by Logan Byrne
“And you want to know if I know anything, or how to stop them,” she said.
“Exactly,” I said.
“Well, first you have to decide if you want to take them in, or eradicate them,” she said.
“Eradicate them? I’m not a murderer, Xelia,” I said, shocked.
“Well, vampires are a menace. I know that’s weird, considering I am one and all, but they’re highly dangerous in more ways than one,” she said.
“I just want to arrest them and shut down the club operation they have going. Not only to take them off the street, but also to really hurt the pockets of whoever is in charge,” I said.
“By the way, who is in charge? Do you know?” she asked.
“I’m not sure I know who’s running the club, but I suspect Kiren is the top boss,” I said, whispering his name in confidence.
“Lexa, are you going mad? You can’t take on something like this. Does Mirian know, because I’m sure if he did—”
“No, Mirian doesn’t know about that, and he can’t find out. I know Kiren’s up to something, Xelia, I just know it, and I have to push further. He has to go, and if this is the way it has to go down, then this is the way. I thought the casino would be it, but that was just a stepping-stone. Sure, this is probably another stone to another stone to him, but I’ll take as many steps as I have to take to ensure the prosperity and safety of the magical realm,” I said.
“I don’t know, I think you’re playing with fire. If you want to take down the club for the abhorrent practices they’re doing, not to mention the illegal ones, then I support that and will even help wherever I can, but not if you’re doing this to go higher. The resistance is taking care of the bigger picture, so I think you should leave it to them instead of enacting some one-woman attack against forces you cannot even begin to fathom,” she said.
I knew Xelia was only talking from a place of care and concern. She was a maverick of an auditor herself, and she wanted Kiren gone probably as much as I did, but I still thought she was wrong. I know that taking down this club would get Kiren where it hurt, and I know that somebody in there knew about his involvement and would be a crucial turning point for the entire sting operation.
“I think if you went with me, or us if I get Charlie on board with this plan, then you would be an asset. I’ll focus on just taking out the club for what it is, for now, and I think you being a vampire would give us safe passage. Vampires aren’t known for betraying their own kind, at least physically,” I said.
“You’re going to have to shield yourselves, then. You know we’re capable of mind manipulation and influence. I don’t want you or Charlie giving away the fact we’re auditors to them, or else it won’t be pretty and I suspect we’d be in for the fight of our lives,” she said.
“I’ll make sure we’re shielded. Thank you, Xelia. I appreciate it,” I said before leaving her office. I was going to make a difference. I was sure of it.
“Is this what’s passing as mortal entertainment these days?” Xelia asked as we approached the club that night. The club was lined with neon lights that added a harsh pink glow to the entirety of the outside. Charlie, Xelia, and I were doing a light reconnaissance mission to get the lay of the land in the club and see what we were dealing with. We really knew nothing going in, and a raid or arrest wouldn’t be smart without doing our research first. We did it with the casino and people were still congratulating me on that mission.
All I knew was that, according to our informant, they were abducting mortals and transforming them, which was a Class I offense. That alone was punishable by life in prison, depending on the amount of mortals stolen, and vampires could live quite a long time, making sure they would feel the pain they inflicted against both realms.
“Right, do you have a shield for us?” Xelia asked, as we stood obscured across the street.
“These are garnet necklaces that should shield against any and all vampiric suggestion and penetration. We won’t have to worry with these around our necks. Faus and his lab have been working on them. He said they won’t fail, and I trust him,” I said, handing out the necklaces and putting mine on.
“Do they work?” Charlie asked, looking at Xelia.
“I can’t sense anything with you guys, so I’m going to say yes. Great, we have our in, but try to keep the necklaces hidden. We don’t want them to know that we’re on to them, and necklaces that repulse vampires would definitely do that,” she said.
The line to get in the club was long, but Xelia said she had an idea to get around it. The bouncer was definitely not a vampire, more like a troll hybrid who looked like a large mortal oaf more than any kind of magical creature. A perfect guise for any magical club that was operating without wanting anybody who wasn’t invited to get in.
“The line is that way,” he grunted, pointing his fat finger towards the back of the line.
“You want to let my friends and I in your amazing club to dance the night away,” Xelia said, her eyes glowing faintly red. The bouncer looked puzzled, and his mouth hung open, his noxious breath enough to wilt even the prettiest flowers.
“I want to let you and your friends in. Have a good time at Club Dynamo,” he said, unclasping the velvet rope from its stand.
“Great job,” I said, patting Xelia on the back.
“This necklace might stop anybody from reading me, but it definitely doesn’t stop me from reading them,” she said, smiling.
The club was shrouded with a light mist from fog machines that were working overtime up above. Lights and lasers shot beams in every direction, with a loud rumbling of house music that made my organs vibrate. I had my wand on me, hidden in the side of my boot, though I was hoping not to have to even touch it tonight. I needed to keep my head in the game and stay strong, no matter what I saw.
“Split up?” Xelia asked, trying not to yell though we could barely hear one another even inches away.
“Split up and see what you can find out. Meet back here in thirty?” I asked.
“Sounds good,” Charlie said, walking towards the bar.
Xelia went left and I went right past a large, industrial staircase leading down to the main dance floor where the party was raging the hardest. I walked past tables where morbidly drunk half-dressed women were slung over the bodies of disgusting sweaty men who were flourishing them with champagne and attention. I shook my head, wondering if they would be so keen to give themselves away if they were sober and with it.
For all intents and purposes, the club seemed mostly normal, if not a little disgusting. There were no obvious signs of malpractice or illegal activity, though I knew they wouldn’t keep those things out in the open for everybody to see. “Hey,” I heard, and I felt a tap on my shoulder.
I turned to see a man, maybe around my age, with fair skin and dark hair. It was spiked in the front, swept to the side, and his plunging V-neck shirt screamed overcompensation. “Hello,” I said, with a friendly tone.
“Are you here alone?” he asked.
“I came with a friend, but I don’t know where she went,” I said, smiling.
I knew he was a vampire, his tell was far too obvious for a woman who chased criminals and magical beings for a living. I had to wonder if he were trying to influence me, but his tricks weren’t working and his conscience was likely brimming with confusion as he tried to flex a muscle that wouldn’t work on me. I liked the idea of him squirming as he failed miserably.
“Well, that’s no good. Maybe I could keep you company while you wait for her,” he said.
“That would be great. Do you come here often?” I asked.
“I actually work here, so yes, I do. I have to say, though, we usually don’t get women as beautiful as you in here,” he said, smiling and gently touching my shoulder.
I shuddered, wanting to vomit, both because I thought of Blake and the fact that he would shift and rip this guy’s throat out, but also because I knew this guy was doing the same thing to all the women who came in here. How ma
ny poor girls were seduced by him, not having the garnet like I did to protect them, and left here either drained of blood in a body bag, or transformed and destined to live out a miserable eternity working jobs to pay off a debt they never took out themselves? I wanted nothing more than to see this scumbag in handcuffs, with me being the one to take him in.
“That’s so sweet of you,” I said, lying through my clenched smile.
“Can I buy you a drink?” he asked.
“No, that’s okay, I already had a few and should pace myself,” I said.
“Come on, just one more drink won’t hurt, will it?” he asked, smiling, as if trying to flex a charm and influence that wouldn’t work on this girl tonight.
“How about a rain check?” I asked.
“A rain check, huh? Does that mean I’ll get to see you again?” he asked.
“I’m sure I could come back here and see you again,” I said.
“I’d like that. Maybe you could be my special guest and we could go in the back and have a more private talk,” he said.
“And what would that entail, exactly?” I asked.
“I guess you’ll just have to wait and find out,” he said, giving me a little wink.
A man came up behind my friend and caught his attention. “The boss needs you,” he said.
“I have to get going, work calls, but next time you come back, ask for Antony. I’ll be looking forward to seeing you again,” he said, smiling, before walking off with the man.
Antony was at least something to go by, assuming it was his real name. I could search the database when I got back to the precinct and see if there was a known vampire in the city with that name. I peered over the balcony, seeing Charlie dancing up on some women who seemed to be loving every inch of him they could get.
Xelia was across the way, talking to a man who looked eerily like Antony, the same demeanor and character. It must be their thing, to send these types of guys out to seduce women and get them to come in the back, but why? What were they gaining by taking these women? Men I could understand, as vampiric men usually possessed higher strength, though women had more speed. They could use the men as muscle, both in clubs and during robberies, but the motive for taking the women wasn’t quite as clear yet.
The clock started to tick away and the thirty minutes were up, before Xelia showed up and Charlie was able to pull the women off him and stick to the plan, which surprised me. I guess I couldn’t blame him, he wasn’t dating anybody.
“What did you find out?” I asked after we left the club and crossed the street.
“I found out that mortal women are sexy and I love dancing with them,” Charlie said.
“Charlie, you didn’t ask around about anything?” Xelia asked.
“What? No, I thought I was there to keep normal and party,” he said.
“You’re such an idiot,” she replied, shaking her head. “One of their goons hit on me, and I know you had the same thing happen,” she said to me.
“Yeah, I saw you after mine left. His name was Antony. I could tell he was trying to exude influence on me, which means these charms Faus gave us definitely worked. What did your guy want?” I asked.
“He tried to invite me for a drink in the back but I denied him. He gave me his number, though, and a card,” she said, handing it to me.
The business card was blank, except for a finely printed number on the front. There wasn’t a name, a business, an address, or anything else.
“It has to be something bad. I bet they trace the call and come take you,” I said.
“That sounds like something out of a movie, though, doesn’t it?” she asked.
“Exactly, which makes it more horrifying. Maybe we could reverse it,” I said.
“And trace him? Then what?” she asked.
“Track this guy down and do what we have to for information,” I said.
“So we’re going to reverse the plan on them?” she asked, smiling.
“Yeah, but the difference is I’ll erase his memory afterward so he doesn’t even remember telling us anything,” I said.
“Let’s get the troops together, then. But I think we should come back again soon, for research and everything,” Charlie said.
“You just want to grind up on more women, don’t you?” I asked.
“Can’t blame a guy for that, can you?” he asked, smiling and shrugging.
With the glow of a computer screen against my face later that night, I sat down and searched our computer database to try to find Antony somewhere, anywhere, where I could get more information on him. There were three vampires with that name in the city, but none of them matched his picture or information. I didn’t get it, though—was he new to the scene, or did he have somebody on the inside? I’d looked up Xelia’s guy as well, Robert, but he didn’t show up either. How was it that neither of them was in our system? I refused to believe they’d never had a run-in with the law. Maybe Kiren was protecting them somehow, or had somebody on the inside wiping their traces clean so as not to run any risk of suspicion.
I shut the computer screen, pulling out the business card Xelia had received and twiddling it around my fingers. I looked at the number. What was their master plan? Were they trying to build an army of vampires or take over New York? And what was the deal with kidnapping women? They didn’t serve the same purpose as men, and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what it all meant.
Even though I was at a loss, if there was one woman who was going to figure this all out, it was me—no matter the cost and no matter what it took.
7
“So you want me to do what now?” Faus asked, stroking his chin as Xelia, Charlie, and I stood around him.
“We need you to trace this phone number and find out where the guy is who has the phone,” I said.
“And why exactly do you need me to do this?” he asked.
“We need to question him,” Xelia said.
“Why not just call him and have him come down to the precinct?” Faus asked.
“We…can’t exactly do that just yet,” Charlie said.
“Undercover?” Faus asked.
“Unfortunately,” I said.
“Right now the phone is pinging in the magical realm, actually, and not in New York City. It looks like it’s close by here, but wait,” Faus said, adjusting his glasses and leaning towards the screen.
“What is it? What’s happening?” I asked nervously.
“It looks like he’s on the move. Get yourselves here,” Faus said, pointing to an alleyway two blocks from where the man currently was. “Teleport there and you can grab him just in time.”
“You guys ready?” I asked, pulling out my wand and twirling it around. I knew the area, an only somewhat crucial element of teleporting. Doing it without fully knowing your location could end with you going somewhere else, or even contorting or losing a body part, which wasn’t exactly on the agenda.
We twisted and warped, the path short and not as jarring as it was to London, but we shook it off and got into position. The sky was darkening, the sun retreating as night provided the darkness we’d need to avoid being seen. He must be on his way to the club, I thought. “Wait, put these on!”
I handed everyone the necklaces, Xelia barely getting hers on before the man walked past the small opening of the alleyway. She grabbed him, tossing him into the darkness, and his eyes turned red and his fangs came out. Charlie shifted, hiding his mortal form for good measure, before Xelia grabbed the man’s neck and pushed him against the wall.
“Who are you and what do you want?” the man hissed.
A string of spit connected his upper and lower fangs, his skin so pale it was almost gray. He pounded his fists against the brick wall. He was angry, there was no doubt about it, and we all had to be on high alert. This wasn’t Pokeshi or a normal perp—this was a dangerous and potentially hardened criminal who wouldn’t wince at ending our lives.
“Wait, you’re the girl from the club last night,” he sai
d, shocked, looking closer at Xelia.
“Yeah, I’m that girl, and we need to talk to you,” she said.
“Baby, this wasn’t how I expected things to go, but I can definitely—”
“I’m not your baby,” she said, tightening her grip and choking him.
“Don’t kill him, we need him,” I said.
“Who are you working for?” Charlie growled, crouching in his jaguar stance.
“I work for a lot of people,” he replied sarcastically.
“Why are you kidnapping young women through your club?” Xelia asked.
“Now, where did you hear a rumor like that? I can assure you, we do everything legal and by the books,” he said, with a grin that only angered all three of us.
“I have a way to get inside his head and see every little memory he’s ever had,” I said, pulling out my wand and pointing it at his head.
“Hey, you better not!” he yelled, causing Xelia to squeeze harder.
“Are you sure you want to pull that card? It’s not exactly legal in this situation,” Xelia said.
“I have a feeling he won’t remember and be able to rat. Cranius Redundo,” I said, and my conscience was instantly transported into his memory. There was a long lifetime of memories to sort through. First I was transported to the early 1900s, and I saw a young boy looking in the mirror, as if it were me. He was poor, from a lower-class family, with holes strewn along his clothes. His skin was dirty, as if he hadn’t bathed in weeks, before he put on a wool cap to hide his oily, disheveled hair. The smell of the one-room apartment was enough to singe the hairs from my nose and make my stomach churn.
Then the scene changed and I flew past that, to World War II. I saw the same kid from before but older, though not too much, and fighting in the war. I didn’t sense any fear, though; the man whose mind I was in wasn’t scared of death, maybe because he was already dead at this point. He took pleasure in killing Nazis as he let them suffer before stealthily drinking some of their blood while his allies weren’t looking.
