Cake (53 page)

They have a car hidden somewhere, Shade. Can you find it?

You got it under control here?

I gave her a flash of my burning blue eyes.

What do you think?

Your cruel streak is showing…have fun.

As Shade loped off into the woods, the prone man started moving, thinking he was free. Silly assassin.

“
I really think it is in your best interests to stay still,” I warned him. He stiffened so quickly at my words that I had to bite back a laugh. He hadn’t heard me land, hadn’t even known I was there. I glanced down the path, where Shade had disappeared. She had been training me to Hellcat standards, and I realized that I wasn’t as big a failure as I thought.

Dancing across the man’s thoughts, I sensed how strong-willed he was. “I had a little talk with your friends. Well, with one of them,” I told him. “They’re both dead now. One got made into a charcoal brisket, the other a snack pack but not before he revealed that you were after Marcus. Any idea why?”

My question was met with silence.

“
Either you can talk to me willingly, coherently, or else I’ll simply rip your mind apart getting the information for myself.”

“
Only Du Bussey is supposed to have that talent,” he blustered. “That’s why we were supposed to stay back, out of range.”

Okay, with that admission I now knew it was someone Marcus had worked for who had ordered his death.

“
Don’t you know that it’s a family trait?” I said, looking at him. “Father…oops, I forgot, he’s my brother now…passed that on to me.”

I felt the man tense, and as I stepped forward and straddled his ass, he stiffened even more. I leaned forward, whispering to him, “Crap, when he’s fucking me, I don’t know whether to call him Daddy or Bro.”

That pushed him over the edge. He panicked and clawed the ground, and the iron-willed control he’d had over himself opened just enough for me to get inside of his mind.

I could have ripped him open there and then, but I wasn’t that confident about skimming through the debris and finding what I wanted. I still needed the VCR chain of events of his memory. And I found what I was looking for. The same dark-haired man I’d seen in the mind of the other assassin. Only this time, I got a name and address to go with the face.

The sound of leaves crunching under her massive paws gave Shade’s presence away as she sauntered back to us.

The vehicle isn’t far.

Are you full, Shade?

No, I could eat some more.

How much more do you think I should drink? I don’t want to be going up in Flame.

She eyed him carefully.

Thirty would do it. Better make it twenty-five, just to be on the safe side.

I nodded and looked down at my prisoner. “Did they say why they wanted Marcus dead?” The man just groaned. “I can go back in and dig around for it, if necessary.”

“
They said he never fulfilled a contract after taking payment for it.”

“
You do know that you’re going to die, don’t you?” I told him coldly. “I’ve already killed the others that were with you, and before the night is out, I am going to kill Randall Dennison of 316 Wiltshire Drive, apartment 6b. And after that, I will hunt down and kill whoever I can get from his mind.”

“
This has nothing to do with you!” the man screamed.

“
You dared to fuck with my family. Of course, it’s got something to do with me,” I retaliated. “Now, I’m going to drink from you, and then I’m going to slash your throat and let the rest of your life blood bleed out on the ground, just the way you hoped Marcus would die when one of you shot him in the throat.”

Having no more to say, I fanged him and took my quota before raking my nails down across his neck and opening up his vein. His initial scream turned into a gurgle, and as he thrashed for his life, I actually had to force my weight down on his back to keep him still. Straddling his body, I cut my wrist open and offered the bleeding limb to Shade, who lay beside the soon-to-be corpse and leisurely lapped up my offering.

A cell phone rang, the electronic musical notes cutting into the silence. Keeping my opened wrist pressed to Shade’s mouth, I patted the man’s pockets with my free hand and found the phone, pulling it out and looking at the caller ID. I smiled when I saw that it was Randall. I flipped the cell phone open, grinning at Shade as I did so.

“
Richard, is it done? Monahan is all over my ass on this one. Richard?” This Randall person was one panicked assassin’s broker. How the hell had he survived in this business?

“
I’m sorry. Richard can’t come to the phone right now, he’s dying,” I said. “Oops, I’d better amend that…he’s dead.”

“
Who the fuck is this?”

“
His killer.”

There was silence at the other end for a moment, and then, “You don’t know who you’re messing with.”

Monahan…fucking right, I know who I’m dealing with, thanks to that snippet of information you just let slip, I thought. They’d shot Marcus because of me. He hadn’t fulfilled the contract on me, and he’d lied about it. This was all about my one big mistake last year, my one big final human mistake that warranted me being tagged by a vampire.

I tightened my grip on the phone. “I know
exactly
who I’m messing with, Randy,” I told him, deliberately bastardizing his name. “You can pass on the word to Silas that I’ll be seeing him tonight.”

There was a longer pause. I could almost hear the wheels turning in the man’s head. He had only ever spoken the name Monahan to his people, yet I had called my old boss by his first name.

“
Who is this?”

I gave Shade another wide grin, “Just tell him Sex sends his regards,” I said and then snapped the phone shut.

Was that wise? Telling him who you are?

Shade blinked at me. I could get nothing out of her big yellows eyes.

I’m not Sex. He’s just an image in a magazine, and that image will get me in to see Monahan. At work, he always had a new trainee assistant in his office. He would rotate them every six months. The bastard didn’t even attempt discretion. You’d hear moans and grunts in his office all day long. It didn’t matter to him if it was male or female, as long as it wasn’t fat.

Shade nudged my wrist with her nose indicting that she was done, and I lifted my arm up to my mouth, closing the wound with my tongue. I shook the man I was still sat on, and when he didn’t move, I stood up.

Being Xavier won’t get me into the building. As Edward, Monahan was disgusted with me. He always had some biting comment to make every time he passed by my cubicle.

Shade sat in front of me, her panther tail slowly swishing.

That was then, this is now. What are you going to do?

I lifted the car keys and shook them at her.

Road trip. Lead on, MacDuff. We are burning the night.

Yeah, but what are you going to do about the people after Marcus?

I’m going to kill’em. What else?

I just needed to hear you say that, My Lord Emperor.

She got up off her haunches and led me farther into the woods, taking me to the assassins’ hidden car, which was big, black, and nondescript. Yup, every mafia-car cliché ever produced by Hollywood.

I opened the trunk and found the object of my desire. It was a case, and opening it up I stared down at the M40A3 - a sniper rifle. I had read about these, and I could feel the drool building in my mouth.

Taking it out, I tested its weight. I took a look through the scope and frowned. It seemed off. I chambered a round and took mark at a tree about five hundred yards away. Then I fired…and missed.

Hmmm.

Shut up, Shade.

I said nothing.

I heard that smirk.

Hellcats do not smirk.

I took the scope off and flicked on my crystal vision. Oh, yeah, it was a hell of a lot easier to see and focus when I was full of essence. I shot again and this time hit my mark.

Nice, Xavier.

We’re good to go.

I set the rifle back in the case, closed the trunk, and climbed into the driver’s seat. Shade sat heavily down beside me with a thump, her tail waving agitatedly. She kept testing the air with her nose and glancing over her shoulder toward the wreckage of the ravers’ building.

Call Claudius. He’s searching for you.

What? How do you know?

My ears are more sensitive than yours.

I flipped open the dead man’s cell phone again and keyed in Claudius’s number. He picked up on the first ring, and I said his name.

“
Xavier? Are you alright?” he asked, his voice full of worry.

“
Yeah, everything is fine. I’ve got a ride,” I told him.

“
I heard gun shots.”

“
That was me. I was test-firing my new best friend,” I said, laughing.

“
Your location?”

“
We’re in the woods behind the building. Three targets have been eliminated, others acquired,” I relayed. Then my own voice became more concerned. “How is Marcus?”

I heard a ruckus, and it was obvious the device was being snatched from Claudius’s hand. I could image what my apple orchard looked right now, and blood-covered was a big part.

“
Marcus is pissed,” he growled into the phone.

I smiled as I heard his voice. I had been terrified that I wouldn’t hear it ever again “You know that it is considered a sign of mental illness if you refer to yourself in the third person, don’t you?” I remarked, keeping my voice light. “How are you doing, Pretty?”

Shade leaned heavily against my thigh, and I reached down and scratched her head just behind her ears.

“
What the hell were you thinking, running off by yourself?”

I dropped my voice down to let him hear my concern. “Pretty…are you okay? I need to hear it.”

There was a moment of silence, and then I heard his deep sigh. “Thanks to you and Father, I am alright. Thank you, Little One.”

“
Besides,” I hurried on, aching to be there with him, “I think I flew more than ran.” I gave a weak laugh. “I have to ask you a couple of questions, Marcus, and then I gotta go,” I said, brushing at my eyes as they began to tear up.

Damn, who the hell would’ve figured I’d get something stuck in my eye way out here.

Don’t lie to yourself. You’re in luuuuvvvvv.

Shade head-butted my leg, and I winced, grabbing at my knee.

“
Go? Go where?” Marcus shouted at me through the cell phone. I knew he wasn’t going to be happy. “Xavier!”

“
Does Silas Monahan know you’re a vampire?”

“
Monahan?”

“
He’s the one that ordered this little shindig tonight,” I said, looking back at the corpse that was now blending in with the night. “Does he know you are a vampire?”