17. Gold Weaver
DAMIEN
I’ve frightened her. The bitter scent of Eloise’s fear fills the cab and makes it impossible for me to ignore. She barely says a word as I drive her to the warehouse in the Richmond industrial district. Her reaction is a good reminder of how human she is and how persistently altruistic. Only she would regret hurting someone who meant to injure or kill her. It’s Tony all over again. The woman has a soft heart, even for the wicked.
I grind my teeth. This is why what happened between us can never go any further. I’m a shade, a monster to her, and she’s a soft, pink, vulnerable mortal who wouldn’t last two weeks among my kind.
This area of town has seen better days, peppered with broken-out windows and barricaded doors slapped with orange foreclosure stickers. I park across from a large brick building under a streetlight flickering its last breath.
“This can’t be right,” she mutters, climbing from the Jeep. “Tony would never do business here.”
The street is empty, but the chemical stench of meth cooking on the breeze has me moving closer to Eloise on high alert. If I crack another skull in front of her today, she’s liable to dismiss me again. But she needs me, even if she doesn’t believe she does.
“The location isn’t half as surprising as what’s inside,” I mumble. I lead her into the yawning concrete maw of a perfectly empty warehouse. At the rear of the vacant building, a rat skitters across a beam of moonlight cascading through the broken windows.
“What the hell is this? Where is Gold Weaver, Inc?”
“Exactly my question.” I walk deeper into the empty room, the sound of my footsteps echoing in the voluminous space. “This is the address Tamara remembered.”
Eloise taps on her phone’s flashlight, reminding me she can’t see in the dark. “Hey, there’s something over here.” I follow her to the corner where a pile of paper trimmings waits. “Do you think he used this place to shred documents?”
I sift through the scraps, sending a stampede of cockroaches scampering for a hole in the wall. Eloise shivers and takes a step closer to me. I’m tempted to put my arms around her, but stop myself, holding my breath rather than breathing in her scent. “Tamara said he shredded anything related to Gold Weaver a few weeks ago, but these are blank. It seems unlikely that Tony would rent a warehouse to shred blank sheets of paper.”
“What the hell was he doing here?”
We both whirl around when the door we’d entered through gives a head-splitting squeal. Uneven footsteps herald a haggard-looking man in a hoodie who steps into the light. The pungent, chemical scent I smelled on the street wafts off him. Tensing, I growl low and step in front of Eloise.
“Wait, he might know something,” she whispers.
I enhance my illusion to appear more human, dimming the glow of my eyes and shifting my weight the way their kind does.
“You hiring again?” the man asks her.
Eloise walks around me and approaches the man with a warm smile. “Hello. Did you say you worked here before?”
The man glares at her through dull eyes, his face marred with scabby sores. I don’t like how close she’s standing to him and have to dig my talons into my palms to keep from forcing myself between them. “Just looking for work, if it’s back.”
“If what’s back?” she asks.
The man winces. “Never mind.” He starts for the door, but I’m already there. I grab him by the throat, prepared to compel the truth out of him. His eyes widen the moment he registers the points of my teeth, the way the shadows cling to me, and the hard light I’ve allowed back into my gaze. I smell his fear but also his confusion. This man doesn’t trust his own mind.
“Don’t hurt him,” Eloise commands, and there’s that note of compassion in her voice again. Her green eyes are misty with it, her expression pleading.
Unbelievable. Must she sabotage her best interests at every turn? I sneer at her. “I was only going to help him remember.”
She pulls out her wallet and holds a ten dollar bill in front of the man. “I think he’ll tell us without any help.”
The man’s gaze snaps to the money, and he licks his lips. It takes only a moment for his resolve to crack. “Yeah, I used to work here off and on. This place hired a lot of us. Paid us in cash.”
I release his shoulders. “Us?”
“Uh, vagrants. Street people.” He folds his arms and casts me a sideways glance. Yeah, I’m between him and the door, and I’m not going anywhere. “A lot of us don’t like regular jobs. Ask too many questions. This one, you just showed up, and they gave you work.”
Eloise nods encouragingly. “What is it you did here?”
“Me? I just moved reams of paper to keep the presses going.” The man shrugs.
“Presses? They were printing something?” she prompts.
He nods slowly. “I take it you’re not with them, then.”
She shakes her head and holds up the money between two fingers. “What did they print here?”
He inhales, then blows the air out slowly. “That magazine, Echo Mills Today.”
I’ve never heard of a magazine by that name, but Night Haven has its own periodicals. I do know that Echo Mills is the tiny rural town where Eloise lives.
Eloise frowns. “When did you say this place stopped printing?”
He scratches the back of his head. “‘bout six weeks or so. It was weird as hell. Place was cleaned out overnight.”
“Just one more question.” Eloise taps her phone and brings up a picture of Tony. “You ever see this guy here?”
The man’s eyes widen slightly before shifting to the side. “Not sure. A lot of guys have his colorin’, ya know? Besides, I don’t have a good head for faces.”
“But if you had to say...”
His eyes focus on the money in her hand. “Yeah... I think he was here before.”
She hands him the cash and then gestures for me to step aside. I don’t.
“Damien,” she says through her teeth.
Reluctantly, I shift out of the man’s way. He starts for the door but stops and turns back to her. “You won’t tell nobody I told you nothin’, right? I really need the work if they come back, and that was the one rule. Don’t talk about it.”
She shakes her head. “Of course not. I don’t even remember who you are. I’ve never seen you before.”
He smiles and gives her a little nod, then with one last apprehensive glance in my direction, leaves.
“You should have let me interrogate him,” I bark, angry that once again she’s let the best hope for her salvation walk out the door. “We could have mined him for more information if I’d used my powers.”
“Like you did with the gas station attendant?”
I growl, baring my teeth. “We weren’t interrogating the gas station attendant. He was slamming your head into the pavement.”
She sighs. “True. That wasn’t a fair comparison. But I think we have what we need. Tony was here, and he was printing a magazine called Echo Mills Today. I’ve never heard of it personally, but it counts as a business. That should nullify the prenup.”
“If you can prove it exists and that Tony owns it,” I drawl, exasperated. “You just let your only witness to its existence walk out the door with the last money in your pocket.”
“But... I mean...” She rubs her eyes with her knuckles like a child. “Well, fuck!”
I level a dark look in her direction. “Are you wondering what I think you should do next?”
“No,” she says emphatically, but I can see it’s a lie. She’s young, so painfully young compared to me. And an orphan. She wants my help, she’s just too proud to ask for it.
“You should let me kill Tony,” I tell her definitively.
“No!” she cries. “We’re not killing anybody. How do we find out more about this place and what they were doing here? If he packed everything up six weeks ago, someone must have seen something.”
A muscle in my jaw twitches with annoyance.
“I mean someone other than the man who just walked out the door.” She waves a hand in the direction of the exit.
Fuck. I can think of someone, but it’s risky. I decide not to offer it as a solution. “Come on. I’ll drive you home.”
She follows after me as I head toward her car, mumbling to herself. I hear her say something about monster instructions under her breath and feel myself smile.
“Vampires are up at night, right?” she says suddenly.
I turn the key. “Obviously.”
“Well, do you know any? If they moved this place overnight, maybe one of your vampire buddies saw something and could help us.”
I face her, eyes narrowing. “Vampire… buddies?”
“There must be a place they go where you could, you know, ask around?”
I pull the Jeep into the empty street. “Despite what you might think, most vampires don’t spend much time topside.”
“Damien, please. I need you to do this.”
I groan. Why does she have to put it that way? My blood grits like sand inside my veins. I can’t deny a direct command. “There is one place. A club for supernaturals who like to live among humans. It’s possible one of them saw something.”
“Take me there.”
I scoff. “Humans aren’t welcome. It’s too dangerous.”
“But I’d be okay with you, right?”
“I’ll go alone. I’ll report back what I find.”
“But I need to be there. It’s possible someone will say something that jogs my memory from when I was with Tony and gives us a clue to finding the proof we need.”
“It’s a bad idea.”
“I command you to take me, by the power of the candle.” She folds her arms over her chest.
I wince, the bone grinding discomfort building within me again. “You don’t have to say it like that,” I snap. “A simple order will suffice.”
She stares at me expectantly.
“Fine. I’ll take you tomorrow. I need to feed tonight, or I won’t be strong enough to protect you.” Gods, this is a bad idea for so many reasons.
“Tomorrow.” She looks relieved it’s not tonight. It’s close to 2 a.m., and I can tell she’s exhausted.
“Wear a dress,” I say. “And shoes you can run for your life in.”