by Jon F. Merz
Not a good way to end the evening.
She retracted her hand and leaned in close to my ear. I felt the hot wetness of her tongue snake along my neck and up to my earlobe.
“I can make you explode in so many ways, it would be like being reborn over and over again.”
I didn’t doubt it. I could smell her musk in the air. She might have been a lethal drug dealer, but she’d just feasted and now she was horny.
Spectacular.
I wondered if Juarez was anywhere nearby. Like, about to come tearing into the valley, mow down all the bad guys, and open up with an assault rifle.
That would work.
La Calavera pulled away and looked at me with another one of her yearbook smiles. “You’re not as worried as I thought you would be. Surely you know that your death is imminent?”
“I thought we’d go to dinner first.”
She regarded me and then nodded. “Ah, I see it now. You think you have some form of rescue coming.”
I shrugged. “The Council doesn’t send just one of us to carry out a sanction. We always work in teams.”
She laughed long and loud. “That’s complete nonsense and you know it. Fixers always work alone unless there’s good reason to send more than one. And I think you were the only one sent here to deal with me.”
“You can’t take that chance,” I said. “In fact, you should just untie me right now.”
“Why? You’ll spare my life?”
I shook my head. “Can’t do that. You have to answer for your crimes. But I’ll make it quick. Far quicker than you would do for me.”
“Otherwise, what?” asked La Calavera. “Your imaginary friend waiting out in the dark will shoot me?”
I nodded. “That’s the plan.”
La Calavera took a breath. “The fact is, you are alone, Lawson. If you were with another, then they would have surely helped you when I sent the spirits to deal with you. But no one was there when my men found you.”
“Because they weren’t supposed to find him.”
“Presumably because you getting captured was all part of your plan to...well, what? Trap me? Shoot me?”
“Well, it wasn’t to trap you,” I said. “But my man is out there right now. Did you find my rifle?”
She barked an order and one of the cartel brought my Vintorez into the firelight.
“You mean this?”
I nodded. “He’s got one just like it and if I was a betting man, which I am, then I would bet that he has the sight locked on to your chest right at this very moment. And if you don’t make a decision soon, he’ll put a round right into your heart. You won’t have much time. Your teeth will lengthen and then retract as the wood enters your bloodstream. And then you’ll die, here in the dirt. Alone.”
La Calavera actually glanced around up at the mountains that surrounded us. She gave herself a full minute of thought and then looked back at me.
“I don’t think so. You are lying.”
“Why would I lie?” I asked.
“Because you know that I will make your death slow and agonizing,” said La Calavera. “And you are trying anything to save your skin.”
“Well, I happen to like my skin. I wouldn’t want it being made into some type of jacket, you know? I’m kind of attached to it.”
“Not for long,” said La Calavera.
I swallowed. Any time Juarez wanted to show up would be just fine with me. Like right now. Seriously, where the hell was that guy?
“By the way,” said La Calavera. “Did you see what I did to the man we had here earlier?”
“My memory is kinda foggy. Was it something with the nipple?”
“Indeed,” said La Calavera. “But that was really just the start of the fun. Would you like to see him now?”
“You know, only if it’s not a bother. I don’t want to put you out or anything.”
La Calavera clapped her hands and in seconds, I heard the sound of something being dragged closer to where I was. Two men materialized in the light and dumped a tarp in front of me. One of the flaps fell open and a head rolled out, coming to a rest at my feet, eyes open and staring right up at me.
Oh shit.
My legs felt wobbly then and the pit of my stomach dropped out. Juarez wasn’t going to be saving my ass anytime soon.
Not unless he could live without his head.
La Calavera’s laughter echoed around the valley for a long time after that.
9
When she finally stopped laughing, I just stared at her. “How’d you find him?”
La Calavera spread her arms. “Do you know how powerful we are? Do you even know how much influence we wield in this part of the world? Once El Chapo was taken out of circulation, we flourished. And we made a decision to become a lot more active than we had up until that point. We realized we could have more power than we had ever dreamed of possessing.”
“In other words, you got tired of living by the Council’s laws.”
La Calavera smiled. “Bright boy. Why should we subjugate ourselves to such things? The Council doesn’t rule us. They don’t know what sort of life we’ve had to carve for ourselves down here. It’s easy for them to pass judgment from the safety of their buildings back in Boston. But out here - in this place - it’s survival of the fittest.”
“Or the most murderous,” I said.
She laughed. “Indeed. We aren’t known for being the most merciful of opponents.” She nodded at Juarez’s head. “As he found out. We caught up with him at the bar he’d chosen to stop at. Outsiders aren’t exactly inconspicuous around these parts, if you get my drift.”
Juarez had been stupid. He never should have stopped at a local drinking hole. Talk is cheap in places like that. And he would have stuck out like a sore thumb in that environment. Someone dropped a dime on him and he’d paid for that bad decision with his life.
And if I got out of this mess alive, I was going to have to tell Silvia
Great.
“You killed a Loyalist. Did you know that?”
“He was human. Who cares what type of human he was?”
“He helped our race. He didn’t deserve to die like that. You could have let him go with a warning.”
La Calavera cocked an eyebrow. “What do I look like to you, Lawson, a school teacher? I am the most powerful woman in Mexico. There are none who will not eventually kneel before me and if they don’t, I will tear their very souls from their bodies.”
“I heard a rumor about that,” I said then.
She came closer again and I realized that I definitely did not enjoy having her as close to me as she seemed to like to stand.
“It’s not a rumor, Lawson. I can literally tear your soul out of your body and kill it.”
“I didn’t know that was a skill Invokers possessed.”
“Invokers,” La Calavera sniffed. “As if they are the-be-all-end all of those of our race who can wield magic.”
“I know there are Enchanters, too,” I said. Memories of Madagascar flooded my head and I tuned them out in order to focus better on La Calavera. “But they are rare.”
La Calavera shook her head. “It amazes me how little you actually know about our kind, Lawson. I thought Fixers were supposed to be fully up to speed on every bit of history and variants and myths and legends.”
“I think you’re mistaking me for being an Elder.”
La Calavera shook her head. “You’re really just a tool to be employed by those with greater power than you will ever possess.”
“I’ve been called a tool before,” I said. “Sort of in a different context, but it’s definitely not the first time I’ve heard it.”
“I don’t doubt it,” said La Calavera. “You strike me as the type to attract insults like a magnet.”
“Aw, that’s very nice of you to say.”
She fell silent for a moment. “What is?”
“That I’m magnetic,” I said with a big smile. “I thought you might have the hots for m
e, but I didn’t want to seem presumptuous and go for you with a big push. Overly aggressive guys are such a turn off, aren’t they?”
La Calavera hesitated as if she wasn’t exactly sure what was going on. I was her captive and I was supposed to be terrified. Truth was, that’s exactly how I felt. I wasn’t crazy about ending up like Juarez. Nor was I in love with the idea that La Calavera could rip my soul out of my body and kill it.
But I wasn’t about to let her see that. I’d found in the past that confidence breeds opportunities. And I desperately needed one right then. I had nothing else going for me and sometimes, you’ve got to jump without a net and trust in yourself.
So I did.
“You should probably release me now.”
“Why on earth would I do that?”
I shrugged. “Because I want to join your little gang here.”
She cocked an eyebrow again. “Excuse me?”
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about what you said. How the Council sucks. Hell, half of them hate my guts anyway.”
“I find that hard to believe,’ she said with a small grin.
“Yeah, sometimes I can be less than charming. Believe it or not.” I glanced around. “So, let’s talk. You could use a guy like me, I know it. Someone who knows how the Fixer service works, how the Council operates.”
“What makes you think I need that sort of information?”
I grinned. “Come on, if you have any hope whatsoever of expanding, then you’re going to need information. I mean, this is fine and all, but what if you want to go beyond Mexico - say into some place like Russia?”
La Calavera’s eyes flashed and I knew I’d scored a possible point.
“Why would we give a damn about the Russians?”
I flexed my arms a little to relieve the pressure. “Maybe because a little birdy told me that the Russians are getting into narcotics trafficking as well. Maybe they have a better product at cheaper cost. If they start undercutting you guys, you’re going to be out of business pretty quickly and all those precious dreams are going to get flushed. Regardless of how powerful and badass you are, you’re still going to come up against people who are tougher than you.”
“You think so.”
“I know so. It was a hard lesson for me to learn way back when I was just a kid, but learn it I did. Doesn’t matter how skilled you are, how tough you are, how powerful. There is always someone who has been doing it longer, harder, and better than you.”
La Calavera smiled. “The Russians are not the threat you make them out to be.”
“Well, that’s good then. Because I was sent here to make it look like the hit on you was staged by them. Which tells me that you already think they’re something of a threat otherwise the brain trust back in Boston wouldn’t have tried to lay the blame at their feet. But hey, if you think they’re just a bunch of pushovers, then it’s all good.”
La Calavera stared into the fire. “And you know Russia, do you? You know the language, the people? You’ve operated there before?”
“Once or twice.” I thought about Petrov and quickly blinked it away.
“And why would I trust you at your word? You are a Fixer, after all. Your lot is divinely chosen at your centennial to be what you are. How could you ever go against that?”
I sniffed. “Easily. And I wouldn’t be the first, let me tell you. I’ve dealt with a number of traitors to the Service before.”
“And how did that end?”
“Not well for them,” I said. “But that’s only because i was better than they were.”
“Indeed.” She came closer to me again. My feelings about that hadn’t changed. “I can tell you are a formidable man, Lawson. Not many of my prisoners would ever be able to hold their head up and look me defiantly in the eye when they were facing a horrible death. You are the first.”
“I’m one of a kind,” I said. “So, what do you say?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “It would take a great deal for me to think about trusting you. I’m not denying your offer is vaguely attractive. I could use a professional killer that I can send on my own missions. And I have no doubt that you could carry them out.”
“I have many years in the Service,” I said. “I can give you details on every operation I’ve ever been on. Full disclosure to help you better understand how the Council and Fixer Service operate. It will be of tremendous value to you as you go about expanding your world empire.”
La Calavera pursed her lips. “And what would you require in return?”
I shrugged. “Well, let’s be honest: I’m not crazy about dying right now, so for starters, my life.”
“Indeed. What else?”
“I should think that a retainer of one million dollars per year that I work for you would suffice.”
La Calavera waved her hand. “Money is so temporary. Wouldn’t you prefer something better?”
“Better?”
Her voice tickled the hairs on my earlobe. “I can show you things, Lawson. Things of the sort that you have never before imagined.”
“I don’t know...I can imagine quite a lot of stuff. Like really nasty, gutter type of stuff. You get my drift?”
“Unfortunately, I do,” said La Calavera. “But just for the sake of this conversation, let’s keep the lewd commentary to a minimum. It degrades that which we speak of.”
“Fair enough.”
She smiled. “The things I can show you would help you become better than you could ever possibly be as just a Fixer.”
I frowned. “Cut to the chase: what are you talking about here?”
“Magic. I can teach you how to wield it.”
I swallowed. “How is that even possible? I thought anyone from our race who wields magic has to be born into it.”
“You know for a fact that isn’t true,” said La Calavera.
“I do?”
“I can see into your mind somewhat,” said La Calavera. “You battled against a foe named the Silencer, did you not?”
It was a day for flashbacks, apparently. I saw China all over again. The catwalk. The helicopter. Those creatures. I shuddered. “Yeah. I did.”
“And she was gifted with the power of the Invokers, am I correct?”
“Yeah, you’re correct.” As much as I hated to admit it, she was. And I hated the Silencer all over again for her talent at being able to wield spirits.
“She was not born with those skills,” said La Calavera. “She was taught how to use them.”
“By a traitor,” I said then.
La Calavera laughed. “You’re not exactly supposed to be disgusted by that revelation, given what you are proposing you do for me.”
“Good point.” I needed to watch myself. “So, who taught her?”
La Calavera shook her head. “I do not know the answer to that. I can only see glimpses of your memories. But I can recognize what she was and what she was not. And what she was not, was someone born into magic. She came by her skills another way.”
“And you’re telling me you can teach me how to wield that magic, too?”
La Calavera nodded. “That and much more. Think of how utterly powerful you would be, Lawson. There would be no other Fixer that could stand against you. Combined with your Fixer skills, you would be the most potent killer in the history of our race.”
“You make an attractive offer,” I said. “How long would it take?”
“That really depends on you,” she said. “For some, the process is quick. Days or weeks. For others whose minds need to be properly trained, it can take much longer. Years or more. Decades even. But don’t fret, we’re vampires, after all. Our lives are measured in centuries.”
La Calavera smiled and ran a hand across my face. “I must say, the thought of taking you under my wing causes my heart to beat a little bit faster.”
I was pretty sure that was the only thing she wanted to take me under. “Yeah, sounds like a great idea.”
She pulled away. “So you’ll do it?
You’ll betray the Council?”
I looked her right in the eyes. “Sure.”
10
But she wasn’t quite as much a fool as I’d hoped she was. Instead of freeing me, La Calavera had her two wenches-in-waiting keep an eye on me. They looked like carbon copies of La Calavera, just younger. Much younger. I wondered if they’d even passed their centennials yet.
I tried making conversation with them and that went about as well as trying to give a root canal to a great white shark. Neither one of them wanted to say a thing, so eventually I just clammed up.
Meanwhile, La Calavera’s men were busy building the fire up higher. The headlights stayed on only until the fire had grown to the point that it cast all the light needed. Then the cars switched off and a silence fell over the entire valley.
Not even the wind moved and I had the sense that La Calavera was up to something. I wished that I had a gun on me. Then I could have just shot my way out of there.
But I had nothing, aside from my wit and cunning and I was worried that they were coming up short. Especially when La Calavera came walking back over to me with the kind of smile I usually see wolves give their prey.
“How are you feeling?”
I shrugged. “I’d be feeling better if you untied my hands.”
“I meant about your betrayal. Has it hit home yet that you’re a traitor to your cause? To the very Service you’ve pledged some of the best years of your life?”
“Things change. No sense getting worked up about it.”
She eyed me. “And yet, I wonder if your sincerity is legitimate.”
“You’re already questioning my loyalty? Nice way to start off a relationship with me.” I frowned. “Seriously…”
“If you’re willing to betray one thing, you might just be willing to betray another.”
“It’s not like I make a habit out of doing this.”
She rubbed my chin. “Indeed. I wonder if this is your first time.” She peered into my eyes. And then she hummed a low melody that I couldn’t quite make out. But it was something of an ear worm and it snaked into my head and rooted around. I felt like the file cabinet in my skull was being tossed open.
