Blood Blade

Chapter 12

The sun was making its first appearance for the day when Cole left the hotel. Rather than try to get comfortable on a bed that had been ripped apart, he’d wrapped himself in the comforter and fallen asleep in a chair. After a quick and very cold shower, he climbed down a set of stairs so he didn’t have to walk past the front desk on his way outside. He simply didn’t want his free breakfast enough to take the chance of being forced to make up a reason for all the noise that had come from his room the night before. After circling the building, he walked down the street and found a cab parked in front of a little drive-through coffee place.

Cole bought a large Colombian blend and a bagel, hopped into the cab and gave the address for Rasa Hill. When the cab pulled up to the abandoned restaurant, he spotted another car parked just outside the front door. The early morning sun was obscured by a thick patch of clouds, making it difficult for him to see much of the car’s details. Ditching the rest of his bagel and swigging the remaining coffee, he bolted from the cab and rushed toward the restaurant.

The cabbie was quick to grab a chipped baseball bat from under his seat and take off after him. He ran a few paces before letting out a hacking cough that had been fermenting in his lungs since he’d first started smoking nonfiltered cigarettes and shouted, “Get yer ass back here! You owe me money, goddammit!”

Cole approached the front of the restaurant, pulled on the front door and found it locked. Without so much as glancing back at the angry cabbie, he circled around to the side of the building.

“Hey!” the cabbie yelled. “I’ll kick yer ass!”

The cabbie ran as fast as his legs would carry him, keeping his bat cocked near his head and ready to swing as he approached the restaurant. When he cleared the front, he could see Cole around the next corner farther along the building. Then, from the shadows surrounding a stack of empty crates, a pale redhead stepped up and placed her hand around the cabbie’s throat.

The redhead wasn’t much shorter than the cabbie, but she looked to be at least fifty pounds lighter. Her arms and legs were covered in black nylon. Whatever curves were present on her skinny figure were accentuated by a dark purple miniskirt and matching tube top. Darkly painted lips curled into a smile as she tightened her grip upon the cabbie’s throat and absorbed a blow from the bat without so much as a flinch.

“What’s the matter, cutie?” the redhead asked as she smiled to reveal one set of short, thin fangs that curled down to brush against the side of her tongue. “You’d get a lot more action if you didn’t swing your little bat around like that.”

As Cole rushed around the building, he looked for anything he could use as a weapon. The first thing he grabbed was a stick. He replaced that with a rock a few seconds later. By the time he got within sight of the restaurant’s back door, he threw the rock away and replaced it with a piece of lumber from a broken pallet. There was a bunch of trash cans next to the back door, but he didn’t take one of those. He did grab something else that seemed useful and then pulled at the door before he had enough time to think better of it.

The door opened into a dark and quiet storeroom. He stomped in to try and draw as much attention as he could. “Paige!” he shouted. “Are you in here?”

There was a rustling to his left. When he turned, he tightened both hands around the makeshift weapons he’d collected and prepared to put them to use. A man stepped through the door that led to the kitchen and took a moment to look him up and down. He was around Cole’s height, had a similar build, and a rusty hue to his skin. Stringy black hair was combed over to one side, but the other side of his head was buzzed almost down to the scalp.

The man took one step forward, squinted into the darkness and parted his lips to show one set were extended canines and the others, growing beside them, were thinner and curved.

“Where’s Paige?” Cole snarled as he planted his feet and squared his shoulders.

“She’s here,” the man replied in a smooth, casual voice.

“I want to see her. If you’ve hurt her—”

“Take it easy, slick.”

“Fuck easy!” Cole snapped. “Anything that’s happened to her, I’ll make sure it happens to you twice as bad.”

Taking another few steps forward, the man said, “I don’t know who you are, but you got your signals crossed.”

“I’ll decide that once I see Paige.”

The man had both hands open and out to his sides. Lifting his chin a bit, he looked over Cole’s shoulder and asked, “How did this guy get past you, Steph?”

Cole grinned and shook his head. Before he could say anything about not being tricked to look away, he felt the gentle touch of fingernails against his shoulder.

“I had to take care of the cab driver,” replied the redhead in the nylon body stocking and tube top.

The sound of that voice and the brush of those nails caused Cole to twist around and take a swing with the piece of lumber he was carrying. There was some power behind it, but his arm was batted away with just as much effort as the redhead had used to tickle his shoulder. Steph kept walking and then flicked her fingernails against Cole’s chin. Winking, she licked the edge of the slender fangs she had on display. Her skin was the color of fresh milk, giving a sharp contrast to the black lines running along her neck and making her hair look just a bit brighter than freshly spilled blood.

“Where’s Paige?” Cole demanded. “You can bring out all the helpers you want, but if she’s dead, you’ll all get piled up in the same corner!”

Steph stood in front of Cole with her hip cocked in one direction and her head cocked in the other. Running her hand up between her breasts, she kept it going until she could slide her tongue out between her fangs and lick her fingertips. “If that short broad with the dark hair told me you were coming, I would’ve worn a little less.” Her eyes slowly moved down until she got a look at what Cole was holding. Then her smile widened and she started laughing in a way that was anything but seductive. “I knew you Skinners were low-tech, but come on!”

This time Cole couldn’t help but follow the vampire’s gaze. He was holding his lumber in one hand like a sword, and a trash can lid in the other like a shield. All he needed to finish his outfit was a hat made out of folded newspaper.

When Steph laughed at him even harder, Cole swung his left arm out to catch her with a backhanded blow. The trash can lid banged against her torso, forcing her to take a couple stumbling steps to the side. He moved around and built up some momentum so he could push her toward the back door and into the breaking dawn.

Steph was still laughing, but she was also trying to sink her nails into Cole’s arm. Just as she was about to reach around his bargain bin shield, she was knocked through the doorway with enough force to separate a man’s shoulder. Wincing while still moving backward, she didn’t truly look angry until her shoes scraped against the ground and one of her heels snapped off beneath her weight.

Lowering his shoulder, Cole gave one more push so the vampire was completely clear of the building. He could feel the warmth of daylight in the air, but the sun wasn’t quite high enough to clear the top of the building across the street. Raising his shield once more, he charged at Steph again. When he hit her, it was like pounding against a brick wall. Even so, he swung his piece of lumber and connected with her upraised arm. He followed up by driving the end of the lumber into Steph’s belly and pushing her beyond the shadow cast by the restaurant.

She hobbled upon one broken heel and spun away from him. When she whipped back around to face him, her face was illuminated by the rising sun.

“How do you like that, bitch?” Cole asked victoriously.

Steph stood there with her snarl in place. She looked up and squinted into the dull glow of the dawn, then looking back at Cole, straightened and lowered her chin to display a well-practiced pout. “Oh help me,” she droned. “I am burning.”

Cole’s brow furrowed as he looked up to double-check that the sun was shining on her. It was a long cry from high noon, but that bright ball in the sky was pretty distinctive.

Now, Steph was laughing so hard she could barely form a sentence. Lifting one arm to place it dramatically along her forehead, she tossed her head back and let out a sob that could have been plucked from any daytime soap opera. “I am burning! Oh, curse you pure rays of the sun. You have cast me out and now I will surely perish in a storm of ash.”

Letting out a sigh, Cole grumbled, “I get it. You can cut the act.”

“You have slain me, valiant knight,” she wailed. “Your shield and magic helmet were too much for me.”

“I get it!” Cole shouted.

Since Steph was having too much fun carrying on and not burning in the sunlight, he went back inside, to find her companion waiting for him. This time, however, the man was not alone.

“Cole?” Paige said as she walked in from the kitchen. “When did you get here?”

Cole dropped his trash can lid and rushed to hold Paige at arm’s distance. “I thought you were in trouble,” he said while looking her over.

“That,” the man next to Cole said, “remains to be decided.”

Ignoring the other man, Paige asked, “What happened to you, Cole? Did Steph try to hurt you?”

“No, but…the cab driver! He’s right outside and he might have—”

“I told you I took care of him,” Steph replied as she stepped back inside.

“What did you do?” Cole snarled.

Her lower lip drooping in a mischievous pout, Steph replied, “I paid him. He said you promised triple the tip. You cost me everything I had on me, naughty boy.”

Cole pulled away from Paige and stood next to her so he was facing both Nymar with his back to the wall. “All right. Someone—and I don’t care who—just tell me what’s going on here.”

Paige patted his back to let him know she was nearby. “I invited Ace and Stephanie here. We were just about to talk business. Isn’t that right, Ace?”

Now that he was closer to the other man, Cole could see the symbol shaved into the buzzed half of the Nymar’s scalp. It was a single, three leaf clover straight off the ace of clubs.

“You bet your ass that’s right,” Ace said. “And I wouldn’t get too comfortable thinking this is a friendly visit. Considering how your boy treated Steph, I should start skinning some Skinners right here and now!”

Leaning over to whisper into Cole’s ear, Paige told him, “They represent some of Chicago’s finest working girls, including Racquel.”

Cole shook his head and let out a tired laugh. “You guys are undead and the best way to spend your time is running hookers?”

“Working girls, cutie,” Steph said. “And boys. Hookers are humans who give themselves up to strangers. We cater to your kind who pay us to be fed upon. They like the biting and all the rest, so we make sure it’s worth the price. Maybe you should try it.”

“Well, we saved your working girl’s life,” Cole said. “I don’t think we should be catching any grief for that. As for the other thing…I’ll pass.”

“Racquel told us what happened,” Steph said. “That’s why we haven’t killed you yet. Things ran a whole lot smoother when Gerald was here. When can we talk to him?”

“Never,” Paige said coldly. “You’ll talk to me.”

Keeping her sights set upon Paige, Steph walked across the room as if trying to kick holes into the floor. “Fine. I’ll say this to you. Chicago is under Nymar control! We’re the ones who tolerate Skinners being here, and that’s only because you’re good for keeping the assholes in line.”

“Which assholes are we talking about?” Paige asked with a grin.

“You’re new around here, girlie,” she shouted as she poked a garishly painted finger at Paige. “You don’t get to strut around like you own this place. Not even Gerald got to do that! If you want to strut in this town, you’re gonna have to pay your dues. Otherwise, I’ll gather up a few of my bitches and burn you out of here.” Steph’s eyes darted back and forth between Paige and Cole. Up close, those eyes looked green with a violet tint. “How many of us do you think you could get before we killed you?” Steph asked. “Two? Three?”

“Maybe I could just get one,” Paige said. “But it would be you. And when I got through, not even the kids at the goth store in the mall where you got those shitty clothes would recognize you.”

Before Steph could respond to that, Ace stepped in to pull her back.

“We took Racquel away from those lunatics and let her go safe and sound,” Paige continued. “As for your girl Wendy, she killed a man right out on the street for everyone to see. You know damn well that Gerald or any other Skinner on this planet would have killed her after that, but neither one of us even laid a finger on her. Some freak ripped her chest open and ate the spore attached to her heart. When the hell have you ever heard of a Skinner doing that?”

Although Steph needed a few seconds to simmer down, the anger in her eyes faded away. She nodded to Ace and ran her tongue along her lower lip before admitting, “You’re right. Still, you should’ve waited until we could introduce you around a bit before you started playing up the new sheriff in town thing. We have a certain standing in the Nymar community. Gerald must have told you.”

Paige nodded, but she didn’t look impressed. “Yeah, he told me some things. Can we move on?”

Steph and Ace looked at each other and then settled the matter with a silent nod.

“Wendy drifted over to Misonyk and lost touch with us,” Ace said. “The way she talked about him, it seemed the last thing he would do is hurt her. We heard about how she died, but lately just about every death’s been blamed on that freak. We wanted to look in your eyes when we asked about her just to be safe.” Glancing sideways at Steph, he added, “The ones who pointed the finger at you were in Misonyk’s pocket anyway.”

Rolling her eyes, Steph asked, “Have you heard of Misonyk?”

“Yeah,” Cole replied, so he could be something more than a casual amusement in the room. “We’ve heard of Henry too.”

“Good. What you need to know is that most Nymar don’t give a shit about what Misonyk has to say. He’s got the support of one coven at the very least, which comes to a dozen or so Nymar scattered through the city who buy into all of his bullshit about drinking souls. They’re the ones breaking the rules by killing humans and feeding in public. That sort of shit just cuts into our profits.”

“What’s he say about drinking souls?” Paige asked.

Ace leaned against a wall and ran his fingers along the symbol shaved into his scalp. “He says that if you drink someone to death, you get their soul. When you get enough souls, you get to tap into the Spirit World. When you tap into the Spirit World, you can project your own spirit into someone else and then tap it for even more power.”

“Nothing but a psychic pyramid scheme,” Steph said.

As bad as his first impression of the redhead had been, Cole couldn’t help but laugh at that one.

Paige wasn’t as amused. “Does any of this spirit drinking actually work?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Ace replied. “His followers have gotten into a few heads, but most of ’em have been human. He’s the only one that’s been gettin’ into Nymar brains. I wouldn’t have believed it until he pulled it on me. He tried getting me to tell all my employees to sign up with him. I almost did it too, if it hadn’t been for Steph.”

The redhead smiled proudly and stood up straight, as if she’d just gotten a perfect score on her report card. “He tried whispering into my brain when Ace kicked him out of his,” she announced. “I’d rather take my chances giving Henry a ride before I’d tell any of my girls to follow some infeeding asshole like Misonyk.”

“Nymar are feeding on each other?” Paige asked.

Both Ace and Steph nodded. “It always happens every now and then,” Ace said, “but Misonyk is really pushing it. Normally, the covens would do something about it themselves, but Henry’s torn apart anyone who’s made a move against him.”

“I know,” Cole replied. “We’ve seen it.”

“And that’s what I wanted to tell you,” Steph said as she stepped forward and slid her fingers down Cole’s chest. “If there’s one thing you Skinners can do, it’s kill freaks. You kill Henry, and there’s a reward in it for you. All the covens have pitched enough money into the kitty for you to set yourselves up somewhere nicer than this dump. You might even be able to buy a neat new stick and trash can lid.” Smirking at Cole’s glare, Steph turned away from him like he no longer existed. “Don’t look at me like that, stud. My kitty doesn’t have the money in it, but I could do a little somethin’ somethin’ if you take care of Henry.”

“You’ll owe us plenty,” Paige said. “But money’s not all we had in mind.”

Ace grinned and tapped Steph’s shoulder to send her back a few steps. “Henry’s head is worth the money and plenty of favors down the stretch. Don’t worry about that. Just be quick, because Misonyk is doing damage every day, and it ain’t just here.”

“Where else does he go?” Paige asked.

Steph tagged herself back in. “He drives up north. Sometimes he goes into Indiana, but mostly he’s a cheddar head. Misonyk covers his tracks pretty well, but Henry don’t exactly fit in a car. He runs and jumps like a…”

As Steph searched for an appropriate analogy, Cole asked, “Like a Full Blood?”

Paige got ready to smooth over Cole’s comment, but was surprised when she saw Steph nod and smile.

“This one here is sharp,” Ace said while looking at Cole. “A bit loose in the head, but I like him.”

“Loose, huh?” Cole asked. “Am I the pot or the kettle here?”

“I’ve never seen a Full Blood,” Steph admitted, “but everything I heard about the big doggies say they can run fast enough and jump high enough to go from one end of the state to the other in record time. You may be on to something…what was your name?”

“Cole,” Ace said.

Steph smiled as if she’d become absorbed in the act of rolling his name along the back of her throat.

“So how much reward money are we talking about?” Cole asked.

Before either of the two Nymar could answer, Paige overruled his question with one of her own. “Where can we find Misonyk?”

“There’s a meeting between Misonyk and one of the Milwaukee covens taking place at a diner right off the highway,” Ace replied. “Wendy was feeding us some information to keep in our good graces, but it looks like Misonyk found out about that and sicced Henry on her. I can give you directions to the place.”

“Is there anything else you can do on your end?” Paige asked. “Any way you could possibly get us any more information about Henry? He may have shapeshifter blood, but he’s no Full Blood.”

Steph shifted her eyes over to Paige and said, “I guess a Skinner would know that better than anybody.”

“Are there any more informants we should know about?”

“I wouldn’t count on anyone else in Misonyk’s little group to be of any help after what happened to Wendy,” Ace replied. “Once he’s gone, the rest should fall back into line. The rest of us don’t have time to spy. We’re either leaving Chicago for somewhere outside of Misonyk’s stomping grounds or trying to keep an eye out for Henry.”

“You guys always know when to hide, huh?” Paige asked.

There was an angry flash in Steph’s eye, but she couldn’t exactly refute the accusation. “Here’s the place where that meeting’s being held,” she snapped as she produced a small folded piece of paper from her skirt pocket. “That’s all we’ve got for ya, girlie.” With that, she raised her arm until Ace walked up and put himself beneath it. As they stepped outside, both of them let out overly dramatic cries of pain about the rising sun. Even as the door swung shut, Steph’s laughter could be heard echoing throughout the restaurant.

“All right,” Cole said as he whipped around to look at Paige. “Why didn’t you tell me vampires aren’t afraid of sunlight?”

“Who ever said that sunlight bullshit was real anyway? In fact, even in the movies, why would sunlight work on them?”

“I don’t know. It’s just…supposed to work!”

“Well, now that your training can officially start, I’ll fill you in on one thing.” Paige lowered her voice to a whisper and said, “Sunlight doesn’t bother vampires. If it did, they’d all explode on their own sooner or later and we wouldn’t have to put up with crap like that from assholes with clovers shaved into their heads.”

After letting out a sigh, Cole walked through the restaurant until he could take a look through the front window. Not only was the parked car no longer there, but the cab was gone as well. Since there wasn’t a dead cabbie in sight, he guessed Steph really had just paid the guy and sent him away. “Is there a handbook or something I’m supposed to get?” he asked as he let the shades fall back to cover the window. “Because all my years of researching monsters through comic books and TV haven’t done me any good.”

Paige laughed from the kitchen doorway. “Myths, legend, and folklore have been rotting kids’ brains way before television was invented, so don’t feel too bad. Come on in here and let me get a look at you. Last night, didn’t you say you were scratched?”

Cole followed her into the kitchen, and Paige began rooting through one of the many sets of cabinets. “Yeah, but it’s not bad.”

“Well, tell me what happened again while I get a look for myself.”

While he repeated everything about what Jackie had told him in his hotel room, Paige dabbed away the flecks of dried blood from his shoulder and examined the scratches. They weren’t even deep enough to need a bandage.

Upon reaching the end of his story, Cole asked, “So what’s a Mongrel?”

“I’ll tell you more about them later,” Paige replied. “Are you sure all you two did in that room was talk?”

There was no mistaking the intent in Paige’s eyes as she waited for Cole’s answer. The expression she wore was encouraging, but also a bit scary. Cole knew he wasn’t nearly a good enough liar to get one past her when she was looking at him like that. Fortunately, he didn’t have to lie when he told her, “That’s all we did, Paige. Although, it seemed like there could have been more if I was on my game. What is it with these things all being so damn horny?”

She shook her head and laughed under her breath as she put away the medical kit. “You know how everyone always talks about the oldest trick in the book? Well,” she said with an irresistible wrinkle of her nose, “when a woman is dealing with a guy like you, that’s it.”

“Oh,” Cole grumbled. “You don’t even sound surprised that Jackie tracked me down like that.”

“It’s not as miraculous as it sounds.” She walked to another bedroom that Cole hadn’t seen before. Even though there was only a cot and a few piles of clothes, the room had a distinctly feminine feel. Paige didn’t seem to mind those feminine things being on display as she sifted through them and selected some to be thrown into an old gym bag. “Once they track you to civilization, they just shift into their human forms and follow you the old-fashioned way. After she got here, she could let you get a bit farther away and still be able to sniff you out just fine. They’re all real good at that”

“How far away can they get and still keep tabs on me?” he asked.

Paige shrugged, sniffed a black halter top for freshness and said, “Maybe five or six miles. Some of them can get as far as ten or twelve without too much problem. It sort of depends on what they shift into. That’s why Mongrels are so tricky. Don’t be so hard on yourself, Cole. You’ve held up pretty well so far. Charging in here the way you did was very…” Pausing, she looked at him and smiled. “It was very noble.”

“I thought you were going to tell me it was stupid.”

“No. The thing with the trash can lid was stupid. And the part where you shoved Steph into the sunlight…well, that was cute.”

“Looks like you’re packing for a trip. I take it we’re headed into dairy country for a while?”

Paige zipped up the gym bag. “You got it. Things may get a little rough, so if you’re serious about joining up, you could start your training somewhere safer and learn another specialty. There’s tracking, research, investigations…”

“Refrigeration, veterinary medicine, gun repair,” Cole added. “I’ve seen the commercials. So what’s your specialty?”

“I like to get my hands dirty.”

“And if I leave for somewhere safer?”

“I’ll send you a postcard from Wisconsin,” Paige replied. “One of our own trackers spotted something that could be connected to Henry, so between that and the thing at the diner the asshole with the clover-shaped hair mentioned, I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”

Cole took a moment to think about the choices in front of him. On one hand, there was the very real possibility that Paige was a lunatic who carried a weapon everywhere she went. On the other hand, there were other things out there that were a whole lot worse than guns.

“If you need to think it over…” Paige offered.

“No,” he replied. “I’ve already done stuff that I never thought I’d be doing without using a controller or watching it on a monitor. These things know about me. They’ve got my scent. I’m on their radar. However you want to say it, I don’t like the thought of running or hiding for the rest of my life. If I’m gonna give skinning a try, I’d like to stick with you.”

“You’re sure?” Paige asked. “Once I take you past a certain point, there really is no turning back. These things gossip and chatter worse than a group of old ladies at a bake sale. If you leave now, I might be able to help you stay hidden, and they’ll probably lose interest in a while. If you’re seen with me or others like me much longer, you’ll be tagged as one of us and nobody will believe any different.”

“I kind of figured as much. This isn’t exactly what I imagined I’d do with my life, but I got to admit…it’s pretty cool.”

Paige grinned. “I was hoping you’d see it that way.”

The gym bag hit Cole square in the chest like a kick from a mule.

“Put that in the car while I get a few more things,” she said. “Then you need to show me the hotel room where you were attacked.”

“That’s okay. There’s not much of anything left in there.”

“Very wrong, young one,” Paige said as she took on the tone of a kung fu master from a late night movie. “Your opponent leaves more than words in her wake.”

“Huh?”

“Just get moving!”