Dead Certain (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 3)

by P. S. Power

  The teller nodded, and called for the bank manager, to help her with that, without even asking if that was what she wanted to do that day. She didn’t really see why she needed both, or hadn’t, but now it kind of made some sense. The thing was, she didn’t know why she had that much in there. It should be about three million, and that only because Fram had tried to buy her love. Poorly. He should have sent some flowers, and maybe, just maybe, not have let Maggie, his slave, burn her arms and legs off.

  Especially just to send a message to the Council. Eve was going to send them both a book on calligraphy and some nice paper, she decided. It was snarky of her, and not enough to actually get them back for it, but there wasn’t a lot she could do otherwise.

  When the manger, a rather portly man in a suit, with a bald head, named Charles, showed her where the funds had come from, it made more sense. It was from A.B. Limited. That meant nothing to her, but Lenore got it.

  “Ah, that’s the company that Marissa set up with you. It looks like that’s two quarters’ worth. You’ll need to do payments to the government, for taxes. I have a man for that, myself. I can get you his card?”

  She nodded, not having thought about it before really. No doubt they’d want most of it, but as long as she could pay for the house for Cormack, that would be fine.

  The rest of the process wasn’t hard, and she had the needed proof of funds when she left, which her former boss took from her, as they walked back toward the mall. They’d left Nikki inside, and Lenore pointed gently, as she watched Ginger and David trudging around the outer section of the mall, on the sidewalk. Slowly.

  “That’s impressive. We were very worried for a long time that Ginger would have to be put down. Now she’s fighting to master herself, instead of just letting the world push her like she has been.” There was a pause, that became a total stillness with a sudden lurch that forced Eve to walk back to the other woman. She’d taken several steps away not noticing it at first.

  Lenore was staring at her too.

  “It’s dangerous, what you’ve been doing. No one likes it when the boat is rocked too much. We, Vampire kind, need to change, but they will come for you, if you keep doing too good of a job of it. Worse, I fear that you have no option but to try now. Too many know that you can do it, so will insist that you do. But they will also hate, and fear, you for it. Be careful, Eve. At all times. If you are too powerful, show too much success, the others will try to tear you down. They’ll have to in order to assure their own place in things.” Then she walked again, as if they hadn’t spoke at all.

  Without acting like she’d said anything weighty, she glanced up as Ginger and David came around again. It was nearly a mile long circuit, but they were going slow, at only about sixty miles per hour.

  “What do you intend for her? David has a place here, but Ginger, even if she can walk in the light, as she is doing now, that won’t teach her the rest of what she needs.”

  “She’s learning to be around Humans, and how to focus, right now. By the time we’re done, she’ll be ready to not give in to hunger too easily, as well. Anger, or at least learning to control her actions will happen at the same time. The rest, well, I can teach her to do a few things, but really, once she has all that, you might consider keeping her with you. As an assistant?” It made a lot of sense to her, but the other woman went blank.

  “Why do you think that?”

  “Well, she needs to be with someone. I could keep her with me, but for the time being that might not be a great place to be, long term. Like you said. Besides, you’re her mom. Even if she’s your grandkid, it’s close enough. You’re the family she has, and that’s important. It will be for a few more years. You know that though. Last night you told her that you wouldn’t abandon her. It’s a thing for her, and a bit of training won’t undo that. Which one did it? David or Barb?” She said it like it was the only option. The Vampire next to her jogged ahead a few steps, then looked behind her, to make sure the others wouldn’t be able to hear.

  “David. Not everyone knows that. I’m not even certain he does, to tell the truth. How did you find out? Zack, or one of your other friends?”

  “Nope. It was just all there in front of me. I’ll keep my trap shut though, don’t worry. He’d be a pretty bad dad, at this point in his life. She’s better off with you.”

  She was about to add a bit more, trying to sell the idea of Ginger being a great personal assistant, in potential anyway, but the man that screamed distracted her.

  “Die!” It wasn’t very clear, though it was far enough away that she didn’t think it was about her or Lenore. Without thinking, which was a horrible habit, she knew, Eve pushed into a brilliant pain that nearly left her blind, running as fast as she could to find a man with a gun, shooting through the window of the yogurt shop, directly at Nikki. He had files in his hand, the left one, and was aiming with his right, which kept jumping around as he did it. “Die, you fucking Vampire slut!”

  She stripped the things away from him, taking the weapon first, very carefully. Then the files, which said they were from the police on the outside. That would, she was willing to guess, make the man one of them. There to kill Nikki, possibly on Althea Sims’ orders?

  That was the kind of thinking that could make her go mad, if she considered it for too long.

  She had to slow way down, and even then tap the man on the back of the head, with two fingers, just where the brainstem connected with the neck.

  “Ouch!” He very cleverly didn’t fall down, like he should have. Instead he hopped away grabbing the back of his head. “Why did you do that?”

  “I was trying to knock you out, without using too much force. I tend to, you know, destroy people’s heads, when I hit them anymore, but you might be from the police. Even if you are acting like a lunatic. Why are you trying to shoot up the shop? Are you an ice cream fan?”

  “Oh, I wasn’t. I was trying to hit that bitch, Nicole. She’s a Vampire. I figured that out before, but then she did something to make me forget about it. When I heard the announcement, all those months ago, I worked it out, but when I saw her just now I remembered what she did to me. Getting some cadaver, and that skinny tweaker friend of hers to brainwash me. The one from the candle store.” He pointed back, behind him, to indicate the place, like she might not get the right one.

  Moving in, her body barely showing that it was happening, the older Vampire moved in alongside Eve, her face calm.

  “Zack. That was right, about five or six years ago. He’s filled out a bit and changed his appearance since them. The cadaver though…” Lenore looked at the policeman, who was plain clothed, or at least off duty at the moment. “I don’t know that one.”

  Nicole came out of the shop, and then ducked as the man tried to punch her, because her stepping out of the way of bullets wasn’t a sign that she could get out of the way of his punches?

  “Detective Bacconni. How nice to see you. Why are you trying to kill me again?”

  “Kill you? How can I do that? You’re already dead. Like you told me, but I didn’t believe you. Then I forgot, and now…”

  Eve recognized the story, having heard about it from Zack, years before. She snapped her fingers several times.

  “Oh, right. Bey and Zack used compulsion on you, so that you’d stop stalking Nikki. I can’t see how that would get you to shoot at her now. It isn’t illegal to be a Vampire, or compel people. Yet. Even if it was, that wouldn’t be a good excuse to shoot her over it. You could just, I don’t know, file a complaint? Not that it would do any good.”

  “Well what the hell am I supposed to do about it? It’s either shoot or…”

  Eve looked at Nikki, and shrugged.

  “Talk? Have a frosty treat? Get your checkbook out, so that you can pay for the window you just trashed?”

  That one got a happy nod from Edom, who was acting pretty relaxed about the whole thing. Then, no one was hurt, so why not? It was just another day, really, except for the broken glass. T
hat was going to be a pain in the ass to pick up.

  “Come on then, Detective. Let’s get this taken care of, and then you can go home and just not bother with it anymore. Vampires are real. Everyone knows that now. At least the ones that care to believe it. No big whoop. Actually, you can start sweeping while I look at the secret file you brought me.” She nearly added a sinister laugh, but didn’t, because the man actually followed her. There was no need to go all silly if he was actually going to go along with her idea of what to do.

  Eve opened the file, which was very plain on the outside, having a sticker that said Vancouver City Police Dept. on it, to find that there was only a single sheet inside. One that said simply that there was no one by the name Brian Smith reported injured or missing in the area in the last five years. It wasn’t in their files either, under any variation that fit the right time frame.

  “That’s hardly worth a visit in person, is it?”

  She put it aside, and ran to get the brooms. It didn’t take that long to clean up, but they were left without the right front window, as judged from the outside of the place. It was her favorite one, being both the largest, and the side that the people inside the mall came from. When they did.

  This time, shots or not, there was no more than casual interest in what was happening. Really, people had barely even come out to look, even though six or seven bullets had been flying. It probably meant they were all becoming incredibly jaded. She decided to blame Zack, or possibly Fram. They’d had too many Greater Demons around the place for too long, and now everyone just assumed they needed to not get involved when trouble started. It was the smart thing to do, but really, Eve was starting to wonder if it was really the best way to be. Yeah, minding her own business was the thing that would keep her alive, but what about everyone else? If she stood back and did nothing, if they all did…

  Then who would save everyone?

  In the end it was going to take more than just her, she was certain. Then again, if Lenore was right, her odds of living long enough to make a real difference were pretty small anyway. Given that, she wondered for half a moment if she should revive her plans to be a super-hero. She tried to remember the costume idea that she’d had, so long ago, but nothing came to mind. It had probably been kind of slutty though. Hot, in other words.

  That was the way to do things, if you got a choice. It was easy to get things done if you threw enough sexiness at them.

  Edom went to the back, half pushing the Detective with him. She kept working, because there were things to do now, and only half listened as Ed very politely explained that Althea’s chosen delivery boy had gone insane and tried to kill the local Proctor. It was half funny the way he said it. Hyper polite, and like he was discussing the fact that the paperboy had tossed the darned thing in the bushes again, rather than putting it in the box. Not that Eve had ever lived in a place that had papers delivered. She’d seen a lot of television though, when she was little. Mainly the kind that you got for free, with an old, half broken set.

  Cable was too expensive for her mother to have bothered with, since that money could better be spent on drugs each month.

  It was a sudden turn, but she filled with rage at the thought. It was a hot and fierce thing. Lashing out at the world wasn’t going to help her though, was it? Killing the Detective wasn’t even going to get the window fixed, much less fix her broken childhood.

  She had to take several deep breaths to fight the feeling back, and standing there behind the counter, Nikki noticed. The Proctor didn’t stop to ask her questions about it though. No, the woman, who was hundreds of years old, pierced through the nose and lip, or not, knew better. After a few minutes, there was a glance toward the back.

  “Sorry. I thought that part of things was done. I guess I’ll have to kill him now. I told him I would, before, but tried to get around it. Now, after an attack on the embassy like this, I doubt that will be allowed.” She seemed a bit sad about it.

  Eve shrugged.

  “Don’t mind me, I was just having a flashback to when I was a kid. That still happens, so, you know, I have to beat that, somehow. Anyway, he was just shooting at you, the embassy was incidental. That may still be enough to have him killed, but we can probably let Althea handle this one. She’s his boss, and he broke Human law here, too. He’s a cop though, so I doubt that it will be more than a free vacation, but asking that he be locked in a little box for this is probably over the top. Still, maybe you should go, and chat with Edom in the back? See if you can get Bacconni something more interesting than instant death?”

  Nikki went, her face firm and set for an argument, so Eve did her part, and cleaned up the remaining mess, then called several local glass shops and set up an appointment for the next day to have the window fixed. It wasn’t going to cost that much, luckily. Enough to have the Detective feeling upset about it, but if he didn’t understand that people were gently discussing having him killed, right in front of him, then he was too stupid to be left alive in a position of power.

  For all that no one had come to see what the shooting was all about, they also didn’t trickle down later, even for their normal treats, or to visit. On the good side it let Eve get the place ready for the day, even as Lenore stood there, off to the side, looking lost and a bit lonely.

  Finally Eve snorted at her.

  “Listening to what the new guy is doing about this?” It was her job, after all. More to the point, it was Ed’s to fix this, and hers to make sure it happened correctly, now. She had nine other embassies to look after though, and this was one of the best of them, if Eve had the idea right. She’d never even thought about it before, but something caught her attention just after she dumped one of the soft serve machines, so that she could restart the base.

  “Hey… You getting this promotion, it’s because of what we all did here, isn’t it? Cormack and Barb, I mean?” Eve was ready to explain more, but Lenore simply smiled at her. It was a soft and gentle thing though, that seemed almost proud.

  “Exactly, Eve. Edom as well. We’re the only location in the world to have five daylight Vampires in one place. That doesn’t even count Nicole, David or Ginger, who I think will all do well that way now. The only single group of undying that’s larger is the Council. So it makes sense both to part the group out, and to spread the skill around. I have to say, I look good right now. You and Edom as well, but success is often credited to those above you, even if they had little enough to do with it. It’s why Vaughn is being promoted as well. Not that he isn’t worthy of it, in his own right.” She still seemed happy about it, which was either well and truly faked, or the very rare genuine thing poking its head through the mask of being dead.

  Either way, it was good to see.

  Then, without knowing exactly why she was doing it, Eve moved to the front counter phone, dug the paper that Zack had given her out of her front jeans pocket, and dialed the number there. She didn’t feel like there was compulsion involved, but it wasn’t a conscious decision either.

  On the third ring it picked up, the voice on the other end of the line sounding friendly, and fatherly. Not in a creepy way though. Like one of those guys from an old program that didn’t fuck their kids at night when the wife had gone to bed.

  “Miss Benson? So good to hear from you. The Line Walker told me that you might be calling, about a project that I need to have seen to?”

  “Cleric. That’s right. I don’t know that I can help, not knowing what it’s all about. I was wondering if I could get some information about that?” Again, she didn’t know why she was saying what she was, and it even sounded different than she normally did. More polite, and cultured. She tried to say fuck, or to throw in another curse word, but nothing came out. It just stuck in her throat, feeling like she’d swallowed sandpaper, and couldn’t throw it up.

  “Certainly! May I visit you there, in your workplace? It won’t take long, but I have some pictures to go along with the speech I have ready. It’s somewhat involved, but I thi
nk it’s within your abilities to accomplish, and the kind of thing that a Vampire like you can endorse, morally.”

  What that meant, she didn’t know. Did he think she was a being of absolute evil? That was possible, but was it true? She didn’t feel all that bad. Sure, she’d killed a lot of people, but they were the bad ones. At least they’d been trying to kill her first, or those around her, which made it self-defense.

  “Sure. I’ll be here until dark. Then I’m supposed to get out of the way so the night guy doesn’t have to worry about babysitting me. We can meet down at Zack’s book store, if you want?”

  She was ready to negotiate the day and time, when there was a pop on the phone and the line cut.

  “Hello? Cleric? Um… I don’t know if you can hear me, but the line seems have dropped out. I guess I’ll try calling back?” The phone, a cream colored handset, was hung up with a soft click, just as an older looking gentleman came through the front door.

  Holding a small briefcase that looked to be made of hemp, if she had that kind of thing down. It was beige, and seemed both soft and strong. The man had gold wire rimmed glasses, and gave away who he was instantly, being dressed like a Catholic priest.

  He didn’t even pretend not to be him, moving to one of the tables. The one closest to where Lenore was just standing, in fact.

  The other Vampire stared, then bowed a bit.

  “Cleric. So nice to see you again.”

  “Lenore! Wonderful to see you as well. I’ve just come to beg aid from Eve here. I need some beings handled, and my government sources, while potentially able enough, are moving too slowly. Here, Miss Benson, let me show you…” Then he laid out building plans, glossy photos, and a large, thick manila colored file folder on the yellow table top. Then the man, looking like a fifty year old priest, more than anything else, waved at the information and sat.

  She moved in across from him, feeling a bit wary.

  “So, what’s all this?” She glanced at things, but it didn’t make a lot of sense, not at first glance. One of the pictures was turned to face her, which helped. It was some kind of lizard woman.