Betrayed (Betrayed #1) (3 page)

“Well, deputy you're right about one thing, whatever did this.”

“What do you mean by that?” Jason asked.

“Well, no human could possibly hang a full size vampire up off the ground and put four stakes and a blade into him and no one is going to be strong enough to rip his stomach open, pull out all the intestines, and reach up and snatch the heart out. It has to be a preternatural creature. Either another vampire or a lycanthrope had to do this. They are the only things that’s living that I know could lift a full size van and throw it like it was nothing. But, there had to be more than one creature that did this. No matter how strong they are it took at least two, one to hold, and one to pin. Since rigor mortis set in that means this vampire was murdered about eight hours ago.”

“So, you're saying the stomach wasn’t cut it was ripped?” Jason asked.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Ripped or eaten. Depending on what type of creature did this. If a vampire did it then it would have ripped the stomach. But, if a lycan did this then it is a possibility the stomach was eaten. We won’t know until we get the results from the forensics lab.”

I took the gloves off and threw them into the trash bin. I told the deputy our department would be in touch and it would be okay for the coroner to pick up the body. When the coroner got there I told him to send me the report as soon as possible. Jason and I walked back outside and the salt water smelled wonderful in the fresh air mixed with Jason’s musky spicy earth scent. Of course anything would smell better than what was in that house. We got into the truck and left the crime scene. I thought the ride back was going to be silent. But, I was wrong. “Jessi, what do you honestly think happened to the victims stomach?” I knew this was going to be a long ride back to the office. Jason must have asked me thirty questions. I was at least polite enough to answer what I could. Although it was quite irritating. It’s not his fault that he’s aggravating the hell out of me. I just like working alone and one reason is so I don’t have to answer so many damn questions and secondly who the fuck could work with someone that smells like him.

Back at the office we sat in the conference room writing up our reports. My office just seemed too small to hold both of us and all this paperwork. By the time we finished the paperwork and going over the details of the crime scene it was 4 in the morning. We walked back to my office and my door was cracked open. This is very odd, considering I always lock my office door before I leave. I pushed Jason back around the corner and drew my Beretta. I held the gun straight out in front of me, steady, and aiming down my right arm. “What’s wrong?” Jason asked. I put my index finger to my lip as in shushing him. I stayed crouched down low until I got to the right side of my door. I pushed the door open slowly with my left hand and still had the gun pointed with my right. The door swung open. You could almost see my entire office in the doorway. It was pitch black except for the light from the hallway. I kept the gun out in front of me. I stuck my head in the doorway and looked around. I didn’t see anything so I stood up and turned the light on. “Jason it’s okay. You can come back,” I called out over my shoulder.

“What was wrong?” he asked from behind me.

“I always lock my door when I leave my office. Someone has been in here.”

“Who do you think it was?”

“Maybe the Boss. Not sure he does come in here from time to time when I’m not in to hide from everyone.”

I could see the tension in his shoulders drop. It almost seemed like he had stopped breathing for a moment. Homeboy here was gonna have to toughen up if he was gonna be in this line of work. We don’t have the luxury of being tense or afraid. If you’re afraid of something in this line of work shoot it and make sure it doesn’t move before you stop shooting. As Agents we don’t just get to deal with human cases anymore, we also get to deal with the creepy scary things you only seen on T.V or read in a book. As a child you thought the boogeyman was real until you grew up and realized it was just a figment of your imagination until reality hits and you find out there really is a boogeyman and he’s not the scariest thing out there.

“Can I ask you a question?” Jason asked.

“You’ve been asking them all night so shoot,” I said dryly.

“Why are you such a bitch?”

Okay I so was not expecting that, so I just stared at him surprised he’d ask such a thing. I know the surprise showed on my face because he looked a little embarrassed. Good, he should be. But, I got to give him props for being forward. Most people walk on eggshells around me because they never know when I’m going to lose my temper. My boss says I’m a loose cannon and a ticking time bomb waiting to go off without a warning.

“Because I can be and I have a fucking right to be that’s why!” I replied with attitude.

“See that’s exactly what I mean. You are such a beautiful woman, but your attitude makes you ugly.”

“Wow did you really just insult me and compliment me in the same damn sentence?” I asked surprised..

“Yeah, well, I guess I did, didn’t I?” he said half smiling. I stood there staring at him like the jackass he was.  “I don’t know if I should be impressed or insulted. But, for starters you make it really hard to argue with you when you can compliment me while insulting me. Let’s get something clear right now. I really don’t give a rat’s ass about what you or anyone else thinks of me! But please do keep talking, I always yawn when I’m interested!” Just for emphasis I put my hand up to my mouth to let out a huge fake yawn.

“Well, maybe you should try being nice sometime. Maybe people would actually like you more,” he said defensively.

“Are you saying people don’t like me?” I asked in mock surprise.

“No. I’m saying people really don’t like you at all. I was warned about you before I took this job. You work by yourself because no one can stand to be around you. I’m just saying that maybe more people would like you if you were just a little nicer.”

“I work alone because I want to and like I said I don’t care what you or anyone else thinks and if you think working with me is so bad then quit. Go back to where ever it is that you came from!” At this point I was so damn mad I could have punched him. I bet Jackson would like that one. But, instead I was going to be nice so I turned my back to him and told him he could take the rest of the night off. I did manage to look back at him. He gave me his best concerned look followed by a lazy smile. If he was trying to butter me up after that little conversation he was failing miserably. I walked towards my office door as he walked out and slammed it shut. Finally, some peace and quiet. If I didn’t go a day without me pissing someone off or me getting pissed off I was having an off day.

I sat down at my desk and noticed an off white piece of paper folded up lying next to my laptop. It was held closed with a black seal. The crest on the seal looked like two knights from the 1800s. I broke the seal and opened the note. It read:

Mon Amour,

You are hereby invited to The Ball at The Grand MacGriogair Estates.

Saturday Night @ 9 p.m.

Don’t worry about your attire. I have already arranged for something to be delivered to your door step. It will be there before you wake up. I hope to see you there.

Yours Truly,

Nikolaos

I sat there staring at the hand written note wondering who had put it in my office. Most of my co-workers put all correspondences in the drop box outside my door. The only person with a key to my office was Jackson. I guess I’ll have to ask him tomorrow night. The handwriting on the letter had to be the most beautiful I have ever seen. I’ll show it to my mother when she gets here tomorrow and see what she thinks. She would probably like a night out and she would be ecstatic that I actually got out of the house and did something normal. By normal I mean doing anything that doesn’t have to do with work. I wondered who Nikolaos was although the name did sound familiar. I folded the note back up and stuck it in my purse.

Tonight was going to be a long night. Well, I should say this morning was going to be a long morning. I have to hunt down a werewolf by the name of Huey. Huey is an accountant. Kind of nerdy, but cute in his own way and very resourceful. He spends a lot of his time at a local lycanthrope bar called After Midnight. It’s located just south of Miami Beach in an area called the District. The District is where most of your supe bars and clubs are. Most humans stay away from that area, but you have a few who get their rocks off on just seeing a supe. It usually takes me about 20 minutes to get there from work. I brought my recorder just in case I could get him on the record. More than likely I wasn’t going to but it’s worth a try.

The moon was only half full so our friendly neighborhood lycanthropes wouldn’t be so grumpy. The main reason I went ahead and sent Jason home was because Huey probably wouldn’t have talked to me with a stranger around. Traffic was bumper to bumper as always. Especially on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. Friday and Saturday were just the normal party nights for everyone to get drunk and crazy. Thursday night was ladies night at all our local bars. I never quite understood why they would have just ladies night, why not a guy’s night?

I pulled into the packed parking lot of After Midnight. The only parking left was in the back. The front windows were painted black and had a lot of neon beer signs outside that were very bright at night. There was a man standing at the front door. He looked like he played football in high school or college and once was massively built, except now he was just tall, broad, and had a gut sticking out over his black slacks. The black collared shirt he wore that had After Midnights logo on it seemed a size too small. He looked like he was in his fifties with his brown hair greying around his ears and a full beard that was completely grey. Even his eyes were a smoky grey color. He stared at me for a moment then his eyes went straight to both  guns in my shoulder holster.

“You can’t bring them in here ma’am,” he said sternly with a deep raspy voice that sounds like he’s been smoking for too many years. I pulled my badge out and stuck it right in his face. What can I say I thought it was entertaining.

“Just in case you’re blind I figured maybe you’d like a close up.” Yeah I was being a smart ass. But, I had a case to solve which left me very little time to deal with assholes holding me up.

“No problem Special Agent Barnes. Come right in,” he just smiled at me and stepped aside.

I almost said good boy and patted him on the head but I think that would have pissed him off. Inside there was a diversity of people. You had your suit wearers, your casuals and of course the women that looked so trashy you’d think they just stopped in from working the streets. A male friend of mine told me once that every guy likes a good slut and of course he told me I’m wound up tighter than a girdle of a Baptist minister’s wife at an all-you-can-eat pancake buffet. Truth is I wouldn’t be so uptight if people would just stop pissing me off. Well, if a good sluts what you’re looking for, a bar like this is a good place to find one. I walked to the bar and asked the bartender where Huey was. He just pointed to the back. There was a live band playing older rock and they were actually pretty good. As I got to the back of the bar by the pool tables I could see Huey sitting in a booth by himself. He was drinking coke like always. He wasn’t much of a drinker. He said he had better things to do than to get drunk and puke. Besides, a drunken lycanthrope always turns out to be a bad situation not to mention one hell of a bar tab. It took most preternaturals a lot to get drunk. Lycans it took even more because their body heat burns the alcohol out of their system before they start to feel the effects of it. As it is they have a hard enough time controlling their beast without adding alcohol to it. A drunken werewolf or werecat was a pain in the ass to put it mildly.

Huey was in his early thirties, blonde hair, green eyes, and thick. I don’t mean fat thick, he was just big boned.

“Hey Huey long time no see.” I said sliding into the seat across from him.

“Yes, it’s always a pleasure. Now what can I do for you Jessi.” He asked sarcastically.

“Now, now Huey be nice. Maybe I just wanted to have a drink with you.”

“Gee let me think about that. Um no. No you don’t. It’s always business with you never pleasure. Although I am happy to see you.” He said smiling.

I couldn’t help but smile at him. I think Huey was the only person that took my shit and gave it back to me. The waitress came over and I ordered a crown and coke. It was the only drink I liked to drink other than wine. I probably shouldn’t be drinking while on the clock. But, after the day I had, I needed a good stiff drink. When the waitress brought me my drink and left I focused back on Huey.

“Huey do you know anyone or should I say anything that has a grudge against vampires?”

“Who doesn’t have a grudge against the monsters? Damn near every human would love to see us exterminated. If there wasn’t so many of us I’m sure they would have managed by now. Vampires, well they are just vampires, they’re cold to the touch and naturally just as cold on the inside. Lycan's, well Jess, no one takes the family pet werewolf for a little puppy walk if ya know what I mean.” He was smiling from ear to ear and half chuckling like he was amusing the hell out of himself. I couldn’t help but laugh at that. Especially since I’ve got a mental picture of a couple walking Huey on a leash in wolf form.

“I went to a crime scene today off Ocean Blvd. I found a vamp staked to the wall. His throat was cut, his stomach ate out, intestines and all. And Huey, his heart had been pulled out from under his rib cage.”

He just sat there with his jaw hanging open turning paler and paler by the minute. He looked like he was going to be sick. I reached out to touch him. Although I really didn’t want to but he just looked so stricken. I have such a terrible urge to touch him or pet him and make all his pain go away. I decided to just let him be and not touch him at all.

“Do you know who I’m talking about Huey?” I asked.

“Yes, if it was a vamp that lives at the far north end of Miami Beach on the west side of the road then yes I know who you are talking about.” He already looked pale now he looked pea green in color.

“You okay Huey? Do you need anything?” When he didn’t answer I took in a nice long deep breath. “Who was it? What’s the vamps name?” The last almost sounded too eager.

It took Huey a few minutes to re gather himself. “His name is Eddie. He had weird morals. He never fed off human blood. He only fed on animals. I don’t know too much about him other than that. I mean, I have met him a few times. He was always over polite. Even to people who didn’t deserve it. He mostly kept to himself. I’m not sure why anyone would want to hurt him. But, if anyone knew it would be Nikolaos.”

I couldn’t help but let the shock show on my face. Huey just sat across from me looking very suspiciously at me. I wonder if it is the same Nikolaos. What are the chances? “Do you know him?” He asked.

“Actually when I went back to my office after the crime scene there was an invitation to a ball at The Grand MacGriogair Estates. The invitation was signed Nicolas.”

“I hope you’re not going Jessi. Please tell me you’re not going.”

“Well, I was thinking about it.”

“Jessi Nikolaos is the most powerful being that I have ever seen and anyone that has gone against him has been tortured, found dead, or not found at all.”

“Your entire life? But you’re like two hundred years old, give or take a decade or two, and what do you mean by being?”

“There are rumors that he’s part vampire, part were shifter and something else entirely. No one knows what or how old he is exactly. Just know this, he is the first of us all he is our father and our king. He’s…. Just stay away from him. Once you’re on his radar you never get off it.”

I didn’t even try to hide the surprise on my face. He just sat there patiently waiting for me to say something, but all I could do was sit, stare, and panic inside. I took in a deep breath and finally spoke

“I know you’re worried about me but I have to go. Especially now that there is a crime scene with a dead body and not being on his radar is a little impossible seeing how he sent me an invitation.” It took a few minutes for me to get Huey to stop ranting and raving about me going to see Nikolaos. I finished my drink and got all the information I could get out of Huey. Like I said he was always full of information. Even if he wasn’t able to answer all my questions he was always able to point me in the right direction to speak with the right people and to get right answers. I was no longer questioning if I was going to go to The Ball. As of now I knew I was going. I needed to find out who this Nikolaos is and what he knows about the murder victim. Now all I had to do was keep my mother from finding out what my hidden agenda for the ball is. As far as she was concerned it is for pleasure and nothing more.