Page 9 of Dark Stars
"Hush your damned mouth," Jones said, butcouldn't keep all the amusement from his voice. "You ain't got noroom to be talking. Bit older, actually. They been working Centraland South America since, oh, the twelve hundreds or so, I reckon.Folks down there call them the Jaguars, and for good reason. I beencalling 'round about the kid. Seems he's recently struck out on hisown. Something went down back west that the family is keepinghushed up, but it seems to be part of the reason he left. I canpoke around a bit more if you want, though it'll take a bit."
"Yeah, do that, please. I didn't feelanything ominous from him, and there have been no whispers, but…it's still weird he'd want to partner with someone he doesn't knowand whose non-human nature he can't identify. Don't know if Ishould keep him close, drive him off, or wipe his memoryentirely."
Jones didn't say anything, but Bobby couldpractically feel him wincing. Eventually he said, "You're the bestjudge on that. I'll give you a holler when I know something."
"Thanks, talk to you later."
Bobby cast out his power, dipping into theshadows, into the dark, into the world beyond that humans—mostbeings—could not comprehend. A world of dead suns and dark stars,as terrible as it was beautiful. His eyes glowed like fireflies,and everything in the truck vibrated gently.
Even this deeper reach did not revealanything insidious about Alejandro. In a world where it seemed likeeveryone had at least a little corruption in their souls, dirtylittle secrets waiting to be pried out and used against them…Alejandro had none. Of course he was only twenty-five. A child.Still, he was also a hunter, and hunters weren't known for keepingtheir innocence.
Except here was one. How intriguing.
Bobby thanked the primordial dark for itsassistance and withdrew, eyes returning to normal, vibrationsfading.
"What am I going to do with you, littlehunter?" Bobby asked softly.
Chapter Four
Bobby stopped at a hotel that lookedreasonable, located on the outskirts of town, near enough torestaurants to keep things interesting whenever he felt likeeating, just the right combination of close to stuff but not tooclose.
Alejandro pulled in next to him and climbedout, grabbing a large, military-looking duffel bag from the trunkbefore waiting with his hands shoved in his pockets. It wasmid-morning, birds and critters up and about their days, peopleawake and going about their business, all the remaining softness ofearly morning fading away, taken by searing daylight. "Don't thinkwe can check in this early. Does this mean we're partners on thecase?"
"It'll be fine, and yes. Come on."
Face lighting up in a way that seemeddisproportionate to the situation, Alejandro cried, "Yeah!" andfollowed him into the hotel.
Bobby had reserved the rooms and checked inon his phone while driving, so all they had to do was grab theirkeycards and head up.
"I don't usually stay anywhere this nice,"Alejandro said. "My parents are really strict about spending. Thelast time I splurged on a pair of shoes, my mom brokehershoe hitting me with it, and then I got in trouble forthat."
"What kind of shoes did you buy?"
"Nikes. LeBron 7s. I loved those shoes." Hemashed the button for the elevator. "What kind of stuff do youlike?"
"Books, books, books. I own thousands ofthem. I buy more every week. I brought five ereaders with me.Horror, romance, thriller, mystery, literature… doesn't matter whatit is, I'll probably read it, though genre fiction is my favorite.Humans are so creative and imaginative. It's a rarer trait than youmight think."
Alejandro's mouth quirked in a smile thatmade him look young and old all at once. "You'd be surprised howoften we hear that from paranormals."
Bobby returned the smile, but scarcely abeat later the strange little moment was broken by the chiming ofthe elevator. He led the way out and down the hall to a pair ofrooms. Inside his, he unlocked the connecting door between them andpropped it open. A moment later, Alejandro did the same, beamingfor no reason in that way so many humans did. "I could get used tothis. Just tell me what I owe andnevertell my mother."
"I doubt I'll ever meet your mother," Bobbysaid with a laugh. "Come on, you'd probably like food next, and wecan plan our next move. I've never worked with anyone but Legrasseand Jones, so this should be interesting." He turned away from thedoor to change his clothes from the rumpled ones he'd been wearingall day, barely noticing the weird noises Alejandro made behindhim.
A few minutes later they were back outside,where Bobby motioned for Alejandro to climb into his truck. "Whatdo you want to eat?"
"I'm guessing good Mexican food isn't goingto be possible out here in the middle of New England," Alejandrosaid mournfully. "Nobody on this side of the country can even makea decent taco, let alone anything else. Oh, I guess it's more abreakfast hour, isn't it? I always lose track of time. Let's find adiner or coffee shop." He pulled out his phone, and in short orderdirected them to charming little postcard-perfect restaurant thatserved breakfast and lunch.
Once Bobby had coffee and Alejandro foodenough for twenty, Bobby laid the file Legrasse had given him onthe table. "So missing people. Fetid odors. Strange sounds."
"Most went missing when they were outsidethe city limits," Alejandro said between bites of sausage and eggs."Cars, bikes, whatever were found abandoned hours later, not longafter someone finally reported them missing. Local sheriffinstituted a curfew after the fifth person went missing, but thathasn't stopped others. I think they're up to twelve?"
"Thirteen, actually," Bobby said, watchingthe way the staff spoke in hushed, urgent whispers. "Would imaginebeing new weirdos in town, we're gonna get poked and prodded.Guessing there aren't any hunters around here that could put in agood word for you?" He already knew the answer, because Jones orHarold would have told him if there was, but never hurt to bethorough.
Alejandro shook his head. "No. Used to be,but they were killed some decades back, and nobody ever stepped into fill the void. Well, no hunters did. Guess Legrasse handlesit."
"Between a witch, a vampire, and me, afamily of hunters would be superfluous."
Alejandro grunted but didn't say anything,just focused on emptying his plate. Plates, really, but nobodyburned calories like a hunter.
