The Path of Razors (35 page)
Read The Path of Razors Online
Authors: Chris Marie Green
My, my,
Lilly thought. The girls had certainly been brassed off, hadn’t they? Imagine, nearly decapitating Claudia. They were strong, fast, lethal bitches, and the Underground would be better off because of them as soon as Mihas got his girls under some real control.
Lilly thought. The girls had certainly been brassed off, hadn’t they? Imagine, nearly decapitating Claudia. They were strong, fast, lethal bitches, and the Underground would be better off because of them as soon as Mihas got his girls under some real control.
Meanwhile, Lilly diligently went to work on reviewing Highgate Cemetery footage from nearly a week ago, waiting to see if Claudia would contact the
custodes
for aid and refusing to move from her seat until the call came.
custodes
for aid and refusing to move from her seat until the call came.
If it ever would.
TWENTY-THREE
THE LION AND THE LAMB
THE
Lion and the Lamb Pub had a couple of its upper-level windows bricked up, showing that the structure had been here for a while because there used to be a tax on the amount of windows for each residence and the dwellers had gotten around having to pay more by blocking up windows.
Lion and the Lamb Pub had a couple of its upper-level windows bricked up, showing that the structure had been here for a while because there used to be a tax on the amount of windows for each residence and the dwellers had gotten around having to pay more by blocking up windows.
It was a sign of ingenuity if Dawn had ever seen one. Still, the sight was unsettling, mainly because it reminded her of that Edgar Allan Poe story where a guy was bricked up behind a wall, screaming to get out.
And that must’ve been pretty close to what Natalia had gone through just a few minutes ago, Dawn thought as she and Jonah prepared to enter the pub, sticking together this time for security since they might be that much closer to an Underground. For the new girl, there had been a wall of sound pushing at her temples, and now that Dawn thought about it, Costin had something pressing at him, too, with such force that it bricked him up inside that body of his.
She walked toward the pub’s door, reminding herself that she needed to remember that Costin hadn’t necessarily
wanted
to even retreat back inside his body earlier. She needed to do everything she could to empathize with him instead of falling into some trap of resentment about how he was too content to wait in the shadows, as he always did.
wanted
to even retreat back inside his body earlier. She needed to do everything she could to empathize with him instead of falling into some trap of resentment about how he was too content to wait in the shadows, as he always did.
As she and Jonah entered the building, she realized that he was also walled into that body and was only doing everything he could to keep from being buried, too.
Maybe they all were buried in some way.
She scanned the place. Unlike the outside, things seemed pretty homey with a flag floor and country pub atmosphere. Hell, there was even a puppy resting its sleepy head on its oversized paws near the door.
Then, as they got farther in, the rest of it hit her: the sight of over thirty young girls hanging around a large back room, mingling with people who resembled Dawn and Jonah in their tourist disguises.
She noted that none of the patrons were from the vampire schoolgirl group who’d attacked them the other night at Queenshill. And, praise it all, there weren’t any shadow things flitting about, either.
Even so, were these girls the reason for Natalia’s radar going off?
For a second, Dawn toyed with the idea of opening her mind to Jonah so they could communicate silently, but if they were close to an Underground, she didn’t want to risk giving off strange vibes that any vampires might pick up.
But she did shut off her pulser, using the remote device in her pocket. And the instant she was away from Jonah, she was going 013-41117 _ch01_4P.indd 268 5/22/09 12:22:57 PM to display her crucifix necklace, just to see if she got any reaction from the girls.
She leaned over to her damnable temporary partner, talking over the driving beat of a Rihanna song coming from a jukebox in the corner.
“Estrogen galore,” she said.
He leaned over to answer. “I noticed.”
His words brushed against her ear, making her cross her arms over her chest. But there was no other safe way to communicate, so she rolled with it, giving the back room an even more detailed sweep now that they were nearer: Girls at a pool table, playing snooker. Girls laughing with some guys who seemed like American frat boys as they tossed darts at a board.
Interesting that none of the gals—whom Dawn assumed were either old enough to drink or were carrying fake IDs—had any beverages near them. That was odd for a pub. Plus, their skin was more than the average shade of pale.
After doing the math, the evidence really did seem to equal a reason for Natalia to go on radar overload. Before tonight, the most she’d encountered at one time was the four Queenshill vamps during a stealth visit. But now, the psychic had obviously sensed way more than a small group.
Dawn kept watching the girls without looking like she was doing it, yet at the same time, she thought of how they’d have to train Natalia to withstand her radar in the future.
If there was much of a future ahead of them.
She jerked her chin toward the bar, and she and Jonah went over there, standing instead of sitting on the stools.
A barmaid—her curly brown hair sprinkled with gray, crow‘s-feet liberally camping out around her dark blue eyes—came right over.
After ordering two pints of cider, just so they would fit in with the human crowd, Dawn made chitchat as the woman drew their drinks from a tap.
“Young clientele here.”
Dawn noticed that the barmaid kept glancing at Jonah about every two seconds, even though his back was to her. He was standing out, all right, such a cool customer in those purple-tinted glasses.
“These your regulars?” Dawn added.
The barmaid set their drinks on two coasters decorated with ugly, big-nosed creatures carrying axes and advertising Hobgoblin British Ale, and Dawn paid up while the woman answered.
“We seem to attract the young girls. Even though they’re old enough, they’re not much for drinking. But the owner doesn’t mind them here all the time—they bring the boys like you wouldn’t believe, and
they
put away pint after pint.”
they
put away pint after pint.”
Now Dawn realized why Natalia had gotten vibes even when they’d visited the Highgate Cemetery over a week ago—it’d probably been all these girls swarming the nearby pub.
Either the barmaid knew exactly who they were but was lying about it, or she was telling the truth and the possible vampires were keeping their activities under wraps.
Should Jonah look into her mind to see if she was fibbing? Or would that be a red-flag alert?
Dawn decided to just go on questioning, keeping that all-powerful element of surprise for when they needed it the most—during a final attack.
She wrapped her fingers around the sweating glass of cider but didn’t drink. Meanwhile, the barmaid kept checking out Jonah’s back, as if hoping he’d turn around.
“Nice place,” Dawn said. “We heard a lot of recommendations, so we had to stop in. We’re history nuts.”
The “we” seemed to bring the barmaid’s interest to another level, because it included Jonah. “The pub’s got quite a bit of business from word of mouth lately.” She took the pounds Dawn had laid out on the bar. “The owner refurbished last year, and everything conforms to the conservation society’s standards. If you walk around, you’ll see historical details like writings on the wall in the second back room”—she pointed to an area that the girls weren’t occupying—“as well as original furniture kept upstairs for private parties.”
Dawn was hoping she’d mention tunnels. No luck.
But Jonah finally turned around to smile at the barmaid, and that seemed to pave the way for better answers.
“Is it true about the highwaymen around here?” he asked. “We heard they smuggled loot from the main road using tunnels.”
Smooth, Dawn thought. Jonah was an okay detective as long as he wasn’t being an asshole.
The barmaid gave him a flirty look. “Now who’s telling you those tales?”
Jonah flirted right back with his grin.
Ugh. Dawn guessed that Costin’s influence had given Jonah this confidence. He might’ve been a shy recluse back in the day, but now he was living it up.
“We took a walking tour around Highgate with a guide,” he said, leaning his arms on the bar. “But they told us that those tunnels aren’t usually open for a look.”
“It’s
not
actually part of what we offer here.” The woman leaned on the bar, too, flashing some cleavage at Jonah.
not
actually part of what we offer here.” The woman leaned on the bar, too, flashing some cleavage at Jonah.
Dawn almost barfed. She felt sort of territorial, not about Jonah, but about Costin, even though he wasn’t the one flirting.
“Too bad,” she said, getting closer to her partner, but only because she wanted to stick her elbow against his arm in a reminder that this was gross.
In the first back room, a burst of giggles spiked the air, and Dawn saw a girl standing on the pool table, using it like a catwalk while she teased an audience of guys wearing things like
Super-bad
sweatshirts.
Super-bad
sweatshirts.
The barmaid sighed and went over there with her hands planted on her wide hips, just as if she’d dealt with this behavior a thousand times before, while Dawn wondered how these vamps operated.
Did they take blood from their frat-boy victims and mind-wipe them?
Was erasing memories allowed in their community?
Dawn thought about Kate Lansing and what the team had found on Billiter Street, at the body dump. Bones. Kate’s head.
No, she thought. When the vamps that the team was targeting decided to eat, they ate well, so they probably chose prey more carefully. They wouldn’t want their victims to be easily missed.
She canted toward Jonah, taking care to talk softly enough to make it hard for any possible vamp to hear clearly. “We’ve got to get to those tunnels.”
“Our server invited us to look around this place, didn’t she?”
This time, when Jonah grinned, Dawn grinned back. If he was thinking what she was, maybe they could get under the ground. Then Jonah could let Costin out, just to see if he sensed a master down there.
But what would happen after that? If there was any indication of a master around, should they retreat or summon Kiko and the Friends to go for it right away?
Dawn didn’t know. In L.A., after they’d uncovered the location of the Underground, the team had gone into lockdown and Costin had taken his time in getting there. He’d had a methodical plan.
Unlike this time, it seemed.
Jonah was already walking toward the second back room, where the barmaid had said there were historical writings posted on the wall. Dawn left her cider behind to back him up.
But when she saw two different entrances on each side of the white-planked space, Dawn got Jonah’s attention and indicated that she was going to take one of them instead of scoping out the obvious.
He glanced around to see if they were being watched, but everyone seemed to be focusing on the pool table activity in the other room.
They slipped into a hallway lined with surplus straight-back chairs and closed doorways.
Jonah pulled down the sleeve of his coat, masking fingerprints while covering his hand in order to try the tarnished knob on one of the doors. It didn’t open.
“Locked,” he said.
They both laughed quietly. Locked wasn’t a problem for either of them.
Still, now wasn’t the time for a show of vampire strength or psychokinetic boogaloo.
While Jonah covered her, Dawn took out her lock picking tools and went to work, thinking that the loud pulses from the jukebox might be enough interference to mask these vampires’ hearing.
“So what do you think Gatenby has to do with all this?” she asked.
“No ideas yet. But he frequented a place where there’re tunnels and rooms underground, and Natalia felt something going on in here. I’d say it doesn’t look good for our boy.”
She took care of the lock, but when she opened the door, a bunch of old table linens fell out, and she and Jonah had to push the flood of them back in. He followed up with the door itself.
“Looks like we’re gonna have to play treasure hunt,” she said. “Or do you think there’s some trapdoor hidden in the floor?”
“I think—”
He whipped his head around, sensing something a fraction of a second before jasmine bolted into the hallway.
Kalin’s voice whirred around them.
“Update!”
“Update!”
A cold thrust invaded Dawn with images of Natalia and Kiko. Were they in trouble, even though Kiko had driven the new girl back to headquarters to get her out of the way?
She backed off from the door and followed Kalin and Jonah down the hallway, toward the pub itself. But the Friend stopped them before they emerged into the open.
“We found one of ‘em on the heath nearby,”
the spirit said, her tone high and excited, chopping up her speech.
“We’re trackin’ ’r out of Highgate now—a cat woman lookin’ older than ‘em schoolgirls. She’s fast, but she seems to be wounded, so she’s not as fast as most.”
the spirit said, her tone high and excited, chopping up her speech.
“We’re trackin’ ’r out of Highgate now—a cat woman lookin’ older than ‘em schoolgirls. She’s fast, but she seems to be wounded, so she’s not as fast as most.”
“She’s no schoolgirl?” Dawn asked. “Because we might have a few of those kind in here, Kalin.”
“Not
a schoolgirl.”
Although the Friend was invisible, she got in Dawn’s face. The jasmine was overwhelming.
“Older than one of ‘em!”
a schoolgirl.”
Although the Friend was invisible, she got in Dawn’s face. The jasmine was overwhelming.
“Older than one of ‘em!”
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