Finally Dead (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 1) (24 page)

Eve
nodded, getting the idea.

“Well,
it is if you work on commission. Marcus needs…
Everything
. Make him look
as good as you can. I need that shower now?”

Calley
set that up without having a problem and Ang didn’t bat an eye at the idea. He
was a lot older than he looked, she thought. He seemed to be about twenty-five,
but being a dragon that wouldn’t mean much, she didn’t think. Still, he was
kind of hot, being in pretty good shape. They all were at Brand Village. They
had to be, since they were all mercenaries and fighters, she thought. At some
point it had come up in conversation, though she wasn’t certain she could
remember with whom.

Still,
twenty minutes later she was clean, had brushed hair since Calley set her up
with a comb too, and was in her new clothing. Ang was still helping Mark get
what was needed, so she waved to the men and spoke to the Assistant Ambassador.

“He
needs to get back to Candles and More when you’re done taking his money. How
much do I owe you?”

“About
eighty dollars. I’m using my employee discount, so it will be less than that.
Here, let’s ring it up?”

It was
nice of her to do that, and did help, cutting the cost by a lot. She still had
to use her own money for it, but that’s what you did with clothes.

Hopefully
it wouldn’t be too revealing for Lenore. Eve kind of thought it might be, but
when she got back to the shop the older Vampire just looked at her.

“We have
to write up several reports, and the Police Chief is coming, to see if her
files can tell us anything. Nicole should be here as well, in case she
recognized the attackers, but she’s no doubt about ready to go down for the
day. It’s shameful, for a being of her years, to be that weak.” There was
something close to rage in her voice, which got Eve to give her a funny look.

“What,
did she steal your boyfriend?”

There
was a hard look then, but she chased it with a wry expression, rather than a
physical attack.

“Rather.
More than once, as well. She’s my sister. As in from when we were both alive?
Two years older than I am, and still unable to face the light of day. It’s a
lack of application. Yes, it hurts, but that’s only a nuisance, not a thing
that should allow her to act so… Pitifully.”

“Ouch?
Well, I can do the yogurt stuff, if you’re going to be busy? Let me get an
apron.”

That was
the easy part, she realized, since there wasn’t just a few people coming but
about ten, over all. From the Police Chief, who didn’t recognize what was left
of any of them, to the mall manger, who was a Djin. He simply looked at the
people, then gave a nod and left. If it meant anything, she didn’t know what
that would be.

Those
all went fine. It wasn’t even that big of a deal. Right up until Zack walked in
with five people,
all
of them seeming a bit annoyed.

Zack
smiled at Lenore and gave her a hug, then walked around the counter, and did
the same with her.

“Eve! I
brought some people to meet you. Just in case anyone thinks that you should be
in trouble for all this.” He gestured to the back, but Lenore gave him a look
that seemed more than a little pissed.

“I see.
You thought that
I
was going to spank her for protecting our embassy
from a threat? Truly? That hardly speaks to great faith in me, does it?” She
sounded a tiny bit bitter about it, but Zack made a little sound that seemed
amused.

“Nooo, I
wasn’t actually thinking of you at all. Having the Council in to check on it
will go to show people that you’re all taking this seriously however, don’t you
think? Vaughn… This young lady is Eve Benson. The one that handled the
situation earlier? Edom is her maker.”

“Ah!”
The man who was tall, and looked a bit like he could have been the father on an
old television program smiled at her. “I was informed about his intent to
finally create a child. That… I must have lost time in my memory. I’d swear I
only got the paperwork on that a few weeks ago.” He shook his head, as if trying
to remember more clearly.

Lenore
moved in beside Eve, and took her hand.

“That’s
right. This is her
sixth
day as one of us. She’s undergone years of
training before that however, which truly seems to be paying off. Note that she
stands here with us, even as the sun looms over head? This is the third day
she’s done this. Or is it the fourth already?”

She had
to count, and felt slow while doing it.

“Third.”

Zack
nodded then, and winked at Bey. They were buddies though it was clear he knew
them all, from the very tall chalk white Manthori with his blood red eyes and
rows of fanglike teeth, to the small pale boy who stood near the back. There
was also a woman who was wearing a skirt suit thing, that seemed to be made of
tweed. She had pale, cream colored, hose and brown shoes which seemed nearly
sensible, as well as a matching hat.

“Excuse
me, are you Marissa?”

The
woman smiled and walked up to her, as if they were old friends.

“That’s
right. I’m so happy to meet you in person. So, let me inform you as to who
these others are, then we can look at the bodies? Eve is the woman who has come
up with that wonderful new animal blood product. We’re to be working together
to make certain everyone has a chance to purchase it. I assure you, her primary
concern does not seem to be making money from this. I say we wait a week and
then draft her onto the Council. Or at least invite her to the
good
parties.”

The boy,
who looked to be about ten and was fairly cute, wearing a tiny but clearly
expensive suit, and being thin enough that he seemed almost like he could be on
television, stepped forward then. He didn’t speak, letting Marissa do that
part.

“This is
Gene. Don’t be fooled by his looks and youthful charms. He’s both ancient and
wily. Also well connected amongst the lower ambassadorial staff around the
world. In short, we’ll wish to court him for our business.” Then she motioned
to the tall Manthori gentleman. “Harland. His connections are more…
interesting? He knows most of those that do not share the strict classical
bloodlines. It is his part to see that those others are well represented, and
that we don’t allow bigotry to prevent us from seeing to true justice.”

There
was a gentle wave toward Bey then, and the man smiled.

“Miss
Benson is known to me, of course. Just last evening we were discussing the
merits of speed, and how one might use such. I hope that information held you
in good stead?”

Lenore
gestured then to the back.

“I think
it did, Bey. Come, see for yourself?”

They
were all ridiculously fussy about looking at the bodies and had no more clue
who they might be than she did, but someone in the area would know. There just
weren’t that many Vampires around. Sooner or later they all met, or so everyone
assured her. It was Gene, not Bey, who moved in to look at the man’s body
though.

“Destruction
of the skull and brain with a single blow? From a
hand
? That’s hard to
do. Bey, is it possible that something else is going on here?”

Zack
snorted, which was a strange thing to do, but didn’t speak, since he hadn’t
been asked.

Gene
gave him a glance, but didn’t ask what his point was.

Bey
nodded.

“I think
there might well be. Eve, you didn’t vaporize the head completely. Why is
that?” He seemed to be really asking her, as if that was a thing she could do?

“Um…
mainly it’s the sun. It’s distracting, and slowed me down a bit. I managed to
do some things a bit faster last night. I’m working on it though.” She felt a
bit embarrassed, for some reason, so looked away.

There
was a little clap and a slow, slightly smug, bow toward the boy, who wasn’t
that much shorter than Bey was himself. About half a foot.

“There
we go, Gene. I’m certain that in a few weeks time, Miss Benson will be able to
do a better job of it. Also, I notice that a table was damaged?
Tsk
,
Miss Benson. Sloppy work is
not
allowed. I’m certain that you will reimburse
the shop for the damage?” He seemed serious.

That
nearly got her to growl, since it wasn’t fair, but that was really the point,
wasn’t it? Bey was trying to show the others that while she was doing well, and
had kind of kicked more butt, harder, than was normal, she was also in control
of herself. Or, more to the point, under
his
control. Not because she
was scared, but because she was
reasonable
. A new kind of Vamp that
didn’t have to be beaten into good behavior?

“Yeah. I
mean, I was
hoping
not to, but I can do that. I don’t suppose you’d take
payment in emeralds? I have some nice ones I can trade for it.” She did too,
which got a happy little nod from the killer of the Council.

“Perfect.
Yes, I’m sure we can do that. Is that to your satisfaction, Gene? Do you
perhaps wish to question the Line Walker as if he or one of his family is
responsible for her abilities?”

Zack
moved forward a bit and in front of her slightly.

“She got
some hints on meditation, which done the way she’s doing it has a bit to do
with a weak kind of magic.” He carefully didn’t mention what kind, she noticed,
deciding to do the same. “The rest is mainly due to her Human life. It was the
kind of thing that either breaks a mind or makes it very hard. She chose that
second path. There’s been no interference, or any deals, to give her greater
than normal powers. She’s just that good,
and
that well prepared.”

Marissa
seemed to be satisfied with that, and the Manthori man shrugged, but the boy
made a face.

“It
seems to me that if you wished to place a controlling influence on the Council,
you
might arrange for such a thing. Might you not? The ways of Greater
Demons are convoluted. Did you perhaps find this girl and recommend her to
Edom?”

Eve felt
a bit put on the spot, but Zack cleared his throat and covered a smile with the
side of his hand.

“Actually
it was The Technician that found her, and The Mistress of Souls that
recommended her to an internship here. For that matter, The
Rotted
is a
friend of hers, as well as The Mind Stealer. Even with all that, none of them,
any of us, have done anything to Eve to make her into what she is, beyond what
was just said. She’s strong, and won’t stop. As you know, that’s all a Vampire
really needs, as a starting point. Now, you won’t be able to believe any of
that, given who’s involved in it, but it really isn’t a trick.” He turned to
her then, and smiled. “I agree with Bey though, Eve. Breaking a table like that
was sloppy. After you finish the current wager we have going, we should start
working on your speed, and control in a fight.”

That
brought up the wager, which Zack made sound like it was something dark and
dangerous.

“Yes, if
she fails, I get to take her life, but if she succeeds and defeats the death of
the light for fifteen days straight, I’m going to forgive half of your debt to
me. It’s what she
asked
for. She’s gone three days already, and with
each it will get easier for her, so I think her odds of winning are good. Like
I said, it was her plan though, so if anyone is trying to get into a position
of power, it’s
her
. For her own reasons.”

She didn’t
call him on the death part, because it made her sound really tough, but Marissa
looked half panicked.

“But…
Can you do this thing?”

It was
Bey, stern suddenly, who turned on the hermaphrodite.

“She is
of
my
line. More, she has worked hard for this. She will not fail, and
we
shall
win the prize she seeks. It is a heady bargain to make, but we
will
not
seek to undermine her in this. Is that understood? She risks
much for us already. Can we ask for more?” The look was for Harland though, not
Gene, who was asking all the questions, or Marissa, who seemed worried about
it.

Zack
clapped her on the back.

“I
already
know
that, actually. Her staying up for fifteen days isn’t for
me, but for
you
, so that in a month when I want to run off with Lenore
for a few days Vaughn here will let her have the time off.”

He
bowed, and glanced at Lenore.

“Make
certain she’s up on the paperwork?”

Bey
looked at the others, but didn’t tell them to leave. There was both a polite
sense of not wanting to be offensive and a strong idea that not having the
others around would be a very good thing. They were standing in the back
though, so Zack fixed it by waving toward the invisible Node in the center of
the room.

“Shall I
get you all back to where we started? Or a different place if you’d like?” It
was a defacto offer of free line travel, which very few thinking people would
have turned down. Except for the fact that you still had to be able to get home
on your own. That part was the real challenge, since it basically meant that
all the Vampires there had to stay pretty close to home. That, or make
arrangements for Zack to pick them up in some far off land.