Swing Shift: Book 2

by William D. Arand

  “My goal is to bring your coven to its knees for its illegal activities,” Gus said. “I’m going to put every single person guilty of a crime in prison. If that means forcing your coven to be completely shuttered, that’s my goal.”

  Dunyasha’s smile was gone now, and she was frowning severely at him. She wasn’t angry at him, though she was concerned. Her thoughts were slowly circling around the fact that Gus was very different from everyone who’d come to her before.

  “Is that everything you wanted to say?” she asked.

  “Almost. Today your clubs are all going to have their liquor licenses inspected. Likely pulled or fined as well, depending on whether there are violations and to what degree,” Gus said. “I have PID and agents escorting the inspectors to ensure everything is by the book.

  “On top of that, we’ll be looking for any illegal activities regarding vampiric beverages. In other words, blood. If we find any violations, we’ll be pulling your right to serve blood.

  “Finally, it’s very likely an inspector will come in to look at all your fire escapes, emergency exits, building permits, elevator permits—anything and everything, really.”

  Dunyasha blinked several times, her mind keeping up with Gus as he went. She was incredibly intelligent, and Gus was getting a little nervous.

  As he spoke, he watched her mind rapidly filter through all the numbers, emails, and contacts she assumed she’d have to speak to, to call in favors to get her businesses up and running again.

  Memorizing them as quick as he could, Gus realized he’d have to go political goalkeeper with all these people.

  “And you’re telling me all this,” Dunyasha said several seconds later.

  “I am. Because it isn’t personal,” Gus said. He decided to push on her with the compliments to try and keep her civil. It made him feel weird, but flirting with her right now felt like the best option. Or so his Boogieman hunter instincts told him. “You’re beautiful, you’re intelligent, and you’re managing your organization well. But I still have to try to put your pretty wrists in cuffs.”

  Dunyasha shook her head with a grin at that, watching him.

  “You’re a very strange man,” she said, still holding her chin in her hand. Her thoughts were running in a small circle as she fought her interest in him. He was the enemy.

  But he was an incredibly polite, handsome, and flattering enemy.

  “Could I take you to dinner sometime?” she asked suddenly. There was nothing behind it. She just wanted to take him to dinner.

  If possible, she’d try to bed him and feed on him as well.

  He was interesting to her. Very interesting.

  It reminded him sharply of how Melody had responded to him.

  “Sure,” Gus said. “Any place you had in mind?”

  Opening her mouth, Dunyasha ran a tongue along her teeth, specifically focusing on her fangs as her mind ran away with her.

  She’d expected him to deny her. An outright dismissal of her invitation. An immediate acceptance was outside her realm of possibility.

  “How about Marco’s? It caters to both humans and Vampires. They do an excellent blood sausage and pasta,” Dunyasha said. Once more, he detected nothing in her thoughts that hinted at treachery or problems. She really was just interested in him.

  In her rapid climb up the Vampire ranks, she’d found very few people who were interesting to her.

  Gus found in those thoughts something interesting to him as well. She was young. Very young for a coven leader. Only thirty-three.

  Her mind was incredible, her ambition massive, and she wasn’t going to settle just for a coven leadership position.

  She had her sights on much larger things. Political goals as well as business goals. This was just the only route available to her.

  “Sounds like fun. I can’t make it tonight; I’ll be out seeing if I can’t find a few of your hatchet-men to bring in for questioning. The more we can pull off the street, the better our chances of pulling you in.

  “Tomorrow, though?” Gus asked. He wasn’t about to turn away the possibility of reading her mind for an entire evening.

  Sitting in her thoughts was providing him with a wealth of ideas to go about making it harder for her coven to exist.

  Dunyasha wrinkled her nose at that and then sighed.

  “Yes. That’d be lovely,” she said. “Tomorrow at eight. And did you have to let Chloe out? She’s a menace to society. Might as well throw a bomb into a room.”

  “I can’t disagree with you there. She really should still be in prison,” Gus said honestly. He meant it, too. She was a convicted and true murderer. “I work with the tools I have. Just as you would. No?”

  Snorting at that, Dunyasha leaned back in her chair and laid her hands in her lap. “Just as I would, indeed. I’d do the same, that’s certain. It seems the new Fed is very different.”

  “It is. Had to be. The old one’s gone. Care to join up?” Gus asked. “I have the Lark in my employ, as well as Chloe. Definitely a solid salary. Wouldn’t be too hard to get your name cleaned and cleared and onto the books.”

  Dunyasha stared at him, her mind having come to a screeching halt. As if someone had popped a Taser off into the side of her head.

  Slowly, her mind unstuck itself, and she began to honestly and earnestly consider the idea.

  Winding down around the thought was the promise of stability, and the ability to move upwards through the Fed ranks.

  With such a massive power vacuum, it’d give her an easy way to move up.

  Legally, without anyone trying to kill her, drink her, or take her property.

  Straight into the upper echelon, politics, the government—anything she wanted.

  “I work for the deputy director directly, and he reports to the person at the top of the Fed,” Gus said. Being two steps from the top was something to be noted.

  If he could talk Dunyasha over to his side, that’d be almost a perfect slam dunk for him. Letting her know who their boss would be could only help his case to bring her in.

  There, in her mind, he found that she wanted to agree to his request. But she didn’t trust him.

  Didn’t believe his words.

  She thought maybe all this was just to get close to her, to have her killed, and that he was working for someone else in her coven. Or another coven entirely. Or a Were pack.

  There was a trickle of fear coming from her as well.

  It was absolutely delicious. She tasted like a beautifully grilled steak with just enough fat on it to make it as unhealthy as possible.

  And perfect.

  Okay. I can… make this work. Just gotta push on. I can do this.

  It’s not wrong, it’s just doing my job.

  And hunting is fun. Hunting is good. It isn’t wrong to hunt.

  It’s… okay. This is okay.

  Wine, dine, and convince her. Talk her into the Fed, burn the coven, move on.

  “Think on it,” Gus said, pulling a card from his pocket. “This is my card; my personal cell is listed as the emergency number. You can use that one to call me at any time. In the meanwhile… see you tomorrow? Dinner?”

  Dunyasha nodded, visibly conflicted. Her mind was even worse. She was interested in him, and she wanted to truly consider the offer to join the Fed because of its possibilities, but she also felt like the whole thing was a trap.

  Not to mention, the speed by which she’d become curious of him frightened her. It set alarms off in her mind.

  Gus knew that it probably had to do with his nature.

  He was no Incubus, but he could draw in prey in his own way.

  “Tomorrow, Marco’s, eight,” Dunyasha said, taking the card from his hand directly. “And call me Yasha, Gus.”

  Standing up, Gus smiled and nodded at the head of the Vampire coven.

  “It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Sobol,” Indali said softly, standing up as well.

  The two left, leaving Dunyasha sitting there at her desk.

/>   In no time at all, they were back in the car.

  “She was a very strong Vampire,” Indali said, turning toward Gus in the driver’s seat. “Incredibly strong. I think she’s a full blood mage and has drunk from her kind many times.

  “Chloe is strong for a Vampire, very strong, but she has no magic in her at all. Chloe’s power is all ability and age.”

  Gus had to think on that. He hadn’t noticed any spells, nor smelled any either. Then again, he could see right through magic of almost every sort without realizing he was looking through it.

  Her memories hadn’t showcased any of that, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t so. He hadn’t asked her anything even relating to that.

  “Mm, you’re probably right,” Gus said after a second.

  “I think you handled her incredibly well,” Indali said softly. He found that she often took a very subdued approach with him. Her words and tone almost always came across in a gentle way. Even her gestures and the way she looked at him spoke to that belief.

  Anyone else, though, and she came across as sharp. Or so Gus thought.

  Like a pointed gun.

  “For all her power, for all her presence, you were undaunted,” Indali said. “It felt like she was pushing down as hard as possible on you as well. I could barely breathe, and I wasn’t even the target. And you treated her like a woman and complimented her, even for the illegal actions she’s taken.”

  Damn. I must have missed it. She didn’t even think about it.

  Never works out when I do both mind reading and talking.

  “Did it feel fake?” Gus asked, nervous that he’d screwed up.

  “No. It felt like you were genuinely interested in her,” Indali said. He caught the hint of something else in that statement.

  Like she was slightly angry at him.

  At first, he decided to not address her anger. Then he realized he had to. If she was going to be his sidearm, essentially his partner, he had to.

  Glancing down at the revolver on his side, he found that it felt perfect there, correct even.

  Right.

  He knew he did indeed have to explain it to Indali, because she felt right.

  “I played her a bit,” Gus admitted, turning to Indali. “I really wanted her to see us as just doing our job. That even I was just doing my job. That there’s no reason to go after us personally, because it isn’t personal to us.

  “It was different for you. I was genuinely interested in you and what you were. I’ve only met a few Constructs who are as intelligent or coherent as you are.”

  Indali stared at his face, her eyes moving back and forth from his eyes to his nose, then to his mouth and back up.

  Then she gave him a wide smile.

  “Good,” she said with a nod of her head, and she faced forward. “Be sure you clean me tonight. I’ve been in my case too long. I feel musty. I haven’t been worn or carried in a very long time. Be especially sure to oil my parts. I think I’d like you to consider polishing my handle as well, since you polished Dunyasha’s.”

  Chapter 10 - Bloody Mess

  “This is really fucking stupid, you know that?” Chloe grumbled from the back seat. “Really fucking stupid. So fucking stupid that I have to wonder if maybe you’re not already banging her.

  “Are you banging her? Is that it? Did you come dig me out of that prison just so you could give me to her as a ‘happy fuck-day’ present? Maybe fuck her over my corpse?”

  Gus sighed and pressed his left hand over his eyes. He’d only just pulled into the restaurant where he would be meeting Dunyasha.

  Chloe was going to remain in the car just in case something happened. She was the only one without any full-time duties right now. Everyone else was working hard on getting their department up, going through everything they’d pulled from Vermilion and the other clubs, or trying to figure out how deep the SA coven went.

  I suppose there’s Indali, but she doesn’t count. Not really.

  Reaching up to his coat, Gus ran his hand over Indali’s wood-grain grip. He couldn’t explain his attachment to Indali, but he didn’t like not having her belted on or holstered.

  It was a truly odd feeling. One that Indali herself couldn’t explain when he asked her about it. Though he got the impression she was happy about the situation.

  Maybe I should break down and make telepathic contact with her. I could actually talk to her directly if I pushed a thought into her body. Couldn’t I?

  “…banging her. Banging her all day and all night when I’m not there,” Chloe was grumbling. “Probably where you learned to partner-feed a Vampire and—”

  Tuning Chloe out, Gus sank a filament fine-thread of power into the revolver known as Indali.

  He found a cold, mechanical, and very direct mind lurking there.

  Right now, she was tired of listening to Chloe. She felt the Vampire was being a whiny and worthless sack of meat. That she was exactly like all the ungrateful children of the Empire Indali’d had to deal with.

  Your British heritage is showing, Indali.

  Smirking at his thought, Gus left the thread open. Indali had a quiet and peaceful mind.

  “Chloe,” Gus said, finally interrupting her as he turned around in his seat to face her.

  “What?” asked the angry Vampire, not looking at him.

  “I’m not sleeping with Dunyasha. I’m trying to get closer to her so I can figure out what the heck is going on with the coven,” Gus said.

  “You’re going to read her mind, aren’t you?” Chloe asked aloud.

  He felt a momentary blank space of thought from Indali. Her thoughts became absolutely still, as if she weren’t a sentient revolver.

  “Gus?” she asked in the quiet of her own mind.

  “Yes. And we’ll talk about it later,” he sent back. “I promise.”

  There was a metallic rattle from Indali that sounded a lot like brass falling from a cylinder, followed by her mind practically shutting down to nothing at all.

  “You know you’re not supposed to talk about that,” Gus muttered. “Never know who’s listening.”

  Melody, Vanessa, and Trish all knew about Indali. Hailey and Chloe didn’t.

  There was no way he’d been able to hide Indali when he’d sat down at the dinner table to give her a thorough cleaning.

  “I’m sorry,” Chloe said, pushing her face into her hands. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I’m just… scared. This feels like a setup. Like you’re going to hand me over to her and she’s just going to pop my neck open and shotgun me like a fucking beer.”

  “She is, then?” Gus asked. “A kin-drinker? Blood mage as well?”

  “Yeah,” Chloe murmured. “Can’t be a kin-drinker without being a blood mage, and she’s a good one. A very good mage, that is. Pretty sure she drank her maker the day she figured out she was a blood mage.

  “Was kind of a shock when kin-drinking became a real worry. Something like fifteen years ago. Entire covens were attacked and drained by other covens. It’s why there are so many blood mages in charge now.”

  “Okay. I’m going in,” Gus said. “Just keep an eye out, okay?”

  Chloe nodded.

  “You’re my backup. I’m trusting you. I need you,” Gus said.

  “I know,” Chloe muttered. “I’m not coping very well, I’m sorry. There’s too much I don’t know. I feel like I’m just so small and this is all insane.”

  Grinning, Gus reached out and laid a hand on Chloe’s shoulder.

  “Believe me. I get that. Been there. I was just an idiot with a rifle in the desert when I found out about the Para world,” Gus said.

  “Is that where you learned to partner-feed?” Chloe asked, finally letting her hands fall away from her face and looking at him.

  “No. That was after I came back. I lived at the bottom of a bottle on a very nasty mattress,” Gus said. “Never knew it was called partner-feeding. Keep an eye out for me.”

  Not waiting, Gus stepped out of the car and adjus
ted his coat. Then he closed the car door and started walking to the front of the restaurant.

  When he’d explained what he was doing to his housemates, they’d all universally agreed with his approach and disliked the idea at the same time.

  Shit. Kinda glad I let Melody talk me into changing now.

  Looking at everyone through the windows of the restaurant, Gus was immediately struck by the fact that they were all dressed immaculately.

  He’d almost left the house in one of his “work” suits, but Melody had talked him into changing into his “interview” or “meeting with the chief” suit.

  When he got to the door, it was held open for him before he could even reach for the handle.

  “Welcome to Marco’s,” said a young man in the doorway. “Is it just yourself tonight, sir?”

  “Ah, I’m meeting someone. I’m not sure if she’s here already or not.” Gus walked up to a small podium to one side while speaking to the man who’d held the door.

  “What’s her name?” asked the man at the podium.

  Looking ahead, Gus frowned. This felt odd to him, and he wasn’t sure he liked it. He had people on either side of him asking questions.

  “Dunyasha Sobol,” Gus said finally, figuring he was probably overreacting.

  The man at the podium froze in place for a moment and then nodded his head once.

  “Miss Sobol is indeed already here. She just arrived a minute ago. I’ll lead you to her table,” he said.

  Gus had been expecting a reaction of sorts, and he’d definitely gotten one.

  She does have recognized power, though how much is uncertain at this point. And it’s the kind of power that makes her known to high-end restaurants.

  Kinda moving towards that classic mob-boss persona while staying out of the spotlight.

  Not paying attention to where he was going, Gus found himself staring down at the woman in question quicker than he expected.

  Wearing a dark-blue dress that did a great deal to emphasize her appearance, and with her hair pulled back from her face, Dunyasha looked freakishly pretty.

  “Yasha,” Gus said when her eyes caught his own, giving her a smile. He sat down as the server pulled out his chair, and then he was handed a menu. He didn’t look at it. “You look amazing.”