Tooth and Claw (The Harry Russo Diaries Book 2) (5 page)

“I don’t really see what I can do for you then,” I said,
addressing Elder Marshall’s comments.

“We’ve come about the Dagger of Asar. It’s missing and we
want it returned.” Elder Marshall’s voice took on an even harsher note.

“Returned? It was never the Conclave’s in the first
place.” The Elder’s attitude was getting on my nerves.

“It is a magical artifact and therefore belongs with the
magical community, not with the vampires or werewolves.”

Ah ha! So now we were getting to the real reason for their
visit. The Dagger of Asar was a very dangerous artifact that let its wielder
assume the powers of another through a black magic ritual.

“I don’t know what happened to it.” It was a bald lie, but
I wasn’t going to tell him that the dagger was locked in my safe. As far as
I was concerned, no one was getting their hands on it. “You’ll have to check with
the Magister. His people were in charge of the clean-up. What does it matter
if the vampires or werewolves have it? They wouldn’t be able to use it. You
have to be a witch or a mage.”

“But the vampires do have a witch working with them now,”
Elder Marshall sneered down at me. “Or should I say as a pet?” That was a
direct jab at me and my dubious status as Salvador’s new favourite person of
interest. He wasn’t the first to refer to me as the Magister’s pet.

“Look, not that it’s any business of yours what my
relationship is or isn’t with the Magister, I am not, nor ever will be, anyone’s
pet. I don’t know what happened to the damn dagger. The last time I saw it,
it was on a straight trajectory towards my heart and I haven’t seen it since.
Now, unless you plan on buying something, I would thank you to get out of my
store. I don’t answer to you. Consider me now unaffiliated.” Huh, I really
don’t know where that last bit came from. I hadn’t planned on saying that.

“You’re a disgrace to your grandmother, consorting with the
vampires, just like your tramp mother.” Elder Marshall wagged his finger at
me, his face taking on an unhealthy colour of red.

“Leave my mother out of it, Marshall.” I stepped around the
counter closing the space between us. “Now get out, before I pick you up and
throw you out.”

“We want that dagger.” Marshall continued on, ignoring my
threat. “We know you know where it is. You can’t…” The rest of what he was
going to say came out more like a yelp as he found himself sliding across the
floor and out the door as if an invisible hand had grabbed him by the front of
his jacket. I could really get to like this telekinesis stuff. It was so much
easier to do when I was angry.

The door slammed shut behind him. For good measure, I slid
the deadbolt in place from across the room with a flick of my finger. Elder
Angelica, or I guess I could just refer to her as Angelica now, stood with her
mouth open, looking from me to the door and then back again.

“Now Angelica, will that be all, or can I wrap up one of my
succulent containers for you? I have these cute little pots with Hen and
Chicks.”

I was in hell. Surely I must have died and I was in one of
the nine circles of hell, the one where sinners go and have to sit through
endless petitions from long-winded immortals who thought the small print on a
legal contract was scintillating. I
was
actually sitting in Dante’s
Inferno, the nightclub, so the comparison was appropriate.

It was the night of my weekly visit to the Magister. As an
added bonus tonight, for some reason Salvador decided that I should accompany
him while he held an audience with his vampire subjects.

I should have known that Salvador had something special in
store, when Henry, the limo driver that picked me up each week, arrived with a
familiar white box tied with a blood red bow, a sure sign that Salvador had
been shopping for me again. Since it was now part of our new agreement, I had
no choice but to accept it.

I actually liked today’s selection, not that I hadn’t liked
the previous McQueen dress. I just wasn’t used to wearing clothes that cost
more than three times my former monthly rent. I didn’t have a clue how much
this dress cost, probably not as much as the McQueen, but I’m sure it was up
there, judging from the pearl and crystal embellishment that covered it. The
dress itself was an Alice & Olivia in white silk. It had a high neck with
a flare silhouette, the skirt coming to about mid-thigh. The reverse cut out
back left more bare skin than I was comfortable with when dealing with vampires,
but I could live with it. Or, at least I hoped I could.

So far, I had managed to keep from ruining it, like I had
the last dress Salvador gave me. And that was despite the fact that I had to
take down a bitchy vampire intent on tearing out my throat.

As was usual with these weekly visits, Henry dropped me off
at the door and it was up to me to make my way in to see Salvador. The only
clue I ever got was from Nick, the door man who bore an uncanny resemblance to
Ozzy Osborne. He’d either let me in the main door, which meant I was expected
upstairs in Salvador’s private lounge, or the basement entrance, which meant I
had to make my way to the audience chamber through the maze of hallways in the S
& M club downstairs. After my second time in the maze, I would have sworn
that the hallways worked like the staircases in
Harry Potter
, always
changing.

I almost turned around and got back in the car when Nick
held open the basement door for me. I really didn’t think I felt up to running
the gauntlet downstairs. I assumed that this was just another one of
Salvador’s little tests for me, orchestrated to see how I would react and if I
was powerful enough to hold my own.

I was doing okay at first, navigating the twists and turns,
on the right path to get to the audience chamber, or at least to where I last
remembered seeing the audience chamber, when a door opened into the hall in
front of me.

I did a double take at first, wondering if I was seeing a
ghost, but then I noticed the subtle differences. Where Simeen had been a
platinum blonde, this blonde was more honey coloured. Where Simeen had been
all angles, this one’s face was softer, curvier. Other than that though, the
vamp in front of me was a dead ringer for the now dead dominatrix, Simeen.

Simeen had lost her head, and died the true death, for being
in league with DiCastro. She had helped him orchestrate my kidnapping right
under Salvador’s nose. I knew that she was dead for sure, because
unfortunately, I had seen her head. It was pickled in a jar and sitting on a
shelf in Salvador’s private lounge. Salvador really didn’t like traitors.

“Well, well, well, who do we have here?” The Simeen
look-a-like took another step out into the hall in front of me. Two others
followed closely behind her. A door opened behind me and a fourth vampire
stepped out. I was surrounded.

“I don’t know Sabine, isn’t that the Magister’s little pet?”
chirped one of the lackeys. The rest tittered with laughter. My hand itched
to draw my katana that I had strapped to my back. It was the perfect fashion
accessory as far as I was concerned. Personal safety matches everything, so
these days I never left home without it, if I could help it. I held off
drawing the blade. No point announcing that I had a weapon too soon. The
‘no-see-me’ spell I had placed on it would prevent almost everyone from seeing
it, as long as the blade was in the scabbard at my back. Once I drew it, all
bets were off.

“Yeah, it’s his little pussy,” crowed another.

Ha ha. What a comedian. I shifted my weight to the balls
of my feet so I would be ready to move if I had to.

“More like his bitch,” Sabine replied.

“Takes one to know one,” I said with a smirk.

“Silence! You don’t talk to me.” Sabine hissed at me, her
fangs descended.

“That dominatrix crap won’t work on me,” I said, ignoring
the threat of her fangs. “Speaking of dominatrixes, has anyone ever told you
that you look like Simeen?”

“Don’t you say her name!” Sabine took a step towards me.
“Simeen was my sister.”

“Wow, twin vampire dominatrixes. Does Ripley know about
you?”

“You bitch. You killed her. You will pay for that.”

“I killed her? I didn’t force her to become a traitor. She
killed her own damn self.”

“If it wasn’t for you, she wouldn’t be dead.” Sabine hissed
at me again, taking another step towards me. “I will tear out your throat and
gorge myself on your blood.”

“Ah, fuck it,” I said, rolling my eyes. Sabine looked
momentarily surprised. I don’t think that was the response she was looking
for. “I don’t have time for this shit.” I reached behind my head and pulled
out my katana. The blade rang as it cleared the scabbard and I brought it in
front of me in a quick chopping motion. The vamps, including Sabine, all took
a step back. The one at my back retreated into the room he had exited, closing
the door behind him. I guess I wasn’t the easy pickings they thought I would
be.

I looked at Sabine. She was clearly not prepared to go up
against a blade and someone that obviously knew how to use it. “Are we
going to do this or what? I have an appointment and you’re making me late, so
either let’s get to it or you can go take a flying leap.”

As one, the vamps all decided that the game wasn’t fun
anymore. Sabine hesitated for a moment more, then followed her friends into
the room and shut the door. Score one for the girl with the big sword. Yay
me. And not a drop of blood on the dress.

***

I didn’t think I could take another minute of listening to
low level Vlads whining about not getting promoted or visiting vamps
petitioning to move permanently to the area. How did Salvador stand it? I was
almost nodding off and if it wasn’t for the sneer on Tomas’s face every time my
head bobbed, I would have succumbed long before now.

The next petitioner stepped up to the dais where Salvador
sat like a king on his throne. Tomas, as his second, stood just behind him to
the right. A chair had been placed to Salvador’s left for me, unfortunately
reinforcing the opinion that I was his pet.

The petitioner was a particularly greasy looking Vlad, a low
level vampire, that looked rather portly. He had obviously fed well as a human
and continued to do so as a vampire. His skin was flushed and he had that
freshly fed glow that comes from a recent blood meal. What really got my
attention though, was the young girl he dragged with him up to the dais. The
girl couldn’t have been older than fourteen. She was dressed in what looked
like a school uniform. Her neck had two fresh fang marks which
only further lowered my opinion of the creep standing before me. He could have healed
those marks easily, but chose to leave them to scar. Not to mention the fact
that he shouldn’t have been feeding off a child. I sat up straighter in my
chair, giving his petition my full attention.

“My lord, I humbly request permission to give my faithful
servant the eternal kiss,” his voice was high-pitched and nasal sounding. The
eternal kiss was code for making someone a vampire. “This is my first such
request, but I feel the time has come for me to grow my household.” He bowed
slightly.

The girl stood beside him without appearing to register
anything. She was either stoned or glamoured. Either way, she was totally out
of it and incapable of consenting to such a request. I watched Salvador closely.
Surely he wouldn’t grant this petition?

“How old is the child?” Salvador asked.

“Sixteen, my lord, but she looks young for her age.”
Sixteen, my ass; that was a total lie. I was sure of it.

“And how did the child come to be in your service?”

“Oh, it’s a very sad story my lord. Her mother was a dear
friend of mine….”

Lie.

“…and she was unfortunately killed in a car accident several
years ago…”

Lie.

“…I took the poor waif under my wing. She has been such a
devoted servant and she has been begging me to gift her with the kiss….”

Another lie. Every word out of his mouth had been a lie. I
knew it. I don’t know how I knew, I just did. It was like I had developed a
vampire lie detector to go with my supernatural power meter.

“And you, child,” said Salvador, addressing the girl, “do
you consent to receive this precious gift?”

The girl stood there, heavy-lidded, apparently unaware that
Salvador was speaking to her. The greaseball hissed something at her and she flinched.

“Y-yes, m’lord” she whispered her gaze never leaving the
floor in front of her.

“Oh come on!” The words were out before I could think to
stop them. I slapped my hand over my mouth. Tomas glared at me. He wasn’t
the only one. It felt like every eye in the room was suddenly on me. I heard
a distinct snort from off to the side of the platform and turned to see Nash
standing there shaking his head. I wasn’t even surprised to see him. For some
reason, I knew he would be there.

“You have something to add, my dear Harry?” Salvador purred
at me. “Please, share your thoughts.”

Well, it was too late to go back now, might as well go all
in. “You can’t seriously be considering granting this request? The creep is
clearly a pedophile. And if that girl is older than fourteen then I’m the
Queen of England.”

“You have no say in this matter,” the greaseball shouted at
me.

“You’ve been lying from the moment you started talking,” I
replied, coming to stand beside Salvador’s chair. “Tell the Magister the
truth. All of it.” I gave my words a little push.

“I-I-I like to fuck little girls,” he sputtered and then
slapped his hand over his mouth in shock. “T-t-t-the girl is thirteen. I
bought her when she was t-t-ten.” He continued speaking even though he was
clearly struggling to stop, but my compulsion over him was too great. “S-s-she’s
getting too old; I prefer little girls. I can’t afford to buy a new girl. It’s
cheaper to just turn this one so I can keep her as long as I want.”

I stumbled back, grabbing for my chair so I could sit down.
I felt sick. That poor child, raped repeatedly by a vampire pedophile. My
hands itched to hold my katana. He didn’t deserve to live.

“Well,” mused Salvador. “Now isn’t this an interesting
predicament.”

“Predicament? What predicament? He’s a pedophile. If he
was human he’d be in jail.” Of course, as soon as I said it, I saw the
predicament. You couldn’t put a vampire in jail. “If nothing else that girl
needs help, physically and mentally.”

“Of course. She will be given the best of care.” Salvador
waved his hand and two vampires came out of the crowd and took the girl away.
She didn’t even seem aware that she had just been set free. Two more vamps
stood beside the pedophile, clearly on guard duty. “But what do we do with
you,” Salvador addressed his question to the greasy vampire.

“Please my lord, I have done nothing wrong.”

Huh, he totally believed that as the truth. Salvador must
have seen the surprise on my face because he said, “You must understand Harry,
that the age of consent was once much younger. It was not uncommon for a man
of twenty or thirty to have a bride of twelve.”

“Yeah sure, in 1600s England, when the average life
expectancy was only thirty-five.” I looked at him incredulously. “Welcome to
the twenty-first century where we think it’s wrong to rape little girls and use
them as your personal snack bar.”

“Ah Harry, your perspective is so refreshing.” Salvador
smiled at me. “So, whatever shall we do with our friend here?”

“You’re asking me?”

“Of course. You uncovered his guilt, you must decide his
fate.”

Crap on toast. How do I get myself into these messes? Oh
yeah, my big mouth. The crowd, which had begun to lose interest, suddenly was
all ears. Great. More reasons for them to hate me. I looked around the crowd
for Isaac. I knew he was there somewhere, but he always kept it low key
whenever I visited Salvador. He was worried his presence as my bodyguard would
draw too much attention to me. I wished we could still do the whole mind to
mind speech like we did a month ago. But that had long since worn off. He
would need to feed from me in order for that to happen again.