The Goddess and The Vampire Page 20

Chapter Nineteen

  “SO YOU STILL got the keys to this place?” Andy said and looked around. “Wil here give you the keys to his place?”

  “No.” Katie said and looked at me with anger and then resignation. “I’m clearly less to him than I was to Carlo.”

  “Ouch.” Andy said. “I think I’ll look around upstairs.”

  I looked around the main floor with Katie following close behind. She knew where the hidden rooms were and where someone might be hiding. We didn’t find anything. Just kinds of odds and ends that a vampire tends to collect over the years. Most of the stuff wasn’t priceless artifacts, but more like personal mementoes. Old magazines, newspaper clippings, and a small collection of street photos featuring people walking on a downtown sidewalk.

  “Carlo didn’t have a lot of guests.” Katie said as she tossed a book back onto a table. “But it looks like someone’s been here. A couple of the coffins are open that are usually closed. A few things have been moved here and there. I’m going to get some clothes from my old room. If Carlo didn’t throw them all away.”

  Katie darted off into the dark building.

  “What are you doing here?” Beth said from the doorway behind me. She was wearing some kind of leather outfit that showed off more skin than it hid. For Beth, this was like wearing a Nun’s Habit.

  “What are you doing here?” I said as if she had no right to question anything I did.

  “Carlo asked me to water the plants.” Beth said and looked around for a plant. “Not that it’s any of your business.”

  “So Fredric had a thing for Werecoyotes, eh?” I said and squinted at Beth. “I don’t remember him mentioning you.”

  “Yeah, funny thing.” Beth said and crossed her arms as she shook her head. “For a vampire that had his own personal Elf, Carlo didn’t think a Werecoyote was good enough for his little prodigy Fredric. So I didn’t come around when Carlo was in residence.”

  “You know who might have wanted Fredric dead?” I said and gave the low rent Werecoyote a long look. Maybe it was just this one particular Were he didn’t think was good enough.

  “Everyone that ever met him would be a good start.” Beth said and made a sour face. “He had kind of a way with people.”

  A thud from behind Beth caused her to turn quickly. Andy was standing next to a large bag with silverware spilling out of it. Beth looked at the bag and then at Andy and let her shoulders sag.

  “So not here to water plants then?” I said and gave her a flash of power in my eyes.

  “Fredric owed me.” Beth said and looked around. “He stole my entire stock of The Little Death, so I figure Carlo can spare a few things to help pay off Fredric’s debts. My time has value you know.”

  “Uh, yeah.” I said.

  “He told me there were big things coming.” Beth said and put the silver back in the bag. “He said I would be in a power position. Then the bastard just up and got himself killed.”

  “You know that you damn near killed Fedor and Wil.” Andy said and put his hand on his Desert Eagle. “And Jackie hasn’t exactly been the same, either.”

  “He didn’t tell me he was planning some big power play with you guys.” Beth said and looked around. “You can’t trust anyone connected to Carlo.”

  “Yeah, kind of figured that out.” I said and looked at Beth’s bag of loot. “I don’t have a problem with you taking a few of Carlo’s things.

  “Need any help with that stuff?” Andy said. “I saw a couple of nice guns upstairs.”

  “Sure, see anything else?” Beth said and handed the bag to Andy as they both left the room. “I bet he’s got a jewelry box somewhere as well.”

  I looked around Carlo’s office for a few minutes. Moved around the wooden pieces on his desk. Opened a few drawers. He was involved in many nightclubs that catered to the vampire trade. Fredric had done a lot of traveling to those clubs on Carlo’s behalf. I found an itinerary with stops all over the country, and one out of the country. In Monterey, Mexico. I left the office and went back to the main hall to wait for the others to return.

  I walked over to an ornate gothic chair with a lot of scrollwork on the back and sat down. The main hallway had a nice feel to it. The handful of ghosts in residence seemed pleased by my presence. I felt a few echoes of holiness floating around the place. A bit of the Faithful’s beliefs had soaked into the walls. I was relaxing a bit too much, as seemed to be my habit of late.

  “Can I get you anything, Master Walengrave?” The Butler, Henry said in an icy voice that caused me to jump out of my seat. “I believe the Werecoyote left a few items of silver in the pantry. She missed Carlo’s stamp collection entirely.”

  “Ah.” I said and sent out a silent call to Andy and Katie. “I didn’t know you were here.”

  “I am at your service, Sir.” Henry said and added a touch of butlerly sting to the word ‘sir.’ “Would you like some blood? Alternatively, perhaps I can show you to the Master Bedroom and open Carlo’s sock drawer for you? Oh, no need, I see Andrew has already done that.”

  Andy, Katie and Beth came into the room at the same time. They all skidded to a stop on the slick marble floor and looked properly abashed at seeing the Butler. He gave them a perfect look of disdain and turned his attention back to me.

  “Tyler has a delivery van in the driveway.” Henry said while he maintained a strict posture and stared straight ahead. “It is a smallish van. You won’t be able to take, say, the Bösendorfer piano or the Koons ‘Balloon Dog.’ But Carlo has a number of exotic items. He paid quite a lot for his carbon fiber toilet seat and his signed copy of The Butcher Cover version of Yesterday and Today.”

  I glance over at the giant balloon dog sitting in the middle of what had once been the sanctuary. Its lovely dark blue-mirrored finish would look perfect in my Courtyard.

  “I’m pretty sure he’s not seriously suggesting we take that thing with us.” Katie said and crossed her arms. “Carlo told me they had to take a wall out to get it in here.”

  “I think I’m good with what I have.” Beth said and looked around one last time. “But a van would be nice.”

  “This way.” Henry said and slowly marched off down one of the long hallways. “Do be careful, I was in the process of waxing the floors while Carlo was away. Now there is so much more cleaning to do.”

  “Uh, sorry about that.” Andy said and gave me a look. “We could stay and clean up a bit if you want some help.”

  “Very kind of you Andrew.” Henry said without turning to look at Andy. “But I think I can manage without you.”

  We shuffled along behind the Butler like students on a field trip. I half expected Henry to start pointing out interesting features and regaling us with their history.

  “I am sorry.” Henry stopped and looked at Katie apologetically. “Carlo demanded all your possessions be destroyed once you had left. He didn’t want reminders of you cluttering up the place.”

  “Should have known he would do that.” Katie said.

  “I took the liberty of setting these aside.” Henry said and pulled a pair of headphones out of an oversized pocket. “On the off chance I would see you again.”

  Katie took the headphones and gave Henry a hug. The Butler smiled fractionally and led us to the building’s driveway entrance. We stepped outside and found a bright red panel truck with The Vending Authority in white letters on the door.

  “Have a good evening.” Henry said and closed the door behind us. This was followed by the sound of many locks being slid home.

  “This belongs to your buddies, Andy?” I said and pointed at the panel van.

  “Not anymore.” Andy said. “It was something they used in parades and at store openings. They sold this one to Carlo a couple of years back. The Vending Authority doesn’t really need to advertise that much.”

  Andy stepped forward and opened one the van’s back doors. Still a few random boxes and what looked like sample cases. No vending machines, though a large toolbox looked li
ke it might contain tools for repairing machines. A blue mover’s blanket was over a load that took up about half the van’s cargo area.

  Beth tossed her bags of stolen goods into the van and helped Andy load up the ones he had helped her fill. Andy tugged on the mover’s blanket and we saw a stack of paintings leaning against the van’s side. Beth pushed Andy back and slammed the door. She ran around to the driver’s side and banged on the glass. The Vampire Tyler was sitting behind the wheel. Beth growled at him in an impressive manner. He rolled the window down.

  “I told you to wait for me across the street.” Beth said and then dashed around the van and climbed in the passenger side. The old van coughed a cloud of white smoke. It rattled down the driveway and out onto the road. We watched it make its slow getaway for a couple of minutes.

  “I wonder if there was a Gauguin in there.” I said.

  “Didn’t get a chance to see.” Andy said. “Of course, my taste runs toward Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell. Carlo doesn’t seem like the cowboy type.”

  “I really think that Koons sculpture would look good in my Courtyard. A couple of small spotlights. Maybe some Moby playing on an endless loop.” I said and looked at Katie. “You need a ride?”

  “Nope.” Katie said and pulled her hood up. “I’m good. You did say I had the night off. I just happen to be in the neighborhood and thought I would help out.”

  “What did you steal?” I said as she started to walk off. Katie turned and pushed up her sleeve to show me an armful of watches. I recognized a Maîtres du Temps, Patek Philippe, and Piaget Emperador. She quickly pulled her hoodie sleeve back down and sprinted off into the night.

  We headed back to the Consulate. Andy didn’t have much to say and I was lost in thought myself. I let Andy out near his pickup truck. I noticed the pockets of his denim jacket seemed to be a good deal fatter than they normally were. Maybe I could order Carlo to give me the Koons as Tribute. Otherwise, the whole trip had been kind of a bust.

  I FELT KILESTRA before I saw the shadowy shape appear by The Mansion. I followed her into a slightly thicker part of the woods. She turned and looked at me expectantly.

  “Have fun looting Carlo’s house?” Kilestra said and leaned against a tree. “Get me anything?”

  “Let’s see.” I said and pulled a small dagger out of my coat pocket. “It was on his desk. Maybe it’s got some magical power or its proof against werewolves or something.”

  “It says Souvenir of Six Flags Over Texas on the blade.” Kilestra said and rolled her eyes. “You shouldn’t have.”

  “I thought you’d like it.” I said. “So any news I should know about?”

  “For Master of the City you don’t seem to know much about what’s going on.” Kilestra said and looked at me the way she used to. “Better for you that way. Plausible deniability.”

  “How about meeting with random fugitives on a regular basis?” I said. “How does that look?”

  “Well, you do have that side job as a Vampire Code Enforcer.” Kilestra said. “You always keep rather bad company.”

  “Should I do anything about Beth and Tyler?” I said and stepped closer to Kilestra.

  “Tell the human authorities if you want to be drug in for hours of questioning.” Kilestra said, walking up to me and laid a hand on my chest. “Tell your human if you got her something better than a letter opener. And be careful about being followed.”

  I sensed Gerald before the sound of breaking twigs and skidding rocks reached my ears. Which meant he would be aware of me, and possibly Kilestra, as well. I turned my attention back to Kilestra, but, no surprise, she was gone. Gerald came running up beside me with a set of silver reinforced handcuffs swinging in his grasp. He looked around but didn’t have any more luck finding Kilestra than I had.

  “She was here.” Gerald said and peered into the surrounding darkness. “Wasn’t she? I caught a whiff of another vampire that felt like Kilestra.”

  “You’re starting to imagine things.” I said and pushed past him to head back toward the Mansion.

  Gerald followed me as I headed across town to the Coffee Spot. For all her big time connections in the vampire and the human world, Sally still worked a few shifts slinging coffee and stale donuts. She liked to call it mindless work that kept her hands busy and her mind free. I found a spot in what was left of the parking lot and went inside. There were still plenty of signs of the recent fire. A lot of yellow tape blocking off the deeper holes in the parking lot. But the building itself had suffered only cosmetic damage. It didn’t appear to be in any danger of collapsing soon. Gerald sat where he had a good view of the Dodge and stared at me as I walked by.

  “Hey, You.” Sally said and gave me a hug. “Stop by to finish destroying my place of work? Or do you want something? We got a new espresso maker, the day before the parking lot was melted. I’m test driving it and it should only take us about three years to pay for.”

  “Sure.” I said and gave her my most innocent smile. “An espresso would be great.”

  “What happened?” She said and stopped in mid-motion.

  “I was over at Carlos.” I said. “Found a Were there.”

  “You run over another armadillo?” Sally said and went back to prepping the espresso machine.

  “That was Gerald, who ran over the armadillo.” I said and waited for Sally to finish the alchemy of pulling a shot of espresso. “I kind of helped Beth the Werecoyote and Tyler the Vampire rob Carlo’s house and steal a panel van.”

  “Not a fan of Carlo.” Sally said. “Did you get me anything?”

  “Hmm, let’s see.” I said and reached into my pocket. “I only got to look around his office.”

  I handed her a box with a fancy looking pen inside. It was absolutely the kind of pen that Carlo would use. The name in the top of the box was Montegrappa. Sally, who thought of herself as a writer, nodded her approval.

  “Do you think Carlo will say anything?” Sally said and set the espresso in front of me.

  “His Butler was there and all but helped us load up the van.” I said.

  “You just can’t get good help anymore.” Sally said and leaned over and gave me a kiss. “If I didn’t love the new car you sent over, I’d still be mad at you.”

  I sipped my espresso and enjoyed the intense flavor and the warm feeling. Sally remained leaning on the counter in front of me. I let my eyes meet hers and she smiled. I poured some vampire power into her and our thoughts mingled. I helped her to feel good and she helped me to think. I could control Sally just as I could control any human. I tried not to whammy her too often, as that kind of thing tended to put a kink in a relationship. This was just one of our small pleasures, the least conspicuous one suitable for use in public.

  Sally’s phone rang and I lost my concentration. Sally answered the phone. She listened and cut her eyes to me. A moment later, she ended the call and unfastening her apron.

  “The Captain says that I need to go down to Carlo’s place.” She said as she clocked out. “I have to follow that ghoul of a butler around. Make a detailed inventory of the stolen items. Part of my duties as a Liaison.”

  “Did he say if they had any suspects?” I said. Sally raised her eyebrows and pressed her lips together.

  “He said I was taking the Inventory so it could be applied to your Tribute for the coming years.” Sally said. “The Captain said he didn’t really expect this kind of abuse of power from you. He said it was good to see you taking some initiative.”

  “High praise from The Captain.” I said and nodded my head in thought. “I’ve always been a bit afraid of him.”

  “You and everyone he’s ever met.” Sally said. She looked around the Coffee Spot and leaned in close to me. “He also told me to tell you something. He’ll be getting his own past due Tribute up to date. No need to go to his house. He said all his people downstairs at the Consulate would do likewise. They all think you might be stopping by to collect something in person.”

  “You
burgle one house. . .” I said and smiled at Sally. She didn’t smile back.

  “I’d better get going.” Sally said.

  “Won’t the Coffee Spot miss you?” I said and followed her out.

  “Yeah, I’m sure they’ll miss having my insane vampire lover stop by to set fire to the place. They know better than to count on me for a full shift.” Sally said and hid the pen in her purse. “It’s not really a job much anymore. More like a moving meditation. Where I get tips and free coffee.”

  Gerald was parked on a side street. He had 1950s rock and roll pouring out of his speakers. Several people stood around talking about what a nice car he had. Sally looked at him with her hands on her hips, but he just smiled at her. She shook her head and got into her new VW bug.

  “I’ll see you later.” Sally said and drove off in the direction of downtown.

  I got in the Dodge and cruised around to think. Gerald followed close enough that I could easily make out Johnny and the Hurricanes’ Red River Rock drifting from the ’63 Corvette. It was a fun song and I tapped my finger on the steering wheel to keep time. I took the long way home.

  Gerald parked at the bottom of the drive. From there he could keep an eye on the Dodge and not run the risk of being blocked in again. Either Fedor had raised the Finder’s Fee on Kilestra or Gerald just didn’t have anything better to do. I decided it was a bit of both.

  I went into my Studio and kept my mind occupied by doing a few still lives. I photographed tangerines and pomegranates Mother had found on sale. I never knew what I would find waiting to be photographed. Usually it was food. Sometimes it was flowers. On rare occasions objects d’art dropped off by one of my handful of paying clients. On really good nights, I might have Ravenhawk pose for me. Much like Sally’s job at the Coffee Spot, photography wasn’t so much a job as a way to keep my hands busy.

  After a while, Katie wandered in. She looked at the arrangement of tangerines. They rested on a couple of yards of red and gold cloth.

  “It doesn’t look like much from that angle.” I said. “And I’ll be doing a bit of post-processing to the image once I have a few captures to work with.”

  “It’ll still be a picture of a bunch of tangerines.” Katie said and sat down on one of the posing stools. “Big market for stuff like that?”

  “Is there something I can do for you?” I said as I made a few small adjustments to the composition. “I’m trying to concentrate here.”

  “I thought you were trying to relax.” Katie said and spun around on the stool. “We’re connected. Your thoughts kind of pop into my head. I don’t really mind. Not really. I’ve had worse owners over the years, with a lot worse things on their minds.”

  “Even if we are connected.” I said and stood up from behind the camera to look at her. “I don’t own you. You’re not my pet.”

  “So what am I then?” Katie said and took a deep breath. “You push me away anytime I get near you. You only feed on me because you can’t feed on your Chosen. I do get this feeling you want more from me than just body guard duty.”

  “He just wants you to be available.” Sally said from the doorway. “One more person that he can call on in a crisis. One more person he can keep close at hand. Just in case he does decide to take you to bed. Or take your blood. Or use you in some other way.”

  “So I guess you finished the inventory?” I said as I adjusted the image crop and snapped the shutter.

  “Yeah.” Sally said and stood between the camera and the table with the still life arrangement. “Henry had already done all the work. He just wanted me to see what a mess you made. You and your little band of merry men stole a half a million dollars’ worth of stuff. Carlo said he was happy to be of service.”

  “Carlo is starting to weird me out a little.” I said and rested my hands on the tripod. “I wonder if there’s a limit to his tolerance.”

  “Henry said a few of the stolen items were his.” Sally said and looked at me. “He said to please apply their value to his Tribute.”

  I felt a sudden rush upon hearing this. As Master of The City, money was only part of what was being offered. I felt a tingle of new energy. It felt good. I could get used to this kind of thing. Now I wondered if Kilestra and Fedor had been getting this power. They might have told me. Katie and Sally looked at me.

  “What was that?” Sally said and let out a breath. “And can I have some more please?”

  “The Gods call that kind of thing Favor.” Katie said and breathed it in deeply. “It’s the shared power of your worshipers.”

  “Not exactly sure ‘worshipers’ is the correct term.” I said as the power ebbed away a bit. “But yeah. Like that.”

  “So you get power from stealing crap from Carlo.” Sally said and then looked at Katie. “I guess you helped yourself to a few knick knacks as well?”

  “Anything I own belongs to Wil.” Katie said and pulled the handle on the posing stool and let it slowly sink. “I’m just using it.”

  “Was that the way it worked for Carlo as well?” Sally said and crossed her arms. “I guess he was more demanding than Wil.”

  “Carlo wasn’t always bad.” Katie said and closed her eyes in thought. “He could be fun.”

  “Forget I asked.” Sally said and turned her attention back to me. “I’ve got an appointment. I need to know that you’ll stay out of my head and keep your distance.”

  “And what if I don’t?” I said more out of habit than a desire to argue.

  “Then I don’t think Fedor will need too much convincing to lock you in a cell for a few nights.” Sally said and sounded serious. “I’ve always thought of Jackie as a friend. I think I can deal with your new playmates, so long as you keep out of my head when you're with them. And no threesomes.”

  “Ever know a boy that could only play with one of his toys?” Katie said and smiled at Sally.

  “You stay out of my head, too.” Sally said and stared at Katie a little longer than she needed to. She shook her head and looked away.

  “Sure.” I said and raised a hand. “We’ll leave you alone. Say hi to Kilestra for me.”

  “Keep out.” Sally said and punched me in the shoulder.

  Katie watched Sally leave and gave me an appraising look.

  “For a Master you sure put up with a lot of shit.” Katie said and adjusted the song on her iPod. “I’ve never known a vampire like you before.”

  “I’m a rare breed.” I said.

  “Can I take a photo of you?” Katie said and hopped off the posing stool. “I couldn’t find any recent pictures and I’d like something to remember you by.”

  “Not sure I like the sound of that.” I said, but walked over and sat on the posing stool anyway. Katie kicked a posing block over to the tripod. She climbed up to look through the camera’s eyepiece. She reached out and adjusted the lens. She picked up the shutter release and made a few more adjustments.

  “Sit up straight.” Katie said and smiled at me. Before I could smile back, she flashed the lights at me. She spent a few minutes telling me to turn this way and that. Then she nodded to herself as she scrolled through the images on the camera’s back. When I tried to look, she shooed me away. She took the card out of the camera and slid it into her pocket.

  “Isn’t it time you were in your coffin?” Katie said and crossed her arms.

  “Yeah.” I said and gave her a curious nod. “You know your way around my camera pretty well.”

  “A girl has to do something when the sun shines.” Katie said and winked at me. “Idle hands and all that.”

  I looked at Katie and watched as her eyes changed and took on a deeper green. Her posture changed and she looked more powerful. I looked into her face and saw Desiara. She smiled at me and warmth flowed over me. The love of a Goddess was hard to resist. She allowed me to take her hand and lead her back to the guest bedroom.

  I took Sally’s comments to mean that she accepted Katie into our little family. I used my power to slow time and made love to De
siara, or maybe to Katie, or maybe to both. I wasn’t exactly sure. Either way it felt right. My control of time wasn’t as good as Vladlena’s, so I couldn’t make time stand still, but I made it slow down long enough.

  I went to my crypt and let the night’s cares disappear as the sun rose.