Make Me (8 page)
Authors: Parker Blue
He grimaced and set down his fork and paused for a long moment, as if wondering how much to tell me. “Well, you see, back in my time, they called me the keeper, but it was a misnomer. I didn’t keep the books so much as they kept me.”
“What you do mean?” I asked.
“The mage demon who created them did so with one clear imperative—protect themselves at all costs. He wanted to make sure they would be available for use by his descendants.”
Shade swallowed a bite of chicken. “Trevor said only full mage demons can create new spells and use them. His descendants have to read them from the books. Was he telling the truth?”
Good question. Trevor, the SOB mage demon who’d tried to kill me and steal the encyclopedia, had been lying to us and manipulating us to find the books for him. Who knew what was the truth and what was a convenient lie?
“Yes, partially,” Jack confirmed. “Each mage demon can be taught one spell, passed down from parent to child. But that’s all. The others have to be read from the encyclopedia. Unfortunately for them, the books gained awareness and a mind of their own.”
I nodded. I remembered feeling that. And that explained why Trevor had a shield but no other powers.
“Self-preservation is what drives the books now. They don’t want to be used by anyone, because it endangers them. So they choose keepers who aren’t hungry for power, with no reason to love mage demons, and who are willing and able to defend them tooth and nail to keep them out of mage demon hands.”
“So, you’re saying… what?” I asked. “That they’re all take and no give?”
“Sometimes,” Jack admitted.
Shade protested, “But you said Val could get her powers back.”
Jack held up his hands defensively. “Not exactly. I said the books can grant her powers—other powers within their ability. And they can… if they want to.”
“If they want to? What does that mean?” I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of this.
“The books do what’s good for
them
, though that may not necessarily be what’s good for
you
.”
“So what exactly did you plan on teaching me?” I asked indignantly. “Or were you just hanging around, making empty promises while you take advantage of Gwen’s food?”
“No, I can help,” Jack assured me. “I know things about the books, how to coax things out of them, and what happens when you do accept one of their gifts.”
“Like what?”
“Well, for each new ability I gained, the power in my other ones lessened.”
“You mean I’d lose Lola if the books gave me super strength or something?” I wasn’t sure if I loved or hated that idea.
“You wouldn’t lose your succubus powers, so much as you’d see them diminish. And the more abilities you accept and use, the more your others weaken.” He shook his head. “I found out the hard way. You
can
regain your full succubus powers if you use them a lot more than the other abilities. It’s a strange balancing act you have to learn.”
Shade squeezed my knee reassuringly and asked Jack, “Now that you’re no longer the keeper, do you still have all those abilities?”
“No, thank heavens. I’m back to the one I was born with. The ability to lasso with a rope of energy.”
That made sense—I remembered him using it when we tossed Trevor back into that pocket universe.
“I can teach you the way of it,” Jack promised. “How to balance the forces.” He grinned. “You’ll see. We’ll have a great time in Austin.”
Great. Now all I had to do was go to an unknown city where a strange bunch of vamps were in charge, spy on the demons there, stand by Alejandro’s side
without
helping him come out, keep the fact hidden that the Slayer has lost some of her mojo,
and
learn how to convince the freakin’ books to give me my powers back.
Yeah, right. Piece of cake.
I didn’t own a suitcase, so I packed what I thought I’d need in my duffel bag and put the books in a backpack, since Jack was supposed to teach me about them. I had no clue what we’d face in the capital, but it was best to be rested and alert, so I spent the remaining time catching some z’s with Fang.
Shade and Jack had gone home to do the same, and by the time they came back to drop off Princess, we were ready. At about an hour after sunset, two shiny black luxury cars pulled up. As Fang and Shade said goodbye to Princess, Jack and I went out to meet them.
The passenger window glided down on one car and Alejandro smiled at me. “Good evening, Ms. Shapiro. Are you ready?”
I nodded and Alejandro said, “Excellent. Vincent will drive me, and you and Mr. Grady may accompany Austin in the other car.”
Heaven forbid we’d crowd the vampires by taking only one luxury vehicle. I nodded at Vincent in the driver’s seat. I remembered meeting the short, bald guy before, if you could call it “meeting” when I’d broken up a fight between him and fire demon Andrew.
Austin got out of the other car and opened the trunk so we could stow our stuff. He wore a snazzy business suit instead of his normal jeans, though he hadn’t given up his Stetson and boots, I noticed. Shade and Fang emerged from the townhouse, and as Jack and Fang climbed into the back of the car, Shade took my hand so he wouldn’t be all swirly. He nodded at Alejandro. “I’m coming, too,” he said with a stubborn tilt to his chin.
Austin shut the trunk and lounged against it with his arms folded, looking as though he was fighting a smile. His boss, Alejandro, shook his head. “I’m afraid that is not possible. I agreed not to bring more than four to meet with the enclave in Austin.”
“No problem,” Shade said, almost belligerently. “I’m not going with you, I’m going with Val. I’ll follow on my bike. It’s my right to go where I want.”
Austin lifted an eyebrow, expressing his amusement at Shade’s expense. I’m not sure why, but it annoyed me.
BECAUSE HE’S MAKING FUN OF YOUR BOYFRIEND WITHOUT EVEN TALKING, Fang said. YOU’RE ANNOYED BECAUSE YOU CAN’T DEFEND SHADE WITHOUT LOOKING SILLY OR MAKING SHADE LOOK WEAKER TO AUSTIN… AND YOU WISH YOU COULD COMMUNICATE AS MUCH AS HE CAN WITH A SINGLE GESTURE.
Sometimes I hated it when the hellhound was right.
Alejandro shook his head. “You may have the right to go where you wish, but you cannot stay with Ms. Shapiro and the rest of us. That would violate the terms of my agreement.”
Shade shrugged. “No problem. I’ll stay with the Austin Underground. That way I can be available for her when she’s free.”
One corner of Austin’s mouth quirked up and he looked even more amused, obviously not trying to hide it.
Shade must have caught it, too, because he stiffened. “I’ll see you there,” he said more to Austin than me, then grabbed me and kissed me passionately.
Normally, Lola and I had no problem responding to Shade’s kisses, but PDA wasn’t my thing and it felt kind of like Shade was staking a public claim. Not cool.
DUDE, Fang broadcast to both of us. LAY OFF. VAL IS NO ONE’S PROPERTY.
Shade broke the kiss, looking sheepish.
HE SAID HE’S SORRY, Fang told me. HE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT CAME OVER HIM… BUT I DO. A LITTLE CASE OF AUSTIN ENVY. JEALOUS MUCH, DUDE?
Shade looked mortified, so I squeezed his hands then gave him a swift kiss. “I’ll call you later, when I know more about where I’m staying and what I’ll be doing.”
“Good,” he said softly. “I’ll look forward to it.”
Austin’s expression still held that infuriating smirk as he invited me into the front passenger seat with a flourish. Annoyed, I asked, “Shouldn’t you be holding down the fort here? Why didn’t Alejandro bring Rosa or Luis or someone else?” Anyone else…
“Alejandro didn’t think it wise to bring Rosa, and Luis does well when he’s in charge here. Besides, I asked to come,” Austin said, getting behind the wheel and starting the car.
I grimaced. “To torture me?”
That damned grin popped out again. “Not everything is about you, Slayer. I am sire to someone in Austin and I want to visit him, that’s all.”
“You have a son?” Jack asked in surprise.
Fang snorted, but Austin answered, “Not genetically. Being a sire means initiating a human into the vampire community.”
Austin’s version sounded too pretty. “Exchanging blood-flavored Big Gulps, you mean.” Then, translating for Jack who’d been out of the world for a while, I said, “Making them into bloodsuckers, too.” The thought of Austin—or anyone—making more vamps kind of made me uneasy. “How many have you sired?” I probed.
He shot me a sideways glance as if to say my question was too personal, but answered anyway. “Not many, and each time it was with their full knowledge and consent. It is not something we do lightly. There are a great many responsibilities and duties associated with being a sire.”
“Really? Like what?” Jack asked eagerly.
Glancing at the former keeper in the rearview mirror, Austin drawled, “I prefer to keep that to myself.” When that killed the conversation, he added, “The drive takes about an hour. Perhaps you could use the time to teach Val about the books, so she doesn’t have to rely on her succubus all the time. How far have you gotten?”
“Not far,” I said.
“There’s still a lot to learn,” Jack added. “But I prefer to do that in private, if you don’t mind.”
HE DOESN’T WANT TO SHARE IN FRONT OF THE VAMPS, Fang translated.
Yeah, I got that, but sooner or later, Jack was going to have to give me some more details I could use.
Austin shrugged. “Suit yourself. I just thought she should learn more as soon as she could. Never know when another mage demon might come looking for the books.”
Good point—one I’d been trying to make with Jack since we’d tossed those two mages through the portal and onto their keesters in another world.
When Jack didn’t answer, Austin asked, “Is it true Trevor’s father caused the 1906 San Francisco earthquake? I was there, too.”
And that’s all it took to get the two of them swapping war stories about an event that had happened long before I was born.
Yawn
. Thank goodness the drive to the capital wasn’t longer.
When we passed Garlic Creek and Slaughter Creek on the outskirts of Austin, Jack chuckled and observed how appropriate it was for vampires. “I see why their slogan is Keep Austin Weird.”
Cowboy Austin was not amused, so the rest of the ride was in silence until we arrived at an office building near downtown. The entrance had a sign with what looked like three red raindrops, and I realized I’d seen that symbol before on the Movement’s establishments in San Antonio. Must be a universal vamp blood bank donation sign for those in the know, kind of like the green cross for medical marijuana dispensaries.
We followed Alejandro’s car into the gated underground garage and the five of us plus Fang got out and stretched. Alejandro, Austin, and Vincent looked all dressed up in their business suits. When Vincent gave Jack and me a subtle up and down sneer, he managed to make me feel scruffy. Oh, well, I didn’t have anything resembling a suit and wouldn’t wear it even if I did. So, I smiled at him like it didn’t matter.
Alejandro didn’t seem to care. Gathering us together, he said, “We are the guest of another vampire, in her territory. Ms. Shapiro, Mr. Grady, I don’t expect you to know our customs, and they won’t expect you to, either. I would ask you, though, to keep quiet and follow my lead.”
I shrugged. “Okay, I’ll be good.” But I didn’t let on that when I’d gotten out of the car, I’d tucked a bit of wooden insurance in the back waistband of my jeans, just in case. It was covered with my vest.
We all piled into the elevator and Alejandro spoke briefly with someone on the intercom, then we took the elevator to the top. But instead of revealing a cubicle farm, the opening doors showed a sumptuous apartment that must have taken up the entire penthouse. The walls and floors looked like they were made of cream-colored marble with veins of gold, and there were gilded cherubs, scrolls, flowers and other gold crap all over the walls and furniture. The windows were draped in heavy, emerald-green silk, and the striped cushions on the carved and gilded furniture matched.
WHOA. IT LOOKS LIKE LOUIS THE FOURTEENTH THREW UP IN HERE, Fang said.
I had to agree. Not a style I’d go for. But it was a perfect frame for the woman I’d just noticed. She lounged on a settee in the middle of the room, her long flowing red hair, creamy complexion and emerald slip dress beautifully complemented by the carefully designed room. She was stunning, and she knew it. Even the four hunks surrounding her, in skin-baring black leather vests and pants, seemed to have been chosen for their ability to complement her and the room. Though to me, they resembled rejects from an erotic romance cover shoot.
Cliché much?
“Alejandro,” she crooned and languidly raised one milky-white arm toward him, her wrist limp.
