Pool of Crimson (17 page)

I had to get closer.

I crossed the street, careful to remain in the shadows, and headed toward the exposed fire escape on the opposite building. I had to leave the shadows and inch closer to the two cars, along the back of the buildings facing High Street. I was too exposed.

I grabbed the hundred-year-old iron of the fire escape and started climbing as quietly as I could. The rust from the iron flaked under my hands as I rose but if I could get to the top, I would be out of scent range and out of sight. As I continued upward, approaching the roof, the soft click of a car door opening filled the silence. My muscles and lungs burned as I pushed myself harder in the cold night air. Just a few more rungs and I would be clear. I bit down on my bottom lip and forced myself to continue. Four more rungs. Three more rungs. Two.

I vaulted myself over the crest of the roof as a second door opened below.

I slid down the three-foot wall surrounding the top of the roof, then pressed my back against the brick surface next to the fire escape ladder. My lungs burned from the four-story climb. I sat for a moment, trying to catch my breath. I had to even out my breathing so that I wasn’t panting in the silent morning.

“There’s been a change of plans,” a familiar male voice rang out through the darkness.

I turned slowly and lifted my head up over the wall. The grime of the tar and gravel roof clung to me as I moved, and I fought not to move too much. The grime seeped into my clothing, but I didn’t care. I finally had a chance for a lead, a real lead. I peered down to the street below.

The Marlboro Man stood across from Candace Capeloni.

“What do you mean, there’s been a change of plans?” Candace snapped brusquely. The push of the Marlboro Man’s power filled the area and licked along my skin like a cold shot of winter. I sat four stories up and still felt when he bristled against her rudeness. It was faint, but I still felt it.

“I paid you to kill that witch for me, and you failed. Consider the payment a gift,” the Marlboro Man said with a warning that echoed in every word. He stood ramrod straight with his chest out and his hands clasped tightly behind his back. He seemed uncomfortable, as if she was beneath him.

“That’s not going to work for me,” she growled at him. She rolled her shoulders forward and shifted to the balls of her feet.

“I don’t care what works for you. We are too close to the New Moon to risk any interference. Your inability to finish a job has brought attention to us,” he hissed at her. He paused for a moment before he continued. His voice was soft, almost wistful as he spoke. “I’ve discovered that The Blushing Death can be useful to me in the future, and I don’t want her harmed.”

“She challenged me,” Candace bit back, chomping the air as if her canines were showing.

“What did you expect?” he cooed. “She’s an alpha female. She’d have to be, wouldn’t she? Poor Candace,” he chided her. “Do you think she can beat you?” he asked, having just a bit too much fun taunting her. “If it makes you feel any better,” he added nonchalantly, “I think she can beat you, too.”

Candace roared at him and stomped her foot like a child throwing a fit. The Marlboro Man’s laughter echoed between the buildings as she continued her tirade. She definitely didn’t like being told ‘no’.

“Enough. Do not touch her,” he ordered.

“Who’s going to stop me?”

“My darling Candace, would you really like your Gaoh to find out you’ve been conspiring with me to kill him?” The Marlboro Man folded his arms over his defined chest and waited for her answer.

“Your Gaoh can’t touch me. He wouldn’t dare. You, my dear, he can torture into submission or just kill you,” The Marlboro Man said with satisfaction. “He has that right.”

“You wouldn’t,” Candace replied, a quiver in her voice. “You need me too much.”

“You’re becoming too costly, my dear. Don’t push me.”

The sound of his voice and the confidence in it gave me chills as his words sunk in.

Candace took a step back toward her car but didn’t say another word.

“Remember what I said, no harm comes to the Blushing Death,” he ordered. She nodded obediently, her gaze downcast.

He turned, then opened his car door. “Good Evening,” he said with forced cordiality before getting into his car.

Candace watched, motionless, from her spot by the Charger as he drove away. His headlights disappeared around the corner, and she remained frozen where she stood. Balling her fists up at her sides, she released a rage filled roar. Her primal anger echoed around the empty square. She turned quickly, faster than my eyes could follow and drove her fist through the back window of her car, then the driver’s side window. She roared one last time before her blood-covered hand fell to her side.

“God damn it,” she yelled into the early morning where only I could hear her. “GOD FUCKING DAMN IT!” She stood frozen for a few long minutes before she yanked open the driver’s side door, brushed the broken glass off her seat, and got in. She fired up her engine, revving it hard as she hit the gas. The tires squealed and the gears ground as she raced down the empty street.

I sat back down on the roof and released the breath I’d been holding. I didn’t like the idea that the Marlboro Man wanted me alive. At least, when he wanted me dead, I knew where I stood. Now, I was stuck in some limbo waiting to see what he wanted to do with me. I liked the other way better.

Chapter 13

I pushed Jade out the door of Voisinage Café, a bistro on the corner of 3
and Grandview, only a few blocks from my house. Music blared from the band playing for a private party on the second floor. I’d agreed to meet Jade for drinks to discuss her research. I had to tell her. I couldn’t let her wander around the city, with me, and not tell her what kind of danger she was in.

After a few minutes, it was clear to me she just wanted to hang out. I hadn’t slept in the last 72 hours. I’d barely had time to shower and get to work on time after dragging my sorry ass off that roof, and when I’d tried to warn her about the Marlboro Man, Patrick and Candace, she laughed my warnings off.

“Everyone knows that vampires aren’t real, Dahlia.”

“I’m telling you they are.”

“Stop pulling my leg. I know you want to go. You don’t have to make up stories to get your point across.” Her tone was harsh and didn’t hide her hurt as well as she’d probably hoped. She didn’t believe me and I wasn’t sure how to make her believe without putting her at risk.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay for a few more minutes?” Jade asked.

“No,” I snapped in frustration. I breathed deeply and re-centered. I didn’t want to snap at her. “I have to get some sleep. I’m exhausted.”

“All right.”

I’d make it up to her, and the funny thing was I wanted to make it up to her. We turned the corner at the side of the restaurant and walked the half block to her car.

“I see your father’s gift arrived,” I said in disbelief as the alarm sounded and the lights flashed on a brand new Maserati Gran Turismo S. The sleek body and shiny black paint looked like the wind itself had shaped the sport car.

“Yeah, it arrived yesterday,” she said with no fanfare.

I was under the impression that a Maserati required a little more hoopla than what she gave it. I ran my fingers along the hood in obvious car lust. She popped open the door and threw her bag across to the passenger seat.

“You know that this car has a top speed of around 180 miles per hour and can go from 0 to 60 in a little under four seconds,” I said, sounding like a gear head. I couldn’t help it. It was love at first sight. The cold metal of perfection glided underneath my fingertips like silk. I was momentarily hypnotized by the sheer beauty of the machine.

“You want it?” she snapped back at me, scorn making her voice brittle and angry.

“Don’t even joke about giving it away,” I said, my voice crackling with the first sounds of laughter. She looked way too serious.

“I’ll take it if she doesn’t want it,” a raspy male voice said from the shadows behind me. A strong slender hand clasped tightly around my neck, pressing delicate strong fingertips into the soft flesh of my throat, yanking me back and off balance. I slammed into what felt like a brick wall.

Jade’s eyes grew wide and bulged slightly as the woman’s grip tightened around my body like a serpent. Jade froze in fear. That wasn’t the response I’d hoped for from her. Her reactions were definitely something to keep in mind for next time.

Smarmy stepped out of the shadows, a smile on his smug rounded face. His smile made my skin crawl, like he wished he could lick the flesh from my bones.

Is that a gold tooth? Sweet Jesus.
I rolled my eyes and struggled against the vampire’s incredibly strong hold.

“I don’t think she wants to give it away anymore,” the woman behind me sneered in a familiar feminine voice. As her breath pushed past my ear, I knew there was a long wave of Ebony black hair I could grip if I needed to. Her hand tightened around my throat. If she squeezed much tighter, Jade would be on her own. I was having a hard time focusing as my lungs fought for air. I had to get her hand off my throat.

“No,” I managed to growl. She relaxed her fingers just a hair, but it was enough for me to take in a short, shallow breath. “She’s not giving it away, you stupid shit”. I tugged at her fingers, wrapped like a vice around my neck. I knew I couldn’t pry them away from my skin, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to try. Something about knowing Marlboro Man didn’t want to kill me gave me enough confidence I’d get out of this alive, this time. If she wanted me dead, I’d already be dead. But I also didn’t want to end up in a cage.

“Listen to her, Dominique, she thinks she can tell us what to do,” Smarmy said, closing the distance between us. His hot, garlic-scented breath huffed in my face. He wore a rayon pink- and blue-vertical-striped shirt. The view of chest hair I had down his shirt and the thick layer of grease he’d plastered onto his head to hold back his jet black hair repulsed me. Bile rose in my throat, and I fought to hold it back.

“Could you take a step back?” I begged in a revolted tone. “I’m getting nauseous just looking at you. Not to mention your breath,” I added with a sneer.

Ebony Goddess jerked my head to the side with her free hand and tightened her grip on my throat, twisting and tugging my skin. The muscles in my neck ached as I struggled for air, burning my trachea with each intake of air and stretching my jaw painfully out of joint. If she weren’t careful, she’d crush my throat.

Smarmy retreated three steps, and I braced for the violence shimmering in his eyes. He raised his arm high above his head, then brought it down hard, striking me across the face with the back of his hand. I felt each one of his fat fingers strike my face as the inside of my cheek slammed against my teeth, breaking the skin. Blood flooded my mouth.

Jade gasped, hugging the side of the Maserati. “What the hell are you doing?” she screamed, fear quaked through her voice.

“Whatever I want,” Smarmy said, his smile filled with malice. He sneered at Jade back over his shoulder, his gold tooth fully visible. The vampire behind me chuckled, her hand still firmly planted on my throat.

I spit the blood from my mouth. The thick, viscous liquid slid down Smarmy’s rayon striped shirt without actually soaking into the horrible fabric.

“Cheap bastard,” I spat out. I slid my hand beneath my shirt and pulled an oak stake from the band I wore around my waist.

He brought his arm up to hit me again.

I anchored against the vampire’s hold behind me and kicked out, planting my foot dead center in Smarmy’s hairy chest before he could bring his hand back down across my cheek. He groaned as the wind left his lungs. He stumbled back.

The vampire and I tumbled backward from the force of my kick until her back hit the brick wall of a nearby liquor store. I slammed the back of my head into her face, forcing her head into the unforgiving wall behind her. Her fingers slacked on my throat for only a moment. It was enough. I took advantage of it and spun quickly. I pushed her to my left, then plunged the stake into her, missing her heart by inches as it sank into her shoulder.

I glared down at the Ebony Goddess with hatred. If I killed her, I’d have hell to pay, a mess to clean up and the general public to deal with quicker than I’d want. I stepped back and grabbed Smarmy instead.

He almost slipped out of my grasp as my fingers struggled to grip the rayon fabric of his shirt. I managed to grasp his ridiculously large lapels and slammed him against the building. Adrenaline flooded my system, and I spit out a second mouthful of blood.

I wanted to beat his smug face to a pulp, but I had to get Jade out of danger before I could do anything. I’d been lucky. They weren’t ready for me to fight back. They wouldn’t make that mistake a second time. I had to be smart, not cocky.

I slipped my bowie knife from my boot, then pressed the blade against Smarmy’s throat. The friction from his stubble scraped against the sharp edge. The temptation to slice just a little deeper was almost too much to resist.

“Jade,” I called without taking my eyes from Smarmy’s dark pools of depravity. They narrowed in on me as I spoke. He trembled just a fraction as I angled the knife against his jawline and pressed harder. I felt it, his gulp of terror move through the blade. He tilted his head away from the knife, but didn’t dare move. “Get in the car and drive away,” I ordered, enunciating each and every word so there would be no mistake.

“But-”

“Go!” I ordered sharply. My voice came out three octaves lower than my usual tone. Smarmy flinched slightly as I spoke, not much, but I noticed. I felt a delicious, dangerous smile crest my lips. My breathing evened out and my heart rate slowed until I no longer felt it pounding against my skull. My brain was quiet.

I could kill him.

I rolled that thought around my mind for a second or two and realized I was right. He was human, but I
could
kill him and walk away. As that realization spread over my being, Smarmy shrank from me. No doubt, he read the silence and the cold acceptance of his death in my eyes.