“And there it is, ladies,” Woods said as if drawing a lesson to its conclusion. “The vaunted charm and sexual allure of the undead crumbles once you see past the façade. You either see a dark, sensual, mysterious yet entirely human lady or gentleman, or you see a well-preserved corpse-but still a corpse.
“At that point, they’re like any other predator. Recognize it for what it is and you are already less attractive as prey. Their physical prowess isn’t to be taken lightly, nor the wealth of experience that many of them have attained. They’re inhumanly dangerous, but in the end, they don’t hunt for wary meals that might put up a real struggle. They look for the easy bite. Survival is the top priority, far above pride or the need for a challenge.”
He downed the last of his champagne and placed it on a passing waiter’s tray. Then Woods reached out to take Molly and Onyx both by the hand with practiced grace. “But enough about them. Let’s talk about us.”
Onyx tilted her head warily. “What was that you said about recognizing a predator?”
Woods pursed his lips with amusement. “Yet I’m alive and healthy, so my predatory nature shouldn’t make me any less charming.”
Molly and Onyx shared a smile and a knowing glance. Mr. Woods was indeed charming, and witty, and handsome…and they would both have paid good money to see him hit by a bus.
* * *
“They looked kinda like the wannabe-Goth version of the Village People,” Jason explained. He and the others stood between his car, Taylor’s, and Wade’s pick-up truck in the parking lot of a gas station. To one side lay the road. To the other three sides of the station rose tall evergreens. It was just cold enough to see one another’s breath.
“I mean, there was Gothy Gangster Dude with his tommy gun, and there was Goth Cowboy, and there was Goth…I dunno, he had a longsword on his back. Goth SCA Guy, maybe?”
“I thought you said they were emo-looking,” Drew said. “Goth ain’t emo. Goths have self-respect.”
“Look, I was a little too freaked out for nuanced labels right then.”
Wade and Drew both frowned skeptically, but Taylor didn’t. “All Lorelei said was that you can usually spot them because they’re all pale and they tend to dress with some holdovers of their old timeframes from when they were human,” she put in. “So maybe the gangster guy was turned into a vampire in the 1920s or something. The one at the party half-looked like he should’ve been at a Renaissance faire, and he had that crappy wannabe English accent.”
“Seems like a kinda thin basis for profilin’,” Wade frowned.
“Y’know, if I found out that vampires are real, I wouldn’t be telling my friends about it two nights later,” Jason had to say. “I’d be telling people within like five minutes.”
“Oh, ‘cause you were so quick to tell me Lorelei’s a demon, right?’” Taylor snapped back. “And anyway, I’ve been busy, okay?”
Wade’s frown didn’t go away. “Doin’ whut?”
Taylor quickly fell silent, crossing her arms over her chest. She looked sharply at Drew and Jason, who both glanced away awkwardly. “Look,” she said, “can we stay on topic? This is serious. Do you really think that Lorelei’s the type to go for kidnap roleplay with goofy costumers?”
“Hey, I ain’t about to try to figure out what kinda freaky shit turns her on,” Wade shrugged. “But ah ain’t sayin’ this ain’t trouble. Ah drove by that estate mahself, an’ ah’m pretty sure ah saw dudes tryin’ ta hide their guns under their coats. Ah mean, even if that’s some rich dude’s house an’ he’s just got bodyguards, they wouldn’t be out at the gate wearin’ black trench coats in the middle o’ the night.”
“Pretty sure that longsword I saw was for real, anyway,” Jason shrugged. “You go to enough conventions, you get to know the difference.” He glanced around at the three sets of eyes that stared back at him. “What?”
“Whatever. They got our boy an’ we gotta get him back,” Drew said. “Ain’t like we aren’t all on the same page there. Did Lorelei say how to fight vampires? Like do bullets work?”
Taylor shrugged. “We only talked about it briefly in the car this morning. All she said was that they’re vulnerable to fire and that they aren’t much of a threat to her. Said they’re tough and scary compared to normal people, but nothing she couldn’t handle. She took out the one at the party so he wouldn’t eat anyone there that night.”
“But y’all don’t know if they really hypnotize people or whatever?” Wade asked.
“Not if you can see them coming, I guess. The one at the party looked at me trying to be all flirty, but…well, Lorelei warned me that he was trouble, so I just thought he was gross.”
Drew and Wade both turned to Jason. He took a deep breath. “Sunlight, holy water, fire. Bullets probably won’t hurt them a lot. If they’re partly dead, they don’t need their organs to work, y’know? A stake through the heart is supposed to either kill or immobilize, depending on the legend or the fantasy derivative. Sometimes silver is supposed to work. Sometimes it’s not.”
“Thought silver was for werewolves?” Drew asked.
“Look, this shit’s all supposed to be fantasy in the first place,” Jason shrugged. “There’re all kinds of folk legends and stuff, and who knows which culture is more accurate than another or if there are lots of different kinds. And you’ve got a hundred asshole authors trying to cash in on a vampire fad right now. Every freak writing smut on the internet uses vampires, for God’s sake. The whole thing should’ve died out ten years ago when the hot Goth chicks stopped showing up to the vampire LARPs.”
“Y’all were there for them good ol’ days, were ya?” Wade quipped.
“I heard about ‘em, anyway,” Jason muttered. “Point being the legends are all diluted. Who knows what’s actually legit and what isn’t? If Lorelei said fire’s good, then I’d go with fire. Not like we can get our hands on holy water at this time of night anyway.”
“Rachel’s supposed to have a big flaming sword,” noted Drew. “Where the hell’s she in all this mess?”
“Well, either vampires screw up her clairvoyance like demons do,” Jason reasoned, “or there’s something else going on. And it’s not like she’s got a phone number.”
As he spoke, they heard a “clack” from the doors of the gas station’s mini mart. Drew looked over to see the attendant lock the doors and look at the four of them with obvious wariness. He also pointedly turned away when he noticed Drew looking back. Drew checked his watch and frowned. It seemed a bit early to close down given the posted hours. It was late, but not that late.
“No, but if both Alex and Lorelei are in that house, we her kind of help,” Wade said. “We gotta figure out how to get her attention.”
A black SUV pulled up to one of the pumps. Drew nudged Wade, who nodded. “Attendant’s gone twitchy, too,” Drew murmured.
“Wish we could just call the cops,” Taylor frowned. She kept her voice low since Drew had obviously quieted down. It made her nervous.
“Yeah, but with what we’ve already seen, we can’t be sure they aren’t paid for already,” Jason shrugged.
A man and woman stepped out of the SUV. They were well dressed, all in black and looking a little pale. The woman’s clothes showed off her figure. The man wore a well-tailored suit. He walked with her to the door of the mini mart.
Wade threw down his cigarette butt and crushed it out. “Ah jus’ wish it wusn’ so late already,” he grumbled. “Liquor stores all gonna be closed by now.”
“Liquor stores?” Drew blinked. He watched as the couple tried the mini mart’s doors.
“Yeah,” Wade nodded. “You’d think the one place that’d be open late at night’d be where you’d go to buy booze.”
The couple approached. “Hi, ‘scuse me,” the man said with a smile. His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You wouldn’t happen to have any cigarettes, would you? We’re out, and that stupid market’s closed.”
“I’m dying for a smoke,” the blonde complained with a winning smile.