Dead Certain (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 3)

by P. S. Power

  Then, she was the one with the bloody hand, who had the Manthori, the rest of them, carting bodies out through the back door, to a waiting pickup truck, not half an hour later. They had to steal shovels, but she ran alongside the vehicle, and made certain they buried the corpses deep, when they found a nice safe clearing for it.

  None of the white haired beings tried to talk to her, not until the very end of things, when it was time to leave.

  It was a woman who did it, her voice harsh, but relatively clear.

  “What do we do now? We needed that money to live.”

  Eve nodded, then killed her, doing it so fast that her hand was nearly clean when it was pulled back. That meant more digging, but at least they were at the right spot.

  “The answer, is that you can do anything you want. As long as it isn’t breaking any laws. Like anyone else. Come on peeps, this isn’t that hard, Vampires are a known thing in the States, and the Manthori have celebrities now. One anyway. Fuck, you could use compulsion like hypnosis, and help people stop smoking and lose weight. Or, you could dig ditches, like this. Get with Marissa, of the Council, and see about setting up a local blood farm… There is really no end to what you can do, if you just apply yourselves and try. Now, let’s get that last body in the ground. Anyone else have any questions?” It was interesting, but one of the men actually did, raising his hand, like they were in school.

  “Yes?” She pointed at him a bit, so that he’d know she meant him.

  “Who’s in sharge of ush, now? You killed everyone…”

  Eve smiled, and then tilted her head. More than half of them were still there, plus anyone they left at home, so he was really kind of being a bit of a bitch about the whole thing. Wah, everyone that’s the boss of me is dead, what so ever shall I do?

  Telling him to fuck off and die would probably be a little too hardcore, even for her, so she thought for a second and said nothing that was even remotely like what she’d been thinking.

  “Hank is. I thought that was clear? He works for the Council now, it’s why I got him the job. If any of you touch him, or treat him without proper respect, I’ll know about it. Do what he says, from now on.”

  None of them seemed that upset about the idea, but then, if they were, they probably wouldn’t tell her about it, would they?

  Chapter twelve

  In all it took them three days to really get the Iowa node up to speed. Even at that, the product was inferior as far as yogurt went. Eve actually ran all the way back to Vancouver to get a culture sample for the base, because otherwise they were going to have to use store bought, which wasn’t nearly as mild. Ginger worked the whole time, without any complaints at all. It was a nice change, compared to some of the people she’d been around.

  Eve noticed that she’d started to integrate the two links that she’d been holding, as well, on top of her normal eight. At least they didn’t fade the instant she forgot about them anymore.

  On the fourth day she and her side-kick ran back, making it in twelve hours of actual travel time. It wasn’t fast, really, but it was an improvement.

  That meant they got in just as it was turning light. The sky was a pretty pink and bright blue, given the clouds on the horizon, as pain ripped across them both. It was still lovely, even with that part of things being so powerful.

  Inside they found David still there, but Edom not yet in. Ginger got right to work, cleaning, without needing to be asked. It was a sign that she was taking control of her own life now, and doing it really well. For her part, Eve knew that it was time to stop putting off some of the things that she’d been doing.

  First, she called Fram, using Marcus’s old number, that being the only one she had for him.

  “Top o’the mornin’ to you!” The voice was the same as the last time they’d spoken, but a bit more happy and glib.

  “Hey Fram. I’m just calling to make sure you remember our date in a few days? I’m planning to have advisors in, so that I don’t mess things up. No tricks or traps, though. I don’t know who will be there yet, since I need to ask still. I can call with a list?”

  “Oh? That’s nice of you. Yes, that would be good. If the wrong people are coming, I might need to have you un-invite them? I don’t particularly want to end up dead, or in a tiny box, and I do understand that you can’t control all of my people perfectly yet. Really you need to get on that one. I’m kinda shocked you haven’t fixed that yet. Falling down on the job already… Tsk. Tsk. They’re only Demons.”

  The cream colored hand piece was suddenly a lot more annoying to her for some reason. She smiled though, and tried not to hurl the thing to the ground.

  “Or, and this is just a thought, I could survive the year? Hmm? Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?”

  “A point. Still, get me that list, before I show up? I take it the regulars will want to be there. Zack, since it’s his territory, even if he is still just a kid. Darla, being that she’ll want to make sure you treat me right… And Keeley.” There was enough of a pause, and heat, to the last words that she laughed. Like she was a disease and not a girl Demon.

  “I get that one, but seriously, you’re going to need to suck that one up and not go after her Fram. I can understand why you’d want to, but seriously, no other Greater Demon in the world cares. To them it was just a thing, and getting taken by her again would be a sign that you can’t handle yourself. No one has managed to really get around her yet, so doing that, by not trying to step on her dick, might just be a way to impress people. Not that you should give a flying fuck about what any Greater Demons thinks. I don’t, and look how well that’s working out for me?”

  There was a long silence then, and rather than yell at her, or call her names, there was a long and mournful sigh.

  “I know. Plus, if a Vampire can figure out my plan that easily, it can’t be a very good one.”

  “Exactly. Plus, that isn’t the real plan anyway, is it? You have a bunch of them lined up, with that one just kind of acting as a screen. The Vampire-Human war thing, too, but that one isn’t yours. Who was that again? The Greater Demon that was pretending to be Brian Smith? Then they moved on, faking his death, for some reason. It was a bit dramatic, since they could have just quit and claimed to have a better job. That probably means they wanted someone to figure it out, doesn’t it? None of you would make a simple mistake like that.”

  There was more silence, and then a laugh.

  “Know this, Eve Benson. Snowflake. I could tell you that, and by our agreement am required to, being asked like that. If I do, then you’d probably be killed for knowing that information, right now. Do you really want to know? Truuuly?”

  “Don’t call me Snowflake. I guess not though, if death is the result. Anyway, we’ll meet in, call it five days? That gives you a bit more time. I’m really cool that way though. We can do it sooner, if that works for you. I’m easy.” She waited to be called a slut, but there was just a click.

  Then the phone went dead.

  Hopefully because someone was mugging the bastard.

  Not that it would be that, but it was nice to dream. The fucker had killed three innocent people, and influenced several Mages to do things they never would have on their own. Oh, he probably hadn’t forced Warren to abuse the people he worked with, but really, once you gave total power to anyone, what was going to happen? Eve was willing to drop the blame for that one on the Greater Demon. Even if he wanted to argue the point, which she doubted would be the case. His kind tended to just assume it was a good thing when others were miserable, as far as she could tell.

  Not that she was trying to be anti-Demon, or anything like that. She just didn’t think Fram was the good kind. Even if he wasn’t the worst, either.

  She called Darla up next, having waited far too long between the times she was in touch. Worse, she was calling up because she wanted something. What kind of douche did things like that?

  “Eve?”

  She blinked, then looked around.

  “
That’s magical, how did you know?”

  “Caller ID, added to the fact that no one from that number would be calling me directly, except for you. They’d ask Zack to intercede for them, if it were an important issue. Otherwise they’d find some other way to deal with things. Now, what can I do for you today?”

  “Two things. First, can I trade for some way to kill Fram, or Maggie Sims, she’s a Vampire, and an old one if that makes any difference? I’d prefer taking out Fram, but Zack thinks I won’t be allowed to leave him dead. Second, when can we get together? We should have a party or something. Maybe on the Fourth of July?” It sounded good to her. Her parents could come too, if they wanted. They knew Darla.

  Hell, they’d both fucked Darla. And had for decades. It wasn’t like they’d be the party killers.

  There was a soft chuckle, as if Darla knew what she was thinking.

  “I do have the Fourth free. Let me see… I could let you use, or rather use for you, my Geordis. It’s a localized time machine that separates a discrete area from the time stream and reverses time for what’s inside. You’d still have to get him to die inside an enclosed space, and not force him to end up in too many pieces. Do you have any clue how to do that?” She sounded doubtful.

  That got Eve to roll her eyes.

  “Yes, I invited him to a meeting, with you, Zack and Keels, if you want to come, and possibly some others, though he hasn’t agreed to anyone else yet. You know, to plan how to kill him, as long as we’re bringing him back to life. I was thinking of choking him to death. Slowly. That, or burning, but he’d just kill off the pain anyway. So far we’re set to meet in five days.”

  “I can… Make that. It’s impressive. You actually set up a meeting to kill him? I’d love to hear the story about how that happened. Now, let me… Do you have anything to trade, directly? Just to use the device would normally cost a person about a hundred million dollars, American. I can of course give you a discount, but there has to be some parity.”

  Eve froze, going still, since it actually sounded fair, given that she wanted to kill a Greater Demon then bring him back to life. It was just so much. After a second or two of wondering if just stabbing him in the eyes enough times at a hospital would work, she spoke.

  “I, uh, have two kilos of pencil lead for spin class?” That didn’t sound like enough suddenly, but there was a pleased gasp from the phone in her hand.

  “You don’t mean graphene, for spintronics, do you?”

  “That’s the one. In sheets. Is it enough?”

  “Yeesss. I could throw in something else, to sweeten the deal a bit? Perhaps you’d like to kill Fram twice? Or this Maggie, and him? It can’t hurt to be prepared after all.”

  Eve could see that one, “we’ll probably just need the one, but we can keep that on the table, just in case it comes up? Unless you want to help me figure out who else has been messing with my life? The information I have seems to be saying I need to just drop it, but that won’t work, if someone is gunning for me. Though, who’d do that? I mean, who, with the power too, would waste the time and effort. It’s not like I’m not open to sufficient bribes, after all.”

  There was no answer.

  Finally Eve sighed, sounding credibly put upon.

  “I hear you. Well, if all the Greater Demons are saying it, I guess that’s what I need to settle on then. So, the Fourth? And I’ll see you at the meeting? I need to get with Zack, too. He might want to borrow that Geordis thing for the same reason. Fram has some things to answer for, and no one to really hold his feet to the fire.”

  Darla laughed.

  “You can remember to call the time machine a Geordis, but not what graphene is?”

  “Well, you now, old habits, and all that. I still occasionally pretend to be dumber than I really am. It throws people off. At least that’s the theory.”

  There was something close to mirth coming off of the phone then, and a voice that hadn’t spoken before that. It was female, and familiar, but in the distance.

  “Oh? Keeley wants to know if you’re up for a guest later today? She’s thinking of bringing a friend for you to play with.”

  “Sounds good. What kind of friend?”

  Darla repeated the words being said, even though Eve could hear them, now that she was paying attention. “A Vampire? It will have to be after dark.”

  “Got it. I’ll be here, I think, at the yogurt shop, in Vancouver. Tell her I’ll see her then?”

  “Of course. I missed you, Eve.”

  “Who wouldn’t? I’m awesome. You probably noticed that though, being so smart and everything. I missed you two. Both of you.”

  The thing there was that she really had. Greater Demons only felt what they wanted to. The idea that any of them would choose to miss her, in particular was too strange to credit.

  Planning to spend the rest of the day cleaning and doing work around the shop, or possibly the Candles and More across the way, was a good idea, but not needed. Lisa had a young helper in, and even though the boy was a bit young for the work, he was a Mage and looked to be taking his job relatively seriously. Todd, the brother of the Mage kid that Zack killed.

  He was probably there to plot his revenge, which was both a bit stupid and also not that far from the likely truth, once she thought about it for a minute. If she had someone she liked, a brother or sister, or maybe a dog, and they had been killed, would she just stand back and do nothing? Even if it was the only sane thing to do?

  The real answer surprised her, because if it were a Greater Demon that did it, she might just have to eat the death. Then again, Todd wasn’t her. No, he was young, innocent, and probably a better person by far. Not a killer, for instance. She knew what she was, and didn’t bother apologizing for it a lot, but that didn’t make it a good thing.

  He was working though, and seemed to be doing a great job of it so far.

  That meant she wasn’t needed over there. Not unless he needed her to jerk him off, or possibly give him a hummer in the back room. Since that was probably illegal, she decided to skip it for the time being. If he wanted that, well, in a year or two, or even ten, she’d still look the same, wouldn’t she?

  It really kind of left her at loose ends, but the truth was, Ginger didn’t need her as far as basic shop upkeep went. Crowding in with Edom to read paperwork and try to memorize it was possible, of course, but really, there was something they needed to finally get going, wasn’t there?

  The Vampire in Training Program.

  She’d already started on it, having sorted the applications, so she picked the pile that looked best, having been typed and filled out by sane seeming people, and started to call them, one by one. Of the twenty she tried, three weren’t really interested anymore. In all cases it had come down to them finding a boyfriend or girlfriend. Eve also had not one, but three parents scream at her about being evil, and trying to corrupt their children. Those applications all got pulled and marked, though two of the parents belonged to the same girl. There was enough of a holy rolling vibe to what they were saying that it really seemed a bit like they might be abusive people.

  True, they might not be beating her, or anything like that, but they were willing to totally deny their kid an incredibly long life, superpowers, and the right to decide for herself what she wanted to do in the world, without even stopping to ask if they might be wrong.

  Apparently due to their religion. Since God was, if she had that right, real, then the douche-bag needed to fix his people, and fast. Eve bet it was some kind of BS about free will, or something like that though. They had to be allowed to be miserable excuses for Human beings, so that…

  That was the part that didn’t make sense to her. It never had. So that what?

  They could condemn others for being different, when, if there was a God, he clearly made them that way? Then, it was just possible that there could be a God, and that religion was a farce. That could be it, too. She would have asked her friends, but getting advice on that kind of thing from G
reater Demons and Vampires was probably right out, if she wanted anything close to a true answer. Maybe The Cleric could tell her what the real situation was? If he were really an Angel, then he just might know that kind of crap. Probably not though, since she was willing to bet that there was no such thing as a benevolent deity.

  It would be more hot air, and promises of ponies, in a secret back room. All you had to do was trust them, and not ask too many questions. Then when you got there, they’d do whatever they wanted to you. Just like everyone else.

  Half of the people in the first pile weren’t available, reachable, or whatever else they had going on, so she left messages to call her back when she could, and marked it on the papers she had. In the end she got to talk to ten of them, and seven agreed to come by the next day for interviews. Not that she knew how to do any of that, but faking things wasn’t exactly new to her, so she didn’t doubt that it would be possible to weed some bodies out. She wanted to start with a small group. Five sounded about right, though she could go with a few more, or less, if the people coming in didn’t fit, or were all perfect.

  That would be at seven in the evening the next day, so that she could let them all talk to a few real Vampires. It had helped her a lot, being able to ask all the stupid questions that no one ever really told you about otherwise. Like where you’d sleep, and how they were expected to get blood. Even the bit about not really having a sex drive, if they went Classical, was important. If you thought you were going to become a Vampire and get all the poon or peen, then woke up starving and not caring about that at all, it could really affect how a guy might respond to the world. A woman too, for that matter.

  If she hadn’t been warned, it would have thrown her for a real loop. It kind of had anyway, now that she took the time to think about it.

  Before, when she was alive, Eve had gotten most of her contact with men by having sex with them. True that had started to change a bit as she got older, but it had still been her major interaction with them. She could continue do that, of course, but it just didn’t feel the same, if she wasn’t at least a bit into it, too. Ideally, the new kids would get to have meetings with several different kinds of Vampires, so they could see where they, personally, might be the best fit.