by E. A. Copen
With a little hesitation, I took the phone and spoke into it. “Crux,” I said.
“Where is Sven?” Crux’s voice was dripping with venom.
“He’s here. Alive, which is pretty generous, considering he tried to kill me and found himself on the wrong side of a werewolf.”
“You will return my property at once!”
I hopped off the end of the table to pace. “You want him back? How about a trade? Mara for Sven.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end before Crux broke down into a laugh. “Oh, you think you have it all figured out, do you?”
“Do you have her or don’t you?”
“I have your human,” he acknowledged dismissively. “She is owed to me. The blood debt must be paid, a life for a life.”
I paused in my pacing. “You think Mara’s behind these murders?”
“Who else would it be? The little whore refused Harry, refused me, didn’t show up to film, and then that thing showed up to protect her when I confronted her. Now I find she’s had magick the entire time? She’s shown us nothing but disrespect. It’s time for her to pay. But I won’t trade her, not for something rightfully mine. Return my Sven and I will allow you to say goodbye to your friend.”
I swallowed and put my hand over the speaker of the phone. “He doesn’t want the trade.”
Abe rolled his eyes. “I told you it would not work.”
I ignored him for the time being, going back to my conversation with Crux. A hostage exchange wasn’t the only trick I had up my sleeve. Vampires, like every other thing, had an instinct for self-preservation. All I had to do was convince Crux he was safer away from Mara than with her, which shouldn’t have been hard to do, considering she had a freaking ice giant as a guardian.
“Crux,” I said, “I know you didn’t get away unscathed. You ran into some trouble when you went to get her, didn’t you?”
“That beast broke one of my fangs. No matter, though. I got away with my prize.”
“Do you really think you beat the giant, Crux?”
“Beat it?” He laughed again. “No. But I don’t have to, do I? Eventually, you’ll do it for me. I’m sure you have a plan. You wouldn’t just stand by while it rampages through a city looking for me, would you?”
“Dammit, he’s not buying that, either,” I muttered to Abe.
Abe held out his hand. “Give me the phone. I will get you your meeting.”
I hesitated. If Abe told him Sven was the real killer, he would kill Mara just to piss me off. Crux had no regard for human life, and she was sure to bear the brunt of his rage at finding out he’d been betrayed by his own blood slave.
“Trust me,” Abe insisted. I tossed him the phone. “Allo, Comrade Continelli,” he said with a chipper voice. “Yes, it has been a while.” I have no idea what kind of response Crux had but it must have been exactly what Abe expected because he smiled. “I see you do remember me! Can I also assume you also remember your way around a saber? Very good! Yes, and nothing would give me more pleasure than to repay you for that particular scar. What do you say we settle this as our blood dictates we should in a duel? If I win, you will agree to give us the girl and forgive Kim Kelley’s debts. If you win, we shall turn Sven over to you, no harm done, and you’re free to go. What? The debt?” He glanced over at Kim. “Should you win, which you will not, the Upyri family will concede any and all claims to…let’s say the portion of Hungary west of the Danube? No, that would not include Budapest. Very well, then. One-third of Budapest. That is if you win.”
Kim leaned in closer to me, resting her chin on her fingers. “Who is this man?”
I wished I could answer her. Abe was a pickle. That a half-blood vampire would have any authority to negotiate territory was surprising, especially given he was an American citizen. Then again, I knew only a little about the clan from which he claimed lineage, the Upyri. I knew only that they were based out of the former Soviet Union. It was unsettling, sitting there helpless while listening to a half-vampire negotiate away a million or more lives should he lose.
“No idea,” I answered Kim, containing my distaste for the situation as best I could. “I didn’t even know he could do that.”
“Very good,” said Abe, still in his cheerful tone. He checked his watch. “Midnight, then? Aisling? Of course. I look forward to it.” He pulled the phone away from his ear, pressed the antenna back down and pocketed it. “There has been a slight change of plans,” he announced.
“The original idea still stands,” I said, putting my hands on my hips. “But you’ll need to beat him quickly once the giant shows up to settle things on your behalf. I’ll deal with the giant. Can you do that?”
Abe puffed out his chest. “I can. I will.”
Robbie let out an exasperated sigh and tugged on the cuffs he was still wearing. “So, you are going to wreck my place of business, are you?”
“He said a public place,” Abe answered with a shrug. “And the club is the collateral used in the loan. It only seems fitting.”
“And when the giant shows up to protect its mistress?” Robbie said, jutting his face forward and placing his hands on the broken table, palms up. “What then? Who’s going to pay for the damage to the club?”
Kim reached over and put her hand over Robbie’s. “If we humiliate Crux or, better yet, kill him, I’m sure my father will be grateful. Once he hears it was all your doing, I’m sure he’d forgive you. He’d have to.”
“But…It wasn’t my idea.”
I tugged the keys to Robbie’s cuffs from Abe’s belt, much to his displeasure. “If it stops the fighting and stops the bad guys, I don’t give a damn who takes credit,” I said, unlocking the cuffs. “Only that it gets done.”
Robbie rubbed his sore wrists and looked up at me. “Ice giant, eh? Do you think once it realizes Kim isn’t a threat, it’ll leave her be?”
I shook my head. “I have no idea how it will react. I do know there’s no way to call it off completely, not yet, anyway. If it comes down to it, we’ll have to put it down.”
“Not that I like to brag or anything, but…” Robbie snapped his fingers. A bright white flame appeared, floating above his middle and pointer fingers. “I’m a hobgoblin, love. A little heat would do you well, provided it doesn’t burn down the place. Just be warned I’m a bit rusty, considering I haven’t fought any giants in a few eons.”
“You?” I held back laughter. “You fought giants?”
He grinned ear to ear, but not in a happy way. No, his face was filled with enough mischievous malice I was worried he was no longer in chains. “Fought and won, love, albeit I had an entire army at my back last time. But you’ll do since it’s only one giant. If we lose, I guess that’s not my problem.”
“I fail to see how it’s not your problem, Robbie.”
He shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “I’ve got options. You, on the other hand, not so much. I’m offering help, love, help you desperately need.”
I thought hard about Robbie’s offer. On the one hand, I had Creven to help me. If he’d prepared as I asked, I wouldn’t need Robbie’s help. But if things didn’t go as planned… “You hang back,” I told him. “I’ll call if I need you.”
“I hate to interrupt,” Abe said. “But if we are going to do this, we are going to need to go.”
All three of us looked to the clock on the wall. Already, it was after five. Kim let out a curse. “Aisling’s supposed to open in twenty minutes. We can’t let people in and then have a duel.”
“It’s an active crime scene!” I said.
Kim stood and pressed her hands over the front of the dress. “I have a private party booked for tonight, the patrons of which will be more than a little angry with me if I turn them away last minute. You’ll have to move the venue.”
I stepped up to Kim. “Cancel the party.”
Her mouth opened, revealing her fangs, and she drew her tongue over her painted lips before smacking them.
Abe
’s hand came down heavy on my shoulder. “We can tell them ourselves, Judah. Perhaps they will respond better to a badge. That way, the blame falls on us and not the proprietor of the business.”
“Fine,” said Kim, and she spun on her heels, headed for the door. “Your funeral.”
“If that’s all then,” Robbie said, standing. I waved for him to go and said I’d take care of all the paperwork.
Abe’s face twitched as he watched them leave. “What a strange little town this is,” he said.
“Can you really beat Crux?”
He looked down his nose at me and then cracked a reluctant smile. “We will see, will we not?” Then he left.
Alone in the interrogation room, I sat down in the chair and stared at my hands. Mara, why didn’t you come to me? I thought. All of this could have been avoided if she’d just trusted me enough to let me help her. I couldn’t blame her, though, not after everything that had happened to her. Hell, it hadn’t been long since I gunned down her parents in front of her.
What a skinny waif she’d been, her limbs all bruised and her face covered in dirt. They’d dressed her in bib overalls and a dirty white cotton shirt and put two of those little plastic barrettes in her boy-cut hair. Cowering in a corner of the shack, just inches from where her parents had been shot dead, tears streamed down through the dirt on her cheeks.
I told her I was there to help her. Dammit. I owed her more than the occasional lecture or ride. Even if it cost me everything, I had to save her.
Chapter Twenty-Five
As soon as we arrived at Aisling, I realized why Kim was so reluctant to cancel the private party. The lot was empty of most of its cars. Instead, it was full of motorcycles. A burly looking, leather-clad set of guys stood out front, smoking and joking. One was a big potbellied fellow while the other was a tall, lean muscle-bound guy. Both wore long hair and plenty of tattoos. When Abe and I got out of our respective vehicles, one tapped the other on the shoulder and pointed at us.
“Do you know these men?” Abe asked me.
“Nope. Not locals I’m familiar with.”
We approached the door. One of them reached out and put a hand on Abe’s shoulder, stopping his advance. Abe glared down at the hand.
“Sorry, buddy,” said the biker, unmoved. “This is a private party.”
Abe bared his fangs, but the guy didn’t do anything other than take his hand away.
I decided my badge would be more useful in this situation and brought it out. “Special Agent Judah Black, BSI. This is my partner, Agent Helsinki. I need to speak to whoever’s in charge.”
“You got a warrant?”
“Nobody’s under arrest,” I said. “But we’re going to need for you all to clear out. This establishment is closed for the night.” The one who had asked about the warrant turned to the other one. Before things could escalate, I raised my hands. “Look, I don’t want trouble. I don’t want to ruin your party, either. We just need the building clear. Supernatural business. You understand?”
“You’d better talk to Istaqua,” said the tall one. He jerked his head toward the door before pushing it open. “Come with me.”
Abe went first, caught the door, and held it for me. “Ladies first.”
I hesitated and put my hand on the door. “Age before beauty.”
He grinned back and gave up, going on inside.
We passed the coat check room, which was more of an alcove, though it was a nice one. Usually, Aisling did a good job of presenting itself as an upscale strip bar. Not tonight. If anything, the employees had dressed the place down. The nice, velvety carpet was still there, as was the expensive mahogany welcome desk, but the people manning said desk weren’t wearing their customary suits or cocktail dresses. That night, the attendants were a small group of guys with leather vests, long hair, and tattoos. One of them had an honest to God eyepatch. They glared at me as my escort walked us through and into the VIP lounge.
The last time I’d been in there, it was to interrogate Robbie for my last big case. It was smaller than the regular dance floor since this room wasn’t built for dancing. Round booths lined either side of the wall, leaving an aisle in the middle. Most of the tables had a pole in the middle of them, though strippers only occupied a few of them. A little surprising considering how many bikers were in there. The place stunk of old leather, sweat, and cigar smoke. As we pressed our way through the bikers, drawing suspicious glares, I could just make out the source of the cigar smell at the far end of the room. A big cloud gathered there and grew with every passing moment.
When we finally broke through, we were standing in front of a crowded table where there were two women for every man. At the center of the table sat a big white guy with more hair on his face than his head. His cheeks were flushed, but it was hard to tell if it was because of the bottle of whiskey in his hand or the half-naked women on either side of him. There was also an older fellow there with reflective sunglasses on. He wasn’t drinking with the rest but sat on the edge with an air of authority. One of the patches on the leather vest he wore declared he was the MC president. A scrawny guy with curly red hair and freckles laughed loudly as the guy in the center of the table got another kiss and downed another vodka before elbowing a second man who sat between him and the president.
That guy happened to be no one other than Sal Silvermoon, and he was too busy to notice because some bleach-blond bitch had her hands all over him.
I felt cold. My hand squeezed into a fist around my badge until the edges cut into the meat of my hand. An inexplicable nauseated feeling crawled out of my stomach and settled in my throat. When the woman slid her hand down the inside of Sal’s thigh and pressed her lips to his ear, the feeling only intensified.
Our guide went to the man in the reflective sunglasses to announce us but I’d already lost my patience.
“Plans my ass,” I growled and marched toward the table.
Approaching the table uninvited was a bad idea. As soon as I stopped moving, there were six guns pointed at the back of my head. Abe made a hissing, growling sound and bared his teeth, drawing a curved knife from somewhere on his person. A few more guns came out, pointed at his head.
There was a loud choking sound behind him at the table as Sal looked up and realized it was me standing there. The blond bitch rubbed his back.
The president tapped his shades once, lowering them so he could look over them at me. “I believe they call this a Mexican stand-off,” he said in a Texas drawl.
“Special Agents Black and Helsinki,” I said in my most official tone, raising my badge. “Sorry to disturb your party, but you folks will have to clear out of here. Official agency business.”
“I know you,” said the skinny red-haired guy, removing a cigarette from between his lips. He smacked Sal on the shoulder. “Lose your human?”
“It’s alright. I know her,” Sal said, putting a hand on the president’s shoulder. Some of the guns turned away. Others didn’t. Sal fought his way out of the booth, half climbing over the MC president. As he did, I was both shocked and angered to see he was wearing the same colors as the rest of them. By the looks of the tag his bore, he was more than just a full-fledged member, too. He was their goddamn road captain.
I ignored Sal and continued to address the president. “I’m afraid this isn’t a personal matter. Aisling is closed until further notice, and if you don’t leave, you’ll be trespassing and interfering with a federal investigation.”
“Judah,” Sal said, leaning in close. “Tell me what’s going on.”
I turned my head to glare daggers at him. “Plans, huh? Which one’s your date? The red-head or the blonde bitch?”
“Look, can we talk about this later?” He made the mistake of putting a hand on my shoulder.
I shoved him away. By then, the blonde bitch had shimmied her way out of the table and she was making a beeline for Sal. “Come on, baby. You don’t have to stand there and take it from this pig.”
My jaw droppe
d. “Excuse me?”
The president chuckled. “Oh, this will be good.”
She let go of Sal to get in my face. “You heard me, piggy. You’re just pissed ‘cause you’re jealous he’s with me and not your pig ass, so step off, bitch.” She put her hands on my shoulders and gave me a shove back.
Half out of frustration and half out of pure defensive instinct, I drew back my right fist and clocked her hard across the jaw. She stumbled back with a satisfying screech of distress, her legs going up like a cartoon. I was on top of her before I even had time to think it through, accenting every word with a fist to the face. “I. Am not. A fucking. Pig!”
I drew my fist back to hit her again, and long, cool fingers wrapped around my wrist. I spun, somehow managing to stand at the same time, and took a swing at whoever had grabbed me only to have Abe block the punch with his other hand. His eyes gleamed, changing from their normal brown to a pale gray.
“Enough,” he said. There was no hint of threat in his voice, but I saw enough in his face to make me believe he could make me stop if I didn’t do it on my own.
“Jesuth Chrith,” the girl was saying as blood spilled from her split lip and broken nose.
Jesus Christ was right. What the hell had gotten into me?
“Get out of here before I do more than mess up your face,” I told the girl.
I turned back to Sal. “Yeah. We can discuss it later,” I said, wiping some blood off of my hands. “Take care of this,” I told Abe and then turned to push back through the crowd in search of the women’s room.
The bikers didn’t stand in my way. Even the ones who hadn’t seen what I’d done to the bimbo backed away and gave me room to pass, whether out of instinct or because everyone else had done the same.