Invincible (A Centennial City Novel) (17 page)

Jason’s door was shut. Locked, as well.

I’d checked.

But not before calling out. He didn’t answer and if the door was locked and there seemed to be no signs of forced entry. That and I couldn’t sense anyone’s aura since we walked in.

The place was quiet and calm as a tomb.

I walked around the house and pulled free all the curtains, tugged up all the shades, did everything but open up the doors to let in the sunlight that seemed to scare away the shadows that had lingered in this home for too long.

I decided it was time to use the new cell phone.

Someone answered, a high feminine voice, vaguely British in the accent, but I couldn’t tell for sure. “Yes?”

I stared out the window at the older gentleman who was shoveling his walk with a snow shovel that seemed bigger than he was. “It’s Hwang. I need to speak with Elder Chang.”

There was a pause.

I hated pauses.

“There…” I heard her swallow on the other line. “There has been an…incident.”

An incident.

A pretty phrase to mean things had turned out nasty. “Explain.”

She swallowed again. “I don’t think I…that is to say, perhaps I wouldn’t be the best…”

There was another pause and distant voices, or maybe someone just put their hand on the speaker to mask the conversation.

“Is this Hwang? Ran Hwang?”

A new voice.

A voice I recognized. But not one I particularly welcomed. “Malcolm. I would say it’s a pleasure, but we both know I’d be lying.”

He drew in a deep breath and then let it out. When he spoke, he almost sounded friendly. Almost. “There’s been a situation. Nothing to worry about.”

I had asked to speak with Elder Chang, but got Malcolm, the head Guard instead. This did not bode…well. “Is he dead?”

“It’s a— what did you say?”

My eyes saw the old man struggling with the snow shovel, but nothing registered in my mind. “I asked you if Elder Chang is dead.”

He laughed. Nervously. “What would make you ask such a thing?”

He was stalling for time.

I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling the painful beginnings of a tension headache chip away at the corners of my vision. “You asking me that makes me fear the worst. Is he or isn’t he dead?”

In my mind, I could see him rub at his chin, dark, thick eyebrows furrowed over a nose broken multiple places, multiple times. “He’s not dead…yet.”

I let out a breath. “I was told by my Handler Elder Chang wanted me back at the Sanctuary.”

“I don’t know anything about that, but you are not needed. If Elder Chang needed to see you, then he’s certainly in no position to meet with you. We will get a hold of you when we need you.”

It sounded like a dismissal. “But I —”

“Stay safe.”

“Wait a mi—”

The empty, banal dial tone was my only reply and I slipped the phone back in my back pocket, unsure of just how to progress.

I hated uncertainty.

Always I had a plan, or someone did and I followed it.

What was the plan now?

Watery sunlight filtered through the trim, meticulously cleaned home and as was my habit, I made a cursory inspection of the house. You can call me paranoid, but it helped to know the potential number of entrances.

Should something happen, that is.

And that was the kicker.

With Elder Chang incapacitated, Jason exhibiting deviant behavior and Adrian all but dragging me back to the Sanctuary, I felt thin, punched to the ground, about as substantial as a shadow in the middle of a summer day.

“Something is bothering you.”

Jason, wreathed in shadows and darkness, stood in the safety of his doorway, the door cracked to just a few inches, to let in the minimum of sunlight. Beyond him, I could see nothing, just a pitch black darkness that made me wonder just how well he had prepared for his transformation into the Underworld.

I shook my head and held out the credit card. “Don’t worry about it. I have a phone.”

He stared at the card for a moment and then met my gaze. “Keep it. You might need it in the future.”

Much as I didn’t like being dependent on other people, I could see his reasoning. After all, he was forced to stay indoors and I would have to feed myself, transport myself in the daylight. “So, in effect, I am your Renfield.”

His face was emotionless although I noticed the dark circles under his eyes. “In effect, yes. I apologize for the change in plans. I had not anticipated…”

“You hadn’t anticipated on enjoying vampires more than humans?”

Perhaps my voice was just that much harsh, but I couldn’t help the note of resentment from entering my voice.

He looked away.

“I can’t do this without you.”

I can’t do this without you.

I didn’t know why his words affected me. “You’ve said that before.”

I squirmed under his calm gaze.

“So I did. You have a great deal of honor. You would not dare go back on an oath. Your pride and yet your downfall. I’m going to hold you to your promise. This is a job, but it’s one you can’t let go, not easily. In a way, I’m sorry, Ran. This wasn’t how I thought events would unfold.”

I couldn’t remember the last time he’d spoken so long. “You’re using me.”

A flicker of pain ran across his pale features. “Plainly speaking, yes, I am.”

I wished he didn’t look so uncomfortable. To see the multitude of emotions in his face, in his eyes, it was hard to reconcile this image of Jason to the previous one, the confident one, the one with all the answers.

“It’s ironic,” I said quietly. “You seem more human than ever.”

He licked his lips and a sharpened canine glinted in the darkness. “Yes, funny, isn’t it? The way life seems to work.”

I watched him watching me and felt as though I stood at a precipice, the fog too thick to see beyond or below.

Uncertainty. I hated it more than I hated pauses.

“So.”

“Yes?”

He leaned against the door, arms crossed, feet bare. It was an oddly intimate moment and I came to the conclusion that I had never been around Jason in such a state of dishabille, not counting the time when an assassin decided to take his life.

Another mystery, but not one I would visit at the moment.

But soon.

Soon.

“What will you do now?”

He rubbed his temple in a thoughtful manner. “Originally, I was meant to be presented as Reiko’s latest protegee, a possible successor to the House. Unfortunately, that path is now closed to me. She would not dare present me, not at the risk of her life. There is somewhat an antiquated idea that once a Domina makes…” he smiled bitterly. “Something like me, there is a chance she can make another. Something in the saliva, the DNA she passes on. Of course, it’s foolish nonsense. No one can predict the birth of something like me, no one can try to make one. I am an…
original
.”

Original.

What a strange concept. “You know, humans seek to protect what they deem to be a one of a kind.”

A corner of his lips kicked up. “I wonder what Vincent would say if I asked for protection.”

What to say? “I’m sorry.”

Simple, but it seemed…right.

He pulled in deeper into his room, and for a moment, it seemed as though he would shut the door in my face. But he stopped, one hand on the door. “For now, we’ll rest.”

“I don’t need to rest.”

“Then do what you do best,” he said.

I didn’t mean to be so objective, but some things had to be said. “I hunt vampires. We are in direct competition for prey.”

He leaned his forehead against the door, eyes closed, profile to me. “Indeed we are. I’ve thought about this, you know.”

I was almost too afraid to ask. “Tell me.”

But I still had to know.

“Figuratively speaking…” his voice trailed away and he opened his dark eyes. “We are on the same side.”

I shook my head. I am anything if not a realist. “For now. Don’t forget what happens when you’ve led me to Noir.”

He was silent and then laughed. “How could I?”

He closed the door and that was...that.

11

Night fell.

We left the house.

We chose to walk.

Camden was a small town, and the Lady Victoria Casino was not so far off, perhaps a couple of miles. But it was an unusually balmy, for a winter night and I appreciated the exercise.

Jason did not say a word, and neither did I.

Sounds of traffic, loud, blaring, obnoxious, reached us far before the main intersection and perhaps due to the weather, there were more people about than you’d expect in the middle of winter.

Or perhaps they responded to the siren call of the casino.

Bright, lurid, almost friendly, it beckoned to us and Jason stopped at the steps, one hand on my arm. “There is something you should know.”

I stopped, well aware of the two men in suits standing at the double doors, eyes shielded by glasses. It seemed like such a silly thing, to wear sunglasses in the middle of the night. But who was I to judge? “And that would be?”

He drew in a quick breath, brushed a hand down the long dark brown coat that matched the hue of his eyes. “We might…we might not be particularly welcome in this town.”

I spared a glance around the entrance, but it was just us, the security guards, and an elderly pair of ladies clutching large handbags, twin looks of determination on their faces as if not willing to step back out until they made a fortune. “Let’s go inside.”

His hands clenched. “There might be danger here.”

“Then I would rather it be inside where there are lots of people than here,” I said and as the two men opened the doors for the seniors, the roar of a steadily growing crowd, the sound of tinkling coins, wafted towards us like a long-forgotten melody.

He opened his mouth and then closed it again.

I took that as an affirmative and walked forward, still somewhat wary of the security guards who were both over six and a half feet tall and built like a brick house.

One of them, the one on my right held up an arm, barring my entrance.

“Might I inquire as to what you’ve got in the bag, madam?”

For the way they looked, this one sounded like he’d been raised in a boarding school, clipped accent and all. “I’m an art student.”

For some reason, “It’s a sword” never seemed to work.

His lips pursed. “I’m afraid I can’t let you on the premises before checking.”

Stuck before making my way in.

I could lie, but he would check and while I might’ve been able to take care of one guard, I wasn’t so sure about two of them. Not to mention, for the moment, Camden was our home. It didn’t seem like a good idea to start hurting people and get attention.

Jason put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed slightly, effortlessly pushing me back.

“Gentlemen,” he said, voice husky and almost breathy. “Perhaps we can come to some sort of…arrangement?”

His eyes never left the boarding school security guard, the slight smile never left his lips, and I watched the bodyguard pull off his sunglasses.

Pupils dilated to an almost obscene ratio, he shook his head slowly, lips working silently.

Glamour.

Jason was just one surprise after another.

“You understand how it is, right?” he asked, voice still low, still breathy. It almost sounded sexual in nature. “I am…someone of some importance. She is my protector. Were I do die in your establishment, it could go very wrong for you. There are, you understand, things that are stronger than you could imagine. Vampires…”

The bodyguard shook his head slowly, while the other one was staring at us outright. “Vampires…are citizens too. They have the same rights, but the same limitations.”

Jason laughed. “You’re an idiot if you think that. But you will let us through. And you will not stand in our way. Is that understood?”

“Understood,” he said slowly, voice trembling. He took a step to the side. “Welcome to the Lady Victoria Casino. I hope you enjoy your stay here.”

The other bodyguard slipped off his glasses, eyes wide, but not unhumanly so. “Now, wait a second, Wyatt, what the hell do—”

Wyatt shook his head. “Let them through. Any responsibility, I’ll take.”

We left the two bodyguards arguing behind us, but that hardly seemed to matter. The doors shut behind us, and the lights were almost blindingly bright, the sound of falling coins and the distant yells and groans echoing in my ears.

Jason stopped at the threshold, eyes closed, head tilted back, almost as though he were enjoying himself, basking in the glow of human greed and envy.

“What you just did,” I said quietly. “Glamour. You forced him to your will.”