Weaken the Knees (The Immortal World Book 6)

by Shannon A. Hiner

  Glancing down at the floor, she visualized the human in the apartment beneath hers and sneered. Hopefully her next place wouldn’t house such whiny bloodbags. Maybe she would take care of him when it was time to move. Do a favor for the next resident.

  Shrugging off her jacket, Rene tossed it in the direction of the hook without sparing a glance to see if it made it. The digital clock on her wall told her she still had an hour until sunrise. She picked up her MP3 player and earbuds, letting herself out onto the small balcony. The night air was damp and chill. Cold didn’t affect her, but she enjoyed the scent of impending winter and salt off the flats. Pine resin curled about everything, masking the iron and petroleum of the city.

  She settled in her deck recliner, kicked her feet up, and popped the earbuds in. The last six months had found her deep in a 1990s grunge obsession. The strains of Oasis’ Wonderwall filtered through the earbuds and drowned out everything else. Rene closed her eyes and turned the volume up. The music pounded through her ears and echoed in every cell of her body. One of the wonderful things about being undead was not having to worry about damage to her eardrums. She turned the song up another couple of notches, let the sound waves roll through her and take the rest of the blood frenzy edge off.

  Song after song played until the playlist was exhausted and she started it again.

  After a while, an unwelcome intrusion buzzed from her pocket. Without opening her eyes, Rene dug her phone out and removed one earbud. Music still blaring in one ear, she held the phone up and pressed a button.

  “Yes?”

  “Rene, where are you?”

  She opened her eyes with a frown. “I’m home.” She wasn’t aware of any other commitments tonight aside from the one she’d already fulfilled. And which had fulfilled her. She smiled a lazy, contented smile at the electric feeling in her bones and muscles. The blood had spread beyond her veins now and was repairing, reviving, the deeper portions of her anatomy.

  “I thought you’d be here tonight.”

  “Was tonight special?”

  “You forgot? You really forgot?” Her best friend’s normally warm voice turned cool with disappointment. “Wade Elliot came back tonight.”

  “Back from Discord?”

  “Yes!”

  “Oh.” She wasn’t being purposefully terse. She had forgotten. It just wasn’t important to her what the new leader of their clan did with his time. “Okay. So what happened?”

  “Nothing!”

  Rene blinked.

  “He didn’t say anything to me. He just nodded on his way to his office and shut the door.” Serena huffed. “I mean, he didn’t have to make any announcements today or anything, but he could have at least told me he’s thinking about it and will let me know—you know?”

  “Yeah.” Rene cleared her throat and said, “Sure.” She would never understand how she and Serena had managed to bond, or why Serena put up with her. She had absolutely no idea what to say in these situations. She just . . . didn’t care. Shit, that sounded awful. She cared about Serena. The other vampire was probably the only thing she cared about anymore. But Rene didn’t care much about the leadership of their clan, or who Wade Elliot chose to be his Second in Command.

  Serena would do one hell of a job, if she was chosen. The woman was a perfectionist with some very Type A personality traits and a compunction for color-coding and putting tabs and sticky notes on everything.

  “So, I guess you didn’t need me there, then. Right?”

  The other line was silent for a moment. Then Serena sighed. “I just hate the uncertainty. It’s been a month since he went to Discord to train with Estrada and Reine. Our clan needs firm leadership. We need someone who will step up and say unequivocally, ‘This is what will be done. This is who will do it.’ I just don’t get why he’s letting it go so long without making a decision.”

  Rene shrugged, then belatedly realized Serena couldn’t see her. Maybe this was a conversation better had in person. “He’s young still, not even one hundred. Cut him some slack.”

  “I don’t know what Celeste was thinking, leaving him in charge.”

  “And not you?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  Rene smiled and looked up at the sky. So predictable. “No, that’s why I did.”

  “I’m not saying I could do a better job—”

  “Yes, you are.”

  “—I’m just saying I would have the clan settled by now and a Second in place.”

  “Oh yeah?” Rene grinned. “Who?”

  “Well . . .”

  “Not so easy, huh?”

  “Actually, I was going to say you, but I worried you might not react—”

  “Me?” Rene sat up so fast the recliner squealed in protest. “Are you bat-shit crazy?”

  “—well.”

  “This is exactly why Celeste didn’t leave you in command of the Acrien, Serena. Are you kidding me? I am the last person who should be in charge of anyone’s welfare.”

  “You don’t think Tanner was grooming you for just such a position?”

  At the mention of her sire, Rene felt her throat close off. What would have been a snarky retort turned rancid on her tongue and she let it slide back down her throat.

  “Rene? Still there?”

  “It’s getting early. Gray on the horizon. I need to head for bed.”

  “Rene—”

  “Night, Serena.” She ended the call and turned to look out over her balcony to the East. The mountains were only discernible from the black of the sky because of the lack of stars. Not a fleck of gray to herald the dawn.

  Why did Serena have to bring Tanner up?

  Turning away from the view, Rene went back inside and locked the doors. As she walked, she removed the other earbud and put the MP3 player back on the end table. Down the short hall, past the bathroom and linen closet was her bedroom. Finding an apartment with a windowless bedroom had been quite a challenge. She had been in this one for about five years. Unfortunately, it would be time to move soon. She barely looked old enough to rent, and staying in one place for too long made people suspicious fast. She’d only just passed for eighteen years old when she signed the lease, and now the landlord thought she was twenty-three.

  Rene sighed. Too bad. She loved this apartment.

  Stripping off her boots and the rest of her clothes she padded over to the bed and lay down on top of the covers. The narrow twin-size was covered in soft cotton sheets and nothing else. A single pillow for her head, and she didn’t even tuck herself in under the sheets. Rene took a deep breath and reached for her backup MP3 player sitting upon the night stand. The noise-canceling headphones were next, and she started the music about three-quarters of the way up. Dusky blues that crossed over to country played out and tempted her mind away from all its concerns. Settling her shoulders back and her hands on top of her stomach, Rene closed her eyes and tried to relax.

  She was nearly asleep when she heard it.

  Sarah.

  That name. Whispered over her skin. It raised every hair on her body and sent a shudder of sickly awareness through her.

  Without opening her eyes, she turned the music up all the way and thought of her sire. Thought of his arms around her, protecting her, taking her away from that life. He was gone now. But so was the monster. There was no one to guard her. But there was nothing to guard her from.

  She was safe.

  She didn’t feel safe. She hadn’t felt safe in over a month. Because he was gone. And she was alone.

  It was hours before she fell asleep, and only then it was only through imagining his arms around her, his whisper against her temple.

  I will save you.

  Chapter 2

  The nice thing about humans was they were always so ready for death.

  Not their own, of course. But the deaths of others. Their rivals. Their enemies. People who made them particularly angry, and people who would benefit them to have out of the way. As a being that subsisted off the
deaths of humans, it made Rene’s life a lot easier when her main source of food was so pro-death.

  Humans were so accustomed to death, they looked for it.

  They hired it.

  They hired her.

  Only two days after her last meal, a new opportunity for both food and rent money came to her. Browsing the website’s bulletin, she found it. Like a personal ad from the devil himself.

  Seeking: Short term relationship. Clean break preferred. Half now. Half at terminus. Experience a must. 50K.

  Rene whistled to the bright screen. That would set her up for the next year, and buy her a new pair of boots. Most wet work didn’t pay so well. Unlike what the movies made it sound like, steady work in her line didn’t pay millions. The typical job rarely topped ten thousand. Someone must really hate this human. No picture was provided; typical. Sometimes rookies got a little over-excited and raced each other to see who could take the mark first. Messy was an understatement, and for this price tag and someone who wanted squeaky-clean—better to be extra safe.

  She tilted her head, staring at the post. Something itched at the back of her brain. She should skip it. High-profile jobs were always more trouble. She didn’t need the cash; rent was paid through the next six months and she had enough to cover her other minor expenses.

  But that high of a price tag?

  Must be challenging.

  Teeth sliding over her bottom lip, Rene let the excitement of that thought grip her just a moment. Not much was a challenge in this line of work anymore. Humans discounted her young appearance, never comprehending the strength and literal thirst for blood she worked with. She needed a challenge. She craved a challenge.

  What if it was another immortal?

  She’d heard of that happening once in a while.

  Someone got too big for their britches and pissed off the wrong human. Granted, the immortal didn’t usually end up dead at the end of the day, but it could be a real mess to clean up. And besides, they’d be expecting a human. Not a Rene.

  She almost moaned at the thought. To go after someone who put up a fight, a real fight.

  God, she needed a life.

  No, it was a bad idea. High-profile work was not what she wanted or needed. About to close out the browser tab, her eye caught on the last line. Every post had a “Requesting” line. Rarely was anything written there. Most people looking to hire were first timers, inexperienced, a little afraid. Their posts were either brief and panicked, or long-winded and far too defensive. But rarely was anyone experienced enough with this world to make special requests.

  The line caught her eye because the poster had made a request.

  It kept her attention because of what the request said: The Vampire.

  ∞∞∞

  It was a bad idea.

  She knew it was a bad idea.

  But her curiosity was piqued. Her vanity stroked.

  Asked for by name. Or rather, nickname. Code name? It didn’t matter. They wanted her. Fifty thousand dollars, and asked for by name.

  Rene stood outside the twenty-four hour grocery store with her hands stuffed in jacket pockets and a hood drawn up over her hair. The wall at her back was cool. A loose stone dug between her shoulders, but she ignored it. Bored teenagers didn’t shift around a lot. They waited, sullen and unblinking, waiting for a passerby to make eye contact. Then they asked for booze. Or cigarettes. Keeping up the disguise was stupidly easy. One man did bring her a carton of cigarettes in exchange for her wadded-up cash. Then he stood too close and asked her to share.

  She very politely showed him her teeth.

  Immature. She sighed and looked down. Well over two hundred years old and she still couldn’t resist the urge to be a smart ass.

  Sometimes she worried being turned so young had affected her ability to mature. Her sire would have smiled and shook his head at her. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall. Tanner Covington had the best smile in the world. So easy. So warm. When he smiled at you, you felt like his favorite person in the world. But he had died next to his favorite person in the world. They had died together.

  Her throat closed off again and she opened her eyes, expecting to see Celeste’s cool gaze looking back. Impossible to believe they were both dead. The final death. She didn’t mourn Celeste. Never would. But Tanner . . . still, it was better they went together.

  A human walked out of the store with a large brown bag tucked under one arm, pulling up his hood with the other.

  He must have smelled the threat of the season’s first rain on the light breeze. If Rene was any judge, it would be upon them before he got home. If a clean shot presented itself, perhaps she would be too.

  Cars sped by and bells rang on shop doors, but Rene’s footsteps barely marked a path upon the ground, and they didn’t even make a scuff of sound. Despite the fluid grace of her kind in opposition to humans, it had taken a few decades of practice to walk so quietly. And another after that to do it in her favorite boots. Still, when you were naturally graceful, having the added weapons of stiletto heels on your person could never be anything but a plus.

  Gah, humans walked so slowly. Measuring her footsteps, Rene continued to hold herself back, slowing down more and more to stop gaining on him. Not time yet. Money-bags wanted clean, so this wouldn’t be witnessed by anyone. No bystanders caught in the mix. It was almost physically painful to walk so slowly. Maybe she could stop for a few minutes and pretend to smoke. Play a game on her phone, anything not to have to crawl through these streets at a snail’s pace.

  It took all of her admittedly short supply of self-control to stay on the human’s trail. Boredom or not, her reputation was on the line. She had been asked for by name. And this guy was supposed to be an “Experience a Must.”

  Was he playing with her? Did he know she followed?

  A fissure of awareness slithered up her arms and circled her neck. Did humans really go to the market at—she checked her phone—eleven at night?

  He had come from work, she reminded herself. He was probably hungry. Damn, so was she. Soon enough. But what a disappointment it had been to find he wasn’t an immortal, just a regular old blood-bag who pissed off the wrong person.

  Rene sighed. The night was chilly, but her breath didn’t mist the air.

  It took the human fifteen minutes to get home. Only a mile from the store. She could have made it in three at only a brisk walk. The streets were relatively quiet, still there wasn’t a clear shot on the walk. Despite her irritation, Rene kept a steady pace well behind the human. Her hood obscured all but her nose and mouth. Still, he never looked behind. Never suspected he had a tail.

  She let herself smile when he jogged up a short set of stairs to the green front door of a townhouse. Humans were so easy. Too easy sometimes. In the last two hundred years she’d seen all their tricks. This routine had become a little boring, monotonous. But it paid the bills, kept her apartment, and bought her music.

  The human balanced his grocery bag in one hand, and slid a key into the door lock with the other. Silent as death, Rene closed the distance between them and halted just on the first step.

  “Excuse me,” she called, “may I use your phone?”

  The human startled and half dropped his bag. Out of the top three apples tumbled out. His keys hit the ground in front of the door.

  “Oh jeez, I’m so sorry.” Rene caught one apple, blocked the other from rolling away with her foot and then reached for the keys. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  Leaning a shoulder against the door, the human took a couple of quick, deep breaths. The fright had made the adrenaline rush through his veins. Trying not to bite her lip, Rene worked to keep her own reaction steady. Glory, that smelled good though.

  “May I, though?”

  “Sorry,” he blinked down at her. “What?”

  “Your phone? Mine’s dead and I need to call a ride.” She held out his keys but kept the apples.

  “Oh, uh, yeah. Just—” He t
ook the keys and glanced at his once again full hands. “Let me just put these inside.”

  “Thanks!” She was using her “modern” voice. A twenty-first century American accent, upper mid-east, and it sounded nothing like her. So young, carefree, innocent. Not even as a human did her voice have the same lightness.

  Nodding, the human unlocked the door and walked inside. Without waiting for an invitation, she followed close on his heels. He glanced back only to find her directly behind him and was startled all over again. Rene gave him her cute-little-girl innocent smile and closed the door behind them.

  “Where should I put these?” She held up the apples.

  “Uh, here, just put them in the top of the bag.” He leaned the bag toward her, giving her a clear view of the vein throbbing in his neck. He sensed it. His impending death. He didn’t know what he sensed, but his pitiful dying instincts were screaming at him. Fight or flight? He didn’t know what to do. He wouldn’t until it was too late. Setting the bag down on a table just inside the door, he reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a cell phone. He wasn’t going to let her any farther into the house. It didn’t matter.

  Smiling her thanks, Rene grasped the phone and let it crumble in her hands. Her syrupy sweet voice squeaked out an, “Oops!”

  His eyes widened.

  Too late.

  His back hit the wall, propelled by her strength as she ripped back the collar of his shirt and raked her teeth across his neck, drawing a distinct pair of horizontal lines down to his throat. He fought her. He was strong. He outweighed her by nearly thrice as much, and as he tried to shove her away, he nearly dislodged her teeth with his brute strength. That was a bit of a surprise. Then again, her targets weren’t normally so well built. She still wouldn’t have thought a human could be so strong though.