Nightshifted es-1 Page 16

  “I bet you do. And who is prosecuting me?”

  He smiled. “The Zverskiye.”

  I tried not to start. They were Anna’s relatives, the ones that I was sure had Anna now. “And they are?”

  “The Beastly Ones, roughly translated.”

  I looked from him to my papers and back again. “And how exactly are you all different?”

  Geoffrey leaned back in thought. His eyes closed, and I wondered how much longer he could fight the rising sun. “It’s a question of resources and stewardship.” He brought his head forward again, and stared at me, slouching over on one side. “The Rose Throne believes that humanity needs to be cultivated.”

  I leaned forward, putting the papers on the desk. I’d never heard anything like that before. “Like educated? Or enlightened?”

  Geoffrey’s face took on a bemused expression, and then he laughed. “Like mushrooms. Chickens. Cows. Managed, herded, looked out for.”

  I felt stupid for having been rooked. “For your own best interests, of course.”

  Geoffrey crossed his bony hands atop the desk, and gently smiled at me. “Well, we are vampires, Miss Spence. The Zver prefer to think of you—of all humans—as free-range meat. Perhaps given that circumstance, you’d rather be a herded cow. Or a stalk of celery.”

  I grunted without giving an answer, and turned to the pages in my hand. Page after page of legalese. So this was what lawyer vampires did while they were up at night. It was tough going, but I had faith in myself. I’d translated badly written doctor’s notes involving medication names that sounded like porn stars involved in Nigerian e-mail scams. I could manage this. I read through to the very end, and when I reached it, he was asleep, his chin bowed to touch his chest, as though he was a run-down toy. I shook the pages lightly for his attention and he started back awake. “How will you help me, though?” I asked. “Right now, you’re counting on her to keep her word—if she doesn’t, I die. If she does, I’m indebted to you. What do I get from you out of all this?”

  “I, and my assistant, will make inquiries after your friend through vampire channels.” He waved two fingers in the air, and the woman nodded, sending a long lock of red hair spilling into her lap. “Sike speaks for me during the day.”

  I looked from him to her and back again. “So I’m supposed to trust that you’ll be doing … something? Asking … questions?” I folded the papers together in my lap. “Really? That’s your plan? I’m signing my life away for this?”

  His eyes narrowed. “I do have connections, Miss Spence. Connections that you lack. It is possible that I will find her.”

  “Possible,” I repeated. The sheaf of papers that I held felt suddenly very heavy, like the low pan of a weighing scale. Which was worse? Being indebted to a vampire for eternity, or death by execution?

  “You’re worth slightly more alive to me as a legal blood cow than you are dead,” he followed up. “Worth making an effort for.”

  I didn’t trust him further than I could throw the polished marble paperweight at the end of his desk. But what was losing some blood? I’d make more. I liked living. I wasn’t very good at it so far, but that didn’t mean I wanted to stop any time soon.

  I slammed the papers on top of his desk, and signed them with my charting pen before I could change my mind.

  “A woman of action. I can appreciate that.” Geoffrey Weatherton, Esquire, waited patiently for me to finish the triplicate forms, then took them politely away. He scanned over them, nodding to himself, before looking again at me. “Now, Miss Spence, we are legally bonded.” He rocked back into his chair. “Tell me everything, again.”

  It already appeared as though Geoffrey’s attentions were periodically fading, drowsing only for him to shake himself awake again. But I inhaled and retold the story from the beginning, from my first moments meeting and caring for Mr. November—Yuri, Yuri—and what had then followed.

  “It does sound dire for you,” Geoffrey said when I’d finished my sad tale. He was braced against his elbows on the desk, his hands sympathetically interwoven out in front of him.

  I’d included the parts of my story up until Anna’s kidnapping. “Where did they take her? And why?”

  “The Zverskiye’s motivations are ever unknown to us. One of the reasons they and we disagree so often.” He leaned back thoughtfully in his chair. “An ancient blood feud? A well-organized pornography ring? You said you saw the vampire who witnessed the murder there again—”

  My mind blanked a bit at this. Murder? I was … a murderer? It was hard to hear it phrased like that, when the deathee in question had exploded into dust and flame. But—I looked down at my hands, and remembered Lady Macbeth. Sure I’d washed my hands a hundred times with hand sanitizer since that night, but the facts remained the same.

  “What happens if I give myself up?”

  “Then you’ll be drawn and blooded. And when they’re done with your flesh, they’ll continue to keep your soul. At that time, according to the papers you just signed, I will merely inherit your couch.”

  “My soul?” I blinked. I’d gone to church plenty of times in my youth, under parental duress, but I’d never gone willingly on my own. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “They did send a Husker after you, did they not? What did you think he was there for?” Geoffrey eyed me sorrowfully, and his gaze looked old. I felt distant, like not only was I looking across his desk at him, but across a gulf of time between us too.

  “But … really? My soul?”

  “Energy is currency, Miss Spence, and entropy rules the day. It’s called psychophagy, and it is, quite literally, a fate worse than death.”

  Soul … eating? No way. “Why?”

  “Souls are even more potent than blood, Miss Spence.”

  “Then why aren’t they out killing people all the time for them?” I asked.

  “You can get blood from killing people, yes. But souls? Souls have to be earned.” Geoffrey hunched forward, as if pulling the strength to stay awake from somewhere deep inside himself. “A soul has power only in its transition states, much like you might remember from electrons in chemistry. A good soul that stays good, or a bad soul that stays bad—those maintain their levels, dead or alive. They are predestined, if you will, and neither change the balance.

  “But for a good soul to become bad—such a change lets off a quick release of energy.” He snapped his fingers. “Like a photon in motion releases light. There are many eager to harvest these rare events. How often does a human manage to kill a vampire, and thus legally indebt their energy that way? Much less a human who was good to begin with? Not very often at all, Miss Spence. If you weren’t up to die,” he said, smiling at me grimly, “you should be very proud of yourself.”

  Small consolation. “So my soul is really what is up for trial?”

  “Yes.” Geoffrey’s eyes closed for a long second, then fluttered open again. “I imagine you’ve made some plans to do a little investigating of your own? You don’t seem like the type to wait patiently at home.”

  I flushed. “I did make some plans. I have a friend who’ll help.”

  “Well, I must advise you to be careful—technically you’re already on trial, and vampire courts don’t believe in innocent until proven guilty. Dying now could leave you in a difficult state.” His lips pursed in disapproval. “You shouldn’t be dragging other mortals into this.”

  “He’s a zombie.”

  In response, I watched the ropy tendons of Geoffrey’s hands knot and bunch. His face gave nothing away, but it took a moment for his hands to still. “Miss Spence, I tell you this as your legal representative. I am a wolf who is a wolf. Not a wolf who wears sheep’s clothing. Trust that he has his own reasons for helping you.”

  My shoulders sank two inches. “I have to do something,” I protested. I wanted to think that Ti had only my best interests at heart. If zombies even had hearts.

  “I understand.” He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a business
card. “Call if you find out anything before I do. Sike will answer if I cannot.”

  “And if you don’t call me?” I asked.

  “Then I will see you at the trial.” He nodded curtly, stood, and walked to the gloom at the back of his office. Momentarily, I heard a closing door.

  * * *

  Sike stood. She walked around a file cabinet, and I heard pouring water before she reemerged with a paper cup in hand. “Water?”

  I took it from her. “You’re his daytimer?”

  “I prefer dayspeaker, but yes.”

  “You don’t look like a daytimer.” Her top showed her neck, and I couldn’t see even one scar.

  Her eyes narrowed at my purposeful use of the wrong name. “I do have my career to think of.”

  “Won’t it be hard to score that Sports Illustrated cover once you’re a vampire?” I asked.

  “I’ll just have to earn it before then, I suppose.” She smiled pleasantly at me, but it was all lip—her cheeks didn’t move, and her eyes didn’t twinkle. Because we both knew the truth. She’d never get to go to Europe or New York to make it big—unless for some reason that was what the Rose Throne wanted her to do.

  Just like I’d never get to leave Y4. I set my water down without touching it. “I’m sorry—I’ve gotta get some sleep.”

  “Keep in touch,” she said, with a tone of voice that let me know she wished for nothing less.

  * * *

  I drove straight home and didn’t check my messages till I was crawling into bed.

  “Hey, Edie—my friend’ll help. Meet me at the Westpark Shopping Center, off of the 85, near the north entrance, at three. Bring that shirt, okay? Sleep tight.”

  I saved Ti’s number on my phone, then set it on my nightstand. Asher’s phone number had migrated to be beside it. I crumpled his number up and threw it across the room for Minnie to use as a cat toy. The outpatient clinic hadn’t called back with the results of my tests yet; things were probably fine. Everything was probably fine. Anna was probably fine wherever she was being tortured now. Mr. Galeman was probably fine, post multiple blood transfusions. Sike was probably fine with my pathetic attempts to piss her off out of jealousy, and Geoffrey was probably fine with the fact that I had a zombie on my side, who was himself probably fine as long as eventually we went on a date, where I would again probably be fine as long as he didn’t want to eat my brains.

  It’s a good thing I was exhausted, or I never would have gotten to sleep with so much uncertainty.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  I hardly ever saw anyone from inside the hospital outside of it, not even in the parking lot. I wanted to be on time for this meeting at least, and since no Shadows had risen up to delay me when I’d gone through the tunnel, apparently I’d beaten everyone else there. I sat in my parked car, feeling naked and exposed, my Chevy idling to keep the heater running, just us chickens sitting around in the middle of the gray asphalt and dirty snow. My badge was still on, like I’d promised the Shadows it would be, underneath all my clothes, its plastic edges poking against my breasts.

  I’d had the night—well, morning really—to think on what Geoffrey had said. And on what Ti had said too. Before he even knew that I needed help—about just being the helpful type. I suppose you didn’t get to be a firefighter without some of the same predispositions that got you into nursing. A misguided sense of purpose, for one. Thinking that you needed to save other people around you, that too.

  A knock at my fogged window startled the hell out of me. I yelped and swiped at the glass. Ti was waiting outside.

  “Did I scare you?” he asked, concerned, as I opened the door.

  “Only a little.” I grinned at him. He was in a bulky coat with a black hood, but the healing scars covering his face were easily seen. Seeing him would have scared most people. I imagined he had to do his grocery shopping late at night, so that mothers didn’t yank stunned children out of his path. But I was made of sterner stuff. Plus, I was scheduled to die in T minus three days. I could cut a man some slack.

  “So what’s the plan?” I bounced up and down to stay warm.

  “I checked—I don’t think you were followed.”

  “Followed?” I quickly scanned over my shoulders, back at the desolate parking lot. Not many people wanted to buy SEWING NOTIONS! or CASH CHECKS HERE! during the middle of a workday. Except for the sad green tinsel shaped into Christmas trees and hung on every light pole, we might as well have been on the moon. There was only my car and Ti’s car, an El Camino in bright cranberry red.

  “I assume whoever has your friend wants to keep her, right? Better safe than sorry.”

  “Oh.” I wanted to hit myself. If I’d been thinking like that, maybe Anna wouldn’t have gotten kidnapped again.

  Ti swayed back and forth to stay warm in the cold. Is he really cold, or just pretending to blend in? I tried to shush Geoffrey’s voice away. “Did you bring the shirt?” he asked.

  I nodded, and reached for my door handle. I’d brought the shirt that she’d cried on. I pulled it out, burping the last of my car’s heat into the cold. “Can’t we just sit inside where it’s warm?”

  “Nah. Madge’ll be here any minute.”

  Madge seemed like an odd name for, well, anyone really, and I almost said so, when—a truck pulled into the parking lot and headed straight for us. My instinct was to dive aside, but Ti didn’t move. So I took a step closer to him instead, realizing as I did so that Ti didn’t have to fear trucks barreling out of nowhere—he was already dead.

  The truck threw on its emergency brake and skidded artfully to a sideways stop ten feet from the far side of my car. Several dogs in the bed of the truck stood up and started barking, tails wagging madly at the sight of Ti.

  “Madge,” Ti said to me, by way of explanation. “And company.”

  “Ti!” A rough-cut man wrapped in flannels and corduroy swung out of the truck’s cab.

  “Hello, Madigan. This is Edie.” He stepped aside so that I could be seen. “She’s the one I was telling you about.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Edie,” he said, and he seemed like the type who meant it. I smiled back, and shook his offered hand.

  “Thanks—I appreciate you wanting to help.”

  “Well, I’ve got to let the gang out every now and then.” He tilted his head toward the dogs peering out at us from the truck bed. One of them made a short bark at the attention.

  “So,” Ti continued. “About today—”

  “Let’s load up here, and then drive down. You got an address?” Madigan asked me, and I nodded. I gave him Mr. November’s place. “Good. We’ll start there and then crisscross a few blocks around for leads.”

  “Does that sound good to you, Edie?” Ti asked.

  “Sure.” I hopped into the truck cab between Madigan and Ti. The truck smelled deeply of dog, and there were all sorts of multicolored strands of fur almost woven into the upholstery by time.

  I held the tearstained shirt to my chest. I wasn’t sure what exactly we were going to do, but it was doing something, which was better than doing nothing at all.

  * * *

  I couldn’t help but peek in the rearview mirror at the dogs in the truck bed. Driving the way Madigan was on the lightly iced roads seemed like a bad idea—I expected them to be sliding around, hurting themselves, as we rounded corners at almost impossible speeds. The dogs in the back appeared unconcerned, bracing themselves against the ruts in the truck bed as Madigan made rolling stop-turn after rolling stop-turn.

  “So you … track things often?” I asked. I wasn’t sure how Ti had explained things to Madigan, and didn’t want to give too much away just in case.

  “As often as I can. It’s great fun.”

  “In the city, even?”

  Madigan took his eyes off the road to look askance at me. “Where else would we go?” he said, staring far too long before looking back at the road and finding a slowing car ahead of us. He signaled and maneuvered around it. He re
minded me of Jake playing that way old arcade game Dragonslayer, signal, merge, signal, weave. Except that my life was still worth more than a quarter, at least to me. Ti patted my leg, and I switched from making panicked fists to holding on to his hand with both of my own. It was a natural enough transition, especially since every veering left-hand turn threatened to send me into his lap.

  “What do you normally track for?” I asked instead.

  “You know. Lost things.” He grinned in profile, showing me quite a lot of teeth. “Here we are.”

  He used the emergency brake to stop us, and I let go of Ti’s hand awkwardly as the car settled to a stop, bumping the curb gently with the two right-hand-side tires. Ti got out of the car and I quickly followed—I’d miss its heat, but not Madigan’s driving. The dogs in the back perked up as Madigan got out on his side of the cab.

  “Jimmie—guard,” Madigan told the biggest dog. It was black and looked like a Labrador except for its square jaw, where it looked like a pit bull. Definitely the right choice to leave guard duty here. As if it perfectly understood its owner, it sat down on its haunches and stopped wagging its tail, slurping up its long pink tongue to appear serious about its job.

  “Jenny, Jack—get down.” Madigan swung the gate of the truck open, and the two other dogs jumped out to run over and smell us and lick our hands. Jenny was red, with a thick retriever’s belly coat, and Jack was all mutt, splotchy with black and brown and white, multicolored even down to his one blue and one green eye. “So—your shirt, Edie?”

  I handed over the shirt that Anna had cried on with the bloodstained mark from her tears, without saying where it came from. Any normal person would ask about that sort of thing, it being blood and all—but I had a feeling that Madigan wasn’t very normal.

  He proffered the stain to Jenny and Jack in turn, who took long whiffs of it.

  “Is there anything else, now that we’re here?” Ti asked me.

  “This is where the fight was.” I walked over and ran my glove against the dent Anna had left in the lamppost. I didn’t remember the light there working before the fight. I would bet it didn’t work now.