by Gary Jonas
I stopped moving on that thought. For a second, I was a little girl back at DGI, enduring another brutal operation. I was awake, since they were working on my brain and needed my responses. I was sitting with a nurse in front of me holding both my hands. She was nice to me, had asked me all sorts of questions when I first came to DGI – who I loved, my favorite flavor of ice cream, the things that scared me. She was smiling at me, telling me to be brave – above all, I had to be brave. A doctor and a wizard worked side by side, poking into my opened skull just behind my left ear.
“Okay, Stephen, hit that area right there,” the doctor said. The wizard moved closer and spoke. His mouth was right next to my ear, but I didn’t understand a word he said. The nurse gave my hands a squeeze.
“Now watch for it,” the doctor continued. “All right, Nurse, go ahead.”
The nurse looked into my eyes. “Kelly. Do you remember when I asked you all those silly questions when you came to live with us?”
I was too afraid to nod, too afraid to move a muscle. But she was so nice and I didn’t want to disappoint her so I whispered, “Yes.”
The nurse smiled. “Good. I want you to think about those questions for me right now. I want you to think about when I asked you who you loved. Don’t say anything, just think your answer.”
My answer had changed in the weeks since coming to DGI. I had said I loved my mother, even when she wasn’t nice to me. I’d given that answer because I thought that’s what was expected. If the nurse had asked me again to tell her who I loved, I would have said I loved her. She’d been kinder to me than any other woman, and made me feel safe, especially now in this cold, bright operating room. So I looked back into her eyes and smiled.
“Excellent job, Nurse. There it is. Go ahead, Stephen.”
The wizard spoke again and I felt something change. Suddenly, I never wanted the nurse to let go of my hands. She was the most important person in my life, the only person. I would die for her.
“Okay, next phase, Nurse.”
She glanced at the doctor and nodded. She let go of my hands, which was an agony for me, and reached for a small box.
“Now, Kelly, do you remember what you told me when I asked you what scared you the most?”
Of course I did. Spiders. She had laughed and confessed that spiders scared her, too. That’s why she made sure there were never any spiders in DGI, ever.
“Look what I have here for you.” She lifted the lid off the box.
I screamed.
The thing in the box had been a spider once, the same way I’d been an innocent girl before DGI got ahold of me. Now it could have given Shelob nightmares.
As I screamed at the eight-legged horror the wizard made another adjustment to my brain. Every fear I’d ever had flooded my mind at once. I closed my eyes, hoping to escape, only to find I could see all my fears in stark clarity. My body tensed until I couldn’t scream anymore.
Then the fear was gone. The thing in the box didn’t scare me now. Nothing did.
I opened my eyes and looked at the nurse. I didn’t love her anymore, but I didn’t hate her, either. I didn’t love anyone. The thought didn’t bother me.
“That should do it,” Stephen said.
“Good job. We’ll have to make some more adjustments when she hits puberty, but that won’t be for a while.” The doctor reached for a magic-infused suture kit. “I’ll close this up and then we’ll do the other amygdala.”
I didn’t feel love again until I was an adult, when I met Jonathan. As for fear, well, that never really came back.
At least that’s what I told myself.
A bell chimed as my first students came in. Monique, Brianne, Shelly. Monique looked at me, eyebrows raised. I shook my head and she sighed. Word of Jessica’s disappearance had travelled quickly through the class. Their usual laughter was gone as they mechanically laid fresh mats on the floor. Monique put her mat down over the spot the douchebag licked a few days before. I felt an uncomfortable twinge. Spiders crawling down my spine.
“Don’t put that there.” I dragged Monique’s mat off to the left.
“Why not?”
“Let’s call it bad juju.”
“That Voodoo doughnut really got to you, huh?” Monique smiled weakly.
Yes, it had, but not in the way she thought. It made me realize I wasn’t alone anymore. And that I’d do anything to keep it that way.
CHAPTER SIX
Amanda came through for me. Saturday night, I waited for Victor at a steakhouse where you could order a ten-dollar baked potato and spend a day’s pay on a steak or lobster tail. I’d offered to pick up the tab, and Victor chose the place. Believe me, I regretted my offer. Not only would this meal make it harder to pay next month’s rent, the restaurant was located uncomfortably close to DGI’s Denver headquarters in the Tech Center.
It was well-past dark when the maître d' escorted Victor to my table. Victor wore a perfectly-tailored Armani suit that contrasted with his casually-tousled hair in the best way. Every woman’s head turned to follow him – and a few men’s as well. When he smiled at me, I had the combined hatred and jealousy of at least two dozen people focused like a laser on a point somewhere on the middle of my forehead. Nothing new there. When I’d walked in earlier in my little black dress, I had at least the same number checking me out with open appreciation. Nothing new there, either.
“Miss Chan. Such a pleasure.” Victor sat down across from me. I smelled the mingled scent of his bare skin and his cologne, and felt an unwelcome pang of desire uncoil in my belly. I wondered if he was trying to charm me again. I thought of what might be happening to Jessica, all the nastiness a real vampire can dish out, and that was enough to extinguish the fire.
“You’re looking well, Victor.”
The vampire raised his eyebrows. “Social graces from a Sekutar? I expected you to get straight to business. Could this be a date after all”
I fought another wave of desire and a concurrent slew of thoughts, all of which involved me, Victor, and a hot tub. He was trying to charm me. The second wave was easier to repel than the first. I proved it by picking up my steak knife and hurling it at Victor’s forehead.
He caught the knife mid-air and handed it back to me. “You dropped this.”
I set the knife back down next to my plate. “I was hoping to keep this pleasant and civil, but I can see that’s not going to happen. Quit it with the charm spell, Victor.”
He shrugged and smiled. “Can’t blame a fellow for trying. But, we’ll have it your way. I am a gentleman after all.”
Victor picked up the drinks menu and a server instantly appeared. He ran his finger down the center of the menu and then tapped his selection. “The Silver Oak cab ought to do.”
Of course. The most expensive wine, at thirty-two dollars a glass.
“I’ll take a whole bottle, thank you.” Victor smiled across the table at me. “I’m sure you can write it off as a business expense, yes?”
“You do make this easy.” I waited for the server to leave, then leaned forward. “Tell me where Jessica Spalding is, and I promise I won’t take you apart tonight.”
“Jessica who?”
“The woman who was taken from her apartment in Lakewood five days ago. She was – is – a student of mine.”
Victor crossed his arms and sat back. “So, one of your students goes astray and you immediately think I took her.”
Before I could answer he held up a hand. “No, no. Go ahead and falsely accuse me. I’m used to that from you.”
I laughed. “As if you have no blood on your hands.”
The server came back with a bottle of cabernet sauvignon and uncorked it. She set down two glasses, poured a little wine into one and offered it to Victor. He sniffed, tasted and nodded. She took my glass to fill it and Victor shook his head, selfish bastard, so she just filled his. As soon as she left, Victor pulled out a silver flask and added his own red liquid to the dark wine.
“Of course
I have blood on my hands. I probably have just as much as you do, Miss Chan. Except that I’m centuries old while you’re just a young thing. These days I require far less blood, while you seem to spill more every day.” He toasted me, then downed his fortified wine. “Perfect. A hint of oak, pencil shavings and heavy on the iron.”
“That had better not be Jessica’s blood.”
Victor regarded his glass. “Not unless she’s actually a willing donor named Mitch who likes the Texas Rangers, powerlifting and long romantic walks on the beach.”
“Then who has her?”
“Why do you think I would know? Oh, right. We’re back to accusing me of crimes I didn’t commit.”
“Jessica was in her apartment with the doors locked, no windows, no signs of a break-in, no obvious signs of magic. Whoever got her must have come in through the shadows. That leaves vampires and Watchers. So you tell me.”
Our server returned and took our orders. I figured I was in for a penny, in for a pound, so I ordered the porterhouse steak. Victor did the same, with an expensive seafood topping and two of those ten-dollar potatoes. He eyed the server as she walked away like he might add her for dessert.
Victor poured himself another glass of wine and supplemented it. “Even if a vampire did take your pet human—”
“Her name is Jessica.”
“Even if a vampire did take dear, sweet Jessica, why do you think I would know anything about it?”
“Because you know everything that goes on in your sick little world, even when you pretend you don’t. You’re back on the Vampire Council so you still have influence and you still have Watchers who are faithful to you.”
Victor reached for my empty wine glass and filled it. “That bit of flattery has earned you a drink, my dear.” He clinked his glass against mine. “Perhaps I can steer you in the right direction after all.”
If I wasn’t careful, I was going to crush my glass of wine. “You—”
“Now now, before you say something you’ll regret, I suggest you keep to the pleasantries. A pity you didn’t do so from the beginning, or we might have arrived here sooner.”
“What can you tell me?” I clenched my jaw and thought of Jessica. “Please?”
Victor’s smile revealed his teeth, but his fangs were nowhere in sight. Vampires can retract them at will. My, what small teeth you have. The better to deceive you, my dear.
“You are so lovely when you’re playing nice. We’d make a great couple. I think everyone in the room would agree if they weren’t so jealous. Can you smell it, the jealousy?”
“Smell it, no. Feel it, yes.” With my Sekutar senses on medium alert, I felt every glance in my direction like a physical touch.
“Excellent. That will make your job easier. Look around. This is the cream of Denver. There are even a few wizards here, no surprise, really. It’s funny to think that anyone in this room could be envious of anything when they have everything.”
“Is this going anywhere, or are you just getting off on the attention?”
“It is if you can follow.” Victor dispensed with the niceties of sneaking blood into his wine and took a pull directly from the flask. “Just think how much more envious are the ones who aren’t sitting down to a porterhouse steak. What would they give for the opportunity? What about our fine waitress who is bringing our meal right now?” He caught the server’s eye as she set his plate down. “Thank you! Oh, and another bottle of wine, my dear.” I noticed a new little wobble in her step as she walked away. “Don’t you think she gets tired of waiting on men who ogle her but have no intention of sharing the wealth?”
“I think she likes you, Victor. I don’t think she minded the ogling at all.”
“But don’t you see? It’s an act, an expected role she’s performing for a bigger tip. I’m far above her station. She knows she has no real chance with me.”
“Lucky her.” I sliced into my steak, wishing it was Victor’s heart on the plate. The meat was delicious and totally worth the ramen I’d be living on for the next month. The wine paired with the steak beautifully. I only wished my metabolism wasn’t on high so I could actually enjoy a buzz from it, especially when the bill came.
Victor shook his head, amused. “Let me try a different tack. You assume a vampire or Watcher took Jessica because the only way to get into her apartment was through the shadows, and only vampires and Watchers can travel in that particular manner.”
“That about sums it up.”
Victor popped a bite of steak into his mouth. Even though he ordered it bloody, his lips turned down in a look of distaste as he chewed.
‘I’d be happy to take the rest of your steak home in a doggy bag.” It would go great with my ramen.
“No no, I’ll manage, even if it means I’ll be purging it later.”
“I’m so glad I bought that for you.”
“It’s never occurred to you that there may be other creatures with that talent as well?”
“The talent of purging? Sadly, I know plenty.”
“Try to keep up, Kelly. The talent of moving through shadows.”
“I’ve never run into any others.”
“That you know of.” Victor washed his steak down with another swig of blood.
“You’re telling me there are other creatures that move through shadows? Who, wizards?”
“Think lower. Like vermin.”
“I can’t think of anything lower than a wizard.”
“I’m sure Amanda West would be flattered to hear that.”
“Amanda’s different. She’s my wizard. Witch. Whatever.”
“Is she, now?” Victor took another bite. Watching him suffer through it gave me great pleasure. “I hear they’ve had a major restructuring at Dragon Gate Industries.”
“She’s mentioned a new boss or two. So what?”
“So sometimes when upper management changes, employees must prove their willingness to remain loyal. Or be eliminated.” Victor put down his knife and fork. “Perhaps Miss West has found a creative way to prove her loyalty.” He picked up a napkin and dabbed at his lips. The white napkin came away stained with red.
His words made my stomach twist. Amanda was a natural witch, one who could work directly with magic without resorting to hex bags, and that made her powerful. “What’s Amanda’s new job?”
“Why don’t you ask her? She’s your wizard, witch, whatever, isn’t she?”
Victor pushed his chair back from the table. The server noticed and came over. “Will that be all?” she asked.
“Unless the lady cares for dessert, either here or at my place.”
“You haven’t answered any of my questions, so no.”
The server laid down a bill that edged toward four figures. Of course Victor made no move to pay. I took out a credit card and silently asked its forgiveness before slipping it into the leather sleeve holding the bill. The server took it away without a word.
“Au contraire, I answered all your questions, Miss Chan. It’s up to you to understand them. Maybe you need to look again with different eyes, and a different state of mind.”
“Would it kill you to be direct?”
Victor stood. “In this case, it just might.”
He came to my side of the table and grabbed my hand faster than I could dodge. To anyone watching, we must have looked like a movie in fast forward, too blurry to see. I swung my other arm at Victor’s head but he caught my wrist just as he bent to kiss the back of my hand.
“I meant it when I said we’d make a great couple. I couldn’t have been more direct about that.” He looked up into my eyes. All the mockery was gone from his. They looked very old, and very lonely.
Then he straightened, turned, and walked away. Victor passed the server as she headed back to the table, and said something to her that made her eyes widen for the briefest moment.
“Can I borrow a pen?” I asked her as she handed me the sleeve holding my credit card.
“Oh, there’s no need, Ms. Chan.
The bill’s been paid. That is, if you accept.”
I looked toward the exit but Victor was already outside. Did he think I would change my mind about us if he picked up the tab? The nerve. But, I was a practical woman with a dojo to run.
“You bet I accept.”
The server smiled. “Good choice. Thank you, Ms. Chan.”
I barely heard her as I hurried out to ask Victor for an explanation. But the vampire was nowhere to be found. The night had swallowed him, or at least one of the many shadows in the parking lot had.
And from those shadows, I felt foreign eyes staring out at me.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Feeling watched, I stood in the parking lot thinking about what Victor said, and none of it fit together. Jealousy, other creatures using shadows, new management at DGI. I could see a DGI connection, I supposed. After Jonathan had helped me escape and taught me that there was a better way to be, DGI decided to leave me alone as long as I left them alone. Like the USA and the USSR way back in the day, it was a matter of mutually-assured destruction. Maybe the new management wanted to test me, ascertain my threat level, see if I’d push back, and how hard.
If new management thought kidnapping my favorite student was just a test, they were imbeciles. I’d tear their building down to find Jessica. And if I found her in any condition less than perfect, they’d have real problems.
And then there was Amanda. I didn’t want believe she’d ever betray me, but let’s just say I developed some trust issues at an early age.
The parking valets ignored me—I had turned down their services earlier and parked my own truck around the side of the restaurant. As I walked toward my truck, the feeling of being watched grew stronger. I flashed back to Floor Licker, as I’d come to think of him. What if he wasn’t some random perv, but sent to the dojo to test me, like I’d suspected? It wouldn’t do to become paranoid, but that didn’t mean they weren’t after me, as the joke goes. I flipped my Sekutar senses into high gear and scanned the shadows for attackers. There were no fewer than four blades hidden under my dress and my earrings could be converted into weapons. I was dressed to kill.
