Climbing quickly up the rungs, I pulled it back up behind me. I could feel the whole structure shake and squeal in protest as I did so, and I shivered as I pictured my body plummeting to my death, bits of rusted and broken fire escape clutched uselessly in my hands.
As I made my way to my target, I thought back to how I had watched that vampire leap over the rooftops above me when I had been running like a fool from alley to alley a few months ago. I’d thought it was impossible to leap from building to building, until I’d seen that guy in action. Well, at the time, I had been a ‘wet behind the ears’ fledgling who’d had more experience lying on his back than being upright, as Shade liked to point out more times than I cared to hear.
“It’s so easy to do,” she’d say during training. “A regular first day fledgling should have been able to do it, why not you?”
Why not me? Because I had been too busy learning other skills. Marcus had me trained well, considering I fought like a tiger against him. Though it didn’t matter how hard I tried, in the end he always got what he wanted. And I got what I wanted too, even though I’d convinced myself that I didn’t want it. It’s never a good thing to consider yourself a slut, but I had been on my back all the time. And you can’t learn a hell of a lot when you’re getting nailed to the mattress with every breath.
But I knew now that if I really hated it, there were other ways to escape from him that I never considered at the time. I’d learned a lot about myself, and about being a vampire, these past four months. Thanks to Shade, I was getting a crash course in how to be a vampire, and I knew I’d better learn my lessons fast and I’d better learn them right, or I was going to be a dead fledging vampire, and Marcus would be minus his favorite slut.
Xavier?
I had no idea where Shade was but her voice, cutting into my thoughts, sounded loud and clear in my skull. Crouching, I crab walked along the ledge I’d just jumped on, moving to a spot that would give me a clear line of sight.
I’m just coming up into position. How’s the target?
Pacing. He’s got a couple of bodyguards in there with him. He’s just put the phone down and he appears to be really pissed, muttering the name Monahan followed by a very colorful, descriptive commentary.
I set the gun case beside me and began to assemble my new best friend. This was a déjà vu moment for me.
As part of a Hunter family, I’d been expected, like the other youngsters, to put some time in on patrol. We were like scouts, but with live ammo. I would be teamed up and sent to stake out a spot and report. One team member had the radio and the binoculars, while the other had a rifle and a scope. Until my sight had begun screwing up with the onset of my puberty, I’d always been the rifleman. It was almost like fate knew I was going to need this skill.
Isn’t it strange how things from your childhood come back to you at odd moments?
Shade, I’ll take out the bodyguards first, and then, once I’ve shot a bigger hole in the patio door, you can go through the opening as something large and get Randy…Try to take out the whole pane of glass for me; I really don’t want to try the ‘bug on the windshield’ experiment as I wing it over to you. We’ll go on the count of one.
Ready when you are, my Lord Emperor.
Laying myself prone, I chambered a round and closed my eyes for a brief prayer. This is for my family. I can do this. I have to do this, to protect the ones I love. I clicked on my crystal vision, and sighted my first target.
Three…
I squeezed the trigger, and the first target dropped like a stone. I quickly chambered the second round.
Two…
Another shot, and the other target fell backwards and disappeared from view. To me, his fall was done in slow motion; it was weird.
One!
As I put a bullet dead center in the glass door, Shade leapt toward it and the cracked sheet splintered from the middle out, shattering completely as her red and black tiger form pushed through.
I dropped the rifle carefully, and centered all my concentration on the small opening in the side of the building. A patio door isn’t that small of an opening, but when your wing span is double the hole you’re aiming for, you really need to focus.
Jumping off the roof my stomach lurched into my mouth for a moment as I free fell for a couple of storeys. Then my wings snapped out and carried me safely across the street, dissolving in a shimmering trail of light once I’d flown into the room, cartwheel rolling and stumbling into the apartment, slamming gracelessly into an entertainment unit that was fixed up on the far wall. At least small favors were with me as it was built in, and no television set came crashing down around my head.
You’re going to have to work on your landing technique, Xavier.
Shade was lying on top of Randy. Her teeth were bared and in his face, so he was rigidly still as he stared at a yellowed fang inches from his eye.
Hey, I got in here without ripping my wings off, didn’t I?
I clambered to my feet without groaning out loud and went to check if anyone had noticed our arrival. I wanted to vent off at the hurt I was in, but now that Shade had made a comment, it was a manner of principal. Besides, she would be laughing her head off later anyways, so I didn’t want to add to her merriment.
Area is secure, Shade. There is a woman in the back room, but she’s drunk. Just means that we have to do this a little more quiet-like.
Dropping a vocal binding on our captured, little middle man, I gestured for Shade to move. Randell stayed right where she left him, his eyes fixated on her. I lowered myself down beside him, settling my forearms across my knees.
“How the hell are you doing, Randy?” I said, conversationally. “My night has been shot to shit, so I thought I would return the favor.”
His head now jerked round to face me, and his eyes were large as he watched me stretch out on my back beside him, resting my arms under my head comfortably like a pillow.
“I thought I’d had my night all planned out, you know?” I was keeping my voice friendly, calm. “A little dinner, some dancing, followed by some excellent hardcore fucking, and ending with falling asleep in my lover’s arms. Instead, guess what? I’m dodging bullets, blowing up buildings, killing assassins and bodyguards…” I gestured over to the two new corpses. “And I’m still not done yet. You do know how to show a boy an interesting time.”
I rolled over onto my tummy, propping my head up with one hand and reaching out and pulling his chin towards me with the other.
“You’re going to die today, but I’m giving you the choice of a quick and not-much-more-pain-than-necessary death, or…fight me, and I’ll leave your mind leaking all over your skull. I’ve had that kind of pain, and trust me when I say, it’s not pretty. If you raise your voice above a whisper when you answer me, you’ll receive option two immediately, understand?”
I lifted the binding off him. His breathing was shallow, and he gave small panting gasps. He had pissed himself, among other things, and I wasn’t happy about having a heightened sense of smell right now.
“Why did you send those men to kill Marcus Du Bussey?” I asked.
“Orders. Orders from Mr. Monahan,” he said. His voice was barely more than a quavering whisper.
“Silas Monahan?”
“Yes.”
“Details, Randy. I need the details,” I snapped, my voice becoming firm and businesslike. “And I would rather you give them willingly. I can take them from you forcibly, but you’d never be right in your mind again. Oh wait, it doesn’t matter, you’re dead anyway,” I smirked, moving in to touch his forehead.
Recognition dawned on his face. “You’re Edward Xavier,” he exclaimed. “Monahan is pissed that you’re still alive. He’d seen the television report about the new sex symbol that was appearing on all the billboards. The reporter had dug up police records, and had found your missing person report. Monahan didn’t believe it was you, until he got a copy of your fingerprints and matched them up himself. Then he wanted Marcu
s dead. After Marcus is a confirmed kill, he wants you brought to him.”
“He wants me dead too?”
“Unharmed. He probably wants to fuck you himself now.” Just the way Randy said that, told me about his lack of tolerance for things outside his comfort zone. Shade thumped her tail down hard on the carpet.
I’m going to be sick.
The comment hadn’t sat well with me either.
“He wants Marcus’s sex toy eh?” I said, rolling up to my feet and finding Randall’s cell phone. I hit the redial key and listened as it started ringing on the other end. “Tell Silas what he wants to hear. Tell him you have me and that if he wants me, he better come and pick me up…”
As I’d been talking, I was handing the mobile phone down to the frightened man. But he was shaking his head at me, trying to push himself away from my outstretched arm.
Shade, your assistance please.
She got up and placed her jaws around his neck, holding him still as I placed the phone in his trembling fingers.
“If your voice sounds funny at all, my furry friend here will crunch your spine,” I told him. “She won’t kill you with the first bite. She’ll make sure that you’re still alive and aware when she starts to feed on you.”
I got the kitty evil eye from Shade for telling him that.
I’m going to be sick. As if I would eat a human.
Well, he doesn’t know that humans are off your menu, does he? So make it convincing, drool a little and give him that ‘I’m-so-hungry-for-you’ growl.
Oh he’ll definitely believe that he is my next crunchy critter then.
The phone connected, and I shushed her.
“Mr. Monahan, it’s Dennison. Yeah, I know it’s early, but…It’s done. Marcus is a confirmed kill. I’ve got your package here.” He gasped a little as Shade tightened her teeth on his neck. “No, no, I spilled my drink. Yes, I have Sex, and if you still want him, you better come and pick him up. I ain’t into this kinda shit, and I don’t want him here. No, you have more resources that I do. Either you come and get him now, or I’m kicking him out the door. He’s nothing but a friggin’ slutty sex toy.”
Randy hit the end button, and I took the cell phone from him. “You did okay” I told him. “Now lay there and reflect on your life.”
Shade, do you think that prick Monahan would want me all messed up like this, or does he strike you as someone who likes to break his own toys? I’m thinking number two.
I agree. Number two.
Then I better get cleaned up. Got to let the pervert have his fantasy before killing him.
Call Claudius.
I shook my head.
I can’t let Monahan live. He almost took Marcus away from us tonight. I can’t leave him out there to take another shot at someone else.
Going into Randall’s bathroom, I stood in front of a mirror, and I checked out the shoulder I’d landed heavily on when I’d crashed in through the patio.
Wait a minute. Mirror? Mirror! Holy crap. I realized I could see my reflection. That’s really me, I thought, twisting and preening at the image displayed in front of me. I’d seen the pictures, but…this seemed to be more real. Had there been mirrors at Joker’s Wilde? Not in the changing rooms, I remembered. I hadn’t looked into a single one when I’d been dressing. But there had to have been some, humans shopped in that store too! So why the hell hadn’t I notice any then?
I took the time to really look into this one and noticed that I was splattered with blood. Marcus’s blood, the blood of those two assassins I’d ran to ground, and mine, from crashing into Randall’s room. My face was also bleeding, having been cut by the tree branches I had leapt through in the forest chase. There were broken twigs and glints of glass caught up in my hair, and my green eyes seemed to reflect back at me with a glow that held an inner fire of determination. Right now, I thought, I didn’t look human. I looked hot…but most definitely not human.
Stripping off, I jumped in the shower. I had to look like a sex toy to Monahan. I had to be fuckable. And I had to cultivate a vacant expression. I needed to look my best so that I could get close to him. Just shooting him in the head from a distance with my sniper rifle wasn’t enough. He’d ordered my death, and he’d tried to kill Marcus. That was a little too up close and personal to ignore.
The warm water ran in red rivulets down my body, swirling into the drain. It took quite some work getting the little pieces of wood and glass out of my wet hair. To Randy, I must have looked like something dragged through a knot hole and then whooped with a glass whip when I’d barged into his apartment. It was no wonder the doorman had stared at me as I’d driven slowly by. I looked like an extra from a bad zombie movie.
Thinking of movies, I wondered what all that crap was about vampires not being seen in a mirror. It was obviously wrong. I’d never had any problems either with jumping creeks and streams back on the farm, so the notion of us not being able to cross running water was bullpucky too. Silver didn’t hurt. Garlic just gave me regular heartburn. And we had souls.
Okay, most of the information I had picked up about vampires came from the movies, but that didn’t explain why the hell Marcus didn’t have mirrors in his home. Shade said we had souls, and so far she hasn’t steered me wrong about the vampire stuff. So why doesn’t he have any mirrors at all?
What are you doing thinking about mirrors, I chided myself. Concentrate on what you’re here to do, which does not involve staring at your sexy self in the reflective glass.
I finished my shower, and then, stepping out, I switched the water off and began toweling myself quickly.
Xavier?
Shade was still guarding Randy in the other room, but her voice sounded just like it was right beside my ear.
“Yeah?”
A call has been received from downstairs. There is a car waiting there for you. Dennison said he’d send you down.
I struggled back into my tight leathers. My hair was drenched, so I briskly rubbed the towel over my head so at least there wasn’t water dripping down my back. Then, tying the laces on my shoes, I headed back out into the room.
Everything was the way I had left it; Shade was still holding her stance over the prone figure of Randall. I glanced through the broken window pane across to the other building I’d flown from, wishing I could have packed that rifle I’d left there. But where? I couldn’t even pack a stick of gum in the tight pants I was wearing.
Are you sure about this? I’ve got a bad feeling. I can’t go with you. I don’t like this.
Shade being protective towards me was a little startling. “He doesn’t know that his assassins have failed. Now is the only chance we’ll have to get close to him,” I told her, twisting my hair to squeeze out more water.
I saw Randy tense up, his eyes looking at me puzzled, and I realized I had dropped out of Silent Speak. I knelt and stared back at him.
“I think you already know that she understands me,” I said, nodding my head towards Shade. “Once I get to Monahan’s, he may call you. Tell him what he wants to hear, and I promise you’ll die a merciful death instead of a lingering, painful one. It’s your choice, Randy.”
“He’ll kill you,” Randall called out in warning.
“He’s already killed me,” I told him, standing back up and casting my eyes over to the Hellcat.
Don’t kill him until we know he’s not needed. Wish me luck, pretty kitty.
Shade brushed up against my legs.
Slay Monahan quickly. Sunrise is approaching fast.
I nodded and then made my exit.
Getting out of the building was a hell of a lot easier to do than getting in and a little less dramatic. Standing in the elevator, I closed my eyes and concentrated on calming my breathing. I needed to appear cowed, docile. I had to pretend to be everything Marcus had tried to make me over the past year; a sex slave who took anything that was handed out, be it pleasure or pain or simple indifference.
As the elevator doors opened, I forced
myself to relax as two men who stood waiting reached in and dragged me out into the lobby, their thick hands held tight around my upper arms.
Two more men stood outside of the building in front of a large, black sedan, and the uniformed doorman to the apartments was also there to make sure that I was thrown out of the building, I guessed, as I was tossed forward into the arms of one of the two thugs standing by the car. He hadn’t been expecting to play catcher, and he instinctively pushed me back, and I stumbled into the arms of the other hood.
“Get off me,” he snarled, shoving me backwards, a look of contempt on his face. I took three steps back and then lowered myself to one knee, resting a hand on the floor by the side of my foot, just the same way Claudius had done in my closet. I bowed my head low, and my still wet hair hung in wet coils in front of my face.
“Look at this, Hank,” the man that shoved me said. “Monahan’s new toy has already been trained. Come here and suck me off.”
I immediately stood up and walked over to him, thinking I was going to be sick as I dropped back down to my knees and reached for his pants.
The doorman came to my rescue. “There will be none of that, not in front of the building. You got what you came for. Now, move it.”
“Stow it, Terry,” the man named Hank said. “Monahan said no touching; he’s his property, after all.”
Terry knocked my groping hands away as he groused off to the side of the dark sedan. “Why is your hair wet?” he snapped back at me.
I lowered my head meekly. This humiliating behaviour was making my stomach burn with rage, but still, it was just an act I reminded myself. “Master Randall had me shower, when he was finished with me.”
Cake: A Blood Nation Novel (Volume 1) Page 35
