Jade (10 page)

We got out of the car, guns at the ready. The three Explorers were a tangled, smoking mess and there was no sign of movement from within.

“Great driving,” Rolfe said.

* * * *

The Captain was not pleased. Despite our precautions, we had been attacked again. Sarah was convinced that we were being tracked via some serious magic, going off the grid wasn’t going to change that. We had our clothes tested for bugs and Sarah cast a group spell designed to confuse and deter tracking spells. The attackers this time had been human, a group of thugs associated with some rather unsavory criminal elements. They had a team of lawyers already and were not talking. It seems I was a road menace, deliberately trying to wreck them. Several had suffered broken bones and concussions. Threats of lawsuits were made and the witnesses to the pileup seemed to confirm a few things they were saying about me. The fact that they were armed to the teeth and had pictures of us in their cars confirmed what we were saying about them. Rolfe decided that staying at my place was probably the safest way to sleep in peace. I tended to agree; it was one reason I had selected that as my residence.

I called Luca to give him the bad news. I knew he was looking forward to seeing me. It turns out a deal had just been made with the DA on his two vamps and they had given us the information that the third vamp, the one that seemed to be in charge and not under a compulsion, belonged to one of the other vamp masters in town. That vamp, despite knowing that the other two would be testifying against him, was not talking. Luca suggested I go with him tonight to see his vamp master. She was known as London Jane and was the most powerful vamp in town.

Vamps are even more regulated than shifters. The road to becoming a vamp is either through an indentured system as a human servant, very expensive for the sponsoring vamp, or through the Union of Prostitutes, commonly known as UP. It seems that the Union, through various lobbying efforts, had at one point in the past convinced some powerful people to pass laws giving them somewhat of a monopoly on providing vamps with humans to drink from. They were protected from being killed by the threat of cutting off any vamp that went too far with a Union member, causing harm. A lot of former UP members had eventually elected to be turned, one of the perks of being an UP member. A lot of the newer vamps were former members, as with the shifters an occasional “accident” still happened, however. Some of the older, more traditional vamps, coming from such accidents, or as a human servant, or before regulation, were not too happy with the arrangements or the company.

A master had to be very rich to pay the Union enough to support their vamps, drinking bottled blood was a last resort for vamps. Power and politics, Rolfe had said. On the surface it would make sense that the Union was very interested in this case, hoping it would be solved soon. Somebody was not only providing kidnapped humans to the vamps, but letting them be killed as well, something that a vamp really enjoyed. It was in their nature to be both predator and killer.

Jane was having a party tonight, all the vamp bigwigs would be there. Vamps, their human servants, and a plethora of Union members would be in attendance. Humans and other supes would not be allowed. I could go as Luca’s escort, but it would have to be in full vamp mode, otherwise it would be an insult to the host.

What to wear, yet again my issue,
I thought, and again Sarah volunteered to help. I think she was taking a vicarious joy in helping me in this way. I would have to do something nice for her along these lines.

Newer vamps preferred Goth, older ones stuck to what they liked before they were turned, for a party like this with a mix of old and new, I could probably not go wrong as long as I kept it classy, even if I went Goth style. Sarah called the same guy that had done such a great job getting my gown at a moment’s notice for my meeting with the Summer Queen. They were on a first name basis. I think I had become his favorite customer in a matter of hours. He would be bringing over a few selections to my place this evening, he had my sizes and would make any needed adjustments on the fly. He had provided clothing and jewelry for these kinds of get-togethers before and said he had some very high-end, one-of-a-kind pieces in mind. Sarah had told him a blend of both old and new would be best with my look. I was already starting to think in vamp mode, sensing some small changes taking place in my body. He was not surprised at where I lived. After my purchase that morning, he knew he was looking at some deep pockets somewhere. Sarah told him to bring only the best of what he had.

Rolfe didn’t seem terribly put out that I had a “date” of sorts. I would try to change that. Luca would be arriving at eleven p.m., vamp parties didn’t really get going until around midnight. I had a feeling Luca would be dressed to the nines. I wanted Rolfe to take notice of both of us. Rolfe was the reason I had come here. I felt our friendship was growing but was not getting a feeling from him as being interested in any more than that.

Mister Jones, my new clothing guru, arrived about nine p.m.. He had brought his daughter with him; she helped him with the business. They really had selected some nice clothes, as well as some beautiful jewelry to match. There were three main outfits and four sets of good jewelry, as well as some shoes, purses, belts, and scarves. They had come in fully loaded down; one of the security guys had to help them bring it all up.

I fell in love with the jewelry and picked my outfit to match. A beautiful black obsidian choker with a heart-shaped, blood-red spinel gemstone, matching earrings with black posts and spinel spheres. Two obsidian bracelets completed the set. I selected a black skirt, good quality material, with a black chain mail belt. A dark red, sleeveless blouse cut to the navel completed my outfit.

“It’s a shame you don’t have any tattoos,” the daughter said. She had approved of my outfit, saying it was both Gothic and stylish in appearance. You could tell it was not cheap.

I had some ideas about that as well. Vamps change tattoos quite often, they tend to fade fast as they heal up after a day or so, resulting in a lot of repeat business for tattoo artists, who were flourishing as it had become a major business. I had been deliberately encouraging my vamp side, thinking of blood, listening to pulses, eyeing some veins in various necks. I had felt my ears changing back to normal, losing the fae pointedness from earlier in the day. Sarah had mentioned as I was changing that my eyes had changed from that jade color to a solid red. She did my makeup in black as well, lipstick, as well as mascara. My eyelashes had grown a bit and my hair had taken on a reflective shine, so dark now you could see the silky shimmer in it. If anything, it had grown another inch at least. I would be tripping over it before too long at the rate I was going. My fangs had been inching out anyway and Sarah asked that I release them from their confinement, it showed the level of trust we had developed in just a couple of days. She colored the tips of them blood red, I had to admit, it was a great touch. I wore my hair down, it was luxurious.

I was going to try something for my tattoo and I asked Sarah to watch as I concentrated. I closed my eyes and really focused on the picture I was looking for, trying to initiate a change just below the skin of my bare upper arm. For a solid minute nothing happened although I could feel some part of me applying pressure, then a sudden release, making me feel a bit flushed, almost faint.

Sara exclaimed, “Oh how beautiful!”

“Wow!” Mister Jones’ daughter said. She liked tattoos, she had a dozen showing in visible locations. I knew they had worked with vamp clients before but they had never seen anything like that before.

I held my arm up to get a better look. Only an inch in size, a beautiful black flying dragon spewing red flames adorned my upper arm.

“I am ready now,” I said, with a hint of that hissing sound again; my fangs were fully extended.

I gave Mister Jones a bonus, telling him we would do business again in the future.

Chapter Fourteen

Something was not quite right about my appearance,
I thought, as I looked at myself in the full-length mirror. My outfit, makeup, and jewelry were perfect. I looked like a vamp but looking at myself, even with fangs and red eyes, I looked like I was trying to look like a vamp, not that I was. My skin just had too much of that healthy, outdoors, and active look. Most vamps were pretty pale, the sun being their enemy. I had sent Sarah back out to the living room, they had ordered up some pizza that Hans had delivered and were having dinner. I didn’t want Rolfe to see me until I was heading out the door.

As I sat on the edge of the bed, drinking from a bottle of red wine I had opened, and resolved to change my skin color. This was much harder than the little tattoo I had made. I really concentrated, eyes closed, seeing myself as pale, peeking at myself in the mirror every few minutes. Luca was running late, it was already after eleven p.m. and he was not here yet. It gave me a chance to continue my efforts.

When the knock at the door came, about fifteen minutes late, just as I thought all my efforts had been for naught, it happened. It was almost as if my body had been waiting for that signal, that this change was going to happen whether I had tried for it or not. It almost knocked me out. I lay back on the bed in exhaustion. Sarah came in to let me know Luca had arrived. I took me a minute to rise and even then, she had to help me to my feet. I resolved to trust myself more next time. My body would make the necessary adjustments, if they were called for. I was learning. Sarah was very quiet. Although she had trusted me earlier, I had really not looked the part. I now not only looked like a vamp, I was a vamp. Some other subtle change, not only the color of my skin, had taken place. Sarah’s instincts were screaming at her to run, to get very far away.

She followed me to the living room, seemingly not wanting me at her back. Luca was standing next to a full-blooded fae, just inside my door, a bouquet of black dahlias in his hand. Rolfe had instinctively jerked back as I had come into the room, the big bad bear was a scaredy cat. I chuckled out loud. Luca looked good enough to drink, the perfect blend of danger and attraction, with the attraction winning over. He was well aware of the effect he had on women. Dressed as if he had just come from the movie set of
Gone With The Wind
, he looked positively yummy delicious. I had little doubt that his attire was the real deal, perfect retro southern gentleman and I am going to jump your bones.

Sarah stumbled forward to take the flowers stammering something about finding a vase for them. Chris was going to let her have it after we left. I chuckled again, this time sounding positively evil. I was infused with energy and anticipation. Luca made a nice bow and offered me his arm. I gave him a slight bow in return and took it.

The fae with us was the one the FBI had flown in to deal with our vamps, she had already proven herself as valuable to the effort to get this case solved. Luca introduced her as Randi Nero; she said she had heard a lot about me. I expected people were going to hear even more after this. She had been assigned to check out people entering the building looking for signs of fae glamour. The police presence downstairs was pretty obvious, they were no longer trying to be discreet. If somebody was going to attack us, they would have a lot to handle.

Outside, the FBI presence was equally obvious, a few agents with their badges in plain sight milling about, a couple of FBI-issue vehicles parked directly across the street in a no parking area. A couple of police cruisers were parked along our side of the road. A stretch Limo awaited us just outside the front doors, a converted Hummer, and I could sense it was armor plated and equipped with thick, bulletproof glass. It looked like a classy tank. Luca opened the Limo door for me, waving away the human servant acting as his driver and guard tonight.

Vamps did not, as a general rule, carry weapons of any kind and I had left mine behind. The more affluent vamps were expected to have armed human servants as their bodyguards. A vamp’s fangs, speed, and strength were the only protection they carried personally.

Luca and I chatted as we drove to the party; he was flirting mercilessly, and I was lapping it up. He loved my new look, I could tell he was more than a little attracted. I was very pleased with his attentions. He gave me the rundown on London Jane’s entourage, telling me who to look out for and the best way to get an interview with her. They were rivals and she was the stronger master, any request from him would probably be ignored. I would need to tackle this problem on my own.
Vamp protocol,
I thought to myself,
more politics and power. It was becoming a theme with this case.

* * * *

As we pulled up to the large circular drive in front of her mansion, I could see a fleet of Limos had already arrived. Attendants were busy parking the Limos and waving for the next one, we were about fourth in line. As a looked up, the at huge steps leading to the front doors, I realized that this time, I really was ready for this. I was pretty sure I was going to have a blast.

All the action was in the ballroom, and after we entered we were led there to meet London Jane. Vamps, human servants, and UP members all dressed in a variety of styles from modern to Gothic to formal to casual.

It’s somewhat confusing and clashing,
I thought as we approached the vamp mistress. A tall, slender, yet strong-looking redhead, covered with freckles, mid-length straight hair, dressed in jeans, a cutoff T-shirt, and raggedy tennis shoes watched us approach. She was sitting in a corner on an old lazy-boy leather recliner, rocking slowly with the music. Vamps were dancing all around us and we had to weave in and out of the dancers to make our way to talk to her. They were playing Glen Miller’s
Moonlight Serenade,
couples were slow dancing all over the floor, there were not many people just standing around chatting, most all were dancing as couples. There were no tables set up for food and drink, I noticed. I guess if you were a vamp, that moved on two legs.