My eyes narrowed. “Listen, ass**le, my ‘questionable heritage’ is none of your employer’s business. This meeting is over.” I rose to leave. As expected, Frank stood quickly and grabbed my arm.
“Wait,” he said. “Forgive me if I’ve offended you. Please sit. There’s more.”
I paused as if weighing my options. Finally, I pretended to be reluctant as I sat, nodding for him to continue.
“I had a reason for bringing up your mixed lineage,” he began. “You see my employer is trying to end the ongoing tension between the vampire and mage populations. He believes we can all coexist peacefully.”
The waitress brought my beer. I nodded for him to continue after she’d gone. I’d need the drink if I was going to have to sit through a speech about how all the dark races should hold hands and sing “Joy to the World.”
“Seeing as you are of both races, my employer thought you might be open to his ideas.”
“He was mistaken.”
Frank smiled. “Perhaps you’ll consider meeting with my employer anyway. I think you’ll find his ideas quite revolutionary.”
I sipped on my beer, pretending to think it over. Inside, I was mentally creating my packing list. Perhaps I’d buy a new black Burberry trench for all that foggy San Francisco weather.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I’d feel better if I knew who your employer was.”
Frank’s jaw clenched. I could tell he was losing patience. He sighed and said, “I’m really not supposed to tell you.” The tone he used indicated he was lying. Surely, Clovis had known I would demand to know this information.
“But, as long as you promise not to tell him I told you?” He looked at me expectantly.
I nodded solemnly.
“Clovis Trakiya,” he said dramatically.
I pursed my lips. “Hmm, never heard of him.”
Frank looked shocked. I smiled on the inside, hoping the little dig would make its way back to Clovis. Frank opened his mouth to speak, but I held up a hand.
“But if what you say is true, I’d agree to at least meet with him. What could it hurt, right?”
Frank’s smile was genuine this time. Obviously, he’d been worried about going back to Clovis with bad news.
“How soon can you make it to San Francisco for the meeting?”
I leaned back in my chair and took another swig from my beer. “Well, Frank, I tell ya, it just so happens I have some room in my schedule day after tomorrow.”
7
I left Phantasmagoria feeling better than I had in days. Things were finally coming together. I’d meet with Clovis in a couple of days and hopefully in a week or so he’d be dead.
It wasn’t lost on me that my eagerness to do this job had a lot to do with David. The rational part of me knew that killing Clovis wouldn’t bring David back or erase the fact he’d betrayed the Dominae. But the other side, the one that made me irrational, wanted to punish Clovis for his role in leading David in the wrong direction. Sure, I knew David made the choice to work with Clovis, but that didn’t matter. In my mind, this whole mess was Clovis’ fault for thinking he could threaten the Dominae’s power. Now that I was on my way to see the job done, I felt more at ease.
Humans filled the sidewalk as they spilled out of the clubs on Wilshire. Music, car horns, and laughter created the usual Friday night soundtrack. I dodged a few drunken co-eds and turned on a side street. I’d parked my Ducati about a block away in an underground parking lot beneath an office tower. The beauty of motorcycles is how easy they are to get around those pesky wooden arms at garage entrances.
I ducked into the lot and walked down the ramp to the level below. My footsteps echoed against the gray concrete walls. I’d just turned the corner when I heard the footsteps following me. I turned slowly, ready to scare off any drunken frat boys who might have mistaken me for easy pickings. Instead, a group of nasty-looking male vamps came around the bend. Something told me they weren’t lost.
I recognized two males at the front from Ewan’s bar—Dumb and Dumber. They were the friends of the guy I’d smoked. Behind those two, stood four other huge males. If you put all six of them together, you’d probably get a cumulative IQ of 100. However, it doesn’t take much smarts when you have fangs, muscles, and guns to do your talking.
I held my hands up, trying to buy some time. “Evening, boys. What’s up?” As I talked, I scanned the area for exits. Besides the ramp, a door marked “stairs” stood at the opposite end of the parking lot. The Ducati stood about six feet behind me and was the only vehicle in the lot.
“What’s up is you’re going down, bitch.” Dumber had no neck and his biceps were like barrels. Obviously, he also felt he had a great sense of humor. It was sad, really.
“Look, I know you’re probably upset about the other night, but you can’t blame a girl for defending herself, can you?”
“Billy Dan didn’t deserve to get smoked by no bitch,” said Dumb. He was leaner than his partner, but had a feral gleam in his eye that told me he was the more dangerous of the pair. “And this time you don’t have your bodyguards holding us off with no shotguns.”
The group spread out, forming a semicircle to block my escape. The time for talking was over. I reached back to grab my gun. When my hand touched nothing but the waistband of my jeans, a cold sweat broke out on my scalp. I cursed myself seven ways to Sunday as I realized I’d forgotten to get it back from the bouncer on my way out. I’d been so excited about the upcoming meeting with Clovis, I’d lost my head.
The group was closing in slowly, obviously expecting some spectacular move on my part. They would be disappointed. My mind scrambled for a solution as I leaned down and pulled the stake from my boot. As far as weapons went, an apple wood stake was quite effective. However, one stake versus six massive male vamps was pitiful. My only hope was to reduce their numbers by at least one to make the odds more sporting.
I crouched down, ready for the inevitable first wave. In fights like these, usually one or two macho ass**les decide to show off. For some reason, it never occurs to them that if they all attacked at once I’d not stand a chance. Not that I was complaining.
A few seconds later, two came at me. I noticed that the leaders fell back, ready to have their friends do the dirty work. Turning sideways, I tripped one with a leg sweep. He fell down hard and fast, giving me enough time to spin and catch his buddy in the heart with the stake. The stake made a sickening sucking noise as I pulled it out before he ignited.