by Raven Steele
“Do you need something?” she asked.
“Huh?”
“You’re staring at me funny.”
“Just watching you work.”
She set her papers down. “Are you alright with what I told you?”
He leaned back. “I’m not sure what to do with it.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t have to do anything with it. I just thought you should know, maybe then you could understand how hard it is for me when you’re not around.”
“You shouldn’t want someone like me around.”
“Tell me what you were doing last night,” she tried again. “I want to know.”
“I’m not going to tell you.”
She tapped her pen on the table. “Does it have anything to do with small packages?”
“What?”
“Lucien, I know more than you think I know, but I want to hear it from you.”
“How could you possibly know?”
“Maybe I’ve followed you before.” She brought the pen to her lips.
“Impossible, I would’ve known.”
“How?”
“You have a very distinct smell.”
She frowned.
“A very pleasant smell,” he corrected.
“It doesn’t matter how I know about the packages, but I do. What’s in them?”
“Drugs mostly.”
She didn’t look surprised. “How do you know where to find them?”
“I have a connection.”
Eve tapped her pen against the table again and tilted her head. “So, let me get this straight. You find out where criminals are, for example drug dealers, then destroy the drugs, and then destroy them?”
He shifted in his seat uncomfortably. “Basically.”
“That’s really interesting.” She flashed a satisfied smile as if she’d just solved a complex math problem.
“Why is that interesting?”
“Don’t you see the irony?”
“No.”
“You are the Deific, only on a smaller scale.” She dropped the pen on the table and folded her arms as if to say, “Check Mate.”
“Come again?”
“You hunt down bad guys, most likely they are bad guys that the law couldn’t touch for whatever reason, and then you eliminate them, just like us.”
“You’ve got it all figured out,” he said.
“I’m serious. You are as good as any one of us here.”
“You’re forgetting one very small detail.”
“What’s that?”
“I kill the men I catch and use them for my own selfish needs. So how does that make me any better than the monsters I kill?”
“You are doing the best you can with what you’ve been given. I see no sin in your actions.”
“Then you are blind. I am no better than the devil himself.”
Eve grew quiet, her mood darkening. “I’ve seen the devil, and you are not him.”
“You think you’ve seen evil, but you have no idea.”
Charlie opened the door. “How’s it coming?”
“Fine,” Eve told Charlie, but her eyes remained fixed on Lucien.
He returned her glare. Eve couldn’t possibly know what real evil was, but the truth was, he didn’t want her to ever find out.
Charlie pulled a chair next to Eve and looked over the scattered photographs. “Vampires sure are homely looking things, aren’t they?”
Lucien cleared his throat.
Charlie looked up. “Are you still here?”
“Not leaving.”
Charlie turned his attention back to Eve. “Any matches in our database?”
“None. I think they’re all new.”
Charlie leaned back, frowning. “That’s too many. Something’s coming, can you feel it?”
“Like an impending doom, right?” Eve said.
Charlie nodded. They were both silent, staring into each other’s eyes as if communicating telepathically. Lucien experienced a twinge of jealousy watching them together on the other side of the table. It was a side he would never be on.
“Whatever it is, it’s bad,” Charlie said. “I think it’s time I go to Ireland.”
Lucien thought that was the best idea yet.
Surprising Lucien, Eve placed her hand on top of Charlie’s arm. Charlie looked down, eyes wide.
“Not yet,” she said. “It’s not time.”
“Then I’ll stay,” Charlie agreed, a little too quickly.
She pulled her hand away and moved it under the table.
Charlie glanced at Lucien and then back to Eve. “So Eve, the Mayor’s Halloween Ball is tomorrow. I was wondering if you’d be my date?”
“Actually, I was going stag if that’s all right.”
“Whatever works for you.”
“What time does it start?” she asked.
“Around eight. I have a meeting with the Mayor a couple of hours before, so I’ll have to meet you there.” Charlie stood. “Let me know if you need help entering those vampires into the database.”
Eve nodded.
“See you around, Valium,” Charlie said.
After he closed the door, Lucien asked. “How did the Deific get invited to the Mayor’s Ball?”
“We do the city’s accounting,” Eve explained, beginning to type again.
“I didn’t know the Deific actually did any real accounting.”
“Just for the city. We have to appear somewhat legit.”
Eve continued to work quietly for the next several minutes, but Lucien couldn’t stand it anymore and had to ask. “Do you have feelings for Charlie?”
Her hands froze over the keyboard, and her eyes moved to his. “Yes.”
He balled his fists beneath the table where she couldn’t see them.
“But not how you mean,” she clarified. “I care for him greatly. He’s been there for me when I had no one else.”
He relaxed his hands, a little.
“Would it bother you if I had stronger feelings for him?” she asked.
Lucien squirmed in his seat.
“You deserve to be happy,” he said trying to answer the question in a way that would satisfy her.
The muscles in her jaw tightened briefly. “And if I was most happy with Charlie, what would you do?”
“I would move.”
“You would leave your treasured Seattle?”
“I wouldn’t be able to stand it.”
That night, Lucien didn’t watch Eve’s home from the outside. He stayed downstairs on Eve’s couch, staring up at the ceiling while Eve slept peacefully in her bed. He tried again to connect the pieces between himself, Eve, Ireland and the “Dark Prince”. He was sure he was missing something. And the more he thought about it, the more he, too, felt like something horrible was about to happen.
The feeling was familiar. He’d experienced it with Alarica, who he now knew was Eve, when she was destroying everything around her. He closed his eyes and focused harder on the feeling, connecting himself to the world. This is how he’d tracked down Alarica.
He wasn’t sure how it worked, but if he concentrated hard enough, somehow he could feel where evil was located. His only explanation for this ability was that he was connected to darkness through his own evil inside him. He used that power now to reach out to other evil in the world.
Lucien could see it all: darkness had spread over the entire earth but mostly as a light mist. No part of the earth was left untouched, but in some areas of the world, the mist had turned black. Lucien felt himself being drawn toward his homeland, to the city of Dublin.
The darkness there was as thick as tar. As he focused, the gum-like substance took shape into a bestial body of legs, arms and finally two heads. The eyes of the great beast opened. Black tar tinted with fire poured like lava from the open sockets.
The beast stared at Lucien, and its mouth opened and breathed, “Come home, Lucien.”
Lucien sat up, gasping for breath. He wiped sweat fro
m his brow, and hopefully the image of the beast, too. It didn’t work. He snuck up the stairs to Eve’s room and hid in the shadows. Like he thought it would, Eve’s calming effect pushed away the evil still lingering inside him.
The next day, he stared out the window in the conference room while Eve worked. Last night’s encounter with darkness had drained him.
“Is something wrong?” Eve asked.
He turned around and shook his head.
“You seem distant, more so than usual,” she said.
“It was a long night, is all.”
She closed the laptop. “Was it really that difficult to stay in the same house with me all night?”
“Not at all.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
He opened his mouth to speak, but his phone rang. Thank goodness. He removed it from his pocket and glanced at the caller ID. John. John had only called him one other time, and that was over five years ago. It had been extremely important then, and no doubt, it was urgent now, too.
“I have to take this. Excuse me.” He quickly left the room, avoiding Eve’s curious stare.
Once in the hall, he answered his phone. “What’s going on, John?”
“Sorry to bother you, but we have a situation down at the police station that we aren’t equipped to handle. I think this might be more up your alley.”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes. You can fill me in when I get there.”
“You got it. Thanks.”
Lucien ended the call and went back inside the conference room. “I have to go, but I’ll be back in an hour or so.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’ll tell you later. Will you stay here?”
“Yes. The Mayor’s ball is in a few hours. If I’m not here, then I’ll be over at the Sheraton Hotel.”
“Stay here! I’ll be back in time, okay?”
She nodded. “Be careful, Lucien.”
Chapter 21
Lucien smelled fear from the parking lot of the police station. It was practically pulsating through the air. He made his way across the pavement and into the building where everything appeared normal. An officer behind a counter spoke to a woman about her son’s incarceration, a couple of secretaries behind desks typed on keyboards, and several cops huddled together in different areas of the large foyer.
Lucien managed to pick up on a few of their conversations. The few words that worried him were “dead”, “no blood”, “strong”, and they all looked nervously to a back room.
“Lucien!” John called from across the room and waved him over.
Lucien crossed the room and shook John’s outstretched hand.
“Thanks for coming,” John said.
Even though it had been five years since they last saw each other, John looked the same, except for a few more wrinkles around his grey eyes. He was in great shape for a man in his fifties.
“What’s going on?” Lucien asked.
John opened a door. “Come with me.”
As they walked down a sterile hallway, John explained, “Around five this morning, my men picked up this guy who was walking in the middle of the street. He was confused and disoriented. When they tried to talk to him, he became belligerent and combative. They arrested him, thinking he was hopped up on drugs or something. They wanted to give him a chance to sober up safely in a jail cell.”
He stopped in front of a metal door.
“We threw him in there, ” John motioned his head toward a closed door, “with one other man brought in for driving drunk. After about an hour, we heard a bunch of screaming. My men got there as quickly as possible, but it was too late. He’d been killed.”
“How?”
John paused. “The man bit his neck. On the video it looks like he was sucking the blood right out of him.”
“I’m going to need this video.”
“It’s back in my office.”
“Has anyone else watched it?”
“No. I’ve been trying to keep this as discreet as possible.”
“Good.” Lucien moved to open the door. “Are the cameras off?”
“Yes, but Lucien, wait. After this happened, two of my men opened the cell and tried to restrain him, but this guy snapped both their necks before they could even try. A third officer fired shots directly into his chest and it didn’t even slow him down. Luckily, I was there and had just enough time to lock the door before he could get out. I don’t dare send anyone else back in there.”
“I can take care of it. Make sure no one comes in. Oh, and do you have the key?”
John hesitated but finally reached into his pocket and gave it to him. “Don’t let him escape.”
Lucien opened the door. Inside the holding area, a long row of bars divided the room. Behind the bars stood a vampire whose eyes never left Lucien’s as he walked down the concrete floor to stand across from him.
The vampire had straight black hair to his chin and brown eyes that were just slits on his face. He was smaller than Lucien but just barely. Behind him on a bench, the vampire had arranged all three dead bodies to make it appear as if the men were asleep.
“So, brother,” the vampire sneered, “have you come to help me?” He scratched at his chin.
“What’s your name?” Lucien asked.
The vampire stared at him thoughtfully, his sharp nails running the length of his arm. “Bill,” he finally answered.
“You’re not Bill. I’ve met him.”
“No way. I’m Bill. I chose the name first.” He twisted the hair on his eyebrow.
Bill’s constant picking and scratching reminded Lucien of a meth head.
“Fine, I’ll call you Bill. I take it you and the other Bill know each other?”
“Something like that. How would you know him?”
It was a strangely worded question. “Why wouldn’t I? I’m a vampire. I make it my business to know who comes in and out of Seattle.”
Bill tsked him. “Not you, Lucien. You forget that I have superb hearing just like you. I heard every word between you and that cop out there. You’re not like us. You’re a wannabe human, and you came here to kill me. But ghosts can’t kill.”
“What?”
“The Dark Prince is going to reward me greatly when he finds out you’re still alive.” He scratched his chin again.
Lucien gripped the bars tight, thinking back to when he had been left to die. “It was him that tried to kill me? How does he even know me?”
“The Dark Prince knows everything.”
Lucien let go of the bars and pulled out the key. “Not everything. If he did, he wouldn’t call himself such a ridiculous name.”
He pushed the key into the lock and opened the iron-barred door. “Don’t try to get by me. I’ll kill you before you can take a step.”
“I wouldn’t dream of leaving.” He grinned and wiped at his nose.
Lucien moved toward him. “How is it possible that a couple of fat cops caught you?”
Bill’s face reddened. “Copy-cat Bill didn’t like my plan. He wanted to do his own thing, and when I told him I wouldn’t let him, he shot me.”
“With what?”
“Some funky looking gun. I don’t even know where he got it. It shot out electricity or something that made me go all screwy in the head. I couldn’t even see straight for hours.” He picked at his teeth.
“What plan was it that ‘Bill’ didn’t like?”
“Oh, it was a great plan. Maybe you can help, and I’ll cut you in, fifty-fifty.”
“What is it?” Lucien pressed.
Bill looked around as if they were conspirators. “You see, there’s this woman—”
Lucien froze.
“The Dark Prince wants her real bad, says he’ll pay us whatever we want and make whoever brings her in alive his right-hand man.”
“Why does he want her?” Lucien asked, keeping his voice calm.
“I don’t know, and I don’t care.”
“How many of you are ther
e?”
“Too many in my opinion. She’s just a stupid girl, after all. I’ll bring her to him, but before I do…” He sighed in pleasure. “She’s the prettiest little thing. I can’t wait to press my tongue—”
From within Lucien’s jacket sleeve, a long wooden dagger flew out. It pierced Bill before he could utter another word. It took all the restraint he had not to shove the stake entirely through Bill’s heart, killing him instantly, but if he did that, it would only make things more difficult for John to explain to others. Instead, he pierced the heart just enough to render Bill unconscious.
Bill’s body fell limp to the ground. Lucien tore his shirt at the site of the wound. Very carefully, he grabbed the base of the stake next to Bill’s skin, and with the other hand he snapped off the part sticking out, leaving only half an inch of the wood protruding above his chest.
He then moved to the dead bum whose skin was as white as the walls and proceeded to take off his jacket. After putting it on Bill and zipping it up, concealing all signs of the stake, he walked back out of the jail cell and opened the door to the hallway.
John stood at the end speaking to another officer. He quickly dismissed him when he saw Lucien. Lucien held the door open for John as he passed by into the jail cell.
“Is he dead?” John asked. He stood above Bill, brow furrowed.
“Just paralyzed. I only pushed the stake in enough to knock him out. You’ll have at least six hours, but not more than twelve, to finish the job before his body will force the stake out and repair itself. You’ll need to make sure nobody inspects him.”
“That can be arranged,” John said. He bent down and looked at his face. “Did you know him?”
“No.”
“Did you find out why he’s here?”
“He’s after a woman by the name of Eve Andrews.”
John straightened. “The woman you asked Scott about a few months ago?”
“He told you?"
"We work together a lot, sometimes your name comes up. What would this monster want with her?”
“That’s what I’m trying to find out.”
“Do you need any help?”
Lucien shook his head. “I don’t think so, but I’ll call you if I do.”
They stood there in silence, starring down at Bill.
