Dead Certain (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 3)

by P. S. Power

  Ben cleared his throat, and held his fingers just a little bit apart.

  “Maybe a tiny fraction of a bit too fast? I’ll think of a plan. Would Tuesday work for you? I have that night off.”

  She leaned in and kissed him, which was returned, even if she had just put his dick in her mouth. That was a good sign. She always felt so dirty when she did a guy and he wouldn’t even let her mouth touch his after. Like she was tainted. Ben didn’t have that kind of issue. The beard did tickle, but it wasn’t unpleasant, so she just did that for a while, then climbed out.

  “I need to get back to work. Next time, we can do more? I brought lube for this, and didn’t need it.” She opened her knap-sack, and changed her shoes while standing. The running shoes made her feel shorter and more stable at the same time.

  “I could give you a ride? It isn’t out of my way.”

  “And have me get all lazy? Bey would be disappointed if I did that. Call me? For real? No need to wait three days to seem like you don’t care. I won’t hold it against you.”

  “Okay. I’ll do that.”

  Then, because she’d done the overbearing part of the night pretty well, she leaned in and kissed him a few more times, and then took off so fast she’d seemed to vanish.

  That got her back to work directly, only to find that Barb was still there, smirking at her when she went to the back to change into some more practical clothing.

  “There she is. Date end early? It’s barely one. Tell me the truth, is he a minute man?”

  “Nope. It went well, and he’s fine that way. Better than average really. Then he gets to have sex whenever he wants, so I imagine he isn’t that nervous about it all. I told him he could bone you too, if he wants, so you should carry some lube with you from now on, just in case.”

  “Oh? I didn’t know I was yours to give away.” She was playing, and only a bit tense over it.

  “Well, actually, what I said was that he had to ask first, if he wanted to do it, but that I’d say yes. We’re buds after all. Not that you’d try to steal him, since, you know, that would give me good nickname fodder. I did go over the whole not having a sex drive thing. Really I’m almost certain I said way too much, but hey, he didn’t run off, so unless he never calls again, it might have worked. I give it a twenty-eighty split? Eighty that he never talks to me again.” She meant it, but Barb smiled, and shook her head.

  “Nah. You’re pretty hot, and from what I can see as low maintenance as they come. Sure he gets Alede all the time, but you can’t have a real relationship with one of them, can you? Not long term. With you, he can. Um… I was thinking of making a play for Troy. We’ve kind of been seeing each other for a while. It isn’t exactly inside the rules, but he’s been talking about becoming one of us, so… What do you think?’

  She stared for a bit, not knowing what the other woman was asking, really.

  “You mean, as for sneaking him into the training program? Or are you asking if I’d be cool with that, since we kind of had a thing for a while?’

  Barb blinked several times.

  “I meant the second one, but that’s a good point. Can we do that? Also, he’s… Kind of tied to a Greater Demon. We’d have to do it quick, right? To break the link, or his master might take him away. It… Isn’t going to work, is it?” She seemed legitimately sad about it. Like she’d cry if it were physically possible.

  That was good to know. She was, bad nicknames and moodiness aside, a good person. So was Troy. It could work.

  “Well, technically, I traded with the Greater Demon Finias, The Mind Taker, earlier today, helping him out of a maze for one Troy Lopez. Which you were here for, even if you didn’t get what that meant at the time. So, yes, he can become one of us, if he can get through the training program, and wants to. Also, I’m willing to let him in on the training, if he can start in a few days? He knows enough to not be behind the others as far as knowledge goes. Actually, we might have to let him teach some classes. It isn’t like he hasn’t been around us for years, is it?”

  Barb clapped.

  “Really? That’s wonderful! I’ll call him right now.” She ran off to do that, going to the back, while Eve grabbed a clean rag, and started wiping the entire room down. She didn’t listen, not on purpose. Since it was Troy’s choice.

  If he didn’t want to be one of them, she’d accept that and go on. They were friends, but not much more than that. If Barb wanted to try really dating him, Eve could let that go. Edom might have a problem with it, but then, maybe not. His objection wouldn’t have been anti-Troy anyway, just being about not wanting to lose the valuable daytime portion of his abilities, being a Human.

  They could get around that, if they worked on it, she didn’t doubt.

  Barb ended up going to the club, but seemed really happy, so Eve just waved at her, and kept working. It wasn’t hard, and while no Greater Demons came in, plenty of Vampires did, mainly to get blood, though three of them wanted different permissions for things. One woman wanted to get her friend into the training program, having promised to bring her over, before the Council had basically forbidden that. Luckily the girl that came with her was both of age, and willing to fight for a place in the program.

  Literally, but Eve winked at her when the thin, and just past average looking woman with glasses said that part.

  “Not needed. I’ll tell you about it, and if you seem sane, and want to do it, you’re in. It will be hard, and miserable, which is the point, so don’t think I’m overselling how difficult it will be. The purpose is to make it harder for you than being a Vampire will be, in some ways, so you can learn the needed self-control now, as a Human, where you can build up to it. Or back off and take a short break if it’s needed.” She outlined the whole thing, including the starvation, the temptations put in her path, and having to meditate daily.

  The girl was willing to start right then, at that very moment, her face shining a bit.

  “Not yet. It will really start in a few days. You can drop out at any time, or not show up, and no one will say anything. You just won’t get to be a Vampire. You get that? It isn’t a trick or anything, but if you can’t put the effort in, then we can’t use you as one of us.”

  Her Vampire friend, who looked to have been in her mid-thirties when she died, seemed annoyed by the whole thing, but she didn’t say that, trying to be a good example, hopefully.

  When they left, a few hours later, actually, a dead man came in for some paperwork, since he was having a dispute with another Vampire in the area and wanted to kill the jerk. It might be allowed, she knew, but they had to send the papers into the Council first, and would need to call and check into the situation. If it could be resolved peacefully, then it would be.

  Then, just as daylight started to come, there was a rush on the place. It was a real one, with ten Vampires she didn’t recognize trying to rob them. For blood.

  It had happened before, once, but those Vampires had been mind controlled into doing it, by a group of Mages. This group, who all seemed new and freshly made, tried to menace her with sticks and knives.

  Holding her forehead, she spoke, as gently as possible. It was just so hard not to snicker at them.

  “Holy fuck, people. Do we really have to do this? I don’t want to spend all day burying you. I have things to do, you know. So, how about you all leave, right now, before you die? It’s a better chance than most people get, so you might want to take it.” Eve waited, but, to the misfortune of the ten walking corpses, several others came to the door just then. Ed, Lenore, Ginger and Bey, to be exact.

  That made things worse, since the agitated men and women, who all smelled a little bit, seemed to understand who at least some of the others were.

  “The ambassador and his minions! Run!”

  The problem there was that running toward Edom, and he was who they meant, it was obvious, was right out, so they headed into the back.

  Eve waved as they tried for the door, several of them moving like they were about
to die for the day. Right where they stood, barely able to keep their feet. Which made coming in right then a bad plan, since everyone at the embassy, no matter who they were, would be up all day now.

  Smiling, Eve shook her head.

  “Come on, guys. Really… If you want to live, I suggest you start begging, or the small girl there is going to have to kill you all. You really don’t want to mess with the Vampire Ginger. So, drop your weapons, put your hands up, and pray she lets you live?” She was trying to sound cute, but it came out a bit commanding, like she was deadly serious about it all.

  Them giving up didn’t happen. On the good side, when they turned to fight, screaming, they all went for Ginger, who flickered out of existence, and started beating them senseless, not being touched at all, by any of the would be thieves. She wasn’t acting lethally, but they were still going down, and being contained to the back room. Sometimes because she tossed them there when they tried to rush past her. None of the others moved to help her, so Eve just stood back and called out to the would be attackers.

  “Give up! Beg for mercy, it’s the only thing that will save you!”

  Funnily enough, after about five minutes and a few iterations of her own shouting, they actually did it. Dropping to their knees, those that still had weapons tossing them away. Then they begged, long and hard.

  Ginger stood there, looking at them fiercely, as several of them started to die for the day.

  As the last one went down, Bey moved in and clapped Ginger on the shoulder.

  “Ah! Very good, Miss Harris, you have subdued them all, and left them alive for questioning. We should call for transportation and take them to a safer place, where they won’t be harmed, when they wake, until after they can be examined. Can you find that information and make the arrangements, Ginger?”

  The girl nodded, seeming pleased with herself. She should be, so Eve didn’t let herself feel jealous, even if Bey was paying attention to her. It hadn’t been great fighting, but her speed had been enough, and she’d taken on ten angry Vampires all at once. It got Eve to smile, since not every Vampire would have done as well. Most wouldn’t have, since it was creeping up on time for them to die for the day.

  “Cool. I have a thing, later tonight, but I can help load these guys and gals when the truck gets here?”

  Bey looked at her, his face a bit annoyed.

  “Truly? What do you have to do, that is of more value than finding out who sent these beings to us? They were, it seems directed at you, if ineptly.”

  Eve grinned at him, understanding his thoughts on the matter.

  “Well, I need to go and find a way to free Maggie Sims from a Greater Demon. We’re having that meeting finally, to try and get her free? You’re invited, by the way. As a guest of the Greater Demon Fram, The Bold, so that you won’t feel the need to go after him later. That’s the thought anyway. It should be fun? It was supposed to be on Sunday, but I’m pushing it ahead if I can, to keep Fram off guard.” She needed to let him know about that, but she could call in a bit for that. He’d probably expect it, but it was just about all she could do to mess with him, inside the rules they had.

  Bey, seeming suddenly like second Christmas had been announced beamed at her. It was a nice thing to see, but she waved at Ginger, not wanting to steal her moment.

  “Besides, this was taken care of already.”

  Ginger dashed to the back office moving toward the front of the shop, and Eve started to clean up the mess that the scuffling had made. It wasn’t too bad, considering how many Vampires had been about to die if she’d done anything.

  That she wasn’t even joking caught her off guard though. So did the fact that having Ginger do it was the better option by far. The girl wasn’t a killer in the same way she was.

  It was tidier.

  Chapter twenty-one

  Lyn showed up at six, dressed up in a nice outfit that was probably pretty close to what a slightly dressy soccer mom might have worn to a PTA meeting. Eve was just in a black set of clothing that had the dressiness of a potato sack. They were new clothes though, and some of the tough ones she’d gotten on the shopping trip. She even had on black running shoes to match. It worked for both working at the shop, and a spot of Demon killing.

  If she didn’t end up just talking and not getting anything done at all.

  She’d called Fram, who acted like it had always been on Saturday, even though she was certain they’d said Sunday before. That was either because she was confused about her world, or he was trying to throw her off. This time, she really thought it would be that second one.

  She glanced at the Japanese looking Greater Demon as she stood in front of the stone topped sales counter.

  “I’ll trade you some of the new waffle cone products for your opinion on them, if you want? We’ll want real feedback for them.” It was a Demon thing, or at least a Greater Demon one. They didn’t offer each other food for free. Eve had tried to hold to that, too, in case it wasn’t polite for Vampires either.

  The lady in front of her smiled, seeming happy enough with the whole situation. Then, she was going to be able to get her spy on, without being more than a slightly nosy grandmother. It was all above board even, and agreed to by all relevant parties, so no one would be risking anything, having her there, pretending to be Eve’s new mentor. As insane as that sounded.

  “That would be nice. I’ll try to be as accurate as possible.”

  It took a few minutes to get the new cones going, since they were best when sort of fresh. Not too much so, since they needed to be cool enough not to melt the soft serve. It took a bit of technique to drizzle in the sauces right, making it a part of the extruded line of creamy treat, but she’d gotten, if not good at it, then proficient enough that it still looked pretty good.

  The real trick was decorating the things so they looked incredible, like a sundae, while leaving them stable enough that a person could still eat them without making a vast mess.

  For about twenty minutes, after the first batch of ten cones was done, she just fed the other woman, who had claimed a booth, and actually did make good suggestions about the products. Eve wrote it all down, since it was good info to have. A normal person might have slowed in their eating, but this woman, as small as she was, just took the things in with no sign of needing to stop.

  At fifteen till, she stood, and used a single napkin to wipe her hands and face, which didn’t seem to need it.

  “We should go and make certain the space is ready for us. Do you have someone coming to watch your place here?”

  She looked out the front, and then made a face.

  “Yes? David should be here. Actually he should have come in forty-five minutes ago. That… Well, he’s not a horrible person, but if he wasn’t waylaid in order to mess with my time schedule, then it’s probably something like he got caught in traffic, or his car broke down. That could happen, right?” Eve knew it was a bit over the top suggesting that kind of thing, not having any evidence, but Lyn nodded.

  “It could, of course. I think we can assume…” She stopped since a Vampire ran in then, moving fast enough to get her attention, but not enough to really freak anyone out.

  It was David and he looked panicked, but also contrite and not like someone had removed half his face. When he slid to a stop, leaving marks on the floor, he looked at Eve and made a face.

  “Sorry! I got side tracked, talking to a guy about a new car, and didn’t realize how late I was running.”

  Eve could have thrown a fit about it, and she did feel a bit upset. After all, she had a big, possibly fatal, meeting to go to, and here he was late, because he wanted a prettier ride? That he was concerned with looks, and not just having a second, more reliable vehicle was just a fact in her mind. It was who he was. Not truly lazy, but not motivated enough to really get ahead. Not stupidly vain, but into how things looked enough to throw the world around him off, just a bit.

  “No big thing, this time. I need to run, so handle things here
?” She moved quickly, taking her apron off and leaving it tucked below the counter, even though they were supposed to be hung up in the back.

  She’d fix that later, but it occurred to her, as she walked out, that David being late was influencing her actions.

  “Hey, is this, David being late, me putting my apron beneath the counter, because it’s faster, is that part of a trap? We’re dealing with Greater Demons, and the idea that Fram isn’t acting alone isn’t exactly news, right?”

  Lyn smiled at her, and patted her on the back, gently.

  “Good thinking. Probably not however. If you were made late to this, Fram would simply have to wait. To do otherwise would be courting war, with enough of us in attendance that even he wouldn’t risk it. Now, you have a plan for the proceedings?”

  They were walking quickly, so got to the side door of the Node room, the little one that looked like it was probably to a hallway, if not a supply closet, but that opened into the large stone floored and wood paneled room. Inside there were several beings, all familiar to her.

  Zack, of course, who was glaring a bit at a good looking tall man with blonde hair and broad shoulders, standing not three feet from him, near the back of the space. Keeley was there too, dressed in a black skirt and a white top, making her look a bit like a sexy schoolgirl, if a bit too old to really pull that off outside of a strip club anymore. Plus, it really should have been plaid for that. Darla was next to a device on the floor.

  Eve assumed it was that kind of thing, anyway. It had eight large gold colored round things, set in a rectangular pattern, around a space that was about ten by twelve or so. Off to the side was Dan Carmichael, next to both Maggie and Bey. They seemed a bit odd. Not nervous, but definitely not all that happy to be there.

  Eve walked up to the one person she didn’t recognize. They were all shape shifters, so she could work out who it probably was. Either that, or she was going to have to hunt Fram down, for breaking their deal.

  “Bold? Are you ready?”