by S. L. Eaves
The monitor on Nile's desk beeps.
“We got a hit,” he confirms. “Oh man, you're not going to believe this.”
She lowers her phone and walks over.
“The vampire was a former agent?” She regards the screen quizzically.
He shakes his head. “This didn't come back for the deceased vampire, it came back for the female assailant.”
“Well what do you know...”
She taps the classification designation at the bottom of the screen; one of the few lines on the file that hasn't been redacted.
“Where is Abrams stationed these days?”
Niles runs a quick search in the database, “Deputy Director in the DCO.”
“Good, pull up his number. I need to get him in here.”
Chapter 17
Gwen looks up as I come out of the back room.
“Everything okay?”
I nod, “I just had to tell the boss man I’m going to be out of town indefinitely. Family emergency.”
“Sorry to hear that. I could use the hours though,” she says, her back to me while she’s stacking clean glassware. I'd called and asked her to cover after hashing out a makeshift plan with Crina, who'd opted to get a jump on surveillance rather than participate in my ‘little vampire hunter meetup’ as she put it.
“Where you off to?”
“Georgia.”
“No kidding, you don't strike me as a southerner. In fact I thought I detected a New York accent.”
“Could be. I moved around a lot. I have family up and down the east coast.”
The New York accent outs me a lot. I really need to get better at cover stories.
“So you fled west. You and half the population of this town.”
“Pretty much.”
She turns from the glasses and leans over to me. “Check out the guy at the corner table. He came in here a few minutes ago and ordered a whiskey. Has burn scars across half his face.”
I freeze, trying to hide my panic as I turn left and risk making eye contact. She looks from him to me, I don’t recover fast enough.
“Weak stomach?” she jokes, whispering, “You think they’re real or for a movie? He looks like he just walked off a film set.”
“They’re real,” I reply dryly.
“How can you tell?”
I gave them to him.
“I know him.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. What’d you say he ordered?”
“Whiskey. Rocks.”
“Mind pouring two more?”
She reads the tension in my voice and regards him suspiciously as she fixes our drinks. I feel Striden smiling at my back and I’m wondering what his endgame is.
Keeping my phone at my side below the lip of the bar, I send off a quick text to Crina with the bar's address and 9-1-1.
“Put these on his tab,” I mutter, picking up the drinks.
He watches my approach, taking a little too much joy in my unrest. I set the glasses down on the table. It's less of a peace offering and more a delay tactic and an attempt to keep him from tearing this place apart.
“Do we have to do this here? Can I at least clear out the humans?”
“I’m not here for that.” Striden gestures at the seat across from him. “Join me for a drink.”
When I don't move, he nudges the wooden chair with his foot.
“I'm not asking. Sit or this goes south real quick.”
I hesitate, glance around for a quick head count, half expecting the tables around him to be filled with wolves – they aren’t; I then slide into the seat across from him.
“What are you doing here?”
Striden leans back, his posture relaxed, almost jovial.
“You work here?”
“You proving you can get to me? Because I think you made that point very clear last night.”
“You walk here often. Makes you very easy to track. I must admit I had you figured for a patron, imagine my surprise when I realized this is your place of employment.”
“Why is everyone so shocked I have a job?”
At that Striden raises his eyebrows, laughs, “And I see you got yourself contacts. Nice touch. Wish we could all hide so easily.”
He empties his glass. Pushes it aside and slides over the round I’d brought him.
“Easy isn’t the word I would use…”
I’m trying to figure out the right play if things turn sour. When things turn sour.
“I understand the need for integration. Trust me. But this makes you vulnerable. And I do like to exploit weaknesses.”
“Not following.”
“The human element. You are handing me leverage should it come to that.”
Ah. Right. Classic. Predictable.
“I’ve kept my distance, I’m not close with any of them. You'll have to do better than that.”
I regret the words as soon as I say them as something tells me he can. Trying to match his confidence, I take a sip of my drink and try to look as unflustered as possible.
He's relishing the moment nonetheless.
“You think it’s smart to walk around downtown L.A.?”
“I won’t be in town long and I don’t plan on leaving a trail. We’re both ghosts, Lori, you and I, if we have anything in common it's that we know how to stay dead.”
“Some better than others,” I grumble. He laughs at that.
“How long we going to play cat and mouse Striden? Cause I’ve got some business to take care of and I’d like to know if your plans are going to derail mine.”
“Your business wouldn’t involve a bunch of headline-making renegade vampires?”
I pause at that. His smile widens.
“Now don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying watching you squirm. Constantly looking over your shoulder, wondering when I'm going to strike next...it's only been a few hours and I'm already taking a great deal of pleasure in this. Almost makes me happy you evaded my grasp last night.”
“They say it's good to not have regrets in life,” I offer dryly.
“True. And I don't have many. So if it were up to me, this would go on for quite a while. My patience is endless, Lori, as is my desire to watch you suffer,” he sighs as the smile fades and eyes go distant.
“But sadly my time is not. I was very pleased to find you. Your apartment was much easier to access than that fortress of a mansion your comrades are holed up in,” he shakes his head, a defeated expression on his face, “I should know. I've tried more than once.”
This is news to me, but I don't show it. We sit in silence for a moment.
I’m trying to decide my next move. Seeing him this relaxed and confident is off-putting, to say the least. This is what he calls fun and it's making my skin crawl.
“Where is she?”
I tilt my head, “Who?”
He laughs at my naivety.
“Crina.”
Good question. Hurry, Crina, hurry.
“I'm not still in touch with my old clan.”
“Nice try. I can smell her on you.”
Fuck.
“Passing through to see if I needed help with the vampires you mentioned earlier. I turned her away. She left just after sundown.”
I see a measure of excitement leave his face.
“Bullshit.”
“I don’t care if you believe me.”
“You didn’t tell her about our encounter? No way she would leave this city knowing I’m in it.”
“Does it hurt your pride that she didn’t care about some burnt up old wolf?” I take a sip of whiskey. “We’ve got a larger problem on our hands at the moment. I'm not going to distract her with yesterday's news.”
“How noble of you.”
“Thanks, no one's ever called me noble before,” I can feel a power shift in the conversation. The arrogance in his face has been replaced with irritation.
“Why?” I ask, eager to change the topic.
“You really need to ask?”
He considers this, sips his drink.
“We are on the outside looking in. I don’t like being on the outside, Lori. I like being the center of attention.”
“So turn and control? That was your solution?”
“We are all monsters, all of us,” he gestures absently at the patrons in the bar. “Humans are no better than us, they are just better at hiding it.”
He leans in so close his breath could get me drunk, “Why should we be the ones who have to hide in the shadows?”
“Because if we step out from them it will throw their world into chaos. You thought having a handful of vampires hunting your packs was bad? Try millions of humans. No one wins.”
Striden straightens, clinks the ice in his glass.
“I almost won.”
“Yes, you did,” I concede.
He starts to say something then stops. I don't want to risk taking my eyes off him even for a second, but when his nostrils flare I follow his gaze to the doorway.
Hailey and Zach are standing by the entrance. They spot us, freeze, exchange nervous glances and hastily exit.
The only thing Striden learned from that brief encounter is that there's another wolf nearby, so I immediately throw it to him.
“Friends of yours?” I feign ignorance.
“I was about to ask you the same thing. They seemed to know you.”
Not much gets past him. I'm trying to read if the recognition in his eyes is something deeper than just the presence of another werewolf.
“Probably just surprised to see a wolf and a vampire in the same bar.”
“Something we'll have to get used to if the world keeps on its current trajectory.”
He stands. I remain seated but slide the piece from my ankle holster. It's the tail end of happy hour and there's easily thirty or forty patrons in the bar. It comes down to how big of a scene we want to make. But he doesn’t start for me, instead he casually drops a wade of bills on the table.
“Been nice chatting, Lori. And I look forward to our next encounter. I'm afraid I have some more pressing business to attend to tonight.” He leans over as he passes me, whispering in my ear, “Tell Crina when I’m through with you I'm coming for her next.”
I watch him leave, texting Crina “Where r u?” as the door shuts behind him. Slipping the gun back into its holster, I rise slowly from the table unsure what my next move should be.
Fuck it. My skin finally stops crawling long enough for me to react. I drop the glasses and the money off at the bar. Gwen is busy talking to a customer so I just wave and take off after him.
Outside I dart frantically around the perimeter of the building looking for a glimpse of where he went. An arm grabs me as I turn the block and yanks me into the alley.
Hailey and Zach shove my back against the wall.
“What the hell was that about? You've been working with Striden the whole time?”
“Whoa,” I say, raising my hands. “It's not what it looks like. I had no clue he'd be there or that he even knew where to find me. Why would I have invited you to the bar if I was going to meet him there, too? That would be dumb even for me.”
“When I told you about our history with S&D you acted like you knew nothing more than what you heard in the news. Clearly, that was a lie. So what else have you been lying about?”
Hailey's pissed, shoving me as she talks.
“It was more an omission than a lie, per say... I may have played a small role in his downfall back then. I really don't have time right now to elaborate.”
“What was his business with you?”
“Revenge. For my part in the destruction of his empire,” I shake free of their grasp. “And I may have had a hand in killing his brother.”
“You what?!” Hailey’s tone shifts from angry to astonished.
“He's the wolf that attacked you last night?” Zach says, putting the pieces together.
There's a blur of motion above us as Crina descends from the neighboring rooftop. Hailey pulls a knife and is promptly disarmed as it clatters to the ground the same time Crina's feet do. She glares menacingly from Hailey to Zach, who holds a stake in a trembling hand. He smartly keeps it lowered at his side.
“You must be the hunters.” She turns to me. “Is this what the 9-1-1 text was about?”
“Guys this is Crina. She's here to help.”
They exchange the same distrusting expressions they wore in the bar.
“First Striden, now another vampire? You must be crazy if you think we're getting mixed up in this nonsense,” Zach takes a few steps back and makes like he's going to storm off. Hailey grabs his sleeve to stop him.
“Striden was here,” I explain to Crina, “in the bar.”
Her eyes harden, “Was? Where is he now?”
“He took off a few minutes ago. I was trying to pursue him, but…well they intercepted me and—”
“We don't have time for this,” Crina draws one of her pistols, points at Zach with her unarmed hand, “Can you track him?”
Zach starts to protest, eyes on the gun. Hailey gives him a pleading look.
He relents. “Maybe. If I start from inside the bar I can try to pick up his scent. But I'm sure he got in a car by now.”
Crina brushes past us out into the sidewalk, she's still holding her gun at her side as she moves towards the door of the bar. I quickly run up beside her.
“A little subtlety goes a long way. He's not still here.”
She stops and the gun disappears back inside her jacket. When Hailey and Zach duck back into the bar, we wait outside.
“Striden recognized them. They walked in and he could barely contain his excitement. They may be part of the reason he's back in town.”
“So the hook's been baited.” She smiles at what she perceives to be the silver lining in all this, “We stay near them and when he makes his move we take him out.”
“That’s not exactly what I was implying…I’m more concerned with why he’s after them…”
Crina, processing this, starts to respond when they re-emerge from the bar.
“This way.” Zach continues down the block while we follow.
“So you worked for S&D?” Crina asks Hailey.
“If you consider getting paid to be their guinea pig, then yes. They tortured me - us - and compensated us for it. I wouldn't call it a job.”
“Fair enough.” Crina's voice softens. “Any idea why he's resurfaced?”
Hailey glances from her to me.
“Ask your friend here. I just learned he was alive five minutes ago.”
We turn the corner and Hailey points to Zach who's stopped midway down the block. He pivots back to us and shakes his head.
“Must've took a car.”
Crina gives one last look around, “How did he know you'd be here?”
“Tracked me, I walk here a lot.”
“And he didn't say what he wanted?”
“Besides the obvious, no. Right now he seems to be enjoying toying with me. But it's pretty clear he's planning his next move. He couldn't have known I'd be at the bar tonight. He was doing recon on my habits.”
“Wait, so why exactly are we chasing after Striden? This guy has to be a wanted criminal. We can't just call the FBI?” Hailey continues, “And yes I realize he's a werewolf, but he operated as a citizen when he was CEO of S&D. Couldn't hurt to have authorities on his heels. 'Cause I certainly am not volunteering for the job.”
I look to Crina. “She may have a point. This is our vendetta, but humans could throw a wrench in whatever he's planning.”
“Exposing him could expose us as well. Too many humans are in this equation as it is,” she eyes Hailey. “Bringing more in puts us at greater risk. Humans are already investigating suspicious deaths tied to our kind, we don't need to bring them closer to our world.”
I'd thought about
reaching out to a contact at the Defense Intelligence Agency I worked with to bring down Trion. Director Abrams, a man who at the time headed up a special projects division that focused on counter-terrorism operations where supernatural entities or situations that required certain skillsets and discretion were involved.
We had not parted on good terms. I'd placed too much trust in him and when it came time to do the right thing, he threw me under the bus to save his neck and preserve his reputation at the agency. He was one of the main reasons why I'd invested so much into securing my apartment. I wasn’t just hiding from my own kind. However, during the course of our time working together he'd rescued me from hairy situations more times than I'd like to admit. So I didn't harbor any ill will towards him or his agents. I just wanted to stay off their radar.
As if reading my mind, Crina shoots me a don’t go there warning. So I just manage a nod.
“The whole situation is messy enough. Plus, human authorities have to operate in the confines of their laws and government. It limits their capabilities. We're better equipped to handle this.”
Zach is surprisingly quick to agree. “I've seen first-hand what Striden is capable of. The more people we get involved, the more people we put in harm’s way.” He rubs the back of his neck. “Myself included. I'm staying the hell out of his way. And Hailey you'd be smart to do the same.”
She seems to be wrestling with what to do. Crina changes the subject. “Before he surfaced, I understand you two have been busy dusting vampires.”
Zach shakes his head, “Hailey has. I've only lent a hand on occasion. She had help from another meta…until the other night.”
All three of them turn to me. I busy myself lighting a cigarette.
“Alright then. Hailey, why don't you take us to your hunting grounds? Let's see if we can make some progress on that front.”
Crina is putting her initial plan back on course. If Striden is looking for any of us we'll put ourselves somewhere visible and try to flush him out. I feel less optimistic after our recent encounter. He's got something else in the works. I don't think we're part of his game plan tonight. If anything Crina's emergence might be what draws him out.
“Yeah, there's a place I wanted to investigate tonight anyways. We can walk there.”