Chapter 5 #3
At least that was what I told myself.
“Wait. You’re saying vampires have nothing to do with blood?” Jack gave me a puzzled look through the rear-view mirror, fuzzy dice swinging as always.
Todd turned in his seat, but I could tell he couldn’t take me seriously, like he was holding back a laugh. “And that ‘creeps’ you out because…”
“These vampires have very little to do with blood.” I could feel the bureaucrat in Jack smiling at my response. “I’m sure there are people out there who think they need blood to survive, but not the vampires we are going to see.”
“And…”
“For the right price, anyone can be a vampire.” It was a saying I’d heard often enough. “It’s all about appearances, and secrets, and sex, and power.” And necks, and teeth, and obsession, and subservience. I felt myself grimace.
“See, that doesn’t seem so bad to me.” Jack cocked his head. “Doesn’t sound like they’d want to kill anyone.”
“No, they just think they own everyone. And they spend a hell of a lot of money to participate in the vampire lifestyle. And they’re completely fixated on their looks.”
“Plenty of people are fixated on their looks, Delilah,” Jack teased. “I mean look at Todd. All his tattoos—pure vanity.”
I don’t think it was possible for Todd to roll his eyes any farther.
Even though his tattoos were beautiful, I knew they were part of his armor.
Just like his shaved head. “If I cared about how I looked, I’d grow my hair out and spend way too much time making sure it looked like I ‘forgot’ to shave.
” That was clearly a jab at Jack. He did have a near constant five o’clock shadow.
“So, shaving your head is a choice? Not a necessity?”
“Trust me, Delilah, I have a full head of hair.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Maybe there was a bit more vanity at play than I had given the agents credit for.
I mean, their looks hadn’t been lost on me.
I would have had to be dead not to notice.
Even if Todd was dangerous first, grumpy second, and handsome third.
Jack, however, had nothing obscuring his beauty.
He was objectively pretty in a way that wasn’t lost on anyone.
Not that I’d admit what I thought about the agents’ looks to either of them.
“See? Lots of people are fixated on their looks.” Jack stifled a grin. “And for the record my hair just grows this way.”
“Sure.”
“Before we start comparing anything else…” I shook my head. We’d gotten so far off track. “You meet a vampire, then you can tell me you aren’t creeped out.”
“Oh, we don’t need to compare, we know—"
The three of us bickered the rest of the way to Huntington.
And more than a part of me enjoyed it. Thoroughly. Arguing over non-sense was familiar and warm, especially since all three of us had developed a knack for pushing each other’s buttons.
We’d come a long way since we first met. Even if the circumstances were similar.
A new case, a road trip, adjoining motel rooms—just like when I first got out of prison.
Though the theme of the motel in Huntington appeared to be depression. Everything was a different shade of beige or brown. The lights flickered. We had been at the motel all of five minutes and I was already itching to make progress. I wanted—no needed—to hit the ground running.
At the very least I needed to get the hell out of the room.
It was early evening. Most nine-to-five work places would have been closing up shop.
Fortunately, vampires thought themselves creatures of the night, so if I was lucky, they’d still be at the office.
But if there was a party, or whatever it was the vampires called their get togethers, tonight, they might be out resting before the evening’s festivities.
Which would mean I was out of luck. I’d need to wait.
And I didn’t feel like waiting.
“Can you toss me the keys?” I held my hand out to Jack, ready to catch.
He looked at me like I had two heads. “What, you’re going to make contact now?”
“Sooner the better, it is Thursday. If there is a party tonight that would be the best place to ask around.”
“Let’s at least get comms set up before you go running off.”
“I’m eager to get this over with. It’ll be fast, just a quick pop in, pop out, I promise.” I emphasized that my hands were still ready to catch. “Keys, please.”
Todd appeared behind Jack and scooped the keys off the table before he had a chance to object. “We’ll go. Together.”
“Not sure that is the best idea.” Jack was trying to put on the brakes. “I’d prefer we set up comms. Go in with more of a plan. Ideally tomorrow.”
“Better if I go myself.” Todd and I were speaking only to each other, all but ignoring Jack.
“Together today, or with a plan tomorrow.”
“Are either of you listening? Tomorrow is better.”
I looked at Todd. “Fine, you can come, but I’m driving.”
“Fine,” Todd tossed me the keys, “but I’ll be backseat driving.”
“You’re both killing me.” Jack squeezed the space between his brows. “Routine questions only. Todd?”
“Routine questions,” Todd confirmed as we left.
But I made no such promises.