Dead Certain (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 3)

by P. S. Power

  Really, that probably meant that Fram was being an idiot, trying to go up against her, even at a distance. The smart play would have been to turn her into a friend. Even if it meant sucking up anger, and shame to do it.

  Honestly, that he wasn’t making a play with her, to get a relationship going, was insane. Even if he was just sleeping with her occasionally, it would bind them together a bit, on Keeley’s side of things. She was nice, to her friends. Not using that was insane. Then, so was Fram, so it worked out.

  She nodded, and stood, then moved around the table to the open end of the little booth and leaned over to give Maggie a hug.

  She didn’t promise anything though. In the end, Eve just didn’t know if the other woman could be allowed to survive. She wasn’t even sure if she could be.

  Since the honest answer was probably no, Eve didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up.

  Chapter ten

  Setting up a trip, through the Node, to Australia, wasn’t all that hard.

  She just asked Zack how she might get something like that set up, without paying for it, or cheating anyone. That he told her how, reminding Eve about the business deal they had in regards to the animal blood products, and that they serviced that location regularly was nice of him. Helpful even.

  So, the next day Eve went in, along with Ginger, to the main Node complex there, which wasn’t a mall at all, being more like a giant business center. It had offices, and was so isolated that she needed to get Alice, the assistant ambassador there, to help her find the map locations for the three Vampire politicians that she needed to have a chat with.

  They were all old enough to fake being Human, being up during the day. It was good, because they wouldn’t have as many Vampire followers around to help them if things got interesting. They were also well spread out over the entire land. She ended up running across the whole continent six times, trying to find them all. They were all men, and looked like what they were pretending to be.

  Blood suckers. The political kind though, so no one noticed too much.

  On her third trip she found the first man, who was actually walking outside, under the burning sun, his face holding a fixed smile when she walked up. He had broad cheeks, and a manly look to him, as well as a predatory gaze that would have marked him as a psycho-killer in any decent movie, or novel. Along with him were a group of six people, all regular and healthy, though two of them had direct blood links to the man they walked with. Strands of pink energy flowed through the air between them, when she focused on the air. That meant he was feeding on them, directly.

  It was a bit of a gray area, actually.

  They weren’t supposed to feed on Humans like that anymore, but lovers and close friends weren’t totally forbidden that way. She decided not to ask about it.

  “Mr. Lebeold? May I have a word with you?” She was trying to be discreet about the whole thing, but the man clearly wasn’t going to make it easy, just holding his hand out, like she was a constituent.

  Then he frowned.

  “You’re American? I recognize the accent. What may I do for you, young lady?” It wasn’t patronizing at least.

  She nearly froze, but then shrugged.

  “We could speak in private? I don’t have much time, and have a message for you, from the Council?”

  That could mean almost anything, she knew, but the man sneered at her. As if he were the one in charge at the moment? As far as she knew he hadn’t won anything yet, and even if he had, that wouldn’t have freed him up from following the freaking rules.

  “I’m certain that you can say whatever you like in front of my aides, I hide nothing from them.” The way he said it made it clear that he hid a lot, and was trying to use the fact that she wouldn’t want to admit that Vampires were real to them in order to control what she could say.

  Eve sighed. They were out. Oh, not in Australia, but if these people watched the news they‘d probably worked out that their country would have them too. She wasn’t going to be blackmailed that easily. Even if it had worked, did this guy really think that baffling her for a minute or two would keep the Council off his back? If so, he was too stupid to be allowed into office.

  “All right. They want you to either pull out of the race here, whatever it is, or stay in, but run as a Vampire. If you refuse to do either of those things, then you’ll be killed. Alternatively, I could simply go to the press and tell them about you right now, but the Council actually wants that first one, where you die? You have one minute to make a choice, and set in motion. I have some other things to see about, too, so standing here all day long isn’t going to work for me.” She managed to sound pleasant about it, half expecting the man to simply attack her, which he did.

  Fast and hard, with a knife in his right hand, slashing for her throat with speed that would have killed most Vampires. She just stepped back, dodged a few times as he seemed to move in slow motion compared to her, and when he stopped, his eyes blood red, and fangs showing, Eve winked at him.

  “In case you missed it, if you pick the wrong thing, I’m supposed to see about making sure you die. I’d really rather not, if it’s all the same. You have a little over half a minute to make a choice.”

  Instead he tried to attack again, which still didn’t work, and finally, as she was about to end his life for him very publically, stopped and put the blade away, spreading his hands and smiling professionally. His fangs weren’t even out anymore, which she took as being a good sign.

  “Could I have a few moments to discuss this with my people? Neither of those options is optimal for me at this time.” He waited though, tense, and like he expected her to be unreasonable about it all.

  “Sure. Please don’t take long though, you aren’t the only one on the list today.”

  It was nearly funny, since four of the people there practically freaked out, and one of them, a man that looked to be in his thirties or so, wet himself in fear, while staring at the politician. That had to be embarrassing.

  “You’re a monster?”

  Eve shook her head, as the other people all looked at their boss, or whatever he was to them.

  “Nah. Just being undead doesn’t mean he’s a bad guy. Unless you meant that you just worked out he was a politician? I doubt he can win an election here right now, given your reactions though. Not if he’s out. It might be worth trying though? He’s still the same person you knew, just a bit less subject to blackmail now. Think of it like him being gay. Except that he likes to suck both men and women.”

  Wet Pants the Scaredy-Cat got a look on his face of pure disgust then, which probably meant he wasn’t going to go along with that idea either. In fact, he turned and trotted off, leaving a damp, and reeking, trail behind him. It actually didn’t smell that bad to her, his urine mixing with fear in a way which told her, and the other Vampire, that he was possibly lunch.

  It wasn’t her problem though. None of it was, as long as the politician came to a choice in the matter, and soon.

  That wasn’t in the cards though, it seemed, and they ended up standing there for a long time, the man talking into a pad like device to several people that refused to believe he was a Vampire at all. It seemed that Australia hadn’t quite gotten up to speed on that kind of thing yet. Since half of America was still having denial issues with the same thing, and the television coverage hadn’t been nearly as heavy here, she could kind of see it.

  In the end the man, defeated looking, simply announced that he was withdrawing from the race, for personal issues.

  “That will be fine, too. Next time just answer the calls from the council, and it will save me a lot of time.” It was true, but she really did have other things to do, so took off, after finding the right direction, running as fast as she could under the blistering heat of the sun.

  She used to love being out under the heat and light, back when she was a cheerleader for whom the worst thing that could happen was skin cancer. Now she kind of hated it, she realized. It hurt enough that she ju
st didn’t want to be there.

  The next man made things easier for her, just attacking when she explained the ultimatum from the Council, and doing it well enough that she had to kill him, and his compatriot. She was a Manthori woman, who tried to take over Eve’s mind. It didn’t work, and she just left both of the bodies, headless, lying on the ground.

  The last man opted to tell everyone about who, and what, he was.

  “I’ll lose, as you know. Still, there’s always the next election, and perhaps I’m reading the current climate incorrectly? My platform is a minority one though, for the time being, so it doesn’t bode well. I don’t suppose you could send a message to the Council for me?” The man was wiry, and small, but held himself like he was older, and far more powerful, than the other two had. In fact, there was something about him that reminded her of Bey. It wasn’t a look, since this man was clearly white, and Bey was different than that, being Middle Eastern, but it was there, in the way he smiled and held himself.

  This being was either very good at faking things, or was thousands of years old.

  She tilted her head, “as long as it isn’t my head in a box? I might be able to. What do you want them to know?”

  The man moved, fast and hard, directly toward her, his right hand moving out toward her head. Eve slipped to the side, the pain of reality, and the movement on her. They fought then, for several minutes, or what felt like it. The man, who was wicked fast, finally jumped back, and laughed, after she’d managed to land a few very solid blows.

  “Oh, my! You are a strong one, aren’t you? Perhaps I should have simply asked you to carry a letter for me?” Standing back, the man, who seemed even older suddenly, started to glow, a golden light coming from his entire body.

  What it did, she didn’t know, but she had tricks, too, other than being quick, didn’t she? Wrapping him up carefully, focusing as hard as she could, Eve picked the man up, standing ten feet away or so, and used the lines to flip him over and slam him bodily into the ground. The Earth below them shook, as the golden light flowed into it.

  The Vampire stood then, and bowed.

  “I understand. Well, perhaps it is for the best then? Still, I do not like to be ordered about. Tell them that Wallace is not amused by their antics?”

  She nodded.

  “All right. Just Wallace? No title?”

  The man gave her a look that spoke of something dark, and a bit put out, probably because she didn’t know the right thing to call him.

  “Just that. They’ll know who I am. Speaking of which, may I enquire as to your name?”

  “Eve. Benson.”

  “Very well, Eve Benson. I’ll remember that. Perhaps if we meet again, it will be under happier circumstances? One in which I’m not being taken to task so firmly perhaps? It has been a long time since anyone has bested me like this.”

  Then the man walked away, as if they were done. Since he’d made his calls and told people to make the announcement about what he was, they actually were, so Eve tried to find her way back to the main Node for the continent. She got lost, twice, and ended up wasting a lot of time getting there. Still, the whole thing, including making sure that Australia and New Zealand had a good supply of animal blood coming in regularly only took about six hours. It wasn’t the most exciting thing in the world, but Ginger seemed to be having fun, which she explained when they got back to Vancouver, and were away from Zack.

  Walking down the hallway toward their shop, the younger girl, who was only nineteen, if you counted up all the years of her life, seemed pretty happy.

  “I’ve never actually been anywhere before. Not even Mexico or Canada. Not that I was needed for this, today. I’m kind of useless, aren’t I? You’ve only been a Vampire for a year, less than that even, and have an important business, a good position with the Council and are helping people like me. What do I do? Sit around and watch late night movies? I practically have a panic attack every time I realize that Lenore isn’t right here to hold my hand still.” She seemed a bit disgusted with herself, which was a good sign. It meant she was probably getting close to ready for more responsibility.

  “Have you considered the rewarding field of training would-be Vampires? I can show you what to do. It means being around Humans, a lot, and being in total control of your anger, but you haven’t been doing badly that way. Being up during the day, well, you’ll have that now. In fact, in a day or two, I think that will be fine. You know… Why don’t we start on the actual shop stuff tomorrow? Learning to make the products, and run the machines? You can spend your nights learning the paperwork stuff with me. I need to go over all that again, and you should have that down too, even if you do choose the great career of Human wrangling.” She grinned, since that wasn’t even a thing yet.

  They’d gotten applications though, and someone should at least call the people back, if they were going to be nice enough not to just go and find some Vampire to turn them into half wild animals. It was, she guessed, her job, more or less.

  After all, she was the one that made that BS up in the first place. That someone higher up had thought it was actually a good idea wasn’t her fault, but it actually was one. Which she kind of had to take some of the credit for. Now she just had to turn Ginger into her minion of baby Vampire training, and possibly get one or two others to help her with it, and she’d be set to begin her plan of world domination!

  Smiling, she realized that some would probably think she really meant it, if she ever said that out loud. Because all those young Vampires not acting like insane assholes clearly would turn out to be trouble.

  When they got in Edom was working behind the counter, even though it was evening already. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was eight already, though he didn’t seem upset or anything. Before she could ask, he shrugged.

  “David asked for the night off, so I’m pulling a double. Unless I can interest you in the job? Hmm? That, or trading out with Barb at the club? It’s great fun…” He was actually being really charming, and smiling the whole time, so Eve nodded.

  “Um…” She turned and looked at Ginger, and tilted her head. “Which do you want to do? The club will have more people, which will be good practice for you, but might be hard. I’ll be here all night, but you can meet me back in the morning?”

  The girl, looking as young as ever, froze.

  “I get a choice?”

  “Yeah. I mean, if Ed’s good with it? You can handle being around people now. As well as anyone. You won’t lose your temper either, even as the pervs feel you up, so, it can work, if you want to give that a try? You know where the club is, right? Barb can get you in. Call if you have a problem.”

  Edom seemed very unsure about the wisdom of doing that, having known Ginger longer, but the girl seemed pretty solid to Eve. A little uncertain of herself, but she wouldn’t fail. Even without the threat of a beating. She’d been a Vampire for five years, and could already face the sun, which took a lot of will power. That kind of thing translated to other areas of life, like not eating the patrons.

  “I’d like to go to the club, I guess? What will I do there?”

  Eve knew that one, and smiled at her.

  “Clean disgusting toilets, and avoid going down on anyone, just yet. For one thing, you look fourteen, which would make it creepy, if they don’t know how old you really are. For another, we’ll want to test you a little more slowly than that. Give it a few weeks of practice being around people before you move to licking them, and all that. We should have already done that, but you just got into cool Vampire kid classes with me, so what else could have been done? Meet me back here at seven?”

  The girl nodded, and looked at the dark man in his very nice suit, who slowly did the same thing.

  “You’re ready for this. Remember, if things get to be too much for you at any point, just leave. You won’t get in trouble for it. Come back here in that case. We can keep working on this every night, if it comes to that. I don’t think it will though. I’ll call Tr
oy, so that he knows that you’re coming.”

  That would be useful, since most girls that looked that young didn’t work at night clubs, did they? Still, she was a Vampire, and people knew who owned the club, so as long as she was open about it all, that might not be a huge problem.

  Eve watched her leave at a run, one that was still too slow really, and heard Ed call the whole thing in to Troy, assuring him that Ginger was a seasoned hand at managing the public, and would be a great asset to the team.

  When he came back out, she smiled, but it looked worried.

  “Do you think she’s going to kill all our best customers?”

  “Nope. I bet she doesn’t do anything but work the whole time. This is really important to her. She feels like a fuck-up, and no one wants to be that person, do they? She isn’t though. She just got a raw deal. We need to make sure she’s up to speed on things before she meets back up with her family. It’s going to be happening, and we should control that part of things, if we can.”

  Ed nodded, then tossed her a clean apron on the way out.

  “It’s your call. They’re going to be upset though, their daughter being turned into one of us. I can’t blame them either. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Then, his rather cute butt left the room, going through the back, since he’d driven in, and parked in the upper lot.

  Eve remembered to call the Council, and ended up talking to Gene, which was her favorite thing in the world to do. The boy looking ancient being snickered at her when she told him that Wallace had given her a message for them.

  “Oh? What did he remove from you then? He tends to be a bit messy with things like that. To be most fair, Bey shouldn’t have asked you to see to that one. He probably didn’t recognize the name, since it’s a rather new one. He’s the eldest of the Australian Vampires however. Originally from Europe, about three thousand years ago.”

  It was a handy lesson, and didn’t sound all that snide, for once.

  Eve sighed.

  “I’m intact. He tried to move on me, using speed, but I managed to stay ahead of him that way, and give him a few thumps. He didn’t disintegrate though, which means he’s pretty tough. Then he glowed, and caused an Earthquake when I dumped him on his head. It’s a skill of mine. Moving things at a distance.” She probably shouldn’t have told him that, but she doubted that he’d be without that kind of data for long.