Kitty Raises Hell

Chapter 10

I did not want to walk for six blocks with these two glaring at each other, sizing each other up, while I trailed behind like a stray dog. I knew that’s what would happen, them marching together and posturing, and me prowling off to the side. I could holler at them and say that I was taking the car. Then again, I didn’t want to miss anything good.

So, I skulked along, listening hard to catch everything they said. Except they didn’t say a word. By nature and profession, I could not abide silence.

“So. Roman. Where’s home for you?” Like I was trying to strike up a casual conversation with just anyone. But hey, that was my motto, wasn’t it? Vampires and werewolves are people, too.

Too bad some of them didn’t go along with my attempts at normality.

He didn’t answer. Not a word. Silly me, I couldn’t let it go. Had to keep poking until I got a reaction. “Come on, just a little hint?” I said. “You don’t have to tell me where you’re from originally. It took me years to get that out of Rick. I’m just asking where you hang your hat lately. Can I guess? San Francisco? Miami? Although I can’t imagine a vampire enjoying someplace like Miami.”

Vampires didn’t need to breathe, but I could almost hear Roman’s exasperated sigh before he said, “I don’t appreciate vapid attempts at conversation.”

Now what did I say to that? “Huh. Vapid. That’s a new one. I usually just rate irritating.”

Rick chuckled.

We arrived at Psalm 23.

Along with Arturo’s blood, control of the city, and a slew of vampire minions, Rick inherited God knew how much property around town in the form of corporations and holding companies, which formed the basis of his predecessor’s wealth. Places like Obsidian. Another of those places was the trendy nightclub Psalm 23. It was dark, stylish, with a reputation as a hip young nightclub, a place to see and be seen. A meat market for the cool people. Maybe even a literal meat market. The place had a lot of shadowy corners and sheltered booths, and after dark, a few vampires could always be found lurking there, drawing in prey. Like spiders, as Rick had said.

I usually wasn’t dressed well enough to get in without an argument. Or maybe it was the fact that some of the bouncers were vampires and didn’t like me on principle. Not that I ever spent any time there for fun.

Tonight I was really not up to dress code in my jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers, but Rick waved us through and guided us to an alcove behind the bar, containing a small table and several chairs. This was his equivalent of my table in the back of New Moon. Impromptu office and vantage point. Rick offered me a drink; I took a soda. He did not offer Roman a drink.

While Rick and I sat, Roman remained standing a moment, surveying the main space of the club.

The place was surprisingly hopping for a Sunday night. Two bars, a large one in front and a small one in back, had people lined up, hip and well-dressed twenty-somethings in packs and in couples, most of them flirting. A DJ booth presided over a dance floor, which was empty now. Small tables here and there held another dozen people, nibbling on appetizers and sipping cocktails. Martini glasses glowed with a rainbow of concoctions smelling of alcohol. The air was heady with it. Some terrible hip-hop remix of an old eighties song thumped in the background.

We were quiet for a moment, watching Roman. He watched us in turn, and none of us twitched, none of us revealed a flicker of emotion.

Roman sat. “Hunting grounds for you and your people, I suppose?”

Rick didn’t blink, didn’t react. He regarded him with his thin, amused smile.

The stranger continued. “I suppose you even have your regulars, the ones who come here again and again, who’ve fallen under your spell and offer themselves to you. Your own herd. Like milk cows.”

Vampires could draw blood from a person without killing, and I never asked too much about where Rick and his followers acquired the human blood that maintained their existence. They could even use a strange hypnosis to lull their prey and make them want to be bitten and fed on, which could be erotic for them both. They could also make their prey forget entirely what had happened. Clubs like this became prime feeding grounds. A suave, alluring vampire could come here, attract a young, vibrant creature who was also on the prowl for some kind of fulfillment, and if all the victims remembered was that they’d had a really good time, they’d probably come back for more. The parasitic circle of life—or undeath—was complete.

It was a pretty obvious setup when you knew what to look for. And the club made a hefty profit by overcharging for alcohol.

“Typical,” Roman said, contemptuously. “Conventional. I’m sure you’re aware, being conventional makes you predictable.”

“That’s not what we came here to discuss,” Rick said.

“She called me a demon hunter. I suppose that’s close enough. I’ve tracked one here.”

“Demon,” I said. Matter-of-fact, skeptical. “Horns, hooves, pitchfork. That kind of demon?”

“No,” Roman said. “When it appears, you may not even see it, but it smells of fire, brimstone. You feel a sense of overwhelming dread. Of evil. The Band of Tiamat sent it to destroy you.”

So, it was a demon. The thing had a label now. I almost felt better, like I was finally getting a grip on this. I could start searching the Internet.

It couldn’t possibly be that easy.

“You know a lot about it,” I said. “About the Band of Tiamat. About me.”

He gave a wry smile. “You aren’t exactly secretive about who you are and what you do. Five members of the Band were killed during your stay in Las Vegas, and soon after you are afflicted by... something. Obviously, they blame you for whatever happened.”

“And you’ve arrived to do something about it,” I said.

“For a price,” Rick added. Roman inclined his head, a barest nod.

Of course for a price. Of course for an ulterior motive. He was a vampire. They didn’t have any other kind of motive.

The way Rick was watching the guy—frowning, body straight and tense—I could tell he didn’t trust Roman. He didn’t like having this mysterious vampire of unknown power camping in his territory and dropping implications. Really, we had no reason to even believe him.

Once you started seeing the world in terms of conspiracy theories, such theories became darned easy to formulate. They were everywhere.

I said, “Here’s the thing. There’s a certain kind of con, where the con artist shows up someplace and conveniently he knows exactly what the problem is and how to solve it. This is because he created the problem for the express purpose of arriving in the nick of time to solve it. For a price.”

“There’s another alternative,” Rick said. He glanced at me; I raised a questioning brow. Our silent conversation didn’t exactly impart any information. “The priestess of the Tiamat cult—did you know she’s a vampire?” Roman made a noncommittal gesture indicating that he should continue. No hint of yes or no. Rick continued. “Are you working with her?”

Ah, the great vampire conspiracy. I should have known Rick would take that route. I wanted to argue, because there was yet another alternative: Maybe Roman was telling the truth, and maybe he really could help.

“You’re both right not to trust me, of course,” Roman said. My alarm bells were still ringing because even that line was part of the con. Now he’d pull out a résumé and references from the mayor showing what a great demon hunter he was. He didn’t, though. “You think I’m working for the priestess of Tiamat? Then why would I offer to end these attacks, when all she wants to do is destroy the werewolf and wreak havoc in your territory? Or you think that this doesn’t involve the Band of Tiamat at all, and that I’m merely using them as an excuse to play my little trick on you? Did my research, found a likely rube with a likely story I could use to divert blame from myself... you’re right. It’s a very good con. I wish I’d thought of it. But you need my help. I’m here to remove that creature from the face of the earth, and I guarantee you don’t have the skills or knowledge to do it yourself.”

“You’re not telling us everything,” I said, and thought, well, duh, he’s a vampire, they never tell everything.

“I tell you everything, you no longer need my help,” he said. So much for altruism.

“And the price?” asked Rick.

“For banishing the demon, for preserving the sanctity of your territory, I want permanent free passage in Denver,” he said. “Not so large a price, really.”

This made his offer feel like even more of a setup. He’d been planning this. Now the question was: Would Rick allow a powerful demon-hunting vampire to set up shop in his territory?

Rick looked him over. They might as well have been a couple of guys playing poker, and for a moment I flashed on an imagined scene from Rick’s Old West past: sitting across the table from Doc Holliday, sizing him up, wondering who was the fastest draw. Rick smiling just a little because he didn’t need to be the fastest draw—a bullet wouldn’t knock him down. Now that was the way I liked to gamble.

Rick traced an invisible line on the table. “No power? No territory? Just free passage. Live and let live. So to speak.”

“That’s right,” Roman said. “I’m careful. I don’t hunt to excess. I’m a good neighbor, as they say.”

“You know, I made the same deal with the Master who preceded me.”

“And he trusted you.”

“Not quite. He just didn’t think I was a threat.”

“You think I’m a threat?”

Gah, another game of vampire chicken. I fidgeted.

“You’re older than I am,” Rick said. Casually. Like he didn’t just make the bottom drop out of my stomach. I studied Roman, and of course he didn’t look all that old, maybe a well-worn midthirties. But vampires could apparently smell the age rolling off each other—and they could mask their own power, hide their age, keep others from finding out. Not flaunt it, encourage others to underestimate them. Arturo had believed Rick was only two hundred years old.

So. Rick had just told Roman that he wasn’t fooling him.

“Age is not the only criterion for power,” Roman said.

“No. But it’s a start.”

“I could let you think about it. If you think you have that much time.”

“There’s always time,” said Rick, the way only a vampire could.

“Of course. For some.” Roman gave me a pitying glance. He stood. Meeting over. “I’ll confess, Ricardo. You aren’t what I expected.”

“I’m not sure I want to know, but what did you expect?”

“I’d have expected someone who snatched his territory from its former Master by wit and guile to show a little more fear.”

Okay, this guy knew far too much about us and what had been going on here. I didn’t need to know so much where he got such information; plenty of people knew about what had happened, but I wanted to know why he was so interested.

“You play much poker, Roman?” Rick said. Oh, I was so totally going to ask him about Doc Holliday.

“Some. Here and there.”

“We should play sometime,” Rick said.

Roman leaned forward. His smile was thin and wicked. “I thought that’s what we were doing.”

“Touché,” Rick said, chuckling, and the tension faded. I hadn’t realized I’d been holding my breath.

Roman’s smile seemed a little more relaxed, a little more genuine. “You need time to think it over. I understand.”

“I’d appreciate it,” Rick said. “Come back in two nights.”

“I look forward to it. Good night, both of you.”

“Good night,” Rick said. I waved weakly.

Roman walked straight to the front door, not even glancing at the slinkily dressed women who followed him with their gazes. He clearly had someplace more important to be than here.

I didn’t like this. These two had taken the situation in an entirely different direction, one I wasn’t sure I could follow. When he was gone, I asked, “What are we going to do? We need his help.”

“I can’t let him in, Kitty. He isn’t just here for the demon. That’s an excuse.”

“Can we worry about that later?”

“Not if you want there to be a later,” he said.

I rolled my eyes. “When vampires get this pretentious, all I really want to do is make fun of them. Can’t you give us little people a break? This thing, this demon or whatever it is, is trying to destroy my world piece by piece, and if this Roman guy knows how to stop it, we have to listen to him.”

“There has to be another way,” Rick said. “If he knows how to stop it, then we can find out how to do it without him. We just have to look for it.”

“What do you think I’ve been doing?” I said, growling a little.

We glared at each other across the table. I almost never met Rick’s gaze. I trusted him—but he was a vampire, and vampires could do things with their eyes. He could change my mind for me, and I wouldn’t even know it. This time, I met his gaze anyway, just to show him how serious I was.

Glory be, he looked away first. The ghost of Wolf’s tail waved like a banner in triumph.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I know you’re taking the brunt of this.”

“Damn straight.”

“But Roman—we can’t turn to him, Kitty. We have to find another way.”

Wasn’t a whole lot of we going on at the moment. Rick was so busy looking at the big picture he couldn’t see the details, my details, like how we all could have died last night. Too bad Roman hadn’t left a card so I could contact him behind Rick’s back. I was only mildly shocked that I was considering going behind Rick’s back on this.

“Remember, Kitty, we’re supposed to have a partnership.” I must have looked put-out, because he smirked at me. “I’ve had a lot of practice reading people. I may not know what you’re thinking. But I can guess.”

“I have a question for you: Did you ever meet Doc Holliday?”

“You’re changing the subject.”

I had little practice reading people in person. Listening to people, judging their voices, was another thing entirely, but Rick’s voice was too calm. He was like a brick wall sitting in front of me.

“Why not? You’ve already made up your mind. Roman will come back, and you’ll say no and let me burn.”

He bowed his head. “It’s not like that. But some prices are too high. If he’s working with the priestess, and they get a foothold here—”

“But what if he isn’t working with the priestess? What if he really can do what he says?”

Rick took a breath in preparation for speaking, then said, “We’ll find a way through this, I promise.”

I had to have faith that we would. We’d always managed before, somehow.

Before I left, Rick said, “Kitty. To answer your question—yes. I played a game of poker with Holliday once, in Central City. Interesting guy.”

The bastard sat with his elbows on the table, fingers steepled, as nonchalant as if he’d just commented on the weather. I stared, my jaw hanging open, a million questions stopped up in my throat. He enjoyed that, dropping these bombshells, these epic stories waiting to be told. He always refused to elaborate.

So I didn’t give him the satisfaction of having me beg him to tell me more. I walked out, but not before catching his amused grin.

Finally, far too late that night, I returned home. Ben was on the sofa, wearing sweats and a T-shirt, eating something straight out of a Chinese takeout box and watching a talking-heads news show on TV. That man was far too set in his bachelor ways for me to expect him to change his domestic habits. Actually, I thought it was kind of cute. I liked the idea that being with me hadn’t disrupted his life too radically. I wanted us to be comfortable. To fit together without breaking.

As I closed the door, he sat up and set aside the food. Glared at me, just a little. “I was about to call.”

“Things got busy,” I said, tired. I wanted to curl up in bed with him and forget about the day. For now, I slumped onto the sofa next to him. He put his arm around my shoulders and we sat side by side, talking to the air in front of us.

“Productive busy?”

“Rick claimed that he once played poker with Doc Holliday.” After all that had happened, that made the biggest impact.

“Huh. So, what does Rick knowing Doc Holliday have to do with whatever tried to burn down the restaurant?” Ben said.

“Nothing. It’s just that he drives me crazy with all this stuff he isn’t telling me.”

“You expect him to tell you his life story? All five hundred years of it?”

Maybe he had a point. “Speaking of the Old West, a stranger rode into town this evening. A vampire claiming to be a demon hunter, says he knows all about the Band of Tiamat and how to stop the attacks.”

“Really?” He glanced at me, brow creased like he didn’t believe it. “What’s the catch?”

“That’s what I asked. He wants to settle in Denver, it sounds like. Rick doesn’t want him here.”

“Is it a real offer? Do you think he can really help?”

“I don’t know.”

“What’s he like?”

“Vampire. Rick says he’s older, but he’s different than the old ones I’ve met. I was under the impression they tend to stay put, become Master of a city. Get pompous as hell. This guy seemed... I don’t know. Driven. Like he was on a mission. I don’t think I’ve ever met a vampire on a mission. Not like this. Maybe he’s just a really dedicated demon hunter, like he says.”

“But then he wouldn’t be asking for something in return,” Ben pointed out.

“This is why I’m glad I have a lawyer around,” I said. “You don’t trust anybody.”

He shrugged. “I trust you.”

He said it with such earnestness, I almost got teary-eyed. “Thanks.”

We leaned into each other for a long, warm kiss that made the day’s tension melt away. Eventually—about when the shirts came off and the groping started in earnest—we made our way to the bedroom.

“Can you do something for me?” he murmured between kisses and catches in his breath. My imagination rolled on for a moment, anticipating what he’d ask, wondering if it would be something I hadn’t already thought of involving him, his body, my body, and the bed. I made an affirmative noise while nuzzling his neck.

“The next time you’re gone all day, or you run into that vampire, or anything like that happens, will you call me?”

Well, that wasn’t very sexy. I pulled back enough to see his face, which was tired and anxious-looking. “You sound worried.”

“I guess I am. It was getting late, and I just kept thinking about what would happen if this thing attacked you and I wasn’t there.”

We hadn’t spent much time apart since we hooked up, almost a year ago now. When we had been apart, either one or both of us had been in trouble. We were a pack, and we wanted to be together. Being alone wasn’t safe.

“You want to watch my back for me?” I said.

“Don’t you think it needs watching?” Watching, or feeling up, one or the other. His hands pressed into my skin, kneading my muscles, locking me close to him.

I pressed up to him and curled my legs around him. “You tell me.”

With that, we returned energetically to the business at hand. I for one felt much better come morning.