Dead and Everything (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 2) (8 page)

No, he
was a
lot
more suspicious about her than that.

“Probably
being sent in to spy on us.” Every one heard it, too. It was right there, out
in the open, in front of the whole Vampire world, practically. Edom was
fighting a laugh, and Lenore covered her mouth, as if it were charming and
funny
that one of the Council didn’t like her already.

She
sighed, forcing it to be loud enough it was clearly fake.

“Yep,
that’s right. Sent in to make sure that… Um, sorry, what is it I’d be spying on
again? The animal blood production?
That’s
clever of me. Notice how I
got in right at the start, and keep pushing for it too? I must be the bestest
spy ever. I’m in place to know everything about that one!” She grinned, but
went on, because being a bitch to a person that could just order her dead was
stupid. “Anyway, on a more serious note, that was all I had. I just wanted to
pass that along in case there was anything we could do about it. I’ll try to
get distribution going. U.S. first?” That was for Marissa, but she didn’t get
to speak, since Harland, the Manthori, interjected.

He
seemed a bit bossy that way. Eve had noticed that before.

“That
seems like a good idea to me, if possible? Also, I hear that
you’re
the
one slated to dispose of Mr. Swerlin, if that becomes needed? Other tasks as
well, if they come up? It will be good to be able to have more than one way to
deal with serious issues. Bey has been speaking most highly of you to us all.
We should, perhaps, meet soon?”

There
was a snort from the background, but the words were louder this time.

Gene
spoke, his voice sounding out of place. Too young by far to be an ancient being
of power. He
was
though, and forgetting that might well have her dead if
she wasn’t careful.

“Stop
flirting with the girl, Harland. We have a crisis on our hands, perhaps the
most serious this body has ever faced, and you’re trying to get
laid
? We
need to act quickly, or else we’ll lose control of the situation. What are we
doing to prevent the destruction of our kind, and the death of millions of
Humans,
that’s
what’s important here. How do we handle the press for
instance? We have no experience in doing that, as a group. In the past if a
reporter got too close, we simply wiped the idea from their minds. I doubt that
will work in this case however. Things have gone too far, far more quickly than
they should have. We were caught off guard and need to find our feet, but I
fear we may not have that chance.” He sounded calm, but stern. Like a school
teacher that was going to brook no misbehavior from his students.

Eve
spoke then, because she was a moron.

“Pick a
face to do the talking for us? That’s what the big corporations do. The government,
too. Actually get two of them. An older looking man, and a hot chic. That way
we can send different messages to the public. When we want woman and
housewives, or conservative men, to listen, send the guy, everyone else gets
the woman. Then each day we put out talking points in memos to all our people,
so that a single message will be going out. Out to all the embassies and
anywhere else where there are Vampires that might have to talk to the public.
That way we don’t have people in one area saying one thing, and someone else
going on about the exact opposite in a different location. To start with, I
think we should hit the fact that we mainly all love Jesus, apple pie, and
America, and then point out how much we do in secret in regards public service.
You know, all those food banks and the secret Santa shit we do each year?”
Which she didn’t think they
did
, but the people on the Council were all
smart enough to get the idea.

Harland
made a soft hissing sound. It was all the rows of fang teeth that did it. It
was probably just him sighing.

“So, do
you have recommendations for those roles?
You
could serve as the female
component, could you not?”

It was
Bey who chuckled then.

“She
is
most comely. Is that your intent, Miss Benson?”

“No.”
She actually sounded a bit panicked at the idea. “
God
no. I have too
foul a mouth, for one thing. Besides, we don’t want someone
too
good
looking. Then it will seem phony, and they won’t be taken seriously. We want
good looking, but not movie star quality.” She paused, then shrugged, “And
yes
,
I know how that sounds. I think… honestly that we could use Lenore Hawthorn in
a pinch, but if we can get her, Maggie Sims would be my first choice. She’s as
stable a Vampire as I’ve ever seen, and if she isn’t the best actress I’ve ever
heard of it’s because I know too many Greater Demons.” Looking up she saw a
strained expression on Lenore’s face.

She was
fighting a smile though.

Eve
tilted her head. Okay, she
had
just implied that she was better looking
than the other woman was, and it was true, if only a little bit.

Honestly
though, it was probably about her telling all of this to the Council, which did
seem funny, once she stopped to think about it. Who was she after all? Except
that
she’d
grown up watching television and had hung out around Greater
Demons, who had taught her some of these things over the years.

“For
men… I have no clue. All the Vampire men that I’ve met look too young. We can
deal with that if we have to, but if someone knows a guy that looks about fifty
or so, who can talk without inserting a foot in his mouth every third line,
that would be best. I can keep an eye open, but no one is leaping to mind
here.” She looked at Edom, but a hot black man wasn’t going to work yet.

Even if
it
should
. He was too young looking though.

Some
names were called out, including female ones, though finally Harland cleared
his throat.

“Thank
you for the suggestions Miss Benson. May we call on you later? This will
probably go on most of the night, and I’m sure you have other things to do?”

She
laughed a bit, nodding.

“I
do
have some restrooms to clean, actually. If possible you should have an
announcement for the public tomorrow. Basically just telling them that we’ve
always been here, and that the only difference now is that we can spread our
love and goodwill openly. That kind of thing?”

Gene
snorted.

“You
mean we should lie to them?”

“That’s
the one, yep. Lie so well that everyone thinks we’re freaking Santa Claus and
the Easter Bunny rolled into one.”

She was
able to get off the line after that, and expected a nice beating for what she’d
just said. She winced, but smiling at her, and nodding, both Ed
and
Lenore started hitting her. It
hurt
, but she didn’t do more than cover
her head. They weren’t trying to rip her apart, and neither one of them acted
mad, they just did it. Striking until she started to apologize.

“Sorry.
Sorry! I know, I shouldn’t run my mouth. Ouch.” The both stopped then, and Ed
moved in, giving her a little hug.

“All
right, no need to belabor the point then. That was over reaching on a level
that, well, to tell the truth,
they
should have shut down instantly. I
think that they were just so lost that they really didn’t think about it
properly. Now you’re in for it, too. They
all
know who you are. That’s
insane, you do realize that, don’t you? It was bad enough that Bey and Marissa
have plans for you. You probably won’t survive it, if they all take an
interest.”

He
didn’t explain why, and she honestly didn’t know what the reason would be, but
she nodded, since saying she didn’t get it would probably have her beaten
again. Okay,
hit
a bit. There was a difference.

“I
understand. I’ll do better. Right now I should run? It’s about twenty miles,
and I want a shower before work.” She had time, if she moved fast enough, but
getting out of there seemed like a sweet idea, she realized.

That got
her a pat on the back from her maker. It was a gentle thing, his large, strong
hand comforting, even after having just hit her. That was a sign of good mental
health on her part, wasn’t it? Going from being punished to cuddling with the
guy in less than a minute?

“Head on
out. Get with me at the first sign of trouble. I
don’t
want my club fire
bombed again.” That event had happened years before, but she’d heard about it,
because Barb had been around for it.

She
nodded, then focused as hard as she could manage.

Moving
fast was different than she’d ever imagined it being, and didn’t require her to
mimic running really. It was more about being willing to suffer horrible pain.
Exhaling fully, she pushed so deeply into the fire that was fast movement that
even the other Vampires seemed to be holding still at the moment as she worked
her way around them and walked out of the room. Then she fought to do even more
of it as she ran through the city. Hiding when headlights of cars might hit
her. Using the world around her to push and pull herself to greater speed.
Bouncing off of walls and trying to move like Bey did.

She
failed, of course. He was probably three or four times faster than she was
still. That wasn’t a reason not to try. No, if she had it right, her lack of
being able to do what he did, or possibly even
more
, was mental in
nature. Eve was being wimpy, failing to take the pain that she had to, in order
to do what was needed.

Doing what
she was hurt a lot more than the few punches that the others had just given
her. She moved faster anyway, knowing that the suffering was the cost of her
new abilities. It would never go away, but she could become strong enough to
take it and not let it stop her, couldn’t she?

She was
back to Ed’s, showered, changed, and wearing a light coating of make-up, five
minutes later. She’d never done that for work before. Not since she’d died.
There was no reason for it in particular, she just felt like being pretty that
night. It was probably a mistake, since there would be guys hitting on her the
whole time, but it made her feel better. Like she fit in.

When she
got to the club, wearing her blue jacket with the name Terran 2 LA on the back,
she paused in front of Kevin, who was already out front, managing the line.
There were only about ten people in it, which was about right, since the doors
wouldn’t open for an hour or so.

If you
weren’t that great looking, you could sometimes get in anyway, just by being
first. The people in line all looked to be nicely enough dressed, so it would
probably work for all of them. Later, as the night wore on it would be a lot
harder to make the cut.

“Hey
Kev. I’m supposed to be working with you tonight.” She grinned, and spread her
hands. Then spoke a little more loudly. “Security, but cleaning up, too. So you
know, same old thing as always?”

The man
looked at her, his broad shoulders a bit slumped. He had a blue jacket on,
which was slightly shiny and warmer looking than her own was.

For a
second she thought that he was going to make a comment about her being undead,
but while he had a concern, it was different than that.

“We’re a
man down for the night. Brian got in a car accident earlier. He’s pretty busted
up, it sounds like. He called, but has a broken arm, and some cracked ribs. That
gives us a team of four bodies, if I have you too, but you’re a bit small for
the work.” It was all considering, and true, so she didn’t take offense at it.
She also didn’t let him know that, being a Vampire, she could handle it.

The
point
wasn’t
that she could kick ass. The man was already willing to
trust that she could do
that
, since she had the needed fighting skills.
No, it was that being big could get a lot of drunk people into line that might
not do it otherwise. A small woman would get fights that a large man could
avoid. That was all. It had nothing to do with who would be winning.

She
nodded at the words.

“I hear
you there. I’ll mainly keep an eye out, and handle the women?”

That was
the standard plan, so he moved to let her in, touching her shoulder as she
passed. It was friendly, and a bit flirtatious, but not exactly grabbing her
butt.

It was
too bad about Brian though. He was probably the security guy she was closest to
there at the club. Not that she’d been around forever, having only been there
for a little over a whole week already. So, still the new girl.

The rest
of the night was remarkably calm for a Friday, actually. No one started
freaking out and screaming about her or Barb being walking corpses, which was
nice. No one seemed to really get that part of things, it seemed. There
was
a little talk about Vampires, but it was a casual thing that didn’t really take
off as a topic for anyone there until the place was closing down, at a bit
after four in the morning. Troy was back in the office, doing the paperwork.
That left Barb, who was the assistant manager, to make sure the bar was being
taken care of and that the rest of the place was cleaned up and straightened
well enough. It wasn’t the hard part of the night but most of the people there
were tired.