The Book of Death (13 page)

Gaius leaned back in his black
leather chair. ‘You really fucked up,’ he said.

‘I know,’ said Vanity
raising his hands in defence. ‘But if you’ll…’

‘Normally you’d be dead already.
You know that, don’t you?’

‘I was expecting to wake up with
a horse’s head on my pillow.’

‘As opposed to a moose head?’

‘Hey, that’s just a rumour!’

Gaius took off his sunglasses
and tossed them down onto the desk. Vanity tried once more not to get caught
staring at the bright blue eye, which looked kind of weird. He hoped that Gaius
would put his glasses back on.

‘You’re alive because I kinda
like you. You’re the only guy in town with weirder eyes than me,’ Gaius went on.
‘And as I understand it, you’re pretty good in a fight.’

‘Thank you.’

‘But the Bourbon Kid was hiding
in your clan.’

Vanity nodded. ‘Yes sir. I can
only offer my apologies for that. He blended in well. He actually
was
a
vampire, and seeing as we didn’t know what the Kid was supposed to look like,
we had no way of knowing it was him.’

Gaius reached down below the
desk and hauled something up from the floor. He then placed it down on the desk
in front of Vanity. It was a severed head. One that Vanity recognised, just.

‘Whose head is this?’ Gaius
asked.

Vanity grimaced at the sight of
the shrivelled head. ‘That’s Obedience.’

‘Obedience?’ Gaius didn’t sound
convinced.

‘Yeah. He looks pretty messed up,
but the CUNT tattoo on his forehead is the big give-away. Not too many people
have those.’

Gaius frowned. ‘So why was he
dressed as the Bourbon Kid?’

Vanity shrugged. ‘I didn’t know
he was.’

‘I was told that the Bourbon Kid
was in your clan, using the name Déjà Vu.’

‘That’s what people are saying,
but I haven’t seen Déjà Vu since everything kicked off yesterday. I thought it
was him you’d beheaded.’

‘We
all
did. But as
you’ve just confirmed for me, we beheaded the wrong guy. So do you know where I
can find Déjà Vu?’

Vanity shook his head. ‘I’d say
he’s gone. Sonofabitch killed the rest of my clan too. Apart from Cleavage,
Moose and a couple of new recruits called Dante and Kacy.’

‘What?’

‘I’ve only got a handful of
members of the Shades clan left, and two of them are new recruits.’

‘Did you say Dante and Kacy?’

Vanity sensed a real irritation
in Gaius’s voice. ‘Yeah. You know them?’

‘Those two idiots are supposed
to be dead. His name was supposed to be in The Book of Death!’

‘You’ve lost me. What are you talking
about?’

‘Dante Vittori was hired by me
to try and flush out the monk who was hiding in one of the clans. He’s not even
a vampire. I had him injected with a serum so he could blend in with the clans.
Jesus, Vanity, you’ve had everyone hiding in your fucking clan. How shit
are
you when it comes to spotting impostors? His girlfriend wasn’t even
injected with the serum, surely you can see she’s not a vampire?’

Vanity tugged at his chin beard
again. ‘That’s weird,’ he said. ‘They’re definitely vampires. They even told me
that they drank the blood of Archie Somers last night.’

It was Gaius’s turn to look
confused. ‘What?’

‘I know I thought it was weird
too. Said they found a bag of blood with Archie Somers’s name on it. They found
it at the police station. No idea what it was doing there.’

Gaius stood up from his desk.
His face was thunderous. ‘You know what Archie Somers did to me, don’t you?’ he
bellowed.

‘Erm, he married your daughter
against your will?’ Vanity suggested in as careful a manner as possible,
knowing that there was an element of truth in it.

‘Archie Somers, when he was
better known as Armand Xavier, betrayed me. He’s responsible for me being
drugged and then mummified for hundreds of years in that godforsaken tomb at
the museum.’

‘Oh. Guess he’s not on your
Christmas list then?’

‘Fucking right he’s not! When he
was killed, the curse on me was broken and that’s when I was able to break free
from the tomb at the museum.’

 
‘Well it’s good to see the story has a
happy ending.’

Gaius ignored the remark and
stared around the room for a few moments, deep in thought. ‘This is
interesting,’ he said finally. ‘At least they didn’t drink his blood from the
Holy Grail. I know that because I’ve got it in my trophy cabinet.’

‘The Holy Grail?
Seriously
?
’

‘Yes, not that it’s any of your
concern. The important thing here is that I never thought I’d get the chance
for revenge on Armand Xavier. But now you’re telling me that his blood is
flowing through the veins of Dante Vittori and that whiny girlfriend of his.
This is an opportunity for some payback. Revenge on Xavier, as well as those
two annoying kids. Where are they now?’

‘I told them they could move
into the Swamp with me. Right now they’ve just headed back to a hotel they were
staying at. The girl wanted to pick up some clean clothes. Once they’ve packed
up all their stuff they’re heading back to the Swamp. Want me to get them to
come here?’

Gaius waved a dismissive hand.
‘No that won’t be necessary,’ he said. ‘I have much bigger plans for them. Gain
their trust for now. This is your chance to redeem yourself, Mr Vanity. In
fact, you just might be able to earn yourself more than a reprieve. You could
seriously work your way up the vampire hierarchy if you help me out here.’

Vanity had long since given up hope
of weaselling his way up through the ranks in Gaius’s organisation. The
opportunity for more power and the benefits that it might bring appealed to him
immensely. ‘Okay, he said, trying his best to hold back a huge grin. ‘What have
you got in mind?’

‘Just play along with them to
start with. Use that legendary hypnotic charm of yours. Feed them whatever
bullshit you have to, and see if you can get them to the Santa Mondega Museum
of Art and History. I’ll get my old tomb prepared for them. Then Armand Xavier
and those two idiots keeping his blood alive can get a taste of what it’s like
to be encased in a tomb for hundreds of years.’

‘You’re going to have them
mummified?’

‘Poignant, don’t you think?’

Vanity finally allowed himself
to unleash a beaming grin across his face. ‘I like it,’ he said. ‘It’s
seriously evil.’

‘Yes it is,’ said Gaius, in a
more serious tone. ‘But know this, if you fuck this up, if you cross me, or if
I even suspect you’re not on the level, I’ll rip your insides out and hang them
from the walls of that shitty nightclub of yours. You’re in the last chance
saloon, you bearded fuck, and the Devil is ready to call time on you. Is that
clear?’

‘Crystal clear, sir. I won’t let
you down on this. In fact, I’m looking forward to it.’

‘Good. Now get the fuck out of
my office, you cunt.’

Sixteen

Beth stepped out of the elevator
and on to the fourth floor of her apartment block. Her one bed apartment was at
the end of the corridor. She headed towards it at a slightly quicker pace than
usual, her heart pounding with excitement. Her new life with JD outside of
Santa Mondega was less than an hour away. Her head was filled with thoughts of
what things she needed to pack and what she could afford to leave behind.
Starting a new life with JD in a far away place was the dream she thought would
never come true. She still remembered how wonderful the feeling had been
eighteen years earlier when they had kissed for the first time. That had been
followed by eighteen years of hell including ten in prison for the murder of
her stepmother. The law courts hadn’t taken into consideration the fact that
the murder was in self-defence. Her stepmother had attacked her with a knife,
causing the horrible facial scar she had as a permanent reminder, but in the
tussle her stepmother had fallen on the knife and cut her own throat.

The sight of the military guy
with the pink mohawk entering the building downstairs had set alarm bells
ringing in Beth’s head. There was no reason to suspect he was after
her
,
but, she was acutely aware of the fact that she had no idea what enemies JD
might have made over the eighteen years they had been apart. In the few hours
they had been together she had been so happy to have him back she hadn’t dared
to probe him about exactly why he had been away for so long. And what he had
been doing. Add to that the fact she was pretty sure he’d had something to do
with James the security guard at the museum being knocked unconscious, and she
was rightly paranoid.

She reached her apartment and
fumbled to get the key into the lock, such was her haste to be out of the
hallway quickly. After a few painfully long seconds she managed to turn the key
and the door opened. As she stepped into her apartment, she heard a voice call
out from down the corridor.

‘Excuse me, miss. I’m looking
for someone. Can you help?’

It was the huge guy with the
pink mohawk. He was walking briskly towards her with a gentle smile on his
face.

‘Umm, sure. Who are you after?’
she asked.

The man didn’t respond straight
away, but carried on walking towards her. Eventually when he was just a few
feet away he replied. ‘Beth Lansbury. That’s you, isn’t it?’

Beth wanted to dive inside her
apartment and bolt the door shut, but she was caught in two minds. Technically
she had nothing to fear from this man. He was acting in a friendly manner, and
they were in an open corridor. She only had to scream for help if he did try
anything nasty.

‘Uh, yeah. I’m Beth Lansbury.’

The man stopped in front of her.
‘Also known as Mental Beth?’ he asked with a smile.

‘Huh?’

‘That’s what the fat bartender
at the Tapioca called you the other night.’

‘Oh.’

‘Says you killed someone. That
true?’

‘Umm, who are you?’

The line of questioning was
making her nervous. Who was this guy? And what did he want with her? Was he a threat?
Or simply someone who had heard much of the local gossip about her?

‘Oh God, I’m sorry. My name’s
Silvinho,’ he said holding out a hand. ‘I didn’t mean to alarm you. That
probably wasn’t the best way to introduce myself, was it?’

Beth tentatively slipped her
hand into his and allowed him to shake her hand. ‘What can I do for you?’ she
asked.

‘I’m looking for JD. Is he
here?’

He hadn’t let go of her hand
yet. Although he had stopped shaking it. ‘JD?’ she asked, in a manner that she
hoped wouldn’t give away whether she knew him or not.

‘Yeah. I heard you know JD. Me
and him are old friends. Is he around?’

‘He doesn’t live here.’

‘Know where I can find him?’

Beth was unsure how to answer
the question. Was JD in some kind of trouble with this guy? Would it be foolish
to admit that he was coming to pick her up in an hour’s time? A few awkward
seconds passed while she pondered her answer. Before she stammered out her
latest “umm” a voice from down the hall answered for her.

‘I’m right here.’ It was JD. He had
come up the stairs the same way Silvinho had and was now walking down the
corridor towards them.

Silvinho let go of Beth’s hand
and spun around to face him. ‘You’re JD?’ he asked.

‘Yeah. Who are you? And what the
fuck is that on your head?’

Silvinho arched his shoulders
back as JD approached. The man’s attempt at a pleasant aura had gone. He had
taken on an aggressive stance. ‘What’s JD stand for?’ he asked.

‘Mind your own business.’

‘Does your girlfriend here know
your face is all over the news?’

JD walked up to Silvinho and
stopped two yards in front of him. Then he spoke in a gravelly tone that Beth
had not heard from him before. ‘Who sent you?’ he growled.

‘Bull.’

‘Bullshit.’

‘No, Bull Thompson actually.’

Something about the name Bull
Thompson set both men off. Silvinho stepped forward and lunged at JD’s face.
Beth watched on in shock as JD ducked out of the way and responded by swinging
a punch straight into Silvinho’s midriff. The big man took the blow in his
stride, throwing a punch of his own that crashed down hard on top of JD’s head.
The blow threw JD off balance and he staggered back, almost losing his footing.

Beth screamed. ‘STOP IT!’
 

Neither man seemed to hear her.
They both flew at each other. Silvinho was the taller and more muscular of the
two. His biceps were huge. As JD hit him with another blow to the ribs, the big
hulk grabbed him in a headlock and swung him around, off his feet. He threw JD
against the wall. In response JD simply used the wall as a springboard and
launched himself back into Silvinho, knocking him into the opposite wall.
Silvinho once again grabbed high and wrapped his huge right arm around JD’s
neck. He twisted him around and it began to look as if he would close off JD’s
windpipe with ease. Beth thought about what to do. She had a baseball bat under
the bed in her apartment just in case she ever heard burglars. She had no
intention of using it, but if she could just grab it and brandish it in a
threatening manner maybe she could make Silvinho leave.