Of Scions and Men

by Courtney Sloan

  After remotely opening my Forester for us, I revved with good control out of the parking space and into traffic before he was fully buckled. We had to move fast if we were going to make it, and gridlock traffic through downtown Chicago wasn’t going to help. We were silent as I glided through traffic, across the river, onto I-94 and toward Park Ridge. Once I didn’t have to worry about the idiotic drivers downtown, I relaxed my grip on the wheel.

  “If you don’t mind, I need to check my messages,” I said. “See if work left anything more.” Also to make sure everything was okay with Will. I would have preferred to not have extra ears listening, but with scion hearing, he’d hear it on my handset too. Without waiting, I pushed on my hands-free overhead. “Voicemail.”

  The machine beeped in response and dialed in. The first one was from Lilly. “Ro, it’s Lil. I don’t know if Devon told you or not, but Shahid came and picked up Will from school. Hope everything is okay. Let me know if you need me for anything.”

  I smiled. Didn’t know what I’d do without Lilly. I’d have to rely on Devon a lot more, and that wasn’t about to happen.

  The next few were Lyle, searching for me. Must’ve been while all the action was going on.

  As the last one came over, I hit the brakes hard enough to sling Carson forward and piss off the cars behind me before regaining my composure.

  “Hey Ro. How’s being a Min Whore treating you these days?” Curtis. Why was he calling after three years?

  “Saw you at the club last night,” he continued. “Figured I’d let you know I’m back in town, permanently.” There was a long pause. I almost hit the end call button on the steering wheel until he added. “Glad you caught that guy. I just wanted… never mind.”

  I took deep breaths and fought hard to keep the car in a straight line. “Shit.” Why the hell did Curtis choose right now to return?

  Carson squirmed a little in his seat. I waited for his commentary to come, but he stared out the window as if his life depended on it. Smart man. I wasn’t even sure what I could tell him. How can you explain ten years of a relationship blowing up in my face the day I accepted my scionship?

  Curtis had been so hurt and angry, trying to steal me away during my Ceremony ritual which had bound me to Devon. He’d helped me raise and protect and support Will for the years after my parents had died, but he hadn’t been able to accept what I’d become. The narrow-minded idiot could only believe the worst of Devon and me and our relationship, and he made sure everyone knew what I was.

  The fact that Devon and I didn’t sleep together didn’t matter. Most scions became sex toys as well as food bags for their vampires, and good American morality saw this as just another form of legalized prostitution. The fact that it was really people hating and fearing the vampires didn’t change the fact that scions were safer, easier targets for their hate. Curtis had wanted to take us away, but there was nowhere safe. He made sure I lost what little friends I’d had when I became a scion and “sold” myself, as he called it.

  When he’d left for the wilds three years ago, I thought he’d died. Why was he contacting me now? Why had he come back?

  I blew out air with enough force to make Carson flinch. We were on a task and presumably watched by the powers that be. Some things just couldn’t be helped.

  I didn’t want to reveal more to Carson, but I also couldn’t take a chance with Will. Curtis knew Will and where he went to school now. What if he tried to get to Will like he’d threatened?

  On impulse, I broke the law and while I drove sent a text to Shahid to please watch over Will after school. I thought about alerting him to Curtis being back, but as long as Will was safe, Curtis was more likely to go after me if he wanted something. Let him come. I was in no mood today.

  I pulled up to the small rambler duplex I rented. It wasn’t much, but it was far better than the project we’d been living in before Devon stepped in. I was the best I could afford on my own–and that was with signing off on the multitude of government subsidized solar panels covering every available horizontal surface. The silver panels looked like crap, but they made up the money we needed that my paycheck couldn’t.

  Devon made sure to only give me enough to afford this shoe box. He’d rather I act like a real scion and live with him where I could be more useful. Not happening. Especially after what he’d said about me tonight. I wasn’t going to sign over the last of my freedom. Then he’d just use his money to get anything else he wanted.

  I let Carson into my two bedroom haven and picked Will’s SpaceHawk toys off the floor before he could take notice. His hotel room was probably bigger than everything I had, but this was my home, and I’d worked hard for it. Hole in the ceiling tile and all.

  “Do you want some more juice to drink?” I offered.

  “No, thank you. I’m fine.” He found a corner of the room to fade away into. “You know, this reminds me of the house I grew up in. Little Cape Cod in Hamilton. I miss that place, sometimes.”

  “Really?” I absently replied as I continued to pick up the room. With a huff, I put the last armful of crap on the table. Screw it. He could live with our mess. “I’m going to change. Make yourself at home.”

  With that, I went to my bedroom and found clean clothes in the hamper that hadn’t been put away. Rushing a quick shower, I changed into a tank top and slacks. Pulling on my work boots, I glanced at the clock. Ten minutes. This might take some creative driving.

  I sprinted to the driver’s side with Carson following and pushed us into drive before we were barely inside. The electric motor whined under its maximum acceleration.

  “Glad you’re driving. I can’t remember the last time I actually drove a vehicle,” Carson said.

  I smiled at him as we took the curve out of the neighborhood with great centrifugal force. “It relaxes me.” Hitting Oakton, I turned us toward Skokie. “So, I don’t work homicide. I’m in Blood Theft. I think I told you that.”

  He nodded.

  “Can you tell me why the Basement would suddenly want me–and, more interestingly, you–on a new murder case in one of the burbs? What kind of background in homicide do you have?”

  “In a word? None. I’m neither a detective nor an investigator. I don’t even play Clue.” He kneaded his fingers together. “I was a corporate negotiator before the war. I work in leverage. I have no idea why they’d want me involved outside of busy work.”

  “Yeah, but this would be a funny way to reassign me for ‘busy work.’ Homicide is mainly still run by the human branches unless they discover the villain is higher on the food chain. We can expect a lot of resistance. Our kind is not well loved on either side of the aisle.”

  “Oh, I’ve managed to bring both sides of the aisle together more often than not. Still… I’m not particularly excited about the notion of superhuman homicide.”

  “Good. I’ll let you be the ‘bring together’ guy. Also, you should know, if the death was of a pret, it would never make it to homicide. Homicide is, as it means, killing of a homo sapiens. So, again, not sure why we get an embossed invitation.”

  “Not to be obtuse, but what is the ‘Basement?’”

  “Ah. That would be the heads of the DEC. My big bosses. All old vampires. All handpicked by Romaric to oversee the policing of prets in the human world. Something to make the humans calm down about the big bad monsters existing.”

  “I see. It’s counter-intuitive when trying to think like a vampire. As humans, we’re used to thinking top-down. So, the Basement is in charge of the DEC, and they answer to Romaric. You seem to be a team player, more or less, but particularly when it comes to your job. So, I’m guessing you don’t trust them?”

  “Does the world hate pink? I absolutely don’t trust them. They are powerful vampires who have more reason than most to have and use scions, and none of them do, that I know of.”

  “I can only speculate, but there are several assumptions one can jump to: Could be institutional, some sense of internal propriety they ad
here to as a consequence of their hidden history. Could be mechanical, some reason a vampire of a certain age may have difficulty forming the scion bond. Could be as simple as race bias.”

  “Well, we’re not changing it any time soon. Here we are.” I pulled up to the address and attached my DEC choker around my neck. “Let’s go.”

  he house was small but cute. Well, it would’ve been if it hadn’t been surrounded by yellow tape and people in uniform. All that was missing was the white picket fence. Even their solar panels were placed to blend in with the atmosphere instead of the cheaper, industrial-grade I got. The red brick and white siding were offset by a well-maintained yard and colorful garden. Yellow impatiens, lining the path in welcome, had been crushed by a number of official boots striding back and forth from the cars on the drive.

  Lyle leaned against one of the faux columns around the front porch. While Carson and I hiked up, he made a dramatic gesture of gazing at his watch and sighing.

  “Took you long enough.” He was being obvious, trying to make people watch him, not me. I was thankful he could take the abuse better than I could. I’d gotten into more than my share of shouting matches with “colleagues” for their comments of my life choices on the job.

  “Well, you know me–always have to look my best,” I said.

  As we got closer, Lyle pushed off the column and formed a small circle with the three of us. Dropping his voice, he spoke for just us. “I don’t like this. They wouldn’t let me in without you. I have more training in this area than you.”

  “Who’s in charge?”

  “Keller.”

  “Crap.” I sighed. “Well, let’s get this over with and see what’s up.”

  Together, the three of us moved to the front door. A young officer hurried to intercept us but was pulled back by another, who spoke low enough that normal ears wouldn’t have picked it up. “Don’t. They’re Mins.”

  Too bad I could hear him clearly.

  I clenched my fists at the bigoted epitaph for scion and felt heat on my ears. Trying to breathe through my anger, I glanced at Carson. He lingered by the entrance, stiffening his posture. He turned to the cop and stared at him. The cop sneered and tried to glance away, but the longer Carson stared, the more flustered the cop became.

  He turned, glancing over his shoulder. He spun back around and stepped up to my Canadian friend. “What are you staring at?”

  Carson continued to glower. What the hell was he doing? I moved to tell off the officer, but Lyle caught my hand, smiling.

  The cop leaned into Carson’s face. “You trying to start something? Because I got all day, pal.”

  Carson squinted and muttered, “I beg your pardon; some idiot is trying to speak to me. No, he’s unimportant. Yes, I’ll get the name of his superior for you.”

  The cop turned white as his partner pulled him away.

  Hells Bells, he’d just conned the cop into silence. I saluted him and waited at the doorway for Carson to catch up. Lyle grinned like a school boy at Carson’s back as he passed.

  I moved beside the Canadian. “Just when I think I’ve got you figured out.”

  “I simply can’t abide rudeness,” Carson replied. “By the way, what does ‘min’ mean, exactly?”

  “Short for ‘minion.’ As in, a minion for the vampires. It’s a nod to us being slaves and spies. Someone not to be trusted. It’s about on par with whore.”

  Carson’s nostrils flared. “Well. Vicious little shit.”

  “Tell me about it. I’ve heard it since the day of my bonding ceremony. You’d think I’d be used to it by now.”

  “Brady get in here!” The lieutenant’s demanding voice irked me from across the threshold.

  My smirk faded. “I hope you have more of that magic in you,” I said to Carson, and stepped inside the suburban house, surveying the scene of ordered chaos.

  Lieutenant Keller waited, arms crossed behind his back, like the military reject he was. His crew cut was impeccable. I’d heard he had his wife cut it every week for it to stay that perfect. His uniform and emblems were sharp and polished. He was out to impress.

  A team of officers surrounded him while others moved all around the house. I inhaled deeply, but didn’t smell death in this area. I scanned the room, but didn’t see anything broken. There was a slight scent in the air that tickled my memory, but it was too faint for me to place. Maybe it was coming from further inside.

  I winked at Carson. “All right, let’s try this your way to start.” I sauntered up to Keller and smiled. “Evening, Louis. I would like you to meet Carson Holt of Toronto.”

  Carson stepped forward and offered a hand. Keller simply glared at him with his sharp eyes.

  “How can we be of assistance?” Carson asked, withdrawing his handshake.

  Keller puffed up and spoke loud enough for the room, and probably the next, to hear. “We are happy to work with agents of the Basement. Everyone here will help in any way they can.” His words were good and official, but they reeked of every tone that said, This is a human matter.

  Lowering his voice, Keller addressed us alone. “Though I can assure you we can solve this without others looking over our shoulder from across town.”

  “Louis, some of us worked last night. I’d rather be in bed right now instead of arguing with you,” I said.

  He squinted at me then Carson and Lyle. “We’ll be sure to get you back on your agenda as soon as humanly possible, Agent Brady.”

  I rolled my eyes. “How about you tell us what you’ve found? We’ll see what we can see, then we’ll be out of your hair.”

  He held his breath, glaring at me. For a moment, I worried he was going to go down as his face reached purple. Then he let it out in a long exhale and spoke very evenly. “The vic is a girl–Reagan Lloyd, twenty-five. She’s a local master’s student at Northwestern, according to her records. She was studying Ley Geology.” He led us over the throw rug toward the back of the house. “No signs of struggle at any of the entrances.”

  “Any other prints found?” Lyle asked.

  He shook his head while he moved, still talking ahead of him instead of to us. “Everything was wiped clean. We have people bringing in her boyfriend and interviewing other friends she may have let in. The prints show she went into the basement, which does show some signs of struggle. She was discovered wearing a white dress, not hers.”

  “Dress?”

  “Yes, an old-fashioned, white costume dress. Maybe they were playing dress up. We’ll know more after we question the boyfriend. She was still bound when the body was discovered. We found a dagger near the body pieces, but it obviously wasn’t the murder weapon.”

  “Why obviously?” Carson asked.

  He scanned his notes and answered them rather than us. “You’ll see. We’ve bagged and tagged two dozen specimens for the medical examiner, who should be here shortly.”

  I stopped. “Wait, you said pieces?”

  “The head was severed from the neck. There is blood everywhere.” He turned and smirked at me, his tone condescending. “You ain’t squeamish, are you?”

  I glanced at Carson then folded my arms over my chest, glaring at Keller. “Nope. Want a ride-along on one of my south side pret nabs? See how squeamish you are?”

  He squinted at me and turned a shade greener. After clearing his throat, he continued. “Just go downstairs, see what you can, and tell me anything helpful.”

  As I opened the door, Keller gave one last piece of advice in a low voice that none of his men would have heard: “Oh, and try not to get hungry and tamper with my crime scene.”

  I tensed. That was harsh, even for Keller. What was wrong with everyone tonight?

  Carson positionedhimself between Keller and me. With his back turned to Keller, he angled his head to me with half a smirk. “Everything’s basements, today.”

  I shook off Keller’s ignorance and gave a half-laugh at his joke. Turning on my senses, I led the three of us downstairs.

  Death an
d blood hit me hard. The place permeated both. I fought the urge to cover my nose. A few more steps down, a new scent joined the others. Now I understood why the faint smell upstairs had seemed so familiar: vampiric pheromones. They were everywhere down here. Perhaps this was why everyone was a bit worse than usual upstairs. Sex and violence both came from those pheromones. This could go ever so badly.

  I glanced over Lyle’s shoulder at Carson. His eyes dilated more. I hoped it was from his senses kicking in and not the effect of the pheromones.

  The basement was full of boxes of books and other objects sticking out from every nook and cranny. Dust covered everything, but much of it was now covered in a fresh layer of blood. It was everywhere. Whatever had happened, it hadn’t been peaceful.

  Forensics was at the bottom of the stairs with the body. Two sheets covered different areas–the body pieces, I assumed. Red seeped out of both of them. Time for fun.

  Not wanting to play, I pulled from Devon and exuded an aura of compliance as I addressed the scientists. “Guys, can we have the room?”

  The team stopped working and gazed at me.

  “Keller is upstairs. Why don’t you let him know what you’ve found so far?” I prodded.

  They took the hint and left.

  Pacing over to the larger of the sheets, I knelt and hesitated. Suddenly, I didn’t want to see the source that had painted the floor and some of the boxes and walls around them.

  I scanned the room again. Full boxes of books thrown against walls. A desk with its computer flipped and broken. Even the girl’s school bag, proudly displaying the emblem of Northwestern, had been thrown across the room and was ten feet from her desk.

  “This was from a temper tantrum,” I said. “Anger was behind everything disturbed, not a struggle. No human could have done this.”

  Lyle nodded. “Am I the only one who smells pheromones?”

  My eyes widened. The pheromones–they permeated every corner. This wasn’t a crime for human homicide. This was a crime for me. A vampire had done this. Maybe more than one. Only a preternatural monster would have been strong enough to do this to Reagan and her furniture.