by Lisa Emme
“Tess! Hold on.” I tried to battle my way to her, but there were too many zombies in the way. Tess screamed in pain.
“No!” My vision went red in anger for a moment and a zombie used the opportunity to grab my arm, wrenching it backwards, its fingernails scoring marks down my bare skin. “Enough!” I screamed it at the top of my lungs, putting every ounce of energy I had and every bit of anger I felt into it.
A wave of power pulsed out from me and the zombies toppled like dominoes, turning to dust and blowing away as they hit the ground. The silence that ensued around us was almost deafening.
Nash stood, bruised and bloodied, over the now inanimate corpse of the jack. “What the hell just happened?”
“I don’t know.” I shook my head and looked around. I spotted Tess lying on the ground, holding her stomach. “Tess!” She was bleeding from a deep gash in her side. “Tess, are you okay?”
I tore the sleeve off the shirt of the stunned werewolf standing next to me and rushed to Tess’s side. My hands trembled as I pressed the piece of cloth up against her wound, trying to stem the flow of blood.
“Harry! Tess!” Holly came running around the corner with several large werewolves and Dev, Nash’s partner.
“Holly, hurry! Tess is hurt.”
Holly ran to us and knelt down beside Tess. “Hold on. I can help.” She pulled my hands away. “It’s okay Harry, step away. Let me work.”
I moved back, giving Holly room. My whole body began to tremble as the adrenaline rush subsided. A warm hand rested on my shoulder and Nash pulled me close, wrapping his jacket around me.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” He looked at me with concern.
I looked at my arm. It was scratched and bleeding, but other than that I was unhurt. “No, I’m okay.” I held up my arm. “Just a scratch.”
Dev approached, shaking his head. “What the hell happened here?” He pointed to the dead werewolf. “We’ve got one man down, George Wilks, according to his ID. Another man, hell, he’s dead, but he looks like he’s been dead a while. Strangest thing, he’s full of bullet holes but there’s no blood.”
“Cut off his head.” I pushed away from Nash to look at the corpse of the poor man that had been killed to create the jack. “You have to cut off his head. For all we know, they can still reanimate him otherwise.”
“She’s right,” replied Nash. “We’re going to need a cleaning crew to take care of this one.” Nash pulled out his phone and punched a button. He stepped away from me but I could still hear what he was saying. “Yeah, it’s Nash. Tell Salvador we’ve got a situation here behind The Lodge. We’re going to need a crew.”
I was swaying on my feet now that the adrenaline had left me. The burst of energy that pulsed out of me, whatever the hell it was, was also taking its toll. I turned to see Holly helping Tess to her feet.
When she noticed my attention, Tess smiled weakly. “I’m okay Harry. Nothing a little werewolf speed healing won’t take care of overnight.”
Relieved, I pulled Nash’s jacket around me. It smelled like him, which for some reason felt comforting. A couple of Holly’s reinforcements had joined us and were helping the werewolf couple that had been under attack. The woman sobbed quietly as they led them away, back towards The Lodge.
The rest of the night was mostly a blur. I can remember being led away and someone driving the three of us home. I was still wearing Nash’s jacket, but he had stayed behind with Dev to see to the aftermath.
Back at the firehall, the three of us retreated to our bathrooms to clean off the blood and gore. Yay for on demand hot water!
After I scrubbed myself clean and disinfected the scratch on my arm, I stood under the blasting hot water, drifting in and out of consciousness from sheer exhaustion. I don’t know how long I stood there, when I heard voices.
“Harry? Harry, are you all right?”
I don’t even remember falling, but I was sitting under the shower spray when Holly found me.
“Harry!” She turned off the water and wrapped me in a towel. There were sounds of a muted argument then warm, strong arms lifted me up and carried me to my bed. I could barely keep my eyes open; I felt so tired and weak. I crawled under my covers feeling consciousness slip away. The bed dipped and someone slipped in beside me. I was too far gone to wonder what was going on, as arms wrapped around me and I was enveloped in a familiar comforting scent.
Chapter Thirteen
I woke the next morning wrapped around my favourite fluffy pillow, roused by the smell of bacon. Cocooned as I was under the covers, I contemplated just staying put, but hunger soon won out.
I crawled out of bed with a niggling feeling that I was forgetting something important that happened last night, but I drew a blank. Unfortunately, I definitely remembered the horror of our encounter with the zombies. Whoever that was on Bryce’s video, he was doing serious dark magic. Although the zombies were poorly constructed, a sign that the practitioner wasn’t powerful enough to call a fully formed zombie, the number that he had created and controlled was surprising. To have called that many zombies from their graves meant that he must have been augmenting his power. The only way it would have been possible that I had ever read about, was through blood magic. That meant more people had already died to lend power to his evil plans. But why? To what end? The thought was chilling.
I dressed quickly, pulling on some yoga pants and a t-shirt and headed downstairs, following the scent of bacon. Chilling thoughts and solving mysteries could wait until after breakfast.
Holly was cooking up a storm in the kitchen. She was just lifting some bacon out of the pan to drain on a paper towel when I entered the room. I was happy to see Tess sitting up at the kitchen island, scarfing down breakfast.
“Harry, you’re up, just in time to get something to eat.” Holly turned and held up a plate of pancakes. “Can I offer you some more, Detective?”
Nash shook his head. “No, that was great. Thanks.”
I stopped short in surprise. What was he doing here? Maybe he was checking up on Tess. I tried to wipe the scowl from my face.
“Detective Nash.” I nodded at Nash then turned my attention to Tess. “Tess, how are you doing?” I went to my friend and hugged her.
“I’m fine Harry. How are you?” Tess looked at me curiously.
“I’m fine. Actually, I’m great. I feel fantastic.” And I did. I must have had a really good sleep because I felt totally recharged. Surprising, after how I felt the night before.
Holly and Tess were looking at me strangely. “What?” I asked. “I feel great. Honestly.” My stomach growled loudly. “But not for much longer if you don’t feed me. I’m starving.”
Holly put a plate heaped with bacon, pancakes and eggs in front of me. “And everything is okay after last night?”
I frowned at her. “Well, no, of course not. Last night was awful. Why are you acting so weird?”
“So you don’t remember anything after the zombies?” Holly persisted.
“No, not really.” I shrugged. “I don’t even remember getting out of the shower and going to bed. I guess I should thank you for saving me from drowning.”
Nash pushed his stool out and stood up. “I should get going.” He grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair where I had dropped it the night before. A familiar scent wafted out, tickling my memory again, but still it eluded me.
I mumbled a goodbye over a mouthful of pancakes. Holly glared at me and then came out from around the kitchen island to show Nash to the door.
“Thank you so much for everything, Detective.” She clasped his hand. “You were a real life saver.”
When the door had closed behind Nash, I scowled at her. “Thank you so much, Detective. You were a real life saver, Detective.” I made a face. “Geez Holly, suck up much?”
Holly snapped at me with
a tea towel. “Don’t be a bitch, Harry. He did more than you know to help out last night.”
“Was that before or after he marked me as his property?”
“I’m sure he did what he thought he had to do.”
I scowled at her again. Why was she suddenly taking his side? I looked closely at her. “Oh. My. God! Did you? And he?” I gaped at Holly. No wonder Nash was still here this morning. “You slept with Nash?”
Tess laughed out loud, spraying her juice. Holly scowled at her then turned and pointed a finger at me. “No, I did not. And you had better leave it at that or you may be forced to think about things you have steadfastly tried to ignore.” She wiped her hands on her apron then untied it and placed it on the counter. “I have to get ready to go to work. We’re doing outreach with the homeless this afternoon.”
After Holly stalked off, I turned to Tess and said, “What’s her problem?”
Tess snorted a little laugh then replied, “You really don’t remember anything after we got home last night?”
“Just you and Holly arguing about something and then helping me to bed. Why? What should I remember?”
Tess stood and grabbed her plate, carrying it to the sink. “Nothing.” She was clearly evading the question. “Look, I’ve got to get to work too. It’s your turn to do the dishes.” She paused on her way out the door. “Oh, and there is something wrong with the computer. Do you know anything about that?”
***
Something was wrong with the computer? That was an understatement. Of course, I hadn’t exactly had time to explain to Tess or Holly where Bryce had decided to take up residence. That’s if he was even still there. The monitor, when I tried firing up the computer, remained black.
“Damn it, Bryce!” I gave the side of the unit a whack. “What have you done to my computer?”
HEY! STOP THAT!
“Bryce! You’re still there!”
OF COURSE I’M HERE. WHERE ELSE WOULD I BE?
“I’m still thinking the whole go-to-the-light thing should be an option.”
ARE YOU KIDDING? THIS IS WAY BETTER. AT LEAST IT WILL BE SOON.
I didn’t particularly like the sound of that. “What do you mean, it will be soon?”
I TOLD YOU. YOUR COMPUTER IS IN SERIOUS NEED OF AN UPGRADE. BUT DON’T WORRY. I’VE TAKEN CARE OF IT.
I really didn’t like the sound of that. “You’ve taken care of what?”
RELAX. I HAVE IT ALL UNDER CONTROL. JUST LET THE NERD HERD GUY IN WHEN HE GETS HERE. HIS GPS IS SHOWING HE’S FIVE MINUTES AWAY.
“Nerd Herd? You hired a computer nerd?”
JUST TO DO THE INSTALLATIONS. NO HANDS, REMEMBER?
This was getting crazier by the minute. “Installations? Of what? What is this going to cost me?”
I TOLD YOU. I HAVE IT ALL UNDER CONTROL. I’M PAYING FOR ALL THE UPGRADES.
“You’re dead Bryce. You don’t have any money anymore.”
THE OFFSHORE BANK ACCOUNT I HAVE BEGS TO DIFFER.
An offshore bank account, working for the Cimmerian...Boy, Gran sure knew how to pick’em. Before I could question Bryce further, the door buzzer rang. As Bryce predicted, it was a guy dressed in khakis and a polo shirt announcing he was part of the Nerd Herd, the tech support for a local electronics chain. His name tag said ‘Hi, My Name is Arnold’.
“Yeah, I have a delivery for A. Turing?” A. Turing as in Alan Turing, the genius mathematician? Very funny Bryce.
“Sure, I guess that’s me, or uh, my brother.” I stood back to let Arnold in the door. He was loaded down with several bags.
“Okay, sure. Yeah.” The poor guy seemed to be living up to the whole ‘doesn’t interact well with women’ stereotype. “There’s a bunch more down in the van.”
“More?”
“Uh, yeah.” He nervously pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I should, uh, I should go get them.”
“Okay, you do that.”
As soon as Arnold left, I stomped over to the computer. “What the hell Bryce? What do you expect me to do with all this stuff?”
DON’T WORRY. THE NERD WILL TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING.
The screen flicked from DOS-prompt black to the standard desktop. Arnold came clomping in the open door laden down with several more packages.
“I, um, I’ll just leave the peripherals in the van until we’re ready for them.” He stood nervously.
“Sure Arnold.” The poor guy started like a spooked deer at the sound of his own name. “Did my brother leave any instructions about what he wanted done with all this stuff?”
“Oh sure, I’ve got it all here on the work order.” Relieved to be back in familiar territory, Arnold brandished his tablet phone.
“Okay, good. I’ll leave you to it then.”
Chapter Fourteen
I was having a bad case of déjà vu. I was once again in my room, rooting through my closet looking for something to wear. What do you wear to have dinner with the most powerful vampire in the city? For some reason I didn’t think the style and fashion pages cover scenarios like this.
The only difference this time around, was that instead of torpedoing everything I chose, Gran was berating me for even thinking of going.
“I have to go Gran. I made a deal with Salvador.”
“A deal with the devil more like.” Gran’s tone of voice, spoke volumes about how she felt about my deal. “I thought I raised you to be smarter than that.”
“How about this?” Tess came into my room interrupting my reply to Gran. She held up a classy, black evening dress. “I got it on sale, but the skirt is way too long for me and I never got around to having it altered.”
I grabbed the dress, glad to have an excuse to ignore Gran. It was a sleeveless, satin sheath, with a plunging v-neck. The floor length skirt had a very high slit up the side. It was the perfect length for me, on Tess it would have been about 6 inches too long.
“Tess, it’s perfect.”
“It shows off too much skin,” Gran complained. “You walk into the devil’s lair flashing that much skin, it’s going to be you on the menu. You mark my words.”
The door buzzer sounded below. “Who could that be?” I glanced at the clock. I would have to leave soon or I would be late. “Could you get it Tess, while I finish getting dressed?”
When I went downstairs a few minutes later after finally telling Gran to just butt out - I was in this predicament because of her in the first place - a man dressed in a chauffeur’s uniform waited with Tess.
“What’s going on?”
“It appears your ride to the ball is taken care of, Cinderella,” Tess joked.
“Good evening, Miss Russo. Mr. Arroyo has sent me to pick you up.” The chauffeur gave a little bow. “I’m Henry.” He held out a long flat box. “Mr. Arroyo also sent this, with his compliments.”
“Oh goody! Presents!” Tess clapped her hands and bounced up and down in exaggerated glee. “Open it! Open it!”
I took the box from Henry with some trepidation and set it on the table. The white box was tied with a red ribbon that reminded me of blood. Inside, beneath folds of more blood red tissue paper was the most gorgeous dress I have ever seen.
“Omigod! The tag says it’s an Alexander McQueen.” Tess didn’t have to exaggerate her excitement now.
I pulled the gown out of the box. It was a bustier dress in floor length silk chiffon. The fabric was exquisitely patterned in shades of grey and charcoal. The waist was belted with a delicate silver chain. Of course, it was in my size.
“That dress must have cost a fortune.” Tess reached out to touch the soft fabric.
I noticed a card at the bottom of the box. It read, “Looking forward to our time together this evening” and was signed “Regards, Salvador”.
I tossed the card back into the box then gathered the dress up and placed it ba
ck inside as well.
“What are you doing?” Tess grabbed the lid of the box from my hands. “You’re not going to wear it?”
“No,” I replied, grabbing the lid back. “I’m already dressed and I certainly don’t need Salvador Arroyo telling me what to wear like I am one of his bimbos.” I turned to Henry and handed him the box. “Thank you Henry, but I won’t be accepting this. You can wait in the car. I’ll be down in a few minutes.”
Henry bowed, his face betraying nothing. “Very well, Miss.”
After Henry had left, Tess turned to me, a worried look on her face. “Are you sure about this Harry?”
“No, of course I’m not. But what other choice do we have? We’ll lose our home if I don’t keep my end of the deal.”
“It’s not going to do anyone much good if you’re dead.”
“Salvador isn’t going to kill me. If he wanted me dead, he would have done it already.”
Chapter Fifteen
It’s funny how your perspective changes when someone has their hands wrapped around your throat. Turns out that maybe Salvador did want me dead. Or at least, Tomas did, and Salvador wasn’t going to lift a finger to stop him.
The plan of going to the club, having a quick meal - with me not on the menu - and then getting the hell out of there, began to go sideways the moment I arrived at Dante’s. Instead of going upstairs to Salvador’s private balcony, Stefan, the vampire that met me at the limo, showed me through a door that led down below the club.
The basement of the club was a warren of dark, narrow hallways lined with doors behind which, who knew what was happening. Unfortunately the throbbing beat from the dance floor above wasn’t enough to drown out some of the sounds filtering through the odd door, so I had a pretty good idea of what was going on behind at least some of them.
