I split the wad of cash Albright had given me in half and planted a mound of Benjamins in his palm.
“If you guys can be more interesting than a scrying session, you get the other half.”
“You want us to top a squint spinnin’ a bowl of water?” The man dropped his smoke and snuffed it out with his shoe. “Son, for that much money I can be more interesting than His Holiness fuckin’ a chicken in the Sistine Chapel.”
“Um…great?” That image was kinda hard to shake. “Save the innocent maiden, please.”
“Hold on, sonny. These wheels don’t haul by their lonesome. You’ve gotta give us some traction.”
“Traction?”
The plump drummer leaned forward. “What my man is sayin’ is that the fair lady must be extricated from her current precarious predicament.” He gestured to Jules, who appeared to have commenced hyperventilating. “What do you say, college boy, can you manipulate a petite blonde around a dance floor?”
My mind raced. “I don’t know any of that waltz stuff, but I worked at this place called Newmar’s. They used to have this thing called Swing Night. The strippers, they—”
“Strippers?” all five of them asked at once.
“Never mind the strippers. Can you guys do that—swing dancing, I mean?”
The five of them started laughing.
“Did this kid just ask us if we could play swing?”
The drummer gave me an empty-toothed smile.
“Son, we invented the damn thing.”
I frowned. I wasn’t an idiot. “Listen, I know African Americans developed the style. It’s just I don’t like going around prejudging people. Not all Asians are ninjas. You know what I mean?“
The drummer guy near fell off his stool.
“No, sonny,” the singer explained, “I mean we invented it. Back in 1928. Georgy over there got hammered and started lilting his notes. Folks loved it. Rest is history. Now get that sweet little thing out on the dance floor. We’ll take care of the rest.”
“Oh.” Celebrities. Cool. I blanched. “Okay.”
My heart pounding, I pushed through the crowd. I tried to remember the steps as I flipped Jules, giant gown and all, over my trusty right shoulder. The crowd was surprised by my gallant maneuver and largely allowed it. Screaming, Jules kicked her feet in a futile attempt to defeat me, but she settled down when I deposited her on the dance floor.
Green eyeliner streaking, she shouted, “What now, ya traitor? Are ya feedin’ me ta a dragon?”
“Not quite…” The band kicked out the first six count. “I’ve bargained your sentence down to dancing.”
“Oh.” She looked down at my feet. “Wait…ya know dancin’ and stuff?”
“Well, I’m not nearly as good as the strippers.”
“Strippers! What kind of dancin’—”
“Swing.”
Jules looked pleased. “Ya know, Dieter, we Irish invented—“
“No you didn’t. Those guys did.”
“Oh.”
“We’re gonna do a four beat starter. You go right. I go left. You make the lines. I’ll stay out of your way.”
“That isn’t proper, Dieter.” Jules shook her head. “We really should discuss the handoffs before we—“ The band finally delivered. The sound felt like it was coming from inside me. I could feel the base guitar from my head down to my toes. But that wasn’t all. Each note churned out color. Brilliant violets streamers shot into the air above us. Ribbons of blue swirled across the floor.
“Holy Shit!” I shouted. “This is like Fantasia!”
“I think we’re supposta start dancing now!” Jules yelled back.
Fighting off my surprise, I pushed Jules into the first cycle. She was no slouch. Three times through and she had all the steps down. (No surprise, really. Jules was freaky good at memorizing things.) Getting more confident, I decided to split the time and speed up on the fourth. Our feet met a few times, but then we caught the rhythm. I looked up to see her smiling. Not at the music. Not at the scene. But at me. Only me.
I think other people started dancing. I think I caught Dolores curled up around Dante. But I didn’t bother keeping track. I never sensed anyone else with my Sight. I never heard their voices. It was just Jules. Her hands. Her aura. Her smile…Jules and I had been dancing for months now. Night after night, we’d pulled off spell after synchronized spell. Jules and I didn’t have any trouble reading each other’s gestures. We’d come to know how to predict one another’s movements. But tonight, there were no crazy dangers to worry about, no brain crushing mana stream reading to burst across the horizon. To just be responsible for our feet…it was liberating. And the rest of the world was more than happy to move out of our way. I don’t know how many songs had gone by when the band finally shifted to slower numbers. I’d lost track of everything but her motions.
“Ready to run?” she asked, breathless but still amused.
Smiling, the lead singer flipped me the bird and told me to get lost. The change in pace dragged out the old folks. The larger crowd gave us a chance to slip away. Jules gave my hand a tug, and we fled through the flock of penguins. Free of them all, Jules and I scampered up the stairwell. Once we reached the safety of the second landing, we took a breather.
“Jules, you were really good!” The way she could pick up steps was unbelievable.
“Dieter, that wasn’t normal.” Jules swept the matted curls from her forehead. “I didn’t even have ta guess at yer moves…we might make a good pair.”
I smirked. “I don’t do dance competitions, Jules. That was a one time event.”
“That’s not what I…never mind, ya thicko. Thanks for bailin’ me out.” Jules looked down at her shimmering emerald shoes and flushed. “And thanks for makin’ me feel like a princess tonight.”
I took off the sweat-soaked jacket and leaned back against the wall. Jules was the best student in her class. She was widely respected around campus. Half a dozen cataphract trainees had her tutoring to thank for their passing marks. Yet it struck me that outside of the classroom, Jules Nelson didn’t think much of herself.
“What do you feel like normally?”
She leaned her head against my shirt. “An old hag.”
I patted her curls. “There, there, Jules. You don’t look that old at all.”
“Ya get a pass on the snark tonight, Sir Galahad.” Pushing off me, she kicked off her heels and scampered up the stairs.
“I don’t want to be Galahad. That dude never got laid.”
Above me, Jules leaned against the banister. “And what have I told you about such tales?”
“That they all be whitewashed bollocks.”
“Correct.”
I recovered Jules’ discarded footwear and followed her up the stairs. “So how does the real story go?”
Jules smiled. “Looks like I’ll be givin’ ya one more lesson then.” Swiping the keycard, she opened the door to Madam Fremont’s suite.
“And what lesson would that be?” Rei asked from her perch on the couch.
Chapter 11
BITCH, IF YOU WOULDN’T MIND
“What are ya doin’ in our room?” Jules stammered.
Rei was stretched out across the couch wearing nothing but a tank top and track shorts. She had a can of carrot juice in one hand and a TV remote in the other. Her porcelain skin shone in the moonlight. Behind her, the balcony’s French doors sat wide open. The red curtains fluttered. A cold breeze played through her hair.
Rei cocked her head and frowned. “Our room?”
“Yes, Rei Acerba, as in where we plan ta sleep, and where I won’t stand ta have ya lurkin’.”
“Lurking?” Rei twirled the remote control on the tip of her index finger. “Far from it. I am loafing.” Leaning back on a pillow, she gave us both a predatory smile.
Jules wrapped her hands around her waist. She tried to look stern, but all the shivering wasn’t helping. “Don’t ya bare yer fangs at me. And ya do need ta be leavi
n’. Out the window witya.”
Rei glared at her. “I will not. This is my television. Find your own diversion.”
Jules smirked. “I’m not interested in your television.”
Her eyes dancing between us, Rei frowned. “Both of you are sweating.” She caught sight of the pair of heels dangling from my fingers. “Was your dinner as hard to catch as mine?”
“You killed someone?” I stammered.
Rei shrugged. “I am a bloodthirsty beast, am I not?”
“Seriously, Rei. Did you kill someone?”
“My most incessant dunderhead, ‘someone’ implies the singular.” Her grin shifted towards the creepy. “Perchance, this evening I started with a young lad, as fresh as a mountain spring. Perchance, he sated me for a time, but then I grew bored. Perchance, I traipsed over to the nearby nursery.” Rei ran a hand through her lush black hair. “Delicious, the little ones. The Turned call them popcorned shrimps, did you know this? But one must go through so many of them to get one’s fill…and all the extra peeling is quite a nuisance.”
Jules’ aura cracked across the room like a thunderbolt.
“Easy now, Druid,” Rei cooed. “I did not hog them all.”
“Get out!” she screamed.
Rei enjoyed another sip of her carrot juice. “Why don’t you make me, you kurva whore.”
“Gladly,” Jules replied. Her hand shifted to her waist. The surge of mana was growing. Her hair was rising up on end. Her eyes were surging green. She looked like a wild thing. I took a step away from her.
“I’ve so missed your temper.” Rei set down her beverage. Her eyes had gone cold and grey. “I’d worried you might have misplaced it.”
“Ladies, I would ask that you remain civil.” Nudging me aside, Madam Fremont hobbled into her suite. “This evening has gone on long enough.” Madam Fremont collapsed onto a lounger with a huff. Silent as always, Ayaan shifted over to her side. Settled, Madam Fremont looked up at Rei. “And who might you be, shadow dancer?”
To my surprise, Rei had shot straight up into attention.
“Madam, my name is Rei Acerba Bathory, daughter of Theodus Nadasdy Bathory, granddaughter of—“
Fremont gave Rei a dismissive wave. “No need to give me your pedigree back to Bator. Name and clan will suffice. Now explain this lapse in protocol.” Fremont spoke in a measured tone, but she was turning her cane against the marble. The sound of a fingernail on chalkboard scratched across the suite.
“Madam,” Rei said bowing deeply, “I apologize for breaching your domain. I was unaware that a member of the Council—”
Fremont’s wrapped her cane against the white marble. “You were unaware because I wished it. Now stop dallying, creature. Answer my query. What drew you into my abode?”
Rei looked perplexed. “The Kentuckian’s excrement. It is quite pungent and easy to—“
“No, damn it,” Madam Fremont barked. “What is your reason for being in my blasted room?”
Rei’s eyes narrowed. “My purpose is to ensure the safety of my compatriots. I have made an oath.”
Fremont shattered another piece of the hotel’s marble with her cane.
I jumped straight into the air.
Rei didn’t budge.
“I did not ask for your purpose of being, creature. I asked why your filthy posterior was soiling my sofa.”
Rei frowned. “My posterior is immaculate.”
Fremont’s knuckles went white. If her feathers hadn’t already been ruffled, that did it. “Daughter of Bator, You have breached my threshold without clear cause. You have desecrated my domain. Now you attempt to mock me?”
Rei rolled her big blue eyes. “Madam, I only wished to protect—”
“Lies. You could have safeguarded these souls from the stoop. You will explain why you required entrance into my quarters, and you will do it now.”
Rei bit her lip. “The reason is of no consequence.”
“You dare instruct me on what is consequential?” Fremont slid her fingers down the length of her gnarled cane and tilted the tip of her cane toward Rei. “Perhaps you require further education in decorum.”
“Yer inside Madam Fremont’s bloody threshold,” Jules said with a sigh. “Ya best tell her what she wishes.” I’d only learned the basics of thresholds. They used a building’s foundation as their anchor, and provided their residents with home field advantage. Madam Fremont was packin’ some pretty big guns to begin with. That show of strength in the lobby had been no joke.
“I did not know that a councilwoman resided here. I did not know because you did not tell me.” It didn’t seem to be a good setup for a Bathory win…and that’s kinda what worried me. Shitty odds got Rei all hot and bothered.
“I did tell ya ta get the fock outa here, didn’t I?” Jules argued.
“I’ll have my answer, creature,” Madam Fremont said. She flicked her finger and called out, “Claudico!” Rei went to move her feet, but found them glued to the floor. With another thrust of her cane, Fremont sent a blue stream of flame across the marble. The fire encircled Rei’s feet and then soared up to the ceiling. Fremont’s flames burned cold, like the inside of a blast freezer.
I shouted at her to stop. Setting people ablaze was my freakin’ job.
“Stay out of this, Dieter,” Rei replied in a calm voice. “I shall depart if she desires, but I owe this decrepit witch nothing more.” Despite the toasting Fremont was delivering, Rei managed to cross her arms and scowl. “If you are quite done, I would like to get back to my diversions.”
Fremont rocked forward. “Still feeling fresh…can I double it, then?”
Rei raised a smoldering eyebrow. “I do not know this. Can you?”
Aw heck, this was getting out of hand. “Or we could stop setting people on fire, sit down, and discuss this over a nice pot of tea. I’ll order up some chamomile—“
“Nonsense,” Rei growled. “I am a child of the Vita Paciscor. I shall not share libations with this scum.” She turned to scowl at Fremont. “I am not undead, you Nekyia filth. Your craft is useless against me.”
“You think I am Nekyia?” Madam Fremont chuckled. “Little broodling, I was just evaluating your pedigree.”
“Excuse me?” Rei growled.
Arching her fingers, Madam Fremont twisted the blue flames black. A wave of spasms jarred Rei’s thighs, and she let out a tiny gasp. My own head spun. I sensed a surge of energy, but I couldn’t feel any mana flowing. Grabbing my shoulder, Jules took a step backwards.
“What the hell is that?” I asked.
“Your druid knows,” Madam Fremont said. She spoke as though she were discussing the color schemes for a wedding.
“Desicco,” Jules replied. She looked shocked. “But I thought the Vita Paciscor…”
I lost the rest of Jules’ words in Rei’s bloodcurdling scream. Flakes of her flesh were peeling off like paint. It was like her entire body was coming apart at the seams. I thought she might tumble, but a tensing of her muscles bought her a few more seconds on her feet…and Rei’s mouth was closed. She was standing in silence meeting Fremont glare for glare. The screaming was coming from inside my head. The weft burned like a fire.
Rei’s thoughts and emotions struck me like anvils. Surprise. Shock. Confusion. Fear. It felt like my very soul was being yanked out. Rei’s thoughts opened to me next. I listened to rumors she had heard. That this one was held to be a Nekyia. That this one was a bane on her kind. But this was no Nekyia’s spell. This spell did not twist death. Rei had miscalculated, and miscalculated badly…
Madam Fremont leaned back in her chair. “What do you think, creature, shall I double it?”
Without waiting for an answer, Fremont swept her hand high into the air. Rei did her best impression of a roach on Raid. Her body contorted into a knot. Her fingers bent and flexed. Every last muscle clenched down harder and harder…and the old lady didn’t display an ounce of sympathy. It was as though Rei was unworthy of any care. My instincts told me what
that could mean, and the thought of what might come next sent me into a panic.
“I could not see it…” Rei croaked. Her back arched up as she spoke. Fremont had emptied her lungs of air.
“Yes?” Easing off on the spell, Fremont leaned forward. “What could you not see, shadow dancer?”
Still writhing, Rei forced her spasming jaw into order. Her flesh was red and raw. Her lips bled onto the carpet.
“Audrey,” she whispered.
“Who is this Audrey?” Fremont demanded. “An accomplice?” She turned to Ayaan. “Check the rooms!”
Taking in a breath, Rei shook her head.
“No, you twit. Audrey Hepburn. There is a marathon, and it could not be enjoyed from your pathetic stoop.”
Madam Fremont’s aura roared. She raised both of her hands high into the air. Rei shook from the force of it. Fremont’s magic had already sandblasted Rei’s skin to oblivion, and blue-tinged blood spat out onto the carpet. It was like Fremont was wringing Rei out like a towel. I didn’t need a calculator to figure out what would happen—and I didn’t give a fuck what kind of spell this was. All I cared about was shutting it down.
I felt Jules tugging at me, but I was past listening. With Rei about to get roasted, I was kinda on a tight schedule. I reached out my hand and focused on Fremont’s cast. I didn’t want to overcomplicate things. I only focused on finding a handhold. My Sight guided me past the strange flames. They felt like nothing more than a mirage, a distracter Fremont had thrown up to steal away one’s focus. Finding my way around the blacked-out edges, I reached for the real bugger dipping into Rei’s Ki. It was dragging something out of her like a straw. I snatched at the conduit. Fremont fought me, but breaking up a spell is always easier than holding one together…a wave of strange energy crashed into me as the conduit broke. It felt hot and sticky, not like mana at all. But it wasn’t kinetic energy, either. It was unlike anything I’d ever tangled with before. Unsure if it would hurt me, I formed an extraction field at my feet. I didn’t want that crap touching my Ki. The field forced it straight into the floorboards. I fell back on my butt as the old plumbing below us bent and creaked. Lights dimmed and popped. Plaster fell from the ceiling. Gasping, I struggled to my feet. I nearly fell back over, but Jules rushed to steady me. She said something, but it sounded garbled. Despite not letting it touch me, every circuit in my head felt fried. A heavy thump confirmed the surging bulk of energy had found the bedrock. The force of the impact shook the entire building. The light bulbs that had survived flickered back on as it left us. I stood with my feet spread wide. The sweet taste of cherry Jell-O lingered in my mouth.
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