Red Dawn (20 page)

“What are we looking for?” I ask. Curiosity is getting the best of me. I want to know what the plan is too!

“I’ll know when I see it,” he responds being all mysterious again. We watch for a few more minutes before Nik speaks again. “There. Him,” he whispers, nodding at one of the servers. The guy is stacking champagne flutes on a tray waterfall style. He’s thin, on the young side, and looks a little shifty. Not really my type, but he’s caught Nik’s eye. When the kid finishes with the tray, he steps out back for a smoke and we follow. Why, I have no idea.

The kitchen opens up into a small courtyard that also doubles as staff parking. Nik’s target stands huddled on the edge of the porch. It must be a real bitch to be a smoker in this kind of weather. Fortunately, the cold doesn’t bother us. The kid takes a drag and lifts his chin in a curt nod to acknowledge our presence.

“How would you like to make a little extra cash tonight?” Nik asks him, cutting right to the chase.

He looks apprehensive at first, but when Nik pulls a couple of hundred dollar bills from his wallet, the look disappears. It’s replaced with interest. He can buy a lot of smokes with that kind of money. And it has to be more than he’ll make passing trays all night. Once again, I’m thankful Nik’s parents have deep pockets.

“What do I gotta do?”

To Nik’s credit, the plan is beautifully simple. All the kid has to do is bring Jacobs to the manager’s office under the guise of taking a phone call from The Shadow. Jacobs may be alarmed, but the threat of being hunted by The Shadow should be enough to get him to take the call. At this point, he’s probably assuming it was The Shadow who repossessed the hard drive seeing as how Jacobs put a hit on him. When Jacobs gets to the office, I’ll be there waiting. Once he’s in, I’ll lock the door, bite him, and get the hell out before he can call for help.

“But I don’t have a key to the old lady’s office.” The kid never takes his eyes off of the money. He takes a final drag on his cigarette and pitches the butt into a nearby bush. Classy.

“Don’t worry about that,” I tell him. “I’ll take care of the lock. Just be ready. We’ll be back at four o’clock. Make sure you’re waiting by the back door just like we talked about and you’ll get your money.”

“Here’s the thing.” The kid twitches nervously and shoves his hands in his pants pockets. “I do this and I could lose my job, you know?”

The greedy little bastard is trying to shake us down! I want to be surprised, but I’m just not. After all, that’s why Nik picked him. He flat out looks like someone of questionable moral fiber who would do anything for money.

“Three hundred. Take it or leave it,” Nik offers, looking lethal. Apparently he doesn’t like being extorted either.

“Deal,” the kid replies greedily. He looks pretty pleased with himself. I have a feeling that he wouldn’t look quite so smug if he knew what we were capable of. Hell, if he knew what tonight’s entire guest list was capable of.

Not once does he ask what I want with Jacobs or what I’m going to do to him. He doesn’t care. His only concern is the three hundred dollars. It’s a small price to pay for Jacobs’ blood.

Chapter Twenty-Six

When we return to The Brownstone, the greedy little money grubber is waiting at the back door as instructed. At least he’s reliable to the tune of three hundred dollars. Nik drops me at the end of the parking lot and roars off to kill some time. The party doesn’t start for another two hours. It’s going to be a long wait. I follow my host to the service elevator and we ride up to the second floor without speaking. I’ve got nothing to say to him. Then again, maybe we should run through the plan again just to be on the safe side. We can’t afford any mistakes. Our lives depend on it.

We land at the rear of the second floor and he leads me to the manager’s office. As promised, the door is locked. Lucky for me the lock is a joke. One hard twist of the door knob and we’re in. Sometimes it’s good being a vampire. The kid turns to go and I grab the collar of his shirt and jerk him backward.

“Not so fast, Slick.” I spin him around so that we’re face-to-face. His face registers shock and then goes slack again. Guess I caught him off-guard. “Let’s go through this one more time. Do you remember what you’re supposed to do?”

He gives me a bored look and makes a rude noise from the back of his throat. Yuck. I’d forgotten how disgusting teenage boys could be. I can’t for a minute imagine Nik doing something that undignified.

“I wait til everyone is here and once they get all cozy and start drinking, I get this Jacobs guy and bring him up here.”

I give a mental groan. If the kid screws this up, he could tip Jacobs off and Jacobs could bolt.

“Xander Jacobs,” I reiterate, holding up the color printout with a photo of Jacobs on it. “Look at him. Memorize his face.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he says, shaking his head. “I got it. Relax.”

“You tell him there is a phone call for him and that it’s urgent. When he asks who it is, and he will, you tell him the guy said his name was The Shadow. This is important!”

“Anything else?” he asks. “I gotta get back to work before they miss me.”

I seriously doubt he’s in danger of being missed, but I release him nonetheless. “Yeah, don’t screw up.”

After he leaves, I close the office door, making sure it’s secure enough not to draw attention. I circle the room looking for a place to hide. I don’t want Jacobs to spot me before I’m ready and I need to be prepared in case the manager finds time to swing by before the party starts.

The room is small and functional. It’s nothing like Jacobs’ office. The furniture is dated, the filing cabinets dented. There are some worn chairs that are probably about as comfortable as they look. I discover a small powder room attached to the office, but choose the coat closet instead. It’s closer to the main door and I’ll be able to cut Jacobs off before he can escape if it comes to that.

I check my watch. One hour forty-five minutes until the party starts. The wait is already starting to feel like an eternity. I wonder how Nik’s passing the time. Probably taking a ride around the city. I’m jealous. I know he’ll be here to back me up later, but it completely sucks being stuck here alone right now. 

I look out the window and confirm that it faces the back alley. Assuming everything goes according to plan, that’s where Nik and I will meet up when this is all over. I wish he were out there now. I know it would draw too much attention, sitting out there for two hours watching the building, but it would be nice to see his face.

“Since when do you need backup, Katia?” I mutter to myself as I take another tour of the cramped office. Probably since I got so hooked on Nik’s kisses, I think. Or maybe it has something to do with his uncanny ability to balance out my irrational, ‘punch first, ask questions later’ temper. Despite all of his flirting and his overtly annoying behavior, I think I might actually be falling for Nik.

Too bad I can’t figure out if the feeling is exactly mutual. I mean, we had ‘the talk’, sort of, but things have been so casual between us for so long. I wouldn’t even know how to really approach the L-word without embarrassing myself. Shaye would know. She’s so much better at this kind of thing. I laugh quietly to myself thinking of her and the fact that even though Nik and I had ‘the talk’, I’m as clueless as ever. Shaye’s right. I’m totally remedial when it comes to dating.

Thoughts of Shaye send my brain into a tailspin. I hope we’re doing the right thing. I try to tell myself that twenty-four hours won’t make a difference, but deep down I still feel guilty. It might matter.

Then again, if we can find out the truth about The Order of the Red Dawn, we might be able to prevent something like this from happening again. If they’d steal research intended to save lives, what else might they be capable of? What the hell is their agenda?

The pressure to succeed tonight, to break Jacobs, is crushing. I must’ve walked a couple of miles I’ve lapped the tiny office so many times. My nerves are raw. I imagine them frayed down to their very ends at the prospect of the daunting task ahead.

After months of training with Anya, I’m still not exactly in control of my ability. Reading Jacobs won’t be easy. I can only hope that The Order of the Red Dawn will be at the forefront of his mind.

Guests start to arrive. Their voices drift down the hall, reminding me that it’s time to get out of sight. I step into the closet and leave the door cracked. Now the real waiting begins.

The minutes I spend in that closet are some of the longest of my life. Despite my trepidation at trying to read him, Jacobs can’t get here soon enough. I feel panicky and wipe my palms on my thighs. What if the kid screws us over? What if he just plain screws up? What if I screw up? I wipe my palms on my jeans again. I have to stay calm. I have to focus on the job. One thing at a time, I remind myself.

My whole body tenses when I hear the door swing open.

“Just press line one when you pick up the phone,” our conspirator says casually. “And do me a favor? Pull the door shut when you’re done.”

I take back everything I said about him. The kid’s a decent actor. He might be in the wrong line of work. Jacobs doesn’t respond, but I know he’s there. He stands idle, waiting for the caterer to shut the door. When he goes for the phone, I make my move, slipping from the closet and placing my body between Jacobs and the door.

My plan is to attack him from behind, but I don’t get the chance. He senses my presence and whirls on me before I can sink my fangs in. He manages to stay just out of my grasp and puts the desk between us. It’s a minor inconvenience.

“YOU!” he shouts. His expression goes from shock to anger in a nanosecond. He’s a lot less average looking now that his face is the color of tomato soup. His flushed face is a stark contrast to the black and white tux. It’ll be a shame to ruin such fine digs. “You’re the one who destroyed my office!”

“In the flesh,” I reply as I plan my next move.

“Who are you?” he demands. His mouth twists into an ugly scowl as he looks me over.

“Someone who’s not interested in conversation,” I tell him as I advance, seeking an opening to attack.

“I know you were in the lobby that morning too.” I must look surprised because he elaborates. “Facial recognition software. Isn’t technology grand?” he sputters, looking pissed. He takes a step back and his heel hits the wall. There’s nowhere to run.

“Who do you work for?” he asks. His voice trembles. He’s scared, as well he should be. “What do you want from me?”

It’s now or never.

“Your blood.” The words come out even and controlled; I’m anything but as I attack. I leap over the desk with a burst of speed and grab him by the lapels of his jacket. “I want everything you know about The Order of the Red Dawn.”

Jacobs tries to resist, pushing off the wall and swinging me around. We crash into the desk and I take the brunt of it with my hip. Why can’t he just go easily? I release the left side of his jacket, draw back my fist and punch him in the jaw. Before he can bring his head back around, I lower my face and drive my fangs into his neck.

I bite hard, getting a good latch. He screams in agony and I lock my left hand over his mouth, cutting off his cries and preventing any further sound from escaping. I’ll have to hurry. There’s every chance his screams will be heard over the noise of the party. No self-respecting vamp could miss them.

As his blood flows into my mouth and down my chin, the sticky sweet fluid brings with it powerful memories. I’m bombarded with images. Jacobs has had a long life. With each beat of his heart a new memory is imprinted in my brain. My instinct is to break free, but instead I bite down harder. I have to fight through.

I try to still my racing thoughts and do as Anya’s taught me. I imagine an impenetrable stone wall. It’s old and worn, but it has no cracks. The towering gray walls are thick and solid. Nothing can get through. My wall would put the Great Wall to shame. It has only one door and I struggle to close it, forcing it shut until only a crack remains. I try to sense the memories slamming against the wall, fighting to get through. I push aside the mundane images, seeking a powerful memory.

I see Jacobs’ transfiguration. He was born human. He’s of mixed-blood, like me, but that doesn’t matter. I push past the vision. Jacobs bucks in my arms, flailing wildly. His fist slams into the back of my head and I nearly lose my grip on his neck. Then I see it. The power of suggestion is a wonderful thing.

The Order of the Red Dawn logo. It’s painted on the floor. I’m in a dark room with stone walls. It’s damp and smells of mildew and moss. It’s a dungeon. There aren’t any windows. The only light comes from torches that hang on the wall. I’m below ground, but I don’t know where. I turn back in a blind panic, but the heavy wooden doors are closed. The guards slide the lock into place and I know that I’m trapped. There’s nowhere to go.

I slowly approach the front of the room. There’s a roughly hewn table made of granite. Behind the table are six androgynous figures. They’re cloaked in shadows and I can’t make out their faces. Still, I am afraid. I don’t know what they want from me, but I know they’re dangerous.

“Do you know why we brought you here?” one of the figures asks. His voice is gravelly and he sounds very old.

“N-no,” I stammer.

“You swore your allegiance to The Order of the Red Dawn. You are here now because you have a debt to be repaid. As you know, your freedom comes at a price.” This one is female. Her voice is soft, like silk, and yet I find her more frightening than the other. My hands begin to tremble. I don’t bother trying to hide them. It would be pointless.

“What do you want from me?”

“It is time.” The man with the gravelly voice speaks again. His words are filled with promise. “We will rise up and tear down those who oppress us. We are on the brink of a new world order.”

“It will start with you,” a third voice says, “and others like you, completing missions of the utmost importance.” I have no idea what I’ve done to earn this great honor and I don’t dare ask. “These missions will shatter the solidarity of the purebloods, shred their confidence in the Elder’s Council, and spread fear and mistrust.”