluid and liberally doused her with it.
“She’s my problem to deal with and you had no right to do that.”
“I have every right, it’s my job.” Moving quickly, Rob lit an entire pack of matches and tossed it onto her while I stared in horror. He planned to burn her right in the middle of the club? Serena didn’t so much as flinch as the flames took hold of her, but then again, I suppose three bullets to the brain might take a while to recover from.
“Just because I said I’d give you some of my blood doesn’t mean I hired you to be my assassin. I said I wanted you to help me, not step in and do it for me. I wanted answers…”
“What difference does it make?” he interrupted. “Serena’s a crazy bitch and she’s gone, end of story. Now we can go get a beer.”
I’d always suspected Rob of being an effective killer, but I never knew he could be so cold-hearted about it. What would happen if I ever became his enemy instead of his friend? My eyes started to tear as the room filled with acrid smoke, and a string of coughs seized hold of my lungs. “You’re going to set the whole place on fire!”
“Stop breathing,” Rob replied, lifting an old fashioned cloth handkerchief to his nose and mouth since he didn’t have that luxury. It took an effort on my part to hold my breath, my body still wanting to cough, but the sensation passed. “The floors are polished concrete, it makes it easier to wash away the blood. Don’t you know where we are? This is a feeding room. Don’t worry, she’ll burn to ash in seconds.”
True to his words, Serena’s body seemed to burn from within once the fire caught hold of her flesh. It was awful watching the fire consume her, but I couldn’t look away.
“You go on, I’ll see to it she’s gone for good,” Rob suggested when there was little more than a blackened husk that continued to smolder and burn.
“No, it’s my right, it’s the least you can allow me.” I’d seen enough horror movies to know there was always a chance the bad guy would pop up or reform if you didn’t stay until the end. Right at that moment, I didn’t feel too trusting towards Rob. Not that I thought he’d want to risk my life after taking the trouble to save it, but still, I wanted to see it done.
Within minutes, Serena was nothing but ashes as promised, the building’s ventilation system removing most of the smoke. Thanks to the smoke and mirrors theme, nobody would probably even notice the real fire’s exhaust leaving the building. With the turn of a valve, a spray of water washed what was left of her down the drain in the center of the room. Rob was right, it was a convenient room for killing a vampire. Still in a state of shock, I watched the last ashes swirl and eddy at the mouth of the drain and then she was gone.
“I’ll take you back home now.”
Rob touched my elbow, but I refused to be moved. “Why did you do that, really? You know how much I wanted to take care of this myself, that’s why I didn’t call Bishop.”
“Because regardless of what you want, it’s my job to keep you safe.”
“Ugh, you’re starting to sound like…” that’s when it hit me. How Rob always seemed privy to details in my life, how he knew I wasn’t what I claimed to be, and why it was his job to protect me. “You’re not helping me out of the goodness of your heart or for a crappy vial of blood every two weeks are you?” Rob didn’t say anything at all, his face impassive. “You’re working for Jakob, aren’t you?”
“That doesn’t mean what I said before was untrue…”
I didn’t want to hear anymore and I especially didn’t want to see the touch of regret on his face. “I can’t believe this… the whole time you’ve been pretending to be my friend, feeding me your blood, dating my roommate, it’s all because Jakob set you on me like a guard dog, isn’t it?”
“I told you, my family has been in service to vampires for a long time. I just didn’t tell you which one.”
“I don’t want to hear it, Rob. You don’t do that to friends. Then again, we were never real friends, were we? And here I thought you actually enjoyed my company,” I gave a bitter laugh, more for my stupidity than anything else. I’d almost started to think he was a little sweet on me.
“You don’t refuse an Ellri when he orders you to do something. He may seem like he’s asking, but there’s no saying no to him, not ever,” he scowled.
“Then I guess I found out I’m braver than I thought I was, because I stood up to him just fine.” Turning on my heel, I stormed out of the room, pushing my way through the sea of bodies.
“I’ll give you a ride home,” Rob offered, lightly taking hold of my elbow, but I ripped it out of his grasp.
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Suit yourself, but I’ll follow you all the same.”
“Fine, enjoy following me.” It might be childish and petty, but I didn’t want to get into the car with him, not after his betrayal of trust. I stalked off, not caring if he had to scramble to get to his car and follow me. In fact, I put on a burst of speed as soon as I turned the corner, amusing myself with breaking up my route and doubling back to lose him.
Instead of going home, I went to the Hart where I should have stayed in the first place. Waving off the offer of company, I bellied up to the bar, draining the fruity concoction Scotty set in front of me in one long gulp.
“Another?” he raised a single brow and I nodded. “Rough night?”
“You have no idea,” I muttered, sipping at the next drink more slowly. Rob entered the bar about twenty minutes later. Giving me a wide berth, he settled in at the owners’ table and ordered a beer. Left with long hours of the night to fill with nothing to keep me company but my own dark thoughts, time dragged, until I caught someone slide into the seat beside me in my peripheral vision.
“That seat is saved,” I said without turning to look.
“I hope for me,” Bishop grinned, signaling Scotty for a beer.
“Oh Bishop, thank God you’re here,” I cried, tears falling as I threw my arms around his neck, heedless of the very public place we were in.
“What’s the matter? What happened?” Bishop sat rigid in my arms, tensed for action.
“I’ll tell you later when we’re alone, okay? I just need a hug, can you do that for me?”
“Yeah, I can do that for you,” he relaxed, arms wrapping around me. He held me for long minutes, until I felt like I could sit upright again without bursting into weepy tears.
“I’m better now, thanks,” I sniffed.
“Are you sure?” He didn’t look so convinced.
“Yes, I’m sure. I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s fine. You should have called if you needed me though.”
“I know, but you were busy working and I thought I could handle it on my own.”
His head canted to one side, eyes narrowing. “Why do I feel like I’m gonna be mad when you tell me what’s going on later?”
“Oh, probably because you will be.” I imagined there was no way out of the lecture I had in store for me, unless I could manage to rustle up a few more tears to distract him. A distinct possibility.
“I think we’d
better pack it in for the night then.”
“Alright.” I drank the rest of my zombie and slid the glass back across the bar with a grateful smile to Scotty. Bishop didn’t ask me any questions for the entire ride home, and I couldn’t tell if he was thinking about how to brace me, trying to figure it out on his own, or thinking about something completely unrelated.
Once we got inside his apartment, Bishop set the alarm and turned to lean against the front door, arms crossed over his chest. “Now, you want to tell me why you smell like a bonfire?”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
I decided to take the stims one last time and give a proper goodbye to my scholastic career at the Central Coast Academy of Fine Arts. Starting with the registrar’s office, I formally withdrew from the college, getting a copy of my transcripts to submit to whatever online school I pursued. I also wanted to say goodbye to my favorite teachers, especially Professor Matthews, to thank them for all the help and encouragement over the past three years.
Luckily, I didn’t need to completely swathe myself in fabric to brave the morning sun, as dark clouds threatened rain at any moment. Still, I tugged on a knit cap out of habit and wound a scarf around my neck, as most people did in November. Stepping outside, I nearly ran straight into Detective Lucas, only narrowly managing not to spill his latte.
“Detective Lucas! I’m sorry, I guess I should have watched where I was going,” I apologized, clutching my folder tight to my body out of nerves. “Did I get any on you?”
“No harm done,” he smiled genially, brows drawing together in confusion once he looked up at me better. “I’m sorry, have we met?”
“Ah… yes, we have.” Inwardly cursing Bishop for not telling me how much of Detective Lucas’ memory he’d stripped when he “took care of it”, I scrambled to pick a safe piece of information to start with. “You worked on my case several weeks ago. It’s okay if you don’t remember me, I’m sure you get lots of cases.”