by Parker Blue
DO YOU REALLY WANT TO USE ANOTHER SPELL? Fang asked. YOU JUST GOT BACK UP TO SPEED WITH LOLA.
No, I didn’t want to deplete the strides I’d gained with Lola, but it was imperative to find Alejandro. Not only because he was the leader of the New Blood Movement and my friend, but because I had a feeling his three lieutenants—Austin, Luis, and Rosa—would each want to step into the vacuum of power left in his absence. I didn’t need that kind of vampire drama on my watch.
LOOK AT YOU, BEING ALL SMART AND ANALYTICAL, Fang said admiringly. BUT I DOUBT ROSA HAS A CHANCE AGAINST THE OTHER TWO.
He was probably right. She was more the domestic type, if you could call a vampire domestic.
“You don’t have a finder?” Ivy asked in surprise.
Facepalm moment. “Oh, yeah, we do.” Duh.
Micah nodded. “I was already planning to contact Erica in the morning. She’s probably sleeping right now.”
“Good idea.” Maybe this would be easier than I thought.
Micah thanked Shade and asked him to let me know if he remembered anything else, then we left. I took the encyclopedia with me anyway, just in case we needed it for something else. Though I usually felt its pull when I was away from it, it seemed to like being with Shade, so the pull wasn’t as insistent when it was with him. And it wasn’t as if I could carry around three heavy books in my backpack all the time anyway.
Ivy yawned, and Micah said, “Let’s get Ivy to a bed. She left her car at your townhouse, so we can just head there.”
Good idea. The gemstone whisperer looked beat. After we took her luggage into the townhouse and Micah left, I showed her to Gwen’s former room. “You want to sleep now?”
She shook her head. “No, I need to get that bloodstone in a proper cleansing bath first.”
“What do you need?”
“I have everything I need in my case.” She picked up a soft-sided carry case like the type used by salesmen. Opening it, she pulled out a white ceramic dish, sea salt, and some herbs, then took them to the kitchen. She filled the dish with water, sprinkled in the salt and herbs while keeping her hoodie firmly over her head, then said, “Would you mind putting the athame in the cleansing bath?”
“Sure, no problem.” Micah had put the Tupperware container on the kitchen table, so I pulled the dagger from the pink water. Even if the salt water hadn’t helped the stone, it had at least rinsed off most of the blood. I ran it under the water in the sink to get rid of any residual blood—that couldn’t be good for cleansing the stone—then slid it into the ceramic dish.
Ivy secured an elasticized silk cloth over the top, then removed her hoodie with a sigh. “Good. That’s done. So, what’s up with McSwirly?”
Surprised, I said, “Huh?”
She grimaced. “Sorry, I watch too much TV.”
A WOMAN AFTER MY OWN HEART, Fang declared.
“I mean Shade,” Ivy explained.
Was she interested in Shade?
MAYBE. SHE THINKS HE’S HOT BUT WONDERS ABOUT THE SADNESS IN HIS EYES.
Yeah, he was a total hottie, but he was kind of damaged right now, not exactly great boyfriend material. I should know. Aloud, I said, “He just lost his twin sister Sharra and has been trying to retrieve her body from the demon dimension.”
“That sounds . . . dangerous.”
“It is. That’s why I stopped him.”
She nodded. “So, are you two dating? I kind of sensed something going on between you.”
So she was interested. “We were, but not anymore.”
SHE’S DATING AUSTIN NOW, Fang told her.
“The vampire?” Ivy’s eyes widened.
“Yeah.” I understood her shock—I’d resisted dating a bloodsucker for a long time, but Austin was different. “How much do you know about vampires and the New Blood Movement?” I asked.
“There isn’t a Movement in Sedona yet, but Micah explained it to me. I take it they’re the good guys here?” She sounded doubtful.
“Yeah, they really are. Under Alejandro’s leadership, they’re trying to wipe out the rogue vampires and pass legislation to make it mandatory for all vampires to use blood banks instead of munching on people. That’s why it’s so important to find Alejandro.” I grimaced. “Not to mention the fact that he keeps Luis in check.”
Ivy grinned. “Looked like Austin was doing that quite well.”
“Yeah, he was, wasn’t he?”
Fang’s jaw dropped in a doggie grin. WOW, IS THAT PRIDE I HEAR IN YOUR VOICE FOR YOUR MAN?
Bite me. Aloud, I said, “But having the two of them at each other’s throats isn’t good for the organization.”
Ivy grinned. “I was impressed by the way you took control and forced them to obey you. Must be nice being a lust demon.”
I squirmed. I wasn’t really proud of what I had to do, and I still wasn’t comfortable with using my powers to control men. “Not really. I can’t get too close to any man without him getting sucked into Lola’s energy field.”
“Lola?”
“That’s what I call the succubus part of me.”
“But . . . having every man want you, that’s gotta be good, right?”
Wrong. I grimaced. “Not if they only want me because Lola makes ’em feel good.”
She nodded in understanding, and I added, “I use it only when absolutely necessary.”
“That’s what makes you a good Paladin.”
“I guess.” Uncomfortable with the conversation, I changed the subject. “So, why are you visiting San Antonio?”
“I’ve always wanted to come here, see the River Walk, do the tourist thing.”
In March? Something didn’t add up. “No, why are you really here?”
Her mouth gaped open a bit, and she darted a glance at Fang.
I DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING, he said, his jaw dropped in a doggie grin. VAL’S JUST SMART THAT WAY.
She shrugged sheepishly. “Okay, I admit we’ve heard some rumors about the strange things that have been happening here. And Patricia—she’s the leader of the Underground in Sedona—asked me to check it out, talk to the local people and stones, see if we need to be worried. But I’ve been traveling to lots of cities, not just here.”
YEP, SHE’S NOT HOLDING ANYTHING BACK, Fang confirmed.
Not that she could, with Fang reading her every thought and emotion. “Well, I don’t know what would worry you, but we’ve had more than our share of weird happenings, as if San Antonio is a magnet for trouble or something.”
“Kind of like the hellmouth in the Buffyverse?” she asked.
Now, that TV show I was familiar with. “Yeah, but nothing so . . . concrete, physical. I think it’s more because of opposition to Alejandro’s New Blood Movement and because the Encyclopedia Magicka is here.” They’d both certainly attracted their share of psychos.
“Didn’t I also hear something about an amulet that could enhance your abilities?”
Well, if Micah and Fang trusted her, I guess I could, too. “Yeah, but no longer. Remember I talked about Shade smashing a crystal earlier this evening? That was it.” An idea occurred to me. “Hey, I kept some of the crystal shards. Do you think you could talk to them, see if I can still use them?”
“That depends on whether it was man-made or formed in the earth. I can’t talk to man-made crystals.”
“Well, this one must not have been man-made, because it talked to me.”
“To you? Not possible,” Ivy said firmly. “You’re not a gemstone whisperer.”
“But it did.”
YEP, Fang said. I HEARD IT, TOO.
Ivy frowned, looking worried.
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s some lore about mage demons imprisoning other demons in crystals. So, this cryst
al not only talked to you but helped you enhance your powers?”
I nodded.
“Then it’s possible it housed a demon.”
Oh, crap. That couldn’t be good.
I TOLD YOU THAT THING WAS BAD NEWS.
Ignoring him, I asked, “So, when it was shattered, what happened to the demon? Was the demon killed?” I gulped. “Or . . . released?” Just what I didn’t need—another rogue demon on the loose.
“I don’t know,” Ivy said with a frown. “But let’s find out. You have the shards in your pocket?”
How . . . ? Oh, she’d probably heard them or something. I nodded and pulled the pieces from my pocket.
She handled them thoughtfully.
“Are you getting anything?”
“Not really. It wasn’t man-made, but the trauma of breaking has put them into shock. They’re not screaming like the bloodstone, but they’re not coherent, either. They need to be cleansed before I can get anything out of them.”
She slid them into the cleansing solution with the athame.
“How long will it take?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know—it takes as long as it takes. The more traumatized the stone, the longer we’ll have to wait.”
Oh, great. Not only did I have to rely on inanimate objects to give me information, but I had to wait until they were ready to talk. Slaying vampires suddenly seemed a whole lot easier.
Chapter Seven
Val
IVY SLEPT AS LONG as I did, thanks to room-darkening curtains, way into the afternoon. Micah made arrangements for Austin and me to meet with Erica Small, the finder, after sundown, since he knew that the best way to find Alejandro was to have an object or person that was closely associated with him present when she did her finding thing.
So, we puttered around the house and vegged. After we ate dinner, courtesy of Fang’s favorite pizza delivery place, Ivy said, “I don’t sense any gemstones at all here. You don’t have any jewelry?”
“I’m not really the jewelry type,” I admitted, then wondered if she’d been hoping to read me through any stones I might own.
PROBABLY, Fang said.
“Well, it certainly makes for a peaceful place,” Ivy said with a smile. “And you have no idea how much I appreciate that. But if you’d like, I can recommend some stones to leave around the house, to increase the positive energy.”
What could it hurt? “Sure,” I said. “Speaking of stones, can you get anything from the bloodstone yet? Or the crystal shards?”
Ivy checked on the stones in her special solution. “As I expected, not ready to come out yet.”
I nodded. It was nearing sundown, so I grabbed my backpack. “I’ll let Austin know.” There was a peculiar look on her face, so I asked, “What?”
“I was hoping I could go with you—get a feel for what you do and how you do it here in San Antonio.”
I hesitated. I was beginning to suspect the Sedona demons thought I was a danger to demonkind everywhere. Was she spying on me?
SHE’S THINKING—
No, don’t tell me. Leave her some privacy. I’ll ask her if I really want to know. And, given Ivy’s frankness, she’d probably even tell me the truth. Like her gemstones.
CHILL. THIS IS THE BEST WAY TO PROVE YOU’RE NOT DANGEROUS, Fang said.
Or that I was. Was this such a good idea?
“It’s drizzling out there,” Ivy said, obviously sensing my reluctance. “We can take my car.”
AN EXCELLENT IDEA, OH GREAT ONE, Fang mocked me. BETTER THAN GETTING SOAKING WET ON YOUR BIKE.
Oh, all right. “Okay,” I said out loud. “But you do realize we may run into danger?”
HECK, IT’S ALMOST A GIVEN, Fang said to both of us.
Ivy nodded. “It’s okay. I can handle myself.”
I wasn’t sure how, but it was her hide to risk. I shrugged. “Let’s go. First stop, the vampire mansion.”
I stowed the books in a safe place, and we headed out into the drizzle to her car—a cute little MINI Cooper in bright yellow with black racing stripes across the hood and roof.
I hesitated—I hadn’t noticed the color last night. “Wow. That’s . . . bright.”
Ivy grinned and opened the doors. “It’s called the bumblebee. I couldn’t resist.”
COME ON, Fang said as he jumped in out of the wet. IT’LL BE FINE.
What the heck. I got in the front seat alongside Ivy, my nose wrinkling at the scent of eau de wet dog.
WELL, EXCUUUUUSE ME, Fang muttered. YOU DON’T HEAR IVY COMPLAINING—AND IT’S HER CAR.
Ignoring him, I gave Ivy directions to Alejandro’s mansion. By the time we arrived, the sun had fully set, and I could see the vampires were awake, given that the sun-defying shutters had been rolled up to let in the night.
Ivy looked thoughtfully at the mansion. “How many vampires are in there?”
“It varies. But a lot of them live here. Others live in converted hotels above the blood banks.” And maybe other places—I really didn’t know.
She gave me a wry look. “I’ll wait in the car.”
SO WILL THE SMELLY WET DOG, Fang informed me.
I shrugged and got out of the car, then dashed through the rain to the front door and knocked. Rosa opened it, and her eyes widened. “You have news?”
Rosa was normally totally polished and put together—one hot Latina. But today, her eyes were puffy with dark circles under them, her hair was listless, and it looked as though she hadn’t slept in decades. Tension practically radiated from her. I’d long suspected Alejandro was her lover as well as her boss, and this did nothing to make me rethink that. “No, sorry, I don’t. I came by to pick up Austin, as well as something of Alejandro’s, to take to the finder.”
She opened the door wider to let me in, and the tension I’d thought was coming from her was actually permeating the entire house. About a dozen sullen vampires glared at me through narrowed eyes. It looked as though I’d interrupted an argument of some sort, with two sets of vampires facing each other across the open expanse of the entryway in what appeared to be a showdown. Fangs at twenty paces?
Lola perked up. All that lovely male energy—she wanted a taste of that, and her tendrils surged toward the vamps. I pulled the tendrils back and suppressed her urges ruthlessly. This was not the time or the place, and I promised her that Austin would help us out in that area sometime soon. At least, I hoped so.
Rosa threw up her hands. “Take Austin, take whatever you need. If you could take Luis, too, that would be fabuloso.”
“Uh, I’ll pass,” I said as diplomatically as I could.
She let out a torrent of Spanish and gestured imperiously at the bloodsuckers filling the foyer, as if she were trying to shoo them away like errant chickens.
Austin came down the staircase, looking harried and more than a bit pissed. “Disperse, now,” he ordered.
Some of them moved, but others just looked stubborn. “What’s going on?” I asked when he reached me.
“The idiots want us to choose one person to be in charge, and they’re starting to take sides.”
Surprised, I asked, “Didn’t Alejandro designate a deputy?”
“No, it’s only necessary when he’s gone for an extended period of time, and then he rotates the duty amongst us.” He raised his voice and glanced askance to ensure the lingering bloodsuckers would hear him. “He hasn’t been gone long, and I refuse to believe he isn’t coming back, so there’s no need to choose a new leader.”
“Si,” Rosa said emphatically. “Back to work, all of you. Or I will have the Slayer force you to.”
I had to curb Lola’s leap of hope as the last lingering vampires slunk off. Jeez, since when had I become the boogieman?
“The bloodstone isn’t tal
king yet,” I told him. “So we will still need to see the finder.”
Austin nodded and led me to Alejandro’s study. “Here,” he said, removing the bust of Cortez from his desk. “He touches this a lot when he’s thinking. Will it do?”
“It should,” I said as I picked up the heavy thing. The brass was dull on the guy’s head where Alejandro evidently petted it often. Glancing at Austin speculatively, I said, “This will probably be enough for the finder—you don’t need to come if you’re needed here.”
Austin’s lips thinned. “No, I won’t stay and play into their power struggle to force a decision.”
Vampire politics. Couldn’t blame him. I didn’t want to get involved, either.
Austin’s lips twisted, and he ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry, I’d hoped to get to know each other better.”
Lola let me know how very disappointed she was, but the stakes were so high, our fragile new relationship would have to wait. “Don’t worry about it. Let’s get Alejandro back first, then worry about . . .” Hmm, how should I finish that statement?
“Us?” Austin asked, quirking a grin at me.
I shrugged. Yeah, if there was an “us.” Lola pushed, insisting I worry about it very soon—she really liked Austin. I was too embarrassed to admit that, so I said, “Come on. Ivy and Fang are waiting for us in her car.”
Austin put on his hat and took the bust from me, then followed me out to the bumblebee, thoughtfully grabbing an umbrella from the stand by the door to cover me. He took one look at Ivy’s car and came to an abrupt halt. “We are not riding in that.”
I couldn’t help but grin. “I don’t know. I’ve been thinking of buying a car myself, and this is really cute.”
He slanted a glance at me. “Maybe, but it’s also rather conspicuous for what we do, and I’m not sure I’d fit.”
