Kissed by Darkness (22 page)

“Let’s see,” she said, tipping the cup this way and that trying to catch the dying light, “this Darkness business. All I can say is that it’s a part of you. Just like your green eyes and your bad driving.”

“Hey!”

She smirked at me then peered back into the depths of the cup. “It’s new, but it’s not new.” She frowned a little as though struggling to explain something she understood but had no real words for. “I mean, it’s always been in you, part of you, but it’s new. Newly woken. Something … something woke it up.” Her frown grew deeper.

“What do you mean, ‘something woke it up’?”

She shook her head. “I’m not sure. This is all a little … “

“Hinky?”

Her laugh tinkled. “Yeah. Hinky. Has anyone ever told you that you’ve an interesting grasp of the English language?”

“It has been noted,” I said, dryly.

She smiled a little at that. “Well, this ability of yours, to draw on the power of the Dark, it’s only the beginning. There is more to come. Much more.” She frowned into the cup, obviously perturbed by what she saw.

“Shit, what does that mean?” As if some bizarre new channeling power and possible immortality weren’t bad enough. How much crazier could my life possibly get?

Note to self: Don’t ask such stupid questions. The Universe will be sure and answer them. Usually in a way you don’t like.

She frowned some more, tipping the teacup back and forth and muttering a little under her breath. “I’m not really sure. All I can see is that there is more to come for you both with this ability and with others, much more. There is someone who will show you the way, someone who knows the truth. Unfortunately, that someone isn’t me.”

She placed the cup down and leaned back in her chair. “But this gift is definitely part of what I told you was coming, the changes. I’m sorry I can’t be any clearer than that, but I can only work with what I’m given. Unfortunately I’m not being given much.” She threw an annoyed look in the general vicinity of heaven. I’d hate to be on the receiving end of that look.

I sighed. “Thanks for looking.”

“Anytime. Now, about your Inigo … “

I rolled my eyes. I was doing a lot of that lately. It was a wonder they didn’t roll right out of my head. “He’s not
my
Inigo. And I swear to all the gods there’s something weird going on with him.”

“I’ll ask.” She folded her hands over her stomach and closed her eyes.

I glanced over at Bastet who gave me a baleful look, then turned her head haughtily. Bloody arrogant cat.

“Well, I never!” Cordelia sat up abruptly. “How rude.”

“What is it?”

“Do you know what they told me?” She spluttered. “They told me to mind my own business. Oh, they’re happy enough to boss me around when it suits them, but the minute they don’t want to answer my questions … irritating little trolls.”

I could only assume that ‘they’ meant the Beings of the Otherside; angels, spirit guides, ghosts and whatnot. I wondered what they thought about being called trolls. “They couldn’t tell you anything about Inigo, I take it?”

“More like they
wouldn’t
tell me anything. I swear, some days.” She drew in a deep breath and made fluttery motions with her hands as though splashing something on herself. “Positive thoughts. Positive energy.” She gave me a beatific smile. “There. I feel much better now.”

“This is getting weird. First Eddie’s book won’t show us anything about Inigo, and now you can’t get anything on him.”

She shook her head her expression pensive. “I honestly don’t know what’s going on, Morgan. Honestly. But I think maybe it’s something you shouldn’t mess with. They were quite specific that Inigo was not something I should be getting involved with.”

She frowned a little and her eyes got a faraway look in them like they do when you’re remembering something. “Sometimes there’s a reason things are kept secret.”

“Yeah, you could be right.”

There was no way I was giving up on figuring out the whole Inigo thing, but I had other stuff to worry about at the moment. I had a clan of vampires trying to kill me, a magic amulet to find, the death of a Sunwalker to prevent, and my lovely new ability to deal with, not to mention the very real possibility that I may no longer be human at all. I didn’t have time to worry about Inigo right then. Someday soon, though, I was going to figure out what was going on with him, whether the Powers That Be liked it or not.

***

It was dark out with a slight chill in the air when I left Cordelia’s. A gentle breeze teased my hair sending a few strands of red dancing across my face. It was a bit early in the year for such a chill, but sometimes I felt things that weren’t really there in the physical world. Like cold fronts in the middle of summer. I shoved my hands into my pockets and strolled slowly toward the car, my mind in a whirl over the things Cordelia had told me.

The phone ringing jarred me out of my thoughts. “Hello?”

“Morgan, it’s Jack. Are you all right?”

“Of course I’m all right. Why?”

There was a slight hesitation. “Last night I got this strange feeling like you might be in trouble. I tried to hone in on you, but I couldn’t. Something was blocking me.” His voice held an edge of frustration. “I called, but Inigo answered. Said you’d gone to bed with a headache.”

Shit. Oh, shit. “Um, yeah. I’m fine Jack. Like Inigo said, it was just a headache. I get them sometimes. Inigo brought me some herbs that help.” I was going to hell for lying. Or I would be if I believed in hell.

“Uh, huh.” He didn’t sound like he believed me.

“Listen Jack, I appreciate you calling but, ah, I gotta go. Talk later?”

“Sure, OK.” He cleared his throat. “Be careful.”

“Sure. Bye Jack.” Awkward. Why did everything have to be some damn complicated?

I was nearly back to the car when I felt the tingling grip at the back of my skull that told me there was a vampire nearby. I quickly scanned both sides of the street and then I saw him, one of the vamps that nested with Kaldan. He was striding down the sidewalk on the other side of the Park Blocks, completely ignoring everything around him. He didn’t even see me. It was beyond brilliant. I couldn’t have planned it better myself.

Of course, it
could
be a trap, in fact it probably was, but faintness of heart never kicked evil vampire ass. When opportunity knocked, who was I to question? So, I yanked out my cell phone and hit speed dial.

“This better be good. I haven’t had my dinner yet.” Kabita’s tone was just about sharp enough to draw blood.

“Yeah, yeah, Cranky. Listen. I just spotted one of Kaldan’s flunkies. I’m going after him.” I think the sound she made was something between a shriek and a squeak, but it was hard to tell. It certainly wasn’t a “Yay, go you” kind of sound. It was much closer to a “you crazy lunatic” kind of sound, but I was used to that from Kabita.

“Not by yourself. Do you hear me, Morgan Bailey? Not by yourself, you bloody idiot!” Kabita’s voice had gone high enough to make dogs deaf.

“I’m only going to follow him. Track him back to wherever Kaldan is hiding. I’ll ring you when I’m there.” I disconnected before she could start screaming at me again. I knew that after she finished cussing me out six ways to Sunday, she’d round up Inigo and head my way. At any rate, I’d have a posse at my back before I hit Kaldan’s. I wasn’t stupid. Well, not often, anyway.

I followed the flunky as he hurried through the Park Blocks to Burnside Street and then up the street toward my old stomping grounds. I’d lived in an adorable little studio apartment just off southwest Burnside with a big claw foot bathtub and a bed that slid into the wall under a set of built-in bookshelves before fate, and a bad but thankfully short-lived relationship, had sent me to London.

There were a lot of places vampires could hide in that area, not to mention its close proximity to Pittock Mansion which might explain its popularity as a feeding ground. The underground Shanghai tunnels would make a perfect way to move about during the day without turning into a pile of ash.

Ten minutes later, the vamp stopped and I had to duck behind a parked car while he did a quick check to make sure no one was following him. Either he was really, really dumb, or this was a definite setup.

He hurried down a narrow side street and disappeared through a steel door into the shadows beyond. The door clanged shut behind him. It looked like another one of the many ordinary old brick warehouses in the Pearl District, but looks could be deceiving.

Over the past ten years or so, most of the warehouses in this part of town had been remodeled and turned into everything from trendy art studios to snazzy high security loft apartments. It was more common to see pretentious yuppies than blue-collar workers down here these days. I was betting whatever this particular warehouse had been turned into, the security would make Fort Knox look like a playground. Unless it was a trap, of course, then I’d be able to walk right in.

My pocket started vibrating.

“Where are you?” Kabita sounded pissed. OK, so I couldn’t exactly blame her, but what did she expect? That I’d just let the thing get away? As if.

“Eleventh, just a couple blocks off Burnside. He’s gone into one of the old warehouses in the Pearl District.” I rattled off the building number to her.

“Sit tight. We’ll be there in five minutes. Do you hear me? Do not go in. Morgan? Morgan? Dammit!”

I disconnected and shoved the phone back in my pocket. Going in alone was really, really stupid. I knew that. Five minutes was a long time, though. They could be doing anything in there.

I yanked the phone back out of my pocket to check the time. Four minutes. Shit. I paced back and forth on my side of the street. No windows, one door. I couldn’t see them and they couldn’t see me, but I’d bet anything they knew I was out there just like I knew without a doubt Kaldan was inside waiting. I couldn’t sense him through all the steel and brick, but I knew it without a shadow of a doubt.

Three minutes. “Hurry up, Kabita,” I muttered under my breath. I could only hope the waiting was making Kaldan as antsy as it was making me. Antsy vamps were dangerous, but just like the people they used to be, they were also more likely to make mistakes. Vamps who made mistakes were easier for me to kill.

Two minutes. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. Every molecule of my body was screaming at me to get inside, but I knew that was a good way to get myself killed. I couldn’t sense anything through the brick and steel walls of the warehouse, but my gut told me there was a nest in there and going in alone was a really good way to get myself killed, so I stayed melted into the shadows on my side of the street and paced like a good little Hunter.

One minute. If Kabita didn’t show in the next sixty seconds I was going in alone, stupid idea or not. Something was wrong, I could feel it. Every instinct I had was screaming at me that I needed to get into that building.

I paced some more, checked my phone again. Thirty seconds. Before I could continue pacing, a scream shattered the still night. It was a scream that chilled to the bone, a scream of someone in mortal terror.

Forget Kabita. Forget the danger of going in alone. I ran for the door.

Chapter Eighteen

Just before I hit the door, headlights flashed down the block. I slid my sword out of its sheath across my back and waited in the shadows as two figures got out of the car. Kabita and Inigo. I breathed a sigh of relief. Without waiting for them to catch up, I hit the door to the warehouse. I could hear Kabita cussing up a storm behind me.

The warehouse door led onto a short, dark entry with a set of narrow metal stairs. It was pitch black, the only light streaming in from the streetlights outside the open door. Kabita clicked on a flashlight and shone it low on the steps. Major points to girlfriend for being prepared. I’d have gone up without the light, but then my night vision seemed to be getting better these days. My mind shied away from thoughts of just why that was happening. No time for that; we had vamps to kill.

Our feet made clunky ringing sounds on the metal treads. “Which way?” Kabita pointed the flashlight beam up and then right. We’d hit a landing. Another flight of narrow stairs led up into the darkness. To the right was an equally narrow doorway.

I focused on that tight tingling at the back of my skull that warned me when a vampire was near. Now that we were inside the building, I could feel it again. They were close, but not close enough. “Up,” I pointed up the stairs holding back a sneeze as a little cloud of dust trickled down from between the floorboards above our heads.

Kabita raised an eyebrow, but Inigo nodded in agreement. He didn’t have quite the same sense for vampires I did, but he still had a way of feeling things out that went way beyond that of a normal person. With a shrug, Kabita led the way, shining the light in front of her. This was going to get interesting if we had to fight in the dark.

The stairs opened onto a cavernous room. This was it. I could feel them all around us now, hovering in the dark. I placed my left hand on Kabita’s shoulder and squeezed gently, letting her know without a sound that we’d reached the right place. She halted, Inigo and I ranged out behind her. I might have been the official vamp killer, but she was the boss and she wanted to make sure the bloodsuckers knew it.

Her light played over a figure sprawled out on the floor, blood oozing from dozens of vicious tears in the flesh. For just a moment, I thought they’d killed someone while I’d been waiting outside. Then the body moved and I realized it was a vamp. They’d tortured one of their own to try to force my hand, hence the screams. Sick bastards.

I touched Inigo’s hand and leaned in close to his ear. “How many?” Sometimes, when it came to details, his senses were better than mine.

“A dozen. Maybe more.”

I tried not to sigh aloud. That’s what I figured; at least a dozen. Shit. “See if you can find a light.” Light would give us the advantage. A very slight advantage, but I’d take it. Vamps didn’t see very well in the light.