by Tinnean
“We are the day watchers.”
Which she’d already told me. I took the entrance ramp to the thruway heading north. Now it would be a straight run, and I’d get us home in a couple of hours.
Except the traffic slowed to a crawl.
One thing I hadn’t taken into consideration—it was the middle of the week and this was rush hour.
“Are you still cold?”
“Huh? Oops, I’m sorry.” I’d left the heater blasting all this time. I switched it off.
“Perhaps you should leave a message for Raymond,” she murmured.
“Good idea. My cell phone is in the backpack. Can you get it and make the call? I don’t like to use my phone when I’m driving.” A thought occurred to me. “You do know how to use a cell phone, don’t you?”
“It isn’t necessary for us to carry one, but yes.” She pulled the backpack into the front seat, careful not to hit Mina with it, and began rummaging through it. “Are you sure?”
“Am I sure what?”
“That your cell phone is here.”
“I put it in there after I changed in the locker room.” Hadn’t I? “Check the side pocket?”
“Ah. Here it is.”
“Phew. You had me scared.” If I’d lost it in the locker room or the beach and someone found it and kept it…. All those phone numbers on it! Who would I even call to get it deactivated? Not to mention this was something else Raymond would probably make me confess to Adam.
She cleared her throat.
“What?”
“When was the last time you recharged it?”
“A couple of days ago.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.” It had been pounded into me how important that was.
“Well, I’m not getting anything.”
“Let me see it.” Traffic was still at a standstill, and I risked taking my eyes off the road. She was right. The screen was black. I pressed buttons and smacked it against my hand, but nothing helped. “But… I know I recharged it!” Maybe the battery had crapped out?
“I don’t like this.”
“You think I do?” I tossed the phone onto the dashboard, as pissed at it as I knew Raymond was going to be at me. “As soon as we get to the next rest area, I’ll pull off the thruway and make that call.”
“All right.” She took the phone and put it away, and then she put the backpack behind my seat.
The problem was, that rest area was thirty-seven miles away. I glanced at all the brake lights ahead of us and then up at the sky. Would we be able to get there before the sun set?
“So what can you tell me about day watchers?”
“We were bred up to keep watch over our vampyrs by day, although originally we were their pets.”
“Really? Seems they did a lot of genetic manipulation.” I was able to let the car inch forward a couple of yards before I had to brake again.
“They would consider it survival. You see, there were never enough sabors to go around for each vampyr, and as for normals, once their numbers dropped due to the Plague, it became necessary to use caution doing that. So they would feed from us. Never enough to debilitate us or to turn us. Eventually, to prevent us from aging, they allowed us to take sips from them.”
“Oh, yeah?” I was about to tell her I’d had some of Adam’s blood, but then I thought better of it. That was between me and my vampyr.
“We gained some of the benefits—we have a longer life span—and avoided some of the disadvantages.”
“Not being able to go out in the sun?”
“Yes. And we’re stronger than normals.”
“So that’s how day watchers got their start. Are any of them saborese?”
“No. We breed with other day watchers, and sometimes—” She paused, and I wondered who else they bred with, but it became obvious she wasn’t going to say. “We pass those traits on to the next generation.”
“Do you stay together? Is there love between you?” I blushed. “I’m sorry. That was really nosy.”
“It’s understandable. Sabors don’t usually need to know about day watchers.”
“Dammit. I’m causing problems for Adam.” That was the last thing I wanted for him. What could I do to fix things? I tapped my fingers against the steering wheel. Maybe I should let those adepţi catch me. I worried my lower lip.
“This isn’t your fault. De Vivar wanted more than was meant for him.”
I grunted and let the car roll forward, this time about twelve feet.
THE TRAFFIC had finally picked up—I would have pissed and moaned if the delay had been due to drivers fascinated by other drivers who’d pulled over to the side of the road to change a tire, but how could I when the cause was an accident that closed down the right lane for almost a mile? By the time I got beyond it, it was past eight, and I still had at least forty-five minutes before I got to my exit.
“The rest area is the next exit.” I gave her a quick glance. I’d long since tossed my Ray-Bans onto the dashboard. “Are you hungry?” I was. Being in the water always left me starved, and I hadn’t finished my hamburger. “There’s a restaurant there too. We can have dinner, if you’d like?”
“I would like. Thank you.”
Mina sat up on her lap and woofed.
“Are you hungry too, pup? Okay, it’s unanimous.” I flipped up the blinker and followed the service road under the thruway to the parking lot. There were all manner of vehicles there: eighteen-wheelers, some RVs, a few motorcycles, and, of course, cars.
I pulled into a parking spot and turned off the engine, and we got out of the car.
“Just give me a minute.” I couldn’t go into the restaurant in my square cuts. “I have to get dressed.” I needed my wallet as well. I toed off my running shoes.
“I’ll walk Mina. I think she’s a little uncomfortable.”
“Thanks.” I took my jeans and T-shirt out of the backpack, pulled them on, and stepped back into my Nikes.
Then I stared thoughtfully from the restaurant to where Mina seemed intrigued by something.
As important as the vampyr community felt she was for me, I didn’t see the restaurant’s manager agreeing she was a service dog and letting her join us. I emptied my backpack.
Ekaterina returned to the car, laughing. “Your Mina doesn’t like to be far from you.”
“I don’t like her being far from me, either.” I bent, holding open the backpack. “Inside, Min.” I wasn’t sure if she’d know what I wanted, but she stepped daintily into it, and I zipped it partway closed. “Now, don’t let anyone know you’re in there.”
She yipped and licked my cheek, and then she settled down. I gently swung the backpack over my shoulder, and the three of us entered the restaurant.
The woman behind the counter looked up when the bells above the door chimed, and she gave us a friendly smile. “Hey, kids. Grab a table and I’ll be right with you.” There wasn’t an empty seat the length of the counter, and many of the tables were occupied.
“Pay phone?”
“By the restrooms.” She gestured toward them.
“Thank you.” I let Ekaterina pick out the table, and then I eased the backpack to the floor beside her chair. “Stay quiet, Min,” I whispered. “Would you order me a grilled cheese, fries, and a Coke?” When I wasn’t certain about the quality of the food that would be served, Dad had taught me that was the safest bet. I’d take a lactase tablet when I finished my call.
I took a credit card from my wallet, found a pay phone that worked, and dialed my home phone. It rang three times, and then the answering machine picked up. “You have reached the home of Ty Small.” Then cheering broke out in the background, and, “Oh, you’re too kind. I can’t come to the phone right now. Leave a message after the beep and I’ll get back to you.”
“Raymond, it’s Ty. I’m sorry about how late it is. I’d have called sooner, but my cell phone’s dead. I’m on my way home, and I—”
“Tyrell! Where are yo
u? You promised you wouldn’t let this happen!”
“I know I should have been home a few hours ago, but traffic was horrendous. I’m at a rest stop, and as soon as I have some dinner, I’ll be back on the road.”
“I’ll come get you.”
“Why? I’m perfectly safe. There’s a….” I looked around to make sure no one could overhear me, but lowered my voice anyway. “…a day watcher with me.”
“What?”
“Geez, Ray, blow out my eardrum, why don’t you?”
He began swearing in French. At least I assumed he was swearing. It didn’t sound like sweet nothings. Finally he calmed down enough to ask, “Which day watcher?”
“She said her name is Ekaterina.”
He was silent for a minute, and then said, “All right. You are safe with her. But if you’re not home in forty-five minutes, I’m coming to get you!”
“But….” There was a click as he hung up. “Shoot.” I put away my credit card and went to join Ekaterina.
She smiled up at me. “I just ordered….”
“We can’t stay. Raymond isn’t happy.”
“He’s on his way?”
“No, he thinks I’m safe with you—”
“He does?” She seemed really pleased by that.
“Uh… yes. But he wants me home.”
She nodded. “In that case, we’d better go.” She handed me the backpack. The chair legs scraped the floor as she pushed it back and rose. A couple of the diners turned to watch us as we walked to the counter.
I wouldn’t let myself falter to a halt, but I asked out of the corner of my mouth, “Are they…?”
She shook her head, and I blew out a breath. Geez, I was becoming paranoid.
The woman came over to us. “Problem, kids?”
“I’m sorry, we need to be on our way. Could we have our order to go?”
“Sure thing. I’ll tell Cliff to hurry it up.”
“Thanks, we appreciate it. How much do we owe you?”
SPENDING THE day at the beach had left me as parched as Death Valley, and as we walked to the car, I sucked up some soda from the cup I held.
I pressed the button on the remote that unlocked the car’s doors. “Put the food on the backseat, okay?” I placed the cup on the roof of the car.
I unzipped the backpack and took Mina out. Abruptly, she grew heavy in my arms, and I dropped the backpack. For a second, I thought I was going to piss myself. I had that feeling along the back of my neck. The last thing I wanted to do was turn to face whatever was there, but I wasn’t going to be a chicken.
Mina bristled as I turned, and the day watcher was suddenly at my side.
There were four of them—not the adepţi this time. The sun had gone down, and these were vampyrs. Their eyes glowed red as they stared at me, and their fangs gleamed white.
“You will allow us to feed from you!”
“Bullshit!”
My response seemed to surprise them; at least it did if their expressions were anything to go by. But then their eyes glowed even redder, and they all stalked toward me.
Or they would have, if Ekaterina and Mina hadn’t put themselves between me and them.
The day watcher fought silent and deadly, and Mina did the same, except for the silent part. Full-throated growls spilled from my pup’s mouth as she feinted and attacked and then bounced out of reach. I blinked and rubbed my eyes. It had to be a trick of the light… Mina wasn’t that big….
Abruptly, Ekaterina gave a cut-off gasp as she was hurled across two rows of cars. I flinched at the sound of her landing.
Well, I wasn’t going to stand there like some damsel in distress, waiting to be rescued. I yanked off the vial that hung from around my neck, and unstoppered it. With a broad sweep of my arm, I flung the contents in a semicircle, and the vampyrs shrieked as the holy water hit them.
All except one. Maybe he ducked. Maybe he was an atheist. For whatever reason, he kept coming at me. For a second his eyes met mine, and they were savage and hungry. And then his gaze dropped to my throat, and I knew he wanted to drag me within biting range. He grabbed my hip with one hand and reached for my T-shirt with the other, and I thought I would vomit as he angled his head, his fangs glinting in the lights of the parking lot.
Only more weird stuff happened. Instead of grabbing the collar of my T-shirt, he must have closed his fingers around the charm I was never without. Smoke rose from his palm, the odor of burning flesh filled my nose, and he howled. He tried to shake himself free, but for some reason, no matter how frantic his attempts, he couldn’t loosen his grip on the charm.
Suddenly there was a sodden, meaty sound, unlike anything I’d ever heard—and which I’d thank God if I never heard again. The vampyr froze as a stake appeared through his chest. Gouts of blood poured from his mouth.
And his eyes…. Oh, God, his eyes! I’d be having nightmares for months!
He collapsed to the ground, taking me with him, and I flinched when the stake grazed my ribs. But the vampyr was no longer any kind of threat to me. I forced his fingers open to free my mizpah, swallowing bile as they snapped off, and dropped them as quickly as I could. I scrambled away from the body, which was starting to disintegrate to dust; in seconds, it would be unrecognizable.
I swallowed again. I had to check my T-shirt for blood—not mine, but the vampyr’s. If there was any on me, even a single drop, I was taking that shirt off now.
Nothing. I blew out a breath in relief and glanced around.
Except for one, whose headless body twitched, the others were piles of empty clothes. And then, within the blink of an eye, that body began to smoke. Seconds later, nothing was left but his clothes as well.
“Mina!” I staggered to my feet.
My little dog came to me and leaned against my leg, her jaws parted as she panted gently. Was that blood on her muzzle?
“Ekaterina!”
“I’m here, Tyrell Small.” She was cradling her ribs. Her hair was disheveled, and she pushed it back off her face. The right sleeve of her shirt hung in tatters, and she tugged the sleeve free and tossed it into the car.
“Are you okay?”
“Stupid vampyr to think he could injure a day watcher in that manner.”
“What manner?”
She stooped and retrieved the stake, and then she spat a word I was too wiped out to try to understand. “I’m sorry, our dinner was trampled on.”
The last I’d seen, the bag had been in the car. Had she taken it out and whaled on a vampyr with it?
I would have. If I’d thought of it.
“That’s okay.” I looked down at the smudges on the ground and swallowed again. “I’ve lost my appetite.” I could have used a drink, but our sodas had spilled as well.
She gathered up the crushed bag and the empty cups, walked to a trash container, and dropped them in.
I was about to ask if she minded if we got back on the road, when a couple of bikers—I could tell by the leather they wore—came rushing out. They’d been at the counter, and I recognized them as the ones who had studied us.
“What’s going on?” the big one asked gruffly. He looked almost as tall as Raymond.
“I’m sorry. I… uh… I didn’t realize I had my radio set so loud.”
“It was an audiobook,” Ekaterina offered.
“Hound of the Baskervilles.” I hoped my smile didn’t look as weak as it felt.
“Jesus, I don’t remember that being so fucking scary!” And then his eyes shifted away, as if he were embarrassed to admit to such a thing.
“I apologize for the disturbance. But….”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For coming out to see what the disturbance was. I don’t know many who would do that.” A little sucking up couldn’t hurt.
He gave me an intense look, then turned to stare first at Mina, who wagged her tail, the epitome of innocence, and then at Ekaterina. “Yeah, well, do us
all a favor and turn your fucking radio down.”
“Yes, I will.”
The other one bent to pick something up. “This yours?” It was the empty vial.
“Yes. Thank you.” I took it from him gingerly—the top portion had snapped off, leaving behind jagged edges. I must have lost my grip on it when the vampyr grabbed for me and caught my mizpah. I wouldn’t be able to use the vial again, but I couldn’t leave it here. I couldn’t stuff it in a pocket either; I’d wind up cutting myself and bleeding like a stuck pig.
And while Ekaterina might not feed on my blood, she’d already admitted day watchers occasionally drank from their vampyrs.
The bikers went back inside, griping to each other, and I turned to the day watcher. “Let’s go home.”
“That sounds like a good idea. It’s been a long day.”
“Tell me about it,” I muttered. She gathered up the vampyrs’ clothing. “What are you going to do with that?”
“We can’t leave these here.” She curled her lip at them.
I guessed she was right. The bikers hadn’t noticed the clothes on the pavement—it was lucky all the action had taken place on my side of the car, which was facing away from the restaurant—but if a curious cop found them and sent them out to have them tested…. I had no intention of being the one whose actions revealed the existence of vampyrs to the normals.
“Okay, but I’m not riding with those things behind me.” I popped the trunk, and she threw in the clothes. I dropped the broken vial on top of them, caught up the backpack, and went through it until I found the other vial, which I slipped over my head. No way was I getting caught short. I slammed the trunk, tossed the backpack into the car, and shut the passenger door. “Mina, in.” She jumped up onto the driver’s seat, stepped daintily over the console, and made herself comfortable on the day watcher’s lap.
I shook my head. They were fast!
Before we left the parking lot, I drove over the mounds of dust enough times to scatter and flatten them.
“Let’s go.”
Forty-five minutes never felt so long.
THE LIGHTS were on in my bungalow, and the porch light was as well. I pressed the remote for the garage door. “Do you want to get out here, or wait until I pull into the garage?” I asked Ekaterina.
