Weaken the Knees (The Immortal World Book 6)

by Shannon A. Hiner

  “Rene.” The annoyed voice cut her hazy concentration on the weapon. “Please don’t shoot me.”

  Her vision cleared slowly to reveal William Rynquist standing on the opposite side of an alley from her. He had one hand raised in half-hearted surrender and was sucking thick blood off the other. What had happened? Her finger twitched on the trigger, the gun still pointed at his chest.

  He stilled. Warm brown eyes steady and calm on her. Like he knew she wouldn’t shoot. Yet, she might. He was extremely irritating. She could make it look like an accident.

  “Anytime you’d like to lower that thing, I’d appreciate it.”

  Her eyes narrowed on him and she flicked off the safety.

  Will sighed and rolled his eyes.

  “Why are you here?” she growled.

  “I’m following the human, in case you’d forgotten. It’s the task you assigned to me.”

  “The human . . .” Rene’s body stiffened. She glanced around. “Stephen Smart is here?”

  “He was before you went ape-shit. Hopefully he didn’t hear any of your antics.”

  She swung the gun and her body around, searching the night for the human who had poisoned and nearly killed her. Not much to be seen from the alleyway. “Where is he?” she asked. “What’s he doing here?”

  Will must have finally picked up what hadn’t been said. “Wait, where are we? Where is ‘here’?”

  She glanced at the apartment building across the way, but didn’t answer. Rene was less concerned with informing Will that it was her building and far more concerned with knowing where the murderous mortal was. Peeking around the edge of the building, she scanned the well-lit streets. It was still somewhat early in the evening, but there was no one about. She inhaled deeply, seeking the scent of Smart’s soured blood and too-sweet cologne. Nothing. Either he was long gone, or Will was a liar.

  Glancing back at the other vampire, she sighed. Will was a lot of things. Much as it would be nice to believe in this particular instance, she knew he wasn’t a liar. Which meant the Venor knew where she lived. How that had come to be when only Serena and Tanner had ever known about her apartment, she didn’t know. But, seeing as the human was also a resident of Salt Lake City, he or one of his goons must have been following her for some time.

  The implications were astounding. They had baited her into the open, into attacking him. Rene had been targeted from the beginning. They knew where she lived, what she was, and what she did for a living.

  They knew her better than anyone except for Serena. Why her? Did they target more vampires? Or just her?

  Over two hundred years had passed since she had been prey. She wasn’t about to go back to that now.

  “Find out where he’s gone. I’ll see you at the meeting.”

  “Where are you going?”

  She didn’t answer him, only disappeared, shimmering into her apartment across the street where she packed a small bag and took it back to her rooms in Abandon.

  She wouldn’t be watched. They couldn’t follow her to the immortal cities.

  ∞∞∞

  “They’re planning a meeting,” Faber said as he entered the conference room that morning before dawn.

  Megan was already seated, of course, and nodded. “Yes, mine called William’s to confirm. Two nights from now.”

  William strolled through the door behind Faber. “At a new location. They may be on to us.”

  “They’re not.” Rene leaned back in her chair. Stephen Smart wouldn’t have been watching her apartment so brazenly if they were on to the vampires. “Kendra, do you have anything new? Any reason why they’re changing venues?”

  Kendra had set up shop on one half of the large round conference table. Three computer screens hummed at all hours of the day and night, a constant stream of information flowing into and out of them as she watched the Venor from the inside. Her dark ponytail shook side to side, the only part of her visible behind the monitors. “No, but they sent out a group text to twenty-three phone numbers with the day and time. The location is in code, but since you guys are following the leaders around, I don’t think we’ll need to worry about figuring it out.”

  “Is it similar to past meet-up texts? Anything that might set it apart?”

  The ponytail shook again. “Nope. Exactly the same. Except for the location. There’s some chatter between the lower members. Mostly just arranging carpools and dinner dates beforehand.”

  “I want eyes in there,” Rene muttered.

  “My human seems to have been looking to recruit new members,” Faber said. “But no one passes the other two’s inspections.”

  “Chatter says membership has tightened up in the last couple of months.” Kendra’s voice reached around the computer screens.

  “We’ll follow them to the meet-up,” William said. “We can try to get in a bit closer, see if there’s anyone special there besides the top three.”

  “I’m coming.” Rene’s fingers drummed on the tabletop, thinking of Smart outside her apartment, staring up at it, through it, seeing her. She had to put a stop to this, to him, or she’d never sleep soundly again.

  Will’s brows drew together, eyes doubtful. “Are you sure that’s—”

  Glaring at him, she cut him off. “I’m coming. Two nights. I’ll head in with Megan and her human. None of you get too close tomorrow night. I don’t want anything to spook them.”

  The meeting broke up soon after. William lingered in the room. “Rene, something feels off about this whole thing. What is that building Smart is watching?”

  “Go home, Will.” She stood, pretending not to see the suspicious look on his face. “Get some rest. The sun is rising later these days.”

  ∞∞∞

  Mist sprawled over the streets of Genocide, the remnants of rain two nights past. It hugged the curves of the buildings and caressed the sidewalks beneath the street lamps, painting everything in grays and murky orange.

  Rene turned down the alley leading to Errin Kaye’s shop. Located between the backside of the main street shops, the alley was tight and dank. The red brick of the bloodletting building on one side seemed to be steeped in the scent and sheen of blood. As if those who lost and gave their lives within were bleeding out through the walls.

  Ignoring it, she stepped out into a square courtyard with an overgrown lawn and weeping willow tree to one side. The alley turned into a concrete path leading up to the doctor’s front steps. A mailbox in the shape of a house was next to the front door. A tiny candle lit in its diminutive window. The doctor was in.

  Of course, she already knew that, having called an hour before. Mounting the steps, she rapped on the door. A voice called from within, welcoming and muffled.

  Rene opened the door and peeked her head inside. In her time as an immortal she’d never had reason to visit Errin Kaye’s medical offices. Having met him only a few times, her impression of the doctor was lacking depth. He seemed nice enough, if a little eccentric.

  “Kaye?” she called hesitantly, seeing no one in the front waiting area. A long bench stood beside the front wall of the brightly lit room. It was more like a library or museum than what she understood modern doctor’s offices to look like. Against the back wall, a set of stairs led to a second floor. Directly in front of her were a set of tall shelves lined up row by row and filled with medicines, books, and a vast array of medical tools. The walls boasted antique medicine advertisements. She walked along the wall to read them, marveling over how much medicine had changed since she was a human.

  “Around the corner, my dear,” a vaguely familiar voice called from somewhere behind all the bookcases.

  Rene turned away from the framed advertisements and followed the voice. The stairs came to an end just a few feet from a desk in the farthest corner of the room. It was neatly appointed, if sagging under the weight of all the textbooks and medicine bottles. Behind the computer screen, a man who appeared to be in his late twenties was typing at breakneck speed.

&nbs
p; He glanced up and smiled quickly. Tousled dark blond hair and light eyes combined with a broad forehead and cheekbones gave the impression of affability and openness. That demeanor of his probably put most people at ease. Rene was not most people.

  “Hello there, Miss Kaplan.” He stood, stepped around the side of the desk, and bowed slightly at the waist. Lucifer’s balls, she’d forgotten. He was called the Victorian for a reason. A light blue waistcoat, knee breeches, and a tailcoat were crowned by a crisp, snowy white cravat.

  “You forgot the hat,” she said without thinking. She thought about how rude it might have sounded about two seconds after her mouth was closed. Then shrugged mentally. She’d earned her reputation too.

  He grinned and the skin around his eyes crinkled. Rene had to stop herself from smiling back. Gracious, he was charming without even trying. Again her defenses rose and she glared at him suspiciously.

  “I wore hats for nearly thirty years, Miss Kaplan. I assure you I burned the last of them the moment they were out of fashion.”

  “Um,” she looked at the rest of his attire pointedly. “Think you missed a few items.”

  “Fashion these days is appalling. I may not like hats, but I don’t need to look like a slob if I can help it.” He motioned to the door a few feet away. “Now, I believe you were here about the blood sample you so graciously supplied me.”

  She snorted. “Yeah, it was gracious all right. I nearly died to get it.”

  He waited for her to move past him and through the door. On the other side was a brightly lit examine room. This was more like it. Everything was white and chrome, scrubbed scrupulously clean and looking ready to save lives. The door swung shut behind Errin and he led her across the room to a lab table with a large microscope. A few pieces of paper were laid next to the sample of blood.

  “It’s really quite ingenious,” he said, pulling the stool out from under the table and standing aside so she could sit on it. “I heard studies were being done into the process, but I’d no idea they had progressed so far. What I must know is how they’ve stemmed the side effects.”

  Rene looked through the microscope and saw exactly what she expected. Which was nothing she understood or could put into words. “Doc, you’re gonna have to slow your roll and back up a few dozen steps for me. What am I looking at?”

  “As you’ve already discovered, they’ve found a way to poison their blood. They’re using ivermectin in enormous doses. Doses this size should be causing some very uncomfortable side effects. Headaches, nausea, vertigo, nosebleeds. I’m assuming your hunters are not displaying these?”

  “Not that anyone has mentioned to me yet. What is ivermectin?”

  “It’s a drug that was developed back in the 1980s to combat certain parasites in humans. Lately there have been studies and test groups to see if it could poison mosquitoes when they bite humans.”

  “Mosquitoes?”

  He grinned again. “Right? It makes perfect sense!”

  Rene was pretty sure she was offended. The vampire hunters were treating them as parasites . . . and it was working.

  Kaye continued, “The doses they are using though—I don’t understand it. A normal human should be nearly incapacitated by it. If you’re able to find out what they’re using to block or subdue the symptoms, I would love to know.”

  “What do we do in the meantime? How do we protect against the poison?”

  “Don’t bite them,” he said matter-of-factly. “Use the other tools at your disposal, but don’t bite. I’m researching possible ways to combat the poison, but few to none of them would work on a vampire.”

  Rene sighed and stood. “You have anything that’s actually going to help us?”

  Kaye didn’t take offense at her tone, just shrugged with an easy smile. “Not yet. But I’ve got a couple of irons in the fire. Aside from ways to combat the poison, I’m also looking into the drug itself and its origins. Drugs are like art. Each creator has their own style, their own mark. If I can trace this particular ivermectin back to a specific lab or research facility, I should be able to give you a place to start looking for the supplier. I’m willing to bet that person will be directly involved with whoever is directing the hunters.”

  “All right. I suppose that’s a start.”

  “It’s not enough, I know,” Kaye said. “If you can get me anymore information or samples to work with, without risking yourselves, every little bit helps. There are tests I can run, but they will destroy or use up the sample. Without more, I am hesitant to go those routes.”

  “I understand. Thanks.” She turned and moved toward the door.

  “Oh, Miss Kaplan?”

  “Rene, please.”

  He smiled and bowed his head. “Errin, then. How is your recovery? Lasting ill effects? Anything out of the ordinary for you?”

  Nothing except the fact that she couldn’t hunt. Stephen Smart’s eyes flashed behind hers and she stiffened. Her vision cleared a second later and she glared at the doctor. “No. I’m fine.”

  His right eye twitched minutely and he took half a step toward her.

  “Thanks again, Doc—er, Errin—please call if you have anything new.” Rene turned quickly and was out the door and shimmering away from Genocide inside of three seconds. One thing hadn’t changed about doctors in the last two hundred years. They were impossible when they smelled a lie.

  Chapter 8

  Finally she would learn what it meant to be a serious vampire.

  Rene snickered under her breath as she and Megan trailed Marissa Noble two nights later. The human was small and somewhat lumpy appearing in her thick sweater and long skirt. When compared with the sleek forms of the vampires stalking her, she certainly looked like another species entirely.

  So far, being a serious vampire was nearly as boring as Rene had supposed it to be. Megan hadn’t spoken from the moment they left Abandon, using terse hand signals and head nods to coordinate with Rene. An hour back, Rene attempted to speak mind to mind with her, but Megan had given her a cold look and shook her head only once, briefly. She should have gone with Faber and followed his human. Lesson learned, she’d not make the same mistake twice.

  Being a serious vampire was definitely not for her.

  The human traveled a circuitous route to the meeting. Less determined, less . . . supernatural . . . beings would have been left in the dust. Megan was determined. Rene would give her that. The human walked through an entire big box store, going down random aisles and cutting through crowds before leaving without buying a single item. She circled a few blocks and even went into a restaurant, leaving by the back door. Marissa Noble never glanced behind her, never changed her speed. She gave no indication she knew she was being followed.

  If this was the kind of daily paranoia she acted with, she was clearly insane. Except, well, she was being followed.

  After nearly two hours of that nonsense, she disappeared into a crowd on the street and was lost from sight. Megan stopped moving immediately, throwing out a hand to stop Rene as well. Rene was unprepared for the arm she ran into and growled. Megan gave her another harsh head shake and signaled to be quiet. The Madrassi vampire stared into the crowd of street musicians where the human disappeared, like a cat waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.

  They stood still as gravestones for a full two minutes, before Rene sighed. “We lost her.”

  This time Megan growled.

  A rumble of soft laughter made their heads swing around. Faber was leaning against the building behind them with his arms crossed. An easy grin lifted his cheeks. “Hello ladies. Lost your quarry?”

  “Lost yours?” Rene asked, looking about for Shawn Mizenhast.

  “Nope. And I know where yours is too.” He nodded to the building across the street, directly behind the street musicians. No door stood out in the side of the building, no window or other way of entry either.

  “How?” Megan growled at him.

  “Same way Will’s is about to get in.” Faber stepp
ed back into the shadow of a shop awning and motioned for them to follow.

  At the mention of Stephen Smart, Rene’s stomach dropped. A shudder worked through the muscles of her shoulders. She followed Faber without hesitation, turning so her back wasn’t to the human who nearly succeeded in killing her. Less than a minute later, she saw him. His tall muscled form moved gracefully down the street and then he too disappeared into the crowd of musicians. But from their current vantage point she could see him press against the wall of the building, see how it wavered and swallowed him up, then flattened again. Like magic.

  “What the—”

  “This is the best part,” Faber said, his grin widening. Across the street, catty-corner from where Stephen Smart just disappeared, Will stopped walking and stared at the building, confused, searching.

  Rene smiled and barely held back a laugh. It would have been funnier if she and Megan hadn’t just done the same thing. These humans were wily.

  “How did you figure it out?” Megan turned and hissed at Faber. The serious vampire was seriously peeved.

  Faber shrugged one shoulder, with a good natured smile. “I didn’t until I was standing right here and yours disappeared too.”

  His admission didn’t seem to soothe Megan. She was a cat whose canary got away. She wouldn’t be happy until she’d tasted blood and feathers.

  “We should put Will out of his misery,” he said.

  “Hmph.” Rene rolled her eyes. “Let him stew in it a while.” Both of the other vampires gave her a look, causing Rene to roll her eyes again. “Fine, fine. By all means, tell him he’s not a complete failure.”

  ∞∞∞

  William watched Rene’s face as she followed Megan around the side of the building. She was grinning in a way that made him think she didn’t do it on purpose. Didn’t think she would be seen. She got that look sometimes. Pure mischief. As if she was up in her head making commentary on the world and everything in it. He would have given anything to know what she was thinking at that moment. Anything to be in on the joke. What was it about Megan that amused her so?