The Goddess and The Vampire Page 3

Chapter Two

  FORT WORTH’S NORTH Side was home to the Jangling Spurs night club. Fredric had managed the club for Carlo, one of the perks of being his Fledging. It’s also where he lost his head in the back room on a busy Friday night. No one knew he was dead until it was closing time.

  The front door of the Jangling Spurs was blocked with yellow police tape. It was slack and blowing in the wind. It didn't look up to the job of keeping the curious out. It was definitely not going to keep me out.

  Few things are as depressing as an empty nightclub. No music, no smoke, and no loud talk and laughter. It was just a room with a couple of chrome-covered poles and many mirrors. The room was surprisingly dirty. Most clubs run by vampires are spotless and smell of cleaning products. This room smelled of spilled beer and cigarette butts. My vampire senses wanted me to turn and leave. How had Fredric worked here?

  I spotted a door in the back wall and weaved through the tables to get to it.

  I pushed open the red leatherette-covered door and found a small hallway. It was lined with vending machines and stacks of long cigarette boxes. Another line of police tape zigzagged across a door at the end. I pulled the tape down and went inside.

  More vending machines crowded the room. Old style cigarette machines, the kind where you pulled a knob to get a pack of smokes. I smelled cigarettes and dried blood. A desk and a file cabinet were wedged into a corner. A large dark stain on the floor at the foot of a red leather sofa attracted my attention. I felt an echo of violence and saw the flash of a long blade in my mind.

  I've seen a few beheadings over the years. The spray on the vending machines and the stain on the floor looked right. Kilestra liked swords, and I've seen her use them in the past. Time was that I liked a good blade as well, but times change. Modern vampires prefer high caliber guns. A heavy slug can take a head off faster than a sword and with a lot less risk of personal injury. A sword is an intimate weapon, one used in close quarters. Of course, Ancient Vampires can have a soft spot for Traditions.

  I turned on a small lamp and searched the desk. Bills, invoices, and other business items. The file cabinet contained G-strings and feather boas. Three books were on top of the filing cabinet. All three were covered with brown paper. Two were bound copies of back issues of Exotic Vampire Dancers. Fredric was featured on one cover. He was sitting on the red sofa with a girl on each knee and a leer on his round face. The third book was the same size and shape, but its title was Elven Gods Past and Present. It was the kind of magazine you’d find at the checkout line in grocery stores.

  I slid the book into my jacket and gave the room one more look. There was nothing else of interest here. Even the calendar featuring exotic dancers looked like a bit of set dressing. I turned and left the Jangling Spurs.

  I got back to my Dodge Magnum and sifted through the papers from the Consulate. None of the vampires listed were near the club and I didn’t really feel like tracking anyone down tonight anyway.

  A rap on the window by my head made me jump. I looked up and saw a man wearing a Fort Worth Police uniform. He was a large black man and wore a black uniform that was just a little too small for him. His badge had the sleeping panther on top and SD embossed below it where a five pointed star normally appeared. He was the lead officer in the Fort Worth Police Department’s Supernatural Division.

  “Find anything interesting?” Sargent Jones said and leaned on the Dodge’s door. “Got a report that some idiot broke in here. Too bad the cameras are all off now. You and Kilestra leaving the same crime scene might get a few hits on YouTube.”

  “You’ve got video of Kilestra, huh?” I said and put my hand up to block the light from Sargent Jones’s flashlight.

  “Yeah.” Sargent Jones said and pointed the flashlight inside the Dodge and gave it a sweep. “She was carrying a duffle bag and what looks like a sword in one hand. But maybe it was a walking stick, the video was shit and the hallway was dark.”

  “You're sure it was Kilestra?” I said and let a small hope grow that it was just someone who looked like her.

  “Oh yeah.” Sargent Jones said and gave a mirthless laugh. He looked back at the club and nodded. “She vanished halfway down the hallway in the shadow of a vending machine. Know anyone else who can do that trick?”

  No, I didn’t.

  THE NEXT NIGHT I decided to get an early start. I drove to East Fort Worth not long after sunset. I was surprised to find many of the streets recently resurfaced, but then, I hadn’t been on this side of town in several years. The houses were also freshly painted, many in bright colors that would have shocked their original owners. A few had large fences across their front yards. All had at least one too many cars parked in front.

  "Yo.” Billy said when he opened the door and let a cloud of blue smoke escape into the night. Billy had unkempt hair and a scruffy beard. He was wearing blue jeans faded to white and a dark green T-shirt covered with a denim vest. He appeared to be having a hard time seeing me. "How’s it hanging?"

  "Fedor has papers out on you.” I said and pushed Billy back into the cluttered living room. "You owe a lot of money."

  "Oh yeah.” Billy said and slapped his forehead. "I knew there was some reason I wasn't supposed to answer the door."

  The house was well on its way to structural collapse. The floor sagged under my weight in a disconcerting way. A vine had worked its way into the cracks of the windows and was slowly pulling them apart. There was a strong odor of cat piss and dry rot. Old books and magazines teetered everywhere. I could hear the sound of a TV with the volume turned up coming from the next room.

  “Nice place.” I said and waved a hand in front of my face. The living room held a sofa, a swivel rocker, and a console TV. A large stain on the ceiling brought to mind a Rorschach test. I could see a staircase leading up and two doorways leading out.

  "I'm planning on doing some remodeling.” Billy said and walked over to the oversized couch and flopped down on it. "Mom kind of let the place go to hell."

  "You don’t say.” I said and took a seat in the swivel rocking chair that was a vintage 1970s gold color. The chair took my weight and supported me as if it had been tailor made for my body. I found myself rocking back and forth contentedly. Then I remembered I was supposed to be more intimidating and stopped. “So I’m going out on a limb here and guessing you don't have twenty grand lying around."

  “Huh?” Billy said and looked my way as if he had already forgotten I was there. "Oh yeah. If all you want is money, I got money."

  Billy hopped up and went to the dark wooden door at the staircase’s bottom. He made a be-quiet movement with a finger to his lips. He opened the door and disappeared into the next room.

  A crash of some kind of metal and a woman’s shout came from the other room. Billy apologized in muffled tones to someone. The old woman yelled at him to get out of her closet. More sounds of things falling and muffled curses reached my ears. A moment later, the door opened and Billy returned. He yanked the door closed behind him. Something hard hit the wall and bounced off with a loud thud.

  "Dude, how have you put up with your Mom, like, you know, forever?" Billy walked over to the couch and fell back in between the pillows. "Here."

  Billy tossed me a duffle bag that crashed onto the rotting floor with a soft thud. It was an Army issue duffle bag that looked to be Vietnam era.

  "You keep your money in a duffle bag in your mom's closet?” I said as I got up and kicked the bag with the toe of my shoe.

  "Well, part of it.” Billy said and scratched his beard. "But Dude, I can't like, keep all my money in duffle bags. That would be weird."

  I watched as he reached into his pocket. He pulled out a delicate wooden box suitable for keeping a small stash. He fumbled with a tiny pipe made of blue glass. He rooted around in the box and took out a small packet wrapped in white paper. He dropped the pellet in the pipe’s bowl with practiced ease. He paused for a moment and looked at the money and then at me.

  "Uh-huh.” I s
aid and undid the spring latch that held the duffle bag closed. When I pulled the bag open, hundred dollar bills spilled across the dirty floor. "About how much is in here?"

  "That one?” Billy said in a mumble around the small pipe he was trying to get started with a Bic lighter. "I think that one only has about thirty grand in it. It's not all hundreds."

  I put the stray hundreds back in the duffle bag and refastened the latch. I stared down at the bag. I tried to puzzle out how Billy got his hands on thirty thousand dollars and why he was keeping it in his mother's closet. Nothing sprang to mind.

  "Is that enough, Dude?” Billy said before taking a long drag of whatever it was he had ignited in the pipe. "I know I owe The Commission some serious scratch, but that's all I can get right now. Mom's kind of pissed that I woke her up.”

  "This'll do for now.” I said and stood up. "But I might have to swing by again later.”

  "No problemo.” Billy's eyes lost what little focus they had and he took on a comatose posture. He hunched over and almost fell off the sofa. He was unsteady as he fell back into the cushions.

  The Surfer Dude act used to really piss me off. I know Billy comes from Oklahoma and he's never been surfing in his life. I was willing to forgive him his odd eccentricities since I had a few of my own. I was about to leave when his head snapped up.

  “I saw this Elf the other day.” Billy said in a soft, dreamy voice. “She was pretty bitchen.”

  “Oh?” I said and swallowed at a sudden dryness in my throat. “In what way?”

  “She brought out the Humbert Humbert in me, man.” Billy said and nodded with a smile. “Elves look so, you know, young. And she tasted, like, really good. Really outstanding.”

  Billy passed out and I took the little pipe out of his hands. I knocked the bowl’s contents into a hammered aluminum ashtray. It joined a growing collection of spent wads of paper. I hoisted the duffle bag over my shoulder and left by the same door I had come in.

  A TALL WOMAN and a not so tall man were standing by my car when I came out of the house. They had a supernatural smell and it took me a moment to pin them down. The man was an exotic Were of some kind. A bear I would guess, one with hints of Grizzly. He was broad, had a barrel chest, and looked like he could bench press a Chevy.

  The woman was surrounded by a dusty cloud of ash and decay. She reeked of graveyards, to my vampire nose, that odd mixture of flowers and decay. She floated in the air and her white robe moved like towels in the rinse cycle. Her hair hung to her shoulders in thick black tangles. Her skin was bone white and she looked Asian, Japanese at a guess. She was some kind of wraith or maybe a death Goddess.

  The Dodge was parked under one of the street lights that the City had added after a series of attacks in the neighborhood. It threw cool shadows for about ten feet, but didn’t do much to illuminate the street. The two Supers looked a bit ghoulish standing in the stark light with the black night behind them.

  "What's in the bag, Friend?” The muscular man said with a Mexican accent. "You kill someone and taking the body to the landfill to get rid of it?"

  "Raoul, do you really think a Vampire that's been around for so long would carry a kill around in an old laundry bag?” The floating woman said in a clean Japanese accent. "I think it is more likely he just got hooked up with that totally wasted Vampire whose crashing here."

  "You know, Izumi, I like the way you try to fit in.” Raoul said and rubbed his neck. "But I’m not sure you should be using slang."

  “What slang was I using, Raoul?” Izumi said and turned her bony face toward the man.

  “Never mind.” Raoul said and turned back to me. “Looks like a pretty big stash, my friend.”

  "He is a vampire, Raoul.” Izumi said and nodded sagely. "Who knows what it takes to get them stoned?"

  I opened the hatchback of my Dodge and tossed in the duffle bag. I closed the lid with a loud thump and turned toward Izumi and Raoul. They had moved on to a discussion about the merits of controlled substances found in Mexico versus those found in Japan. They stopped after a moment and stared at me.

  "Is there something I can do for you two?” I said and let a little power flash in my eyes.

  "We're Hunters, Mother Fucker.” Raoul said and stood up straighter. He swaggered toward me and poked my chest with a thick finger. "You’ve got some information we need."

  "Oh?” I said and jingled my keys in my hand. I felt a tingle of fear in my chest. Weres didn’t normally threaten vampires, unless they had some reason not to fear them. "That so?"

  "We are here on business.” Izumi said in her crisp and official voice. She smiled at me and her dark eyes twinkled like a starry night. "We would like to ask you a few questions."

  "Yeah.” Raoul said and looked at me with an appraising eye. He tilted his head and nodded. "And if we don’t like your answers, it could get ugly."

  "You don’t have Orders with my name on them.” I said and pushed Raoul aside. I unlocked the driver's door and swung it open. "So, one more time, what do you want?"

  "We want Kilestra.” Izumi said and put her hand out to stop the door from fully opening. "And you know where Kilestra is. Could you please tell us?"

  "Stop being so nice.” Raoul said and stuck his jaw out in a nice impersonation of Mussolini. "Where is that Ancient bitch hiding?"

  "I’d be careful if I were you.” I said and looked into Izumi’s black eyes. I returned her interest in me and gave her my little let's-wait-and-see smile. She was a bit thinner than I liked, but she did have that exotic thing going for her. She blushed in an un-Hunter like way and turned her face. Raoul wouldn't make eye contact. One point for him.

  "Listen.” Izumi said as she rested one hand on the long handle of her Katana. "All we require is Kilestra. We happen to know Fedor has issued an Order to Appear. So we were wondering if maybe we could work together."

  "So you would get Kilestra, at least for a minute or two.” I said and crossed my arms in my best imitation of a tough guy. "What, exactly, would I get out of the deal?"

  "The reward from Fedor.” Raoul said and showed me how a real man crosses his arms. His biceps were large, but they didn’t intimidate me. If it had been closer to a full moon, then he could have put a bit of a scare in me. His general lack of fear of me still distracted me a bit. Raoul’s voice rumbled in his chest. "Help us and we won't have to make your death a little more permanent."

  "Again, what Raoul means.” Izumi said and floated closer to me. "Is that we can both make our Bosses happy. Maybe you can make your human lover happy, too. I hear she enjoys her exclusive relationship with you, but has fears that you will reconnect with Kilestra one day. We could fix it so that never happens."

  "It’s an Order to Appear.” I said and looked at the two Hunters with the light of my vampire power in my eyes. "Not an Order of Execution.”

  “Things happen.” Izumi said and smiled while she hid her teeth behind her fingers.

  “So who do you two work for?” I said and made my voice cold and dispassionate. I looked at Raoul. “And why do they want to talk to Kilestra?"

  "None of your business.” Raoul said and rolled his thick neck so that something popped. “You in or out?”

  "Tempting, but no.” I said and forced the car door open. This knocked Izumi off balance. She glided back into Raoul and knocked him over. More to her than meets the eye. "You two need to check in with The Consulate. You don't want to get fined for Hunting without a License."

  "OH, LOOK WHO decided to pay us a visit.” Grandfather said as I walked into the dining room. "The blood sucker from the basement."

  "Be nice, Dad.” Mother said as she moved a few plates around. "Wil has always been good to us."

  "If by good you mean he feeds on us like a cheap Chinese buffet on a Friday night, then yeah, he's a real peach." Grandfather said and looked at me with his prove me wrong face.

  "I had a long day at work, people.” Father said and held a hand up. "Can we not go through this again tonight?" />
  "Oh, sorry, spending my golden years as a fatted calf was not something I had planned on.” Grandfather said. "But then, I've had a couple of hundred years to think about it, so maybe it's not all that bad."

  Grandfather was a thin man in his 60s with hard features and a shock of short gray hair. He bore a passing resemblance to a late model Clint Eastwood. Beady eyes, a thin mouth, and a rigid posture that belied his age. He was wearing a dark green T-shirt that showed off his thin upper arms. He was stronger than he looked

  "Now, Dear.” Mother said and steered me to an empty chair. "Have a seat."

  Mother was slim and beautiful. Her face was a lovely oval framed by her thick auburn hair. She’s been a model for many of the great artists of the past hundred years or so. She has a natural symmetry and grace and she makes anything she wears look amazing. Tonight she was wearing a simple kaftan with a floral pattern. Something she knew I liked and something she could easily slip out of if the need arose.

  "Just thought we could spend some time together.” I said and sat in the chair next to Mother. "How are you doing?"

  “Well, I was down at the Market earlier and the prices are just shocking.” Mother said as she usually did. "And there was a bit of gossip about that girlfriend of yours. The vampire one, I mean."

  "Oh?” I said and watched as my Father took a slice of meatloaf from a serving platter. He sat at the table’s head, still the king of his castle. He was a short man who liked to wear a button front shirt and a jacket, even while having dinner at home. Grandfather sat at the other end of the table. It was a rare event for them to dine at home. I usually found them in front of the TV or surfing the web.

  "Well, everyone was talking about how that Gangster Vampire was killed.” Mother said with a touch too much eagerness. "Looks like it was Kilestra that did the deed."

  "Did the deed?” Grandfather said and wrinkled his forehead. "They said she killed him. One blog said she chopped his head off and took it for a souvenir."

  "Must we always have these discussions over dinner?” Father said with a twist to his mouth. "I'm trying to eat here."

  "Oh.” Grandfather said. "Yeah. She did the deed."

  “You should steer clear of that vampire.” Mother said and gave my knee a squeeze. “You’ll make Sally jealous. And I know you don’t love Kilestra.”

  "I can understand Kilestra’s point of view. I would take offense if I found your Mother in the sack with another man.” Father said as he munched his meat loaf. "But then, I'm not a modern man like you and your Grandfather here."

  "Or maybe she would be smart enough not to get caught.” Grandfather stage whispered loud enough to be heard in the next room.

  "Ouch.” He said when Mother threw a hard roll at his head.

  "You know the sad part, Son?” Father said and leaned in my direction. "They put on their good behavior for you."

  "As always, I'm touched by your concern.” I said to Grandfather and Mother. "Sally knew about Kilestra before we met."

  "Oh, that makes it all better.” Grandfather said. “A nice modern girl who doesn’t mind sharing a man.”

  "Not a lot of sharing going on at the moment.” I said and smiled. "But I have to admit Kilestra has been a bit calmer about the whole situation than I expected her to be. The last time I had a similar situation, it didn't go so well."

  "We know.” Father said and banged his fork against the table. "No talk about decapitations or any other kind of severe bodily injury."

  "Spoilsport.” Grandfather said and shoveled a load of mashed potatoes into his mouth.

  I decided Father didn’t want to hear about the end of the world either. I needed to talk to someone about it. I just had no idea who that someone might be.

  "KIND OF YOU to bring in the cash, Wilhem.” Fedor said as he pressed a button on his desk to summon Jackie. She quickly came in and collected the piles of loose bills that were spilling off his desk. "But I need to see Billy now. He's been up to his old tricks, and well, we’ve gotten a couple of complaints. Maybe a little time in the dungeons will do him some good."

  "This isn't anything dangerous, is it?” I said as I helped Jackie stuff bills in a large canvas bank bag.

  "I don't think so.” Fedor said and a line etched between his brows. "Might be a good idea to leave Andy here, just in case."

  I followed Jackie out to the waiting area with the bag of money and sat it beside her desk. She smiled at me nervously and I couldn’t help but be a bit worried about the future she had Seen. Jackie’s brief little glimpses of the future were often like that. Enough information to tantalize but not enough to help change what was coming. Jackie sat down and began filling out a deposit slip.

  "I’ll find something to do around the Office.” Andy said from the sofa next to the table piled with magazines. "Maybe some maintenance issue that needs my attention."

  "You mean like that leaky faucet in the Ladies you’ve never even looked at?” Jackie said with a tilt of her head. "Or that burnt out light in the back storage room?"

  "Yeah.” Andy said without moving. "Like that."

  I PULLED THE Dodge up to Billy's house around ten thirty. Neighboring houses had loud music of one sort or another spilling out. A couple of porches had people sitting on old sofas. They were having a lively discussion by yelling across the street. This kind of thing used to bother me. Change in general used to bother me. After a while, you take the Buddhist path and realize the truth of impermanence.

  "It's not so bad tonight.” Billy said as he flashed to my side. "At least they’re not shooting at each other."

  "Yet.” I said and tried not to look surprised to see him out of the house. "I need some money Billy."

  "Oh yeah.” Billy said and slapped his forehead much as he had the first time round. "I owe Fedor something, don't I? Come on in and I'll see what I can find."

  The living room looked much the same. Except for the addition of a giant flat screen TV and a cable box. One of those shows where people take priceless items to pawnshops was playing. I looked around for the remote to change the channel.

  I hated those shows. Half the time the priceless item was something I had once owned and had tossed in the trash. I didn’t need any more reminders about how dumb I was. The old man behind the counter was holding up a small metal figurine. He was talking about how it contained some powerful magic. He said there were only a handful of them in the world. I found the remote and turned the TV off.

  "There.” Billy said and dropped another Army issue duffle bag at my feet. "If you see anything you want, you can have it. Mom and I are, like, moving in a couple of weeks. This place is kind of bumming me out."

  "Really?" I said and looked around. "I think I’m good."

  "Seriously, Dude.” Billy said and looked around the rotting house. "Bring a truck and help yourself."

  I looked around again and shook my head. I hefted the duffle bag over my shoulder and guided Billy out the front door. He went quietly with me to the Dodge parked at the curb between two sad little trees.

  "Fedor would like a word with you Billy.” I said as I dropped the bag and opened the hatchback.

  "What does the old dude want, Wil?” Billy said as he picked up the bag and tossed it into the back storage area. "Isn't this enough money?"

  "Did he say that was a bag full of money?” One of Billy's neighbors yelled to someone across the street. "That looks like a hell of a lot of money."

  "It's not that much.” Billy said and turned in the speaker’s direction. "Just about fifty grand."

  "Damn.” The neighbor said and hopped off the porch. "I’ve never seen fifty grand before."

  In moments, everyone from the neighborhood was standing around. They pushed each other aside to see an old Army duffle bag. I took a deep breath and waited for the first hand to reach out and try to take the money. But none of them did. They just looked and walked away. I heard them talking about how little space it took up and how none of them knew Billy was a drug dealer.
Not that any of them were surprised.

  I lowered the hatch and Billy gave the Dodge a serious look. He walked around and rubbed his chin as if he was unsure of something.

  "This car is black.” Billy said solemnly.

  "Uh, yeah, it is.” I said and motioned for him to climb in.

  "Kind of a clichéd color for a vampire's car.” Billy said as he settled down into his seat. "Don't you think?"

  "I like it.” I said and Billy just nodded his head to the music as I drove us to the Consulate.