Invincible (A Centennial City Novel) (5 page)

Elder Chang let out a sigh. “This is about his fiance?”

“Yes.”

I fancied I could hear his long, lacquered nails tapping in the background. “Do not think we were derelict in our promise to the boy. We have done what we could. Unfortunately, it seems the girl is under a great deal of protection than should be warranted for someone so recently turned. We could find very little information as to her whereabouts.”

“I see.” Mika meowed loudly, brushing against my shins and I patted her on the head. She rewarded me with another meow and didn’t bite my fingers. Perhaps we were progressing past general disdain to something quite possibly approaching tolerance. The tiger
could
change her stripes. “May I ask you a question, Elder Chang?”

“That would depend.” He sounded reluctant, almost cautious. “What is it?”

“Why Jason?”

He didn’t have to ask me to clarify.

Why was Jason chosen?

“Hm,” he began slowly. “That…that is not a question I think I can answer.”

To have expected something different was foolish. “I see.”

Elder Chang harrumphed loudly. “I’ve observed you from the very beginning, Hwang. You have never failed me, never failed the Fellowship. So I will wait. We shall see.”

“Thank you, Elder Chang,” I said, somewhat relieved. Had he told me I was to exterminate Jason immediately, I would have done it, but reluctantly. There was a mystery around the young man, one I found myself want to solve. “I will not let you down.”

“See to it that you don’t. I must admit, I too am curious about this whole affair. When he informed us about his purpose in joining our ranks, I thought it would easy to find his fiance and their child. That we could not was most curious and there was something else…”

His voice trailed away. “Well, never mind. See to it that you keep me updated. I am most curious to see how this plays out.”

“Elder Chang, I don’t--”

The dial tone echoed in my ears and I set the phone down on the receiver, letting my hand linger for a moment on the warm plastic exterior.

How odd. That Elder Chang had gone to such lengths as to hang up on me so he didn’t want to speak to me…I’d never before experienced such avoidance.

There was a mystery to Jason.

I would find it.

And then I would break it.

***

It was still light out when I woke up and I relished the warmth of the early setting sun, as cold as the air was on my bared skin. It was rare to see the sun in all its glory, setting or no, and I took a moment to stand in a beam of light, watching the sky turn shades of indigo and gray before night descended upon Centennial City.

I took a deep breath, drew in that inexplicable scent that was the City, the crisp scent of snow, the barely discernible stench of blood, the stink of sewage.

A faint note of sandalwood tickled my nose and my nostrils twitched.

To the east.

I ended up in a rather influential, rich neighborhood. Here, the brownstones gave way to large family houses, no, mansions with massive front lawns and metal-wrought gates, a few with their own security guard house.

Such a price humans pay for security, for privacy. And yet, all of it seemed simply for appearance. How safe were these people behind their makeshift fortress of technology and brand names? What would happen if one were to simply disable the electricity they so dearly needed? What would happen to their metal fortress?

The smell of sandalwood, warm and spicy, led me to a house at the end of a cul-de-sac at Howards Drive and I looked up at the large metal gate. In the distance, I saw a large building, perhaps two stories high with a large, curving driveway in front of it. Maybe there was even a water fountain, in front of it, but I couldn’t be sure.

I took the sight of the small, golden plaque on one side of the gates.

Eldridge.

Truly, Jason was a walking contradiction.

If that was his name.

I could see the various security cameras, hear the faint, almost inaudible whir of lenses as they tried to focus on the shadow by the gates.

I could press the small button on the intercom.

Or I could simply jump over the gates and let myself in.

You might say I make things unnecessarily difficult, but I prefer to think of it as a game.

The jog up to the actual house took some time; I misjudged the distance from the gate to the house and by the time I made it to the east wing, my pulse had sped and a thin sheen of sweat slicked my forehead.

The shades were drawn tight on the windows of the lower level of the house, and it seemed like the same was true for the second floor, although I thought I saw a faint aura of light on the third window of the upper level.

Only one door was unlocked, a French door at the very edge of the property, almost hidden behind a mass of shrubbery and ivy that seemed intent on taking over the east wing.

It was practically an invitation.

I took it as such.

Besides, the chances of just one entrance being left open…it was no coincidence.

And it was no coincidence he sat in the darkness, waiting for me.

“I thought you’d come.”

It was difficult to reconcile this image of Jason to the first meeting when he seemed like a pathetic skater punk, all ripped jeans and hoodie. His attire changed much, his attitude wholly different.

There was no sense of desperation, no sense of pity I could catch as I closed the door behind me, locking us in darkness that made my pulse beat even faster. “I beg your pardon. I hope I have not kept you waiting.”

He flicked on a lamp by his elbow and while it did bring light into the room, it only shrouded him deeper into the shadows. “Not at all. I was curious as to how you would find me. But of course. The blood. You traced my blood. Just like you said you would. And here I was thinking you’d fed me a load of…crap.”

His voice was different. Fuller. Deeper. Richer. Almost like old velvet drenched in something heavy, like honey.

How much of the boy from before was real?

Or had this all been some sort of act?

His lips twitched. The hoodie was gone, replaced with a plain black button shirt, the collar so stiff, it looked like it could walk on its own. “You’re surprised.”

“I wish I could say this didn’t feel like a trap,” I confessed.

“I can imagine this is not quite what you expected,” he said, waving me to a seat placed across from him. I did not take it, opting to stand instead. Besides, this left the door at my back. “Won’t you sit down?”

I shook my head. “I don’t feel comfortable enough to do so.”

“You’ll make me ashamed,” he said. “Surely, I am a better host than this.”

Such difference.

I did not know this man in front of me.

Did not know his ways.

I knew next to nothing about him and that was worrying in oh-so-many ways. “You lied to me.”

His onyx eyes widened dramatically. “Have I? I thought I was the very soul of honesty. Can you tell me what I lied about?”

“Not words,” I said. "Action. I suppose you could call it a lie by omission. You had no intention of dying last night, did you?”

He stood up, no less dangerous than when he was sitting, but no more. I didn’t trust it, not for one moment. I felt his strength, his speed the night before when I tried to touch his hand. “I have no intention of dying today or tomorrow, if that’s what you’re asking.”

I found his words to be quite disheartening. “Then I’m afraid you are of no use to me. How else am I to infiltrate Noir’s security, if not for your so-called rampage? I need to gain his trust. You remaining alive bars me from doing so.”

He walked around the chair, his fingers trailing the back of the chair, eyes never leaving mine, almost like a challenge. A dare.
I dare you to do it. Kill me.
It was a bluff, or maybe it wasn’t. Either way, it worked. “Haven’t you ever heard the saying, there is more than one way to skin a cat?”

“Is there?”

“You wouldn’t have to kill me, you know,” he said. “I’m sure the Elders would be more than happy to supply you with someone else, someone who’s so damned consumed with the noble sacrifice they would be more than happy to lie down and let you take their head off in front of Noir and his horde of bloodsuckers.”

“So find another?”

The smile never wavered from his dusky lips. “Can’t you?”

Having to call Elder Chang and tell him I failed was…unpalatable, to say the least. “I’m not sure if I want to do that. Elder Chang would not be pleased to have to find another, not when he thought he found the perfect candidate.” I looked around the wide, spacious room, with a multitude of expensive paintings hanging on the paneled walls. A large mahogany bookcase stood adjacent to the French door, its shelves bursting with old hardcovers, some of the letters so worn, it was impossible to read the spine. “Are the Elders aware you come from such a background?”

“They know what they need to know.”

“I take that as a no.”

His only reply was a nonchalant shrug. Worse than no answer at all.

I watched him carefully, watched him watching me with that same, slightly derisive air that made me feel like a plaything, just something that would, willingly or no, bend to his will. “May I ask you a question?”

“If you must.”

I did take that seat. I sensed no immediate danger and if he did attack me and I couldn’t defend myself, this close to an exit, then I deserved to die like the idiot I was.

He remained on his feet.

“If you didn’t want me to find you, would I have?”

He was silent for a moment. “Honestly, I don’t know.”

I looked down at my hands in my lap. “I see. This is quite unconventional.”

There was no answer to be had in that expressionless mask. “I’ve told you the truth.”

“Except the part about you dying.”

He shrugged. “Well, I will die. Won’t everyone? But I have no intention of dying like a martyr. If I do kill Noir, that son of a bitch and I will do it on equal terms.”

A human fighting a vampire? On equal terms?

“You’re not human, are you?”

He raised an elegantly shaped brow. Gods above, but he really was attractive. “Why would you think that? Contrary to belief, there are humans who are able to fight vampires without anything else but training.”

“Maybe there are, but it seems as though they don’t live long enough to boast about it,” I pointed out and then sighed. “I’m getting tired of all this cloak and dagger acting. Clearly, you are not the person I thought you were. You say you have told me the truth regarding your situation. The Elders know nothing of your true self. Tell me why I should continue sitting here, waiting for you to say something relevant, when it seems like everything about you is nothing but a lie.”

He stepped forward then, close enough to touch, if only I reached out an arm.

Too close.

Much too close for comfort.

“What I tell you, what leaves my mouth is nothing but the truth. Four years ago, my fiance was abducted. She was pregnant with our child. A week later, I receive a note saying she had been turned into a vampire and all contact with me would stop as of immediately.”

So cut and dry. And yet… “You make it sound so simple. Was it really that simple?”

“Is anything ever…simple?”

I hated it when people directed questions back at me like that. “Is that all? All you’re going to tell me?”

“In all honesty, Hwang, I think that’s all you need to know about the past. What concerns me is the future.”

He sat back down and I let out a breath. Sitting down, he was far enough to be out of reach. I liked having that kind of distance between us.

Strange. Before I knew the truth, I had been tempted to touch him, just to see how he would react.

And now, you couldn’t pay enough to get me to stand near him, much less tap him on the shoulder. “Future? Who says there’s going to be a future?”

If Jason couldn’t help me get close to Noir, then I saw little point in continuing my relationship with him. It seemed pointless, at best. At worst…no, best not to think about it. “Forgive me if it seems like I’m flogging a dead horse, but is Jason your real name?”

Once the words left my mouth, I winced. It was a completely unnecessary question. It didn’t matter what his name was. What was it Shakespeare had said? Something about a rose being a rose no matter the name, right?

“It’s real,” he said, leaning back in the seat, hands crossing in his lap. “As to our future…I can make it so you can infiltrate Noir’s establishment and take him out. Those are your orders, aren’t they?” His eyes glowed. “However, what if you were to kill two birds with one stone?”

“An interesting proposition,” I replied. “Go on.”

He seemed terribly amused. “By the time we’re done, a very strong vampire will be gone. I’m offering you a chance to come along for the…ride. What do you say?”