Darkling.

CHAPTER 9.

Trillian and Wade stared at us like we were crazy.

"You want us to cancel the meeting?" Delilah said. "Listen, we have a room filled with Weres, vamps, and other a.s.sorted Supes here, many of whom don"t like each other. Do you really want to tell them they came all this way for tea and cookies?"

"What"s going on?" Trillian asked as he closed in behind Camille and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"I didn"t say to cancel the meeting, but we have a problem." I nodded toward the crowd. "Grandmother Coyote warned us to keep our mouths shut about Shadow Wing. I"m not keen on going against her advice, especially when I"ve apparently got some whopper of a job coming at me in order to pay for it."

"Not only that," Camille said, "but we have another problem. Morgaine and Mordred showed up here-"

"Wait a minute," Trillian broke in. "You mean to tell me that Morgaine was in this room? As in Morgan Le Fay?" He glanced around, looking all too interested. Camille elbowed him a good one in the stomach.

"She was," she said. "Don"t get too interested. She"s not your speed. Apparently she and her little retinue are out to find and awaken the Merlin. We don"t know why, but according to Mordred, it involves some plan to "reclaim what is ours.""

"Whatever that means," I said, interrupting. "Problem is, Grandmother Coyote warned us not to trust them-Morgaine is up to something and we better be cautious in any future dealings with her." I let out a little hiss of irritation. This was turning into a nightmare before it even began.

Wade, who had remained silent until now, cleared his throat. "You trust this coyote woman?"

"She"s not a woman, she"s one of the Hags of Fate. The Hags of Fate watch over the threads of destiny. Occasionally-when it suits their purposes-they intervene to right the balance." Camille rubbed her chin. "Believe me, if she gives advice, pay attention. She doesn"t offer her help to everybody, and her advice doesn"t come cheap."

Morio, who had been listening quietly, spoke up. "Camille"s right. Ignore Grandmother Coyote at your peril. She"s on our side, even if it doesn"t seem like it at times. I have an idea on how to bail out of this mess. May I?" He gestured to the podium.

Wade cleared his throat. "Go ahead," he said. "I"m drawing a blank."

With a glance to see if the rest of us objected-and no one did-Morio moved to the podium as we took our places in the chairs on either side of the lectern. I could feel Camille holding her breath, and I knew she was wondering what the youkai was going to pull out of his bag of tricks this time.

Morio held up his hand. "Please take your seats. We"re ready to start the meeting." Everyone slowly milled to his chair and in a moment, the room was silent, a pensive apprehension in the air.

"Thank you for coming out to the meeting and supporting our attempts to reach a broad section of the local Supe community. We appreciate your time and attention." He waited for the perfunctory clapping to subside. "I"m Morio, a youkai-kitsune, and as you know, these are Camille, Menolly, and Delilah, from Otherworld. And this is your host tonight, Wade Stevens, the leader of Vampires Anonymous. Together we"re hoping to forge important bridges in the Supe community, especially given the serious nature of several events that occurred over the past few days."

That caught their attention. The crowd quieted down, waiting.

Morio motioned me up to the lectern. "Now would be a good time to mention the vampire slayings," he whispered.

Not entirely positive he was on track but willing to give it a try, I took my place in front of the microphone. "My name is Menolly D"Artigo, and I"m the owner of the Wayfarer Bar and Grill. The issue that set this meeting in motion is one that the Supe community must address. We need your help with an immediate crisis. Over the past few days, several rogue vampires have taken to murdering humans. They not only murdered them, but they"ve been raising them. This is not just a problem for the human community. These vamps could just as easily target Weres and other nonvampiric Supes."

A low murmur raced through the room. I"d caught their attention, all right. I cleared my throat and continued. "Obviously, we can"t tell the general public about the slayings. We feel that, at this point, no other humans should know about this problem other than those affiliated with the Faerie-Human Crime Scene Investigation team. But we thought if we appealed to you, to the Supe community at large, we might be able to form a Sub-Cult network in order to better police ourselves."

The buzz that ran through the meeting hall sounded like a hive of bees. Back in OW, this would be a given. Earthside Supes had a ways to catch up, but that wasn"t surprising given how most of them had stayed in the closet until the past couple of years.

Camille joined me at the podium. "My sister is correct. We must stop turning a blind eye to those who insist on breaking the codes of conduct, whether vampire, Were, or any other form of Supe. If we can create a network, we can prevent the innocent, be they human or Supe, from being targets of any-and I mean any any-hate group or psychotic killer."

As the silence grew thicker, I realized just how touchy this issue was. But if we could manage to stir up a united front, then when the time came to truly inform them about the demons, they"d be ready and able to fight.

After a moment, Brett, a vampire who"d wholeheartedly thrown himself in with the V.A. group, stood. "I understand that n.o.body wants to be a snitch, but if somebody"s hurting the community, they"re hurting all of us. We owe it to ourselves to root out the troublemakers."

He appealed to the crowd. "We all all lose if we let rogue Supes break our code of ethics. The leaders of all the clans and nests forged treaties and agreements long ago, in secret. They agreed to stand by those canons. What good are oaths and pledges if we ignore those who break the rules?" lose if we let rogue Supes break our code of ethics. The leaders of all the clans and nests forged treaties and agreements long ago, in secret. They agreed to stand by those canons. What good are oaths and pledges if we ignore those who break the rules?"

Venus the Moon Child stood. All eyes turned. Everybody knew who the shaman was, and everybody-regardless of what clan they were from or what kind of Were or Supe they were-acknowledged his strength and wisdom.

Delilah, who was out in the audience, microphone in hand, made her way over to him.

"I"m authorized to make oath-pledges for the Rainier Puma Pride," the shaman said. "The D"Artigo sisters and their friends have made an excellent point. I need no more encouragement. Tonight I pledge the Rainier Pumas to help out in building a true Supe community, in whatever way we can. You have us as allies." The st.u.r.dy shaman spit in his hand and held it out to Delilah. She spit in hers before clasping it tightly.

As soon as Venus the Moon Child sealed his pact, the marshal of the Olympic Wolf Pack followed suit. The Sellshyr Nest, a group of vamps who ran the Sub-Cult club BloodVain, also pledged their support. Two emissaries from an Earthside Fae family, the Vineyard Nymphs, also pledged their family"s aid. The Blue Road Tribe and the Loco Lobo Pack agreed to discuss the matter with their elders and get back to us by midweek.

"How do we do this?" one of the Loco Lobo members asked. "Who"s going to be in charge?"

Morio took the podium again. "We haven"t decided on details yet. We"re hoping to form a unified council from all tribes involved. Ideally we"d like to forge a network so that when one clan or nest or pride has a problem, everyone knows within a couple of hours. Only through unity can we ensure that we don"t lose our rights as laws are enacted that affect our lives. Humans are well aware of our existence now, and you can be sure that soon there will be groups trying to both protect our rights, and-like the Freedom"s Angels seek to do-to strip them away."

A murmur ran through the room. Smart boy, I thought. Appeal to their sense of security and they"d pay attention. Morio had a good head on his shoulders. The fox demon was far more brilliant than any of us had realized.

A member of the Blue Road Tribe raised her hand. Delilah recognized her. "Please state your name and then your comment or question."

The woman, who was tall and stately, took the microphone. "I"m Orinya, with the Blue Road Tribe. You make a valid point. Our half-brothers are the native peoples of this land, and they were slaughtered like cattle. Even when they were given their rights, the damage was too severe to repair. We should act now to prevent this from happening to us."

Another man raised his hand. He was st.u.r.dy, with a gruff voice and wore torn jeans and a leather jacket. Delilah hurried over to him.

"My name is Trey, from the Olympic Wolf Pack. I agree, this is an important issue, but how can we do this without causing panic? Humans are skittish enough as it is. Look at the Guardian Watchdogs and Freedom"s Angels. They"re getting more and more outrageous in their claims. It won"t be long before somebody"s killed in a human-Supe confrontation, and gangland war won"t be far behind."

I tapped Morio on the shoulder. "May I field this one?" He stepped aside and I took the mike.

"With regards to that issue, we"ve been thinking that if we create an organization now now and set up committees, we can then approach the lawmakers who might be receptive to our cause. h.e.l.l, we can make our first task to discover whether any of our representatives or senators might be closet members of the Supe community. If we could ferret them out and gain their support, we"d have a real head start." and set up committees, we can then approach the lawmakers who might be receptive to our cause. h.e.l.l, we can make our first task to discover whether any of our representatives or senators might be closet members of the Supe community. If we could ferret them out and gain their support, we"d have a real head start."

Just as I hoped, my remark about the possibility of closeted Supes in government hit the mark. A dozen hands shot up. I turned to Wade. "Would you start a sign-up sheet for people interested in volunteering with us?" He immediately sprang into action and within two minutes, a clipboard was being pa.s.sed around the room and people were actually signing up.

Since n.o.body was forthcoming with any info on the vampire problem, we allowed the meeting to break into a question-and-answer period, and by the time we were done, we had enough volunteers to start several committees, including one to encourage the Supe groups to register with the volunteer database we were building. Wade had also agreed to host another meeting in a month to take stock of what we"d accomplished during that time. The one thing we didn"t have were any leads as to what the h.e.l.l was going on with the rogue vamps.

As I was wending my way through the crowd, I saw Roz leaning against one of the walls and made my way over to him. "I"m surprised to see you here."

He ignored my comment and gave me a lazy wink. "You didn"t get what you hoped for, did you?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

"Don"t be too disappointed. n.o.body here is going to be able to track the Elwing Blood Clan. Dredge is too smart for that. You know that only too well, my dear." Leaning down, he brushed against my ear and whispered, "Don"t ever try to forget about Dredge and what he did to you. If you get c.o.c.ky, or if you ignore history, Dredge will find you and kill you. I don"t claim to understand why he"s tracking you, but he is. That much is obvious, whether you see it or not. And what Dredge wants, he gets."

"Don"t be so sure about that." I shivered. Roz"s energy oozed around me like a sensual cloak and I was surprised to feel myself respond. I leaned in, smelling the pulse of his blood, feeling the heat radiate off of him in waves. "Dredge already had me. He"ll never touch me again. If I have to stake myself before letting that happen, I"ll willingly do it."

"What say we stake Dredge instead?" Roz said, letting out a low laugh. He reached out to tip my chin up, his fingers barely grazing my skin and lowered his head so that his breath tickled my ear. "You"re a survivor, not a victim, Menolly. Don"t ever blame yourself for what happened, and don"t let him win. You"re worth far more than that."

I licked my lips, hungry for him and yet terrified of my own reactions. As we were interrupted, I quickly pulled away.

"Excuse me. I don"t mean to interrupt but..." Brett was standing there, staring nervously at the incubus.

"What is it?" I said, composing myself as quickly as possible.

"What you were saying earlier? About the newborn vampires?" He looked decidedly uncomfortable, but I could tell that he knew something.

All business again, I cleared my throat and led him over to an unoccupied pair of chairs. Roz followed us, even though I frowned a "no" at him. I sat down and motioned for Brett to join me. "If you have something to tell me, please do. They"re dangerous and they"re preying on innocent people."

Deflating like a loose balloon, Brett sank into the chair beside me. "Last night while I was out patrolling the rooftops, I heard something. It was a woman. She was crying. I followed her voice, thinking somebody might be in trouble."

"What did you find?" I knew the routine by now. Brett was shy, but he loved to talk about his adventures, so I would draw him out without hurrying him, little by little, until he dished.

"I was over on Phinney Avenue North, in my Vamp-Bat gear-"

Giving him a long look, Roz said, "Vamp-Bat?"

Breaking in quickly, I said, "Brett was a comic book fan when he was alive. Once he realized he"d been turned into a vampire, he decided to take on a superhero persona. He"s Vamp-Bat. Every night he patrols the city, looking for people who need help."

I carefully kept my expression neutral. The whole situation might sound ridiculous, but to Brett, it was deadly serious. He had been a caring person during life, and in a way, death had given him what he could never have before and what he"d wanted so desperately-the chance to shine through as a hero. And if it took a cheesy name and a black cape to accomplish, so what? He was out there, making a difference.

Roz took a cue from the expression I shot him. "Really? You"ve saved people then, from trouble?"

Brett nodded. "Not to toot my own horn because that"s just not cool, but I"ve rescued three women from being raped. And last week I helped a man who was in a nasty car crash. I stayed with him and kept him alive until the medics arrived. I disappeared before they could catch me."

"Brett feeds on the perverts and lowlifes like I do. He"s a staunch supporter of Vampires Anonymous and the mission that Wade has put forth for the group." I turned back to Brett. "Anyway, tell us what you saw."

"I was near the Woodland Park Zoo. I followed the crying until I came to a woman in the parking lot. By the looks of her clothing, she was an employee of the zoo. She was near her car, probably headed home for the night. A vamp had hold of her, and he was trying to pin her down."

"s.h.i.t. What did you do?"

"Grabbed him off her. He looked really confused, too. I managed to hold him at bay while I yelled for her to run. The dude took off and I followed him, but he slipped into one of the exhibits and got away." He shifted from one foot to the other. "Something didn"t track right, Menolly. I wasn"t sure what it was until I saw this." He held up a photocopied picture of one of the first four victims. "The vamp-it was this dude. I"m sure of it."

"David Barns. Are you sure?" Until the first time they rose, vamp victims still showed up under the camera"s scrutiny. I"d made a bunch of photocopies of the morgue pictures I"d managed to persuade Chase to give me, and we"d pa.s.sed them out during the Q&A to anybody who seemed willing to take a look.

"Yeah. And I"m positive that he wasn"t just going to take a few sips and then walk away. He looked out for a kill." Brett frowned.

Roz cleared his throat. "You think she might have filed a police report by any chance?"

I shrugged. "I don"t know. She wouldn"t necessarily know it was a vampire attack. For all we know, she thought he was a rapist and that some Good Samaritan happened by to put a stop to the a.s.sault. I"ll ask Chase to check it out when I get home."

"I can"t remember anything else that might help," Brett said. "I hope that this gives you something to go on."

"You did great," I said. "Meanwhile, anything out of the ordinary and you call me. Okay?"

Brett looked ready to burst. "Glad to be of help! And I"m glad I said something. If you need anybody on patrol, I"m your man."

I lightly touched his shoulder, very gently. Most vamps didn"t like being touched and among ourselves a shoulder tap was the equivalent of a full-blown hug. "Brett, you just keep up what you"re doing. But be careful. There is evil in the world far greater than you dream of. Sometimes it"s hard to scare it away."

Pausing, I debated on whether to warn him about Dredge. We hadn"t gotten that specific in our talk to the audience. But what good would it do? If Brett ran into my sire, Dredge would just mop up the floor with him. "Just keep alert, and don"t play hero unless there isn"t any other choice. I"ll be in contact."

As he walked away, I looked over at Roz. "The Woodland Park Zoo is right up near the Green Lake district. Ten to one, Dredge or the newborns have a hideout up there."

"I"ll scout around tonight," Roz said. "And you don"t have to warn me what I"m up against. I know." He blew me a kiss and then took off out the door. As I watched him go, Camille came over and stared at his departing back.

"What do you know about him, Menolly?"

I shook my head. "Not enough. Too much. He"s a mercenary, but he"s out to get Dredge. I recognize the hatred."

She gave me a questioning look, but I shook it off. "Come on, we"d better start cleaning up. People are leaving and I want to stop at the bar after we"re done."

As we began folding chairs, Camille"s cell phone jangled the Gorillaz song "Dare." She glanced at the caller ID and raised an eyebrow. "Hmm, it"s Tim-Cleo. Let me take this. He never calls this late."

She moved aside and we went on cleaning up. Tim Winthrop, or Cleo Blanco as he was known in his alter ego, was a flamboyant friend of ours. Computer student by day, female impersonator by night, he was brilliant, smart, and funny. Tim"s gorgeous boyfriend, Jason, had put a hunk of ice on his left finger. They were engaged and the wedding was set for summer. Tim also did the programming for the Supe database he and Delilah were building, and he was working for our newly revised OIA on a contingency basis, strictly need-to-know only.

All of a sudden, Camille let out a loud, "Son of a b.i.t.c.h b.i.t.c.h!"

Delilah whirled around. "What is it?" she said, but Camille waved her silent, listening with a strained expression on her face, looking like she was going to throw up.

"We"ll be right there. Get your b.u.t.t into a safe place and don"t come out until we get there and give you a safe word. I"ll shout out... oh... babe in the woods babe in the woods. Got it?... That"s right, don"t come out till you hear me yell babe in the woods babe in the woods. We"ll be there as soon as we can, Tim. Just hang on. Everything will be okay. I promise." She flipped her phone shut. "Leave the mess. We"ll clean it later."

"What happened?" I dropped the chair I was holding. Whatever it was, it was bad enough to make Camille scared. That made it bad-a.s.s bad-a.s.s bad. bad.

She"d already hit the door and we scrambled to catch up to her.

On the way to our cars, she told us what happened. "After one of his shows, Tim and Erin stopped in at the Wayfarer for a drink. Then they walked by Erin"s shop before going to a movie. Tim was in the back, changing out of drag when he heard Erin scream. He ran to the door leading into the front of the shop but managed to stop short. A group of vamps were dragging Erin out the door. They didn"t see him before he had a chance to duck into the utility closet. That"s where he is now."

s.h.i.t! Erin Mathews was owner of the Scarlet Harlot lingerie shop and president of the local Faerie Watchers Club, a human-based fan club focused on the Fae from OW. Erin was also one of Tim"s staunchest supporters and one of Camille"s close friends.

Camille was halfway to her car by the time she finished telling us. I looked around to see who had come with us. Wade, Iris, and Nerissa broke off in my direction. Zachary headed toward Delilah"s Jeep. Trillian and Morio were hot on Camille"s heels. As we pulled away from the curb, Camille was streaking down the road, her Lexus silent in the frost-shrouded night.

"Do you think there"s any chance Erin will be alive?" Iris asked.

"First we have to find out who took her. If it was Dredge..." A thought had sprung to mind. One that I didn"t want to entertain. Dredge was out there, hiding in the shadows. If Roz was right and my sire was out to make my life h.e.l.l, what better way to start than by hurting my friends? Tim and Erin had been in the bar before they hiked the few blocks over to the Scarlet Harlot and everybody there knew they were close friends of ours. If Dredge was watching the joint, then it would have been an easy matter to follow the pair to Erin"s shop.

Wade let out a low whistle. "You think it"s your sire?"

I growled. "Don"t call him that! I refuse to acknowledge any link to that murderous b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

"But you have to face the facts, Menolly," Wade said. "Denying that the link is there won"t help you. In fact, it"s going to hinder you."

"What the f.u.c.k do you mean?" I hated exposing this side of myself to Nerissa, who sat silently beside Iris in the back seat.

"Think about it. I"ll bet you that he can follow you through the bond of his blood. Don"t you realize that you"ll always be tied to Dredge as long as that bond exists?" Wade stared at me. "What the h.e.l.l did the OIA teach you?"

I bit my lip as I pressed on the gas. How could I have been such a f.u.c.king idiot? Of course Of course Dredge could find me merely by the fact that he was my sire. Dredge could find me merely by the fact that he was my sire.

Wade cleared his throat. "You okay?"

"No, I"m not not okay. That f.u.c.king s.a.d.i.s.t may have one of our friends. An FBH no less. I okay. That f.u.c.king s.a.d.i.s.t may have one of our friends. An FBH no less. I know know just how far Dredge can twist the mind and body. He almost destroyed me. There"s no way Erin can survive if he decides to torture her. And if he turns her afterward, we"ll have to destroy her because she"ll go stark-raving mad. How do you think I feel, knowing I may have to stake a friend who should never, ever have gotten mixed up in something like this?" just how far Dredge can twist the mind and body. He almost destroyed me. There"s no way Erin can survive if he decides to torture her. And if he turns her afterward, we"ll have to destroy her because she"ll go stark-raving mad. How do you think I feel, knowing I may have to stake a friend who should never, ever have gotten mixed up in something like this?"