But I had to know.
Not just about my soul, either. Now that the thought had taken root, my mind would be like a hound with a bone. You can pull at the thought, but you’d never drag it from my mind. Or my heart.
“Be careful, Sven,” his voice was soft and low. It sounded more like a goodbye.
I nodded. “As careful as I can be, master.”
He stood slowly and pulled his robes back down to his ankles. “Do not hesitate.”
I looked up to him hoping he would explain himself but I was back in my office, sitting in my chair behind the desk. To this day, I still have no idea if I transported myself back or he somehow did it.
If I survived this, I’d have to ask him.
* * *
“Why won’t you tell me what he said to you?” Laura stood beside me, impatiently wanting answers.
I continued to pack my weapons into my long coat. “You wouldn’t understand if I did.” Okay, it was mostly a lie, but not entirely. I still wasn’t sure what he meant when said not to hesitate.
“That’s up to me and my simple mind, dontcha think?”
Uh-oh. There it was.
I sighed and laid the blades aside. I turned to her and there were tears running down her cheeks. I took her face in my hands and kissed the tears away.
“Just tell me what he said.” Okay, now there was snot running from her nose. It was precious to me.
“He said, ‘don’t hesitate.’” I stared at her and she gave me a dumbfounded look.
“Wait. Like…don’t wait to go or…don’t hesitate when something…” Her face scrunched up as she tried to understand.
I shrugged. “See? I don’t understand either and I was there.” I let go of her face and picked up the angel blades. I could feel them vibrate with anticipation until I sheathed them.
She continued to stare at me and all I could do was try to ignore her. “If I had more answers, I’d tell you. The master said, and I’m quoting here, ‘Don’t hesitate.’ That was it.”
She sat down on the bed and shook her head. “Why do I get the feeling that you’re holding back on me?”
I shrugged. Maybe because I was. I finished loading the weapons and looked around the room. I couldn’t think of anything else to take with me.
She eyed me suspiciously and shook her head. “And you think you won’t stick out there?” She made a tsk-tsk sound. “You stand out here. What makes you think you’ll blend in there?”
I had no answer.
She stood and pulled the lapels of my jacket smooth. “What were Loki and Thor wearing when they came here?”
I shrugged. “Thor wore his armor. Just like in the ancient drawings. Loki wore a suit. Well…the second time he was only wearing a loincloth, but…”
She cut me a grin through her red and swollen eyes. “I wouldn’t mind seeing you in a loincloth.”
I squared my shoulders. “You aren’t going to distract me this time lady,” I winked at her. “Not even with your feminine wiles.”
“Then I must be rusty.” She tried to hide the new set of tears forming in her eyes. She pushed me away. “I guess you better go. The sooner you go, the sooner you’ll be back.”
I nodded, thinking that she was right.
“I’m still not exactly sure how to do this.” I hated admitting that to her. I’m supposed to be a god. Gods know everything. Don’t they?
“I’m guessing it’s like any other time you travel. Just think about where you want to go and go.” She sniffed back the tears and it hit me in the feelers.
I imagined she was right. Except, I’d never been there. I had no idea how to imagine it. What if I imagine it wrong? Would I “create” a new afterlife because I envisioned it incorrectly? Would I somehow change one of the nine worlds because I didn’t know what it was really like?
So many questions. Not enough answers.
Laura cursed under her breath. I turned to see what was wrong and caught her staring at her phone.
“What is it?”
“Nothing.” She quickly shoved the phone into her pocket and gave me a tight lipped smile.
“Apparently it was something.” I reached for her hand and she pulled away.
“No. Whatever it is can either wait for your return or I’ll handle it myself.” She squared her shoulders and held her head high. “I am, after all, your assistant. I shall assist by covering for you while you’re gone.”
I stepped toward her. “Work comes first. What is it?”
“It’s nothing. I already told you.” She turned away from me and pressed her hand against her pocket.
I stared at the rectangular lump in her pocket and willed it to my hand. She cursed as she felt the hard plastic object disappear from her pants. “That’s not fair!”
“People have been saying that to gods since the beginning of time.” I held the phone up and pressed the button, bringing it back to life. I quickly read the email then handed her the phone back.
“There’s no way in hell I’m letting you deal with this on your own.”
She huffed and turned her back on me. “I can handle myself quite well in the field.”
“This is a rogue vampire. They’re stronger than you, faster than you…a lot more evil than you could ever be.” I pointed to her phone. “The email says that he put two enforcers in the ground. What do you think he’d do to you?”
She spun and gave me a smart assed look. “He’d throw his guts up if he bit me.”
“And if he rips your head from your shoulders?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “No. I’ll take care of this.”
I would have poofed myself out of the room right then except I didn’t read to the bottom of the email and the location. Instead I reached for her hand. “How about we do this together? I could use back up.”
She glared at me. “Oh, the great god Sven thinks he needs back up from little old me?”
I withdrew my hand and I’m sure she saw the hurt I felt. I never meant to imply that she wasn’t capable. Far from it. But I had dealt with rogue vampires in the past. Some of them lose their minds for different reasons, but one thing they all have in common is increased strength. Increased speed. Increased agility. Bad tempers.
It would take my god-like abilities to handle one.
My hand acted before I even thought it. It reached into my coat and pulled out one of the shorter angel blades. It would be much like a short sword to her. I saw myself handing it to her and was shocked at my own action.
“Take it before I change my mind.”
She looked at me as if I offered her a kidney. She finally looked up at me and her head shook slightly. “Why? I thought you’d never part with the angel weapons.”
“I told you I’d need backup. This won’t increase your reaction time, but it will give you a weapon that is more than effective against a vampire.”
She took it gently and held it in her hands. “Oh my…it’s vibrating.”
“They like to do that.” I pulled the sheath from my belt and handed it to her. “It’s possible that vibration helps it to slice through just about anything.”
I picked up the nightstand and held it out to her. “Try it.” She hefted the blade over her head for a strong swing. “Wait!” I reached across and brought her hand down gently on the wooden piece.
Her eyes widened as she felt it slice through the wood like a hot knife through butter.
“Oh, wow.” Her eyes darted between the ruined furniture and me. “That’s incredible.”
I gave her a soft smile and nodded. “You bet it is.”
She sheathed the sword and nodded. “Okay then. Let’s do this.”
I took her hand. “Where to?”
“Colorado.”
Chapter 11
We walked the streets of Denver and found a nice little Bed and Breakfast to call home for the evening. We waited until dark then made contact with the local enforcer. He was not what I expected.
“What can I say? You have to blend in.
Especially here. Way too many transplants from California.”
The man wore hiking shorts and a polo shirt. His hair was cropped off at the shoulders and he sported a little tuft of hair just under his bottom lip. His dark, circular sunglasses looked out of place at night, but he claimed they were stylish.
“What difference does it make if people are from California?” I shouldn’t have asked.
“It’s the land of fruits and nuts,” he shrugged. “I saw that on a bumper sticker.”
I gave him my best deadpan stare. He didn’t flinch. I’m guessing he hadn’t heard the rumors about me.
Laura finally broke the silence. “Why are there three enforcers for this area?”
He settled into his seat at the coffee shop and nursed the cup of fifteen syllable coffee that he had ordered.
“We get more than our fair share of immigrant undergrounders here, man. Plenty of half-breeds, mutants, failed turnings…nights on the beach, they’re wild, dude. You can hardly tell the real thing from the posers. Lenny used to handle the tourists. Mike was in charge of the incoming transfers and I handled the locals.” He sipped at the bitter brew and made a face as he spit it back into the cup. “I used to love this stuff. Now just the taste…”
“Back to the problem.” I snapped my fingers in front of his face. “The rogue?”
“Ah!” He sat upright in his chair. “Dude moves in from the lower peninsula and–”
“Michigan?”
He gave me a stupid stare. “No, man. Fucking Baja.” I had no idea what he was talking about but nodded anyway. Laura could fill me in later if it was important. “So the dude moves in and just dives in eating the locals. Well, you know how the council frowns upon shit like that. So we go to try to talk to him and the dude flips shit on us.”
I give Laura a sideways glance and she’s engrossed in his tale. She could explain the lingo to me later, too. I waved him on.
“Then what?”
“Well, like, Lenny jumps in and the dude rips him a new one. Literally. I mean, like, reached up into his guts and just…ashed him right there. So Mike pulls a silver shank, right? And the two danced for, like, half a minute before Mike was floating away on the breeze. I high tailed it, man. I’m no fighter. I’m a lover.”
“What the fuck are you doing as an enforcer then?” I growled at him through gritted teeth, making a mental note that I needed to go through all of the personnel files again and make sure that the enforcers were actually capable of being enforcers.
He gave me his best car salesman smile. “It’s all who you know, bruh.”
I felt Laura’s hand against my chest holding me back. I had to take a deep breath.
She spoke for me because I was too busy trying not to fucking squirrel-pop this guy. “Where is the rogue now?”
He shrugged, his face still plastered with that stupid grin. “Beats me, man. He could be anywhere.” He sipped the coffee again before spitting it back into the cup. “If I were trying to find him, I’d just follow the mayhem.”
* * *
“Just follow the mayhem, BRUH. Like Oh My God, dude. So gnarly, man.”
“Stop it, Sven.” Laura chided as she lead me through the streets. “The guy must be feeding from some serious stoners.”
“Ya think?” I ground my teeth again. “I realize that weed is legal here, but you’d think just a few of the people would wake up one day and be clear headed enough to ask, ‘why are there puncture wounds all over my body and why am I so fucking anemic!’”
“Just wait a minute.” She pressed her tiny hand against my chest again and I looked down at her. She was pointing to something across the street.
“What?”
“That nightclub.” She looked to me and shook her head. “That place is loaded with vamps.”
I gave her a confused look. “How can you…oh. You smell them.”
She practically dragged me across the street. We had a partial physical description of the rogue, but seriously, it could be anybody.
I entered the club and looked around. I could see the vamps all turning to measure me up. Most turned back around but a few sniffed the air. They must have either smelled Laura or they could detect that I was warm blooded and had a heartbeat.
Wouldn’t they be in for a surprise if they tried something stupid.
“I’m not seeing him.” Laura had to practically shout over the thump of the music. The place reminded me of the club I met Gibson at. That seemed like a lifetime ago.
“I’m going to have a look around.” I pushed past her and the small crowd gathered near the entrance. A heavily muscled man stepped in front of me and crossed his arms. When I went to step around him, he grabbed my shoulder and pointed at a window to the side.
I had to look twice before I noticed the older woman sitting behind the plexiglass smoking a cigarette. They wanted ten bucks a head to enter. I turned back to the guy I assumed was the bouncer. “I’m just looking for someone.”
“Aren’t we all, buddy. Ten bucks!”
I had to look down at him but he wasn’t the slightest bit put off by my size. I suppose he had to deal with assholes all the time who were bigger than him. I stood tall and looked over his head and into the crowd. I didn’t see anybody who stood out. I looked down at him and his face was starting to twist up into a mask of impatience.
“Have you had any trouble with someone being overly aggressive lately?” I tried to sound authoritative.
His gaze narrowed. “You a cop or something?”
I nodded. “Or something. Anybody come to mind?”
The guy rubbed at his arm and nodded. “A couple of nights ago we had a dude causing trouble. Bit a couple of the women.”
My interest was piqued. “Was he about six foot, dark hair, pale skin? Big nose?”
The guy shook his head. “Yeah, except the big nose. He looked like any other asshole off the street.”
I turned to Laura and nodded. “My partner and I would like to talk with you and any of your people who may have interacted with the suspect.”
The man looked over my shoulder at Laura then waved us both to a room off the entrance. “This is the security room. When the cameras are working, and that ain’t often, we use this against trouble makers. Usually we ban them and they stay gone. Those who don’t, we turn the tapes over to the cops.” He nodded to the guy behind the screens. “Pull up the asshole from a few night ago. The one that bit the ladies.”
We waited patiently in the small, smoke filled room until they booted up the footage. “Sorry it’s so grainy. The owners don’t believe in upgrading.”
Laura and I both watched as a man dressed in a white leisure suit fought with the security guards. Two other patrons joined in and pulled the wacko off the humans. Judging by the way their eyes reflected in the low light of the club, they were vampires as well. It took three of them to wrestle the man to the entrance, then he seemingly disappeared.
“Yeah, I guess the camera glitched right about there.” The man rubbed at his arm again and in the light of the security office I could see a handprint shaped bruise along his forearm.
“Is there a way you can copy that off for us?” Laura asked.
“Yeah. Give me a minute.” The bouncer waited for the printer to spit out the image then handed it to us. “Has this asshole been causing problems in other places?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe.” I responded.
“Killed a couple of people.” Laura added. “Allegedly.”
The bouncer seemed shaken. “Asshole was strong. Probably on PCP or some shit. It took nearly all of my men and a few of the patrons to bring him down.”
I nodded. “We’ve got it from here.” I held the paper up. “Thank you.”
* * *
Laura met up with the stoner enforcer and verified that the man in the grainy black and white image was the same one that attacked Lenny and Mike. I couldn’t stand to be around the man again. I was afraid I might put my fist through the back of his sku
ll or worse, fire him.
We hit the night club scene and asked anybody who would give us a moment if they had seen the guy in the photo. Most couldn’t make out his features, a few recognized the white leisure suit. None could tell us where he currently was.
We were about to give up at the last club and make our way back to the B&B. We walked out into the parking lot and Laura’s heightened ears caught a sound that I missed. She pulled me to the side of the building and we both peered into the gloom of the alley. We saw a figure standing over what appeared to be a woman. Laura growled and I stepped into the alleyway. “Can I help you with something?”
The figure spun and I saw the reflective glint of vampire eyes. “Fuck off.”
“That’s not a nice thing to say. Who you eating there?”
The figure growled and took a step toward me. There wasn’t much moonlight, but I could make out his features once he stepped closer. I was pretty sure it was the asshole we were looking for. “You dumb-asses just can’t stop making the same mistakes, can you?”
He growled again and I actually heard Laura pull her blade from the sheath. I rolled my head on my shoulders and felt the distinctive popping from my neck. I needed what was about to happen.
“Sven, be careful.” Laura whispered behind me.
“Yeah, Sven. Be careful,” the figure goaded me. He stepped closer and I saw his eyes widen. I think he was beginning to realize I was a lot larger than he expected. He immediately shook it off and cracked his knuckles. “I’m gonna fuck you up.”
I got that feeling. That sixth sense that told me something was about to happen. A little late, I feared, but I felt it.
I glanced over my shoulder to Laura. “Watch our backs.” When I turned back, time seemed to slow down. I watched as the figure jumped into the air. Had I been a human, I might have been impressed. But I’m not a human.
I crouched slightly and waited for him to get closer. I watched as his eyes grew wide and his limbs flailed in the wild arc of his flight. I reached out with my arm and caught him by the chest, pressing him high up into the air.
Hunter 3 : Lost Souls Page 10
