Spirit Sanguine

by Lou Harper

  “I see you’re still a lousy shot,” Harvey snarked.

  “He was—” A prickly sensation caught Gabe’s attention.

  “Moving?” Harvey finished the sentence, unaware of the danger closing in around them.

  Gabe’s heart sped up again with alarm. “Something’s wrong; we must go.”

  He jumped up from the floor, dragging Harvey with him.

  “What is it?”

  “The guards are coming back. We can’t take the front door. There must be another exit here somewhere.”

  Harvey, instantly alert, tugged at Gabe. “Probably through the kitchen. I think this way.”

  They never made it to the kitchen, instead got trapped in the media room. Two guards blocked one door; another two plus Ilario stood at the other.

  “Don’t move. There’s no way out,” Ilario said with a cold air of authority.

  With dismay, Gabe realized they all wore bulletproof vests. They hadn’t the night before. On top of it, all four of the guards had crossbows like his own trained on them. This was shaping up to be a trap.

  “Drop your weapons,” Ilario commanded.

  Frustrated, Gabe raised his arms and glared at Harvey who reluctantly tossed the crossbow and followed his example. Gabe edged in front of Harvey, while the gears in his brain worked at a furious pace. He and Harvey still had several stakes on them—they could have a chance in hand-to-hand combat. Well, there were still the vests, but at least it was daytime. Clearly, Ilario wanted them alive for some reason; he just had to figure out why and use it to their advantage. One thing was for sure—if he survived this, he was going to kill Hector.

  Right on cue, Hector walked in with a funny little gun. He raised it and shot Gabe in the thigh.

  “Not fucking again,” Gabe groaned at the sight of the dart.

  He yanked the tranquilizer dart out, but it didn’t matter—already he was feeling woozy. Harvey caught him as he swayed.

  “Motherfucking asshole!” he heard Harvey snarl over his shoulder.

  Gabe tried to stay standing, but his knees had other ideas—they’d apparently turned to jelly. He was too heavy, too much of a dead weight for Harvey to hold, and they sank to the floor.

  Gabe kept staring at their captors, and then, seeing Hector and Ilario exchanging a look, something clicked. He just couldn’t process the information properly anymore. But he had to…had to warn Harvey. Because Harvey had a temper, and it could prove deadly—for Harvey.

  With rising panic, Gabe scrambled for the right words. He had so much to say and so little time. He twisted his head so he could catch Harvey’s eyes. “Cicám, no claws. Please,” he said with his last ounce of energy before darkness overtook him.

  Chapter Seven

  Gabe came to with a jolt, and his first panicked thought was of Harvey. The sedatives left him groggy and his senses dampened. It took him several excruciating moments to sort out the vampire presences around him. He recognized Harvey’s first, in a flood of relief. Bound, blindfolded and gagged, he couldn’t do a whole lot, but he wriggled toward Harvey—they were very close, he knew. At last they bumped heads. Harvey made a muffled sound—probably gagged too.

  His head gradually clearing, Gabe focused on his environment. He thought the other vamp nearby had to be Hector. They were in some kind of vehicle, bouncing over rough terrain. When Gabe tried to move around more, he found himself well-secured down. He had to settle for a huff through his nose and moving his head. Harvey replied in kind. At least they were both alive.

  The car stopped with a crunch of hard dirt and rocks under the tires. A car door opened and closed. Another one opened, and Gabe could feel the cool desert air on his skin. Deft hands adjusted his bindings so he had a bigger range of movement. The cloth covering his eyes was removed. Gabe blinked a few times, and then squinted at the man standing in the open rear door of the van. Yup, it was Hector.

  He removed Gabe’s gag. “You can shout if you want. Nobody will hear you.”

  “I figured as much,” Gabe croaked. His throat was dry.

  Unsheathing a deadly looking hunting knife, Hector went on. “I will cut your binds. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t attack me.”

  “You got my word.”

  The knife sliced through the rope like butter. Gabe sat up, stretching his sore muscles, mindful of the rope burns. He noticed a black BMW parked a few feet away. Other than that, he could only see endless desert around them. He rubbed his wrists.

  “You nearly cut off my circulation.”

  “I had to make it realistic,” Hector replied while removing Harvey’s blindfold.

  If looks alone could kill, Hector would’ve turned into dust in that instant from Harvey’s angry glare.

  Hector handed the knife to Gabe. “Tell your friend to behave.”

  “He will. Right, kitten?” Gabe asked, turning to Harvey, who wrinkled his forehead with a mix of confusion and annoyance, but eventually gave a nod.

  Gabe cut Harvey’s bonds and helped him out of the van.

  “Son of a bitch,” was the first thing to come out of Harvey’s mouth.

  Gabe held the knife out to Hector, but the vamp shook his head. “Keep it. Souvenir.” He handed over the matching leather sheath too.

  Gabe tucked the knife in. The whole kit looked like top-of-the-line, expensive stuff.

  “Is anyone going to tell me what the fuck’s going on?” Harvey blurted out.

  Gabe put an arm around Harvey’s shoulder and pulled him closer.

  “Our whole reason for being here, from start to finish, was to kill Aleksi, wasn’t it?” he said, keeping his eyes on Hector.

  Hector returned his gaze without a hint of remorse. “It had to be done. He was putting us all in danger.”

  Gabe went on. “You couldn’t do it yourself with the bodyguards with him all the time, and during the day when they were weak, so were you. You not only needed a non-vampire, but someone who was a pro. For a vampire to hire a slayer to kill another vampire—that had to be a tall order.”

  A corner of Hector’s mouth curled up ever so slightly. “I didn’t think it was doable, but then Ilario found you, God knows where. You’ll forgive me for not quite trusting you at first. For all I knew, you coulda gone berserk and started staking everyone in sight.”

  “So you trust me now?”

  “Well, you’re a queer sort of slayer, for sure. No pun intended. At first I thought the pretty one”—he motioned at Harvey—”was your minder, but watching you last night, I knew you had a bond. Strange as hell, but it meant you had to be all right.”

  Gabe decided to take that as a compliment and move on. “With Aleksi gone, Ilario will be the boss, right?”

  “Of course. For everyone concerned, Aleksi has been killed by a couple of out-of-town slayers, who were in turn swiftly dispatched by Ilario. It’s a clean transfer of power.”

  “What about Mr. Vega?” Harvey cut in.

  “He’s back at the Lighthouse already. You can call them if you want.”

  “Won’t that be suspicious, him disappearing and reappearing like a magician’s rabbit?”

  Hector shrugged. “I’m sure it will eventually make it to one of those TV shows about alien abductions, but he’s a sick old man with no family. There’s nobody to kick up a fuss. The cops have better things to do.”

  Gabe stared off at the darkening horizon before turning back to Hector. “So, Ilario put on a good show in front of the men catching us. I’m guessing he handed us over to you for disposal.”

  “That’s my job,” Hector agreed.

  “Yeah, but wouldn’t it be in Ilario’s best interest if you really got rid of us? The fewer in the know, the better, right?”

  “True that. But you see, he’d given his word to your boss to return you in working condition, and a man is only as good as his word.”

  “Ah, a man of honor?” Harvey said with a biting tone. Clearly, he was still sore about the whole business.

  Hector didn’t seem bot
hered. “You could say that. By the way, seeing as he’s in your debt, Ilario has a piece of advice for you: don’t ever come back to Vegas.”

  Harvey snorted. “That won’t be a problem.”

  “What about the car and our stuff?” Gabe asked.

  “Yes, that. Sooner or later, someone will find the burned-out car. I guess rather sooner than later, as it’s close to the freeway. They’ll find a body in it, charred beyond recognition.”

  “Body?”

  “Don’t get excited. There are always extra stiffs in the morgue to borrow if you know the right people.”

  “Must be nice.”

  Signaling the end of their chitchat, Hector gestured toward the BMW. “The keys are inside. The ninety-five is a couple of miles down this road. Turn right, to south, and it’ll get you to highway forty. You can be in LA long before daylight. Leave the car wherever. It’s stolen, but don’t worry, nobody will look for it before morning.”

  Harvey and Gabe stepped away from the van so Hector could slam its doors shut. He got into the driver’s seat and fired up the engine.

  Gabe shouted after him. “Hey! Just one more thing. You and Ilario. What’s the real deal?”

  As Hector looked out the window a strangely indulgent smile softened his face. “He’s my son. I’m proud of the boy.”

  “Aleksi didn’t know that, did he?”

  With a smug grin Hector took off on the dirt road, leaving a trail of dust behind.

  The purple glow of the sky faded into black. Night was upon them.

  “I want to strangle the whole fucking bunch of them,” Harvey complained, but without real force behind his words.

  “I’m glad you didn’t do anything rash while I was out.”

  “I knew you didn’t want me to, but it was tough. How did you know it would turn out okay?”

  “I didn’t, not for sure, but seeing Hector and Ilario together that last time, I realized there was a deeper connection. It’s not even that they look so much alike, more like the way they exchanged glances. Plus, they went to a lot of trouble, when they could’ve killed us right off.”

  Harvey shook his head. “Fuck Las Vegas. Fuck Nevada. I wanna go home.” He marched to the car.

  Gabe was right behind him and grabbed him by the arm before he could open the door. Gabe had a confession to make. “Harv.”

  Harvey turned around and looked up questioningly.

  Gabe took a deep breath, and began to talk before he’d chicken out. “Before I passed out—I’d never been so scared in my life, not even when I met my first vampire.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I didn’t know what would happen to you. I couldn’t protect you.”

  “You think awful highly of yourself,” Harvey said in a light tone.

  “And if we were to die, I wanted to tell you something first.”

  “What’s that?” Harvey’s gaze searched Gabe’s face.

  “I love you.”

  Harvey’s face split into a wide grin. “I know. I love you too, Angel.” He took Gabe’s face in his hands and pulled it down to his. They kissed for a long time, coming up for air and diving back down. Gabe felt he could express his feeling so much better without words, and Harvey seemed to understand him fine.

  “When did you figure it out?” Harvey asked when they pulled apart, lips numb.

  “When you bit me in the van. Without the sex stuff, I could feel and think at the same time. I’m bit of a bonehead when it comes to relationships. I’m sorry.”

  “Angel, you lost your parents when you were, what, twenty-four, twenty-five? And you haven’t let anyone close to you since. I’m betting you’re afraid to get hurt again.”

  “That obvious?”

  Harvey shrugged. “I figured I’d wear you down and worm my way into your heart. I have time.”

  “We’re long past that.” He sighed. “It won’t be all roses. I’ll still be a bonehead. Not to mention, I’m aging; you don’t.”

  “We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it. We have time.” Harvey stroked Gabe’s stubbled chin. “You look tired.”

  “I’m exhausted,” Gabe admitted.

  Harvey’s eyes got an excited glint. “Why don’t you let me drive? You could take a nap.”

  Gabe was ready to do anything to make Harvey happy, even if it meant letting him drive. “Fine. Just don’t speed—don’t wanna get pulled over in a stolen car.”

  They got inside, and Harvey let the car roll down the dirt road nice and slow. It was rough without four-wheel drive.

  “I’m sorry about losing the costumes,” Gabe said.

  “Meh. It’s for the best.”

  “I still have this.” Gabe pulled the sleeve of his jacket up, revealing the wristband he’d gotten from Harvey. It had a dent, and a crack on the watch face. Probably from when he blocked the knife.

  “Hmm, maybe we can get it fixed,” Harvey said.

  “Nah, I like it this way.”

  At the on-ramp to the highway, they stopped. Gabe felt tired and relieved and most of all happy. Happy that the whole ugly mess was behind them, that they’d survived it intact and together. He was happy to be going home with Harvey, the man he loved.

  The night after getting back to Chicago, Gabe met Victor Augustine at the old vamp’s office. Augustine positively glowed—as much as a several-hundred-years-old vampire could. It was a figurative glow, of course.

  Gabe delivered his report verbally, as always. He took his time, sipped his brandy between giving meticulous details of the events. He glossed over minor points involving his and Harvey’s sex life. They were nobody’s business. Augustine listened with a contented expression, showing no wish to hurry Gabe along.

  “But you probably know all this already,” Gabe said in closing.

  Augustine pursed his lips. “Indeed, I have been advised of the outcome of the affair in broad strokes, but I can assure you, I’ve enjoyed your account far more.”

  “So you’re satisfied with the end results?”

  “Unequivocally.”

  Unfortunately, Gabe still had a bone to pick with Augustine. “I’m probably not off-base assuming Ilario was not a stranger to you when you sent me to Vegas.”

  “I’ve known Ilario Montez for, oh…a hundred and fifty years or so. An admirable young man.”

  “Hmm. So he came to you for help, and you lent him your tame slayer, is that it?”

  “I take it you’re displeased.”

  “You bet I am. You sent me into a dangerous situation without leveling with me first. You should have told me what was really going on.”

  “That wouldn’t have been prudent.”

  “It is to me when my neck is on the line.”

  “You’re in my employ; that part is a given.”

  “Is that it? You’re the boss and I’m the minion?”

  Augustine sighed. “I haven’t achieved my longevity by discussing sensitive details of my dealings with my employees. Certainly you can see that.”

  “So then it was a matter of trust?”

  “It was a matter of common sense and caution. I have, in fact, placed a great deal of faith in you to take the necessary action when the need and opportunity presented itself. Do you feel you’ve been made to do anything you find morally objectionable?”

  “That’s not the issue. You manipulated me.”

  Augustine took a moment before speaking. “You’re an intelligent man; if you think about it, you’ll acknowledge I couldn’t have done any differently. I can’t even promise it won’t happen again. However, I did my utmost to ensure your safety. Not out of sentimental reasons, you must understand, but because you’re useful to me.”

  “Good to know.” Gabe’s voice crackled with dry sarcasm.

  “It’s an honest arrangement. You realize, for an alleged tame slayer, you’re rather high maintenance.”

  Gabe smirked back. “Well, you could always find yourself another one.”

  A hint of amusement appeared in August
ine’s pale eyes. “I have the distinct impression you seek compensation for your troubles. Am I correct?’

  “Well, I was thinking, if I’m to keep working for you, I’ll need a proper vehicle at all times.”

  “Is that all?”

  “I guess. For now, anyway.”

  On Friday, a week before Christmas, Gabe was having brinner—as he’d started to call his evening breakfast. The omelet Harvey had made for him was loaded with all kinds of good stuff, none of it meat. At least the eggs had been laid by real chickens—organic, grain-fed, free-range chickens, according to the carton.

  Gabe grumbled about the lack of bacon on principle. In truth, Harvey could have had Gabe eating nothing but raw tofu, if he wanted. He had Gabe wrapped around his little finger, and they both knew it.

  Harvey smiled sweetly and sniffed the air. “I love the smell of fresh dill weed. Who knew it was good with eggs?”

  “Not bad,” Gabe grudgingly admitted.

  “When you’re done, we can start decorating the tree.”

  Gabe would’ve been fine without a Christmas tree altogether, but Harvey was in full holiday mode already. “Aren’t you Buddhist?”

  “So? Am I not allowed to have Christmas? It’s really a pagan holiday. C’mon, you Grinch. Tree decorating is fun. If you’re good, we can play Santa and the naughty elf later.”

  “That’s just wrong.”

  “Yeah, wicked.” Harvey winked and pushed away from the table. “Finish your food while I get the decorations out of the closet.”

  Gabe watched Harvey sashaying away. “I’m not putting on a fake beard!” he shouted after Harvey.

  The doorbell rang, and he went to answer it. Unlike him, the man at the door, the collar of his big coat turned up against the cold wind, looked like someone at the end of his day.

  “Good afternoon, sir. I’m looking for Mr. Gabor Vadas,” he said.

  “Yes, that’s me.”

  “Sign here, please.” He stuck a clipboard under Gabe’s nose.

  “What’s this about?”

  “Delivery, sir.”

  Gabe scratched his name on the bottom of the form and handed it back.

  The man gave him a set of car keys. “Enjoy your car, and have a nice Christmas.” He left Gabe standing there in the doorway, just as Harvey emerged from the bedroom.