Endless Night (16 page)

On the other side of the roped barricade, there was not much to be giddy about. A well camouflaged breaker box lay hidden under the stairs and a door marked private were the only things of interest. The breaker box obviously meant nothing to me, unless I was into really awful pranks. I wasn’t.

The door, which I hoped desperately was unlocked, was all that I was looking for. One last check for gawkers and I was turning the brass knob over. It clicked twice and pulled open freely. Must not be too important or it would’ve been locked. The space on the other side was dark, but the ambient light allowed me to make out pipes and scaffolding telling me this was likely a backstage entrance of some sort. Or a dark dank back area where they slaughtered the innocent.

I slipped in as quietly as my boot clad feet would carry me. I was surprised to find the flooring on the other side of the door to be carpeted. I assumed this was to not allow the guests to hear everything happening in the background. A staging area I believed they call it. Not really a backstage, but where a bride might hide with her groom before they made their grand entrance of their reception. Or a large birthday cake with a sexy lady inside could be stowed away until just the right time. Or, well, you get the idea.

I followed the overhead scaffolding toward what sounded like instrumental music playing. The entertainment was over and the dinner was beginning. Or so I would assume. Thick cords and ropes were strung up and around the modern metal frames and I figured this was a new addition to the original home. Kerosene and candlelight can take you only so far until you have to come into this century.

My heart fluttered a bit when I heard something rustling around in the shadows with me. My head thought of all sorts of fantastic things. A voodoo zombie raised from its solitude to wreak havoc on my delicious flesh. Some kind of horrific snake creature summoned by black magic to swallow me whole. Or the bad ass voodoo mama herself. I couldn’t tell where the sound was coming from so I slowed my footsteps until I was at a full stop. All the lace and material that made up my skirt
, made almost as much noise as my clicking heels had on the wooden floors.

I waited and listened, ears trained on any coming movement. I really didn’t have a plan for the moment I came into full face-to-face contact with the woman. I really hadn’t had the chance to confront her before. Not counting the time she ripped a chunk of my hair out. I really didn’t have the opportunity to stand my ground with the tiny woman clung to my body like a little spider monkey.

I figured I’d wing it when the chance came available. I hoped it didn’t come to blows; I really wasn’t dressed for that sort of thing. Just my luck, one of my tits would come popping out of this constricting bodice I was trapped in.

The rustling came again and this time much closer. I froze. My breath ceased in my lungs as I waited for further evidence of impeding confrontation. With little noise coming from me, I was able to pick up on the faintest sounds. More obvious noises flowed through the darkened space and the sound of feet shuffling hesitantly across carpeted floor came through. This time I knew where the steps where coming from and they were moving up directly behind me. My eyes closed in an attempt to heighten my sense of hearing. In the dark, moving toward me, a set of feet moved closer to my position. I didn’t wait another second. Drumming up all the courage I could, I spun on the balls of my feet to face my shadow in the dark. My fist swung with me in an unconscious effort to get the upper hand on the situation. Something grabbed my wrist and stopped it mid-motion.

“What could you possibly be doing snooping around in a darkened hallway?” Cyrus asked in a highly accusatory tone.

The fact that he’d followed me in the first place told me he already knew what I was up to. There would be no other reason for him to try and catch me before I did something really stupid.

“Looking for something,” I answered, still hoping there was a chance I’d run across my target somewhere in that hall filled with modern crap.

“You won’t find anything worthwhile in here. I’d suggest coming back to the table. They’ve served dinner and I think you would do well to get something to eat.” His perfect speech pattern mixed with the attire made it easy to imagine him in another era. An era that would allow his chivalry to flourish. Unfortunately for him, this was the twenty-first century and I was not one for chivalry. Carry my shit, sure, try to impede a serious ass kicking? Not in your fucking life.

“You would do well to get the fuck out of my face,” I did my best to stare him down in the dark. Bits of light slipped through, but only enough to not get yourself tangled in cording, not enough to really make an impact with a good stink eye.

“I swear it, Dylan, I will pick you up by your hair and drag you from this place and back to the solitude of your lovely pink room if you do not come with me right now,” he tried so hard sound threatening.

“Ha! I’d love to see that,” I scoffed, trying to stay quiet out of respect for the guests on the other side of all the ropes and pipes.

“You have no idea what you’re doing. Do you think she will allow you to overpower her? Do you honestly think she’s not capable of making everything you hold dear to you a burning pile of ash at her feet?” Ominous, always so damned ominous.

“Alright, that’s going too far. She’s just a nutty little girl who is pretty damn good at illusion stuff. Shit, someone should give her her own documentary. Six part series. But in no way does she hold any form of ‘magical powers’.” Yes, air quotes.

“You are fucking daft woman!” In the shadows, I saw his hands lift and shake around his head in frustration. I felt the same way about him.

“Get fucked!” Screw respect.

“I’ve already tried that. Wouldn’t want a repeat of last night, now would we?” His voice was sharp and his words cut deep.

That fucker. I knew he wasn’t that remarkable. No one, no matter how empathetic, was okay with someone else barfing in their face. Ever.

I didn’t say anything for a long moment. He seemed the type to enjoy baiting someone into an argument, but would easily back down if the bait wasn’t snatched up.

“Listen,” he said, finally breaking the silence. “I promise you, with every validity I can provide, Azelie d’Entremont is not the type of person you want to get yourself intermingled with. I want you to forget there was ever an altercation. Forget you ever made contact with her and I’ll take you away from here. We can go anywhere you’d like. I’ll take you to see the city. We can tour the cemeteries if you’d like. I noticed your interest in the group tour yesterday. Anything. Really, I just want you to forget Madam Azelie, forget all of this, and make it back home to the safety of your apartment tomorrow night. Please.”

“And if I forget? What then? She has been at every function I’ve attended since I met her. Is this coincidence or is she following me? I don’t really see why I’m so
goddamned important to her, but it is a bit odd to turn up in so many aspects of our weekend. Shit, I’m surprised she didn’t infiltrate my dreams with her fancy magic.” As soon as the words escaped my lips, I realized that was a distinct possibility. Why else would I dream of bloody children and shiny caskets?

How in the holy fuck would that little bitch be able to control my dreams?
If that’s true, there’s nowhere to hide. Nothing I can do, but sit at home and suck cock for Skittles until my head falls right off my shoulders and rolls into her fucking lap.

“No. I don’t believe tonight to be a coincidence. I believe, in some form or another, she coerced Marienne to allow her to perform.”

Cock-fuckle.

“Why Marienne?” The intricate interworking of vampire hierarchy was becoming messy. Screw research. Fiction would be easier to get a handle on than all this bullshit.

“She’s our host. She controls every aspect of the event from beginning to end. The Masque, the summit, tonight’s vampire ball, and the closing ceremonies tomorrow are all at the hands of our host, Primus of New Orleans. There is no way Azelie could be here without the approval of Marienne.” His tone was so serious I waited for portentous music to begin in the background. “I need you to leave with me, now. If she has Marienne convinced she’s harmless, there may be no protection for you here. Malcolm is clueless to the situation and I doubt he‘ll leave the side of his dear Tatum unless she leaves first,” he shook his head in apparent disgust. I agreed with him on that one. Everything else, yeah, fuck that shit.

“Look, I don’t believe in that kind of shit. So she’s a fucking loon with a thing for fat chicks, who are you to stop me from confronting said loon and nipping that shit in the magical bud?” I tapped my foot and waited for a response.

“Because if you stay here, there is no way I can predict what will happen.”

“What’s to say this woman won’t follow me? Keep following me wherever I go.” The thought of that actually scared me.
Magical or not, stalking was fucking real and could get pretty damned scary.

“I’m asking you to forget her. Stop thinking of her. Pretend as if she
doesn’t exist.”

“What, is that the antidote?” I chuckled sarcastically.

“This is not something to laugh about. You’re lack of respect for all that you do not understand will soon make itself an issue.”

“Respect?!” I said loudly, before Cyrus pulled me in closer to his body and shushed my loud mouth. Continuing in a whisper, “What sort of respect am I supposed to have? Bow down to her? Bow to her?” Bow to the queen of slime. The movie quote continued in my head uncontrollably as I waited for another cryptic response from my would-be suitor.

“You will remain calm,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “There’s a room full of people just beyond that wall that have no clue as to what is happening here. And they never should. You made the mistake of inviting yourself into her realm. It was you who did not accept her words graciously. It was you who used cursing words with her and left her in the wake of your anger. You caused this mess and there is no way I will allow you to cause a scene in the presence of nearly every Primus in the country. Do you know why Malcolm is the only Primus residing in the House of Porte?”

Shocked by his harsh words, I remained silent tucked tight against his chest as he hissed words into my ear with the faintest whisper. “Marienne trusts Malcolm with her House, obviously. If it were up to her, he would have been her
Secondus. Do you think she would be happy to know you have angered such a strong local presence as Madam Azelie? I will tell you the answer to that obvious rhetorical question would be no. I have no time to school you on the happenings within our community. As of now, you know all that is important to you. There is someone, a very powerful someone, who obviously would like to see you suffer. Even if just a little bit.”

My heart began to beat faster as fear built inside me. Cyrus’s words echoed in my already unstable brain. Despite my ability to take things to the extreme, I felt I was quite a rational person and didn’t believe for a second this woman actually had herself a set of fancy magical powers. I did, with all of my being, believe Cyrus thought she did. And that, in and of itself, was terrifying. If the person who you’d begun to view as a confidante, a protector should it come right down to it, was terrified of the scary lady, I might as well follow suit. Hell, he knew these idiots far better than I.

“Fine. Just take me back. If you won’t allow me to go back to my seat, I want to go home. My home. I want to get on a flight tonight and go back home. This entire trip was a mistake.” I shoved away from him and stomped off like a child. At least I wasn’t covered in blood.

I stomped through the darkened hallway with such vigor I didn’t see the obstruction in my path. My toe caught the edge of something immoveable and I stumbled over the top of it. In an effort to stay on my feet, my hands spread out in front of me and I caught myself on something partially pliable and a bit squishy. Tucking my legs over the top of it, I flipped over onto my ass and turned to take a look at what had impeded my childish escape. In the murky darkness, I made out the shape of a body. Nude. A lovely bit of wood protruded horrifically from between two modest breasts. A quick scream burst from my lungs and I scurried backward. I stared in horror; her hands were bound with thick strands of colorless hair, muted by the darkness. The curiosity in me took over before I could stop it and I saw what I didn’t want to see. Atop the shoulders, where a feminine head should be, a stump stood instead. The jagged stump of what used to be a neck. The head lopped clean off.

Another yelp came from my throat, and I clamped a hand over my mouth. Heavy breaths spurted through my tightly clasped fingers.

“Dylan?” Cyrus said from his spot standing a few feet from me, towering over the body that lay on the floor.

“Watch out,” I said quickly as his feet shuffled through the body that lay on the floor. Like fog stuck to the ground, the body dispersed into the air with the motion of his feet across it.

“What? What is it?” he looked to me, his hands spread wide reaching for my huddled frame.

“There,” I said, pointing with shaking hands to the body that was no longer there. He looked around his feet at nothing. “It was right there.”

“There’s nothing here, Dylan. What did you see?” he asked as he knelt down to my level and grabbed hold of my arms. “What was it?” he asked through clenched teeth.

A light sob threatened to reveal itself, but I stifled it out of fear. Crazy was one thing. A big fat pussy was a whole other bucket of worms.