Hex and the Single Witch (Vehicle City Vampires) (4 page)

Damn, I really
wanted to see him, even more so now that I was so…aroused; also, the main
reason why I shouldn’t see him right now. I acted like an idiot around him and
he barely seemed to know I existed. He always treated me polite, yet distant.
Maybe he just wasn’t that into me; maybe we had the whole “just friends” thing
going on. Wouldn’t that just bite? Pun totally intended.

Hmm…it would
probably be for the better if he wasn’t interested, my grandmother would
totally have a goat if she found out I dated a vampire.

No really, when
Grams got super upset goats appeared. The whole have-a-cow thing…Bart Simpson
didn’t get that going first. Nope, my great aunt Bessie’s magickal mis-firings
got the “have a cow” saying started.

That’s a long
story for another time. A sound pulled me out of thoughts. Malone had taken off
his tie and unbuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt. Taught, tanned skin
peeked out. Wow, I licked my lips nervously.

My grandmother
would totally approve of me dating a man like Malone. So would my mother. If
she noticed.

I bet my dating
a vampire would rouse Mom out of her coma-like trance. She usually ran so
spaced-out she didn’t know what decade we were in. After my dad was killed she
just checked out of reality. But she hated vampires, I knew it. That was
ingrained into my upbringing.

Malone
interrupted my inner musings. Again.

His chair
scraped across the floor as he stood, towering over me. I looked up to meet his
gaze.

“Look, Anwyn, we
need you to do your job and liaz with the vamps.” For some reason Malone did
not look pleased. “And while you’re there please see what else you can find out
about Satinka Tala’s Guardians. There’s one specifically that keeps showing up
at crime scenes before we even get there, Troy. Try to find out about him if
you can and the rest in general. They seem to be stepping on police toes more
frequently as of late.”

“Sure,
Detective. I’ll head over there right now.” I thankfully rushed out of the
office and into the fresh air outside, glad to be away from Malone with his
rough personality, rugged good looks, and annoyingly delightful scent.

Chapter 5

I left the
station, crossed Saginaw Street and made it to VAMP without incident. So far so
good, no sign of Galen. Of course, at just past noon most vamps were tucked
away in their coffins at this time of day. Weren’t they?

If they actually
slept in coffins. Did they? Even though I was an Other my interaction with
vampires had been very limited over my lifetime. I never made any vampire
friends. Because of my father’s death Grams had kept me away from vampires as
much as possible.

Plus, I was
still human and young, only in my mid-twenties. Vampires didn’t exactly start
out as kids and grow up like witches and werewolves did. At least I didn’t
think so. I heard rumors about born vamps but thought it was all legend, and
only pertained to half-breeds.

Pausing in front
of VAMP, I took a deep breath and tried to steady my shaking hands. I pulled
open the heavy door and walked into the dimly lit club. Satinka Tala stood
alone behind the bar wiping glasses. The place shined. I was surprised to see
such a powerful vampire doing such a menial task. Energy radiated from her.

Satinka Tala
looked like a small and fragile woman but her power…her personal energy filled
the room. Small and dark, she appeared no older than me, mid-twenties, but knew
her to be centuries old. An Ojibwa Indian, oh sorry, Indian is not politically
correct anymore. She was a Native American, who had lived in Flint long before
it established a name by the white man. She lived here before white men ever
arrived in North America, if you believed what the history books said about it
anyway.

I hated having
to interview her. Probably not going to be easy getting any useful information
out of her, at least not something I could give Malone. Sure I worked for him
and the other humans but my main job as a Liaison meant keeping lines of
communication open and helping the police with preternatural crimes. Some
things humans couldn’t deal with and were better left to the Others; a reason
it was good Satinka’s Guardians showed up to deal with some of the
preternatural crimes. Not that I would try to explain that to Malone.

What worried me
at the moment was Satinka Tala’s reaction. She wouldn’t be happy knowing the
killer and victim had been right under her nose last night. She really liked to
keep things under control in the area, especially in her own domain.
Unfortunately, it was getting harder and harder to do these days.

I knew she and
her Guardians were trying to find the rogue vampire and keep the city free of
other evils, but the economic spiral had people fleeing Flint in droves. Those
who didn’t leave suffered from all sorts of problems. The whole situation left
a lot of despair hanging in the area that drew evil entities our way. It
literally hung in the air like an invisible fog, clinging to everything,
catching spirits and emotions in a net of negativity.

I could feel the
chaos energy building in Flint and the surrounding areas but had no idea what
to do about it. The humans had nothing. I needed to find out what Satinka
planned, and how I could help.

While I stood
there thinking and looking around the dimly lit bar a man walked in. He went
right up to Satinka and she looked none too happy about it. He was obviously
unexpected but not unknown to Satinka. Not bad looking, handsome in that “I
know I am good looking, but I am such an ass” way some guys had. Very arrogant.
His persona reeked of vampire. I let them chat and decided to wait until he
left before approaching Satinka.

So I slid into a
booth in a secluded corner of the club, close enough to the bar I could see and
hear Satinka Tala and the cocky stranger.

“So, Devlin,
what brings you to the states?” Satinka’s displeasure came across in her voice.

“Well now, luv,
you know it is you,” the stranger replied with a cockney British accent as he sidled
onto a barstool.

“Playing errand
boy for the council again?”

“Ah, luv, you
are causing a stir again. The council is concerned. We do our best to stay out
of human affairs but here you are playing Guardian Angel to this damned city.
Why do you care so much about these people, this land?”

 “Why are we
having this conversation again, Devlin? You know how I feel. This is my land.
My people have lived here for thousands of years long before white people came
here, long before it was Michigan or Flint. Long ago I was sworn to protect
this land and the people on it.”

Devlin laughed
sarcastically and rolled his eyes while tapping his long tapered fingers on the
bar. “Ah luv I have heard your little speech before.”

Satinka’s steely
gaze locked on Devlin ignoring his comment. “I was the first Winema of my
tribe, the first female chief and that put a lot of responsibility on my
shoulders. I could not stop the destruction. My power was not enough. After
most of my people died, destroyed by the white man, I gave up and left, but now
I am back. This is still my land and these people need me. Lonato, Flint, has
been destroyed, ravaged by economic crisis and crime. I have to make it better,
or at least try.”

Devlin made a
dismissive sound. “This is not your fault, and it is certainly not your
responsibility. You are a vampire, not a savior. Why do you not just let this
place crumble? And why Sati, luv, are you coddling your food?”

 “If all people
are food to you then look at it this way, I am a farmer making the best out of
my farm, my land, and my livestock so it produces the best, the strongest, and
the healthiest food it can.” Satinka stood tall but her eyes reflected sadness
as if knowing she was getting nowhere with Devlin.

 “But we do not
need strong and healthy; we can feed from the weak, the poor, the pathetic.”
Devlin shrugged uncaringly and waved away Satinka’s words as if they meant
nothing.

 “You are what
you eat, Devlin. Weak and downtrodden people weaken the vampire bloodlines.
Plus if they die, we have no food.”

“Humans are not
dying, they reproduce constantly. Not only that, we have our synthetic blood
supplies now. You are not raising these people like cattle to slaughter. You
love them and care for them like pets or even worse, like equals. You make
friends with them, sleep with them...” He stood up slamming his fist on the
bar. “You are the disgrace Satinka, not I. I am true to my vampire nature while
you pretend to still be one of them. You love them thinking they will love you
back.”

 “It is not
about that, Devlin. We cannot survive off of synthetic blood for long periods
of time. You know that, blood with no life can lead to insanity. Synthetic
blood is meant for emergencies and in between feedings so we do not have to
feed from living blood as often, but it has not replaced human blood. You
obviously know that very well from the smell of you. You stink of human blood.”
Satinka’s eyes glowed with green fire, her fists sat tightly clenched on the
bar. Her soft tinkling voice had become hard, cold and cutting. The room
vibrated with an angry intensity that spilled from her. “Do not act all high
and mighty with me, you of all people, are no purist. In fact, you are more of
a sadist,” she spat out.

Disturbance
filled the air with a painful vibration. I had never seen Satinka Tala lose her
composure before. She was stalwart, never out of line, always so calm, but this
man affected her in a very negative way.

 “So what? I
have sex with the humans while feeding from them. It is purely predatory. I use
them and throw them away. Like toys…pure entertainment. It is bad enough the
laws forbid me from killing them anymore. It was better when they did not know
about us, now the government and law enforcement agencies keep an eye on us all
and the Council… they are always so worried about what the humans think.”

 “That is why we
should make ourselves look better in the eyes of humanity so they do not fear
us and wish to destroy us. We were given this power, these gifts to do more
than kill and hide in the dark.”

Devlin threw his
hands in the air with triumph. “Yes, finally something we agree on. We should
be worshipped like Gods!”

 Satinka’s lip
curled up into a snarl, obviously not enjoying the interaction with Devlin. “We
are not agreeing on anything. I do not want to sit around and be worshipped,
Devlin. That sounds very boring. I want to do something that makes a difference
in this world. We have eternity; we should do something meaningful with it.”

Devlin’s tone
was scathing, “Sati, luv, one person cannot change the world. Not even a
powerful vampire like yourself.”

 “No, Devlin,
but perhaps many powerful beings could.”

 He sat down
speechless for a moment as if pondering the things she said. “Is that why you
have created your group, your little assortment of crime fighters? Your
supernatural guardians, shape shifters, vampires, witches, and who knows what
else, to do what the human police cannot?”

 “Yes, the
humans are bound by laws that do not apply to us. It does no good to put one of
us in their little cells, we escape. 'Other beings' are not so kind and they
will kill to stay out of human hands, then there are humans worse than any
monster that walks in the night. We go into the gray areas and take care of the
bad things.” Satinka paced back and forth behind the bar apparently trying to
calm herself.

 “What about all
the other annoying do-gooder stuff you do? You have opened up so many
businesses around here; this nightclub VAMP, the café and art gallery, and you
bought all those historic houses, hotels and buildings and donated them to the
university. Then there are all the scholarships you have created so local kids
could go to college. It is a little too much. Some of us think you are
attracting too much attention to yourself. You are in the news
constantly—Flint’s Savior, Flint's Own Guardian Angel. I heard them talking
about making you mayor. The council is not happy with the publicity.”

 “It is good PR.
We need it now more than ever. A rogue vampire has turned into a serial killer
and making headlines here.”

 Devlin stood up
again his lip curling into a half sneer. “Yes, a bit too long for a killer to
run free in your streets is it not? Seems you should have had that all wrapped
up by now with your Guardians hard at work on the case. Or are the humans
getting in your way. I hear they have hired a local Preternatural Liaison. Is
she getting in your way?”

 “No, she is a
friend.” Satinka glanced quickly to my dark little corner then turned back to
Devlin. I should have known that I had not gone unnoticed. “She is old blood, a
Celtic witch.”

“Yes, I have
heard. I hear Galen has his eyes on her. Is that safe, do you think?” he
sneered.

“Leave Galen out
of this, Devlin. You two need to just stay the hell away from each other,”
Satinka shot angrily.

“Come now, we
know Galen is not exactly balanced or stable when it comes to intimate
relationships. Perhaps his past is catching up with him.” Devlin smiled widely
now. He looked almost triumphant. I wondered what he had against Galen.