by Kat Cotton
“We can’t take a gamble on that.” I pulled away from him. “We have no evidence that your blood will work. Maybe it needs to be fully human. In this situation, we shouldn’t experiment with things. Anyway, you have the super strength to get the stake into him before he realizes what we’re doing.”
“Nic says you aren’t fully human either.”
“Nic knows jack shit about me. I’m human.”
I wanted to strike out. This whole theory about me being not human was such bollocks. But who could I strike out at? Kisho? That would fuck up the whole plan. The Demon Child? Not likely. Since Nic wasn’t around for me to punch, I did the next best thing and kicked one of the pallets.
I glanced over to the kid. He sat on the floor with the dog on his lap, giving it ear rubs. That made it impossible to imagine he was the same creature who’d killed so many people at the Soho. He looked like something off a fucking greeting card.
This plan would work, I knew it would work.
I got out my silver blade.
“If this doesn’t work out, promise me…” Hell, I had no last words. No deathbed promises.
Maybe I wanted him to kiss me. I couldn’t ask for that now, though. It had to happen organically or not at all.
“Oh, are you okay with this?” I wasn’t sure how to put it without being offensive. “I mean, you won’t turn on me yourself?”
“I should be fine.”
I knew he wasn’t as feral as the Demon Child, but not many vampires would be that confident about this. The bloodlust could be strong as fuck. But then, at the car lot, he’d been so gentle when he’d licked the blood from my face.
“I don’t feed,” he added. “Are you certain this is what you want to do? We could sneak up on him while he’s distracted with the puppy.”
“Not likely. There’s no sneaking up on that kid. He’s too powerful.”
Okay, I had to do this.
“Are you ready?” I asked Kisho. He had to be one hundred percent ready. He had the stake in his hand. “Have you ever staked anyone in your life?”
“I can do it.”
I raised the knife, ready to slash my wrist. I had to cut deep enough to sever a vein but not deep enough that I’d actually die from blood loss. It’s a lot harder to plunge a knife into yourself than you think. The movies make it look simple, but they discount that strong instinct for self-preservation people have. And, hell, mine was stronger than most.
I swiped. And stopped just short of my wrist.
“Shit.”
My pulse raced so fast, this would be a bloodbath when I hit the vein. I imagined blood spraying everywhere. I needed to calm down. I took a deep breath and prepared to cut again.
A banging outside stopped me.
People? Demons? Vampires?
“Someone’s coming. Sleep time.” The Demon Child flipped across the room to his box bed.
That left Kisho and me out in the open. Did we hide or did we fight?
Chapter 19: War
Kisho grabbed my hand and ran for the desk. I guessed that meant hide. Personally, I’d have preferred fighting. They’d have to come in through the gap that we’d come through. We could get them at their most vulnerable.
We dropped to the floor and slid under the desk. The space wasn’t that big. I crawled in and moved to the side as much as possible to give Kisho room. It was a tight squeeze but, with our legs pulled up, we fit. Kisho pulled me closer to him, making sure we couldn’t be seen. With his chest squeezed against mine, my heart beat so damn loud.
I had to control that. Signs like that would give us away so easily. Cloaking myself was one of those things I’d learned in training but never used that much. The way I worked, I did the opposite. I put myself out there, signaling my presence loud and clear.
The first step was to get my breathing under control. Then I had to focus on putting a wall between myself and them. If I imagined a shield over the desk, or maybe a bubble, that might work.
The voices outside got louder. There were two men at least. They were in the warehouse now.
Both the men came closer, their footsteps echoed around the warehouse, coming closer and closer. A snuffling noise made me start. That damn dog. It’d better not start barking and give away our hiding spot.
“Is it safe keeping him here?” one of them said.
“It has been, but we need to move him. He needs to attack again, and soon.”
The second man’s voice—deep and rich and full of resonance—soothed me. I had no idea why.
Not Kisho. He tensed up, pushing hard against the side of the desk with his feet.
The more he tensed, the more at risk we became. I shuffled my hand up to stroke his hair, but something glowed. What the hell? The eyes on my wolf ring. The old gypsy woman had said they’d flash if I was in danger. I’d thought that was just a pretty story since they’d never flashed before.
Getting Kisho to settle down became more imperative. I pulled him to me, resting his head on my shoulder. That made it a tight squeeze in that tiny space, but relaxing him was more important than my comfort. If we got caught by those goons, there’d be no comfort at all.
He grabbed my hand. Whoa, his palm was as sweaty as hell. I knew we were in danger, but Kisho’s reaction had become extreme.
“We don’t need to be the mayor’s bitches if you ask me, boss.”
“Your opinions don’t count.” That sounded threatening. “The mayor thinks he’s using us, but he’s playing right into our hands.”
Maybe that guy with the soothing voice wasn’t a goon. Timon had told me to look for the person who’d woken the Demon Child. I’d thought no further than the mayor, but that had been short-sighted of me. The mayor might have secrets, but I doubted he had that kind of power.
They walked across the room, not worried about the noise they made. The possibility of them sensing us became higher the closer they got. I closed my eyes and held tighter to Kisho. This cloaking process had better work or they’d hear our heartbeats and sense our smell. As they got near, I squeezed Kisho’s hand tighter, hoping they wouldn’t bump into the desk like we had. Hoping they wouldn’t sense anything.
I sweated. Kisho sweated more. The dust tickled my nose, so that it twitched, almost sneezing. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t do a single thing or we were doomed.
I bit my lip, almost drawing blood, squeezed my eyes shut tight and focused every fiber of my being on that cloak.
They kept walking, their footsteps not missing a beat. I wanted to sigh with relief but held even that inside.
“The mayor wants a war?”
“That’s what he says. He’s going to drag all of our kind out into the open, and once he’s done that, he’ll set about destroying us. It’s war he wants.”
I gasped. I knew the mayor wanted to out the vamps, but he’d never mentioned war.
“We can take them.”
The other man laughed. That laugh froze my heart. It came from a place so evil and cold that the very sound dripped icicles.
Kisho squeezed my hand so tight, I almost cried out from the pain. His fingers would surely leave bruises, but if it stopped him from panicking, then I could bear it. It became harder and harder to focus on cloaking us, though.
Was it the guy’s laugh or the threat of war that freaked him out?
The dude wasn’t wrong. If it came to war between humans and vampires, vampires would shit all over us. The mayor had to be smoking the crack pipe if he thought he even stood a chance of defeating them. The mayor talked a good game, but what did he have to back it up? If he thought McConchie and I would be at the forefront of staking a vamp army, I despaired for the city.
“That’s why we’re not stopping him. He thinks he can destroy us all, but he underestimates us. If it comes to war, we’ll win. Then we’ll be free to walk the streets and hunt as we like. I was meant to reign in this city, not hide in the shadows.”
This was far worse than I’d thought. I had no idea who that
man was, but he sounded like some bigwig, and when the vampire bigwig went up against the mayor, there was only one outcome, which was death.
They stood near the Demon Child’s nest. I wasn’t sure how the men planned to capture the Demon Child. We were sitting ducks in here. If they found us, they’d totally have the advantage. The Demon Child might give us away, or the dog might. This was way too risky.
If I tilted my head to one side, I could make them out. The man with the deep voice was really tall. His face was in shadow, but he looked savage and brutal. He exuded a power stronger than I’d ever felt from a vampire before. Nic liked to think he was a big, evil vampire, but he was nothing on this guy. I didn’t doubt that Nic would do what was expedient for him, but this guy, he’d kill without mercy. He had a darkness in him. A deep, ancient darkness.
Kisho’s heart pounded so hard.
“Smells like human in here,” the minion guy said.
I held my breath. They’d find us. They’d find us and we were doomed. There was no way we could fight them. They were powerful, and Kisho had become a wreck.
“Always does,” the old vampire said. “Place had a few vagrants hanging out before we moved the Demon Child in. They weren’t very tasty, but he’s not exactly acquired a refined taste.”
He walked closer to the nest.
“Child,” he said, his voice tender now.
The Demon Child sat up.
“Papa.”
Ha? Was the man actually his father, or did he just call him papa? It seemed a bit creepy.
Kisho’s fingers sunk further into my skin.
The other vampire got something out of a bag. A bag of blood, by the looks of it. That wasn’t much blood for a vampire like the kid, though. Enough to keep him alive, but not enough to sate his hunger. Of course, they wanted him ready to attack.
The kid sucked that blood down so fast.
“Papa, more?” he said.
He looked around for more. If he looked too hard, he’d find it, too. My blood. I had to focus. I had to focus like I’d never focused before. But beside me, Kisho shook. I couldn’t hold him any tighter. Already the strain of trying to calm him broke my focus. Was he having some kind of fit?
God, I needed to pee. Jeez, my body. I squeezed my legs together and patted Kisho and pressed my eyes shut tight so I could focus on the cloak. That spread my concentration way too thin.
“Not yet, my child, but soon.”
The Demon Child laughed.
“Nice Papa,” he said.
“Come with me.”
“So, what’s the plan now, boss?” the other guy asked.
“This child will become my son. The true vampire prince.”
Kisho shook so much, the desk knocked against the wall. I couldn’t comfort him. Kisho’s nails almost drew blood, they dug so tight into my hand. I tried to pry them off. If I bled, they would know. We’d been lucky so far. I doubted my focus had been strong enough to cloak us completely, but the vampires hadn’t expected anyone to be in the warehouse and had been distracted by the Demon Child.
If he drew blood, though, there was nothing that would mask it. We might as well put up a neon sign saying “Vampire Diner” over my head.
Kisho needed to calm himself before he got us killed. Part of me wanted to comfort him, but another part wanted to smack him up the side of the head. He should not have put himself in this situation if he’d known he couldn’t handle it. Hell, he should learn to handle it. Do some meditation classes or something. Anything.
The old vampire took the Demon Child’s hand in his.
Kisho sobbed, a soft sob that seemed to stick in his throat. There was something more going on there than just the fear of being caught.
Footsteps pounded down the length of the warehouse. They were leaving.
Then, outside a car started up. They were leaving. Sure, they had the Demon Child, but they hadn’t killed us and that was a bright side. Not dead always beats dead.
I wanted to make sure that they were actually gone and not just tricking us, but Kisho kicked his way out from under the desk. He scrambled over me as though not even aware of my existence. I waited for him to say sorry and to calm down, but he was determined to get out even if that meant injuring me in the process. His distress went further than fear. It went further than worry about losing the Demon Child. That anguish cut straight to the bone.
I clambered out after him, dusting myself off and stretching my aching limbs.
We needed to talk. We needed to talk real bad. He’d better have a good reason for that shit.
“Kisho?”
His footfalls thudded through the warehouse. He’d run.
I wanted to run after him, but a mournful bark stopped me. I couldn’t leave the dog tied up here alone. He’d die of hunger. I untied him and took him with me.
Maybe Kisho just needed fresh air and was waiting outside, I thought. But when I got out of the warehouse, Kisho was long gone.
Chapter 20: Fortune-Teller
I tried to call Kisho a few times to find out what the hell had happened at the warehouse. He didn’t answer my call. He didn’t come into the office the next day either. I didn’t need him. I could manage perfectly fine without him. I couldn’t work with someone who was that unstable. I’d worked on my own for years. Having an assistant might’ve been nice for things like coffee and filing, but when it involved having a freakout that put my life at risk, it was not so dandy.
Maybe Kisho was actually doing something useful, and it wasn’t just embarrassment that kept him away. Surely, he and Nic would start preparing for the war.
Nic only wanted me to hunt the Demon Child, but there was a much bigger plan going on. I couldn’t focus on the small picture without knowing about that.
In the meantime, I had something to do that didn’t involve those shithead vampires. Something had bugged me since I’d left the warehouse. Well, something other than Kisho freaking out and running out like a little bitch. Oh, and that the old vampire and the mayor wanted to start a huge fucking war that might destroy everything.
I wanted to see the old witch who’d sold me the ring. She worked at the tourist market on the waterfront, reading tarot cards and selling trinkets. I hadn’t actually believed she was a witch or that the ring would flash. I just liked the kick-assedness of it.
Before I left the building, I ran to the bathroom. I never used the toilet in my building because it was gross. Since there was no cleaner, no one took on the responsibility. But this was an emergency.
I opened the door and held my nose, waiting for the waves of grossness to hit me. But the place gleamed. Kisho had even cleaned the manky bathroom. How dare he? How dare he try to make himself so indispensable to my life?
I was already angry with him, but now I’d have to sacrifice having a clean bathroom if I got rid of him. Clean bathrooms and color-coded notes and lemon-fresh smells were dangerous things. You got used to having them mighty quickly, then missed them like hell when they were gone.
Maybe the Demon Fighter Council made exceptions for half-humans.
No. I wouldn’t have him back. It was too dangerous to work with someone I didn’t trust. Even if he did make awesome coffee.
I went back to my office to grab my jacket and lock up when something yelped. Kisho?
No, it was the puppy. I’d brought him into the office with me and he’d fallen asleep on a chair. Then I’d totally forgotten he was there. I was a bad dog owner.
“Come on, then, Hellhound,” I said to him. He jumped around like crazy. A walk on the waterfront would do him good. I’d called him Hellhound since the first thing he’d done when we’d gotten home was eat my favorite pair of socks.
I drove down to the waterfront. It was an overcast day so the area was pretty deserted. I wandered through the stalls, looking for the old lady. It’d been a few years, so maybe she had moved on. The only thing I could remember was that she was at the bridge end of the promenade.
Hellhound wanted
to race along the waterfront. He tried to chase the seagulls, but just ended up running circles on his lead. I tugged him closer to me.
Along the waterfront, on tables with faded sun umbrellas, old ladies sold paintings and knickknacks. The usual market junk. A strong breeze threatened to knock those umbrellas over. Some of the stall holders began packing up their goods.
A stall sold delicious-looking cakes. I bought one because it was only nice to contribute to someone’s livelihood when business was slow.
I kept walking, seagulls squawking around me. I hated birds. Nasty, disease-carrying things. They’d better keep their beady eyes off my cake. The dog was bad enough. I’m pretty sure that dogs shouldn’t eat cake. At least Hellhound kept the seagulls away from me.
To be honest, this market would do much better if the smell of fish wasn’t so strong.
I’d almost reached the bridge when I saw the old lady. She sat on a low stool with a shawl pulled around her, looking every bit the old crone. But then that had to be good for business. People like it when you look the part.
“Ah, I thought I’d see you today,” the old woman said when I got back.
Well, that was an easy thing for her to say. She probably said it to all repeat customers. The fact that you’d come back proved her right. I smiled and nodded.
“The ring,” she added.
Okay, that was a bit spookier. Still, not that big a stretch, though. It was amazing that she remembered I’d bought the ring from her, but it was there on my finger in plain sight, and she’d know her own merchandise.
“Sit down,” she said.
I pulled out the small stool opposite. I wrapped the dog leash around the stool leg and told him to sit quietly.
She spread the cards out on the table in front of her.
“Show me your hand.”
“I don’t want a reading. I need to know about the ring.”
“Yes, but first a reading. I think there are things you need to know about in your future.”
She took my hand in hers. Age spots marked the back of her hand, but other than that, her hand was as smooth and unwrinkled as mine. It smelled of rose hand cream, but it took more than hand cream to keep your hands in that condition. The firmness of her hand really seemed out of place compared to her gnarled, wrinkled face. If you knew some witchy secret to keep age away, surely you’d use it on your face, not your hands.