Dead and Everything (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 2) (17 page)

Using
energy from her links, she could shut off pain, almost completely. It was a bit
of a strain on both her mind and the animals she was linked to, but it worked
much better than just the meditation alone.

Now all
she needed was to have more energy, and it would be enough to do some real
damage. That wasn’t a thing though, as far as she knew. She couldn’t have more
lines than what she was born with. That seemed to be eight, for her. If anyone
else had more, she didn’t know about it. Most claimed six or seven, but it
really wasn’t a common idea. In the main it probably didn’t matter, really.
Except, was that real? She’d never tried to hold a link, on top of the eight that
just kind of happened, so how would
she
know?

That was
what she was thinking when they came for her.

At first
she didn’t really understand what was happening. She had her eyes closed, but
heard people walking. No one was saying anything, and it was night time. That
probably meant that they’d come to kill her.

Because
that was the only thing that made sense, wasn’t it? The villagers had figured
out that she was trapped, so they’d probably come and try to burn her out. She
made herself smile, hoping it wouldn’t look too insane.

When the
box she was lying in opened, Eve was ready to fight. So it was a bit strange
when Ed’s face appeared above her.

“Hey
there. Your punishment is done now. Are you… all right?”

There
were other people there. Two of them.

Bey and Lenore.

Eve
cleared her throat, which took breathing. The scents of the world hit her then.
It was a bit musty in her little artificial cave. Not that it was hers. She
wouldn’t want it, even if it was. Assholes kept sneaking in to masturbate,
which
had
to hurt the property values.

After
about half a minute of looking from one person to the next, she nodded.

“I’m
awake.” It was an odd thing to say, but she made herself grin, even though she
didn’t really mean it. That was part of being a Vampire though, so no one
seemed to notice.

More to
the point, they all just stood there, warily, as if she was going to be half
out of her mind or ready to kill them all for imprisoning her. That was silly
though. The official story was that she’d done it to herself, which meant…

Well, in
public she had to own that for now. Possibly forever. She glanced at each of
them, and then, very slowly, moved toward Edom, and gave him a hug. It took a
bit for the man to realize he wasn’t about to be bitten it seemed, since he
went stiff, but eventually he relaxed as Lenore moved in. She had a basket,
with a glass bottle of blood. There was no label on it, but Eve knew it would
be the expensive Human kind. She waved it away, and then hugged her too.

It was
strange, and felt unreal, like it wasn’t happening. She really couldn’t be
certain it wasn’t a hallucination either. That would take time to tell. She’d
had some that were pretty real seeming so far, and getting out of the glass
cage was a pretty common one. So were dreams of people trying to kill her.
She’d taken to acting peaceful in them, since coming straight out of her micro
palace with fists flying might be taken the wrong way. Especially if the people
doing it were Humans just trying to get in to have sex with her. That hadn’t happened,
but it nearly made sense, if some were going to try and video themselves
jerking it on top of her.

It was
Bey who spoke next, his voice very soft, as if he were afraid that even the
most gentle of approaches would set her off.

“Are you
well, Miss Benson? We came as soon as the last moment of your self-imposed
sentence was completed. Is there anything you need? Blood or…” He wasn’t
leading her, she didn’t think. He just had no clue how she was going to react,
did he?

“Not
really. It’s good to talk to people. I need an update on what’s been happening,
and all that. Anything interesting?” She took the ancient Vamp’s hand, and he
didn’t shake her off, or even stare at it, just giving a tiny squeeze instead.

Edom
smiled though, and seemed to relax.

“Hell yeah
there is. For one thing, we opened the Portland T2LA. Openly Vampire owned,
which is the first business to do that in the U.S. So far we’ve only had two
major attempts to burn it down. The biggest problem is that there have been six
pretty major attacks on Humans. Mainly Christians, which even they seem to be
getting as someone trying to set off a war. The Shifters came out, and so have
the Mages. Most of the other groups are keeping quiet, but it’s pretty clear
that it won’t last much longer. Oh! We’ve also set up a meeting for tomorrow
with Gene and the rest of the Council members that voted against you. They
should be in town in a few hours, if you want to sneak off to ambush them?” He
seemed serious, and actually glared at Lenore and then Bey.

The
older being looked away, but nodded.

“It is
truth. They will not be coming, I do not think. Gene fears you now. He is right
to, no doubt.
Do
you seek their deaths?”

Eve
thought she got that one. The man looked at her, scared to be asking the
question. That was probably because he was under orders to put her down for the
last time, if she said that she was going to try for revenge. That was silly
though.

After
all, she really had volunteered to go in the coffin. Probably under mind
control, or at least stupidly unaware of what it meant, but that still absolved
them, unless one of them had gotten her to do it? Possibly even then. Her bet
was still that Keeley had manipulated her into it, but, now that she was
through it all, Eve could kind of see the point.

If she
played it all right, she could look very good, in the next coming months and
years. Incredibly strong.

So she
smiled gently and shook her head.

“Nope.
This was my choice. Still, I’d like an actual order from the Council, so that
the next time I have to do this kind of thing I can get away with a shorter
sentence? Not that we should just run around killing Vampires, but if it happens,
it would be good if the next one of us that has to take action isn’t going to
be in for that, just to prove how law abiding we all are.” She waved at the
clear coffin with its very thick top, filled with a foam of air bubbles in a
few places.

Bey shrugged,
“we can see to that. Perhaps you would like to leave? We brought a conveyance
for you? Young Edom feels that asking you to run at this time might be
improper?”

Eve
winked, the move over exaggerated.

“Nah.
Bey and I can shuffle back. To the mall? Or am I on at the club? I missed work
for a while, so…” Hopefully they hadn’t replaced her yet. She would have. Half
a year… It had felt like every minute of it, but that was a long time to be
missing from what she was supposed to be doing.

It was
dark out however, and from the feeling of it, around midnight.

Lenore
just turned and walked out. It was a strange thing to do, but there was no
immediate suggestion that she wasn’t allowed back to work. That could be
something the Council wanted though. Why have a criminal, even one that was
trying to do the right thing, working in an important political position?

Bey
clapped, three times.

“To the
shop, first. From there we can make plans for the rest. There is work for you,
however, in many places at the moment. If you will take it, and I do not have
to seek the end of Eve? Truly, I had thought that in your rage you would try to
kill me, or at least those others of our rulers who spoke without thought to
your advantage.” He seemed happier suddenly, as they all got outside the
concrete bunker. There was litter on the ground. Beer cans and a small fire pit
that hadn’t been there before.

Because
clearly, outside the tomb of the Vampire was the best party spot in the world.
Eve hadn’t even known people were there. Hopefully it had been fun.

Her
small bald friend looked at her, making direct eye contact. She was wary, and
broke that off instantly. It wasn’t a vast thing, but by not locking eyes she
might be able to resist being caught and compelled too easily.

“Your
plan however, to make an example of yourself, has worked. I think perhaps it is
the main reason that we are not being driven as a people from this land. Those
most prone to fear our kind, the conservative, they view you as a kind of noble
law enforcement. A sign that Vampires will not be allowed to run roughshod over
them. In fact, those of the Council have been dunned with letters and phone
calls, suggesting that it is not you who should be punished for what you were
forced to do, in order to protect others. There is truth to that, but, it is
done. Shall we?”

There
was a gesture, as if for them to leave, and the old being started to walk,
moving at a regular Human pace at first. Eve, for her part, focused her entire
being, removed as much of the pain as she could manage, ignoring it rather than
taking it away, she thought, and
moved.

There
was a lot more speed in it, she thought, than there had been before. Not enough
to shake Bey, of course, and her use of the environment to help propel herself
along wasn’t nearly as good. If anything that part was worse than before, since
she felt a little clumsy, missing movements that she wouldn’t have before her
isolation. She even stumbled, twice.

The trip
didn’t take long however, and at the end she didn’t scream in pain from it. As
they stopped, right outside the side door of the mall, Bey gave a bit of a bow,
standing instantly.

“I see
that you’ve made good use of your time away.
Excellent
. I won’t need to
travel with you as long then. We will leave in the morning, to travel to Maine.
Richard Swerlin has requested that the Council send a representative to dance
for the cameras, and impress his people with his power. He has won his
election, and so seeks to consolidate his control over the Vampires of North
America. It is a foolish move, but I do not think highly of him, so perhaps I
am being too harsh?” He moved to walk in, as she took a breath.

She
still ached inside, but it was manageable, even after the run they’d just had.

“I can
see that one. Rich… Well, no one is going to love him for a long time. Not on
our side of things. Really, he’s probably trying to make himself into a
spokesperson for us. Which, as you kind of hinted at there, is moronic.
Vampires are a bunch of spoiled babies, and being made responsible for their
actions is a horrible thing to do to anyone…” She grinned, and gently patted
Bey on the shoulder. “Which probably means we should hook him up with the job?
It kind of seems fair, even if he was mind controlled into parts of it.”

Bey
nodded, the red brick under their feet dry and slightly strange feeling. After
all that time of not moving, everything seemed off to her.

She
tilted her head a bit, not really caring who heard her.

“You got
that part, about me, didn’t you? Someone did something to get me to go into
that cage. I have some ideas, but I could be wrong. I know that Keeley was
voting for it though. She flat out told me that. Also about the other groups
being forced into the spotlight. I…” She looked up, and saw that Barb was
manning the counter at Yoghurt World. There didn’t seem to be anyone else
there, which probably meant it was a Tuesday or Wednesday night. She’d be at
the club on the weekends.

Her eyes
lit up when she saw who was there though. Then she sprinted, like a Human
being, around the counter, her white apron with its green logo on it flying and
getting in the way a bit. Under that she had on a t-shirt and blue jeans.
Really, she looked exactly like a young woman that might be working at a shop
like that.

“Eve! Oh
my God! I didn’t know you were getting out today!” There was a tackle then,
which turned into a hug that was cool to the touch, but filled with strength.

She
hugged her friend back, since anyone that greeted you with that kind of
enthusiasm had to be considered a buddy, didn’t they?

“Yep!
So, did anyone get the address of those guys?” She was trying to be cryptic,
but Barb snorted, and nodded her head.

“Oh, we
totally
did. Zack did it. We didn’t know what you’d want done about them, if anything.
Are we going to…” She whispered, as if the Council member that would be sent to
stop them from committing crimes wasn’t standing right there. Which meant, no
doubt that she was joking. “Take them out?”

Eve
shrugged.

“I was
thinking more of a public shaming thing? No masks this time. Put up a video
online maybe? Still, they did stop, and stayed away pretty well, so maybe I
don’t need to do anything? I could write some letters and remind them that they
have average sized junk, at best. That will teach them.” She made a little
go-get-em gesture with her fist, as Barb smothered a laugh and Bey nodded, as
if it were a real idea.

“That is
most wise. It will show them that they cannot act with impunity, without taking
away their ability to improve in the future. Perhaps we can see to that now? I
believe that The Line Walker is in, so that we might gain access to the
locations that these miscreants will be at?”