“They asked us? That’s new.”
“Well, no. They did not ask us. Not directly. They ask without asking.”
“Ah, the usual.” Alex shook his head. It was always secrets and layers of secrecy whenever you dealt with vampires. The Catholics could be just as bad. Plausible deniability. Multiple levels of CYA. When you dealt with folks that lived as long as some of these vampires and who had memories just as long, you had to be doubly careful how you dealt with them.
“There’s a lot of activity coming our way, I suspect.” Marcus took another sip from the bottle.
“Are you wearing two hats again?”
“I have always been a Roman.”
“Hmmpf. Getting to be more and more like the old days, except it feels like we’re the only ones playing by the rules. I really hope that doesn’t blow up in our faces.”
“Lopé feels he has a solid chance to get to the bottom of the Hemo-Synth problem.”
“If there is one,” Alex tested.
“If there is one,” Marcus echoed. His voice held no doubt.
“The Lightbearers are up to something at Haley House. He is trying to get some of his people up there to have a look. If I know Lopé, I’d wager he has something in place already. Though he isn’t very likely to tell us.”
“You have to love all the trust going around. With the folks he knows he should be able to get someone in there for recon.”
“I doubt it is as easy as you’d think.” Marcus turned his head to look out the window.
Haley House was a lavish mansion complex on the outskirts of the city. It had once belonged to a wealthy industrialist turned bootlegger and had become notorious for the outlandish parties thrown there. Prohibition ended, but the parties didn’t. After the Reveal, the Lightbearer Society had purchased it for an undisclosed sum. The parties suddenly got a lot more exclusive, but they were still happening. Rumor had it that the only things that had really changed were the types of beverages served.
“Why not? Wait till Lelith and her cronies have another blood orgy up there, which no one can ever prove of course, and have Constance invite herself. Word is Lelith has a thing for her anyway. Then Constance can get Aguirre all the intel he needs, if she’s still on our team that is,” Alex said.
Marcus groaned. “You really should not malign Constance so.”
“Yeah, well she thinks I’m an asshole and I think she’s a bitch. Turns out, we’re both right. For someone who’s going to be running the first Nocturn Bureau, she’s awful cozy with the enemy.”
“Lelith is the voice and face of political vampirism in this city and Constance would never have been appointed to the post without her support.”
“Exactly. You don’t see a conflict of interest there?”
Marcus said nothing and went back to looking out the window.
“Besides, if you’re willing to escort me up there, I could get a nice look around and no one would even be the wiser.”
Marcus looked back at him, his face full of concern.
“Sometimes, Menkaure, I forget that you have only walked abroad for a brief time. There is still much you have to learn about Ancients. The foremost fact you must never forget, is that you must never underestimate one.”
Alex read something more in his expression. “Why am I getting the feeling I’m not seeing the whole picture here?”
The radio burst on again, letting Marcus off the hook.
“Two-seven-three Delta, in progress, residential. Nocturn support requested four-eight-two Charles, Le Fanu Court.”
“That’s the second time that call has gone out.”
“So what? Not our problem. Captain’s orders.” Alex let his annoyance creep into his tone.
“How far is that?” Marcus asked.
“I don’t know, ten maybe twelve miles? You’re serious. You want to kick off the shift with that BS? Come on.”
Marcus keyed the handset. “Fifteen Nora forty-two responding.”
Alex glowered at Marcus, then jerked the wheel into a sharp turn at the next intersection.
“Damn it.”
8
Two parked police cruisers bracketed the entrance to Le Fanu Court when Alex pulled into the cul-de-sac. Around its circumference were midscale townhomes, neatly piled against one another. He could see a small group of people and two Miami-Dade police officers huddled under a streetlight.
He pulled the Explorer past the first police car and parked. As he stepped out of the Explorer, one of the uniforms called out to him.
“You guys Nocturn Affairs?”
“What do you think?” Alex tilted his head to indicate Marcus, who was just emerging from the SUV. Even in the haloed glare of the streetlight, he could see the apprehensive looks on their faces.
Alex dropped the volume of his voice so it was scarcely above a whisper.
“You wanted this one, you can take the lead.”
Marcus pretended not to hear him.
Alex let out a sigh and walked toward the group of people. The officer who had first engaged him filled him in.
“We just started setting up a perimeter. We were about to call for more backup when you guys pulled in.”
“More backup? What’s going on? I thought we were dealing with a domestic.”
“That’s what we thought, too. But now I think it might actually be some kind of Hemo-Synth poisoning.”
Alex looked at Marcus. He wasn’t ignoring that. Marcus stepped into the shadows. Okay, he was playing it cautious until they knew more of what was going on.
A woman charged forward out of the group. “You’ve got to do something about this. We could have been killed.”
“All right, ma’am. What exactly happened?”
“My daughter’s boyfriend”—she spat the word—“is one of those goddamn vampires.”
She seemed to remember Marcus just as she uttered the last word. She tried to swallow it. The look on her face played between mortification and terror, like she’d just farted at her Sunday social.
“Where is he now?” Alex asked.
“He’s still inside. Probably going insane or God knows what.” She turned now to address a young woman in the crowd: “Do you see? See what happens when you mess around with those types? What if I hadn’t been home? He’d have torn you apart.” The woman covered her mouth with her hand, the thought of her daughter’s potential fate enough to silence her for the moment.
Alex turned his attention to the young woman. Textbook Wannabe, the neo-goth makeup, the short skirt, the stockings, her shirt tied in a knot above her midriff to reveal her pierced belly button. Somehow, the Wannabes had got it into their heads that the sexier they dressed, the more likely a vampire would turn them—never mind that it was illegal under human law, and vampire custom frowned upon it. Those facts had done little to curb the movement, and just about every blood club was crawling with Wannabes and bleeders. It seemed to be a lot more prevalent among young women than among young men, but that might have been only because the young men didn’t dress as provocatively and therefore weren’t as easy to identify. Alex could have told her that only the youngbloods would still care how a bleeder dressed, because among vampires, only they would still be into vanilla sex. But he doubted it would make any difference at all.
She was only in her late teens, if that. It was hard to tell under all that makeup. Couldn’t hurt to treat her as a grown-up.
“Miss, you saw what happened?”
Her mother answered. “That vampire had some of that fake blood and started going crazy! He almost killed her.”
Alex turned back to the mother. “Ma’am, were you there?”
“No. I was in the kitchen, but I heard her scream and heard him getting sick.”
“Okay, I’m going to need to hear it from your daughter.”
He turned back to the girl. “What exactly happened?”
“Draven … he—”
“Draven is your boyfriend?” Alex coaxed her along. Draven. Th
e name sounded false, like something somebody thought a vampire would go by.
“Yeah. He came over so we could like make out. But he said that I was overwhelming him.” Her eyes flitted to her mother.
Alex understood.
“It’s okay, walk with me.” He led her out of earshot. Alex could feel her mother’s eyes boring into his back.
“Now go on.”
“He said I was overwhelming him. That he wanted me so badly. I thought about it, I really did. But I thought maybe he was just hungry.”
“So you gave him some…?”
“Some Hemotopia. I wanted to surprise him. I got some and went and heated it up like you’re supposed to and everything.”
“Let me guess, he wouldn’t drink it.”
“Not at first. He said he wasn’t hungry and that’s not what he meant when he said he wanted me. But I told him he was hurting my feelings and so he had some. And then he went crazy.”
“How did he go crazy?”
“Well he made a face like he was trying to hold something in and then he threw up everywhere and after the stuff in the news I was like, Oh, my God!”
“And you got out of there. Not a bad idea under the circumstances. Before you ran, did you see what color his vomit was?”
The girl gave him a questioning look.
“What?”
“When he got sick. What color was the vomit?”
“Umm, puke-colored. What kind of question is that?”
“The most important kind.” Annoyance crept back into Alex’s voice. He grabbed the girl by the arm and led her back toward the group. “The kind of question these guys should have asked you before calling for us.” He pointed at the uniformed cops.
Alex stomped toward the house. “He’s still in here, right?”
The mother answered, “Yes. Be careful.”
Alex was sure Marcus had heard everything and he was hoping he was on the same wavelength. What a colossal waste of time! He slammed the door open and stalked into the house. He could hear someone sobbing.
He followed the sound into the girl’s room, where he found a thin young teen sitting on the bed, a half-empty bottle of Hemotopia at his feet. In one hand, the boy held a clump of paper towels he’d been using to mop up his puke.
“Draven?” Alex stepped into the room.
The boy looked up. His eyes were red-rimmed and filled with tears. Normal tears. No way in hell was he a vampire. Alex’s suspicions were right. He and Marcus had just wasted a half hour.
“Oh, for crying out loud.”
“I thought, how bad could it be, right? Just one swig and then Katy’d like me.”
“Be honest, kid. You were trying for something way past ‘like.’ Let me guess, nobody knew you at school until you decided to be ‘Draven,’ kid vampire, right? Then you had to turn away girls. But Hemo-Synth doesn’t go down well for humans at all.”
“Am I gonna be okay?”
“What, from the Hemo-Synth? From the looks of things, you pretty much puked it all up. You’ll be fine. That’s if Katy’s mother doesn’t kill you. Tell me, how’d you get the school to approve you for night sessions?”
“Um, they never checked.”
Alex shook his head at the stupidity of it all. Parents’ groups were still flipping out about newly turned vampires being allowed to share schools with human children. This wouldn’t help that situation a bit. The small upside was that instead of a teenage impostor, he could have been dealing with a real vampire in full blood frenzy, and that would have been unpleasant.
“You don’t have to tell them, right? I mean, I fit in now. And Katy thinks I’m cool.”
“No, I don’t have to tell them. But my partner might have a thing or two to say about that.”
“Your partner?”
Marcus sat on the bed next to the boy. His eyes were still bloodshot from the Sangri he’d drunk in the car, and he’d lowered his fangs. The kid was still looking at Alex and hadn’t realized Marcus was there.
“Ask him.” Alex nodded in Marcus’s direction.
The kid turned and gasped just as Marcus grabbed him by the neck. Marcus leaned in close.
“Do you know what vampires, real vampires, do to impostors?”
It was scary, terrifying. Alex would have put money down that the kid had just shit himself. The truth was that vampires didn’t care about impostors at all. But after another minute with Marcus in full-on prince-of-darkness mode, that kid would confess everything to Katy and her mom and the school and probably anyone who would listen. They wouldn’t have any problems with him anymore, not vampire-related anyway. Alex had to leave before he started laughing.
9
Roeland Jaap stared at the club’s entrance from the driver’s seat of the van. Beside him, John Seward’s hulking body squatted in the passenger seat. Behind them, Arthur Holmwood sifted through a novel, his battery-powered book light providing faint illumination.
“She should’ve been out by now,” John said. “How long’s it been?”
Roeland didn’t move or answer.
Arthur noticed the silence and peeked at his watch. “It’s only been fifteen minutes.”
John fidgeted in the front seat.
“She’ll be fine, John. How many times has she done this?” Arthur said.
“Not with this bloke. And you heard her talking about her friend, Gail? Rhuna said that girl went missing doing the same bloody thing. Tom and Diana—” John said.
Roeland snapped his gaze away from the club and focused it on John.
“Tom and Diana lacked the will to see this through. I only pray they regain a measure of strength before the vampires catch up with them,” Roeland said.
He saw the puzzled look on John’s face. Half of John’s face couldn’t move, paralyzed by the parting gift of a vampire that had gotten too close. The attack had left John with a missing eye, a terrible scar, and facial muscles that didn’t work right.
“What? You didn’t think the vampires would forgive them simply because they left our merry band, did you? Rest assured, should any of the Lightbearers catch up with them, they’ll share just as unpleasant a fate as any of us.” Roeland added, “We don’t stop until we’ve driven a stake into Lelith’s chest.”
“That won’t stop whatever the Lightbearers are up to. You know that, don’t you, Roeland?” Arthur said.
“It is a step in the right direction. These creatures need to know fear.”
“We’ve heard it all before, Roeland. You have to admit, we’ve been taking larger risks lately,” Arthur said.
“The risks have risen with the stakes. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Well yeah,” John interrupted. “But it hasn’t been us taking them for the most part.”
“Rhuna can handle herself.”
“You keep saying that. But she’s the one in there being bait. What if—”
“She knows the risks,” Roeland said.
“So, if it came down to putting her on the line to get at Lelith?” John asked.
“That’d be up to Rhuna,” Roeland said.
“Would it? She’s no more than a girl. And she listens to you. She shouldn’t be doing this.” John leaned forward in his seat, his shoulders flexing as the conversation grew more agitated. He adjusted the patch over his ruined eye. A nervous tick Roeland had come to recognize.
“How else are we to find Molony’s club, huh?” Roeland asked.
Arthur interjected. “You’re still committed to trying to take down an active blood club then?”
“That’s why we’re here.”
“Just making sure. I was hoping you’d changed your mind,” Arthur said.
“We’ve been over this.”
“Yes, I know, Roeland. But we—”
“What’s your plan then?” Roeland asked.
“Well, if it were up to me, and I know it isn’t, we wait till Rhuna brings Molony out and ambush him. Same as we’ve always done and a hell of a lot safer,” Arthur said.
“That makes good sense, Roeland,” John said.
Roeland countered, “Same as we’ve always done. Like you just said. And then what? Molony’s club goes right on doing business though we know his isn’t the kind of victimless blood joint the Lightbearers would like us to think they all are. We know he takes his victims there and they never leave.”
“And we know you want to send them a message. But at what cost?” Arthur asked.
“If we can show the humans around here what the vampires really are, and that they aren’t invulnerable gods to be tacitly worshiped, that they can be killed by a few dedicated individuals with the will to see it through…”
Arthur had gone back to reading his novel.
“Am I boring you, Arthur?” Roeland turned in his seat to glare at him.
“I’m part of the choir, lad. We’ve heard it all before. I’m here because I don’t need convincing. We all want revenge same as the next. And I won’t let you walk in there alone. You know that.”
“You really think the three of us can take out a club full of vampires who’ve just fed?” John asked.
Arthur shrugged.
“We’ll have the element of surprise,” Roeland answered, “and someone on the inside. There are, after all, four of us.”
“Right. Rhuna, right in the middle of it.”
“John. It’s nice you’re sweet on the girl, but you aren’t her bodyguard. You don’t know her half as well as I do. I’m telling you she’s up to it. If you don’t like the way we’re doing things—the door’s unlocked, mate.”
An awkward silence followed.
“We’re with you, Roeland. We told you we’d see this to the end,” Arthur said. He pulled himself up between the driver and passenger seats. “Now’s not the time to go having second thoughts. It’s too late for that anyway.”
“Here we go,” Arthur said. He pointed at a couple coming out of the club.
Roeland snapped his eyes back to the front. The stress was affecting them all. He’d allowed himself to get distracted. He quickly saw their quarry. Even with her darkened hair, the woman was unmistakably Rhuna. The man, the vampire with her, was their target.
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