“It might be nothing, but we got a hit on your Evelyn Brenner.”
Nick squeezes my fingers more tightly between his, and asks, “What did you find out?”
“Unfortunately, not as much as I would have liked.” Jenna presses a key on the computer, and the screen turns into a massive picture of the woman we’re trying to find. She looks healthier in this picture than the one on Navarro’s file, but I can’t tell which one is more recent. “We know that she goes by Eve these days, and that her last known permanent address was in Hempstead. Right now, though… It’s hard to say where she could be.”
I frown at the image on the wall, and wonder out loud, “How are we going to find her in a city this huge?”
“That’s the other part of what I found.” Jenna presses an arrow key, and Eve’s face is replaced by a screenshot of a Facebook post. I skip past the name of the poster, and read beneath it: “so excited to see Eve at the show! girls been missing foever”.
“What does that do for us?,” Nick asks.
“Well, this is one of Eve’s friends, another vampire in our database. And I checked him out, there’s nobody else he could be in contact with named Eve. So…”
I grin a little at the screen, and complete Jenna’s thought. “So, this could be our chance to get a hold of her.”
“It’s a long shot,” Jenna admits, “but it’s what I could find on short notice. If this were an actual contract, we’d track Eve’s IP address and go right to the source, but this ought to give us time to prepare.”
“What’s this show her friend is talking about?”
Another keystroke pulls up the blown up image of a poster. The headlining band is one I’ve never heard of, and I skim right over the opening acts to the date, which is roughly two weeks from now. “I think it’s about time we went to see a concert,” I suggest to Nick.
Jenna shrugs. “It’s gonna be expensive to get more than a couple of us in, but I’ll work on getting us some tickets.”
“Why do you keep saying us? Are you coming to the show too?”
“Of course I am,” Jenna says. “This venue’s a well known metahuman hangout spot. I’m not letting you two walk in there alone.”
“But there are gonna be humans on stage, aren’t there?”
“They’re safe, for the most part. The bands are only in danger if the crowd doesn’t like what they’re playing.”
I shrug, and scan the poster a little more carefully on my second read through. This time, I actually register the name Interrobang listed under the main event. And that’s when I start to get truly excited about this idea.
“Actually, guys, I think I know a way to get us in for free.”
***
The two weeks leading up to the show are spent preparing for the operation we’re trying to pull. Initially, Jenna suggests we leave Nick behind to keep him safe, but he insists on coming along. He’s going to be with Jenna and the other hunter she’s bringing along for assistance. I suggest we invite Rachel, since we’ve both seen how valuable an asset she can be if things turn ugly. And since her girlfriend plays bass for one of the opening acts, Alyssa will be at the show regardless. I let her in on the plan as well. She and Rachel are with me, the three of us ensuring the safety of the capture team should things turn sour.
The week before the show, Alyssa and I check out the venue in the light of day, a century-old movie theater converted into several small performance spaces collectively called the Nightmare Theater. Apparently, we’re in a hot spot for clubs and performance spaces; we’re right down the street from Bowery Ballroom in one direction, and Pandemonium in the other. We can’t get into the theater itself without paying, but we explore the upper floors of the old building, mostly abandoned aside from a few thin rats and the occasional cockroach. Assuming the blueprints Jenna found are accurate, and they can somehow get our target up here, they shouldn’t be interrupted by unwanted visitors.
The afternoon of the show, Jenna calls everyone involved in the plan to her house, and we all meet in her basement to look over the plan. Alyssa, Nick, and I arrive first, followed by Rachel, and finally, Nick’s little sister, Emma. I shrug at her presence, but Nick looks like he might lose his cool. His neck turns red and blotchy, and he asks, “What are you doing here?”
“Jenna asked for an extra set of eyes and ears, so I volunteered. Is that a problem?”
“When did you even become a hunter?”
“Last week.” Emma brushes her ponytail off her shoulder, and explains, “I was sworn in a week ago as an official hunter, so now I’m on payroll and such. But I’ve been in training since about a year after Dad kicked you out.”
Nick opens his mouth to protest, but I cut him off. “We don’t have time for this. You can pull the overprotective act later. Right now, we need to go over the plan one last time.”
Jenna details where each of us will be during the show, using a laser pointer and the Nightmare Theater’s blueprints on the projector. I’ll be in the crowd with Alyssa and Rachel, watching the show with earpieces in so that we can be alerted if the capture team is in need of assistance. Nick will be moving through the crowd looking for Eve, while Emma and Jenna take strategic positions near the exits she’s likely to take.
When she’s sure we all understand our roles, Jenna hands us our tickets and dismisses us with final instructions. “Let’s all try not to arrive at the same time, people. And dress appropriately. We’re catching a vampire, not going to a fashion show.”
In spite of that final directive, I end up in a pair of old jeans and Converse, along with a stylish leather jacket that Alyssa borrowed from Lily for me. Jenna rolls her eyes at my chosen attire, but says nothing as she helps me with my makeup. After ten minutes of judgmental glaring, I ask, “What exactly do you plan on wearing?”
Jenna shrugs, and tilts my face upward to see where more work is needed. “My uniform,” she replies.
“You get a uniform?”
“Sort of. Skintight black pants, black flats, black hoodie. We stick mostly to dark colors when we’re trying not to be seen.”
“Huh. I was expecting hunters to wear mostly denim and plaid.”
“Nah, then we’d stick out as much as you do.” Jenna holds my face steady while coming dangerously close to blinding me with her eyeliner.
“Maybe because of the makeup,” I grumble. “I was fine with just the outfit.”
“The outfit’s alright, I guess, but you should look like you’re attending a normal outing.”
“And I need to get dolled up for that?”
“Not necessarily, but it won’t kill you to remind yourself and others that you’re still a girl once in a while.”
I’m tempted to push Jenna aside and wipe my face clean with a spell, but I refrain out of appreciation for all she’s done to help Nick. “There’s so much more to being a girl than dresses and makeup,” I tell her. “And looking good for others is a waste of my time. The only person whose opinion on me matters is me.”
“Maybe so, but you can’t be in badass warrior loner mode all the time, either.”
“Why not?”
“Because it would be a shame to keep a face like this from being all that it can be.” Jenna steps away from my face to admire her handiwork, and I peek at my reflection in her vanity. I can hardly recognize the girl staring back at me; her vivid emerald eyes are ringed by a blackish green halo, with eyeliner wings too sharp and even for me to ever achieve on my own. My already tanned summer skin is now a softly shimmering bronze, my cheekbones highlighted with products that I’ve never even heard of.
In short, I look like the sort of person I’ve always wanted to become. Gorgeous. Sexy. And a little dangerous. But I don’t look like me.
It’ll have to do. I thank Jenna for her hard work, and take my leave so she can get ready herself. I find Nick waiting for me in Jenna’s living room, watching the TV with a blank face. He does a double take when he sees what’s been done to me; I guess the transforma
tion is a little jarring. Before he can comment, I offer him my hand, and ask, “Ready to go?”
Nick grins, and takes my hand in his as he stands. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
I lock my fingers with his, and we walk together out the front door. This plan could go wrong in several ways, and a lot of people could get hurt. But I could care less about whatever the night holds for us. As long as Nick gets the answers he need, it’ll all be worth it.
16
By the time Nick and I arrive at the Nightmare Theater, there’s a line extending around the block that we have to wait on. I hadn’t been expecting such a massive turnout; of the three bands playing tonight, I’ve only heard of Interrobang, and that’s only because I know Lily. Heads turn as Nick and I pass, and I’m not sure if it’s because they’re wondering what humans are doing attending a show here, or because of my temporary look. I make a mental note to keep Jenna and her drawers of beauty products away from me in the future.
In the time it takes for Nick and I to make it to the front of the line, hand over our tickets, get our hands stamped with neon green X’s, and find the right theater, the first band of the night is setting up on stage. It’s a much more intimate interior than I was expecting, more of a simple performance space than a “theater” as the name had implied. There are rows upon rows of chairs lined against each other, arranged in a vague semicircle surrounding a makeshift stage. It’s a wonder to me that all those people we saw on the line could fit into this small of a venue.
Nick kisses me on the forehead before we go our separate ways, and I kiss him on the cheek in return. “Good luck,” I whisper in his ear.
“You too,” he whispers back. Then he turns, and disappears into the still growing crowd.
When I reach my seat, Alyssa’s already in the one next to mine, with Rachel on her other side. I settle into my designated space, and check that the earpiece hidden behind my hair is on. I can feel that the power switch hasn’t moved since it was activated, so I leave it alone, and turn to Alyssa. She looks uncomfortable for some reason, so I ask, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she replies with a shrug. Her eyes widen as they roam over my temporary face, but she doesn’t comment on how I look. “I just don’t like having this many demons around.”
“There are demons here?”
“You can’t feel them?”
“Feel them? What?”
Alyssa looks at me like I have three heads, even though she’s the one not making any sense. “Krystal never taught you, did she?”
“What the hell are you talking about, Allie?”
“Look, just close your eyes, and try to see me without seeing me… wait, that makes no sense. Just, uhh, open your mind and let your power expand a little past the confines of your body?”
I can’t help smirking at Alyssa, and staring at her incredulously with a raised eyebrow. “You’re terrible at explaining things.”
“Shut up and do it.”
I close my eyes as instructed, and try to “see” Alyssa without opening them. It takes a moment, but with enough effort, I manage to find her, a beacon of intense light sparking in the darkness. And more than that, I can feel her; for the first time, I have a sense of the immense power bubbling beneath her skin, and wonder how mine must feel to her. I try expanding this newfound ability to Rachel, and have a brief inkling of the much dimmer, much more primal impression her light gives off before I’m bombarded by the information coming at me from all angles.
It’s like a new, untested sense; I can feel everyone around me, and get a sense for who and what they are. Some members of the crowd feel fresh, and pure, probably humans like Nick and Jenna; some feel more in touch with their animal instincts, like Rachel; some are beacons of pure energy, like Alyssa, albeit nowhere near as intense; and a large portion of the audience has a much darker, alien feel to them, as if they’re significantly less human than those around them. At the same time, there’s something familiar about these strange beings that I can’t put my finger on.
I open my eyes, and I can still feel everything and everyone around me, although now that all five of my other senses are in use, the messages are a little more muddled. Alyssa’s watching me expectantly, so I ask, “Is that how you see all the time?”
“Yeah. It’s hard for a lot of spellcasters to use that skill, but some of the best have claimed to be able to hear thoughts too with enough practice.”
“That’s insane.” I crane my neck around to look at the rest of the audience. Through normal eyes, they all look like normal people. But now I know better; three rows down from us is a small cluster of spellcasters, bookended by some werefolk, and there’s a large collection of humans backstage. And in the row directly behind us, there are some of those creatures that I couldn’t place, that seemed decidedly inhuman. Under my breath, I ask Alyssa, “What are those dark things?”
“Those would be demons,” she whispers back.
“It’s weird, but something about them feels-“
“Like us? Yeah.” Alyssa checks behind us to see if anyone’s listening, and says, “Demons have powers similar to the ones spellcasters use, but it’s usually a lot more volatile, and for the most part, they can never quite learn how to control it to the same degree that we can. Selene once told me she thought demons and spellcasters share a common ancestor, but I don’t know. It seems a little farfetched.”
“I could see that. I mean, angels apparently have powers similar to ours as well, and it was technically an angel that created demons…”
“Are you saying the three could be related?”
“I’m saying I’ve seen and heard too much crazy shit to rule it out.”
The lights in the “theater” begin to dim, so Alyssa and I turn to face forward, clapping politely for the evening’s first band, Walter Cronkite and the Evening News. Before their first song starts up, I hear a soft buzzing coming from my earpiece, meaning that the capture team is in position and on the lookout for Eve. Alyssa, Rachel, and I cough in turn to let them know we got the message. I settle back into my seat, and keep my eyes on the stage while the opening notes of the first song are strummed out of the lead guitar. I may not have come for the show, but at least the music I have to sit through as a result is pretty good.
There’s a break after the first band has played their five song requirement, and when we applaud them, it’s with a lot more enthusiasm than before. I have to admit, they were better than expected. Alyssa gets up to go wish Lily luck before her set, leaving Rachel and I sitting alone. Of all of us, she seems the least impressed by Walter Cronkite and the Evening News. She’s not as interested in the indie rock scene as the rest of us. I move one seat over, and she looks up from her phone at me with a confused expression. “Any news from the others?,” she asks.
“No news, which I guess is good news.” I look out at the crowd to see if I can spot Nick, but he’s nowhere to be found. Emma and Jenna are likewise missing, but that’s to be expected. They’re well versed in the art of remaining unseen.
Alyssa returns quickly, and takes the seat on my other side without comment. The lights dim again, but this time, Interrobang is being introduced. Four girls walk confidently onto the stage, clutching their instruments with steady hands, unlike the first band. Lily’s the last one to take the stage. She strides right over to her spot by the drummer’s side, and plugs her deep violet bass into the amp. The lead singer, a squat blonde with a pixie cut and gauges in her ears, asks the audience to make some noise. Everyone cheers and claps in response, Alyssa and I included. The drummer then counts them off, and their first number starts with an almost literal bang as the opening notes form a wall of sound.
Alyssa’s watching them with rapt attention, and I can see why. The music is simple yet powerful, much like the lyrics. In a mezzo soprano voice hoarsened by years of tobacco abuse, the blonde frontwoman belts out the chorus:
Hearts are broken, words unspoken,
Tokens stolen from better days.<
br />
Knees that quake, promises that break,
I’ve lost my faith since you ran away.
Unfortunately, I don’t get to hear the rest of the song. My earpiece crackles as it comes to life, and I hear Emma’s voice coming to me through one ear. “Southwest exit. You three are needed.”
I cast a worried glance at Rachel, who just sets her jaw and nods. Alyssa sighs by my side. “Five more minutes?,” she asks. “The next song is about me-“
“NOW.” I wince at the voice in my ear, and grab both Alyssa and Rachel by the hand. We vanish as one, and materialize by the door just to the left of the bar, and push our way through.
Rachel runs the fastest, so she takes the lead as we race down a brick-lined passageway. We sprint up a few flights of stairs to the abandoned sections of the building, and pass an unconscious form on the second floor. He’s breathing, for now, but the wound in his side is bleeding heavily. The second and third floors of the staircase are peppered with gunfire and blood splatters. Whatever happened with Emma, she’s clearly got a lot on her hands.
When we finally find her, she’s surrounded on nearly every side. A couple of vampires, a few weres, and a demon, if my second sight is serving me well. Rachel doesn’t wait for orders or assistance, she runs straight at the closest target, lifts them up by the ankle, and throws them into a wall across the room. The were she threw survives the attack better than the wall he crashed into, and snarls at Rachel, even though she’s turned her attention to the vampires.
I run for Emma’s left side while Alyssa darts to the right, and we converge on the enemies at the same time. Alyssa sends a vampire crashing upwards through the crumbling ceiling, while the were I attack first ends up slipping through the hole in the floor I create, breaking his ankles on impact when he hits solid ground on the third floor. Emma levels her pair of silenced pistols at one of the remaining enemies, and sends two bullets through his heart. I flinch, and look away as the body slumps to the ground; it seems she doesn’t struggle with taking a life as much as Jenna does.
Shattered (the Spellbound Series Book 2) Page 12
