‘You make everything so difficult for yourself,’ she said. ‘But regardless, you have provided what I ask for. You’ve also brought over a dozen hunters into my city, so the sooner you’re out the better.’
‘Yeah,’ Banes said, shifting in his seat, ‘sorry about that. By the way, someone’s going to find Austin’s head in a bit, so things might get worse. Just a heads up.’
‘Jesus Christ, Intuneric!’ Candice said, pinching the bridge of her nose. ‘You’re a real pain in the ass. How the fuck did you lose the head?’
‘I didn’t lose it,’ Banes said, ‘I purposefully left it on a park bench.’
‘Why,’ she said, her voice freezing over, ‘did you do that?’
Banes shrugged, ‘I just wanted someone to know that he was dead. Everyone says it’s the not knowing that hurts.’
Candice poured more antifreeze into her glass and took a large drink. ‘There are hunters all the way from Canada and Mexico, crawling around the city and now there’s a severed head thrown into the mix. Fantastic.’
‘I’m trying to get out of here,’ he said. ‘And I did bring you the meat.’
‘You’ve brought a war into my city,’ Candice said, her eyes flashing. ‘It’s been centuries since I’ve seen so many hunters.’
‘You got lucky then,’ Banes said. ‘And for what it’s worth, I never meant for any of this to happen.’
‘Really?’ she asked. ‘There I was thinking you arranged for dozens of hunters to chase after you with the intention of butchering you for fun.’
‘It was a human thing,’ he said. ‘Things went a little sour and they tried to kill me, then they realised that they couldn’t and now there’s this feeding frenzy of hunters.’
‘And this human thing, I’m assuming it was criminal?’ she asked, a snap in her voice.
‘Well, yeah, of course it…’
‘Please, please, don’t tell it’s related to that smuggling ring –’
‘– It’s that cocaine thing,’ he said.
‘Jesus Christ,’ she said, taking another drink. ‘Nine dead, Banes!’
‘And I only killed three of them,’ he said. ‘And it was after they tried to kill me’.
‘Banes,’ she said, giving him a hard look, ‘nothing good has ever come out of the sentence “I only killed X number of people.”’
‘You say that with a bag full of human flesh five feet away from you,’ Banes said.
‘As if we haven’t had enough trouble,’ she muttered. ‘You’ll cause me to die a natural death, Intuneric.’
‘You want that anyway.’
‘It’s truly stunning just how badly you can fuck up, Banes.’
‘Yep, thanks, got it.’
Candice rubbed her eyes, ‘look, you can stay here for a few days, but I’m going to try and get you out of state as soon as I can. I’m assuming you’ll want new something of everything, too?’
‘Of course.’
‘We can discuss costs tomorrow,’ she said, her eyes sweeping across the jewellery he was wearing.
Banes sighed, took out two of his earrings and laid them down on the table in front of her. ‘Each one is a seventy-carat diamond set in eighteen carat white gold,’ he said, ‘that should be enough of a down payment to get thing rolling.’
‘Barely, for the amount of work you’ll need’ Candice said, holding one of the earrings up to the light, ‘and I will have to get them certified as well.’
‘Do you really think I’d be so stupid to try and trick you, Cindy?’ Banes said.
Candice gave him a reproachful stare, ‘no,’ she said. ‘I suppose not.’
A silence stretched out between them as Banes took a sip of his drink, ‘have you spoken to anyone recently?’
Candice raised an eyebrow, ‘everyone’s dead, Banes.’
‘I meant anyone not from Dreyrigr,’ Banes said.
Candice shrugged, ‘a handful of people, over the years, but bright sunny skies don’t attract vampires.’
‘Apart from you,’ Banes said.
A hint of a smile played around her lips, ‘you know that we’re outliners, Banes.’
‘It probably doesn’t help that you expect a hosting gift before you let them in through the door,’ he said.
She gave a coy shrug, ‘it’s a dangerous game, I may as well expect something in return.’
‘A dangerous game,’ Banes smirked, ‘in a few years you’ll be running both sides of this state.’
‘I still have letters which Marie Antoinette wrote to me,’ Candice said, ‘there’s ever any guarantee of certain safety. All meat rots the same.’
Banes looked around the spotless kitchen which no-one in Candice’s family would have had to clean themselves, ‘you seem to be holding up okay though.’
‘You can never be too careful,’ she said, draining the last of her drink. ‘Speaking of which, while you’re here I don’t want you leaving the property while you’re here.’
‘Happily done,’ Banes said. ‘But can I use the pool?’
‘Noah is leaving for a conference in Washington today,’ she said as if he hadn’t spoken. ‘So he wouldn’t be around, but the kids will be here, plus my staff so try to stay out of their way,’ she took another long drink. ‘And you can use the indoor pool.’
‘C’mon,’ Banes said, ‘I’d love to spend some time with your kids.’
Candice raised an eyebrow, ‘if anyone asks we’ll stay that you’re an old friend from Yale who dropped out after the sophomore year.’
‘Would anyone believe that I was ever accepted into Yale?’ he asked.
She shrugged, ‘that’s why you dropped out.’
‘Thanks, Cindy,’ he said, finishing his vodka.
‘And, Banes, how many times? My name is Candice.’
* * *
Banes spend the day sleeping in one of Candice’s guest bedrooms. When he awoke the next night it was already dark, and a set of clothes had been left out for him, a large grey hoodie and black jeans. The house was quiet, and he could smell meat cooking. He padded through the empty house down to the kitchen where he found a stew in the oven. The smell of human meat gently cooking in a red wine sauce was intoxicating though he contended himself with a strong cup of black coffee, toast with dripping and a few cold cuts of human meat he found in the fridge.
He was midway through reading the local news on a tablet when Candice arrived back home. She walked into the kitchen a vision of professional excellence in a neatly cut suit and trim pencil skirt, brown eye contacts hiding her orange eyes. Her shoulders sank a little when she saw him.
‘You’ve not been eating, have you?’ she asked. ‘Because I made stew.’
‘I can still eat,’ Banes said, setting down his toast. ‘Where did you get this dripping from away?’
Candice gave a relieved sigh as she kicked off her heeled shoes, ‘I’ve been entertaining recently,’ she said as she took out the contacts.
‘I thought you said that you’d only seen a handful of people over the years,’ Banes said.
‘There’s been a bit of an uptake of visitors recently,’ she said. ‘So, I’ve been eating quite well.’
Banes narrowed his eyes, ‘quite well? How many guests have you had?’
‘More when what I’m used to,’ she said, going over to the fridge and pouring at a large glass of coconut water. ‘Do you know Clarence Marr?’
Banes shook his head, ‘nope.’
‘His parents were Deafol and Aglaecwif Dreor,’ Candice said, ‘you remember them, right?’
‘Yeah, they were killed in the Blood Coup, right? I remember them, don’t remember Clarence though.’
‘They had kids at the time who were mistaken for human babies and adopted by a human couple,’ Candice said. ‘Anyway, he came by a couple of months back, along with a woman called Rosemary May…do you know her?’
Banes shook his head, ‘not a clue.’
Candice shrugged, ‘she is fairly young, Noah went to school with her h
uman half-brother.’
‘Well, what did they want?’ Banes asked.
Candice gave a small smile, ‘me, basically.’
Banes raised an eyebrow, ‘you’re basically a vampire hermit, what in god’s name did they want with you?’
‘My connections,’ she said, ‘and Noah’s connections as well.’
‘Human connections?’
‘Yes,’ Candice said, ‘they said that they were acting on behalf of a new clan, which I thought was very odd.’
‘What new clan?’ Banes said.
‘They called themselves Rebirth,’ Candice said, going over to the cooker. ‘Is it alright if we eat now? I’m starving.’
‘Sure,’ Banes said, ‘so…Rebirth? What do they want with human connections in America?’
‘They’re trying to extend their reach and influence,’ Candice said, ‘but mostly looking for investors.’
‘Territory expansion?’ Banes suggested. ‘But I’ve not heard anything about that.’
‘Me neither,’ Candice said, ‘besides, what sort of clan wants to expand their territory from Britain to California? This is my hermit kingdom.’
‘What in God’s name would they want with overseas investors anyway?’ Banes asked as Candice sat a plate of stew down in front of him along with a plate of sliced bread.
‘They’re building a very large vampire establishment,’ Candice said. ‘They ultimately want to turn the UK into a safe haven for our kind, similar to the Shield of Scarlet.’
Banes frowned as he ate, ‘why not just invite the Shield over then? They’re right next door.’
Candice shrugged, ‘maybe they’re nationalists?’
‘Is that what you think?’
‘I think that they tried to pull the wool over my eyes,’ Candice said. ‘If I learnt anything about Clarence it’s that he’s extremely smooth-talking.’
‘So a vampire safe haven…what does that entail?’ he asked.
‘The basic vampire utopia everyone apparently dreams about,’ she said. ‘Vampires living out in the open with a society build around us, a vampire government, organising culling of humans, as much meat and blood as we could possibly want. Which makes me wonder why they decided to come here when I’m famously quite proud of having a human-oriented lifestyle.’
‘Do you know who’s running this thing then?’ Banes said, skewing a piece of meat with his fork.
‘They told me they had two leaders; Clarence’s sister Cecilia and Tycho Feigrey.’
Banes choked on his food, ‘Tycho? Tycho Feigrey?!’
‘That’s what I said.’
‘Fucking hell,’ Banes said, taking a hasty drink, ‘I thought he was dead.’
‘Apparently he’s not,’ she said.
‘Do you know how long he’s been around?’ Banes asked, ‘I…we all thought he was killed in the Blood Coup.’
‘Banes, how do you expect me to know that?’ she sighed.
He looked up at her and remembered that for over two centuries she had integrated herself into American human society. ‘Never mind,’ he said.
‘Perhaps it’ll be a good place to send you,’ Candice said into her glass as she took a drink, ‘keep yourself out of trouble. Clarence said that they’re already started ridding the country of hunters.’
Banes shrugged, ‘I don’t like the idea of their being a vampire government,’ he said. ‘That’s why I like America so much, there are small clans, but you can just do your own thing and not be bothered by anyone else.’
‘Well,’ Candice said, giving him a pointed look, ‘you’ve managed to ruin that dream for yourself. By the way, they found that man’s head you left out on a park bench which has just poured fuel on the fire so well done.’
‘I just wanted someone to know that he died,’ he said.
‘How charitable,’ she said, ‘and while you’ve been sleeping, I did a bit of research into who is chasing you.’
‘Is it every single hunter on the continent?’ Banes said, ‘because I knew that already.’
‘I’m being serious, Banes,’ she said, ‘you have a bounty of half a million dollars on your head. And…look,’ she said, looking at him, her voice losing some of its edge, ‘some of these hunters won’t simply just kill you, some will want to capture you to study how vampires work. Several years ago, we found dissected bodies out in the desert. These people had been dissected alive. It should have been a massive investigation, but everything blew over very quickly. The United States government isn’t ignorant to our existence, some of these hunters will either be working in behalf of the government or they will sell you to them.’
‘Shit,’ he said, taking a drink.
‘On the occasions when I think about you, I worry,’ she said. ‘You’re far too reckless.’
‘I’m still alive.’
‘By sheer dumb luck than anything else,’ she said. ‘Banes, outside of this house I can’t protect you from these hunters.’
‘I don’t need your protection,’ he said. ‘You just know how to make very connecting fake documents.’
‘You need protection,’ she said. ‘If I were you then I’d head for Britain.’
‘Why do you care?’ Banes said. ‘I just need a favour.’
Candice shrugged, ‘because you’ve been the only vampire to be supportive of this life I made for myself and I don’t want you to get yourself killed.’
Banes sighed, ‘fine, but can we split the difference and say Ireland?’
‘The hunters can follow you there and Banes,’ she said, giving him a pitying look, ‘you really struggle to fit in.’
He sank back in his seat, ‘you’re going to send me to London, aren’t you?’
‘I’m going to send you to London,’ she said. ‘Just remember to let me know what’s going on, okay?’
‘Got it,’ Banes said.
‘And Banes?’ she asked.
‘Yeah?’
‘Don’t be an idiot.’
Chapter Two
A Man, Or At Least He Looked Like One
Something was shaking her awake.
‘Kallie…Kallie…Khalida!’
Khalida moaned and buried her head deeper into the pillow.
‘Kallie!’ Cain said with an urgency in his voice, which brought her to a state of vague consciousness. ‘Do you hear that?’
‘Hear what?’ Khalida mumbled, propping herself upright next to Cain, who was already shifting out of bed and grabbing his dressing gown. She blinked, trying to adjust her eyes to the gloom. She pricked her ears, trying to hear anything other than Cain’s shuffling. Nothing.
‘It’s just the house settling, perhaps,’ she muttered.
‘It’s not,’ he said.
She reached out to the bedside table lamp, though Cain was already on his feet and heading to the landing.
‘Hey,’ she said, scrambling out of bed to join him, her tiredness quickly draining from her as she saw how rigid and focused he was. ‘Cain, what’s going on?’
A loud bang filled the air, making them both jump, as a loud rattling came from the back of the house. There was a high-pitched screaming, followed by more bangs, as someone pounded on the back door.
Cain froze; Khalida pushed past him and ran down the stairs into their small kitchen.
‘Khalida, wait!’ he yelled, dashing after her.
She let out a yelp of shock as she saw the ghostly face of the petrified young woman who was desperately pounding the back door, her skin pale against the dark of the night, face distorted with fear.
She was vaguely aware of Cain flicking on the light and retreating to the living room to frantically call nine-nine-nine. She unlocked the door, only to be nearly blown backwards when the woman clutching a black rucksack was flung into the house. A flood of cold February night entered the room. It was only when the woman hit the floor that Khalida realised a dark, hooded figure had blown her in, and now knelt across her chest. One of the hinges had broken off the door with the force. The woman screa
med and tried to squirm away. Out of sight, Cain was yelling at the emergency operator.
Khalida’s heart rose up to her mouth as the figure leaned forward; from under their hood, only their jaw was visible. Her insides froze as she saw a trail of blood running down the side of their mouth, which parted slightly open, to reveal long fangs which were stained crimson with the rest of their mouth.
She snatched the nearest thing to hand, a corkscrew, and rammed it into the creature’s back. The spike cut through the hoodie and into their flesh, but the person barely flinched.
The creature bit down on the screaming woman’s neck, and Khalida, her palms sweaty, looked wildly around the kitchen for anything she could use as a weapon, as the woman’s screams became strangled.
She grabbed a large knife from its hold and charged. The creature looked up and broke away from the woman’s neck, his mouth dripping with blood. For a fraction of a moment, Khalida realised that this wasn’t a monster. He was a man, or at least he looked like one. He was around her own age, perhaps a little older. A mane of crimson hair was slicked back to his nape, his ears were covered with golden earrings. His eyes were startlingly unsettling; burning, pinprick pupils stared out at her in heterochromia eyes of yellow and red.
She aimed for his neck and drove the knife in. There was a heartbeat where she thought that she had missed and instead hit his shoulder. The knife cut clearly into his skin; blood seeped out.
‘Ah, fuck!’
She briefly registered his voice which made him sound like he was an American Nineteen-Forties radio host as he man’s eyes met hers, and he launched up at her in one fluid, swift movement; Khalida barely had time to brace herself as his arm came up and smacked into her. She felt the air leave her lungs as she was knocked backwards. The world spun and flickered black before her body hit the kitchen floor. She tried to scramble to her feet, though her chest felt as if it was on fire and her lungs didn’t seem able to expand as usual; she was only able to breath in shallow, biting breaths.
Cain had rushed into the kitchen and stood between her and the intruder, his back to her, his body tense, ready to spring, as the man stood up straight. He looked around at the three of them – Khalida, Cain, and the woman – and sighed, and pushed his hair back away from his face.
All Rotting Meat Page 2
