Vampire's Shade Discounted Box Set

Chapter 8

Chapter 8Sonya’s desk was empty when I reachedthe office half an hour before sunrise. The days rolling from one tothe next as I finished work still affected me. It made me feel liketime was getting away from me. Now, it was heading into Thursday. Ihad been at this for almost a week and had nothing to show for it.

“Your secretary is missing,” I saidto Ruben, walking into his office without an announcement.

“She’s wasn’t feeling well. I lether off early.”

“Big of you.”

I dropped three sets of keys and IDcards on Ruben’s desk. He frowned at my hand. There was bloodacross my fingers and under my nails, and it stained the cuff of mysleeve as well, although it was harder to see against the blackleather.

“Busy night?” he asked. I shrugged.

After I’d left Connor’s place, I’dgone on a rampage. I had to feel like I was still good for something,like I had some sort of worth. I’d stood face to face with one ofmy marks, and I hadn’t been able to kill him – so I killed everyvamp Ruben had pointed me toward.

No, I corrected myself. I hadn’twanted to kill Connor. I could still do it. I wasn’tgetting weak. I wouldn’t let myself get to that point.

“What are these?” Ruben asked,frowning at the three cards he’d arranged in front of him in a row.

“Kills,” I said. Obviously. “Idon’t exactly take them out for coffee.”

He looked up at me, his eyes almostyellow, annoyed. “These are low level, Adele. I told you, you needto prioritize that last one I gave you. I’ve got clients on my caseabout it.”

I shifted my weight from one foot tothe other and looked out the window. The sky was changing, thedarkness incomplete now with the coming of dawn.

“I’m still tracking him. I haven’tfound a solid lead.”

I didn’t want him to know I’dfailed with Connor. I didn’t want him to know that I saw Connor asa he and not an it even though he was a vampire. Ididn’t want Ruben to know that I thought of him as Connor.

“You’re getting sloppy, Adele.You’re usually on top of them in one night.”

“You just gave me a social securitynumber. What do you expect from me?”

He looked at me, and I looked rightback, locking us into a stare-down. In Ruben’s world, it was awarning. Humans did it to emphasize their point, their resolve. Theydid it to win an argument.

In my world, it was a fight fordominance. If one predator locked eyes with another, it was achallenge. And Ruben sure as s**t didn’t want to challenge me. Ihad a lot on him, speed and strength and two guns and a knife. He wasgoing to end up a very distant second.

Ruben broke the stare and looked downat the ID cards again. He didn’t realize he’d just lost thefight. I was the alpha between me and him, no matter who paid who atthe end of the month.

“Just make sure you get this over anddone with,” he said, not looking at me. “Talk to your friends,call your contacts. I know you run to a techie when you needsomething. Now would be a good time to do that.”

The way he said it got my back up. Ididn’t run to anyone.

“I said I would get it done,” Isaid, and my voice was as hard and cold as ice.

Ruben looked up at me. I didn’t knowwhat my face was showing, but he nodded.

“You’d better,” he said, but hisvoice was empty of the warning his words were suggesting.

I drove home and put away my guns,stripped out of my leather and got into the shower. There, I scrubbedmy skin until it was raw. The thing about blood was that once it wasdry, it was damn hard to get off. I didn’t want to arrive attraining with blood on my hands. Much less at Aspen’s.

By the time I was ready to leave again,it was already heading on towards eight o’clock. I picked up myphone and dialed Aspen’s number, but I only got through tovoicemail.

“I’ve got training until ten today.I’ll stop by afterward. Keep something warm for me. Sensei is goingto make sure I’m starving.”

I met with Sensei an hour earlier thannormal to make up for missing my session yesterday. We started with awarm-up and then some sparring. Everything went well until he knockedme in the head. If I had been fine, nothing would have happened; Iwould have recovered and gone after him for it. But my head hurt morethan I’d expected it would, and I sprawled on the floor. I held myhand up for him to just wait a second. I didn’t have to sayanything; he put two and two together.

“Either you’re running with thewrong crowd, or my teaching isn’t working. What happened?”

“I stepped into the wrong territory,is all,” I answered.

Sensei looked at me until I squirmedunder his stare.

“Really, it was nothing. You shouldsee the other guy.” I chuckled half-heartedly.

Of course it hadn’t been another guy.It had been a woman. And I hadn’t left a mark on her, save for theburn I was sure she was carrying on her leg after I’d cut her withmy silver blade. But I wasn’t going to admit any of that to Sensei.Besides, he didn’t know about all the other injuries.

“I’m starting to think I should beworried about you on more than just a self-defense and fightingtechnique level,” he said, starting with the stretching routine Imirrored for warm-up.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said.“I can handle myself.”

“Doesn’t sound like it,” he said.

I steeled myself against the insult.I’d prove it to him in our sparring and hand-to-hand just now. Icould still put him on his back and make him hurt. I ignored thatthat was because he was only a human, and my enemies almost neverwere.

At the back of my mind I wondered if Iwould be able to find a vampire who would train me in supernaturalfighting skills. It might come in handier than what I was doing now.But that meant that I would have to work with a vampire withoutkilling it, and that wasn’t something I liked to do. Not because Ikilled every vampire I knew, but because I only spoke to them when Iwas about to kill them. It was a strange, backward situation.

And in the middle of it all, holdingeverything together like a stake in between us, was Connor. The onevampire I hadn’t managed to kill. The one vampire I didn’t hate,if I had to admit it.

I shook my head. I wasn’t going toadmit it just yet. There was still time. Hatred was better when itwas left simmering for a while.

“You’re not doing this for fun, areyou?” Sensei asked me after I had all but crawled to my bag andfished out my water bottle. I’d taken it all out on him, and helooked like he’d just had a warm-up. Maybe he had energy leftbecause he wasn’t beating himself up on top of everything.

“I don’t—”

“You know, your stories are gettingold,” he said, then walked over to the chair next to my bag and satdown. “All I’m seeing is you getting hurt, and then coming downhere to take whatever you’re mad at out on me. I don’t mind beinga punching bag; that’s my job. But just hitting everything andeveryone you see isn’t going to fix whatever’s bothering you.”

“It’s worked for me so far,” Ilied.

The truth was, it wasn’t working atall. But what else could I do? Forgiveness wasn’t an option, and itseemed ridiculous for me to scale down to a nine-to-five desk jobnow.

I threw my things in my bag withoutceremony. When I went to stand up, Sensei put his hand on myshoulder. The warmth of his touch made me want to lean into it –and cringe away, all at the same time. Instead, I just froze. Mymuscles were tense. I could take him again if I had to.

I shook my head to get those thoughtsout. This wasn’t an attack. Not everything was.

“I don’t know what you’re doing,”he said. “But you’ve been coming here for long enough with thesame routine. All I’m saying is that not everyone is an enemy.There are a few people in your life who are willing to be yourfriends.”

He stood up and walked away from mewithout a care in a world, like he always did. I resented that. Hecould walk away and take on his next student without the darknesstrying to catch up with him.

I walked out the door into the past.

I reached Aspen’s house half an hourafter my training session. Every muscle in my body felt numb, butcomplained when I slid off my bike.

Zelda opened the front door. “Adele!”she exclaimed, looking at the motorcycle over my shoulder as I walkedtoward the front porch. “You don’t usually come here on that.”

“I had a change in routine today. Ileft her a voicemail,” I answered.

When I was on the steps, Zelda shookher head. “Aspen’s gone out.”

I froze in my tracks, one foot stillhovering in the air over the last step. I put it down again withoutclimbing further. “Out where?”

“She went shopping. Claude took herabout…” She lifted her wrist and squinted at her watch. “Anhour ago.”

I swore under my breath in a way thatwas very unbecoming for a lady. “How could you just let her go?”

“Because I’m her nurse, not herwarden,” she said matter-of-factly. “Claude is with her.”

“Claude is a damn driver.” Isneered, then spun around, running for my bike.

Zelda called after me, but I didn’thear what she was saying. I was already pushing the helmet over myhead. I had the bike started and was reeling down the road in aflash.

I was overreacting; I knew I was. Butit had been a hell of a week, and if someone was on my case and knewwhat I was, how was my sister safe? My heart hammered in my chest,and I struggled to breathe. Shopping wasn’t a bad thing, was it?Aspen was a grown woman. But she was also half-vampire, and with herteeth she looked pretty mythical. Plus, she was in a wheelchair.

What if someone decided they didn’tlike her? If they accidentally saw her teeth, even though she knewhow to smile and speak to conceal them? She was so vulnerable. Ifsomething happened to her and I couldn’t save her… it would allbe my fault. Again.

I shook my head as I flew towards themall. I tried to get rid of the images that flashed through my mind’seye. Aspen had just been a teenager when her whole life was rippedapart. She’d only had me, and I hadn’t been able to save her froma life that was worse than death.

I pulled into a parking space formotorcycles and ran into the mall. I dialed Aspen’s number as Iran, and to my relief it rang.

“Adele.” Her clear voice rang overthe speaker.

“Where are you?” I asked.

“I’m at the mall. I’m shopping.”

“I mean, what shop? Let me come findyou.”

“You’re here? I’m at the foodcourt.”

I hung up and made my way to the foodcourt. The mall was busy for this time of the morning, and I pushedmy way through bustling groups of people. Finally I spotted her at atable with the chair removed for her wheelchair, drinking a soda.

“What are you doing here?” sheasked as I collapsed on a chair next to her and tried to catch mybreath.

The air came in in ragged gasps andburned my lungs on the way in and out. No matter how fit I was, thekind of fear I kindled when Aspen was concerned got me breathless andheaving every time.

“I just wanted to say hello,” Ilied.

Aspen narrowed her eyes at me. “You’rechecking up on me.”

“I’m not. I just… s**t, Aspen.What if something happened to you?”

Aspen sighed and put down her soda witha clunk. “Don’t you think you’re being a bit much?” sheasked. I knew I was, but I wasn’t going to admit to it. “I’mjust shopping. I’m allowed to get out of the house and have a life,you know.”

I nodded, looking around the foodcourt, scanning for anything that might look like trouble.

“Claude is here to help me,” shesaid, and nodded toward the burger stand, where I saw the driverstanding in line. “And, besides, what’s going to happen to me?The worst already has, and I survived it.”

I looked down at her wheelchair. Herwords snapped around me like whips.

“I’m sorry,” I said, even thoughI wasn’t. The only thing I regretted was that she felt I was beingoverprotective. I wasn’t sorry at all for the fact that I wasoverprotective. I just needed her to be safe. I wasn’t going to lether get hurt again, even if it killed me.

I offered her a smile that she returnedafter a moment of hesitation. “I’m gonna head home and have ashower. I’m still sweaty from training.”

Aspen nodded. “I’ll see youtomorrow. And don’t worry about me, okay? I’m perfectly fine.”

“Okay,” I said, trying to soundconfident about it. Then I turned and walked away.

I’d almost reached my bike when myphone rang. I pulled it out and looked at the caller ID. It was Joel.

“Can I come over?” he asked.

Joel never came over to my place. Noone did. I didn’t like showing people the dump I lived in.

“I’m still out. Let me come to you.I’ll be there in ten.”

“No, don’t do that,” he said, andhis voice sounded panicky. “Stay where you are. I’ll come toyou.”

“What’s going on?”

“Someone trashed my place. I havefootage, and I think you need to see this.”

I arranged for him to meet me at themall, at a coffee shop on the other side so I wouldn’t run intoAspen and make her think I was keeping an eye on her. I hung myhelmet on my bike and wove my way through the crowds again. My eyesfelt gritty when I blinked, and my head thumped dully. I was runningon eighteen hours with no sleep, and after sleeping in yesterdaymorning and training twice as hard today, my internal clock was offand my body was complaining pretty loudly.

I found the coffee shop we’d agreedon and took a table in the back, where the hum of voices all aroundus could drown out our conversation. I texted Joel where to find me,then leaned back, waiting. I hated being out in public like this.There were people around me everywhere, groups of three laughing,couples staring into each other’s eyes… It was all very normal.

With my nighttime career of murder andmayhem, it was difficult to remember a daytime life that had lookedthis ordinary. I wondered what my life would look like if I didn’thave Aspen to worry about. If my mother were still alive. If myfather weren’t locked up in a metal cell with no light so hewouldn’t fry or dematerialize.

Joel arrived just in time to snap meout of the downward spiral my thoughts were pulling me into.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he saidas he sat down. He looked about as panicked as I had felt a half-hourearlier. He let his gaze slide down and back up my body. “You lookdifferent.”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t remindme.”

“No, it looks good. The wholeI-actually-do-have-a-heart look works on you.”

I punched him lightly on the shoulderand he leaned back in his chair, ducking away from me.

“I’m not here for insults,” Isaid.

“Only you would take a compliment asan insult. If I told you that you look like a serial killer, I mightget you to smile. You’re all backwards, Adele.”

“Are we here to discuss you, or me?”I asked irritably.

“You’re right,” he said. “Well,someone got into the pit and trashed everything. All my computers areruined. When I got there this morning, it looked like a hurricane hadbeen through the place. All my papers were scattered. It’s a hellof a lot of money in damages, too.”

“I didn’t know people knew aboutyour workplace,” I said. Joel was discreet in his dealings.

“Only three people do, and you and Iare two of them.”

“You said you have footage?”

He nodded and produced a laptop bagthat I hadn’t noticed him carrying over his shoulder.

“This one’s fine, though,” Isaid, nodding at the laptop.

“I keep this one on me. It has all mycameras linked up to it.”

“Cameras?” I hadn’t noticed any,and for me that’s saying something.

“They’re thumbtack cameras,” Joelsaid, as if he’d read my mind. “No one’s supposed to see them.I invented them myself.”

He said it like he wanted a pat on theback. He wasn’t going to get it from me.

“Do you have more where those camefrom?” I asked instead. He nodded, a smile slowly creeping acrosshis face. “I could do with some surveillance at my place. MaybeAspen’s as well,” I added.

“I won’t be able to set it up foryou right away. I have to clean up the pit first and find them. Ialso need to check your system to see if it’s up to date enough torun them.”

I thought about my computer. Up to dateenough? Unlikely, but maybe Joel could work a bit of magic.

“I wish you could do it sooner. Ihave a feeling someone’s on my trail.”

Joel flipped open his laptop. He pulledup a screen split four ways, each of the four showing ablack-and-white tape view of the pit. Someone in black clothesappeared and started ransacking the place, throwing over tables,kicking monitors and cabinets over.

“What was he looking for?”

“Not he. She,” Joel said.

The next frame showed the person fromthe side. It was clearly a woman, and she had white hair. She waswearing a bandana over her mouth, so it was impossible to see herface properly, but I was pretty sure I knew her.

“How did she know we were linked?”I asked.

“It’s her, isn’t it?” Joelasked. “I knew it was.”

“What did she want?”

“I don’t know. As far as I cantell, nothing’s missing. Just destroyed. More like a warning than ahit.”

I took a deep breath and blew it outagain. A warning I could believe. A hit would have meant death. I waspretty sure that even the other night’s attack on me had been moreof a warning. I doubted she would have fled from an unfinished job.

“I’m going to have to find her andput an end to this nonsense.” It was one thing if I got beaten up.It was different when the people I cared about were thrown into themix.

“Don’t plan your revenge just yet,”Joel said. “I get all the information my servers find sent to thelaptop. Backups and all that. This came through just before thesystem went offline.”

He clicked on a tab at the bottom ofthe screen and pulled up a website address. A newspaper articleappeared on screen.

Connor O’Neill, king of Westham’sbusiness district and part of Westham’s social elite, has gonemissing after a troubling report came to light that suggests he isinvolved in vampire trafficking. O’Neill, third generation owner ofO’Neill & Grodin, Inc., is one of the champions ofvampire-human equality and demonstrated his support by employingvampires. O’Neill & Grodin, Inc. was one of the first companiesto implement this employment policy, with many other companiesfollowing suit. To date, his company employees are 30% vampire, whichis one of the highest rates in the country.

Questions are being raised by partnersand stockholders as to whether the vampire employment policy was acover, and some are going as far as saying that O’Neill used it asa front to attract vampires, which he then shipped off to work inillegal blood banks in the Middle East.

Vampire trafficking is a relatively newconcept, but there is a growing market for it. Vampires are used foreverything from scientific experimentation and the search for aviable means to “cure” vampirism, to the fulfillment of fetishesand fantasies. With their life expectancy being so high, and theirability to heal so rapidly, they are sold at an extremely high price.

Chief of Police Sorrel Marx commented,“Connor O’Neill has always been a big name in Westham. It’sdifficult to believe he’s behind something this horrendous, butwe’ve been surprised before. The police are working day and nightto solve this. Vampires are new to our society, but we will fight toprotect their rights, just as we would for humans.”

The case is still being investigated.Jennifer Lawson, O’Neill’s fiancée, has no comment on the topicbut she’s been questioned by police about her involvement and shecontinues to be under public scrutiny.

I frowned and read the article again.

“Looks like your mark is in a lot oftrouble.”

“He said he had to change to get outof it,” I mumbled, more to myself than to Joel, but he’d heardme.

“He what? You spoke to him?”

I closed my eyes for a moment andscolded myself for slipping up. “I ran into him while I wassearching his house,” I said. I wasn’t going to lie to Joel.There might have been times where I hadn’t told him the wholetruth, but I wouldn’t lie to him.

“How much did you get out of himbefore you killed him?”

“No enough,” I said.

I hadn’t killed him, of course, butthat counted as omission of truth, not a lie. Besides, I should haveasked more questions. And I would if I saw Connor again. If I couldcontrol myself enough to not kill him right away.

Right.

“Was this in the newspapers?” Iasked.

Joel nodded. I didn’t read thepapers, but then again, neither did Joel.

“Someone’s been lying to me,” Isaid.

I thought back to my conversation withJennifer. It must have seemed convenient to her that I didn’t knowabout the whole scandal. I’d have to have a word with her, too.

“Who wrote this?” I asked, athought suddenly dawning on me.

Joel scrolled down, squinting at thescreen. “Celia Clemens,” he said.

Clemens. It sounded familiar. A name Icould trace.

“Thanks for this,” I said to Joel,getting up. “And I’m sorry about your place. I’ll figure itout.”

“You just worry about your face. Ifshe could do that to my hardware, I’d hate to know what she can doto someone who bleeds.”