Chapter 13 #2
Exiting the house, I noticed a car I’d never seen before in the driveway with Lou behind the wheel, tapping his fingers impatiently.
No jumping out to open the door for me like Randy and Gwen, and when I tried the passenger door, I found it locked.
I knocked on the window and earned a frown from Lou.
He lowered the window a crack. “Get in the back.”
By myself? It felt odd to slide into the seat seeing as how Lou wasn’t a taxi driver, not even close because he didn’t speak to me at all as he drove.
“So where are we going?”
Silence.
“Got any plans for Christmas?”
Nada.
We drove a good thirty minutes, away from the suburbs and into the city, but ended up in an industrial sector I’d never visited.
The several blocks of warehouses clung fast to their location by the river rather than sell to condo developers looking to make a killing selling a water view property.
The many oversized storage buildings and factories loomed ominously as we drove past, their windowless exterior disturbing.
Was this where Cillian had spent his day?
I still hadn’t the slightest clue what kind of business he ran, only that it made him money.
Or was his entire job hunting down bad guys and then pulling a Robin Hood?
Lou turned into a short driveway and paused in front of a closed chain link gate.
He opened his window and flashed his face at a screen embedded in a concrete pillar.
It didn’t flash any kind of light or acknowledgement, yet the gate began retracting with a rattle.
A dark factory lay past the fencing and Lou drove straight for it, aiming for a roll-up bay door that must have been triggered by our arrival since it opened.
Lou parked just inside the warehouse and shut off the engine.
A peek out the window showed a bunch of stacked crates and nothing else. I couldn’t help but wonder why Cillian wanted to meet me in such a strange location. It didn’t scream romantic or Christmas.
“Get out,” Lou snapped. He exited the car and once more didn’t open my door.
Worst chauffeur ever, but that wasn’t the reason why I didn’t join him and instead sat in the backseat, chewing my lower lip.
Something about the situation didn’t add up.
If I didn’t know better, I’d think Cillian was trying to get rid of me.
Brought to an abandoned factory at night with a guy who made no bones about his dislike of me.
Was sex with me so bad that my maker thought it best to eliminate my ass instead of saying Sorry babe, it’s not me, it’s you.
The door wrenched open and Lou growled. “I told you to get out of the car.”
“Not until you tell me why I’m really here.”
“Get out and you’ll see,” he snapped.
I crossed my arms. “Make me.” I’d like to see his human ass try. Then again, as a bound servant, he might have enough extra strength. Guess we’d soon find out.
Lou pursed his lips and, judging by the mottled color in his cheeks, seemed like he might actually explode with anger.
“Is the fledgling giving you a hard time?” mocked a familiar male voice, but I couldn’t place it until the owner of it trotted into view.
Okay, he didn’t exactly gallop, but Tom’s hoofed feet did clomp. Seeing the satyr had me more confused than ever.
I frowned. “Tom? What are you doing here?”
“Collecting my special delivery Christmas gift.” He offered a slick, and not reassuring smile.
“Wait, are you talking about me?” I couldn’t help the chill that went through me. Would Cillian truly be so cruel?
“Yes, you. Oh, the things I have planned.” Tom grabbed at his crotch so I would understand exactly what he meant.
“I don’t think so.” I shook my head and huddled as far as I could from the open door.
“As if you have a choice,” Tom snorted. “Although, do feel free to try and fight. Rough play makes me even hornier.”
“No smacking her around until after she turns me,” Lou huffed. “That was the deal.”
My gaze swung to Lou. “What deal? What’s going on?” And was Cillian behind this? I had a hard time believing he’d decided to get rid of me by offering me to the sadistic satyr.
“What’s going on is revenge against your asshole of a maker.” Tom leaned down to better leer at me in the car. “The fanged fucker killed my father.”
“Oh.” I didn’t really have a reply to that.
“Acted as if it were justified too. So what if my father had a thing for hookers? He did the world a favor ridding the streets of their disease-oozing cunts.”
My brain clicked and I blurted, “Your dad was a serial killer?”
“A prolific one,” Tom stated proudly. “Media called him the Bawdy Strangler.”
“Never heard of him.”
“Most likely because you were a child in the seventies,” Tom opined.
“Sounds as if the one doing the world a favor was Cillian, by getting rid of a murderer.” Not the brightest thing I could have said, but true.
“That fanged fucker meddled in affairs that weren’t his business,” hissed Tom.
“So why not give him grief to his face? Oh wait, you won’t because you’re scared of him,” I taunted because apparently, I had a death wish.
“Cillian’s long been a thorn in many cryptids’ side,” snarled the satyr. “But today his annoying habit of ruining our fun comes to an end.”
“I highly doubt that. Once Cillian finds out you took me, he will kill you,” I stated with certainty.
“Did Lou not tell you about the accident he had on his way to a false alarm?” Tom mocked. “The SUV he went for a ride in this morning blew up. Between the blast and the exposure to daylight, there’s no way he survived.”
My heart, that already beat slowly, seemed to stand still. “You’re lying. Cillian’s alive.”
A smug Lou said, “At twenty minutes past sunrise, my link to Cillian was severed.”
The news rocked me. Cillian dead? It seemed impossible. Surely I’d feel his loss, seeing as how he’d made me.
Hearing my thought, the mind-reading Tom suddenly frowned. “Is he, though? There were no reports of bodies.”
“Because they were blown to bits and then charred to a crisp by the fire,” Lou exclaimed. “No one could have survived.”
“But you never actually checked,” Tom huffed. “Sloppy work. No wonder he refused to change you. I’m thinking he was right. You’re not smart enough to be a vampire.”
“Fuck you. I’m plenty smart. Who’s the one who came up with the excuse that got him to leave the house in the first place? Who planted the bomb? Who got his whore here? Me. And now I’m going to get what I was promised.” Lou eyed me and snarled. “Give me your blood.”
“Hold on a second. Let me get this straight. You betrayed Cillian because he wouldn’t make you a vamp?” I asked to clarify.
“Only servants who’ve proven themselves in the line of duty, above and beyond, are so blessed—or so he’s said for the past five years since he took me on as his servant. Meanwhile, he comes across your dumb ass and just gives immortality to you. Fucking unfair.”
Hunh. “I’m going to have to agree with Cillian and Tom. You aren’t worthy.”
“Fucking whore. I’ll show you to run your mouth.” Lou dove into the car, hands outstretched.
I moved fast as my maker for once, unlatching the door at my back and flinging myself out of the car. I landed on my ass but quickly bounced to my feet. I held up my dukes and huffed, “You wanna fight, then let’s go, asshole.”
A grim-faced Lou exited the car with a gun in hand. “Let’s see how brave you are with a few holes in your body.”
“This is getting tiresome, and you’ve outlived your usefulness,” declared a newcomer whose voice appeared to come from overhead.
Before I’d finished craning to look, a dark angel—make that dark fairy—dropped from the ceiling, grabbed hold of Lou’s head and twisted.
Crack.
A wide-eyed, and very dead Lou hit the floor with only the slightest of thuds.
“About time that moron died,” Tom exclaimed. “As if we were ever going to let him become a vampire when he so easily betrayed everyone around him. I don’t know why Cillian ever took him into his service. He’s usually much more discerning.”
Belial nudged the body with his foot. “Because he’s weak. It is my understanding that the betrayer sought him out and claimed kinship.”
“A link that is many generations past,” snorted Tom. “I’m surprised this worm managed to make a connection.”
Lou was distantly related to Cillian? I didn’t see the resemblance.
“Who cares. Cillian is gone, along with his servants. And now, we celebrate our victory with his fledgling,” Belial stated with a leer in my direction.
“Me first,” Tom stated.
“I don’t think so,” Belial argued. “Unlike you, I don’t enjoy sloppy seconds. And besides, we both know your partners rarely survive for a second round.”
“Fair point.” Tom chuckled. “Shall I hold her down while you partake?”
“And ruin half the fun? I like it when they fight.” Belial shook his head. “I say we let her flee and whoever captures her first gets to do whatever they like.”
Tom’s face almost split, he smiled so wide. “To the victor goes the spoils.”
The way they spoke of raping me chilled to the bone because they seemed to assume they’d win. But I was a vampire. Could I take them? Maybe not both at once, but one on one, I might just have a chance.
Before they could disarm me with more threats, I bolted. Ran for the deep pockets of shadows created by the stacked crates.
“It’s been a while since I’ve played hide and seek,” shouted Tom. “But you should know, I always win. Now, ready or not, here I come.”
And I had no choice but to play in this game of life or death.