by Parker Blue
“Don’t tell me what I believe,” Luis snarled.
Rosa glared back. “You two will not fight. Alejandro would not like it. We will stop you.”
Luis glanced around. Gwen and Elspeth had pulled the humans out of range and calmed them, but more and more vampires had come to gawk and rubberneck. Austin studied their faces as Luis did, and it appeared Rosa had might on her side. Luis’s hangers-on were outnumbered.
Following up on her advantage, Rosa told Luis, “You will think upon this, try to remember what happened, give Austin any details of what you remember of the attack.”
Luis scowled. “I don’t trust him.”
“Then you will tell me,” Rosa insisted. “The more who know what to look for, the easier it will be to find our leader.”
Luis’s chin jutted upward. “As you wish, but I will not share the mansion with a man I do not trust.”
“Fine,” Rosa said. “Both of you stay out. Luis, you can move into the rooms above and Austin into another blood bank. Take your followers with you.”
Luis looked nonplussed for a moment—that obviously wasn’t what he’d intended. But he couldn’t really argue, since the mansion was obviously Rosa’s territory. He recovered swiftly, though. “Very well,” he said, snapping a curt bow in her direction. “We will move out now.”
Evidently, Luis hadn’t noticed Rosa had taken on the leadership role in this situation. But since Luis deferred to Rosa’s authority over the house, it had worked to shut him up, and Austin wasn’t going to complain at the results. As he left, Austin raised an eyebrow at Rosa. “It will make even more of a separation between us,” he murmured.
“It will keep you from each other’s throats,” she countered. “Until Alejandro returns and brings everything back to normal.”
True, and that couldn’t happen soon enough for Austin.
“If he returns,” Val said. “Our finder couldn’t locate him.”
Now she was the one who deserved the shot in the ribs. At Rosa’s demanding look, Austin had to nod and assure her it was true.
Rosa looked stricken for a moment, then her expression hardened. “No, he is alive. I know this. You will find him.”
Knowing how worried she must be about losing her lover and her leader, Austin said, “I’ll do my best.”
“Good,” she said. Glaring around at the lookie-loos, she said, “Clean this up,” and swept out.
Austin glanced around at those who were left. “Okay, let’s do it, shall we?”
He set everyone to work, then saw that Val had gone to check on the humans. He followed her. “How are they?” he asked.
“All right,” she said. “Gwen and Elspeth got them out of the line of fire, Gwen gave them a sedative, and Ivy used one of her stones to help heal their injuries.”
Austin glanced at Ivy in surprise. So, talking to gemstones did have its benefits.
“What about their minds, their memories? Have we adjusted those?” he asked. There was more than one kind of trauma.
Gwen glanced at Elspeth. “She’s working on that. She seems to have a knack for it.”
Austin nodded. It made sense that the former Memory Eater would be skilled in adjusting memories.
“Yes, I have,” Elspeth said. “But would you check my work? I want to ensure I have done it correctly.”
He did and was impressed by how thorough she’d been—she didn’t erase their memories, she just lessened their intensity, made the murderous altercation appear to be a minor tiff, and the injuries negligible . . . which they were now, with Gwen and Ivy’s help. “Excellent work,” he said. “Let’s move them to the donation rooms so they’ll be out of the way.”
After they left the donors to sleep off the sedative, Austin led Gwen and Elspeth downstairs to talk privately. Val and Fang followed. “So, did either of you see what happened?” he asked.
Gwen shrugged. “We came to check on the clinic’s stock and were just leaving when it happened,” she said, sharing a wary glance with Elspeth.
Austin understood—they tried to avoid Luis whenever possible. He nodded encouragingly.
She continued. “Luis came in with a couple of his followers just as we were heading out the door. A small group of guys followed them in.” She glanced at Elspeth. “Maybe five or six?”
“Yes,” Elspeth confirmed. “There were five of them.”
Gwen nodded. “We heard screams, so we ran back in to see what was happening. That’s when we saw Luis with a bolt in his chest, vampires fighting, and the humans scrambling to get out of their way. When more vampires poured out of the rooms to help, the attackers ran away.”
“Some tried to follow them,” Elspeth added, “but they had a vehicle ready and were able to escape unscathed.”
“Did you see what kind of car it was?” Val asked. “Get a license plate?”
Elspeth shook her head. “I’m sorry. All I know is that the vehicle was a dark color. I do not know the names.”
Since she’d been insane most of her vampire life, starting in Inquisition times, Austin wasn’t surprised she wasn’t able to identify a modern car. “Did you recognize any of the attackers?” Austin asked, hoping none of his own would-be followers had been foolish enough to do something so stupid.
“No,” Gwen and Elspeth said together.
“Can you describe any of them?” he persisted.
Gwen frowned, biting her lip. “I’m sorry—it all happened so fast. The only thing I remember is two of them looked a lot alike, like they were brothers.”
“Slight, blond, in their early twenties?” Val asked.
“Yes.”
Val glanced at Austin. “Sounds like the candy twins.”
Just what Austin had been thinking. “Looks like all roads lead to Mike and Ike. We’d better find them.”
Chapter Nine
Val
WE ARRIVED AT THE midtown blood bank, and I reflected on how weird my world would look to outsiders. If I’d been born fully human like my half-sister Jen, I’d be like other girls my age who were in college and spent their time going to class, studying, and hanging out with friends. Instead, I spent mine going to blood banks, fighting, and hanging out with vampires and demons.
And college students thought their lives were rough. Ha!
Luckily, the rain had stopped so Fang didn’t get wet again as we all trooped inside. Austin approached the girl working the desk—her nameplate read Amanda—and said, “We’re looking for three fledglings who probably came here last night. I gave them my card. Can you check?”
She gave him a perky smile. “Of course, sir. Do you know their names?”
He glanced at me, and I said, “Chris, Carlos, and Charlie. Three college-aged geeks with squeaky new leather jackets.”
Amanda’s grin turned wry. “I remember them—they hit on me.”
OF COURSE THEY DID, Fang said with a mental smirk. THEY PROBABLY HIT ON ANYONE WITH BOOBS. WONDER WHAT THEIR SUCCESS RATE IS?
Ivy must have heard that, too, because she muttered, “From your description, I’d say the odds were slim.”
I shot her a grin. “Yeah.”
“They did come in last night and again about an hour ago,” Amanda told us. “You just missed them.”
Ah, good. They’d followed Austin’s instructions.
“You didn’t give them access to a special donation room, did you?” Austin asked.
“No, they gave me your card, and I could tell they were fledglings—bottle babies—so I passed them on to Tracy for orientation.”
Austin nodded. “Is she here tonight?”
“Yes—in the conference room.”
“Wait here,” Austin told us. “I’ll be right back.”
Ivy, Fang, and I retreated to a corner opposi
te the juice station. “Why didn’t he want them to use a room?” Ivy asked.
“The rooms are for the, uh, fang-to-neck kind of donation,” I explained.
YEAH, Fang added. FOR THOSE HUMANS WHO LIKE THEIR DONATIONS SPICED UP WITH A LITTLE FANTASY. THEY HAVE ROOMS DECORATED LIKE VENETIAN BORDELLOS, WOODLAND BOWERS, AND DUNGEONS.
I grimaced. “Can you imagine giving three new geeky vampires access to that without restraint? No wonder they make them take their blood from a bottle to begin with.”
“Pretty smart,” Ivy said. “I imagine it also helps keep the new fledglings in the fold, with something to look forward to. Good recruiting tactic.”
I hadn’t even thought about that. And didn’t really have time to, because Austin was returning, wearing a grin and looking all lean and sexy. Lola wanted.
Not the time. I pulled her back.
“Let’s go,” he said.
One of the women in the waiting area stood up. “Wait. You’re leaving?” she asked with a pout. Though no one else probably noticed her mouth with all that flesh surging up over the neckline of her dress. Neckline? More like belly button line—it was that low-cut. “Can’t you stay?”
Fang poked me playfully in the shin with his nose. BETCHA SHE WANTS TO TAKE HIM TO THAT BORDELLO ROOM.
Austin tipped his hat and winked at her. “Not tonight, ma’am.”
Not any night if Lola had anything to say about it. I heaved a mental sigh. Too bad she didn’t. He kept on walking, and I followed, wondering how much time he spent in those fantasy rooms.
He glanced down at me. “I don’t use the rooms—just takeout,” he assured me, as if he’d read my mind.
NO, HE READ YOUR EXPRESSION, Fang hooted. YOU DON’T EXACTLY HAVE A POKER FACE.
Well, crap. I’d have to work on that. Pretending as if it didn’t matter, I asked, “You know where the three Cs are?”
“Yes—they share an apartment in student housing.” He waved a piece of paper. “I have the address.”
He drove to an apartment complex not far from the zoo, and we all got out to track down the fledglings. Austin consulted the note. “Number 213.”
We followed the signs to the apartment, and as we got closer, we heard the deep bass beat of speakers cranked to the max. The song lyrics were indistinguishable because of the chatter of voices competing with the music, with people spilling out the front door and down the steps. Were the three Cs throwing that party?
Nope, their apartment was across from the party.
One couple looked up from a clinch as we squeezed past. The guy seemed to be all hands, but the girl didn’t seem to be enjoying their embrace as much as he was. “Hey, cute dog,” the girl yelled over the music and pulled away from him to kneel and pet Fang.
“Thanks,” I said, happy to let Fang be her excuse as he wagged his plume of a tail and pretended to be an adorable normal dog.
I DON’T HAVE TO PRETEND TO BE ADORABLE, he informed me. IT COMES NATURALLY.
I rolled my eyes, then ignored him.
“Are Chris, Charlie, and Carlos here?” I asked them.
The guy sneered. “Those guys? Not the sort we want at our party.”
Ooookay. Austin knocked on the door of 213, but there was no answer.
“Maybe they can’t hear us,” Ivy yelled.
NO ONE INSIDE, Fang said.
It made sense. The beauty quotient at the party was pretty darned high—everyone I could see was probably a jock or cheerleader or something similar. The three Cs had probably left to avoid having their faces rubbed in their social and physical awkwardness. If this party was typical of what they had to deal with on a daily basis, no wonder they’d wanted to be on the top of the pecking order for a change.
“Why are you looking for those guys?” the girl asked, standing as her gaze assessed the three of us.
None of us really looked like geeks, so I understood her confusion. “Chris is my cousin,” I lied. “Do you know where we can find him?”
She shrugged and looked up at her date. He grimaced, obviously annoyed by their kissface interruptus, and took a swig of his beer before replying. “Probably at the comic book store. It’s geek heaven—they hang out there a lot.”
“Which one?” Austin asked.
“How would I know?” the guy asked. “Do I look like a geek to you?” He reached for the girl again, but she evaded him.
Annoyed, I said, “No, you look like a—”
But I didn’t get a chance to finish that sentence, because Austin grabbed my arm and said, “Thank you. We’ll check it out.”
I shrugged him off, annoyed by the beer-sucking jock who sneered at us and treated the girl like property. I stepped closer to him, so he was just inside Lola’s field. He backed away, wide-eyed, probably wondering why he was so overcome with lust for an average-looking girl who didn’t come up to his standard of hotness.
When his back hit the wall, I smiled and licked Lola into him. “You do know where they go, don’t you?” I said and grabbed him by his chakras so he had to obey me.
“Yes, they go to Big Bang Books and Comics,” he babbled and even gave us the address.
“Thank you,” I said. Then, because Lola had been deprived for so long, I let her snack on the idiot—just enough to pull the lust out of him and leave him depleted and limp. While Lola was all up in his chakras, I decided to test a theory. “You seem pretty free with your hands there. Tell us, how do you really feel about the girl you’re with?” And, of course, I used Lola to force him to tell the truth.
“Well, she’s not as hot as I like, but she’s got a great bod—bet she’s great in the sack.” Once the words left his mouth, he looked as horrified as his would-be partner did.
Wow, that worked even better than I expected.
The girl looked at me, appearing shocked. “What did you do to him?”
I shrugged. “Took the lust out of him. Hypnotized him into telling the truth.” Sort of—but it was something she might understand.
She looked bewildered, so I added, “You’re too good for him. Why don’t you find someone else?”
She glanced at the idiot who had slumped against the wall, almost drooling after Lola’s snack attack on his pleasure centers. “Yeah, I think I will,” she said and left the party.
“Well,” Austin drawled, looking amused. “You’ve done your good deed for the day. Shall we go?”
This time, we were luckier. The bottle babies were at the store, perusing racks of brightly colored books.
Carlos caught sight of us first and backed away, holding up his hands. “We went to the—” He broke off, obviously noticing lots of humans in the store, and gulped. “To the place you told us to go, honest.”
Chris and Charlie whipped around. “We really did,” chunky Charlie said. “Ask Tracy.”
“It’s all right,” Austin assured them. “I know you did. We just want to ask you a few questions.”
“Hey, get that dog outta here,” the guy behind the counter yelled. “This ain’t no pet store.”
Fang growled at him, but I let it go. We couldn’t have this conversation here, anyway. “We’re leaving,” I told him, then turned to the three Cs. “There’s a coffee shop next door. Can we talk there?”
They nodded, and we went into the coffee shop, everyone except Austin ordering frappes, lattes, and other fancy coffee drinks. The three Cs evidently hadn’t lost their habit of consuming human food yet, even when it couldn’t satisfy. I settled for a cup of chai. I didn’t know if the owners noticed Fang, but if they did, they ignored him. Good enough.
Once we all had our orders and sat in a quiet corner so we wouldn’t be overheard, Austin said, “We’re looking for a couple of rogues named Mike and Ike. Do you know them?”
Charlie, obviously eager t
o be seen as the leader, said, “No, we didn’t get names from most of the ones we met.”
“They’re blond, about Carlos’s size, and brothers—fraternal twins. Do you remember meeting anyone like that?” I persisted.
The three exchanged glances but shook their heads in denial.
Crap. I’d hoped it would be easier than this.
“What do you remember?” Ivy asked.
“We dealt mainly with our . . .” Charlie glanced around to ensure no one was listening and lowered his voice. “Our sire and the recruiter.”
They’d already proved they didn’t remember their sire’s name. “Tell us more about the recruiter,” I urged.
Charlie shrugged. “Said his name was Alexander, as in Alexander the Great.”
No ego problem, there. “What’s he look like?” I asked.
“Tall white dude. Looks a lot like Liam Hemsworth.”
BET THAT COMES IN HANDY WITH RECRUITING, Fang snarked.
Yeah.
“How did you meet him?” Austin asked.
Charlie exchanged wary glances with his buddies. “Well, we told you about the notice on the bulletin board . . .”
“Yes, and . . . ?” Austin prompted.
“It said to meet at a room on campus, so we did. Others showed up, but we were the only ones who stayed. That’s when we learned about . . . this life.”
“And this Alexander was the only one there?” Austin asked.
“No, our . . . sire came in at the end. They said once we passed the test at the park, they’d know and would initiate us into the rest of the group.”
THEIR FINAL EXAM WAS TO FIND HUMANS AT THE PARK AND SUCK THEM DRY, Fang told Ivy.
Her ewww-like expression clearly showed her reaction.
BUT THEY COULDN’T BRING THEMSELVES TO DO IT.
“How were you supposed to contact them?” I asked eagerly. “How would they know if you passed the test or not?”
Charlie shrugged. “They didn’t say. They just said they’d know.”
Not real helpful.