Blood Trade jy-6

by Faith Hunter

  “I disarmed you.” I looked down and realized that while I was unconscious, he had unzipped my jacket, pulled my good arm out of my sleeve, and taken every single weapon. They were piled close by, but too far to reach at the moment. I looked back down. I had blood all over my nice, clean silk-knit undershirt. “Well, crap.”

  “Yeah. Rick said you had to be naked to shift.”

  “I can get out of my pants and shirt . . . after I shift . . . if you just undo my belt.”

  Eli gave me that little nonsmile, but I saw the worry in his eyes. “And here I was hoping I’d finally get to see you naked.”

  “Wish on, Ranger Boy.”

  He chuckled softly. “I adore you, you know. If you die on me, I’ll be seriously pissed.”

  That idea rested on me for a moment, as heavy as my silver-lined jacket. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. For all you’ve been in a funk for weeks like some hormonal PMS woman, we’re family now. So don’t die.”

  “PMS woman.” I giggled. “Puma Monster Skinwalker. Panther Marshmallow Sabertooth.”

  “Yeah. Funny.” He pulled off both socks, leaving my feet pale blue and vulnerable. He stared at them as he said, “You have to shift.”

  “Okay.” Which seemed a totally stupid thing to say after a declaration of familyhood. I should tell him I adored him back. But I didn’t. I just blinked at him, puzzled. I have a family? “My arm hurts.” I looked down and saw a lot of blood. “Oh. Yeah.” I looked at Eli. “I have a dangerous job. People keep trying to kill me.”

  “Yeah. Been there. I took off your vamp collar. Once you shift, Rick says you need to eat, so he’s bringing you some raw steaks. But you need to do it fast. I haven’t called it in, but the neighbors will have heard the shots fired.”

  “If I shift,” I mumbled, “I can’t shift back to human.”

  “What?” He looked stunned.

  “I’ll stay a cat until sunset. That’s the soonest I can shift back.”

  He looked at his watch. “It’s an hour to sunset. What the hell am I going to do with a mountain lion?”

  “Be dinner, if the steaks take too long to get here,” I deadpanned. And then giggled.

  Eli shook his head, as if shaking away an insect or something he couldn’t control. “What do I do to help?”

  I raised my good hand and gripped the gold nugget. In the distance I heard sirens. I frowned. “Did you take pics of the dead vamps?”

  “You’re going into shock and you’re worried about pictures?”

  “Money.” My lips weren’t moving right and felt numb. I licked them, and my tongue was dry, sticking to my lips and pulling on the cracked skin. Not good signs. “I have a family to support, you know.”

  I thought about the snake in the heart of the mountain lion tooth. And dropped into the gray place of the change.

  • • •

  Painpainpain. Like claws of bigger predator, ripping at bones. I saw Eli back away from gray lights and black sparks, moving like prey. Looked down at Jane’s body. It was dissolving like snow in summer sun. Becoming Beast. Pelt and claws and killing teeth.

  Magics healed and reshaped. Becoming Beast.

  I panted. Pushed paws against floor, rising to sit. Pushed out of remaining Jane clothes. Drew long, thick tail around paws. I was cold, like winter snow and ice had caught me on hunt far from my den.

  “Holy sh—” Eli stopped, his breath like prey breath, fastfastfast. “Jane?”

  I hacked. Not Jane. Beast. Jane sleeps in soul home. But Eli did not understand. He took another step back, and I chuffed with laughter. Eli was hunter, but showed proper respect to Beast as better hunter. I chuffed again, rotated ears to him, and lay down to show disinterest in prey sport. Did not want to eat Eli.

  “Steaks are on the way,” Eli said.

  I said nothing.

  “Pretty pussycat.”

  I looked at him and he laughed, smelling of nervous sweat and uncertainty. I yawned, showing big killing teeth and boredom all at once. Was good to remind other hunters and prey that Beast had big teeth.

  “You really are beautiful.” I looked away, indifferent but listening. I liked humans who admired properly. “You’re not going to eat me, are you?”

  Humans were stupid. I was showing clear disinterest but he did not understand. He was still alive. He should see what I was saying.

  I heard a car stop out front. And moments later heard Rick call out. “Eli?”

  “Up here, back of the building, up the stairs.”

  Rick’s feet pounded on the steps and he stopped at the top, taking in the room, the dead vampires, and settling on Beast. I panted to show some interest.

  Rick said, “Hey, Jane.”

  I put ears back and hacked. Not Jane. Am Beast.

  Rick opened bag and tore plastic. Smell of warm cow meat filled room. Last time, Rick had brought dead pig meat, but cow was good too. I stood and padded partway to Rick. When I stopped, he came the rest of the way and set cow meat on floor. I settled beside it and ripped into meat, swallowing fast. Was hungry.

  Saw movement near stairs and growled low, snapping at meat faster. White wolf stood there, watching. He moved into room and my growl went deeper. My food. Wolf stared to growl, but Pea chittered and he stopped. Pea climbed from wolf’s back and scampered over to me. She sat on floor and watched, head tilted to side. She did not have big-cat eyes, but she had big-cat teeth. She yawned to show her teeth and smiled, mewling softly, asking nicely. I batted a small piece of cow to her, and she settled to eat. I growled once more to wolf and pulled cow between paws to eat.

  Sirens sounded outside. Sound of humans entering house. Rick went downstairs to talk to police. I still ate. Rick was gone long time. Eli stood at top of stairs, guarding.

  Belly full, I stretched and yawned. Human males were talking. Not looking at Beast. I nudged Pea with nose. Pea jumped to Beast’s back and held on to pelt with sharp claws. Together we walked slowly to stairs, not looking at wolf. Wolf was sitting like dog, back legs spread wide. Wolf looked stupid, like big stupid dog. I stopped close and sat, looking away, so wolf would not think I had plans. Wolf looked at me from sideways eyes and turned head to study me. I did nothing. Wolf slowly reached big head toward me. I did nothing. Wolf sniffed me. I did nothing.

  Then I struck. Lifted paw, claws out, and swiped wolf nose. Wolf yelped and I bounded across room, whipped around, and hacked with laughter. Wolf was bleeding on big ugly dog nose. Fun!

  I sat and lifted paw, licking off wolf blood. Feeling happy. Pea chittered at me, sounding like Jane, scolding, but Beast was smarter than Pea. Pea did not like Beast grooming off were-blood. But were-blood was in belly, not in cut, and I would shift back soon to Jane. Were-taint in belly would not hurt me/us. But was thinking that were-blood in cut might not hurt us now.

  Beast was always better than Jane and big-cat together. Was even better since we talked with Hayyel-angel. Angel did something to wolf to make him stay wolf. Did something to us I did not understand. Pea did not know this. Jane did not know this. Was mostly sure that Leo’s Mercy Blade did not know. Beast was smarter than all of them.

  Rick came back upstairs. “We have to get her into the SUV. Jane, will you take a leash?”

  I narrowed eyes and snarled. Beast will not walk on leash. Beast is not stupid dog or stupid wolf.

  “Guess not,” Eli said. “How about I carry you?”

  I thought about that. Have not been carried by humans in many years. Would be fun. But not Eli. Wanted mate to carry. I stood and dropped head. Stared at Rick with big-cat eyes, walked slowly to him, shoulder blades rising and falling, stalking him. Rick stared, giving nothing away with human eyes. Were-scent of black leopard was strong on him. Full moon would be soon, and his scent would be strongstrongstrong then. I walked around Rick in circle and stopped to sniff one hand, his fingers curled in fist, as if to hold in something. Huffed and blew warm cat breath on his fist. His fingers uncurled. Was nothing there to hold on to. I breathed on
Rick skin. Liked smell of Rick. I stopped in front of him and sat. Lifted one front paw, then the other, and placed both on his knees. Waited.

  “If you think I’m carrying you, you got another think coming, Jane,” he said.

  I stood up on back paws, stretched to full height, and put front paws on Rick shoulders. Put muzzle in his chin and sniffed. Moved nose to his neck and sniffed. I purred.

  Eli laughed. I ignored him. “She wants you, man.” Eli left, taking stairs, making much noise.

  I snuffled Rick, whiskers tickling his neck. Jane said he had taken new mate. I did not smell new mate. Jane was wrong. Rick’s hands rose to Beast and he scratched belly. I whuffed and laid head on his shoulder.

  “I don’t understand you, Jane. And if you think this fixes things between us, it doesn’t. But if you want me to carry you, I will.” His hands came together and made cradle. I leaped and landed in his hands. “Holy hell, cat. You’ve put on a few pounds.”

  I hacked in amusement. I am bigger. I like bigger. Would like to be a holy hellcat too. I put chin on his shoulder and breathed his scent. Then I rubbed scent glands over him. Mine . . .

  Rick carried me downstairs and into street. He opened essuvee of Eli and I jumped inside and lay down on backseat. Had been a good day. I/we had hunted with Eli. I/we had killed vampires. Had eaten dead cow meat. Had swiped wolf nose. Had been carried by Rick. Good day. I closed my eyes and napped.

  • • •

  I came to in the back of the SUV, lying naked under a blanket and feeling great. It was dark out, and the vehicle was parked at Esmee’s under the trees, ensuring my privacy. I had no memory of my time as Beast, but the pain in my arm was gone. Clean clothes were folded on the floor in front of me, and I dressed in the dark—panties, jeans, and a thick sweater that smelled of Rick. I held the knit to my face and inhaled. I hated that I didn’t have him in my life now. There was so much missing. I closed my eyes and buried my face in the sweater for a moment. Only a moment. I had no intention of grieving for him anymore.

  I pulled the sweater over my head and pushed my feet into the oversized flip-flops, which also smelled of Rick. I’d like to think he was scent-marking me, but I knew better. I pulled my hair out of the way and secured it in one fist. That was one thing about shifting: I always came back with clean, smooth hair, no tangles. I opened the door and slid from the vehicle, into the dark of Esmee’s backyard. I padded to the back door, pausing when I scented Eli. I stopped, sniffing until I located him sitting still as a statue in the dark. “Thanks for saving my life,” I said.

  “Turnabout and all that,” he said. I joined him on a bench and sat, my mostly bare feet cold. “Jane? You like George. I can tell. There’s this . . . energy when you’re together.” Not knowing where he was going, I didn’t answer, just turned to him and drew on Beast’s night vision to see his face. He needed a shave, and he looked tired, though he had showered and dressed in fresh clothes. “But your cat, she likes Rick.”

  “Crap. What did she do?”

  “She rubbed herself all over him.”

  I dropped my head. That was why I was thinking of scent-marking. Beast had scent-marked Rick. And now, whether consciously or not, Rick was scent-marking back. Deep inside, Beast rolled over. Mine, she murmured to me. Both mine. “That’s not good,” I said to her, and partly to Eli. “My Beast feels she can have them both, over time. Big-cats don’t mate for life.”

  Eli blew out a breath of derision. “Yeah. Tell that to Rick and George. Two alpha males want the same woman? That’s trouble, Janie.”

  I shrugged. “I know. We’re not human. Not any of us. And we’re extremely long lived. In the wild, cats each have their own territories. The land overlaps with the territories of other cats, and when a female goes into heat, either she’ll go to the male of her choice or they’ll come to her. Sometimes the males fight. If the female wants the winner, they mate. If she doesn’t like him, then she might run away or she might fight him. But she doesn’t keep him forever. Her next heat might take her to another male. But between times, cats are solitary.” Which sounded terribly lonely, all of a sudden.

  “Your men are acting like cats.” He said it as if he were having a revelation. “Circling and waiting.”

  “Yeah. I guess. I don’t want them fighting over me, but when they act like cats, it brings my Beast closer to the surface. It’s all so mixed up.” My voice was curiously dull, unemotional. And I could feel the familiar depression creeping along the edges of my mind. It was a weird feeling, more a lack of interest than unhappiness. How did people live with it? I shook away the thought and shrugged away the lurking depression, but it didn’t go far. It crouched in the corner of my mind like . . . like the shadow of Leo that was binding Beast. Was that significant? I couldn’t see how, but maybe so. Maybe bindings, when left unattended and unfed, became negativity and eventually depression. I hadn’t fed off Leo since the binding of Beast. Maybe—

  “Jane?”

  I looked up, realizing I’d been silent too long. “Yeah. Sorry. Are we hunting anymore tonight?”

  “Rick said you needed to eat and then rest.”

  “Food, yes. I’m starving. But Rick isn’t my mother. Let’s work.”

  “I was hoping you would say that. We need to go to the morgue to make sure Syl took all the vamp heads. And the Kid has one more address we could check out. This one isn’t in Under the Hill. It’s a house just off High Street.”

  I smiled at his calling Alex the Kid. The name was catching even for his brother. “High Street is part of the historical district. How far from the last place?”

  “Mile or so. Jameson is cleaning your leathers. The sleeve is a goner, though.”

  “I had the company reserve some leather from that dye batch. I can get it fixed. Let me get dressed again.” And out of this sweater.

  • • •

  We pulled in to the hospital entrance, my leathers smelling slightly of mink oil. Jameson had tried to care for the leathers with just water, to avoid any chemical stink, but my dried blood was caught in the rough part of the tears. “I’m sorry, Miss Jane,” he had said, while I’d stuffed my face with oatmeal and a rare steak. “But I thought the smell of your blood might be worse than the mink oil. For attracting predators.” He had a point. But I kinda had that new-car smell now.

  Eli spun the wheel and pulled into a space marked for physician parking.

  “A forensic autopsy unit in Natchez Regional Medical Center,” I said. “Who’da thought?” I hadn’t expected to come back to the medical center for any reason, but especially not for this. And if I’d thought about forensic autopsies, I would have thought they would be done in Jackson, Mississippi’s state capital.

  “Let’s chat about taking down revenants,” Eli said. “You suggested earlier that the vamps we’ve been seeing were revenants.”

  “Assuming that’s right, until now I’ve never seen one,” I said. “Never talked to anyone who has. There’s no vid on the Net. Only a description by another vamp hunter. He was typing with the three fingers the revenant left him on his right hand. It ate the left hand.”

  Eli shut off the motor, pulled his phone, and started texting. Ten bucks said it was to Sylvia.

  “They can’t feel pain,” I said. “You know all the zombie movies? Pretty much like that, except they’re deadly fast and they’ll eat anything, not just brains. You have to take their heads completely, and even then they take a while to die.”

  “Yeah. Sounds like our critters.” Eli grunted, and it sounded like cursing. “Silver?”

  “Won’t kill them. They—” I stopped and sat up in the seat. “The whole Naturaleza thing has always resulted in stronger, faster, harder-to-kill vamps. Maybe the spidey vamps are Naturaleza revenants, are a way to make vamps immune to everything. Silver, stakes in the heart, even partial beheading. Traditionally, less than three percent of staked vamps rise as revenants. Maybe the Naturaleza leader is experimenting on scions, making them into revenants, trying new
magics forced from the missing witches to see what works. Some have seemed like rogues, newly risen and unintelligent; others have been in control of their faculties. Maybe the spidey vamps are a stepping stone to vamp perfection, or a mistake along the way.”

  “I don’t really care where they come from or who their mommies are,” Eli said. “I just want to kill the suckers.”

  “Yeah. Okay,” I said, thinking. “Me too.” But even I could hear the lack of real interest. For once questions about vamps were more interesting than just killing them.

  “This might help.” He handed me a brown paper bag. It was heavier than I expected, and I nearly dropped it. I looked from the bag to him and back, and reached in. I pulled out a shotgun-shell holder, already loaded with rounds.

  I felt my heart lighten. “Swuuueeet.” I unsnapped the strap and drew the Benelli from its spine holster. Eli opened his tool kit, flipped on a tiny tight-beamed light, and quickly mounted the device on the left side of the receiver while I watched. I now had quick access to an additional six shells. “I like. How much do I owe you?”

  “Not a dime. Consider it a belated birthday present.”

  I felt odd and didn’t know what to say, like maybe . . . shy. Or something. So I drew on my Christian children’s-home manners and said, “Thank you. It’s really, really nice.” Eli snorted, and I ducked my head, realizing that nice was probably not a good description for a weapon accessory, but it was all I had. I turned the holder over, admiring it from every angle, figuring out how the holder would affect the way the gun rested on my body from the strap, and how I’d handle it in the holster, and how the slight change in weight might affect firing. The draw would be different, and I worked through the mechanics of it. “Really nice,” I said happily.

  I turned as a shadow caught my attention and watched Sylvia Turpin approach the car. “She’s pretty,” I said.

  “She’s a knockout. And she likes guns almost as much as you do.”

  I gave a half smile. I wish my love life was so uncomplicated. And then I thought about the two together as a couple. Instead of a white picket fence, these two would have a gun range and a fallout shelter with enough food to hide out for a whole year. Right. There was uncomplicated and then there was Eli and Sylvia. Not uncomplicated; just a different kind of complication.