Kissed by Darkness (2 page)

“Sorry, but Kabita’s got me working for this new client. He wants me to kill a Sunwalker.”

Inigo blinked. “Uh-huh.”

“You see anything?” I didn’t mean in the physical sense.

He shook his head. “Nah. Not before coffee. And I’m not drinking any ‘cause I’m going back to bed the minute you leave. Which will be … ?”

“Soon,” I assured him. I crossed my arms under my chest and gave my already impressive cleavage a subtle boost. Oh, I was such a bad girl. “I just need your help tonight. There’s this woman, Cordelia Nightwing. She works at some club called Fringe. You know it?”

He grinned, his eyes on my chest. He knew exactly what I was doing. “Yeah, I know it.”

“I take it that this is one of those weirdo clubs with mermaids swimming in fish tanks or something like that.”

He tilted his head as he laughed and the sun streaming through the open door picked out the gold in his hair. “Yeah, something like that.”

Down, libido, down. “Well, this Cordelia is supposed to know something. Something that will help me track the Sunwalker I’m hunting. So, can you help me out? Go to the club with me, find this Cordelia chick and find out what she knows?”

“Yeah, sure, if you promise to leave me in peace and let me sleep. Unless you want to join me?” His grin was pure naughtiness.

I rolled my eyes at him. “As if. OK, I’ll pick you up at ten tonight. I’ve got another hunt. I’ll try and get it done before then.” I headed for the door.

“Make it midnight,” he called. “The weirdos never come out before then.”

I tossed him a look over my shoulder. “Obviously.”

Chapter Two

I found rather perverse enjoyment in slaying. I sometimes wondered if that didn’t make me just a little bit sick and twisted. Or maybe a lot sick and twisted, but it wasn’t like I went around killing animals and taking candy from children. That would just be … wrong. I only enjoyed killing nasty things that went bump in the night.

Terrance was one hell of a nasty bump in the night. With a name like Terrance, you’d expect leather patches on elbows and smoke billowing from a pipe. You didn’t expect one of the meanest, nastiest vampires in the city. It wasn’t that he was particularly powerful, just psychotic. I mean, the guy was a serious piece of work. His latest foray into the “real” world was prowling for an after dinner snack in a sorority house.

Most vamps didn’t give a shit what was for dinner, as long as it was human and breathing. Terrance had a particular taste for college girls, preferably ones with big boobs and long blond hair. I’d had to kill more than one of his snacks after they’d ended up turning vampire. Fortunately, he also went for ones that were less than smart, so killing them once they’d turned was fairly easy. Intelligence, or lack thereof, seemed to carry over into undeath.

Anyway, the night before, Terrance had pretty much gone through half the girls in the sorority and the dean of the university wasn’t real happy about it. It didn’t look so good when your entire cheerleading squad got eaten by the undead. He’d hired us to get rid of his problem, which meant he really hired
me
to get rid of his problem, me being the only one of the three of us who actually killed vampires for fun and profit.

Terrance lived in the basement of an old apartment building in southeast Portland. Nice and dark and only tiny little windows high up in the walls, easily blocked by a few sheets of plywood. It was nearly noon, so if I could get the plywood off the windows, it’d brighten the place up and make it easier to deal with Terrance. Then I could go home and get some much-needed rest before tonight’s meeting with Cordelia Nightwing. What the hell kind of name was Cordelia Nightwing, anyway?

The building had a security entrance, but that wasn’t exactly a problem. I used to live in one of these old places. I didn’t bother pushing any of the buzzers; I just waited until someone came out then I grabbed the door and walked in like I belonged there. It’s amazing how many supposedly secure places you could brazenly walk right into as long as you acted like you had every gods-given right to be there.

The door to the basement stairs was on the right, so I swung it open and tried to take the stairs two at a time. I say tried because at barely 5‘5”, taking stairs two at a time was a near impossibility. I gave up and just took them fast, using the handrail to propel me downward.

The basement was cold and dank. Under the odor of mildew and laundry soap was another darker smell: the stench of the undead.

I couldn’t really explain that smell because it wasn’t actually real. Vampires didn’t generally smell any different than living humans. If you were to dance with one in a nightclub, you wouldn’t know the difference, except that a vamp would possibly be a lot paler and maybe try and chomp on your neck. But I could smell the difference. It was something to do with my abilities and it was more a metaphysical smell than a physical one. It was one of my least favorite side effects of the virus that changed me but a very handy talent to have when hunting down vampires.

Terrance’s room was the old maintenance man’s room from back when they used to hire guys full time to live in the basements of apartment buildings to keep the boilers going. Nowadays they either turned them into storage or rented them cheap to people who liked living in caves. Vamps loved them.

A thick metal door marked “B” stood between me and Terrance. Definitely a deadbolt or twelve. I knew he couldn’t sense me, being in that state of sleep the undead have which was closer to death than sleep.

The basement was deserted, so after I peeled the plywood off the narrow windows high on the opposite wall I got out my tools and went to work on the deadbolts. I’d rather have just got out a gun and blasted the door open, but despite what they showed in the movies, that was actually a really stupid idea. Bullets had a tendency to bounce off things like metal doors and cement walls and wind up places you didn’t intend for them to go. Like your own leg. Or head. Not exactly the best way to get into a locked room. Plus it upset the neighbors.

So I took the slow and boring route, opening the door like any normal person would. With a locksmith’s tools. Kabita had insisted that both Inigo and I learn to pick locks properly. Well, Inigo didn’t actually need to learn. That boy had skills. Not sure I wanted to know where he picked them up.

I popped the last lock, packed away my tools, then with UV gun in hand I slowly swung the door open. It was black as pitch inside the room, the only light coming from the tiny windows outside in the hall. Couldn’t see a damn thing, but I could feel Terrance across the room, still deep asleep. A vamp won’t usually wake during the day. Not at noon, certainly, unless he’s incredibly old or incredibly strong. Terrance was neither, so I figured I was pretty safe.

I was wrong.

I approached the camp bed, gun drawn, when a hand shot up and wrapped around my throat. Shit. I struggled to breathe, but the hand was too tight and squeezing tighter. I didn’t have time to think about how on earth a two-bit vamp like Terrance had the power to wake in the middle of the day; I was too busy fighting for my life as his other hand gripped the wrist of my gun arm so I couldn’t shoot him. Double shit.

The gun dropped to the floor with a dull thud as my hand went numb. Spots were dancing in front of my eyes. I knew I was going to pass out and be vampire lunch if I didn’t do something. So I did the one thing I could think of. I went limp. Dropped like the proverbial stone.

Unfortunately, Terrance dropped with me. Dead on top of me, in fact. Fortunately, he let go of my wrist and loosened the hold on my throat. I felt him go for my neck, felt the teeth sink in. Hurt like hell, but it distracted him just enough. I planted my knee in his groin. Hard. Even undead, guys still got unhappy when you planted a knee in their family jewels. Death, or rather undeath, didn’t change that particular physiological fact.

He reared back, teeth ripping out of my neck and grabbed his crotch. He fell to the ground screaming. “You stupid bitch!” he howled. “That fuckin’ hurt!”

“Yeah, well, this is gonna hurt even worse, Terry.” My fingers had closed around the UV gun, and with precision born of years of hunting vamps in the dark, I pointed the gun at Terrance and pulled the trigger.

Terrance let out a horrific scream as the UV ray sliced through his stomach to his upper chest and found his heart. Within seconds he’d caught fire, then flashed to dust.

Nobody knew why vamps dusted instead of leaving a body like humans. Some Hunters claimed it was magic, others that the earth was claiming back the blood they stole. Not terribly scientific, but there weren’t a lot of scientists out there studying vampires. Probably because the government didn’t exactly like the scientific community knowing about a creature that had achieved something akin to eternal life. Could you imagine some mad scientist getting his hands on that tidbit of information? Yeah, not good.

I pulled myself up off the floor and staggered to the door. I could feel the blood dripping down my neck and sliding under the collar of my jacket, soaking my T-shirt and trickling into my bra. Ew. Fortunately, the very virus that had once nearly killed me not only made me immune to a vampire bite, but it would also heal the wound quickly enough that I wouldn’t bleed out. Probably wouldn’t even have much of a scar. Which was good. I’d have hated to try and explain that one to my mother.

What I needed was something to eat and then a hot shower and a long nap, but staggering around town with blood dripping down my front was going to get me a lot of attention I didn’t want. Terrance’s master knew Terrance was dead the minute he dusted. What he didn’t know was who had killed him and I wanted to keep it that way for now.

I staggered up the steps and gently pushed open the door to the hall. A quick glance told me no one was around, so I hurried out through the front door to my car. I fumbled in the glove box for an old pashmina I kept there and then carefully wrapped it around my neck so it draped across my front. It looked like I’d watched one too many DIY makeover shows. Not that I cared. Never much been one for fashion. I was all about comfort and utility. I just needed to get home without half the city finding out I’d been in a ruckus with a vampire.

I started the car and drove gingerly down the street and onto the main road. I probably shouldn’t have been driving. I was weak and shaky with blood loss. I needed something to eat. Fast. Preferably something with high sugar content.

I swung through the next drive through and ordered a large orange juice and three boxes of cookies. The girl didn’t even blink. In fact, I wasn’t entirely sure she was awake. Could zombies work a drive-thru?

I’d eaten all three boxes of cookies and downed the entire cup of OJ before I reached home. I was feeling much better.

I spent thirty minutes in the shower before tumbling into bed. I didn’t bother with pajamas. Too tired. I just dragged the duvet over my head and was asleep before I could think to set my alarm clock.

***

Something woke me. I felt disoriented and slightly feverish, the result of my body healing itself, no doubt. But what had woken me? I lay still, letting that bizarre sensory ability of mine play over the room and through the house. No vamps, nothing threatening at all. And yet …

“Inigo, what the hell are you doing in my bedroom?”

The streetlight pouring into my window caught and flashed in his toothy grin. “I was hoping to catch you naked.”

“Bloody idiot,” I grumbled, shoving hair out of my eyes.

“Plus you’re late.”

I squinted at the clock. 12:05 a.m. Dammit. I sat up, clutching the duvet to my chest. My very naked chest. “Sorry. Forgot to set the alarm.”

“Yeah, I know.” He stood up and handed me my robe. Not the nice, thick terry one I generally liked to hang around in, but the silky one I kept for when I had someone over. Not that I’d had anyone over in longer than I cared to recall. But one must be prepared for these things. You know, just in case.

I threw him a glare, grabbed the robe and hauled it around my shoulders before staggering to the bathroom and slamming the door. I looked a fright. My hair was sticking up in about a hundred different directions, giving the appearance of a red nimbus around my head. My skin was pasty white from blood loss with dark circles under my eyes and my green eyes were fever bright. Great. Just great.

I splashed cold water on my face, brushed my teeth and ran a comb through my hair. Didn’t work. I grabbed some hair gunk and used it to muss up my hair some more so it looked like I intended the whole light-socket look. I patted some cover-up under my eyes, swiped on some mascara and lip gloss, and added just a bit of blusher to my cheeks so I didn’t look like a member of Vampires-R-Us.

I gave myself a critical look. The right outfit and I’d probably blend into the crowd at Fringe OK. Well, probably not enough makeup, but there wasn’t time for full war paint.

By the time I went back to my room, Inigo had vacated it. Thank the gods. I didn’t have time to deal with both his hormones and mine.

I grabbed a pair of jeans and a black tank out of the closet and yanked them on over a black bra and panties. I didn’t do thongs. Trust me, when you’re kicking vampire ass, the last thing you wanted was a scrap of cloth climbing up into your nether regions.

The tear from Terrance’s fangs was nearly healed now, leaving a bright pink mark on my neck. I grabbed a black and white choker which covered the mark pretty well and then threw on a sheer black top which I kept around for just such occasions. Not that I spent a lot of time in clubs, but my job took me strange places.

I finished off the outfit with my black combat boots and my weapons holster. I had a special federal license to carry anything capable of killing vampires; plus, no one in a club like Fringe would notice or care that I was packing. Probably.

A quick look in the mirror told me I’d look more at home in a vampire fetish club, but it was the best I could do. I’d have to leave it up to Inigo to get us past the bouncer.