The Night Beat, From the Necropolis Enforcement Files (12 page)

“Ah, Martin, didn’t realize you were still with Agent Wolfe. Your will and all that. What was the other issue, Agent Wolfe?”

“I need H.P. and the newest recruits assigned to me as soon as possible. I’d like to keep Edgar along as well.”

“May I ask why?”

“H.P. and Edgar because of what we’re dealing with. Freddy and Sexy Cindy because they were in the alley, in Slimy’s stomach, and around for the entire ordeal, and yet they were clean enough to be changed. Either Ken’s lost it, which I doubt, or the two strongest souls in that alley are now on our side. I want them with me so I can use them to spot the Prince or his minions or whatever it is that’s wandering around my cities right now.”

“Not to sound argumentative, but why do you think they’ll be able to help?”

I sighed. I hated having to give this answer, but it was the truth. “I just feel that they will be.”

“Ah, fine. Never let us argue with werewolf instincts or feminine intuition. I’d like to suggest you and Detective Wagner get some sleep first, however.”

“No argument. Have them ready to go at dusk. Call if you need us sooner.”

I switched off the wrist-com to see Jack gaping at me. “You want the bum and the hooker? Sorry, the new zombie and succubus? And you also think we have time to nap?”

“Just because all Hell’s trying to break loose doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take care of yourself.”

“Words to live by,” Jack muttered.

“Well, let’s hope.”

Chapter 19

We waited until Martin’s angelic escorts returned and confirmed that, sure enough, Tomio had wandered in to see how the others were doing. He’d been allowed to, without much fuss. Martin called in some additional angels for support and Jack and I left them to do their exorcisms.

“Can’t be standard operating procedure for the hospital to let Tomio go in to visit every room,” Jack said as we headed back to the car.

“Be happy he only visited the six who were involved. But, yeah, I’m sure he used influence.”

“I’m betting you don’t mean that word the way I’d think.”

“Right. Influence in this sense would be like, oh, similar to what Ken used on you to keep you from realizing what was going on at the start of all this excitement. Only, the Prince and his minions use it differently. It’s just a nudge, usually.”

“A nudge to do what?”

“To do what they want.”

“Didn’t Ken make me do what he wanted?”

“Yes, but it took more effort than influence.” I tried to think about how to explain it. “It’s like…you’re the nurse on the floor. A patient comes out of his room. He’s recovered, he’s nice and friendly, he seems genuinely concerned about these other patients. He wants to see them to reassure himself they’re going to be okay, give them the old encouraging words, and so on. The nurse knows she isn’t supposed to let him. Influence shoves just a little bit, so the nurse says, sure, okay, go ahead, what can it hurt? In her mind, she never felt the influence and she’s made the decision herself.”

“Okay.” Jack was quiet while we got in and he started the car up. “But, couldn’t vampires do that, too? I mean, isn’t that really what Ken did with me?”

“Well, let’s think about that. We were in the middle of a danger situation. Would a gentle nudge have worked? How much shoving would someone have had to do in order to convince you that you didn’t want to get involved?”

“Where are we headed? And, yeah, okay, a lot. So influence is used when it can be more, what, subtle?”

“Yeah, that’s a good word for it.” I thought about it. Well, no time like the present. “Um, your place or mine?”

Jack grinned. “I thought you’d never ask.” He shrugged. “Where will you feel the most comfortable?”

I thanked the Gods and Monsters for the seatbelt. He made me want to roll and whine without even trying. I really hoped this wasn’t going to end disastrously. “Well, my place has the convenience of an easy slide in and out of Necropolis.”

“Let’s go there, then. By the way, Ken warned me about sliding, but it wasn’t hard at all. But I can’t see Necropolis now, even though I’ve been trying to.”

“Be thankful. It’s hard to see both at once. I tend to focus on wherever I’m really supposed to be at any given time, it’s easier.”

“But if you wanted to, you could see Necropolis now?”

“Yeah.” I knew what request was coming.

“Where are we, in Necropolis?”

Happily, by now we were near my apartment. “We’re in Enforcement Housing. Dammit!” I slammed my eyes shut.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. We just drove through a phalanx of beings. But not really.”

“Huh? There’s no one here.”

“In Prosaic City, it’s still early morning and only the trash guys are out, yes. In Necropolis, the Day Shifters are coming on duty. There are tons of beings out and about.”

“Did we hurt anyone?” He sounded tense. I could understand -- it was hard to comprehend.

“No. Two different planes of existence, intersecting here. On our side of things, we choose to see the human side as, oh, holographic images, I guess. Almost as moving background. Undeads are used to living in more than one plane. The unborn -- those born as an undead of some kind -- they have no learning curve. They see all the planes their species can with ease and without issue. Those of us who become undead, well, it’s a little harder, but you adjust fast.”

“What about humans?” He pulled into my underground parking garage. Conveniently, we had visitor parking underground, too. I lived in a good building, one of the perks of an Enforcement job.

“It’s very hard for humans. Makes most of them go crazy.”

Jack was quiet as he found a parking place. “Artists, human artists. Do they see the other planes?”

And yet another reason I panted after this guy -- he was smart and intuitive. “Yes, most of them. Some don’t realize it, some think they dream it, some
know
, and that knowledge puts them over the edge.”

“All artists?”

“Most. All the creative types, yeah. Their gift and their curse, I suppose.”

“Why don’t the undeads help them?”

We got out and headed up into my building. Because we were talking about it, my ability to focus on one plane or the other wasn’t functioning well. Fortunately for me, I’d been purposely housed in this location because it was one of the few areas where Prosaic City’s layout coincided with Necropolis’. High-rise apartment in Prosaic City on top of and next to high-rise Necropolis Enforcement Housing. I wasn’t the only undercover agent, and all of us housed here.

I was on the top floor of the Prosaic City building. As we rode the elevator -- and I watched a group of banshees and succubae flying up the side of the other building on their ways home -- I answered Jack’s question. “It’s cruel to let someone sit in a sort of madness, yes. At least, in a way. But it’s crueler to take away their gift, the thing that sparks their creativity. It’s like killing them but leaving them alive, and not in the undead way of being alive.”

“Why don’t you make all the humans undeads? You all seem so much…I don’t know, better than we are.”

“We have our foibles and failings, just like humans do. Some more than humans do. Besides, we can’t make everyone an undead. The universes need humans, too. The gods need them. Heck, even the monsters need them, and I mean the monsters like Slimy, not the monsters like me.”

“You’re not a monster,” he said softly. “None of the people I’ve met last night and today are monsters. You’re just…different.”

“Yeah. With some serious dietary challenges. But…thanks.”

He smiled. “No need to thank me.” We got out of the elevator and Jack looked around. He’d been here before, to pick me up for shift, usually. But now he looked like he was seeing it for the first time. “How do you afford to live in a penthouse suite on a cop’s salary?” he asked as we went inside.

“I can’t. Necropolis Enforcement pays for it as needs of the assignment.”

“Why didn’t I ever ask that before?”

I grinned. “Well, because you were influenced not to notice.”

“You can influence?”

I snorted. “Hardly. Not a werewolf gift. But one of our stronger warlocks cast an influence spell on my building and my apartment in particular. Any human comes up or in, they don’t notice that it’s more pricey than I should be able to afford.”

“But, I’m a human.”

“You’re also a human in the know, now. The spell can’t work on you any more.”

Jack looked around. “Nice place. Always been nice, but I feel like I’ve never really looked at it before.”

“You probably haven’t.” I took his hand. “This is the human side. I’d rather sleep on the Necropolis side.” I walked us through the outer wall of the human building, stepped through the outer wall of the Necropolis building, and into what I considered the other half of my home.

Jack gaped. “That was amazing!” His head swiveled like he was an owl. “I can still see the human side.”

I was shocked but kept that to myself. “Don’t try to slide over without my help, at least not until you get good at it, okay?”

He nodded, still looking around like a tourist. “You know, put together, you have an incredible layout here.” He looked out the window and whistled. “And what a view!” He went to the outer wall side and looked. “You know, I can see the Prosaic City view from here, too. This place, well, these places are great.” He sounded ready to move in.

I was just this side of suggesting it, but my vision started to blur. Jack was enthusiastically in my home and adapting to my life with rapid ease, but all I wanted was to get undressed and go to bed. I wasn’t even sure if I had the energy to be amorous, which almost worried me, considering I’d fantasized about being in this situation with him for over a year. I wondered if I was getting a fever or something.

Jack stopped examining my dwelling and looked at me. “You look beyond exhausted. I know I am. Will this sound like a total letdown if I suggest that we go to bed but worry about seeing how compatible we are
in
bed after we wake up?”

I couldn’t help it. I rubbed up against him. “Not a letdown at all.”

He grinned and put his arm around me. “Then why are you rubbing up against me with a come-hither look?”

We headed into the bedroom. I wanted to lie, but I was too tired. “It’s a wolf or canine thing.”

“A good thing?”

“Yeah.” I managed to keep from sharing that it indicated he was either my mate, my pack leader, or both. One more manly, thoughtful, or sexy statement or action out of him and I’d end up deciding I wasn’t too tired to go for the gusto right now. After all, we’d be lying down, so resting. In a way.

Jack nuzzled my hair. “Well, as long as it’s good.”

I held onto my resolve by a claw. We separated and got undressed. I let my clothes drop. He folded his neatly and put them on the chair in the room. Well, neatness was a good trait. I hoped he wasn’t looking for it in his girlfriend, of course.

I managed not to drool when he took his underwear off but only by focusing on being tired. He had a great body and was clearly going to be the alpha male in any pack. I reminded myself that he was tired, too, and what we needed more than anything was to sleep so we could get back on the case, refreshed and energized.

We slid into bed and, in an effort not to seem either like I was about to hump his leg or like I was frigid, I snuggled my back up against him. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my ear. “Just out of curiosity,” he whispered, “what do you want me to make you for breakfast, since we’re skipping dinner?”

That last claw holding onto restraint slipped off the side of lust mountain. I rolled onto my back. Thankfully, before I went into the full-on whining, rolling and undulating thing I couldn’t stop when I was this tired and around this appealing a male, Jack rolled on top of me and kissed me.

Really, tired or not, it was a lot better than sleeping.

Chapter 20