Blood Work (15 page)

“For good
reason, obviously.” Roberts sighed. “Been seeing her for a couple
of weeks. She reps for some of the competition.”

“Way to get
inside information. She seemed nice. Not your usual sort.”

There was a
contemplative silence. “What do you mean by that?”

I shrugged.
“Nothing.”

“Are you still
drugged up?”

“Nope. Mercy
did her witch doctory thing on me. I’m all good.”

“Then you’re
in full mental capacity?”

“Heh, as much
as usual.”

“Then you
meant something by that. Not my usual sort? Because she’s
nice?”

Crap. Roberts
had got out of bed not only on the wrong side, but in the wrong
post code, apparently. Then I remembered who had got him out of
bed.

“Sorry, man. I
didn’t really mean anything by it. We didn’t freak her out too
much, did we?”

“Well, I don’t
know about freak out, but you didn’t make a favourable impression.
She wanted to know how such a pair of mental deficients as you and
Mercy could afford the house, the car and the bike. And not have
any milk in the fridge.”

I laughed so
hard Charles looked up. He caught me catching him and ducked under
his book again.

“She’s a
keeper, Rob.”

“Look, man,
about this morning. I’m sorry you came off as bad as you did, and
I’m really glad you’re okay now…”

Every last
shred of good humour fled at the tone of his voice. “But…”

“Jeez. Matt,
this is getting intense. Those vampires at the Coast, then last
night. Maybe you need to back down a bit. I mean, you’re only up
now because Mercy put some sort of whammy on you. Remember what
happened last time she did that?”

Sort of. When
the compulsion wore off, I was so fucked from pain I spent the
better part of two days passed out. Roberts didn’t really need me
to answer that.

“Why are you
doing this? Cool it for a while. Take a long break. Recover
properly before you go hurling yourself head long at any more mobs.
And while I think of it, why were you at the hospital last
night?”

What did I
tell him? That some smarmy British guy scared the living shit out
of me by insinuating I was some sort of vampire leader? That I’d
made myself and Mercy into a rival clan? That we were now
supposedly at war with a gazillion vampires and their
more-powerful-than-you-can-imagine great great great Grandpas?

Well, I
probably could and he would understand and at least listen to me
panic if he couldn’t add anything constructive.

Then I’d have
to tell him about the deal the Reds wanted, as well. And he would
come out personally, pack my bags and drive me somewhere a long way
away. He might even take Mercy as well.

“Matt?”

“Yeah, I’m
here.”

“Anything
wrong?”

“Nah. You’re
right. I should back away, get lost.”

He was quiet
for a while. “But you’re not going to.”

“If I ran now,
I’d never stop. I tried that once. Not doing it again. Not good for
the soul.”

“Neither is
getting all your blood sucked out. Look—”

“Hey, don’t
say it. This is my fight. I won’t ask you along.”

“I wasn’t
going to say that.”

But he had
been. The night at Surf Wars had been scary. And that had been a
bunch of babies.

“Whatever.
I’ll keep in touch. Let you know we’re all right.”

“Like I care,”
he muttered.

“Screw you,
too.” I hung up.

The sun was
hot, for all that it was May and winter was knocking at the door. I
liked it and lay back to soak it up. Maybe I could absorb some and
use it against the coming horde of vampires. Because, make no
mistake, they would come. I’d pretty much stuck my boot up the Reds
collective arse last night, and they wouldn’t take that lightly. If
Aurum was right about the psychic link, the other Reds would know
what had happened.

There was no
doubt as to what they wanted. I had nothing of value to them but
Mercy. It hadn’t been hard to work out she wasn’t your average
vampire. She took down eight babies Tuesday night and she would
have made short order of the bunch last night. She’s very rarely
come off second best, and she even took down a troll under the old
Hornibrook Bridge last Christmas. I helped, of course. Someone had
to keep a look out and make sure passing traffic didn’t see too
much. When it came down to the dirty fighting, Mercy was the champ.
It just surprised me it had taken the local vampires so long to
figure it out.

As for what
they wanted from me? I guessed my command over Mercy.

I went inside
and found Aurum’s card, then dithered about for a while not calling
him. Finally, I gave in.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s
Matt Hawkins.”

“Mr Hawkins.
It’s good to hear from you. I had wondered if I would.”

I grimaced.
“Yeah, well, I’ve done some thinking since we spoke.”

“And some
damage to the local Reds, I understand.”

I fell into a
chair at the kitchen table. “You know about that?”

“Enough to be
surprised you’re calling now. I would have thought you not yet
recovered sufficiently to be thinking about your next move.”

I glared at
the phone. “How do you know?”

He laughed
softly. “I have my ways. You impressed me. Four Reds. I am doubly
intrigued about you now.”

“Are you
spying on me? Can you see what I’m doing now?” I made a rude
gesture.

“No, I’m not
spying on you and I can’t see what you’re doing now, though I guess
it to be rather rude.”

“You said four
Reds. There were six.”

“Yes, but two
fled during the fighting.”

How did he
know all that? “All right. You have my attention. What’s going
on?”

“I would
prefer to talk about this in person, if we can. Can I meet you at
your house?”

This guy was
either very naïve or he thought I was. “We’ll meet somewhere
neutral. Somewhere public. I pick.”

“Fine.”

“The gazebo in
the Botanical Gardens in the city, in one hour.”

“I’ll see you
there.” And he hung up.

Crap. I hope
this got me some answers.

I showered,
re-dressed my wounds and then strapped on a knee brace. The blasted
thing might not be hurting, but there was still damage there. If I
could minimise the strain on it, I probably should.

It had been a
busy couple of days and the wardrobe hadn’t been restocked yet by
the washing faeries. I went with a pair of dark blue, heavy blend
pants with nearly as many pockets as the cargos. They were police
issue and I’d nicked them off my brother the last time I went to
visit him. It was too hot to wear any sort of jacket so I went with
a very dark grey shirt, all the better to hide any bulges.

Surveying my
array of weapons I took a moment to mourn the loss of a life where
getting ready to go out didn’t involve considering what sort of
nasty I’d have to arm myself for. It was day time so no vampires,
but they weren’t the only nasties in town. Some of your other
garden varieties worked very well in the sunlight. On the other
hand, I was meeting Aurum. I packed for human.

The SAS knife,
nightstick and sexy Baretta Cougar. My brother Joe, when teaching
me everything about guns, tried to force a Glock on me. They’re
cool and all, but that whole no safety thing freaks me out. I have
a criminal record, I can’t get a gun licence full stop, let alone
one to carry concealed. Those restrictions mean I can’t really
carry a gun in a proper holster that covers the trigger, like
you’re supposed to with a Glock. So, if I’m stuffing something
capable of blowing a hole through a wall down my pants, I want to
know nothing’s going to accidentally set it off. Still, I always
put the Cougar down the back of my waistband. I’d rather do without
half an arse than, well, you know. Besides, the Cougar just felt
like a real gun, all metal and hard, not like a plastic toy.

I let the
shirt hang out over it, did a little twirl before the mirror to
make sure nothing was showing and whacko, I was ready to go.

I checked on
Mercy. She was dead to the world and immobile. I would have to make
sure I was back before sunset. While I trusted Mercy out and about
when she was fed and happy and in my presence, I wasn’t yet ready
to let her out alone. On any other day, if I wasn’t going to make
it home, I would have asked Roberts to check in on her. On any
other day…

I made it into
the city with fifteen minutes to spare, grudgingly paid eight bucks
into the parking dohicky and then went to see Jacob. Wasn’t even
halfway to the counter when he called out.

“Still not
here.”

“Yeah, I know,
you’ll call. But that’s not why I’m here.”

He closed the
paperback he was reading and straightened up. Jacob spent so much
time hunched over the desk it’s a wonder he wasn’t off in Paris
ringing bells.

“Another
social call? I’m flattered.”

“You should
be. No one else is getting my attention these days. Except for a
mob of Reds last night.”

“Holy
ventilated vampires, Batman. Another lot? What are you doing?
Declaring war on them all of a sudden?”

“Yeah, funny
you should say that.” I gave him a quick rundown on all Aurum had
already told me.

The black
ledger came out and he began writing furiously. “This is gold, man.
Where did you learn this?”

“You know the
old guy that came in here looking for me? He found me.”

Jacob snapped
a worried look at me. “You don’t think I told him, do you?”

“Hell, no. The
guy probably just came asking here out of politeness or something.
British, you know. I think he can find me whenever he wants.”

“Freaky. So
who is he?”

“Not exactly
sure. His name is Theodore Aurum. See what you can find out. He
claimed to be part of a ‘loose circle’ of supernatural enthusiasts
from all around the world.”

“Right. We
always theorised they were out there. Did he give you any contact
details?”

“Nope. I’ll
see what I can get from him now.” I checked my watch. “I’m supposed
to meet him in five. Let you know how it goes.”

He waved me
away, concentrating on writing. Outside, I flipped on my sunglasses
and went to meet the old fart.

The gazebo was
full to bursting with professional types having a networking lunch
or something, so I ambled into the shade of a big tree and leaned
on the trunk, giving my leg a rest. Aurum wandered in right on the
hour and came straight over. He’d given up the tweed for straight
grey pinstripe; but still, a suit.

“Good
afternoon, Mr Hawkins.” He looked me over from behind his own
sunnies. “A bit worse for wear, but upright at least. I hope you
will tell me how you took down the Reds. I understand their leader
was an elder of some strength, possibly a colonel in their
ranks.”

“They have
ranks now?”

“Always have,
my dear boy. Shall we walk?”

I hadn’t
wanted to but he wasn’t going to know that. We trundled off down a
walkway, heading into the lush greenery.

“So, how did
you win against the Reds?”

“Careful
application of planning, logic and judo.”

A grey eyebrow
rose above the dark plane of his glasses.

I sighed. Why
did he make me feel about twelve years old and in trouble? “Holy
water paint from a paintball gun, a nightstick blessed by a priest
and judo.”

The other
eyebrow rose to join the first one.

“Okay, and I
got mad. I don’t remember the details but the result was me on top
and them goop. Isn’t that all that matters?”

“Oh my. A
berserker. I haven’t encountered a true warrior of that class in,
well, a very long time.”

I shoved my
hands into my pockets, hunched my shoulders. “It’s not something to
be proud of. It’s made me do some pretty rotten things.”

“I can well
understand. A berserker capability in today’s world is a dangerous
thing. Are you able to control the impulse?”

“Does seeing a
therapist for anger management issues count?”

He smiled
tightly. “Probably not. Did you always have this ability? Or only
since you became acquainted with the world of vampires through
Mercy?”

“I had it
before Mercy came along.”

And that night
at Kirby’s rammed through my brain like a pole axe. I nearly fell
over with the force of the memory. God. I’d been such a maniac. But
I could still feel it, taste it. The red hot rush of anger through
my body at the sight of her. So young and innocent and yet capable
of such horrific, monumental damage. Little Eloisa, tiny under my
hands, her chest horribly still. She’s dead, Matt, let her go. No!
And I worked and worked until she coughed and choked on her own.
Then complete white out. And I punched and punched until she was
unconscious. I remember wanting her as dead as little Eloisa.

Sometimes, I
still do.

“Mr Hawkins? Are you all
right?”

I shook off
the memory, grateful that my glasses hid the tears from Aurum.
“Yeah, fine.” But he gave me another couple of minutes to get my
cool back. A real gentleman.

“Was there
anything strange about the vampires who attacked you last
night?”

“Technically,
I attacked them. They came in peace, apparently. It was a whacked
out version of Deal or No Deal.”

Aurum stared
at me through is dark shades. “You broke a peace?”

I scoffed.
“Like it really meant anything to them. They had a recorded message
to give me, nothing more. They don’t really understand what they’re
saying.”

“What makes
you think that?”

“The fact that
vampires are little better than savage animals. I know them. They
don’t fully comprehend humanity anymore, they don’t understand
honour or trust or the difference between truth and lies. Coming to
me with talk of a deal just doesn’t ring true. I saw it in Mercy
when she first turned. She was wild, violent. Didn’t care about the
damage she caused herself in an effort to feed or just destroy.” I
repressed the memory of her latest tantrum. “But I managed to train
her out of that state. I domesticated her.”