Witch Gone Viral

by Sami Valentine

  “Today is all you can control. You.” Quinn affirmed. “And I need you in top shape, if I am going to find out who killed Orval.”

  “With your luck, someone is working their way through all your poker buddies.” Red bobbed and feinted, looking for a weak spot. “Have you come up with that enemies list?”

  “Working on it.” Quinn grunted out. “I still have two centuries left to cover.”

  “What about that Italian guy, Fabio, who owns that place I blew up? You know, the bar in the construction warehouse. I stopped those minions from beating you and Lucas up there.”

  “That’s not exactly how it went down…” Quinn frowned, pausing.

  The window panels rolled up, timed to reveal the darkened parking lot after twilight. A cop car lurked directly outside the office like a great white shark in the surf.

  Taking a step back, Red swore. Detective Callaway usually texted before she swung by to drop a weird case on their lap. Was this the LAPD or the Fang PD? “The Calcutta Kitchen is going to be pissed if another body chases away their dinner rush.”

  A knock thumped on the door before a uniformed Joe Chang walked in. The badge on his chest shined. He frowned, taking off his hat. Contrite, he ducked his head. “Sorry to bother you folks, but the supreme requests your presence. Now. I have to take you in my car.”

  Red looked to Quinn. He had done jobs for Cora before, but the supreme usually called first. Was he going to find out what happened to Orval?

  “Lock up the place, Red.” The souled vampire stepped forward, pulling his black trench coat off the rack and settling it on his broad shoulders. He rose to his full height. Losing the quiet social awkwardness of Q, her friendly vamp boss, he became the immortal gumshoe that had brought justice to the LA underbelly for half a century. She had watched the transformation night after night, but the difference still struck her. It made her understand why Vic called him Batman.

  “No. Both of you.” Chang said, high cheeks freezing into a wince, looking embarrassed. “You’re not under arrest, but Quinn, that old convertible can’t be seen at Moon Enterprises tonight.”

  “Vampire secrets,” Red said, grabbing her jacket and wishing she smelled less like she just hopped off a treadmill. Delilah had said that Cora would come to collect on the favor first. Red didn’t expect it so soon. The thing about owing a master vampire was they didn’t need to send you to collections, they could just collect you. Red didn’t argue with the order. LA was her safe zone from the growing numbers of master vampires that wanted her dead.

  Mouth tightening, Quinn put a stake inside his trench coat. “I told you.”

  The two followed Chang to the police car. Quinn took the passenger side while Red ended up in the back.

  Leaning forward, she touched the metal mesh separating the front and back seats. “You ever think one of these days I’ll get to sit in the front seat?”

  “At least you’re not in handcuffs this time,” Chang said before turning on a techno song on a portable speaker on the dashboard. “This lit up the last festival I went to.”

  Red settled into the slower than usual creep of traffic toward Inglewood. They passed a three-car pileup on the side of the road. She couldn’t look away from the twisted metal as they inched by the accident. It felt like an omen or a reenactment of her life.

  Arriving finally, Red followed Joe and Quinn into Moon Enterprises. When the building had hosted the summit of the Blood Alliance, it had been under high security. Now they walked into tinted glass doors and into the mural painted lobby without fanfare.

  “Sugarbabes, you’re early!” Cora Moon waited for them by the front desk in high-waisted bell bottoms and a tie-dyed crop top. She lifted a clipboard off the desk before addressing the human behind the desk. “Call Jamal. Tell him he will need to fill in for the resume workshop. Then you’re done for the day. It’s after sunset.”

  Clad in paisley and concern, the matronly black woman nodded as her eyes darted between Joe Chang, Red, and Quinn then back to the supreme master. “He’ll grumble, Miss Cora.”

  “Remind him that men make 30 cents more on the dollar than women do.” Cora put her hand on her hip before she shook her head and turned to the waiting trio. She gestured them forward. “Let’s beat feet.”

  “Busy day?” Red asked, forcing herself to sound calm as she followed Cora to the elevator. Vampires sensed weakness. Even souled ones. Hearing a trembling pulse, smelling fear sweat… They could help it as much as she could help knowing that a bakery had made fresh bread. Her chest felt tight. Simmering anxiety made her want answers. She knew that acting frustrated and rattled only put her at a disadvantage. Political creatures, she reminded herself.

  “The job fair is tomorrow, and I want to make sure our mamas are ready,” Cora said as she stepped through the open elevator and put her thumb on the sensor. An instrumental version of Gin and Juice by Snoop Dog played. She paused, addressing Quinn and Chang. “Take the stairs, boys.”

  Red’s heart clenched in her chest. She pleaded silently to Quinn as the door closed.

  “Healthy communication begins with honesty.” Cora cast no reflection in the metallic elevator. “You helped me regain my city. I wrote about it in my gratitude book. And then Nevaeh Morgan blindsided us both.”

  Red chilled, her fingers growing cold.

  “It took clout to fix the tribunal,” Cora said. “When I saw Hilde and Sancha, I didn’t know if I would pull it off. Then, with the suggestion to turn you... That lie I told about an agreement with the Portland crew to be your guardian. That was my last trick. Only Marek’s soft spot for me had him play along.”

  “I’m very appreciative.” Heat flushed up her neck. Her breathing hitched.

  “Healthy relationships are an exchange. We work well together. Now, before you freak, I’m not going to act like the overbearing vampire. What the tribunal said was barbaric. No one is turned without consent in my city. It doesn’t matter who. That guardian stuff is… whatever. I don’t force people to work for me.” Generous lips pressed in a line, Cora met Red’s gaze. “I ask for help as a friend.”

  Red tried to say lightly, “How could I say no?”

  Cora paused in mid-step out the opening elevator. She smiled, twinkling eyes beaming reassurance. “You’re in deep, but don’t worry girl. I got you.”

  “Because healthy relationships.” Red gulped, forcing her feet to move.

  “Exactly.”

  Detective Callaway’s warning sounded like far off drums. Once you started working for vampires, there was no quitting. The elevator didn’t just take them to the regular levels where the undead labored 8 p.m-3 a.m. to keep their corner of the supernatural world spinning. It went to the top floor.

  Red followed Cora Moon into an office lined with computer terminals and servers. Walls painted maroon, the city lights reflecting a dull sheen from the floor-to-ceiling windows. Burning sage tickled her nose. She took stock of the room.

  Quinn waited by the window, holding his hand over curls of sage smoke wafting out of an abalone shell.

  Officer Chang stood silent at the wall, arms crossed. A server on a rolling rack hummed and a tiny LED reflected against his face. Chang’s brown eyes darted to the light, the dark circles illuminated for a moment before he tugged his police hat down. He shifted on his feet.

  Red bit back a gasp at the only other human in the room. It drove the thought of what was missing out of her head. Panic surged in her. If this was her debt, why was he here?

  Vic sat at the conference table with a mug of coffee in his hands. He leaned up from his hunched pose, chin resting on his palm. He raised the mug, his face concerned even if he tried to play it off. “Free trade coffee, anyone?”

  “You got a free trade ride in a cop car too?” Examining him for marks, Red heard the fear creep into her voice. She hadn’t wanted Vic dragged into this.

  The mechanisms behind vampire conspiracies were precise and thorough. She knew. She had joined one after all. Even just
the public record of Kristoff’s role was evidence of how information was weighed and distributed to the supernatural masses. They had eliminated him from record of the coup but broadcasted that he had killed the minion who attacked Red on the solstice. Each act was engineered to extract a measured response.

  “Yeah, a lady cop that looked like Angelina Jolie’s vamp cousin. Even manhandled me a bit. Made my day.” Vic wiggled his eyebrows over his coffee. His mug almost covered the vein bulging from stress in his jaw.

  She bit her lip. Cora knew that Vic had killed Hilde Higbee’s childer. Was Vic here to help or just because of blackmail? Seeing the closed-door dealings only made her wonder what other strings were being pulled in the room. Red shook herself. She was sounding paranoid like Vic.

  “At ease. This is serious, but it’s not a funeral.” Cora hopped on the table, sitting on it crossed legged. She waited until she had their attention. “This isn’t a case for Quinn Investigations. This isn’t on the books. This is me calling in some karma.”

  Quinn straightened his jacket lapel, rubbing his knuckles down to smooth it, as he strode to Cora. “I can take this solo.”

  “There isn’t a mystery for you to solve, Sherlock. I need jobs done on the down low. Some maybe in the daytime.” Shaking her head, Cora tugged down her shirt, nervous energy twitching at her fingers. “More than what I can ask Detective Callaway to do.”

  Red wanted to sigh. So, it was really illegal then. Or deep vampire bullshit. Or both.

  “What do you need done?” Vic gripped his arm rests.

  “Does this have something to do with Orval? Any more of Quinn’s poker buddies go missing?” Red planted a hand on her hip. “Or is it Fabio Gianni? Wasn’t he billing you for bar damage?” Biting her lip, she realized from the icicles dangling from Cora’s vibe that she had pushed the supreme too far. Healthy relationship or not, it wasn’t an equal one. Not in this supernatural hierarchy.

  “I hate getting this answer, but I have to say it. You’ll know what you need to.” Cora raised an eyebrow at Red before her stern gaze froze Vic’s snappy remark on his lips. “What I really need is what you know and what you can find out. First, I want to know which hunters are working with souled vampires.”

  “Besides us?” Shrugging, Vic licked his lips. “That word gets out.”

  “I don’t just want LA county. Chit chat with hunters on the West Coast, then spread out.” Cora rattled off city names, counting them on her fingers. “Make sure you cover Cincinnati, Oklahoma City, and New York.”

  “I might have to take a drive or two to talk to the more off the grid types.” Vic rubbed his chin. His concentration almost looked pained.

  “No worries. You’ll be back if we need you.” The supreme said the words calmly, but the certainty could cut diamonds.

  Sitting down next to Vic, Red tried not to look at him. They had been drafted. They’d already put their heads together the night before about the tribunal’s verdict. Cora was one of the better vampires to owe. She would protect them, but she still had an unstable city. Backed into a corner, she went into warrior pose with the surety of a samurai. She already had a sword. Red knew not to cross her.

  “What do you need from me, Cora?” Quinn asked.

  “I need someone to do a shipment to a friend in the desert. My usual wheelman is held up.”

  Red tucked the cryptic request away to analyze later. Cora should have just spilled the beans. Leaving it a secret was like a taunt to an investigator. Red would gather the clues anyway.

  “You’re having Joe check in on all the souled vampires instead.” Quinn nodded to her childe.

  “Hey!” Joe Chang broke his silence from the door. He yanked his hat off to better glare at Quinn.

  “He told me on the walk up.” Quinn looked down at his nails before he put his hands in his pockets. “You know how many will run when they see a cop on their doorstep.”

  “I have other clothes.” Chang rapped on his badge.

  “The other half will recognize him as the one who usually collects your tithes and clam up. If you need answers, I can get them for you,” Quinn insisted. “It’s too big a job for one if you want it done quickly.”

  Head snapping back and forth, Red watched the conversation like a match at Wimbledon.

  “You can’t do that if you are in the Mojave.” Cora put her hands on her sitting hips. “This plan sounds like I still got a package hot in my hands.”

  “Red can do it.” Quinn suggested, gesturing to the hunter.

  Head jerking up, Red gaped at her boss. His typically remote expression was so banally blank that he might well have shaken a red flag. It had taken her a while to tell the difference in his even keel emoting. Like seasons in the desert, it was subtle, but she knew that stoic bastard was up to something. What was he volunteering her for?

  “Hey, wait, don’t plop your job on her.” Vic waved his hands. “What were you going to have her do, Cora?”

  “Infiltrate a Bloodliner club as a human donor.” Cora replied as if announcing what vegan offering was going to be served in the soup kitchen tomorrow.

  Sputtering, Red tried to speak. The shock numbed her tongue.

  Vic whistled. “That escalated a bit.”

  “I’m cool with doing the delivery.” Red raised her hand. “If that is an option.”

  “Tonight.” Cora stroked her chin.

  “You’re the boss, applesauce.” Vic bobbed his head.

  “Whatever gets me out of having to put on a pleather dress and pretending to be a donor.” Red had played bait before. She’d had to get the scars lasered off from the last time. Hilde Higbee proved that removing the scars didn’t remove the consequences.

  “Don’t break the speed limit.” Cora warned. Her cautious gaze swept over Quinn to Red. “It’s over six hours there and back.”

  “Are you at least going to give a hint of what the endgame is?” Vic asked.

  “I’m manifesting it right now.” Cora looked around the table. Her irises glimmered amber. “You tell no one what you’re doing. No one finds out.”

  Red looked around, realizing Cora’s guards were nowhere to be seen. They usually followed like ducklings in earpieces behind her, blending into the background. Purging her staff after the coup must have left slim pickings on who to trust. Red made the cut. Hard to pinpoint how to feel about that. Vampires hoarded valuable things. Even people. Lucas’s history proved that they could keep a human for a long time.

  Cora hopped off the table and patted Quinn on the shoulder. “Make sure she gets on the road.” She looked to Red, smiling. “Don’t forget your seat belt. And water. So important to stay hydrated.”

  The goodbyes were short with Vic. Red and Quinn left the room through the penthouse hallway. The décor was stuck in the 70s even if the security was top of the line. Silent in the elevator, Red watched the buttons blink as they lowered to the basement garage. She knew the upgrades to Moon Enterprises had included new cameras even if she couldn’t see where they were hidden. Chang had left her alone with Quinn on the descent. She had a lot to say but nothing she wanted overheard by the security team.

  Walking out into the chilly air of the garage, Red wished she had more than a T-shirt and gym shorts on. “Do you think I’ll be able to go home and change?”

  “Oh, you won’t want to. You’ll want those goods off your back as quick as you can,” Chang said as he stepped out of the shadows. He held up a bag. “Cora had me get something warmer for you.”

  Red took the bag, flashing a quick smile. “Thanks.”

  “Make it fast. It’s the yellow VW van.” Chang tossed her keys. “I’m going to sit on my car and buy tickets to a dance festival, but I’ll be watching.”

  Finding the vintage van quickly, Red went on the other side to change into the thick leggings from the backpack. A long-sleeved knit dress lay under water bottles in the bag. Her sweaty gym clothes went inside instead. She smoothed the skirt to her knees, then pulled on the jacket. She might
have just become Cora’s personal delivery driver, the first of many favors she was sure, but at least she didn’t have to be shivering.

  Red walked out from behind the van. “Hey, Quinn, thanks for suggesting this job instead. You really pushed me out of the firing range.”

  “I thought this would be more interesting for you.” Quinn’s eyes twinkled, and he rocked on the balls of his feet, hands in his pockets.

  “I think being a bleeder at a Bloodliner party would be plenty interesting.” Chuckling as she shook her head, she pointed at the van. “I can listen to an audiobook while I do this.”

  “You’ve had a lot of questions. Maybe you might find some answers.” Quinn handed her a piece of paper. A phantom smile lingered on his lips.

  Squinting suspiciously at the mysterious glee, Red unfolded the note to see handwritten directions with a final instruction to burn this before letting anyone else see it. She looked up.

  Quinn was gone.

  Joe Chang glanced around from the hood of his police car. He shrugged at Red before hopping down and sprinting to catch up with the other vampire.

  Curiosity biting at her, Red opened the back of the van. A mix of boxes, pillows, and lampshades were stacked benignly as if she was just moving to a new house. After enough nights spent in a van, Red knew something about hiding something in one. The floor of the van rose too high from the bed. Cora had asked her to deliver the package. Not inspect it. Red couldn’t help it. Chang had already left. The question mark on her cargo would dog her every mile.

  Red pushed a box aside before pushing up a towel to see a hatch. She jerked it open to peek inside. AR-47s and smaller handguns peeked back at her. The metal glinted from the weapons tightly packed in a black Styrofoam. Head rushing, Red stepped back. She was running guns. Holy shit.

  This was going to be the longest car ride of her life.

  Chapter Six

  January 22nd, Evening, Somewhere in the Mojave Desert, California