Kissed by the Dark

by Donna Augustine

  The vampire, a young—or at least appearing that way—man, stopped in front of us. “Ollie?”

  “Yes?” I asked, expecting him to ask me for more directions to get to his true target.

  He didn’t ask for anything. He held out the bouquet. I took it even as the next vampire was putting his bouquet on the bar beside me. I put the bouquet I was holding down and took out the card as everybody in the Underground watched.

  Ollie,

  There’s many roses in the world but there’s only one Ollie. I’m sorry for the pain caused by one of my kind. Please don’t let that taint your opinion of me. Looking forward to our next encounter.

  Vincent

  “Vincent? The hot vamp?” Flip nearly yelled.

  I turned to give her a glare where she stood, hovering over my shoulder like a parrot. “I didn’t want everyone to know,” I said.

  “Like you were going to hide this,” she said as the procession continued. It didn’t stop until there were ten bouquets lined up on the bar.

  The door of Kane’s office opened and he stepped out, looking down from above like a lion smelling an intruder in his territory. His expression was blank as he surveyed the garden lined up on the bar.

  “Did you sleep with him?” Flip had the decency to whisper this time.

  “No,” I responded immediately, making sure to add a little indignation into the word. Hopefully a firm answer would slam the door on the subject.

  “Some touchy-feely? Get friendly with his hang-low? Maybe some kissy-kissy down there?”

  I should’ve known better. “No.”

  Flip walked around me, staring at the roses and shaking her head. “You’re telling me he sent all these bouquets and you did nothing? Because how the hell does that work? I can’t even get flowers when I put out. Seriously, the things I’ve done, and I’ve never, ever—”

  “Please shut up. People are listening.”

  She glanced around and then snapped, “Mind your own business!” She walked back and stopped close to me. “You sure you did nothing?”

  “Nothing.” I didn’t know if this was a romantic gesture or a manipulation to make it look like something was going on. But why would he do that?

  I felt Kane’s eyes burning into me, and wondered if it was to drive a wedge in my situation here. If Frederickson couldn’t recruit me one way, maybe he was trying to have his man recruit me through other means.

  If they were planning on using me, then I had no qualms about using them right back for information. Maybe they knew something about what had happened to me? If the potions weren’t working, and they didn’t seem to be, I’d have to try different avenues.

  I turned, feeling eyes burning into me. Kane stared straight at me. He turned his head, looked in the direction of his office, and then stared at me again for another few seconds, making sure the message was clear. If there was any doubt, he left the door wide open after he walked back into his office.

  “Uh oh,” Flip said.

  “Can you get rid of these?” I asked.

  She nodded, and I walked across the floor toward the stairs. The worst part of it was that I wanted to go into Kane’s office. I didn’t care why he was calling me, either. I didn’t even like the guy, but I had this urge to be near him. I wondered if this was how it had been before I’d lost my memory.

  Kane was seated when I walked in. He looked up, leaning to the side a bit. His body relaxed but his eyes were hard. “Nice flowers.”

  I ignored the comment.

  I’d watched him flirt with Dana. He didn’t deserve an explanation. We weren’t together. Every time he looked at me as if I’d betrayed him, I remembered he’d made that choice.

  “Sit. We need to talk.”

  So, he was going to take the first shot. I shut the door, making my way toward his desk, but passed the chair and moved to the couch. I might as well be comfortable. I had a feeling this was going to be a long one.

  The couch was worn leather that hugged you like a glove when you sat down. Definitely the right choice.

  I kicked my feet up on the table in front of me. “What’s up?”

  He was leaning back in his chair, watching me while trying to pretend he wasn’t. But he definitely was. Was it my feet on the table? Whatever was bothering him, it didn’t look like he was going to share. Maybe he didn’t like people on his couch? Well, if he was going to make me sit here with him, complaining or accusing, that was too damn bad for him.

  “What was it you wanted?” I asked.

  “You look as if you’re getting pretty comfortable with Vincent. And considering the attack yesterday, there’s something you should know about your past with the vampires.”

  I closed my eyes as I put a hand over my forehead. This wasn’t going to be good.

  “Which is?” I might’ve groaned.

  “You’ve killed more than one.”

  I definitely groaned as I slid a few inches lower into the couch. How had I managed to do so many screwed-up, crazy things in such a short time? Had it even been me? Maybe I had a crazy doppelganger running around Boston.

  I spun and kicked up my feet onto the arm of the couch, feeling the need to be fully reclined before I heard anymore.

  “Who and how did I do it?” That put my death toll at three, if I didn’t include the deaths from the explosions, of which I feared I had culpability somehow. How did I forget killing them all? Had I been a complete wrecking ball? What kind of animal had I turned into?

  “It was a vampire named Alexandria.”

  I thought back to Butch’s cryptic action and words when Frederickson had walked into the meeting with his new second in command.

  “She was Frederickson’s second in command,” he said, his voice closer as he confirmed my fears.

  Kane was leaning on the partial wall that helped form the alcove the couch sat in. I hadn’t realized he’d moved while I’d been in the midst of tallying how much blood I’d spilled.

  “It was provoked. She was trying to kill you. You killed her first.” Another shrug. How could he brush it off so easily?

  Right now, I wished I could. Although there was probably a reason he did. Who knew what his count was up to?

  Still, it was a kindness he was doing me, and I nodded a silent thanks. At least I’d had good reasons all those times. I was a well-intentioned killer. That sounded much better on a résumé.

  “How did I do it?” I asked. “Second in command. She had to have been strong, right? Are you sure I killed her? I can’t see how that’s possible.” I sat up. That didn’t help, so I stood, hoping to walk off some of the unease over my death count going up again.

  “You turned your blood into poison as she drank from you. Butch and Leon helped you clean up afterward.” Kane walked back to his desk calmly, flipping through a couple of pieces of paper that were lying on it.

  “Why didn’t you tell me this before?” I asked as I took a step toward him.

  He stopped looking at his mail and turned to lean on his desk, crossing his arms. “Because at the time you didn’t seem to be handling all the details that well, and this was something you were better off not knowing. You’d act more natural with them.”

  “I see.” So that was it. He’d decide what I needed to know and when? No. Not a chance. “My memory might never come back. You can’t manage me anymore. I need to know the things I’ve done. No more half-truths. Is there anything else?”

  I glared at him as I waited. That was what he’d been doing all along—managing me. Deciding what I should know and doling it out here and there.

  “That was it.”

  I nodded, not sure I believed anything anymore. I was losing faith that there was anything honest between us at all. I walked to the door.

  “Ollie, don’t trust Vincent. He wants something.”

  I didn’t bother answering. Kane was the last person to lecture me on who to trust.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The people hanging around the bottom of
the stairs cleared before I was halfway down. It wasn’t because they needed to go somewhere or do something. It was for the best, anyway. I wasn’t looking for company.

  I turned to head toward the elevators when Zee popped in front of me. “How come you look so healthy?”

  “You mean because of the attack?” I asked, hitting the elevator button.

  “I mean, why aren’t you guzzling potions?” She stepped in front of the door when it slid open.

  Because they aren’t working. I wasn’t ready to admit it out loud yet. Kane knew it too. There was a reason he wasn’t mentioning it. “Taking a couple days until I’m sure there isn’t any side effects from what happened.” Hopefully I’d come up with a better plan in the meantime.

  Zee looked like she was going to pop back out, but stalled, gazing around the hall, seeing the way people saw me and then turned. “Why don’t you come downstairs and hang out?”

  “I was going to go lie down for a while.”

  “No, you’re coming with me.” Zee took hold of my arm, and I knew how this went. I didn’t bother fighting. There would be no escape.

  She swung open the basement door.

  “I thought it wasn’t good to go down there at night?” I asked.

  “It’s better than the sad-sack stuff going on up there.” She pointed one dragon-length nail upward. She did have a point.

  The basement was in full swing. Drinks were flowing, and “Havana” was blaring as people danced in the center of the room. Card games were going on off to the side—gargoyles puffed away on Winston-sized cigars and sipped amber liquid from snifters. It reminded me of the Underground, before it had turned into a twenty-four-hour news cycle. But the gargoyles didn’t seem to be worried. But then again, gargoyles were a lot harder to kill and had been around for a very long time. Seemed it took a lot more than a new breed of monster in the world to rock them.

  “What’s your game? Stud, blackjack, Texas? There’s craps over there.” Zee pointed to different areas around the room as I took in the setup.

  “Zee, I don’t have money to gamble.”

  “What about the money we made before you…”

  I was barely listening to her, most of my attention on the door behind the craps table. It was too sturdy looking to lead to another room or closet. “Zee, where does that door go?” I asked, pointing to it.

  “That? Nowhere important.” She tugged me toward the other part of the room.

  “Zee, that door gets me outside with only gargoyles knowing, doesn’t it?” And I’d learned one thing: for the most part, gargoyles didn’t care what you did, as long as it didn’t bother them.

  “I don’t want to talk about the door. Let’s get a drink?” She started pulling me again, but I dug in and was ready to sit my ass on the floor if needed.

  Finally, she turned, and the look on her face made it clear she knew I was leaving out that door, either with her help or without.

  I looked at her stone face, a face of someone I truly believed was a friend, and laid out the ugly truth. “Zee, the potions aren’t working.”

  She didn’t look surprised, but she waved a fist in the air as if she wished it weren’t so.

  She was still shaking her head as I continued. “I was nearly killed in the alley. I need to get answers, and I think I’ve got a better shot of trying to get them alone.” I watched as the information slowly sank in and could see the resolve fading. Her head was turned partially away, but her eyes were on me.

  “Why alone?” she asked, probably not understanding why I wouldn’t want Kane at my back for protection.

  “Because people don’t talk in front of Kane, especially not the ones I need to talk to.” Definitely not the ones I wanted to seek out now.

  She glanced around the room, checking to see if anyone was paying attention to us before she asked, “Who do you need to talk to?”

  “Harg.” I didn’t bother adding that he was just a means to get to the Glass Monster. It had helped me. Maybe it would help me again. But it didn’t want contact with anyone else. That was brutally clear. But first I needed Harg, since he was my only connection.

  If I got out of here, I’d call over a crawler and see if Harg would talk to me. Kane probably knew exactly where Harg was. After all, he’d known he was in the cemetery, among the mausoleums.

  I gripped Zee’s arm firmly, not that she’d notice. “You know where Harg is, don’t you?”

  She froze. When a gargoyle froze, it was hard to tell if they’d spontaneously died. Then her forehead dusted.

  “Tell me.”

  “I’m not supposed to—”

  “Do you want to get back in business or not?”

  I stepped back as a large plume of dust hit the air.

  “Fine.” She headed toward to the exit, and I followed after her. She opened the large door, which looked as if it weighed two hundred pounds, and waved me outside.

  I thought it was going to let me out into one of the alleys, but it let me out nearly a block from where I knew the Underground to be. So wait, maybe Kane’s basement was under the Underground—but where the hell had I just been?

  “Do we have a location?” she asked the air. “Okay, that’ll have to do.” She dug a phone out of the back of her Daisy Dukes and pulled up Google Maps. “You sure about this?”

  “No, but that doesn’t matter.”

  She nodded. “Do you want me to go with you?”

  What I would’ve given to have backup, but not for this trip. “I’ve got to do this alone.”

  She shook her head, giving me a slew of directions as she pointed to the map on the phone. Go two miles this way and then a mile that way. Luckily, I was a pretty fast walker.

  I dug in my back pocket and handed her my cell. “Can you put this in my room?” I knew it was the first thing Kane would check if he knew I was out and about.

  “Sure,” she said as she dusted up some more, knowing she was getting deeper and deeper into the conspiracy as she agreed.

  “If I get my magic back, I swear, I’ll work my ass off at whatever it was we were doing.”

  She pocketed both phones, not looking convinced I’d be able to uphold my promise. I turned to leave, wanting to get going as soon as possible.

  I turned back to her before she’d made it inside. “Hey, Zee, you mentioned money I made before I disappeared?”

  She turned, hand on the door. “Yeah?”

  “So we’d made decent money?”

  “Don’t you look at your bank account? Between what we made and the witches paying restitution, you’ve got to have at least a couple hundred grand.” She shook her head as if I were a dippy human and walked inside.

  That fucking bastard. There was no way Kane hadn’t known. He knew I didn’t need his place and he’d let me think I had nothing, not a dime, so he could yet again control me.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  I probably could’ve borrowed a car from Zee, but I hadn’t wanted to. I didn’t want to drive through the streets. I wanted to feel what was going on around me. Get a sense of the city that you couldn’t get breezing past at forty miles per hour.

  I didn’t see the gangs that hung out around the Underground as I walked. As I got farther away, I didn’t see many people at all, even though there hadn’t been a fire in a while. Harg was holding up to his bargain right now. No one was blowing anything up. But there were still crawler sightings near daily.

  Still, it was good to walk the streets again. This was my city, it always had been, and I wasn’t rolling over and giving it up easy.

  I neared the area that Zee had said Harg would be, expecting him to have possibly moved. But he was there. I could feel the magic brewing in the air before I saw him. I turned the corner and Harg was in the distance, standing on the opposite corner, as if he were waiting for me.

  He walked down the center of the road toward me. I took a step toward him, then another. I wasn’t sure what would happen once we met. I had no back up this time. It was just
a Shadow Walker against a crawler.

  The closer we got, the more I thought of running. If I ran, I’d look scared. And maybe I was, but that didn’t mean I had the luxury of showing it. I needed answers before the next attack came. Another few moments and we were standing a few feet apart.

  “Nice night.” I shoved my hands in my pockets, as if this were normal, me and a crawler chatting it up on an evening stroll.

  He nodded. He didn’t move to leave, but he didn’t move closer. He was giving me my space on purpose, respecting my boundaries.

  I looked up and around, then at him again, a little too low this time. If he was going to walk around this world, putting on some pants would go a long way. It wouldn’t fix the horns, red eyes, and teeth that looked like they’d shred you in one bite, but it was a start.

  “You might think about investing in some pants.”

  “Pants?” He said the word as if it hadn’t made it into his vocabulary yet.

  Why was I the one who was going to have to explain the birds and the bees to a monster? I didn’t even have children yet. I looked over to the side—since he was so tall, it was an easier view. “Your stuff. You’re going to scare people with it.”

  “Stuff?”

  I pointed at his genitalia. “That. That is one scary-looking penis.”

  His head dropped, as if he were surprised.

  “Yes. Scary. You need to get pants.” I wondered if I’d be so brazen if he didn’t need me alive to get the rest of his fellow crawlers through. Yeah, I probably would. You couldn’t walk around slinging a two-foot dick and expect to blend. Even if he didn’t have all those other monster things going on for him, people would still be running as long as that was hanging loose and swaying all over the place.

  He continued to stare down until the awkward level hit a new low.

  I waved a hand in the air. “Forget it. That’s not why I’m here. What do you know about what happened to me? My memory and being attacked?”