“Make your case to me Vic.”
I kept my voice level, as best I could. “The way she looked at Gregory, the way she wanted him to be there with her, that’s the sign of a girl who had no clue and is scared outta her mind.”
“You think if she knew what was going on, you would have picked up on it?”
I took a bite of my sandwich and nodded. “I’m not saying I can’t be fooled, but if she knew the score before hand, she did a damn good job of acting surprised.”
“I will act as if we did not have this conversation. You do as he asked and make sure, one hundred percent sure.”
“You got it.” I gave her a cheesy grin, but I think it reassured her.
She moved close to me and snuggled up. “I wish we were back in Phoenix. Coming to London has been nothing but a miserable mess.”
“I do too. If I ever ask to come over here again, slap me.”
She leaned up and kissed me. The moment was ruined (again) by a door flying open. We broke away and saw Gregory standing there.
“It worked. Rissa survived the turning.”
Chapter 19
Liz, Gregory, and John were behind closed doors with Rod. Once he’d found out about the girl turning, he flipped his gourd. I was babysitting both the witch and the newly turned vampire. To pass the time up to this point, I’d taken Roscoe apart and cleaned the weapon. Even though it was impeccable, it helped keep my mind busy.
Rissa was still out of it, sleeping in the bed. Gregory said it wouldn’t be until nightfall when she’d come too. That was getting closer and closer, not to mention the other occupant of the room. Rosette was full of spunk and energy.
“That Roderick guy seemed full of piss and vinegar. What’d ya all do while I was gone?” I tried my best to ignore her, but she popped down right in front of me.
“Turned this poor girl into a vampire; not that we had much choice in the matter.” Rissa behind us was sound asleep, lucky.
“At least that sounds exciting. All the old guy wanted to talk about was the Scythe of Death. When I told him I didn’t know anything, he seemed to think I was lying.”
“Between me and you, I wonder about him. I’m only saying that to you to prove we aren’t your enemy.”
She started playing with her blonde hair. “I believe yer not my enemy, but the vampires I don’t trust. Ye don’t get to be their age by not having a few secrets well kept.”
She was right about that, they all seemed to have some skeletons in the closet. “Tell you what, I’ll let you in on a secret that I think you can help me with.”
“What’s that?”
“There might be a chance the girl behind us works for Pan. I don’t believe it but some need more proof than my good word. My job is to prove she’s a good kid.”
“And ye want my help figuring out who the lass really is?”
I gave her a quick nod. “It has to stay between us though. If anyone finds out, it might blow our cover.”
“I’d be honored to help ye Mr. Inglewood.”
Under the pretense that we needed to figure out a plan, the next little while went by in relative quiet. Every so often I’d check on Rissa just to make sure she was still doing okay. I’d hope the meeting would finish because if she woke up hungry, Rosette and I were potential food sources.
I heard a door slam down the hall and the clicking of heels told me Liz was on her way here. Sure enough, she came into the room like an afternoon thunderstorm. “Will no one listen to reason in this damn house?!”
Her red eyes made Rosette jump back. As for me, I was used to this. “Hey lady, what’s the problem?”
She was throwing her hands in frustration. “All Roderick wishes to discuss is that stupid Scythe! Forget that London is burning to the ground from the inside with Pan and that werewolf! No, he is more concerned with unproven artifacts!”
“Funny, Rosette said the same thing happened in her interview.”
She looked over at the witch, “He spent the entire time asking about that and not what Divas was up to?”
“He never asked me about my former employer. I was a bit shocked with that.”
I know this ain’t the right time to point this out, but my lord she looks good in her dress slacks. She must’ve noticed where my mind and eyes went. “Get your eyes off my ass and back on the situation at hand!”
Rosette thought this was hilarious and so did one other person. “Victor, you didn’t tell me you had a girlfriend.”
Rissa was sitting up in the bed smiling at the three of us. My face started turning red. “It’s normally pretty bad form to date your boss.”
“I can’t blame you; she’s pretty hot.”
“Please do not encourage him,” her eyes went between the two of us, “he already is a handful.”
“In that case, I’m kinda hungry and these two look pretty tasty.”
I didn’t even hear Gregory come in, but there he was. “Rissa, I am so glad to see you awake! Come with me, I will show you to the kitchen.”
It was sweet watching the two of them. He took her hand and they walked off, like on a little blood sucking date. “What do we do next?”
“I am tired of waiting for Pan to make moves and we react. No, it is time for us to take the fight to him.”
Rosette sat on the now empty bed. “Do ye have a plan or any idea where he might be?”
“Vampires tend to be creatures of habit. His Lost Boys have no concept of conservation and feed regularly. They will have a favorite feeding spot and it will be up to us to find it.” She punched the wall, “If Roderick does not wish to fix this city, and then we will.”
“Tonight might be a good night to do some scouting. Gregory will be busy with Rissa and after getting reamed out by Rod, we can use that as an excuse to go out.”
“What about her?” Liz pointed at Rosette.
“I do have a name! Damnit vampire, when will ye start using it?”
“Listen, not right now you two. There are very few people I trust and believe it or not Liz I trust her.” Rosette and I made eye contact, “You know what to do tonight don’t ya?”
“Yeah, I can handle it.”
Liz didn’t ask, but I could tell she was annoyed. “Good, we meet in the kitchen in the morning. Remember, don’t let anyone know.”
**Warren Tucker**
“You sure you’re not coming Tucker? After last time, the blood will taste so much sweeter with the fear in the streets.”
I didn’t even look up at Pan; I was so close to finishing the puzzle laid out in front of me. “I am fine thank you. Knowledge is quenching my thirst right now.”
He started tossing his knife in the air. “You’re loss. I’m not bringing home any leftovers, so I hope that book tastes good until tomorrow night.”
“When our master knows everything, then I will be able to eat all I want.”
This seemed to quiet him. He knew as well as I did that this was first priority. But this was my work, it wouldn’t stop him from continuing his bloody good time.
“Come boys, you heard the man; our master will soon know the score! Let’s go celebrate a bit early shall we?”
The group started cheering and that damn wolf began howling. Soon it became more and more distant as they left the tunnel system and entered the sewers. With the peace and quiet, I could go back to my work.
Little did Pan know I already translated everything. The text spoke of an artifact called the Scythe of Death. According to legend, it would bring back lost souls from the land of the dead. At first I thought that was what the vampires were after, that is until I made a realization.
The more I read, the more I realized the text was actually a puzzle for the readers to solve. The legends it told gave clues to something even more terrible than a scythe that could recall souls. I was so close to translating that portion and the horrors that it could unleash. No, once I did, I had to make sure this information never reached Pan’s master.
I went back to writing
down the clues as I found them, hoping to piece them together and see the answer. There was another puzzle I needed to figure out. How could I get this information to Victor Inglewood before it was too late? If I could do that, maybe my path to redemption would begin…
Chapter 20
I’d found one of the little bastards. Outside a nightclub in downtown London, the evil creature was making a meal outta some young girl. He’d spotted me and the chase was on. Damn vampires are fast.
Thankfully the trail of blood he was leaving behind made this a bunch easier. As he swerved in and out of different streets, I was able to keep track. I wondered where the hell Liz was, I could’ve really used her help.
As we turned down another street, the good people of London started shouting obscenities at me for chasing a kid. Little did they know if it wasn’t for me, junior here would be snacking on them. The little jerk even turned around and stuck his tongue out at me, enjoying the scene he was creating.
So I did the only thing I could think of, “Stop that kid! He stole my wife’s purse!”
If there’s one thing people hate more than a grown man chasing a kid, it’s a thief. I knew the people wouldn’t (and shouldn’t) stop the Lost Boy, but they sure could slow him down. With me in hot pursuit and now having people reaching out to grab him, the kid’s speed got a whole lot more manageable. Seeing this was causing him for trouble than needed, he ducked back into the narrow alleyways.
Unfortunately for our little friend, I figured out where Liz was. As soon as he turned the corner, the petite vampire leveled him with one hell of a punch to the face. The sound that it made actually made my face hurt.
“Where the hell have you been?” I doubled over to catch my breath from running. “I could’ve used some help along the way you know?”
She picked up the out cold vampire kid. “You were doing just fine dear. You led him right to me.” She added a smile as if to say you can’t be mad at me.
“At least we caught the little bastard. If he would’ve gotten away, I’d been so pissed.”
She looked around; so far no one looked down to see what all the commotion was about. “We need to make haste and get back to the car. I do not know how long this one will be out.”
It was slow and tedious making our way back to the car, especially trying to carry the kid’s body back without drawing unwanted attention to ourselves. I can’t even tell you the relief I felt when we made it back and Liz got him strapped in.
“This should hold him if he wakes. The seatbelts in this vehicle are steel braided and offer superior resistance.”
I looked on with my doubts. “Tell you what, why don’t I drive us back and you sit back there with one of these, just in case.” I pulled out one of my tantos that my granddad gave me.
Liz took it, the silver gleaming in the moonlight. “It would not hurt to be extra cautious with this vile being.”
We were back in John’s Aston Martin and slowly getting out of the crowded downtown London area. As soon as we got on to a more remote street, our prisoner decided to come to.
“Ahhh shit that hurt.” He started shaking his head and he made eye contact with Liz. “You bitch! Pan will kill you for this!”
Taking the edge of the tanto, she put it right up to his throat. “No, I do not think he will. In fact, I do believe that I will kill you first and then him.” Pressing the blade harder, “That is unless you give me reason to let you live.”
The smell of blood hit the air; she actually cut him. I pulled off the road and hit the lights. “Listen kid, she’s a mean one and will cut your head off. Me? I’m rooting for ya to survive this, but that only happens with information.”
“If I tell you anything, then he kills me.” He either was just a scared, immortal kid or he played his part well.
“I don’t mean to point out the obvious, but she’ll kill you first.” For affect, her eyes went red and the fangs went out. “Depending on what you tell me though, I might be able to arrange something for you.”
“Fine, I’ll talk, but I want protection!”
“You tell me what you know first, and then we’ll talk protection.”
“Pan is taking orders from someone a lot older, stronger. He’s told us we need to find something hidden underneath the city!”
I looked over at Liz and she took the blade away from his neck, just a little. “What are you guys trying to find? Perhaps something called the Scythe of Death?”
“That? There’s no such thing, just a child’s tale. The real item is in the clues the legend holds. That’s why we got the old man translating the papers, you see?”
This was new. “What old man?”
“Some guy that our master saved; said he was valuable.” He cleared his throat, “I don’t know much about him other than he was a church man before he got turned.”
Liz brought the tanto back up to his neck like lightning. “What is this man’s name? Tell me now!”
“Pan calls him Warren.”
All the air in the car seemed to rush out. I felt nauseous at hearing the name. I wanted to think the kid was lying, but the fear in his voice, plus the detail about being a church man led to one conclusion. “Warren Tucker is alive?”
“Our master was very upset at the Baron for killing him. The Baron’s been killed though, by others.”
He didn’t know we were the ones that killed Forte, or it seemed our history with Tucker. “Was your master the one who let you off that island?”
He looked at me with an all new kind of fear. “Neverland was a prison, filled with all sorts of abominations and creatures that’d make your skin curl. When the master arrived to free us, he slaughtered many of the beasties. Not even Pan could’ve done that.”
Did this kid actually see the Hammer of Jehovah? “What does the master look like?”
He shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know. The one time I saw him, he was wearing a mask. Pan deals with him, not us. I think they’re friends.”
I wasn’t surprised to hear this. We’d gotten some good information though from the kid. “I’m just a lowly werewolf. So what’s going to happen next is I’m going to start driving again and you get to talk to that lovely lady back there about protection.”
I started the car up and turned on the music. Yeah, I could hear all the little details, but I tuned it out. There are some parts of Liz that scare me a little bit and this is one of ‘em. Every so often I’d hear words like torture and and death, but I’d hope she’d be kidding.
When we got back to John’s house, I pulled the car into the garage and turned around. The vampire kid was ghost white and Liz had a horrible smile on her face. “What’s the verdict boss?”
“Our friend Luke has agreed to talk to Roderick and give him as much information about Pan and his lair as he can in exchange for a lighter sentence.”
I’m not even lying, surprise hit me. I would’ve put money on something a lot worse. “Fair enough. We got a place to put him tonight until his interrogation?”
“I,” a voice came from behind us, “can be of assistance with that.” John looked at both of us and then the kid. Maybe I was just tired, but for a second, I thought I saw a red flash in his eyes.
“Sounds good to me brother. Come Vic; let us go get some rest, we both earned it.”
I followed, but I had a really bad feeling building in my gut.
Chapter 21
I don’t often kiss and tell, especially since my girl is both my boss and super woman all rolled into one. When we’d gotten back to the room we were sharing, she could tell I was still a bit wound up. Taking it upon herself, she certainly livened up the mood. I’ll never know how I pulled this one off, but winning the affections of this woman was one of the best things I’d ever done.
As you know, vampires tend to be good looking individuals. Liz was on her own scale in that regard. Sometimes it was a detriment to the job, because she could disarm me without trying. It wasn’t her vampire voodoo or anything; just I th
ink the feelings that’d been building up between us.
That was one subject we hadn’t talked about really at all and I was in no hurry. The day would come when we’d have to open up and be honest, but for now what we had was plenty damn good.
As she strolled out of the attached bathroom, her hair was wet and hanging down to her shoulders. Her ice blue eyes were full of life (ironic, I know) and the robe she was wearing was clinging to her body.
“You just know how to get a guy moving in the morning, don’t ya?”
She walked slowly over to the bed, enjoying the show she was putting on. “I just know what my wolf likes.”
“We probably should get a move on. I’m sure the witch has news to tell us.”
“I do not think she will mind waiting a few more minutes. We have not had a night like that since we got here and if it rolled over into the morning…”
“If you insist.”
She moved into the bed and our meeting in the kitchen would just have to wait. How could I say no to one sexy vampire, especially after the way she tossed her robe to the floor…?
****
“It’s about time the two of ye showed up? I didn’t think ye’d ever get down here!”
When we finally strolled into the kitchen, Rosette looked rather annoyed. It was almost as if she knew what we’d been doing and thought that was a waste of time. I can tell you, it wasn’t.
I brushed her off. “Hey, we had a long night chasing down one of Pan’s minions, cut us some slack!”
Her reaction said ‘get real’ but she just huffed and moved on. “So I did what ye asked and kept watch of them. I’m with ye Victor; I don’t think she’s working for anyone. She just seems like a scared girl.”
Liz looked at me. “You had her spy on Gregory and Rissa?”
“When you put it like that, it sounds awful. But yeah I did, only because John thinks she could be in cahoots with Pan. I’m just trying to prove my point that she’s cool.”
Rosette stepped up to defend me. “Yeah lassie, yer guy has faith in her.”
The Wrath of Pan (The Inglewood Chronicles Book 2) Page 9
