“Okay Northern, what the hell just happened?”
So I had to tell her the story of the Hellbourne and the pit as I walked her to her car.
“So you released this thing and now it’s following you around?” she asked.
“Yeah, I guess. Hey, if he follows me home can I keep him?”
“Asshole,” she said without any trace of anger.
“Pretty much,” I agreed. “I, um, well, I think when I attacked it with my super purple power, well, I think I healed it. And it was rubbing its neck on the shield, ‘cause that’s where its collar had been.”
She looked at me with wide eyes. “So how do you stop it?”
I shrugged. “I’m pretty sure that I can’t. That’s why the demon brought it here. But it was a slave and now it’s free. I think it will just leave on its own.”
She shook her head, green eyes glinting in the streetlights. “I think it will be like every other monster in this city and follow you around like a pet.”
“Hmm, I’ll need a really big litter box.”
“Isn’t that what your apartment is?”
“Bitch,” I replied.
“Pretty much,” she agreed, getting into her car. She rolled down her window and grabbed my hand with hers. “Christian Gordon, you do have friends. I’m one and you know, deep down that Tatiana is as well.”
Then she let go with one of her freaky fast moves and drove off before I could respond.
I drove home, thinking about what she had said, ate four massive turkey and ham sandwiches, undressed and collapsed into bed.
Chapter 14
My appointment with Roma was set for one, so that left my morning to myself. While I ate my dozen eggs and sausage (the good news was, the scales reported that my weight was stabilizing), I caught up on my backlog of emails. Peter had sent me an apologetic one, but I wasn’t ready to forgive him yet. There were three from Gramps, each slightly more alarmed than the previous, so I composed a response.
Gramps,
Sorry I haven’t responded. Busy doesn’t cover it. I’ve been recruited to a unit of the NYPD that I didn’t know existed. Kind of like the FBI unit in your favorite movie about the red guy (gramps loved the movie Hellboy and would totally get my clue). My special skills have been noted so I guess it’s for the best. The girl that the Hlbrn are after is much like Beckinsale in my favorite movie(Okay, so I am a fan of Underworld). But don’t worry. I’ll bring you up to speed at turkey time.
Love, Chris
Somehow, I knew that wouldn’t satisfy him fully, but it would have to do for now. I dressed in khakis and a polo shirt, as Roma had indicated that I would dress plainclothes from now on. My holstered Glock, handcuff case and badge all went on my belt and I pulled a leather bomber from the closet to cover everything up, then headed out. My goals for the day were simple: 1) go to one of the local parks and veg out, 2) avoid any vampires, and 3) avoid having my chest and ribs smashed again. I felt pretty good, the knot on my head was gone, my ribs just slightly sore and my right knee almost better after its painful run-in with the concrete floor in the pit.
I drove to the park, found an open spot curbside and locked up the Xterra. There was a small bakery near the entrance to the park and the warm odor of baked goods and hot coffee pulled me in. The girl at the counter gave me a big smile and took my order for a large coffee (black) and a bear claw (seemed appropriate) with unusual enthusiasm. I don’t usually get that. The whole violet eye thing makes people uneasy. I stepped out of the bakery still puzzled, but my attention was immediately drawn to a woman sitting at one of the outdoor tables. She was blonde, beautiful, dressed in a cream colored suit with matching hat, gloves, red purse and red open toe shoes that cost more than my sidearm. She was staring straight at me with interest and she was a vampire. I stopped dead in my tracks, looked at my watch (9:27AM) and looked up at the sun. A couple of things clicked in my brain (one of which was that goal number two was already shot) and I walked over and sat down at her table. Her eyebrows raised in amusement till I spoke. “Elder Senka.” I greeted her. Her eyes widened ever so slightly. Tatiana and Lydia had briefed me on the Elders back when it had been assumed that I would be attending the vampire party.
“Mr. Gordon,” she greeted me, her accent English.
“I thought my capacity for surprise had been beaten out of me this past week, but you’ve managed it none the less,” I said.
“In that case, I will endeavor not to strain your over wrought sense of wonder.” Her accent was the heavily educated Oxford kind, rather than the rougher Cockney type.
Perfect for delivering biting sarcasm.
I sipped my coffee and waited, watching her over the rim of my cup. Oddly, no one else seemed to notice us. She watched me with dark chocolate eyes and finally spoke after a few seconds pause. “I was going to offer you some tea, but I see you have sufficient libation for the moment.”
Suddenly, a rather dazed young waiter was at her side with a cup, saucer, hot water carafe and an assortment of teas. He set them down without comment and left. I took a moment to watch the people around us while she selected a packet of Earl Grey. There seemed to be a bubble of avoidance around us, and people came and went without looking at us directly.
Meanwhile, I was hurriedly trying to remember everything that the girls had told me about the Elders. Lydia had stressed that they were very old, extremely powerful and not as easygoing as the younger vampires. Since I couldn’t recall any easygoing vampires other than the girls, I was trying very hard to control my natural wiseassitude.
The ladies had never mentioned that the Elders went about in daylight. Senka was Galina’s “mother”, making her a grandmother of sorts to both Tatiana and Lydia. Elder Fedor was the sire of Anton, Tatiana’s father. He generally hung out in Europe. The third was Tzao, an ancient female who mostly stayed in Asia.
“Six nights ago, I get a telephone call from my daughter,” she said. “It seems my Tatiana has awoken from her walking coma. A rather dramatic tale followed about demons, silver bolts and a fascinating young police officer with a penchant for demon slaying,”
I fought my urge to correct her use of the word slaying. Banish would be better, but she didn’t seem the sort to appreciate a lot of correction or interruption.
“Then, wonder of wonders, Tatiana herself is speaking to me on the phone, as she has every day since. And do you know what her favorite topic is?” Her eyebrows raised in question.
I shook my head.
“Really? No guesses?”
I shrugged.
“Why it is the very same police officer that saved her. I’m fairly certain that you could not have imagined the joy that her awakening has brought me. And, of course, fate would have it that I was delayed in arriving, being the last, rather than the first.” She paused to sip her tea. I decided to remain silent, trying to keep up the illusion of intelligence.
“It never ceases to amaze me, no matter how many centuries I have seen, that timing continues to be everything, as they say.” She had locked my gaze and I realized that I couldn’t look away if I wanted to. “So here I arrive last night, only to find my beloved Tatiana, essentially insane with worry and anguish, wreaking destruction on her mother’s home and flinging all manner of older vampires in every direction. Do you know that the first thing I had to do on my arrival was to help my fellow Elders restrain my granddaughter? And I’ll even tell you that the only real reason that we, the three oldest and most powerful vampires on the planet, could do it at all, was because you finally finished your fight in that pit. Lydia then got her settled by handing her, of all things, a certain gray pullover. What a bloody mess.”