A Bite of Christmas Cheer

by Thea Dane

  Violetta seemed a breath of fresh air, competent and content to get to work immediately. He appreciated those traits because he didn’t have time to teach her every little detail about his job. For the next month and a half, he would be busy preparing to become vampire lord of Briar City.

  Ever since that vampire gang broke the Bloodbound Code and attacked a human a few weeks ago, Lee promised the local vampire council of elders that he would gain order in the community. Yet power came with responsibility. He had to mend the relations between his kind and humans so the two could coexist. Violetta could help make it possible by keeping his professional life organized.

  He put his foot on the gas to drive back to the office. Tomorrow would be her first full night of work. With his busy schedule and revolving roster of associates, he knew she was going to have the work cut out for her.

  Chapter Three

  Violetta trudged upstairs to her second floor apartment. The cold bit at her legs as she gripped the freezing iron rail and balanced on the balls of her feet on the damp steps. Her new job was going to pay well. She planned to save a chunk of her paycheck over the next several weeks to put towards a nicer place when the lease was up in January and her roommate left to move back home.

  She dug in her coat pocket for her apartment key and let herself inside. The kitchen lights were on and the place smelled like a beef and gravy microwave dinner. Off-key singing drifted from around the hallway. Debbie was home.

  Violetta opened the fridge to the find an open bottle of two dollar chardonnay. There was just enough left to fill one glass. She found a plastic cup and poured the liquid.

  “Hey, I was going to drink that.” Debbie rounded the corner, dressed in an oversized t-shirt, shorts, and her hair wrapped in a towel.

  “Beat you to it.”

  “No fair. I had a busy shift at the restaurant.”

  “I worked today, too.”

  Her roommate’s hazel eyes widened. “You got the job at Desmond Industries?”

  “You’re looking at Lee Desmond’s new personal assistant.”

  Debbie clapped her hands and gave her a pretend envious glare. “You’re in the big leagues. I’m sure your family is glad you snagged the job.”

  If only Debbie knew. Violetta found another plastic cup in the cupboard and proceeded to pour half the wine from her cup into it. “I’ll call them later. Want to toast with me?” She lifted her glass. “Here’s to upgrading from my ramen noodle budget.”

  “Here, here. I’ll drink to that.” Debbie knocked back her wine like it was spring break at the local college dive bar.

  Violetta swallowed wine. Compared to that boujee Chateau Marmont she had at the restaurant with Lee, this stuff was one notch above lighter fluid. “Blech. When I get my first paycheck, I’ll spring for the ten dollar chardonnay.”

  Debbie cackled. “Girl, if you’re working for Lee Desmond, you can spring for the Cristal and Henny.”

  “I still have to put myself through business school, remember?”

  “You’re so boring, you know that?” Her roommate stretched and yawned. “Man, I’m tired from serving drinks to uppity rich suits all night. Some asshole kept ordering the Briar City Bomber and sending it back because the blood orange coloring wasn’t orange enough.” She stopped talking for a second. “Wait. Didn’t I see your boss tonight?”

  “I don’t know. Did you?”

  “I think I did. I spotted some chick wearing the same blouse as you, but I only saw the back of her head. She was sitting with him and a guy dumb enough to wear a puffer jacket with a suit.”

  Looks like she had been caught. “That was me. The guy with the puffer jacket was also the Blood Orange Asshole. Lee wanted me to come to a business dinner with him tonight.”

  “V, you should’ve had your server get my attention. I would have come over and asked how your first day at the job was going.”

  It was specifically for that reason why Violetta didn’t say anything at the restaurant. It was okay for her roommate to know she had a job at Desmond Industries, but she didn’t have to know everything about the new job. Especially the real reason why she took it. Violetta wondered if she pushed her slayer kill kit far enough under the bed in her room. Once Debbie went to sleep, she planned to take it out and see if she had everything she needed for the upcoming days.

  “So your boss took you out to celebrate your new hire?”

  “No. Like I said, it was still business.”

  “How do you get a seat at a table with that gorgeous CEO while I just get stuck serving drinks?”

  Violetta rolled her eyes. “I’m turning in. I’m working night shifts now at the office.”

  “That’s weird. What kind of corporate business keeps hours at night?”

  The ones owned by vampires. She had the thought but chose not to voice it. “Desmond Industries has international clients who work around the clock.”

  “I guess. Well, tell me when you come back to Hickory’s.”

  “Will do. Night, Debbie.”

  She finished the chardonnay and went into her room. She made sure the door was locked before she took out her phone. Then she grabbed a pair of earbuds and went into the small bedroom closet. Sandwiched between t-shirts and her cardigan collection, she dialed her Uncle Isaiah’s number.

  He answered on the first ring. “Your aunt and I have been waiting for you to call us. Did you get it?”

  “Sorry, Uncle. I had to work late at night.” He wasn’t her real uncle, nor was his wife her real aunt. They were fellow humans with the extrasensory slayer genes. They were good friends with her parents and stepped up to raise her and Vince after their parents died in a car wreck.

  “That answers my question. Good job. Hold on. Let me tell your Aunt Jessie.” She heard a muffled sound as he put his hand over the speaker. Violetta found it funny. Her uncle may know how to drive a stake through the heart of vampires, but he didn’t know how to press the mute button on his smartphone. She heard his muffled words to her aunt. “V got the job.”

  Her aunt gave a loud whoop in response. She had to take her earbuds out for a second.

  Her uncle came back on. “Put us on video chat. We want to see you.”

  “I’m in the closet so my roommate can’t hear us so I don’t know how much you’re going to see with the lights off.” She hit the video chat button. Her aunt and uncle’s faces soon appeared on the phone screen.

  “We’re so proud of you,” Aunt Jessie exclaimed.

  “Thanks, but I only got the job, not the vampire. Yet.”

  “You will. We know you will.” Her aunt stated, confidence making her voice swell. “Tell us about Desmond.”

  She opened the closet door until only a crack of light entered from her bedroom. “I don’t know much about his habits, but he is much bigger in person than he is on TV. I’m going to need a double dose of the paralysis serum to help me take him down.”

  “I can make more for you,” her aunt volunteered.

  “I have enough in my kit. If I get low for some reason, I’ll let you know.”

  “So what will you be doing for Desmond, taking down his phone messages and fixing him martinis?”

  “Sure. He might ask me to pick up his dry cleaning, too.”

  Her aunt didn’t pick up on her snarky humor. She wrinkled her nose and curled her lips in contempt. “You shouldn’t have to do anything for that fanged pig except send him to the slaughterhouse. I wish I could do it myself for what happened to your brother.”

  Violetta felt the raw pain and anger coming from her aunt. She hated how her brother was lying in a hospital bed in pain. “Have you seen Vince today?”

  “He’s been moved from intensive care.”

  “That’s the best thing I’ve heard all day.”

  Her aunt and uncle didn’t match her broad smile. Uncle Isaiah’s frown actually deepened. “Your brother still has to finish healing. Your cousins from L.A. got him transferred there so he can stay with them until he’s
fully healed up.”

  “And until you slay Desmond,” her aunt added. “Remember what we went over about him. You have to kill him before his title of vampire lord becomes official on December 24th.”

  Violetta adjusted the volume on her earbuds. “Not that I don’t want to hurry up and get this out of the way, but you never said why I needed to get this done before Christmas.”

  “Haven’t you been listening to me?”

  “Auntie, I’ve been trying to keep my grades up in school so I can graduate.”

  “Alright. Well, Desmond has been filling the position unofficially since the last vampire lord died in a family feud. Once he’s made official, vampires throughout the country will recognize his authority. The Bloodbound guards won’t let you get within a hundred feet of him.”

  “And then our chance to avenge your brother will be gone.” Her uncle shook his head. “You can’t let it happen.”

  “Auntie, uncle, what if I can get Lee to tell me about the gang who jumped Vince?”

  “Focus on Desmond, not the gang. If you take out the alpha wolf, the whole pack falls apart.”

  “I thought we were hunting vamps, not Xander’s people.” She referred to the alpha of Briar City’s wolf shifter pack.

  “This is not the time for jokes, V.”

  “Okay, okay. I’ll get on it, then.”

  Her aunt and uncle nodded their approval. “You got this.” Uncle Isaiah cheered her on. “This is what you were born to do.”

  “Uh-huh,” she muttered, knowing full well what her uncle meant by his comment.

  He went on. “Maybe after this, you can get that MBA to expand our slayer business.”

  Here we go again. She got the familiar unpleasant feeling in her gut whenever they tried to push their expectations onto her. “That would conflict with me opening up an interior design firm one day.”

  Her aunt clicked her tongue. “We are slayers, not house decorators. There are better ways to use your education.”

  “It’s really late. I’d better get some rest so I can be fresh for work.” Violetta closed the video chat. She emerged from the closet and did a belly flop onto her bed. Her nose landed on the magazine cover of Lovely Homes magazine. She glanced at the red and green letters of the holiday edition cover. She tossed it on the nightstand before pulling the covers over her head.

  LEE ARRIVED AT THE office at seven in the evening. One of the things he liked about winter was the shorter days and longer nights. As an older vampire, sunlight couldn’t kill him, but it didn’t feel particularly great, either.

  He walked past the empty front desk. Until his employees arrived in another hour or so, he had the whole office suite to himself. He went into his office and booted up his computer. Lee typed in a command prompt on the keyboard to bring up a secure web database he and the other vampires used throughout the city to communicate. He checked on the development of the underground construction of the new arena to be used for traditional vampire ceremonies.

  His cell phone rang. Someone was calling him on his private line. Only a handful of vampires had access to it. He glanced at the number and recognized it came from Nicholas Stavros, attorney at law and second in line to become vampire lord. Nicholas also happened to be one of Lee’s informants. He answered the phone. “Nicholas, don’t tell me you’re canceling the meeting at the last minute.”

  “Worse. We got a problem. Felix Crane may have fucked up our relationship with the humans.”

  Lee sat up taller in the chair. “What are you talking about? I had dinner with him last night to discuss his new business contract.”

  “He must have had other plans right after he met with you. Are you at your office? I don’t want to talk about this over the phone.”

  “I just got here.”

  “I’m on my way, then. See you in a few.”

  Lee ended the call. What could’ve possibly happened during the time he met with Felix less than twenty-four hours ago? He drummed his fingers on his desk. The sound echoed off the walls. Nicholas had better get here soon before the office filled with human employees.

  He left his office and paced in the reception area while the Beach Boys harmonized “Little Saint Nick” through the speaker system. Either the receptionist forgot to turn off her Christmas playlist before she went home or the janitor put it back on while he tidied up the office. Lee wondered if the IT department could create an override code or kill switch to the speaker system that linked up from his computer. Then he could control the number of times he had to listen to Michael Buble and other seasonal favorites the humans loved.

  The elevator door chimed. Lee stopped his pacing. Finally, Nicholas entered the office suite. He still had his laptop bag and lunch cooler with him. He didn’t get inside his own office yet. “Where can we talk?”

  “Conference room.” Lee directed him to the space. He shut the door once they were inside and made sure the room’s phones were all set to mute. “Tell me what’s going on with Crane.”

  Nicholas set his cooler on the seat next to him. “They found five human crewmen of his injured.”

  What in the hell? Lee remained standing. “You said ‘they’. Who are ‘they’?”

  “Law enforcement.”

  “Ours?”

  “No, not the Bloodbound Guard. The police. I was walking to my office tonight and they had the port blocked off.”

  “Did you see anything?”

  “I couldn’t see all, but paramedics carried victims past me in stretchers. They looked like they lost a lot of blood.”

  “You think vampires fed on them?”

  “The whole place had vampire smell all over it.”

  Another gang attack. It appeared Felix was operating with them. Lee ground his teeth. “Were you able to see anything else?”

  “Nope. Detectives started to tape off the area.”

  Nicholas’s law office was close to port. He would be able to keep an eye on things if more developed. “What about Crane? Was he at the scene?”

  “The police are looking for him.”

  Lee had Crane’s number. He thought of calling it, but what good would it do? If Crane was on the run for committing a crime, then he wasn’t going to answer. “Why would he risk his business by letting other vampires feed on his workers?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine, but I wanted to let you know about it as soon as I found out.”

  “Thanks, Nicholas. I appreciate it. I’ll inform the Briar City Bloodbound about this breach of code and put our guards on watch for Crane. If they find him, they’ll bring him to me.”

  Nicholas agreed. “I’ll see if I can learn more from the human side. My paralegal should be headed into the office in the next hour. He has a connection with the mayor and city law enforcement.” He took out his phone to make the call.

  Lee used his own phone to send a secure alert to the captain of the Bloodbound Guard. So many things were going on. Facts were still forming, but he had to prepare his people to be vigilant. And later on, he’d be making a visit to the dock to do his own investigative work.

  VIOLETTA ARRIVED AT the office shortly before eight with a cup of double espresso latte in one hand and her work tote that held her slayer kit in the other. She fell asleep late after getting off the phone with her parents. Tonight, she was feeling the effects of her new schedule change. She popped two aspirin in her mouth on her way to Katrin’s office. “Good mor—”

  The office was empty. Katrin was missing, and so was her laptop. The desktop computer was turned off. Even the pencil cupholder and desk accessories had disappeared.

  She went back out to the front desk. The receptionist just arrived. “Excuse me, do you know where Katrin is? I went to her office and it looked like it was cleared out.”

  “Oh, yes. Mr. Desmond wanted her to report to the Rome office immediately. He sent the memo to her last night while you were out.”

  “So she’s gone already?”

  “Looks that way. You can move your
things into her office. She put in a report to IT to help you get logged into our computer system.” The receptionist checked her watch. “It’ll have to wait until they get in at nine, though.”

  Violetta checked the time on her phone. 8:05. She was late for the meeting with Lee. “They don’t need to rush. I have a meeting this morning, anyway.” She powerwalked to the conference room, balancing the latte so she wouldn’t spill hot coffee on her dress. Hopefully, Lee didn’t start the meeting yet.

  Her neck tingled before she reached the conference room door. The sensation was stronger than yesterday. One glimpse through the window and she knew why. Lee was talking to another male vampire inside. The two of them appeared to be in deep, intense conversation. Their expressions were stoic, almost grim. She knocked on the door to announce her arrival.

  Both males stopped talking. Lee opened the door and let her in. “You’re running behind.” His green eyes showed disapproval. The outline of his mouth remained taut.

  “I’m sorry. I just learned Katrin transferred to Rome.”

  “That shouldn’t matter. She wasn’t supposed to be at the meeting by eight. You were.”

  Wow. Could he cut her some slack on her second day of work? She tilted her head in an apologetic nod to him and the other sharp-suited vampire. “It won’t happen again.”

  “See to it.” Lee spoke the words just for her to hear, though she was certain the other male vampire had no problem picking up the annoyance in his rigid body language. Violetta squared her shoulders and returned Lee’s stare. While she waited for him to provide instructions on what to do next, she wasn’t about to go cowering somewhere in a corner.

  He turned to his associate. “Nicholas, this is Violetta. You’ll have to forgive my new assistant for being late. It’s her second day on the job.”

  “Hi, Violetta.” The vampire Nicholas provided an understanding nod. “It takes time to get acquainted at a new job.”

  Lee pulled out the chair next to his for Violetta to sit. “Time we don’t have, not after what happened.”