Finally Dead (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 1)
Date: 2015-01-27T00:00:00+00:00

Eve Benson: Vampire Book One

Finally Dead

P. S. Power

Orange Cat Publishing

Copyright 2015

Chapter one

The blade was covered with red.

A slick covering of life, pulsing with energy. Tasty looking and shiny, even in the relatively dark room. It looked pink to her now, that energy, which was a thing that she’d been told to expect, but actually seeing it was different. Exciting, and almost painful to notice. Tiny tendrils of power came off of the dripping scarlet, as the scent hit her.

It came at her differently than she could have imagined. The blood smelled like… Blood. Stronger than it had ever been for her before, but still coppery, with an overtone of iron and salt. The big change up was that now it called to her. It held something she needed, that hadn’t been there for her even the evening before. Life.

Paying attention she saw that there was a line of the stuff, the power of life, stretching between the line of red slowly moving off the glinting silver to the floor. It was faint, but real and moved directly to the little girl that had just been sliced open. Young, to be fair. The crying made her seem younger than she probably was in truth.

The one she was supposed to attack.

That part was really clear. No one sane would put a Human in the same room with a Vampire that had just woken up for the first time. That would end in death, every single time. Cutting her was a thousand times worse. It was like chumming the waters to get hungry sharks to feed. Starving ones.

The man with the knife, well, he wasn’t a person at all, was he? A Vampire, kind of like Eve was now. His skin seemed pale to her, and Eve could make out the pale core of pink life within him, too. It ran to him in weak lines, rather than coming from inside. There were no fangs though, and his eyes weren’t the color of red that a Classic Vamp would have held. Like hers probably did at the moment. He looked young. Healthy and strong, with high cheek bones that marked him as good looking, or would have, if she weren’t transfixed on the knife.

The rest of him was good, but not movie star quality. That was the pattern for the New Vampires, she’d noticed. The modern world required Vampires to be good looking, but being too much that way would turn them into a joke. So he was about a seven out of ten. She actually hit a bit above that, Eve knew. Her lean form and clear skin would make her nearly a nine, now. At least once made up. Her face was structured to be just a bit too round for true beauty, but no one had ever kicked her out of bed for it, or tried to stick a bag over her head, had they?

She smiled at the thought, noticing her new fangs were protruding. Begging her to move on the line of pink being offered to her. The one that ran to the bit of food. The snack. The Human being that she needed to protect, from herself. If she could. No one would be able to though, would they?

The man smiled back.

“Your control is amazing for one so… Fresh. Come, take this child. Drink her blood, and become one of us. There is nothing to be gained through restraint, is there? Not in this place, or time.”

She knew the drill, at least in part. As a newly created Vampire, having just woken in the small dark room, she was supposed to be without the ability to control herself. That was what the new Vamp was probably counting on. For some strange reason. She could feel the call of that, even though she’d trained for years for this moment. It was a powerful thing, the desire to get that life within her. That energy that would keep her going. Animate. Giving her life when she otherwise wouldn’t have it.

Honestly, Eve knew that she pretty much had to do it. The thing there was that she also knew, and had drilled the idea into her own mind, that there was no need for her to kill. It wasn’t just not needed, but was actually a bad idea. The dead fed on the living. By using a link of blood to form a line to the people that created energy, which could be drawn on constantly.

The whimpering girl, who’d been cut on the arm, a bare thing that dripped with red, called to her, as if screaming that she were a snack cake. The iced kind, with strawberry filling.

“No… Please! Don’t hurt me. I won’t tell anyone. I want to go home.” It was pitiful.

Also alluring, which was the man’s point, she didn’t doubt.

Eve was supposed to attack the girl, who looked to be about fourteen. To feed on the young lady to the death, which would bind the newbie Vamp to him, and no doubt, his group. Feeders. If that’s what they were. It could be something else. It just really seemed like that kind of thing.

Feeders were Vampires that had chosen to go against the Council ruling that said they weren’t allowed to take blood directly from Humans. Not in most cases. They were especially forbidden to kill them. Not for food.

It pretty much had to be the plan, didn’t it? Make her kill first thing, and then tell her that it meant the council would kill her if she didn’t avoid them and fall in with whoever these people were? What she wanted to know was how they’d gotten to her, Eve, in particular.The last she remembered was drinking blood from Edom, her master now, as he drained the last bit of her life from her veins. She should have woken up with him. He might not be the oldest or strongest of his kind, but this Vampire in front of her wasn’t going to be able to overpower him, she didn’t think.

That wasn’t just wishful thinking either. Classic Vamps, like Ed and she were, just had a raw physical power edge over the new type, like the fellow in front of her. The being smiled and wiggled the blade a bit, casting the scent off into the air. On purpose. To get her to kill the little girl.

The bitch, taunting her like that.

Her mouth didn’t water, but it kind of wanted to. That part was weird and left a longing inside. Her old reflexes were too strong still. She was, essentially, still Human, in her head.

He saw her looking at him and winked. Charmingly, because that was sane, wasn’t it?

“Come, have this one… It’s all right.”

The urge to simply do it screamed at her. Eve felt her body start to move, heading toward the girl in what felt like slow motion. Everything seemed like that to her now. It seemed bogged down, and nearly sedate, but she surged toward the source of energy, the food that the young woman represented to her now.

Halfway to the girl, she changed direction. It was hard to do, because really, she had to eat soon. It was the first thing that anyone like her had to do. In fact, most of her kind just killed the first few people they fed on. Or animals, if that was all they could find. Even if there was a powerful Vampire mentor there to try and stop them from doing it. That was the real deal here, no doubt about it. This tool in front of her, the New Vamp, had somehow stolen her from Edom, and wanted to…

Force her to kill?

To tie her to him, so that she wouldn’t be in with the people in charge?

Or something equally stupid like that.

She lashed out at him, instead of the bleeding girl like she was supposed to. There wasn’t going to be a lot of second chances to get the job done, Eve knew. She was weak, and felt starving. Like there was no way to even stand, much less fight. The part of her that let the dead move needed something to keep it going. It felt like there was nothing else she could do, other than drink the life of the girl there.

Reminding herself of that, her need to feed, but not kill, she punched at the decent looking man, grabbing at the blade with her left hand, and pulling. It was all so very trudging though. Painfully slow. He tried to move back, to avoid her, once he got what she was doing, but it was too late. She had the weapon, which was covered with blood. The knuckles of her right hand impacted with the white chin, casting the other Vampire backward. Then she…

Stopped, to lick the knife. Like a little kid licking the beaters of a mixer, to get at the frosting residue on them.

The pink energy hit her tongue, causing a spasm in her chest, as her body, altered by death, and the blood of her new master, picked up on the bits of life still held in the fresh red liquid, and built a gate to the young woman who was tied to the chair next to her.

It was tempting to stop and linger over the whole experience. She could feel life surge into her then, the link solid between the victim, her food for the evening, and herself. It was actually best not to kill the girl, she knew. To string the energy out, and leave her alive. That way she would have power for about ten days, until that bond shrank and faded. Killing was the natural response of her kind when new, but it was the weakest way. The path of those lacking in self-discipline.

That wasn’t her. She’d freaking trained for this shit, for years now.

She whipped the long blade outward. It was thick, and at least ten inches long, making it pretty easy to use. After she slipped it along the jaw line of the man that had taken her, she pressed it into the veins along his neck. That took him to the ground, grabbing at the side of his face, a look of shock on it.

Not that she could afford to stand and gloat. She was far too new to all of this to let him have any kind of a break. That meant she hit him with the sharp line of the blade many times until he stopped moving.

It wouldn’t kill him. Even a weak, new form Vampire like he was would be back on his feet inside ten minutes. Maybe sooner than that, if he was older than he looked. That was hard to tell, she knew. What he seemed to be. A beings age on the outside was almost certainly going to be different than the truth internally.

She turned on the girl, still tied to the wooden chair, and moved in fast enough the child screamed.

Eve growled in response, because the screaming didn’t help them at all, did it? Worse, it made her want to lash out and kill the little thing. It was a reflex, and a thing she really hadn’t expected to be there. Oh, she’d been told it would be, but the desire to simply do it was nearly overpowering. Nearly was the catch phrase though, and she knew it. How she felt didn’t matter, only what she did.

“Quiet! We need to get out of here. I don’t know how many others are around. When I cut the ropes, we need to run. Get behind me.” There was someone coming, she knew.

Running toward them.

It was the low thumping sound that gave it away. A slow thing that pulsed in the air. She felt it, rather than heard anything. It was loud though, and faster than she figured a Human could manage. Infrasound, she knew. A thing too low for her to have made out the day before. Now, well, it was all around her. There were a thousand different things that tried to call her attention, all at once. It was blinding, and confusing. For one thing, she was in a room that didn’t have a light source, but she could still see. It was monochromatic, but everything kind of had a shine to it.

It meant she needed to cut the girl in the tank top some slack. She wouldn’t be able to see shit, after all.

“Stay quiet. I have the knife, and the man that’s here is down, but not dead. We’re going to have to fight though.”

She probably shouldn’t have said that part, since it got more whimpering. Sweet, sweet sounds that signaled where the food was. Her teeth actually ached, she wanted to bite the little piece of bloody meat so bad.

It was, she knew, fucked up.

The ropes were cut, and she moved toward the door, a black chasm in front of them both, just in time for it to be filled with a pale form. One that had chalk like skin, rows of fangs, and blood red eyes. A male Manthori Vamp. He was very tall, and impressive that way, if thin. She didn’t stop, just attacking for all she was worth, trying to review what she knew about that sort of being, as she did it.

They were strong and fast, but their real power was that most of them had extremely good compulsion skills, and often other psychic abilities. Telepathy, precognition and telekinesis weren’t uncommon. Fire starting, too. This one had that, it seemed, since his right hand burst into brilliant blue flame as she used the knife on his face.

This fight was a lot closer to being even. The man on the ground, the first one that looked very Human and normal, had gone down easy, compared to the Manthori. It wasn’t totally one sided at least, since Eve realized something. Armed with a knife, she was the equal to this one. Not him and his friends though, meaning she had to hurry and finish up. She burned where the large fist caught her, but the pain didn’t distract her all that much.

Eve had, after all, been hurt before. It would happen again. That was part of the bargain that she’d made for power. Edom had made her promise to never give up, and to be willing to suffer if she had to, in order to be strong. She had, and wasn’t going back on her word now.

Two more vamps came for her, and the little girl she was trying not to eat. One was like her, a Classic, the other a Manthori woman, who was shorter than her male friend. Actually, shorter than she was, being only about five feet even. Tiny for one of her kind.

In short, this group was incredibly varied. Most Vampires didn’t hang with people that weren’t their own kind very often. There was no reason for it. It wasn’t a rule or anything, just what happened, most of the time. This group had three different types of Vamps though. It would have been confusing, if she was less well trained.

The tiny woman got a boot to the middle, which was the first time Eve realized that she had clothing on. It was the same stuff from the day before, which made sense, being that she’d died in it on purpose. They’d even left her the awesome leather jacket she’d been wearing. It had been at least. Now it was smoldering a bit, thanks to the Manthori dude that had scorched it. He was down at least.

The last woman was like her. Strong, fast, and a lot older than she was. Eve could tell, since she was hit six times as she tried to bring the knife around. That kind of speed came with age, for a Classic. Some were better at it than others, but as a rule, if a Classic was fast, they were old. It hurt, but not as much as the flames had. The raw fact was that this new lady was kicking her ass though, and there really wasn’t a lot she could do about it.

Not until the Vampire very helpfully stabbed herself with the big knife. It really seemed like she did it on purpose too, jumping forward so fast that Eve wouldn’t have been able to stop her from biting the side of her neck, normally. As it was, the blade sliced the side of her face open, the woman screaming in pain.

Distracted, the other Vampire got cut up as well as Eve could manage. That had them all down then, though it was clear they were also going to recover. They were all stirring and trying to get back up.

“Run!” She took the Human juice box’s hand and fled then, pulling the slow little thing along with her.

Or not that little. The girl was a bit chubby, to be honest. Healthy, and filled with life. Tasty energy.

Stuff that was pulled from her into Eve, even as they ran.

They had something around six minutes, at a guess, to get far enough away to lose the downed people. If there had been fewer of them, or if she’d been alone, they would have all died there. With the girl in tow, that would take too long and probably get the Human killed. So they did their best, the two of them, trying to get out of the place.

It was easy enough to get to the door, since the place was just a house, not some kind of mansion or palace. Isolated, she noticed, and in the woods. There was a car out front though, and the keys had helpfully been left in the ignition. That meant shoving the girl into the passenger’s seat, but the big American muscle car, which was a bright yellow color, started with a deep and throaty roar. A minute later they were driving away at speeds that most Vampires would have had problems keeping up with on foot. Some could though, so she didn’t let up on the gas pedal.

The girl next to her moaned.

“God… God…”

That wouldn’t help her though. It wasn’t even a proper prayer, was it? If she’d sounded just a bit happier, it would have worked for sex, but that wasn’t the feeling they were working on.

“Bind the wound. On your arm?” She could smell the fresh blood flowing still. It was enough that the vehicle filled with the heady aroma.

She had enough life energy now though. The link to the girl was strong, and she was pulling it in. Yeah, her nature called for her to drink it all, absorbing what life she could all at once, but that was the dumb way to do things. It took all her will power to leave it at that however.

She’d practiced for it however, for years. Eve had gone without food, even while she was a regular girl herself, knowing that it would be hard to not attack people for their blood. It was different, she realized now, and a stronger thing than she’d been warned about.

Well, that wasn’t really true. People had told her about how powerful the lure, the call to drink, would be. She’d just hoped that what she was training for was close to enough. So far it really had worked, so she wasn’t giving up, yet. It wasn’t like hunger though.

It was different. More like thirst, but also kind of like what she’d always imagined jonesing for crack would have been like for an addict. An ache, and a calling, a hunger and a need, all hitting her on several different fronts at one time.

The girl barely moved, holding her hand over her bleeding arm, but looking around for something to stop the bleeding with. There was a shirt in the back seat, which had belonged to a man, at some point. Eve could smell him on the pale pink fabric. It was strongly attractive. A natural thing, that would have been close to B.O. she thought. Now she really wanted to fuck whoever that man was. It was a bit different, really, since she hadn’t thought that she’d have a sex drive left at all. Most people didn’t really, once they became vamps.

It had been one of the things she’d been warned about, actually. Many times. She’d be capable of having relations, but wouldn’t care for it, in particular. Really, she’d also been told that the older Vampires would rape her, as a corrective measure. It had taken her years to notice that no one really did that very much. Oh, it happened, and some of the Vampires, like the Manthori, actually wanted sex, but when she looked down at her skin, it was pretty normal seeming. Pale, but still her colored, not bone white chalk. So something was a bit off.

It could just be a residual effect of having just turned, however. That had been a thing that several people had hinted at. If it was, then that part wasn’t going to last very long.

After a few minutes of fleeing for their lives, the girl calmed down enough to speak, and not just whimper gently. It was better. Easier to deal with. Less attractive.

“Where are we going?”

Eve didn’t really know where they were. The road didn’t have lights, and she was driving with the headlights off, which she remedied, since the other drivers she might pass would need to be able to see her too. There were woods on either side of them. All evergreens, which probably meant they weren’t too far away from where she’d died the day before.

Still in Washington, or possibly Oregon.

“I have no clue. Right now I’m just trying to get away from those people. How long did they have you?” She was distracting the girl, or trying to. It didn’t really matter how long they’d had her though. Not at the moment. It wouldn’t, unless they could get away.

The car was floored however, and had a half tank of gas. The winding road wasn’t hard to follow, since it all seemed to be moving in slow motion to her still. The speedometer said they were going one-ten, but it felt like they were crawling along at about twenty to her.

“Three days? They said they were going to kill me. That they were going to drink my blood and rape me. No one did that though. I… don’t think. I, there was something. That man… he said that… I can’t remember. It was a different man, I think. The first one. He was tall and skinny, but… I don’t know, it’s like I can’t remember him.”

Eve got the idea. One of the men had probably had sex with her, and then compelled her not to remember it. That would make her easier to keep in line. Not that she’d present a big problem for anyone. She was too out of shape, and mentally weak, to put up a very good fight. Trying probably would have just had her beaten until she couldn’t anymore.

It was just as well she didn’t know what had happened to her, of course, if that was the case. If you had to be raped, not knowing it had happened was better. Both had happened to her before, so Eve was kind of an expert on the topic.

After a few more minutes of driving they hit a freeway, and she slowed down to nearly traffic speed. The sign said she wasn’t too far from Spokane. That was hours away from Vancouver, which meant that those others had to have collected her no more than hours before. That morning, most likely. The New Vamp had probably done it, while Edom slept. That type started out being able to day walk. It was really their main power. They were stronger than a Human, but not too much so. They could compel people, but only a bit.

They could pass as a regular person though, not having fangs at all, and stay up all day, starting in their first week or so. She’d go down as soon as the sun came up, most likely, and would for centuries, more or less.

By following signs, she got them both to a hospital, which she thought might be a mistake, since there would be a lot of blood there, but the girl’s scent overwhelmed that for her. So did the disinfectant. It reeked, and made her want to hold her nose, but she didn’t do that. It would be too strange and give her away as being weird. The nurse came over to them as they walked in, her blue outfit looking casual, compared to what Eve had expected. Scrubs, like on T.V. Not an all white uniform with a funny hat.

“What happened here?” The woman, who was about fifty, and had a long face with enough wrinkles to show she didn’t smile that often, looked at the girl directly.

Eve considered trying to compel her, but shook her head a bit instead. She didn’t actually know how to do that, did she? It involved making eye contact, and concentrating on the other person as hard as you could, but she’d never done it. So she told the truth.

“We were kidnapped. Some freaks that said they were vampires? We got away, and came right here. I don’t know how bad she’s hurt. We need the police.” That was what normal people did, wasn’t it? Her dad was the Chief in their town, which had given her some small bit of insight into that kind of mind set.

It wouldn’t matter if these people were real Vampires, because they’d avoid the cops, if they could. Sending the boys in blue in would just protect this girl. Not because they could save her directly, but because killing cops would get attention, and that could have the Council on their ass.

The kid gave her name to the nurse, when asked. Eve hadn’t even thought about doing that, being too caught up in her own little drama, being undead and all that.

“Lindsey. Lindsey Stanton.” Then she started crying, but was taken to a little curtained area that had a bed.

She had help, so Eve decided to get out of there, in order to avoid any hassles.

On the way out the nurse looked at her funny.

“Where are you going?”

“I need to move the car I stole from the kidnappers. I’m blocking the ambulance bay.” She sounded a bit too aggressive, so made herself smile. It was the wrong reaction set, but the woman didn’t try to tackle her. That meant she was out of the parking lot a few minutes later. Less than that, since everything still seemed to be crawling around her all the time.

She needed a phone.

It took a while to track one down, but she found one. An honest to God payphone, and managed to pan-handle enough change to make a call. A short one.

The voice that picked up was familiar, since she’d called the Vampire embassy for the area. A place where she used to work, part time. Yoghurt World. It was a cover, but someone had to actually make the treats, which used to be her day job. That,and answering the phones. She knew how to be polite, and about the people that worked there, so why not?

“How may I help you today?” That was the way things always got answered at night, to avoid confusion. During the day they announced themselves as Yoghurt World, in case it was a supplier or someone looking for work.

“Hey Barb. This is Eve? I was kidnapped, by some feeders I think, and managed to escape. I’m in Spokane, Washington?

“Eve! Edom is freaking out. Where are you? Stay there, and um… Try not to kill people? You must be starving.”

She wasn’t, not really.

“No, I have a link set up. The girl I was supposed to kill. She’s in the hospital. Just a cut on her arm. One of the kidnappers did it, not me. I’m outside a grocery store.” She had to get the street corner names, but was told to wait there.

It took a while, since the call ended suddenly, without her having change for more, so she sat in the car. No one bothered her, though a man stared at her pretty hard after a while. He looked to be homeless, and smelled more than a little, even from across the street. Like piss and vomit, mixed with body odor. He was, she knew, the sort of person that she once would have been afraid of. Now she didn’t feel that way at all.

Oh, he was drunk, and partially aroused, sexually. It was clear his attention was on her too, which would have made her leery, not long before. Now she knew that if he tried anything, she could stop him. Dead, if she wanted to. It was a nice feeling.

That was, after all, why she’d become a Vampire in the first place. To make sure no one could hurt her again. Not easily. It was also why she’d trained so hard for the last four years. Nearly five now, really.

So that when she became one of them, the undead, she’d start out more powerful than most did. In control of herself, and able to fight. Not just flail around like a young woman was supposed to do. She’d even taken lessons for that, which had already paid off, she realized. Not ten minutes after she woke up dead, she’d had to fight already.

Even better, she’d won. True, that had a lot to do with the element of surprise, and the fact that she’d acted in a way no one had probably thought she could, she was willing to bet, but it had worked, which was enough for the first day.

The drunk street man finally stumbled over, and rapped on the window. She both heard and smelled him coming without even looking up. He favored his right leg, which had a sore on it, near the knee. She could tell, somehow.

“Hey, baby. You want spend some time wit me?”

She looked at him, and shook her head.

“Nope! I’m too busy for the time being. Thanks for the offer though. I’d take you up on it, if I wasn’t waiting on people to show up.” Well, if he smelled better. It wasn’t about his looks, even though he was kind of ugly. She didn’t judge people that way.

Unlike before, she didn’t get turned on though, which could be the disgust she felt, but she thought it might be that her sex drive was actually shutting down. All she felt for the man was a desire to drink his blood. That feeling was decently strong, but not allowed. As in actually against the law. Vampire law, but still, that was a real thing for her now, wasn’t it?

The day before, if she’d broken their laws or rules, she would have been fine. They just didn’t count for a Human. Now, that night, the world brilliant and shining around her, the man outside the car she’d stolen frowning a bit, there was a whole new set of things for her to keep in mind. Luckily she knew them all, and the basics weren’t all that different from what they always had been.

Don’t drink from Humans. If you had to kill anyone, make sure you didn’t get caught. Pay your taxes in a timely fashion. That was really about it. It wasn’t like a movie where they were required to keep their kind a secret or anything either. That one took care of itself for the most part. She could tell anyone she wanted all about what she was now. No one would really believe her, but she could do it, if she wanted.

The only thing that would really set anyone off would be if she somehow managed to get onto television and prove that she was real, in front of the whole world. Even that might not do anything though. A lot of people had tried. It never actually worked though. Humans just couldn’t handle the truth.

The drunk man stared at her.

“Fucking bitch. You’re all the same. No love fer Tim, is there? Can’t even get a handjob. Stuck up assholes.” He grumbled and hit her window. Not hard enough to break it, but enough that a woman coming out of the store saw it and looked scared. That was bad, since she might well call the cops in, trying to help.

They were in a parking lot, a public place, and the store was still open since it wasn’t all that late. Before nine, still.

Eve looked at the man, and smiled, then concentrated as hard as she could when he locked eyes with her. It wouldn’t hurt to try and compel him, after all. If it failed, then she could always just… She didn’t really know, but didn’t care either.

“No. I just gave you a handjob, remember? It felt really nice, and now you’re going to go and take a walk. You won’t come back this way for a few days. You should go away now, before anyone realizes what we just did here.” She didn’t whisper the words, and didn’t really think anything was going to happen, but the man stood up a bit straighter, and grinned. He was missing two of his upper teeth, near the front.

“Thanks. I should take off.” Then, looking at her over his shoulder, he gave a little wave and did exactly that. He walked away with a will, a bit of a spring in his step. He didn’t even seem half as drunk anymore, either.

The other woman looked at her again, but seemed relieved that the man was leaving, and climbed into her own vehicle, not making eye contact with her. That was normal, though. The place was busy enough that she didn’t have to feel like she was the only person that could, or would, help Eve out. So she didn’t, just leaving after that.

No one got there for hours, but by one in the morning Edom pulled in, his red sports car purring practically.

He moved to her quickly, his black skin glowing with the pink of life energy. He had a solid core of the stuff, that was brighter than the other Vampires she’d seen earlier.

Getting out of the yellow muscle car, she smiled at him.

“There you are. Do you want to go back and burn a house down? There were at least four of them there. I got away, naturally, because I’m pretty nifty, but I don’t think I killed any of them.”

He stopped, going still enough that she could sense the waves of activity that most people had all the time just cease.

“Eve. Are you all right? You have burns…”

She looked down and shrugged. Her once nice leather jacket was ruined. A sudden urge to kill some people overcame her, but she fought it back. That was the kind of thing she had to do now, she knew. Rage was a part of the Vampire experience. You either dealt with it yourself, or you were dealt with. Normally by being beaten so hard that your fear of pain would overcome the anger. It was easier to make yourself take control, or at least that was the theory she’d been working on so far.

“A Manthori with fire powers. I healed. Honestly, I barely noticed it. I guess that means I’m all tough and junk?” She smiled, and was a bit shocked to find herself being hugged. The Vampire wasn’t really the huggy sort, as far as she knew.

Then, she didn’t smell like food now, so maybe it was that?

Eve could sort of understand how that might work, now.

Her master smiled at her, his face happy, suddenly.

“Now, I think we might well want to have a chat with these people. Can you get us back to them?”

It wasn’t straightforward, but after half an hour of driving around, she realized that she really could.

It was going to be interesting, she decided.

Chapter two

As it turned out, she was totally wrong.

Eve had thought they’d be going back to find the four evil feeders and possibly get a chance to dispense a little, and more permanent, justice. They’d kidnapped her after all, and to her mind that meant they deserved to at least have their heads cut off.

“Well, darn.” She actually felt a little worked up about it, but faked a smile. No one had insisted that she had to be perfect, but going around acting like she was about to attack everyone wouldn’t fly.

Edom actually grinned at her however.

“Darned, indeed. There were four of them, and a Human?”

She nodded, having gone over that already.

“A girl. The New Vamp cut her with a knife. A Bowie I think. I lost it somewhere in the fight. That, or while I was running. I licked the blood off of it to form a link to the girl. It helped.” She didn’t go into how much she’d wanted to drink the girl dry. Ed knew that, no doubt.

Been there, done that, and mastered the feeling. That was why he could work in politics now. Not all the older Vampires could do that, even if they were otherwise powerful.

Instead he nodded at her, as they poked around.

“Good plan. Well, we should be getting back. Can you hold out on what you had?”

Making a face, she shrugged.

“Yeah. I know that I can. I don’t feel like it’s possible, but there’s enough energy. I should get something else too, so I don’t accidently drain the girl.” That could be a real problem if you only fed on a single source. If she tried to do too much, say lifting up a car for a while, the life energy that powered it would have to come from somewhere. The fact was though, even though it would be hard, she could just sit around almost indefinitely. That didn’t take much energy at all, and as long as she didn’t exert too much effort, Eve could hold out for months.

If she mastered herself well enough, she’d eventually not need to eat much at all. The oldest and most powerful Vampires hardly had to, she knew. That wasn’t her, not yet.

It would be though.

“I can hold out.”

Edom looked at her strangely, but nodded.

“I think you can. You did well, tonight. If you can hang on, until we get back, I’ll give you a reward.”

She wondered what that would be. Probably sex, though she really didn’t feel like it would be much of a prize now. That was too bad, because for a while there she’d kind of hoped that she was going to be the special Vampire that still had a sex drive. It had been one of her favorite things, while alive. A way to connect to people, without making a lot of real effort. Now she was going to have to actually be nice, and do things for people, or at least make a solid go of being friendly.

She grinned.

“Well, is it a job at your club? I wouldn’t put me in at the embassy for a while, but maybe doing something like cleaning, after hours? I do a mean job with a mop, and you can only dream about what I can manage with a sponge.”

The man looked over at her, then pointed toward his car, not bothering to burn the place down or anything.

“Not a horrible plan. I want to test you first, though. If you can handle being around a crowd, we can work something out. Most can’t, at first. Normally for a while.” It was just the truth.

Honestly, from what Eve had been told, no one managed it, at least for the first five years or so. Not if they were a Classic Vampire, like her. The New Vamps could pull that off a lot faster, she’d been told. So could the flyers from South America. The problem there was that they all looked like giant bats. They were sweet though, and even tempered. Blood drinking aside. Most of them lived off of animal blood.

So, she was doing pretty well so far.

“I trained for this. Well, you know, you helped with it.” She felt a little annoyed, since he clearly didn’t believe she was really ready, but buried that. It wouldn’t help anything, acting like a brat. Besides, if she couldn’t control that feeling, then she wasn’t ready.

Edom nodded though. His voice was rich, and carried undertones of humor, for some reason. It was a good voice, she realized. Back when she’d been alive she’d actually gotten wet, just listening to him, more than once.

“I know. It seems to be working, too. That doesn’t mean we can’t be careful though. In the last two hundred years I’ve never even heard of anyone doing what you have to get ready, as a Human. If this works we may have to set up a real program to help train people. Bey will be pleased.”

He seemed a bit uneasy talking about the ancient Vampire. Eve could see that. She’d met the man however, and he was darling. At least if you were a Human and halfway polite to him. The Vampires all figured that when he showed up some of them were about to die. It was normally the way it worked too. The man was tiny, and had a big nose and large ears, with no hair on his head. In short, he was adorable.

Also deadly. Ignoring that part of things could get her killed, so she kept it in mind. Her friends, Keeley, Darla and Zack had all pointed that one out to her.

They were Demons though. Greater Demons, which was a thing that had been hard for her to understand for a long time. Basically they were beings so powerful that no one wanted to screw with them. You had to be born one though, or she would have opted to be one of them. That not being an option, she went with the next best thing. A Vampire.

She nodded though, trying to remember that she still needed to talk. That meant breathing first, which was still her habit, having been alive less than a day before. She didn’t need to however. That was part of the whole being dead thing.

“I hope he will be. He’s one of my favorite people, after all.” It was kind of true, but Edom gave her a look that clearly said she might just be insane. He didn’t correct her though, or tell her that she had to be scared of her friend, just because things had changed. She understood that if she crossed the Council, Bey would kill her. That was his job, after all. He was one of them too, but so deadly they always sent him in if there was a real problem.

“Now, we need to get you to a secured location. Do you have any idea why they took you, in particular?”

She had to shake her head, and take a deep breath.

“Not really. I woke up, and instead of you sitting there with a container of fresh cow blood, there was a New Vamp, and a girl. He cut her and told me to… Really, I was distracted at the time. I can’t remember if he said anything at all. Something about how I should drink?” She shrugged, and then looked over at her maker. “My best guess? It wasn’t about me at all. It was probably done to try and get your attention. You know, to show that as Vampires we all need Human blood, and that they’re our rightful prey, or something along those lines?”

As a rule Eve wasn’t all that great at political intrigue, but she thought that seemed pretty close to what could be happening. Unless it wasn’t. Really, she needed a lot more information than she had, didn’t she? Maybe they’d just really wanted her to like them?

That got her to smile, trying to fake it well enough to seem real.

“Well, I guess it could be about how awesome I am. Or, I don’t know, maybe they wanted me to join up with them, so they could use my contacts? I do know a few people, I guess. Mainly you, but…” Except that wasn’t true, was it?

Eve had friends, and some of them were powerful. Beings that no one would want to screw with, if they knew about them. That kind of argued for her being picked based on other reasons, actually.

Clearing his throat, a total affectation, Edom kept his eyes on the road.

“Well, if they wanted to use you, or make a point about how we’re all insane animals that can’t control ourselves, then they rather failed, didn’t they? We need to find them however. Just in case they’re going to try for you again. Or worse, someone else. Too bad you didn’t get a chance to take a prisoner.”

It was true, but she felt a sudden urge to growl at him for saying it. Biting her tongue, she forced a smile and didn’t speak for a long time, letting the anger she felt start to pass first.

“Yeah. I kind of wish I could have, too. I blame the whole being new thing, you know? I mean, if I had a little more experience, I wouldn’t have acted like that. Running off instead of simply kicking all of their asses.” Okay, so she sounded a little short when the words came out, but she managed to smile again, and sigh at the end of it, softening the whole thing.

It was, she realized, a lot harder to control herself than she’d thought it would be.

Ed made a face, but didn’t lash out at her for being rude.

“Given everything you probably did it as well as anyone could have. Taking a Vampire, any Vampire, prisoner is a risk. As you showed those others a few hours ago. You did a good job.”

He’d said that before, but she got the general idea. She was being good, and he was trying to reinforce that kind of behavior, pointing out what he liked. If she got out of line, he’d have yelled, or even hit her, depending on what she did. It had all been explained to her first. There was a plan in place for it even. One that she’d agreed to. She might not like being raped or beaten to control her, but she’d signed off on it.

So she nodded at him, trying to keep all of that in mind.

“So, what’s the plan? We should hide for the day, right? Someplace harder to find than your house? I’d love to take a shot at waking up in a safe and secure environment for once.” She glanced at him and noticed his jaw clench. She hadn’t meant that it was his fault that she was kidnapped like that, but it probably seemed that way. Scrambling she tried to find some way to make that seem less like a condemnation of his skills or ability to protect her, but nothing came to mind. It was kind of a big deal, letting that happen on her very first day.

After ten more minutes of driving, he shrugged. It nearly seemed real when he did it, even though chances were good that he’d forgotten how a long time before and had to practice the move on purpose.

“I’ll get Barb to babysit you, and see if you two can stay at Troy’s. Do you think you’re up to that? I know that being that close to a Human this soon might be hard…”

Because they were so very tasty. That part went without being said however.

She shrugged back, noticing how unnatural it felt already. She smiled too, and looked at the side of his dark face, the glare from the oncoming headlights bright enough that a regular person might well have been left blind.

“I think so? I guess I should take you along at first, so you can punch me in the head if I start to go for him? Or, I guess Barb can do that part. I won’t lie, that girl earlier was tempting. I managed to hold off, but it’s work. Is it always like that?”

“Yes. Pretty much. Eventually you’ll gain the ability to resist all the time, even with a lot of bodies around. It takes practice, but it will happen. Honestly, resisting in your first minutes like that… No one does that. I’ve seen people that have been undead for years not be able to handle that kind of thing. Fresh blood in the room with them like that. So, I think you can do it. I’ll get Barb a baseball bat though, so that you can rest assured you won’t hurt Troy. I know you like him.”

So did Barb, but for different reasons. Eve had kind of dated him for a bit, and they’d had sex for years, off and on. Barb treated him like a pet. Still, she’d protect him from being killed, which was all that was needed, really.

She looked out the window, and watched the scenery crawl by. They were driving the speed limit, she knew, but it seemed like the vehicle was barely moving. As if she might well be able to simple step out and walk alongside of it. That was silly of course. She’d have to run in order to keep up.

“Can I borrow your phone?”

That got a strange look, and a nod. Thinking about things first, she dialed the frozen yogurt shop, getting in touch with Barb again. They were friends, after all.

“Hey! Edom found me, so it’s all good. I was wondering if you’d be willing to stay with me at Troy’s for the day? Ed thinks we should make it a bit harder to find me, just in case these morons try again. I still have to ask Troy, but you know, I can find someone else if you don’t want to have baby vamp duty? That would be a pain in the rear, so I understand if you want to pass the buck.”

It was a lot to just come out with, but there was no discernable pause.

“Sure. Edom’s all right with that? I haven’t done anything like that before. It’s kind of a big deal, being asked to watch someone like you. Important.”

She nodded.

“You mean because I’m so hot? I hear that.”

Edom chuckled.

“You’re ready, Barb. So is Eve.” He just spoke, even though the small phone was to the far side of her own head. They could all hear the conversation, after all. It was one of their powers.

The voice on the phone took an audible breath, and then spoke, calmly.

“Can we meet here? Or, I guess we can meet up at Troy’s place? Make sure to let me know if he tells you to take a hike. I can meet you someplace else, if needed.”

“Got it! He won’t though. I don’t think he can see me as a threat. He shouldn’t either, but Edom did mention bringing you a baseball bat, just in case.”

“See you when I get off work then?”

They both said goodbye, and hung up, with the other girl going first. Then she called the club, since Troy was the assistant manager there. That meant he worked most nights, given that Ed had two jobs and the other one was as the number two man at the local embassy for his people.

Their people.

It took a few minutes for Troy to get on the line.

“Troy Lopez, how may I help you this evening?”

“Hey Troy boy! It’s me, Eve. I was wondering, can I crash with you today? Barb, too? I was kidnapped last night. I fought my way out, because I’m clearly incredible, but I might need to hide for a bit, until we find the peeps that took me.” She had to take another breath, and let a little laugh creep into her voice. “Oh, also, I’m totally dead now. I have the fangs to prove it, and everything.”

There was a pause this time, but Troy answered her with a pleasant enough tone to his words.

“My house is yours, like always. You were kidnapped? What the fuck?”

“Yeah, I know! On my first day too, so, talk about annoying. Thanks though. I’ll try not to drink you. That’s why Barb is coming, in case she has to bash my head in to get me to stop. So far I’m doing all right that way, so it looks like all that practice I got, starving myself, is paying off. Just, you know, try not to hug me, or wave your yummy blood filled self under my nose, for a bit.” She cleared her throat, but smiled, looking at Ed out of the corner of her eye. “Oh, Edom also said that I could get a job there, cleaning the floors and scrubbing out the toilets, as long as I can show that I’m not a complete freak that will eat the patrons. Isn’t that cool? I know how much you love clean restrooms.”

“Who doesn’t? Sounds cool. I’ll get you a toothbrush, so you can hit the porcelain just right.” There was a chuckle, and then a confirmation of when they should be getting in.

Then she just had to ride, for what felt like fifteen hours. It was six when they got into Vancouver, but they didn’t head straight to Troy’s, stopping by Ed’s house first. It was a big thing, meant to have both a lot of space, and be impressive if anyone came to visit.

He went straight to the fridge though, and pulled a small four ounce bottle of blood.

The good kind. It had at least six fresh links to it, and the glass was warmed in a metal pot, the contents poured into a mug when it was body temperature. Then it was placed in front of her. Slowly.

Eve didn’t touch it, even as the scent, heady and full, reached her nose. It was a trick, after all. Though not really. She’d been told what to expect. She wasn’t allowed to feed until given permission. No matter how hungry she was. Most of the younger vamps would have snagged the cup up and started straight in, but if they tried it, they’d be hit, until they managed to sit for a while.

It was hard, and she fidgeted, a bit. Then, taking a deep breath, the scent trying to drive her wild, she forced herself to relax and wait. Edom was poised to strike, but held himself still, like a master with a dog that was being trained to stay. As if his moving could set her into motion? She had more control than that. She thought.

Waiting was hard, but needed.

Several minutes passed, and he picked up the cup, taking a sip.

Then he handed the mug to her.

“Go ahead. Slowly though. Try to separate out the different links. Can you do that?”

She doubted it. There was a pink glow to the whole thing, meaning it had energy, and tendrils coming off of it, but she couldn’t really track them all. She focused, and took the smallest sip she could manage, then another, which got her body to grab the blood, and scramble for the links. After that she kind of felt most of them.

“I… Have four links? One to the girl from earlier. There should be more than that. Here, let me try again.” She took a third drink, this one a bit bigger, but didn’t let herself slam the whole thing down. She had instructions after all, and really wanted to look good.

It was hard, but power was all about mastering herself, and that was all Edom was trying to coach her into. Even if he beat her later, that was what he really wanted for her. That was one of the reasons she’d picked him to make her one of them. She’d had others to choose from, but Ed was one of the rare people that wanted her to be successful, just because it was what she wanted. Lenore had offered too, and was older, as well as more powerful than Ed, but her main focus was in keeping Zack happy. That, and using Eve for her own ends.

That was fine, and part of Vampire culture, but really, since her goal was power for herself, Eve knew that Edom was the better choice. He’d nurture her more, and make sure she had the opportunities she could handle, not just the ones that served him best. It would be up to her to make certain the whole thing was rewarding and paid off for the man.

She left the cup half full, and set it down, even as everything inside of her screamed that she needed to finish it. The rest of the links came into being, and she took a moment to try and sense them all. She had seven full links, which would last about ten days, if all went well. That meant, logically speaking that she didn’t need to drink anymore blood for that time. It was so tempting to bolt the rest of the drink in front of her, but she took a deep breath and pushed it back to Ed.

“I have the links.” She expected him to drink the rest, given that it cost over a hundred dollars per serving, but he stood, looking back at her, his teeth shining, and then walked to the stainless steel sink and dumped the rest, watching her closely.

She started crying. Though she did manage to make it halfway into a laugh, almost instantly.

“Fuck… That’s hard to do. I should distract myself. Do something useful, maybe?” She felt like a junkie that had just decided to go cold turkey, and actually shook a bit for a few moments. Standing she paced a bit, the scent of the warm blood still fresh in the air.

Her master smiled at her and winked.

“You can do it. In fact, you already have. Keep it up.”

Then he waved her back out to his car, which was red, pretty, and made her want to give him a blowjob. That was interesting, since she didn’t want to have sex, really. Just suck him off, because he had a great car. That was why men had things like that, wasn’t it? To attract women?

She didn’t mention it, since Edom wouldn’t get anything out of her doing that for him particularly, she didn’t think. For Vampires sex was either a lure, used to keep their Human blood donors happy, or a dominance thing. Basically, the idea was that if another person could make you do something you didn’t want to, they had to be more powerful than you were. She just had to admit that one though. A lot of people were stronger than she was. Tougher.

Fewer now though, than the day before.

The trip to Troy’s didn’t take long, though she had to wait, because she didn’t have a key for the place. Edom started to stay with her, but she waved him away, smiling.

“I should be fine here. I promise, if anyone comes to steal me away, I’ll run like the wind. Though really, I think I’ll wait in the back, over the fence?” Troy would come in through the back, after all, and be there well before Barb got off work. For a moment she wondered if that was a poor idea.

It was pretty clear that Edom thought it was, but he nodded at her.

“Enough rope to hang yourself, if you aren’t as good as you think you are. Of course, if Troy goes down, we both die, so keep that in mind.”

That was probably true enough. After all, he was best friends with a Greater Demon, but a slave to another one. Plus his sometimes girlfriend, Anne, was one too. Zack might let Eve off if she accidently killed his friend, and Finias would.

Anne on the other hand would rape her to death, then bring her corpse back to torture some more. That girl wasn’t well balanced, even for one of her kind, and that was saying something.

“Incentive? Plus… I like Troy. I’ll hang out here though, until Barb comes.”

Better safe than sorry, wasn’t it?

Her master nodded, then left without telling her to be good. She knew that one though, didn’t she?

Hopping over the wooden fence in the back was ridiculously easy. She placed one hand on top, and vaulted over the thing, which was six feet tall. Her landing, on the concrete of the other side, was gentle, and she bent her knees to absorb most of the force, slowly. Then she parked herself, butt on the dry, but cool walkway. It was hard under her, and she was lean enough that her tailbone was pressing against it.

That didn’t hurt, really, but was different feeling. Partially because she really didn’t feel it as discomfort.

Blinking, she analyzed that part of her new life.

There was the sensation, but no pain? She punched her fist into the cement, hard enough to make a sound, and noticed that it felt like it always had, only the way she thought about it was subtly different.

“Cool! I never loved pain anyway.”

She waited, resisting the urge to jump into the air, because that was the kind of thing that the neighbors might notice. Instead she just waited, which seemed to take forever, even though she could feel morning coming. It was a bit away still, and the sky wasn’t getting light yet, but she felt herself slowing a bit. It wasn’t like getting tired at all. That was a shock too. Like the thing with pain.

It was different. Torpor, they called it. She understood why now.

Troy got there about half an hour later, just as the sky was starting to lighten up a bit. To her it was as bright as high noon, but the sun wasn’t even that close to being up yet and wouldn’t be for about an hour. It hurt though, like a giant point of pain coming into the sky. She stood as the cute guy walked toward her, out of his garage.

“Hey! I’m waiting back here so that no one will think my stalking skills are lacking.”

It was a joke, but Troy just nodded.

“Good to know you aren’t slipping that much. Here, come on in.”

She shook her head, and moved a bit away from him. He was glowing with energy, and smelled like a combination of body spray and musk. It was delicious. She could hear him moving through the air, and his heart thumped strongly enough that it was hard to miss, pumping lovely, bright red blood through his miles of arteries.

“No can do. You smell incredible by the way, and not in a sexy way. So, you get the idea? I’m going to stay out here until we have a proper chaperone. It shouldn’t be too long.”

Though she did move closer to the garage, away from the nifty snack treat that her former boyfriend represented to her. On the good side, her mouth didn’t water over it. On the bad, her fangs had popped out, getting ready to drain all the life he had within him, even if that was a stupid thing to do.

He just waved at her, and made a peace sign with two fingers, because he thought it was cool. It probably meant he was a hipster though, since no one did that now. They hadn’t for at least as long as she’d been alive.

Twenty-one years, before she’d died the day before.

Honestly, she’d have thought it would have been a bigger deal to her than it was. She was dead. Her life hadn’t ended though. It had only gotten better.

Eve had gone from being a strong, capable girl the day before, to a powerful, kickass, Vampire. That didn’t mean no one could, or would, touch her again, but she was, more or less, safe from the things that had haunted her dreams.

No pedophiles were going to trade drugs to her mother for her ass again, were they? Not that they could, or would have before, but now, if it came down to it, she could take on all but the most powerful of beings to protect herself.

The rest, handling those few that were still a threat, that would take more. She needed to learn and make contacts. Start some kind of business that would let her rise in the Vampire world, maybe? She kind of had an idea for that already, too.

It would be for the next day though. For now she was getting heavy, and it was hard to move. Time crawled by, but she felt like she was drunk, by the time Barb popped her head out of the house. Dawn had just started to really happen, and the light touched her gently.

It didn’t burn, physically. Not much. It just hurt. She stood though, and moved to get herself inside.

“Hey.” She sounded slow, and tired, compared to Barb. The other girl, who looked no more than a few years older than she did, was pushing fifty or so. It showed, because she was moving around like it was easy or something.

“Eve! Let’s get you into bed. You can sleep under Troy today, in the case I built under his bed. With me. You did want an all girl cuddle fest for your second night, didn’t you? If not you should have asked one of the guys along, too.”

She could barely speak, her mouth feeling hard to use now. Stumbling a bit, she let the other woman lead her, and then tuck her, not into Troy’s bed, but onto the sofa in the basement. It was Bey’s room, for when he visited, but no one would mind, as long as she brushed herself off before crashing. Her behind had tiny rocks sticking to her jeans, after all.

It was difficult to get clean, but she managed it, just before she fell over. Then the world vanished. It didn’t go dark, it was just gone.

That was the way of it, she’d heard. It would be too, until she learned to stay awake all day long.

That would only take two or three hundred years though, she thought.

Something like that.

In short, she had a bit of time to adapt.

Chapter three

She didn’t wake with a start, but was, this time at least, where she’d been when she laid down. Starving too.

That was an illusion though, she knew. The links from the day before were still pretty strong, and with her eyes closed Eve could still feel the lines of pink flowing toward her. How she could feel a color, she didn’t know, but it was there, and kind of neat, once she realized it.

There was a small, and old fashioned, clock on the far wall, which said that it was five-fifteen. This time of year, being late November, that meant it was well and truly dark outside already. Eve grinned, because she could see the clock’s hands clearly, even though there was virtually no light in the basement. Getting up, she stretched, and decided that a shower was in order. Not that she smelled bad yet, but it never hurt to be tidy.

On the great side, she still had some clothing there. Troy hadn’t seemed to mind when she’d stolen one of his drawers about two years before, and being a nice guy he’d never tossed the things out for her. It probably meant that she should have considered dating him exclusively, but he was young and good looking enough that playing the field still probably felt right for him. She kind of felt the same way, or had, until that moment.

Now that her sex drive was gone, she kind of saw how having one guy trapped into a relationship could really work out that way.

Grinning, she ran up the stairs, making herself ignore the call of the fridge. There was probably no blood in there anyway. That kind of thing had to be kept fresh and there was no reason for Zack or Troy to get any in. Not just for her. Besides, she knew, for a fact, that she didn’t need any yet. It would be at least nine more days, and she was going to hold to that as well as she could.

Yes, most young Vampires like her ate daily, and couldn’t help themselves, but she didn’t have to be most people, did she? On the good side, the way she felt wouldn’t really get worse over time. It was, she’d heard, pretty much a constant desire to get more energy. Even if she had plenty of it at the moment.

She showered first, knowing that Troy was still sleeping, and about to wake up. She could tell the difference in his breathing. From the bathroom, with the water running. It was incredible, but also a bit annoying. Worse, when his breathing changed it was pretty clear that he wasn’t alone. Barb hadn’t made any noise, but Troy gasped and then there was a scent of fresh blood. Okay, it took about a minute to reach her, but it was so far from fair as to be painful for a few seconds.

Then, because Barb wasn’t a total bitch, there was a sound of sucking.

As in Troy getting lucky, not her trying to drain him.

It was a bit of a gray area in the law, really. They weren’t supposed to use direct feeding, but if the Human knew about it, and wasn’t being coerced or threatened, it could be overlooked.

Of course Barb worked for the council, which meant she should have been following the rules a bit better, but it wasn’t like Eve was going to snitch on her. She’d done a lot worse than get a guy to part with some bodily fluids in her time. Even before she’d died and come back.

Honestly, so far her track record as a Vampire was beyond good. That probably wouldn’t last too much longer, so she decided to enjoy it while the chance was available. For once in her life she was practically heroic, and all that junk. A virtual Vampire poster child.

She dried quickly, her short black hair fairly absorbing the water, which left it thicker looking than it had been. Not so much as to be a problem though. Then, knowing what she was walking into, the smell of blood trying to call to her, she walked in on Barb as she was going down on Troy. Her clothing was in there, and traipsing around naked was…

Honestly, she just wanted to catch them out, and make Barb feel a bit bad for using Troy like she was. Not that he’d mind. Since the older Vampire didn’t stop what she was doing, it was pretty clear that there would be no guilt trips taken that day by her, either.

Eve just grabbed some clothing out of the drawer, and sat on the edge of the bed, putting her socks on one at a time. Finally, about the time that Troy was stiffening up, Barb got the picture, and made a small, rather alarmed noise.

“Fuck! Eve! Are you…” She glanced at the twin pin pricks of red on Troy’s right inner thigh. Because calling attention to the wound was a brilliant plan. Not a test of Eve’s resolve at all. She cleared her throat, and then winked.

“I’m good. It smells a bit tasty in here, but I have enough energy links. Though, seriously, worst babysitter ever.”

Barb got that there wasn’t going to be an attack on Troy, and laughed.

“Ohhh, not even close. I remember the first time that David was watching me… I was only a few years old at the time, Vampire time, and he decided that selling me to a half dozen men would be a good way to get some free blood. It worked, since we were able to drain them all after I killed them, but… I’m practically a saint compared to that. Lenore was not pleased, to say the least. Dave got locked in a box for a month, with no food.”

Lenore was Barb’s maker, Eve thought.

She’d never asked, honestly. It probably wasn’t some kind of major secret though, just a thing that had never come up before, and didn’t need to at that moment.

Since she wasn’t planning on eating, it seemed like a good idea to find something else to do. Troy still needed a few more minutes of attention, and seemed a little embarrassed about something. Probably the part where he’d let Barb feed on him. The man had no shame about sex. There was no invitation to join them though, which made sense, but was a bit atypical for him. Then again, he knew what a Vampire was and had probably gotten a talk about what it would mean, having her around like she was.

It was pretty hard to sit there, smelling him like she was. If her teeth got close enough to do anything fun, she’d probably bite him. Hard.

“Okay, you kids finish up and I’ll… Um, go clean the living room? Tidy up downstairs?” There was no plan as to what she was supposed to do that day, as far as she knew. Keeping busy was a good idea though. Not that she loved to clean or anything, but not being a burden was important to her.

Plus, it would get her out of the room.

Troy really did smell nice. Meaty and a bit like sex. It didn’t turn her on, but it made her feel a bit thirsty, which was new and strange, but not unexpected totally.

So, about fifteen minutes later, she was sweeping the main room when the phone rang. Practically pouncing on it, she got the thing to her ear just in time for the second ring to start. It was done so fast that the device hadn’t even registered that she’d taken the cordless thing from its cradle yet. Slowing down a lot, she started to speak, only to have nothing come out. After a bit, she realized that she just didn’t have any air in her lungs. That made things like chatting a bit harder, didn’t it?

Taking a breath she started again, before the other person could speak at all.

“Troy Lopez’ phone. This is Eve, how may I help you this evening?”

“Ah! Miss Benson! So good to hear your voice. It is I, Bey. I was hoping to impose on young Troy this night, having just come into town. The Line Walker has brought me to the embassy here. Is that a thing that could be arranged, do you believe?”

She walked to the bedroom door, which was closed, and knocked. Troy wouldn’t care if Bey was coming to visit really, not in a negative way. As far as he was concerned the ancient Vampire was his roommate, now that Zack had moved out to get his own place. Bey however, still felt like he had to ask each time.

“Let me check on that? I mean, I know that it’s all right, except that you’ll have a pesky roommate come daylight tomorrow. You can just shove my body in the corner though, right?” She was being awfully cheeky with the man, but they had been friends for years, more or less. He chuckled, kindly.

“I had heard that you’d finally decided to join our ranks! Indeed, it is due to the events of yesterday that I am come to this location at this time. Edom has suggested to me that you are doing well? I feared for you, on hearing what has transpired. Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Maybe. Here, let me see about arrangements first? Troy…” She asked politely if it was all right for her to have Bey come over, as if she were dating the Vampire.

He came to the door, grinning.

“Hey Bey. You know that you live here, right? I’ll see about getting some blood in. Oh… Eve, you haven’t had anything, have you? Barb…”

She waved that away.

“No big thing. I had some blood yesterday. I’m not going to need more for… Nearly a week. Maybe longer.”

There was silence from the phone, and then three sharp claps.

“Oh! That is wonderful, young Eve! Truly. I shall come directly, and then we can discuss our plans? We should strive to locate the beings that took you. They might need a stern talking to.”

She nodded at that.

“Yep. I agree. I can come to you though, if that’s easier? Barb is here, and I think she can give me a ride in? I left my car at Edom’s.” It wasn’t the nicest thing in the world, but it was hers and she was fully insured and licensed. Everyone she knew had demanded that of her. Even the Vampires had, because the fewer gaps in her identity, the less likely it would be that she’d have to kill a cop to protect herself.

Barbara heard her, and came to the door, nodding. She was one of the people that felt a lot more uneasy about Bey than not. Still, he’d been around often enough that she wasn’t going to refuse to be near him. No, she’d just act quiet and a bit scared the whole time. As if that would help her? If Bey wanted something dead, it was pretty much just going to happen. That described about a third of the people she knew though, so Eve tried not to dwell on the idea too much.

“There we go! So you’re good for staying here, and I’ll come to you? Unless…” She really didn’t want to presume.

“Perfect. That is most polite of you. I look forward to seeing you again.”

She nodded, and then made herself take another breath.

“Me too. I mean, I look forward to seeing you, as well.”

They both hung up after that, and she hurried to the door, since keeping Bey waiting was a silly thing to do. Not that he’d care, but Barb would freak out if she tried it. Blinking, she held up a hand first.

“Sorry, I have to call and check in with Ed. I should have done that already.”

It was funny, because she got in touch with him as he clearly stood talking to Bey, about her coming in. She heard the last of the words as the handset picked up.

“Hello! I was just calling to let you know that I was planning to come there. Is that all right? I know, I should have done that first thing, but honestly, I forgot. It won’t happen again.” That kind of thing was important, she knew. Edom was responsible for her actions, until she was fully trained. That could take better than half a century, so it made sense to stay on his good side.

“Good thinking. How are you feeling?”

She could have lied about it, but tilted her head and shrugged a bit.

“Not bad? A bit hungry, but I can hold out for a lot longer than this, and will. It would have been better but Barb accidentally bit Troy, and the whole place smells delicious at the moment. It’s fading a bit at least. We can be there in… I think twenty minutes? Half an hour, tops?” It was about fifteen miles, but there wouldn’t be a lot of holiday traffic yet. It was early November still.

“See you then. Come to the embassy here, first?” It was a question, which she decided to take as a very kind way of giving her an order.

“Got it. Be there as directly as possible.”

Barb looked at her funny, on the way out, but didn’t talk to her until they were underway. Finally, she growled a little.

“Kiss up. Telling on me like that. All I can say is that Bey better not kill me for this, or you’ll feel horrible. You know it, too. I’ll totally stick around and haunt your ass.”

She really didn’t seem happy about it all, but Eve shrugged.

“That’s me, the good girl. Really, if you and Troy are a thing, it isn’t a problem though. Is it? That’s inside the law.”

There was eye rolling then.

“Oh, yeah, sure, but Edom can pitch a fit if his people are being fed on, and Troy is the highest Human in the organization at the club. I work there too, so… That could be a problem.”

Eve winced.

“Oh, that. Sorry. Well, don’t make a big thing of it. We can tell them that you were just testing my resolve, and that I totally powned the thing? I did, so… That’s good, right?”

Barb made a face, but it seemed considering.

“I doubt they’ll buy it, but you sort of did. Next time I’ll let you go down on him, too. Now that’s a test. I bit the first ten or so guys I did that with. The trick is keeping the fangs back.”

She clicked her teeth back and forth, with her mouth open to demonstrate. It was a bit awkward, and she was making funny faces, but Eve finally managed to do the same thing, copying the older woman.

Barb nodded, “just like that. I was kidding though, don’t let yourself get that close to anyone yet. Figure on it being a few years before you can really do that safely. Maybe less, for you, if you can keep all this up. Still, we’re totally lying to them and claiming it was a test, like you said. You’re in on that one aren’t you?”

Eve agreed. After all, she needed to make friends, didn’t she?

“Yep. It’s all about you and me against the… Um. World is wrong. Against the man? Not that they’re bad guys. I mean, I’d cuddle Bey so hard, you know?”

That got her stared at, as if she were insane. The guy was adorable though. How Barb missed that, Eve couldn’t tell. Oh, she got the part where he was the killer of the ruling council, and that where he went Vampires tended to die, but it wasn’t like they were breaking the rules and he didn’t just go around destroying people for no reason.

Plus, he was really sweet. All the time.

Except when he had to kill some fools.

That wasn’t a real problem however, since Eve and all the others there were actually kind of goody-two-shoes, weren’t they? Most Vampires were darker and a bit closer to the side of evil than the embassy people were. Lenore and Edom were practically Vampire saints, as far as getting along with others went. Not just their own kind or Humans either. They went out of their way to be pretty cool with everyone. Weres, Trollienkeine, and Djin all thought of those two as friends.

Even Greater and Lesser Demons did. That was a really rare thing, Eve knew. Most Lesser Demons didn’t really want to be anyone’s friend, when you got right down to it.

Most of the trip happened in silence. Eve noticed that she’d forgotten to breathe again, so made herself practice that. The Vampire next to her did that too, either out of habit, or having noticed her making the effort. She also had to blink, but that was easier for her to manage for some reason. Maybe blinking was her super power as a Vampire? It was coming almost without effort, and that could be hard for a lot of people.

At the mall, Westfield, they just walked in, like normal people, through the door on the North side. The upper parking lot. It was nearly empty, being the least popular place to put your car. The few people she saw all looked like they were real people, having good steady heart beats and nice healthy pink energy glows to them. She didn’t let herself stare or anything, because there was a fine line between noticing who was around you, and eye fucking them.

She smiled, and then got to practice putting her fangs away before anyone noticed. She was still screwing her lips up, pulling them back hard when she did it. Barb was better at it, her face barely moving when she got her teeth out of the way. They felt a little funny, since they retracted back, into her mouth. It didn’t make her sound too funny though, so she could live with it.

They kind of folded back into place though, and were always there. Each one was about an inch long and as sharp as a hospital needle. Working her tongue back she managed to get it caught on the tip of the right one, and had to stick her finger between her lips to get it free. Barb seemed to be fighting a laugh, which was understandable. Plus, she was trying to fight the derision, not make her feel bad for being inept. That should count in her favor.

Eve actually felt a little embarrassed about it, but not angry. There would be mistakes like that for a while, as she got used to things.

The inside of the mall was the same as it had been the week before, except that the whole place thrummed with life. Noises, such as walking, heartbeats, and the air conditioning system all came at once. It was like a rock concert, without the pot. That, and the nudity. Not unless she wanted to take her shirt off. There had been a time when she would have, but now she just walked, smelling a thousand things that collided with her at once. Mainly garlic, from the food court. Vampires weren’t allergic to it, or driven away by the scent, but it hit her nose as if a thousand times stronger than almost anything else. For a moment it nearly hurt, until she focused on the scent of frozen yogurt. It was a milder thing, and a lot less offensive than the other stuff. Without thinking, Eve followed the line of scent, trying not to think about what else she might perceive. It worked really well to block the other stuff out.

The store was bright and shiny. Polished and clean. Even as she came into the place, Lenore was wiping the counter down. She might have been the ambassador, but the woman was also a fanatic about cleanliness. Her other job, too.

Making treats for people.

The blue eyed woman, who was white, pale, and the owner of a slightly big nose, as well as light red hair, stared at her. It was nearly a challenge, to tell the truth. Eve didn’t let it get to her, since Lenore simply wouldn’t have bothered with that kind of thing. She was hundreds of years old, and there was no way the woman would be bugged by a newb like her. So, instead of growling or trying to whip her dick out to be measured, Eve smiled at her, keeping her lips closed so her fangs wouldn’t pop out.

“Hi! I’ve successfully come back. I know, that makes me special and wonderful, but hold the applause for the end of the show.” She put a hand out, to exaggerate the whole thing.

It was funny enough that Lenore let her eyes go wide.

“Eve! I’d heard you were coming in. Ready to put in some time cleaning?” It was, no doubt, a joke.

Not because she didn’t know the job, but because both Edom and Bey would be waiting for her in the back.

Honestly, it was more of a test than anything, she was willing to bet. The Vampire in front of her was trying to see how easy it would be to piss her off. It wasn’t working though, because she was prepared to work. For years, if not decades, to come. It was in the deal that she’d made. Implied at any rate.

“I can do that. I need to get with Bey first, but after that, if he or Edom don’t have anything for me to do, I’m totally in. Barb already did the first check on me to make sure I’m fit to be around real people. I passed! I mean, I know it’s not enough, but…”

That got Barb, the dark haired woman behind her, stared at. Lenore seemed skeptical, for some reason.

“You did? May I ask how you achieved such a feat?”

Barbara took a slow breath and glanced at Eve, knowing that the men in the back would hear her perfectly.

“I was in bed with my boyfriend, Troy, and he agreed to let me knick his skin a bit, so that we could see what Eve would do. I had a stick, hidden under the covers, just in case, but she was perfect. Even in the same room, with no warning. I’d thought she might have that down, given last night. I…” She walked over to Eve and put a hand on her back. It was probably protective. That, or claiming ownership of her, because she was so awesome. “I wouldn’t have believed it, if I wasn’t there. Not even two days old and she’s doing better than I was at ten years. I know she was training up for it, but… Seriously, I’m still jealous. We should test her some more later. She didn’t eat either.”

Those words got Bey to come out, and instead of bowing, he smiled at Eve and walked over to her, his hands spread for a hug. That was different enough that she was taken a bit off guard. Still, she did it, his tiny form solid under her embrace.

His ears were big and goofy, and he was as bald as an egg, but his warm brown eyes crinkled at the corners, happily.

“Miss Benson. So kind of you to join us, after your trauma of the last evening. I hear that you plan to be useful already? What an amazing thing. Most of the newest try to take over in the first days, and have to be schooled closely for a time, to prevent them from running amok.” There was no doubt in his words though, or accusation.

She smiled, the tiny Vampire, who was nearly four inches shorter than she was, being just over five-one to her five-five, still in her arms. He did move back then, but slowly, as she let go.

“Oh, I have some plans, too. Nothing all that big, and it could take a while to get into place, but I was thinking that I’d get a handle on the packaged animal blood market? Keeley taught me how to make the anti-coagulant she uses, and I worked out how to give it all a faint vanilla flavor. I might have to rework that now. Everything is a lot more powerful than I thought it would be that way.” No one spoke, but Edom nodded at her, since he’d heard the idea before. “The thing is, I think we can sell the animal product for about ten dollars a meal, compared to what the Human goes for. It will take some large ranching concerns, but that way people that aren’t quite as flush, but want to live in a city or large town don’t have to keep livestock in their basements.”

It made sense to her, at least.

No one spoke for a bit, but Barb finally did, letting Eve know what was on their minds.

“What did you have to trade with her, for that information?”

Eve blinked, then smiled, since it had been a true reflex.

“Six months wages. I’ve worked with her and Rebekah for years on the other blood packaging, and helped set up a whole bunch of the processing centers. She didn’t even try to bargain very hard, since she figures that it will help the Vampires. Not everyone has a lot of money, right? So it isn’t even real competition for the other set up. It’s like they sell fine wine, and I’m suggesting bottled Kool-Aid. Still, I have to do something, when I’m not cleaning the floor around here or the club, right?”

It was a lot different than she’d expected, but Lenore came around the counter, and instead of backhanding her into a wall for her insolence, patted her arm, gently.

“What a marvelous plan, Eve. You’ll be wanting partners for that, won’t you? I don’t mean to doubt your skills, but you are rather new and untried as of yet. Perhaps some older Vampires could be arranged to help you in this?” There was real concern in her eyes, for some reason. Probably because everyone kind of expected her to lose control at any moment. So far she couldn’t really tell them that it was an incorrect thought.

Most Vampires really had a lot of problems that way, and she could get that. She was flaring between different emotions so fast that she really might be caught off guard, eventually. So, it was time to be reasonable and think ahead. She didn’t need to make a lot of money, or even collect power directly from this particular business. She just needed a good start down that road, for later.

Eve nodded.

“That sounds about right. Even if other people get the credit, it should be done. Do you have anyone in mind?”

There was a considering look then, and Lenore Hawthorn didn’t even suggest herself, or Edom, for the task. Instead she looked at Bey, directly.

“I was thinking that Marissa might be interested in such a venture?”

The little man frowned, but didn’t shake his head no.

“Perhaps. We can see about that later? Now, not to be that one that pushes in at the wrong time, but we should start tracking down those that would kidnap our youngsters, and try to corrupt them without warning. It is forbidden to kill Humans to feed, and while one on her first day might be given leeway, if a mistake of that nature were made, those that set it in motion would receive less that way.” He turned to Eve and looked happy then. “The young Human woman you rescued is doing well, however. She has only minor wounds, and her family has already taken her back to their home. We have a force watching her, day and night, to prevent further annoyance.”

Eve could see that. It was just possible that whoever took her might come back. It didn’t seem likely, but what she knew about the situation could fill a very tiny thimble.

“Thanks. So, I’m new to this kind of thing, where do we start?”

That, it seemed, wasn’t going to be too hard for her. Bey just asked her to tell him the story of what happened to her, which she did as carefully as she could. At the end of it Lenore walked over with a small ceramic mug of blood, set to room temperature. It was slid, carefully in front of her. It smelled heavenly.

Everything in her entire being really wanted her to take it. To drink in the energy within it, and form the new links to even more people. The thing there was that she could only hold eight, or so at a time. She had seven, so it would be a waste of all but one of them.

Shaking her head, and trying not to breathe in the lovely scent, she looked at the others. They were all full, except for Barb, whose pink inner glow was far more subdued than the rest of them. Pushing the cup over in front of her, she wondered if Lenore or Ed were going to slap it off the table or get mad at her.

Before that could happen, Bey reached out and patted her arm.

“Like you said. Wonderful. Truly it is. Yes, Barbara, you should drink this now. As a gift from your maker.” That part was important, Eve knew, because giving the other Vampire, who was older than her, that blood without making her pay for it was kind of like she was claiming Barb was her little bitch.

In the prison sense of the word.

“Exactly what I meant. Is that all right Edom?” She looked at her own maker, who agreed with her, and then looked at Lenore.

“Lenore?”

The Ambassador clapped, copying Bey’s signature happy move.

“Yes, that seems like a very good plan. Please, Barbara, take this with my blessing.”

Rather than seem angry at her, they all seemed relatively pleased.

Thank goodness. She really didn’t need to make everyone mad at her yet. She had a plan, and wanted to save that for the fifth day, if she could hold out that long.

Chapter four

Marissa Constantine turned out to be a council member, not just some business woman that Lenore knew. This was explained to her by Barb, as she finished her blood. It still smelled incredible, and honestly Eve was tempted to grab the cup up and clean it out with her fingers, just to make sure nothing went to waste. She didn’t though, because it would both be rude and show that she wasn’t as tough and in control as she wanted to be.

So she swallowed, her mouth dry, and held her seat as she was filled in on who the others thought would be a good partner for her.

“Marissa is basically our version of the IRS. On the good side, if she’s in this with you, you’ll know that you won’t mess the books up too badly. On the bad, well, she’s powerful enough that she could pretty easily grab control from you, once you have things set up. No one else will though, so if you can get on her good side you’ll kind of be protected that way.”

It was interesting, since no one else moved at all, except Bey, who nodded, his face a bit more dour than she’d seen him be prior to that.

“It is, I fear, a simple truth. I do not think she would seek to thwart me by taking advantage of you as Barbara has mentioned, but I cannot promise that she would not, at the same time. You must consider this carefully. There is no great hurry, perhaps? You have time now, if you are careful and manage things well enough.”

She nodded at that, wondering how the heck she was supposed to figure out what to really do. Interview the woman? Taking a forced breath, she nodded a little.

“I think I see? Well, I have some contacts.” She did too, though they might be a little dangerous to use just yet.

Thinking about it, she was tempted to call Darla, but that would be poor form. Zack was in the same general zone. Oh, he’d help her out, and not charge her for anything, but she didn’t really want that to be known. Not just yet. Keeley, well, they were close, but she had her own concerns, and wasn’t that close to the Vampire Council really.

So she asked to borrow the phone, and called Richard Swerlin. House of Representatives member, for the great state of Maine. Also one of the very few openly Vampire people in the country.

It wasn’t like she actually knew him or anything, but they had friends in common. Keeley, mainly, but also Rebekah. The man didn’t answer his phone himself, his assistant, Jonas, being in charge of that kind of thing. He was a New Vamp, and could pass for human, even if he was pretty young to it. Also Rebekah’s boyfriend.

“Hey Jonas, this is Eve Benson? I’m a buddy of your girlfriend? From Arizona? Not that I’ve lived there for a while. I was wondering if I could pick your brain for some information? Maybe talk to your boss, if he has the time for a non-voter like me?”

“Eve? Oh, hi. Um, possibly? If it isn’t going to take too long. Mr. Swerlin is in a meeting right now, but that should be over in a few minutes. It’s nearly time for us to get out of here. Not that I’m complaining about the hours, but they can be long. The election is coming soon though, so we have to do what we can. So, shoot? The worst I’ll tell you is to get lost.” His voice held good humor, so she didn’t let herself feel too offended. His job wasn’t to kowtow to her, after all. Not yet.

“Marissa Constantine, of the ruling council. What do you know about her? It’s suggested that I go into business with her, and I kind of want to make certain she doesn’t just take it all over right off the bat. If she wants in, this is the part where I research her, you know?”

“Due diligence. Good planning on your part. Let’s see… So far I haven’t heard anything all that bad, honestly. Most hate her, but that isn’t because she’s bad, just the one that comes and checks the books, which, well no one loves that, do they? No complaints about her taking bribes or sucking up all the credit for herself. Though really, I don’t know if anyone would send that kind of thing past me, in particular. Bekah might know more that way. Here, hold on for a bit?” It was pretty clear that his hand was over the mouthpiece, but she could hear everything he said clearly. Everyone in the room could.

“Eve Benson? Calling to ask about Marissa from the Council. Someone told her that she might make a good business partner. Any thoughts?”

“Um… Not really, what kind of business?”

Eve spoke then, answering him directly.

“Animal blood. Packaged like the Human kind, and flavored the same way. I have a new recipe that will keep it fresh and tasting faintly of vanilla. Or, really, it’s Keeley’s science behind it, but I have use of it for this already. The goal is to sell it for about ten bucks a shot. That way we can make it a bit more accessible to the law abiding people that want to follow your rules, but might not have the ability to hunt in their areas.” You could eat dogs in a pinch, but they were kind of small. Humans were best, but if you have something like a cow, it was pretty close, she’d heard.

“Ah? That… Sounds like a good idea. Can I get a sample or two of that? The expense is one of the biggest drawbacks to the current supply. A good alternative that won’t hurt the pocket book so much might just keep me from being lynched, if you can do that in the next six months or so?” He sounded deadly serious, but she nodded.

Then looked at Bey and rolled her eyes.

“I can try? My maker thinks this is a good idea, and he’ll get the cash from it, but I kind of want to make sure I build a good reputation. So, will you think highly of me if I can get something to you that way?” She chuckled, a little seductively. “Will you still respect me in the morning, if I do what you want?”

That got a laugh, if from a distance.

“I will. If it isn’t incorrect, may I ask who your maker is?”

“Edom. From the Westfield Embassy?” She didn’t know if that would mean anything to the man, but there was a low whistle. It sounded appreciative.

“I hear he’s going places. A personal friend of The Line Walker. Do you know Mr. Hartley, by any chance?” He was fishing for information, most likely. She would have if it were her in the other position.

“We’ve met, a time or two, yes. Why?”

“Ah, well, this is a little delicate. I could use a trip to Africa, but my schedule is very limited for the next several months. I’ve been putting off asking him, since I don’t have much by way of worthy trade for the time being. I was hoping that I could pick your brain on the topic and see if there was anything he’d mentioned needing to you?”

She tilted her head.

“Hmm… Well, nothing is springing to mind, but I might be able to find out. For a price.”

“Yes?” He didn’t even sound cold, just a bit skeptical. Eve couldn’t blame him really. After all, who the hell was she?

“Yeah. If I set that up for you, and find something he’s willing to trade for that won’t break the bank, I want you to endorse the new line of blood. I mean, I’ll still have to prove to you that it’s good enough, but if I do that, will you put your name behind it?”

“Can you get the cost down more? If we can sell it for five dollars a serving, I think we could make an arrangement that will be mutually beneficial. The price of the current option has been at issue for some time. A less expensive alternative would be a thing that I could get behind, yes.”

“Okay… I’ll need to go and see about that then. So, first, what do you really think of Marissa. You’ve met her, right?”

There was a pause then, and a fake sigh.

“I have. Frankly, I found her entirely intimidating. She has a way with numbers that is truly fearsome, and not to be taken lightly. I don’t know her closely, but she seems well trusted by her fellows not to run off with all the money, so… She might well be a good person to ask about this?”

“Thanks. I’ll get back in touch with you in… Call it half an hour?”

“I’ll be here. I should send Jonas off however. The poor man never gets a break.”

She didn’t know what to say to that, so just said goodbye and glanced at the others in the room with her.

“Um, Edom, could you walk me down to Zack’s bookstore? Just in case I see a tasty looking patron?”

He shook his head, smiling.

“I can’t. I’m actually on the clock here. Maybe…” He glanced at Lenore, but Bey chuckled gently.

“Perhaps I can go with you? I’m certain you will not have an issue, but it is most sensible to take precautions. Would that all would be so careful of the public. They are our responsibility, as the leaders of our kind.”

Not that she was in that kind of position, Eve knew. No, she was literally just a problem waiting to happen. Still, it would give her a chance to hang with her buddies, Zack and Bey.

She hopped up, and put her hand out, as if offering to help the ancient Vampire to his feet. Not that he’d need it. Her hand was taken though and they walked down the red brick toward the center of the mall. The fake things under their feet had tiny sparkly bits in them that she’d never noticed before. It made the whole place seem to glow slightly.

It didn’t take too long to get to Hartley and Co. Books. It was a nice space, and a familiar one, being that she’d worked there before. It was mainly staffed with succubae at this time of day, but there was also a Mage, who was working the front desk. Hiram, her old work buddy.

He was also a criminal, which made him slightly hotter than his rather normal looks would have allowed for. Then, she always had been a sucker for bad boys. Or, really, for boys in general. He smiled when she walked up, realizing who was there.

“Hey beautiful.” Then he winked at Bey. “No offense meant by that. We’re pals, is all. Are you coming back finally? I don’t want to put the girls here down, but it would be nice to have someone else around that could get fifteen uninterrupted minutes to shelve books.” He waved at Roberta, who was walking off to the back reading room with a man on her arm. They had sex back there all the time. Not just once or twice a day either. The place had a reputation for that kind of thing, which really worked out for the Alede. That was the real name for the succubae and incubae. They weren’t demons at all though, just a different race. Able to change genders at will, which would no doubt freak out some of the men they were sleeping with.

Roberta saw her looking and noticed that she was holding Bey’s hand still, and grinned, raising both eyebrows at her. Suggestively. They did pretty much everything that way though.

She glanced at Bey, and moved a bit closer to him. Not that he needed her protection from the woman, since she was making her way into the other room already.

“Hey, Hiram. Bey, this is Hiram Stone. He’s the manager here, and a Mage. Also a pretty good thief, if you ever need one. Hiram, this is Bey Transmorguire, of the Vampire Council? So, you get the idea, I came to chat with Zack and see what kind of presents he’d like, and Bey here came to punch me in the head if I lose control and try to suck your blood. I should see about getting a part time gig here, if I ever have the time. You know, I’m busy with all the new Vampire stuff, like being beaten and raped into submission? So far that hasn’t happened, but also I’ve managed not to be an entitled little bitch, if you can buy that? So, fingers crossed that way.”

Hiram looked at Bey, and nodded, once.

“So, you’re making sure no one hurts her too much? I’d make threats, but you’re too far out of my league. I’ll sleep better knowing that…”

“I will put a word in. Her master is known to be most fair and kind however, so I do not believe she will be mistreated.”

“Unless I lose it, then, you know, it’s Eve’s turn at the beat down clinic. That’s the game though. You either control yourself, or others have to do it for you. So, is Zack in?”

That was assured, but Hiram waved toward the far wall, which lead to the transport area. The Node. It was where Zack worked from most of the time.

The door was nice, having a bunch of inlaid owl carvings. They were all different sizes and looked to be sitting on tree branches, but it was sort of out of place for a mall book store. Even a nice one like this.

She didn’t knock. It was either business hours or not, right? Bey followed her, and smiled when he saw that Zack was in his little office space toward the rear. The main area was open and had nicely polished marble floors, but the back was just a glass booth. Well, there was wood on the bottom, but the top part was clear and see through, meaning they could tell he was eating a lot. He needed it though. He wasn’t as thin as he used to be, but Greater Demons ate to extreme levels, all the time.

In this case it looked like hamburgers, from the food court. All of them, probably. He had a tray stacked high with silver and red wrappers.

Looking up he waved with one hand and stood, setting half a burger down in a Styrofoam container, she didn’t count, but he had a lot of the things. The burger was resting on a small mountain of fries.

In looks he was a bit geeky seeming, to tell the truth. A good looking and slightly muscular one, but nerdy, somehow. Delicate, around the edges. It was all part of an act, but he played it so well it was easy to forget that, sometimes.

“Bey! Eve! How are you both doing?”

She spoke first, since it was her plan.

“Not too bad. I’m in my second whole night as a Vampire, and could already use your help?”

He looked at her, and didn’t seem shocked at all. Not about her being dead. Hiram kind of had, but not Zack. Then, Lenore was his girlfriend and she’d probably mentioned everything to him already, if some other source hadn’t. Still she got a hug, which was nice. Demon or not, he smelled delicious. She could hold back though, so did, just making a point of holding him for a bit. It was comfortable, and she knew that he, at least, could protect himself from her.

Without asking any questions, almost as if he’d been reading her mind, he spoke.

“You aren’t doing too bad, really. I’d guess you at nearly twenty years into things, from your internal landscape and control. You won’t slip up. Now, Marissa…” He looked at Bey and bowed. “She’s actually a pretty decent person. A hermaphrodite. Kind of cute, too. About a thousand years old, or a little older. Great with numbers. She won’t cheat you however. Present this business as being for the greater good of your kind and she’ll probably bend over to help you with it, to be honest.”

Then surprisingly, he kissed her. On the mouth. That wasn’t a thing that she thought would be happening for her. Not for at least a decade. It took work to keep her fangs back, but she managed it and used a bit of tongue in return.

Zack looked over at the ancient Vampire though, who smiled at them, as if they were being cute, and not improper at all.

“See? No nibbling even. I thought that training program would work. You know, she starved herself four days a week for years, trying to make certain she was ready for this. Martial arts lessons and meditation, too. Now, shall we get to the hard part? You want a transfer for Richard Swerlin? I can do that of course, but it will cost you.”

That was the way it went with Greater Demons. Even the nice ones charged you, didn’t they? Both Darla and Keeley had made sure all their friends were up on that before they left to see to their own lives.

She looked at him and shrugged.

“Five percent of the new business. Just the animal blood thing. Gross, not net, so there’s that. But if we need Node transfer help, you have to do that too. I mean, I’ll do the lifting stuff, using my new Vampire muscles, but this offer isn’t just for a bit of Dick shifting.” She grinned and tilted her head, “Swerlintwerlin?”

Zack rolled his eyes at her, but didn’t slap her into a wall or start suggesting she get ready for the hard anal rape.

“Ten percent, but I’ll back up the rest, if it fits with my schedule at the time, plus a trip for Richard to his destination and back.”

She thought for a bit and then made a face.

“Fifteen percent… but you’ll need to put in the starting capital. Call it two hundred million?”

Bey looked at her as if she were insane, so she modified that part. “Um, three hundred million? I don’t know how much it will really cost, but we might as well go big. Oh, also the blood will be cheap, so you’ll probably never make that back. That sounds like a good deal, doesn’t it?” It wasn’t like they’d be serving three hundred million people, after all. If there were fifty thousand Vampires in the world, she would have been highly shocked.

To her surprise, he stuck his tongue out at her. Not like a little kid, but more like a person thinking.

“A hundred million, and fifteen percent, gross. Also you have to sleep with me, whenever I want.”

Bey made a face, and looked away. She couldn’t tell what it was about though. It might have been anything from disgust to anger, or even just a desire to do that to her himself. Not that he wouldn’t get the chance if he wanted.

“That, but sex only if it fits into my schedule. Five years on the sex part too, and then you have to renegotiate. Also that means we’re dating, not just a booty call type thing. So dinner and a movie, or at least a concert, now and then.” She shrugged, and smiled. “Well, the occasional booty call. Just normal sex though. No freaky demon stuff. Unless I okay it first. I mean, it’s not like I’m a prude.”

They shook hands on it, and he very carefully didn’t say it was a deal. What he did was get it all down in writing, and had her sign it, which he did himself. It was cute, but even the sex stuff was in there. Like he had to bargain for that? A little geeky, perhaps, but he was still hot. More so now than when they’d first met and he could have gotten some off of her back then, too. Not that he’d ever tried.

She used the phone there to get in touch with Richard again.

“Hey, it’s Eve. I have you down with Zack for one round trip. You’ll have to schedule it all out with him, in advance, but it’s already taken care of. I just have to let him take me up the behind for the next five years. Well, other ways too, but that stuff is all fun. You’re ready to back your part in this? Full support for the new blood, provided I can show you it doesn’t suck ass?”

“That is the bargain. I… Really didn’t expect that much, to tell the truth. Did you truly offer yourself to him, just to arrange this for me? I don’t know if that’s of equal value, but thank you.”

She shrugged.

“He’s cute, and I also gave him part of the business. That way he’ll have to back us up in it, you know, with Line Travel and all that? Here would you like to talk to him? Set that trip up?”

Zack had gone back to shoving food into his face, which he did efficiently, but he swallowed fast enough to take the phone and speak smoothly. The first thing out of his mouth though was a lot different than she expected.

“Don’t worry Richard, I won’t abuse her. She’s friends with both The Mistress of Souls, and The Technician, so she knows how to bargain correctly, I assure you. Say, are you and your family coming for Christmas this year? I’m thinking we could all get together. Macy’s what, eleven now?”

That was right, it seemed. Nearly twelve, from what Rich said, his voice smooth when talking about it.

“Good! Make sure that goes in your schedule. I’ll reconfirm that in a month or so. Now I just have to get with everyone else on it.”

They chatted for a bit, and then Zack hung up, not offering the phone back. Without waiting, or looking anything up, he dialed a different number from memory, and handed her the phone.

“Marissa.” He said it softly, just as it picked up. Because cold calls always worked, didn’t they?

“Good evening?”

“Um, hello. This is Eve Benson, I’m kind of starting a new business, and it was suggested to me that you might be a good person to get to come in on it with me?”

“Oh? That sounds different then. Most don’t recommend me highly in those circles. The opposite, in fact. May I enquire as to whom suggested such?” The voice was a nice tenor, and could either be that of a young man, or a slightly older woman. In other words, probably perfect for the Vampire on the phone.

Eve took a breath, and then just told the truth.

“Um, Lenore Hawthorn mentioned the idea first. Then Bey Transmorguire? It’s a new blood concern.” She went into the details, making a point of letting her know that she had access to the recipe that the Mistress of Souls had developed, and the right to use it.

“I see, so you need me for what? Operating capital?”

“Nope. We have that. Or at least part of it. A hundred million? I already have a partner in it. He gets fifteen percent of the gross, but also has to provide Line Transport if we need it, which could end up being a lot of work, especially at first. Zack Hartley? He also recommended you. No, I really just don’t have a clue how to run a business, and I’m sort of new to the whole Vampire thing, so having you on board would be really useful. I hear that you’re good with numbers too? So, what do you say?”

That started another round of negotiations, which took out only ten percent, of the net. Marissa was a bit miffed that Zack was getting a cut of the gross, but she didn’t complain too much.

“He’s a Greater Demon after all. That he didn’t insist on us being enslaved for life is a blessing. He never does that however, which is why I’m willing to work with him. I’m not certain I’d trust any of the others of his kind. That you managed to pry a secret from the Mistress of Souls and aren’t her creature… Wait, you aren’t her creature, are you? She can take Vampires, I know that.”

“Nothing like that. She’s just a buddy of mine. The Technician too, just so you don’t make a mistake and talk smack about them in front of me.”

“Like I’d be so foolish? Well, good enough. We’ll need to set this up soon then. I have… It looks like my schedule is clear in four days time, would that work for you?”

She let her head play back and forth, thinking. It sounded reasonable to her, but she didn’t know what Edom was going to have her doing, did she? It sounded a bit too youthful, but she just admitted that portion of things.

“So, I don’t have control over that part of things really. Like I said, I’m a bit new to all this Vampire stuff. I still need to hop to my maker’s whims. So far that hasn’t been hard, but there are floors to scrub and who knows what else to do?”

“Ah! Well, do a good job, and I’ll clear that with him.”

Bey cleared his throat, and did a credible job of it.

“Edom, at the Westfield Embassy. A most understanding being.”

“We’ve met. I’ll see to setting that up directly.”

Eve felt a bit nervous, but really, all she had to do was get some blood and the right chemicals. They weren’t even illegal, so she just had to order them. That would take some cash, but new Vampire or not, she had some savings. A few thousand, but it would be enough to run up samples. She even had a butcher set up to sell her cows’ blood. It had been hard to make sure she got it from living animals, but the man just thought she was a freak. One willing to pay well for a product that his farmer pal was more than willing to collect. Really, she was nearly certain that they both thought it was about some kind of genetics work.

She’d claimed it was for Vampires to drink, but that had just gotten laughed at.

It was too late to do that part that night, but she could use the computer at Troy’s to order the chemicals she’d need and have them sent next day delivery.

Zack laughed at her as she turned to walk out, but called out as she got to the wooden door.

“Oh, hey, can you cover a few shifts next week at night? I can get you home at about six, but we have some shipments coming in and I could use the help stocking shelves.”

She looked back at him, and nodded.

“I can ask? What days, Wednesday and Thursday?” Those were the normal shipping days for most orders.

The Greater Demon, who looked like a twenty-something store manager, nodded.

“That’s right. Set that up if you can? Otherwise Hiram won’t be getting any sleep at all.”

She waved, since it was something to do. Plus, making sure she was on Zack’s good side really wouldn’t hurt anything, would it? Now all she had to do was make a list and make sure she didn’t drop any of her commitments. Hopefully Lenore would lend her some paper for that. A pen too.

Bey took her hand again on the way back, but didn’t say anything to her at all, as they headed back to the shop. It wasn’t until they were inside that he smiled, which got everyone else to seem unusually relieved. Even Lenore.

Zack’s Vampire girlfriend. Eve tensed, and let her shoulders slump a bit.

“Oh… hey… I kind of just promised Zack that I’d have sex with him whenever he wanted. Schedule permitting, I mean. Is that going to be an issue for you? I could try to renegotiate, if it is…” That would be hard though, and Bey clapped, happily.

“Nonsense! It was brilliant negotiation! A part of her new business, which means that he’ll back the plan with both funds and effort, which will lend safety to the project. Marissa is in as well, so it will be low enough work for young Eve here. If Lenore was worried about competition in the bedroom, she wouldn’t be connected to a Greater Demon.”

Thankfully, the woman, who was attractive, but no more so than Eve was really, smiled, and seemed to mean it.

“Indeed, Eve. I may have to use you myself, to make certain you know who the boss is, but I promise I’ll be gentle enough. Only a light beating, now and then, along with the rest of it.”

It was a rape threat, but Eve didn’t think she really meant it. Oh, there might be sex, but that was all. After all, she was in politics and that meant she was a lot more careful about things like that than most were. Plus, while Eve was new and young, she had friends that might take exception to that kind of thing. Not kinky Vampire sex, but if she were truly harmed, it would be a problem.

Then again, she’d made her own bed, and climbed into it, in exchange for power. These others had done their part, so the rest was up to her.

If that meant taking a few beatings… Well, it simply would, eventually. No one had told her that Vampires were all sweetness and light. In fact, she’d been warned, by everyone she knew, more than once, that they were often brutal and cold. Bloody minded, too. So, when you got down to it, the kind of person she wanted to be.

Eve shrugged then, but made eye contact with Lenore.

“Well, we can date, too? If Edom is all right with it, I mean? That way you won’t have to actually beat me, right?”

After a few rather confused seconds, she shrugged back.

“I… Guess that sounds right to me? I’ve never had anyone just suggest that before, to be honest. It…Seems nearly correct to me? I’ll run it past Zachary, and see if he agrees as well.”

It was about the best deal she was going to get, so she smiled about it.

There were worse things to do with her time than go out with a pretty girl, after all.

Chapter five

Eve wasn’t really expected to start work just yet. Everyone was most impressed that she was willing to do anything at all, other than running around yelling at people, and trying to take over the whole world. That, Lenore said, seeming like she was joking, really was what most new Vampires did for the first six months or so.

Barb nodded at that, and then grinned.

“We can skip that part though, if you want? I think the point here is that other than beating you and locking you in a closet, no one really has too many plans for you yet. Really, you shouldn’t be able to walk around in public like you have been. Even around us. If anyone wants my take on what we should do with you…” She stopped dead, and glanced over at Edom and then Lenore. After a moment Bey waved for her to go on, with a little smile curling his lips. “What? People actually want to hear what I have to say? That’s a first. Well, I think that we should go to the club. I’m not supposed to work tonight, but we can get there early and clean up, then get out before anyone else comes in. Unless you need us to track down those bad guys? The ones that tried to steal Eve?” This was spoken to Bey, directly, which was bold for Barb. She looked nervous, after the words came out, but the tiny man patted her arm gently.

“This sounds like a wondrous plan. If they attack you, you and Miss Benson can take them in for us? Attempt to leave them alive, for questioning? I shall be away to Edom’s domicile, to try and collect what information about them I can. If that is all right with you? I promise not to invade your privacy more than needed for my research into this question.”

Ed gave a small bow, and passed his house keys over, along with the address.

“Do whatever you need to find them. I’m pretty sure that nothing there will shock you too much.”

Then, without her being able to track it at all, Bey was simply gone from the shop.

It was freaking impressive, Eve knew. The kind of thing that made him incredibly dangerous, even to other Vampires. It was said that he could punch so fast that he could make people’s heads explode, and not even get his hand bloody. It wasn’t the kind of thing that she was going to be able to match any time soon. No, if she had to fight, being armed would be a good idea.

“Oh! Zack asked if I could help out on the night shift at the book store next week? Just shelving probably. Not dealing with the public a lot or anything too hard.” It could come up, but even there, at a place open all the time, things slowed down enough at night that the real business pretty much stopped after a while.

It seemed like Edom was about to say no, but tilted his head instead.

“I think you might be ready for that. We need to test your resolve more, first, to make sure you’re strong enough for it. If you can do it though, I see no reason why you shouldn’t. If he pays you, then it’s less I have to spend to keep you in blood.”

Which was a good point, “I need to get to a computer too, before I sleep for the day. To get the things I need to put some samples together.”

It was odd to her too, because honestly, Eve had figured her first days would be spent doing… Vampire stuff. Learning to hunt, and not kill. Just possibly being locked up, to keep her mighty rage from causing her to go on a killing spree.

That part was there. Even just standing there, thinking about using a computer made her want to punt the thing through a wall. It was a powerful anger, but… Well, she’d always lived with that, hadn’t she? Maybe not as bad all the time, but it had been close for years. The meditation had made it a bit easier to live with herself, but yeah, she’s pretty much always wanted to hurt people. It could be why she was able to handle things now. That, and the self starvation she’d undergone for years.

Smiling, trying to keep her mouth shut, Eve waited to be told what to do, rather than just running off impulsively. Edom would let her know what he wanted done after all, and that was the deal she’d made. For at least fifty years she had to be ready to hop to whatever her master told her. Including the stupid stuff, and things that annoyed her. At times he’d do that just to piss her off, so she could get used to working under varied levels of stress.

He’d flat out told her that, several times.

This time he just gave her a close look and then glanced at his watch.

“You can go over the shop here, and then get to Troy’s before morning. I’ll drive you, since you don’t have your car here.”

It was a bit clingier than what Barb had just mentioned, but Eve nodded.

“Sure. Let me start in the front here?” It didn’t sound all that subservient, but she was offering to do what had been said, immediately, which for that day seemed to be good enough. No one seemed to think Ed was being too soft on her, at least.

Rather than growl at her conversational tone, he winked.

“Good plan. I’ll be taking off as soon as my relief gets here, but then come back. So, are you up to helping out here for the night? Just clean, unless something comes up. Then try to stay out of it, unless asked to help. Understood? No matter what, don’t let yourself get to close to any Humans.”

It made sense to her, so she locked eyes with her new boss and smiled.

“Will do. Who’s on tonight?”

That it turned out was Cormack, who wasn’t the oldest or strongest Vampire in the world, but he was stable enough to keep an eye on her, which should be fine as long as she was actually useful, and not being a pain in the ass like everyone expected her to be.

The others cleared out, with both Barb and Bey looking back at her, though the tiny man smiled warmly and clasped his hands just outside the door.

“I have the utmost faith in you, Miss Benson.” Then he left, vanishing into the mall, walking like a totally normal person.

That got her to blink. He’d been gone already, and managed to come back without her noticing it? That was power, there.

Edom didn’t have to wait long, after the others got out of the place, because at about midnight the new shift came. Without bothering to explain the situation, her muscular and dark skinned buddy took off the girly white and green apron and he moved to the back closet, where his very nicely cut gray suit jacket was. Out of all of them he was the best dressed Vampire, most of the time. Bey wore suits, but they were all old and functional. Lenore had dresses on, but they were serviceable, not grand things.

Her new Vampire master looked good.

It occurred to her however, as she watched him leave, that looking at his butt was doing nothing for her. Sighing, she smiled at Cormack. He also had a suit on, but it was clearly a standard issue, black, off the rack, thing, and after a few moments he was back out front, wearing a Yoghurt World apron that was white and green. It was kind of fabulous, but he didn’t seem out of place wearing it. He looked to be in his early thirties, and had slightly curly hair.

There was no gray, and his face held no lines except right around the eyes. She just kept cleaning, moving at a normal Human speed, so that it wouldn’t call attention to them, if anyone was watching.

“Eve girl! I wasn’t thinking to see you for a long time, or more. Is Mr. Edom grooming you for my job then? I’d best hustle and find a new place if that’s the situation.” There was a bit of playfulness in his voice, until he looked at her closely and tilted his head. “Oh… My. You’re working here? I…”

She smiled, and kept moving, lifting the corner of the large and very heavy silver frozen treat machine, so that she could get under the plastic feet. Lenore would check her work and while it was totally clean already, she could tell if there was residual moisture in places like that.

“Yep! I’m not getting your job though. Ed mentioned testing me, so I think he’s probably standing outside, waiting for me to have some kind of issue. I won’t though. I should be done with the cleaning in about forty minutes, then…” Well, she could do it over again, but like she’d just thought, the place was clean.

Cormack fake blinked at her for a while, then cleared his throat. It was decently well done, though the timing was a bit off. It was hard to put her finger on, but she decided to pay attention to it, since mastering things like that was important. Keeping that in mind, she faked a yawn, covering it with a fist.

“Oh, sorry. Well, you know, night shift. I can help out though, as long as it isn’t anything too advanced? I’m supposed to avoid regular peeps, and all that.”

There was a slow nod, and a hand held up, as he moved to the phone. Just before it rang. That had always impressed her before, but this time she heard the chirp that came before the ring by a tenth of a second.

Eve got back to work. She didn’t know that Edom was watching, but she had a job to do, and it was better than dwelling on the constant and burning hunger that was inside her. It really didn’t get any worse, at least. Also, she didn’t think her will power was being worn down. That had happened with hunger when she was Human. A lot really. For the first day it was fine. She’d feel a bit sick, and hungry, but that wasn’t a huge issue. The second and third day weren’t all that bad, but she’d get tired, and after a while her will would wear away, until she ate. With practice she learned to do better than that, but it had been hard to manage at first.

So far, this really felt like the first day. Then, as far as she knew, it was. Doing the math, she worked out that she’d gotten her links set up well within twenty-four hours before.

So it might get harder, as time went on. That was a thing to watch for.

There was no sound when the new Vampire walked into the room. Just a sense of cool air, and a slight scent of jasmine. It was a bit out of place, since the redheaded girl, and it was a total dye job, had more of a punk look to her. A leather jacket, kind of like the one that had been burnt the day before, a pierced nose stud in on the left side, and crystalline green eyes.

Cormack was still speaking on the phone, so the girl, who was probably hundreds of years older than she was, for all they looked nearly the same age, flowed over to her.

“I’m the Proctor for this area. Nicole. I found a nest of babies that some ass-hat made and abandoned. Six of them. I can kill them all, but the new protocols say we’re supposed to try and save them if we can. So, I could use some help? We have about…” She pretended to look at a watch she wasn’t wearing and grinned, her fangs showing a bit as her eyes went a little red in the colored portion. “About six minutes before they start killing people. So, come on. We don’t have time to chat about it.” The woman took her arm, and started pulling a little, as if that made any kind of sense at all? You didn’t yank Vampires around, did you? Not even if you were old and tough.

Especially not then. The older a Vampire got, the better able they were to handle themselves, in the main. That meant being in control and not so impulsive.

She didn’t pull back though, since it would probably be less than a great plan.

“Um…” She was tempted to follow along, impulsively, but shook her head a little. “We need to get a team up for this. Fast, apparently. Um… Ed? Are you out there listening to this?” She didn’t know that for certain, but half a second later he was standing in front of her, his suit looking just as good as it had when he’d left not too long before.

“I am, as you guessed. That isn’t a bad call, getting a team together. So, who do you think we can get in for this? Baby Vamps can be wild. It’s pretty much their defining trait.”

She let herself nod at that.

“Yeah. I hear we’re all a bunch of pricks.” Then she let the left corner of her mouth come up, knowing she was being a wise ass. “Um, well, if you can trust me here, I can take over for a while, and Cormack can go? You too? Then… Let me call Zack and see if he wants in on it? That whole thing is one of his projects isn’t it?”

That got a slow nod from Ed, and Nicole winced at the casual use of Zack’s name.

“I’m not sure we should get the Line Walker in on this one. We owe him too much already. More to the point, I do, personally. We could use a few more bodies, but this isn’t something we can’t handle. The truth is, the last time this kind of thing came up, Bey suggested that I be put in as his sex slave for the next few hundred years. Bey likes me, too, so you can imagine what that really means. Let’s not compound that.”

Eve could kind of see that one, really. Zack had mentioned how bad the Vampires wanted to clear their debts. To him. The trouble was that she just didn’t know all that many Vampires, personally. She’d interviewed quiet a few, but that didn’t mean she could send them out as shock troops.

Eve shrugged, making herself do it, and took a deep breath.

“Well, Lenore then? And Bey, if you need him. He’s kind of busy though, unless this is related to the people that took me last night?”

The punk looking Vampire winced, and shook her head.

“Not Bey. The Ambassador… Well, she hates my guts, because I was always the pretty one, but we can try that. Someone else want to do the honors? We’ll just start sniping at each other if I call her.”

Edom, being a prince, got out his phone, and promptly handed it off to Eve. Because, she knew, that was her lot in life now. Sighing, making a show of it being a huge and put upon thing, she dialed the number for Lenore’s cell from memory. It came up before she finished, letting her just hit send.

“Yes?” The voice wasn’t terse at least.

“Hey Lenore. It’s Eve, your favorite newb. It looks like we have a situation developing? Someone brought over a bunch of kids and then just left them. Six, I think. The local Proctor is putting a team together for it, and I’m going to man the shop here. Would you be available for that, or at least know a few people that would be? There seems to be a real time limit on this one.”

There was a low growl, but it was soft enough that Eve didn’t think it would carry into the room.

“So much for an evening off. I have a few people that I can bring in for this. Where do we meet? I want to get this done as soon as possible.”

She nodded at that. Daytime was coming and while Lenore was old enough she didn’t have to sleep, her people probably would need to.

“Nicole? We have a team, but where do you want them.”

She spoke the directions and then hurried out, with the men, leaving Eve all alone.

“Mwa-ha-ha! Eve’s in charge now, bitches!”

The entire place was dead silent, except for the hum of the florescent lights. She got to work and finished her cleaning, finishing just in time for the phone to ring.

“Yoghurt World, this is Eve, how may I help you?”

There was a slow inhalation.

“Hello? Is this… the Vampire Embassy?”

“That’s right, how may I help you today?” The voice was a man’s, but there was a slow quality to it. A damp tone that spoke of being a Human being. Not that she could really put her finger on it.

“Uh… I was told to call you? My friend, my girlfriend, Maggie, she’s been worried that someone was following her. She told me that if she disappeared, that it wasn’t on purpose, and that she wasn’t just leaving me or anything. That could be a set up, a way to vanish without having to actually say goodbye, but she gave me a number to call, so it seems pretty serious. People don’t do things like that as a joke, do they? Though, Vampires… So, it’s not real, right?”

Eve nodded. It really did seem pretty real, didn’t it? If you were in the know about things like that.

“Did she give you any information to pass to us? About who she thought might be after her?”

“Yeah? It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I’m not really in on all that stuff. Role-playing and all that? She said that it was about Mages though. There isn’t a war on or anything, there was a name… eh… Marcus? Some guy from her club that has the hots for her, I think.”

Eve nodded to herself, making it happen, and took in what the man was saying. He thought this was all about a game? That was a good cover, honestly. A lot of younger Vampires, and even some other types of beings, were starting to use it. Sure, people thought they were freaks… But Human weirdoes, which made things a lot simpler. This was the first time she’d heard of a significant other being told that, but if it worked, it shouldn’t be a real problem.

“Okay, I’ll check on that, and make sure nothing is really going on. Hopefully she’s just off banging some hot chick, in preparation for that threesome you’ve been hinting after, yeah?”

There was a weak laugh.

“Um, sure. I guess. I don’t know. I think I might just be too boring for this kind of stuff.”

Eve didn’t know what to say, so ended the call, politely.

“Well, keep an eye out and remember, if anyone starts coming for you, run. Most of the time this stuff is harmless, so if you see a person that looks like they’re really coming for you, it’s probably not a game. Oh, hey, sorry, I should get your name? In case I run into Maggie?”

“Freddie. Fred Wilkes. Thanks, I guess? I hope I’m doing all of this right?”

“Perfect! Really, I think that you might be a bit less boring than you think, Fred. Call back if you see Maggie first?” She scribbled everything down, as the phone hung up from the other end. It was a cordless deal, and smaller than the one that Troy had. White, but when she glanced at it, the thing had a slight iridescent color that she’d never noticed before. Fingerprints too, so she wiped the thing off, before calling Lisa Weise.

That got her growled at.

“What the fuck do you want? Do you know what time it is?”

Eve looked at the clock behind the counter, which said it was just a bit before two in the morning.

“Yeah. Sorry. We might have a situation however. What can you tell me about a Mage named Marcus? It seems that he’s been stalking a Vampire, Maggie Sims. Hard enough that she told her Human boyfriend to call us if she vanished. He thinks it’s all a game, but you generally don’t just hunt down the undead, right? Not even mages would do that.” Not normally.

There was a low and tired sound then.

“Fuuu… K’ I’m on it. Marcus… Probably Marcus Aralias, and no, that isn’t his real name. Freaking pretentious piece of work. He’s into the dead though, so it makes sense. Probably trying to grab her up as a slave. Is she pretty? He’s a bit of a slug. Powerful enough, but instead of getting on a treadmill and improving his looks, he’s prone to getting his dates in rather sketchier ways. I’ll send a team over to look into it?”

“Thanks Lisa. Keep me in the loop? I don’t know when I get off here.” Which was just true. No one came back either, and the rest of the phone calls were all pretty easy for her to handle.

One of them was just from the Trollienkeine Embassy, where the girl that was working nights wanted to know if she could still get free treats from there. As far as Eve knew that was part of an actual deal that had been set up, so she said yes. That had a stream of very large, strong looking and slightly brutish people headed her way. They smelled really good too, she realized.

As if they were clearly identifying themselves as food.

She smiled, with her lips closed, and made treats for them all. A few of the large beings she even knew, it turned out. Like the big guy, Robby. He was vast, and smiled at her with all his teeth showing when he saw who it was.

“It is the girl of the day! Have you come to visit me then, on my exile to the nights? I have not seen you for weeks, due to the new duty.” He had an accent, but it wasn’t too bad. A bit German sounding, was all.

She winked with her left eye and kept working.

“You know it. Actually, I’m not really working, just filling in while everyone else is out doing fun things. I’m nice that way. So, how are the nights treating you?”

He was chatty enough, and it was pretty clear that she was at least a bit interesting to him. Given what their ladies looked like, that probably meant he was a pedo or something. Their kids were over six feet tall, as far as she could tell, and this guy was close to eight something. For him to think she was hot, with her thin looks… Yep, he was a perv at the very least. Not that she wouldn’t give him a twirl, sometime.

She’d never slept with a guy that big, after all.

It would be an adventure.

The hard part there was that she really just didn’t get turned on by the idea. It did nothing for her.

Rather than lament the loss of things she didn’t really need, she started cleaning again. If she ever did anything with Robby, it would be several years later, because at that moment she wasn’t too certain she might not just bite him. On the good side he was big enough that if he didn’t like it, he could say no and make it stick, even against someone like her.

No one even called until nearly six, when she was starting to slow down, not able to stop herself from doing it. That was Lenore, who at least sounded concerned.

“Eve? Are you still among the living?”

“Yeeaaah.” She made herself smile, and leaned on the counter. “I’m going down though. I can hang for a while. I think. As long as we don’t get any emergencies. Oh...Um… Maggie Sims. Note, on the counter?”

She had to stop talking about then, but managed to hold herself up. It was mainly about will power, she hoped. Her eyes started to close, but she fought it, even as time crawled around her. Looking at the clock, she understood that time was slowing for her, rather than her just shutting down. It was a chance for her to run then, and get to a hidden space.

Looking around, she noticed that there weren’t a lot of good places for a dead body in the store, really. Finally, in desperation, she took things out of the little closet where they kept the mops, buckets, shovels and tarps. All mall stores had those things, right? She put them away in Lenore’s office, figuring she was going to be bitched out about it, but as soon as someone got there, she was planning to simply go down. Sitting in a dark room. No matter how small it was. Hopefully she didn’t wake up with a crick in her neck.

Time positively dragged on her, and reached a point, at about seven-thirty, where she didn’t think she was going to make it anymore. The sun was up, and she could feel it, burning above her. Through the roof, and the light tight solid walls and everything. It was like she was standing in the Sahara. Without the sweat dripping down her brow. Still no one came for her, so she tried not to leave a corpse in the middle of the store.

The world started to look funny, after that. Distorted and with tracers being left after she moved. Not just for her, but anything in her field of vision. Eve just stood, practicing her yawning, and blinking. It was dangerous to close her eyes, since more than once she didn’t want to open them again.It was only her will power that kept her going, and her desire not to let Edom down.

A bit after nine, with no new news, Lisa came, opening the Mage embassy across the way. Candles and More was the cover name. It was a real store too, but Lisa was close to being just a political staffer, as far as things went. The third in command there, her buddy Warren, did most of the real store stuff. After about ten minutes she came over, a cup of store bought coffee in her right hand, and some papers in the left.

“Hi Eve! I thought Lenore would be here. Is something wrong?”

She shook her head, and smiled, knowing she had to sound drugged.

“Nooo. I’m good. I mean, I can’t move and the sun is trying to eat my soul, but that’s the lot of my kind during the day. Any news on Maggie?” She was pleased that she managed to get the words out. The look that Lisa gave her was one that let her know she wasn’t sounding as good as she thought though.

“Yeah. It’s a pretty clear case of kidnapping. Marcus had her in his basement, raping her, when the team went in. Using magic to compel her, not force, obviously. She wasn’t pleased, when we broke that for her, but she managed to take it out on him, not our people. I basically just came to find out what you wanted done with him? This isn’t a death penalty case for our people.”

Was it for Vampires? Eve was willing to bet that she’d have killed the man if she was able to. There were worse ways to be raped than being compelled to do it, true, but she wasn’t all that big on rapists as a rule. In fact, of the ones that had done her, all but one of them was dead now. Actually that last one was too, but he’d started out that way, being a Manthori Vampire.

Then again, that had been him just having sex with her, to his mind. Manthori weren’t pretty, so if they wanted to get some, they had to use their powers for it, if they weren’t going to just hit someone in the head and force them. Honestly, she could nearly forgive him for it, though she probably would have given him a twirl if he’d asked. It wasn’t like she wasn’t open minded that way.

“I don’t know? Can you hold him for the day? I’ll send this up the food chain. We should at least make sure this Marcus guy doesn’t do it again. Any ideas there? Not that anyone will listen to me…” She yawned again, because it was an excuse to do something. Her eyes were about to close on their own, and her limbs felt dead. Like the real kind.

She could move them though, so did, wiping at the counter.

Lisa screwed her face up and then shook her head a little.

“Not really. Our way of handling things like this is basically to use a spell to prevent a person from doing that kind of thing again. Horrible pain if they try, that kind of thing. We should set that up, I suppose. Even if your people kill him later. Um… You did mention that. Are you a Vampire now? I didn’t know that it was coming this soon.”

Tiredly she opened her mouth and pointed, then slowly extended her teeth. The yummy smelling and no doubt tasty, Mage didn’t even jump back. She really wasn’t in danger, since Eve doubted she could have caught her in a foot race just then. Then, just as slowly, she popped them back into place.

“That’s me, Eve the new Vampire girl. I think… This… Being left here, is hazing.” She managed a tired grin, and sold it pretty well. “You know, how they tell you that it’s all about exciting beatings and being locked in a coffin, but then just make you answer the phone all day? That sounds like a thing, doesn’t it?”

Lisa didn’t laugh.

“For them? It just might. Well, good luck. You can do it.” Then she left, as if talking to her wasn’t what was keeping Eve going?

It was hardly fair.

Chapter six

By noon Eve was actually convinced that either all of the Vampires she knew had gone out and died, or they were actually doing some of that hazing. Just in case, she held off on hating them just yet, because it was really a lot more likely that they’d run into actual trouble than that they were risking having corpse her found in their otherwise empty store.

It was all she could do to hang on, the phantom sun burning her. It didn’t do physical damage, but it felt like she was standing under a magnifying glass, after a while. The tight beam of the mighty orb above trying to make like she was an ant. Moving actually helped, a little bit. Like the bright bit of hatred had to try and track her. She kept herself as busy as she could manage, which didn’t do a lot. When people came in, she made things for them, and managed to take money, she thought. That she wasn’t totally certain of that was probably a sign that she was more than a little out of it. The strange thing there was that, inside, she was a lot more clear than the outside was. Observing herself screw up and say goofy things, fighting for control.

Thankfully, at about four, the intensity of the light from outside, a thing which wasn’t able to touch her at all, started to die down. Not totally, but it was clear that nighttime was coming. That meant she was nearly coherent when Alice,from the Australian node, called in.

Their second in command over there.

“Lenore? This is Alice, I was hoping to set up a node transfer for Ambassador Bisbee? The Crolosect? It’s willing to pay in emeralds, so I don’t think we have to incur any more debt on this one. I was just hoping to use your contacts there?”

Eve nearly growled at the stupid Vampire woman. Like it was hard to just call up Zack? He was incredibly sweet, for a Greater Demon. It was that part that got her to sigh. Alice could have also given her a chance to speak first, couldn’t she?

“Hi Alice. Eve Benson here? I’m not Mr. Hartley’s girlfriend, but I think I can set that up for you, if the amount of emeralds is enough. What’s being offered?”

There was a pause, then the woman, who had to be smart enough to hold her rather important job, just moved on, as if working with Eve just made sense. They’d spoken before after all, and it wasn’t a secret that Eve knew who Zack was. Heck, they’d lived together for a while. That kind of thing was popular gossip in the Vampire world, she was willing to bet.

“Um, five kilos. Well, six, but I get a percentage. They’re rather pretty, but I suppose I could part with a few of them for you, out of my portion? Call it a hundred grams?”

Because that was fair? Eve had barely gotten through her math classes, but she’d done it, and even paid attention to basic measurements. Anger tried to rise in her, as hunger beat into her body suddenly. Glancing at the silver side of the smaller of the two frozen yogurt machines, she saw that her fangs were out and that she’d gone into the full solid red eyed thing that Vampires did.

She looked hot.

Smiling, she took a breath, knowing that the woman was setting her up for negotiations, not trying to cheat her. Starting low was just a way to set the field. Everyone knew that. Poor people did at least, and she’d lived long enough that way to know the basics.

Her goal wasn’t just money though, she needed power too.

“Hmmm. Tell you what. I have a new business starting in a few weeks or months. The time frame isn’t set yet. We have a way of making animal blood taste decent. Kind of like the new packaged Human? It will be a lot cheaper. About five to ten dollars American per serving. Richard Swerlin set that part up, the low cost. Marissa from the Council is actually running it, but if you don’t mind shilling our product down there, and in New Zealand, I think I could go and beg what you want from Zack. I’ll probably have to take it up the ass in order to get this done, so, you know, I want some of the pretties too. Half a kilo. I value my behind.” She was lying, but Alice didn’t know that, did she?

No, she just didn’t care about Eve’s ability to sit, apparently.

“Two-hundred fifty grams, but I’ll look at this product, if it’s as good as all that. I won’t promise to sell it, without making sure it’s quality first.”

Eve frowned, her last nerve just about ready to snap, but there was still that little sense of detachment inside. It saved her. Somehow.

“Three hundred, and I’ll send along a sample for you in a couple of days? If you don’t like it, you don’t have to touch it. If you do, and you want to help out, you won’t get paid, but I’ll make sure that Marissa knows who you are as something other than a person to screw over, come accounting time?”

There was silence, but the woman decided not to take it as a threat, which was good. Eve hadn’t meant it that way.

“I think we can work together. Do I just send the emeralds along with The Line Walker, or…”

“That will work. Let me call this in. I’m actually here alone at the moment.” It would have been scary, but she wasn’t feeling too bad anymore. Actually she felt… good.

Hungry, and pissed at being left alone to suffer all day, but her links to the energy sources, the people that were helping her stay alive, were still strong enough. She let go of the upset feelings and got off the phone.

As she’d figured, Zack had no problem at all with doing the pickup for that kind of payment, even if she was being ridiculously over compensated for her side of it at the same time. She just told him about it, since bothering to lie to him was a waste of time. He’d know, and honestly, that was the kind of thing that weak people did. The strong owned their actions, right or wrong. If she wanted to be powerful, she needed not to lie. That meant backing everything up directly, which would eventually be harder, probably, but it was something to think about.

She did call Lenore after that though, since Edom didn’t answer his phone.

The woman picked up, her voice a bit annoyed.

“Yes?”

“Just checking in, to make sure everyone is alive? Oh, this is Eve?”

There was a pause, then a whisper that she heard perfectly.

“Ed? It’s Eve? She’s… awake already?”

That got her to roll her eyes.

“Already? I didn’t go down at all. Bravely mumbling at people, and scaring all the best customers away, no doubt. Or… at least making them think I do drugs. I actually think I gave a lot of stuff away. You’re all good though?”

Edom joined the conversation then, chuckling.

“Yes. Both of our cars were destroyed by the youngsters, so we had to have everyone hold up in a barn about two hundred miles from there. Everyone else with us went down for the day.” His voice was rich and powerful sounding, mellow at the same time. “I tried to call, but I don’t have coverage out here, it seems. Lenore is on a different plan. I might just switch. I take it there were no problems?”

She paused for a few seconds.

“Not really. Staying up sucked, I won’t lie about it, and I felt a bit ready to snap at some fools earlier, even though they were actually being pretty normal, but I didn’t. We had one thing, a Mage kidnapped a Vampire woman. Lisa and her team got her out. We need to deal with the guy though. I set up a transfer for Zack and made some product here. I also didn’t get to a computer, which kind of sucks. I need to get some things ordered ASAP. I’ll deal though. You all seem to have the shorter end of the stick. Do you want me to charter a bus or something? Send someone to you?”

Lenore spoke then, her voice a bit calmer. A lot, really. She suddenly seemed almost pleased.

“That would be lovely, thank you dear. We need to use our people on this, or else these brats will just ruin the vehicles again. I have some people for that. In the blue book, on the top of my desk? You’ll want Franklin hauling services. I don’t think that we can move these children before they wake for the evening. We’ll tie them up however. I saw some good, stout looking, rope in the corner.”

She got the location, which wasn’t a real address, and called it in. The man on the phone acted like being asked to haul six angry tied up people, and a bunch of others, was perfectly normal. Not that it wasn’t going to cost. Two thousand dollars, for a few hours work. It wasn’t that steady she was willing to bet, or else she would have considered going and doing that kind of thing for a living. On the great side, the man didn’t require payment up front, so she wouldn’t have to drain most of her own money for the trip herself.

It didn’t get anyone in right away though, since most of the people that could handle the duty were actually gone, in the truck with the baby Vampires. Except Barb, and when she got up, it was pretty clear that she’d be needed to watch the club. It was Friday night after all, and at least one of them needed to be there. True, most of the time nothing happened that the bouncers and bar staff couldn’t handle, and Troy was good at his managing job, but weird stuff was going down suddenly, and that meant someone was going to be needed there, just in case.

Edom called and told her that, his voice… nearly scared. It wasn’t like him at all, but she got the idea. She was an unpredictable newbie, and going to get people killed when she flew off the handle, at any moment. Except that she was doing all right so far. Oh, she felt like she really could do that. Lose it and go ape-shit on someone, but she hadn’t. And wouldn’t.

“I can hold things down here. Just, you know, I want backing, if I screw up. When, I mean. I’ll try to keep the death toll down. Barb is solid too, and so is Troy. We can handle this end for a while. Get those kids taken care of, while I’m still managing to sound like I’m not one of them.” She meant it to be funny, and it did get a laugh.

From Nicole, the Proctor, who was clearly just getting up for the day.

Wimp.

“We should be in about ten? Maybe a bit later than that.” Then the phone started to die, since batteries weren’t infinite.

Edom called out, hearing it taking place.

“Be good!”

Then no one spoke anymore, leaving her in charge again. Still.

Almost as if he’d been waiting for her to hang up the phone, Zack walked in then, his face passive.

She didn’t make him ask though.

“Baby Vamp pickup. The new kids trashed all the cars, so Lenore, Edom and Nicole, along with Cormack and some others, all got stuck sleeping in a barn all day. They should be back in about six hours or so. Provided nothing goes wrong. Want a snack?” Greater Demons liked to eat, after all. Loved, was probably closer to the truth. “Or we could fuck? I need to stay close to the phone, but if you want…”

He actually smiled then and shook his head.

“I’m good on that second one, but I could use some food. I have an account here?”

Which she knew. Actually, he got anything he wanted for free. It was a slow way to pay off the Vampire Council’s debts to him, but it was a way. Really, if she could get him to lower that, it would be worth a lot, as far as cred with that level of Vampires went, she was willing to bet. Still, other than blowing him without using her teeth too much, she was at a loss as to what she could offer him. He was pretty much already going to get that for free too, so there didn’t seem to be a lot she could offer left.

He wanted one, of everything, and then got picky about how she made them. Not too bad though, since they’d played that game before. She was actually all right at building the things offered there. She’d read Lenore’s notebook and everything.

“Better. Hey, do you need to order some things for that blood you want to make up? I kind of noticed that you didn’t go home, so if I can get a list, I can order it for you?”

There was no talk about her paying for it either, since he probably didn’t care about the few hundred dollars even next day shipping would cost for it.

“That would be great. Here, let me write it all down. I memorized it. Keeley made me. Not that it took yelling and a guilt trip. I’m not that stupid.” When a super genius tells you that you’ll need to know something, it makes sense to actually try, right?

He got the list and the number for the butcher that she’d been courting and went to set that all up, but reached into his pocket first, and put a little bag on the counter. It was made of black velvet and clanked a bit.

“Three hundred grams of cut emeralds. Not the highest quality, but large enough to be interesting. Do you need anything? Blood? A cute stock boy from a local store?”

She was starving, but that wasn’t new. So she shook her head.

“I’m good for a few days still. Over a week. I hope so at least. As for a cute boy… Well, hinting aside earlier, I haven’t felt so much as a tingle down there for a few days. Less than fun, but…”

She was going to say that she’d live, but really, that ship had sailed.

“No big thing. It won’t stop you from doing anything. So, are you going to try and stay up all the time now? That’s a big deal. Once you get it, and go all day once, it should get easier each time. I say try it. Your goal isn’t to be another low level Vampire. Besides, if you can take days too, then Lenore and I can actually go away on vacation sometime. Well worth doing.”

She let her head bob from side to side. There was truth there.

“Half the Vampire Council’s debt to you, if I can pull it off? You have to help though. Come and make sure I don’t doze off or anything. Slap me or whatever will work?” Super Vampire active drugs? If that was a thing, she wanted in. Staying up had been brutally hard. Like actual torture, for big parts of it. Even if it got a bit easier…

Zack nodded.

“Half their debt to me. It really will get easier for you. I think that getting through this next day will be about as hard, but after that? You should be able to halve the difficulty every day or two. Fifteen days, and you’ll be past the need to sleep and probably able to walk in the sun without it being much of an issue. Hot, and horribly painful, but…” He shrugged, which looked real on him. He was a master of that kind of thing, seeming Human. “So, torture really. If you do it though, it will get you a lot closer to where you want to be. In more than one way. Also into a lot more work, but if you were afraid of that you’d be stripping in Vegas right now, not here, acting as a minor political official with no training.”

She nearly held out her hand and said deal, but that would be the last thing she ever did under her own free will, if she slipped that way. Maybe not with Zack, because he wasn’t as powerful that way as Keeley was, but it was a good thing to remember all the time anyway. Don’t make open ended bargains with his kind. Not even if she liked them.

Darla had made sure that all her friends knew that one.

The Greater Demon known as The Technician.

It wasn’t totally random that she thought of her blonde high school friend either, since the woman walked in right then, her face bright and happy. It was nearly like she’d planned the whole thing, which was actually possible, if a bit of wasted effort.

“Horrible torture? For who? Plus, stripping? Is that a new hobby for you Zack? We’ll want to have you shift some of your musculature around. Really, that isn’t a horrible idea…”

He nodded, but didn’t say anything, since Darla was teasing him. She was his mentor in all things Demon though, so if she decided that seeing him in a g-string was a good thing, then it could very easily be the actual plan for the next few weeks.

Eve moved around the counter, her mouth closed, but smiling.

“Darla! I haven’t seen you in months.” It was true. They’d kind of drifted apart, after a while.

People did that after school was done.

The really hot girl, who’d been the head cheerleader for more than one reason, hugged her back, then patted her shoulder gently.

“I’ve seen you though. Several times a week. Making sure that I didn’t get in the way of your experiment. Which is working I see? Zack mentioned that I should come and see what you’ve managed. It’s pretty impressive, Eve. Now, I hear that you plan to battle sleep? Or the death of the day, to be more exact. Zack is right on that one. If you can do it for a while, not giving in, you’ll be free of the compulsion to die each day. You did it once, so you can do it again. My guess is that Keeley had a hand in this, so far. This has her written all over it.”

Eve sighed, which meant taking a breath first, having forgotten.

“She did? I… Haven’t seen her for a while.”

If she’d made a deal or bargain, and didn’t realize it…

Zack shook his head.

“Then it would have broken when you died. No, I get it. She showed you how to ‘meditate’ right? By focusing on the sense of what it is you’re trying to hold in mind?”

That was right, so she nodded, and Darla looked away, holding a hand over her mouth. Hiding a darling smile.

“She taught you Demon Magic. Not a lot, and you aren’t very good at it yet, but enough to help you move past some of the problems of being a youthful Vampire, if you use it. Clever of her. Humans can do it, if they try. Many of the yogic magical traditions are actually similar. I’d wondered how she was going to do it. Technically you’re not her person to meddle with, but teaching a simple skill? Hardly a thing anyone would go to war over. Especially since it makes you more valuable, rather than less.”

War?

“Um, I think I missed something. Who’d be fighting over me?”

Darla smiled, which was a slightly wicked thing. Teasing and saucy.

“In this case, Zack and Keeley. This is Zack’s Territory, and while you had a limited protection bargain in place as a Human, that went away when you died. So, you’re no longer tied to me at all. Yes, you were my person, until the other day. Now you’re one of Zack’s, unless you choose to move? If that comes up, you’re more than welcome to come live in Arizona. I always have need for good people in my organization. I hear that you’re putting together a massive power grab already however? Cheap blood to undercut Keeley’s operation? Rebekah mentioned it the other day. She’s actually very pleased to see you doing so well, by the way.”

That got them talking about things, and Zack held up the sheet of paper in his hand.

“Speaking of which, I need to see about this order. Darla?”

“I’ll stay here and annoy Eve for a bit? Then we can go work on your new career as a stripper. I’m thinking you should start out in the gay scene…”

Zack waved and left, Darla winking at her.

“He’s a bit hung up on Human notions still. Especially around sex and murder. Now, focus on what it felt like, back when you were Human, and had just eaten a full meal. Not the bloating part, the sense of not needing to eat.” It was a weird thing to say, but her buddy was apparently serious, so she tried her best. It didn’t instantly wipe out hunger, and when they tried feeling calm and relaxed it didn’t take out rage either, but both were a bit better.

“Keep that up. It pulls a bit on the energy links you have, but not very much, since you aren’t doing it too well yet. As you improve you might need to be careful to have a full set of links at all times. You should also make yourself feel alive and awake during the day, and like the sun isn’t burning you. Those will both be harder, but if you do it well enough it might make a difference. You’re walking a hard path, Eve. I always expected great things from you, however.”

“You did? Based on what?”

There was a slow smile and a look around.

“Why, the way you killed your mother, of course. It took work to make certain you didn’t get caught, but you didn’t make the same mistake twice. The others were handled much better. Hands on, which was strange, for one your age, but it showed that you weren’t willing to make everyone else do your dirty work. Now though, you really should, when you can. Oh, stand out and be the best Vampire you can, but use the heck out of others, too. Carefully, and make sure they always feel loved, but do it. Trust me, people, Vampires and Greater Demons, will use you. Like Zack?”

She grinned, her face lovely for the move. Perfectly made up and just the right color for the United States. White with no hint of anything else in her history. Eve was at least part Latino. She’d never met her mother’s people though, so didn’t know how much. It showed in her skin though, or had. Now she was way lighter, she realized.

Being dead was awesome that way.

Eve made a considering face, and nodded a few times, trying not to oversell the whole thing.

“I can do that. So, want to come help me clean the garage this weekend?”

That got her hugged again, as if she were being brilliant and clever.

“There you go! You should offer something that I want, that you don’t care about for the service though. Friendship, sex, emeralds?”

“Want an emerald? I have a bunch of them. What I don’t have is a garage. I’m kind of staying with Troy, or was. I guess I’m just going to stay up for a while now? I should get some clean clothes and a shower, if I’m going to try that.”

Darla held her hand out, for the free gem. It was free after all.

“Except for the strings attached to it. Not that I have anything to try and use you for right now. We should have a sleep over, or… Well, not one where we sleep. Maybe a camping trip? It’s a bit cold out right now.” Making it less than a good idea.

“Like we feel cold? I know though, you should come over for Thanksgiving, in a few days? At my house? Zack and his Lenore are coming, at six, so you should be free?”

She tilted her head.

“Almost no chance of that happening this year. I have to answer to Edom anyway. Still, I can work here, and he could go? He’d be a good guy for you to hang with, you know? Bey, too. Have you met him?”

“I have! He’s a delightful being. Do you think you can have some of your new blood product ready by then? We’ll have Human as well, but a good hostess should strive for variety. I will be recommending you for the Christmas party however. Finias will want you there for it, especially given all that you’ll have accomplished by then.

It was nice to get a vote of confidence, wasn’t it?

She was tempted to try and keep Darla, but the phone rang, and her friend touched her arm again.

“We’re all very pleased this is working out for you, Eve. Don’t forget to use your meditations. Constantly now. You have a choice to make. Do you merely move past what others would do, or will you step beyond that, and become something new and special?” Then in the time it took to walk around the counter, she just turned and walked out the front door, heading back into the mall.

Eve grabbed the phone up, doing it a bit too fast. It wasn’t so much that the thing broke, but it made a slapping sound against her hand. People didn’t do that kind of thing. Normally. It would look funny, and was a sign that she wasn’t in the kind of control she wanted to have. Still, she didn’t have the skill to focus on a feeling of peace while speaking. Not that she knew of.

She tried anyway.

“Yoghurt World. Eve Benson speaking. How may I help you?”

It was going to end up being her new catch phrase she knew. There were worse things to have to say all the time.

“Fucking bitch! I’m going to come there and rape your ass until you bleed out, you fucking, slut! You cost me the woman I love!”

“Um, excuse me? Not that it doesn’t sound like a tempting offer, but… Who?”

“Maggie! They took her, and I know it was you! Those Council stooges told me that the Vampires did it. That the ambassador there sent them. I’m not going to take this! She’s mine. She loves me, or she should. I… Why did you take her?” He moved from psychopathic rapist to plaintive little boy in about two sentences. Not a record, perhaps, but pretty darned good, really.

“Um, well, you kind of used magic on her, against her will. No one really likes that. You are Marcus right?” She might have that wrong. It could be some other guy that was mind raping women. If they had that power, there would be more than one of them around.

“Yeah. But… It wasn’t like that! I love her. I just… Look, I’m not some great looking guy, but she likes me. I can tell. So, I.. You know, used what I could. It’s no different than if I were attractive, or good with words. I have power, and it isn’t wrong to use it.”

She’d heard that argument before, actually.

“Except that backfired didn’t it? You can’t win a woman over by enslaving her mind, dumbass. Right now the Mages are going to set it up so you can’t do that again, and… Fuck. Maggie will probably kill you. I’ll try to talk her out of it, but you have to fix yourself. First, from now on, don’t use magic on anyone. I mean anything at all. If you want to, and that means dead people too, then call the embassy here and ask them if it’s all right first. Then… We need to find some way to keep you alive until Maggie calms down.”

“You do? We do, I mean?”

“Yeah. So, from now on, you’re my bitch, got it? You do what I tell you and if you don’t, I won’t help you. In that case, run. I can guarantee you though, doing this my way will be safer and probably get you a lot more loving than you get now. Not from her, most likely, but if you run right now, you’ll probably end up a girl. The hard way.”

She was lying, and way overselling the idea, but it was better than having the man curse her. Mages could do that, and that would work on Vampires too. Not lethally, but having your car break down three times a week would be too much of a pain to bother with.

“I don’t know. I… Really, this all went so wrong. I thought the others in the group… I mean, most of them are just people. Regular, you know? We play games, and… I didn’t even know she wasn’t Human at first. I asked her out, but… Well, that didn’t work. It’s not fair. I can’t help the way I look.”

Eve had to snort then.

“Diet, exercise, um… Freaking magic? You can do a lot that way. More than most people. Screw it though. Come in right now. We’ll…” She didn’t know.

Not at first, after a moment, she realized there was something to do that wouldn’t even remove her from the mall. Two things, honestly.

“Bring exercise clothes and something else to change into.”

“What?”

“If you want to fix this, then get in here. By the way, don’t threaten me, or anyone, ever again. You suck at it. You’re going to rape me? That wouldn’t be the way that one went. Trust me. No, from now on, you’re just going to do what I tell you to, and like it. Hopefully that will be enough. It might not, so be on good behavior.” She was pissed, and kind of felt like having him gang raped in prison, but he sounded so pitiful. Eve was a soft touch that way.

Of course, if he didn’t toe the line he was going to find out that things were likely to go very poorly for him indeed. After all, there was one way to stop magic that worked pretty much every time.

Kill the Mage.

Nothing else happened for a while, except for some people coming in, just to get treats. Regular people. A couple with their three kids. The children were little monsters, or at least two of them were, and fat. The oldest girl was normal in size and didn’t act out like the younger ones did, so it might not have been that the parents were horrible.

Even though loud, they were all happy enough though, and that was good to see. These parents might not have been perfect, but they weren’t selling their kids for extra cash on the side, either.

Once they left, Eve just set to cleaning, since it was important to keep on top of things like that. Lenore would be upset if she came back to find her embassy a mess.

The whole time she tried, and mainly failed, to push hunger away, as well as feel calm. The idea that Keels had taught her something like Demon magic was a bit freaky, but it wasn’t that really, was it? No, if that was the case it would have worked better. Still, it was enough to be worth trying.

She did want to be special, didn’t she?

Honestly, it was the whole reason she was there.

Chapter seven

Eve didn’t know what to expect from the evening after that, but it wasn’t going to plan, she could tell. That made itself clear at about seven-fifteen, when a young looking woman walked into the place. She had a haircut that made her face look pretty oval, and a button nose. Gold wire rimmed glasses, that held simple glass in them, not corrective lenses added to a slightly dorky sense to her. She was thin enough, and really short. Maybe four feet and eleven inches, if she stood up straight. That was with the leather boots she had on too, which boosted her upward by at least two inches.

There was nothing about her that said she was into sex, or on the prowl, but she still managed to be cute enough about it. Adorkable, Eve had heard the look called. If she was a six on a ten scale though, it was only because her smile was bright enough to be disarming.

The woman, a Vampire who seemed well fed and old enough to have simple Human mannerisms down, moved over to the counter smoothly. A bit too much so. She flowed into place, rather than moving quickly.

Looking at Eve frankly, her mouth screwed over to one side. It was adorable.

“Hi? I’m Maggie Sims, I need to fill out some paperwork? There was an… Issue yesterday, and the Mages got involved. I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do, but I got a call from them? The Mages?”

Eve walked around the counter, and held her hand out to shake. It was a thing that Vampires did, at times. Like grownups and everything. The older Vampire returned the move smoothly, as if it were expected and she really wasn’t the nineteen year old she looked like.

“Eve Benson. I didn’t know you were coming in, but it’s good timing. I should warn you though, Marcus Aralias is coming in, too. He’s supposed to at least. He called up to threaten me, and I told him that if he got his butt over here I might be able to help him survive. Is that a problem? The Mages are good with us killing him, if you don’t think he’s worth the trouble. We won’t put up with BS like this. Not now. We’re making a big push, and telling our people they can’t mind fuck into donating the blood they need to survive. That means we’re not putting up with this kind of thing either. It’s your call though.” Not that Eve knew that for certain.

The woman sighed, and let her shoulders fall a bit.

“I’m pissed, but Mark isn’t an asshole, most of the time. I don’t know what the heck he was thinking though. Did he say? I thought we were friends. Not that close, maybe, but… This doesn’t make sense, does it? Why would he try to enslave me like that?”

Eve blinked, several times.

“Um… Because he wanted to hit that and figured that you’d tell him to get lost if he just walked up and asked, or suggested a date?” Why else would he try that kind of thing? It wasn’t just about having power over the woman, or he would have tried to be more subtle.

“What? That’s insane! I mean, he’s not exactly great to look at, but he’s nice… I thought he was. How shallow does he think I am, anyway? Like looks are the only thing that would… Argh.” She looked away, and spoke through gritted teeth, then shook her head.

“I guess he doesn’t need to die. I kicked his butt for him pretty well last night. He was making me suck his cock, which was fine. I mean I really felt into it at the time, until those Mage women came in and broke the spell. I still… You know, it wasn’t like I wouldn’t have done it, if he’d asked? I have a boyfriend, but it’s an open thing. Poly? Anyway, I don’t let people strip my will, but… I don’t want him dead either.”

Eve nodded, trying to think about it all. That made some sense.

This was a woman that was so old that the idea of sucking this idiot off wasn’t a big thing to her. That was just Tuesday in her world, or something. So the real issue was being forced to lose her will. She was willing to call it good though, after just a bit of an ass kicking? That was hardly her being a bitch about things, was it?

“All right. Well, I’ll put a word in for him that way. He still has to be punished for it, but if you don’t want him killed, or hurt too much, we can probably work something out. It will be up to him then, as to what he wants to do. If he won’t cooperate, then I doubt he’ll make it very long. Let me see if I can get the right forms? If you change your mind, please let me know first, so we can move him someplace else for the death. I don’t want to make a mess in here, if I can help it. My boss will be back in a few hours. You know how it is. I’m new, so I want to make a good impression.” She meant new as a Vampire, but that didn’t mean Eve didn’t know where the correct forms were kept.

After about ten minutes Bob, the Ambassador for the Mages, came across from his store, a decently chubby fatbeard following along behind him. Eve hated to be mean that way, but the redheaded guy actually had a neck beard and everything, as well as a stupid golf style hat and a bit of a waddle to his walk. His shoes were regular running ones though, and he had on tan slacks and a blue button up shirt. He also carried a bag with him, that looked like it might just hold a few changes of clothing.

That or a bunch of magical weapons. If so, he needed to lead with those, since Eve really doubted he was going to be able to get to them by being sneaky. The man looked clumsy. That could be a trick, but she didn’t really think so. That would make it a lot more effective though, if he was.

She raised a hand to Bob, who actually smiled at her. It wasn’t a totally happy thing, but he was nice that way. Polite and always willing to try and work with people first.

“Maggie? This gentleman is Robert Millhouse. The Ambassador for the Mages here at Westfield. Bob, this is Maggie Sims. Ms. Sims was just telling me that she doesn’t want Marcus here killed for what he did. What’s the Mage community stance on this?”

The fatbeard blanched at least, and started to whine something, which she didn’t care about at all. Her hand came out as if to cover his slightly blubbering lips.

“Silence. You were caught in the act, and this isn’t your trial. Bob and I are hashing out your sentencing here. Maggie will get to say her piece about it, too. You don’t need to speak at all, and trust me, doing that will work against you.” She didn’t growl at all, but did look over as Bey walked into the frozen yogurt shop.

The ancient Vampire didn’t speak, freezing for a second while looking at Maggie, then simply moving back toward the counter and bowing to everyone there. Except Marcus, who he glared at. Angrily. Like the younger man was about to die for his sins.

Eve could see that.

“Please, everyone have a seat. Bob, do you or… Mark here, need anything to eat or drink?” She waited, since they were the guests, really. Then she looked at Bey. “Sir?” She wasn’t giving his name on purpose, since it was very possible that Maggie would freak out if she knew. Not in a good, there’s a rock star in the room way either. Even though she should have.

The older men both shook their head, and surprisingly Marcus asked if he could have some water.

Politely.

She got it for him, along with a straw and a lid, then settled in next to Maggie, to show solidarity. Bey held his position by the counter, ready to kill someone, if it became needed.

Bob had part of a plan, at least.

“Marcus here is to be placed under a binding, so that he can’t use a compulsion spell again for several years. If he tries to do so, he’ll be subjected to horrible pain. Normally that would be the only real punishment for something like this. Most people under such magical persuasion don’t tend to view it as rape. Also, he’s been… Corrected already.” There was a gesture toward the chubby face, which was nicely black and blue in places.

It had clearly been done carefully though. He was able to walk and didn’t have any broken bones at all.

Eve glanced at Maggie, who was nodding along with what Bob said.

“Are you satisfied with that for your part? You said he was your friend, and that you didn’t want him harmed too much. I think, if you’re happy with that, then we can let that part go, as long as that magic is done, and demonstrated to Maggie to her satisfaction? Also, Mark, understand this here, I was planning to kill you when you came in. Maggie, the woman whose will you thought wasn’t important enough to leave her, used that very same will to save you. People don’t get to mess that kind of thing up too many times in life. Correct that. I’m not going to threaten you over it, since Ms. Sims says this part is done. Feel bad though. Understood?” She wanted to hit him a few times, and maybe leave him crippled, but he already kind of was.

The big guy nodded though, and wisely didn’t speak.

Bob nodded too, and a moment later, so did Maggie.

Eve clapped, happily. She pretended to at least.

“Excellent. Now we just have to handle the fact that you, and you alone, declared war on the local Vampire population. We don’t really love the idea of being made slaves as a group. I take it you were acting alone in that? Bob? This wasn’t sanctioned, was it? Some kind of thing to test the waters and see how we’d all respond? If so, it was a dumb move. I doubt that though. The Mage Council is decently bright, as far as I’ve seen. You too. So…” She grinned at him, then nudged fatbeard under the table with her foot. Gently. “That means you need to admit that you were acting alone now, Marcus. You could turn this into a war, but other people dying because your low self-esteem and lack of good habits makes it hard to get some pussy is a bit much to ask, don’t you think?”

“Yeah.” The man looked miserable then, as if he knew what was coming. Eve was nearly certain he didn’t really have a clue though. It wouldn’t be as simple or easy as what he wanted. “It wasn’t about war, I… I didn’t mean to hurt you… I just wanted you to love me back.”

Maggie, clearly being a better person than Eve was, softened then.

“That wasn’t the way to do it though. I can’t protect you from this part of things. Why? Why do that to me? You never even asked first.”

There was a huge shrug then.

“Because you would have said no? All women do. I tried to ask you out and you said you were busy. I’m not incapable of learning, you know. It isn’t fair.”

There was a flare of energy, and she was about to punch the man in the head, when Bob waved his right hand, directly in the face of the other man.

“Calm down, Marcus. It wasn’t fair to strip someone else of their will, either. The answer though, is that we don’t allow our people to use their powers to control others against their will, and you know it. Now we need to see what sort of reparations the Vampires will accept in exchange for your life.”

Now Eve grinned, her fangs showing. That got the dumpy fellow to stare at her. Part of it was fear, but she was also good looking. If he liked Maggie, then she was practically a cover model, no doubt. It was enough to get his attention. The man didn’t look very old, though she tried not to presume anything.

After all, Bob looked like a tired thirty-something and was probably pushing ninety. Bey looked older and was in the range of at least a few thousand. Marcus could be older too. Probably not, because all the healing mages she’d seen that looked young were also in great shape. The discipline to do one thing translated into other kinds pretty well.

“What kind of work do you do, Mark?” It sounded nearly like she was changing the topic, but she really just wanted to know how much of his time she could take up without hurting others. If he was a doctor or something, it might not be that much.

“What? I’m independently wealthy. I won the Powerball a few years ago, so I don’t have to work. Why?”

She rolled her eyes.

“Fine. Bob, can you put him in as a clerk in the mornings? I’ll be over to keep an eye on him, and that will free Warren up to do his actual job. There will be a training program, and working at different places here at Westfield, until such time that we’re sure you aren’t a danger to yourself or others. Right now, if everyone is fine with this, we’re sending you off to the Trollienkeine, for a workout. I wasn’t joking about training. If you run out of things to do, just come find me, or whoever is working here. We’ll have things for you to do. At night you can go home, but there will be no social gatherings or… This club you both belong to?” That was addressed to Maggie.

She nodded a little.

“That’s only one night per week. I don’t know what else he does.”

Eve faked a shrug, and waved at Mark.

“Now? He works and works out. Maybe practices healing magic. Bob, will you set up training for that? Healing Mages are almost never the ones making problems. That takes empathy and junk, right?”

It made sense to her, but Marcus started to whine, almost immediately.

“That isn’t fair! All I did was get her to like me… Urk.”

The fat man stopped talking, since Eve was picking him up, across the table, by the throat. With her left hand. The physics of it didn’t really work, so she let go immediately, as if restraining herself.

“Fair? No. Probably not. Fair would be having your will stripped from you. If you want fair, I can set that up. Ever hear of The Mistress of Souls? I bet if we call her up, she’ll be more than happy to take that from you.”

That was, it turned out, the wrong thing to say. Marcus could barely speak, and gasped, but grinned a little.

“A bit over the top, getting a Greater Demon in on it, don’t you think? I doubt you’d want to trade your soul just to make me…”

There was a dark chuckle from the counter area, and Bey smiled when Marcus looked at him.

“We will not need that. I can compel you, to that end, if Miss Benson desires it done. Or Miss Sims? You have foolishly come to the attention of beings you do not wish to know. I highly suggest you do as instructed and pray that Miss Benson does not call in her friends. The Mistress of Souls is not the only such being she can contact.”

It was pretty clear that Marcus wasn’t going to buy what the funny looking man was saying, but Bob Millhouse touched his arm. That got his attention in a more real seeming fashion.

“Plus, Eve has contacts in our ruling set. Perhaps you should accept her terms for now and try your best? We can’t afford a war at this point. Plus, if you don’t, I’m not certain you’re going to walk out of this room.”

Now he, Eve had to allow, sounded threatening. There was a hard look on his face too, as if he’d had about enough of the whining little fatbeard’s antics. It was probably about trying to keep him alive though, not anything else.

Eve waved her hand at the guilty man, and then gestured with her head toward the door.

“Right then. Go to the power lifting gym at the end of the mall, that way.” She pointed for him, in case he didn’t know where everything was. After all, how common would it really be to hang out at an embassy? “I’ll call that in and set up payment for it… Or, you know, you’re rich, you cover it. Get on out of here and come back as soon as you’re done and showered. Go!” The last bit sounded angry, and she felt it, but there was no benefit to letting herself go that way. Not now.

Still, she fixed a pissy look onto her face, and didn’t relax until the man was gone.

“There. That should fix nothing, and end up being a pain in the ass. Well, Maggie, if you want we can beat him for you a bit? Or… I don’t know how to really do this. My take in life so far when I’ve found rapists has been pretty much to kill them. I get that he’s kind of your pal, and that you’re really upset with what he did, not the sex part…” She shrugged, copying her friend, Zack.

After a bit, she just had to shake her head.

“I don’t know. I just don’t. Did I do that well enough? Should I have…” She tried not to sound like she was lost and alone, but that was the actual case, she knew.

Thankfully Bey smiled at her, and moved over, to pat her on the shoulder. It was a friendly thing. Almost fatherly. It had taken her a long time to learn that one. Some men, not all, or even most, but a few, would actually touch you and not expect you to put out. Not that sex was a bad thing, but it was strange and wonderful, to find someone that could do that with her. Just hold her. In this case it was less contact than that.

“You did well, Miss Benson. Few would credit your restraint, if they knew that you were brought over less than three days before the present. I note that you also sought to prevent a war. One that might have very well been considered unavoidable, if other people had been in charge of these negotiations. I wish to praise you both for that.” There was a little bow toward Bob, and one for her. Then a hand moved out and landed gently on Maggie’s slightly soft looking arm.

“If you need our aid, after your ordeal, please know that we of the Council are here for you as well. Always. That you seek to hold this man as a friend after being wronged so…” His eyes looked damp suddenly, even if that probably wasn’t really possible. “It is a thing of great strength.”

The nerd girl gamer looked over at Eve, and then made a disbelieving face.

“You’ve only been a Vampire for three days?”

She pretended to count on her fingers.

“Yep. That’s about the size of it. Now, we should get to the paperwork, so that I don’t get chewed out when Edom and Lenore get here?”

That got her stared at, but Bob helped them with it, since he needed to fill out some similar forms at the same time. It didn’t take that long, so by the time Mark was back, Bob had left and so had Maggie. Bey however, stood there with her, as she went back over the shop, after putting the filled out forms away. She’d probably have to redo them or add information, but that was all right, she thought. No one would expect her to have it perfect, would they?

The next hours were filled with people coming in, for blood. They had a shipment in a special cooler, but she had to warm the glass bottles in a small silver, copper bottomed, pan. The trick was to get it just warm enough to mimic body temperature, more or less. All of it smelled so good, too. The Vampires that came in for it were all affluent looking though. They all had on suits or nice dresses. None of them wore t-shirts or even regular coats. Instead they seemed to be wealthy, to a man, woman, and excellently well behaved Vampire child.

Those last ones were creepy as all hell, too.

The kids, or the beings that looked like they were young, being small, often thin and too well dressed in the main for real children of the modern age, all stood out. They’d walk to the counter and politely enquire as to the availability of certain products, for instance. Very few of them came and asked for blood outright, and none of them were demanding or even seemed all that concerned about actually getting it or not. Then, all of them, every single one, was clearly filled with a bright pink glow of energy, weren’t they?

It was true that she was as well, Eve realized, looking down at her own body as a young man, who looked to be Slavic in racial origin, asked if she were new to the embassy.

He was, she realized, both very old, and had a look about him that would put having sex with him on the very edge of what would be awkward for most people. About fourteen or so.

She nodded however, and made sure to blink a little bit as she took a half breath of air. Most people didn’t really suck in huge chest-fulls every single time they spoke, did they?

“I’ve worked here for a while, but I’m just now getting to run the place on my own. This is my first full day.” It was literally true, and the man looked at her as if he understood more than she was saying.

After all, a Vampire being allowed to run the place all day had to be old. Probably powerful as well.

“That sounds fun. So, do you ever get time off?”

The words were so common sounding to her that Eve nearly just assumed that the guy was trying to hit on her. The thing there being that he might just have been. Not all Vampires were without a sex drive, after all. It was possible that this boy looking man was just different that way than she was.

“You know, I’m not really certain what the schedule will be like for a while here. Would you like to get together some time? If I get a chance, I mean? We can chat about things.”

She didn’t promise anything, but it was pretty clear that getting to know powerful people, while a risk, was also part of the perks of the job at hand.

The man, who smiled cutely enough, nodded. His nearly black hair had some kind of old fashioned hair treatment in it, making it seem a bit too slick, but other than that he looked nice enough. Pale, but who wasn’t?

“That would be a fine thing. I’m… Kenneth Dial. Please, call me Ken.” He stuck a hand out to shake, which she took without thinking.

It was what you did. Though she did notice that it came at her slowly, not darting out or anything too aggressive. She tried to match that speed, and smiled with her mouth closed.

“Eve. Benson.”

Then she hurried to get her new potential buddy Ken his drink. Again, like always, the stuff in the small ceramic mug smelled incredible. Like most of the Vampires coming in, he drank it there, not even taking a seat in one of the brightly colored booths, just finishing it in a few greedy swallows and then handing the heavy brown vessel back to her.

He’d paid in cash, but only about half of them did. A quarter of them had accounts that she had to look up in a slender book that was kept under the counter. The rest tended to use Visa bank cards. It was very specific too. For some strange reason they all used the same company.

None of them bought on credit, which was probably a sign that they were all rather wealthy.

Marcus came back, was sent off to sweep the mage embassy and then sent home at nine. He had instructions to be there at nine the next morning from Bob. The fatbeard actually complained about being sore from his work out, as if that should excuse him from working the next day? She waved him over, smiling at him.

“Shut up, Mark. Just be thankful that Maggie decided that you’re too pathetic to be a real rapist. That isn’t going to last too long. The pathetic part.” She saw that he looked baffled, and let her head shake a bit. Made it happen, trying to be subtle. “Understand this. You hurt her, by taking away her right to tell you no. You claim it was because you’re not good enough for women to love, which is probably fatbeard for thinking all women owe you a blowjob. That said, you’re going to change now. Not just into someone that knows to not do crap like that, but into a person that’s good enough. So, get ready, because you’re changing no matter what. Bring cash tomorrow, because you’re getting a makeover too. Clean workout clothes as well. Because that’s going to be a daily thing from now on.”

He actually sputtered. Like exercise was just far too much to ask of his lazy ass?

“That won’t make any difference. Women hate me because I’m ugly. Why should I even bother to try and change?”

Eve rolled her eyes and had to avoid back handing the man. It was close and she actually charged him, she was so annoyed. She covered though, by giving him a hug. He smelled like fruity soap, which was better than she would have expected, all things considered.

“Hate you? Shut the fuck up, moron. Maggie flat out told me that she would have screwed you if you’d just asked. You let your own low self-esteem get you into trouble there. This has been a bad day for you, and things will be hard for a long time, but if you can stop being a little bitch, remember to show up on time, and make sure that I don’t have to rip your throat out, you can be a lot more than you think. Now go. You smell too much like the lunch I didn’t get.” She grinned at him and pushed the Mage away.

Honestly, she was kind of proud of that. She’d hugged a Human, or a being so close to being one that it didn’t matter, and hadn’t sunk her fangs in at all.

She did have to spend the next half hour trying to meditate while she puttered around cleaning and trying to find things to do. Luckily a few people came in to distract her.

Between each of the blood transactions, which seemed to be picking up as the evening went on, there were regular people coming in too. It wasn’t exactly busy, so she restocked the yogurt machines, set up a new batch of starter culture, and paid attention to the details of her job. It was true that she was being a little overzealous about it, but when Lenore and Edom finally got in, at about eleven, with Cormack in tow behind them looking concerned, she was just about to dump a batch of powdered peanuts and make a fresh one.

That was due to boredom though, not anything else.

“Peeps! I was just about to get bored. How did things go with the new kids? Are they all settled in their new country digs?” Zack owned an old, but refurbished, summer camp. It was an actual one in the summer time, but in November there was no real reason not to let Vampires live there. It was isolated enough that they probably wouldn’t kill too many people.

Ed moved around the counter, looking at her closely. In fact he stared, hard.

“Better than I figured last night. We had to kill three of the six. They just couldn’t get a hold on themselves, and there were too many to risk keeping them all, not with troubled youth being involved at the same time. How did things go here?”

“Not too bad. A bit boring, and of course torturously painful under the light of the sun. I’m kind of blocking that part out.” Glancing up at the ceiling, she shrugged. “I’ll get used to it. I hear that’s a real thing too? I kind of have a bet with Zack about it.”

Lenore let a single strawberry blonde eyebrow rise, which was done really well. Eve decided to practice that move in the mirror herself.

“Oh? What kind of a wager?”

She shrugged.

“Not much of one really. I guess it would be closer to say that I get rewards if I can do it? I have to try and stay up for fifteen days. He figures that if I can do it, and put up with the pain of it, that I should be able to stay up all the time after that without it being an issue. He has to help though. You know, slap me around to keep me up and on my feet if I need it?”

Ed looked shocked and a bit concerned, but Lenore simply nodded, like it made sense.

“It is a hard thing to manage. I’ve never heard of anyone doing such so young, but you did manage to stay among the living for the entire day? That is a feat in and of itself. What do you get for a reward, if you manage this endeavor?”

There was a bit of curiosity involved at least, as the older Vampire came around the counter, looked at the nearly pristine state of things and then started opening containers to make sure everything was correct. There was no re-asking of the question, and the work took place at a slow, Human speed level. Not hurried, but she actually checked all of the work very closely.

Eve faked a shrug and made sure she didn’t breathe too deeply.

“If I can get it done, Zack will forgive half the debt the Vampire Council has with him.”

Everyone, including Cormack, stared at her.

Like it was a big deal or something?

She smiled back.

Chapter eight

It was pretty clear that Lenore wanted to freak out. The hard thing was figuring out if she wanted to tear Eve a new asshole, or if kissing her was closer to what she really desired. Instead she called Zack, who physically came down to the shop, and hugged his Vampire girlfriend closely before speaking.

“Hey love. I hear you all got caught up in a thing? I hate things. Is it someone trying to start an army again?”

That was enough to derail the rant that Eve had expected.

The Vampire Ambassador was good at her job, after all, and really not that moody, for one of them.

“We aren’t certain. This was a mixed group, which shows that several different Vampires are working together. It’s a very rare thing to see. Manthori, Classical, and the new human like Vampires. Also a Thermion, which is just about unheard of this far north. The bat-like Vampires? None of them knew what was happening to them. So this wasn’t planned, at least to the point of bringing troops over. For that matter, why bother with that last sort if it was? They’re so peaceful and docile that they don’t fight. They flee if attacked.” Her eyes locked with the Greater Demon’s, but if anything more than a longing look passed between them, she couldn’t see it.

Edom gestured at Cormack, who went and got an apron. Then he looked down at her and shook his head.

“Where’s yours?”

Eve winced.

“Damn. Here I’d thought that I’d gotten everything right, too. I totally forgot to wear one. All day long.” She got ready for a back hand to come in, and braced herself. It was a little thing, but Ed would probably feel the need to make certain she didn’t mess up too much, and the better she did, the harder and more picky, he would need to be about everything.

She’d noticed that one first hand.

Lenore glanced over at her, breaking her contact with Zack to do it.

“Well, I’m certain you won’t forget again. We must needs hold to high standards however. The rest of the store looks wonderful. I’d half feared it would be but a smoldering ruin when we returned. Why, at this rate, I might just take tomorrow off and go have my hair done.” She was joking, but Zack smiled at her.

“Sounds like a plan. Or maybe in a few days? I was thinking that we could go to Paris and take in the sights?”

Eve had to like the vote of confidence. Oh, sure, on one level it was probably as self serving as it sounded outwardly. Zack was making sure that Lenore would have backup, all the time. Edom was nearly there, going down only for a few hours a day already, so if they had a third person available all the time, they could have breaks and that kind of thing.

Underneath that though, she knew that he was really trying to make sure she had a chance to be what she wanted. Strong. So powerful that no one would be able to easily take her against her will ever again.

Things had started out rocky for her that way, waking up having been kidnapped like she was. Still, if she could avoid the need to die during the day, then that would be a lot harder to manage, wouldn’t it? She’d done all right, when she’d gotten her feet under her, after all.

So her buddy, Greater Demon or not, was making sure she had what she needed to protect herself. Then, honestly, the others of his kind always said that Zack was the nicest of them. That came from both the other good ones, like Darla and Keels, as well as some of the most insane and creepy ones. It was weird, but they all loved Zack.

Eve took a breath, and then gave a nod.

“Call it next week? I need to prove I can do it first. Plus, you know, I’m actually kind of busy. I collected a new Mage criminal today.” She smiled, and filled them all in, though it was clear that Zack already knew about it. The mall wasn’t that big after all.

Plus, Bey had told him all about it. They were buds, after all.

“He was pretty impressed, Eve. We have a bet about what you’re going to do with him, too.”

Edom cleared his throat.

“How soon she’ll drain him for being a pain?”

“Nope. Bey thinks that she’ll get Keeley to make him a slave. I think that she’s going to take him as a lover.” He seemed playful at least, so she didn’t try to bite his throat out. “Not a real one, but you know, after he fixes himself a bit. That’s a tough plan, for someone like him, but it could work. If he doesn’t get into line though, we can try some different things. Hiram has some ideas, too. Most of those involve having him anally sodomized though, so you might want to not go with his plan.”

Cormack got to work, and then stopped, with a rag in his hand after a bit.

“Not to be pushy, but why are you all still here? This place is well enough taken care of, and there seems to be no real crisis beyond my ability to handle for the time being. Eve did good. Better than that. I have to admit, I’m a bit jealous, you making it through a whole day like that. If you can make that work, could I get you to help me do the same?”

He was looking at her, directly, so she nodded.

“If I can, then sure. We can build a little power block of people that are awake during the day.”

Lenore actually snorted at that one.

“Not likely. Those of us that do not die in the light are rare. Those willing to serve are even more so. If Cormack gains such ability, he will probably be made an Ambassador at one of the other locations. Which…” She looked at the man and smiled. “Well, if you can do it, then you will be ready. Eve here however needs fifty years to season, no matter how clever and strong she is so far. It’s impressive, but no one will trust that truly for a time. You understand that dear? Don’t let it discourage you. As it is, I’m considering writing a book about the miracle child. I’m not even certain I’m being sarcastic either. There are always dues to pay first though, before power will be given.”

Eve managed to nod in a happy, almost dopey, seeming way. It should look pretty cute, she thought. Human too.

“That was always the way it was going to be. So, what’s the plan for the night?” It was before midnight, and on a Saturday now. “Head to the club?”

That would be their busy time, she thought.

Edom nodded.

“If you feel up to it?”

She did, but looked at her clothing, which was a bit plain for that kind of scene. Not filthy at least. Vampires didn’t sweat, and while her clothing would get musty after a while that would take a few days. There were no visible spots or anything, and she wasn’t going to pick up guys.

“Yep. Oh, say, Zack, did you get those chemicals ordered?”

That, it turned out had happened, and they would be coming the next day, to his store.

“You’ll need to pick up the blood, but the man at the shop promised to have that by five. A gallon of mixed cow. It isn’t perfect as for measurements that way, but he promised at least ten cows would be used. I think he was being honest, as far as he knows. You’ll need to have the anti-coagulant ready though, at about three, and get out to the farm for the collection. I have the address.” He really did too, on a piece of paper in his pocket. Complete with the needed driving instructions, because Zack was incredibly awesome that way.

Eve resisted giving him a hug, but that was a nice thing to have to do. Most of the day she’d had to fight slapping at people. It was much more fun to try and not seem slutty, to tell the truth.

Outside, the weather was cold, but rainy. They lived in the Northwest, and Vancouver, Washington, wasn’t exactly known for its hard and brutal winters. She got damp as they walked, with Edom slowly speeding up, until she had to move into a jog. It wasn’t hard, but she understood that they weren’t just trotting along either. The world around them moved incredibly slow at the same time.

It was less impressive than she would have thought, to be totally honest. Instead of a feeling of hurling herself through the world, it seemed a bit like she was back in high school PE, trying to make it around the track without looking like a complete freak, gasping and wheezing.

On the good side, she didn’t need to breathe at all, so that part wasn’t too bad.

It did start to hurt though. An ache that coursed through her entire being. The pink tendrils that were the links she had to the Humans she was getting energy from flared a bit. It wasn’t too bad, but it really did feel uncomfortable. Less than the sun during the day, but she could see why people didn’t try to throw themselves into hyper moving speeds all the time. It sucked.

Edom didn’t explain. Just waving for her to hide a few times, when people were driving by. They weren’t invisible after all. After a bit she caught the pattern of it, and managed to anticipate when she needed to get behind something. Speeding up painfully to get it done several times.

They kept that up for what seemed like hours, until they got about two blocks away from the Terran 2 LA. Then Ed put a dark hand out, signaling her to stop.

Looking at his watch, he got the time, and then gave her a nod.

“Not too bad. We covered fifteen miles in eight minutes. You’ll need to work on your running speed, but that’s not horrible for someone just starting out. From now on, unless told otherwise, I want you to run everywhere. Do you know why that is?”

There were probably a lot of good reasons for it. Practice came to mind, especially if she were going to be out and about during the day eventually. Not the next day, since she doubted that direct sunlight would work for her yet, but soon-ish. Not being noticed would take care and focus. Then there would be other reasons. She nodded though.

“So you can borrow my car?” That got a smile, at least, so she went on. “Also, so that the others don’t think I’m being given special privileges?”

“That second one, mainly. Plus the thing where I do need to have something to get places in. I’m going to have to buy a new one, which is a bit of a pain. I liked my baby. Would you think poorly of me if I mentioned that two of the youngsters that died were the ones that trashed her?”

“Nope? I’m sure there was more to it than that. If not, we’ll pretend there is, which is pretty much the same thing. Now, what’s the plan in here? Testing me to make sure I won’t go all juice box fiend on the public? So far so good, but I won’t lie, they smell fantastic.”

Edom kept walking, but waited until they were at the door before saying anything. Then he signaled to Kevin, the hunky bouncer with his light skin and rippling muscles.

The man nodded to them both, but he took her in most carefully. That was mainly because of her rather normal looking street clothes. Everyone else there looked good. She seemed a bit underdressed. Well, Kevin did too, wearing a blue club jacket with a black t-shirt under it, but he looked official, having a black headset piece on.

“Ed. I was told you were taking the night off? Barb mentioned something like that?”

That should have gotten a reaction, but he took it in stride, as if he always told waitresses, which was what Barb was there, exactly what the real plans were.

“That’s right. Don’t tell him yet, but Troy is getting a promotion to manager. I’m going to be taking the ‘night off’ a lot more for the next few weeks, just to make sure he’s up to speed on all the paperwork. He’s ready though. This is Eve. Janitorial. We’ll want her to be able to come and go, since I’d like to start having some eyes out here, too. She’ll clean up and keep watch on things. We’ll stick to normal rules though. If it happens off the property, we call in the police. Other than that, make sure to let her know when the bathrooms need to be serviced? She’ll need a headset.”

That got Troy called, as Edom walked off, into the club, leaving her to the mercy of the large bouncer. Her friend popped his head out though, and Kevin explained the whole thing to him quickly, and loudly enough that no one complained about her skipping ahead in the line.

After all, they had to respect the girl that was going to be cleaning up their mistakes in the bathroom, right?

“Got it, thanks Kevin. This way?” He kept talking, but didn’t pretend that she was an unknown to him or anything. The club was loud, at first, but she focused on what he was saying, and the rest of the world became a lot quieter, almost instantly. It was no worse than having the television on in the background while carrying on a conversation.

“You’ve been here before, so you’ll know the basic layout. The six bathrooms are all supposed to be single occupancy, but you know the score there. They’re made extra large, so people can do drugs and have sex in them. We need to have them checked about once an hour. Bag up any used condoms, needles and that kind of thing. Make sure there are no drugs left out. Any cash you find, you get to keep. It comes up. Clothing goes into the lost and found. That’s by the coat check.”

She nodded, taking it all in, watching the writhing selection of food in front of her. She was glad her job would be scooping up puke and making sure that no one was being raped in the alley though. How Barb managed to work inside that moving feast Eve didn’t know.

She’d been impressed with herself when she managed not to bite Marcus, but this… These people were practically screaming for her to drink them dry. It was, she realized, another test of her resolve. She was going to win that one though. Even if it killed her. She had all the energy links she needed and drinking some club kid wouldn’t make her stronger. Resisting that would.

She didn’t bother to answer, just listening as he went on.

“If there’s a problem, use the headset and let Kevin know. He’s in charge of the security staff. If you hear him say ‘code blue’ then stop whatever you’re doing and go find him. That probably means that someone has a gun, so be careful. Other than that, bag up the trash and put it in the dumpster out back. People go back there to have sex and do drugs, so try not to spook them too much. Any questions?”

They’d moved back into his little office space, or the manager’s space at least, and he dug through a box of things, until he found a blue jacket for her, that had the club name, but didn’t say security on the back. Not that she’d get cold, but the point was for her to seem like a real person. They wore jackets outside.

Then a black headset was tossed to her. It flew very slowly toward her, so she was able to carefully pluck the thing out of the air, and examine it before putting it on in a very slow, but fluid movement.

There was a little black switch that had to be pushed into the on position, and a button to press that would let her talk. Almost instantly there was a crackle of static, as a male voice spoke.

“Looks like we need a cleanup in bathroom three.”

Tapping the side of her head, over her ear, she spoke.

“On it.”

Then she released the button.

“Where’s the supply closet? Clean up in bathroom three?”

Troy, being a sweetheart, actually walked her over to those places, and helped her put out the sign so that people would know that it was out of service for cleaning. He even helped her get the supplies and then looked mildly ill when he put his head into the room.

“Fuff. Well this is a fine way to start your first day. I swear this is the worst I’ve ever seen.” Moving out of the way, he showed her.

It was pretty gross. She didn’t let herself feel pissed off about it, trying to hold a meditative feeling of peace. Then she stopped breathing and waved him away. There was puke, of course, which had blood in it. That was bad, but the person had also apparently had explosive diarrhea at the same time, and their pantyhose, underwear and what seemed to be a hand towel were all left in a sodden pile just inside the door. The rag had the club name on it, but she wasn’t going to send it to the wash.

It didn’t take her long to get it all cleaned up though, since she closed the door and made herself work so fast that she could feel the energy trying to burn her system again. Going slow wouldn’t help anything and people might need to use the place. She had to scrub the whole thing though, including the ceiling in one place, where brown specks had splattered it.

How the woman that had gotten sick had survived it, she didn’t know.

Then, she also didn’t know it was a woman, did she? Just because there were panties and hose, that didn’t mean that it wasn’t a dude. Being narrow minded wasn’t a thing she needed to be, was it?

There was much scrubbing, done with a will, and then a lot of air freshener. She had to breathe to take a sniff, finally. It was a mistake, but not anywhere near as bad of one as doing it to start with would have been. Then she hurried to dump the bag of waste and mopped up vomit, only to realize that the rest of the rooms would need to be tidied soon too. None of them were even close to being as bad, but it was hard to work her way in to get them cleaned up.

Two of the rooms just didn’t open up for nearly half an hour each. It was clear that in one there was a small orgy going on, and in the other a man was close to dying, from a drug overdose.

“Geh. Now, what do I do about that?”

She really didn’t know, so decided to ask. That made sense, right?

“Hey, um, Ed? Barb? Can anyone hear me?” She spoke in a normal tone, and didn’t use the headset. Before she could do it twice, Barb answered her.

“Hey sweetie! What’s up?” Her voice was nearly bubbly, and Eve could tell she was near the dance floor.

“We have a guy dying of an overdose in, um, I think it’s bathroom number one? I can hear him through the door, but I don’t know how to report it.”

There was a pause, and then a low chuckle.

“Tell Kevin that you heard someone begging for help from in there. He’ll get the key and check it out.”

That made sense. So much so that she really should have figured it out on her own.

“Thanks.”

Tapping her ear she did just that, which got the man and another security guard over to her in about two minutes, and the door opened shortly after that. The guy on the floor was still breathing, and had a needle in his arm. That meant they had to secure the room and call an ambulance.

It was, Kevin assured her, a pain in the ass.

“Can you go watch the door? I know it isn’t your job, but we need someone on it, or else people will just walk in. We have room for thirty more people right now. There are fire codes. Really, just turn everyone away. I’ll have Brian come and take over in a few minutes. People will start to freak when the lights are visible.” That last part was mumbled, but she went to the front anyway, knowing that no one would take her very seriously.

She was, as it turned out, half right.

The first person to the door was an already drunk guy that looked a bit like his father’s money had paid for the plastic surgery to install his permanent ass face. He tried to use some of that cash to bribe her.

Very little of it, too.

Holding three ones out he glanced at the boys with him.

“There’s more where that came from if you’re any good at giving head.” It was supposed to be funny, but she didn’t really think so, personally. It was also meant to be insulting.

“Next. Get out of the line.”

They all tried to walk past her, which got her to move into the way.

“Nope. You at least need to go to the back of the line, and think of a better bit of patter, if you want in. Back now… Go…”

They grumbled, but no one tried to hit her. She was thin, and cute. So that probably wouldn’t happen.

She didn’t even get the word sorry all the way out with the next group, three women, who looked nice enough to get in, most likely, when the first one hit at her. It was only a slap, and didn’t connect, since she blocked it easily enough, but it was all she could do not to hit her back.

“Oh, that’s it. Because assault is going to get you in? We run a clean club here. Except for all the good drugs and sex that you won’t be getting. Step off now, before I shove you up your girlfriend’s ass.” That worked, for some reason.

The next ten or so people were a bit sad not to get in, but they were late for the evening, which she explained, and there was a fire code.

“So, next time get here earlier? That might not get you in, but it’s way easier if you’re one of the first people in line. Right now though, let’s make room for the ambulance?”

That did get people to act suspicious, and start trying to hide things. A few dumped them outright, at the edge of the parking lot. She got it soon enough, since four cop cars followed the ambulance.

“Make room. Get out of the way. Let them through.”

She tapped the side of her head.

“Kevin? The ambulance and police are here.”

“Hold the door. I’ll come bring them through. Brian, are you done yet?”

There was a pause, then a short no. It sounded strained, but pleasant.

“Well hurry up and nut. We have the new girl on the front door right now.” That told her a lot about what Brian was likely doing. Probably in the other bathroom that was locked.

Kevin was good to his word though, and got there just in time to take the EMTs back along with two of the cops. The other two stood right by the door, which got about half the people that had been in line to simply leave. One of the men, who was closest to her and looked to be pushing fifty or so, stroked his gray mustache.

“You’re a bit short for a bouncer, aren’t you?”

She nodded.

“I make up for it in groin kicks.” The man gave her a look that said he got it, so she went on. “I’m actually janitorial. I’m just place holding for the security guy that’s having sex in the bathroom right now. All I can say is that he better throw his condom away himself, or I’m making him eat it.”

The cop gave her a dour look that barely held back a grin.

“I hear that. Some people have no respect. I…” He made a face, and looked at a large, and decently nice, American made car as it pulled up. “Crap on a cracker. That’s weird. Chief Sims is here.”

The woman, who was wearing a suit, complete with a skirt practically marched over. She looked to be in her late forties, and by the dense energy coming off of her, she was both a Vampire and well fed. That was a shock to Eve, since she hadn’t known that Vampires could hold regular public offices like that. Richard Swerlin did, of course, but everyone thought he was a nut job. Including most of the Vampires.

When the woman got there she seemed at a loss though, and spoke to her officer, rather than Eve. The strange thing there was that the woman was clearly watching her, as if trying to communicate that she wasn’t trying to give offense. Just hold her cover.

“Chief, is there a problem?”

The woman looked hard for a bit.

“No, I was just coming to speak to…” Then she froze, as if not certain what kind of lie to tell.

So Eve moved forward and stuck her hand out.

“Thank you for coming. Maggie told me you would be. We’re in the same role playing group? You wanted to talk about setting something up with a regular patrol or something? It wasn’t too clear.” She looked at the older cop, and shrugged. “What can I say, I’m weird. We have a role playing group thing that meets up once a week. I bring the cupcakes and dress up as an elf. It’s adorable.”

That got the man to shake his head.

“And here I thought you seemed like such a nice girl, too.”

Chief Sims shook her hand though.

“That’s right. They meet up in central park. We’ve had some reports of them being harassed, and since my daughter goes regularly, she thought that a bit of nepotism might be in order to make sure everyone is safe. I did tell her that we’d have done it anyway, since it’s our job, but she keeps thinking that life is like a movie. Kids, you know the problems there.” She was speaking to her officer, but watching Eve closely.

The EMTs and other cops came out about then, along with Kevin and Edom, who shook hands with the older woman, too.

After that, looking sheepish, a large, a slightly plump looking guy in a security jacket came out and ducked his head.

“Sorry. I, um, got busy.” That was pretty clear, since she could smell it on him. Regular people would have been able to, if they tried.

She just nodded, not wanting to make a scene about something that was probably pretty common at a place like that.

“No big thing. I need to cover some increased park patrols with Chief Sims here, since she’s my friend’s mom. Then I need to actually do my real job, or I’m so getting fired.” She looked at the older woman, who had curly sandy blonde hair. “I clean the bathrooms, and need to collect up all the trash that people have been dumping. Can I get fifteen to chat with her, boss? I don’t know that I’m actually due a break yet.” She looked at Edom, who nodded at her, his white teeth shining in the neon of the purple sign out front.

“Certainly. Please, come this way. You can use my office for that.”

Then they made their way through the delicious dance floor.

Chapter nine

Eve was distracted from the obvious situation in front of her, right up until the door closed. The scent was heady, and strong. There were undertones of perfume, and cologne, as well as sweat and in a few cases BO. All of it seemed lovely to her. That was a thing she really wouldn’t have been ready for, even if anyone would have told her about it. That guy in the corner wearing the three day old shirt, who’d forgotten to use the Ban roll-on earlier was just as tasty seeming as anyone she’d ever met.

Really, it was worse than the others, because he smelled like a combination of sweat and animal musk that was purely distracting. She brought her focus around anyway, since the Vampire Chief of Police might just be dangerous to her. She’d come for a reason, and if she really was Maggie the Vampire’s mother, or even just maker, then the woman would probably be pissed with her for not at least castrating Mark earlier. That could mean a fight, and that would probably mean her having her behind kicked, since the woman had to be old and tough to have her job.

The Chief of Police had to work days, after all.

That meant old for the vast majority of their kind.

Still she turned to Edom, and gave a little bow. It was a partial thing, and felt nearly like something halfway formal.

“I hear that The Bey has once again come to our fair city? Is that correct? I hadn’t heard about it, so that means what, exactly?”

That she was fishing for information, probably. Eve could see it. Bey was the one they sent in to kill other Vampires. Every time he came for a visit, people probably panicked and sat around wondering what they’d personally done. That they’d know about it in advance made sense, but a lot of Vampires probably skirted the edge of Council law. In this case it probably had to do with the new feeding rules. If the Chief here was drinking off of a long term stable of blood buddies, then she might just be wondering if Bey had come to make sure she stopped doing that, for good.

That, or to ensure everyone knew to pay their taxes in a timely fashion.

Who didn’t cheat on their taxes though? It was as American as blood soaked apple pie.

Ed let his head come up, just a little, and locked eyes with the other woman as Eve just stood there, trying to seem Human by breathing consistently.

It was harder than it sounded like.

“Yes. My new protégé was taken by a mixed group of Vampires the other day. She fought her way out, bringing a Human girl with her, so the toll in lives is thankfully low so far, but Bey came to see if there was a problem there. Then yesterday, or the day before now really, Nicole the Proctor discovered a nest of young that were set to awaken alone. Six of them. There were several strains of Vampire represented, four of the known six types, which is unusual, as I’m sure you can see. No one knows what it means, but that’s why Bey is here this time. The kidnapping.”

She nodded and glanced at Eve then.

“Forgive me, I should have introduced myself. Althea Sims. Local Police Chief for the city here. That’s a Human office, naturally. I don’t think we’ve met before. You know Maggie though? I haven’t been in touch with her for a few weeks.”

That wasn’t good then, Eve nodded though, and decided to soldier on. If it was a problem they could still torture Marcus after all.

“Yes. There was a situation involving her last night. Her Human boyfriend called the embassy, to let us know that she’d been kidnapped. He doesn’t know about her, and thought that he was just helping out with some kind of role playing game scenario. It turns out that a Mage, named Marcus had put a spell on her, to turn her into his love slave. I got the Mages to send in a team to break the spell, and Maggie kicked his butt for him pretty well.” She stopped to take a breath of air, and was ready for a huge outburst, but the woman simply looked at her, waiting.

Eve tilted her head a little, trying to convey that she didn’t understand the lack of response, but went on, covering the whole thing, including her plans for the man. Which she wouldn’t need if Althea was going to slaughter the man.

“That’s less than ideal. Still, a war has been averted, which is always good to see. Don’t go too easy on this Mage however. That sort can get very full of themselves if they aren’t kept in line occasionally. I agree that not killing him is perhaps the better path here however. Parading him in front of his own kind as you suggest, and making him play servant will show that we are both kind, and not willing to take such things. Of course, the next time this happens we’ll have to simply kill the Mage involved. Otherwise they’ll forget our true power.”

It made sense really. She was probably being too nice, but her little fatbeard was just so pitiful.

“Agreed. We’ll try to avoid that if we can. I’ll have Marcus work up a plan for that, to help other Mages learn from his mistake? I know that would embarrass me, if the shoe was on the other hand.” She’d said it that way on purpose, trying to seem a little quirky, but the woman didn’t even smile at it. Edom did though, getting what she was going for.

They chatted for a while, with the Chief clearly trying to see if Bey was going to be around long and if so, figure out ways to totally avoid him. It was like the man had the plague or something, except that Althea didn’t want to let anyone know that she thought that. In fact, she was being really careful about what she was saying in that regard. So much so that Ed smiled after they both walked her out. Eve needed to go that way anyway, since she was supposed to clean up outside too. The bathrooms needed to be looked into as well, she didn’t doubt.

When the woman drove away, Ed touched her arm, and didn’t speak until the woman was well out of sight.

“She was being careful there. Which is a good lesson. Never speak of anyone negatively. Not if they might be more powerful than you are. About five years ago she suggested to Lenore and a few others that we might seek to kill Zack, while he was still young enough that we could get that done. It wasn’t the worst idea to bring up, and probably seemed reasonable to her at the time. I mean, Baby Demons… That’s what you do when you find one, if you can pull it off.”

Eve hadn’t heard that one, so tried to make her face seem interested.

Her master let his own look sly.

“Zack walked in, figured it all out, and back handed her into a wall. It nearly killed her. Then he stripped her behind bare, and spanked her in front of the rest of us. Like a tiny child. Zack did that. It can be easy to forget how powerful some people are. Don’t. Make sure you learn from others’ mistakes, too. You wouldn’t survive the spanking she took. Not yet. She barely did, and trust me, she’s old.”

Hearing that wasn’t good, but she knew it might be true. She just wasn’t physically up to the standards of someone like Althea Sims. Trying to pretend she was would just get her into trouble. Then again, she knew enough not to plot to kill Zack. That he’d handled things like that was different though. Most of the time he tried to talk his way through things, or find some way to get around having to hurt anyone.

That, or just killing them if pushed to it.

Honestly, it was probably something like that, then. He’d brutalized the woman, in order to keep her from being hurt even worse later? To stop things before he had to kill her? That, or he was just into kinky spanking and had felt like it. That wasn’t the case though, or else she would have been paddled a time or two herself already. She’d been around enough for that, after all. It wouldn’t be the first time in her life that had happened either.

“I understand. I’ll keep my mouth shut, whenever possible. I’m just glad that she didn’t demand we all go to war over what happened to Maggie.”

“That… I’d wondered for a moment when she pulled up if that would be the case, too. It would be a bit rare, a child stepping in for their maker that way, but it can happen. Maggie Sims is old however. Enough so that Bey was willing to slaughter all the Mages in the area over an attack on her. That you two handled it without bloodshed… I don’t know if the Mages can understand how close they came to all being dead. Rumor has it that she used to be on the Council, a few hundred years ago. Still, you managed it well. So did she. As a reward I’ll let you get back to work now?”

She grinned at that, not feeling too put out. It was boring, but that was a big part of why she’d volunteered for it. Cleaning up had to be done, and while it wasn’t a non-stop party, this particular job would let her be close to people without having to actually test her resolve too much. Working inside would have driven her crazy, just then. Even being this far away, outside, was hard.

So she distracted herself, making sure that every bit of paper, each used condom, of which there were a half dozen, and all the coins and drugs she found were taken care of. She kept the change, since that was hers now. The rest of it she tossed, or started to. After all, you didn’t put drugs in the dumpster, did you? That would have hobos climbing in to get high, and then they’d end up being crushed to death. Most of the things she found weren’t actually useful to her, or anyone she knew, so she just flushed them, when she worked her way back in to check the restrooms again. Several of them were in use, which meant that the ones not being used for sex had seen a lot more traffic than they should have. Another person got sick, but it was delicately done, compared to the first scene that she’d walked into.

It was strange to think of nerdy, role playing, Maggie as being a very old and powerful Vampire. One that had been on the Council so long ago that America hadn’t even been a thing yet? Then, it kind of made sense, didn’t it? The woman had fooled her perfectly. Not well enough to make her think she was a Human, but there was little doubt that other people would think that. Really though, everything about her was nearly perfect for the time they were in.

Eve would have guessed she was perhaps a few decades old. Maybe fifty years a Vampire. That she was so much older than that kind of blew her mind. Then again, it probably wasn’t exactly hard to fool her, was it? She’d expected to see something, so she had. It was a good thing to keep in mind. She lived in a different world now and letting herself be tricked too easily would lead to problems, sooner or later.

Like thinking of Zack as a lost little innocent boy. Or Darla as being her cuddly high school pal, instead of a feared and powerful being. Imagining those things to be real could get her into a lot of hot water. That it hadn’t yet was probably due to the fact that both of them really had been looking out for her. That wasn’t a thing to count on though, was it? Not just from them either, but anyone. Ever. Yes, she needed to be there for her pals, and it was good when they were there for her, but counting on that kind of thing was stupid. Even with Edom, who was supposed to be watching out for her.

Look at those other young Vampires that had been turned and dumped just the day before. Their makers hadn’t been there for them, had they?

Ed was a great guy, and superior, no doubt, but she knew better than to let her guard down too much. People failed you, eventually. Vampires would probably just do it with biting thrown in for good measure. It would be something though. If he were Human, that would probably just have been sex, but she doubted that would be the thing that would turn him on her in particular. Politics then, would be the likely next best thing.

Still, that could take a long time to happen, and for the moment she had things to take care of. Like making sure her new club was clean. They stopped serving alcohol at two and closed the doors at four. There were still people there then too, trying to score at the last second she figured. A few were so drunk though that even the date rapists were giving them a pass. No one thought it was all that sexy to wake up with some questionable guy or gal throwing up all over them.

Eve just started sweeping and mopping. To her surprise she got help, mainly from the wait staff, and the three bar tenders. It took about half an hour, but the place was pretty clean. She hit the restrooms last, which took longer, but Troy was still there, along with Ed, when she finished scrubbing a limerick off of the tile in one of the little spaces. It was nice enough, but people got bored when they sat around. Still, if you didn’t stay on top of that stuff, it would breed.

She wasn’t questioned about anything, until she had the last of the cleaning gear put away, gave her headset back to Troy and tried to give the decently heavy blue jacket back to him.

“Nope, keep that. Everyone on staff here gets one, and until we get you some shirts, you need something to identify you as one of us. We should go over things, to make sure it all got done? It’s part of my nightly routine. I’m not saying you suck or anything. Even though, you know, Vampire.”

She nodded at that one, and patted him on the back as Edom moved ever so slightly closer to her. In order to hit her in the head, if she started to go for Troy’s neck, no doubt. She didn’t though, moving a step back.

“Sexy, sexy Vampire, to you. Still, I’m sure I missed something. I wasn’t really given an instruction book, so just cleaned things.”

It was, as it turned out, pretty much what was needed. Neither of the men complained about anything at least. Not until Edom pointed to the large flame tubes that ran along the walls at about eight feet up. They were really cool and the flames danced differently when the music changed. She hadn’t cleaned them at all, since they’d been on fire all night. Now they were just sitting there though. She got ready to run and do that, but he just pointed instead.

“See the gold paint there? We should touch that up. The pipes get hot, but as long as we do the work early enough, it will dry in time. Can you see about picking some spray paint up for that?”

She nodded, since she was going to be up anyway.

“Can I get someone else to pay for it? I should get my I.D. too. I bet they card me, to make sure I’m not going to huff it.”

Ed nodded, “Troy, can you handle that part? I’m borrowing her car. Mine got trashed last night. Totaled.”

“No! Oh my god, your car… I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do? Do we need to go and kill someone over it?” His eyes went very wide.

Eve could see it, since it was a sweet ride. It had been before the little Vampires had gone crazy on it. A real chick magnet. Or Troy magnet. Whichever Ed was into, apparently.

After a few minutes of commiseration, they worked out that she didn’t have to get that herself, and that they’d stay late the next night, which would be Monday morning, and do the actual work then.

It was a bit strange, but she was still supposed to be crashing at Troy’s, and had some clothes there, so got a ride with him. Or started to. Edom was watching her, and saw her get into the car with Troy, and start to pull away.

“Oh, stop. Stop.”

The car did, and she climbed out.

“I’ll meet you at home? I’m supposed to go everywhere on foot for a while. I nearly messed it up. Oops?”

The decent looking guy tossed off a retro peace sign with two fingers, and took off, as if leaving a poor defenseless her out there alone was perfectly normal. Worse, Ed was already gone himself. Not that it mattered. Her job was to do what she was told. She’d agreed to it, including this kind of stupid thing she wasn’t sure she understood. On the good side, it was still dark out. That meant she could run over to Troy’s…

Then run to the mall, before it got so light that her body tried to die on her.

There was time for a shower first though, she thought. It turned out that wasn’t exactly true though, which she noticed at about six as she jogged across town, in the dark. The sky wasn’t light at all, but she clearly wasn’t moving as fast as she had been before. She made herself go faster, holding what it had been like in her mind, pushing into the pain that coursed through her as she did it. Cars came occasionally, forcing her to hide, and at about seven she was forced to walk like a normal person, still several miles from the mall. Slowly too, because her body started to feel heavy as the sky lightened.

When the first real light of dawn hit her, it felt like she was on fire. It had been intense, the day before, when she’d been inside, but now… It was like sticking her face in an oven and leaving it there. She made her hand reach up that high, trying to see if her skin was falling off yet. It was fine, for all she felt like there had to be real injury. Smooth and perfect, like always. As she moved, her trudge got slower, until she managed to get to the door of the mall itself.

In agony she opened the door, and entered.

To find that it was a lot nicer to be inside during the day. What she’d been feeling had been enough to make her want to scream, but she’d emptied her lungs and refused to take a breath for the last mile and a half. That meant no sound could come out. Her mouth had still tried to open a few times to do it anyway. Thankfully there weren’t a lot of people out and about, or she’d have felt self-conscious about her funny mouth movements.

Inside though, things pulled way back. She felt just as loopy and weighed down, and the world was still a nice psychedelic pattern around her, complete with movement tracers, but the burning was so much less intense it felt like she’d been plunged into ice water. Lovely, shining, cool H20.

Trying to focus on her surroundings, since acting like a drugged out loon all day wouldn’t help at all, she tried to remember the plan. She needed to get the supplies that Zack had ordered for her, and find a way to both make the anti-coagulant, test it for flavor and then get to the address she had for it. She was supposed to walk there, she knew, but that wasn’t going to work. It was at least twenty miles away, and being on fire, if only in her mind, for the six hours it would take for her to do that at the moment just wasn’t going to play.

Ed wasn’t there though, so she couldn’t ask if he’d let her off of that for the trip. She could ask Zack to take her, but Line Walking, while fast and direct, wasn’t exactly a substitution for going under her own power.

Anger tried to climb up into her mouth, but she choked it back and walked slowly into work. At least that was what she thought she was doing. It occurred to her that Lenore hadn’t actually suggested she needed to be there, or clearly had it occurred to her that Eve would be.

“Hey. Sorry about being late. Edom told me I had to walk, or run everywhere, but I didn’t get out in time, so I had to walk the last bit. Like a regular girl. One on fire. I hate being on fire, if it ever comes up.”

The older Vampire looked at her, and nodded.

“As do I. What plans do you have for the day?” It was a bit clipped sounding, but she sort of understood the idea. If Lenore hadn’t planned to babysit, then having a little her around might just be a pain in the ass. What with how demanding, and whiny, she could be.

She nearly said that, which reminded her that Marcus was due in across the way soon.

“Um… Well, I’ll do the cleaning here, if that’s good with you? Supposedly, if I can make myself keep going, I’ll be able to be more useful in a few days. Right now… I feel kind of dead. When the stuff gets delivered later, I’ll need to mix some things up, and then… I don’t think I can go to the farm. I can’t walk it, and riding in a car is a no go. I guess I can send Marcus? He’s a moron, but it isn’t hard to put blood in a container with some stuff already at the bottom, is it? I’ll set it all up for him, so it won’t be too hard.” Okay, sending him out to play minion was probably pushing things, but it was a plan.

The Ambassador looked at her, and for a moment it felt cold and hard. Then she let a slow smile curl her lips.

“That’s sensible. Keep busy and out of direct sunlight as much as possible for now. Avoid sitting. I know, why don’t you do a walk through here, to make sure it’s to specifications, then go and see about the candle store across the way? They have help now, but none of them truly pay enough attention to the front section. It’s a bit of a shame, don’t you think? That way you can show them that the problem that we’ve dumped on them will be observed and managed. If you don’t mind helping out over there? You won’t be paid for it.”

She understood that it was supposed to be some kind of big issue for her. Now that she was a badass Vampire, she didn’t have to play nice with the Mages, or anyone else. It was a common enough thought, though clearly wrong. Sure those guys couldn’t take the Vampires in a fist fight, but if someone like Marcus could trap Maggie, then clearly it made sense not to spit in their faces. Really the same was probably true of pretty much anyone then, wasn’t it?

“That’s a good idea. I can run and get them coffee. Better yet, I’ll send Marcus. Or would that be too weak of me? The sun really hurts. Yeah, I’ll send him. That’s a good plan.” Her words were a bit thick, so she tried to remember what Darla had told her about it. If she could remember what it was like to feel awake and focus on it…

She tried, and it did seem to help a bit. She only felt half drunk instead of like she was going to wake up drowning on a pool of her own saliva. By the time Marcus got there, twenty minutes late, she was nearly back to being her normal loveable self. Her old Human self, but still, it was an improvement.

She stomped over, her tennis shoes making noise as she moved. It was loud to her, but her fatbeard didn’t turn around. She was supposed to give him a makeover, wasn’t she? Eve nearly decided to shave his head and tattoo his face with racial slurs to ensure a lifetime of beatings, but he was only twenty minutes late. He looked rumpled and smelled a bit, like he’d over slept.

“Late! What the fuck? This isn’t community college jackass. If you show up late again, I’m breaking your masturbation hand. Since I don’t know which one that is, guess what that means?” She sounded mean and a bit like a Vampire drill instructor, but the man just made a face.

“Sorry. My car didn’t want to start. I had to use magic on it. I think the alternator is going out.”

She glared, and then shook her head a bit.

“You have the cash, so make sure that gets fixed. You have errands to run later, and you’ll need something reliable. For now, come with me. In here.”

There was a tall, thin man behind the counter when they came in. He was wearing a light blue cardigan sweater with black buttons, and a pink shirt under that with a tie. His hair was short and black and he was thin enough that she worried a bit about anorexia when she thought about it. They were friends though, so she waved at him.

“Hey Warren. This is Marcus. He’s your new bitch. Mage, but he isn’t allowed to use any magic without Bob or Lisa’s okay on it. You too, I guess. If he does, then he dies, so make sure he keeps to that one. No joke there either. He nearly started a war between the Mages and Vampires. Right now, we’re going to clean this place up, then start on an inventory. He’ll be in here every day at nine doing that. Well, the cleaning. When that’s done feel free to make up stuff for him to do. He’s not much to look at, but if you need a blowjob or something, have a turn? He’s into the idea of stripping people’s ability to turn down unwanted sex, so don’t worry about that part. I’m sure he won’t mind. If he does, who cares, right?”

Warren made a face, which was both a bit prissy and incredibly gay at the same time. He was as far from being a rapist as anyone though, so didn’t dignify that comment with a reaction. Plus, he might just not want Mark to touch him that way.

Marcus however went tight faced.

“I didn’t sign up for that kind of thing.” It was low and nearly deadly sounding, so she turned and put her hand on his shoulder. Almost lovingly and with no biting to his attractive, extra juicy looking neck. None at all.

“I know, and I was kidding. Still, you get the idea? It’s important to leave people with their ability to say no. Besides, right now you’re probably going to have to work your way up to being worthy of sucking Warren off. He’s third in command here for the Guild. You’re so far down the totem pole that you might be that part under the ground. You have a workout at five, and need to be out at a farm to pick something up for me at three, so get ready to run. For now, we dust and straighten, then sweep and mop. In that order. Hurry. We don’t have all day.” Well, they did really, but she wasn’t going to let him off that easily.

Hopefully Warren wouldn’t feel like he was obligated to let her chubby nerd buddy touch him, if he wasn’t into that kind of thing. That would be awkward at the family thanksgiving party, wouldn’t it? She grinned, and idea coming to her then.

“Ohhh. Hey, Warren, do you have plans for Thanksgiving?”

He nodded, his face a bit sad.

“I sure do. I’m going to be right here, sitting and reading a book. No one will be coming in, but we have to stay open. You?”

“Probably the same, for the place across the way. I was thinking, we should have a party. A real meal here. Like, out in the hallway? I can’t eat it, but you know, I’ll bring in some of the good blood for it.”

That got her stared at with a wrinkled brow.

“Eve? Are you a Vampire now?”

She nodded, then pointed to her mouth cutely and popped her teeth down. She still needed to work on her control of those, but it worked well enough for the time being.

“Shee? Fahngs.” Then she pulled them back, so she could speak clearly.

“Still, we should put that together. That way the people that have to be here working won’t be alone.”

They’d also be there with her. Which would be a good time to make connections and network.

The tall thin man nodded, looking at her as if she were clever or something, while she managed to get Marcus back to work. He wasn’t good at it, being slow, clumsy and whiny, but he did it. Hopefully that would be enough to start with?

Chapter ten

The day was a drag, in a way that made her want to kind of throw up. Not that she could do that kind of thing anymore. At least she’d never noticed a Vampire doing that. The only good side was that the sun that hit her through the thick walls of the mall and the ground of the upper parking lot, wasn’t even a tenth as painful as being out in it.

Still, she was dead on her feet.

It hurt enough that the pun wasn’t even funny to her. Not that she loved that kind of thing. She was more of a stand up girl, when it came to comedy. Funny stories with wicked punch lines, rather than clever turns of phrase.

She made up her batch of anti-coagulant, put it into the blood carrying container that she’d gotten for the job, and sent off her fatbearded minion. That, she decided, was a good thing to have. Lackeys. He still needed to be cleaned up, she realized, but that would have to wait. It was all she could do to hold her feet at the moment, and she knew that she didn’t dare sit down, even for a second. As it was Eve couldn’t be totally certain that she wasn’t kind of nodding off, even as she moved. She lost time more than once, but never went down all the way. Hopefully that would count as far as Zack went. He didn’t come to help her out at any point, but then, if she wasn’t going down, she didn’t really need him to, did she?

It was nice to have your hand held, but after a while you had to step out on your own and run. In this case, stumble. Slowly. She did it though and found herself moving from store to store, cleaning and talking to people. Just the Candles and More and Yoghurt World, at first. Then at about four, feeling a little better, and her eyes being clearer than they had, she went to Hartley and Co.

There was no real reason to do it. She didn’t think so at least. When she got there though, she found that the place was packed, and that all of the girls were busy… helping other customers. In the back. That meant Zack was scrambling to ring people up alone, and there was no one on the floor at all, since they only had four people on this shift. Without even thinking about it, she jogged over, still feeling heavy, but lighter than she had for hours, and started manning a till. Because she was just incredible that way. Clearly. It wasn’t like she was sucking up or anything. Not that at all.

It was… Busy. Not just with guys trying to hit on hot chicks either, which was the norm for the place. There were people there, who seemed to be looking for things to… buy. Actual books and things like that. It wasn’t unheard of, but this far away from Christmas it was a bit unusual.

She had the patter down, from long practice working there, and forced herself to move more quickly than she thought she could given the hour.

“Did you find everything all right today?” She asked this of an old man, who squinted up at her, his face a bit wry looking. She was taller than he was, but also standing on a raised stage that people on the other side of the counter couldn’t see. It made her taller than most of them, unless they were very big people.

“I was hoping to find a good nudie magazine, but the pickings are a bit slim. Keep the good ones behind the counter? I could come back there and help you look?”

Eve smiled, getting that she was supposed to be scandalized. Instead she just grabbed a pen and paper.

“What kind do you want? We’ll try to order them for you, and if we can’t we’ll find the closest replacement available. If you don’t like them, you don’t have to buy.” It wasn’t policy, but Zack turned and nodded to her, even as the man said a few things that made the woman behind him in line blush. Eve just wrote, rang up the rather plain and boring auto repair book that the man actually had decided on and moved to the next person.

That woman was still red in the face. She was a bit stuffy looking for a woman that couldn’t have been thirty yet. Squared bangs that reminded Eve a bit of Maggie Sims, and chunky enough that she remembered the girl from the other day. The one that had been given to her to kill. That reminded her to try and make sure she was still all right. It cost her very little to do that kind of thing, and would make her seem like she cared.

The woman in front of her put her books on the counter.

“That’s so gross. What that man said?”

Eve got it, but winked.

“Because it had a dude involved in it?”

To her surprise the woman nodded. Either playing along or outing herself directly. Either way it was done without irony.

“Yeah. I mean, I know people do that, but do the breeders have to be so blatant about it? That kind of things needs to be hidden away from the eyes and ears of the good, innocent, public.” She kept turning red, but it was joking, so Eve just rang things up, trying to be efficient.

“Did you find everything all right?”

The lady had, so she was able to help get things caught up. Nearly forty minutes later she hit the main floor, and started straightening books on the shelves. There were bare patches in places, so she ran to the back, feeling better now that dark had come outside, and pulled the wooden stocking cart out, to start filling things. She just worked until Marcus came in, at six-thirty. His face was flushed red, from exertion, but he was damp, and smelled clean. Eve was willing to bet that Lenore had sent him down, not wanting to put up with him herself. It was a brilliant plan, to be honest. He was a bit of an annoyance, even if he did smell like her new favorite food.

“I got that stuff you wanted. The, uh, girl at the ice cream place said that it tasted fine. Good, I guess? It’s in the cooler there, so you can find it? I was going to take off.” There was a sullen tone to his words, as if he felt abused.

Poor him, having to slave away, being useful and all that. For once in his sorry existence. One of the girls came out of the back then, with a young thin guy who looked sheepish. Also like he was playing way out of his league. The brunette with him was so far beyond hot that it wasn’t funny at all.

Kaitlyn. She’d been gone at college for most of the time that Eve had been working there, but they recognized each other on sight. The girl abandoned her conquest of the moment and moved over to her, giving her a hug. It wasn’t like they’d never made out or gotten busy. Eve had even done it with her guy form several times. Kyle.

“Eve! How have you been? Did you bring me a present?” She looked at Mark and smiled like she saw something good to eat.

That got her to look sideways at the Human, who was a possible food source for the girl. The skinny guy wandered off then, not even looking back, since he’d gotten what he wanted from the succubus. Not that she hadn’t taken her fair share of things, too.

“This is Marcus. He’s actually in trouble right now. So don’t do anything too fun for him for the time being. Tell you what though, Mark, why don’t you go back into that little room with Kait here? Then jerk off for her. She can grab the energy from it, so it’s not actually just me being mean. If you do that often enough, well enough, you might get something out of it eventually. Not yet though. Got that Kaitlyn? No free shows to help him out or anything. Well, nothing with your clothes off.”

It didn’t matter to the succubus where the energy came from, really. Other people having sex near her, masturbation, whatever got someone off, worked for all of her kind. They’d collect the energy up as it was spent. Without even taking it from the person directly. They’d already used it, after all. That was what Eve had been told anyway. Not that she was one to judge.

What was a Vampire, except for a being that did the same kind of thing while not looking as good? That got Marcus’s hand taken by the pretty girl, as if he didn’t have a choice about things, which he actually did. She nearly said that, but then shrugged.

He was a grown man, and had his free will, didn’t he?

She worked then, until the cart was empty and Mark left, walking out without talking to her. Embarrassed. Kait grabbed the other carts, and actually did some work then, mainly helping people, since they naturally gravitated toward her. When the last of the five full rolling shelves was empty, at about seven, she waved to Zack, who was about to have a snack it looked like. At least he had a heaping tray of food from the café in the back of the place and was going toward his office.

“Hey. Can I get a package or two delivered? Richard Swerlin, and Marissa. Alice the Assistant Ambassador in Australia. Anyone else you want to take things to? It’s a bit like getting a jet pilot to deliver samples from my lemonade stand, but you have to admit it would look good. Not that I can afford your rates. I don’t suppose you’d count this as business related?” She wasn’t really going to count on that, but Zack, being incredible all the time, as a rule, nodded.

“We can do that. Let me eat first, then I’ll go and collect the samples. Meet me in fifteen minutes in the back of Yoghurt World?”

That would, if she hurried, be just enough time to package things up. They had little glass bottles that were used to sell four ounce servings of Human blood at the store. She could repurpose some of those, just this once. She needed some notes to go with the things though, at least for the people she knew she was sending them to. That meant she kind of ignored Lenore at first, when she got in, rushing to do what she had planned. The woman didn’t call her on it, even if it was pretty rude. She’d been gone for hours, so she needed to say at least something on her return.

The work came first anyway.

“I’m sending samples off. You got one? It was all right? I was worried that the vanilla flavoring would be too strong.”

“A touch too much? You should try some of it. I think its fine enough that no one else will notice, but different palettes perceive things differently.”

That meant warming a serving of it, and drinking the thing down in small, controlled sips. Savoring each drop. Trying to pick up the tiniest differences. It was a bit heavier than Human blood, she thought. The links that set, the one that she got from it since the others hadn’t faded yet, felt different. It was as powerful, perhaps even more so, but the energy really did feel a bit slower somehow. Not as refined.

If you had a choice, she could really see how a person might choose to go with Human feeding over this. Still, it was energy, and seemed to mesh with her system well enough, after a few moments. The flavor was fine though, at least to her. She nodded, and made a quick note to try dropping the flavoring a bit. If Lenore thought it was too much, others might too. Perhaps they could have different variations based on that? Regular blood, and then types with different undertones? It could be an interesting idea to test out. She needed essential oils for it, but from what she’d seen vanilla was one of the most expensive of those. Anything else she went with would be a cost savings.

She was able to write everything in time, moving fast enough again that the world seem to slow around her a lot, and she started to hurt from forcing things that much. It seemed to be the cost of using that kind of speed. Pain. If that was the case, then, she wondered, did greater speed actually come about when you increased how willing you were to take the discomfort? If she was willing to really do it, could she move like Bey, say? By being willing to simply do it?

The thought of even trying seemed scary, since she really wasn’t fond of discomfort, but she had to give it a shot, didn’t she? If it was another way to power, on a level that very few had, then she needed to go down that road.

Lenore, being nice, in her own fashion, got some delivery baskets together. They weren’t presented with fine linens, but had red and white checked cloths in each one to go around the individual bottles. A little instruction sheet was put in each one. They were the ones from the Human blood packages, but the heating instructions would be the same. Warm water bath was the best way to gently heat it, and you wanted to avoid letting it touch metal. You didn’t want it to get too hot, or subject it to microwaves for too long, though that could work if you only warmed it for ten to fifteen seconds. Otherwise you’d cook the blood and kill off all the energy links.

Zack walked in from the back, moved over to Lenore and gave her a little hug, then headed out, using the travel Node in the back room. They had one there, but really, the only person that could use it was him. Other Greater Demons too, and she was willing to bet that most Lesser Demons could. They just didn’t want to. She’d known a few of those over the years and they traveled the lines pretty easily, since they didn’t really exist.

They were beings largely created from people’s thoughts and fears. Things made up of thought and energy. The will of millions of people, bringing something into existence.

Moments later, after Zack was gone, leaving her with five of the clear glass bottles filled with blood, Maggie Sims walked in. She looked just as adorkable as the day before. Almost enough to get her own television show or movie franchise. The only difference was that now Eve knew to look for signs that it was all an act. That she wasn’t a real geek girl at all, and was just pretending to be one to get boys. Or at least their blood.

She smiled at Lenore, then waved a bit to Eve.

“Hi! I was in here the other day, I don’t know if you’d remember me…”

Eve crossed her eyes and stuck her tongue out a bit. She could do dorky and cute too.

“Of course I do! Hey, you should try this. It’s animal blood, but the price per unit will be a lot lower than for the Human kind. The stabilizing compound is based on the same formula, with a touch of vanilla. That makes it gourmet, instead of just the cheap alternative to the good stuff. That’s the theory anyway.” She kept talking the product up, while she set a pan of water to simmering and warmed one of the bottles. Then she presented it in a ceramic mug with both hands, as if it were the finest of Human.

A little skeptically, the apparently ancient Vampire drank, tasting it carefully, and finally giving it a considering nod.

“It’s still not the same, but the flavor and texture are good. The links are all solid, and seem healthy. Cow or horse? I could see buying some for my fridge at home. How much per serving?”

Lenore moved in a bit, her eyes twinkling.

“The plan at this time is for five dollars per bottle. It has a shelf life of two weeks, from time of harvest, and will have at least ten links per serving. This batch has twenty, I hear, but that won’t be standard. No one needs that much, but this one is being shared with several individuals, so it was deemed the wiser course, so that none of the providers, the cows, will be left being over taxed by the drain. We take care of our links, so that the quality will always be high.”

“Really? That’s impressive. For that price I might be willing to consider making the change. If I can find it in stores. Will it be available here? Why go so low, dollar wise?”

Eve shrugged, taking a slow breath, trying to make it seem like she was alive. The others were better at it, she knew, but that was no excuse not to keep trying.

“Richard Swerlin made a bargain with me. I get the price down, and he has to shill it for us. If it doesn’t suck. Zack is out making the deliveries to the key people right now. Richard, Marissa, Alice. Bey probably, since he’s in town here. Some other people. He didn’t say who.”

That got a nod, and the woman didn’t try to pretend that she hadn’t known who Bey was at least. Then, she didn’t really mention that at all, changing the topic pretty handily.

“Yes, Bey. I accidently mentioned him being here to Althea. I hear that she came and bugged you and Edom at your club last night? She was just worried. I don’t want you to think that I was sending her to spy on you, or anything like that?”

Lenore stiffened a bit, but Maggie didn’t, and Eve snorted. Then she grinned, because she’d totally nailed it. Then, snorting had always been fake for her, so it wasn’t that amazing, was it? Years of practice counted, even if they happened when you were alive. That probably gave her an edge as for most of her expressions then, since she’d faked almost everything for years.

“I hear that. Why bother spying when you can just come and ask? That was all she really did though. In case it comes up, you asked her to look into increased police patrols, since there’s been some sketchy things on the fringes of that group lately. People threatening others, and that kind of thing. Bums trying for free Vampire pussy or whatever would freak the kids there out. I’m supposed to be loosely linked to that too, so I need to get some cupcakes for it or something, the next time it’s going to happen.”

Maggie actually seemed pleased by that.

“Yay! I get to bring a friend. A hot one too. You do know that you won’t be left alone all evening though, don’t you? It’s a good place to collect blood, or used to be. I’ve been buying all mine like a good little Council stooge for years now. I don’t even feed off of Fred, which makes the whole thing where I’m pretending not to be a real Vampire a lot easier to sell, in case you need to borrow the trick. I should tell him, but the honest truth is, he’s too closed minded to accept that anything else exists. I do like him, but I’m probably going to have to break up with him soon.”

It was a lot of information to give some person that she hadn’t really met before, but if they were going to be friends, it made sense that they shared that kind of thing, didn’t it?

“Hey, do you have plans for Thanksgiving? We’re doing up a thing here. Pot luck. Turkey, cranberry sauce, Chinese food, and a few types of blood, if I can swing it. We’re just going to hold it out in the mall, if we can. Everyone is invited, but so far it’s just going to be the lonely people too low on the pole at each place around here to get the day off. Me, Warren from the Mage embassy, and if you come, you. Probably Hiram from Hartley and Co. I’ll ask around, so there will be some people there. Most of them won’t have a clue about it as a holiday, but it’s a free meal, right?”

There was a strange sense to the room then, and Lenore went very still. Almost corpse like.

Blinking Eve tilted her head. It took a few seconds to get the idea though.

“I’d invite you, but I’m pretty sure that Darla is going to ask you and Zack to her place for dinner. Actually, I know it’s going to happen, since she mentioned it when I told her I was planning to work the holiday here. She’s too good of a cook to deny you that. Zack anyway. Plus, if I did that she’d move her whole party here, and while that would be awesome for me, having all my buddies around, I don’t think everyone else would be all that happy with it.”

That got Lenore to make a face, which was, Eve supposed, meant to be wry.

“I understand. I was afraid that I was being left out. It would be rude to do that, especially to my face like this.” There was coldness to it, and Eve moved slowly, going over to her where they both stood behind the counter, to give her a hug. The other woman was cold, but managed to embrace her back. It even looked real enough. Then, really, they were supposed to be dating, weren’t they?

To that end she kissed her on the cheek.

Then she turned to Maggie, holding her mind as still as possible.

“See? It’s going to be so great that people already feel bad about not being invited! I couldn’t pay for better advertising than that.”

She didn’t let go of Lenore, not wanting to really insult her. It did go to show that she needed to learn to be more careful didn’t she? Even if it had been fake, and she didn’t really want to come, her asking Maggie first in front of her had given her an opening. A way she could have attacked, if she was trying to find a reason for that kind of action. It was a good lesson, meant that way or not.

“You know… That sounds nice. We don’t really do anything for that one, since it’s kind of a recent invention, and we don’t eat food. Can I bring some friends? Althea might want to come?” That was asked questioningly, but Eve got the general idea.

Unless it wasn’t about Zack, and she was just asking if it was okay for the po-po to come along. They could all end the meal with a big bowl of ganja after all. Which wouldn’t be a problem, since they were in a state where that was legal, even for the cops. That reminded her of something however, and she smiled.

“I should see if my parents can come up? It won’t be a huge thing, but it’s a good idea. My dad and Althea can network. He’s a police chief, too.”

That got an eager smile.

“Really? I didn’t know there were any other Vampires holding that particular office in the U.S. When did your maker get the position?”

Lenore let her eyes open a bit, feigning surprise, then she covered her mouth, which was cute, but also a bit catty.

Eve shook her head tightly at her.

“Don’t be like that. Just because I’m nailing this whole Vampire thing, more or less, that doesn’t mean you should be mean to my new friend. Our new friend, if you don’t ruin it. Grrr.” The growl came out fake sounding, and she smiled following it, not even seeming moody. There was no sudden acceleration toward a wall either, thankfully. It had been a bit of a risk, but Lenore just sighed.

“Fine, killjoy. The joke here is that she means her real father. The Human that sired her, and her step-mother. Eve has only been one of us for a few days. Four now? She made certain to train herself before crossing, and that effort seems to be paying off, handsomely. I was worse behaved after nearly twenty years than she is now. I lacked her feeding discipline until nearly a hundred. In four days, she’s eaten only three times, and one of those was the young girl presented to her for the taking on first waking. A girl that she saved from her captors, and more to the point, didn’t eat from directly. You licked a knife to form the link, didn’t you?”

She nodded, and Maggie seemed disbelieving.

“Four days? I know that Bey mentioned something like that, but I’d thought he was using a turn of phrase, or perhaps joking with me. Time can run strangely when you get old enough. I honestly thought you must be close to two hundred, Eve. No wonder The Bey was so pleased with how you handled things! What would you have done if I’d said that I wanted Marcus to be killed, or maimed for what he’d done?”

“Killed him, or set him up for torture? I worked with him today, and he’s a whining little bitch of a man. I think we can help him though. I was supposed to get him a make-over today, but I got too busy. I’d ask you to help with that, but honestly, I think he really loves you. It would be too much like saying that what he’d done was all right. Really, I should see if Keeley will come help with that. She’s better at cutting hair than I am. I can bribe her with free treats from here, right? We need to use up the rest of the vanilla frozen anyway and start a new batch. I got the culture going and it should be ready soon.”

She glanced at Lenore, who shrugged.

“Make sure she knows exactly what the payment is first?”

“Natch. Not that she wouldn’t do it just to come hang out. I should be getting some time off, soon I think.”

The Ambassador waved at her and explained.

“Just to keep you in the loop, Zack, the one she has running errands like a hireling, is my boyfriend. The Line Walker. Darla, whose party I might be invited to, is The Technician, and Keeley of haircut fame is The Mistress of Souls. On the good side, I can almost guarantee that they won’t be at the little party put together here. I believe that Althea is seeking to avoid The Line Walker? Not that I don’t understand why. She should try to smooth things over there however. He’s actually a reasonable person, most of the time.”

Maggie gave Eve the strangest look, but didn’t speak for a long time.

“I can pass the word on that to her? What do you suggest she do, to make things right? Offer her soul?” It wasn’t said mockingly, or with derision.

Eve shook her head anyway, making the move a bit bigger than she normally would have gone with it, before.

“Nope. Zack won’t take it anyway. He doesn’t allow slavery around him. I’m probably pushing it with Marcus, actually, making him run all those errands, but that’s about helping him learn, so maybe it will be all right. No, really, I’d suggest something like a jelly of the month club. Greater Demons all love food. They may be incredibly wealthy, and master chefs, but they always seem to need more of it. Speaking of which, I should see about that myself. Send muffin baskets, or maybe pie. Is that a thing? Pie of the month club? I need to Google this stuff.”

There was a smile then, and Maggie chuckled.

“You think that Demons can be bought off with jam and cakes?”

Eve shrugged, getting the skepticism.

“No. I think that they’ll like it though. The thing is, Zack probably won’t need to be bought off. The gesture and her coming around to visit with him, without suggesting he be killed will probably be enough to repair things, if she wants it to be. If she feels uncertain of it, I’ll go and set it up for her? She seemed like a good enough Vampire, when we met. She’s in public service and doesn’t have to be, and the cops here aren’t all corrupt, or anything, from what I’ve heard. I think she and Zack might actually have a lot in common, in the end.”

Saying all of that got Eve to remember something. She’d never met the Police Chief there in person, but she’d heard from Zack that she was a Vampire before. That it had taken so long to come back… Well, that was probably because it had only been mentioned one time and that had been a weird experience for her. She’d gone to a different land, and helped Zack convince a police detective that bigfoot was real. It was the kind of thing that had a dream like quality to it, even though she knew for a fact that it had happened. A lot of her life was like that. The stuff from the last years at least. Now those things were trying to become clearer to her, she thought.

Humans had a real problem, understanding that the supernatural was real. Even the ones that knew it was, and who were around it all the time kind of didn’t think it was true. No matter what they saw. After a while things simply became hazy, like they were dreamed and then forgotten. That sense was why most otherwise intelligent people could hear things, see things, themselves, and then claim that nothing had happened the next day. They weren’t lying, they just couldn’t hold the idea of the fantastic in their minds clearly enough.

Eve had always believed that there were things bigger than she was. Not in God, maybe, since if that bastard existed he’d let her be raped over and over again as a small child, but other things. Ghosts, and demons. She even knew some. Hell, she’d kissed some. Even for her though, it was hard to hold that they were actually not just people in her head all the time. It had been. Now, for some reason it was simpler.

The geeky looking Vampire regarded her with a cute smile.

“All right then. I’ll get with Althea on that and send her to you. Can you assure her safety in this?”

Eve nearly just said yes, because it was Zack, but then squinted a bit, trying to show she was trying to think.

“If she comes at it with good intent? Then yes. At least I can be there, and stand between them if something starts to happen. If she tries to use it to attack? No. I wouldn’t even try to do that. It isn’t perfect safety, but I really think we can do this without it being a big problem. There’s no reason not to. Regardless, Thanksgiving? You can bring a dish.”

The woman smiled at her, seeming friendly about the whole thing.

“All right. I’ll bring the pie. Pumpkin, pecan and apple?”

“Sounds good. I’ll handle the Vampire stuff. Even if no one else comes we can take turns trying to fatten Warren up. I swear that man is half scarecrow.”

On that note, Maggie left, seeming a bit disturbed. That was probably because she couldn’t remember how to bake a pie. After a few hundred years, there was probably no reason for her to know things like that, was there?

When she left, Lenore turned to her, and Eve was nearly certain she was about to get an earful, that or a backhand. So, she wasn’t really surprised when that second one came, taking her all the way over the counter, and landing her almost at the central booth along the far wall.

It hurt, but that started to fade almost instantly, so she stood up. She wasn’t going to win a fight with someone as old as Lenore, or a foot race. Even though her heart burned with rage, she held it in. After all, that was a thing she’d master long before. Not acting on anger or even rage. It had been a lesson she’d needed to learn in order to survive.

“For not inviting you first? I really was just thinking that you’d have to go to Darla’s. I should have mentioned that…”

The other woman seemed as calm as she did, and shook her head slowly.

“No, dear. I’m not that petty, even if you’d been snubbing me openly. This is for offering to put yourself between someone you barely know and a Greater Demon like that. It was foolish. Do not do that again. Understood?” She was ready to fight, her feet apart and hands held loose, but there was something about her that let Eve know that she expected to be attacked.

“I can see that. It’s hard to remember that Zack isn’t just some guy I know. Keeley and Darla, too. I mean, Keels was the first girl I ever kissed. Darla gave me a home when my own mother was still plotting to find ways to sell me for drug money. Half of what I can do, how I’m coping now, is because of them. Oh, I had to earn it. Starve myself and practice meditation like crazy, but they knew the right things to try. So they just seem like… You know, my friends?” She stood there for a breath, and looked away. “I also know that you’re right. They’ve all told me that, too. That I should never trust a demon. Not even one of them. Of course, they’ve said the same about everyone else too, including you and Edom.”

There was utter silence in the shop for a bit, the sound of the single blow still ringing in Eve’s mind. Finally, the smaller woman brushed at her hair, which was light red and past her shoulders, if not truly long.

“They were right, Eve. In this one thing you should believe them completely. Trust no one. Ever.”

Then the woman came around the counter and began to beat Eve until she was nearly certain she’d die.

She got the point then though. The one intended.

Trust no one. Not even your friends.

In the end everyone would betray you, if you survived long enough.

Chapter eleven

Rolling, Eve decided, was the best she was going to manage for a while. She wasn’t actively being beaten anymore, but trying to stand up too close to the other Vampire wasn’t going to work very well. She’d just kick her in the head. She knew that from her one failed attempt to do so already, which had sent her flying backward toward the sitting area.

So, she kept moving that way. Not that it would offer escape from the pain of the attack. Everything that Lenore was doing came in far too fast for that. Eve had tried to block already, and had managed it, one time out of the twenty or so hits that had come in.

She didn’t groan though, not bothering to breathe. It was probably inevitable that something like this would happen. It made her angry, but it was also a thing that she’d planned for. After a fashion. She’d been ready for attacks like this to come, in order to train her, but there had been no mention of such lessons being attached to philosophical concepts in particular. This one was confusing too.

Not the basic message of trust no one. Everyone kind of knew that one, on some level. If they didn’t, then Eve had to kind of envy them. To be that innocent must be nice, while it lasted. If she’d ever been that way, it had been so long before that she didn’t remember it.

So, that part was clear enough. Even the fact that she was going to be hit until she figured out how to get the other woman to stop. After which she’d probably start hitting again. Just to drive the first lesson of not trusting people home. It was practically something out of a movie, right?

The trouble was the deeper level of things.

“Trust no one, but we still have to, don’t we? Work together and have faith in people to do the right thing, or at least serve their own best interests…” She said this as she got up, ready to try and block again.

Eve had to get faster, didn’t she? Focusing she tried to pay as much attention to Lenore as she could, only to find the woman standing there, relaxed, ready, and blank faced. That was so she wouldn’t goad Eve to rage, by mocking her with a smile?

When she spoke there was an almost dull tone to her words, they were so flat.

“Indeed. Our Culture, like many others, thrives on cooperation. The difference there is that we also have a strong tradition of betrayal. You must have contacts, friends, and those that will stand by you, but you must also not come to count on them to act or react as you think they should. Today I’m hitting you. Tomorrow it may be a close embrace and gentle kisses. The same is true with the other beings you know, to greater or lesser degrees. Zack is a wonderful soul, but also a Greater Demon. There are forces acting on him at all times that you and I can’t know. Today he might sacrifice anything to save you from harm, but tomorrow he may have to take your life, or even your soul from you. If you can’t keep this in mind, you will suffer for it.” There was a hand stretched out to her, as if offering to help her stand.

Eve wasn’t buying it, since her martial arts classes had covered how unlikely that one was. Shaking her head a bit, not trusting the gesture, she stood on her own. Bones knitting, and bruises fading away already. It would take a while for it to happen completely, but not that long. The healing hurt a bit, but it was more of a dull ache than running full speed had been.

Running fast, she amended mentally. She really hadn’t moved full speed yet.

“So lesson number one comes with a beating? Trust no one, but make them think you do?”

The woman smiled, a bit sadly, “beating number one? For you, only. This is more like lesson fifty-six, and should be beating six hundred, or so. Probably delivered after ten to twenty years of unlife. You’ve been handily skipping the others so far. Even the second one that I was about to give you for foolishly attacking me when you can’t hope to win right now. Yet, there you stand, in complete control of yourself.”

That got a fake smile back, though with closed lips. They weren’t swollen, but they felt a little torn on the left hand side.

“Control? I feel angry, all the time. I’m just not acting on it. Hungry, too.” It was probably a sign of weakness admitting that, but Lenore nodded to her slowly, moving back a step, into the doorway that would lead to the front section of the shop.

“I know. We all feel that way. All the time. Control means only that your actions are precise, and planned. That you think first and act as you wish to, not as your feelings dictate. Very well. I think we can call this lesson done for now?”

Eve gave her a skeptical look. After all, she wasn’t a moron, was she?

“Until I let my guard down, and you come across with a right hook when I’m not looking?”

There was a slow and gentle clap then, her hands brought together once, almost happily.

“Or until I send someone else you don’t even know after you for the same thing. Exactly right. Very good then. You be ready for that, at all times, and I’ll go and get the shop ready for shift change over. I stayed late, so that Edom could see to some of our other business concerns in the section. I hear that you’re working at the club as well? Industrious of you. You have some time before you need to present yourself there. Perhaps you should consider finding new clothing, and cleaning yourself? You look a bit disheveled.”

Like that was her fault? Still, it made sense, and it was dark out, if still not so late that she had to feel bad about it. The club would really start hopping at about nine, and not even really then, being Sunday night. Her job was all about being there though, and making sure the trash and vomit got cleaned up. No one had said that she needed to be entertained by a large crowd the whole time, had they?

Just before she was about to leave, the phone rang, and Lenore answered it, very professionally. She was an ambassador, after all. Before Eve could take more than six steps, trying to sneak out while she was distracted, a hand came up, stopping her.

“Ah! You just caught her, Richard. She was about to escape for the evening. Let me put her on the phone?” That took careful negotiation and a wary Eve being ready to try and block again, if something came at her. That was silly though, since she was ready for it right then. The trick would be to go after her as soon as she started talking, her attention diverted.

She’d heard the voice, so got who it was on the line.

“Representative Swerlin?” She kept her mind open and her body relaxed, but ready to move.

“Ms. Benson! I just got the samples you sent Jonas and I. I have to say, it was much better than I’d expected! Do you really think you can bring this in for the price we discussed?”

She didn’t really know, not being a business person, but she let her head move from side to side a little, as if she were thinking. It was contrived, but everything had to be now, didn’t it?

Even her friendships with others, it seemed. That would have been a lot more disappointing, but really, hadn’t that always been the case for her?

“So far it’s looking good. There are a hundred factors that could cause that to go up, but the goal isn’t to clean people out of money. It has to pay for itself, and our financial backers will need a return on their investment, but that’s all. Hopefully the others will like it too. I should probably call and check with Marissa, but I don’t know if she’s had hers yet. We have a meeting set up soon.” Eve nearly panicked, not certain she hadn’t missed that already, but counting she thought it would actually be in two days still. On Tuesday of the following week.

The whole thing where she wasn’t sleeping was throwing her off a lot.

She moved back, jumping, as a very slow, and almost clumsy looking, haymaker was aimed for the side of her face by Lenore. There was no follow up, and she didn’t acknowledge the move, except with a frown. She was trying to do business, which was important.

To her. It was just possible that the lady didn’t give a good goddamn about that, however. A House of Representatives member sounded like a pretty important person to Eve, but Lenore outranked him in the Vampire world, didn’t she? As far as that kind of thing went, Rich might as well be a waiter at a Denny’s. Maybe the manager, but his Human world job was more of a problem than a power as far as their kind was really concerned. That someone as important as an ambassador might just not care all that much about his concerns probably wasn’t all that shocking.

They chatted for a bit anyway, but he was a busy man, so needed to go sooner rather than later. It was mainly about him realizing that she wasn’t full of it, as far as the product went. He needed to make sure that she understood he was going to support her actions. Even though he didn’t really know her at all.

As she hung up, and lightly tossed the phone back to Lenore, Eve nodded.

“Like you said? He doesn’t really trust me, and never will, but he’s smart enough to try and make it seem like he does, in order to let us work together. He’s acting like a friend, making contact and all that, in order to…”

The phone was snagged from the air in slow motion, showing how quickly Eve had been talking. The entire time, which meant Rich had been matching her that way. Relaxing she tried to slow that down. Lenore moved around the counter, bustling a bit, her long skirt making soft swishing noises around her legs.

“I believe so. Richard Swerlin is a pain in the rear, but not a dullard or fool. He’s known for his hard political dealing however, so be aware of that. If he can use you, he will. The trick is to make certain you gain from the effort at the same time. Ideally in equal measure. I trust that I don’t need to hit you again to impress the importance of that on you?”

Eve nearly growled a flip comment about the last one being sufficient, but it actually was, so she faked clearing her throat and tried for a charming wink. It probably came off seeming dated though. It was a thing that Keeley did a lot. Mainly to make other people think she was a lot older than she was, in order to throw them off. That wouldn’t hurt for her to do either, would it?

“I’m good, thank you. I’m also out of here, unless the phone is going to ring again?” She looked at it, sitting back in its little cradle, but nothing happened. She started toward the door, trying to move at regular speeds, only to find an adorable little man standing directly in her path.

Bey.

She stopped, and looked at him closely. He was, no doubt, one of those people she wasn’t supposed to really trust. To that end she moved to the side, to let him get into the room. He did, but his hand came out, stopping her from leaving.

“Miss Benson? I have some news, as to the disposition of the question I have come here for? Regarding those that took you?”

She stopped, and gestured toward one of the booths.

“Can I get you something to drink? We have blood…”

The tiny fellow, who looked almost like a cartoon character come to life, his great ears sticking out the way they did, gave a slight bow. It made his suit jacket move just a bit, since he was so slender underneath it.

“Perhaps a mug of warm water?”

She let him get settled, while she ran to get that. They had a constant supply of the stuff, used mainly for cleaning, but it was filtered and clean tasting. At least it smelled that way. She got it back to him quickly, as Lenore puttered around, acting like she wasn’t there to listen in.

He took a small sip, probably to be polite, as she got into the yellow seat across from him. It was clean, since she’d gone over all of them a dozen times that day herself.

“I fear that I do not have too much, as of yet. I found their scent trail, however. Three of them. By running a search of the entire city, I was able to find a place that they met, several days ago, in a park space. There were many Human scents there, and enough blood that I believe some of our kind have been going to that location to feed. That, or the Humans fought, but in this civilized time, that is less likely than in the past. I will endeavor to watch that location, in case they come again.”

Eve might not have been ready for the spelling bee, but she knew that what he was describing sounded a bit familiar. Lenore did too, her face going slightly blank.

Eve spoke though, since it was her conversation.

“Was this in Central Park? Maggie Sims mentioned that was where her club of role playing friends meets up, or has been. She also mentioned that it was a good cover for feeding. Lots of bodies, and people pretending to be Vampires, and other things, already.” She stopped there, not really wanting the nerd girl Vampire to be an evil kidnapper. If she was it might ruin Thanksgiving.

Bey went very still too, probably for a similar reason.

“Do you suspect her of being behind this?”

Eve shrugged, “I hope not? I actually like her, but the lesson of the day is that I can’t really trust anyone completely. So, I guess I need to check that out?” She held up her hand, then reached out toward Bey very slowly, until she touched his sleeve. “Because I hear that some silly people get worried when you suddenly show up. If we send you at them, they’d probably try to run away without explaining anything first. Besides, I get that it’s tempting to assume that Maggie would have something to do with this, and she might, but if I go in and find that she’s been feeding on people illegally, I can suggest she buy some of my new product line. If you do it, then you’ll have to go all Vampire Council on her, right?”

There was a pause, and then a light nod.

“There is truth to those words, young Eve. Also danger in what you suggest. Do not mistake this woman for a being to take lightly. She could have taken true battle to the Mages had it been her wish. Her power over flame is perhaps the greatest held by our kind. She chose instead to protect the youthful lout that abused her, out of goodness, not weakness or lack of ability to make her will known.”

Clearly. That had been what Eve had figured to be the case even before she’d known the woman wasn’t way younger than she really was.

“Plus, let’s not forget those others. They’re largely unknown right now. I’ll do this carefully, since, you get the idea, I don’t need to die or end up kidnapped again. How do you suggest I proceed? I’ll have to clear this with Edom first, so…” It would need to be a good plan, wouldn’t it?

Sure, he may say no, but one thing that hanging out with Darla had taught her over the years, there was no need to put herself front and center most of the time. Actually, she was about to bow out altogether given that, when Bey gave her a small bow.

“There is much wisdom in this. I will however, go with you, as perhaps will others. If there is danger, then these beings will perish. If we can, we should seek to find out why they acted however. Taking you… It makes little sense. Even now, showing the business acumen and promise that you have thus far, I can find no way that it would possibly aid anyone. Perhaps to punish Edom, Lenore, or myself? Again though, I can find no reason for what they did. It was clearly a thing meant to tempt you to feed unto the death of the child they provided you. It could be nothing else. Why, however?”

Eve had no clue, and wasn’t going to pretend that she wouldn’t want Bey along with her, if she got to have him. It might not mean she was safe, and counting on him was, as Lenore had pointed out to her rather pointedly, not a great idea, but she kind of thought that he might well try to keep her alive, if it wasn’t too much work.

“I know. I can’t think of any reason why that would be either. If they’re feeders, well, now that might make sense. Get me hooked on Human blood right off the bat, and get me used to killing… Except that’s pretty normal, isn’t it? Half the Vampires I’ve ever heard talk about it have said that they pretty much slaughtered the first dozen or so people they tried to feed on. What would anyone gain from that though? I… guess that it could also be about having the girl killed? Is she someone special? The kid of a Senator, or rich business person?”

The ancient Vampire regarded her closely, but there was a bit of warmth in it, as if something she was doing pleased him for some reason.

“I do not believe so. What our people in that area found was that she is of rather humble station. Her people are workers. Those that make things in factories? No, this is about something else, I must fear. What, I would love to know. Perhaps we can have this from the malefactors themselves, if we go carefully enough?”

Eve thought about it for a moment, and then nodded.

“Yeah. That would be good. For right now I really don’t want to end up being kidnapped again, just in case they decide their plan would work better with my brain smeared all over the ground. Getting away once isn’t the same as me being a better fighter than the four of them. Or even one, if they know I’m coming, which they would now. Honestly, I should get a gun or something.” She meant it, but smiled anyway, since as far as she knew only commandos carried the things day to day. Even for Vampires. Most of the time the need didn’t even come up really.

When you could beat up a great ape hand to hand, Human muggers were kind of cute to consider.

She started to head out, after making sure they were done, only to find that Bey was moving along side of her, his face looking relaxed. When they got outside she looked over at him and felt awkward.

“Um, I have orders from Edom to run everywhere. I think I’m supposed to work on my speed and not being noticed. I have a car, but he has it right now, since his was trashed the other day.” She didn’t know if the elder Vampire knew about that, but there was a sweet smile at her words.

“Very good! I was worried that perhaps he was being too gentle with you, since you’re doing so well in personal discipline. I will run with you? I make a point of using only that mode of travel myself, whenever possible. If you wish to make the best use of your personal gift of speed, you must constantly challenge yourself in that regard. Traveling by other means tends to make people lazy. There is perhaps, no great harm in that, but if you have orders already, I highly recommend you do so whenever possible. Those of my line all have the gift of greater speed. Not all of them use it fully, however.”

Eve took that in, and got ready to run. Before she did she looked at the man, who was glancing around carefully, noticing that there were shoppers coming in from the parking lot. A man and two women, all dressed for the cold a lot better than she was. Bey looked downright out of place, too. Dapper, in his black suit, but not old enough for it. He was ancient maybe, but looked like he was a well preserved forty-something when she bothered to think about it. The lack of hair made him seem older, but he wasn’t horribly wrinkled or anything.

“So, does it always hurt when you run?” She was being a bit snarky, she thought, since it was the kind of thing that probably faded with time, like the pain of the sun would. She hoped that was the case.

Her Vampire buddy smiled, very cutely.

“Indeed! It is agony with each step, when done correctly. The more pain you are willing to suffer, the greater the speed you may achieve. Come, young Eve. I would see you do more in this area than others as well. If you are to be hunted as it seems you may be, and sent into danger at my bidding, I would have you armed as best one of us may be. That is not with a mere modern weapon.”

She made a face, took a fake breath she didn’t need, then rolled her eyes over the move.

“Wait, I should try it with no air, in case I start screaming. It will freak out the civvies less.”

That got a single clap, and he waited for her to do that, and get going. She had to steel her nerve, but tried to focus first. It would hurt. She already knew that. Horrible agony was coming. If she did it right.

Now it was just time for her to not let that stop her. The way to power was clear in this then. That didn’t make it any easier to try it, but after about ten seconds she used the last bit of air in her lungs to huff a single soft word.

“Go.” She tried to yell it, but it really didn’t come out as more than a soft whisper.

That was a good plan, because she moved directly from standing like a normal person, minding her own business like a good girl, into pure waves of pain, instantly. It was enough that she nearly missed a step, but that couldn’t be allowed. She pushed, as hard as she could, the pain of even trying it ripping into her very soul, it felt like.

Then, as she tried to run like a sprinter, she looked over to see Bey strolling along beside her. He moved as fast as she did, his face calm and unperturbed. Relaxed even. It was a thing she knew. He wasn’t showing off, it was that their speed wasn’t really dependent on the physical action of running. Trying not to be too average, she pushed into the white hot aura of fire that it felt like she was moving into, and forced herself to walk, keeping pace with the man beside her.

“Ah, very good. It often takes a long time for people to realize that one! Now, we shall increase our efforts?” He moved ahead then. Not too far, however, just enough that she had to endure even more pain in order to match him. Then he did it again, several times.

On top of that they had to weave a pattern in and out of trees and buildings, instead of just staying on the straight portion of the road, so that people wouldn’t be able to see them. The whole time, smiling as if he were getting a handjob, the monster next to her kept going faster. About halfway to Troy’s she noticed that it was at least as bad as the torture of walking out into the sun had been earlier.

It was impossible to do more than that, wasn’t it? To her it seemed like she was walking though, and the whole trip was taking a long time. Hours perhaps. It was horrible the whole time, and her friend kept giving her looks like he wanted even more from her. She gave it, knowing that he was right. If the key to their speed was being willing to take the punishment it required, and he did it, all the time, then she could too. At least in theory. In the moment she was kind of rethinking that whole gun thing.

When they got to the front door of Troy’s Bey stopped, and just stood there on the front stoop, which was brighter than she remembered it being. The paint on it was gray, and at one time had been red, she could tell, since it was flaking in places. The inside was actually really nice, but the outside looked like a regular house for the rather poor neighborhood it was in. The lawn needed to be mowed, she noticed. Tidied up a bit. There were some leaves in it that could be taken care of too. She thought all this as she walked up to Bey, who was clearly waiting for her, his face pleased.

Beaming, almost.

When she stopped Eve was incredibly joyful she’d had her idea of not keeping any air in her lungs. She tried to scream as the pain was released, an actual involuntary response to the pressure being taken away. Her mouth moved a bit like a fish, she didn’t doubt. It had hurt before, when she was in the early sun of the day, and the running, or quick strolling that she’d just done, had been the worst thing she’d ever felt up to that point in her life. Stopping was worse. A thousand times so.

If she’d been able to pass out from pain, she would have, she thought. As it was she just waited, trying not to breathe until she had control of herself again. Bey worked the door for her, and he stood aside, holding it, so that she could go in first. That was probably both him being polite, and an old trick to make sure he had time to respond to any threat inside a room he was entering. By having her go first, he could get up to speed if he needed to.

That meant she needed to be watchful, didn’t it? Taking a breath she held out a hand before he could come all the way in behind her.

“Let me check the place out? I’ll be right back.” She got a nod then, and because she was clearly an insane masochist, she let all the air out of her lungs and jumped strait into the agony again. It was a painful search, but didn’t take too long. Troy was in his room, dressing for the night, and the rest of the place was as empty as it should have been. Unless he had a guest at least. That kind of thing had calmed down a lot though, over the last year.

Troy still had guests in, now and then, but most of the time he just worked, and occasionally went to parties. It was like he was becoming an adult right in front of her, or something. Honestly, she kind of wondered if someone had used coercion on him, to force him to be like that. Before he’d spent a good portion of his time getting women into bed. Now… Not so much.

For her though, in the moment, there was one clearly good thing. He’d already used the shower, meaning she could do the same before she had to be off to the club too. Glancing at the wall clock, she saw that it was…

Two minutes after they’d left the mall.

Slowing again, and waiting a bit for the agony to hit her, which was exactly as bad as it had been before, she took a breath. Sooner this time. She didn’t sound ragged though. It was all fake, and she still felt like screaming at the top of her lungs, but that was, Bey had said, just the cost of using her new speed like she was. She suddenly got the idea though. He was famous for not using cars to get around. She’d always thought it was because he was old and didn’t trust them, but it probably wasn’t that at all. No, he just made himself go into that pain, over and over, so that he’d never grow used to not having it.

How bad ass was that?

“All clear. Troy is here, getting ready for work. I should shower. Want to come with me?” She giggled a bit, and touched his arm, flirting. After all, neither of them would really be into sex, as far as she knew, and if he was, well, she wasn’t going to say no, was she?

“That would be most pleasant. I fear that I need to go and speak to some people however. Perhaps another time?”

She couldn’t tell if he were just putting her off or not, but nodded, since it was polite either way. She actually just wanted to get clean anyway.

“Sure. Let me know if I’m supposed to do anything to help with the investigation?”

There was a nod, and a serious look then.

“I will do so, Miss Benson. Until later?” He touched her arm lightly, and then simply vanished.

It was impressive, since honestly, even as a Vampire she couldn’t really see him leave. That meant she had a lot to learn about speed, didn’t it?

That however, could come after she knocked the last twenty-four hours off of her under some warm water.

With that thought she got some of her last remaining clean clothes that would be suitable for her new job and got to it. After all, the vomit wouldn’t mop itself.

Chapter twelve

Even though Troy left first, she beat him to the club by ten minutes, so waited for him to get there, going over the parking lot since she had the time. She did the work like a normal person, so when the others got there, the bouncers and wait staff, she was outside still. The place was technically open already, but there was no one but a few bartenders inside, working away at whatever it was that kind of person did.

She’d actually done a decent job the night before, and other than a few more condoms that had magically appeared during the day somehow, the whole thing was clean. Well, that and cigarette butts, but those things practically bred, so she wasn’t going to count that against anyone.

Barb got there, pulling up in an older model car. One that had probably been new about fifteen years before. That fit her job though, because a club waitress wouldn’t be pulling up in Porsche, would she? Even her coming in without a car at all kind of made sense. No one even called her on it. That was the kind of thing that poor girls had to do. Bum rides and take busses.

Her Vampire buddy smiled and bounced over to her, as Eve waved to her.

“Hey! We didn’t get to hang yesterday. Tonight won’t be nearly as bad here. I heard about the thing in number three last night. That sounded pretty bad. It should be a lot more laid back tonight. We really probably don’t need you, specifically, but that isn’t my call. I’m sure we can find things to keep you busy. I know, you can blow all the bouncers.” She grinned at that, since Eve was way too new for that kind of thing.

Even if she could pull it off without biting them, she was still too fresh to the club for that kind of thing. Besides, the janitorial staff didn’t do things like that, she didn’t think.

“Nope. They’ll have to at least learn my name first. I’ll just have to scrub the place down, or I don’t know what to do. That’s up to Troy to let me know, isn’t it?”

“Sure… But he’s also a Human, Eve. You really should be kept busy for now, and distracted. He doesn’t actually know that. As a manager he’d probably send you home and give you the day off, since we really won’t need you. As your friend, well, that makes it worse. I know, we can start you learning to wait too? Have you do a bit of everything, if you can handle it? If not, you know to get out, right? Just run if you have to, rather than go after someone?”

She did know that, but it didn’t hurt to have a refresher course. It was almost like Barb was really trying to look out for her or something. That reminded her not to trust her though, in case she’d been sent by Lenore to jump her when she let her guard down, or trick her into doing something uncomfortable to remind her not to be too open and loving. Like blowing bouncers when she wasn’t ready for that kind of thing?

“I can do that. If Troy’s cool with it. Edom might not be though, so I should call him first, if he doesn’t show up. I haven’t seen him all day.” It was weird, but she kind of missed him.

For some reason she’d thought that having him as her master and maker would mean that they were together a lot at first. Instead she’d been around Lenore more so far. Even that had only been about half the time that she’d figured on.

It was, hopefully, a sign that she was just doing that well. Her training seemed to be paying off so far, and maybe that was just going to make a difference? Barb lived with Lenore, but she didn’t hang around the woman all the time, did she? No, of course not, because she didn’t need to have her hand held all the time. Could it be that she was simply in the same place already?

That would be a wonderful thing, if it was true. No one would trust that though, and they shouldn’t. Probably not for years. So, regardless of what else was going on, she needed to make the effort to keep in touch with Ed and do what he said. To that end she walked into the club, knowing that she wasn’t really dressed as nicely as Barb was. Waitressing didn’t require a tight t-shirt and go-go shorts there, but the other woman was in all black, and looked good. Made up, and like she might just be ready to take a turn on the dance floor, if no one else was looking too hard. She was in black jeans, not a dress, after all.

Eve looked plainer than that. She didn’t have anything on her face, except some lip gloss. That left her very pale and with pink lips that were kissibly sweet, but didn’t really pop that much. Her skin was flawless, since that was a perk of not being alive, but she could use a little more color to her cheeks if she were going to be doing more than clean up trash that day.

Her blue jacket was warm looking, but underneath it she just had a red t-shirt on. She didn’t even have a bra under that, since she wasn’t going to sag or anything. It hadn’t even been a consideration when she’d left home. She was big enough that way to get a pleasant amount of attention, but not so huge that her Vampire nature couldn’t handle things. Fighting gravity over the long haul and all that. A C cup. She probably would have been a D, except that she’d always kept herself slim, and had starved part of the size off over the last few years.

Thinking of that reminded her to be hungry, which didn’t really go away she noticed. On the good side though, there was no feeling of sickness over it. She wanted blood, but that was all. There was a gentle ache inside her, but it wasn’t burning or anything, just a constant reminder that she had needs still. Stronger in a way than hunger had been even after three days without food as a Human, but the rest of it not being there made it easier to deal with.

Eve, being a trouble maker apparently, went into the manager’s office, and used the phone there. To call Edom, so she doubted that anyone would have that big of an issue with it. She half wondered if he’d pick up, or if she were supposed to be more independent than that now.

“Edom here.” His voice sounded professional enough. Not hurried or upset.

“Hey Ed. It’s me, Eve. I’m at T2LA. Barb mentioned that Troy may not have enough for me to do tonight? I know to repaint the flame things later, and that the paint is coming now, but until then, what do you want me to do? Barb said she’d train me to do waitressing things?”

There was a pause, and then a low chuckle.

“Good plan. I’m looking into the Eastern Washington concerns tonight. It’s a bit of a trip. Is Troy there?”

“Not yet. We left at the same time, but…” She focused, and heard his voice, blocking almost everything else in the club out. The loud music had just started, even if there weren’t any people inside the place yet. “Wait, he just got here. Do you want me to get him?”

“Thanks.”

She took the phone with her and ambushed Troy inside the door, where he was chatting with Barb, who was touching his arm like she owned him. Since they didn’t have sex regularly or anything, the occasional hummer aside, that was a bit rich, but who was she to complain? The man was her bud, but for the time being she couldn’t take part in one of his favorite things. Sex. It wouldn’t be safe enough for him, and the first time she tried that it wouldn’t be with anyone Human that she liked. After all, if she slipped and bit them, or worse, killed them, she didn’t want to carry that kind of guilt around with her.

“Hey boss man. Edom on the phone.” She didn’t say why, not really knowing. It wasn’t as if she couldn’t listen in anyway, which she did, as she made sure that all the trash cans in the place were empty. There were two cans in the restrooms that weren’t so she fixed that as she eavesdropped, using her powers. Which was, she realized, both creepy, and incredibly cool.

It was pretty boring stuff though. Troy was basically just being left in charge for about a week, and Ed suggested that Eve be set up to learn the ropes there. Waiting tables, between her other, real work.

“That way we can use her for backup later, if it comes to it. She’s new, so we need to keep her busy. If Barb suddenly starts to kick her ass though, back her up? Don’t close with Eve, but make sure no one else does either. She’s dangerous right now.”

It seemed a bit like he wasn’t giving her a strong vote of confidence really, but then, she knew that he couldn’t. Except, he was.

He’d gone out of town, trusting her to handle things, with no more than Barb there to watch her. She wouldn’t be letting him down, she decided. Not that it was in the plans otherwise, but it felt important suddenly to do an extra good job. Make daddy proud, and all that.

He also didn’t beat the horse once it was down and Troy was savvy enough to not have to go into all the ins and outs about why a young Vampire like her might not be reliable. He may not be one of them, but he’d been around for years and it was pretty clear that Edom was grooming him for later too. If so, and that was going to be a thing, she should get with him and suggest that he try the same program of things she’d done. The meditation and starving himself to build discipline. Maybe some kind of shock training too, to get him used to horrible pain? Now she kind of wished that she’d had that first, too.

Eve went over the whole place again, and wiped a big portion of it down before the doors were opened, and then blinked to herself, standing near the back hallway. People came, but the night before it had been packed with lovely and delicious bodies. Tonight there were about twenty people, most of them a lot more sedate than the night before. Two couples danced, and most of the others actually just sat at the round tables. Chatting.

Barb waved her over, as she stood near the other two waitresses. The night before there had been two guys too, all in black pullover shirts. Tonight it looked like there were just the three women there, all dressed nearly the same. The other two were Humans, and seemed professional enough, but were just regular people as far as she could tell. Filled with life, and pink energy, but without any links that would say they were being fed upon. So, it was pretty clear to her, the staff there was off limits for that kind of thing. She’d known that, since it was illegal to do that kind of thing unless you were in a relationship with the person, but no one had specifically told her that these people were off limits.

“Tammy, Christa, this is Eve. She’s Edom’s…” There was a panicked half moment there, since they’d never really gone over what she was supposed to be to the man. They weren’t lovers, though that would have been the easy thing to claim. She shrugged though, being used to lying about things.

“Step-sister. His dad married my mom two years ago. I needed a job, so he got me in here. That’s where the nepotism ends though. Actually, he kind of told me that I was going to be everyone’s little bitch for the first year, if I last that long. He doesn’t really like me, but he wants to get on my mom’s good side, I think. So, I get to clean the restrooms here, and scrub the floors each night.”

Troy walked up behind her, and draped a black shirt over her shoulder.

“That’s about what I was told, too. Eve is also going to be cross training in all the departments. You get her first though. Don’t be shy about making her do all your work. Ed told me that she has to give you all her tips. He really is trying to put her through the wringer. Tomorrow she’s on security, so…”

The other ladies seemed to be sympathetic, rather than edgy about possibly losing their jobs to the new kid. Then, they weren’t, were they? It was why she was going to be giving them her tips, no doubt. So that they knew that she wasn’t Edom’s new favorite?

Which was the story she just set up, she reminded herself. It made sense, and was a better cover than claiming they were in love and looking to get married. This way Barb could bitch her out, and maybe even kick her ass if it was needed to save a life, without it seeming strange that she still had a job there the next day. This way it would seem like Eve was always in the wrong, but that was fine.

Troy winked at her.

“Go ahead and change into that. You can use my office.” He stayed there, but waited, to see her when she came back. She understood that one, since it was pretty clear that he’d handed her that particular shirt on purpose. It was nearly three sizes too small, and instead of hanging on her like a normal garment, it stretched over her chest and showed very clearly that she wasn’t wearing anything underneath it. There were three buttons near the top of the front, but she left them all undone, to give herself the extra room. Hopefully it looked hot, since otherwise it was just annoying.

Thankfully she didn’t have to breathe. Christa, the redhead that looked to be in her late thirties and like she might just have a drinking problem made a teasing face.

“Woo-hoo! That should get you some tips. Good, you can start by shadowing me. It isn’t hard working here. We don’t do food, so it’s all about getting the drink orders right. I have those seven tables. Come on.” The woman walked away, confidently, so Eve followed. It really wasn’t all that hard, though she could tell that this was probably the easiest time to learn the ropes possible.

The hard part wasn’t getting the orders, but the fondling. True, most of the men that did it tried to be casual about it, just bumping into her by accident, but a few just stuck a hand out and felt her up as if she were there just for that. One of them, a guy that was probably too drunk to really know better, as early as it was, actually rubbed over her left nipple several times with his thumb, as his friends looked on. She responded, getting hard on that side. She did manage not to backhand him into a wall though, and instead leaned in.

“Look, you seem like a nice guy, but I have to warn you, don’t try that with any of the other girls. The bouncers will have to toss you out for it. So play nice. What can I get for you? Coffee for you, of course…” She winked at the one that still had his hand out, but who slowly pulled it back. He didn’t want coffee, but she knew that he wasn’t getting more booze there. Not coming in that drunk already. She turned it into a joke though, and served his friends, then got one of the bartenders to make an ice coffee, which she planned to pay for herself, if she had to.

Christa pulled her aside, before she went back, walking right next to her the whole time.

“Not bad! Half the girls freak the first time something like that happens. You’ve done this before?”

“Nope. I was just hugely abused as a child. I have boundary issues, so things like that just don’t bother me as much as they do most people. What are we supposed to do with drunk people though?”

“Pretty much this. They get coffee on the house, if they’ll take it, and kicked out if they pitch a fit about it. We should get with Brian on that. He’s in charge of security on Sundays. Let me flag down someone with a headset…”

She took care of that, while Eve went back to the table, and took the money for the drinks. There was a bit of change needed, but the others all told her to keep it. Ice coffee tried to grab her ass, but she took his hand gently and held it instead.

“Hey! Are you actually trying to get me fired on my second day?” She chuckled about it, and moved back, letting him go. He didn’t try to follow her, but did keep looking her way, for the rest of the evening.

There were other men that tried things like that, but it really was mainly kept to bumping into her. Two women did that too. Since one of them was Tammy, the short and perky looking brunette, Eve decided to take it as a compliment.

They kept giving her more tables as the night went on, and by the end had her doing all of them by herself. That was harder than she thought it would have been, but the tables weren’t all full, so she was willing to bet that it was about like working the night before would have been for the rest of them. They kept it up, sitting at the bar and sipping soft drinks as more people danced and finally started pairing off to go home. They closed at two, when the bar had to close. A few sad people, ones that had mainly just sat there the whole night alone, left without anyone.

Without waiting to be asked, she pulled out all the tips she’d gotten, and put the wadded up bills on the bar in front of the trio of very lazy seeming ladies, and made a face.

“I need to get to cleaning. You three can split up your filthy, filthy earnings for the night while I do that. I’m changing out of this thing though.” She gestured down at her shirt. It was straining across the front and if she had to do anything athletic, it was probably going to tear in more than one place.

She did that in Troy’s office, with the door open, right in front of him. Brian the bouncer was there, and stared at her while she did it, then sighed.

“All right, I love you. So, are we getting married first, or is this just going to be a dating thing?” The man was a bit beefy, but had good muscle under the layer of fat. He wasn’t hot, but his face had character. Someone had broken his nose, at least once, she noticed. It made him seem manlier. Not that he had big problems there.

Troy laughed.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t, Brian. Eve is Edom’s step-sister. Their parents got married a few years back? Though, seriously Eve, if you aren’t planning to put out, don’t go flashing our guys here, yeah? It’s just mean. Unprofessional, too. So, how did the night go?” He seemed really interested, so she answered, her face going nearly blank.

“Not bad? I don’t know how well I did, but I didn’t mess up too many orders, and kept things together I think. Other than that? Well, I’m pretty sure that I can’t tell if I’m doing well or not until I have more practice. It was kind of slow. I’m up for security tomorrow? Or was that a joke?”

“Nope. I want to try having some women on that all the time from now on. On the weekends you’ll be doing that, too. Mainly watching and reporting, but if we need to send someone in to handle naked women, you’re up. Ed said that you have a couple of black belts?”

It was true, so she nodded.

“Kajukenbo, and Brazilian Jiujutsu.” She glanced at Brian, who probably weighed twice of what she did, and wasn’t even close to being a tenth as strong. “That doesn’t mean I’m secretly a gorilla though. I can pretty much keep myself from being raped, and maybe knock out a big guy, if he isn’t ready for it, but other than that I need to stick to smaller people. Wrestling huge men out the door doesn’t work too well if you weigh a lot less than they do.” That was true too, but she didn’t know what the bouncer would think about it. Rather than give her the sneer she expected, there was just a nod.

“That’s about right. It comes up though. We get women that won’t keep their clothes on, which isn’t a bad thing, except that sometimes we have situations happening that mean we can’t let that be a thing. It would be better if we had someone that could take them out that won’t have a sexual assault charge put against them when they do it. Be warned though, chicks like that scratch.”

“I bet. Well, I can deal with it. So, seven tomorrow, or do I need to get here earlier?”

Troy looked at the other guy, who was still kind of staring at her chest, which was covered with red now, and not as well defined.

“That will work. After that, you get three days off. Unless you need the hours?” That was a way of letting her have an out she knew. Or an in, if she was under orders to be there.

“Yeah, a whole day off! I’m working Wednesday and Thursday at Zack’s bookstore. Stocking. So Janitorial here on Friday?”

“Yep. So, we need to get things closed down. If we hurry we can get the flame dancers repainted by four. I have the spray paint here.”

It was behind the desk. He also had the tools they were going to need too.

The whole thing didn’t take too long, but they weren’t out by four. They had to take the pipes outside, and then put bits of wire in the holes on the tops, so that the paint wouldn’t clog anything. That took a while. The painting itself actually went faster, though it left gold stripes in the parking lot, out behind the dumpsters. Then they had to wait nearly an hour for the long things to be dry enough to handle, and paint the other side of them all, so that the whole thing would be fresh.

That left her there until nearly dawn, with a yawning Troy, who probably wasn’t that tired yet. He normally didn’t go to bed until nearly nine, after all.

He looked at her and shook his head as soon as they were done.

“Need a ride?”

She sighed, dreading the idea of being trapped out in the sun again.

“No… I have to run it. I should go though, if I can. It’s nearly twenty miles from here and the sun is already actually coming up. This will be fun.” She sounded dire, but moved in, carefully and hugged him. He smelled delicious, she noticed. Like blood and flesh.

Cologne too.

“Sorry about the hassle of having to work with me. Thanks for being so understanding?”

He grinned.

“Well, you know, free labor, so I can’t complain too much. Um, are you still actually staying at my place?”

“That’s the plan. I can get out if you want? Or if this is about sex… I actually can’t yet. I’ll get Barb to blow you again though, if you want? That, or Tammy. I think she might like girls though. Really friendly.”

“Also employees. Which you are too now, so no, I didn’t mean that. I just hadn’t seen you much.”

She got that one, and patted his arm.

“Yeah, I have a bet with Zack, kind of. Anyway, I need to get out of here. In case you ever become a Vampire, the sun freaking hurts. Not that you should be a pussy about it, since a lot of things do, if you want to be any good at it, I guess. We can go over that later? Right now I should scoot.”

“Later then.”

She didn’t wait to get outside, pushing directly into the heavy pain that she’d felt before, leaving her work shirt and jacket there. It would be easier than carrying them.

It was interesting, because she managed to keep her speed up, and while it hurt worse than before, and it was clear she wasn’t going any faster, the sun didn’t really make her feel like she was half dead yet. Oh, it was still early, but the day before it had at the same point. This was better.

She didn’t make it there in two minutes though, since it was light enough that she had to hide more as she moved, darting behind things and going over fences and hedges in a few places, so that drivers wouldn’t notice her too easily on the road. There wasn’t that much traffic yet, which really made it all a lot easier. Otherwise she’d have been reduced to walking again, she didn’t doubt.

No, it took about twenty minutes, even as she tried to push herself into blistering pain the whole time. Part of that was thanks to the sun though, which was getting more painful as she moved, adding to how hard it was to do anything.

She was ready this time when she stopped though, right in front of the outer mall door. The glass showed her there, looking pale, but still cute enough. A little thinner than she’d thought, actually. She’d never been big, or even normal really, but now she was one of those women that looked a bit like they could use a sandwich or two.

Smiling, to hide her reaction to the wave of pain, she headed in. It should have been pretty normal, since it was so early that no one would be out yet, but inside the shop there seemed to be several Vampires surrounding Cormack. He had a container of blood out, but there was shouting.

“Fuck you! If you assholes want us to eat that crap you can damn well give it to us!” This came from a short man… Who held a knife.

Because, it was clear, these people, the four that stood there menacingly, were planning on trying to rob Yoghurt World.

She stopped for a half second, and then, for the first time since she’d become a Vampire, Eve actually lost it. Pushing into as much agony as she could take, then doing even more than that in her rage, she blasted into the place, and started punching some people in the head.

It worked remarkably well, actually.

Chapter thirteen

It was a mixed group, but they all seemed to be Classic Vampires, like she and Cormack were. Older ones, if she had it right, being that they were still up and moving around. Not that old, because they weren’t fast at all. She was slowed down too, but then Bey had mentioned that all the Vampires of his line had that unusual speed that he did. These people didn’t. There were three women, and the man that had threatened Cormack. Her embassy buddy.

The man was the one that she hit first, and his head pulped under her right hand, spraying blood outward onto the poor guy behind the counter. The next one hit took the blow on the sternum and her body flew backward, but she was alive. She had a gun, which fired. Once. The aim was good, but Eve made her whole world turn white for a second, the pain becoming so intense that she gasped involuntarily. The bullet missed though, punching into the large lady behind her. That rocked her back, but didn’t take her down at all. So far her own efforts to punch seemed to be working best. She took the weapon, using a ducking motion while sweeping the gun away, then ripping it from the Vampire’s hand. It was a delicate thing, and her trigger finger popped right off. She also tripped over her long skirt, because that was the kind of thing to wear to a strong arm robbery.

She screamed, but not for long, since Eve kicked her in the head, ripping it all the way off with a single move. The large woman, who was lumpy for one of their kind, and not pretty at all, died next. That left a tiny woman that looked disheveled and wild, who held a stake. As in a piece of sharpened wood. She drove the thing at her, but her moves were so slow that Eve didn’t even bother to dodge out of the way, just blocking the wood itself, grabbing it and putting it into the woman’s chest. She made a horrible moaning sound, but died after a couple of solid punches to her head.

Then Eve came back to normal speed, trying not to show how much that hurt. Her hand had been pretty much destroyed, from all the punching. The right one. The left was broken too, she thought, but she could still move it. She’d heal. That part was awesome. Everything hurt still, but that was just the sun coming up for the day.

“Hey Cormack. Um, you weren’t about to just talk them down, were you? If so, lie to me, because that would make me feel stupid.”

There was a long look then, and a slow, friendly smile.

“Not at all. They were about to die, regardless. I would have managed it without destroying one of the tables, possibly, but that isn’t your fault. We can’t blame you for the actions of fools. Still, we need to move the bodies and get this cleaned up. The mall opens to the public in a few hours. Lenore will be here soon. I need to be leaving. For that matter, how are you still standing?”

“You can fight the daytime dying thing. If you don’t give into it, it’s supposed to get easier pretty quick. I’ll let you know in a few weeks? So far so good. Today… Well, honestly I can’t tell how much easier it is. I keep hurting myself doing different things. I feel less like I’m totally dead though.”

“Oh? Well, that’s something then! Good then, lass. Help me with the bodies. We’ll need to call for them to be taken away. I’ll do that while you do the rest? Being your mess, as it were.”

That got her to stick her tongue out, but it was a considering thing, not her being a brat. Then, carefully, she pulled the bodies to the back, and got a shovel and a Hefty bag. One of the heavy contractor types. It meant working fast, but working together they had the bodies wrapped up in two blue tarps, and the broken booth table moved to the back before Lenore got there.

She looked around, and then glared, at Eve.

“If you’re going to redecorate, I’d appreciate you asking first. What do you have planned? If it isn’t good, I will beat you for it.” There was no overt anger at least. Eve had to admit that she felt a thrill of fear over the threat though. The woman really would do it, if her answer wasn’t good enough.

“Bodies in the back. Four Vampires tried to rob us. Of blood. I sort of killed them. Cormack was about to, so they didn’t notice me sneaking up on them. Unfortunately one of them broke a table as she shot one of her friends. It’s in the back.” Eve tried to act calm about the whole thing, trying to apply some of the meditation tricks that Keeley had taught her.

Lenore looked at Cormack, as if to check her story. Like she’d lie about that? It would be too easy to confirm. Then the Ambassador didn’t really know if she were a good liar or not, did she? Eve was, more or less.

Thankfully, Cormack backed her up.

“It was well done, too. They came armed, and at the cusp of light, hoping to use that to cover their escape, no doubt. We couldn’t have left them alive, not after trying something like that. To attack an embassy… It speaks to desperation, but you’d think that if things were that hard for them they’d simply feed anyway. True, it’s a risk, but they had to know that coming here like that would be a death sentence. No one would think they could do that and walk away…” He looked at Eve, which got Lenore to nod.

“Indeed. The word that we have a young Vampire working here has likely gotten out. That they presumed to think that we’d have anyone here that couldn’t handle themselves is insane, as you implied, however. We should let people know that it was Eve that destroyed them all. Did you call for disposal?”

Cormack nodded, and Lenore moved to the back of the room, pausing only to put her coat and purse away in her office before carefully unwrapping the blue tarps, to examine the mess that Eve had made.

“My. You truly did destroy them. What weapon did you use?” She tilted her head as Cormack cleared his throat.

“Her bare hands. Moved like you and Edom can. The first one nearly exploded all over me. Speaking of which, I need to get back to cleaning. You too, Eve? Unless we’re needed for something else?”

Lenore shook her head, then wrapped the bodies back up.

“No, you have the right idea, we need to open to the public on time. You need to leave soon, too. Eve, are you feeling well enough to stay for the time being?”

She nodded.

“The plan has me here all day. I can grab Marcus up for any extra cleaning help we need, when he gets here. If you can stand having him around?”

It was suddenly a lot to ask, or at least it felt that way to her.

Lenore shook her head.

“No, we need to keep this in house. So, if you’d be willing to help?”

It was oddly nice of her to phrase it that way. Rather than trying to question the sudden politeness, she just moved to grab supplies.

“Right. I can get this done.” She hoped.

In the end she had to push into the pain again, even as she felt the sun above trying to punish her for being undead. That didn’t seem to be any better, but Zack had been right. She felt heavy and moved slow, but it was about half of what it had been two days prior. The hallucinations were down too. She saw tracers around everything, but when she used her trick to try and feel more alive and awake it seemed to do a lot more for her that day.

When she finished, and the mall opened at nine, she had to grab a small container of blood, since half of her links were gone.

Making a face she mentioned it to Lenore. That got a nod.

“Yes, it’s not uncommon for heavy exertion to shake such things when you’re as young as you are. It was probably the fight that did it, rather than the cleaning, but you moved well at the task, to get it finished in time. Are you having Human blood?” There was no condemnation to the words, but she shook her head.

“Are you kidding? At the prices we charge? I’m giving the animal blood a try. I need to anyway. If I can’t make it on this stuff then…” Well, then so what? Selling it was still a good plan, and if it was harder to make do, she needed to know that.

Lenore moved over and took the container from her, but just started to warm it in a hot water bath, using one of the small silver pans.

“It should work well enough. Here, I’ll get this for you. You might want to see about cleaning up? Also, I think I see your friend, from across the way?”

That was a problem. She could get a shower, in several places at the mall, she knew. The Alede embassy would let her use theirs she bet. They were all pretty sweet, after all. Zack’s store had one too, and so did the power lifting gym. The clothing would be harder. She was covered in blood, so that needed to change, and what she was wearing was probably ruined. There was only one place at the mall that had clothing she could both wear and that wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg. Brand Village. It was the store front for the Shifter Embassy. They were pretty cool actually, but you had to be born one of them to get into their group. It wasn’t just wolves either. They had dozens of different types of animals that were in with them.

Looking down, Eve sighed.

“One of these days I’m going to have to get a paying job. Well, after I eat, I’ll head down to Brand Village and see about getting something to replace this. At least things aren’t too busy yet. If anyone asks, I guess I can just tell them that this was… I don’t know, it’s after Halloween already.”

Lenore didn’t bail her out with a story to tell people, just handing her a warm mug of animal blood. It was, after a fashion, comforting. Hungry or not, and it was a lot more intense now that half the links she had were gone, she sipped carefully. Taking her time.

That meant she was still there doing it when Marcus came in, looking more ready for the day than he had before. Cleaned up and with his hair brushed. He needed new clothing too though.

“Good. Come with me. We’re going to get some clothing. I ruined my outfit. Blender accident. Yours just looks like it was gotten for you by your mom when you were high school.”

He blushed, and looked away.

Eve winced then.

“Wait, it really was? How do you expect to get women… never mind. Come with me. Bring your debit card.”

She didn’t ask Lenore to do her dishes, moving behind the counter to clean up after herself instantly. Then less than a minute later she led her chubby, geeky, friend out into the mall. Not that they were all that close yet. In fact, to be honest, she still wasn’t all that certain she shouldn’t just kill him out of hand. They already had people coming to take away bodies, and…

She smiled at him, and took his hand. It was warm and full of life, but she had eight solid links already and didn’t need him for food.

“So, Mark. When is that role playing game thing? I told Maggie that I’d bring some treats to the next one. Cupcakes or something. Wine. What do people like that want?”

There was a slow shrug, but he didn’t make her let go of his hand, puffing up a little when they turned into the Shifter Embassy and Calley Hale, the second in command there, looked at them. She hurried over, her freckled face practically shining. Her whole body practically vibrated with life. Lovely, tasty, energy. She glanced at the hands, though there was no judgment in it.

“Eve! You brought me a man? Good thinking. I was about to go crazy in here. No one has been in all day, and I was almost about to have to straighten things up. So, anyway, thanks. I’ll take it from here.” She giggled then, and froze when her hand brushed Eve’s, her eyes going wide. “Right! I’d heard, but had kind of forgotten. So, what was the noise about earlier?”

Calley was a Bat Shifter, and among other things that meant she had really great hearing. So much so that Eve didn’t doubt she already knew the whole story.

“Like you heard. Some losers tried to rob us. They didn’t. I need some new clothes, but you know, they don’t actually pay me, so be kind to my wallet? Mark here just needs a full wardrobe update. Soak him for all he’s worth. He’s loaded. My stuff first, since I need to go and scrub the blood off.”

Calley shrugged, a quick and intense movement.

“We got your back, don’t worry. You can use the shower here. Catherine won’t be in until later, but she won’t pitch a fit over that. You’re what, a size zero?” There was no envy in the words, because the little Bat was even smaller than she was. Not a lot thinner, but short, too. She was probably just going by what she’d be wearing.

“Two? It varies. I don’t need anything too flashy though. Something I can work in at the yogurt shop?” That got Calley to run and find her some slacks, a tight shirt that was nearly see through it was so white and some new socks. Her underwear was fine, after all.

Then she signaled for Ang to come over. The thin Asian man was hard looking and lean, but smiled when he saw them.

“Wait, actual customers? This early in the day? It must be Christmas.”

Eve nodded, getting the idea.

“Well, it is if you work on commission. Marcus needs… Everything. Make him look as good as you can. I need that shower now?”

Calley set that up without having a problem and Ang didn’t bat an eye at the idea. He was a lot older than he looked, she thought. He seemed to be about twenty-five, but being a dragon that wouldn’t mean much, she didn’t think. Still, he was kind of hot, being in pretty good shape. They all were at Brand Village. They had to be, since they were all mercenaries and fighters, she thought. At some point it had come up in conversation, though she wasn’t certain she could remember with whom.

Still, twenty minutes later she was clean, had brushed hair since Calley set her up with a comb too, and was in her new clothing. Ang was still helping Mark get what was needed, so she waved to the men and spoke to the Assistant Ambassador.

“He needs to get back to Candles and More when you’re done taking his money. How much do I owe you?”

“About eighty dollars. I’m using my employee discount, so it will be less than that. Here, let’s ring it up?”

It was nice of her to do that, and did help, cutting the cost by a lot. She still had to use her own money for it, but that’s what you did with clothes.

Hopefully it wouldn’t be too revealing for Lenore. Eve kind of thought it might be, but when she got back to the shop the older Vampire just looked at her.

“We have to write up several reports, and the Police Chief is coming, to see if her files can tell us anything. Nicole should be here as well, in case she recognized the attackers, but she’s no doubt about ready to go down for the day. It’s shameful, for a being of her years, to be that weak.” There was something close to rage in her voice, which got Eve to give her a funny look.

“What, did she steal your boyfriend?”

There was a hard look then, but she chased it with a wry expression, rather than a physical attack.

“Rather. More than once, as well. She’s my sister. As in from when we were both alive? Two years older than I am, and still unable to face the light of day. It’s a lack of application. Yes, it hurts, but that’s only a nuisance, not a thing that should allow her to act so… Pitifully.”

“Ouch? Well, I can do the yogurt stuff, if you’re going to be busy? Let me get an apron.”

That was the easy part, she realized, since there wasn’t just a few people coming but about ten, over all. From the Police Chief, who didn’t recognize what was left of any of them, to the mall manger, who was a Djin. He simply looked at the people, then gave a nod and left. If it meant anything, she didn’t know what that would be.

Those all went fine. It wasn’t even that big of a deal. Right up until Zack walked in with five people, all of them seeming a bit annoyed.

Zack smiled at Lenore and gave her a hug, then walked around the counter, and did the same with her.

“Eve! I brought some people to meet you. Just in case anyone thinks that you should be in trouble for all this.” He gestured to the back, but Lenore gave him a look that seemed more than a little pissed.

“I see. You thought that I was going to spank her for protecting our embassy from a threat? Truly? That hardly speaks to great faith in me, does it?” She sounded a tiny bit bitter about it, but Zack made a little sound that seemed amused.

“Nooo, I wasn’t actually thinking of you at all. Having the Council in to check on it will go to show people that you’re all taking this seriously however, don’t you think? Vaughn… This young lady is Eve Benson. The one that handled the situation earlier? Edom is her maker.”

“Ah!” The man who was tall, and looked a bit like he could have been the father on an old television program smiled at her. “I was informed about his intent to finally create a child. That… I must have lost time in my memory. I’d swear I only got the paperwork on that a few weeks ago.” He shook his head, as if trying to remember more clearly.

Lenore moved in beside Eve, and took her hand.

“That’s right. This is her sixth day as one of us. She’s undergone years of training before that however, which truly seems to be paying off. Note that she stands here with us, even as the sun looms over head? This is the third day she’s done this. Or is it the fourth already?”

She had to count, and felt slow while doing it.

“Third.”

Zack nodded then, and winked at Bey. They were buddies though it was clear he knew them all, from the very tall chalk white Manthori with his blood red eyes and rows of fanglike teeth, to the small pale boy who stood near the back. There was also a woman who was wearing a skirt suit thing, that seemed to be made of tweed. She had pale, cream colored, hose and brown shoes which seemed nearly sensible, as well as a matching hat.

“Excuse me, are you Marissa?”

The woman smiled and walked up to her, as if they were old friends.

“That’s right. I’m so happy to meet you in person. So, let me inform you as to who these others are, then we can look at the bodies? Eve is the woman who has come up with that wonderful new animal blood product. We’re to be working together to make certain everyone has a chance to purchase it. I assure you, her primary concern does not seem to be making money from this. I say we wait a week and then draft her onto the Council. Or at least invite her to the good parties.”

The boy, who looked to be about ten and was fairly cute, wearing a tiny but clearly expensive suit, and being thin enough that he seemed almost like he could be on television, stepped forward then. He didn’t speak, letting Marissa do that part.

“This is Gene. Don’t be fooled by his looks and youthful charms. He’s both ancient and wily. Also well connected amongst the lower ambassadorial staff around the world. In short, we’ll wish to court him for our business.” Then she motioned to the tall Manthori gentleman. “Harland. His connections are more… interesting? He knows most of those that do not share the strict classical bloodlines. It is his part to see that those others are well represented, and that we don’t allow bigotry to prevent us from seeing to true justice.”

There was a gentle wave toward Bey then, and the man smiled.

“Miss Benson is known to me, of course. Just last evening we were discussing the merits of speed, and how one might use such. I hope that information held you in good stead?”

Lenore gestured then to the back.

“I think it did, Bey. Come, see for yourself?”

They were all ridiculously fussy about looking at the bodies and had no more clue who they might be than she did, but someone in the area would know. There just weren’t that many Vampires around. Sooner or later they all met, or so everyone assured her. It was Gene, not Bey, who moved in to look at the man’s body though.

“Destruction of the skull and brain with a single blow? From a hand? That’s hard to do. Bey, is it possible that something else is going on here?”

Zack snorted, which was a strange thing to do, but didn’t speak, since he hadn’t been asked.

Gene gave him a glance, but didn’t ask what his point was.

Bey nodded.

“I think there might well be. Eve, you didn’t vaporize the head completely. Why is that?” He seemed to be really asking her, as if that was a thing she could do?

“Um… mainly it’s the sun. It’s distracting, and slowed me down a bit. I managed to do some things a bit faster last night. I’m working on it though.” She felt a bit embarrassed, for some reason, so looked away.

There was a little clap and a slow, slightly smug, bow toward the boy, who wasn’t that much shorter than Bey was himself. About half a foot.

“There we go, Gene. I’m certain that in a few weeks time, Miss Benson will be able to do a better job of it. Also, I notice that a table was damaged? Tsk, Miss Benson. Sloppy work is not allowed. I’m certain that you will reimburse the shop for the damage?” He seemed serious.

That nearly got her to growl, since it wasn’t fair, but that was really the point, wasn’t it? Bey was trying to show the others that while she was doing well, and had kind of kicked more butt, harder, than was normal, she was also in control of herself. Or, more to the point, under his control. Not because she was scared, but because she was reasonable. A new kind of Vamp that didn’t have to be beaten into good behavior?

“Yeah. I mean, I was hoping not to, but I can do that. I don’t suppose you’d take payment in emeralds? I have some nice ones I can trade for it.” She did too, which got a happy little nod from the killer of the Council.

“Perfect. Yes, I’m sure we can do that. Is that to your satisfaction, Gene? Do you perhaps wish to question the Line Walker as if he or one of his family is responsible for her abilities?”

Zack moved forward a bit and in front of her slightly.

“She got some hints on meditation, which done the way she’s doing it has a bit to do with a weak kind of magic.” He carefully didn’t mention what kind, she noticed, deciding to do the same. “The rest is mainly due to her Human life. It was the kind of thing that either breaks a mind or makes it very hard. She chose that second path. There’s been no interference, or any deals, to give her greater than normal powers. She’s just that good, and that well prepared.”

Marissa seemed to be satisfied with that, and the Manthori man shrugged, but the boy made a face.

“It seems to me that if you wished to place a controlling influence on the Council, you might arrange for such a thing. Might you not? The ways of Greater Demons are convoluted. Did you perhaps find this girl and recommend her to Edom?”

Eve felt a bit put on the spot, but Zack cleared his throat and covered a smile with the side of his hand.

“Actually it was The Technician that found her, and The Mistress of Souls that recommended her to an internship here. For that matter, The Rotted is a friend of hers, as well as The Mind Stealer. Even with all that, none of them, any of us, have done anything to Eve to make her into what she is, beyond what was just said. She’s strong, and won’t stop. As you know, that’s all a Vampire really needs, as a starting point. Now, you won’t be able to believe any of that, given who’s involved in it, but it really isn’t a trick.” He turned to her then, and smiled. “I agree with Bey though, Eve. Breaking a table like that was sloppy. After you finish the current wager we have going, we should start working on your speed, and control in a fight.”

That brought up the wager, which Zack made sound like it was something dark and dangerous.

“Yes, if she fails, I get to take her life, but if she succeeds and defeats the death of the light for fifteen days straight, I’m going to forgive half of your debt to me. It’s what she asked for. She’s gone three days already, and with each it will get easier for her, so I think her odds of winning are good. Like I said, it was her plan though, so if anyone is trying to get into a position of power, it’s her. For her own reasons.”

She didn’t call him on the death part, because it made her sound really tough, but Marissa looked half panicked.

“But… Can you do this thing?”

It was Bey, stern suddenly, who turned on the hermaphrodite.

“She is of my line. More, she has worked hard for this. She will not fail, and we shall win the prize she seeks. It is a heady bargain to make, but we will not seek to undermine her in this. Is that understood? She risks much for us already. Can we ask for more?” The look was for Harland though, not Gene, who was asking all the questions, or Marissa, who seemed worried about it.

Zack clapped her on the back.

“I already know that, actually. Her staying up for fifteen days isn’t for me, but for you, so that in a month when I want to run off with Lenore for a few days Vaughn here will let her have the time off.”

He bowed, and glanced at Lenore.

“Make certain she’s up on the paperwork?”

Bey looked at the others, but didn’t tell them to leave. There was both a polite sense of not wanting to be offensive and a strong idea that not having the others around would be a very good thing. They were standing in the back though, so Zack fixed it by waving toward the invisible Node in the center of the room.

“Shall I get you all back to where we started? Or a different place if you’d like?” It was a defacto offer of free line travel, which very few thinking people would have turned down. Except for the fact that you still had to be able to get home on your own. That part was the real challenge, since it basically meant that all the Vampires there had to stay pretty close to home. That, or make arrangements for Zack to pick them up in some far off land.

It didn’t take them long to work out what they wanted, and while Harland and Gene vanished into the nothingness that looked exactly like air to Eve, Marissa came and touched her arm gently. Her fingers were cool, but felt almost right on the equally cool arm.

“We should meet soon, again. If you aren’t too busy with these other things? We need to buy property, animals and find beings who are able and willing to operate the facilities for us. I have some ideas however. When would you like to have things up and running? It never hurts to have a goal in mind. I was thinking that six months sounds about correct?” It was leading, but Eve could see that it would take a lot longer to get some of those things done than not.

Buying property, for instance… She didn’t have a clue what that would take. The closest she’d ever had to anything of that nature was a rock that she’d tried to turn into a pet when she was a kid. It was the size of her fist, and had just been picked up from outside. In the trailer park where she’d lived with her mother.

It was the kind of thing that she wasn’t willing to talk about, since her rock, her only friend at the time, had been thrown out by her mother, who hadn’t wanted anything that dirty inside their little palace of child rape. Probably so that Eve wouldn’t get any ideas about hitting people in the head with it.

Anger flared through her, which was probably visible on her face, since Marissa, the ancient Vampire Council member stood back suddenly.

“Or we could try to do it faster than that?”

Eve took a breath, and made her body relax then, shaking her head.

“No, you’re right. It will take at least that long. I just wish we could go faster. People need this.” It sounded better than the idea that she was having flashbacks.

The older Vampire smiled and nodded, but got out of there without saying anything else. Eve thought she might have offended her, but Bey came and touched her arm, very gently.

“I believe she fears you, young Eve. Not for what you are right now, which is impressive but nothing that those here cannot defeat. No, she fears what your ambition might bring about. If she’s intelligent, which is her way, then I think you may have a strong ally there.”

He didn’t seem upset by the idea, at any rate.

Chapter fourteen

The people that came to take the bodies away waited until dark, and simply loaded things up as if they were moving furniture. It was a trio of Human men, all of whom looked Middle Eastern, but also like they were American through and through. Blue jeans, t-shirts, and no beards. They even took the broken table away. What would happen to the bodies after that she didn’t know, but Lenore had her run home, to get her stash of emeralds.

Because it was only right that she pay for the work, wasn’t it?

In the end it took half the little bag of the things, and a lot of discomfort to run across the city and back like she did. It took only a few minutes though, and the animal blood links she had were working well enough. They felt a little less refined, but the energy seemed to get her going and all that.

On the good side the men all seemed fine with the idea of taking something other than cash for their efforts. Probably because she was overpaying them by about ten times each. It would be worth it to them to just hold on to the things and try to sell them later.

When they were gone, Eve was put to cleaning the place again, though Lenore did ask her to do it rather nicely. It didn’t take very long at all however, since it was basically all she’d been doing for the day. Finally she was let go, when Marcus came over, having just finished his daily work out with the Trollienkeine. He seemed stiff, but didn’t whine about it that day, so that was a bonus.

“Hey, Mark… When does that club of yours meet again?” She’d asked before, but hadn’t gotten a great answer.

“Wednesday, at seven, in central park, near the bathrooms. For now. Pretty soon we’re going to have to rent someplace else for it. A grange hall or whatever. That’s what we did last year. Why?” He seemed suspicious for some reason.

Eve just shrugged.

“I’m planning to look into it. See if I can get my role playing groove on. Maybe go in as a Mage or whatever?” She grinned, as if that were a clever idea, but the actual Mage just gave her a look that told her she was filled with things that should be flushed.

His voice became pissy then, and sounded like he wanted to be beaten to a pulp.

“One does not simply walk into Mordor. You’ll need the guidebook. We’re playing using Node Rules, which is a bit different than anything else you’ve probably heard of. On the good side, if you aren’t as dumb as you seem, you’ll recognize some of it. Shifters, Vampires, Succubae, Elth and even Greater Demons. Lesser ones too, but you can’t play those. I have a book, but… Well, I can’t go, can I? Someone made it so that I’m not welcome there anymore.” There was a pointed gaze, directly at her, which had Eve holding the bridge of her nose.

“I… Seriously? You can’t see that using magic to take over someone’s mind then making her have sex with you might just be wrong? That all of this is a result of what you did? I need you to tell me that you understand that Mark. I really do. If this little bit of me being nice isn’t going to work, let me know now. I can kill you and be done with it, before I invest too much time.” She didn’t sound upset, but she felt it. That was the kind of thing that was happening all the time now.

Rage poured through her, and for once she let it show on her face. Her eyes stung a bit, and her fangs dropped down. She didn’t fight against it, but Lenore, behind the counter, looked very wary. Probably because there were still real people in the mall, shopping and getting ready for the holidays.

Mark looked scared though, even as she moved so that her back was to the glass that separated the shop from the walkway.

“Can’t you see this one? It was wrong. You can’t do that again and I need you to start really living that, all the time now, or you will not survive this, Marcus. Why you keep acting like this isn’t your last chance, I don’t know. I guess I’ve been too nice about it all? Keep pushing your luck, lard ass, and we’ll see how long you last. Right now… Half a dozen Vampires want you dead, do you know that? More than a few Mages too, I bet. You nearly started a war. A real one, with people dying because of what you did. Do you think that Maggie is really okay with you raping her? She lied about that, so you wouldn’t be hurt. Not just to stop things from going sideways either. You hurt her, and stole her free will, and she still stepped in front of you, and kept you alive. That alone should have you crying yourself to sleep every night, you fuck tool. You have the rest of your life to make amends, but I wouldn’t wait too long, because if I don’t start seeing real effort from you in the next, oh, call it ten minutes, then I’ll end this little project and drain the life from you.”

She moved in, getting him to step back. He was in some of his new clothing and looked better, if not good, but she’d just have to ruin that for him. Taking a deep breath she forced her mind into a calm state, and kept it up until her teeth relaxed and her eyes went back to normal. They didn’t sting anymore, at least.

Mark, for all he was a bit whiny most of the time, just looked down.

“Sorry. I do get it. That… It’s really the only social thing I do. I know I can’t go back, but I miss it.”

“Right. That’s kind of the point. You mess up and other people step in and take away some of the things you like. It’s that, or constant beatings, and I doubt you’d survive that yet. So, where do I get one of these books?” Also, why did they have accurate sounding information in them?

She suspected it was some kind of Mage thing, but Marcus waved toward the bookstore down the way.

“Here, actually, down at the good bookstore. A few other places in town, and over in Portland too. It’s a Northwest thing. I…” What he was about to say, she couldn’t tell, since the clatter from the main walk area of the mall got him to stop talking. She ducked out, to see what was going on. It was a different scene than she might have expected.

After the first sound, which was, as she’d understood, the sound of metal on brick tile, clanging, a bit of shouting started. She was running toward it, but at Human speeds, for some reason. At first she thought that it might just be her getting lazy, especially since Marcus was keeping pace with her, but everyone else that came out of their own shops to see what was going on had managed to do about the same thing. Instead of being armed and armored for war, everyone just looked concerned. Eve got the general idea too, since the fight that seemed to be going on was between a cute and rather familiar Japanese lady, and three young men who were maybe in their mid-teens. The only strange thing was that instead of simply scolding the boys for whatever it was that they’d done, the woman, who was in front of the food court, looked ready to lay into them.

Hard.

She was unarmed, but the way she moved told Eve that these punks, and they seemed like that kind of douche bags, were about to have their asses firmly delivered to them. Possibly in a far more lethal manner than they were honestly ready for.

“You do not touch a lady like that.” The growl from Lyn, Zack’s grandmother, Eve thought, was darker than it probably should have been. What the hell had these twerps been doing? Slapping someone on the behind probably wouldn’t have gotten that level of response.

Mark, surprisingly kept on running, and ended up stopping between the small woman and the three taller a-holes. Facing the bad guys, at least, which meant she didn’t have to kill him for it.

“What the crud? What did you do?” He pointed at the one in the center, who was actually a decent looking boy, compared to the others. A six or so, on a scale going to ten. There was a flare of white around him too, which meant he was getting ready to perform magic.

That was against the rules, except that given the situation it might have just been reflexive. Eve watched him though, ready to slap the magic right out of him if it became needed.

All three of the boys answered with similar things, but the combined response was only about half of what Mark was doing. That was interesting. The idea that her little fatbeard might actually be a powerful Mage had never really occurred to her. She’d kind of thought he was just sort of a joke. After all, if he were worth anything he wouldn’t have been trying to mind control Maggie into bed, would he?

The one in the center looked down and then sneered a bit.

“Nothing. It was just a bit of compulsion. No big thing. I figured that I’d get her to, you know, have some fun with me? She’s hot.” There was a sullen shrug and a look that told everyone in the world that he knew that Marcus had done the same thing and pretty much gotten away with it. That would be the problem then, wouldn’t it? She just hadn’t been hard enough on him for the rest of them to take notice of anything.

Lyn nodded, a flare of silver white magic suddenly dwarfing what even Mark was putting out, making the others all take a step back. Her eyes looked insane when she did it, and the feeling of power and life thrummed across everyone’s skin. Eve let her face go slack, because while it felt like the same thing that the boys were all doing, she was nearly certain that Lyn was a Greater Demon. Zack had mentioned it to her, and there had never been mention of more than one grandmother. Besides that, the woman looked like she could be dating… Almost any of them. There was a youthfulness to her that meant either a lot of healing magic, or that she just wasn’t going to age.

Meaning that if she were really pissed off, some folk were about to die. The goal then would be to help her select the little, and possibly useless, mental midgets in the group.

Eve took a deep, very slow breath, as people, mainly shoppers, looked on, and then lied to the whole mall, loudly.

“Well, we don’t allow sexual assault here, boys. I don’t know what the hell you were thinking, but this is a family friendly establishment. Come with us. Now. Ma’am, if you’d come along, too? Let me, and Mark handle this though, please? We don’t need blood in the middle of the mall. Not this close to Christmas. It would kill sales.”

She wasn’t joking about that, but Lyn gave a feisty looking nod that held more humor inside it than what Eve was really managing at the moment, herself. What the fuck were they going to do about this? The kids were clearly monsters, trying to use their powers to abuse innocent people in public, but it was even worse than that. They’d thought that Lyn was just a regular person, and for some reason didn’t think that it would matter to anyone if they’d used her however they wanted? What the heck were they learning in school if that was how they thought?

Eve knew for a fact that compulsion spells were regulated by the Mages, and that you were supposed to fill out forms when you wanted to use them on people. She’d helped do the paperwork for things like that more than once, and the things weren’t given out to help acne ridden kids get some exotic granny tail. Not that Lyn looked that old, but still…

It was hard for her to keep herself under control then, and she fumed a little as she took them all into Hartley and Co. Instead of bothering with the front desk she walked them all over to the Node room, and held the door. One of the boys seemed to get the basic idea, and tried to run, but she snagged his shirt and tossed him inside. Gently enough that he only fell to the floor with a thud, rather than the death causing throw that she nearly went with.

“I don’t think so, asshole. Get in there.”

Zack had been out on the floor, and followed them in, seeming concerned. When they were inside and the door shut, Eve realized that Darla was there too.

Wonderful. Not that she didn’t like having her peeps around, but this was about to get more complicated than someone like her could really handle, wasn’t it? With Three Greater Demons in the room, what were the odds that they were going to get out of the situation alive? Oh, she might, since two of them actually liked her, but the others?

No, it already was too complicated for that kind of thing.

Meaning she was totally out of her depth.

She turned on the boys, who looked to be about fifteen or so, give or take a year or two, and forced herself to shake her head, slowly. They were the ones she could take in a fight after all.

“Um… Lyn… I have that right?” She didn’t know any other name for the woman, and if she had a title, Eve had never heard it. It could be a big problem with some Greater Demons, if you didn’t know who they were all the time. Even though they could change shape without giving notice. The woman nodded, not seeming ready to kill her over some imagined insult, thankfully. “Lyn here… These little morons tried to take over her mind. In public. On embassy row. They’re all Mages too, so they know better than to pull that kind of crap here. That’s pretty much an act of war, even on a good day. I don’t know what to do, to tell the truth. She’s um, a Mage too, right? So…”

All the Demons looked at her, and nodded at that, letting her know that Lyn wasn’t out at least. In a good way that meant things were probably less dangerous for the boys, too. Oh, they might still die, and probably deserved to, but if the Greater Demon wanted to stay a fake Mage, that meant the whole thing could be handled in house. Making it a mage thing, and not a Vampire one. Really, her best bet was probably to keep her mouth shut for most of it.

She felt like celebrating.

“Great. Let’s call Bob Millhouse in then.” She looked at the three collected idiots, and tried not to kill them herself. It wasn’t her problem, really. That was a very important thing to keep in mind. Only an idiot went around getting into other people’s business, when they didn’t need to. Still, Zack was her friend, one of her best friends in the whole world in fact, and Lyn was his family. The kind that he actually liked. That meant she was, Demon or not, under Eve’s protection. At least from these miniature Gandalfs. “You couldn’t have planned this out to end worse for yourselves, you know that? Zack, can you arrange for them to be left in a place they can’t get back from? We might have to send them there, to protect them from Bob. He is going to be pissed.”

Darla, looking like someone who probably would have been the target of the boys if she’d been the one walking alone in the mall herself, being blonde and perfect, stepped forward slightly.

“That’s simply the unmitigated truth. This is Lyn Hartley. The wife of the previous leader of your people? Brad Hartley? Adopted grandmother of The Line Walker? Does any of that ring a bell, or do they not teach you that kind of thing in school these days? Way to start an international incident, creeps.” There was no joking in her tone at all, even if she also managed to sound like a sexy cheerleader at the same time. Then, she was a demon, and they were all good at faking things like that, weren’t they? It was a big part of what they had to do in order to survive. That she didn’t know all of the threats they faced was probably about protecting her from harm, as often as not.

Marcus looked a bit troubled though, and shook his head, but didn’t beg for their lives. That probably meant he either didn’t get how close to dead the kids were, or was learning, and didn’t want to die himself, along with them.

“Darryl, Tim… I don’t know what the hell you were thinking. You both know what I did… Everyone in the community does.You were all told not to pull stuff like this right now. That wasn’t even a week ago. What were you thinking?”

The one in the center of the clutch of now scared looking boys, who was staring at Zack rather directly, was the one that spoke. Tim, she thought, though she couldn’t be certain. They needed those little sticky name tags for them. Still, it could be hard to tell who was whom, what with them all saying Hello, my name is Stupid A-hole.

“She isn’t a Vampire. They shouldn’t have a problem with us having fun with a Human, right? That’s fair game still. We didn’t know that you were a Mage, lady. You didn’t have the aura around you, so it’s hardly fair to blame us for…”

Eve felt her teeth pop out in rage. The kid was about to die, and she started to move toward him, knowing that it would be easier for her to do it than for anyone else there to explain youngsters dying like they pretty much had to. She was young herself, and while it would probably mean that she ended up locked in a box for a month as punishment, to teach her self-discipline, she might just need to suck that up. There were things she wasn’t willing to put up with, and this kind of casual rape thinking was one of them. These twerps really didn’t think that the Vampires would mind someone being abused by Mages right in front of them? After what had happened with Maggie Sims?

Mark saved the boy’s life though.

By shaking his head.

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Yeah, I fucked up, trying to make someone love me when I should have let her go instead. I admit it, I’m a dumb-ass. I shouldn’t have done it, and nearly died over the whole thing. Maggie Sims saved my life. The woman that I spelled? I probably should be dead, you know. Any other Vampire would have killed me flat out. See the bruises all over my face? She kicked my ass first, then saved me from the Vampire Council. You doing this now…Here… This woman isn’t a Vampire, true, but she’s not someone for you to play around with like it doesn’t matter, either. There are rules to magic, and you all know them! I…Freaking hell, Tim. The Mage Council will have to throw the book at you now. Otherwise it will look like they’re endorsing this kind of thing. We’re probably all dead. We deserve to be, for being so stupid.” He seemed genuinely remorseful, so at least there was that.

Eve nodded, smiling.

“Good, so we’re agreed on that one? Let’s call Bob. I’m sure this is how he wanted to end his day. I bet he’s gone home already, too. That will not put him in a good mood.” She nearly added in another threat about dumping them in some far off realm, but the boys seemed to get that they were actually in trouble. Finally.

That they didn’t think of that part first…

Well, that was probably due to them being so young. It was easy to think with your hormones at that age. She suddenly felt old, but she’d done worse than trying to cast a few spells at the same point in her own life, hadn’t she? Eve had actually killed people.

Ones that deserved it, maybe, but it was still pretty bad in most people’s books.

Zack was the one to make the call, and they all stood there until Bob came in, wearing an old jacket and carrying a leather case.

As she’d imagined, he looked pissed. Worse than she’d ever seen him before. It occurred to her that what she’d thought of as his rage face was more like mild annoyance, now that she got a look at the real thing.

“What’s the situation again? I must have misheard. After the word went out a few days ago, that we all needed to be careful about spell use right now... Also that compulsion was strictly forbidden for the time being in the western states, without written permission? I must have misunderstood. None of my people would be that suicidal.”

When it was explained, he actually turned beet red, and a bit of spit flew from the edge of his mouth as he sputtered at the kids. If it was an act, he was a much better actor than Eve had realized, and she’d worked with him for years.

Not that a politician couldn’t be a good performer, too, but Bob really seemed to be about to kill the stupid kids. That probably wasn’t fair, since it was mainly the one ring leader that had caused all the real trouble. Tim. At first she wondered if he was related to Marcus, since the guy knew him. Actually, two of the kids were called out by name, and the other was Todd, she found out when he introduced himself. That guy was a bit of a moron, but only for hanging around with Darryl and his other buddy.

Not that poor Todd had a choice there, since Tim was his brother.

After about three minutes the Greater Demons all closed in, looking ready to kill some tiny Mage dorks. Marcus pulled back, very wisely, and Bob… He actually got into his bag, and pulled a knife out. She got ready for him to use it in some kind of spell, but he just moved forward, ready to stab Tim in the stomach. The blade was big and silver, and had a nice point on it, but was meant to do magic, not slice an idiot open. It wasn’t even meant for sacrifices, unless Mages did their magic a lot differently than they’d told her. Some probably did, but Bob had always seemed like a straight shooter.

It was Darla who nudged her, covertly, pushing her on the back a little with an elbow. It was gentle enough that she didn’t move forward really, but at first she kind of figured that was her signal to end some lives so that Bob wouldn’t have to live with being a murderer. That move got her waistband tugged however when she moved in to do it, which meant…

Faking a blink, Eve thought about it, feeling slow on the uptake. Darla wanted her to do something to save these kids?

Why her?

She nearly rolled her eyes then, getting it.

Why her? Because Darla was trying to help her move up the political food chain. Saving lives would play better with almost everyone than ending them, especially after she’d kind of shown she was a killer earlier in the day. It was, clearly, a brilliant idea. If she could help smooth any of this over, then it would prove she wasn’t simply being another bratty baby Vamp. Not just that, at any rate. She just didn’t really know how to do it, did she?

“Wait. Bob. We can’t teach them not to be like that if they’re dead. Todd here isn’t really involved at all, anyway, so we should get him out of the way first. In fact… Um, Lyn, will you go and stand by him, back there? I really don’t want you to be right here, in case the Greater Demons start throwing down. Maybe you can cast some type of protection spell for the two of you?”

That got a set of strange reactions from the rest. Bob actually made a hard face, and gestured with the knife for it to happen, as if it just made sense. Zack nodded then, his brown eyes hard and gleaming, and Lyn looked almost pleased to take Todd, the good boy, comparatively speaking, off to the side.

The other two kids both looked freaked suddenly. Mark did too, come to that.

Eve shook her head.

“Really? You didn’t realize that The Line Walker would be standing in his own workplace? Or that he might have a buddy along with him? This incredibly hot blonde is The Technician. Yeah, let that soak in. Two Greater Demons, both currently pissed at you. Personally. You insulted The Line Walker, too. Screwing with his adopted grandmother… You would have had a better chance of survival if you’d both just walked up and tried to punch him in the dick. I mean that too. You still would have failed, but he could have paddled you, and left you crippled for it. This, using magic like that…Worse than that even, your own ambassador is about to kill you to try and stop an all out war, and you deserve it. Especially you Timmy. Tell you what. If you volunteer to die, right now, I’ll beg and see if we can save Darryl? You’re going to die anyway, I bet. No need for both of you to go down.” It really sounded like she meant it, and Darla moved in, her face suddenly sunny and happy.

“Oh. That’s a good one. What do you think Timothy? Are you the kind of person that dies screaming, alone? Or are you the sort that insists that innocent people die with you? How big of an ego do you have, in the end?”

Eve actually expected tears, or possibly a urine stain to spread across his blue jeans, but the kid just shook, and finally whispered at him.

“Fine. I guess. Kill me. I don’t really see what the big deal is, but… Darryl didn’t do it. I did.”

Somehow he actually managed to sap all the possible heroism from the action in just a few words. While actually doing the right thing. That took skill, if a warped kind that she nearly didn’t understand. She was about to try and turn it into something less lethal for the kid, when Zack stepped in and punched the boy in the head. Once. It was so fast she didn’t track it at all, and a fog of blood formed in the air.

It was probably pretty gross for the rest of them. Not her so much, since it was kind of free blood. The trick looked incredibly cool though. Like Zack had just made his head blow up without doing anything physical at all.

Todd and Darryl screamed, but Darla waved for them to shut up, as Mark started to hyperventilate.

“Did you think you could touch one of The Line Walker’s people, in his own territory and walk away unscathed? You boys need to go home and think about what happened here today. How your friend sacrificed himself for you, Darryl, for one thing. You owe a great debt to the Vampires, and your own people, for letting you live this day. Few would have thought to protect even the innocent, in their effort to stop the destruction and placate a Greater Demon. Now, I suggest you go and consider moving out of this city, if at all possible. I know that I wouldn’t want to be near here if The Line Walker decided to come for you. Not that you can hide from him if he changes his mind. I recommend treading most gently, for a very long time.”

Eve nodded. It was true enough, but also designed to give the kids nightmares for decades. Then again, they, and the rest of their people might well not try taking over anyone’s mind for a few weeks. Probably not though. People, and that included Mages, Eve didn’t doubt, were mainly morons. Power mad assholes that would do whatever they thought they could get away with. The point here then, was showing them that they really couldn’t.

Zack picked up the headless body as if it were made of air and feathers, then stepped into the empty space in the middle of the room, where the invisible Node was. He vanished, along with Tim’s remains, only to come back a few seconds later, alone.

“Where I put him, the animals should finish his body in a few hours. Why are you two still here?” He glared, and seemed ready to kill the remaining two boys. Not that Eve blamed him. It had surprised her a bit that he’d acted like that, but honestly, what were they supposed to do? Let Tim go with a few smacks on the hind end? He’d not only used magic he wasn’t supposed to, but had flat out admitted that he planned to rape Lyn. Probably many times. Yes, it was never going to happen, but intent counted too, didn’t it?

Eve waved at them.

“Go. Bob, Mark, will you make sure they get home, and find me the numbers to call for them? We’ll need to tell their parents about this.” Especially the dead kid’s.

That got a nod, one that seemed stiff, from Bob Millhouse, and he managed to push a slightly panicked looking Mark to help him get the boys moving. If they didn’t run as soon as they were out of the store though, they were fools.

From the sounds of feet on bricks, the kids and Marcus did run. Bob… stalked. Probably not all that pleased that there had been a death like that, for all he’d been about to stab someone.

Zack seemed normal again though, as soon as the others were out of the room, and so did Darla. They weren’t worked up at all over things. That was kind of what being a Greater Demon meant though. It was hard to understand that they weren’t just other people, most of the time. They could do things like this though, and honestly not feel the pain or remorse that even she might have. It was, probably, why Zack had done it. That, or he’d realized that the other Demons would take it as a sign of weakness if he didn’t act in a timely fashion. Darla had pointed out, several times, that this was his territory. That was probably a sign that he needed a show of force to protect it.

For her part… Well, she didn’t care either, really. Tim hadn’t even been food for her, and she was really getting sick of the sudden influx of Mages that seemed to think having power meant they could do whatever they wanted. It was correct, but not if they were going to do it where other people could stop them. Everyone knew that, didn’t they? It was why criminals hid their actions. To try and get away with things.

Except for moronic kids that had always had it too easy in life.

Darla smiled at her, warmly, and put a lovely hand on her cool back.

“That was well done, Eve. You helped get two of the boys out of the room alive, while not making yourself, or us, look weak. Just for that, I have a reward for you.”

Then, maddeningly, she didn’t say what it was, just waving and walking out of the room into the store. After a moment, both of the other Greater Demons moved to follow her.

Chapter fifteen

Out in the store, Darla was already gone. There was no sign of her in the slightest. Lyn was still there, along with Zack, who moved toward the café, stopping to select not one, but three oversized books from a shelf, just handing them to her.

“Node Rulez. These are the books you’ll need to be part of the local community for that kind of thing. The main handbook, and the Vampire and Mage select game books. Notice how well done the art is? Hmm? Hmm?” He looked at her with slightly wide eyes, handing the things over. The art was good, but she got the general idea about five seconds slower than she should have.

The names on the books, on all three of them, said Zack Hartley and Barbara Fines.

“You and Barb wrote books?” It probably shouldn’t have been that shocking, but she looked through the first one, and started to nod. “Good looking ones, too. Awesome. Not that I can afford them at these prices. I don’t suppose you’d mind if I read through them here, and memorized them?”

Zack shrugged, his lean shoulders making points under his black shirt. It didn’t even have any blood on it, she realized. That single blow had been fast. It was the kind of thing she should be able to do. If she could just make herself accept the pain of trying.

“I’ll comp you these. The whole set, if you want. Really, even if you don’t get into the game they’re handy to read. I added a lot of accurate information about all the groups represented here, and a few that aren’t. Not that I’m going to tell everyone that. This way though, if anyone ever catches on to us, we can pull the books out and claim to all be playing a game. It’s come up a few times, already.”

There was no talk about Tim, or what had happened with him. She understood that part though. Honestly, it wasn’t her business. She probably shouldn’t have even walked down the mall to see who was doing what. It just wasn’t a Vampire matter. Except that she’d gotten involved, and probably turned it into one.

That was the kind of thing that she really shouldn’t have to be told not to do, wasn’t it? Mind your own business was not only the code of the street, but every single book she’d ever read that wasn’t a romance. Those tended to have busybody behavior work out pretty well in the end.

Still, she took the books and handled them carefully as she left, running as fast as she could, or rather walking with a level of speed that made her want to scream. Literally. Eve went faster anyway, regardless of that.

What Zack had done… She wasn’t really going to be able to do that anytime soon. Even if she could that didn’t mean she’d be the equal of a Greater Demon in a fight, but being slow wasn’t going to help her either.

She knew what she had to be willing to do in order to make it all work, didn’t she?

Pain. She had to embrace it, and accept that the price of safety in her world was going to require that of her. Forever. To have real power, the kind that set her apart from others, she had to understand that and live it, all the time. That was fine. She could do it. Bey did, and had for longer than she’d probably ever know about. She stopped on Troy’s doorstep though, since she didn’t really want the door to explode when she went in. Then, after stepping inside carefully, she searched the whole house, to find it empty on the top levels, but containing a handy Bey in the basement, where he had a nice room laid out. There was a lot of wood in it, and the whole place was spotlessly clean all the time.

There was even a nice sofa.

“Ah! Miss Benson. Is all well?”

She made a face, and hefted the books.

“There might be some trouble, but probably not for us. A Mage boy tried to take over the mind of… Well, Lyn? Zack’s adopted grandmother? Except she’s not the Mage she pretends to be. Actually she’s a Greater Demon, too. I don’t have a title for her, but she doesn’t seem to care, as long as we all are going with her current act. That isn’t common knowledge, but he mentioned it to me, so it was all basically handled as a Mage thing, except…” She told him the whole story, not sparing her stupid involvement in it. Thankfully he understood that she was kind of tricked into it, Darla trying to be helpful.

“It is not all bad, perhaps. No, the blame will fall on The Line Walker alone for it, as he no doubt intended. Leaving you to be the hero who saved the others from death at his hands. It was clever, but that is to be expected. The best course now will be to wait and see what comes of this. Be careful, but that is just the way of life for our kind. Now, I have news for you? I made a trip, earlier, and spoke to Maggie Sims. She claims that she knows nothing in particular of this mixed group that kidnapped you. Oh, she believes she knows who they are, but not why they would do such a thing. I’m inclined to believe her. Then, I may be biased.” Almost as if trying to taunt her, he remained silent on the matter.

She made a loopy face, and rolled her hands in the air.

“Because?”

“Ah… Well, once, long ago, she and I were married. Indeed, she is the one that turned me from a man into one of the undead. My maker. She has changed her look, and name, but I knew her as soon as I saw her the other day. It was very hard for me to not kill that boy who had sought to abuse her. I do, however, know how easy it is to love her. I’d been thinking of seeking her out for a while now, if she still lived. I am heartened to find that to be the case. That does not mean she is on our side in this however. I think that is the case, and her story seems to track with that, but if she were to wish to fool us, then we would be hard pressed to know of it until it was too late.”

Eve tried to process all of the information, and couldn’t really. The slightly hippie seeming gamer geek girl was that old? More ancient than Bey?

“How did she let Marcus get the drop on her then?”

There was a cute smile then, and Bey stood, pacing a bit.

“Truly, I do not know. I wonder, perhaps, if she were faking the whole time? To allow him to do what he would with her? Then when the Mages came to free her, well, she needed to make it all seem real, to protect her current identity. She did seem rather to desire he be left alive however. It could merely be that she was bored, or loves him even?”

“Marcus? The fatbeard?”

“Truly, stranger things have happened in history. Perhaps she even seeks to groom him for an unlife? He does seem to have some promise. Notice how he manages to survive so far? That takes some skill with our kind. Also, if it does not show my own ignorance, what is a fatbeard? I don’t recognize the terminology.”

She blinked, and then nodded. It was kind of a specialty term, one that she’d gotten from Keeley, who knew a lot more about the world of gamers than she did.

“There’s a look that a certain kind of gamer gets. Chubby, but with a full beard from just not giving a damn. They all tend to use a similar voice too, for some reason. It’s kind of a mean description, but it also fits. I probably shouldn’t call him things like that. He sort of ticks me off though, you know? Well, it would be easier if I didn’t have to go up against Maggie, so at least there might be that. I actually sort of like her. I figure that means she’ll end up being behind it all?”

Bey shrugged, which looked pretty real but wasn’t the sort of thing she associated with him. Then, being as old as he was, he didn’t normally have to admit he just didn’t know something. Because he simply did.

“That is likely. The chances of her being here, at this time, with such things going on, and her not knowing about them, are small. It is not impossible however, and she did state that it wasn’t her plan, nor did she request that I step to the side of anything she is doing here. Would she if she had complicated plans? I know not. I have not seen her in nearly a thousand years. Truly, were it not for the bond we share, I would not even have known it to be her, she has altered herself so much.”

That was news to her. Did she have a bond like that with Edom? She tried to feel it, but if it was there, she couldn’t yet. Maybe it got stronger over time?

Eve held the books tightly for a few seconds, trying to work everything out, and finally just had to look away. It sort of made sense, didn’t it? After a fashion.

“Does everyone know each other in the Vampire world?”

“No?” The big eared man smiled at her, stopping to turn and look directly into her eyes. “Remember though, that there are perhaps thirty beings of great age of our kind in all of existence. Most of the truly aged do not interact with others. Or if they do, it is done most carefully, without the rest of us knowing of it. I have only rarely met any of them, and my wife is perhaps the oldest of those. Not the most aged in existence, I don’t believe, but who the others are, I do not know. Many go mad, after long enough. Great time influences us all differently.”

“Ah. That makes sense. Well, I’ll try not to step on her toes then? Hopefully she isn’t in on this… Whatever it is. Kidnapping scheme? I wonder though, could it be related to the attempted robbery earlier? That was strange, wasn’t it? I mean, Cormack would have taken those four out, if I wasn’t there. Or Zack would have. Even if they didn’t know to be afraid of Cormack. If they thought it was me there, well, shouldn’t they have waited?” It didn’t really make sense, but the man nodded.

“There is great truth to what you say, young Eve. Their actions were those of beings driven to desperation, not those of sane individuals. Though if that were the case, why did they not simply go hunting? None of our kind is so far from that sort of thing, to forget the skills. More than half of us still get our blood that way, and that’s only on the Council itself. I would not seek to end the existence of those youngsters for simply surviving, even if the rules do not allow it. So, why would they take the risk?”

She didn’t know. Hunting for blood was a lot easier, she was willing to bet, than trying to steal from them. Even if they’d each just found some guy and offered to blow him, then nicked his leg a little, it would be enough to get a link going. Or capture a deer, or sneak up on some farmer’s cows. That wasn’t as tasty, but would leave them all alive. Heck, the thing with the animals was even legal.

“It’s almost like someone is trying to start shit with us.” She waved a hand, embarrassed at her language, even though Bey didn’t react to her words. “I mean, the two things I know about, taking me on my first day, and then an attack on the place I work… Well, it isn’t about me. It can’t benefit anyone either. Greater Demons could set that up, but would it be worth it? Old enough Vampires could compel the younger ones to do stupid things too, and I guess that a strong Mage might, too. Really, I’m kind of wondering if it all comes back to the game thing, in the park?” She hefted the books, then sighed. “I need to read these things. Right now though I have to get off to the club. I’m on security for the night. That, and toilet cleaning duties, to keep me humble.”

She set them down on the coffee table, and wondered if she could get a chance to read them at work the next day. It would be hard, with the sun overhead, and the lethargy, but she might get some time for it, if she were careful. As it was she had to dart out, going upstairs to shower again. She smelled like blood, from the haze of it that had come from Tim’s exploded head.

It was a cool trick, but had kind of coated everything in the room at the same time.

Once she had new clothing on, or rather old things that were the last of what she owned that was clean, she tried to force herself to get to the club even faster than she’d moved back to Troy’s house. It wasn’t fun, but she scouted the whole perimeter, and was able to find the three people watching the club, thanks to that. She’d stayed on the ground at first, but caught the scent of people above her when a downdraft helped her out. It was a bit random, and there was luck involved, but she wouldn’t have thought to check the rooftops of buildings around them otherwise. It was another lesson then. Be thorough all the time.

Edom and Troy were both in, sitting in the office, when she stopped moving fast. She gasped, since it really hurt worse to stop than any other part of the whole thing.

“Ed!” She tried not to sound breathless, as Troy jumped, yelling a bit, and Edom stood suddenly.

“What?”

“Watchers, outside, on the buildings around us. Three of them. That I noticed at least. Humans I think. They have guns though. Rifles. Not really fancy ones either. With scopes, but no remote shooting gear.” She didn’t know if that kind of thing would make sense to Edom, but Troy nodded, getting the idea. The best snipers didn’t touch their weapons, since little body movements could mess up the shot. Instead they basically used remote control setups on tripods. It had been in a videogame that they’d played together at one point.

These people didn’t have that going on for them. Just hunting rifles.

Rather than call her a liar, or suggest her imagination was too big, Ed just moved toward the door.

“Show me?”

Nodding she turned and started jogging away, not wanting to go full speed inside if she didn’t need to. So far it had worked well enough, but hitting the front door, or Brian, who was on it already in his blue club jacket, too hard would be a poor plan. She kind of liked him, even if he was a bit bad at his job. Letting snipers get set up like that… It would probably be a crushing blow to his ego, wouldn’t it?

He gave her a funny look when she jogged past him, with Edom directly on her heels.

“Get inside. There are shooters around us.” She muttered the words, doing it slow enough to make sense. The instant she turned to look at Edom, she moved, going as hard into the pain as she could. It burned, and tried to make the night glow white to her eyes. That was an illusion, a thing inside her head, but it was hard to set aside.

Her maker kept up with her, walking like she was doing. Still moving at speeds that would nearly be too fast to see. If it wasn’t for the horrible suck of using her power, she would have considered becoming a super hero. Vamp girl. She could wear fishnet stockings and pasties on her nipples. It wouldn’t go with the running shoes she had though, so Eve decided not to bother with the idea. Maybe next Halloween? Slutty superhero? That sounded like a costume, didn’t it? Empowering and demeaning at the same time. Who wouldn’t love that? She pushed harder, since going slow wouldn’t help them at all.

The fun part was getting up on the top of the buildings though. For once, she meant that fun in an honest to god joyful fashion, which would have made her smile if not for the rest of it. All she did there was move at the side of the things, and run up them, She couldn’t go up forever, but with a bit of clever climbing she got to the third story of the first one without any problem. She knew she could do all of them, since she’d just done it a few minutes before.

There was a man set up, looking ready to shoot Brian, who was just starting to go inside. He barely moved though, and the finger was slowly tightening on the trigger. Looking at it, she took a breath, schooling herself first, so she wouldn’t scream in agony. It worked, though she didn’t sound conversational like Bey had managed earlier. The day before now? She liked not needing to sleep, or would when it got less horrible to bear, but she was seriously losing track of time.

“I need a calendar.” She glanced at Edom, who stared at her, but didn’t seem to think she was being sane. “Can you stop this one? I’ll get the other two?” There was a nod, and he moved in on the man’s back.

He was thin, but kind of hot. Human though, like she’d thought. That, or a Mage, pretending to be one, but if that was the case, he wouldn’t be using a gun, most likely. This kind of thing could get you killed, where fighting with magic at a distance was a lot safer. It was the way she would have done it, if it were up to her, and she were the Mage.

Moving faster than before she moved to the edge of the roof and then jumped the hundred and twenty feet to the next one she wanted. It was a bit like flying, since she felt like she was going slowly, regardless of what anyone else would see. The wind pressed against her front, almost lifting her into the air. She actually overshot a bit, and nearly went over the whole place, but managed to set a foot down just in time to prevent that. This building was a brick five story with a flat top to it. There was some kind to gritty paper tile on it, which meant it had nice traction. The woman that was getting ready to shoot wasn’t actively trying yet. That meant Eve could afford to slow down, so that when she slapped the woman in the back of the head it wouldn’t kill her. It did make her face meet with the metal of the weapons eyepiece. It had a wooden handle on it. The stock, she thought it was called.

That was kind of old fashioned, but a bullet could still kill people.

Especially Humans that had dressed to dance, not get into a gun battle. A few patrons had already started to arrive, too.

Grabbing the weapon, she broke it, then hastily patted the shooter down, taking the knife she had, which was about seven inches long and straight, and breaking both the rifle, and it, before moving to the next attacker. That one didn’t go as well, since he moved at the last second, and her fist crushed his skull, rather than just knocking him out.

Talk about sloppy. She’d wanted to question them all. Now there would only be two of them.

They also had to remove a body too. Bodies, since it turned out that Edom had a choice of either killing his man or letting Brian die. It was better to not have the shot go off, since that would attract attention and give their club a bad reputation. Of course, Eve realized suddenly that she didn’t know how she knew that to be the case. Ed didn’t call out or anything, she just understood what had happened. Even better, she knew that she was supposed to use her speed to carry the dead man she’d made to her car, which was parked on the far side of the club. Ed would get there first, and then both bodies would be put in the trunk. She winced at the idea, but didn’t have a better plan.

A tarp would have been nice though. Thinking about it, she wondered if they’d have one inside the club? She didn’t have time to go looking for it. Especially not trying to carry a body at the same time. If it was hard to avoid detection just running, it was even more difficult to do it carrying a person that outweighed you by at least fifty pounds. She knew the drill though now, and ran, moving into as much pain as she could take, then striving for more. Edom did beat her there. He’d also clearly gotten himself inside, and gotten a brown tarp to line her car trunk with.

That, of course, was why she loved him. He was the best Vampire master ever. Clearly. It didn’t take long to get the trunk open and put both bodies in. The hard part, she bet was doing it slowly enough that her trunk lid wasn’t ripped off. That or body parts. These guys were still fresh enough to be messy, if they weren’t careful.

As soon as it was done, she looked at her dark friend and smiled.

“I have a live one. On the roof. What should we do with her?” She was speaking very fast, but her mentor was able to pick it all up.

“My office. Don’t be seen.”

That was harder than it sounded like, since she had to go in the front door, to the alley in the back, where she took the trash out, then push the heavy metal door open, and dash to get the woman from across the street where she’d been set up and get her back before it closed.

Thank God the woman wasn’t chubby. That would have slowed her down too much, Eve was certain. No, she was more of a regular looking woman. Not all that old, as soon as she got her inside where she could easily see her, under the lights of the office. Troy was still there too, having never left.

Edom closed the door, and helped to get the unconscious lady into one of the wooden chairs.

“She’s still breathing, and her pupils don’t look blown. My guess is that she’ll wake up in a few seconds. Troy, do you have anything we can tie her up with?”

Even if he didn’t really get what was going on, he knew enough not to ask questions yet, and went to find something. What he came back with, less than fifteen seconds later, was Barb, and a full silvery roll of duct tape. The ugly silver kind. It was the other Vampire who did the honors though, using the stuff liberally to hold the woman in place. A thin piece was placed over her mouth, to prevent screaming.

Edom, maddeningly, looked at her and then Barb.

“You two can handle the club tonight? Troy and I will be busy. Barb, you’re in charge of the club itself. I’ll pass the word on that. Eve… I want you on security. This could be an opening move. If it is… Kill them. Don’t try to take prisoners. Either we get the information we need, or we don’t.”

Barb gave the man a strange look, one that seemed a little snotty to Eve, but Edom winked at her.

“Troy told me about how I hated my step-sister, so making her stand around outside all night is in keeping. I actually like you, so you can claim that I’m making you the assistant manager.” He glanced at the other man then, and smiled, a large and toothy grin. “By the way, you got a promotion, Troy. You’re going to be in charge of this place, and I’m moving to open the new T2LA in Portland. If it works out you’ll be there sometimes, too. The goal is to have five places up and down the coast in the next ten years. So impress me, and it could lead to bigger things.”

Barb tilted her head a bit, and gave a real seeming smile.

“Wait, so I’m really the new Assistant Manager?”

“Yep. You’re ready for it. You have been for a while now. I’d been planning to take some time off, because of Eve, but frankly that just isn’t going to be needed. It leaves my schedule suddenly very open. And here Lenore always acted like dealing with young Vampires was hard.”

Barb snorted at the words, her eyes lighting up.

“It is. Just because you got the special snowflake girl doesn’t mean it will be that easy when Troy tries it.”

The man looked away, as if trying not to hear people talk about him, probably thinking they were teasing, but Eve shrugged.

“Yeah, it kind of does mean that. I’ll help you with training for it, if you want? I’m sure the others will too. Zack and Keeley? Maybe not Darla, but we can ask. I should go outside though, in case this one isn’t alone?” The woman, who had badly dyed hair that looked wispy and lavender, opened her eyes and tried to scream.

Duct tape stopped that though, being a very useful product. Eve leaned in, and patted her on the arm, not even taking a bit of her delicious smelling blood. There was some weeping from her face, around the right eye, but she didn’t even let her fangs drop. Barb did, but got them put away pretty fast, without the woman noticing.

“Please tell these two what you were doing? I have to get back to work. Barb?” It wouldn’t take either of them to get the truth out of the woman. Honestly, Eve wasn’t truly certain why Troy was being taken along. Not until they all left in his car, then it made some sense.

She grimaced and then sighed, going to get a headphone set, and running to check the whole place first, using her full speed, to make sure it wasn’t dirty. She did have to empty a few bags of trash already, meaning someone had been there during the day. The restrooms were clean enough however, thankfully.

Then she met Brian at the door. He was back outside, but she decided lying was in order, just in case anything happened.

“Edom got word that some rival club was going to be trying to mess up our business. Graffiti, or by killing us. No one is really sure. I was put on outside patrol all night, while he and Troy go off and… Honestly, I don’t know. Are they dating? That Troy guy is kind of cute.” Edom wasn’t supposed to like her, and that would translate to her not thinking all that highly of him, no doubt.

Brian grinned.

“Nah. Not that anyone told me, and they would have, if those two were together. I heard that Troy is the head honcho now?”

Eve shrugged, making an effort to seem bored already. She didn’t feel that way.

“Yep. Get this, Barb is second in command now, too. Ed mentioned something about opening a second location in Portland, so I guess this is a good time to impress him with how good we all are at this. Well, that might work for you, anyway. Me, he just hates. Still, it can’t hurt to try and get in on that.”

They chatted about that idea for a minute, until she sighed and started slowly trudging out into the night. She’d have to make a point of being seen, or else the man would probably have to report how lazy she was to Troy. At the same time she needed to really search too, and watch the crowd coming in.

If it were her doing the attacking, she’d have made a point of setting it up in several waves. First the guns from the rooftops, then shooters in the crowd too. Maybe even ending the whole thing with a wave of bombs. That got her to groan, because she didn’t know anything about that kind of device, did she?

Everything had to be checked then, from the bottom of every car there, including the new ones that came, to every single cubby and box inside. While people were working, and she kept up regular rounds outside without leaving the back door open. It was probably wasted time, except that, when she actually found a small device in a box that was marked as being white wine, her idea on that part changed suddenly. Clearly, she was secretly brilliant, and not just trying to be a goody-two-shoes.

“Fuck. Barb! I found a bomb in here. I’ll take it out the back. Then let me run a sweep inside and out and get everyone away from here.”

She jogged out with it, not using any particular speed, then set the thing down in the parking lot behind the appliance store that adjoined the property in the back. It really wasn’t very big, after all. Not that she knew how large explosions were from the size of the initial bomb. Then she sprinted, physically and using her full speed, to check out everything, as fast as she could. There was nothing else, and no new shooters came as far as she could tell.

It wasn’t until the thing went off, about two minutes later, that she got the idea. Even being behind the building, the bang was loud and fierce. Decently large, to tell the truth. Everyone ran out the front door, and that would have led to snipers hitting them, when they did. It was really a good plan. If having a decently high death toll was the point. Why though? Just to cut down on the number of people going to their club?

Eve didn’t get the real reason, but knew that having captured one of the people would probably help. If she knew anything at all. Why she even thought about that she didn’t know, but all the compulsion talk in the last few days kind of made her wonder about the idea. Couldn’t you compel people to do your bidding for you like that? Talk about disposable manpower. You just grabbed up some people you didn’t like, or who had the skills you needed already, and then let them do the dirty work for you.

In this case all that would be needed were the three shooters and a delivery person. Unless one of the people set up to kill the crowd was their regular delivery guy? Or gal. It was true that the job would probably be done by a man, but she didn’t want to be sexist about it.

The big problem at the moment however was that Edom had taken off with her car keys. Then left in Troy’s vehicle, meaning that hers was sitting right there with two corpses in the trunk. The police were going to want to have a look inside, she was willing to bet. It was a bit annoying, now that it occurred to her. The boom and the fleeing people would get that kind of attention too.

Honestly, Eve wondered how the heck she was supposed to get out of the situation.

Hopefully it wouldn’t take some kind of secret skill, or power, because she was about tapped out that way.

Chapter sixteen

Eve hated to do it, but realized that she kind of needed to handle things like an adult. A real one, that had bodies in the back of her personal vehicle. Since she doubted that prison would work too well for her, she decided to go with plan-B, and simply call Edom up. She even managed to sound fairly relaxed as she spoke, inside the otherwise empty club.

The rest of the people had fled, and a lot of them had just kept on going, once they got out of the building. It was a good plan, honestly. They were there to dance, not die. Staying at the club didn’t help anyone, even though the cops wouldn’t think that way, she was willing to bet.

“Hey Ed?”

“Problem?” His voice wasn’t concerned really, just deep and resonant. Rich sounding, like always. Sexy, even though it was a horrible time to be noticing things like that.

“Yeah. Bomb in the storeroom of the club. I got it out in time, so the building and people are fine, but the police are coming and I don’t have my car keys. Would you be a dear and send those over? I’m sure that the nice officers will want to look inside, since there was just a bomb here. We don’t get along too, so that will probably make me the prime suspect.” She didn’t sound sweet, but there was no tension either. Not in particular.

“Crap. I… There’s no way we can get from here to there in time. Can you pick the car up and move it a few blocks away?”

Eve blinked, practicing for acting shocked. She didn’t think she really could, to tell the truth. The physics of it wouldn’t work. If she took one side and Barb the other though, that could, possibly, work. It would have to be done quickly though. That… Well, two fairly small women carrying a mid-sized car was going to attract attention.

Fuck.

“I’ll think of something. I need to do that now. I can hear the sirens already.”

She looked around and then made a face. Walking over to Brian, she tried to look shifty.

“You don’t know how to hot wire a car do you? Edom took my keys, and I’d rather not have the police find what’s in there.”

The bouncer, who was something like the second in charge of security for a nightclub, just gave a knowing nod.

“Drugs? Ed won’t be pleased if you try selling here. I don’t know how to do that, but Rick does. I’ll get him to move it. You’ll owe me though.” Just in case she didn’t get the idea, he made a smarmy face.
“You know what I mean?”

Sex, of course. In this case, since she wasn’t really ready for that kind of thing for certain, him being compelled into thinking they’d done it. It worked for her.

“I’m game. Get that done and I’ll do both of you for the next month. Hurry though. I’d rather avoid prison, if it’s all the same. They make you wear such tacky outfits.”

Rick hurried over and wasn’t gentle with her car, but she could get a new one, she decided. He had it going fast enough that she wondered why he bounced for a living instead of boosting cars. Then again, she hardly knew him. For all she knew this was just his day job. It worked though, and her car ended up being five blocks away, at a grocery store, well before the cops came. By more than fifteen minutes.

Honestly, it took so long for the cops to get there after the initial explosion that Eve wondered if she were viewing the whole world in some kind of slowed down time frame. Except that the clocks all moved normally. Then, when they showed up, they were slowly driving up in an armored personnel carrier. The thing was basically a tank, and it led a caravan of police vehicles that moved along behind it.

Brian stared at the line of slow moving things and sighed.

“What, this is Bagdad now? Are they going to search the roadside for IEDs too?” The slightly beefy fellow acted as if he were nearly affronted by their slow arrival.

Eve, for her part didn’t care. These guys weren’t there to find anything, so it didn’t matter if they took their time or not. The patrons had already left, and as far as anyone knew the explosion didn’t have that much to do with the club anyway. No, it was clearly an attack on the appliance store. Probably an attempted robbery. Eve listened to the cops go on about the whole thing, biting her tongue the whole time. It wasn’t their fault that she’d moved the device, but she sure as heck wasn’t going to go and tell them about it all.

To make the whole thing even better, they were pretty much required to stay for hours, telling them all, over and again, how they heard a loud bang, and then everyone ran away. This kept going, far past the time period that was reasonable. On the good side they were allowed to go back inside and clean up for the day, eventually. Well past when they would have left normally on a Monday night. Tuesday morning now, of course, but that was the nature of the business, and the police didn’t have much to do with that part of things.

So Eve hurried and cleaned things up. Even as she felt the sun starting to creep up along the horizon. It burned enough that it was hard to miss, now that she knew to look for it. If anything it felt a bit worse, because she knew what was coming. Pain. Pure burning agony would be on her in a few short hours. To make it even better, Barb couldn’t leave either. Not until the last of their people were let go. It was clearly uncomfortable for the woman, who shook slightly as true daylight came upon them.

“This sucks. I’m going to go down in about ten minutes. I… can’t drive.”

Technically Eve wasn’t allowed to do that for her either, not having permission for it yet. Not that she wasn’t going to have to go get, and move, her car as soon as she could. Or Edom would have to. That would have been a larger problem, but when the police left, they all cleared out of the area nicely, and she was able to realize that whatever else was going on, she wasn’t going to be moving her vehicle on her own that day.

Barb made a face, then waved at her.

“I’m locking myself in Ed’s office. Troy’s now. Tell…” There was an awkward waving and she went inside, locking the door after her with a click. It was pretty clear that she was going down hard and about to die for the day.

Eve for her part just felt a bit sleepy, but not really like she couldn’t handle it all. She was heavy, and in pain, but that was just daylight. That horrible time of day which made her feel like she might have made a small mistake, becoming a Vampire. It was her own fault though, she knew.

She was the one that had insisted she have power, after all. If she would have been content being used and abused like everyone else in the world, then it wouldn’t have happened, would it? The thought got her to smile, since it was at the heart of not being a victim, wasn’t it? She’d made a mistake, maybe, and now had to deal with the fact that there were two bodies in the back of her car. That was way different than being a victim though. Sure, she might be annoyed at the moment, and uncomfortable, but that wasn’t the same thing as being forced to do what other people wanted.

Thinking about that she decided to try and do something about the bodies herself. Sensibly though. Leaving them to be found in her abandoned car was asking to come onto the police radar, so that couldn’t be allowed. She still didn’t have the keys though. Worse, she wasn’t certain that Rick had left her car in working order.

So she tilted her head, and tried to think about what Edom would have done in the same situation. Found a way to drive the car anyway? Probably not, really. No, he was organized. The Assistant Ambassador had people to do things for him, and if something car related came up, he’d… Call to have it taken care of and fixed.

That got her to smile. Of course she didn’t have Triple A herself, but she did have some contacts, didn’t she? Calling Lenore at the embassy wasn’t going to go over well, and it would probably cost her a lot to get the work done, but it was better than letting the whole thing be found out by the wrong people.

The hard part there was finding someplace that would let her use their phone that early, so she could get things started. Rather cutely though she found a gas station that wasn’t too busy yet, and the clerk let her use the phone without making her promise to blow him for the privilege or anything like that. He was decently cute, too. A bit too attentive, and it was clear that he was paying attention to what she was saying, but as far as she could tell the short haired younger guy in his red work shirt didn’t seem to realize what it was that was actually happening. Standing at the counter, a small line trying to form behind her, she stepped out of the way, so that the guy could keep working while she chatted.

Of course, no one answered.

That was a bit odd, but not impossible, since Ed and Troy had a person to torture, and might be doing that in the back room there. Eve hoped not, since getting blood all over the place would be gross, and she knew for a fact that a certain newb would be the one assigned to clean it all up, didn’t she?

That left her scrambling though. Yes, she could call in Zack, who would come help her without hesitation, she didn’t doubt. He was a Greater Demon though, and even if she didn’t like to think about it, that meant there could be strings attached. If she was going to have to pay for the service, it would be better to do it in a way she could afford, not with her soul. More to the point, not with a giant beating that would leave her broken in a pool of her own fluids.

She wasn’t worried about the pain, as much as she was the embarrassment of it all. Thinking of what Lenore had done a few days before got her to make a face and feel weak for a moment. It was the kind of thing she really wanted to avoid in life, if she could. Feeling like that was worse than anything else she could think of. What could she do though? She didn’t know.

Finally she asked to see a phone book and called the police station, using a non-emergency number. It took a bit to get Althea Sims on the line, but it didn’t shock her to find that the woman was actually at work already. It was pretty clear that she had to be old enough to fake being Human. Otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to hold her job, would she?

“Miss Benson? I wasn’t expecting to hear from you. Is everything all right?” There was a bit of coldness to the words. Suspicion coming from over the hand piece. As if she thought that Eve was going to… That was a thing that she didn’t know at all.

“Hi! Sorry to be a pain, but I can’t find anyone I know, and I lost my car keys. A friend from the club moved it last night, so that it would be out of the way of the police. You know about the little bomb that went off?” She had to be vague, since there were people listening to her in the store. The place smelled a bit, but that was overwhelmingly of bad coffee. Donuts were mixed in too, which combined to make her stomach turn a bit in the moment. Really, it was being up still, feeling tired and having the sun burning her. The room she was in had glass all the way around, after all.

Rather than be a pain in the ass, the Police Chief just cleared her throat.

“Oh? I can send a truck out. Do you need the car taken to someplace specific, or… To a shop?”

Eve sighed, and whispered, trying to sub-vocalize clearly enough to be understood by the Vampire on the phone, and not the attentive store clerk. He, at least, was pretending not to pay too much attention to her.

“I have two bodies in the trunk. The attackers from last night. We could all be under attack.” She couldn’t repeat herself, but from the silence on the line, she thought that the woman got it.

Then she mentioned that Edom had her keys, but had to go out of town.

The woman, getting it, moved from suspicious to efficient without passing go.

There was a light chuckle then.

“I can send a tow truck then. Can you get by your car and wait there? I know it must be very late for you. Young people need their sleep, after all.”

She understood what was being asked, and faked a yawn.

“I’m good. Thanks for the help. I’ll bring you a muffin basket or something?”

That got a laugh, and the phone hung up. She handed the thing back to the clerk, who took it as he finished helping the last person in line. He moved well. Quickly, doing his job a bit too proficiently. Still, there was no attempt to do anything, including getting her phone number. She nearly asked for his, but had to go, so she smiled.

“Thanks. I ended up having to call the mom of one of my friends. Thank God she’s cool.” Not that Eve was going to trust her. For all she knew, the Chief was the one behind it all. Or her maker was. Either way, being too cozy there might not work for her too well.

The tow truck was staffed with a slightly hung over man who sipped at coffee from a thermos, but who managed to get her car up onto the back of the truck without the keys. She had to ride with him though, even though it wasn’t allowed. She didn’t love the idea, since that could lead to a humiliating beating, but she knew that it would probably just have to be accepted. There was no way she was leaving some guy she didn’t know be alone with her car at that moment.

She had him take the thing to Edom’s, and drop it on the ground, right in front of the garage door. As soon as that was done, the rather plump-middled man gave her a tired look.

“The Chief called me in, so I don’t suppose I get paid for this?”

Eve shrugged.

“I have no money. I’ll give you a handjob, if you want?” She thought she could do the compulsion well enough to make that seem real to him. Before she could try though, the man shrugged at her and looked down.

“Nah. I’d rather not have my balls ripped off, thanks. I have a wife. Call it my good deed for the day?” Then he waved, moved to his old looking truck, and drank a few large gulps from his silver travel mug before waving, and taking off.

It wasn’t that hard to get the car into the garage, even with the sun burning down on her. It hurt, but that was, she knew, the new way of things. If she wanted to be a boss, she was going to have to be willing to do things that others weren’t.

Nodding, after locking up securely, she took off running, heading for the mall carefully, making sure no one saw her. She wasn’t as fast during the day, thanks to the extra bit of discomfort, but that had to stop. It was pretty clear that there was no real reason for her not to be just as quick now as she had been the night before.

Bearing down, with no air in her lungs, she moved so hard that she nearly couldn’t see the whole time. It wasn’t a physical thing, just the pain forcing her to shut her eyes involuntarily. It was nearly cute, except for the fact that she really had to be paying attention if she didn’t want to trip over things at speeds that would pretty much assure she made a giant mess of things if she did.

Because that would be easy to explain to everyone, wouldn’t it? Leave a car in the middle of the road with a her shaped dent smashed into the hood or something.

It took about a minute for her to get to the mall, which was fast, coming from Ed’s house, but not exactly moving at speeds that the others couldn’t manage. Edom at least. Lenore was even faster she thought, and of course, Bey was the master of that. She tried for more though, and thought she was managing to do a little better by the end. When she got to the mall, she found the shop totally empty. It was only eight in the morning, but that was unusual.

Except that it wasn’t really empty, when she checked. Cormack was there, bent over on the counter, behind one of the silver mix freezers. When he saw her he groaned.

“About time. I thought I was going to die here.” He stumbled away, heading toward the back, but Eve moved in and touched his arm.

“Where is everyone?”

He said words, but they didn’t make any real sense. After a few seconds he groaned again, and shuffled away, not being all that helpful at all. Eve grabbed his arm though.

“Come on Cormack… You can do better than that. I know it hurts, but it’s only pain. Fight it and tell me what I need to know. It’s the right thing to do, plus, if you do, I’ll…” She had been ready to offer to blow him, since that would have worked for her, once upon a time. He was even a Vampire, so she thought she could manage it without biting.

The fact was though, that like her, Cormack was probably pretty much without a sex drive. It was a Classic Vamp trait after all. Bribing him with money wouldn’t do much either. The ten bucks she could probably spare wouldn’t really help him.

Suddenly, she had a brainstorm.

“I know, tell me and I’ll take a shift for you. I’ll get it cleared and everything and you can get a day off? Maybe even two in a row?”

That was enough, it seemed and the man, who was far older than she was, bothered to fight the pain and lethargy for a bit.

“Lener, wit Mages. Trble.” It was garbled, but she got the idea. Lenore was over with the Mages. Because of the trouble. Probably from the day before?

“Got it. I’ll set that day off up for you. Next week? Or do you want something specific.”

“W’enevr.” He stumbled away, looking like a cute little pale kid. A sleepy one. With fangs. Well, those weren’t showing, but his eyes were mainly closed as he headed back to the supply closet. She jogged ahead, pulling all of the supplies out first. No doubt she’d want them, for the work she had to do that day. It made for an ungainly pile in the back, near the soft sofa. It did look inviting, but she knew better than to lie down and close her eyes.

It was enough better that day than the one before that she decided not to be lazy about it all. In a few more days she probably wouldn’t even want to sleep again. A big part of that was probably down to the idea that her subconscious mind hadn’t really learned to hide from the pain of the day by going dormant yet. It made sense. Otherwise someone like Cormack, who was a lot older than she was and not a wimp, should have been able to fight through it pretty easily. Instead both he and Barb had fought just to walk in the daylight in the early part of the morning.

She filed that idea away, wondering if there was real truth to it or not, and started making sure everything was clean and ready for the day. They needed to start a new batch of frozen yogurt, which meant using the last of the living culture for it. That meant using the last bit of the fresh and unsweetened stuff to start a new culture, after mixing the rest of it into the moving freezer that would turn it into what was essentially soft serve ice cream. Not that she was ever going to say that out loud. Lenore would pitch a fit if anyone tried to call it that. It was almost like she was truly offended by the comparison.

Still, that lead to a need to clean up the mess of doing it, which in turn meant that she noticed that the toppings bins needed to be cleaned. At Yoghurt World they did most of those things from scratch. It was a real process, making the stuff, chipping chocolate from a block with a rasp, breaking out a jar of homemade maraschino cherries, and then opening a jar of store bought colored sprinkles. They were bright, cheery and fake, since even Lenore wasn’t going to make those things. They were pretty much without flavor and people expected them to look a certain way that was hard to get at home.

Then, using her nose for once, she realized that the cream was going, the heavy kind they used for the thinner desserts. Thick things, like peanut butter, or caramel got a topping made of light cream, which had a different texture to it.

She dumped that down the sink, hoping that Lenore wouldn’t be upset about it. It was wasteful, but the stuff really wasn’t going to be good for much. It could even make people sick, which was a horrible idea for any business.

The woman herself, looking annoyed, came over about fifteen minutes later, and glanced at the place, almost as if she didn’t really care how it looked. That was a lie though. It was one of her favorite things, having a clean and tidy shop that was well stocked.

“Good. I wasn’t certain you were coming this morning, after the events of last night. Edom is across the way, with Bob and Lisa. I took the liberty of giving your slave the day off? I truly just didn’t want him underfoot.”

It took her a moment to get the idea that Marcus was her slave. That wasn’t true, but she got the concept well enough.

“That’s fine, I’m sure. I’ll call him later to make sure he isn’t getting into trouble. Um… Did Ed tell you about the, uh, two male attackers?” She didn’t know what to say about it, since a lot of people there could hear them speaking. Lenore, obviously didn’t think that was going to be a problem.

“The ones hidden in the back of your vehicle? Yes. I also received an interesting phone call from Althea Sims. Something about having a car towed? Why didn’t you use our service for that? Not that the reimbursement isn’t comparable, but from now on I’d rather you use our chosen people for the task.” There was a mock hard look, followed by a smile. “I do notice however, that you managed well enough, and that really is the important thing, this time. Did you escort the vehicle the whole time?”

“Yeah. I rode with the guy, which is against Edom’s rules for me right now. Bey told me why I needed to run everywhere, so I get it. I just hope that the beating won’t be too public. That would be embarrassing. I knew I was breaking the rules though. I just wasn’t going to let some hung over guy get away from me with, you know, my car.” The bodies in the back, too. Mainly those, to be honest.

Lenore didn’t tell her that there wouldn’t be punishment for what she’d done though, Eve noticed.

“Very well. That’s between your master and yourself. I suggest addressing the problem directly however. Hiding things won’t aid you in this. Too many beings know what happened.”

She nodded, feeling like a little kid called to her mother’s bedroom to entertain a drug dealer. So, bad, afraid, and wondering how much her ass was going to hurt the next day.

Eve rallied though, because living in fear was exactly the opposite of what she wanted for herself in life.

“Oh! I offered to work some days for Cormack soon. A couple in a row, if that works? I traded for information, about where you were. I know that might not be allowed for a while, but if I can learn the paperwork stuff well enough…” She was offering, more than anything else, and when Lenore’s hand came out she figured it was time for beatdown two-point-oh. Instead it was just a comforting, if cool hand on her arm.

“That should be fine. In fact, why don’t I get you the book of forms and rules? You can start reading through it. Later you can work on memorizing them all. The shop looks good. I need to get back soon, but a call to the Council is required. The young woman you captured last night has been compelled. Clearly by Human magic, or at least it’s been made to seem that way. You will be pleased to know that she wasn’t sent to target the club however, which is good news. No, her orders and those given to the dead men, were to attempt to kill Troy Lopez, specifically. That could mean anything however, from people wishing to harm our economic standing in the area, to this being an attack on Zack, or even the Greater Demon Finias. Or, possibly, even Mr. Lopez himself.”

Eve knew her face was befuddle looking on that one.

“The Mind Stealer? Why him? I know that he comes over for parties on occasion, and is Keeley’s dad, but other than that…”

Lenore shrugged.

“Troy Lopez is his slave. Troy doesn’t know it, of course. If a person wished to weaken Finias however, taking his servants away would be a good place to start. Though it could be anything, including Troy simply kicking some Mage out of the club at one point, and the man or woman deciding that a bit of revenge was in order. It may even be over a woman, given his predilections. It would be a poor plan however, to remove him from this setting. Too many very powerful beings might well take exception to it.” There was a flare of real anger behind her eyes, and Eve nodded, not pulling away or letting herself go truly still in fear, even if she did kind of feel it suddenly.

“That’s just the truth. That was a pretty big set up just to get him, too. A person could just run up on him when he got home and shoot him, then drive off. So, was it meant to be a statement? More to the point, was what happened to me connected to it?”

There was a pause, and finally the ambassador nodded.

“I think so. All three of the Humans from last night are known to frequent the same role playing collective as the Vampires that came for you. The ones that attacked our shop as well. Maggie Sims belongs to that group, as well as your slave, Marcus. The boy that was killed for his wrongdoing yesterday? He too, is of that group. Yes, it is over a hundred people strong, but that comes to over ten percent of them being involved in things that have come to our attention in the last few days.”

Eve winced.

“Which makes sense, but why take me? To get at Zack? To punish him? If that’s the idea, then they need to learn more about Greater Demons. He might fight if I’m killed, but he won’t let himself feel anything other than anger over it.” That kind didn’t have to feel anything they didn’t want to. It was one of their powers.

Lenore knew that too, it seemed.

“Or… It’s a long shot, but what if it isn’t about Zack, or even us, at all?”

Eve thought about the whole thing, taking far longer than she probably should have to work it all out. There was one person that was tied to them all, after a fashion, wasn’t there?

“Bey? I know that Maggie used to be his wife. Or, from what he said, still is. He seems to trust her though. I guess she could be a bitter ex anyway?”

“Possibly. It may be something different as well. Whatever it is, it’s pretty clear to me that it keeps leading back to that single group of game players.”

Eve could see that one, couldn’t she?

“On the good side, I already have an invitation to go meet them, tomorrow night.”

She went still then, since it was kind of clear that someone there might just be really dangerous. As in the kind of person that she just wasn’t ready yet to handle. Ancient Vampires, Greater Demons or even some kind of Super Mage.

Lenore didn’t ask her anything, just patting her arm a few times, as if letting her know that her place on the short bus was well and truly being saved for her. Now if she could just find her safety helmet, she’d be all set.

That was rude of her to think though, and she knew it. After all, mentally handicapped people would be smart enough not to do the kind of thing she was considering.

Chapter sixteen

The rest of the day was easy enough, until Edom got in. Taking what Lenore had said to heart, and knowing that he’d have heard from across the way, because Vampires had good hearing, especially when someone said their names, she let him know about her recalcitrant rule breaking, having ridden with the tow truck driver.

He didn’t care about that part at all.

No, the only thing he was concerned about was holding extra bodies in his garage. Giving her a fake, and toothy grin, her maker glanced around the shop.

“So, you can drive them to the Pinchot later and bury them. Go at least a thousand feet off one of the main trails and make sure the hole is over ten feet deep. Of dirt. The loamy easy stuff on the top, and pine needles, don’t count. If you leave at dark you should be finished by three in the morning or so. Make sure you don’t speed or call attention to yourself. Do you need a map?”

She did, because Eve had no clue what he was talking about. It turned out to be a national forest, so she put the rest together.

Still, he had to go home with her, in order to show her how to fix the damage that had been done to her car. Not that it was perfect, since they didn’t have time to fix the window on the driver’s side that Rich had smashed in to get at the good bits and wires on the steering column that he’d needed. It had been the right thing to do at the time, but Edom shook his head at the mess.

Then made her clean it all up before letting her go. It wasn’t that hard to hotwire a car, it seemed, but making it all better afterward was a lot more work. That was always the cost of doing anything, wasn’t it? Breaking things was easy, making them a lot harder.

The trip itself was uneventful. She was careful and drove to a trailhead so isolated that there wasn’t even another car parked there. It was cold though, and when she started running down the trail to get deep enough into the woods, it started to snow. That wasn’t going to play though, since she didn’t have chains or anything useful like that. In Vancouver they really weren’t needed, so she hadn’t bothered. Now it seemed like a pretty big oversight.

The carrying of the two bodies she did at one time, and the hole was dug a lot faster than she would have thought, given everything. The ground wasn’t frozen, so that part took a bit less than half an hour. True, she was cheating, moving as fast as she could in the dark night, the scent of pine and rotting bodies comforting for some reason.

She dumped the two men along with the tarp, after going twelve feet down, because making sure they weren’t found was a good thing to her mind. It was a really isolated area, but just in case something happened, she wanted to make retrieving the men as hard as possible.

Role playing nerds.

True, for that kind of lifestyle they looked pretty hard and even cute, or had, but that was still the case. The two men, dead now, were just geeks that liked to play games. Apparently with the wrong people. Before she left, after using the shovel to tamp the dirt down, and trying to pull pine bows and some needles into place to make it look natural, she said a few words.

“If someone did this to you, set you on us, I’ll make sure they’re stopped. If I can. Without getting myself killed, of course. I don’t want to promise things I can’t back up. You two get the idea though, right? We aren’t just going to let this go. Unless we have to.” It wasn’t a great promise, but it was honest, and she wasn’t really certain that ghosts were a real thing. Spirits might have been, but most of the things that she’d seen along those lines had been a lot more intense than Casper.

Demons and things like that. Vampires. Republicans. For that matter, Republican Vampires. That was a thing, she’d been told. A lot of her kind were actually pretty conservative, being that they’d been alive a long time, and old habits died hard, if they did it at all. Richard Swerlin was from that political party. Eve had never really thought about it herself. She could see that both sides were more or less right in their main issues.

It really was important to protect the borders, and stop crime. It was also important to make sure little kids didn’t starve, and to see that people weren’t abused by those in power. So, she probably wouldn’t be running for office any time soon. Someone as wishy-washy as she was wouldn’t do a good job that way.

She thought about it as she drove back in the snow, but by the time she was most of the way home, or at least back to Troy’s the snow had stopped and turned to a nice drizzle instead. It was cold, but not enough for anything to be coming down in November that would be pretty or interesting.

When she got in she made sure to wash out the trunk, and searched as well as she could for any little hint of rot or bit of blood. After that, she realized, she had the night off. Which given that Edom had pretty accurately called that one, was more like a few hours off, before she needed to go back into work. That meant she had time to do a load of laundry though. Troy might have been a bachelor, but he loved having clean clothing, and had his own machines for it. So she didn’t have to leave to get that part done.

Then, since those devices were in the basement anyway, she headed into Bey’s room, where the books she was supposed to be studying were. Still right there on the table, if not exactly where they’d been left. Cracking them open, she settled on the nice sofa, curling up a bit against the right hand arm rest, her feet coming up, after her shoes were off. She didn’t want to get dirt on the thing after all.

The main guidebook was a bit boring. It told her the rules of the game, and went on about how it was story based, rather than having some kind of point objective. There was no fighting allowed, on a physical level, so you had to handle conflict resolution and challenges with coin tosses. Quarters were preferred, or at least something of nearly that size.

You needed to have heads to win, and if both parties in the situation got heads, or tails, then you flipped again until only one person did. It was kind of basic, but she could see it working well enough.

There was more to it than that, but the basic set up was kind of simple. You made up a character, assigned a given number of points to different traits and attributes and then made up a story to explain why you were so fucked up. The book didn’t put it that way, but it was pretty clear that was what would be happening. She ran up a character for herself.

Gloria. She was an Elth that put almost all her skill points into cooking. That would explain why she was bringing in loads of goodies, too. Which reminded her to get to that. It was pushing four, and she’d promised to bring some stuff for everyone. Being a good Elth, that would mean a lot more than some lame ass cupcakes, she knew. They prided themselves on homemaking, and things like that. Being good with guests, too. If she was going to do it, there was no reason not to do it right.

It meant she had to run for the rest of the night, scrambling to make cookies, cupcakes and some tiny sandwiches. Using up a lot of the food that Troy had. The idea that he had baking stuff was interesting, but she understood it was due to the fact that Zack used to live there. Greater Demons ate a whole lot, which meant they cooked, too. It explained all the mixers and baking sheets, but not really why he had fresh flour and eggs. She’d never seen him do any cooking in particular. Not more than warming a can of something.

Which meant, what?

Something, for certain. There was no need for him to have that kind of thing all the time if he wasn’t going to use it. Eve supposed that he might be running a shelter for wayward Greater Demons, but… Actually, that might make sense. Anne came around every now and again, didn’t she? Darla too, most likely. If that was the case then having a kitchen stocked with goodies to eat and things to make more of the same with was a lot more plausible.

Unless Finias was around a lot, too?

She’d rarely seen him in Vancouver, but if a Greater Demon wanted to go places without her knowing about it, that probably wouldn’t have taken all that much work. It was really weird to find out that Troy, a guy that she’d known for years, was the slave of a Greater Demon like that. Oh, she’d met some before. A lot of them, really. Keeley collected them like they were going out of style. The rest of her people were less likely to pick other people up that way though. They all could do it though. It just took getting a person to agree with them in the right way too. That varied from Demon to Demon though, and The Mistress of Souls was the most dangerous one that way.

Zack was probably the least likely to do that. So far at least. He was really young for one of his people though. So was Keeley, but she was kind of a bad ass, so had forced the other Greater Demons to admit she was an adult already. Apparently by using a campaign of fairly intense murder.

Well, no matter the reason, she made good use of the kitchen and supplies, putting out six different versions of the cupcakes. Variations really. Different frostings for them mainly, though some of them were filled with a light butter-cream. They smelled nice to her, but she didn’t feel very tempted to eat one of them. Eve had never tried it, but had been warned that her system wouldn’t deal with carbs very well anymore. In a rather unpleasant fashion.

The cookies all came out well enough, and while it was a bit of work, they also had some Tupperware to hold it all in. Not that it wouldn’t need to cool though. Hopefully she could get to the store before it was time to go, and get help carrying the things in, or else she was going to be kind of stuck. The funny part was that she could do it now. Bring in the towering pile of food, no matter how much it weighed. It would just look ridiculous, her running down the street that way.

She also needed to get some things to decorate with, and probably a table for the food to go on. That meant getting a truck, or van too. Eve started to regret her clever plan of making a lot of things to buy everyone’s good will. Even if she had the use of her car, that wouldn’t get her a table there, would it? Not unless she could make one in place? That was a bit ambitious though, so she sighed, set everything out to cool, made up the frostings and left it in the fridge, then ran through the burning sun to get to work on time.

Though, technically, she wasn’t actually working at the embassy, she realized. No, she was just showing up each day. Lenore was just clever enough to set her to work, doing things. Free labor, so it made sense, didn’t it? Really, she was being a bit pushy, given that. Not that she wanted to sit around in the house all day or anything. If she were going to be up and around anyway, which was still her plan, then she needed to stay busy. There were soap operas, she supposed, but the idea of watching one turned her stomach a bit.

It might have been the balls out running that did it though. Walking, in direct sunlight, but she was still pushing herself to move at a level that would make it impossible to track her. That and some clever hiding would be enough, she hoped, to prevent people from seeing her doing it. Otherwise it was just going to be hard to explain, wasn’t it?

What was that blur? Oh that was just Eve, the daytime slowpoke Vampire!

Grinning, and not meaning it, she got into the mall, then waited a good half minute to go in. The urge to scream was just too much. She couldn’t even tell if she’d managed to go any faster this time. It had hurt though, so at least there was that.

Today though Lenore was in, and Cormack had already gone home. If he’d even been the one working the night before. Sometimes it was Barb, and a few times she’d seen some of the others do it too. Lenore had a staff there, most of them were just too young to be trusted to run things on their own for very long. Smiling she knew that she wasn’t really in that category either. Just pushier than the rest when it came to doing stuff, probably.

“Hey Lenore. You don’t have a truck, do you?” It was the kind of thing that Eve just didn’t know about her boss. They’d known each other for a long time, but a whole lot of that had been very impersonal, she realized. The woman had been around her a lot, but she didn’t share a lot about who she was. Then, Eve wasn’t a big sharer that way either, was she?

Then there was a lot less information to put out, coming from her. She had stories about school, being abused and her friends. A few jobs. That was pretty much all. The coolest things she’d ever done had mainly been in the last few days and most of that wasn’t anything that Lenore needed to hear about. No, she’d been there for it all.

Her maker’s boss smiled at her and tilted her head cutely.

“I can’t say that I do. Do you find yourself in need of one?”

“Yep! I made some snacks for the role playing peeps tonight. I’ll need a table. I could get you to hire someone, but frankly that would seem strange, I bet. As it is it’s going to look catered practically. I’ve got mad skillz that way.” She grinned, expecting her grammar to be corrected, since no one used that phrase anymore, and hadn’t since she was a little kid.

“You’re skilled in catering? I wasn’t aware of that.” There was a bit of doubt in the term, so she let her eyes go wide and pretended to be hurt.

“Really? I used to work with Clara’s Catering, it’s one of the most sought out catering concerns in the world. True, most of it with Sherri Thomson, doing decorations, but I did some time in the kitchen, every now and then. I’m pretty sure I still have the scars to prove it… From the beatings Clara gave me if I didn’t do it all perfectly.” She pretended to pull at her slightly tight t-shirt, though there were no physical wounds from the Hsreth’s attentions back then. Just some mental ones.

That was not a being that put up with sloppy work. Especially with her food.

Lenore stopped, and then looked impressed.

“Truly? I’ve been at some events that you worked on then, unknowing the whole time. I knew that Keeley’s mother was involved, but not that you aided her in that. Still, that doesn’t get you either a vehicle or someone to drive it, since as far as I’ve heard you’re to redouble your efforts to avoid riding for the time being, to aid your speed efforts. Bey has been most impressed with your attempts so far, by the way. Many of those on the Council are, in point of fact. Gene actually called for you to be put to death preemptively, as a possible threat to us all. So that’s an excellent sign that you’re going places, isn’t it? Not many find powerful enemies as quickly as that.” She seemed to think it was funny, for some reason. Probably because she was secretly evil.

Gene might look like a child, but the man was able to hold a seat on that esteemed and powerful body, and had for a long time. Looking like a kid at the same time would mean he had to be more powerful than the others in order to get that done, not less. Having him after her would not be a good thing.

“Was he joking? I’m really nice, after all. Ask anyone. Well, not my mother, or most of her old boyfriends, but anyone else. My high school guidance councilor will back that up though.”

To her surprise Lenore looked puzzled at that one. For a second Eve thought she was going to have to explain what a guidance councilor was to the woman, since she was old enough that it might be a concept that she’d never heard of. That wasn’t the issue though.

“I’ve heard that you and your father were estranged for a time, but seem to be doing well now. Is there a difficulty with your mother though? I hadn’t heard that one, I don’t think?”

Eve nearly felt bad about it, since it was a big thing to not let a person know about, but then realized that Zack must have hidden that part of things for her. That, or the Vampire had just forgotten.

“Ah. She, uh, let me be molested and raped as a child, thousands of times. For drugs and money, not just to get her jollies, but still... Apparently pedophiles pay better for that kind of thing than average druggies will to use someone like she was. When I got old enough to pull it off, I killed her. Then Keeley and Darla helped me hunt down the worst of the men that had done things to me. So, what with her being dead, we don’t talk much now. Plus, even if you could have her ghost raised, I don’t think I’d be getting a very good recommendation from her. Anyone else though. Seriously. Even Marcus probably thinks I’m no worse than a bit of a bitch. Which is probably fair, considering I might still kill him if he doesn’t show up on time today.”

Lenore responded as if they were talking about flower arrangements.

“Oh? Lovely! So good to know that we won’t have you running off to kill her now. Not that I’d blame you, but it shows character, taking care of your problems in a timely fashion like you did. In regards to a truck though, I don’t know who can help you. As for Gene… Well, I do believe that Bey offered to have you fight him, one on one, if he so desires.”

Eve blinked several times, because she didn’t even have a clue what the tiny Vampire would bring to something like that. Something highly deadly, no doubt.

“I see? So, when do I go off to die? And here I’d thought I was doing pretty well over all. Gene has to have some kind of mind powers, right?” For a second she felt her unlife flash in front of her eyes, which was already over, since she’d just started. Most of it was just pain, so far.

Lenore winked and then patted the side of her own skirt, right next to her white apron. That reminded Eve to go into the back and get one too. She kept forgetting for some reason. It wasn’t hard to get one of the things on, and while they looked dorky, it was the uniform. Even the people in charge wore them, too. So it wasn’t like they only forced the young peeps to do it as an insult or something.

The Vampire ambassador waited for her to come back with her bit of white and green, before delivering the punch line.

“I rather don’t think it will happen at all. Bey offered to put up his entire holding against Gene’s. The idea being that Bey would have everything Gene owns after he dies.” She seemed peaceful about that statement, as if it weren’t some kind of vast weight on her soon to be dead shoulders.

“Uhhh. How would that stop anything?”

“Normally it wouldn’t. If anyone else on the Council had said that, it would have been seen as a mere ploy. A way to intimidate one of their fellows, and not truly meant. It’s well known however that The Bey does not gamble. Ever, in fact. If he states such a thing, it means that he truly knows his holdings would be safe. In short, Bey stated that going up against you in a fight would be death and no other outcome was likely. Gene decided that he didn’t know enough about the situation to go forward. Now, that doesn’t mean he won’t come for you, but that could happen on any given day. You may die this night anyway, so why worry about what one single Council member thinks?”

Eve nodded, then changed that to a head shake. Lenore was acting funny.

“They’re all pretty old, aren’t they? Powerful too. I wouldn’t want to step on their dicks.”

Lenore giggled at her, covering her mouth with a single hand.

“Don’t be crude, dear. You’re better than that. While it is true that they are powerful, that does not mean they can always act with impunity. No one can. Yes, one of them could have any of us killed at any time. In battle though, they are as the rest of us. Immortal, but only if they can keep it. That Bey believes in you so fully is impressive however. I can see why. You’ve been doing well. So far. Not perfectly, but I’ve never seen anyone do better at your age. Of course that means you need to do even better, or you’ll soon find that your enemies overwhelm your capabilities.”

It was nice to hear, and flattering, but she still needed to get someone to drive the things she wanted to the game later. Plus, there was an idea that hit her without earning. Gene, if he really wanted her to be gone, wouldn’t have to come and punch it out with her. The being could just send in a small army, and she’d be dead. Or sneak up on her when she wasn’t looking, and do it himself.

“Thanks. Don’t think I don’t see you buttering me up for something. After all, you were the one that told me not to trust anyone. So, what’s up?”

To her surprise, Lenore made a face. Caught, it seemed.

“Perceptive of you. Correct too. I was asked to arrange a… slightly larger party to go in with you this evening. Things are rather more… dangerous, than was thought when you originally suggested going. Bey would like for us to be prepared to fight, as a group, if the need comes up. Now, this is still your area. Your project, and you’re in charge of it. No one is trying to take it away from you, but if we could have a few more people waiting, in the wings, perhaps? I know that it’s a change of plans, and no one wishes to steal it from you…” She seemed nearly tentative.

Like Eve was going to ignore extra help if it was offered? She didn’t even have a horse in the race. As far as she was concerned this was mainly about finding out who kidnapped her. If it was really linked to this game in the park, and there was a bunch of other things going on, then it made sense to her that having some of her own buddies around would make more sense than going in blind. Why wouldn’t she want that?

“Sounds good to me. Who all wants to go?”

That got her stared at, her boss looking pretty young suddenly. Cold and pale too. More so than Eve was.

“You’re… fine with that? With others pressing in on your plans?”

“Sure. Why not? Honestly, I can call Maggie and just ask if we can all come. I think we should have two groups though. Bey and the stronger people on the outside, ready to move, in case of trouble, and the insertion group.” She sighed and looked away, making her face seem slightly pleased. Almost silly. “You know, there was a time when being on the insertion team would have sounded naughty to me. Like… Two weeks ago? Less than that really. Now I just can’t help but wonder who would be the best people to go. It’s almost like I’m an adult or something. My take is… Barb, and Zack. I know that we can’t hire or trade with him on the issue, but we can ask if he wants to get in on the free goodies. It won’t fool him, but if nothing happens, they might as well go anyway. They wrote the books on it, so I imagine it would be good publicity for them. If nothing happens they might as well gain from it.”

Lenore seemed to think it was a good idea, but just stood there for some reason.

“Um, are you waiting for me to go set all that up?”

“It is your party, so to speak. I wouldn’t wish to step on your toes, more than I already am. Truly, I expected a rather large physical battle over this. You trying to prove your worth and capabilities, while I pointed out that having more people would only be to the greater good. Vampires can be territorial, and inviting other powerful beings into this could be seen as releasing your hold on things.”

It was a good explanation at least. Eve nodded, understanding finally.

“Got it. To me this was always Bey’s party though, not mine. I mean, cool if I get to be in charge of something, but I can’t even imagine why I’d be considered that way. Awesome though! Let’s see… Can you get with the outer party? I’ll get with Zack, since if he doesn’t want to go it’s not going to get into the middle of our relationship. We aren’t that close. Plus we can go without him. This is really about the books. Barb… Well, she’s dead for the day. Let me ask everyone else involved, though? Maggie first, I guess? She’s our contact there, and might need to get her peeps around if she’s the one behind everything.”

That made sense to her, at any rate. She wasn’t going to try and sneak a Greater Demon into the thing secretly. That would probably have her dead, even if Maggie was planning to be friendly at the moment, and wasn’t involved in anything else. She had the number though, and the other woman, as old as she was, would be awake for the day.

It did mean digging the thing out, which was harder to find than it should have been. It was on the form though, from the initial complaint, which was in the files there at the office. They held five years of them, Lenore told her as she pointed out where to find the thing. Near the back, since Sims began with an S.

Ten minutes later she had the phone ringing, and wasn’t shocked when the woman answered it herself. She seemed to be a down to Earth kind of person that way.

“Hello?”

“Hey Maggie. Eve Benson here. Calling about the exciting, and no doubt fulfilling, game of make believe tonight? I read the book for it, so I should be, if not ready, then not too embarrassing to have around.”

“Ah! I was going to get with you later tonight and see if you wanted to come. I keep forgetting that you’re going to be awake. That’s really neat, by the way. We can get together and actually do stuff, if you want. I’ve been dreaming of taking a trip to the ocean for years, but haven’t since it’s so hard to find someone to go with me.”

“Yep. That sounds fun, actually. Hey, can I bring some friends, or would that be too much? Tonight I mean. I have treats too, so they can help me carry them in. It’s all part of my nefarious plan to suck up to everyone and turn them into my pals. I’d be bringing the authors of the game guides? Zack and Barb. That should get me some traction with your crowd, right? Oh! You don’t have a truck do you? I wasn’t kidding when I said I had treats. Vast mountains of things. In fact I need to get home early, and make sure everything is all ready. I ran up a character sheet, too, since I figure that if I’m going, I might as well do it right. Elth. So, you know, I have to overdo the food portion of things? It was in the book, I’m almost positive. That thing is really accurate, as far as I can tell.” That just seemed right to her. Why would she bother going to a geek fest in the first place, if not for something like that? To impress people and make new friends.

Really, she needed to take some blood, too, given how many Vamps, real and fake, would be there, but she wasn’t going to get time for that, not for cows blood. There was no way she was potentially feeding Human blood to their own kind either, not just for a joke or to make her role seem more accurate. So cookies it was.

Zack would like it. He ate all the time.

Maggie sounded nearly normal then, like a regular girl would have chatting on the phone with a slightly overeager and inept pal.

“Mark has a truck… I know that he isn’t supposed to come, but if you just make him work, that should be fine. I don’t think he really gets to do much else, during the week. I feel a bit sad for him, really”

Eve nodded, wondering if that move actually would be heard for once. Having an ancient Vampire on the other end it was possible.

Was that the other woman just being nice, suggesting that the rapist was welcome even if he messed up, or was it her way of getting her Mage buddy into place for some reason? Perhaps to attack Eve, or to spy on people? It would be impossible to tell, really.

Not until it was too late. So if it were a trick, or trap, then it would be foolish to walk into it. If it was though, then letting the man come along would set Maggie at ease, most likely.

“I’ll ask him about it? He isn’t in yet for the day, but it’s only eight-forty, so that might not be a big deal yet. If he’s late, I’m going to have to kill him, but otherwise it might just work. I could really use the help. I also need a table. Folding would be good, but at this point I’m not planning on being picky.”

There was a pause, and then a rather happy sounding idea.

“What about putting some plywood on a couple of saw horses? It will fit the theme, you know with the rest of the things, since we tend to be a bit make-do here, and Mark can get that from my house when you come by. I’ll take my own car, so that you can get a ride with me at the end? You might have to sit on someone’s lap, but I doubt anyone will mind too much.” It sounded polite, but a bit strange. People took their own cars places, didn’t they? Unless they didn’t have one.

“I have to run in. Out too. Everywhere I go. Orders.”

“Oh? That’s different. Why, if it’s all right to ask, I mean?” She sounded clueless about the idea, even if she’d been with Bey for a long time. Then, that was so long ago that cars probably hadn’t been a thing. Who knew what either Bey, or she, had been like then as far as habits or even abilities.

“Eh, you know how it is. Edom got his car trashed, so he’s borrowing mine. Just to make it interesting for me he decided that I should be running everywhere. For my health, I guess. It’s not mine to question why, only to do… or have my backside paddled. So, walking it is, until he says otherwise.”

There was a chuckle. It sounded like chimes. Eve really hoped that the woman wasn’t the bad guy, even if it seemed like that pretty much had to be the case. She actually liked her, so it would be disappointing if she had to kill her.

The idea got her breath to catch. The odds of Eve even surviving a strong talking to from the woman was so remote that she didn’t want to seriously contemplate the idea. She might not know how the woman would kill her, but that wouldn’t stop it from happening. Given how charming she was, it would probably have something to do with a small army of minions.

That reminded Eve that she needed to see about collecting her own one of those soon, if she got the chance. They were dead handy things to have around, if a bit of work, too.

She was about to speak again, when Maggie did it first.

“Goody then! I’m not certain I love the idea of a Greater Demon coming, but it might be interesting. I have heard that he isn’t normally mean or cruel to others. I’d like to protect my friends as much as possible. I hear that he killed Tim, from the group, the other day? We might want to keep that information under wraps for a bit. I don’t know if everyone would understand. Is there anything we need to set up, to placate him or his partner, the Vampire Barbara?” She said it with a dead serious tone to her voice.

The part about Barb was simply funny, but Eve honestly didn’t know, did she?

“Let me ask him? I need to bring up some other things, too, so I can fit it in there and not seem like a complete bitch, I think. I’ll check into it, but my guess is that he’ll be pretty easy about it all. You’ll like him, I bet. Most people do, if they give him a chance.” As long as he didn’t kill them. The mage boy, Tim, flashed in front of her eyes again, his head exploding into a fine red mist, but she set the idea aside. The kid hadn’t really been innocent, had he? He’d planned to attack a woman walking in public at random and control her mind, so that she’d do whatever he wanted. Shaking herself, Eve took a big breath, so that she could say goodbye.

Before she could, Maggie made a tiny sound.

“Sorry, it looks like I have a customer coming. Can I call you back?” That the ancient Vamp worked at a place where there would be customers was interesting. Eve had kind of figured that she’d just have money, somehow. Then, there were other reasons to work, other than to pay the rent, weren’t there?

“Sure. Or I can meet you there, about fifteen til seven tonight? I’ll get the rest of this ready for us. I’ll get in touch if anything comes up though?”

“Sounds good.”

It clicked off, leaving her feeling slightly raw for some reason. As if she really thought that Maggie was going to betray her.

That was ridiculous though. She didn’t know her well enough for a real betrayal. That was just crazy talk. What kind of dork would get that into a new friendship, that fast?

On that thought, Eve got going with her day. There was a lot to do, and not all that much time to make sure it all happened.

Chapter seventeen

“Super speed rocks, you know that?” Eve glanced over at one of the only people to really be helpful in her plan to impress everyone with her baking skills. Bey. Because that simply made sense. Everyone else had heard about her idea of having a decent spread and taken it in stride, but he took it as a challenge, and started working with her to make sure it was as well done as possible.

Because he was awesome. That had always been clear though.

They were loading Mark’s big black truck, a shining and rich looking thing that didn’t fit his personality at all. It turned out that he didn’t just own that, but two cars too, so his line the other day of having to use magic to get one started had been about as honest as… Eve didn’t know, but it was enough to get her to feel a bit pissed off, once she’d realized that he’d lied to her. Right now, she had to hurry.

More to the point, though it looked to her as if they were walking at a sedate pace, the blistering white hot pain coursing through her entire being reminded her of how fast she was really going, and to push harder. Without screaming or gasping however. That part was thanks to her actually remembering to use some of the meditation tricks that Keeley had taught her. It didn’t fix anything but did distract her enough to prevent the worst of the gasping she wanted to do.

Next to her, holding a large container of sandwiches, new ones that she’d just made, with a variety of fillings inside, The Bey gave her a dazzling smile, and made certain he secured the load in the back of the truck well enough, hopping up the four feet into the back without even trying. It was impressive looking, but Eve managed to do the same, carrying her own load. They were both moving so fast that it wasn’t hard to cover some real ground that way.

Bey nodded to her, a wonderful smile on his face. It was big and very pleased seeming.

“This is the truth. I find it hard to understand at times why all of our line do not use it more often.”

Eve grinned back, pain or not. If he could do it, so could she. Pushing even harder, she shrugged, and slid the Tupperware container of cupcakes in next to the sandwiches. Mark had already loaded the wooden saw horses and the large wooden plywood sheet that was going to be their table top. Doing the work by himself without even asking if it needed to be done, since he had an idea of what the situation on the group would really be. It was a sign that he was a good bit smarter than she’d actually thought he was.

Stacked this way it almost looked like there wouldn’t be enough food, but that was mainly because Zack had agreed to come along with them. Mainly to get her back to his store on time when it was all over, so that they could get the new merchandise on the shelves.

That part was cute. Not because he was pretending that nothing was going to happen at all that night, just because he assumed that they’d win, and that the very best way to celebrate would be going off to work more. It was a constant problem with Zack though, wasn’t it?

He worked all the time.

A thing that she noticed particularly, since she’d been doing the same thing for years now. The truth was, neither of them was much fun. They could go to parties, and all that, but they didn’t make a big point of it, did they? No, it was constant work, effort, and angling to get better, or at least improve some part of their world. None of that was bad, but it didn’t exactly give a lot of meaning to things either, did it? It was a push for survival, above all else. Even if that part was pretty much assured for both of them. At least enough they could let their hair down occasionally.

Packing things in tight, and making sure the brilliant red table cloth was in its bin, she had to think about that. What did most people fight for each day? What drove them to do better in their lives? That, she knew, was probably not very much at all. Not for most people.

It would come down to them being there for their families, or even friends, and the rest… Well, that was an array of different things that most wouldn’t even bother to understand about themselves. A fear of death pushing them to party all the time, or a desire to be seen as valid causing them to have sex with anyone that offered.

She could see both of those, really.

It wasn’t her deal in life, since that was all about making sure no one could easily harm her. That didn’t mean she couldn’t understand the basic idea. There was a connection in both of those things that made you feel alive, and like people loved you, even if it didn’t mean either of those things at all.

Bey flickered out of existence next to her, after his work was done and stopped on the ground behind the tailgate. He didn’t say anything, but the move had to be incredibly fast, didn’t it? She was using speed that probably made her flicker like that to most people already, so to do that with her… She tried it, letting her breath out first, and making the world go to a solid white as she stumbled out of the back of the vehicle to the ground. She fell very slowly, it felt like, but that was because she’d hopped into place, rather than propelling herself downward against the air resistance.

As soon as she stopped, Bey clapped once, his face suddenly serious.

“That was very clumsy. Perhaps you would like to try it again?” There was a gesture to the back of the thing, slightly above them.

Nodding, since breathing was inviting problems at the moment, she did it, getting corrections on her form each time.

“It isn’t enough to move quickly. You must strive to do so with precision each time. Remove the movements that do not aid you in reaching your current goal. Use the environment to propel you when possible. Inside a dwelling you can use walls and door frames to move you along in new directions faster than mere walking can allow for. In this case you can use the metal beast here to move toward the ground faster than gravity might allow. Try it again, but grab the frame and push downward at the same time.” He didn’t sound angry about it, but rather a bit like he was sharing things he normally didn’t let anyone know about.

It was a lot faster, she realized.

Combining the white hot speed with that kind of clever use of the environment probably took thirty percent off of the time the move took over all.

Bey gave her a tiny nod, and put a hand on her back. It was a gentle thing that seemed almost possessive, but in a good way.

“Practice this. Think of it always as you go about your day. Remember, staying low to the ground is to the benefit of those who move very fast. Going into the air means that you cannot propel yourself as quickly. That is a mistake that many make at first, since it feels nice to fly. We can work on this now. As soon as your man here, Marcus, leaves this place to go to the location of the meeting, you and I shall travel there. Unseen, and with greater speed than we have used thus far. Prepare yourself. We have some moments.”

At first she tried to meditate, but then realized that she needed to tell Mark to get going, and close the tailgate for him, after making sure the load was secure. Then she patted the shiny truck that should have been enough to get him laid by a certain kind of girl, if he’d just bothered to wear some clean clothes and go meet some of them.

“Hey. I’ll meet you there. Call it fifteen minutes?” It wasn’t far, but it would take him longer than normal, since he’d better not speed. That would risk smooshing her cup-cakes, and if he did that, he was going to die.

The scary part there was that she didn’t really think she was just saying that either. Hopefully that wasn’t right, because killing over food she couldn’t eat wasn’t a great plan. Ever. Still, the things looked awesome, and she kind of wanted people to see it first, before they destroyed it all. Eating what she’d created. How else was she going to impress them enough to give her all of their secrets?

Sighing, she relaxed, then focused as hard as she could, imagining what it would feel like to face down the pain she was about to encounter. She didn’t let herself fear it, because she knew it didn’t damage her. It was, in the end, only discomfort, and without injury, that was an artificial obstacle.

Moving past what she thought she could do, letting out a little scream while still standing there, not even having started yet, Bey looked at her. Then he turned and walked away. Quickly. He made a point to pat, push off of, and pull himself toward various things as they passed them, which after the fifth time he did it, she realized she needed to be doing too, if she wasn’t going to be left far behind. It was harder than it seemed, since several of the things could only be hit so hard, or they’d have broken. It wasn’t about going as powerfully as she could, but using each part of the world to the full extent it could be used, but never more than that. She guessed at that at least. Bey didn’t explain it to her, just moving on to the next set of things.

They didn’t just move fast into the night, but made sure they weren’t seen the whole time, too. It took longer that way, since it meant covering a lot more distance, but it really didn’t take that long to get to the park. It was a very large space, and they weren’t too far from the row of old timey houses that were mainly set up as show pieces to the past. Museums, in several cases. They were all white, and pretty enough. Kept up in a way that showed them as special, even if not two blocks away from that location there was a virtual slum.

Eve knew where they were going, roughly, but hadn’t been there before, so she let Bey lead. He, wisely enough, had already come and cased the place, several times in the last days. Catching scent profiles, and making certain that there were good hiding places for the team that was going to be moving in. Honestly he should have been in with that group already, rather than showing her how to walk quickly, but complaining wasn’t going to help anything. Besides, she enjoyed the attention. Even if it did hurt at the moment.

It probably meant she was mentally warped, but she already knew the answer to that one, didn’t she? She’d been broken for so long that the idea that she wasn’t right in the head was just another thing to her. Not even one to bother trying to deny.

Finally, after making several circuits of the green space, and checking the restrooms that were there, and unlocked for some reason, even though the sign claimed they were closed for the season, Bey held up his right hand, urging her to stop. They were hidden from view, using a combination of bushes, or what remained of them at this time of year, and the brick building that housed the facilities. There was night all around them, so it would be hard for anyone to easily make out that they were there.

“I shall move to the others now, who wait not too far off. We shall stay ready. If trouble comes, we will be here. Your part in this is…” He stopped and then looked at her closely, waiting.

She blinked, realizing that he was doing what Lenore had earlier. Deferring to her. In this one project at any rate.

“I’ll wait by the parking area for Mark, then we’ll set the food up. Other than that, I’m pretty much just here to mingle and make contacts, see if I recognize anyone. That kind of thing. Chat with Zack and Barb, when they get here?” If she were supposed to have some kind of complex battle plan ready, she just didn’t. Still, she wasn’t a complete moron, was she?

“If anything starts to happen, I’ll run back the way I came, since I know the route. I’ll stop by the library back there. If anyone is chasing me, and is willing to go that far, then I’ll keep going. If not, then I’ll craftily hide and sneak back toward things? Obviously if you guys can’t handle it, I can’t.”

Bey… Bowed to her, his face beaming as if she’d just cured cancer.

“Which is why you are in command of your part in this, much as an adult would be, and not given direct instruction as an emotional child might. Your master, Edom, suggested we do thus. I have to agree. I shall go, and wait now. Hopefully nothing will get out of hand here. If you say the word ‘wait’ we will hold our hands in any attack, no matter what is going on. Try not to call that out if you do not mean it?”

She nodded. If Eve were in charge she would have picked a more obscure word, but for a last minute thing they could do worse. If something went down, that would be about what would come out of her mouth. That, or a long and drawn out nooooo.

She was there by herself for a time, and was a bit surprised when a small car, one that looked to have been in more than one accident at some point, pulled into the little parking lot. There was a border to the space, that was made of heavy iron chain, with wooden posts to hold it up off the ground. It wasn’t very tall, serving a decorative purpose. It did lend a kind of rustic charm to a place that somehow wasn’t very country at all. The area she was in was all poured concrete, and beyond that the grass and trees were very well cared for. Manicured, even this late in the year. Back home in Arizona that wouldn’t have happened, but if Vancouver had anything, it was mild winters, and lots of water.

Several people got out of the tiny car. Five of them. Three were men that were all large, in one way or another. A tall skinny guy, dressed all in black, with a cape on, moved in next to a short but very heavy young guy in all red. He was well groomed though, and the scent of him fresh and clean, carried to her from where she was standing fifty feet away.

The last guy was just vast. Fat, but so tall that it almost threw her off about how big he really had to be. Probably close to five hundred pounds, if not slightly over that. Pushing seven feet tall, too. He was in brown though, and his clothing looked handmade. Not perfect, but like someone had actually bothered to take some time in trying to come up with his costume.

Probably the short woman that climbed out of the passenger’s seat. She was in a dress that was both ridiculous to wear outside, and fantastic looking, at the same time. Eve was in slacks and a tight shirt, not dressed up as Gloria the Elth should be at all, but these people were all clearly taking the whole thing pretty seriously.

The driver at least was familiar. Maggie.

She was, as far as Eve could tell, the only non-Human in the bunch. Though the giant guy could have been at least part something else. Really, they all could have, she realized. She wouldn’t know what beings that weren’t strictly Human were all like, would she? No, all she could tell was that she might be able to feed on any of these people.

Walking over, she waved, since her part in things didn’t involve hiding. Not unless something went horribly wrong. Then there’d be running first. Scampering away like a quick little squirrel. Or bunny. That second one was more like it. Bey had told her to stay near the ground, and while there were a lot of trees around, trying to work her way through the upper branches wasn’t a thing she wanted to try just then. Not if it became important.

“Maggie!” She waved and smiled, since walking out of the relative dark might startle some people. None of these seemed to think it was all that odd though. “I just got here. Mark is bringing the stuff I mentioned?” It was all true, but the short chubby guy in red looked at her funny.

“You don’t have a car, and someone is coming with something? Why didn’t you ride with them?”

It was pretty clever of him, to get that it didn’t seem right so fast, but she had a good cover story for that one, didn’t she?

“I walked. It’s only about three miles from my house to here. I try to exercise when I can. Oh, I’m Eve. I’ll be playing the part of Gloria the Elth this evening.” She didn’t know how they normally introduced themselves, but that wasn’t it. She could tell by the laughter. It wasn’t really polite, but the other girl, the one in the cool dress, kind of glared at the guys.

“Hey, brilliant. Yes, let’s alienate her first thing. That will get you all out on dates with her. I know, why not tell her you don’t like thin, pretty girls while you’re at it, too?” There was a slightly hard scowl on her tight, pinched looking young face, but she moved in and smiled at Eve.

“I’m Tara. These incredibly smooth operators are Lars, Ben and Sky. They’re actually not as stupid as they look right now. Mainly. I’m technically dating Lars here, the scarecrow, so try not to steal him, but the other two are fair game, if they ever get those shoes out of their mouths. ”

The one in red, Ben, cleared his throat.

“Sorry. Tara is right, we should be more polite. Even if it won’t get me a date. I’m almost positive my parents mentioned something like that once. Are you new to all this?” He waved around them, as if to the splendor of it all, even though at the moment it was just an empty park facility. A chilly one. Two of the boys moved back to get coats, though it was clear that both Maggie and Tara were going to hold out for the sake of fashion. Not that the Vampire would notice the cold. Eve didn’t really.

That probably meant that Tara was more than she seemed too, since she didn’t seem to be freezing yet either. Lars was the other one without a jacket. The tall thin one in black. There was something familiar about him to her, but she couldn’t quite place it. If they’d met she wasn’t placing the face.

She had to remind herself to breathe, since the others were blowing out puffs of moist air like dragons, already. Eve didn’t do that though. Neither did Maggie, Tara or Lars. That was a bit of a giveaway, wasn’t it?

Scrambling a bit, after realizing that, she shrugged.

“Well, I am new, yeah. I also have some…” She gestured as Marcus pulled up, his big black truck making him seem far more manly than normal, until he climbed out. Then he… Well, his face was bruised still, since his ass had been kicked pretty hard not long before, and he didn’t have super healing. There were some magics that could be used for that but he either hadn’t bothered, or didn’t know them. His body didn’t look too different, but he’d probably lost five pounds in that time frame. The exercise, and having something to do other than eat, was probably a big part of that.

Most mages weren’t fat, she’d noticed. It used up energy to cast magic, and if you did it regularly enough, it was a bit like constant hard work or exercise. In fact, being thin was one of the ways you could tell that a Mage was kind of powerful or at least hard working. He was in jeans and a warm jacket, not being insane like she was. Still, she had one with her, in the back of the vehicle. It wasn’t heavy enough, just being the one that Troy had given her for work, but it was something. She jogged over and climbed into the back of the thing, slowly and like it was hard. To sell it she made a little grunting sound as she jumped up, her hands on the moist metal. It wasn’t that damp, but there was a little bit of condensation forming on it.

Eve didn’t even wait to see if she had help coming, just moving things toward the back. Either people would be useful, or not. Maggie got there first, starting to take the large plywood sheet from where it was propped up on the side, releasing the straps.

She explained to the others, her voice carrying.

“We need the table set up first, for the food. That’s a lot of it.”

Eve nodded, knowing that she’d probably overdone it a bit. That was all part of her master plan.

“Elth, you know? I read the book. I just wish I could have done something better costume wise. I don’t really know how to do that very well though.”

Tara started to move in to take the other side of the large wooden sheet, which wouldn’t be that heavy, just to have Ben walk over and take her place.

“I’m not in a dress, let me?” He didn’t push in, but the rather plain girl nodded happily enough.

“Thanks. Don’t ruin your clothes though.” She looked at him, his belly pushing against the bottom of the fabric a bit. “I made all our clothes for us. It’s my hobby. I could do some up for you, if you’re going to show up regularly?”

Eve nodded, happy to have the offer on the table.

“Let me see? For one thing the villagers might just run me off, if my offerings aren’t sufficient. Can we set up under the lights over there?” It didn’t take long to off load it all, though even with seven people it took longer than it had with just Bey and her doing the work at full speed. Still, ten minutes later she had the little saw horse table set up, covered with the red cloth, and all the food set out on shining fake silver platters. She even had a covered trash bin, with a sturdy bag in it, set up next to the thing, as well as little paper plates and some plastic forks, in case people didn’t want to use their hands to eat.

Maggie walked over, and so did the tall skinny guy. Lars. He was the one that pointed at the set up, a long pale finger not quite being hidden by whatever he was doing. It was chalk white for a moment, then slowly shifted to flesh tone.

“This is amazing. We’ve never had anything like it before. I should have brought some fruit punch.” He was kidding, but she realized that they didn’t have anything to drink. Before she could wince too much though, several more cars pulled into place.

That was waved to by Maggie.

“Here we go. Almost everyone will be here by seven. So in about fifteen minutes. I bet we can get Mitchell and Dora to work the table. They’re Hsreth. Here, let me ask?”

The people that came were about as Hsreth like as she was Elth. They were both plump people, having that part nearly right, but moved slowly and with a lack of energy. They were slightly drunk though, so that was correct too. Hsreth drank as constantly as their schedules allowed.

Still, they were game, as far as passing out food went and seemed impressed enough with her offerings.

“Where did you buy all this? It looks great. Tastes that way too.” This came from Dora, who stole a cupcake and licked a bit of the dark chocolate frosting from the top. Eve had put it on correctly, so it did look decently professional, she knew.

“Made it. All of it. I figured that I could bribe everyone with goodies, and then they wouldn’t notice how socially awkward I am otherwise. Sounds like a good plan, don’t you think?”

That got nods from most of the people, and Ben moved in closer to her than was strictly polite, but didn’t try to touch her. So, he wasn’t up on what to do exactly, or at least when to try it, but seemed like he was smart enough to understand that rubbing up against someone he just met wasn’t going to work that well as a dating strategy. She could work with that. He wasn’t great looking, but she had noticed that he smelled nice. Delicious in fact. Filled with life. Tasty, iron scented, life. Really, that had to make her like him, at least a bit, didn’t it?

She was a bit hungry, of course, but noticing that let her lock the idea out of her mind pretty well.

She figured he was going to offer to show her the ropes. Possibly with a suggestion that they could get together later and talk about it all, but instead he turned and looked over at Mark.

“What’s with the face? Make-up?” He didn’t reach out to check, but Lars, the tall thin guy in black nodded at him.

“I was wondering about that too. Is there an event today? I didn’t hear anything…” that seemed to mean something in particular, but Eve didn’t get the idea.

Maggie made a face and crossed her arms, which was done so well that Eve actually lost track of the fact that she wasn’t a Human for a moment. It was really well done, to a level that showed true artistry.

The ancient Vampire didn’t say anything, and Marcus looked away, also remaining silent. Eve however had no problems destroying his social life. Especially with the truth. He had, in point of fact, brought it all on himself, hadn’t he?

Not that she could give all of it.

“Um…Mark here basically roofied Maggie, and got caught doing it, so she kicked his ass. There isn’t enough to go on for a court case, so we put him on double secret probation and are taking turns making him act like our slave until he learns not to be an asshat. It isn’t a perfect…” She was actually caught off guard by what took place next.

Ben, the shorter, rather round guy, moved in and started punching Marcus, his fists flying without any skill or training at all. It was kind of a weak looking flailing thing. On the fifth one he was gasping, and Mark was still on his feet. Trying to cover his head, also without any real skill. That meant blows were getting through, even if they weren’t all that effective.

Eve watched for a bit, then moved in and touched the now red faced smaller guy on the arm. He didn’t spin to punch at her though. He just stopped dead in place, then panted.

“Good work. Save some for later though. There are too many people here for a real beating. Also, you need to work out more. At least if you’re going to go all super hero on people every time you hear about something like this.” She wasn’t displeased, personally. Kicking Mark’s behind was the correct response to what he’d done.

The others all looked a bit scared, including Tara and Lars, like they didn’t know what would happen, but Maggie nodded, going with the story.

“Yeah. It’s worse than it sounds, since he was fucking my mouth when I came to. Some friends of his came in, thankfully, and got me sober. There was no good reason for it.” She stopped then, as Marcus turned three shades of red and looked ready for a fourth.

“I said I was sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

Eve thought she understood. He was saying that he hadn’t meant to rape her, and on some level just didn’t think of using magic to make her love him, or at least do what he said, was the same thing as slipping something into her drink at all. To her it was, which caused some problems. Still, Eve had said that he’d drugged her, and in America that was considered rape by everyone. Probably even by rapists in prison. You’d have to be willfully ignorant in order to claim otherwise anymore.

So everyone else standing there looked horribly uncomfortable.

She went on then.

“Yeah, so we got with his family. His, uh, uncle Bob is watching him during the day. If he gets out of line like that again, it’s off to butt rape prison, and no one likes that. I think we should send him anyway, but apparently Maggie doesn’t want that kind of thing to happen to anyone, being nice like she is. So…” It really didn’t sound like enough at the moment. Like he was being let go with no more than a slap on the hand.

What they couldn’t tell the people there though, was that in real life you pretty much couldn’t keep a Mage in prison for any length of time. They weren’t fast in what they did, but their magic let them do almost anything, if they learned how and were willing to practice their skills enough. True that didn’t help in a fight much, without a lot of prep work, but trying to lock them up? That just wasn’t going to play. They didn’t even really try that with each other. No, they used different punishments if it came to it.

Mainly shunning, and fines, from what Eve had seen.

The guys were all a bit put off by it, and Tara looked ready to cry. After a while, where people stood around in a clump as new ones came, she thought she understood why. The pinched faced costume maven liked Mark. Or she had at least. Then, instead of asking her out, he’d gone and committed a crime to try and get Maggie. The Vampire wasn’t that much better looking than she was or anything, so it had to hurt.

In fact, even though about forty percent of the people there were female, Eve realized that she was the best looking one around, by a good margin. Even dressed down, a lot of the guys, and a few of the other women, were looking at her. Staring really.

Thankfully the group got to break up a bit a few minutes later, since Zack and Barb came. That doubled the staring, since as a group, the three of them looked stunning, standing there.

She hugged Barb, and then put an arm half around Zack, which made Ben’s face fall a bit. Looking at the man, her favorite hero at the moment, she winked.

“Zack and Barb. As in the ones that wrote the Node Rulez books? I’m not dating either one of them. You’re single, aren’t you Barb?” She nodded and moved forward as if she hadn’t been put on the spot without warning. Her hand came out professionally which got an awkward shake returned by Ben.

“I am. Trying to set me up with your friends already?”

“Yep. Especially Ben here. I like him, but you know, I can’t date for a while.” She shrugged, and then looked at the others. “Rage issues. I’m working on it, but you know, on the hot crazy scale, I’m not worth the effort yet.” She crossed her arms, to show what she meant, but no one seemed to believe her. Not even Zack, who knew that kind of thing first hand. Greater Demons knew almost everything, after all.

“Don’t buy it, Ben. She’s just trying to be shy. Anyway, can you take us around before things really get started? We should meet people, and then see the game in action. I can’t wait. Each one of these takes on a life of its own.”

Almost as if the whole thing was planned, he led them all away, along with Barb, to meet and greet the people that had actually paid for the things they’d written. Even Maggie was sucked along behind them, as if part of the group. Probably there to protect her people from Zack, Eve knew, if it came to that. It wouldn’t though. That meant Eve was able to do her own walking around. It didn’t take long for her to catch the familiar scent, it being the very first one her Vampire nose had encountered.

The male New Vampire, who’d kidnapped her, along with his friends. At least one of them was there too. The older woman who was a Classic, like she was.

Eve got ready to fight, to throw her body into the pure white of pain, and kill the man, who was approaching her already. The woman was right behind him, looking youthful, and not out of place at all.

When they reached her, their faces were… Pleasant. Kind of bordering on neutral, but not scared or angry seeming. These people weren’t really ready for a fight either, for some reason, which was interesting. She would have been, if she were them. Kidnapping a person was kind of a big deal, wasn’t it?

“Hello! I’m the Vampire Lemont. This lovely fanged lady is my girlfriend, Leslie. You’re new, aren’t you?” It was clear that they got that she wasn’t Human, which was probably as plain to them as their states of being were the other way around.

It also seemed like they didn’t recognize her. Since she’d kind of kicked their butts once that was a bit odd, wasn’t it?

“Yep. I came with Maggie? I’m Eve. I work at Yoghurt World, at Westfield?” They were Vampires, so got what that meant, but didn’t seem to feel threatened by the news.

Lemont, if that was his real name, took a deep breath and let about half of it out in a huff. Then he sort of whispered.

“Is this about Jim and Clary and the others? I don’t know what they were thinking. Even if they needed the blood, robbing the embassy was insane. I would have given them the money for it, if they needed.”

There was a nod from the Vampire behind him. His girlfriend, Leslie. It was a strange coupling, but there was no rule saying they couldn’t be together, if they wanted. Actually, it was probably useful, all things considered. The New Vamps could be awake during the day, so Leslie could get him to do the shopping and banking stuff, without having a Human servant.

Eve nodded then, her face blank.

“It was really weird. Can you tell me anything about it? There are a lot of things going on, all centered on this place and group, lately. It’s caught a bit of attention, so, you understand, I was sent in, as the junior lackey, and all that?”

She expected denials, but the Vampire couple looked at each other, and then nodded almost in unison.

Leslie moved forward and spoke in an almost subliminal tone.

“There have been some things. Mainly with the Mages. Can we speak? Later? At Denny’s?”

Because that made sense. Where better to plan things out? She nodded, because no one had tried to attack her yet. Not even the kidnappers, who clearly were acting like they just didn’t get who she was.

“After this? I can follow you over.”

That got a nod, and the couple both smiled at her politely, and walked away.

They weren’t the only ones she recognized either. Tim’s brother Todd was there, along with a clutch of fishy seeming people that were all slightly buzzing with magic. None of them came over to her, though a few looked at her. Finally Todd did though, his young face looking slightly puffy. Probably from depression and rage over his buddy being killed.

“Hey.” He seemed pensive, rather than angry.

Eve nodded back.

“How are things going?”

“Not… good. Can we talk later? If anyone asks… Tell them that I wanted you to have sex with me or something?”

It was a good line, she knew, since it put the idea right out front, but made it seem like a deflection too. As a ruse it worked, because he probably would want to get busy with her if he could. She was hot. It was a thing that everyone that saw her could understand.

“Can you get over to Denny’s later? I’m meeting some friends there.”

It could be a problem being he was young enough he might not have a car, but the boy nodded, and then wondered off, moving back to the group of mages. Several of them looked at her and more than one or two were people she recognized from the candle store over the years.

Including Warren, who was taking great pains not to be seen by her.

Because that wasn’t strange or fishy at all, was it?

Chapter eighteen

Eve was willing to give Warren the benefit of the doubt. Even if he was acting sketchy at the moment.

She’d worked with him for a long time after all, several years, and they’d had all that quality time together. Straightening shelves and sweeping floors. Okay that didn’t exactly mean she knew the guy, did it? Did she know anyone at all, really? Eve was kind of certain on that score. The answer was simply no. Even her old school friends had all turned out to be different people than she thought they’d be, in the end.

Gary, her totally gay friend, had turned straight for some reason, gotten married and had two little kids. Eve had always suspected magic being involved in that one though. As in the real deal, too. Probably enslavement to a Greater Demon. There would be no other way to make him look at a woman’s crotch and think it looked yummy. That just wasn’t who he’d been. Sure, people could change, but it was a sign that she couldn’t count on people being what she thought, wasn’t it? Not in the end.

Look at her.

Here she was going to geek events… and actually sort of liking it. True, most of the people were just walking around and socializing, but that’s what a party was. That these particular people wanted to do that while pretending to be something they weren’t, well, again, that’s what a party was. Eve grinned, and walked over to Warren. After all, she knew him, and it could be that the man was just kind of shy outside of work. It might also be that she was hot and he was trying to hit on one of the guys there that would be distracted by her? She noticed that most of the males in the group turned to look at her when she came up, so it could be that. The women all glared. All of them.

Angrily. She was used to that kind of garbage, true, since pretty girls had to put up with that sort of thing from the less pretty ones in certain situations, but this was a bit over the top. Besides, two of the women weren’t all that bad, honestly. They still seemed really pissed at her. Warren for his part, seemed a bit panicked.

That didn’t really make sense, did it? Even if he didn’t want to hang out with her.

“Hi! Do any of you want some snacks? I made them, so I wanted to make sure you knew they were for everyone.” That got a strange and mixed reaction from the crowd. About half of them suddenly relaxed, including Warren. One of the prettier women too.

One of the men though, who looked about twenty-five, had a well trimmed beard and a thin waist, even if he managed to be more fit looking than anything else, practically sneered at her.

“Like you eat food?”

Eve stared at him, ready to fight suddenly, when Warren turned and growled at the man. Cattily.

“Fuck you, Jim. Not every skinny girl is your anorexic ex. This is Eve, my… girlfriend. Now back off before I put you through a wall.”

It got a chuckle for some reason, probably because the man was a flamer in a hard core way, or at least seemed like it, but Eve nodded.

“I know what you’re all thinking, but we have an arrangement. It turns out that we both like threesomes, so I just grab up an extra guy every now and then and… well you know. How about it Jimmy? We could make a sandwich?” She looked at him boldly, waiting for him to attack, or at least snap at her, but he actually blushed.

“I… I’m not into guys that way. Sorry.”

She shrugged.

“No problem. You should try not to be so close minded though. I mean, Warren really is pretty good in bed, and have you seen his abs?” She hadn’t, but was willing to bet he had them, as lean as he was. Probably from doing massive amounts of magical work.

She’d never really gotten that part before, just assuming he didn’t eat much. It was the part with Mark that had gotten her to really consider things about Mages like that. She’d always seen Warren as just a coworker, not as some kind of extra hard working super being. She probably seemed like a giant slacker to him, since all she’d ever done was go and get coffee and cleaned things up along with some light paperwork.

The last holdout of glaring women shook her head a bit, but relaxed then, too.

“Eve, is it? I don’t recognize you. I would have thought that Warren would have mentioned it to me, if he were going to switch teams like that. Not that he doesn’t like girls too, but he told me he was focusing on guys for a while. I’ve been hinting after him for years. No love for Ellyn at all, I guess. Hardly fair. Not that I blame him really. You have that hard look, and short hair, so he can pretend you’re a boy pretty easily, right?” She was trying to be mean, but that was as good an excuse as any.

“Yep. Plus, I do anal. So with the lights off, and some Old Spice on, he hardly notices the difference. So, I guess you won’t be wanting a cupcake? I mean, having to watch your weight like you do? It’s a shame, they’re really good.” She wasn’t fat, being on the right side of average for the U.S. but she made a hurt face and then nodded, tears actually coming to her eyes.

Eve sighed.

“Don’t worry, I’m joking with you. You did just say I looked like a guy. Seems fair. Don’t cry.”

Ellyn made a face like a petulant child then, her chin forming lines and ripples due to the force of it.

“I’m not! Bitch. I’m just mad because I really can’t afford to have a cupcake.”

Eve could understand that one. It was hard to stay skinny, and even before she’d gone all in on fasting for the sake of building her resolve, she’d gone without a whole lot of food at parties and events.

Trying not to be the bitch Ellyn seemed to think she was, she moved in and touched her arm lightly. Magic flared, getting her to go wide eyed.

“Vampire?”

Eve noticed that half the crowd in the little clutch seemed amazed by the news, and the rest seemed… Honestly, like it was either no big deal or they already knew it.

Jim cleared his throat and looked around.

“Yeah, she’s like, the number three person at the Vampire embassy. A new hire though? I heard that from my dad. He noticed her the other day when he was in to get some paperwork for business travel.”

That… Sounded really fake, to her. Not just a little, or like he was lying to make a joke either. No, he knew who she was and also wanted her to think he was too dumb to understand it. That set off alarm bells in her head.

Eve smiled a bit.

“Nothing like that. I’m actually just the newest Vampire in town, and have to stay with a keeper all the time, so I’m there during the day.” Except apparently while at large public events with lots of food available. No one called her on that part though.

Which was wrong.

That Vampire Children were largely out of control killer freaks was in the guide books that these people all had, and read. They had to know that Zack was The Line Walker, too. Warren knew that one first hand, working at the mall. For that matter Zack used to have the same job at the embassy there, more or less. So they’d have to know that the information was correct wouldn’t they? People would tell them, if nothing else. The books were a treasure that way. Eve was going to finish reading all of them, if she could.

These people were playing dumb though. Acting like they didn’t know simple things that they all should. Okay, part of that might have been that the weaker Mages didn’t know what was going on, or that the younger ones didn’t get that she was really a Vampire not just playing one, but that didn’t make sense. If she could feel the magic that had flared up around Ellyn, a Ward of some kind, then how could a Mage miss it?

The honest answer was that they wouldn’t. Not most of the time.

So what was going on?

It was frustrating, not knowing, but part of her task was to…

Actually she nearly thought that her job was to investigate, and get to the bottom of things, but that wasn’t true at all. She was there to pass out some snacks while other people watched what was going on, listened, and got ready to take people down if needed. That she hadn’t been attacked yet… Well that was good. It didn’t change her job from being…

Eve sighed, understanding that she wasn’t really needed there. Bey and the others could have sat back at a distance and listened like they were doing, without her being there at all. Oh, maybe she was of some use as bait, but even that was going to be a marginal enough thing.

She waved at the group.

“Anyway, goodies. Also, Zack and Barb are here. The ones that wrote the guidebooks? Everyone should go say hello.” That got people excited enough that half of them broke character, and moved off in the direction she pointed. Oddly enough that was a general move toward the food, too. It made it seem like the night was special and planned out, rather than just another game in the park.

People were eating, which was nice to see. The sandwiches were going faster than anything else, and she really should have seen to some drinks. Someone had brought a large container of water with a spigot to share, which was nice, and some plastic cups. It was much tidier than people trying to stick their mouths underneath the thing. Warmer too, since that would have to be chilly for most of the people there, having their heads soaked like that.

She was left with Warren, Ellyn and Jim then.

The ones trying to avoid the Greater Demon? That could just be prudence. Lots of people avoided Zack, and he’d killed one of the kids that came to their game nights not long before. If the others knew that however, it didn’t show. They were all crowding around trying to touch him and running to get their books if they had them there, for Barb and him to sign.

Fair enough, but not really in balance.

What did it mean though?

Why hadn’t the Vampires that kidnapped her recognized her? That could have been acting, but it was hard to buy that they’d both be that good at it. One of them might be, sure, but both at once? Maggie could pull it off, Eve had no doubt at all. The rest of them though? It was baffling, but she winked at Warren. He was someone she kind of knew, if nothing else.

“You didn’t tell them about me? I’m a bit hurt. We’ve been together for years now. True, I was Human back then, but still…” She was playing with the line he’d dangled about being together, since that was what polite people did when tossed a thing like that.

Warren gave Jimmy a hard look and then almost glared in Ellyn’s direction, his face looking meaner than she’d seen it before.

“Well you know, it never really came up. Say, um, can we talk? Now?” He looked troubled about something, and was trying not to pay attention to the other two, who both stiffened up suddenly. Getting that he wanted to talk about them? Perhaps to give her all their secrets?

Distraction time then.

“By talk, you mean blowjob behind the bushes? I know your codes by now. Your pals here can come, too, if they want? I can work up some lube, I think. Jimmy, you’re in?” She made it so not teasing that the man blushed again and shook his head. Like she was serious? They wouldn’t be doing anything that took lubricant out in a park. That was stupid, there was too great a chance of getting caught that way.

“I’m good. El and I will go, and, ehm, get something to eat?”

That got them to leave, as if it were all real, and not just her messing around with them. Did they not know how very gay Warren was, or was that just her not understanding things? If so, he was probably about to read her the riot act for acting like he was gay in front of his peeps.

He didn’t take her arm, but did walk away with her, his voice slow and almost neutral.

“You’re probably wondering what I’m doing here, right?”

She honestly was, but not for any normal kind of reason. She would have thought that he was simply too busy, to tell the truth. Kids games like this, with his geeky friends…

The same ones that kept using compulsion spells to take over all those people’s minds. It half clicked into place for her then, as she felt magic start to raise around him. On the good side he didn’t have a lot of time to come up with something to take her over with. On the bad, he was pretty fast for a Mage.  Powerful too, if she got the idea now. There was a huge feeling of silver and white energy coming off of him.

She turned to him, and nodded.

“Yeah… I have some questions. Are you behind this foolish attempt to start a war, or is one of the others in charge of that? Maggie maybe? Or Marcus? Was his taking her over part of that, or just meant to throw the rest of us off?”

She got ready to strike, but Warren shook his head. Lying to her so plainly he nearly didn’t need to bother with it.

“No. I’m not in on it. I don’t think Marcus or Mags is either. Someone here has been trying to grab power though, and I…” There was a low sound as the power tried to rise up to a higher level. Then, just as it started to cast over her, the man spoke. “I bind you to my will. To my thought. You will do what I command, without question!” There was probably more to the whole thing, but it was cut short, since Eve was strangling him with her right hand. Two light kicks from her, to his ankles, and he was on his knees. Her pale hand still on his neck.

“Um, guys, help? Warren just tried to put a compulsion on me. I don’t know why, but it doesn’t fit. I need someone to pick him up and keep him from making noise for the rest of this thing.”

To her surprise it wasn’t one of her people that came then, but Leslie. Eve got ready to fight, but the woman, for whatever reason, seemed to be on her side.

She sounded that way, at least.

“I can take him off in his car. Why would he try to do that? I heard the words… I’ve been listening to you all night, because a Council investigation is always a thing to be wary of. I heard him say that you were his girlfriend. If so, what could he gain by bespelling you? Wouldn’t you aid him in any way needed?” She seemed confused then, as if remembering things.

“Would… If he was doing this to you, then what about others? I have some missing time from last week, and woke on the side of a road, healing from wounds. There were others too, Lamont, Lars and Tara…”

Eve looked back at where the people were several hundred feet away, Warren gasping slightly, unable to get enough air to speak. That meant casting magic was out, too. Probably. Oh, good Mages could do that silently, but if that was Warren, he would have done that rather than giving himself away like he had. Still, powerful counted too, and she didn’t doubt that he was that, did she?

“Lars the tall guy? He’s a Manthori?”

There was a nod then.

“Tara is one too, but Lars uses his compulsion to convince everyone they’re normal. Do you think that we may have had magic cast on us?”

She had to wonder now, didn’t she?

“Guys? I think we need to bring this in. Maggie? If you aren’t working against us, could you… and Lars, work with Lamont to get Jim and Ellyn the Mages alone? Be careful, and don’t let them cast any spells, or go for a pocket. Zack, would you meet us over here? Barb, you might have to mention that to him, I don’t know if he can hear me.”

The Greater Demon was standing there in front of her already, just appearing. He nodded.

“Good work. We need to catch the others, and not make too big of a scene here, but I think you broke open the core of this. I’ll see about sending people home. There are some problems coming though, so we need to be careful about all of this. One wrong move and we’ll start a war. Our side will win, but if we have to do it, let’s not have it be in the middle of my territory?” He acted like she understood everything, which she really didn’t.

“The Mages, some of them, have been trying to start a war?”

He glanced at Warren and nodded.

“Kind of. They used the info in the books I wrote to try and take over other groups. That was going to be the plan, at any rate. The thing there was that they managed to sneak their way into a lot of people’s minds. It’s mainly the three here though, pulling the strings. I picked up on it a few months ago, but it wasn’t really my business. Honestly, it still isn’t, not at this level, but you’re my friend, and gave me snacks. I can take the leftovers home with me, right? Great job on all that by the way. Really good. Have you considered catering as a business? I know that you’re busy right now, but that won’t last forever, and you have some training there. You can practice, and have me test things out for you. That sounds like a great hobby, don’t you think?” He seemed pleased enough about it all, but gently removed her hand from Warren’s throat, allowing him to grab at it with both hands and gasp for a while.

It was cute, in a manner of speaking, since the other Mages were walked away from the group without any kind of fuss at all. They weren’t even being threatened with death. It seemed like they’d just been asked to come and talk. Which sort of made sense. They thought of these other people as their friends, didn’t they?

Their buddies, and comrades in arms. Fake weapons that were actually coins being flipped, and battles that were designed to be fun, more or less, but that still seemed to count. So why would they doubt that these people had their best interests at heart?

That only held if Maggie and Lars weren’t actually in on the whole thing, of course, but Zack looked at her and shook his head.

“No, just these three, trying to take over the world. All of it, which is ambitious enough. There might be more to it, but it isn’t anyone here. I can’t share all of it, you’ll need to figure that part out on your own. Then, no one ever told me that Mages were lacking in hubris, did they? So, what do you want to do now? This is your show, Eve.”

It was? Well, she kind of got that Zack would think that. She’d invited him, after all.

Ellyn and Jim looked scared and Warren was still on his knees, his neck red from her manhandling of it. Eve smiled and waved at them.

“So, did one of you set up Mark to try and rape Maggie? Compelling one mage to take over the mind of a Vampire, so that if things went wrong… it probably would have worked too, if you hadn’t forgotten about Fred.”

That got Jim to make a face.

“Who?”

Eve nodded, “exactly. Fred Who, the Human boyfriend that had instructions to call the Vampire embassy if anything happened to Maggie here. Even to mention Mages. Just a failsafe, but that’s why they work. So, that was your idea Jim?”

He shook his head, refusing to speak. Which was smart.

Never talk to the cops. Her father, the Police Chief, had told her that one often enough. He should know, too. The job of law enforcement was to find illegal things. The laws were so convoluted that almost everyone was doing something they could be arrested for at any given moment. Talking just let them find out what it was more easily.

Only they weren’t the police, were they? Even if they were official, it was in a different system, and they didn’t have to play by the same rules at all.

“No big. Let’s take them in for questioning. Can we bring Bob Millhouse and Lisa Wiese in on this one? Warren is their boy, so they should be in on it, to see that we aren’t railroading him, or anything.” She glanced at the three, who weren’t all that old looking, and shook her head. Some Mages could look young though. They could be hundreds of years old even and she wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Not unless they dressed in styles that were way out of date. Even then, that could just mean they were a bit retro.

Zack volunteered to take them to the mall, and bring Lars, Tara and Lamont along with him, leaving Barb to sign autographs, since it was good for business.

“Plus, she doesn’t get to do a lot for fun. Shall we?”

It wasn’t until Lamont yelled, after a Node opened in space, that Eve realized he hadn’t gotten who, or what, Zack really was. Still he went along with the others, since he was the one carrying Ellyn. The rest of them stayed for hours, until a friendly police officer actually drove by and got out, taking a few cookies for the road.

“Remember to be packed up before midnight. Park rules, even with a permit.”

He was friendly about it, but then, he’d been bribed with junk food, so it was fair enough. Also, he was pretty certain that Maggie was Chief Sims daughter, and being polite to her friends was a good idea. If he ever wanted another promotion. Eve stayed until last, making sure that none of the kids got stuck out there alone. There were three whose ride just didn’t show, so she piled them into Mark’s truck and sent them all off with him, to be delivered to their destinations safe and sound.

If Zack really wanted the remaining food stuff he’d have to wait until the next day. She simply wasn’t going to run into town carrying it all. Back to the mall, she thought, since that was where the prisoners were going.

Besides, she had books to shelve, didn’t she?

As she ran back, trying her best to break a land speed record, using the environment smoothly to both hide from prying eyes and push herself to greater quickness, she noticed that Bey was there along side of her. He didn’t make any noise, which was better than she was doing by a hundred times. Her feet shuffled and clapped against the ground, but he was almost like a ghost. It was another thing to learn, she knew. For the longest time he didn’t speak, just keeping pace with her as she tried to go faster and lose him.

That didn’t happen, of course.

This went on until they were at the edge of the mall parking lot, which was almost twenty miles away from where they’d started. It was nearly empty, being after midnight. By about half a minute. They’d left early, not wanting to tick off the police by overstaying their welcome.

She paused, trying not to scream as the pain got worse from stopping, but after a moment Bey spoke to her, his words friendly.

“You have done excellent work tonight so far, Eve. You showed intelligence, quick thinking and skill. The night is not over, however. When we go in, you will be given the chance to save the lives of the Mages. Perhaps it will be another of us, but my guess would be they turn to you, who are practically one of them. Their people are not foolish, but tend to be merciful and tender hearted with their own, so they will seek to pass such a judgment to another. I cannot tell you how to choose, but you should be prepared for it to come. It may not. If they are wise, that will be the case. If you feel you must act however, do so without hesitation. There is nothing to gain by waiting, once the answers have been delivered.”

She nodded, and started to walk, not bothering to speak. She didn’t want to be rude, but what was she supposed to say to that? She kind of liked Warren, and the others… Well, not so much for them. They wouldn’t be too hard to manage. It wasn’t like killing left her feeling bad anymore. That was one of the dangers of being a Vampire though, she knew.

If you didn’t feel bad when you killed a person, then it was a lot easier to kill the next one. To take out anyone that got in your way. Knowing that wasn’t enough reason to leave evil people alive though, or stupid ones. It didn’t really matter if these three had intended to do harm or not. They had, and would have kept on doing it, if caught and not punished well enough.

Since no cage could really hold them for long, that left one way to stop them that no one would be able to get around. At least she didn’t think so. Death, the right kind, was rather final, wasn’t it?

She looked up to see Cormack behind the counter at Yoghurt World, the place gleaming, even in the dim mall light. The white marble counters were clean and the whole place spoke of something both old and new at the same time. Glittering, and old fashioned.

The man smiled and raised a rag in his hand to wave. She did the same, and cutely enough, so did The Bey. The Lord. She knew what the name meant, and that it was a title, not a proper name, but she didn’t know what else he might have once been called. It hardly mattered at the moment, so she went into Candles and More, the little chimes over the red painted, glass centered, door making a small sound.

She nearly called out, knowing that the people were all in the back. It was close, but she almost made her words into a flip thing that would have turned the serious tone of the place into something lighter. If not happy, then at least gallows humor. That wasn’t the right mood to set for the moment though.

“We’re here. Bey and Eve.” It was a bit stiff and formal, but she heard an answer, from Bob.

“Back here. We’ve been waiting for you both.”

Not for long, it seemed. Lisa did the actual honors, setting the complicated spells that would force the three in front of them to tell the truth. It took a bit, about twenty minutes for each of them, but no one complained about the wait. Bey just stood, so she did too, with Edom coming to her other side. Backing her up?

Lenore was on his far side, with Zack next to her.

All her people. Really, everyone in the room was, except for the bad guys. Even Warren kind of counted as a friend though. Not one of her besties maybe, but close enough that she was going to feel bad about executing him.

As soon as Ellyn, the last to be spelled, was under, Bob moved in to ask the questions.

“What were you all thinking?”

That was a horrible thing to say, so he stopped them, seeming grumpy. They’d all started speaking at once, and about totally different topics, each having their own take on what they thought he might want to know about.

“No. Warren, you go first. What did you have planned, and why?”

The thin man didn’t look nearly as homosexual when he was under a compulsion, Eve realized. The way he held his face was different, for one thing. He seemed darker. Edgier. Almost a little angry.

“We were going to take over. To grab the Vampires first, and then use them as our pawns to do whatever else we wanted. After I read the book… It’s all in there. How to unify the forces of the main groups, and use that to dominate the rest. In the end we would have been like gods. That’s why we did it. Power.”

Eve took a breath and didn’t speak. She wanted power too, didn’t she? A different kind, perhaps, but the goals weren’t all that different.

Except that she was smart enough not to get caught by anyone that could kill her, or who even wanted to. Not yet.

The others went, one at a time, and the reasons given were all a bit different, but in the end it came down to one simple fact. They felt that having power gave them a right to use it. A duty to make the world their own. Failing to do that was wrong, to their way of thinking.

It was enough to convict them, but the questions weren’t even close to being finished.

Eve kind of wished they were.

Chapter twenty

The space they were in wasn’t a small one, being meant for ceremonial magic. That meant it was decently empty feeling even after all the people came in for the proceedings. It took forever for that to happen, too, and Barb had to give her testimony first thing, since she was about to go down for the day. Leslie went next, followed by Tara, though she didn’t know much at all. Most of them really didn’t.

One by one they were let go though, after verifying what their stories were. It wasn’t that important, since they already had knowledge of guilt. The Mages were just really big on paperwork though. Every T being dotted and I underscored in triplicate. In the end only the older Vampires, a score of Mages she vaguely recognized, and Zack, were left.

Then the real questions started, as if they’d been waiting for the kids to go to bed before getting to the nitty-gritty.

Bob Millhouse led the guilty through their confessions, trying not to leave anything out. It made sense to her to try and start with the all important first day kidnapping of one Eve Benson, but that wasn’t the start of their story. No, that ranged back years. To when Warren had first worked out who Zack was and that the books he’d put out had troves of incredible history and intelligence in them.

“At first I just read them all, but after a while I noticed that I could use what I knew to help myself get ahead. It wasn’t anything all that big to start with. Making some money by finding work for the Shifters as mercenaries, or doing the same for the Trollienkeine. It was all legal enough. Mostly. Then I did a bit more, working out how the laws from one group were different than others. There was a lot to be done that way. It wasn’t until about a year ago that Jim and I came up with the plan. We needed a woman, so brought Ellyn in. She’s a bit of an idiot, but powerful enough. Then we started creating a power base, using the group in the park. Some of the kids are decent enough Mages, power wise, but their defenses are for shit, so we took them all, pretending to be their friends, and then used them to do the same to the others. About four months ago we decided to try and move on to bigger prey, so tried to work out how to get some of the Vampires. It’s harder to spell them than it is a Human, but it can be done, if you’re clever about it, and they don’t know what you’re trying to do.”

The rest of the story was about the individuals that they’d captured and eventually kept in thrall. A lot of them. Vampire and not.

Enough of those that all of her people in the room were clearly wondering about the practicality of war at the moment. The thing there was that it really did seem to just be the three in the room. They were the heart of it all, as far as their story went. They could still be under the influence of someone or something else, and Zack had hinted at something like that to her, but if that was the case that person was a lot more sophisticated than they were. There were no tracks that Eve could see.

Bob got them to keep going, telling the story, with Ellyn being the one to give the details about Eve.

“It was mainly a test. The girl we captured had layers of spells on her. Blood magic, mainly. Powerful, but it needed a sacrifice to set it off. We could have compelled one of the others to do it. To just start drinking until she died, but Warren wanted to see what would happen if Eve, his girlfriend, did it as her first feeding. The compulsions he had on her as a Human would die when she did, so it made sense. She would have been trapped totally, forever, if she’d killed that girl.”

Eve listened, not wanting to hear it all. She got the idea though. Warren had been keeping her busy at the embassy, as in having sex with her, without her knowledge… for years.

Because that made sense? She’d been kind of slutty and willing to bang almost any guy that simply asked her to. So of course the man would act gay, and then use magic to do it against her will. She felt her anger rising then, but kept it held down. These people weren’t leaving the room alive, anyway. Being upset about it wouldn’t help anything.

Maggie looked scared then, which had to be a put on thing. That or she was worried that Eve was going to slaughter the three people before they finished getting at all the info. So, to reassure her, Eve looked over at her and winked. It wasn’t the first time that she’d been mind fucked that way, after all. She really needed to make sure she could stop that from happening in the future, if there was a way. Some kind of amulet, or better, mental training. Whatever would work.

Eve had been supposed to be corrupted forever, by the powerful dead blood of the girl, instead of forming a simple feeding link to her.

Warren didn’t explain his reasons why he’d raped her, instead of just asking, but she really doubted it was true love. Interestingly enough he’d also been doing the same thing to Lisa and Bob. So at least he had the gay thing covered too. Neither of them was thrilled to hear about it, and Robert Millhouse nearly ended the man right there. His right hand came up, and a pure ball of blue light started to form. It was so powerful it thrummed along her everything, making her quiver inside her belly.

She held up her own hand then to get his attention.

“The rest of the information first, please?”

It wasn’t all that entertaining, once the parts about sex were done. As she’d started to suspect, Marcus had been a pawn the whole time too, and what he’d done to Maggie, well, that was complicated. On the one hand it was pretty clear that he’d wanted to do it, and had known at the time that it was wrong. On the other hand, he’d had orders he couldn’t refuse that forced him to do it. Against his will. Not the sex portions specifically, but the rest of it. Stripping her free will away like he had. So half the crime wasn’t his fault.

That made it hard though, since it was certain to everyone there that he wouldn’t have done any of it, if she hadn’t been under his control. Because he loved her, after all.

That had been said by him, but Eve really figured that it had been mere words the whole time.

Apparently, it was at least a thing that Jim and Warren could see as well.

The attempted robbery had actually been meant to kill Cormack. Warren knew the name, and didn’t really care if a Vampire or two died, so why not? He worked at the place across the way, but only on the night shift, so they weren’t friends or anything.

Eve nodded then.

The real trick there would be that one, she guessed. That it was all about not really thinking of people as being real. Like a psychopath, or a tax attorney. They could seem like everyone else, and pretend to have empathy, but in the end, it wasn’t really there, was it? It was just a Human mask pulled over the face of a monster.

Sure, she got the irony of a Vampire thinking that about a Human Mage, but that didn’t make it wrong. There were a lot of other things to go over too, but in the main, she didn’t care about most of them. Honestly, she wasn’t even worried about punishing the people.

They were beyond help, and had been for a while.

Bob looked at her, and then Lisa, as if their pain would somehow be greater than his own. She understood why, after a moment. It was a thing that shocked her, when the words came out of his lips.

“Eve… They forced you to kill innocent people, and tried to make you harm another, on top of the rest. This should be your decision.” It did sound a little weak, like Bey had suggested it might, but he was an ambassador, and keeping the peace with those others there was important. The Vampires, as well as his own people.

She moved forward, and then looked at the Mages in the room, one by one.

“This isn’t about Mages versus Vampires. It isn’t even about good and evil. This is about misguided people that have harmed others, because they didn’t control their lust for power. I’m sure most of us in this room have felt that one before.” She looked back at the line of her own people, who were taking up the back half of the room, guarding the door there, it seemed. To keep anyone from coming in to stop things, or from escaping.

Not that anyone was even trying to do either of those things.

“What we need to do now is prevent these people from harming anyone else, ever again. If they die, will that break the compulsions they had a hand in?” She looked at Lisa, who nodded her golden colored hair.

“It will. Unless they used a full ceremony to do it.”

Warren helpfully shook his head.

“No. It was just us three.”

Eve looked around then and shrugged.

“That’s the answer then. We have to make sure we miss nothing here. Can we get a tarp, or blanket?” It would be a pain to bury them all, but Zack moved forward and opened the Node then made it glow a brilliant purple so that she could see it. It was kind of cool looking, even given the moment.

“Great. Thanks Zack. Here…”

Walking over to the line of people, and starting with Warren, since he could have been the hard one, she killed them all.

It was over fast, since she didn’t hesitate before doing the next one. Eve pushed as hard as she could into the pain of movement, but still only made their heads explode away from her. It kind of made a mess, but there was no one standing in that direction, thankfully. On the third one she tried really hard though, and managed to make Ellyn’s head turn into a mist. She didn’t let herself breathe until she’d recovered fully, but did move to toss the remains through the Node.

As she had Warren’s lifeless body held in its chair, ready to swing, she stopped, which made her stumble a bit, since even without a head he weighed more than she did.

“Oh, right, what’s on the other side?”

“A forest in a place so far off there’s nothing like people.”

“Ah. Good. It would be bad to dump them in the middle of a baseball field, or in Times Square.”

Then she tossed the things through, trying to make sure she was accurate so that she didn’t have to do it more than once. It would be disruptive if she did.

After it they were all gone, she nodded to first Bob and then Lisa, who both seemed a lot more worked up now than when they’d started. Then finding out that you’d been being anally raped for years wasn’t a fun thing. The oral part wasn’t that big of a deal for her, but Lisa was a lesbian, more or less, and Bob was as straight as you could be without secretly sneaking off to gay glory-holes on the side. In fact he was so hetero that she doubted he’d even get why saying it that way would be funny.

“This should end the worst of it. We’ll need to work together, to make sure there’s no more fallout from this. Please let us know if anything happens though, and we’ll try to solve it without bloodshed. This was bad, but we don’t have to turn it into more than it was. The crimes of a few misguided people.”

Turning, she looked at Lenore, since she was the ambassador there, and then Edom, her own maker. Both of them just nodded, and Lenore moved to both Bob and Lisa, and spoke in quiet tones. Ones that seemed a lot more friendly than not. Caring even.

Eve moved to Zack, which got a few other people to come over, including Ed and Bey. Some Mages, too.

“So… Zack, how did you miss this? Bob and Lisa are your friends…”

He didn’t deny what she was asking, his face suddenly going hard.

“I can’t get involved every time someone does something, Eve. It wasn’t good, but for every Warren out there pulling crud like this that we find, there are hundreds of others. All the time. Most of them never amount to much, but my job isn’t to police them. I’m here to serve my needs. Not anyone else. Yes, that means that I’ll help you hide the bodies for free, and even that I love you all, but notice, it wasn’t just them? I found out about this first because of what was being done to you. If I didn’t intercede there, why would I for these others? Worse, do you know what the fallout would have been if I’d tried?’

“No? Not really. I doubt I can think that far ahead.”

“Neither can I. I’m glad that you worked it out, and that you’re all free of this one now though. I really am. There are things at play in my life that… Well, telling you about it won’t help, but there really were reasons. I’m not just the kind of jerk that sits back and lets people he knows be raped. I mean, clearly I’m that too, don’t get me wrong, but not only that.”

She could see it. A heads up would have been nice, but she hadn’t asked about it had she?

“Is there anything else I should know about?”

Zack looked at her and smiled. It was not the best thing to see in the world, she realized. It didn’t seem exactly sane, for one thing. Sure, he wasn’t, and she knew that, but this was the first time it had been directed at her like that.

“So very much, Eve. Things that would probably have you killed if you so much as moved in that direction. So I have to protect you. All of you. From yourselves, as often as not. Anyway, if you’re willing to work with me still, maybe you can get some time off from the embassy, and help me scramble to get the product on the shelves?”

She sighed, but nodded.

“Yeah. I have some things to take care of, but I’ll see if I can get away from work early. I’d whine about the extra work, but no one would care, yeah?”

There was a soft laugh, one that seemed lot more normal, and a pat on the back as he passed her, moving over to his girlfriend, Lenore. He spoke to her, but that was none of Eve’s business.

She took a deep breath and turned to talk to Edom, only to find her arm being taken first, by Maggie.

“So, Eve, Ben was asking after you last night. I don’t suppose you’re up for a date soon? I can almost assure you that his expectation is that you say no. I told him I’d ask on his behalf however. Would that be something to think about?”

She tilted her head. The guy was a chubster, and geeky on top of that, but he did look sort of cute in his little role-playing outfit. Then, his looks weren’t the real issue were they?

“I’m only about a week old, Maggie. I’m not sure I could be trusted being that close to someone so yummy. He is too. Have you noticed that?”

She nodded, because it was a real thing, not just her imagination.

“I’ll tell him you said no, then?”

To her surprise, a hand caught her shoulder. It was powerful and dark, with a lovely Edom attached to it.

“I don’t know, Eve. You’ve managed everything else well enough. Maybe we should set up some tests for you first, and try it out? You have to move ahead sometime, and age is, I hear, only a number. I think you can do it.” His voice held confidence, which was good to hear.

She started to walk out, since she needed to get with Lenore and make sure she could get some time off later. That night was free, so she could go straight through if it was needed. That would get the work done, even if she had to work at superhuman speeds the whole time.

Her embassy boss was still chatting with Bob and Lisa, and the others all managed to get side tracked, so she moved across the hallway, to find the embassy open, but empty.

There was, on the counter, a single package, with bright party wrap, thin curly ribbons and a balloon on the top. It wasn’t huge, being about the size of a large loaf of bread. She opened the card first, wondering if the thing inside the box was going to be a bomb.

Hey! I said you deserved a prize, so here you go. Use them in good health. Darla G.

It took a second for her to remember her buddy mentioning something like that. She was still careful getting the thing open, since it could be anything from that bomb she mentioned, to a gun or even Marcus’ balls. Just because he’d been cleared after a fashion now, that didn’t mean Darla knew all about it already. She probably did, but there was no way to prove that.

In the box there were running shoes. They were all white, and had no decorations on them at all. Leather and sturdy, with soft rubbery soles on them. In the tissue paper they were wrapped in, there was another note.

Be careful with these. I designed them to turn the fifteenth fastest person I know, into the third. It will hurt, beyond all reason or sense. It will also work.

Eve held the things up, knowing that she’d have to wait before trying them on. It would hurt, but also work? That was kind of her new catch phrase, anymore, wasn’t it?

Smiling she put the things behind the counter and started making sure everything was ready for the day. After all, she had work to do, and in order to get to that, there were things that had to be done first.

It wouldn’t take too long, but it had to be done. A lot of things were like that now, she knew.

For her.

At least if she wanted to gain enough power to stop herself from being the sex toy of anyone that had a good trick, or pair of pretty hypnotic eyes.

So, keeping that in mind, she got to it. Eve was going to win, in the end, and no matter what else happened, she was going to be safe. Eventually.

Somehow.

Other Books by P.S. Power from Orange Cat Publishing:

If you enjoyed these books, why not find out the rest of the story? It’s more than worth the time, and there’s more to it than anyone could possibly imagine.

Keeley Thompson:

Follow this interesting tale of a young girl who discovers she’s something much different than she was ever led to believe. Keeley isn’t just a straight A student, as she learns from the head Cheerleader of her new school. No, she’s a Greater Demon, and that means that reality will never be the same again.

Demon Girl

Keelzebub

Mistress of Souls

Demon Trap

Demon Bait

Other Places (Zack Hartley, in the Eve Benson continuity)

Zack is insane, and knows it. It’s not hard to figure that out when your own mirror talks to you, and tells you to get off your butt and go get a job before you starve to death. Worse, when you can see the holes in the world, and walk through them, it become pretty hard to separate what’s real, from what might just be in your own head.

If he can pull it off, it will be a miracle.

Shortcuts

Road Blocks

Detours

Other books in the same universe:

Christmas of the Vampire

When a young girl is in trouble, having been taken captive by a Greater Demon, she reaches out to the only beings she knows of that might be able to help her.

Santa Claus, and Richard Swirlin, America’s only openly vampire politician.

Now Richard has to not only save five year old Macy from Ma’at, The Puzzler, but save the spirit of Christmas itself!

To do that, he’s going to need a bit of help, which will mean making some deals with things even darker than the Greater Demon that has Santa and Macy.

Because only one thing in existence can beat a Greater Demon. One of their own kind.

Friendzoned (Becky Hoader, before she becomes the famous actress, Krista Hall! Warning, this book is a young adult coming of age tale, not fantasy.)

Becky has loved Mitch for years, but he barely even seems to notice her. A bit over weight, and kind of boring, she turns to her new friends, Darla, Keeley, Hally, and Eve, to help her finally get out of the friend zone. If they can at all.