Ceara asked, “What have you decided?”
“I think I’d like to work at one of the clubs, or the bar as my main job.”
Ceara asked, “Main job?”
I nodded, “I also took over dealing with the pack when that comes up for repairs? I could also do… I don’t know. Fill in where needed? Help if someone asks, or in an emergency?”
Ceara tilted her head, “Like you helped Vince?”
I blushed, “Not exactly, no. That isn’t…” I took a breath, “That would be breaking coven law, I wouldn’t do that. Vince was a special case, he gave up his will and I wanted to kill him because he deserved it, and it didn’t violate the tenets because his soul was… rotting in a body that couldn’t die. He was also rogue at the time.”
Ceara nodded, “So a perfect storm of opportunity. I understand. So what are you willing to do then? Does information violate free will? What if I brought in a rogue that wouldn’t talk, would it break the tenets if I asked you to extract the information from his soul?”
I shook my head, “I don’t think so.”
Ceara frowned, “Are you sure? The rogue may die as a result. When I have what I want.”
“Indirectly. It would be your free will that killed him, I’d just be giving you information that you asked for, that wouldn’t affect his free will directly. I know that sounds a little strange, but consider if I would be responsible for things like that. I would be completely frozen and unable to interact with anyone at all, about anything, just in case it caused a death.”
Ceara nodded, “I think I understand, you settling in okay? Any problems?”
“Fine, really good actually.”
Not counting my murderous uncle, or the very attractive mate I couldn’t have. Damnit. I was pretty sure she meant as far as the coven went though. That was going well. Granted, it was only day two since I was let out of the cell…
Ceara obviously wanted for me to contribute using my powers of elemental spirit, something that would give her, and the coven, an edge most didn’t have. But she also seemed willing to let me draw the line I couldn’t cross where my own conscience dictated. I didn’t mind that, it was her job actually, to utilize everyone in the coven to their potential.
We made small talk for a few more minutes, which was disconcerting in a way, but I tried not to show it. I wondered how lonely she felt, stuck at the top, with everyone terrified of her power and presence. Maybe my life didn’t suck all that much after all. A short time later I was dismissed.
On my way out Lisa asked, “Any plans tonight?”
I shrugged, “I might be working, not sure yet. I guess I need to get with Ice and find out. Why, what are you doing?”
She shook her head, “No plans yet. Let me know.”
I nodded in agreement and walked off. It made me wonder, I was happy to have someone to hang out with, an actual friend. Counting Eustice, I was up to a whole two of them, and if I could get Daniel to actually speak... But I digress. I wondered why she wasn’t surrounded by other people. I was the one raised in isolation in a forest for a hundred years, she’d probably been in this coven the whole time.
I’d also noticed the coven definitely gathered in groups at dinner time, and most of the rest of the guards besides Lisa were rather standoffish. I wondered why, and considered asking her about it later.
I pulled out my phone and texted Eustice when I couldn’t find him with my power. He wasn’t in the building, or even close by.
Do you need me to work tonight? Ceara gave okay for me to work at a club, or one of the bars.
His reply came back quickly, “Legal is still working on your identity and getting you on the books. Tomorrow though, you can work at Pulse, waitress.”
“K,” I sent back. I wondered about the waitress part. I’d have to deal with flirting drunk men with wandering hands. Okay, I wasn’t looking for anything, not even a fling, but that actually sounded kind of fun. Avoiding them I mean, while flirting back for that tip, not letting them… whatever. I was kind of clueless about that and had to learn to act my age, or apparent age. Still, I had Jared stuck on the brain, and despite the stupidity of it, I wasn’t ready to give up hope yet.
Pulse was the other night club, and perhaps more appropriately named than echo for vampire owners, maybe Lisa and I could go there tonight so I can get the lay of it. I’d seen the outside of it and knew where it was, but hadn’t been inside yet. Not incidentally, it would also be an opportunity to soul read a couple of the waitresses and not only learn the ropes, but see what I was getting myself in to.
I was kind of at loose ends for an hour or two before dinner and when Lisa got off shift. Everyone else I knew well enough to track down for a chat, was also working. I went back upstairs, and practiced putting on makeup as I tried to decide what I’d be wearing tonight. My first attempt was a disaster, subtle was harder than it looked…
It was later on at dinner that I learned a few things about the coven, and had my questions about the coven, as well as my questions about Lisa, answered. I’d asked her about the cliques and my other thoughts.
Lisa looked thoughtful for a second, “The guards don’t just guard. We also police the coven. If someone breaks a rule, we’re the ones that apprehend them, drag them to trial, and even execute their sentence. I suppose the break is on both sides, no one wants to hang around their potential killer, and for us… well we don’t usually make friends with the others because it would make our job harder if it came down to that later on.”
I nodded, “What about me then, I kind of think of you as a friend already.”
She sighed faux sadly, “I’m afraid it’s too late. You already seduced me into bed, and now I couldn’t bear the thought of staying away from your feminine wiles.”
I gave her the finger, which only made her giggle. I clearly needed to develop some verbal comebacks for this friendship. Giving the bird was funny now, but it was also a bit childish and would lose steam soon.
“Seriously,” she said softly, “I was just going to show you around and get back to my job. You… are too easy to like. Then there’s the idea you’ll be working with us on occasion, so we get to claim you anyway.”
That, kind of made sense. If I read someone for them, perhaps even be some kind of official interrogator. I could probably be a hell of a tracker as well, assuming the target was still in the city.
I sighed, “That means most will be scared of me too won’t it?”
Lisa nodded, “Probably. Not the older ones, like Ice, and Daniel. But yeah, the under one hundred crowd probably won’t be comfortable around you. So spill, what’s with you and volunteering to talk to the mutts,” she shivered, “Their magic always puts me on edge, not to mention their attitude.”
I shrugged and tried to play it off, I wasn’t ready to advertise my latest personal tragedy, even to a friend. It felt too personal.
“Spirit magic shield. I could feel their elemental earth and fire magic, but it didn’t bother me. Maybe because it couldn’t reach the air magic and interact? I felt no instincts of danger or enmity either come to think of it.”
I’d been so focused on Jared and trying not to say or do something stupid that I didn’t even notice.
She tilted her head, “Could they sense yours?”
I thought about it for a minute, stupid hope burgeoned up at the idea he wouldn’t instinctually want to kill me.
“I don’t know, I doubt it. But they still knew I was a vampire right off, maybe scent?”
She agreed, “Probably. As far as the rest of it, vamps are just humans enhanced with magic, outside of the little blood issue. People gravitate toward like people, and form cliques, it’s normal human behavior. The wolves always look down on us for it, but the truth is it makes us more human than they’ll ever be.
“That said, we’re all coven, all backstabbing is political, but when the crap hits the fan, we come together. Sure, there are exceptions, but those usually wind up dead sooner or later. Right now t
hings are very stable, we just had a house cleaning a couple of weeks ago.”
I nodded, “When Ceara took over the coven and city? What’s the deal with that?”
Lisa thought for a moment, no doubt editing for content, “She’s not only the ruler of the city, but for all vampires everywhere. She’s the remnant of the council, and may try and form a new one. That basically means we’ll be targeted by rogues, most likely soon, and often.”
“Umm, isn’t it kind of stupid to attack the strongest and oldest vampire?”
She snorted, “Sure, but look around at the vampires, what do you see?”
I looked, and wasn’t sure what she was talking about.
She grinned, “They’re all above average in looks, if not model material. Including you sweetie. Unfortunately, we don’t recruit based on intelligence. Then half of those turned were like you, caught by a rogue and turned against their will. Stupidity is everywhere, it’s part of the human condition, and as I said earlier, vampires are just humans with a little extra.”
For some reason that made me crack up laughing.
She added with a grin, “So is intelligence, it’s just a roll of the dice, just like humans. Anyway, a lot of vampires didn’t like the council very much, or the laws. Some want to rule the humans behind the scenes with subtle compulsion, some want to run covens like organized crime to control the cities underworld. James was one of the latter, and had his hands in multiple pies of organized crime. He was also smart enough to get away with it, at least, until she came to town in person and caught him.”
“I think I understand. They see Ceara as the last obstacle to doing whatever they want. If she dies, it will turn into a civil war of sorts, with no really big guns on either side. That still doesn’t explain why they think they can kill her.”
“Stupidity. Truly though, all they need to do is catch her by surprise. She’s no more immune to a bullet in the head than you or I. The trick of course, is she’s faster than a bullet if she’s paying attention, and she always is. Plus, older vampires tend to turn arrogant after they’ve survived half a millennium, and they get overly clever and reckless.”
I changed the subject, “Pulse tonight?”
She nodded and her smile sparkled in her eyes, “Sure, why not.” She also looked a little relieved. Had she been worried I’d drop her as a friend?
Chapter 18
I picked a red strapless dress that had a loose black sheer material on the bottom part of it from the waist down. I also put on a pair of black high heels, and passed my makeup inspection when Lisa came by before we left. It didn’t cover any more than the last dress did, the red dress stopped about mid-thigh and conformed to my legs, but the sheer black was loose, flowing, and reached my knees. I was also much more comfortable in these clothes after last night.
I’d also decided I wasn’t drinking more than two drinks, and Long Island Iced Tea was completely off the menu for me. This morning was mortifying, even if a little humorous. I still hadn’t remembered last night that well, but I’d decided to leave it as a learning experience and not delve further into the mystery.
Pulse was laid out differently than Echo. The bar was more of a huge square in the center of the floor, and huge enough to have four or five bartenders and sets of alcohol, though it was well lit like at Echo. There was a thin line of tables as a buffer zone of sorts, and then the dance floor circled the bar and tables, though it was split into four dance floors because of the need for aisles.
Around the outside were high tables and also some booths, as well as a private VIP room with its own small bar and dedicated barmaid. Deciding to get it out of the way, so I could have fun tonight, I read a couple of the waitresses. I decided it shouldn’t be that hard, especially with elemental spirit magic, to remember who ordered what and all that.
I even found with a little concentration I knew who needed fresh drinks in the place.
I also took a look at the clothes, they were all in shorts of different kinds, except one with jeans. They all had different types of shoes on too, some running, some short heeled sandals. They all wore collared shirts with the Pulse logo on them, which seemed to be the only consistent part of the uniform. Some had less buttons done than others, showing various amounts of cleavage.
I didn’t think I’d have any issues with any of it. It was obviously hard work… but vampire, and sorceress. My learning curve would be a lot smaller than the average person.
Lisa arrived out of nowhere with some mixed drinks and handed me one.
I smirked and then looked at it faux suspiciously, “Trying to get me drunk?”
She winked saucily and waggled her eyebrows, “You know it.”
Her eyes narrowed suddenly, all humor gone from her expression, and she took a deep breath through her nose.
“Do you smell that?”
I took a deep breath through my nose and wrinkled it, “Smoke?”
We both started to look around, and I spread my power out to cover the entire club. I didn’t sense any elemental fire magic, or witches. What I did sense was four extra vampires, of course that could just have been others in the coven that didn’t work here having a night out. Just like the two of us. I didn’t recognize their souls though, and even if I hadn’t met everyone in the coven, I’d touched all their souls at least once by now. With the exception maybe, of Ceara, who was too well shielded.
Still, even in her case I could recognize her by her magic.
“There are four vampires here I don’t recognize,” I pointed toward the back, “That way, by the back hallway.”
I was pretty sure the stock rooms and bathrooms were back there, along with an office and fire exit.
Lisa frowned, “I’ll grab the bouncers and check it out, can you try and find the fire and put it out?”
I nodded and moved as fast as I could move without looking inhuman. I grabbed a fire extinguisher off the wall and headed into the back hallway. I could tell the smoke was coming from the men’s bathroom. To verify that, there were a few human guys coughing their brains out against the wall. I kicked open the door, and the fire seemed to be limited to the trash, and the wall right above the trashcan so far.
I pulled the pin and sprayed the flames while holding my breath, the smoke was irritating my throat despite that. I was trying to keep track of everything with my power. Lisa and the two bouncers who were vampire guards I hadn’t met yet, were trying to corner the vamps without exposing us to the humans in the club. The four idiots ran in different directions, one in my direction.
The fire was out, and I opened the small window to let the smoke vent from the small room, and then went back into the hall. I didn’t get in the vampire’s way, and he was free to leave. Except of course, he picked me out and attacked me. I have to admit I’d been hoping he would. He was fast, about seventy-five years turned, and a little more powerful than I was as a vampire.
Except, he didn’t know what he was dealing with. If he had, he’d have just walked by me.
I couldn’t throw lightning in a human crowd though, which limited my options. He was faster than me, but he hadn’t been trained in martial arts like I had and his body telegraphed his first lunging attack. I dodged his first strike and stomped on the side of his leg and elbowed his face hard as he flew by. He went down hard, but he was a vampire, so was back up very quickly. I reached out and easily threaded his shield with a thread of spirit and started to wrap his soul tightly in my power.
He attacked again, but was even more clumsy as I manipulated his soul, and through that, his body. He’d be asleep in a few seconds. Spirit lightning could have knocked him out right off, but that wasn’t an option. Even using direct skin to skin contact for it would create visual sparks for the still coughing human men not even fifteen feet away.
He attacked again, this time moving more cautiously, so I did the opposite. I surprised him by moving in close, just an inch or two separated us, and I struck him in the throat twice, once in the solar plexus, an
d for good measure, I slammed my knee up between his legs. He gasped in pain and managed a strike at my head, but I spun away from it and around him and returned the favor. I hit him hard in the side of the head, and he banged into the wall.
He went down at that point, and I wondered if my magic had even been necessary. Then I looked at the wall, crap, his head made a hole…
Lisa and the bouncers had caught two more, one managed to get away, he was a quarter mile away already and moving fast.
I heard one of the men behind me say, “Holy shit, that was so hot.”
I turned my head around with a smile and winked. My dress wasn’t even wrinkled, though it smelled of smoke. My cheek stung a little as well, I had taken that partial hit, but I knew I’d heal in minutes from that even as a young vampire.
It got a bit awkward though, since I couldn’t pick him up and carry him out on my own, it wouldn’t have looked right to the humans, so I had to wait for the others. The guys behind me just kept staring. I wondered what they’d have thought if I’d had my sword, but it was safe in my condo.
Eventually, the two bouncers helped us load one of the cars with the three comatose rogues. So much for our night out. I hadn’t danced at all, or even gotten to drink. I figured Ceara would ask me, so I went ahead and found out all I could about them through soul reading as it related to what they did and why.
What I found made me feel sick, and I couldn’t wait until later to share.
“Lisa, they aren’t just hitting Pulse tonight. Others in their group went to Echo, and Legends.”
Legends was our sport’s bar. For some reason they weren’t going after the pool hall, probably because our guards spent a lot of off time there. It would be like trying to rob a Dunkin Donuts next to a police station.
Lisa cursed and pulled out her phone, and sent out a text message, and then dialed a number. I could hear both sides of the conversation.
Spirit Sorceress: Spirit Sorceress: Book 1 Page 10