Finally Dead (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 1) (27 page)

Zack
picked up the headless body as if it were made of air and feathers, then
stepped into the empty space in the middle of the room, where the invisible
Node was. He vanished, along with Tim’s remains, only to come back a few
seconds later, alone.

“Where I
put him, the animals should finish his body in a few hours. Why are you two
still here?” He glared, and seemed ready to kill the remaining two boys. Not
that Eve blamed him. It had surprised her a bit that he’d acted like that, but
honestly, what were they supposed to do? Let Tim go with a few smacks on the
hind end? He’d not only used magic he wasn’t supposed to, but had flat out
admitted that he planned to rape Lyn. Probably many times. Yes, it was never
going to happen, but intent counted too, didn’t it?

Eve
waved at them.

“
Go
.
Bob, Mark, will you make sure they get home, and find me the numbers to call
for them? We’ll need to tell their parents about this.” Especially the dead kid’s.

That got
a nod, one that seemed stiff, from Bob Millhouse, and he managed to push a
slightly panicked looking Mark to help him get the boys moving. If they didn’t
run as soon as they were out of the store though, they were fools.

From the
sounds of feet on bricks, the kids and Marcus did run. Bob…
stalked
.
Probably not all that pleased that there had been a death like that, for all
he’d been about to stab someone.

Zack
seemed normal again though, as soon as the others were out of the room, and so
did Darla.
They
weren’t worked up at all over things. That was kind of
what being a Greater Demon meant though. It was hard to understand that they
weren’t just other people, most of the time. They could do things like this
though, and honestly not feel the pain or remorse that even she might have. It
was, probably, why Zack had done it. That, or he’d realized that the other Demons
would take it as a sign of weakness if he didn’t act in a timely fashion. Darla
had pointed out, several times, that this was his territory. That was probably
a sign that he needed a show of force to protect it.

For her
part… Well, she didn’t care either, really. Tim hadn’t even been food for her,
and she was really getting sick of the sudden influx of Mages that seemed to
think having power meant they could do whatever they wanted. It was correct,
but not if they were going to do it where other people could stop them.
Everyone knew that, didn’t they? It was why criminals hid their actions. To try
and get away with things.

Except
for moronic kids that had always had it too easy in life.

Darla
smiled at her, warmly, and put a lovely hand on her cool back.

“That
was well done, Eve. You helped get two of the boys out of the room alive, while
not making yourself, or us, look weak. Just for that, I have a reward for you.”

Then,
maddeningly, she didn’t say what it was, just waving and walking out of the
room into the store. After a moment, both of the other Greater Demons moved to
follow her.

Out in
the store, Darla was already gone. There was no sign of her in the slightest.
Lyn was still there, along with Zack, who moved toward the café, stopping to
select not one, but three oversized books from a shelf, just handing them to
her.

“Node
Rulez. These are the books you’ll need to be part of the local community for
that kind of thing. The main handbook, and the Vampire and Mage select game
books. Notice how well done the art is? Hmm? Hmm?” He looked at her with
slightly wide eyes, handing the things over. The art
was
good, but she
got the general idea about five seconds slower than she should have.

The
names on the books, on all three of them, said Zack Hartley and Barbara Fines.

“You and
Barb wrote books?” It probably shouldn’t have been that shocking, but she
looked through the first one, and started to nod. “Good looking ones, too.
Awesome. Not that I can afford them at these prices. I don’t suppose you’d mind
if I read through them here, and memorized them?”

Zack
shrugged, his lean shoulders making points under his black shirt. It didn’t
even have any blood on it, she realized. That single blow had been fast. It was
the kind of thing she should be able to do. If she could just make herself
accept the pain of trying.

“I’ll
comp you these. The whole set, if you want. Really, even if you don’t get into
the game they’re handy to read. I added a lot of accurate information about all
the groups represented here, and a few that aren’t. Not that I’m going to tell
everyone that. This way though, if anyone ever catches on to us, we can pull
the books out and claim to all be playing a game. It’s come up a few times,
already.”

There
was no talk about Tim, or what had happened with him. She understood that part
though. Honestly, it wasn’t her business. She
probably
shouldn’t have
even walked down the mall to see who was doing what. It just
wasn’t
a
Vampire matter. Except that she’d gotten involved, and probably turned it into
one.

That was
the kind of thing that she really shouldn’t have to be told not to do, wasn’t
it? Mind your own business was not only the code of the street, but every
single book she’d ever read that wasn’t a romance.
Those
tended to have
busybody behavior work out pretty well in the end.

Still,
she took the books and handled them carefully as she left, running as fast as
she could, or rather walking with a level of speed that made her want to
scream. Literally. Eve went faster anyway, regardless of that.

What
Zack had done… She wasn’t really going to be able to do that anytime soon. Even
if she could that didn’t mean she’d be the equal of a Greater Demon in a fight,
but being slow wasn’t going to help her either.

She knew
what she had to be willing to do in order to make it all work, didn’t she?

Pain.
She had to embrace it, and accept that the price of safety in her world was
going to require that of her. Forever. To have real power, the kind that set
her apart from others, she had to understand that and live it, all the time.
That was fine. She could do it. Bey did, and had for longer than she’d probably
ever know about. She stopped on Troy’s doorstep though, since she didn’t really
want the door to explode when she went in. Then, after stepping inside
carefully, she searched the whole house, to find it empty on the top levels,
but containing a handy Bey in the basement, where he had a nice room laid out.
There was a lot of wood in it, and the whole place was spotlessly clean all the
time.

There
was even a nice sofa.

“Ah!
Miss Benson. Is all well?”

She made
a face, and hefted the books.

“There
might be some trouble, but probably not for us. A Mage boy tried to take over
the mind of… Well, Lyn? Zack’s adopted grandmother? Except she’s not the Mage
she pretends to be. Actually she’s a Greater Demon, too. I don’t have a title
for her, but she doesn’t seem to care, as long as we all are going with her
current act. That isn’t common knowledge, but he mentioned it to me, so it was
all basically handled as a Mage thing, except…” She told him the whole story,
not sparing her stupid involvement in it. Thankfully he understood that she was
kind of tricked into it, Darla trying to be helpful.

“It is
not all bad, perhaps. No, the blame will fall on The Line Walker alone for it,
as he no doubt intended. Leaving you to be the hero who saved the others from
death at his hands. It was clever, but that is to be expected. The best course
now will be to wait and see what comes of this. Be careful, but that is just
the way of life for our kind. Now, I have news for you? I made a trip, earlier,
and spoke to Maggie Sims. She claims that she knows nothing in particular of
this mixed group that kidnapped you. Oh, she believes she knows who they are,
but not why they would do such a thing. I’m inclined to believe her. Then, I
may be biased.” Almost as if trying to taunt her, he remained silent on the
matter.

She made
a loopy face, and rolled her hands in the air.

“
Because
?”

“Ah…
Well, once, long ago, she and I were married. Indeed, she is the one that
turned me from a man into one of the undead. My maker. She has changed her
look, and name, but I knew her as soon as I saw her the other day. It was very
hard for me to not kill that boy who had sought to abuse her. I do, however,
know how easy it is to love her. I’d been thinking of seeking her out for a
while now, if she still lived. I am heartened to find that to be the case. That
does not mean she is on our side in this however. I
think
that is the
case, and her story seems to track with that, but if she were to wish to fool
us, then we would be hard pressed to know of it until it was too late.”

Eve
tried to process all of the information, and couldn’t really. The slightly
hippie seeming gamer geek girl was
that
old? More ancient than Bey?

“How did
she let Marcus get the drop on her then?”

There
was a cute smile then, and Bey stood, pacing a bit.

“Truly,
I do not know. I wonder, perhaps, if she were faking the whole time? To allow
him to do what he would with her? Then when the Mages came to free her, well,
she needed to make it all seem real, to protect her current identity. She did
seem rather to desire he be left alive however. It could merely be that she was
bored, or loves him even?”

“Marcus?
The
fatbeard
?”

“Truly,
stranger things
have
happened in history. Perhaps she even seeks to
groom him for an unlife? He does seem to have some promise. Notice how he
manages to survive so far? That takes some skill with our kind. Also, if it
does not show my own ignorance, what is a fatbeard? I don’t recognize the
terminology.”

She
blinked, and then nodded. It was kind of a specialty term, one that she’d
gotten from Keeley, who knew a lot more about the world of gamers than she did.

“There’s
a look that a certain kind of gamer gets. Chubby, but with a full beard from
just not giving a damn. They all tend to use a similar voice too, for some
reason. It’s kind of a mean description, but it also fits. I probably shouldn’t
call him things like that. He sort of ticks me off though, you know? Well, it
would be easier if I didn’t have to go up against Maggie, so at least there
might be that. I actually sort of like her. I figure that means she’ll end up
being behind it all?”

Bey
shrugged, which looked pretty real but wasn’t the sort of thing she associated
with him. Then, being as old as he was, he didn’t normally have to admit he
just didn’t know something. Because he simply
did
.

“That is
likely. The chances of her being here, at this time, with such things going on,
and her not knowing about them, are small. It is not impossible however, and
she did state that it wasn’t her plan, nor did she request that I step to the
side of anything she is doing here.
Would
she if she had complicated
plans? I know not. I have not seen her in nearly a thousand years. Truly, were
it not for the bond we share, I would not even have known it to be her, she has
altered herself so much.”

That was
news to her. Did she have a bond like that with Edom? She tried to feel it, but
if it was there, she couldn’t yet. Maybe it got stronger over time?

Eve held
the books tightly for a few seconds, trying to work everything out, and finally
just had to look away. It sort of made sense, didn’t it? After a fashion.

“Does
everyone
know each other in the Vampire world?”

“No?” The
big eared man smiled at her, stopping to turn and look directly into her eyes.
“Remember though, that there are perhaps thirty beings of great age of our kind
in all of existence. Most of the truly aged do not interact with others. Or if
they do, it is done most carefully, without the rest of us knowing of it. I
have only rarely met any of them, and my wife is perhaps the oldest of those.
Not the most aged in existence, I don’t believe, but who the others are, I do
not know. Many go mad, after long enough. Great time influences us all
differently.”

“Ah.
That makes sense. Well, I’ll try not to step on her toes then? Hopefully she
isn’t in on this… Whatever it is. Kidnapping scheme? I wonder though, could it
be related to the attempted robbery earlier? That was strange, wasn’t it? I
mean, Cormack
would
have taken those four out, if I wasn’t there. Or
Zack would have. Even if they didn’t know to be afraid of Cormack. If they
thought it was
me
there, well, shouldn’t they have waited?” It didn’t
really make sense, but the man nodded.

“There
is great truth to what you say, young Eve. Their actions were those of beings
driven to desperation, not those of sane individuals. Though if that were the
case, why did they not simply go hunting? None of our kind is so far from that
sort of thing, to forget the skills. More than half of us still get our blood
that way, and
that’s
only on the Council itself. I would not seek to end
the existence of those youngsters for simply surviving, even if the rules do
not allow it. So, why would they take the risk?”

She
didn’t know. Hunting for blood was a lot easier, she was willing to bet, than
trying to steal from them. Even if they’d each just found some guy and offered
to blow him, then nicked his leg a little, it would be enough to get a link
going. Or capture a deer, or sneak up on some farmer’s cows. That wasn’t as
tasty, but would leave them all alive. Heck, the thing with the animals was
even
legal
.

“It’s
almost like someone is trying to start shit with us.” She waved a hand,
embarrassed at her language, even though Bey didn’t react to her words. “I
mean, the two things I know about, taking me on my first day, and then an
attack on the place I work… Well, it
isn’t
about me. It
can’t
benefit anyone either. Greater Demons could set that up, but would it be worth
it? Old enough Vampires could compel the younger ones to do stupid things too,
and I guess that a strong Mage might, too. Really, I’m kind of wondering if it
all comes back to the game thing, in the park?” She hefted the books, then
sighed. “I need to read these things. Right now though I have to get off to the
club. I’m on security for the night. That, and toilet cleaning duties, to keep
me humble.”

 She set
them down on the coffee table, and wondered if she could get a chance to read
them at work the next day. It would be hard, with the sun overhead, and the
lethargy, but she might get some time for it, if she were careful. As it was
she had to dart out, going upstairs to shower again. She smelled like blood,
from the haze of it that had come from Tim’s exploded head.

It was a
cool trick, but
had
kind of coated everything in the room at the same
time.

Once she
had new clothing on, or rather old things that were the last of what she owned
that was clean, she tried to force herself to get to the club even faster than
she’d moved back to Troy’s house. It wasn’t fun, but she scouted the whole
perimeter, and was able to find the three people watching the club, thanks to
that. She’d stayed on the ground at first, but caught the scent of people above
her when a downdraft helped her out. It was a bit random, and there was luck
involved, but she wouldn’t have thought to check the rooftops of buildings
around them otherwise. It was another lesson then. Be thorough all the time.

Edom and
Troy were both in, sitting in the office, when she stopped moving fast. She
gasped, since it really hurt worse to stop than any other part of the whole
thing.

“Ed!”
She tried not to sound breathless, as Troy jumped, yelling a bit, and Edom
stood suddenly.

“What?”

“Watchers,
outside, on the buildings around us. Three of them. That I noticed at least. Humans
I think. They have guns though. Rifles. Not really fancy ones either. With
scopes, but no remote shooting gear.” She didn’t know if that kind of thing
would make sense to Edom, but Troy nodded, getting the idea. The best snipers
didn’t touch their weapons, since little body movements could mess up the shot.
Instead they basically used remote control setups on tripods. It had been in a
videogame that they’d played together at one point.