Chapter 16 Ezra
Suggested Listening: Diablo IV Rap / A Little Bit of Heaven by JT Music featuring Andrea Kaden
I should have known Farid would keep asking. That’s the way of people with favors you know are taking advantage of you. I have enough experience in this department. I really should know better.
The plan had been for Farid to meet me at my apartment, then I’d haul the load to the shantytown, and that would be it.
I hadn’t been at my apartment for three minutes before Farid called to say he was stranded due to another customer on the hook and I’d need to come to him. The only thing keeping me from telling the guy to fuck off is that Gracie vouched for him. And to me, that means something.
Farid has always been a come-to-you kind of dealer, but I’ve met up with him at other locations often enough, too.
This is the first time he’s told me to come to his place, and I am not a fan. It’s in the old meatpacking district known for large warehouses and vacancies. Lots of illegal type parties happen in the area. The cops are spread too thin to do much about it, which has the added bonus of making it an excellent haunt for our kind.
I follow the small, stamped symbols through a dusty warehouse with empty shelves and mountains of old beer and liquor bottles. The recycling industry has nothing on paranormals wanting the glass for a variety of purposes. I try not to think about this too much as I stare at a symbol stamped on the cinderblocks next to the base of some metal stairs.
This place is not giving me a good feeling.
It would be nice if Vyslan were here. Farid would scream about having someone with me, but I’m doing the guy a solid. Honestly, if he freaked out on me, he’d be doing me a favor. It would give me a reason to never see him again. And I’d be thrilled.
I just want to get this over with. The smell of stale beer, piss, and rotting stuff is overwhelming. I don’t know how Farid handles it.
I take the stairs two and three at a time, rising to the catwalk above. There is an apartment of some sort that seems to hang off the ceiling.
At the top stair, I run into a magical barrier. I’m going too fast to stop myself. The barrier feels like stepping through gelatin. The air becomes impossible to breathe. My movements are slowed to a crawl. And for a split second, I wonder if I’ll ever get free. If I’ll see Vyslan and Gracie again. But just as panic starts to set in, I stumble and stagger on the next step. I’m through the barrier.
The smell is gone and light radiates from around the curtains shielding the windows.
I glare at the door and mentally brush off that disgusting feeling. I just want this over with.
I pound on the metal door, making it rattle the hinges.
There’s no doubt Farid is here because my skin is crawling. If I thought I could still throw up, I’d be tasting bile. There’s just something about the guy that’s kind of awful to be around. I try not to hold it against him. It’s not like either of us can help what we are. We’re both just making the best of the cards life dealt us.
A moment later the door cracks open and Farid shoves his head out. His warm brown skin glistens with moisture and his curly black hair is slicked back and held in place with a thin headband.
“Finally,” he barks and swings the door open. “Come in.”
I clench my jaw and brush past him into a surprisingly tidy, bright space. The room is small, making me think of a waiting room more than an apartment with its sterile white walls and floor. The single worn sofa and TV only reinforce that waiting room chic feel.
Farid slaps me on the shoulder. “Thought you’d never get here. Come into the back.”
I stay where I am and fish out the cash from my pocket. “You got everything ready to go? I’m kind of in a hurry.”
“Yeah. Yeah, it’s just back here. You’ll need to help me carry it out. It’s a lot, even for you.” He disappears through a swinging door. I only get a vague impression of more white walls before the door shuts.
Thirty liters. For what I’m buying he should be kissing my ass and delivering it to my door. I’m going to have to talk to Gracie about this when I get to her place, because I’m not cut out for these black market blood deals. It’s too shady. I’ll have to figure out how to approach the conversation so I don’t come across as trying to back her and Vyslan into being my permanent, live donors. Because that’s not what this is about. Farid just gives me the creeps.
Damn it all.
Sighing, I head for the door. At the last second, I shove the door open, but hang back.
A thick bolt shoots through the space where I should have been.
“Fuck!” Farid shouts.
My gut screams at me to get the fuck out of here. Whirling, I take a step toward the door as it bursts into splinters and the same vampire that was in my apartment stands in the doorway. He has a wild grin on his face as he levels some sort of crossbow at me. I move first, darting to the right and crash into Farid who wasn’t there a moment ago.
The guy roars and begins to glimmer. Like someone dumped a bucket of glitter all over him.
Farid wraps his arms around me and lifts me off my feet. He slings me sideways, ramming my head against the wall.
“Shoot him now!” Farid yells.
I thrash, but his grip is too strong and there’s no leverage for me to work with.
The other vampire fires another of those bolts clean through me. And for a split second I think, Good. I’ll take Farid with me . But then the bastard is hovering over me as I gasp for air. I’m lying on my back staring up at the ceiling. I reach out, grasping for something, but my strength is gone. I’m weak. Alone. And dying. Again.
Farid and the vampire loom over me, watching me as if I were a bug.
“My lord thanks you for your service,” the vampire says and digs a wad of cash out of his pocket.
Farid grunts. “Whatever. I get the cash he has on him, too.”
“I’m prepared to allow that,” the vampire says.
Farid outright laughs. “As if you could stop me.”
Just what is Farid? And why? We weren’t friends, but I trusted him enough to let him into my home. Into my life.
Gracie.
Vyslan.
I try to dig my fingers into the ground, to push myself up, but I’m so weak.
Farid sighs and kneels next to me. “It’s not personal, man. Creatures like us? Uniques? This isn’t the life you want to live. Trust me. Go be a good little thrall. It’ll be better for all of us. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
“Fuck… You,” I wheeze out.
Farid shrugs and digs in my pocket, taking my phone and wallet. “You good from here? Or do you want another feather?”
“I’ll take another feather, Nephilim,” the vampire says.
The only reason I know what that word means is from too many hours playing Diablo. Nephilim. Half angel. Half man. Figures that would be a vampire’s natural enemy. But what does he mean about Uniques? Is this some other quirk of this world I know nothing about?
My lips won’t work and my vision slowly fades to black.