Dead and Everything (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 2) (29 page)

The
guy kept talking, his speech a little awkward, but still funny and almost
charming enough.

“Yep.
I know. I think that’s the point though. Showing that you all aren’t a
particular threat to anyone. Just the same,
clearly incredible
, people
that we always knew, more or less. In the important ways, if nothing else. I’d
sign up to be one of you, but I hear that the standards are pretty high. I get
that I might not make it in looks.” He stroked his face, which had some pock
marks on it. Pits in his face and silver looking scars in places. His hair was
greasy looking, too, but Eve figured that part would go away if he became a
Vampire.

Lamont
seemed pretty laid back on the idea though.

“Not
really. You just have to find someone to bring you over.”

Eve
cleared her throat, just as Maggie walked up, both of them shaking their heads.

She
was the one that spoke first though. After all, it was her made up rules that
they were going to be using.

“It
isn’t about looks, but there are some new rules in place. Mainly to make sure
you get the right training first, and that kind of thing. It really makes a big
difference. As for the, you know the scars? You should get with the Mages on
that. They charge for the work, but if you get with Marcus over there, I bet
he’ll do it for free. I mean, you may have to give him a hummer or two, but is
that really too much to ask?”

She
was betting the guy would say it was, given that he seemed pretty straight, but
to her surprise he seemed to agree with her.

“Yeah?
Well, I don’t have any money to trade for it, not enough, I bet. Still, I can
just get you to suck him off for me, right?” He didn’t look at Eve, but Tara,
who snorted at him.

“I
could do that, yes, but you should do your own work, if you really want to be
one of us. Odds are, if you opt for a very long life, you’re going to end up
sucking more than one…” She stopped, and then realized that there was a camera
on her.

Eve
got the idea, so stopped talking for a second and reset.

“There’s
a real point there, if you’re serious. Plus, Mark has contacts with the
Vampires and might be able to get you a good deal. Let you find a good mentor,
and all that. You should go ask about it. Seriously.”

The
man started to turn, then almost as if the moment drew out for a very long
time, he locked his brown eyes with her own. He was white, as far as skin color
went, and there was a feeling of a buzzing that came then. At first she nearly
killed him, thinking she was under attack, but it wasn’t that.

No,
it was just that she’d compelled him before. Her mind had instantly started to
do it again, as soon as they focused on each other.

Which,
it seemed, she was doing right then, too, compelling him. Not on purpose, but
it was very likely that the Greater Demon Fram was going to get a treat that
night, if he wanted one.

That
should
stop him from saying that she never did anything for him, at
least.

Not
that it would mean anything. She let it go, already having figured that she’d
never meet any of the masturbation guys, and not really caring about revenge.
Not past what she’d already gotten. Ben had set that up pretty well, after all.
Now she knew why, if they were part of his club like that. It would make it all
a lot more personal for him.

The
rest of the evening was, when she thought about it, a lot less tense than she
might have figured. For one thing she had been nearly certain there would be an
attack of some sort on them, as they sat there eating. She’d stayed ready for
it in fact, just in case it was up to her to lay down the law. She’d named
herself a sort of law-keeper, hadn’t she?

The
Vampires didn’t have a specific term for it. Not outside of “you messed with
the Council and will now die”. Bey was kind of that guy for them, too, but she
was getting to be his temporary junior, super secret apprentice, or whatever
she was doing, and that was kind of special, wasn’t it? Especially since the
guy had never even tried to get her into bed, or used her for anything in
particular.

Still,
she tried to stay alert and focused, in case there were any problems.

No
one even got drunk, so, other than walking some of the girls to their cars, and
one of the guys, who was afraid that he might be cursed for hitting on a girl
that turned out to be one of the Mages, she just had clean-up to focus on. That
didn’t take nearly as long as putting things together had in the first place.
When she was finished, and just about to leave, Maggie came up to her, and put
a cool hand on her arm.

“That,
was
incredible
, Eve! Here I’d thought we might get some cookies and
punch… Do you think… I know it’s not really your job, but we occasionally have
functions like this and there will be more of them as time goes on, and we have
to entertain Humans and others. Do you think you could help us out with that?
I’ll try not to dump it all on you, or let the others do that, especially since
you have other things to see to, but if it fits into your schedule?” She seemed
a bit strange when she said it.

Like
she was actually
asking
.

“Um,
sure? I’ll need to know ahead of time, and a budget would be nice. All of this
came out of pocket, but if it was for, you know, less, um, me-centric, things?”

She
got a funny look, but the woman nodded after half a second, seeming almost like
a real Human being, lacking only the right energy signature.

“We
can do that. Thank you, for all your hard work. You know, if…” She stopped, and
then charged ahead. “I was wondering, do you think you could actually mentor
Krista Hall for me? I told her that I knew of someone that was a bit younger
than I was, but very stable. Her character, well, essentially, she’s playing
you
,
so that might work? The story is loosely based on you protecting those
protestors outside the club in town here. I understand the battle will be a lot
bloodier and more heroic? With her going up against nearly a hundred hardened
and ancient warriors, but the idea is much the same. Then, instead of being
locked up by Council decree, which was stolen from them
masterfully
by
the way, she goes on the run with the poor Human man that’s the target of the
others. Something a bit ridiculous sounding, about magically delicious blood? I
did try to tell them that it wouldn’t happen that way, but the Director seems
pretty set on the script they have, and according to Krista, probably will be,
right until she’s memorized all her lines, at which point the whole thing will
be rewritten.” That was, it seemed, some kind of acting joke.

Eve
made a face, but then tried to play the whole thing off.

“That
sounds about right though, doesn’t it? Well, as long as there are plenty of sex
scenes, and titties, I’m sure it will do pretty well. People do seem to like
that kind of thing. Maybe we can get them to add in some full frontal guy stuff
for once?
That
would be worth the price of admission.” It might be, if
the actor playing that roll was good looking enough.

Not
that she was being picky as to her eye candy for the moment.

Maggie
smiled and hugged her, holding her closer than she had before on previous
occasions. It was pretty clear that she really just didn’t want to bother with
an actress. Eve could see that.

“Still,
let her know that if she wants to hang with the big dogs, she’d better be ready
for some work, or at least watching me do it. We can memorize exciting forms
together. Or, I guess, run lines for her script? That’s a thing too, and it’s
not like I really work
all
the time. Just most of it. I’m probably the
most boring person in the world for this, aren’t I? Poor her.”

The
ancient Vampire shook her head, but spoke gently.

“Not
really. You do have some small measure of cachet with our kind, and can
introduce her to many others, so she has multiple points of feedback. Not
everyone can get that done as well as you might. So, I can have her come around
tomorrow? She gets into town tonight, but my understanding is that she
sleeps
,
for some strange reason.”

It
made sense to her. Plus, she was a Hollywood type. It would probably mean she
could, and would, be up at all hours. Still, Cormack and Barb pretty much had
everything handled, didn’t they? Neither of them would really need her there to
hold their hand anymore. Barb was having more trouble than Cormack had, but not
that
much. Plus he was helping her out, which made it easier.

Eve
had to feel a bit baffled about the whole thing though. If they could just stay
up, even if it was in horrible agony the whole time, why did so many of them
sleep the day away?

The
question answered itself though, and she let it go. The pain was enough to keep
almost anyone from trying it, and Cormack and Barb were both being pushed, more
than a little. Edom had managed it on his own, but then, he was much older, and
had almost gotten there already.

She
looked into the lovely brown eyes of the woman across from her, who was still
touching her arm. It was nearly romantic seeming.

“Let’s
do it? Hopefully she isn’t too much of a bitch? If so… Well, I’m used to
dealing with Vampires, so I bet I can handle it. I might have to leave in a few
days though. Something in Russia? Bey mentioned it, but not any real
specifics.”

The
other Vampire froze, which wasn’t her habit.

“Really?
I… You know, I was
going
to be shocked and amazed, since that sounds
like a real situation shaping up, but I think I can see sending you in. If you
have to go, remember to be careful. Things… Aren’t right, and haven’t been for
a while now. It all started about sixty years ago, I think. It’s definitely
worse now, however.”

What
was worse she didn’t say, as if Eve would be able to see the same thing,
without anything more than a vague hint at it?

Then
again, she kind of
did
, so maybe it was a real enough point?

Eve
was smart enough to guess that this Krista Hall person wouldn’t be showing up
at six in the morning, or anything like that. Movie stars, even ones she’d
never heard of, probably kept something closer to regular Vamp hours, if the
rumors were right, and they weren’t working that day.

For
that matter, the woman might just have figured out that real Vampires weren’t
going to be hanging around at noon. That there was a nest of them there that
day, doing exactly that, was just a sign of how cool they all were.

Bey
had come to sit with them, and kept murmuring in Russian from the back room,
which she answered quietly, trying not to bother anyone too much. That didn’t
keep a rather surly Barb from glaring at her the whole time, but Cormack was
pretending to be happy, being that he got the general idea already. Lenore was
in her office, on the phone, and Edom was actually watching Barb very closely,
a large smile on his face the whole time.

Bey,
from the back, where there was a nice leather sofa, spoke to her gently. In
Russian, since that was what they were doing.

“It
seems that young Barbara is about to receive a beating, to aid in improving her
mood. I would not undermine my daughter, or her aid, but perhaps it would be
best if such did not happen during the middle of the day? There is too great a
potential of being seen, with magical eyes of metal and glass, staring as they
are constantly in this age.” He was a bit gruffer in Russian, which was a thing
that she’d noticed before.

“I’ll…
I don’t know, let me talk to her?” Taking a deep breath, Eve looked over at
Barb, who was glaring at her from across the room, having heard her name, even
if she didn’t know the language it had been tucked into.

They
all wore decent clothing, and aprons, except for Lenore and Bey, who weren’t
working the front that day. The things were over the rest of their clothing,
and, as was fairly common, Barb was actually the only one that looked like she
might really be working there. Well, Eve was pretty close, being that they were
both in jeans and t-shirts under the very clean white and green things with the
company logo on them.

It
was kind of difficult, really, since she had orders from Bey, in the form of a
suggestion, but Barb actually outranked her. If the idea was to prevent a fight
in the middle of the shop, then her going and running her mouth at the woman
wasn’t really going to help all that much, was it? Which was, she got in a
flash that nearly made her feel smart, the ancient Vampire’s point. It wasn’t
actually an exercise in saving Barb a beating, or even sharp words from the
others. No, it was all about getting her, Eve the Baby Vampire, to do something
that was way beyond her pay grade.

The
trick there was figuring out how to get that done without setting the other
girl off. It was, most likely, not possible. In which case she’d probably be
able to take Barb out. Without killing her, since she was faster, if nothing
else. She thought she might be a better fighter, too, having actually taken
lessons and practiced, but that wasn’t a thing she could count on.

It
wasn’t the exercise at hand either.

“Um,
Barb? Could you take a walk with me?” She tried to sound cheery, and got a soft
growl for her trouble.

Eve
got it. It was high noon, and the burning pain from overhead was a lot less
than fun. There was a narrowing of eyes in her direction, as Ed turned away a
bit and hid his expression, which was a smile. Cormack had to do the same
thing, which Barb understood, her breath, a thing that didn’t need to happen at
all, came out in sharp, rapid and hissing panting sounds.

Like
a person enraged.

After
a bit, she managed to growl a few words though.

“
Fine
.
We can… Go for a walk,
Snowflake
.”

That
was what Barb had taken to calling her, over the last few days. It was short
for “special snowflake”, which, if Eve had the idea right, was all about how
awesome she was, but also kind of claiming that everything had been handed to
her. She
was
unique, but Barb thought that she was getting too many
privileges over it, or something like that.

She
smiled, and didn’t let herself sigh, just taking her apron off. If there
was
a fight, she wasn’t going to let the thing get torn up. How she was going to
really avoid that outcome, she didn’t know. Then, Bey had mentioned not having
it happen in the store, with cameras watching. Maybe it would be enough if she
got Barb someplace where no one would be watching? That gave her an idea, and
she headed down toward Zack’s book store.

Without
more than a wave to Kaitlyn, who was looking a bit nerdy that day, wearing
glasses, and a pullover sweater, which barely turned her from a twelve into a
nine as far as looks went, Eve got them through the door with the owl carvings.
The space inside was empty enough, and, more to the point, there was no one
watching.

Except
Zack, in the back of the room. He was just sitting there, at his desk in the
little closed off area near the back, watching them calmly.

She
turned back that way and waved, even as Barb winced.

“Zack?
Can I borrow the room for a few minutes?” She didn’t say why, but he nodded,
and didn’t pretend that it was going to be about sex. After all, neither of the
girls there would want that kind of thing, and if they were going to bother,
they would have at least let him watch.

“I
guess. I have an appointment in half an hour, for a transfer, so try not to
leave the room too big of a mess? Also, you know the rules; you break it, you
bought it.” Then, almost cutely, with a bit of a spring in his step he
scampered out of the space, leaving them both alone.

Hopefully
they wouldn’t end up trashing the nice stone floor. It was flat, and free of
cracks. Black marble that was polished nearly perfectly.

Neither
of them spoke for a few minutes.

Barb
fumed though, and gave her angry and upset glances.

Finally,
Eve shrugged and shook her head just a fraction of an inch. She was standing
there, relaxed, and ready, but Barb was tense and had blood red eyes already,
with her fangs out. That wasn’t a great sign, was it?

“Bey
asked me to get you out of there before the others started to beat you for
being a pain in the ass. You’re welcome, by the way. What’s the deal? Everyone
else is standing under the sun too… Fuck… You’re
better
at faking
emotions than I am. This is no different. Also, while I’m calling you on silly
bullshit, what’s with the special snowflake crap? It’s like you
want
to
start a fight. That can’t be right though, since your
job
is all about
keeping things calm and collected when you can.” Not that it worked all the
time, but the woman kept glaring at her, so it was kind of clear that her
motivational speech wasn’t having the desired effect yet.

“I
hate you! You come in here and make it seem like everything that I’ve fought
for, for decades, is just some easy thing that anyone can master without
thinking about it! You raised the freaking bar on me, without warning, and I
look like a piece of shit now, because you never do anything wrong!
Oh, I’m
Eve and not only doesn’t
my
shit not stink, we’re bottling it and
selling it as perfume…
Everyone else hates you too, you know that? David and
Ginger. They’re both older than either of us, and have been left locked in the
house for weeks, because they aren’t needed here anymore. No, that isn’t a
thing now, because super-Vamp is in town. Up all day and night, working
all
the time. Now you’re having Cormack and me tortured, so you can prove
what
?
That it’s harder to stay up all day than we thought? I should have killed you
when you were still Human. Bitch.”

Eve
nodded. That was all pretty close to true, from a certain perspective. She
didn’t even flare into anger over it, which, given what was just said, was
probably part of the point. The mistakes she’d made had mainly been pretty
small things so far. Except for the one that had her locked up in a box for
months, and even then, it had to seem like she was just laughing at the
Council, almost. Doing things that no one else would have, and surviving even
though it should have been a slow death sentence.

“I
guess I can see your point. It doesn’t really change anything though, does it?
I’m not going to work
less
hard so you can feel good about yourself,
and, seriously…” She thought of something and then shrugged, and looked away.
She kind of expected to be jumped then, and was ready to move if she had to,
but there was just a growl from about six feet away.

“
What
?”

“Oh…
Well, Lenore told Cormack that if he could master being up all day that she’d
put in for him to move to a new embassy. Like, as an assistant ambassador, if
not actually having that position. Ed is probably going to be out soon too,
since he’s been up all day for half a year now. So… Isn’t David older than
you?”

That
got the other Vampire to make a face at her.

“Yeah.
So?”

“But,
you’re
the one that Lenore wanted to learn to be up all day. She thought
that you can handle it. She wasn’t wrong either. I mean, yeah, so you hate me
right now, but other than seeming like a cranky little kid, you’re
doing
it, aren’t you? I wonder if she means for you to become her assistant?”

There
was an eye roll then, and the other Vampire huffed at her, as if she were being
a moron.

“Right.
Because
that
makes sense? I’m the second youngest at the house, and… You
don’t understand.”

She
really didn’t, and understood that one pretty clearly. She was Edom’s only
child, so far. Lenore had more than a few. Ones that Eve had never even met, it
seemed. Ginger for instance. In the five years that she’d been there, Eve had
never even heard the name.

“So
what? You’re also the one standing here, at
noon
, ready to go back in
with a big old fake smile on your face, and joking with everyone. Even if I’m
wrong, for one of us, being up like this is a freaking super power, Barb. Like
Lenore keeps saying, part of the reason that the other Vampires respect the
ones that can do it, is that it hurts so much that it’s kind of bad-ass. So, pep
talk over? We can go back and you’ll pretend with the rest of us? Be nice and
act all happy?”

Sullenly,
the girl, who was several decades older than Eve, though she looked no more
than a few years past that, nodded.

“I
guess, Snowflake. I guess. I should still kick your butt. For making me look
bad.”

Eve
shrugged.

“Later?
We have some actress coming in today. Krista Hall? I’m supposed to show her the
ropes, but maybe you could help me with that?
If
you aren’t acting like
someone kicked you in the crotch, I mean?”

The
other woman went dead still, showing that something in that had shocked her,
and then took a long, very slow, breath.

“Krista
Hall? She’s
good
. Why would she be coming here though?”

“Some
kind of Vampire movie deal? I don’t really know all of it, since Maggie Sims
asked me to do it. I’ll gladly dump part of the work on you, if you don’t
mind?” If she could do it without acting ready to drink everyone in the world
dry, that was. Eve was willing to settle for not acting like a monster, but
Barb smiled then, and managed to tuck her fangs away, getting her eyes to move
back to their normal brown color.

“Sweet
deal. Even if she doesn’t show, I guess you’re right. Not about me getting Ed’s
job, but about not being a bitch all the time. I’ll try?” She tensed, as if
expecting to be yelled at, but Eve nodded at her, and smiled, not feeling like
it at all.

“Cool.
That’s all that you really have to do. If nothing else it will keep Ed and Bey
from having to spank you. Unless, you know, you’re into that? I
totally
called dibs on Bey though, so, you know, if you do get with him, remember to
share?”

Barb,
who managed a smile that was a lot more credible than her own, Eve was willing
to bet, stopped dead after that again for a second.

“You,
are a very weird girl, Eve Benson. Ask anyone.”

It
was probably true, but she managed to get Barb walking and waved to Zack on the
way out.

“Thanks!”
She didn’t explain anything, since he’d already know anyway. It was what his
kind did.

The
rest of the day went about like normal, though Lenore left early, so that she
could get her hair done, of all things. It grew, being well fed and having
constant energy like she did, so it was a real enough thing. Thinking about it,
Eve wondered if she should get her own done soon? It was past her collar now,
and while letting it grow out a little wasn’t a horrible thing, it didn’t
actually have a style to it at the moment. It was just straight, with a tiny
bit of wave to it that made it harder to care for.

Edom
and Bey both stayed however, as if they
needed
that many people to watch
the shop. Not that Bey did that part of things. He mainly just sat in the back,
muttering to her constantly. In Russian.