“You’re awfully confident,” Matilda said, her expression stopping just short of a sneer.
I smiled at her. “Yes, I am.”
“How much is she paying you?” George asked.
“Enough that I can take time off from work for a few days. George, if money was my motivation, Barclay offered me a million dollars to take you out, and I told him no.”
“As if you could,” Edward said, gracing me with a full-blown patrician sneer.
“I could take all three of you out between the main course and dessert,” I said, invoking my shield. “Try to touch me.”
He reached out, but his hand stopped six inches away from me.
“I don’t have to be stronger, faster, or harder to kill if you can’t lay a hand on me,” I said. “I’m sure all of you are smarter and far wiser than I am, but I have magic that you can’t equal.”
George gave me a lop-sided grin. “Atonement?”
I met his eyes. “Perhaps. One must start somewhere. Do vampires ever think about atonement?”
He nodded. “I think some of us do.”
After dinner—which was incredible, the steak cut with a butter knife—George led me to the basement and then through a tunnel to a building on another street.
“If you need any help, you have my number,” he said as he let me out a side door into an alley.
Chapter 15
I spent the night in Jolene’s spare bedroom. I would have rather gone to Trevor’s but I was afraid he would reject me again. I was missing something, but I didn’t know what, and I was too embarrassed to ask Jolene. Or Lizzy. He had slept with her. How do you ask someone’s ex-girlfriend why he continued to pull me to him and then push me away?
The following morning, I watched Jolene cast a finding spell, but without anything that was personal to the dhampir we were searching for, she came up empty. As a fallback plan, she created half a dozen tracking chips that could be planted on a person or an object. If the bounties were being paid based on heads, we assumed that whoever was paying wanted to see the heads.
She pulled a small pendant on a chain out of a drawer and stuck one of the chips on the back of it, then put it in a little silk bag.
“The bag will dampen the charm, but when we need to track you, put it on,” she said.
Jolene and I drove together to the restaurant to meet Michaela, while Trevor and Josh took Trevor’s car. She dropped me off at the nearest bus stop and went on to the restaurant alone. The plan was that Jolene would go in first and get a table, and Josh would join her after Michaela showed up.
It wasn’t that we didn’t trust Michaela, it was that we didn’t know her, and I wanted backup. It also seemed a rather suspicious coincidence that the conduit for the bounties was a dhampir, and the only dhampir anyone in Westport knew about were the Gallagher girls.
I arrived five minutes early for my appointment with Michaela, and looking around, didn’t see her. I didn’t know if she had made reservations, or if she had, whether had she made them in her own name. I wouldn’t have. So, I stood around and waited. I did think it was interesting that two tables each had two young women almost as spectacular as Michaela was. That was four tall, gorgeous, athletic-looking dhampir, and try as they would, they couldn’t seem to stop staring at me. My Masters would have failed all four as spies.
They hadn’t escaped Jolene’s notice, either. She had chosen to sit where she could keep both of their tables and the front door in sight.
Michaela showed up right on time. I had to stifle a laugh when I saw it was Josh holding the door for her. He wasn’t noted for being a gentleman.
“Have you been waiting long?” she asked me, then turned to the hostess without waiting for an answer. “Reservations for Anna Carleton. Can we please have that table over by the window?”
I revised my opinion of why Michaela’s ‘sisters’ were there as we walked past them to a table in the corner. Perhaps her backups’ job was to watch the door instead of me. In any case, if anyone came through the door, they would have to get past four dhampir, a pyromancer, and a witch to interrupt our conversation.
We sat down, and a waitress appeared almost at once to take our orders. I asked for iced tea, Michaela preferred lemonade. Neither of us was drinking alcohol. She silently studied my face, then turned and stared out the window. Fair enough. I was the one who asked for the meeting.
“I’ve been contracted to find the people who are paying bounties for vampire and shifter heads,” I said.
She turned back to face me. “Pretty exciting stuff for a bartender.”
“Yeah. I need the money.”
“So, what does that have to do with me?”
“I’ll have a few friends working with me. The redheads over there? Yeah, and another guy. Stay out of our way, and we’ll stay out of yours.”
Michaela shrugged. “As long as you’re not hunting dhampir, I could care less. I would just as soon the bounties continue, if they are targeting Rodrick Barclay.”
“They’re targeting all vamps, plus shifters. But now that you mention it, I’ve been told the person brokering the bounties for the money men is a dhampir.”
That got her attention.
“It wouldn’t happen to be anyone you know, would it?”
Her eyes involuntarily shifted toward the tables where her ‘sisters’ sat. It was a tiny tell, but one I was trained to spot. She shook her head slightly.
“No. None of us.”
“I hope not. I truly like you, and if you or any of your sisters were involved with this, I think now would be a good time to get out.”
She gave me a wry grin. “If I was involved, it would all be aimed in one direction.”
“Kind of what I thought. You’re the only dhampir I’ve ever met. Anything I should be cautious of?”
“Do you have to kill her?” Michaela asked. “We’re sort of an endangered species.”
“I would be just as happy if she simply left town and I didn’t have to kill anyone. Michaela, believe me, I am sick of death.”
“So, why did you take the contract?”
“I’m an idealist. I think I can put a stop to the killing.”
She threw back her head and laughed.
The waitress showed up with our food, and Michaela stared out the window until we were alone again.
“How old are you?” she asked.
“Twenty-three.”
“Dear God. I can’t even remember what it felt like to be twenty-three. I wonder if I was that naïve and idealistic.” She shook her head and took a bite of her quiche.
We ate in silence for a while, then she said, “I was hoping you were going to offer to help me take down Rodrick.”
“I certainly won’t stand in your way,” I said, “and if I happened across you and Barclay mixing it up, I would definitely help you take his head. But I’m trying to stay out of the middle of the vampire succession. I prefer to keep as far away from vampires as I can.”
My words brought a slight smile to her face that quickly faded. “I’ll try and lure him in someplace you hang out.”
“Michaela, you’ve been around vampires far longer than I have. Do you really think any of the current contenders can hang on to their position if one of them wins?”
She looked thoughtful, then said, “Probably not. I hadn’t thought about it, but you’re right. An old one will probably find his or her way here sooner or later, and even Flynn wouldn’t have a chance.”
“And you?”
She shook her head. “We would probably have to leave. A dhampir has to either swear fealty or the Master would try to have us killed. Daywalkers are valuable, but only if you own them. Too much risk to let them wander around free.”
That was what I thought, but she confirmed it.
We finished our lunch, and the waitress brought the check. I reached for my purse, but Michaela said, “No. I’ll get it. You know, the waste disposal business is actually in my name, for legal purposes. I’m rich.”
Her face didn’t express any joy about it.
“As for what you asked me earlier, she’ll be quick, fast and strong. I daresay, if I got my hands on you, I could break you in half. We have some entrancement magic, more than a new vampire but not as much as an old one. We don’t heal the same way, and the same kind of damage that would kill you will kill me. She may be trained in weapons. I’m an excellent fencer, as well as a black belt and a crack marksman. I’ve been told that my life expectancy is around three hundred years, but I’ll start to decline after two hundred. So, if she’s old, she may be slower.”
I chuckled. “But craftier and meaner.”
“Probably. Erin, if we both come out of all this alive, I could use a mage, and I’ll pay a lot better than bartending.” She held up her hand. “Think about it. No hurry. And I did hear you when you said you were sick of death. That isn’t what I would hire you for.”
As she turned away, I brushed her coat and stuck one of Jolene’s tracking chips on it.
I noticed that her sisters had also called for their checks. Two of them preceded her out the door, and the other two fell in behind her as she passed. They didn’t all look alike, but they were all about the same height and had the same body type. I wondered if that was a result of who Gallagher chose for his breeding program, or if it was somehow inherent in what made a dhampir.
“So, are we all clear with her?” Jolene asked when we gathered outside.
“Yeah, we are.”
“Good. Josh desperately wants an introduction to any of those women, if you can swing it.”
He smirked.
“Some of them might enjoy bloodsucking,” I said.
“I’ll take my chances.”
“What’s next?” Trevor asked.
“I want to hit Rosie’s before it gets dark and those bounty hunters set out for the night. I need one of them to provide an introduction for me,” I said.
We still had a few hours, so Josh and Jolene took off to do other things, and Trevor took me back to his house, where he led me into the room with all the computers.
“I did a little snooping around, checking on those eight Columbia Club members Frankie identified,” he said. “Five of them show some unusual banking activity.”
“You hacked into a bank?” I was shocked.
“No, into the Federal Reserve system. Much easier than trying to figure out which banks to hit. And as long as I don’t touch anything, they’ll never know. There are too many transactions going on for them to pay attention to a low-profile intrusion.”
We studied the transactions—the amounts and the frequencies—for about an hour.
“That one,” I pointed. “I don’t think that has anything to do with bounties. Too regular and the same amount every week, always going into the same account. Plus, it’s been going on for over a year.”
Trevor’s brow furrowed as he concentrated on the transactions. “What do you think he’s doing with the money?”
“Paying his mistress.”
“Oh. Yeah, that would make sense.” He tapped on the keys for a while, then an image of a young woman popped up on another monitor. “Good guess. He’s transferring the money into her bank account.”
She looked younger than me. “Out of curiosity, who is she?”
“Student at the university. There was one larger transfer in late August, and another one in January. They appear to be tuition payments.”
I looked at the numbers and shrugged. “Sounds safer than chasing bounty hunters. Maybe I should go to school and get a sugar daddy.”
Trevor swiveled around in his chair, put his hands on my waist, and pulled me down on his lap. “I would be very disappointed.”
“Why? I—” I didn’t finish the sentence because he pulled my head down and covered my mouth with a kiss.
When he let me up for air, he said, “We’re taking this slowly because you don’t understand relationships, and I don’t want a broken heart. Now, everyone else got lunch except me. Walk with me down to the pizza place, okay?”
The idea of being with Trevor made me happy. Break his heart? I knew I would be disappointed if he didn’t want to be with me. But if that happened, wouldn’t we both try to find someone else—not that I had anyone else in mind. Wasn’t that the way it worked? Most single people I knew had dated more than one person. It seemed that most people eventually found someone to live with. What I thought should be pretty straightforward was turning out to be more confusing by the day.
After we calmed Trevor’s stomach, we drove back downtown where we met Lizzy at a phone store. Frankie had set me up with a phone billed to her office. Once I got the phone, Trevor and I took Lizzy to lunch, and she programmed the phone and showed me how to use it.
We got to Rosie’s around four o’clock—an hour before I normally started my shift. I said hello to Sam and Liam, ordered a beer, and went to the ladies’ room. When I came back, I snagged my beer off the bar and walked over to where my target and his partner were eating.
Luke Comstock had been flirting with me since he got to town. He wasn’t overly pushy, or rude, and he made me laugh, so although I hadn’t encouraged him, I hadn’t exactly discouraged him either. A bit over six feet, with brown hair and eyes, he wasn’t hard to look at, even if he was almost twenty years older than I was. I knew he had magic, or he wouldn’t be in Rosie’s.
His partner, Cory Bradshaw, was another matter. He was short and thin, wiry, with long dark hair and a perpetual two-day beard. I had never seen him smile. He was about the same age as Luke, and one of the waitresses told me that he spent more of his time at the strip bars down the street than he did at Rosie’s.
“Hey, how are you guys doing?” I said.
Luke looked up and smiled. “Pretty good. Aren’t you working tonight?”
“Nope. Got the night off. Hoping I might find a little action.”
His grin spread across his face, and I realized that I might have given him the wrong impression.
“Uh, what I mean is, I heard there might be opportunities to earn a little money. You know, using my magic.”
“We ain’t lookin to take on any partners,” Cory said around a mouthful of steak.
I shuffled my feet and tried to look hurt. “Well, I can understand that. I was just hoping that maybe you could help me out a little. Tell me where I needed to go to talk to the people with the money. I mean, it’s not like this town is going to run out of vamps anytime soon. One girl isn’t going to be much competition. I just need some cash to get my car fixed.”
“And you think you could take down a vamp?” Luke asked. Corey made a sound and glared at him.
“Taken one down before. Threw one out of here one night. They don’t scare me none.” I shrugged. “Sorry to bother you.”
I trudged off and took a table near the restrooms. I had a backup guy in mind if Luke didn’t work out, but he hadn’t shown up yet. Most of the bounty hunters who hung out at Rosie’s stayed at the Huntsman Hotel across the street, so I figured he would be in at some point. Pretty soon, Cory paid his tab and left.
Shortly thereafter, Luke dropped into the empty chair at my table.
“Don’t mind Corey,” he said. “He don’t mean nothin by it. It’s just his nature to be a little sour.”
“That’s okay.” I smiled at him. “He doesn’t want to split the money. I understand that.”
Luke passed me a piece of paper with a name and an address on it.
“Thanks, but you know that isn’t going to do me any good. I need an introduction.”
He was thinking about it, and thinking wasn’t his strong suit. My take was that Corey handled that part of their partnership.
I turned on the charm. Thrusting my chest out and looking up at him through my eyelashes, I purred, “I could make it worth your while.”
He licked his lips. “Okay. We weren’t going out tonight. We scored big the last couple of nights, and Corey’s going down to the strip bar after a while. When he does, I’ll co
me back and get you and take you to meet her. Okay?”
“Sure. That sounds great. I really appreciate it.” The smile I gave him had worked on every man I ever tried to seduce except for one.
After Luke left, Trevor brought his drink from the bar and joined me.
“Any luck?”
I showed him the piece of paper. “He’s going to come back later and take me to meet her.” I winked. “I sort of promised to show him a good time. Don’t you think he and Cindy Mackle would make a good couple?”
It took Trevor a minute to catch on, but the boy wasn’t slow. He grinned. “That’s evil.”
“And he’s killing sentient beings for money. I don’t feel guilty at all.”
“What about his partner?”
“He’s off to the strip shows and probably a hooker. Luke doesn’t want him to know that he’s going with me. So if he disappears, no one will have a clue as to what happened to him. Give Cindy a call and tell her the address, then the two of you figure out where I should take Lukey-boy for his good time after I get my introduction.”
The name on the paper was Constance Gardner. I would have bet my sword it wasn’t her real name. The big question in my mind was who her partner or partners were. I had a difficult time wrapping my head around a single dhampir, no matter how smart, showing up in a strange city and setting up such a complicated scheme.
Luke came back an hour later to find me still sitting at the same table, still nursing the same beer, but he didn’t need to know that.
“Ready to go?”
“Yep. Lead on,” I said with a big smile.
I slipped my arm through his when we got out to the alley, and he never looked back to see Trevor following us. His transportation was a ten-year-old SUV. The back of it was lined with plastic tarps—I assumed so they could hose off the blood after delivering the heads of their victims.
“You’re a mage, right?” Luke asked as he started the car.
“Yeah. A ley line mage.”
“What are you going to use to cut off their heads?” he asked. “I mean, she wants proof, but she don’t want the whole body. Besides, ya gotta cut off their heads or they don’t die.”
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