by Margot Fox
Fine, so maybe he is telling me the truth, she admitted to herself. Just effing great.
“Still don't believe me?” he said with a bemused lilt. “You'll figure it out. Actually, maybe you could use some time alone. I see some of your fan club ambling this way. I think I'll go check on Stark.”
Gunner pulled away and she plucked at his shirt.
“No, no, I'm sorry,” she mumbled quickly, looking over his shoulder at Reggie and Todd as they shuffled carefully toward her. “Why don’t you stay, Gunner? Please?”
Gunner chuckled softly and tugged his shirt out of her grasp. “Oh, you'll be fine. These are your people, remember?”
And with that, he was gone. Reggie and Todd blinked for a moment as though unsure whether or not they had seen a person talking to her and then continued forward. As they approached, she could pick out the tiny corpuscles on the surfaces of their yellow stained eyes, the grayish cast around their collars. She felt like she could actually count the throngs of germs nestled in the fabric of their T-shirts.
“You came,” Reggie said in a tone that was clearly an accusation.
Tesa shifted uncomfortably on the barstool. “Why wouldn't I come?”
“Well after the way you just ran off on Grant like that, I guess nobody thought you'd be here today,” Reggie said, enunciating every word. Todd stood right behind him, his lips pressed together in a tight line.
“I didn't run off on Grant!” Tesa shot back.
She realized her words were coming out more forcefully than she intended because of the exertion she was using to keep herself from throwing up. Didn't these two ever wash their clothes?
“He said you did,” Todd snarled back. “He said you just never came back. You calling him a liar?”
“Well, no,” she sputtered. “I mean yes , that sort of happened but—”
“ — and did you sort of just end up shacking up immediately with some other rich guy?”
“I wouldn’t call it shacking—”
“ — without even touching base? Not even a text?”
Tesa put her hands up. Obviously they were all getting off on the wrong foot. She remembered hanging out with these guys in Grant’s apartment. Reggie was the one who had knocked the TV over with the pizza box.
“I'm not calling him a liar,” Tesa mumbled defensively, but neither of them seemed to hear her anymore.
“You know what, you look different,” Reggie accused. “Doesn't she look different?”
“Yeah, you look better,” Todd agreed. “Thicker.”
“It’s only been a couple of weeks, guys,” She scowled.
Tesa looked back and forth between them. Obviously already drunk, they were exhaling a cloud of Miller Light and Jack Daniels fumes. Though they didn't look very much different, she could suddenly see subtle things she had never noticed before.
Reggie and Todd both squinted at her, telegraphing a lot of emotions that she suspected they were actually trying to hide. They both had similar expressions of mistrust and hunger in their faces, hidden just behind their uneasy smiles.
They were calculating something. She felt like they were measuring her responses to them and deciding how much they could get away with. How dangerous they needed to be. She could catalog the movements of tiny muscles in their faces and assess how much threat they contained. Had they always been this full of menace?
Cautiously, Tesa began sliding off the far end of the barstool, thinking it might be a good idea to keep it as a barrier between her and them. The tip of Reggie's tongue just barely poked out of his mouth, and he slid it along the top edge of his lower lip slowly, wetting it.
“Yeah, girls like you always make out okay,” Reggie sneered.
“I don't know what you’re talking about,” she hedged.
“Sure you do, honey,” Reggie shot back. “You got what you needed from Grant, right? And now you're with those guys.”
“Yeah, those guys, ” Todd repeated, edging to the side and positioning himself almost behind her. Tesa realized they were closing her in, pinning her up against the bar. Her eyes swung around the room, looking for Gunner or Stark.
“You let them bite you?” Todd asked abruptly.
Tesa gasped. She pivoted to face him and stared him up and down. “How did you —”
“Everybody knows, Tesa. Everybody.”
“Nah, she didn't let them bite her,” Reggie scoffed, picking up her wrist and wrenching her arm back. The Clean Blood Badge glowed softly sky-blue. “See this? She’s still clean.”
“Yeah, of course I am,” she objected automatically.
“ Yeah, of course I am ,” Reggie sang, imitating her. “ I wouldn't let no filthy vampire bite me, guys! I just screwed over your buddy, Grant —”
“— to hang out with these vamps,” Todd finished.
Tesa shook her head. What they were saying was not making any sense, no sense at all.
“Listen, Grant and I were just friends. You know it wasn't anything serious, but I cared about him… I did —”
“— I did! ” Reggie wailed, rolling his eyes comically and shaking his hands in the air.
“Sure you did,” Todd snarled. “That's why you’re with those vampire scumbags now, right?”
“They're not scumbags! They’re just —”
“— they’re just the single greatest threat to mankind, right? Living right here under our noses?”
Tesa shook her head. Todd had always struck her as one of those weirdo political conspiracy guys, but she had never heard him talk about vampires, not even once. Right? She searched her memory and couldn’t find anything. Taxes, oil prices, the gold standard, some kind of time machine he was trying to build in his garage… Yes, she’d heard it all while he was perched on a barstool or belligerent on the corner of Grant’s sofa. But she couldn't remember him ever talking about the vamps.
He held up his wrist, showing a first-generation Clean Blood Badge like Jolie's. “Why do you think we got these, huh? This is the front line in the battle against these —”
“ — yeah right ,” Reggie interrupted, rolling his eyes. “I seem to recall that when your job first made you get that thing, you said it marked the end of civilization. Government oversight. A tracking device. Mind control…”
“Yeah, well, I changed my mind!” Todd snapped back, thrusting his chin out stubbornly. “I did my research, okay? This blood badge is all that stands between us and the vampire blight. They want to take us, you know that? They want to use us all for food —”
Tesa felt a hand on her elbow, pulling her. She stumbled in the direction and almost fell against Stark’s chest.
“Oh, now who's this?” Todd said, now energized and ready to fight. “Who the hell do you think you are? Are you one of them?”
Wait, he doesn't know? Tesa wondered. Oh, maybe Todd doesn't know quite as much as he thinks he does!
“Stark, this is Todd and Reggie… Friends of Grant’s,” Tesa explained politely, holding her hand out like a game show host.
Stark grumbled some kind of noise of affirmation. Reggie scowled and scrubbed his hand over his forehead, clearly uncomfortable. “What are you dressed for, in a suit? What do you think this is, a —"
“— a memorial,” Stark purred, finishing the thought for him. Reggie and Todd glanced at each other uncomfortably.
“Tesa?” Stark said in a low voice, offering his elbow gallantly. “I was wondering if I might tear you away from your friends for just a moment and have a word?”
“Um, oh yes,” Tesa sighed gratefully. “Sorry, Reggie. Sorry, Todd. I've got to talk to my friend about something.”
Reggie and Todd edged backward obediently though their faces looked completely puzzled and seethed with resentment. Stark walked Tesa smoothly toward the front door, deftly maneuvering her through small groups of three or four people who were chatting among themselves in lowered voices.
“Thank you for that,” she breathed. “All of a sudden they just started, like, ha
ssling me. I didn’t know how I was going to get away from them! How did you even —”
“ — you broadcast your thoughts,” Stark growled, his tone clearly displeased.
Tesa stumbled. “I do what?”
“I can’t believe everyone in here didn't hear it,” he said, shaking his head. “Maybe it's a byproduct of the blood —”
“— oh good, another byproduct,” she interrupted.
“Yes, and there are many, ” he snarled, suddenly dropping his head so that his lips were only millimeters away from her ear. His breath was hot and insistent, practically scalding her skin.
“Stark, you're hurting me,” she whimpered as his fingers closed around the flesh of her upper arm.
“You need to learn how to control yourself, Tesa. You're going to find that not everyone wants to indulge your every quirk.”
“That's enough!” she snapped. She put up her hand between them, stop . “I'm tired of you trying to scare me, Stark. It's not going to work anymore. “
Stark rocked back slightly on his heels and looked her over with his eyebrows raised.
“You heard me,” she insisted in a low growl, feeling bolder by the second. It was startling how much he had changed. He had seemed so urbane, so polite. But now she knew that was an act, a thin veneer that was always ready to splinter against the slightest pressure.
As the days had gone on, he barely pretended anymore. Now that she had seen the snarling animal he could be, what would be the point?
“That's right, I'm not buying your big scary vampire act anymore. You need me , not the other way around. So back off, Stark!”
To her complete and utter surprise, he did. Stark took a half step backward, executed a stiff, subtle bow, and left through the front door.
CHAPTER 15
Gunner backed away from Tesa as two surly, drunken men stumbled toward her. From the looks on their faces, Gunner could tell Tesa was in for an uncomfortable conversation.
Great , he thought to himself. Maybe she’ll appreciate my company a little more.
As he made his way around the U shaped bar to the other side, he kept a safe distance from the small groups of people who were talking amongst themselves. Though it was supposed to be a memorial for Grant, that didn't seem to keep anyone from laughing out loud or trying to get a partner for a game of pool.
Gratefully, Bernie had disengaged the jukebox in the corner, the only nod to civility that Gunner could find. With the open bar, it seemed as though most of the people here had forgotten they were supposed to be honoring Grant’s memory at all. It was just an excuse to drink for free.
Gunner sucked the inside of his cheek in distaste. Though his opinion of humans was somewhat higher than Stark’s, he had to admit that it was difficult to find a lot of redeeming qualities in them. Gathered like this, drunk in the middle of the day and loud and smelly as ever, they certainly weren't a whole lot better than the cattle Stark usually referred to them as.
Out of the corner of his eye, Gunner saw Bernie's subtle nod. He veered toward her, resting his elbow on the bar as she leaned forward.
“Quite a crowd,” he said politely.
Bernie polished a pint glass with a white towel and nodded, looking around. Her heavily made up face barely concealed her own feelings of distaste.
“Well, it's just the other regulars, some people Grant knew. I guess it's the least I could do. Feels weird that there was no funeral or anything, though.”
Gunner arched an eyebrow. “Oh?”
Bernie shrugged one shoulder. “Funerals are for people who can pay for funerals,” she said simply. “Weird, right? It's a privilege.”
The front door opened and her eyes flickered over to it then back to the glass.
“Waiting for someone?”
Bernie jerked her chin in a half nod. Gunner waited, sensing her increasing nervousness. Finally she dropped her eyes and opened her thickly glossed lips to speak several times before any sound came out.
“Listen,” she began nervously, “that favor… You know how you guys owe me a favor?”
Gunner said nothing and simply waited.
“I think… I haven't seen Jolie in a few days. Lately she’s been hard to pin down, but at least she always came home. Now I don't know where she is.”
Gunner tipped his head to the side, inviting her to continue.
“I think… I think something's happened to her. I think she's doing something she shouldn't.”
Bernie looked up at him, her eyes frightened and dark. Then she quickly looked away, as though nervous about making too much eye contact.
“Certainly, I could inquire,” Gunner said carefully. “I'd be happy to ask my people —”
“— no, you ,” she insisted. “I don't want you making inquiries, spreading rumors or anything. I want you to do it. You and Stark. That was our deal, right? That you guys owed me a favor?”
Gunner shifted, careful not to give her the impression that he was declining her request.
“All right, as you wish,” he said evenly. “And do you have your suspicions? Somewhere you would like me to start?”
Her eyes flickered back up to his and this time she didn't let go. He could see the naked fear in her face beneath the glitter and the blush. Beneath the caked on mascara, here was a mother who was plainly afraid.
“I'm scared she's gone to the vamps, Gunner. I'm afraid that you people have her.”
“Well, she is an adult, isn't she? Perhaps she's just gone to —”
“— you people have her! ” she hissed, nearly dropping the pint glass from her hands. “I know it! I can feel it! Now do what you said you would do —”
Gunner slid his hand across the bar, touching her exposed elbow lightly. Instantly, she seemed to relax. Her heartbeat slowed, and he could feel her relief as it quieted her mind. After a couple of seconds, he withdrew his hand.
“Don't do that,” she grumbled sullenly, but her voice was no longer as tense.
“I apologize,” he murmured. “I don't want you to be afraid.”
She nodded, seeming to understand. “You’ll do it?”
“We will,” he said.
“And the other thing?"
Gunner glanced over at Tesa. She was off her barstool, backing away from the other men Grant had known. Gunner could hear her thoughts winding up, a chatter in her mind that seemed too loud, too intense. Automatically he began to pivot in that direction, but Bernie's hand caught his wrist.
“Gunner, answer me please,” Bernie insisted.
Gunner jerked his chin toward the back door, catching Stark’s attention as he reentered. Their eyes met for a brief moment before Gunner focused his attention back on Bernie.
“Yes, I assure you. This place will be vampire-free. Everything is taken care of,” he said confidently.
“When I think of all that… I mean, she got so close to me. I never knew. You have to believe me, I never knew!”
He nodded reassuringly.
“I mean, Yvonne ?” Bernie said incredulously. “It just doesn't make any sense. The rest of you are all so… I don't even know how to describe it. Like models or actors or something. Yvonne just seemed… lonely.”
“She said that?” Gunner asked immediately.
Bernie shrugged. “Maybe not in words. Maybe it was just a feeling.”
“That's exactly what she needed you think,” Gunner explained. “To be frank I don’t think lonely would be a word in her vocabulary.”
Out of the corner of his eye he could see Stark directing Tesa back to the front door.
“I mean, she was right here. Right in front of me. I never knew.”
“That's all right now. It can't happen again. The bar is safe now.”
“You're sure?”
He nodded, too distracted now to continue this conversation.
“We will locate Jolie for you,” he said.
“Thank you,” she said. He could smell the relief on her breath. “I just don't know what I would do
if anything —”
“— there is no reason to think that now,” he snapped and pivoted away from the bar.
As Gunner walked toward the front door, he reached out to Stark mentally and alerted him to the change in plans. Stark took a step backward from Tesa, bowed briefly, and walked to the front door, pushing it open and disappearing into the darkening parking lot.
Tesa crossed her arms over her chest as Gunner reached her.
“I'm beginning to think I really just hate you both,” she snarled, meeting Gunner’s eyes only briefly and then looking away, her jaw set in a stubborn line.
“How about we go dancing?”
Tesa rocked back on her heels as if pushed. “Did you even hear what I said?”
Gunner strolled to the front door and held open for her gallantly. “I heard you, princess.”
Tesa pouted as she trudged into the parking lot. Jamie walked around the idling Bentley and opened her car door for her.
“You do dance, don't you?” Gunner asked as he slid into the back of the luxury car.
“Of course I dance!” she huffed. “Are you just going to ignore everything that I say to you? And where is Stark?"
Gunner sat back in his seat, unbuttoning his shirt sleeves and rolling them up.
“Stark doesn't need to be with us right now. You and I can go out alone.”
“What, like a date ? I don't want to go on a date with you.”
Smirking arrogantly, Gunner pushed his perfect hair back off his smooth forehead. “Of course you do.”
Tesa bit the inside of her lip, reminding herself not to fall into the trap of answering every douchey thing Gunner said.
“No, seriously… Is Stark just gonna walk home?”
Gunner shrugged. “We don't really call it walking .”
Tesa started to speak but then remembered the way he could run at that superhuman speed. Despite herself, she felt a little flicker of a thrill inside her heart. That was a pretty cool trick, she had to admit.
“So why do you even have a driver, if you guys can just fly like Superman everywhere?”
Gunner drew his wrist up to his mouth and bared his lips, flipping those perfect, white fangs into place. He paused.