by Sean Hayden
I placed my hand in his and expected him to shake it, but instead he brought my hand up to his lips and gently kissed the back of my fingers. I gave a little gasp at the intimacy of the gesture and felt a charge surge through my body start at my fingertips and ended up someplace I'd rather not mention. "Thank you, Marcel," I told him.
He nodded again and we left the office and the club. We passed Tony on his way into Marcel's office after we left and he didn't look too happy. At least we have a place to start, I thought. I just wondered how long it would be until Tony left the Vamporium.
* * *
Two hours until dawn we hit pay dirt. I saw the squinty little vampire leave the club through the front entrance and I nudged Thompson in the ribs. We had been sitting in the Suburban parked in the street for a better part of four hours. We had the engine off, but the windows open and it seemed to be getting a bit frosty in the cab of the vehicle. Neither Thompson nor I had noticed.
I don't know what Thompson had thought about to pass the time, but my thoughts had been wandering toward a handsome club owning vampire. More than once I had to shift my position in my seat. I kept thinking of his offer right before we left and I thought I might take him up on it. It would be purely for helping me understand the limitations of my power. I think I might have even convinced myself of my intentions in the four hours we sat watching the entrance of the club for Tony.
He started walking down the street and I thought he might be headed for a parking garage nearby, but he just kept going. Instead of firing up the engine of the SUV and following him with it, we opened the doors and followed on foot. I thought it was a bad plan and kind of stupid. If the vampire got into a vehicle at any time, we would be hard pressed to follow. I could keep up, but I doubted Thompson could. Lycanthropes could be really fast, but not vampire fast. Well as far as I knew they weren't.
As it turned out, we didn't have to worry about keeping up with a car, just a vampire. Tony must have heard us following him, because as soon as he rounded a corner, he ran for it. Fuck.
Again, I paid no heed to my partner and took off running after the nimble little vampire. I heard a roar behind me and decided to let Thompson worry about it. Tony began weaving around buildings and running down alleys and I thanked the gods I had worn sensible shoes. I splashed through puddles and stepped on things I didn't want to know about and still I couldn't catch up to the vampire ahead of me. I thought about repeating the maneuver I used to catch Matt the other night, but I wasn't close enough. I didn't know what to do. At that moment, I heard Thompson behind me.
Ordinarily Thompson smelled of sage, but coming from the beast I heard behind me, the smell threatened to overpower me. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to let him pass me because I knew he would be faster if he had already caught up to me, but the narrow alleyway prevented his bulk from passing. Then I had a thought.
"Jump," I yelled and did the same, but instead of jumping high, I jumped low, almost parallel to the ground. I didn't want to land in the muck coating the disgusting alley, so I put my hands out in front of me to keep my clothes from being smeared. I felt the presence of Thompson soaring over my head and I looked up as I slid to a stop. I saw the form of a giant half black lion, half man soaring through the air and strike the back of the escaping vampire forcing him to the ground.
I pushed against the ground and landed on my feet. I had no need to rush because the giant werelion had the vampire's neck locked securely in his jaws. I closed the distance between us at a leisurely pace. I didn't know how in control Thompson remained while in his wereform and I didn't want to take a chance of having those powerful claws and teeth turned on me.
"Thompson?"
He gave a growl and shifted his head ever so slightly up and down one time to acknowledge he lived inside the monster and remained in control. When I drew close enough I could tell he wasn't moving, trying hard not to rip the head off the vampire we wanted to question. They became so uncooperative when their heads weren't attached. Vampires can be so conceited.
I knelt down by Tony's head carefully to avoid dipping my skirt in the muck. I wasn't wearing stockings or pantyhose, so all I would have to do is shower when I got home. I lowered my face until I could see Thompson's eyes. I saw intelligence there and I gave him a little smile. It felt a little unsettling to see a seven hundred pound lion wink at you. I ignored him and concentrated on the extremely uncomfortable looking vampire.
"Hi Tony, are you going to cooperate now?" I saw him nod in response. I guess it would be pretty hard to talk with six inch fangs piercing your throat. "Good, Thompson would you please let him up now?"
Thompson opened his maw and released Tony's neck. I stifled a giggle when Thompson gave him a lick across the neck. He probably did it for the blood, but it gave Tony the impression he appeared tasty to the werelion. I watched as he laid there and gave his wounds a chance to close and to give Thompson a chance to fully get off him.
"What do you want? I didn't do anything!"
I looked at Thompson to see if he might shift back to his human form for questioning; but he just sat on his haunches to watch the show. "You know who we're looking for, Tony. Why don't you help us?"
"I don't know who you're talking about."
"I think you do, Tony. Where is Cicero?" I was getting impatient.
"Who's Cicero?" He was getting predictable.
"Thompson, you eat tonight?" The werelion growled a response.
"Ha ha, he ain’t gonna eat me, I ain’t done nothin’. You can't use scare tactics to make me talk about stuff I don't know shit about. It's a fact, so cut the crap. If you let me go now, I won't press charges for the assault. Can I go now?"
Ooh, this little shit was really starting to piss me off. I considered eating him myself, but I figured he'd taste like shit. "Fine, you wouldn't mind posing for a few newspaper photos would you?" I pulled out my cell phone.
"What are you talking about?"
"I've been getting in a lot of trouble lately for mishandling vampire suspects. I even made the paper a couple of times. If I'm going to let you go, I want someone here to prove I didn't hurt you. Don't worry, Tony, I'll be sure to let the reporter know how helpful you've been in our investigation," I said. I started to enjoy this way too much, and I think Thompson did too, but hearing a lion laughing seemed a little creepy.
"You can't do that!"
"Why, Tony? Why can't I do it?" I tried to sound concerned.
"He'll kill me!"
"Who Tony, who'll kill you," I continued in the same false tone.
"Cicero, he'll fucking rip my goddamn head off!" He realized his mistake. I knelt down to be at the same level as him, no more stupid threats and questions.
"Where is he, Tony? If I get him before he gets you, you won't have to worry about him anymore."
"Fuck you!"
I slapped him. I slapped him hard. I heard the vertebrae in his neck snap as his head spun way farther than it should have. He fell backward against the pavement and for a moment I worried I had killed him. I saw his head turn as the muscles in his neck worked to hold his head still as the bones re-knit themselves together. The process took only a few minutes and he didn't say anything the whole time, but if looks could kill, I'd be re-knitting a few bones myself.
I figured I'd make use of Tony's down time. He lay on the pavement with his face in the air while he healed. I knew I had worn a skirt, but right then I didn't give a shit about decorum. I had worn some pretty modest panties so I didn't care who I flashed. I stepped over Tony's prone form and sat down on his chest with a little "thump". I placed my hands down on the cool wet pavement and since they had already gotten dirty from breaking my fall earlier I didn't care what I put them in now. I had one on each side of his head and I used them to lower my face until it stopped a mere inch away from his. I looked down at his eyes and locked mine to his brown orbs.
I could see his surprise when he saw my slit pupils and then panic as he realized I planned on doing som
ething to him, but he didn't know what. I looked into his eyes and found the place where my ocean met his lake. He wasn't a Master Vampire, but he had strength from his sheer age. The alleyway and Thompson faded away until only Tony and I remained. It felt strange being so close to another vampire in the impenetrable darkness. Our illuminations melded together and seemed brighter, probably due to the close proximity of our physical bodies. I looked down at him and sent a tendril of thought at the sad little vampire.
"Where is Cicero, Tony?"
I saw the panic in his eyes magnify ten-fold. Now he knew what I had planned and he fought me with every ounce of power he had. He couldn't struggle from underneath me with his physical body because we weren't in the real world anymore. He realized the futility and tried to fight me with his mind. He understood the rift between his power and mine, so he shifted tactics. He tried to think of other things. I saw it all play out in my mind like I sat watching a home movie of Tony's life. I saw the woman vampire who made Tony nearly a hundred years ago, right here in Chicago. I saw him start doing some enforcer work for a magnificent vampire during the roaring twenties. I recognized Cicero at once. His thoughts went from his life as a human teen trying to survive life on the streets all the way to some of the dirty deeds he had done in the name of Cicero throughout the eighty odd years he had worked for him. I saw Cicero command him to keep an eye on Marcel, the only vampire in Chicago who could pose a threat to him, and then I found what I sought.
As soon as Tony formed the thought in his mind, he realized his mistake, and tried to concentrate on something else. I grabbed at the thought with my mind and forced him to finish it. Cicero had his most trusted people running his businesses because he had become a wanted man (or vampire). He had holed himself up while he waged this war against the human authority figures. The vampires living in this century should be running things, not suffering against the laws they should be above. Tony agreed with him and thought him a sort of god for not lying down and acting like sheep when vampires should be the wolves.
I tried to force Tony to think of the place where Cicero had holed himself up, but he didn't know. He did know who did though. Vincent Marazzo. He ran the flagship of Cicero's businesses, "Capone's Vault". I had heard of it, a restaurant and theater on Lakeshore Drive that catered to humans. Vampires ran the establishment, but it had become a Mecca for humans who wanted to experience the prohibition era Chicago. Tommy guns and gangster paraphernalia littered the walls as a tribute to an era long gone, but not forgotten. If we wanted to find a way to Cicero, it would be there. Hot Damn!
I started to pull back from Tony's consciousness. I became so engrossed in finding Cicero; I almost missed his next fleeting thought. I didn't see a name or a face, just a building. I pushed back in and grabbed at the thought. I don't know what made me do it, maybe just gut instinct, but I found what I wanted. From his thoughts came an unwavering image, a nondescript apartment building in the heart of the city. I recognized it at once and realized why it looked so familiar. I had been living there for almost a week. I wondered why he would be thinking of it when I saw several people emerge from the front door and walk toward Tony. I watched the events unfold through Tony's eyes and realized he sat in a car waiting for the people to come out because he had the job of driving. Three people emerged from the building, two holding one upright. The third one wore a bathrobe and had a black hood over his head and his wrists bound with rope. The two approached the car and Tony popped the trunk. The car wobbled a little as they put the bound and hooded man into the trunk. My heart sank with the realization, they had Pete.
The two opened the back door of the car and climbed in. I saw fangs glint from the overhead street lamps as they slid into the leather seats. "Whoever the boss got the information from didn't lie; we saw her stuff in the spare bedroom. Only the boss would be lucky enough to have an FBI agent in his back pocket," one of the men said and smiled as Tony pulled away from the curb.
I broke the trance in a panic. I looked down at Tony and I saw nothing but fear there. He had betrayed the vampire god he had come to venerate above all things and he wanted to die. I snarled in his face and roared loud enough it would make even the werelion behind me jealous. If he wanted to die I would help him. Let's just hope I could send his god to him in death.
The flesh of his neck parted beneath my fangs. I didn't just bite, I tore. I chewed muscle and sinew and felt the rush of blood fill my mouth like I had bitten into a hose. I felt the blood push past the back of my mouth and flow down to wherever it goes and is absorbed into my body without swallowing. There would be no healing from this wound. I drank until the blood flowed no more and I came back to myself to find Tony quite dead beneath me and a disinterested werelion watching the entire scene. I had murdered a vampire and Thompson hadn't even tried to stop me. I think Thompson's disinterest bothered me more than the death.
I wiped the blood off my mouth onto the sleeve of my jacket and stared at Thompson. I had pulled Tony's memory of the knowledge of somebody in the FBI who had leaked not only who my partner had been, but where he lived as well. Whoever it was, had gotten Pete kidnapped and might have even gotten him killed. Could it be Thompson? It could, but if it were him, why didn't he just take me to Cicero himself? I couldn't chance it. I had already killed one vampire directly and one by putting him in a situation to be killed. I needed to find Pete and rescue him, on my own, but first I needed to get rid of Thompson.
"Are you going to sit there or are you going to change back?"
I watched as the air around him began to shimmer. I hoped to gods his clothes came back with him when he changed. The only thing that had survived his transformation had been the tattered remains of his suit pants. Bones began to pop as they reformed into a more human shape. Muscles poured and skin ran down the length of his body. It found it amazing a bald human could have a lion's mane in his Wereform, but the same could be said for the fine coating of fur over the rest of his body. I had only witnessed one transformation in my life during the fight I had with Rose Gates at the academy, and I had only seen the human to wereform shift. It had been a messy process as the animal under her skin had burst out in a shower of blood and other fluids. The transformation back seemed a lot less messy. The lion form seemed to shrink back into the human form and fur, fangs, and claws seemed to just get retracted back under the skin. I found myself grateful they didn't implode back.
Thompson stood before me in his pants, barely. His shirt, shoes, socks, and suit coat lay somewhere back in the alleyway. He looked tired, like it had taken everything to shift back, and for all I knew it had. I blushed a little at his mostly naked form. Damn my hormones, but he looked like he had been chiseled from a hunk of onyx and it showed in his arms and chest. I really needed to get my mind out of the gutter.
"They have Pete," I told him.
"How do you know?"
"I pulled it from Tony's mind before I killed him."
Thompson walked over to the body and nudged it with his toe. Tony didn't move, but I could see the wound at his neck closing. It wasn't healing at vampiric speed, but it was closing. I kneeled down to look closer to make sure I wasn't seeing things, but the repair became even more obvious the closer I got. I could see skin growing and the muscles stretching and healing themselves as well. Maybe I hadn't killed him. Damn.
"He's not dead, but you drained him dry. He'll heal, maybe not before the sun comes up, but he'll heal. We need to get him out of the street, unless you want him dead?" Thompson didn’t display a hint of emotion whatsoever. Like the decision belonged to me and he couldn't care less.
"No, I don't want him dead even though he deserves to be. I'm not a killer," I told him and my answer seemed to appease him. I just hoped it wasn't because he worked for Cicero. I had just started to like Thompson, and if he had been the one who tipped off Cicero, I swore to myself I would kill him.
I needed to get back to the apartment to start looking for Michaels. I couldn't just go to Capone's Vault an
d start banging heads together. I needed to think, I needed to cry, and I needed to figure out where to start. The sun would be up soon so I didn't have time to do more than think anyway. Okay, maybe think and take a shower, but that's all.
Thompson pulled out his cell and dialed a number. I didn't know who he dialed until I heard him tell the person that he needed an ambulance. He must of dialed 911. For all I knew he could just be pretending to. I listened carefully and could actually hear the dispatcher on the other end of the phone asking Thompsons location. He gave our exact location, and he impressed me by knowing exactly where we had ended up. While I had been chasing Tony, the last thing on my mind had been to look at street signs.
"Do you really want the police showing up here while you're dressed like a homeless person?"
"No, not really, but unless we get Tony out of the prospective sunlight, he's gonna get pretty crispy. I sure as hell ain’t hauling him back to the office."
I stared at Thompson and formulated a plan to get away from him. If he was the one tipping off Cicero, I couldn’t afford to let him know about Michaels. For all I knew as soon as I turned my back on him, he'd clunk me on the head and drag me to Cicero and Michaels and I would both end up dead. I just wish I knew what Cicero wanted and why he took Michaels.
"Go home ,Thompson. I'll wait here for the police and make sure Tony doesn't wake up anytime soon. Officers seeing you like this probably isn't the best of ideas right now."
"You sure you can handle this?"
"Yeah, just leave me the car keys. You have a way home?"
"I'll run," he snarled and smiled.
I nodded and he tossed me the car keys from his mangled pants. Before I had even caught them he had changed back into his lion form and started climbing up the fire escape of the closest building. I guess he's going to take the rooftop route. It would probably be smarter than letting everyone see a werelion running through the streets of Chicago.