It was one reason why Mercy was convinced she was pure evil. No heart meant nothing left to bind her to her human existence. But the heart is just an organ. It didn’t take a genius to see that despite her rough exterior and her badass persona, she had more of a heart than most living humans. Sure, she did some bad, bad things. All vamps do. But when push came to shove, at least in my brief experience knowing her, she made tough decisions not out of selfishness, or out of her vampiric cravings, but for the betterment of others.
A part of me wanted to go find her again. See if she could help me track down Alice. But Mercy had worked for centuries to get Alice off her tail. Now that she finally had, it wasn’t right for me to ask Mercy to get involved again. This was my battle, now. I wanted to see Alice eliminated for my own reasons.
CHAPTER NINTEEN
My stomach was tied in knots. On the one hand, I was thrilled to be involved in the Alice chase. And on my second “contract” with the Order, no less. On the other hand, there was no chance in hell she wouldn’t recognize me.
I was supposed to let Wolfgang know when the Order assigned me Alice. So he could come help, claim credit, whatever. At first, he’d made it sound like I’d have notice on my contracts and there’d be ample time to come up with a plan and apprise him of it. That way, he could come along and do his part.
But so far, I’d been given two contracts and both of them had me and Devin instantaneously on the job.
Maybe the Order had changed things since Wolfgang was a nightwalker. And maybe they handled contracts with human—or perceived human—hunters differently.
“I still don’t get it,” I said. “I mean, why us? You’re not exactly at the top of the totem pole with the Order. And I’m about as green as they come.”
“Like I said,” Devin explained, “they couldn’t pick anyone Alice might recognize. And since it hasn’t been all that long since she was tied to the Order, it has to be hunters she doesn’t know.”
“And you’ve never met her before?”
Devin shook his head. “I’ve only been hunting for the Order for about a year.”
“Only a year?” I asked. “You’re a legacy. I figured you’d started a long time ago.”
Devin shook his head. “I tried my hand at college first. A Christian university, of course. My father wouldn’t pay for anything else.”
I nodded. “And I take it college didn’t work out?”
Devin shrugged. “It was great for a while. I wasn’t interested in any of their religious courses of study. But they had a decent business program.”
“Then what happened?”
Devin took a deep breath. “If I tell you, you promise you won’t tell anyone?”
“Cross my fingers, hope to die.” I said, using a revised version of “cross my heart” that I’d developed over time. You know, on account of not having a heart. Sort of forgot that it was something of an original phrase. I extended my hand with my fingers crossed to prove my point—only now realizing that I hadn’t thought to remove my nail polish from the night before.
Devin looked, but didn’t say anything. Didn’t seem to faze him at all, in truth. Which made me grateful he’d intercepted me in the church parking lot. I wasn’t sure the quilters would have been quite as understanding.
“I got into a relationship,” Devin said.
“With another guy?”
Devin bit his lip. “Yeah…”
“And someone caught you with him?”
Devin shook his head. “Michael told the dean.”
“Michael was the boy you were with?” I asked, raising one eyebrow in surprise.
Devin nodded. “Guilty conscience. He was afraid if he didn’t repent, if he didn’t confess, he’d go to hell.”
I shook my head. “So he threw you under the bus.”
“Basically,” Devin said. “And I had to beg and plead with the dean not to tell my father. I mean, if my dad knew, he’d kill me. And I don’t think that’s even an exaggeration.”
“How’d you convince the dean to keep his mouth shut?”
“I went through the motions,” Devin said. “The policy was that if someone confessed a sin in confidence, it had to remain that way.”
“So you confessed?” I asked. “As if it were a sin?”
Devin nodded. “I went through the motions. I’m not saying I agreed that it was a sin, but I didn’t have much choice. Fake it to the dean or have to deal with my dad.”
“Understandable,” I said. “So why does your dad think you quit school?”
I shrugged. “They didn’t let me finish the semester, so as a result I failed my classes. I used that as an excuse. For some reason I’d just lost my motivation to study. I had to beg my dad to let me back home. But there was one condition.”
“Going to work for the Order?”
Devin nodded. “Which is where we are now. Staked three vamps in the past year, albeit with some under-the-table help from my dad. He’s been pretty intent on seeing me rise through the ranks.”
“So he helped you on some of your hunts?”
“He was my mentor,” Devin said. “Like I’m supposed to be to you. Only now, this is my real test. To see if I can lead a pair of hunters and eventually take out a tier one.”
“Like this Alice vampire?”
“Like her,” Devin said. “Sort of. She’s technically a tier one, but she’s only classified that way because the Order never invented a more advanced tier than that. There are tier ones, and then there are Tier Ones. Alice is in a tier of her own. Her, the vampire who turned her, and one other.”
By “one other,” I was pretty sure Devin meant Wolfgang. It made sense. “So is the Order trying to eliminate the other two?”
“Well, two of them were nightwalkers,” Devin explained. “The one who turned Alice—the one I told you about before…”
I nodded. “I remember.”
“She’s something else, entirely. I don’t think the Order will ever nab her, if you want my honest opinion. But the other two, the Order has told each of them that if they eliminate the other one, then the survivor will be allowed to exist provided they only feed on approved populations.”
“Like the LGBT community?”
Devin nodded. “Any so-called community of sinners qualifies.”
I shook my head. “That must be hard for you. I mean, I’ve heard of people living double lives before. But this is on a whole other level.”
“I’m not really involved in the LGBT community, Nick. No one knows that I’m…”
“That you’re gay?” I asked. “You can say it. I won’t judge you.”
“Thing is,” Devin said, “I don’t know what I am. I’m just confused. Yes, I enjoy men. But it isn’t like I’m repulsed by women or anything, either. I mean, maybe I was just experimenting before. With Michael. Trying to figure things out, you know?”
“Were you experimenting when you flirted with me yesterday?”
“I wasn’t flirting.”
“Yes you were,” I shot back. “You were pretty clear about it.”
“Maybe I was,” Devin said. “Maybe I wasn’t. I don’t even know what I’m doing half the time.”
“It’s normal to be confused,” I said. “Especially when you’re raised with a worldview that tells you there are certain things you can never be. Or should never be.”
Devin nodded. “If I was flirting, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean… You’re just different somehow.”
“Different?” I asked. “How so?”
“Well, how do you explain those nails you have?”
“I’m a performer,” I said. “On the stage. And lately I’ve been putting on an act.”
“I see,” Devin said. It was clear he didn’t believe me. But it was the truth. What I didn’t admit, though, was that “Nick” was the act. When I was on stage, I wasn’t acting. I wasn’t putting on a show. I was just being me. I was Nicky. But every second I’d been around Devin had been a show.
“I
didn’t even think to clean them before I came. Probably should have. I don’t know how Mina and the ladies would react.”
Devin shook his head. “Best they not find out. They may seem harmless, but those ladies are ruthless. They’ve sent more than one hunter whom they believed had been compromised by sin into unfortunate situations. Hunts they were unlikely to win, if you know what I’m saying.”
I grunted. Was that what was happening now? Did they suspect me? Did they suspect Devin, too? Were they sending us to Alice so she could kill us?
If my stomach was in knots before…
And to think that my involvement might have put Devin in danger, too.
I still had Devin’s phone, so I scrolled through the contract a little more. “They want us to actually speak to her?”
Devin nodded. “Alice doesn’t feed often. We need to play it coy. And now that I think about it… show off those nails as much as you can. The less we look like Order lackeys, the better.”
I shook my head. “If they already know her whereabouts during daylight, what do they need us to find out?”
“Keep reading,” Devin said. “It’s all in there.”
I cocked my head. “A funeral home?”
“That’s where she’s working during the day,” Devin said. “Nice cover, if you think about it. Plenty of coffins all around. You know, in case she needs a place to rest.”
I snorted. “You realize vamps don’t actually sleep in coffins, right?”
“Older ones don’t,” Devin said. “But the Order also suspects she’s been siring new vampires. There’s something about the grave, about burying new vampires, that helps tame the craving when they’re first turned.”
I nodded. I remembered Mercy telling me something about that. She didn’t say much about it; she’d only mentioned her experience. After she was first turned, she’d returned to her own grave for several nights while she was adjusting to her new existence. It was because of that, because she was returning to her own grave, that the Order was able to dig her up and cut out her heart.
“It’s pretty brilliant, actually,” I said. “I mean, if she arranges funeral services with people she’s recently drained. And if she has a way to heal them and restore them before their bodies start to decompose.”
“She doesn’t even have to wait until they’re buried,” Devin said. “It’s not just a funeral home. She operates a funeral home and mortuary.”
“Fucking genius.” I kept reading. From all the new vampires she’d been turning, since she’d fed on them while they were humans, she’d acquired a number of “unknown abilities.” And we were supposed to pretend to be potential clients. New customers planning for their own funerals. Devin’s funeral.
“So you’re supposed to have cancer or something?” I asked.
Devin flashed his arm. They’d actually put a chemo port in his vein. “The Order doesn’t cut corners when it comes to this sort of thing.”
I nodded. “I’m guessing what they’re hoping is that she’ll offer you something more than a funeral.”
Devin nodded. “They’re hoping she’ll make me an offer I can’t refuse.”
I chuckled. “Was that a Marlon Brando impression?”
“Yeah,” Devin said. “The Godfather. How’d I do?”
I laughed. “That was actually really good. Sounded just like him.”
“We need to keep an eye open, or our ears open, for anything strange. Any abilities she might have. And then use her offer, if she makes it, as an opportunity for our other hunters to take her out. When she’s ready to do it, to feed from me and turn me…”
“The Order is using you as bait,” I said.
“More or less,” Devin said. “I mean, you kind of did that yesterday.”
“That was different,” I said. “I was there, ready to take him out. And he wasn’t anything like this Alice in terms of ability.”
“But if we succeed,” Devin said, “I’ll have a part in it. I’ll finally get my chance to join the inner circle.”
I bit my lip. “Me too?”
Devin shrugged. “I’ll see what I can do. I mean, I could insist that you be allowed to join with me… if that’s really what you want.”
“This plan is reckless.” I set Devin’s phone in one of the cupholders. “You’re really willing to risk your life for this? For an Order that won’t accept you… for you?”
“What am I, Nick?” Devin asked. “What is it exactly they have to accept? Like I said, that stuff before—what I told you—I was just experimenting.”
“You thought you might be experimenting, Devin. But did your experiment confirm anything to you?”
“I don’t know.” Devin shook his head. “Look, if you don’t want to do this, I’ll do it myself. This is the best opportunity I’ve had yet to prove myself to them.”
“To prove yourself to your father?”
“That, too.”
“Pull over,” I said.
“You’re quitting on me? Seriously?”
“I didn’t say that,” I said. “Just pull over.”
Devin sighed and turned on his blinker. There was a rest stop ahead. Not a gas station—one of those off-the-highway rest stops with shitty bathrooms and picnic tables. Enough privacy, I figured, that what I hoped to do might dissuade him. Yes, I was close to getting Alice. But I also knew her location now. If I could give him a little doubt, a reason not to carry out this mission… maybe, just maybe, I could use this information and take out Alice with Wolfgang’s help later.
Devin pulled into one of the parking spaces. “What is it, Nick? Do you have to pee or something?”
“Or something,” I said. “I want to show you something. Follow me.” I unbuckled my seat belt and got out of the car.
Devin followed me toward one of the picnic tables. Thankfully, no one else was there. “What is it, Nick?”
“Just this,” I said, taking Devin by the hand and wrapping my other arm around his back. I pulled him into a deep kiss.
He kissed back… and then he pulled away. “Nick. No… I…”
“You need to finish your experiment,” I said. “You need to know what it is you really want.”
“I don’t…”
I kissed him again.
“Get off of me!” Devin shoved me hard.
I stumbled and fell into one of the tables. The corner of one of the benches caught me in the arm, cutting me open. I put my hand over the wound, but it was too late.
He saw it.
“Nick, what the… You aren’t bleeding. Is that…”
“It’s water,” I said.
“What the fuck are you, Nick?” Devin took two steps back.
“I’m… different.” I stood up and stepped toward Devin again.
“Get the hell away from me, you freak!” Devin screamed.
“Devin,” I said. “Stop. I’ll tell you…”
“I don’t want to hear it.” Devin ran back to his car. He tossed my duffel bag out onto the pavement.
“Devin,” I said. “Please, don’t go after Alice. You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”
Devin shook his head. “No, Nick. If that’s even your real name. You don’t know what you’ve gotten into. Don’t come back. Don’t ever come back to the Order.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Thankfully I had my phone tucked away in my duffel bag. Donnie wasn’t particularly happy she’d have to take off work early to pick me up—but she agreed without hesitation.
She’d always been there for me when I needed her.
I pulled out a needle from my kit and yanked a strand of hair from my head. Sewed up my wound. Like magic, it healed immediately.
“Nice one!” a familiar gravelly voice said.
I turned. Brucie was perched on the edge of the picnic table. “You saw all that?”
Brucie nodded. “You probably moved a little too fast with that one.”
“You think?” I was rubbing where my wound had been. Not be
cause it hurt, but because of what the wound meant. I could only imagine what Devin was feeling at the moment.
“He confided in you,” Brucie said. “Then you kissed him.”
I shrugged. “So?”
“You don’t get it, do you?” Brucie somehow pulled a cigar out of thin air and lit it with a lighter he also seemed to have drawn from nowhere.
“I still don’t get how you do that,” I said. “And when did you get more cigars?”
“I’m not with you all the time,” Brucie said. “But baby, now that I’ve found you, I won’t let you go.”
I cocked my head. “Isn’t that a song?”
“Alison Krauss.”
“Not sure I know who she is.”
“Hello?” Brucie said. “Bluegrass singer. I thought you were the musical one.”
I shrugged. “Never really gravitated to bluegrass. I mean, who does, really?”
Brucie took a puff on his cigar. “Those who know what’s best for them. But you’re still avoiding the subject, Nyxie.”
“No, you are,” I said. “I don’t understand how you can be lost to me for five years. Then, the moment we meet, you can take off to wherever the hell it is you go to get cigars and then miraculously find me wherever I’m at.”
“We’re connected,” Brucie said. “I mean, we always were. But we had to find ourselves for a while. Get to know who we were apart from each other before we could come back together again. I always knew where you were before. I mean, that’s how I knew I’d find you at the river.”
I snorted. “I don’t even remember you being a part of me before. Before I shifted to be like this, I mean.”
“Hard to remember what things were like before,” Brucie said. “I mean, remember when Donnie first told you what you were?”
“That I’m transgender?”
Brucie nodded and took a long draw on his cigar. “Of course you remember, because I’m reading your mind and I wouldn’t know it if you forgot.”
Scared Shiftless: An Ex-Shifter turned Vampire Hunter Urban Fantasy (The Legend of Nyx Book 1) Page 14
