"Which means, you know, since I'm working with blood, there's less risk of any backfiring or spill-over."
"Spill-over?" I asked.
"Right. Accidentally hitting someone. You know, since most people except for you have blood inside of them."
"Sounds like getting a wand should have been step one. You know, before you blood bathed my whole office."
Malinda shrugged and giggled a little. "I guess that's probably a good point."
"Right. Well, now that you've figured it out, you can help Devin clean."
"But I wanted to watch the show!"
"Get it cleaned up, and you can. Besides, one of the new girls is opening in Gina's stead. You have a good thirty minutes before I take the stage."
"Thirty minutes? We can't get all this cleaned up in half an hour, Nicky!"
I turned to leave, barely cracking open the door so I could slip out carefully. "Then you'd best get to it."
The house band was already playing some light instrumentals as my patrons started filling the seats. My bartender—the third one I'd hired since Nicky's opened—was tossing bottles around, catching them, putting on a show of his own as people gathered around, applauding him while they waited for their drinks. The guy had skills. That's why he was hired.
For Joey, bartending was as much an art form as my shows were. He took pride in his work. He'd also been at it a while. He was probably pushing forty and had tended bars since he was in his mid-twenties. I couldn't take credit for finding him. Geraldo hired him while we were down in New Orleans. This was the first time I'd really had a chance to watch him in action. He really was as good as everyone said. And he had a way with his patrons. He didn't just make their drinks. He put on a show, fist-bumping and high-fiving his customers.
We usually closed the bar about halfway through my set. Mainly to discourage drunk driving. My crowds were an interesting blend between sophisticated, appreciating the finer aspects of my performances, and revelrous. They liked to party. So far, things hadn't gotten too out of hand. Only a minor incident, here and there. Eventually, though, I'd probably have to hire bouncers. To date, I'd only had to throw out a couple people. Drunk dudes treating women inappropriately. I handled them myself. Compared to wrangling with vampires, handling drunks was less hazardous most of the time. But since I couldn't just stake them—stabbing patrons is generally bad for business—getting rid of them was more difficult than slaying bloodsuckers. I'd found a way to handle it, though. A stiletto heel to the ass can be as effective to oust a drunk guy as a heel to the chest to silence a vamp.
I sneaked back to the greenroom. I was going to come back out to watch her performance. I didn't do that most nights. I liked to make a first appearance to the crowd on stage. But I wanted to give Amelia moral support. Which was why I went back to the greenroom. Poor girl hadn't performed for more than three people before her audition. Now, she was going to sing in front of a thousand.
She was practically hyperventilating as she stood in front of my vanity mirror.
"Deep breaths, Amelia. You've got this."
Amelia laughed a little. "Are you sure Katie shouldn't do the first night?"
"Honey, you've got the goods. No reason to be nervous. And what's the difference if your first time on stage is tonight or tomorrow? If I bump you to tomorrow, you'll have all day to think about it. But if you kill it tonight, trust me, you'll be on cloud nine all day tomorrow. The stage is addicting!"
Amelia took a deep breath and exhaled. "You're right. Getting up in front of people has always made me nervous."
"Sometimes I still get nervous, you know."
Amelia cocked her head. "You do?"
I nodded, smiling. "I do."
"How do you deal with that?"
"I decided to embrace it. Let the nerves fuel you rather than defeat you. Channel that extra energy into your performance. You'll be fine, Amelia. Trust me."
Amelia took another deep breath. "I'll try."
"When you rehearsed with the band, you sounded great. How'd you feel about it?"
"Pretty good. It was a little weird. Not used to singing over instruments. Usually, I sing along with Katy Perry with my pretend microphone."
I smiled. "The monitors are there so you can hear yourself. All you need to do is sing like before. Don't try to raise your voice over the band. Let the sound guy handle that. Do what you did during your audition, and I promise the crowd will love you."
"And you'll be there with me?"
"If you get nervous, look stage right. I'll be right upfront. You're going to kill it, Amelia."
Amelia smiled as she looked at herself again in the mirror. "You're amazing, Amy."
"You are!" I said. "Do you prefer Amy to Amelia?"
Amelia shrugged. "Introduce me as Amelia. But my friends, yeah, they call me Amy."
"Amelia on stage. Amy, when we're hanging out. Got it."
Amelia nodded. "Alright. I think I'm ready."
The crowd continued chattering as Amelia took the stage. A few seats were still open—most of their designated occupants still getting their drinks from Joey.
The house band finished their instrumental number. It was just background music. Most people didn't pay much attention to it. They were pretty good. A bunch of guys who'd had their heyday playing alternative rock in the nineties. Too old, now, to really make it big. But better musicians, I wagered, than they used to be. They could play almost anything. Even on short notice, they had a pretty groovy version of "I Kissed a Girl" they'd played during rehearsal. A little less poppy than the Katy Perry version, but with a touch of funk. Amelia was in good hands.
Amelia gave them a nod to signal she was ready. I stood to stage-right, as I'd promised. Amelia glanced at me. I smiled back and nodded. If the audition meant anything, she was about to come out of her shell. It reminded me of the first time I took the stage at Leotards and Lace—the gay club downtown where I had my first gig. I knew I was good. I just didn't know if the humans I was about to sing for would agree. Before that, the only humans I'd ever sung for ended up becoming a meal shortly after. The whole idea of having fans had never occurred to me. But once I sang, once people embraced me and started coming to hear me sing, it was life-altering. A thrill like nothing else I'd ever experienced in all my existence—as one of the elemental Neck or as a woman.
A part of me envied Amelia. There's nothing quite like that first time. Every performance was a thrill, sure. But there's no comparison to that initial surge of adrenaline when you realize, for the first time, that you could be a star.
The second Amelia started singing, I could almost hear all the necks turning toward the stage. The chatter stopped. Their eyes were fixed on the glorious butterfly that had just emerged from her cocoon.
That shy girl. Fading with every word she sang. Now, she was a diva. She held the microphone like a pro. A total natural. She was working the crowd. As she hit the chorus, the whole place erupted in cheers.
Amelia didn't look at me once. She was in the middle of a love affair with her new fans. She was giving them what they wanted and more. And what they gave back to her, as they cheered her through her number, was even more priceless.
When she finished, every seat in the house was empty. Not because they left. Because everyone was on their feet, cheering as loud as they did when I finished my final number. I couldn't have been prouder of the girl. I'd only known her for a couple hours. But I beamed like a parent, watching her daughter live out her dreams in front of my eyes.
I climbed on the stage, embracing Amelia, whose cheeks were covered with joyful tears. She handed me the microphone.
"Let's hear it for Amelia!"
Again, the cheers blasted from the audience so loud it was palpable.
"One more song! One more song!" the crowd started to chant.
"If you want to hear more from Amelia," I said. "Come back tomorrow. We have two more brand new performers you're going to love just as much, I promise you!"
Of
course, I couldn't guarantee Katie or Rose would command the audience quite as masterfully. But I was optimistic they'd rise to the occasion. Especially now that Amelia had set the bar. These girls were good in their own ways. And while I hadn't intended for Amelia to reprise her performance the next night, well, by popular demand, it had to happen.
I watched as Amelia took a bow and left the stage. She moved to the middle of the room, where the other two girls were still standing. As Amelia walked through the crowd, I watched as the people all looked at her, staring like they'd witnessed the birth of a star. And they did. This girl had a future, and she was only scratching the surface of what might be possible. There are a lot of good singers. But they don't all have it. You can't create that quality. It's something you either have or you don't. We'd find out soon enough if the other girls had it, too.
The band started playing my first number. I started to sing. My whole show went as well as it always did.
By the time I got to my last song, the bar was closed. I noticed Amelia was gone. Where'd she go? The bathroom, maybe? To tidy up in the green room so she could fraternize with her new fans after the show? I wasn't sure. But I was eager to catch up with her after things settled down.
Before I could do that, I had to give the crowd my grand finale. I dropped my microphone, shifted into bat form, and soared around the crowd before ducking into the greenroom.
Amelia wasn't there.
Chapter Five
Alone in the greenroom, I took advantage of my temporary privacy and resumed my usual form. I quickly got dressed—another set of heels, my Jimmy Choo stiletto boots, and a low-cut red dress.
I figured I'd find Amelia back in the auditorium. I knew the folks would love to get a chance to talk to her, maybe get her to autograph their tickets. The way I saw it, she probably wasn't long for Nicky's. I'd help her as long as I could, mold her into a performer who could go out on her own, and chances were I'd see her name on the Billboard charts sooner rather than later. She was a diamond in the rough. And I'd discovered her.
I found Rose and Katie still standing at their seats, each nursing a cocktail they'd gotten from Joey earlier in the evening. "Hey, have you two seen Amelia?"
Katie shrugged. "She said she wasn't feeling well. Maybe she's in the ladies' room."
I nodded. It made sense. Coming down off a performance high can be a little disorienting. I'd been there. I knew what she was going through. I quickly scurried my way back to the restrooms. I peeked inside. She wasn't there.
I heard a high-pitched scream. Through all the crowd noise, it's a wonder I heard it. It was coming from the parking lot.
I took off running, adding a little enhanced speed from my elemental nature, but not so much I'd appear at all inhuman. I saw Malinda staring down at the ground.
"Help!" Malinda shrieked. "She's dead! I think she's dead!"
I looked. My heart sank into my bowels. It was Amelia. I knelt beside her. I checked her pulse.
Nothing. At least not that I could feel. I wasn't totally sure if her heart really stopped beating or if I was clumsily palpating the wrong spot on her wrist.
I rolled her on her back. I placed the back of my hand beneath her nostrils. She wasn't breathing either.
I started chest compressions. I didn't know CPR. I'd never been trained or certified. But I had to do something. Amelia's ribs cracked beneath my hands as I tried, in desperation, to revive the girl.
"Someone call 9-1-1!" I shouted.
Her body was still warm. Her cheeks were still flush with blood. This wasn't a vampire attack. "Malinda. Get Devin. Tell him to meet us in the mortuary. He might be able to heal her."
"Yeah. Right!" Malinda said, panic still in her voice as she took off running into the club.
I scooped up Amelia's body. The crowds parted, silent and aghast, as they saw me carrying the young singer inside. I carried her into the greenroom, grabbed my keys from my vanity, and opened the door to my bat cave, the mortuary. I unlocked the second door, temporarily regretting the fact my mortuary was double-doored. I carried Amelia, best I could, down the steep staircase and laid her one of the old embalming tables that remained there from the days when the mortuary was still functional.
It didn't take long until I heard footsteps thumping rapidly down the stairs. Devin appeared first. Malinda showed up a few seconds later. Stairs were still a challenge for her.
"Step aside," Devin said. "I don't know if this will work. But I can try. I've only done this spell once."
"Right. Healing magic. Like you did for your mom. After she was bitten."
Devin nodded and placed his hand on Amelia's chest. He was a fire warlock. Healing wasn't his strong suit. But as he said, he had done it before.
A blast of green and gold magic flowed from his hands into Amelia's body. She didn't respond.
"I don't think she's..."
"Keep trying!" I begged. "We can't lose her. We just can't!"
Devin tried again. Still, nothing.
I sighed. I wished I knew what was wrong. I wasn't a doctor or anything. But if we knew it was her heart, for instance, maybe Devin could use his wand and focus his energies.
Then, I had an idea.
"Brucie!" I cried out. Brucie was a sprite. When I was still one of the Neck, an elemental, he was practically a part of me. What you might call a familiar. Since I'd become human, well, he took advantage of his newfound freedom to pursue a life of his own. A life devoted chiefly to carnal pleasures. A lot of booze and babes. Still, all I had to do was call his name, and if he was within a hundred miles or so, he'd show up.
"Hey, Nicky!" Brucie said, appearing in a cloud. Not because that was how he teleported. It wasn't a magic cloud. It was a cloud of cigar smoke. "Something wrong?"
"Yes!" I said. "This girl, I think she might be dead. Or barely alive. I figured, you know since you're totally water. And the body is mostly water. Maybe you could check."
Brucie nodded. "I can go inside of her, figure out what's wrong."
"Right," I said. "Exactly what I was thinking."
Brucie hiccupped. "Okay. But I'm on my third bottle of Hennesey. If I go inside of her, she might get a little tipsy."
"Look, better drunk than dead. See if you can figure out what's wrong so Devin can focus his healing spell."
"Ah, good idea," Devin said, reaching over to the wall of vampire-hunting weapons I kept down there and retrieved one of his wands. He stood with his wand in hand, ready to focus his magic once Brucie gave us an answer.
Looking something like a cherub, Brucie spread his watery wings, and circling Amelia's body, he took aim. "Open her mouth! I'm going in!"
I quickly grabbed Amelia's chin and pried it open. A half-second later, Brucie dove straight in, disappearing inside of her. Amelia's whole body shook. I wasn't sure if that was a good sign, if Amelia's body was responding to the invader, or if it was just Brucie doing his thing.
It took about a minute. Then, a torrent of water blasted out of Amelia's mouth.
Devin stood ready, healing magic already coursing through his wand.
"This doesn't make a dog's lick of sense!" Brucie said.
"What is it?" I asked.
"That's the thing. It's nothing! There is literally nothing wrong with her. Not her body, anyway."
"I have an idea," Malinda piped up. "The spell I learned before. Maybe I can draw on her soul. Amelia might be able to tell us what happened!"
"I don't know," I said. "After what happened with those blood bags."
"I wouldn't try it," Brucie said. "That is the problem. Her body is fine. But her soul. It's totally gone."
"What do you mean, gone?" I asked.
"I mean exactly that," Brucie said. " Her body should be functioning perfectly. Her heart is in great shape. No cancer. Not so much as a simple virus. This body is in ideal health."
"How is that possible?" Devin asked. "Souls don't tend to up and leave their bodies."
"No, they don't," Brucie said. "So
meone did this to her. Someone stole her soul. I hate to tell you this, Nicky. But this girl was murdered."
"Murdered?" I asked. "What kind of creature sucks souls out of a person like that?"
Brucie shook his head. "I don't know. I wish I did. The only thing I can tell you is this wasn't an accident."
There was a loud knock on the door at the top of the stairs.
"See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!" Brucie said, disappearing in a cloud of mist.
"It's the paramedics," Devin said. "It has to be."
I nodded. I quickly gathered up my weapons. The last thing I wanted to happen was for the EMTs to see a body surrounded by weapons. Sure, there weren't any wounds on Amelia's body. But it would raise questions I didn't want to deal with. I had to use my elemental speed to do it. But I gathered everything and tossed it into an unused coffin sitting in the corner.
The paramedics made their way down the stairs. There were two of them. A man and woman.
They rushed over to Amelia's body. It was all a formality now. I knew what they were going to conclude.
They hooked her up to a little machine. They tried to shock her heart. They were pumping a bulb of air connected to a mask that fit around Amelia's mouth. I didn't know what the device was called, but I'd seen television paramedics use it on medical dramas. No matter what they tried, I knew it was no use. She was gone.
"Does this back door open?" the female paramedic asked.
I nodded and opened it. "I'll have then bring the ambulance around back."
"Ambulance?" Malinda asked. "You mean, she's still..."
"I'm sorry," the male paramedic said. "I don't think. But she's still warm. So we're going to try. Unless the blood is settled or rigor mortis is set in, we'll try everything we can until we're out of options."
They quickly put Amelia on a stretcher and carried her out. "There's an officer upstairs," the paramedic said. "He'll want a statement. Needs to file a report."
I met the officer upstairs. I was praying, at the moment, that he wouldn't want to see my office. If Malinda and Devin hadn't gotten out all the blood...
No Shift, Sherlock: A Vampire Hunter Urban Fantasy Mystery (The Legend of Nyx Book 3) Page 4
