Page 6 of First Blood
“Where are you?”
And that was another reason why I liked her. No fucking around. I gave her the location and waited.
It didn’t take long. Less than five minutes later, a black crack appeared in the reality of the alleyway, widening instantly into a rectangle the right size for a tall, lean man to walk through. It was like a void: no light in or out.
Esther stepped out a moment later, followed by the tall, lean man who’d created it. It blinked shut behind him.
“Victor,” he said mildly, and glanced around, taking the situation in.
Doran had dressed down this evening, not in his usual black-on-black ninja-esque tunic and pants but in actual jeans and a Henley. Both black, of course. He and I saw eye to eye on fashion. He was well over six feet tall, with long inky hair currently in a messy braid, and his features were handsome but odd, like he’d been created by someone who knew what a human was but hadn’t really interacted with one. He was Fenwick’s shadow, the mage who kept us all alive when real trouble came calling, and I relaxed at the sight of him. No Oregonian sorcerer was his match, even without the sword Doran usually carried. He must’ve really been off duty this evening.
“And you killed him why?” Esther was as short, plump, and blonde as Doran was tall, dark, and sparely muscled. The two of them made a striking pair. The three of us in the alley together would’ve been enough to interest the Guinness Book of World Records.
“He tried to murder a prostitute.” No need to mention my personal interest in the matter. But my tone must’ve given something away, because Esther’s gaze became uncomfortably sharp. Doran was already strolling around the car, his hand stretched out toward it, muttering a few words of his own guttural language as he examined it for traces of magic. “Esther, you’d have killed him too.”
She sighed, which was as good as admitting I was right. Esther didn’t look dangerous, and most of the time she didn’t need to be, because she had me to order around. But nothing got her going like a man using his strength against someone who couldn’t fight back, and she would’ve made mincemeat of the asshole if she’d seen what I’d seen.
“Where is she, then?”
“He. And I sent him home.”
If her eyes narrowed any more, she wasn’t going to be able to see. “Uh-huh.” She sighed and rubbed at the wrinkle between her eyebrows. “They were all supposed to be gone two days ago,” she said. “What’s he doing here? Whatwashe doing, other than trying to kill a hooker?”
I shrugged. “Beats me. That’s all I saw.” It was a good question, though. “Fenwick didn’t know some of them were sticking around?”
“They all left together. He must’ve come back.”
“There’re rentboys in Oregon,” I said. “There’s some other reason he’s here.”
“No shit, Sherlock,” Esther muttered, and then sighed again. “Sorry. I was right in the middle of the last episode ofThe Great British Bake-Off.”
I grimaced. Everyone knew Esther’s cooking-show time was sacred. Vampires could eat, but the taste of food was off and it didn’t do much for us besides make us feel strange. Drinks were better. Vodka and coffee, two of my favorites. Cooking shows were a very weird hobby for a vamp, but no one ever had the balls to tell Esther that to her face.
“There’s some magic on the car I’ll need to investigate, see what he was trying to hide,” Doran said, coming around the front of it and standing next to me. He looked down at the body and raised an eyebrow. “He must have seriously annoyed you.”
“Yep.”
It was Doran’s turn to sigh. “We’ll take care of this. It’s above your pay grade, Victor. You can go see to your friend.”
I shot him a sideways glance. “He’s not my friend.”
Doran waved his hand languidly in a gesture that saidDon’t insult my intelligencejust as clearly as words would’ve. Jesus, was I that obvious? What the fuck was wrong with me?
“Then go somewhere else. Fewer people, fewer particles of bodily fluids and other contaminants to screw up my analysis.”
Well, I’d definitely created plenty of ‘particles of bodily fluids’ already when I ripped the sorcerer’s bodyguard to shreds, so I hoped he had fun with that.
“Roger that. Esther, I’ll have my phone on and I’m not going far.”
She nodded and moved around the body to consult with Doran, and I was dismissed.
On the way to Laurie’s apartment, I passed a twenty-four-hour convenience store. The offerings weren’t great, but I grabbed some bottled water, a few chocolate bars, and some cans of soup. At least that’d keep him alive.
And then I followed him home.
Chapter 3
Fed
