Blood Street

by Alves, Carl

  Alexei rolled his eyes. “Magnus wouldn’t know how to have fun in a brothel.” He sunk his teeth into the man, whose chilling howl reverberated throughout the apartment. When Alexei finished feeding, he raised his head, blood dripping from his mouth.

  “Well done,” Heinrich said. “Hopefully this will send a message to our adversaries.”

  Alexei laughed. “We sent a message. Loud and clear.”

  “Okay, I’ll stop by to check it out,” Tony Scrambolgni said. “Just don’t sell the good stuff before I get a chance to look, got it?”

  Tony hung up the phone. His guy in Jersey just lifted a jewelry shipment. Tony’s wife had been nagging him recently because he hadn’t gotten her any jewelry of late. He figured he could pick her a pearl necklace, maybe a fancy one with black pearls.

  He could have sworn he just got her jewelry. Maybe he gave it to his girlfriend, Stacy. It was hard to keep track of these things. He needed a secretary, maybe a hot blonde.

  Fortunately Beans’ poker game had been a success. Hopefully the same held true for the one in Kensington. A few weeks ago they had problems when a group of Spics tried to crash the party. His boys took care of them, so he didn’t anticipate any more problems.

  Tony made a left on Allegheny as the elevated train thundered overhead. A few blocks later, he made another left and searched for a parking spot. Oddly enough he had no problem finding one. Usually he had to bust his left nut to find a spot.

  He walked to the apartment, rang the bell and waited. Quiet night. He rang the doorbell again. Still no answer. With growing impatience, he twisted the doorknob. His brows rose when it turned. Dino Marrone wasn’t sloppy enough to leave the doors open.

  Tony climbed the steps and stopped suddenly. The front door to the apartment was ajar. He took out his Magnum. Something wasn’t right.

  He peeked inside, but couldn’t see anything. He opened the door and gasped. The apartment was a slaughterhouse.

  “Motherfucker,” Tony said.

  The poker table was on its side, and three dead bodies littered the floor. With his gun held high, he searched the kitchen and found another body.

  “Son of a bitch.” He ran out of the kitchen and into one of the bedrooms. All three hundred and twenty pounds of Dino Marrone was lying dead on the mattress.

  His upper lip flared. Yeah, they had gained victories against these vampires, but at what price? This shit had gotten out of hand.

  For a moment, he contemplated calling Beans at the other poker game across town, but he had a feeling that also went bad. Instead he dialed Enzo’s number. The boss wasn’t going to like this one bit.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  When Magnus showed up at Sophie’s door earlier that evening, she asked, “How could you?”

  Magnus stepped inside. She slapped him hard across the face, but he didn’t flinch. She tried to slap him again, but he caught her hand.

  “I want this to end. I had to send a powerful message to your boss and Mark Andrews that the path they were taking would lead to their demise. You can’t fight us. There’s a reason why I have been alive for over a thousand years.”

  Sophie turned away. He was right. If anything would deter Enzo, it was a battle he could not win. “You have some kind of nerve showing up here.”

  “What happened has nothing to do with us. I care about you. Nothing will change that.”

  Sophie glared at him. It was no use. Looking at Magnus made her lose the rational side of her mind. Seconds later, without realizing it, she found herself in his embrace. She had never felt like this before. Around Magnus, she was like a weak-kneed schoolgirl.

  An hour later, Magnus slipped out of her bed. The whole time she was with Magnus, she hadn’t thought about the ongoing battle on the streets of Philadelphia. Nothing else mattered when they were together.

  She had to convince Enzo to end this war. The end result would be more casualties on each side, and too many had already died.

  Hours after Magnus left, Enzo showed up at her door. Normally clean-shaven and elegant, he looked like he had just escaped from a Turkish prison. Tony Scrambolgni wore a mean scowl, the veins on his forehead protruding. Special Agent Mark Andrews, who arrived ten minutes later, looked even more disheveled than Enzo.

  Enzo sat on her couch and clenched his hand into a tight fist. “Those fucking vampires! I’m gonna kill every last one of them.”

  Tony Scrambolgni said. “You know, boss, I think it’s time to end this. This fighting ain’t getting us anywhere.”

  Sophie’s brows rose. She thought she would be the lone voice of dissent against this blood feud. “Tony’s right.”

  Mark Andrews folded his arms and paced around the room. “We’re in too deep. I’ve already lost too many good men. We have to see this through.”

  Wonderful. The two most powerful voices wanted to continue this war. At least she had an ally in Tony.

  “What, I’m supposed to forget about the guys I had to bury, and the promises I made to their families?” Enzo asked. “How could I live with myself?”

  Andrews said, “Almost a dozen people have been murdered. I can’t just ignore that. It’s my duty to bring down these vampires.”

  “Believe me; I’m all for killing those sons of bitches.” Tony loosened his tie. “But what if we can’t win?” He eyed Special Agent Andrews. “Plus business is suffering. Our people are spooked with all this vampire shit going around.”

  Sophie couldn’t bear seeing any more people getting killed. Even worse, what if they killed Magnus? As much as she didn’t want it to happen, she had fallen deeply for the vampire. “Maybe there’s a way we can end this war.”

  All eyes in the room stared at Sophie.

  Enzo lit a cigarette. “What are you talking about?”

  Sophie said nothing.

  “Would you care to elaborate?” Enzo asked.

  “If you got any good suggestions, we’d like to hear it,” Tony said.

  Andrews crossed his arms. “I’m all ears.”

  Sophie walked to the living room window and stared into the deep night. “We’ve tried hunting them. That hasn’t worked. We’ve tried fighting them. No good either. What we haven’t done is negotiate with them.”

  Enzo put his cigarette in an ashtray and laughed. “Now that’s a good one. You want to negotiate with the fucking vampires. Are you high?”

  “No,” Sophie said, her voice calm. “This might be the only way out.”

  Tony shook his head. “You can’t negotiate with fucking vampires.”

  “Before they became vampires, they were people, just like us. We can work this out with them.”

  Andrews leaned against Sophie’s kitchen table. “That’s going to be a tough sell, negotiating with vampires.”

  After Enzo finished his cigarette, he immediately lit another. “This is silly. What would we say to them? Hey, I don’t think you should be killing anyone. They’re vampires, for Christ’s sakes. Even if we wanted to, how in the world would we get a fucking sit-down with them? It’s not like I can look them up in the directory and call ‘em.”

  Sophie took a deep breath. “I can arrange it.”

  The three men stared at her. No one said a word. It was as if a balloon had just been deflated.

  Enzo’s eyes bore into her. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “I’ve established contact with the vampire Magnus.” She wasn’t about to tell him about their affair. “Just like me, he wants to end this.”

  Enzo got up from the table, waving his hands. His face turned red. “Why the fuck didn’t you say something before? I can’t believe you’ve been meeting with this goddamn vampire while this shit’s been going on and you haven’t said anything.”

  “I was waiting for the right time. What good would it have done to come to you with this information a few days ago, when there was no chance in hell you would talk to them? Things have changed.”

  “After they massacred our people? You think I’
m going to let that go?”

  Tony put his hand on Enzo’s shoulders. “It ain’t about what happened in the past. It’s about what’s going to happen in the future. If we keep this up, more of us are going to get clipped, and business will go in the shitter. I’m all for a sit-down with this Magnus.”

  Enzo stared at Special Agent Andrews as if trying to get a lifeline.

  Andrews sighed. “It can’t hurt. If it doesn’t work, we can still hunt these bastards down.”

  Sophie felt a rush of relief. That only left Enzo. She had never known him to be mule-stubborn despite his Italian heritage.

  Enzo crushed his cigarette into the ashtray. “Fine. If everyone wants to talk to them, we’ll have a sit-down with the fucking vampires.” He glared at Sophie. “Since you’re so chummy with Magnus, why don’t you make the arrangements?”

  “Enzo, this is for the best.”

  Enzo gave her a look that showed complete disappointment in her before he left with Tony.

  She started to walk after him, but stopped and watched them leave. Loyalty was so paramount to him. He had to see this as a personal stab against him. The last thing she wanted was a rift in their relationship. After they settled things with the vampires, she would work to regain his trust.

  She turned around, not realizing Andrews was still there.

  He sat on a chair, a sly grin on his face. “Looks like your boss isn’t happy about you moonlighting with vampires.”

  Sophie wanted to say something, but couldn’t. She felt defeated.

  “Personally, I don’t care. I just want to solve this vampire problem.” Andrews got up from his chair. “Well, the next couple days should be interesting. If I were you, I wouldn’t be cozying up to the vampires like that. Last time I checked, they bite. Have a nice evening, Sophie.” He tipped his hat and left her house.

  Alexei had felt like a caged animal for the past day, stuck inside the warehouse in Camden. It was hardly the Ritz Carleton. He wanted to go out and roam the city streets. His boredom had become tangible.

  He sat next to his plaything Nora Brooks. She was so weak and pathetic since he turned her into a creature of the night, always trying to cling to him like an appendage. Fortunately, others in the house were teaching her what she needed to know. Gabriella had been especially useful in mentoring Nora.

  Kristoff walked across the room and gave both him and Nora an icy stare. The kid was just like Magnus.

  Nora frowned, her lips pouting. “Why does Kristoff hate me?”

  Alexei stroked her hair. “He doesn’t hate you. He despises me and takes it out on you because of your association with me.”

  Nora crossed her arms. “That’s not fair. Why doesn’t he like you?”

  Alexei waved his hand. “Who can tell with kids today? Things used to be much simpler. The modern age has complicated matters.”

  Charlie Senerchia entered the room followed by Magdalena. Alexei still found it unsettling that a member of the opposing team shared their quarters. If he sensed betrayal from Senerchia, he would kill him without thinking about it. To hell with the rest of them. In the meantime, Senerchia could be useful.

  Senerchia waved. “Hey, Alexei, my man. I got that Sling Box you asked for in the trunk of my car.”

  Alexei smiled. Since relocating, Magnus’ lockdown mandate necessitated that he ask Senerchia to shop for him. “Well done.”

  “I can also get you a sweet deal on a new iPhone,” Senerchia said. “Real sweet deal.”

  “Good. We’ll talk later.”

  Alexei stretched out. He thoroughly enjoyed killing those fools at the poker game the other day. He looked forward to another fight. Even Magnus couldn’t deny him that.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  “We’ll be there.” Magnus smiled as he clicked off his cell phone.

  Magnus jumped when he saw Gabriella standing next to him.

  Gabriella's face was impassive as she stared at him.

  “That was Sophie.”

  She sat and leaned back, her long dark hair flowing behind the chair. “I could tell by your tone of voice.”

  Although Magnus was fond of Sophie, she would never equal Gabriella. Nobody could. Gabriella was unique, sexy and tantalizing to his senses.

  “My girl came through. She set up a meeting. Now we can settle this once and for all.”

  Gabriella slid closer to him. “Who will be there?”

  “Salerno and Andrews will be there, so I insisted on bringing you.”

  Gabriella’s brows rose. “Me?”

  “Of course, you. Who else would I choose?”

  “And what do you plan to accomplish with this summit of yours?”

  “One way or the other, this has to end. These mortals have distinct advantages over us, and it will only be a matter of time before they kill us. We need a truce.”

  “And if they don’t agree?” Gabriella asked.

  “Then it will be war.”

  Gabriella smiled. “Even with your precious Sophie?”

  “I intend on keeping her out of the crossfire. She will be the guiding voice to lead their side to the right decision.”

  “You’re putting much faith in Sophie Koch. I hope she’s everything you claim her to be, for all of our sakes.”

  “She is,” Magnus said.

  Gabriella looked unimpressed.

  “Do I detect jealousy?”

  “Don’t you think I’m past that? If I got jealous of everyone who entered your life, I would be a wreck. I’m just concerned because the stakes are so high. We can’t afford any errors in judgment.”

  “We won’t have any. Now let’s formulate our plan.”

  Mark sat in the passenger side of Enzo’s BMW SUV. He drank five cups of coffee today, but had eaten nothing. He doubted he could hold anything down. His stomach had been cramping since last night, and he had vomited twice.

  “What if this is all a big setup to take us out?” Mark asked.

  Mark couldn’t stop thinking about how things went down the day they attacked the vampires. Salerno may have killed a few vampires, but Alexei and Magnus had routed them. And that had happened during the daytime.

  Salerno shrugged. “Hey, I wasn’t the one who wanted this. The rest of you were all gung-ho about negotiating with the vampires. I got my guys waiting nearby. If something funny happens, they swarm in.”

  Mark nodded. “I have agents ready as well. I hope this meeting is legit. Even with backup, if they turn on us, we’re dead.”

  Salerno nodded. “Seeing all these people die lately has reminded me about my own mortality. I don’t know how this is going to turn out, but we have to finish this. I don’t want my wife and kids to have this hanging over their heads.”

  “So far, they haven’t gone after our families, but it’s a chance I don’t want to take.”

  They drove in silence as the sun set.

  “Tell me about this place?” Mark asked.

  “La Spagnola’s. Great Italian food. An associate of mine owns it. We’ll have the entire downstairs to ourselves. There’s no downstairs exit. The vampires would have to bust through the restaurant to get inside and my people have all the entrances covered.”

  Mark’s stomach growled. “What about the wait staff? Will they be nearby?”

  Salerno shook his head. “There’ll be coffee and cannolis waiting for us. The waiters have been instructed not to go downstairs.”

  They neared their destination.

  Mark took a deep breath. “God, I hope this works.”

  “You and me both.”

  Magnus walked hand in hand with Gabriella as they entered the restaurant. He carefully observed their surroundings. As far as he knew, no one had followed them.

  A man with curly dark hair and a brown sweater vest greeted them. “Welcome to La Spagnola’s. Would you care for smoking or non-smoking?”

  Magnus smiled. “I am here to see a friend of a friend.” Sophie instructed him to say that upon entering the restaurant.
r />   The man met his smile. “Very well. Follow me.”

  They entered the main lobby and went down a set of stairs. The man opened the door, gave a slight bow and exited. Enzo Salerno and Mark Andrews sat at a table. Salerno was stoned-faced. Andrews looked ready to combust.

  Gabriella fluttered to the table. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, gentlemen.” She extended her hand. Magnus could tell they were taken aback that he brought her to this meeting. No doubt they expected Alexei.

  Salerno stood and shook her hand, but said nothing.

  Andrews also shook her hand. “Thank you for coming.”

  Magnus pulled out a chair for Gabriella and then sat opposite Salerno. “You know who I am. This is Gabriella. I want to first say that I have a great deal of respect for each of you. I respect the way you run your organizations and the courage you showed when you attacked us. I wish all of this had never taken place. Things happened which caused you to react, which in turn caused us to counter, and so on and so forth. The way I see it, we are at a stalemate. This path will result in many deaths among our respective groups.”

  Magnus stopped talking. Neither man seemed impressed by his spiel.

  Andrews spoke in a low voice. “You’ve broken the law. I'm here to enforce the law. You can spin it any way you want, but I have to arrest or eliminate you.”

  “And you just piss me off,” Salerno said. “The thought of you vampires breathing the same air as I do repulses me. You should be fucking dead. Your time has passed.”

  Magnus let Gabriella speak since she was impossible to dislike.

  “I realize you don’t care for our kind,” Gabriella said. “You aren’t the first to hate what you don’t understand. I assure you that we’re not evil. Like you, we are trying to survive.”

  Andrews chewed his cannoli. “That’s all well and good. You might have the best motives in the world, but that still doesn’t change the fact that you’re killing people.”

  Gabriella gazed into his eyes. “Unfortunately, that can happen when we feed.”

  Andrews shrugged. “Then we have a problem. I can’t let you go around killing.”