Day Dreamer (Undeadly Secrets Book 2)

by Aaron L Speer

  Pride and a sense of caution now prevented Vincent from admitting that funds had run low. It was becoming more and more difficult and expensive to keep their existence out of the news. The fees and taxes gained from vampire businesses were no longer enough. Word was spreading to the far ends of Australia and beyond that Sydney, or Vincent’s hold over it, was weakening. The human government was a vacuum of cash, yet within the last few years, Vincent had been forced to destroy more and more of his kin before the government went to him with demands for money. He simply could no longer afford the chance they could re-offend. Dream State was the chance to refill the coffers and re-establish himself as the true ruler of Sydney.

  Should the fact that he was using wolf blood to make a vampire drug—one that killed humans, to boot—wind up being leaked to the public somehow, everything he had worked for would be gone. His kingship, his life, would be over. Julian could never take his place; he could never command respect. And Vincent was short on any other underlings who might be able to take command. This was why he had been working so hard to win back Dante. A fact that made Vincent grind his teeth in anger.

  “What’s the problem? We are making a tonne of money, so who cares? We have paid off our debts. Raven Apartments is now guarded twenty-four hours a day. Soon we will be rich enough to take on the other states and make Dream State available Australia wide. No one will be able to stop us.”

  His son was never one to be able to see much beyond the end of his own nose. There was no real point in trying to explain to him, though. Better to give him some direct orders. He could usually manage to fulfil those without too many ill side-effects. Dream State was only a short term fix, yet with huge returns. It just needed to keep going for perhaps another twelve months, but Julian didn’t need to know that. Hershel was working on other things and Vincent wanted them to continue as soon as possible. “Yes, but I need you focussed on the tasks at hand. The reports come in every night of more vampire bodies found in the streets by our scouts.”

  “The Forgotten are on the move?”

  “The scouts inform me there is no evidence they have left Redfern. There is a new group out there hunting us however. And that group seems to disappear into Redfern as well.”

  “You think it’s the wolves?” Julian asked, eyes narrowed, belying his actual inability to come to conclusions that Vincent had not already placed before him.

  “I believe they could be working in unison, and if so, it…vexes me.” Vincent turned and left the cell with a flourish, beckoning his son to follow. “The wounds have been knife and bullet related—not a wolf’s style. Though I am thinking the pack that Clive and his little blonde friend found are the ones responsible, yet they must be only initiates. Humans wishing to prove worthy of the cursed bite. They may call themselves wolves, but they must be human. It has been months since they arrived, and not once during all the following full moons have I received word of any maulings of the type those creatures can create. This was Alicia’s plan all along, I’d imagine. Send wolves to meet with me, then humans as back up so we could not track them as easily. Clever little cunt. I am mobilising the Elements of Night and I want you to lead them. But first, I want you to send what’s-her-name, the blonde, back out there first. She has seen them. She will know who you are to look for. Let her do the reconnaissance for this, see if she can handle herself. Wait for her to report back, or if she doesn’t, make sure you place a homing signal on her so we can trace her corpse. Do this now. It suits you better than hunting your ex-pain and sex toy.”

  “The only thing better would be killing her.”

  Vincent sighed and waved his hand dismissively. “Put the thought out of your mind. She is probably dead already. Besides, who has the kindness to help a vampire and a slave in this city?”

  *

  It was a long shot, but her only shot. It was nearly dawn and Melina was sound asleep. Nadia had parked outside Dante Delavega’s place. It was an old three-storey house that had been converted into a number of smaller apartments. It looked like no one was home; she’d have to wait. What if he didn’t accept them? But then again, what if he did? Would Melina kill her for coming here? Melina did say anywhere, but even so, asking this particular vampire for help might be too much. Even for her. Would Dante kill Nadia for even daring to ask on Melina’s behalf? Though Nadia had been her handmaiden for many years, she knew little about Dante Delavega—she had never met him, only heard his name. Sometimes it was spat out with derision by other vampires in the mansion, particularly Julian. But she’d also heard Melina mention it when it was just the two of them alone. She raged about him, cursing him and telling Nadia how much of a pathetic worm he was, a disgrace to vampires. But one evening, Melina had become sad after a similar rant, and inadvertently let it slip that he was her old love. This gave Nadia enough hope he would hear her out at least.

  Finally, she saw him, or at least, she thought it must be, based on the descriptions she had heard. He went inside and she waited. How long to give him? A minute perhaps. She hurried across the road and stopped at his front door.

  Nadia pressed the intercom button and did not have to wait long for an answer.

  “Hello?” The voice was deep and sounded weary.

  “I need to speak to you, Mr Delavega. It’s urgent.”

  “It is very late to be selling cookies.”

  Nadia faltered. She heard a chuckling on the other end. He thought this was a joke? “I’m not selling cookies…I come—”

  “Ah! A subscription to Foxtel then?” he asked, sounding amused.

  “Sir! I come in the request and name of Melina Garcia.”

  Silence.

  Nadia felt a whoosh and something heavy landed behind her. She whirled and took an instinctive step back towards the door, her eyes running over his broad shoulders. Years of vampire treatment had taught her to expect punishment, for anything. She faced Dante, faltering momentarily as she stared into the bright green eyes. “How did you…?”

  “Jumped out the top window,” he interrupted dismissively. “You wear the rags of a king’s slave. What message do you bring?”

  He was no longer mirthful. He stood before her, imposing, radiating a presence that commanded…respect? Definitely not fear. He wouldn’t hurt her, she knew. This was nothing like the royal family. She had served them for years and never sensed anything remotely like this. Yet here, it was obvious within seconds.

  Nadia indicated the car. “I haven’t brought a message. I have brought her. She…needs your help.”

  Without a word, Dante was beside the vehicle. He picked up Melina and carried her into his apartment. Nadia followed, watching as he placed Melina gently on his bed. She now felt better about her choice to come here. He held Melina so tenderly and with such care, it was as if she was a delicate crystal that was in constant danger of shattering.

  He stared at Melina for well over a minute. Nadia could not place what he appeared to be thinking. His face was expressionless, his body like stone.

  “What is your name?” he asked, still staring at the unconscious beauty.

  “Nadia, master.”

  “Do not call me that. You are now in my house, and here there are no masters and no slaves. Please tell me how it is you came to be here.” He finally turned to her and looked her up and down. “But first, something to eat. Follow me.”

  *

  The wolf licked its lips at the prospect; it was close. It had tracked the teacher to this spot overlooking Carss Park beach. The night air was thick and dark as pitch. The wolf crouched, homing, its senses alive as the night answered its call. There! It was so simple and quick. Bodily fluid, urine, the same Nicholas could faintly smell earlier. The wolf kept low, closing in on the beige-coloured car. Now that the wolf had him here, what to do with him? The wolf found it interesting that despite wearing a wedding ring, the stink of cheap lipstick from at least two females reached it. Clearly, this had not been the man’s first stop.

  The wolf heard low mu
mbling from him, babbling even. But there was no one else present except for them. Shubert was obviously drunk.

  How easy it would be to break his ribs, one by one. But no. This was not about killing. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Shubert was not the target of this lesson; Nick was.

  The wolf leapt onto the front bonnet, its silver-eyed reflection staring back at him. When the wolf gave a smile, all four canines were obvious, sharp and gleaming.

  “Can I ask you about getting some more credit, sir?” the wolf boomed gleefully.

  Shubert screamed and tried to start the car in a rush. Failing again and again to turn the engine over. His fingers trembled and his hands shook. Finally, the engine roared to life.

  The wolf slammed its fingers into the roof of the car and pulled back strips of metal with its thick, sharp nails. Shubert had thrown the car into reverse and was backing as fast as the car could manage. Rather than falling off, however, the wolf smiled just with the corners of its mouth, the bottom fangs noticeable, even from inside the car.

  The teacher slammed on the brakes and turned the car, dragging it to the edge of the cliff before coming to a stop. The wolf sailed over the top of the car, landed on all fours, and bolted into the trees and out of sight of Shubert as he sped away.

  Chapter 27

  Tonight You’re Mine

  “I don’t care what anyone says, this plans sucks donkey’s balls,” Lauren snapped.

  She and some other unknown walked past Redfern Oval. They had been around to a few pubs and she had presented the bartenders with a picture of Matt, taken from a selfie two years ago with her and Alex. It was the best shot she had at getting a lead, but no luck. She also tried showing a half-empty vial of Dream State, asking where she could get more. She had hoped if she could get to someone that knew of it, or a distributor, she could get closer to the guys Clive had called the “wolf pack”. It seemed pretty clear they were behind the Dream State somehow, what with the way they had snapped it up from that Coffinail dipshit. If she found a vamp distributor, she’d have to beat the shit out of them for information, which sounded like fun. If it was human, all the more so.

  All the bartenders so far, though, had said they had no idea what it was. At least it wasn’t like the scenes she’d heard about recently, with the disgusting remnants of slaughtered vampires. Matt and his pals were sure making a mess of the city.

  Her companion was a foot taller than she was, a member of the Elements of Night, Vincent’s personal strike force, and he refused to give his name. “It’s classified,” he’d said. Lauren had snorted at this. Someone’s been watching way too many secret service movies.

  It was past midnight, yet true to form, the streets were far from empty. Lauren always thought of Redfern as one of the places where Sydney life came to die. When she’d been human, she had believed that almost no one but drunks, drug addicts and derelicts hung out at Redfern around this time. Now that she could see, smell and hear better than ever before, she knew she’d been right.

  “Where are we heading? Or is that classified too?” Lauren scoffed.

  “You were told the exact directions.”

  “Nooo, I wasn’t,” she explained with more patience than she felt. “I was told I was being dropped off at Redfern and I would have an escort. How the hell am I expected to find anyone here? Where am I supposed to go?”

  “Use your ingenuity to get information. We have narrowed down the packs’ possible base of operations to this particular area, these particular pubs. They seem to stick to a general radius. So we keep searching the pubs until we find what we’re looking for. You and Clive are the only ones who can identify the human pack from Coffinail.”

  “Don’t remind me.” Lauren pulled a face thinking about vampire goo. She snapped her eyes left to right and almost crashed into No-name as staggering people brushed past her. “And geez, can you fuckin’ keep it down? You won’t even give me your name but you practically shout the words vampire and werewolf at the top of your voice? Where is the sense in that?”

  “Make no mistake, those who know nothing won’t remember or even be listening. Those we are looking for, already know you’re here. It makes no difference.”

  “Wait…they know? How? Why didn’t you freaking tell me?”

  “Without a doubt. We are being followed. A man and a woman have been trailing us for some time. I want you to have a look.”

  “I thought the idea was to never let pursuers know you’re on to them?”

  “I want them to know. I want to see if they change their tactics or if they contact someone.”

  Lauren turned her head slowly and sure enough, she saw them. An Aboriginal couple, maybe early thirties, dressed in filthy sports clothing and barefoot, walking in unison together. She looked at them for several seconds, but that was enough. The couple stopped when she blew them a kiss. Then gave them the finger.

  Lauren smirked. “Pretty sure they got the message.”

  “Fuck,” was the reply as No-name whipped his head back around to look behind them. Lauren followed suit and her mouth dropped open. The couple was gone.

  “What the hell—”

  “They can do things in Redfern that they can’t anywhere else. No idea how. Black fella magic,” No-name grumbled. “C’mon. Across the road. This pub will be as good as any.”

  Lauren definitely wasn’t imagining it; the couple was there a second ago. Not even vampires could move that fast. But she also saw a few heads turn towards her. A group of Aboriginal men sat on a brick fence just in front of her, tipsy in delight. Yet when she closed on them, they were silent. Every single one faced her, collective eyes like steel balls of loathing.

  “I don’t like this…” Lauren said. All of her strength, all of her rage didn’t matter right now. The world in general lived in denial about the existence of the creatures of the night, but Redfern was different. The inhabitants seemed not only to know vampires existed, they could sense them. She was not welcome here. There was a reason vampires never came here. Because it was said that none left alive. She now believed that rumour to be true.

  “Try here,” No-name said as they came to the Dingo’s Ditch entrance. He peeked in, “The line to the bar isn’t long. Ask the bartender in there if he knows anything.”

  This was ridiculous. It was going nowhere. She had to get back to basics, back to herself. “Fuck this. I’m not doing it your way anymore. No one here knows Matt. We never hung around this area. And anyway, he’s got a shaved head now and in this pic he looks like Raggedy Ann. Just showing them Dream State gets us no answers either.”

  “Think of something else then.”

  Lauren sighed and took off her jacket, tossing it to him. “He’s a guy, right? Guess it’s time to call in help.”

  No-name watched in silence as she undid the first four buttons of her top and placed the vial in her ample cleavage. Without a word she walked through the door and up to the bar. She stood in line for the first time in ages. When her time came, she placed her elbows on the bar and leaned forward, giving him the best view she possibly could.

  He gave her chest two glances, and then a third before asking her what she wanted.

  “You got anything other than beer?” she giggled.

  “If you ask really nicely,” he smiled back. He seemed okay. Young and horny, which was no crime in her book.

  “What if I feel like something other than drinking?” she asked, smiling and biting her lip. It was so easy to fool these young things.

  The bartender took a second before wincing. “Believe me, I wish I could help you, but I have a girlfriend.”

  Lauren chuffed. “Ha! Easy handsome. I was thinking of this.” She pulled the vial part-way from her cleavage—enough that he could see the tell-tale colour—and then poked it back down again.

  Silence. Lauren sensed the instant aroma of salty sweat forming on his body. Exactly what she wanted.

  “Know where I can get some? I’ve got money.”

  “H
ow much?” he asked.

  “Trust me, I’ve got enough.”

  The bartender looked sceptical and nervous. “We’ll see. Wait here.”

  Lauren waited for him to leave before giving the news to No-name, who was now lingering behind her. “Bingo. He knows something. But we’re gonna need to show we’ve got the cash.”

  “Here.” No-name shoved a wad of bills into her hand. “It’s roughly two grand. That should be enough to loosen their tongues at least. He will try to take you in the rear, and I need you to let him.”

  Lauren thumbed the money, roughly counting it in her head. “Many guys have tried taking me in the rear. No one will ever get there. The odd finger doesn’t feel too bad though, if he knows what he’s doing.”

  “The back of the building! I’ll head around to back you up, just in case.”

  “You E.O.N guys have, like, no sense of humour.”

  Lauren didn’t have to wait long before spotting the bartender beckoning her over towards the staff entrance, slyly showing her two full vials and hiding them quickly. Lauren ducked after him. “Where are we going?”

  “You said you had money, right?”