by Dave Ferraro
***
Cameron watched the taillights of Shanna’s car fade before climbing to his feet and walking back to the road. His shoes felt heavy as the damp earth sucked at them, and the weight of his situation seemed to crush him. As he reached the spot where the car had stopped in the flattened grass, he stared at the muddy skid marks, trying not to conjure up what had occurred leading up to that moment. Instead, he began to replay events in a different way, saying things that would have smoothed over the situation and won Shanna back over to him.
He continued to torture himself in this way as he walked along the roadside, mud drying on his clothes, caking itself to his shirt and Jeans, but he barely noticed as he walked like a zombie beneath the moonlight.
He had nowhere to go now. The Agency would know what he’d done. Shanna would make sure of that. He couldn’t even go back home to his mother, or he would be tracked down by the government. What had he done? He wished more than anything that he’d never listened to Tessa in the first place.
He tentatively touched his scar, wincing at the bleeding tear that Shanna had caused during their scuffle. Not that he blamed her. He must look like a monster through her eyes. If only he could get her to see! To listen!
He stopped and kicked at the ground, suddenly furious. Where had Damien come from anyway? How the hell had he known to show up just then?
“What a sight,” Tessa said, suddenly at his side.
Cameron wheeled on her and reached out to grab her by the neck. She laughed as his fingers went through her and his momentum sent him sprawling onto the dirt roadside.
He lay still and stared at the dirt near his head, unwilling to move, not willing to care any longer.
“Cameron, Cameron, Cameron,” Tessa shook her head as she knelt beside him. “This is the price of failure.”
Cameron turned his head to look up at her face, the moon visible just over her shoulder. “How?”
“How did you fail?” Tessa asked, sending him a confused look.
“How did Damien…get here?”
Tessa considered him for a moment and took a seat on the roadside, hugging her knees. “Sit beside me, Cameron.”
Cameron made no move to comply until she glared at him and said “you won’t get any answers by acting like a child.”
He sat with his legs folded beside her, careful to keep a good distance between them.
“Damien was in your trunk the entire drive down here,” Tessa told him finally.
Cameron frowned. “What?”
“You’re not the only person I offered to strike a deal with.”
“I’m…not?”
“No,” Tessa said matter-of-factly. “I offered most of the hunters a chance to have something their hearts wanted dearly, for a few small favors. Most of them declined, of course. Even that horrid little siren you have caged there. Seems she thinks she deserves to pay her penance.” She shook her head regretfully. “You, however, were very eager to betray your girlfriend. Not that I blame you. That scar must be unbearable to live with, given your beautiful face beyond it. It really is a pity.” She reached out to touch the scar, but Cameron edged away, discouraging her until she dropped her hand and sighed.
“So…Damien,” Cameron prodded her.
Tessa nodded. “Damien came into play once you began to screw up your role in this. It became apparent early on that I couldn’t peg all of our hopes on you, even though you are the most obvious choice to help us reach our goal, so who else would Shanna follow blindly into the lion’s den?”
Cameron snorted. “Of course. Damien.”
“Yep. He may not be one of our inner circle, but almost every vampire is connected to La Faer Noir. Damien included. And he does have a soft spot for Shanna, and she for him, so he was approached about intervening tonight. Saving her from you once you had bungled things beyond the point of no return, would make him seem like the good guy here. Make her trust him even more than she already does.”
“She did let him drink from her once,” Cameron agreed.
Tessa nodded. “So we only needed one of your hunters to invite him onto your grounds, because of that pesky clause that vampires have, and help him gain access to Shanna’s car, the only car that seemed likely you would take Shanna into New York with.”
“Wait. So, someone else betrayed the hunters too?”
Tessa looked at him with something of amusement. “Does it make you feel better that you weren’t the only one to cave to temptation? Yes, one of your friends also took my offer. Those who refused, I left no memory of my visit to them.”
“Who else…” Cameron’s voice trailed off as Tessa shook her head.
“That would be telling,” she said. “And I’m very serious about keeping my sources a secret. Although let’s face it, you were much more dedicated as a traitor than your mystery friend. You killed for La Faer Noir.”
“Not on purpose,” Cameron protested, sitting up straight. “You know that-”
“I know, I know,” Tessa batted him on the shoulder playfully. “Settle down, Cameron. It’s not all your fault that things played out the way they did. We are subject to the whims of Fate.”
Cameron watched her for a moment. “Is this how it usually goes?”
“What, my dear?”
“With a djinn, or a genie, or whatever the hell you are. Do the wishes always end up biting a person in the ass?”
Tessa chuckled. “I am very ancient. Any who cross me had better tread carefully. Yes, djinn are known to twist the words of wish-bearers if they aren’t careful. It’s the easiest way to get them to make another wish, to negate the effects. And after three wishes, well…”
“Samantha is your current…master?”
“Yes. And she is a careful one. Her wish is to use my powers in the interests of La Faer Noir and her climbing its ranks. She extended that wish to you and your hunter friends through those words. It’s a very large wish, but she was careful and smart about her phrasing, and has yet to use the other two wishes.”
“What happens after she makes three wishes?”
Tessa grinned. “Then I become her master. Body and soul.”
Cameron felt a shiver run up his spine. “Sounds like you have to be pretty patient to make it to that point.”
“Usually men are greedy and it goes quickly. I’ve been Samantha’s djinn for over a century and she has yet to slip. She is…an interesting creature. She does not bore me, at least.” She turned to Cameron. “Am I frightening you?”
“You just seem very, very powerful.”
“My powers know no bounds,” she acknowledged. “It is our gift and our curse.”
They sat silently for a few minutes, crickets chirping in stereo behind them as they pondered the evening and the events that it had witnessed.
“So, what now?” Cameron asked finally, refusing to turn his head toward Tessa. “Does Samantha want you to destroy me?”
“Hardly,” Tessa snorted. “You are of little concern to her.”
“Oh.”
“However, you have been loyal through all of this.”
Cameron shrugged. Loyalty seemed to be the least of his most dominant traits, as far as he was concerned.
She smiled at him. “You felt the weight of the world upon your shoulders as you helped us, with friends who would help you overcome your trials surrounding you at all times. And yet you kept silent about your part all the while. Don’t think that I don’t realize that most of that is due to how they would look at you once you confessed, but the deeper you found yourself entrenched in this, the more steadfast you were about keeping it secret. That shows commitment. And while you have failed in the mission we gave you, there is still much you could offer us.”
Frowning, Cameron looked at her, trying to read into her words. “I don’t understand.”
“Cameron,” she put her hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eyes, making him both nervous a
nd excited at the same time. “While using my powers to help you is no longer an option, I do know of another way to restore your face.”
His breath caught in his throat at her words, and his hands began to tremble as he nodded, a sliver of hope gleaming through the darkness. “Tell me. I’ll do anything.”