by Emily Reese
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Detective Martinez,” Mike said shaking the man’s hand carefully, fully aware too much pressure could crush it in an instant.
“Thank you for seeing me, Mr. Monroe.” The police officer eyed Mike’s heavy jacket and the vampire standing to his left.
“This is my cousin, Rob. Rob, this is the detective investigating what happened back at my place.”
“Thank you for making the trip, Detective.” The Louisiana accent Ben assumed was flawless; Mike’s eyes darted to him, just to make sure it was still the same guy. “Robert Archer.”
“I wasn’t aware Mr. Monroe had any remaining family.” Mike felt the suspicion begin to build in the detective’s mind, but Ben stuck to the story they’d concocted.
“Distant cousins. Michael found me while searching for a lead on Meghan. I asked him to stay with me, as his home is…” a crime scene, went without saying. As planned, Ben squeezed Mike’s shoulder in a show of support; thanks to the jacket, the tingles Mike felt we no worse than icy hot on a sore muscle.
“And you’re located at?” Martinez began making notes on a small pad, pausing for Ben’s response.
“Here. This is my hotel.”
“Nice.” Looking around the luxurious lobby, he nodded appreciatively and put his notes away. “I’ll be quick, Mr. Monroe. We were able to isolate a face in the footage from that night. All in all, it’s pretty decent given what we’re working with.” Removing his phone from a pocket, Detective Martinez pulled up a picture and turned the phone out to Mike. “Do you recognize this woman, son?”
And that’s when the bottom dropped out.
The hair was longer, and the blood covering her face highlighted the madness barely contained behind blue irises. And yet Mike could’ve picked her out of a crowd in a pitch black room.
Meghan is alive.
Falling more than sitting on a nearby couch, Mike waited for his brain to start functioning again. Next to him, he heard Ben and Martinez exchanging some words. Hopefully Ben was making some quick excuses to get the cop out of there, fast. Because it was only a matter of time before Mike lost his ever loving mind.
Feeling a light prickle, he turned and found Ben leading him away from the lobby and into an elevator. He didn’t even remember standing.
“Who was it? What the hell?” Ben was on him the instant the doors closed. Blinking slowly, Mike spoke the only word he knew anymore.
“Meghan.”
“Shit.” Ben pushed his hair back and gnawed at his lip, pacing the elevator while Mike watched, still very much detached. “Okay. This is what we’re going to do… Mike? Are you still with me Michael?” Only a rough clap on the side of his neck brought Mike around enough to answer; still, he didn’t register the pain a touch like that normally warranted.
“She’s… she’s alive. I always told myself she was but seeing her…” looking up he gripped Ben’s shoulders, needing the feel of something solid more than he minded the pain caused by the contact. “She looks the same.”
“We all do,” Ben replied gently and eased Mike’s shaking hands back to his sides. “I’ll send some men out there. We have a few outside of Austin. If they find her —,”
“I have to be there!” Mike shouted.
“If they can find her, and she’s… stable. I’ll take you out there myself.”
Mike nodded, once again overcome by the world-shift of the past five minutes. Air became an instant commodity; he found himself sucking in as much as he could, even though the logical side of him knew he no longer needed it. Once again he looked to his mentor, confusion and panic stealing any words he might’ve tried.
With a nod, Ben stepped over and pushed a button on the panel. Letting the momentum of the sudden stop carry him, Mike slid to floor. The tears followed soon after, quickly becoming deep, gut-wrenching sobs.
And Ben sat beside him.
CHAPTER NINE
Between one blink and the next Elliot was behind me, an arm across my shoulders pinning me to his chest. His other hand was a closed fist just a hair’s breath away from my eye. Unsure of exactly what it was due to the proximity, I could see something small peeking out from between two of his fingers.
It was pointy and entirely too close.
“Now that I have your attention, there are a few things we need to discuss, Ms. Wallace.” His warm breath near my ear did nothing to stop the chill I felt from his closeness.
“Get that thing out of my face.” If I kept my tone even, maybe I could keep this situation from escalating.
“What, you mean this?” Elliot extended his arm to show me his hand, causing the wicked spike extending from a ring to catch the light. “No, I’m afraid this little guy is staying close for the time being. I don’t want to go sailing through the hull next; I’m not a fan of the water.”
“And that thing is going to stop me?” My eyes were everywhere, gauging our placement below deck with the water line. Elliot must have noticed the shift in my attention, because once again the tiny blade was an inch from my eye.
“Don’t do that, please Ms. Wallace. I’d have to stop you, and then you’d be incapacitated for the better part of a week.”
A week? Elliot could be bluffing, but right now the last thing I wanted to be was wrong.
“Thank you. I apologize we ended up here.” The air was thicker for his bulky frame taking up so much of the cabin. I wanted my carefully maintained bubble of personal space back more than anything; but his arm, the one with the blade, hadn’t moved in the slightest. “I actually came here to ask for your help.”
“Did you? And this is how you normally ask for help?” I quipped.
“Not always. This isn’t what I’d planned on,” Elliot paused causing me to involuntarily hold my breath. Before my imagination could get too out of control, he added, “But, from what I’ve heard of you, you rarely do what is expected.”
A dozen snarky retorts hit my tongue and died. Maybe if I just let him say what he wanted, he’d let me go and get the hell off my boat. Or at least back up. The idiot weighed a ton and used me like a damn coat rack.
“Fine,” I tried to sound nonchalant, failing with petulant, “what do you need my help with?”
“As I’ve said, I’m assigned to investigate the circumstances of Collin’s Second Death.”
“Does that mean you’re going to arrest me?”
“No.”
“Seriously?” I couldn’t hide my incredulity.
“Did you want me to?” He leaned to the side as he questioned, so I could see his face better, showing me a slanted grin.
“Well, no. But I thought –,”
“Then you thought wrong.” Elliot looked around at the destruction before continuing. “Let’s make a deal,” he said, moving his hand and the spike the tiniest bit away from me. “I’ll put this away, and you promise to limit your destruction to the furniture. We can sit… somewhere,” he added with an impatient noise, “and discuss things like the intelligent and civilized beings we are. Agreed?”
“Okay.” Anything to get that thing out of my eye and you out of my space. I guess I expected him to slowly back up, hands in the air, surrendering. Instead he was already across the room dusting debris from a love seat. I never even felt him move.
“What I was about to say, before getting the express tour of your kitchen,” he added with a pointed look, “was that I’m not 100% happy with what I’ve found in regard to Elder Regulus’s claim. I know of the circumstances between you and Collin Lucas, yet I can find no trace of him. No address, no possessions, nothing.”
I made a conscious effort not to hunch my shoulders. Any second now, the inevitable platitudes survivors always hear would come pouring forth. Any second now.
“As such,” Elliot continued without any indication of pity, “I have no way of determining the merit of either your version of who Lucas was, or that of his Elder. That’s where you come in.” He removed th
e last piece of debris from the love seat, then motioned for me to sit.
“You want me to tell you what kind of person Collin was? The kind the world is better off without. End of story.” I took the seat he offered with a tight smile. “You know Regulus is fully aware of what Collin was up to, don’t you? He knew. He let him.”
“Do you have any proof?” Elliot asked seriously.
“Besides everything that Mike and I witnessed and the fact that both Collin and Regulus tried to kill me?” I crossed my arms and looked away. He has no idea.
“If your version of events is true, I’ll report to the Council that you were justified in your kill. Then I can begin the search for survivors… if there are in fact any.” The last part sounded more like a growl than words.
“Oh, God,” I moaned, putting my head in my hands, “I think I’m going to be sick.” How many? How many did he have stored away? What happened to them once that bastard was gone? I stared at my shoes, attempting to control myself and hating my lack of foresight. A moment later, a small trashcan appeared near my feet. Looking up I found Elliot on the edge of the love seat studying his shoes; he offered neither comfort nor pity. Under different circumstances, I might’ve even liked him for it.
“I need your help, Ms. Wallace,” he told me, grim words a little more than a whisper. “We need to find those girls.”
“I hate to break it to you, Pierce, but if I knew where they were, I would’ve told someone already.” Thinking back to the nightmare in the Ninth Ward, killing Collin, I shivered. Then all of Elliot’s words registered. “Wait! You believe me?”
Elliot frowned. “It only matters what I can prove, Ms. Wallace.” Removing a coin from his pocket, he began flipping it between his fingers, seemingly unaware. “If he left them with Regulus, they’d be long gone by now,” he mused.
“One way or the other,” I added. Given my experience, nothing good would likely happen to those girls again — except death. “I don’t know what you think I could find.”
“There has to be something. No crime is ever perfect.” Elliot’s voice was far away, his coin making clicking sounds as it moved over his needle/ring. “Besides, people tend to get creative when their lives are on the line.”
My head shot up. “Are you trying to threaten me?” All at once, the red haze was back.
“No, of course not.” Elliot backed away slowly, getting out of arms reach. Smart guy. “I just thought you’d be more familiar with vampire law. If I can’t present evidence to counter Regulus’s claims, you will be found guilty. I’ve only got a week left. I thought maybe if I tipped my hand, you might be willing to help me find the truth.”
“And how do you know I’m not guilty? Why are you giving me a chance if Regulus’s claim carries enough weight to convict me?” Ever so slowly, that irritating tempo from the waves helped the rage subside.
“There’s been rumors floating around for the last few decades; if half of them are true, Ari Regulus is the one I want, not you. Plus,” he gave me a quick wink and gestured to the space between us, “I’ve got a good feeling about this.”
“Where are all the normal people?” I sighed, looking imploringly to the heavens. “Do I naturally repel them or something?” Elliot covered his mouth, cough sounding suspiciously like laughter.
“So your plan is to work with me to prove my innocence in a week. And if we don’t, you’re going to take me to prison?” Shaking his head, Elliot stumbled on another explanation, but I waved it off. “Forgive me if I do a little fact checking and make sure this is my best option.”
“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.” He tossed his coin in the air and caught it, stowing it away in his pocket. With a nod, he dusted off his pants and headed for the exit, expertly avoiding the stumbling blocks caused by my outburst. I, however, had no intention of leaving things unresolved.
“If your plan truly is my best chance…” I paused for him to turn and face me. I didn’t wait long; suddenly I had his complete attention. “What happens if I find something?”
“Then we go check it out.”
“Really?” I scoffed. “There’s no way I’m getting into Regulus’ territories, and that’s where Collin would’ve been safest.”
“I have carte blanche when it comes to investigations. You go where I go. He’d have no say in the matter.”
Ballsy.
“And what makes you think I want to go with you? Taunting the man by parading through his territory sounds like just another death sentence.”
“And the other girls? The ones who might still be alive?”
“I wish it were that easy.” I shook my head dismally. “The last time I tried to save someone I ended up nearly dying — again, made a vampire, killed another one, and threw the Vampire Police through the wall when they came to arrest me.” I waved my hand between him and my mess. “Not such a great record.”
“I’m not the Vampire Police,” he chuckled.
“What the hell are you talking about? You said —,”
“I said supernatural law enforcement.”
The incessant thunking sped up just a little, keeping me from fully processing what he was trying to say.
And then it hit me.
The thumping sound. His smell, so different from what I was used to with my kind. His tan.
“What the hell are you?” I bolted up and began to back away from him.
“I told you. I’m an investigator for the Council, the governing body of all non-human affairs in the U.S.” He remained where he was, still as a vampire… yet not. “Look, would the answer really change your mind? Keep you from proving your innocence? Possibly finding other surviving victims?”
Running through Elliot’s plan and the possibilities, I nibbled my thumb nail and thought. The big man had a point; he painted me into a corner so fast I’d never seen it coming. What other option did I have? Angrily, I ripped my thumbnail with my teeth and spit it across the room, manners be damned.
“You have a deal.”
*****
Our first order of business was to talk to Khale. Elliot used the term “inform,” but I wasn’t comfortable informing my Elder what I was or was not going to do. Maybe Elliot felt comfortable enough with his position to dictate things to Elder vampires. I did not.
Alone in my cabin, I took a deep breath and dialed.
“Claire,” a deep voice answered after the third ring.
“Did Ben learn that from you? Is simply saying hello a vampire faux pas no one told me about?” I griped. Just once I’d like to surprise someone on the phone.
“It seems Ben forgot to mention we have caller id.” I heard Khale’s smile when he spoke.
“Really? Seriously?” How had I not guessed? We’d been around before such technology, but this just made it easier for him to mess with me. A quiet knock on the door told me Elliot had heard my yell; he was trying to clear away some of the debris from our earlier “discussion.”
Unsure about revealing to my Elder I had company, I decided not to respond.
“I haven’t heard from you in some time, Claire. I was beginning to worry.”
My words failed me. What was I going to say?
“Is everything alright?” he asked seriously.
“Yeah, everything is fine… I’m sorry I’ve been out of pocket for a while, I, um... well, I...” While I searched for the best way to put my new situation, Elliot cracked the door and poked his head in.
“Problem?” He did not ask as quietly as I would’ve liked. I mouthed “go away” and waived for him to shut the door, which, (because my luck was flipping fantastic,) he did not.
“Is someone with you?” Khale asked. Of course he heard. Phone or not, he was a vampire with excellent hearing. I wiped my hand over my face as I felt the situation getting progressively worse. The smallest of breezes ruffled my hair, causing me to look up.
“I’ll talk to him,” Elliot said gently, now on my right more q
uickly than I would've thought possible for a non-vampire. What in the hell is he?
“Shh! Go away, I’ve got this,” I hissed while I covered the mouthpiece. It probably didn’t muffle the sound much, but it made me feel better. Elliot put his hand out, calmly beckoning for the phone. Childish as I knew it was, I leaned away from him and shook my head no.
“Claire??” Khale’s muted voice asked my cradled phone. Elliot motioned for the phone again, moving closer until his legs touched mine. I was really going to have to teach this guy about personal space.
“Fine,” I conceded and extended the phone to him. Maybe if I gave it to him, he would go somewhere else to have the conversation.
My hopes were dashed when he laid back on the bed and began talking.
“Elder Khaleme,” Elliot began, “my name is Elliot Pierce... yes, an investigator with the Council.” As he listened to Khale, Elliot shot me a sideways look; I could almost hear him say, told you so. Looking around and given the size of the cabin, I realized with dismay the only way I would be getting out of the bedroom now would be climbing over his lap. Um, no. Frustrated, I tucked a leg underneath me and waited for my phone to be relinquished.
Elliot explained the situation in about as much detail as he had given me, which was hardly any. After a few brief answers of “yes,” and “of course,” he turned to me and held up the phone, moving away as I took it.
“Hey,” was all I could manage as I reluctantly put the phone back to my ear.
“This is very serious, Claire.” Khale was nothing if not succinct.
“I know.” I could feel Elliot watching me from the doorway. Hunching over the phone, I tried to make myself feel like I was having a private conversation, rather than actually accomplishing it.
“You need not feel obligated to this Elliot Pierce. Or to the Council. If you want out of this, I will make sure you are.” My throat tightened up, keeping me from finding the words to express the gratitude I felt. “Home would be good for you” he continued. “The others in our territory have already begun to arrive. There are things, people, here who require your attention.” I felt a pang in my chest at Khale’s words. He was talking about Mike.