The reddish-brown tip of a stake cut through the air. Rosemary bent backwards, the point of it brushed against her chest. The door opened wide and a partly naked man stood there, clutching a stake in his hand. Rosemary came back up and grabbed the man’s arm, bending it back on instead. The man shrieked, a sound amplified by the stone-silence of the house. The stake dropped to the floor. A wave of familiarity fluttered over Banes. He knew the man. Rosemary slammed the man back against the doorframe, her hands tight around his throat. He began to choke as her hands drove deeper, twisting the bone. His head bend back at an angle and there was the grime snap of bones breaking. Rosemary let his body drop down to the floor. Her face tightened into a frown and without saying a word to Banes she silently darted through the house. Banes dropped Paula’s body to the floor and followed.
‘The house is clear,’ Rosemary said, reappearing from downstairs. ‘It’s just him.’
Banes crept over to the spare room where the man was staying. There was a duffle bag at the front of the bed, the airport luggage tag still wrapped around the handle. A chill passed down his spine.
‘Who the fuck is he?’ Rosemary said.
‘He’s a hunter,’ Banes said, ‘his name is Elijah Dukes, he’s from Texas.’
‘You know him?’ Rosemary said with a raised eyebrow.
Banes nodded, ‘yeah, he’s part of the reason I left America.’
‘Stockport must know more than we thought she did,’ Rosemary muttered, walking over to the bedside table where his passport and phone were. Banes checked the luggage tag.
‘He arrived yesterday,’ he said, ‘only been in the country for fourteen hours.’
‘Rosemary one, jet-lag zero,’ Rosemary smirked. ‘We got lucky here, though.’
‘What are we going to do now?’ Banes asked.
‘Well, we’ve still got Paula to drown,’ Rosemary said, leafing through Elijah Dukes’s belongings. ‘And I doubt that anyone know him was staying here. I mean, if we didn’t know then who could? We’ll drown Stockport as planned and take Dukes and all of his stuff back with us. His body can go to the kitchens. It’ll be like he was never even here.’
‘But if she knows, then surely others would too?’ Banes said. ‘Stockport clearly knew that she had to get a hunter in the country.’
‘And we dealt with it,’ Rosemary said, walking out of the room. ‘C’mon, we’re wasting time.’
‘This is disturbing,’ Banes said, following her back to the bedroom. ‘Rosemary, I knew Dukes and we got really lucky here.’
‘So?’ she shrugged, ‘we lived.’
‘I know,’ Banes said, stepping over Dukes to pick up Paula, ‘but these guys are blood knights, half of them are in it just for the fun of the hunt and having them in the UK is a massive red flag.’
‘Banes,’ Rosemary said, flashing her eyes at him, ‘trust us. Rebirth can easily handle it. Now come on, we have a job to do.’
Banes pushed down his rising anxieties and followed Rosemary to the bathroom. Rosemary kicked the cat, a fluffy, black thing, clear out of the way as it hissed around their legs.
‘Set her down in the bath,’ Rosemary said, shutting the door behind them.
‘Clothes on or off?’ Banes asked as he set her down gently in the bathtub, tucking her dark, blonde hair behind her head. Rosemary looked at Paula’s body; she was wearing soft, green and white pyjamas.
‘On,’ she said, as she turned the taps on full blast. Steam rose up in the room. ‘Go to the kitchen and grab two bottles of wine – the good stuff.’
He opened the door and walked downstairs to find the kitchen. The walls of Paula’s house were painted yellow. He noted, as he moved through to the kitchen, that there were no pictures of friends or family hung up anywhere in the house. She had a calendar hung up above her landline phone; he scanned it for dates, and saw nothing but work meetings and hair appointments. There was cat flap in the door, and three empty bowls of food, but no cats in sight. He had no idea how long it would be before anyone found the body. He suspected that Dukes’s friends and family would go looking for him before Paula’s would, but there would never be any trace of him.
He searched through the cupboards until he found the cat food, and emptied a large amount of it into all three bowls, enough to keep them fed for a couple of days. He waited to see if the cat upstairs would come running, but got no response. He sighed and opened the fridge, which was half-stocked with whole vegetables, a cut of fish, and four bottles of Rosé. He took out two, and headed back upstairs.
‘Great,’ Rosemary said, uncapping one of the bottles and carefully pouring a vial of white powder into the bottle. ‘Crushed sleeping pills,’ she said, as she held it to Paula’s lips, ‘enough to put down a horse.’
Water was now lapping over Paula’s ankles. Banes noticed that there were scented candles on every flat surface, and pots of creams and oils.
‘She liked to bathe,’ he said.
‘Yeah,’ Rosemary said, ‘hence why she’s killing herself this way. We’ll make it look nice, you know, put some of these crystals in the water, too. It’s not a bad way to die, really. I have the drug packets in my bag – get them out and put them on the counter, will you?’
The water rose as Rosemary tipped back the bottles of wine down Paula’s throat, while Banes placed the packets and sprinkled some rose-scented crystals and dried rose petals into the hot water. The steam smelt of summer. He could see her breath start to slow, and longer pauses between her chest rising and falling. The water covered her breasts and her shoulders. As Rosemary took the second bottle away, drops of Rosé fell into the water.
‘There we go,’ she said as she let go of Paula’s head, watching as she slid under the water. A few bubbles of air rose to the surface from her mouth, and then – nothing. ‘Like I said, easy.’
Banes looked down into the water; Paula’s hair was flowing around her head. There was an urge to pull her from the water, as if she would just wake up and choke back to life if he did so.
‘Right,’ Rosemary said, ‘that’s that done. We’ll get Dukes’s belongings and body and we’ll head off then. Though I’ll have to bring the car round, I’m not carrying his body down that street.’
‘But there will be DNA evidence that he was here,’ Banes said.
Rosemary shrugged, ‘and? Look, even if the police do a forensic sweep and find out that yes, there was a man staying round on the night that she died that it’s either going to suggest that she killed herself after lovers quarrel or that he had something to do with it.’
They went back into the spare room and carefully searched through Dukes belongings and placed them back into his duffle bag. Banes found a water pistol wedged between the bedside table and the bed. Dukes must have knocked it over in either hurry or confusion and grabbed the stake instead. Together they threw his body and bag out into the garden. The cat pawed around at him, meowing, wanting attention.
‘Ah, it wants its mummy,’ Rosemary smirked as the cat kept pawing on the door of the bathroom.
He had killed an innocent woman. A lonely woman who worked hard and had three cats for company.
‘Ready to go?’ Rosemary asked from the bathroom door. Already the steam from the bath was cooling, drips of condensation were running down the mirror. ‘Not left anything behind?’
He shook his head. ‘I put out plenty of cat food for her cats.’
Rosemary grinned. ‘That’s a nice touch.’
‘Thanks,’ he said, ‘and I’m taking this one,’ he said, opening the bathroom door and grabbing the cat from the hallway. It hissed against his chest.
‘Why, for the love of fuck, are you taking the cat?’ Rosemary asked.
‘It’s black,’ he said. ‘Black cats don’t get rescued as easily as others.’
‘Banes, who gives a shit?’ she said, pushing open the window. A cold breeze of air blew into the bathroom, clinging onto the steam and settling into the damp.
‘She doesn’t have any close
family or friends who could take the cats,’ he said.
‘So?!’ she said. ‘Banes, this is really fucking stupid. I shouldn’t have to spell out how dangerous it is to take the pet of a woman we’ve just murdered.’
‘People will just think that it ran away,’ Banes said.
‘This is really stupid, Banes, so put it back.’
‘Is that a direct order?’ he asked.
Rosemary glowered at him.
‘It’ll probably be microchipped.’
‘I don’t care.’
‘It’ll hate you,’ she said, as she locked the door. ‘Fine, whatever, keep the goddamn thing. Just turn on the light and lock the door behind you. That’s your one chance to do stupid shit with me, Intuneric.’
Banes nodded and switched on the light behind him, flooding the bathroom with white light which caught on the pink-tinted water in the bath. Paula’s blonde hair fanned around her head. He locked the door.
He half-blindly made his way over to the window where he saw Rosemary waiting for him in the garden. Paula probably wouldn’t have wanted it to end up in a shelter waiting for it to be adopted, or put down if that never happened.
‘Here, catch it for me.’
‘Christ,’ she said, running forward to catch it as he jumped through into the garden. ‘You’re a really fucking stupid vampire.’
* * *
Banes rang the doorbell of Kojo’s Kensington home twice. Kojo owned several properties in London, but Banes knew that the Georgian, black brick townhouse, two streets away from Hyde Park, was his favourite. The stairs leading up to the door were covered with potted plants and hanging baskets, and a small, rainbow flag hung in the window.
Kojo opened the door just as Banes rang for a fourth time.
‘Hello,’ he said, not moving from the doorway, his eyes falling to the cat carrier Banes was holding. ‘Not seen you in a while. Are you avoiding me?’
‘I got you a present,’ Banes said, handing him the carrier with Paula Stockport’s cat in it. ‘He’s called Midnight.’
‘Why did you bring me a cat, Banes?’ Kojo asked, peering through the bars. The cat sniffed at his fingers.
‘You like them.’
‘I do,’ Kojo said, sighing. ‘Fine, come in.’
Banes kicked his shoes off in the hallway before following Kojo through to the lounge. Sometimes, Kojo brought in housemates – struggling artists, actors, and musicians he liked, and who wouldn’t pay attention to his nocturnal lifestyle – and let them stay for free, but the house was silent.
‘No-one’s here,’ Kojo said, as Banes listened. ‘I’ve not had anyone stay since I joined Rebirth. Do you want a drink of anything?’
‘Just some tea,’ he said.
‘Sure, any particular sort?’
‘Assam, if you have any.’
Kojo set the carrier down at the foot of one of the sofas and disappeared off to the kitchen. Banes looked around the room; he was fairly certain that Rebirth would not have planted any listening devices in Kojo’s house. The cat meowed from its carrier. Kojo returned, carrying a tray of tea and biltong. Banes smiled as he entered the room.
‘What?’ Kojo asked.
‘I love you,’ Banes said.
Kojo raised an eyebrow. ‘I love you, too,’ he said, placing the tray on the coffee table.
‘I’m sorry that I’ve been ignoring you,’ Banes said. Kojo smiled as he poured out the drinks, and handed Banes a single cup of black, sugarless tea.
‘Did you bring me anything for the cat?’
‘He’s got a collar, and you can keep the carrier.’
Kojo rolled his eyes. ‘Cheers, Banes.’
‘Sorry,’ he said, ‘but I promised I’d find him a home.’
‘And why can’t you have him?’ Kojo asked with a raised eyebrow.
‘I’m thinking about getting a house rabbit,’ Banes said. ‘My new flat as a patio.’
‘How was the move?’ Kojo asked.
‘It’s fine,’ Banes said. ‘Camden’s great.’
‘I’ll have to come by sometime and check it out,’ Kojo said, ‘but you moved in an awful hurry – did you get yourself into trouble, or something?’
‘Yeah…well,’ Banes said, ‘look, Kojo, I’m so sorry that I’ve been ignoring you, but…’
‘Yes?’ Kojo asked, sipping his tea.
‘Okay, I don’t want you to mention this to anyone else,’ Banes said, ‘not anyone at Rebirth.’
‘Oh, God,’ Kojo muttered, ‘Banes, I can’t promise that.’
‘Kojo, please,’ Banes said. ‘Something really fucked up happened to me, and I need to be able to think logically and know that I can trust you.’
‘You can trust me, Banes,’ Kojo said.
‘You need to place me be above Rebirth, though,’ Banes said. ‘That’s the only way this can work.’
‘Banes…’ Kojo began.
‘Look – after everything we’ve gone through together,’ Banes said, ‘all of these centuries together – I need to know right now, Kojo.’
Kojo’s eyes shifted around his face before he sighed. ‘Fine – say what you’ve got to say.’
‘There’s no easy way to say this,’ Banes said, ‘but Rebirth is corrupt to the core, and Cecilia Marr is a fucking psychopath.’
Kojo coughed on his tea. ‘Banes, what?!’
‘Look at this, Kojo,’ Banes said, pulling back his sleeve to reveal the angry, dotted scars on his forearm. ‘She burned me with holy water.’
Kojo peered at the scars, his brow furrowing. ‘Jesus Christ…why?’
‘She had me dragged off the streets and brought into Rebirth,’ he said, unable to stop the slight shake in his voice. ‘She was in a room with Tycho, and she had my arm strapped onto a bloody table and burned, just to teach Tycho a lesson. That’s why I missed those days off work.’
‘But…did she give a reason for it?’ Kojo said. ‘I’m not saying that you deserved it,’ he added, quickly.
‘Yeah. Bullshit reasons, like, that I hadn’t made it clear to her that my previous brief relationships with Tycho weren’t just a one-time thing, and that Robin Taggart and I had trespassed on Rebirth’s land during our training.’
‘Is that true?’ Kojo asked.
‘Yeah,’ Banes said. ‘It was at a party we went to at the end of training.’
‘Oh, God,’ Kojo said, falling back on the sofa. ‘Banes, that party is done deliberately to catch people out; especially to catch out dumb assholes like yourself. Rebirth are fully aware that it’s happening. Remember how I told you that there are spies in each class? It’s so that, at the end of training, when everyone has had a taste of what Rebirth is, they get everyone relaxed and super drunk, to try and chase out any last remaining doubts.’
‘But I didn’t say anything about Rebirth,’ Banes said. ‘Honestly, I was just trying to fuck Taggart.’
‘And you had to trespass for that?’
‘It wasn’t intentional,’ Banes said. ‘We came over one hill and saw a massive hanger. That was it. And as far as I’m aware, nothing happened to Taggart, either. Do you know if he’s the spy?’
Kojo shook his head, dreadlocks escaping from behind his ear and falling in front of his face.
‘I don’t have access to that information, Banes.’
‘But,’ he went on, ‘Kojo, I saw what was in that hanger. Only for a second or so, but it scared me. I saw military equipment – a lot of it. This isn’t going to be some gradual change, is it? Rebirth will take over by force if they have to.’
‘Surely you guessed that much,’ Kojo said.
‘Kojo – I am in way over my head here,’ Banes said, ‘there are hunters moving in from America now. Those fucking psychopathic bastards. The other day I was on a raid with Rosemary and we came across a hunter who had nearly killed me in the States. I want out. But I can’t, because now, Cecilia is watching me.’
‘Christ, Banes,’ Kojo said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
‘A
nd I know that you’re loyal to Rebirth,’ Banes said, reaching across to take hold of Kojo’s hands, ‘and all I’m asking you to do here is to not tell them about this conversation. But this is going to blow up; the Shield and the Blood Thieves will get involved – you know they will – the humans will find out, and maybe Rebirth will come out on top, or maybe they won’t, but I’m going to try and leave. I don’t know when, but one day, I’ll vanish. And it’ll either be because I’ve run away, or because Cecilia reached me first, but either way, I’ll be gone.’
‘Banes…’ Kojo began.
‘I’ll send you a sign,’ Banes said. ‘If I make it out free, I’ll keep having pizzas delivered to your house. If I leave and nothing shows up, assume that Cecilia has me.’
‘Jesus Christ,’ Kojo said.
‘Did you know about this,’ Banes asked, ‘when you asked me to join?’
‘Did I know that Cecilia would burn you?’ he said. ‘No, and I wouldn’t have asked you to join if I thought that was the case. But I presumed the rest of it; I knew that Rebirth would have access to heavy military equipment, so that they would have serious financial backing and access to the right people in government to go with it.’
‘There’s a leadership challenge going on,’ Banes said, ‘and we both know that Cecilia is going to win. Will you stay then?’
‘This is state-building, Banes,’ Kojo said, ‘a revolution. It’s not going to be a smooth road.’
‘She’ll be a tyrant,’ Banes said, ‘and you’ll be in danger, too. When I run, suspicion will fall onto you. I’m sorry, but it’ll be unavoidable.’
‘Then, why are you telling me about this?’ Kojo asked. ‘Because now, they’ll have a point about it.’
‘Because I want you to know,’ Banes said. ‘Not Rebirth, not anyone else – just you. I know that, as much as I’d like it to happen, Rebirth isn’t just going to vanish, but I don’t know what you’re going to do. I know that you’re committed, but I’m worried that if you stay, you’ll be killed. You’ve never been stupid or reckless, and you’ve never been a fanatic, either.’
All Rotting Meat Page 24
