by Kat Cotton
“Is that so?”
As he said it, Kisho came into the room with a coffee for me. He set both his and my coffee on the table, then sat on the arm of the sofa beside me.
“Thanks,” I said.
“This is exactly what I’m talking about,” the mayor said.
“Coffee? You’re upset about coffee?” I asked.
“Not coffee, him.”
The mayor pointed at Kisho. I moved to shield him from the mayor’s pointing finger. It wasn’t nice to point at people. The mayor should know better.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” Nic said.
“He’s the one, the Vampire Prince. You’ve been hiding him right under my nose.”
Shit. I wasn’t sure why, but the mayor knowing that worried me. The fewer people who knew about Kisho, the better. The mayor didn’t exactly have a good track record with trustworthiness. I needed to distract him from Kisho.
“Where’s my car, Mayor?”
“Not now, Clementine.” The mayor frowned.
I hissed at him. I’d become fed up with being fobbed off and even sicker of being called Clementine. I was super glad people had graffitied over the mayor’s posters. I’d go out and do it myself.
“You can’t keep putting me off,” I said.
“Sheesh. It’s in the compound yard.” He gave me the address. “Go pick it up if it means so much to you. It’s not like anyone’s working there nowadays.”
“So, you steal my car, then leave it unguarded so any freak can walk in off the street and destroy it? That is so irresponsible of you.”
At least the mayor’s annoyance with me had taken the spotlight off Kisho. He’d slipped away.
“We need to get everyone together to discuss this,” the mayor said.
“I should think so. You can’t just leave my car unprotected.”
“You know I mean the Vampire Prince. We need to work together on this. We need to decide, as a team, the best way to use the Vampire Prince.”
Nic slammed his hand down on the coffee table. “We do not work together. You don’t go near Kisho. You don’t talk to him, and you don’t make plans concerning him.”
“But, Nic—”
Nic snarled. And it was no normal snarl. All the charm and fake niceness left his face. I’d seen Nic fight, but I’d never seen him so fierce. It was horrifying. But kind of hot too.
The mayor shuffled along the sofa, backing away.
“Nic?” he said, shocked at the reaction.
Before Nic could answer, Hellhound came out from under the coffee table and snarled at the mayor. His snarl was nowhere near as vicious as Nic’s.
“I think I should go,” the mayor said.
“Yes, you should.” Nic nodded and showed him to the door. “And if you tell any of your loser ‘team’ about this, I’ll hunt you down and kill you.”
The mayor didn’t answer. He just hurried out of the house.
As he walked back into the room, Nic punched the wall. Not a light punch, either. He’d never get the deposit back on this Airbnb with that mark on the wall.
“How did he find out? He should never know things like that. When I find out who told him, I’ll kill them.”
I didn’t reply.
This was bad. For Nic to act like that, it was really bad. Sometimes I forgot how deep his bond with the pack went. The mayor might say he wouldn’t tell anyone, but he couldn’t be trusted.
“I think I know who told him,” I said. “It makes sense now. Bob.”
Chapter 14: Mustang
It was one thing knowing where my car was, and a whole other thing going to get it. I wasn’t even sure if it was drivable. It wasn’t like I could just get a cab to the compound yard, either.
I was working out what to do when Andre knocked on my door.
“Heard you need some help with your car,” he said.
I sat up. “Yep, I sure do.”
“You know you can’t just cruise around the city in a convertible at the moment. You’ll be like a food truck for some of those demons out there, and you won’t be able to fight back while you’re driving.”
I was about to tell him I wasn’t stupid, but I figured that’d be a bit mean when he’d just offered to help me.
“Yeah, I know, but I want it safe and sound. It’s wrong that the mayor took my car, and it’s wrong that people attacked it.”
“Let’s go get it, then.”
“Thanks.”
I’d never talked to Andre much. Most of our conversations were him making sleazy comments and me threatening to kill him for it. We hadn’t gotten beyond that. Most of the pack kept to themselves or were busy with pack business. Shelley and Luis did their patrols. Andre worked very closely with Nic, doing the technical side of the motivational speaking. Even with everything going on around us, Nic was still keeping up his videos and online courses. Andre did all the editing and production. Jeb — I don’t know what he did. I figured, since Oscar’s death, he was handling a lot of the financial side of things.
Andre and I got in the car. He’d put on classic rock.
“Nice music,” I said.
He adjusted the mirror and shot me a grin. “I know.”
“It’s nice to get out of the house. I’m getting sick of being cooped up there.”
I leaned back in my seat, resting my feet on the dashboard. Nic would have a fit if he saw that, but it was comfortable, and Nic would never know.
“You’re doing a good job training those chicks,” Andre said. “That must keep you busy.”
“Yeah, sure does. They’re all doing well, too. I’m worried. Worried about Kisho, worried about the Vampire King. Worried about everything. Keeping busy helps.”
“I’m worried about him too. We have no plan. We don’t even know where the Vampire King is holed up. Shelley and Luis have been putting feelers out, but they’ve got nothing.”
I sat upright. “Do you mind swinging by the park?”
I hadn’t been back to see the old man since Jeb and I had gone. He might’ve heard something by now.
Andre raised his eyebrows. “O-kay. It’s your city. You have the connections.”
When he wasn’t being a man whore, Andre wasn’t too bad.
We got to the park.
“I just hope he’s still here,” I said. “Usually, I bring him cake, but we have nothing today.”
I wandered through the park and saw him sitting on his bench as though nothing had changed at all.
“Still here, old man,” I said.
“The ducks are still here, and so am I.”
“I don’t have any cake today. Sorry.”
“You have a new boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” I laughed.
“He’s no one’s boyfriend, that one. He spreads himself around.”
Andre just grinned. He’d take that as a compliment.
I sat down on the bench beside the old man and watched the ducks. Those ducks just went about their business like nothing was wrong in the world. Lucky ducks.
“You want to know where the old man is? The evil guy?”
“Yep, sure do,” I said.
“Do you think you can beat him?”
I shrugged. “I dunno, but we have to try.”
“You do, girlie. He’s coming for you. Not much you can do about that. He’s over there.” The old man pointed toward the sea. “In the old hotel.”
There were a dozen or so old hotels in that direction, but we could check them all out.
“Thanks, old man,” I said. “I’ll bring something for the ducks next time.”
“He’s got those children there. Can you save them?”
“I hope so.”
He smiled at me. “Take care of yourself.”
That kind of freaked me out. He never said stuff like that.
The whole world kept telling me the Vampire King was after me, when I could have figured that out for myself. In the meantime, what was the King doing? Waiting until Merc
ury was out of retrograde before he attacked? He sure was biding his time.
“Want to cruise around?” I asked Andre. “Check out some of the old hotels along the waterfront?”
He nodded.
“There used to be about a dozen possible hotels, but about half of them have been converted into apartments. Although they could be unconverted now.”
“How are we going to know which one?” Andre asked. “He’s not exactly going to hang a sign out.”
“True, but if we rule out the places he isn’t, that’s a good start.”
We drove past a few places that looked totally trashed. Obviously, the demons had moved in. I guessed beachside property was attractive even to demons, although the morning sun would be a killer.
“This drive would be great in my car,” I said. “Roof down. Wind in our hair.”
“Sun in my eyes... not for me.”
“Oh, yeah.” I pointed. “Hey, the Espy. Otherwise known as the Esplanade Hotel. That’s the one.”
“You sure?”
“It was the grandest hotel in the city in its time, way back over a hundred years ago. Really fancy place and totally huge. Then it became a rock pub. Greatest rock pub ever, too. Two bars with stages downstairs, bay windows where you could watch the sun set over the bay. I’ve seen some of the best gigs of my life there.”
“Sounds fun.” Andre grinned.
“Sure was. On a summer night, with a beer in your hand, in the middle of crush of people, listening to some good music. Nothing better.”
“I can get behind that. The crush of sweaty people, especially.”
“Closed down a few years ago and has been totally empty since then. It’s no European palace, but it’s about as close as you can get around here.”
“Sounds like the kind of place the King would hole up.”
The huge white building came into view as we rounded the corner. The place looked empty. The bay windows were all dark, the façade a little faded and the paint peeling. At a casual glance, you’d think the place had been abandoned decades ago, but a casual glancer wouldn’t have the throbbing pains in their gut that I got as we moved closer.
“He’s there. He’s definitely there.”
The pains intensified.
“You okay?” Andre asked.
“Yep. Just get out of here fast. It’s painful, but no worse than a bad period.”
“Chicks,” Andre said, and shook his head. He blushed a little.
“Yeah, I have periods. Am I supposed to just ignore that whole side of my life because you don’t like it?”
“In my day, chicks didn’t talk about that kind of thing.”
“Yeah, well, Grandpa, nowadays we do. And I bet you didn’t say ‘chicks’ in your day, either. Can’t have it both ways, dude.”
Sometimes I forgot these vamps were old, old men. Just because someone’s fashion and hairstyle moved with the times didn’t mean their brains did.
At least my anger stopped the pain. The Espy was behind us.
“What’s that?” Andre asked as the giant clown face entrance of Luna Park appeared in front of us.
“Luna Park. Old theme park. It was renovated a few years ago, but that clown face is just wrong.”
Then I saw a couple of demons perched on the towers on each side of the gate. Hell, amusement parks were freaky enough with humans in them, let alone demons.
“Let’s get to the compound yard,” I said.
We found the place. My car was sitting in a corner, safe and sound. Well, safe, anyway. Those bastards had wrecked the paint work, and one of the windows had been smashed, but it hadn’t been stripped or anything.
I got the key out of my bag and jumped in.
Flat battery.
Damn.
“I’ve got jumper leads in the car,” Andre said. “We’ll get you started in a jiffy. Pop the hood.”
I waited for him. He called for me to start the engine.
A few minutes later, the car was purring.
“Best thing would be to take it for a long drive to juice it up, but that’s not an option. We can see about getting a new battery. You should make it back to the house, anyway. I’ll drive behind you, because if you stop, you might not get it started again, and the sun’s going to set soon.”
“Thanks, Andre.”
“I’m a bit worried about fuel supplies, too. This city isn’t going to hold up forever. Not without fuel coming in.”
“Just like Mad Max,” I said.
He screwed up his face. “Huh?”
“You’ve never seen Mad Max? Dude, I’ve got a film for you to watch when we get home.”
I got my car out of the yard, then waited for Andre. It wasn’t a long drive home since we had no detours this time. I kept checking that Andre was following in my rear view mirror. He wasn’t a bad guy, even if he did constantly think with his dick. I guessed being around Nic and Kisho so much, I’d forgotten guys were like that.
What he’d said about fuel was a worry. Not just fuel. Electricity and other essential life things. Wi-fi! These things didn’t last forever with no one working. What a nightmare. Things in this city wouldn’t get any better until the King had been defeated.
I parked the car next to Nic’s, then headed inside.
Nic was standing near the front door. “Where the hell have you been?”
“Are you my father now?” I asked him. “We went to get my car.”
Andre walked inside behind me.
Nic grabbed my shoulders and shook me. His fingers dug into my flesh.
“You can’t go wandering off around the city on your own. You’ve been gone for hours. It’s dangerous out there. At least let me know where you’re going. You too, Andre.”
“Yes, boss.”
“No,” I said. “I’m not your property. You can’t control me. I don’t have to ask your permission to leave this house.”
“Actually, you do.”
Nic stared at me. I stared back. Showdown.
Only, he had to win because he was undead and could go forever without blinking if he wanted.
“This is my house, and you’ve living on my charity. You want to live here with all the rights and protection the rest of the pack have, but you’re not willing to take on those responsibilities. We work together. If you go off on your own — and this means you too, Andre — we don’t know if you’ve been taken or if you’re dead. I don’t want to have to make a call on whether it’s your stupidity or an actual threat. It’s not fair to me.”
I averted my eyes. He was completely right. I didn’t have to obey him, but it would’ve been the smart and sensible thing to at least let someone know where we were going. I probably would’ve apologized if Nic hadn’t been such a condescending prick about it. Instead, I shook his hands off me.
“If you’d gotten my car back like you promised, I would’ve had no need to leave today. You broke your promise, Nic.”
“You didn’t have sex with me to get your car back. You had sex with me because you wanted to.”
I couldn’t argue with that. Sex with Nic was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. But, still angry.
“How do I know you’ll keep any of your promises? I can’t trust you.”
I huffed and walked toward my room. At the foot of the stairs, I remembered something.
“I learned something important today.”
“What, how to jump start a car?”
I raised my eyebrows. How did he know? I guessed it was a pretty fair assumption that a car that’d been left for ages would have a flat battery.
“Nope. Where the Vampire King’s lair is. I was going to tell you, but I think you’re too angry at the moment.”
Actually, Nic, usually icy cool and annoyingly emotionless, had been losing it a bit lately. I wasn’t sure what was going on with him, too much pressure or what. But it wasn’t a pleasant change.
I guessed we were all changing. The pressure got to you after a while.
Chapter 15: Failure
Three days later, Nic decided Kisho was ready to feed. We all waited downstairs while he went upstairs with Francine.
“Are you worried?” Nic said.
I tried to look calm. “No. Not at all. Not one little bit.”
“Well, you’ve chewed your nails down to the cuticle. It’s a disgusting habit.”
I moved my hand from my mouth and sat on my fingers. Everything would change. Kisho wouldn’t be the same. He couldn’t be. Once he did this, the vampire side of him would take over. He’d be stronger and have more power, but he’d no longer be Kisho. And the bits of Kisho that made him would be gone. But other than that, I wasn’t worried at all.
“Will there be some sign? Like flashes of light or explosions?” I asked.
“Wait, let me consult my book on every other time in history a half-vampire has fed,” Nic said.
I threw a cushion at him. He didn’t need to be such a pig.
While we were waiting, Luis and Shelley returned. Since we’d lost the kids, they’d gone out in the van every day looking for other humans still in the city. Of course, most of them rarely came out of their homes, but as food supplies dried up, more had to go foraging. The promise of a safe place to live and food usually persuaded them to go to the mayor’s safe house.
I envied them. Doing something constructive like that would make the days go a lot easier. The only thing I could do was train the girls. They’d improved so much in a short time, but I still could only work with them for an hour or so a day before they got exhausted.
Yesterday, I’d rolled up the gymnastics mats in the basement so they could practice their knife and staking skills. If Nic ever found out, he’d kill me. He treated everything Vlad had left behind as sacred, believing the kid would come back one day.
I’d made a heart out of paper and stuck it on the roll.
“This is where the heart is, kinda. Aim for that with the stake. You have to get it right, or you’ll be dead. You don’t get second chances when it comes to staking a vamp. If it’s a demon, just stick the knife in anywhere. Demons are much easier to kill.”
“I don’t know if I can kill anyone,” Tabia said. “It feels wrong.”