Dead Certain (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 3)

by P. S. Power

  Thankfully, none of that was for her to look into. It was all Zack, and the others’, job.

  Darla took more than several bites, quickly and politely, not slopping things around or cramming them into her mouth, even as the food vanished from the table for a while. She was breathing, but timing it between bites, it seemed. Like an athlete, or competitive eater might. It was impressive, after a fashion.

  When it was clear that Darla wasn’t going to say anything on the topic at hand, probably agreeing that getting petty revenge wouldn’t be a good idea, Eve got up to use the phone in the other room. It was in a nice wooden cabinet. The same one that the blue and green doomsday device was on, actually. Opening the little door, she pulled the slim black hand piece out. It was very high tech, and not the same one that had been there five years before, when they were all in high school.

  Eve dialed the number from memory, since she’d made a point of doing that for all the numbers she was supposed to use regularly.

  On the third ring, it picked up, Keels sounding like her normal self. That could mean anything, from having just come from a fight for her life, to sitting down for a snack herself.

  “Hey, buddy. I have some news, that you might want to trade for?” She didn’t announce who it was, even though that might have been polite.

  “Oh? What kind of information? Or can’t you tell me without ruining its value?”

  That was an interesting way to put it, and would have told her friend a lot, right there, she knew. Eve was silent for a moment, thinking, then shrugged.

  “A hundred million and three small favors to be named later big? Really, it’s bigger than that, I think, but you might know part of it already. I can’t know what you do, so… Right. You get the idea?”

  “Hmm? That is big then. Fifty million, and two small favors, to be judged by me? I don’t really want to pay too much for something I probably already know, but you are Eve, so it might be good.”

  She nearly just gave in then, since it was all monopoly money and wishes to her, so far. Even saying the word million made it seem fake to her mind. The idea was to make it seem more important to Keeley though, so she’d know it wasn’t fake, or a little thing, even if it was. It could all be a setup, after all.

  “Eighty million, and two favors, but one of them has to be, um, more medium sized? You can decide to do it or not. I don’t have anything in mind, right now.”

  “All right. Will you be waiting for the funds to clear first, or can you tell me now?” It was nearly like the girl on the phone was suppressing a chuckle. Like they were playing a game. Maybe they were, by her standards?

  Darla poked her head into the room and spoke softly, from the door.

  “Tell her to come here. As soon as she carefully can.”

  Eve repeated the words, then added some of her own.

  “Very carefully. That’s important.”

  “Be right there then. Twenty minutes? I need to do my hair first.”

  “Sounds good. Later.”

  Darla went back to the kitchen, to get more food, and gestured for her to sit.

  “She’ll have to go by some alternate routes, so this could take a while.” Between bites of what seemed to be roast beef, and smelled hot and fresh, even though there hadn’t been time to make any, Darla beamed at her, for some reason. “I’m very proud of you, by the way. Not just for rescuing me, or taking out The Ferryman like that, either. You dealt with The Mistress of Souls like a grown up. Now if I could only get Zack to do that. I swear, he has sex with a girl a few times and he suddenly acts like they’re people or something. That’s a flaw for one of our kind. Really, you should exploit that, while he works on fixing it. Keeley still bargains like a hippy, too, so that can work to your benefit. Speaking of such things, I kind of owe you as well, for coming to find me, like that.”

  Eve nodded.

  “I walked right into the trap here. My guess is that they were going to kill me. To get me out of the way? That thing with The Vile earlier, if it was him, I mean. Then calling me here, it pretty much had to be a set up.” That being the case, she kind of wondered how she’d won at all.

  Darla took another bite, of well buttered bread this time and nodded.

  “Or not. My guess is that they were buying time, while the rest of the trick was set up. Their mistake was not taking you seriously enough. It’s a rare Vampire that can take down a Greater Demon like that, but it can happen. We aren’t eternal, or indestructible. Hard to kill, but most of the time we avoid that kind of thing, or destroy our enemies first, from a distance. What you did though… Bringing him back like that, it was fantastic. I mean that, too. As far as I know, no Vampire has ever bothered to even try it. I don’t know that any of them could have done it, but it was the act, not the ability, that did the trick. I’ll bet that some little Demons are going to be rethinking their plans for you, tonight. Once The Ferryman tells them about this.”

  Eve knew she was thinking a lot more slowly than Darla was. The thing with her friend was that she ate for a while longer, giving her that time to consider things. At first she was worried that the Greater Demons would come for her, seeing her as a threat to them. It was why they were coming for Keels.

  It wasn’t true though, was it? When she’d had a chance to end one of that sort, but had needed information, and not wanting to piss off Darla, Zack and Keeley, she’d saved the Demon. Because it made sense at the time.

  Why would anyone feel threatened by that?

  All they had to do was treat her like a sensible person, and not force her into taking actions that would harm them, later.

  Then, that was really all they had to do with Keels, but there they were, trying to make a hash of things already. That was because The Mistress of Souls was apparently a lot scarier than The Snowflake.

  That thought reminded her to have a long talk with Barb, when she saw her next.

  Darla got up suddenly, and started toward the front door of the house, her right hand digging something out of her jeans pocket. It was silver metal and glass, and looked like a fine writing instrument, rather than a weapon. It wasn’t held that way though. Eve followed her, ready to move if she had to, but not so much that her intent would program her white shoes into forcing her to do anything. That was good, since when the door opened, it was just Keeley.

  Darla stared at her for a long time, then nodded.

  “In. Quickly. There has been a bit of change in plans.”

  The words got movement, though it was clear that Keeley, who looked like she was about one coating of face paint away from being a model, was moving into the space like a ninja. Wary, ready to kill, and using all her senses without shame. Sniffing the air, testing each step on the floor, and looking around like paranoia was her new favorite hobby.

  Eve nodded.

  “That’s about the right level of awareness.”

  Darla moved too, and got them all into the living room, then… Offered drinks. Because that was polite, apparently.

  Keeley asked for a soda, but Eve was about to demure, when she realized that a bit of plain water probably wouldn’t hurt her too much. She’d seen Bey do that, on occasion. Warm water, to be exact. So she asked for that, since it was more grown up than sitting there tensely, with nothing to hold on to.

  It didn’t take Darla long to get things set up, even with an unusual request like hers. Then they all sat, with Darla looking at her, as if she were the one that should speak.

  “I guess I’ll start with the punch-line, and then double back over the good parts? A group of Greater Demons is trying to kill you. They tried to take out Darla, um, trapping her in a medallion? Then one of them The Ferryman, pretended to be Finias, to lure me here for some reason. Another one claimed to be Tarsus, The Librarian, and came in to work, saying he was searching for Darla, too.” She was about to go on, when Keeley reached her hand out and touched Eve’s cool arm with her soft warm hand.

  It tingled, and after a moment, the other girl took a ve
ry deep breath.

  “Okay. That wasn’t The Vile, I’m willing to bet. I’ll make a call in a minute and check on that. There’s a lot going on, isn’t there? Well worth what I’m paying you for this info. You really killed The Ferryman? More to the point, isn’t he supposed to be on our side?” That was said to Darla directly.

  The blonde nodded, her blue eyes shining a bit.

  “In general the sane Greater Demons tend to stick with their own, but it isn’t unheard of for people to work together when they have common goals like this. What can I say, Keels? You just naturally bring people together.”

  “I know, it’s a curse. Okay, I need to go and deal with this. I’ll try to be there for you on Sunday, Eve. With Fram, and all that? He’s clearly part of this, so it might afford me a chance to chat with him.”

  Eve winced.

  “I, uh, have that agreement with him, so there can’t be any traps or tricks involved. Otherwise… You can’t come.” Not that she could really stop that from happening, she didn’t think.

  “That won’t be a problem. I actually like Fram, his plotting to kill me aside. I won’t make a liar of you. Now, let me check that bit of info out. With Marcus? The good one, not Fram being a raping piece of trash. Not that I haven’t had some people raped, but your Maggie Sims seems like a nice Vampire. A master, too. I wonder how he enslaved her, exactly? Normally that should be very hard for him to pull off. Not impossible, maybe, but difficult enough that doing it wouldn’t be something he’d bother with. We can ask about that, at the meeting.” Then she rose, her body still in combat ready mode.

  The phone call didn’t last too long though, the man on the phone speaking in a rasping and slightly slurred voice. It was familiar, but that was probably just due to the attack earlier in the day.

  “Vile! This is Keeley? The Mistress of Souls? A friend of mine, the Vampire Eve, called Snowflake and White Death, was attacked by one of us earlier. That being claimed to be you.”

  “Tash is notsh reality. I have not attacked, or fought with, The White Death. Cans yous tellsh me about thish?”

  The rundown got polite murmurs until the very end, when Keeley described the feeling of overwhelming attraction for the rotting stink pile of wretched disgust.

  Then the other Greater Demon laughed. His voice cleared up almost totally, too, sounding more normal by far.

  “The Lover, most likely. You recall the small… Difficulty we had some years back? It wouldn’t be outside of either her abilities or desires to set me up as the villain in this piece. It could be someone else, but if so, given those factors, my analysis would still continue to point at her still, if working through a proxy. That is within her normal pattern.”

  “Ah. Good to know. Are you, by any chance, part of a plot to have me killed? I hate to ask, but there have been some rumors of late. I’d hate to think that I upset anyone that much. Especially you.”

  There was no pause, just a rustling in the background.

  “Yes. It isn’t a personal thing, but it was pointed out that you could be a rather large threat to me in the future. Removing that as a possibility seems prudent, don’t you think?”

  Eve rolled her eyes, and moved across to the phone, speaking calmly, even as she took the hand piece away from the other girl.

  “Fine. This is Eve, the Vampire. I’m setting up an arrangement, so that Keeley won’t do that to a select group of beings that sign on. Steal their free will, I mean. There’s a hundred million dollar buy in, so that you know it’s quality work, on top of whatever trading is needed to make it happen. It makes more sense than setting off a giant fuck storm of doom, just because you feel your dick is a bit too small today, don’t you agree? Especially since you can make it grow if you want. So, are you in, or not?” She was ready for The Vile to growl and hang up. She would have, at that point. It was so far from diplomatic that she probably couldn’t save the thing, she knew.

  The Vile, crazy or not, was smarter than that, and didn’t seem to even take offense.

  “I can do that. The buy in is payable on completion of the agreement? Who else is involved in this so far?”

  She lied, sort of, “The Ferryman, you, and probably The Bold, after I talk to him in a few days. If he doesn’t realize that his personal best plan is dating Keeley, then he’s a moron, and I know him well enough to get that evidence to the contrary at times, he really isn’t that. He’ll deal.” She couldn’t guarantee that, but The Vile didn’t call her on it.

  “I see. Well, that would be several of the seven. Will The Mistress of Souls abide by such an arrangement, however?”

  Eve looked at Keels, who stared back a little blankly.

  “If the terms suit her, too? Yes. As far as I’ve ever heard, she keeps her word, really well. Most of you do, so that isn’t a real question. No, the real one is this: why the fuck didn’t you all see this for yourselves? Not that I’m complaining, since I’m going to make a pretty penny off of this, but this seems like you’ve all been set up, doesn’t it? Who did it? Tarsus? He’s in charge of your council, isn’t he?” She was throwing things out, because the name had come up and it was clear that someone wanted her to go there. The others would correct her, no doubt.

  Except no one did at all.

  “Tarsus… I cannot confirm that, and denying it would be no better.” It was the kind of thing government officials said all the time to make it seem like they were hiding things, when what they were covering up was something totally different.

  “I see. Still, get with the others, if it’s safe for you, and have them get in touch with me, if they want in on this. Fast, since I doubt I can stall more than a few days. Luckily, Keels is a better person than I am, so she might cut you all some slack. Maybe. I’ll let her know not to make a try for you right now, for say, a month, if you agree not to act against her, or plan to, for that time? No loopholes though. No tricks. Is that agreeable?”

  The voice was a bit warmer then, “it is, Snowflake. Can we extend that to be between you and I as well? For the same duration? I will not act against you, for one month, and in return, you offer me the same protection?”

  That seemed a bit weird, but after thinking about it long enough that it probably seemed like she was going to say no, Eve agreed.

  “With no tricks involved?”

  “I can agree to that, if you do, too?”

  “Fine then. One month. That doesn’t go for the others, unless they get in touch and confirm it however.”

  “I’ll inform them all of this. Thank you for your help, Eve. I hope that, in the future, we can be friends, you and I?”

  She didn’t know what to say to that, but it sounded good, even if he was a disgusting mess of rotten flesh all the time. They could be email buddies, maybe?

  “I’d like that, and hope so, too. Thanks.”

  “Goodbye, for now, Snowflake.”

  “Vile.”

  Then she hung up, wondering how many mistakes she’d just made.

  Darla grinned at her, and winked at Keeley.

  “See Keels, that’s how a Greater Demon acts. A hundred million buy in to broker a bargain that doesn’t even exist yet, making it seem like it’s worth doing. Brilliant. That’s a whole month of a truce, too, if you noticed? That cuts down the potential attacks by nearly a seventh, unless there are hidden players in this. It’s likely of course. Now we just need to find where Finias is being held. My bet is that Tarsus has him.”

  Eve furrowed her brows, “um, isn’t he your leader, more or less?”

  Keeley gave her a look that looked ancient, even if they were really the same age, more or less. It wafted off of her though, sending a greater chill down Eve’s spine than she’d experienced since she’d died.

  “Better than that, he’s my grandfather. We don’t get along that well though. I blame that on…” She looked over at Darla, and then shrugged, “okay, so, I found out that Angels are real, and that Greater Demons can’t hold the concept very easily. I’ve told you about this
before, and had you write up a statement to that effect, and hide it in your safe spot. We’ve done this about ten times now, but the fact is that Tarsus has worked out that the Arch Angel Michael is a Greater Demon, called The Void. It goes deeper than that, too, but the end point is that he isn’t really certain that I’m not involved in this somehow. It’s making him wonder how dangerous I really am.”

  Darla didn’t seem amused, “I don’t think so. I can go and check…”

  Keeley just sat, and Eve looked from one to the other.

  “Or Keeley can go off and do her thing, and you can go shopping with me? I need to borrow your fashion sense, not having much of that myself. I have some things I need to dress up for, including a date tomorrow night. Though given everything…”

  Darla seemed happier with that idea.

  “We can do that. Now that this is a known thing, the attack on Keeley, the rest of us should be safe enough. You especially, since ruining a chance for a binding truce wouldn’t be worth getting rid of you. Either of us, most likely. Notice that they just locked me up in a very good trap? It was too, which argues for Tarsus. He both insists on that method in the main, and is one of the best when it comes to complex magics. I’ll take it apart later, and see if he left any signs on it.”

  That got a grin from Keels, “Darla, what were we just talking about? In your secret vault? Do you member?”

  “We were talking about shopping, and what a prick Tarsus is…”

  Eve sighed, “got it. So it really is a blind spot for you people? Like Humans… And almost everything?”

  “Yup. No big thing. In the end it probably won’t make a difference. This does mean that I’m the single sanest Greater Demon in reality, however. Just to point that one out.” Her words were smooth, and her sister looked annoyed, but didn’t comment.