Authors: V.K. Forrest

Ravenous (4 page)

BOOK: Ravenous

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“I’m not going to discuss my personal business with you.”

But you’re fine talking about mine?
He thought it, but he didn’t say it. He respected his mother and, more importantly, he loved her. Most of the time. It was just that she irritated the hell out of him.

“I called to talk about you,” she went on. “Have you been interviewed yet? What does Peigi say? Does she think there’re going to be sanctions?”

“I have not been interviewed. All Peigi said was that it would be a few weeks while they investigate and interrogate and then a decision will be made.”

“They did not say interrogate,” his mother corrected. “Peigi wouldn’t say that. Even if it was true,” she added.

Liam heard a male voice in the background. Someone was talking to her. It had to be Victor.

“No, I’m not going to ask him that,” she said, her mouth farther from the phone. Now she sounded like she was speaking normally, rather than shouting. She always shouted when she talked to him on his cell. And the farther away he was, the louder she talked.

“No, I’m not going to,” she repeated. “Oh, for Christ’s sake.” She got louder again. “Victor wants me to ask if you really ate them.”

“Ma! I didn’t eat anyone.”

“Don’t use that tone with me. I gave birth to you. Three days of hard labor—”

“Ma,” he interrupted. “You can’t still play the uterus card. You gave birth to me over twelve hundred years ago. It’s time to get over it.”

“It’s time to get yourself straight. If your father was here—” Luckily, she stopped before she said anything she would regret. She sighed and started again. “I’m just worried about you, is all. You’ve been out there a long time. It gets to you and don’t tell me it doesn’t. All that pain, the sorrow, it has a way of getting into your bones.”

“My bones are fine. I’m fine. This will all blow over. The Council is just doing their job. It’s a formality, bringing me home. I’ll be out of here in a few weeks.” He looked both ways and crossed the street. There were a few cars, a few pedestrians, but not many. The last of the human tourists would soon go home and Clare Point would have a respite. Until spring came again, along with the minivans of humans.

“Well, I certainly hope you haven’t caused more trouble for yourself this time than you can get out of. Are you staying at the house? Mary Cahall says you’re not staying at the house.”

Liam squeezed his eyes shut for a second. “Ma. Why are you asking me if Mary Cahall already told you I’m not staying at the house?”

Her silence was worse than her nagging.

“I’m staying in the apartment over the shop,” he finally said.

“You should stay at the house. I don’t like it to sit empty. I left the house all ready for you when you came home. I had it ready before I left. I was expecting you to return after your last assignment.”

“Ma, I never told you I was coming home. You said I was coming home. I like my apartment. That’s where I’m staying. Maybe you should come back and then the house wouldn’t be empty.” He hesitated. “You could see me before I leave. I think I’m headed for Spain.”

“I’m not coming home, not yet. Victor and I are having too good a time here.”

“Where’s that again?” he asked. He walked past The Hill, the local bar. Open only to locals. He thought about stopping, having a beer. Saying hi to some people. He kept walking.

“You’re going to have to do better than that if you’re going to trick me into telling you where I am. I haven’t told anyone where I am because I don’t want anyone coming after us.”

“You know, you’re considered AWOL, Ma. There’ll be a hearing when you come home. You can’t just take off and not tell anyone where you’ve gone. It’s not safe.”

“I’m safe enough.” Her tone softened. “I have Victor.”

So she really did have feelings for the old coot. Liam was glad. Losing a husband the way she had must have been awful. She deserved some happiness. “I gotta go, Ma.”

“No, you don’t. You just don’t want to talk to me anymore. Call me in a couple of days. Otherwise, I’ll call you. And I’ll keep calling. And if you don’t answer, I’ll send Mary Cahall over to check on you.”

“Bye, Ma.”

“Check on the house,” she shouted into the phone as he lowered it from his ear. “Better yet, stay there instead of the jail cell you call an apartment!”

He ended the call, vowing not to answer the phone again. He wasn’t afraid of Mary Cahall coming over. Actually he was, but only because she could talk a vampire to death, which was pretty hard.

His phone didn’t ring again for five days. When it did, he answered it.

Chapter 4

“I
can’t believe I’m doing this again, but you said I should call you if I needed anything else.” Mai hesitated on the other end of the phone. “Can you come, Liam? Now?”

“I’ve called six times. I left messages. You never returned any of my calls.” He put down the packing tape he was using to seal a mailing box with an Asian mahogany chess set inside. It had brought a pretty penny on eBay.

“I know,” she said. “I’m sorry. I just thought it was better if . . . if we not talk. If we not see each other again.”

He leaned against a wood-slatted crate. “You were the one who called me to begin with. I was just checking to be sure you and your dad were okay. That’s all.”

“I know. I’m sorry. It’s just that . . . I’m a private person. And I felt stupid, calling you like that. And now I’m doing it again.” She was quiet for a second. “We’re not okay, Liam. Today’s my uncle’s funeral and . . . I just got a very disturbing phone call as I was going out the door. Someone . . .” Her voice trembled. “This guy, he threatened my dad.”

“Threatened him how? Who was it?” As he spoke, he went up the back staircase to his apartment. He didn’t have a suit, but he was pretty sure he had a shirt and tie. Somewhere.

“I don’t know who it was. When I picked up the phone, he just said that if we didn’t return what belonged to him, my father would be next. They’re going to kill him, Liam,” she said softly.

The obvious question might have been “Return what?” But not to Liam. “Why didn’t you call the cops?”

She was silent for a second. He waited.

“No cops,” she said finally.

He heard a dog bark and then Mai say, “Hush, Prince.
Babbo,
please, I’m on the phone.” Then he seemed to have her attention again. “Sorry, Liam. My father didn’t want to leave his dog at home. He’s worried he won’t be safe.”

“So, back to the cops,” Liam directed. “What you’re saying is that there’s more to the story than what you gave them the night your uncle was killed. It wasn’t just a burglary gone bad and you knew it.”

Again, she was silent. She reminded him of himself. He played the same game. Sometimes, when he didn’t like the answer, he just didn’t answer at all.

“You want my help or not?” he asked, digging through the closet he hadn’t touched in three years. Possibly four.

“I want your help. That’s why I called you. Because I . . . oh, God, I don’t know why I called you. Because you said I should call you if I needed anything else.” She took a breath. “No, it wasn’t just that. I called because in my gut, I think you can help me. I think maybe you’re the
only
person who can, Liam. Does that sound crazy?”

“Of course it does. You don’t know me,” he told her. “You have no idea what kind of person I am. I could be more dangerous than the guy who broke into your store and killed your uncle, for all you know.”

“You’re right, I don’t know you,” she answered calmly. “But I do know what kind of person you are. You’re the kind of person who comes in the middle of the night when a complete stranger asks you to.”

Every fiber of his being told him not to do it. But her voice,
her voice
was killing him. She sounded so desperate. So scared. She didn’t deserve that. No one did. And he had sworn to God to protect His fragile humans, hadn’t he? “I’ve got to know what’s going on, Mai. I can’t help you if you can’t be truthful with me.”

“I understand that.” Then she whispered, “I just don’t want to talk on the phone. My dad’s sitting right here. He’s been through enough this week.”

“Fair enough,” Liam agreed. “I’ll come, but I’m warning you, Mai. If you’re not more forthright with me than you were with the cops, I won’t be coming next time you call. You understand what I’m saying?”

“I’ll tell you what I know. Everything. Dad and I are headed to the church. It’s St. Clare’s in Long Neck. The burial Mass is at one. Can you meet me there?”

He hesitated. He was making a mistake. A
huge
mistake. Whatever this girl was involved in, he didn’t need to be a part of it. He could
not
get involved with an HF. Not one who made dates to murder scenes and funerals. All he had to do was say no and hang up. He’d never hear from her again. He was sure of it.

“I’ll see you there,” he said.

He found the tie, a white shirt, and black pants. He thought he looked like a waiter when he glanced at himself in the hearse’s sideview mirror. The tiny church was nestled among tombstones and sturdy elm trees. The Kahill sept didn’t get dressed up for funerals. They were wakes: a lot of drinking, some fighting, a little slap and tickle here and there, and buckets of tears. At Kahill vampire funerals, they gathered not to put the bodies of their loved ones in graves, but to greet them when the deceased arose from the dead, reborn, to live another life cycle on Earth. Each time a Kahill was reborn there was a deep sadness because rebirth meant the loved one’s soul had not yet been saved by God and he or she was destined to live yet again. Immortality got pretty old after a few centuries.

He entered the front doors of the church. He had been to St. Clare’s Basilica in Assisi, Italy. It was tiny and ordinary, but one of his favorites in the whole world. This St. Clare’s reminded him of that great church in Italy. Humble. He walked through the narthex, into the nave. There were thirty or forty mourners, some seated in the front pews, others standing in a receiving line with Mai and her father at the head.

In front of the kneeling rail at the altar stood an open coffin. Liam had to fight not to recoil, his response almost physical. It wasn’t the sight of the dead man that offended him; it was the stink of formaldehyde that came off the body. It was so strong and thick and revolting that it made Liam’s stomach churn. Why the hell would anyone want to preserve a human body after it was placed in the ground? It seemed like sacrilege to him. He liked the idea of ashes to ashes, dust to dust. For him it was a dream. An ultimate, possibly unobtainable dream.

Liam dipped his fingers into the marble font, felt the sweet relief of the holy water, and went down on one knee. He crossed himself, whispering a prayer to God to give him the strength to keep walking. As bizarre as it seemed, he was a pretty religious guy. At least pretty religious for a vampire. Who murdered for a living.

When he came to his feet, he stood for a moment, watching Mai. The mourners offered condolences, then moved solemnly past the body. He wondered who these people were. What their relationship to Mai was. He was just about to take a seat in the back pew when she spotted him and left her father’s side.

She looked damn hot in a simple navy dress and heels. Bare, shapely legs. In the dress, he could see that she was slender, but well built with curvy hips and small, pert breasts. Liam was a breast man. He loved them. All sizes, all shapes. Firm, droopy, big nipples, little nipples. He didn’t care. He thought a woman’s breasts might have been God’s greatest creation.

“You came,” she said. It sounded like a sigh of relief. She surprised him by wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly. Her father walked up behind her, a slightly confused smile on his face.

“Mr. Ricci.” When Mai finally let go of him, he put out his hand to the older man. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Corrato shook Liam’s hand. “Thank you. Thank you for coming. I know you?” He squinted behind his wire-rim glasses. He was dressed in a gray suit, his full head of white hair recently cut. His tie was neatly tied, by Mai, Liam guessed, and he looked sharp.

“We met the other night, sir.”

“It’s my friend, Liam,
Babbo.
Remember?”

“That’s right. My Prince, he liked you. You remember him? My dog?”

Liam wasn’t exactly sure what to say. “He seemed like a nice dog, sir, from what I saw.”

“A fine dog. An excellent dog. He’s in the car. We left the window down a little. I wanted to bring him in, but Father Renaldo doesn’t care for rat terriers.” He lowered his voice in a conspiratorial manner. “He has a poodle. I think he’s prejudiced.”

Mai looped her arm through her father’s and steered him in the opposite direction. “Why don’t you go sit next to Suzy? See her?” She pointed. “There, in front.”

“I do want to get a good seat,” he said, letting go of her and shuffling down the center aisle.

Mai turned back to Liam as soon as her father was out of earshot. “After the Mass, there’s the burial and then we’re going to my cousin Suzy’s for a reception, or whatever the hell you call it.” Her face was pale. He could see that she was upset, but to anyone else it probably just looked like she was mourning her uncle. Liam saw past that. She was genuinely afraid.

“We can talk there,” she said, nervously applying cherry lip balm. “At this point, I’m scared to even go home.”

An ancient organ in the front of the church began to moan. Mourners scattered to take their seats. “You should go sit with your father,” he told her.

“Do you want to come sit up front with us?”

“No.” He placed his hand on the small of her back. “I’ll keep an eye on you from here. Go on, Mai. Your father needs you.”

She walked reluctantly up the aisle, toward the front of the church. Liam took a seat in the last pew. The polished wood felt good beneath him. Solid. It offered a sense of familiar comfort. No matter where he was in the world, he got this feeling when he sat in a church.

The priest in white robes entered, signifying the start of Mass. Liam ignored protocol and pulled out the kneeling bench. He didn’t care about Mass and he never went to confession, which meant he was a lousy Catholic. But he didn’t need those things. What he needed was a one-on-one with God. He got on his knees, clasped his hands, and lowered his forehead until it rested on his knuckles. Considering the things he had done in the name of protecting God’s humans, he always had a lot of praying to do.

Burial was in the small cemetery there at St. Clare’s, and then Liam followed everyone back to Mai’s cousin’s house in a nearby neighborhood. Feeling awkward, even though Mai had invited him to join them, he didn’t go inside with everyone else. Instead, he leaned against his motorcycle and enjoyed the fresh autumn air.

After a while, the front door opened and Corrato came out, followed by his little black rat terrier. The older man had shed his suit jacket and had a red plastic cup in each hand. Slowly, he made his way to Liam with that tottering gait that some elderly walked with. The dog stayed a foot behind him.

When he reached Liam, he pushed one cup into his hand. “Coke,” he said. “Looked for rum. Couldn’t find any. Usually under the sink at Suzy’s. I think the young folks hid it.”

Liam chuckled. “Thanks.”

“Welcome.”

They both sipped from their plastic cups. “You can come in, you know,” Corrato said after a minute, using the cup to point in the direction of the house.

“I’m fine here.”

The old man nodded. “I don’t want to be in there, either.”

He sounded pretty clear-headed, compared to the other night. Maybe he’d been in shock the night of his brother’s murder. Humans weren’t just physically fragile; they were emotionally fragile, as well.

“Talking about Donato, what a good man he was,” Corrato explained. “Like they knew him.”

Liam eyed the old man. He considered asking him outright what had happened to his brother; he had a feeling he might know more than Mai did. But this was between Liam and Mai. He didn’t want to make this relationship any more complicated than it already was. He didn’t want a relationship at all, with anyone. He didn’t want to get to know this man. Relationships were just messy all the way around, and in the end, people got hurt.

So Liam and Corrato drank their Cokes and stood there in silence, both content. Liam found himself watching the dog. Animals often sensed there was something different about vampires, about the way they smelled, and this one was no different. Prince sat calmly at his master’s feet watching Liam, probably trying to figure out exactly what he was.

After five minutes, Corrato looked over. “I think I’ll sit on the step there. Sciatica.” He rubbed the small of his back.

Liam noticed he wore a wedding ring.

BOOK: Ravenous

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