But Layla came first, now and always. I needed to get my head back in the game.
The sun had sunk by now and I could leave the building with impunity into the growing dark of night. So, what had I found out about these guys? Was there a chance that they were in some way tangled up in the increasingly complex and baffling web that surrounded Layla's disappearance? If so, what side were they on?
The truth was, that I didn't have much beyond vague suspicions and a train ticket with a strange number on the back. Still, there was something odd about them. How were they as strong as they were? I had now experienced that strength first-hand, up close and personal, and while they were human, it was not. Where had they learned to fight like that? Was there any chance I could find an answer that didn't involve the word 'Lawkeeper'? And if they were Lawkeepers, what did that mean? I didn't have the best impression of the Lawkeepers at the moment, but they were supposed to be the good guys, and based on my dealings at Lawkeeper Central...
The thought actually tailed off in my mind as a chain reaction of neurons fired off and lit up a light bulb above my head. That was it! That was where I had seen that odd accumulation of numbers and letters before; it was a Lawkeeper case code. Every crime they took on was given a code like that, they had given me one for Layla's disappearance - HK something - for identification purposes.
The delight at solving this little mystery was tempered by the uncomfortable knowledge that this strengthened the link between three guys I was starting to like an uncomfortable amount, and the branch of the police who were starting to take an uncomfortable amount of interest in me. On the other hand; I had one of those numbers scribbled on a piece of paper back in my apartment - it wasn't just Lawkeepers who had those numbers, the guys could equally be victims of a crime. What I had learned was that my guys had some relation to a case being investigated by the Lawkeepers, and with a bit of time online when I got home, I would probably be able to learn more about it, as the numbers and letters did mean something specific.
After that - because I prefer action to thinking - I would change into some more appropriate clothing and follow up on the train ticket. I knew some people who lived and worked around Center Plaza, and I could easily ask them to look out for my three guys and see where they headed. One good thing about Kael, Milo and Gage; they were easy to describe and easy to pick out of a crowd.
All in all, it seemed like a pretty solid twenty-four hours’ work. And given what had happened in the last twenty-four hours, it was pretty amazing that I had a lead of any sort, let alone one this promising. It made me feel better than I had for a long while - or maybe it was my encounter with Gage and Milo. Either way, I was feeling pretty good as I headed up to my apartment, swinging my bag in my hand. I opened the door and the smile faded from my face.
Max looked up as I entered. "Hi, Sonja. Where'd you get to last night? This is Kael. Kael, this is Sonja."
Kael was seated on the couch next to Max. He had the decency to look guilty as he caught my eye.
I don't know if I was jealous, scared for Max, worried at having my suspicions confirmed, or some combination of all three, but it came out as anger. "What the hell is he doing here?"
Max looked taken aback by my fury. "I met him at Carlos's Place, earlier this evening. We got to chatting and I asked him back for a drink. What's the..."
"Get out!" I now turned my venom where it belonged; on Kael. Max had just picked up a guy, she didn't know she might have done something wrong. Kael, on the other hand, was a conniving, manipulative bastard.
"I can explain." Kael got to his feet, holding up his hands in a conciliatory manner.
"I don't need your explanations." I shot across the room, faster than he could have followed, grabbed him by the shoulder, and hurled him towards the still-open door.
Kael smacked into the wall of the corridor outside.
"Sonja, what the hell's gotten into you?" Max was on her feet, standing up for herself just like I'd taught her to. But now was not the time.
"Sit down." I felt my eyes flare red with rage. I can't usually feel my eyes change color, but when I'm this angry, then the world turns red, like I'm seeing it through a haze of blood.
Max sat back on the couch like an obedient dog and I headed for the door. Outside, Kael was peeling himself off the wall. I didn't give him the chance to recover properly - I still wasn't sure what he might be capable of if I gave him a chance to defend himself, so I was determined not to give him that chance.
"Down the stairs."
"Sonja..."
I shoved him in the direction of the banister and he hit it fast enough to go straight over. If he was what I was now pretty sure that he was, then it would take more than that to do him any real damage, and at this point, I didn't much care. I followed him, vaulting over the banister and landing lightly on the steps beside him before he'd managed to get back to his feet. I caught him by the collar and dragged him down the steps. That was apparently one too far and he fought back, twisting out of the coat by which I was dragging him, getting back his feet and facing me down.
"Out," I said, simply. "You even try to go back upstairs and I will break your legs."
"You'll try."
"You know what I am. You know what I can do. And I guess by now you know what I'm prepared to do to protect those I love."
"I know that, if you let me explain..."
"Outside." I didn't want Max to overhear. I wasn't sure yet exactly what had happened and I didn't want her dragged in so deep that I couldn't get her out of it. I had lost one blood sister already, I wasn't about to lose another, and I still didn't know to what extent Kael was involved.
Kael paused for a moment, perhaps only to let me know that he wasn't just doing what I told him, then he headed out. I walked after him, not sure what I might do.
"You know, you're overreacting..." Kael turned to talk to me again and before he could finish the sentence, I shoved him forwards and he went out through the door, tumbling into the street. I followed him out, anger still ruling me.
And anger made me careless. Kael had provoked me into pushing him so he could be outside before me, ready to pounce when I came through the door. With the element of surprise on his side, he was able to get my arms behind my back, pinning them in his fierce, muscular grip.
"Right, you little hothead, you're gonna listen to what I have to--"
I pushed backwards. He must have weighed at least three times what I did and was built like a concrete chicken coop, but if you're a three-hundred-year-old vamp, then that means precisely shit. I drove Kael back into the wall, knocking the breath out of him, and tore my arms free from his grasp. Before he could recover his breath, I kicked out his legs and down he went. I grabbed him by his hair.
"What were you doing up there with Max?"
He shot a look up at me, still cocky through the pain he was in. "She's a pretty girl. It's what I do. Pick up pretty vamp girls in bars. You know that about me, don't you? Just bad luck she happened to be your roommate."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"You know I could tear your head off if I wanted?"
"Yes, I do know that."
"Tell me the truth!" I shook him, struggling to keep hold of my wafer-thin self-control. I had killed too many bastards this way already in my hunt for the truth. Kael would be able to handle my rage better than most, but his strength didn't make him invulnerable.
"I told you the truth. I met her in the same bar I met you. I'm a regular there; ask anyone. I pick up vamp girls there; ask anyone. What part of this is hard for you to believe?" He grinned at me. "I know why you won't believe it. It's because you don't want to think I might have chosen your pretty little roommate over you."
Was that true? At least, in part? Was I this angry at Kael because I was jealous that he had gone with Max two nights after he had been with me?
"Are you really going to kill me over that?" Kael continued. "Get your shit together, Sonja. You're bette
r than that."
I shook my head clear of doubts. Maybe I was jealous. Maybe I was struggling with feelings for this man that I was not at all used to. But that didn't change my suspicions, and Kael was getting more suspicious by the moment.
"No," I said, suddenly more in control, the hot-red fading from my eyes. "I won't kill you over that. I might kill you over Layla."
"Never heard of her."
"You're lying again, Kael," I tightened my grip on his hair. "Just like you lied about why you picked up Max tonight."
"Prove it."
I shrugged and let him go. "I will."
Kael got back to his feet, facing me down. He knew that I could take him; he knew that I could own his ass, and yet he didn't run. Maybe that was stupid, but I couldn't help admiring the bravery, as well. Kael didn't back down from anyone.
"You can't prove shit," he said.
"If I go up to that apartment now and ask Max what the two of you talked about, then - even though you've only known her an hour or so - I will bet all the money in my pockets against all the money in your pockets, that you asked her a weird number of questions about her roommate. Don't answer." I held up a hand to shut him up before he could make his excuses. "I said 'if'. I'm not going to do that because I don't drag my friends into shit like this. I don't need to. I've got all the proof I need, right here."
I held up the train ticket and Kael laughed. He stopped laughing when I flipped it around. I guess Kael was a pretty good actor to have fooled Max into thinking he was interested in her when he was just after information, but that acting skill failed him now. I saw his reaction to the code number before he was able to hide it.
I grinned at him. "Proof, baby. What have you got to say for yourself now?"
He looked down at me grimly, and then cracked a rueful half-smile.
"Well, I guess since I’m busted, I might as well tell the truth. For the record, I wouldn't have slept with your roommate. And, pretty though she is, I never would have chosen her over you."
Chapter 10
"Is that all you've got to say for yourself?" I asked, hotly. How far was I willing to push him to find out what he was hiding?
The answer came swift and hot, like my anger.
Far.
Turned out, I didn’t have to.
"You were right," said Kael. "I hit on Max because I knew she was your roommate and I thought she was an easy way to get into your apartment and do a bit of snooping."
"Do you have any idea what a massive violation of my privacy that is?" I asked, knowing how ludicrously hypocritical that sounded and not caring.
"In my defense, you weren’t supposed to know about it, so..."
"That's a shit defense. Did you even stop to think about Max's feelings?"
Kael looked the other way.
"I didn't say I liked doing it. Max seems like a nice girl and I wouldn't have taken advantage of her if I didn't think it was important. For what it's worth - and you can believe me or not - I wouldn't have slept with her. I needed to get into your apartment but I draw the line at fucking innocent girls to get what I need. I have some morals."
He probably had more than me but I wasn't about to admit that now. "Why did you 'need' to get a look at my apartment? What's so damn important about me?"
Kael wagged a finger and let out a harsh laugh. "You know damn well why I'm interested in you."
I shook my head. "You're giving me too much credit. Tell me."
Kael eyed me, trying to gauge how much he believed me or how much he trusted me. "You know," he said at last, "I think there's a chance that we are on the same side. At least, in principle. I think if we pooled our resources then--"
"Do you think I'm stupid?" I snapped.
He shook his head. "Very definitely not."
"Then tell me who you and your two buddies are."
He cocked a dark brow. "Oh, you met Gage?"
"Yeah, this afternoon."
"He's a good guy."
I couldn't argue with that. He had been more than good.
"Stop changing the subject."
Kael nodded. "Okay, Sonja. We'll tell you what you want to know, but you have to give a little something back."
"What did you have in mind?"
"Information. You tell us about Layla," said Kael, "and I'll tell you who we are and why we want you."
That seemed to confirm that he was connected to Layla's disappearance in some way, but it also suggested that he was not connected to the kidnap itself. In fact, it kinda suggested that he was looking for her, too. Was it possible that he had been telling the truth when he said we were on the same side?
"Okay," I agreed. "I’ll tell you everything I know. But not here."
"Why not?"
"I want your friends there, too."
I needed to buy myself a little time so I could look into the case code on the back of the train ticket. Maybe I’d get all the information I needed without this quid pro quo he was insisting on, and I could just ghost them if I had to. And if I did need to go through with it, either for information or if I turned up something that implicated them, a meet-up would allow me to get them all in one place.
They were strong, but I wasn’t worried. If push came to shove, my money was on me.
Kael stuck out his hand. "Okay. Deal."
I took the hand and shook it, feeling a spark of electricity between us as I did so. My hand felt tiny in his - he made me feel feminine and I repressed a shudder.
"This morning suit you?" I asked - that should give me enough time, and I wasn't keen to wait longer with Layla still out there.
"Three?"
"Three it is."
"No weapons?"
I grinned nastily. "Why would I need them?"
"No weapons."
"On either side."
His turn to smile. "Of course. Do you know the old meat-packing plant in the outskirts?"
"Give me an address. I'll find it."
He took my phone and tapped the address in. I watched his hands, making sure he wasn't doing anything like planting a bug.
Could I trust him or his friends? Maybe - maybe not. Would I trust them? Hell no. But if they tried to renege on our deal, if they refused to give me the information they promised, then I could torture it out of them. Humans are a lot more willing to talk when they're woozy from blood loss and looking death in the face.
"See you later."
I nodded and watched Kael stroll away into the night. He did look good walking away. Once he was out of sight, I headed back up to the apartment where Max still sat on the couch, waiting for me.
"Don't suppose you'd care to tell me what that was about?"
"Not really," I replied. "The less you know, the safer you are."
"I'm your roommate, Sonja. And your sister. 'Safe' isn't really an option."
I gave her the basics, missing out some of the key moments, like Kael rocking my world in the alley behind Carlos's Place and the fun afternoon I had spent with Milo and Gage. I also chose not to tell her that I was starting to have very un-Sonja-like feelings for all three of them; feelings that could almost be described as warm and fuzzy.
Max nodded periodically as I told my story, but waited for me to finish before she spoke.
"He's the guy you had sex with the other night, isn't he?"
"Did my eyes turn green?" I thought I'd managed to control it.
"No. But you can't lie to me about sex."
Max did have a weird sixth sense when it came to sex. I think even before she was a vampire she knew when a friend was getting some.
"I didn't know who he was when I fucked him," I said, trying to make it sound less important than it felt. "Actually, I don't know who he is now, either - but I knew even less then. He was just a hot guy in a bar."
"He is hot."
"Irritatingly."
"What about his friends?"
"What about them?"
Max grinned. "That time your eyes turned green."
; "Dammit."
"You did all three?"
"Not at once," I said, quickly. "Two of them I did at once but..."
"Sonja!"
"What?"
"You think these guys might be Lawkeepers?" She suddenly looked serious.
"Maybe," I admitted.
Max took this in, then said, "Damn. Talk about sleeping with the enemy."
"Technically, they're supposed to be on our side."
"You've changed your tune."
"Doesn't mean I trust them," I added, "but wouldn't it be nice to think some of the Lawkeepers do the job they're supposed to?"
"Sure, it'd be nice to think, but that doesn't make it so. It'd be nice to think the Easter Bunny was real, too."
I shook my head. Usually it would have been me talking like that. Sex didn't usually make me soft in the head. But this had been more than sex. "I don't even know they are Lawkeepers, yet."
"So what do we do now?" Max asked.
"We don't do anything." The fact that Max had been dragged into this by Kael had scared me and shown me how much my actions reflected on the people I lived with. I was determined to be more careful in the future. "I have some work to do."
Max arched her eyebrows. "You think you can just snap your fingers and I'll do what you tell me?"
I met her gaze. "I don't even have to snap my fingers, sister."
Max backed down. Vampire hierarchy is, at times, needlessly complex, but the relationship between a vampire and the one who turned them is very simple - they do as you say. I don't use that power often but, put simply; Max is my bitch.
Back in my room and sitting down at my laptop, I logged into the Lawkeeper Central public database and tapped in the code from the back of the train ticket: VR-762-01. The screen turned red with the word 'CLASSIFIED' stamped across the center like you see in movies. Well, that was irritating and hadn't happened when I'd typed in the code they'd given me for Layla's abduction.
Opening a new window, I went to a site explaining how the code was broken down. The letters stood for the type of crime, so in the case of Layla, 'HK' stood for 'Human Kidnapping'. Which didn't mean that a human had been kidnapped, it meant that a human had done the kidnapping - since all crimes investigated by the Lawkeepers involved vampires, it was understood that a vamp was the victim. The middle number was a reference used by the Lawkeepers for identification and meant nothing to a civilian like me. The final number was a severity code from one to fifteen. Again, looking at Layla's, the final number was 06, which was high severity but still seemed pretty fucking low for abduction - I had a hunch that VK, vampire kidnapping, would have warranted a higher severity. I looked again at the number on the back of the ticket. A severity rating of 01. According to the site, that was as severe as it got. Scrolling down through a list of crime codes I located VR. Vampire Rogue.
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