To Walk the Night

by E. S. Moore

  “Which is?”

  Jonathan smiled and shook his head. “It is hard to explain. We only want freedom for the werewolves under control of vampire Houses and to provide a place for them to belong. We aren’t the heathens many make us out to be.”

  I still wasn’t so sure about that, but I held my tongue. “And if this Adrian defected, then how did he know where to find me? It doesn’t make sense he would know if he is no longer a part of your inner circle.”

  “No, it doesn’t.” Jonathan looked me in the eye. “I, like you, doubt it was a random attack. This was done with the express intent of taking you out of the equation. Someone must have informed him.”

  I mulled over that for a moment. There were quite a few people I thought capable of doing such a thing, Jonathan included. I didn’t know much about the Cult and its inner workings, but I had a feeling everything was on a need-to-know basis. No one but Jonathan, Nathan, and Gregory knew who I was. It had to have been one of them.

  “I didn’t think Adrian would become an issue,” Jonathan went on. “He turned those Cultists who followed him, and they have pretty much kept to themselves since then. I haven’t heard anything about them for at least three months now. I thought they might have left town, found a new place to set up their own version of the Cult.”

  “It seems you were wrong.”

  “Indeed.”

  A tense silence fell between us. I could almost taste it in the air. I really wanted to believe Jonathan, to accept what he told me and walk away, but it was hard. I wanted the chance to take down House Tremaine, wanted it with all my heart, yet I just couldn’t force myself to trust him like I needed to. He was a werewolf. Even if we were working together, we were still enemies.

  And why hadn’t he told me about Adrian in the first place? I asked him as much.

  Jonathan smiled bitterly and shook his head. “I had hoped to have heard the last of him, and that we would never have to have this conversation. His issues are with the Cult, not vampire politics. My best guess is he decided to come out of hiding just to mess up my plans out of pure spite. I doubt we will hear from him again.”

  I somehow doubted that.

  Jonathan rose, keeping his hands in plain sight. “Please,” he said. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. Adrian is my problem, and I will see about taking care of it. I should have told you up front.”

  “You’re damn right you should have,” I said, but my heart wasn’t in it. Damn. He had convinced me with pretty words that he wasn’t involved. I still couldn’t say the same for anyone else in the Cult, but I was pretty sure Jonathan had nothing to do with it. It looked like I wasn’t going to get to shoot anyone just yet.

  “I hope this doesn’t affect your decision to help us?”

  I thought about it. If someone was tipping this rogue werewolf off, then there was a chance they could tip Count Tremaine off as well. Was I ready to take that chance?

  “No,” I said, holstering my gun. I couldn’t pass this opportunity up. “Not yet anyway.”

  “Good.” Jonathan took a deep breath and let it out in a relieved sigh. “Did you get a chance to find out anything about House Tremaine tonight? Or did this little inconvenience derail your reconnaissance?”

  I told him of what I saw, including the wolf who had almost sniffed me out. Jonathan listened as I spoke, nodding all the while. When I was done, he moved to sit behind his desk—after making sure it was all right with me, of course.

  “I think we can work with that,” he said. “If something happens and you are discovered, the rest of us will do what we can to make sure you can get out. You are there to help us. It is the least we can do.”

  “Thanks,” I said, though I hoped I wouldn’t need that kind of assistance.

  “I will try to linger near any stair wells I see that might lead down to this room you found. You can try to slip in with the rest of us there. It is risky, and if nothing else, you can say you got lost. They might not believe it, but as long as you look innocent enough, they might just let it slide.”

  I wasn’t so sure the plan would work out the way we hoped. Honestly, it was pretty weak, and any number of things could go wrong at any moment. The window might be down and locked. The door to the laundry room could be locked. Hell, I could make my grand appearance just as some Pureblood worker arrived to dump the latest load of laundry in the wash.

  But I agreed to it anyway. While the slightest mistake could ruin everything, it was a chance I was willing to take. I took those kinds of chances nearly every day of my life. What’s one more?

  Besides, I wanted to take down this Minor House. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea, even if it was extremely dangerous. If we could take down House Tremaine, then perhaps I could learn something that would help me in the future. It would be nice to be able to do more than Fledgling Houses and rogues.

  After a few more minutes of planning, Jonathan showed me to the front door. Pablo was nowhere to be seen. He was probably sulking somewhere, cutting the heads off dolls or something. I stepped out into the night and stood on the top step, breathing in the fresh air.

  I almost turned around and went back inside. I hadn’t told Jonathan about the werewolf’s seeming resistance to silver. Information like that could be valuable to him, might change things.

  Then again, what if he already knew? Maybe Jonathan himself was resistant to the stuff. It would explain why he never seemed too nervous around me and my silver weapons. While I could still cut his head off, the silver might not paralyze him.

  Or maybe I was just exaggerating things. The wolf had looked pretty bad off. Maybe his blood had been so convoluted with drugs or a poison of some sort, it neutralized the silver. There were a ton of things I didn’t know about the blood taint that could have affected it.

  I sighed and allowed myself a smile. Even after my encounter with the werewolf and my near discovery at House Tremaine, I felt pretty damn good. I knew I shouldn’t have, considering the danger I was putting myself in, but I couldn’t help it. I had survived yet another night. Another werewolf was dead, and if things went according to plan, quite a few more wolves and vamps would be dead in just a couple of days.

  I wrapped my coat around me and headed for my scratched Honda, hoping for once the good feeling would last for more than a couple of hours.

  18

  I got home just before dawn. I barely made it into my bedroom before the first faint rays of the sun touched the sky. I would have been okay with a minute or two in the sun, but more than that would be fatal.

  I took a long soak in the tub to help ease the stress that had built up over the last few days. I was absolutely wired after my night. I scrubbed hard at my skin, trying to remove all traces of blood and wolf scent. Even though I couldn’t smell it on me, just the thought had my nose twitching.

  My leather coat had protected me from the worst of the scrapes during my fight with the werewolf. It was pretty roughed up, but it was still wearable. The tear in it pissed me off to no end. I would either have to get it fixed or break down and buy a new coat.

  All I had were a few scrapes and a cut on my palm I hadn’t even noticed until I was sitting in the tub. I felt bruised all over, but the pain would fade. It would all heal by morning.

  Which was more than what I could say about my Honda. The motorcycle was scratched up pretty bad; it would take Ethan days to fix it. He had mended worse. Still, it was just one more thing on top of a whole lot of crap I didn’t want to deal with.

  I had a long time to brood over it, too. The day crept by much slower than I would have liked. I still had to get through another full night and day before heading to House Tremaine with the Luna Cult. In that time, I planned on keeping myself busy. I wanted to learn as much about Tremaine as I could in my limited amount of time. I only wished I could go out and do it during the daytime. It would make the hours much more bearable.

  Ethan was up and moving before nightfall, which was a surprise. He had hou
rs yet in which he could sleep. I listened to him get into the shower and get dressed. A few minutes later, he was downstairs, and the sound of a power drill filled the once-silent house. By the time he was finished, night had fallen.

  “Come here,” Ethan said as soon as I stepped into the living room wearing my leather. I had stuff to do. “I want to show you something.” He seemed giddy as he went to the back door and slid it open. I followed him outside.

  A square box about the size of a matchbook was on the wall next to the door. The outside light that was usually there was resting on a small glass standing just outside the door. I reached out and flipped open the lid of the box, revealing a smooth black surface.

  “A fingerprint reader,” Ethan said. It looked like it took all his self-control to keep from jumping up and down and clapping. “I will need to program our prints in later, once I get the rest set up. I will need you for that. I still have to finish all the wiring, so if you have somewhere to be, that’s fine.”

  “Yeah,” I said, inspecting the reader. “I shouldn’t be too late.”

  “I think I can have this thing up and running before morning. It should keep out any more unwanted visitors.” He grinned. “Unless they cut a hole in the roof or blow us up or something.”

  Somehow, I didn’t think he was joking. “I will let you know when I’m back.”

  Ethan closed the box and glanced over his shoulder, out toward the trees. He shuddered, and for a moment, I thought he might bolt inside like a scared rabbit.

  I went back into the dining room and he followed me, breathing a sigh of relief once inside. He didn’t much care for the outdoors. I kept walking, going straight to the basement to gather some fresh weapons.

  “Be careful tonight,” Ethan said, walking close behind. “I have a bad feeling.”

  “I will.” I grabbed an extra clip of ammo, though I hoped I wouldn’t need it. Gunfire tended to draw attention. Tonight, I just wanted to talk. I tossed the knives I had used on the wolf on the table, replacing them with two fresh ones. “I don’t plan on getting into any fights tonight.”

  “You didn’t plan on getting into one last night either.” He picked up one of the knives and turned it over in his hands. There was a slight nick in it where I must have hit bone.

  “I’ll be more careful.” I checked the clip already in my gun and holstered the weapon. I really wanted to clean it before having to use it, but it would have to wait. I could have grabbed another one, though I would have insisted on checking it as well before leaving anyway. I didn’t want to waste any more time than I had to.

  I left Ethan to his work and was on the road within minutes. I planned on being home well before morning. I was still uncomfortable about leaving him home alone. Predators could be anywhere, and anyone could break in at any time. And after my latest attack, I was feeling more paranoid than ever.

  But Ethan would manage. He always did.

  The air was crisp and filled my lungs with a chill that felt blissfully good as it spread through my body. The sky was clear, and the moon dominated the sparkling heavens. We were just a couple of nights away from the full moon and I could already feel it working its lunar magic on me. I felt more alive than I had in weeks.

  The Bloody Stake parking lot was full. I was forced to park by the Dumpster, which served to depress me even further about the condition of my bike. It almost looked natural there now, with its horrendous scratch. I could smell stale beer and rotten food even before I shut off the engine, and I hoped it wouldn’t permeate the motorcycle’s metal. It was already damaged enough. I didn’t need it to smell like shit, too.

  Inside, all the tables were taken, as were most of the barstools. I scanned the room until my eyes fell on Mikael in his usual spot, girls intertwined amongst his limbs. I went straight to his table and sat down across from him.

  “I need a minute with Mikael here,” I said.

  The girls pouted, but they left when Mikael nodded to them. He gave one a painful-looking pinch on the ass before turning to me, grinning.

  “What can I do for you?” he asked, leaning back. He spread his arms across the back of his booth, exposing a thick gold chain with a large pendant dangling from his neck. “It’s been a while since you have employed my services. I was beginning to wonder if you’d forgotten me.”

  “I need information.”

  “What kind of information, my sweet?” His accent was thick, almost unintelligible. It probably was to anyone who hadn’t spent time with him and learned to decipher his thick drawl.

  “House Tremaine,” I said, biting back a retort. I hated when he called me that. Anyone else would have been knocked flat on their ass the moment the words left their mouth. But it was Mikael, and I hadn’t exactly given him my name. He had to call me something, and “my sweet” wasn’t the worst I had ever been called. “What can you tell me about them?”

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Anything. I have some business with them and would like to know what I am getting into before I take the plunge.”

  Mikael’s smile widened. He might not know I was the one the vampire Houses called Lady Death, but I had an idea he suspected. It was hard not to. Every time I came to him for information on a House, that House was usually in ruins within a few weeks.

  “You should be more specific,” he said. “I know quite a lot about Tremaine, more than I knew about that last House you asked about. What was it? Paltori?” He smiled and shook his head. “It’s a shame what happened to him, yes?” He sighed. “I can give you some information on Tremaine, but I’m not at liberty to say everything I know.”

  I clenched my teeth. Damn. “He has you in his pay at the moment?”

  He shrugged noncommittally. “I can tell you they are a Minor vampire House, though I am sure you already knew that. They are pretty low on the totem pole for being a Minor House, however, and recently, they have fallen even farther. They were bested by another House only a few months ago, so their numbers are much lower than they should be. It was a miracle the other House let them survive.” Mikael drank something from a pale blue bottle. It smelled like cat piss. “Other than that, there is little I can tell you.”

  I wanted to press Mikael for more information but knew it would be useless. Someone from House Tremaine had paid him for information of some sort. He would never tell me who or why and would keep anything they requested from him a secret. Mikael was good that way, though I didn’t like the idea of him working for a vampire House. It made my dealings with him seem that much more dangerous.

  “Thanks anyway,” I said, rising. “Enjoy your girls.” I turned to walk away.

  “Wait,” he said, leaning forward and resting his forearms on the table. “I do have some information you might be interested in. It has nothing to do with House Tremaine, but I think you will find it valuable nonetheless.”

  I returned to the table, my interest piqued. “And what might that be?”

  Mikael sat back and smiled. He glanced at the empty table in front of him and then back to me. I produced a pair of hundreds and slapped them down. When he didn’t speak, I added another.

  “Someone has been asking around about someone called Lady Death,” he said, his voice low. “Asking a bit too much for their own good, I think.”

  I tensed and eased down into the booth across from him. I tried to keep my face calm and my voice even calmer when I spoke. “Why do you think I would care?”

  “Come on now, my sweet.” Mikael chuckled. “I don’t know if you are working for her or if you are the bitch herself, but I know you have something to do with her. It wasn’t too hard for me to piece together.”

  I groaned inwardly. I knew Mikael might have suspected, but he was far more sure of himself than I liked. And here I thought I had done a pretty good job of keeping my identity a secret. I mean, Kat Redding was a name that hadn’t passed many tongues in quite a long time.

  But Lady Death ... that was a name spoken of quite often amongst the
vampires and werewolves. To be connected with that name was a damn near death sentence.

  “Let’s say I do know her,” I said. “What was this person asking about?”

  “Asking if anyone knew her true name, knew where he could find her. He was pretty adamant about it. He said he has a job opportunity for her or some such. He wouldn’t get into specifics. I think he was ... unsatisfied by my answers.”

  “And why are you telling me this?”

  Mikael smiled. “Because I like to keep those I work for well informed. It keeps them coming back, yes?” His smile widened. “And with information, comes money, and with money, I have my livelihood. This man refused to pay, so he is no good to me.”

  A cold chill ran up and down my spine. What kind of information did Mikael have on me? My head would carry quite a hefty sum if someone decided to go through him to get to me.

  Thankfully, I trusted him enough not to turn me over to anyone. Not while I was still paying him at least.

  “Can you tell me who was asking?”

  “He didn’t give me a name.”

  “What did he look like, then?”

  Mikael ran his fingers through his hair. They came away wet and sticky. “You do seem quite interested. Maybe I do have you pegged. Perhaps if I ever need any information on Lady Death for my own personal database, you might be willing to trade it for my knowledge. There are certain things I know that might come in handy if ever you choose to take me up on the offer.” His eyes were glimmering.

  “Maybe,” I said, though I doubted I would ever take him up on it. I didn’t want anyone to know any more about me than they already did. “If I do know this Lady Death the vamps are so afraid of, that is.”

  Mikael looked around the room and leaned forward. “You would be well served to take care of yourself,” he said softly. “You aren’t exactly Pureblooded yourself.”