Finally Dead (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 1) (15 page)

Lenore
let a single strawberry blonde eyebrow rise, which was done really well. Eve
decided to practice that move in the mirror herself.

“Oh?
What kind of a wager?”

She
shrugged.

“Not
much of one really. I guess it would be closer to say that I get rewards if I
can do it? I have to try and stay up for fifteen days. He figures that if I can
do it, and put up with the pain of it, that I should be able to stay up all the
time after that without it being an issue. He has to help though. You know,
slap me around to keep me up and on my feet if I need it?”

Ed
looked shocked and a bit concerned, but Lenore simply nodded, like it made
sense.

“It is a
hard thing to manage. I’ve never heard of anyone doing such so young, but you
did manage to stay among the living for the entire day? That is a feat in and
of itself. What do you get for a reward, if you manage this endeavor?”

There
was a bit of curiosity involved at least, as the older Vampire came around the
counter, looked at the nearly pristine state of things and then started opening
containers to make sure everything was correct. There was no re-asking of the
question, and the work took place at a slow, Human speed level. Not hurried,
but she actually checked all of the work very closely.

Eve
faked a shrug and made sure she didn’t breathe too deeply.

“
If
I can get it done, Zack will forgive half the debt the Vampire Council has with
him.”

Everyone,
including Cormack, stared at her.

Like it
was a big deal or something?

She
smiled back.

It was
pretty clear that Lenore wanted to freak out. The hard thing was figuring out
if she wanted to tear Eve a new asshole, or if kissing her was closer to what
she really desired. Instead she called Zack, who physically came down to the
shop, and hugged his Vampire girlfriend closely before speaking.

“Hey
love. I hear you all got caught up in a thing? I hate
things
. Is it
someone trying to start an army again?”

That was
enough to derail the rant that Eve had expected.

The
Vampire Ambassador was good at her job, after all, and really not that moody,
for one of them.

“We
aren’t certain. This was a mixed group, which shows that several different
Vampires are working together. It’s a very rare thing to see. Manthori,
Classical, and the new human like Vampires. Also a Thermion, which is just
about unheard of this far north. The bat-like Vampires? None of them knew what
was happening to them. So this wasn’t planned, at least to the point of
bringing troops over. For that matter, why bother with that last sort if it
was? They’re so peaceful and docile that they don’t fight. They flee if
attacked.” Her eyes locked with the Greater Demon’s, but if anything more than
a longing look passed between them, she couldn’t see it.

Edom
gestured at Cormack, who went and got an apron. Then he looked down at her and
shook his head.

“Where’s
yours?”

Eve
winced.

“Damn.
Here I’d thought that I’d gotten everything right, too. I totally forgot to
wear one. All day long.” She got ready for a back hand to come in, and braced
herself. It was a little thing, but Ed would probably feel the need to make
certain she didn’t mess up too much, and the better she did, the harder and
more picky, he would need to be about everything.

She’d
noticed that one first hand.

Lenore
glanced over at her, breaking her contact with Zack to do it.

“Well,
I’m certain you won’t forget again. We must needs hold to high standards
however. The rest of the store looks
wonderful
. I’d half feared it would
be but a smoldering ruin when we returned. Why, at this rate, I might just take
tomorrow off and go have my hair done.” She was joking, but Zack smiled at her.

“Sounds
like a plan. Or maybe in a few days? I was thinking that we could go to Paris
and take in the sights?”

Eve had
to like the vote of confidence. Oh, sure, on one level it was probably as self
serving as it sounded outwardly. Zack was making sure that Lenore would have
backup, all the time. Edom was nearly there, going down only for a few hours a
day already, so if they had a third person available all the time, they could
have breaks and that kind of thing.

Underneath
that though, she knew that he was
really
trying to make sure she had a
chance to be what she wanted. Strong. So powerful that no one would be able to
easily take her against her will ever again.

Things
had started out rocky for her that way, waking up having been kidnapped like
she was. Still, if she could avoid the need to die during the day, then that
would be a lot harder to manage, wouldn’t it? She’d done all right, when she’d
gotten her feet under her, after all.

So her
buddy, Greater Demon or not, was making sure she had what she needed to protect
herself. Then, honestly, the others of his kind always said that Zack was the
nicest of them. That came from both the other good ones, like Darla and Keels,
as well as some of the most insane and creepy ones. It was weird, but they
all
loved Zack.

Eve took
a breath, and then gave a nod.

“Call it
next week? I need to prove I can do it first. Plus, you know, I’m actually kind
of busy. I collected a new Mage criminal today.” She smiled, and filled them
all in, though it was clear that Zack already knew about it. The mall wasn’t
that big after all.

Plus,
Bey
had told him all about it. They were buds, after all.

“He was
pretty impressed, Eve. We have a bet about what you’re going to do with him,
too.”

Edom
cleared his throat.

“How
soon she’ll drain him for being a pain?”

“Nope.
Bey thinks that she’ll get Keeley to make him a slave. I think that she’s going
to take him as a lover.” He seemed playful at least, so she didn’t try to bite
his throat out. “Not a real one, but you know, after he fixes himself a bit.
That’s a tough plan, for someone like him, but it could work. If he doesn’t get
into line though, we can try some different things. Hiram has some ideas, too.
Most of those involve having him anally sodomized though, so you might want to
not go with his plan.”

Cormack
got to work, and then stopped, with a rag in his hand after a bit.

“Not to be
pushy, but why are you all still here? This place is well enough taken care of,
and there seems to be no real crisis beyond my ability to handle for the time
being. Eve did good.
Better
than that. I have to admit, I’m a bit
jealous, you making it through a whole day like that. If you can make that
work, could I get you to help me do the same?”

He was
looking at her, directly, so she nodded.

“If I
can, then sure. We can build a little power block of people that are awake
during the day.”

Lenore
actually snorted at that one.

“Not
likely. Those of us that do not die in the light are rare. Those willing to
serve are even more so. If Cormack gains such ability, he will probably be made
an Ambassador at one of the other locations. Which…” She looked at the man and
smiled. “Well, if you can do it, then you will be ready. Eve here however needs
fifty years to season, no matter how clever and strong she is so far. It’s
impressive, but no one will trust that truly for a time. You understand that dear?
Don’t let it discourage you. As it is, I’m considering writing a book about the
miracle child. I’m not even certain I’m being sarcastic either. There are
always dues to pay first though, before power will be given.”

Eve
managed to nod in a happy, almost dopey, seeming way. It should look pretty
cute, she thought. Human too.

“That
was always the way it was going to be. So, what’s the plan for the night?” It
was before midnight, and on a Saturday now. “Head to the club?”

That
would be their busy time, she thought.

Edom nodded.

“If you
feel up to it?”

She did,
but looked at her clothing, which was a bit plain for that kind of scene. Not
filthy at least. Vampires didn’t sweat, and while her clothing would get musty
after a while that would take a few days. There were no visible spots or
anything, and she wasn’t going to pick up guys.

“Yep.
Oh, say, Zack, did you get those chemicals ordered?”

That, it
turned out had happened, and they would be coming the next day, to his store.

“You’ll
need to pick up the blood, but the man at the shop promised to have that by
five. A gallon of mixed cow. It isn’t perfect as for measurements that way, but
he promised at least ten cows would be used. I think he was being honest, as
far as he knows. You’ll need to have the anti-coagulant ready though, at about
three, and get out to the farm for the collection. I have the address.” He
really did too, on a piece of paper in his pocket. Complete with the needed
driving instructions, because Zack was incredibly awesome that way.

Eve
resisted giving him a hug, but that was a nice thing to have to do. Most of the
day she’d had to fight slapping at people. It was much more fun to try and not
seem slutty, to tell the truth.

Outside,
the weather was cold, but rainy. They lived in the Northwest, and Vancouver,
Washington, wasn’t exactly known for its hard and brutal winters. She got damp
as they walked, with Edom slowly speeding up, until she had to move into a jog.
It wasn’t hard, but she understood that they weren’t just trotting along
either. The world around them moved incredibly slow at the same time.

It was
less impressive than she would have thought, to be totally honest. Instead of a
feeling of hurling herself through the world, it seemed a bit like she was back
in high school PE, trying to make it around the track without looking like a
complete freak, gasping and wheezing.

On the
good side, she didn’t need to breathe at all, so that part wasn’t too bad.

It
did
start to hurt though. An ache that coursed through her entire being. The pink
tendrils that were the links she had to the Humans she was getting energy from
flared a bit. It wasn’t too bad, but it really did feel uncomfortable. Less
than the sun during the day, but she could see why people didn’t try to throw
themselves into hyper moving speeds all the time. It
sucked
.

Edom
didn’t explain. Just waving for her to hide a few times, when people were
driving by. They weren’t invisible after all. After a bit she caught the
pattern of it, and managed to anticipate when she needed to get behind
something. Speeding up painfully to get it done several times.

They
kept that up for what seemed like hours, until they got about two blocks away
from the Terran 2 LA. Then Ed put a dark hand out, signaling her to stop.

Looking
at his watch, he got the time, and then gave her a nod.

“Not too
bad. We covered fifteen miles in eight minutes. You’ll need to work on your
running speed, but that’s not horrible for someone just starting out. From now
on, unless told otherwise, I want you to run everywhere. Do you know why that
is?”

There
were probably a lot of good reasons for it. Practice came to mind, especially
if she were going to be out and about during the day eventually. Not the next
day, since she doubted that direct sunlight would work for her yet, but
soon-ish. Not being noticed would take care and focus. Then there would be
other reasons. She nodded though.

“So you
can borrow my car?” That got a smile, at least, so she went on. “Also, so that
the others don’t think I’m being given special privileges?”

“That
second one, mainly. Plus the thing where I do need to have something to get
places in. I’m going to have to buy a new one, which is a bit of a pain. I
liked
my baby. Would you think poorly of me if I mentioned that two of the youngsters
that died were the ones that trashed her?”

“Nope?
I’m sure there was more to it than that. If not, we’ll pretend there is, which
is pretty much the same thing. Now, what’s the plan in here? Testing me to make
sure I won’t go all juice box fiend on the public? So far so good, but I won’t
lie, they smell fantastic.”

Edom
kept walking, but waited until they were at the door before saying anything.
Then he signaled to Kevin, the hunky bouncer with his light skin and rippling
muscles.

The man
nodded to them both, but he took her in most carefully. That was mainly because
of her rather normal looking street clothes. Everyone else there looked good.
She seemed a bit underdressed. Well, Kevin did too, wearing a blue club jacket
with a black t-shirt under it, but he looked official, having a black headset
piece on.

“Ed. I
was told you were taking the night off? Barb mentioned something like that?”

That
should have gotten a reaction, but he took it in stride, as if he
always
told waitresses, which was what Barb was there, exactly what the real plans
were.

“That’s
right. Don’t tell him yet, but Troy is getting a promotion to manager. I’m
going to be taking the ‘night off’ a lot more for the next few weeks, just to
make sure he’s up to speed on all the paperwork. He’s ready though. This is
Eve. Janitorial. We’ll want her to be able to come and go, since I’d like to
start having some eyes out here, too. She’ll clean up and keep watch on things.
We’ll stick to normal rules though. If it happens off the property, we call in
the police. Other than that, make sure to let her know when the bathrooms need
to be serviced? She’ll need a headset.”

That got
Troy called, as Edom walked off, into the club, leaving her to the mercy of the
large bouncer. Her friend popped his head out though, and Kevin explained the
whole thing to him quickly, and loudly enough that no one complained about her
skipping ahead in the line.

After
all, they
had
to respect the girl that was going to be cleaning up their
mistakes in the bathroom, right?

“Got it,
thanks Kevin. This way?” He kept talking, but didn’t pretend that she was an
unknown to him or anything. The club was loud, at first, but she focused on
what he was saying, and the rest of the world became a lot quieter, almost
instantly. It was no worse than having the television on in the background
while carrying on a conversation.

“You’ve
been here before, so you’ll know the basic layout. The six bathrooms are all
supposed to be single occupancy, but you know the score there. They’re made
extra large, so people can do drugs and have sex in them. We need to have them
checked about once an hour. Bag up any used condoms, needles and that kind of
thing. Make sure there are no drugs left out. Any cash you find, you get to
keep. It comes up. Clothing goes into the lost and found. That’s by the coat
check.”