Infamous: (A Bad Boy Romantic Suspense)

by Noir, Mila

  He was tall, very pale, with the kind of high cheekbones that could cut you. He kept eyeing Tasha and trying to cut in between us. After the third time, she gave him a push, shook her head, then took my hand and we went to the bar. When I looked back, he was standing in the middle, totally still, a strange, considering look on his face.

  We got waters and I noticed Jake and crew had moved over to a little lounge area, where they were deeply involved in a conversation with another group of mostly leather-clad men who reminded me of Cheekbones from the dance floor. Everyone was very good-looking and very serious. Jake seemed to be holding court of some kind and was very emphatically gesturing a lot. I wasn’t sure how they could hear anything over the music. At one point he seemed to point in our general direction, but it was a big place and there were a lot of people. He could have been pointing at a wall. I couldn’t see anyone else who’d come from the hostel around anymore, except those hanging out with Jake. And most of them looked kind of wasted.

  Yet. There was something about all these weird looks and gestures that was making me uneasy again. The adrenaline from dancing was wearing off and I felt really hot and sticky. The water helped, it was cool against my face, but something about it tasted funny. I drank a bit more, then put it down with an involuntary grimace. Tap water in Germany isn’t the greatest, but this had a strange metallic undertaste that lingered. Tasha was finishing hers and wiping sweat off her forehead. She gave me a grin.

  Looking back at the dance floor, I saw that Cheekbones had seemingly moved on to a girl with long blond hair, but he kept looking at Tasha whenever he thought we weren’t paying attention. I leaned close to her ear and shouted.

  “That guy is giving me the creeps!”

  “What guy?”

  “You know, Cheekbones, the one who kept trying to cut in.”

  “Just a douchebro, I’m sure. He’ll get over it,” she said, waving down the waiter for another water. “You want one?”

  “No, they taste weird. It’s getting really stuffy in here, you notice?” But she was drinking more water and didn’t hear me.

  I looked at her water and, in the light, it looked a little pink and almost like it glowed faintly. I shook my head, feeling a bit dizzy. Had to be the lights and a little too much fun. One good thing about the sweating was that I was entirely sober. Normally one beer will make me tipsy for a while, but all the activity had flushed it right out.

  Which is probably why I noticed Tasha suddenly wasn’t at my side anymore a lot sooner than I might have otherwise.

  I turned to say something to her about maybe leaving soon, and there was a Tasha-shaped hole where she should have been. It couldn’t have been more than a minute since I’d seen her downing her second bottle of water. I looked around, feeling weird, almost dizzy but maybe more “foggy.” No sign of her. No flash of teal hair on the dance floor. No glimpse of it around the bar.

  What I did see were two things: One, Jake and crew were also gone. Which was a whole lot of people to suddenly not be somewhere anymore, especially when it would have been difficult not to notice them leaving as they would have had to come around the bar on my side to get to the nearest exit. And, two, Cheekbones also appeared to be gone.

  I had no idea where to look, but something about all of this was very wrong. People were still dancing, but it looked strange and sinister to me now. The music had an edge, a metallic undersound like the water’s unpleasant taste.

  The exit wasn’t that far, but it almost felt like I had to cross an ocean to get to it. It was oppressively hot in the club and I noticed a coppery smell I hadn’t before. My limbs felt tired and stupid. My head still felt a little foggy, but I hoped the outside air would help.

  The door opened onto a slim alley that had cool night air and I breathed deep. I heard noises to my left, away from the street, and cautiously moved towards them. I didn’t know if Tasha was back here or still in the club somewhere, but I wasn’t going to leave her if she was. I peeked around a corner and an icy chill went up my spine.

  Tasha was being held between two men, Cheekbones and Jake. Her head was lolling back to front and she kept blinking very slowly and making small sounds in the back of her throat. I thought about the weird undertaste of the water and realized it was probably drugged. This new feeling started to well up in me, from the pit of my stomach, up into my lungs, making me breathe deep and slow. My head cleared all of a sudden.

  The two men were arguing with one another, pulling on her like she wasn’t a person but a sack of something. They let go and she fell in a heap as they argued. I couldn’t understand what they said. It wasn’t German; it sounded vaguely Russian.

  My face flamed and that feeling in the pit of my stomach spread up my arms, into my legs. I wasn’t sure what I was feeling at first. I should have been afraid, petrified. Instead it was like some kind of eye had opened up inside me and I could see clearly for the first time.

  I was furious.

  I looked around me and miraculously found a substantial-looking pipe someone had discarded. Then I did the bravest, and possibly stupidest thing I have ever done in my entire life. It’s weird how those two things often go together.

  I stepped out, holding the pipe like a bat, and said, loudly, “Get the fuck away from her. Now.”

  Both men whipped their heads around so fast it was a blur. Which was my first clue that something was even more off than your garden-variety drug-and-kidnap-young-women scenario. When they saw me, they both stared for a moment. And then they grinned.

  And kept grinning until it seemed like their faces would split from the amount of sharp, pointy teeth in their mouths. I looked into eyes that were now black and almost flat, like obsidian. Or a shark’s.

  Remember how I said earlier that things often don’t go the way I plan them? Well, you can bet your ass I never planned on vampires. Ever.

  ***

  I had two choices. I could run, though that seemed unlikely to do very much other than abandon Tasha to two (previously) mythical predators…or I could stay, wield this pipe, and maybe make it a little harder for them to eat us.

  Honestly? It wasn’t a choice.

  I took a deep breath, looking right into their monstrously dead eyes, and said, “Didn’t you hear me? Get away from her.”

  A beat passed and then Cheekbones started to laugh. It made a kind of bubbling sound, deep down, almost like he was gargling water. Jake simply stared, his smile fading a little. Tasha was still in a heap, and looking at her just dumped there, like a sack of clothing, made me sick with anger again.

  “Emma,” Jake started, his voice tinged with the click of tooth point on tooth point, but somehow trying to be soothing at the same time. “You don’t know what you’re doing. We’re just getting Tasha some air.” Cheekbones was leering behind him, red tongue darting out to lick his lips.

  “Are you kidding me? Dude, you’re a vampire. I can see all of your teeth,” I said, the pipe feeling heavy and inadequate.

  “Let’s just eat her,” said Cheekbones. “Why are you even trying to talk to this meat? We’ll eat her, we’ll eat her friend, no one will know. The end.” Well, that didn’t sound promising.

  Jake hissed at his companion, eyes never leaving my face.

  “Jesus, Georg, shut up! We’re supposed to be laying low, remember? The council was just here telling us to knock this shit off. Or else. But you still had to have your fun.”

  Georg looked sullen but unconvinced. “Who cares what the council thinks? They’re all talk. They won’t do anything. This is our playing ground.”

  This conversation was not wowing me with its trajectory. I didn’t care about vampire councils or whatever the hell this was about. I cared about Tasha and me not becoming food.

  “Look, this is all really fascinating, and I’m sure vampire politics would be riveting in other circumstances, but I just want me and my friend to be out of here.” I was trying to sound tough, but honestly, what could I do to either of them, really? Chee
kbones was grinning again and I could see Jake was getting fed up. It wouldn’t be long before he decided it was better to get rid of us than try and talk it out.

  “What are you going to do, meat? You think that pipe can hurt us?” Georg was advancing, lazily, knowing he had all the time in the world to strike. It was the two of them against me. Even if they hadn’t been vamps, I would have been screwed.

  “I don’t know, I was thinking about hitting you really hard with this pipe and seeing how much damage I could do to your face,” I said.

  “Oooh, you’ve got spirit. I like it when the food fights. A little,” he said.

  “Ugh, you’re just… a complete cliché, aren’t you?” I said, annoyed and terrified. This really wasn’t the way I wanted to die, facing off against monsters that shouldn’t exist on a shitty Euro vacation that had never managed to be fun for more than five minutes. It was like everything that had ever gone wrong in my life was coming down to this one moment. And even though I was scared beyond what should have been rational thought, I was also extremely, fiercely pissed off. It was just so unfair.

  He lunged, but I was ready for it. I didn’t think, I just swung. The pipe connected with a horribly satisfying chunking sound. I saw several white, pointy teeth go arcing up in the air. I wanted to cheer. Then Georg let out a howl, a snarling snapping sound that went straight to my lizard brain, and my triumph evaporated.

  In the next moment I was held by the neck in one strong, relentless hand, pressed up to a wall, and looking down into a face that looked strangely caved in on one side. My pipe had connected alright, and clearly broken one of Georg’s magnificent cheekbones in the process. He was grimacing at me, thick, congealed, almost black blood oozing from where at least four teeth had been knocked out. As I looked, his face began to move, the bones realigning, getting back into shape. They sort of just popped back into place. There was still a mark, and it didn’t seem like the teeth were coming back anytime soon, at least.

  I laughed. It was a crazy cackle; reality was finally starting to slip a little under the pressure, and I’d hit a vampire with a pipe. It was lunatic. Unreal.

  The hand around my throat tightened and Georg’s mouth drooled blood. I struck at his arm but the pipe was gone and it was like hitting stone. Jake was behind him, saying something, but I couldn’t tell if he was trying to stop him or encourage him to get it over with faster. The edges of my vision turned to fog.

  “Fucking humans,” snarled Georg, his breath fetid, spit and blood flying. “Bloodsacks without any idea how small you are. How pointless.”

  “Yeah,” I croaked, laughing again, black spots cascading before my eyes like a swarm of flies. “But you’re still going to need a really good dentist.”

  I knew it was only a matter of minutes before I was out and it was undead snack time. I thought about my mom and how she’d never know what happened to me. I thought about all the things I still wanted to do, like write a book or figure out what wine tasting was really all about, and felt angry again. It was duller now that I was losing oxygen, but still there. A hot little button of rage. I kicked futilely. I could hear Jake saying something in an urgent voice.

  And then I was down on the ground, airway free, gasping. There was a thick snapping sound, then a low whine, then a thud near me, and a groan. I looked and saw Georg cradling an arm that was severely broken, bent in entirely the wrong direction. Then Jake was next to him, neck bent sideways. He kept blinking and tried to push his head back into place.

  “Leave it for a minute, would you?” someone said conversationally. It was a smooth, deep voice, with a distinctly British accent over something else. Jake immediately stopped moving and stared. He didn’t look thrilled. Georg sat like a scolded puppy, whimpering over his arm. I wasn’t sorry.

  I looked up to see a tall, young-looking man standing over all three of us. He was looking down at the two vampires the way you might regard a very annoying bug. He was smiling but not in any way that could be considered pleasant. He was stylishly dressed in slim dark gray pants, a shirt with some kind of design on it, and a jacket in deep, glossy leather. He had longer than usual hair in what looked like dark brown that swung straight to his chin. I couldn’t see much of his face except for that off-putting non-smile.

  Since he’d just tossed two vampires against a wall like toys dismissed by a toddler, I figured he probably wasn’t human. I was starting to wonder if anyone was. In the meantime, I began to edge towards Tasha. She wasn’t moving much and I was worried they’d already bitten or hurt her in some other way beyond the drugging.

  “So, Jake and Georg, the moron twins. I thought we went over this earlier: you were to end your grotesque little human-hunting business immediately and report to your clan leaders for discipline.”

  “We were just about to…,” Jake started, but then stopped. I could see the newcomer had raised one long-fingered hand in the international gesture for “shut the hell up.” Who was this guy?

  “Eat these girls? Yes, well, you’re both terminally thick insects who have the combined IQ of a carrot. I didn’t really think you’d follow instructions. Especially not Georg. He’s always had a knack for making things worse. That whole debacle during the Inquisition should have ended in his head on a stick.” The tall newcomer began to pace a little, his voice dripping with exasperation.

  “I was just having some fun.” Georg pouted. And then he was off the ground, neck in the strangers hands, choking.

  “It’s always ‘just’ a little fun with you. At the expense of everyone else. You’re five hundred years old. It’s not cute to be this reckless anymore.” He shook Georg like he weighed nothing.

  “Ckkackk…” was all Georg managed, eyes bulging as he clawed at the arms holding him up.

  “I should take your head off right here. It would solve so many problems.” The stranger sighed, dropping him to the ground. “But I won’t, because there are rules, and unlike you, I think some of them are actually for our own good.”

  I’d reached Tasha and was only half paying attention to the conversation. I had no idea if we were going to get out of this, but if I could wake her up, maybe we could run while these guys talked about the intricacies of vampire law. Which was not a thing I’d previously had to think about and was pretty sure I wished I didn’t know about then.

  “Tash? Tasha? Wake up, honey. Wake up,” I said, patting her face and rubbing her hands. She felt cold, but she moved her head a little and her eyelids fluttered. I tried to lift her but limp weight was too much for me. All I could do was get her head into my lap and stroke her hair. Maybe they’d forget about us.

  “They’re just humans. Why do you care what we do with them?” Georg again, whining. So much for forgetting about us.

  “I don’t need to explain myself to you. But as it happens, I’m sticking with ‘Because the Council said so,’ and you need to move on. Unless you’d like me to tell them about this little…debacle?” Although this was all said casually, there was an edge to the last part that was like the words were made of steel.

  “No! No, look, we’re sorry. We’re sorry, okay!” This was Jake, desperate and conciliatory.

  “But—”

  “Fucking shut up, Georg. We got it, this side business is done. We’ll report to clan Xymox tomorrow as soon as the sun goes down.” Jake was getting up, his more-or-less-back-in-place neck making small popping sounds. “We’re gone.”

  He grabbed Georg by his still-broken arm and began to haul him down the alley. As they went, I saw Georg look at us and snarl. Then they were gone. There was a heavy, annoyed sigh from above me.

  “Now what am I going to do with you two?” our rescuer said. I looked up, squinting, holding Tasha to me.

  “How about let us go and we’ll just pretend that this night never happened. Chalk it up to bad absinthe and active imaginations,” I suggested, not really holding out much hope for that scenario.

  “I think I can do a little better than that,” he said. A pale han
d came into my field of vision. “I’m trying to help you up,” he added.

  “Yeah, but I’ve grown fond of this spot on the ground. I like it here. It’s damp and uncomfortable, sure. My butt is even going numb from whatever lumpy thing I’m sitting on. But it has the distinct advantage of not being a vampire who could eat me.”

  He laughed. Not a gurgling, weird sound, but a true laugh. It was pleasant, a little bit gruff. I looked up at him again and could see him smiling. It was definitely pleasant this time, a little crooked. His teeth were very white.

  Then Tasha was being lifted away from me.

  “Hey! Put her down!” I scrambled to my feet, grabbing at her. He just held her gently away from me.

  “Relax. I’m not going to hurt you or your friend. But you can’t lift her by yourself, and it’s not good for her to stay lying on the ground like that with the toxin in her system,” he said.

  “You want me to relax?” My face felt hot, my stomach was wobbling dangerously, and I’d definitely had it with being told what to do. “Two of your friends just tried to drug, kidnap, and eat me and my friend. They were vampires, a fact that my brain would really rather not accept right now. I have no idea who you are or what you want. So I think relaxing is off the menu.” My jaw was clenched and I could feel my stomach trying to heave. I also really wished I hadn’t used the word “menu” just then.

  “You might have a point,” he said.

  And then I threw up. Water, beer, the less-than-thrilling pizza we’d had earlier. It all came up in an acidic wave there was absolutely no point in trying to stop. I propped myself against the wall and just let it happen, stomach emptying, muscles cramping until I was empty. I felt like a wrung-out towel. But I also felt better. I pressed my warm cheek on the cool wall and took some deep breaths.

  “What did they slip us?” I asked, turning around and wiping my mouth. He was carefully looking off to my right somewhere.

  “Well, technically…a little bit of vamp blood,” he said. I stared.