Blessed by a Demon’s Mark (12 page)
I hadn’t known I was going to ask for the keys until the words were out of my mouth. If I was going to go out and hunt the Countess tonight, I didn’t want to risk trying to drive my motorcycle in the snow.
It took only a few minutes before Ethan was back downstairs, keys in hand. I was surprised Jeremy had agreed to let me take the car after the way I treated him. It made me regret my harsh words that much more. He was a good kid . . . even if he was a werewolf.
“Don’t wait up for me,” I said, taking the keys.
“Be careful,” Ethan said. He was still smiling, though I could see the worry in his eyes.
“I will.”
And then I did something neither of us expected.
I hugged him.
Before I could take in much more than the shocked expression on his face, I turned and headed out into the garage.
Ethan had been right on more than one count. All the death
had
been getting to me. I might have taken a three-month break from it all, but killing someone wasn’t something that ever left you. It festered.
had
been getting to me. I might have taken a three-month break from it all, but killing someone wasn’t something that ever left you. It festered.
And I was treating everyone like shit because of it. I couldn’t keep going on like this if I wanted to have friends afterward. It was time I stopped.
Once Countess Baset was dead and everyone I cared about was safe, I could hang up my weapons, put away the leather, and try to live like a normal person for once.
I’d thought of it before, but only in passing. I’d never taken it seriously those other times because without my work, I’d have nothing.
But this time I was sure. Once Baset was dead and all my other messes were finally taken care of, I planned to put down my weapons and walk away from it all for good.
I was going to retire.
13
Jeremy’s car was a piece of shit.
It took me a good five minutes to get it started, and once I got it going, I quickly learned the heat didn’t work. While the cold might not bother me as much as it would a Pureblood, I did like to be comfortable.
I shivered as I chugged down the driveway and out onto the road. I was surprised the car didn’t backfire or explode when I stepped on the gas.
Of course, it didn’t really speed up either.
The top speed seemed to be somewhere in the thirty-five miles per hour range. If I went above that, the entire car started vibrating. If I was forced to run from House Baset, I wouldn’t get very far in Jeremy’s deathtrap. Maybe the vampires and wolves would laugh themselves to death before they caught me.
But despite the horrible car and the cold, I was feeling pretty good. The moment I decided to be done with all the death and retire, it was as if a great weight had lifted from my shoulders. I felt free, freer than I’d felt in a long time. I could finish this kill and ride off into the sunset . . . figuratively speaking anyway.
I still wasn’t sure what I’d do about Levi and Delai. Once Baset was dead, I’d have to take some time to figure that out. It would come down to whether or not I chose to believe Beligral. I could use the demon’s gift to investigate, or I could simply just grab Ethan and go. I was sure Levi would take him in if I asked.
I pushed any and all thoughts of Delai out of my head and focused on the task at hand. I couldn’t be distracted now of all times. While Baset was no longer a Royal, it was still one of the biggies. The slightest slipup and I’d be dead. Hell, even if I did everything right, there was still a good chance I wouldn’t survive.
Of course, I couldn’t do anything until I found out where she lived. I needed Mikael for that.
I parked in The Bloody Stake parking lot and made sure no one was looking as I got out of the car and hurried inside. I didn’t want to be seen in Jeremy’s beat-up clunker, especially by someone I knew.
Mikael was at his usual booth with a few girls tucked under his arms. Even though it disgusted me, I was glad to see him back to his usual self. He was so involved with them, he never even looked up as I entered. His face was nuzzled up against one of the girl’s necks and she was making squealing sounds that could be heard all the way across the room.
I strode toward him, trying my best not to be bothered by Bart’s glare. He watched me from behind the bar, hands gripping a glass so hard it was a wonder it didn’t shatter in his hand.
I approached Mikael’s booth, steps slowing as I neared. Every time I came in with him sucking on some girl’s neck, it made me realize how perverted he really was. At least this time he was the only one doing the sucking. I’d interrupted him before while he was involved in much more personal business.
“Where is House Baset?” I asked, slamming some money down on the table.
Mikael jerked away from his girl and gave me a startled look. As soon as he realized who’d interrupted him in his fondling, he frowned and shooed the girls away, never taking his eyes off me. The girls gave a collective groan as they scooted out of the booth.
“I said no more money,” he said, eyeing the bills sitting on the table anyway.
“Just tell me where I can find her.”
He looked around the room and, after a moment, nodded toward the empty seat across from him. “This is a Major House, remember. It would sadden me if you were to die for real this time.”
“I’ll manage,” I said as I sat down.
He sighed. “I hoped you would have taken my advice and left. Baset is too dangerous even for you.”
“We’ll see. Just tell me where she is.” I frowned at him. “Unless she has you in her pay?” I made it a question.
“No,” he said. “Baset does not use me or anyone else for her information. Not anymore.”
“Then tell me where she lives,” I said, feeling a little relieved. I wasn’t sure what I would do if he couldn’t provide me with information on her. “I don’t need anything else from you.”
He studied me from across the table. The money still sat between us, untouched. “Do you wish to die?”
“What kind of question is that?”
“A simple one,” he said. “Do you wish to die?”
“No.” It sounded like a lie even to me.
“Because if you go in search of Countess Baset, you will die. She is said to be unkillable. Rumors are she has already died once but did not stay down. She has regained much of her power since her fall. Trifling with someone like that is not good for anyone, yes?”
“And do you believe that she somehow rose from the dead?”
He shrugged. “I do not know. She is the first Countess or Count who I cannot provide sufficient information on. And that scares me. Usually there is always someone willing to talk, but not with her.”
“I don’t need information other than where she lives. I can take care of the rest myself.”
“Can you?” He cocked his head to the side. “I’m not so sure; not any longer.”
My frown deepened. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“I have heard of video footage of a woman dressed in black who made quite a scene in Count Mephisto’s territory. The footage is not good, does not show her face well enough to be recognizable, but I hear it has interested the Count greatly. Would you know anything about this, my sweet?”
I tried to hide the guilty look on my face. “I was hungry.”
Mikael grunted a laugh. “And you risked everything for that meal? It does not seem like you.”
“It was dumb, I admit it.” And I hated to be reminded of it. “Can we get back to Baset? What can you tell me?”
Mikael studied me and then sighed. “All I can say is that she no longer lives where you’d think. She leads a Major House, yes, but she is ostracized, has separated herself from the others. I don’t know why. She lives in isolation, as much as a vampire Countess of such power can.”
“Okay. Where does she live?” I felt like a broken record, asking the same thing over and over again. I just about kissed him when he finally gave me an address.
It appeared Baset lived outside city limits, off where I knew there to be little to no one left living. I didn’t like it one bit. Normally, I might like hunting a vamp where no one else was likely to spot me, but somehow, the thought of going after Baset in the middle of nowhere had my stomach doing flips.
I stood and thanked him, leaving the money on the table for him to decide what to do with. I could feel his eyes on my back as I walked out the door. I slipped into Jeremy’s car, more worried than ever.
The engine coughed a few dozen times before starting and I pulled out onto the road, thankful no one had been in the lot to see me.
I felt like a fool, especially since Mikael had heard about my little escapade at Polaris. He was right, I wasn’t as careful as I used to be. Something was making me stupid.
And that included this hunt. I’d gotten my information like usual, but I’d planned on going straight in and taking Baset out as quickly and as quietly as I could without scouting the place out beforehand.
It sounded like a good plan at the time, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized to go in like that was a sure way to get killed. Was my carelessness a result of something Levi had done to me? Or was Ethan right? Was I losing myself to the vampire part of my mind?
The road got rough and I was glad I’d chosen to take Jeremy’s car, no matter how shitty it was. My Honda never would have survived the potholes hidden in the snowdrifts. I’d have ended up walking most of the way, if I didn’t break my legs first.
While I’d decided I wasn’t going to attack Baset tonight, I did want to at least scout the place properly. I always liked to know my enemy. Often, you could learn a lot about a vampire just by watching their home for a little while. It would help me discern how many wolves and vamps she had at her disposal, as well as how good her defenses were.
Baset lived out of the way like Mikael said. There had been a mini vampire war a few years back that had wiped out the area where she now lived. I didn’t even know the name of the town, if it ever had one. The place had been set to the torch and from what I understood, no one survived, not even the vampires involved.
But obviously something had survived. After traveling down the road for a good twenty minutes, I saw lights in the distance. Tortured trees obscured most of the view. Their branches drooped low where they hadn’t fallen off. A lot of the trees were still trying to recover from the fire. Most of them had died.
I turned off my headlights and continued down the road a little ways before turning around and parking just off the shoulder. If some of Baset’s wolves were prowling around, they’d surely see the car and report back to their Countess. I was hoping the snow kept them inside, or at least closer to the house.
I got out of the car and headed for the house lights in the distance. Even from where I crouched, I could tell it was a good-sized mansion. I used tire tracks in the driveway to hide my passage until I found a small copse of dead trees I could use for cover. They still smelled of ash, even after all these years.
I kept my eyes focused ahead, never letting the lights out of my sight. I’d stand out horribly against the snow. Only the trees provided me any sort of cover. Anyone who happened to glance my way would probably see me.
I was so intent on watching for movement ahead, I nearly tripped over a headstone. I paused and looked around. At some point, I’d entered an old graveyard, though there had been no fence or sign warning me it was coming. A few trees had grown up near the headstones, sprouts struggling against the bitter cold of winter.
It was sad, really. I wondered how long the graveyard had been abandoned. No one would be able to pay their respects to the dead here, not with a vampire Countess living so close by.
The graveyard sat on the top of a slight incline that gave me a decent enough view of Baset’s mansion. I decided it was close enough and moved to stand near a tree so that I would hopefully blend in better.
As far as I could tell, no one was moving around outside. There were a few cars parked out front, but no one was sitting in them. Snow covered all the vehicles, so they’d been there for quite a while. The tire tracks leading from the drive were fresh enough that I knew someone might return soon.
The mansion itself was near black. I think it had been white at one time, but the fire had blackened the entire outside. Even the roof was ashen. If the lights hadn’t been on, it might have been invisible against the night sky.
The light was coming from a few upstairs windows and one downstairs. Vampires and werewolves didn’t need light to see by, though their Pureblood servants did.
How the house had stood against the fire, I had no idea. Everything else around it was gone. Up close, there were no trees, nothing at all that had lived past the fire. It stood almost completely alone on the empty landscape.
The only thing left standing outside the house was a twisted swing set in the backyard. The metal legs were warped, but the chains holding the seats hadn’t snapped. The plastic seats had mostly melted away, leaving behind only molten chunks that hung from the chains like rotten fruit.
It was strange to think that children might have played out there once. Because of the fire damage, it was hard to tell how old the swing set was. Had the kids played there while vampires slept nearby? Or was the toy so old the children could play, firm in their belief that the monsters were only tales told to frighten them?
I sighed and chose to focus on scouting. To think of a past I never knew wouldn’t help.
I watched the grounds for a good twenty minutes and I saw no one. Not even a shadow flittered near a window. The snow drifted, the wind caused my coat to flutter out behind me, but around the mansion, nothing moved.
This isn’t right.
Normally, a Major House would have wolves and lesser vamps swarming all over. There’d be someone on the roof, a few patrolling the grounds, and yet there was no one. It was as if I was looking at a setup of a house, not a place where anyone actually lived. I should have seen someone by now. It wasn’t
that
cold.
that
cold.
I turned and started back to the car, unsettled. I would have stayed longer, but I knew those who had left would probably be returning soon. I didn’t want to get caught spying on the Countess when they finally did return.
Maybe Baset’s Major House standing was only in name. Maybe she knew something that kept her high on the totem pole, but left her with limited resources. No high-ranking vampire I knew would want to live all the way out here where no one could look upon their greatness. They were too conceited for that.
No one drove by as I got in the car and headed back toward the city. I pushed the car as fast as it would go, half-afraid I’d pass someone on the way. I really didn’t want to get into a fight tonight, not until I was sure about what I was facing. Baset didn’t need to know I was watching her.
Thankfully, I turned off the road without seeing anyone. I did wish I’d have gotten a closer look at Baset’s mansion since I hadn’t seen anything move, but I’d been too creeped out by how it seemed so isolated, so silent. I was scared at what I’d find when I actually stormed the place.
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