Stephanie sighed. "Amara, don"t take your frustration out on dinner."
"I just can"t believe we couldn"t find any information. Even Kyren"s little confession wasn"t much help." She sipped her soda and set the gla.s.s back down. "Worse, I can"t believe the other agencies would keep something like this to themselves. Let alone plan a coming out without us. We"re The Administration. Everything pa.s.ses through us."
"That"s not really our problem. That"s something for The Director to take care of. It"s not something we can do anything about. All we can do is figure out this situation and leave the rest to the suits back at the H.Q."
"I guess you"re right," Amara muttered and looked up just as Christopher walked into the diner. She put her head in her hands. "This is the last thing I need."
Stephanie gave her a curious look then glanced toward the door and smiled widely. She moved over quickly so Chris would have to sit beside her.
"Hey Chris, getting something to eat?" Her whole face lit up when he sat down with her and smiled.
"No, I"m looking for the two of you. I went to the club, and you weren"t there. Some creepy looking vampire told me I just missed you, so I started to check diners."
"We couldn"t really find anything at the club, so we came to get something to eat," Stephanie told him and Amara groaned.
"It"s a safe a.s.sumption he"s figured that out." Amara looked up to at Chris. "Find anything out on your own?"
"Yes, I have." Christopher pulled out a file and set it on the table. "They sent back the jaw impression scans. It doesn"t look like any animal we*ve got on file. A werewolf is the closest but not directly on the mark. It could just be a wolf with bad teeth though." He added with a sigh, "I"m to tell you we"re looking for vampires, not lycanthropes."
"Then Kyren was helpful." Amara almost laughed.
"Yeah," Stephanie chirped then looked to at Chris. "A vampire at the club told Amara the vampires are blaming one another. They thought it was her, so apparently some of the signs say a vampire did it. They don"t normally turn on one another over something like this so quickly."
"That worries me," Chris said to her. "If they don"t know what"s going on, it"ll be more difficult to get more information from anyone else."
"There"s not really anyone we can turn to for help on this anyway," Amara said mournfully.
"That"s not entirely true," Christopher said quietly. When the other two hunters looked confused, he continued. "If anyone knows what is going on, it"d be the vampire in charge of this area."
"Who is the master vampire here?" Stephanie asked and looked between them. Their expressions matched. Neither of them wanted to take the next step, but they both knew who was in charge. "Well?" Stephanie prompted them.
"Alexander Sef." Amara sighed. "It"d be suicide to ask him for help."
"It"s the only lead we"ve got, Amara." Christopher put his hand to the top of his nose as if he were soothing a headache.
"Would he even see you? You"re both hunters, let"s remember that," Stephanie pointed out.
"I don"t know about Amara, but he"d see me," Chris said quietly. "We"ve got history."
"I"m sure he wouldn"t argue about me showing up either," Amara agreed.
"Then let"s go for it," Stephanie said happily. "Somewhere public with a lot of people."
Christopher shook his head. He knew better. It would be safer to meet Alexander in his private office as a small group to plead for his help. It would have to be a plea or it wouldn"t work. He knew Alexander well enough to know if they met somewhere in public, he would be less likely to share any sort of information.
"It"ll be better to just meet him in private. He"ll divulge more then."
"How exactly will you arrange this little get-together?" Amara asked skeptically.
"I"ll call him," Chris said simply.
Even Stephanie looked at him as if he were crazy. The master of a city wouldn"t talk to The Administration, who regularly worked with and for vampires, let alone a vampire hunter from Crimson. That organization had a *kill now, question later" policy. If it had fangs and drank blood, it was worth killing.
"I think we need another plan," Stephanie said quietly as she slouched in her chair a little. She was visibly upset she had to take Amara"s side against Christopher.
"I"m telling you." Chris looked surprised that they didn"t believe him. "If I call, he"ll see us."
"You can keep living in your fantasy world, Chris," Amara barked angrily at him. "I"m going to get some results."
"Fine." Chris shrugged calmly. "Keep doing things your way."
"What? You think your way is better?" Amara took it as a challenge.
"I know it will be much easier. Probably faster than whatever you"ve got planned. We don"t know where"s he"s operating out of so we can"t even just charge in."
"I"m not planning on just barging in. I"m going to go find Jason."
"Jason has been Alexander"s personal a.s.sistant for over one hundred years without betraying him." Christopher shook his head. "How, exactly, do you think you"ll be able to get anything out of him?"
"It"s more effective than your plan," Amara said as she got up.
Chris rolled his eyes. "Fine. b.l.o.o.d.y brilliant," he said sarcastically, "I"ll go try my way, you try yours, and we"ll see whose goes better."
"We will," Amara snapped as she grabbed her keys and headed out.
"Something wrong, miss?" A man approached her while she was on her way out the door. "Anything I can do?" He greeted her with a warmth that put Amara off. She leveled her gaze with his dark brown eyes and glared at him, trying to stare him down but he didn"t flinch. A trained customer service man, she thought.
"The food is terrible and so is my company," she muttered and turned, but he caught her again.
"Perhaps I could get you something else? I always hate to see someone leave unsatisfied."
"What? Do you own it or something?" Amara asked sharply. In her opinion, this employee took his job too far. If someone she left wanted to leave this angry, why wouldn"t he just leave them her alone?
"Yes, I"m Brandon. I"m the owner," he said proudly. "May I ask what you didn"t like about the food?"
To Amara, Brandon didn"t look like much of a business owner. He wore a plaid flannel shirt and blue jeans. His loafers threw the look off even more. What sort of successful restaurant owner dresses like that? None that she knew of. It may have just been her bad day, but something about him set her off even more.
"No," Amara snapped and walked out.
The man looked baffled. He ran his hand through his brown hair and shook his head.
"She"s just like that," Stephanie a.s.sured him. "Don"t, like, take any offense to it."
Brandon smiled lightly to Stephanie. "Enjoying your salad?"
"Very much," she smiled. "I"m sure the burger is fine, but I"m a vegetarian."
"If you need anything, please, let me know." Brandon laughed gently and nodded to her. He started to make rounds to the other customers, clearly trying to make everyone as comfortable as possible. He wasn"t just a good businessman;, he was a cordial host.
Stephanie realized Amara just stormed out of the diner. She looked to at Chris. "I think I"m gonna need a ride."
Chapter Six.
Amara pulled into the large upscale community. An outsized, white gate surrounded the area to keep the houses locked securely inside. At least that"s what it was meant to do. Amara climbed one of the tall, luxurious pine trees of Ridgefair Estates.
The houses inside were all nearly identical. Large, white houses with tremendous windows to let in the sun. Of course, one of these houses would have to be different. Vampires and sunlight just didn"t mix.
Every house was set back away from the sidewalk on green gra.s.s lawns. Amara wondered how high the water bills must be here. She hoped they weren"t on a meter. She never remembered keeping her gra.s.s that green. She lived in an apartment since her family died.
At three in the morning, all the lights in the Estates were off, save for one house, with considerably smaller windows than the other homes. She stared at the house for a few moments and did a check of the outside. No cameras, no extra security. For a moment that alone deterred her. Surely, the vampire who works most closely with the Master of the City would have a secure home. As she approached the house, she felt the buzz of a different sort of protection.
A protection spell had been cast around the house to fend off intruders. The spell buzzed around her irritatingly, but so far no pain. It was like walking into a swarm of flies. Irritating, but not agonizing. Odds were that Jason would not block Alexander from his home, and, due to unfortunate circ.u.mstances, Amara"s aura was very similar to his. It was the one good thing he"d done for her.
Amara managed to open one of the windows on the lower level and crawl into the house. Any doubt that she had the right place washed away as soon as she was inside. The house was larger than it looked, but the amount of books on bookshelves made the living room claustrophobic. Amongst the large, dark, walnut bookshelves were a few scattered red-cushioned chairs. They looked old and made the entire room look antique. She walked across the mahogany floor quietly, carefully, and couldn"t help but think there was too much wood in that house. Jason had always been an avid reader in life. Why should that change once he died?
Finally, she came to a set of stairs winding up and around to the second floor. She traced her hand gently up the white banister as she made her way cautiously up the stairs. She snuck down the long hallway to the room where the light was on. The entire house was so quiet she could hear the cicadas" gentle chirping outside. Amara readied her gun and took a step back to give herself some s.p.a.ce. She took a deep breath and braced herself. Finally with a quick, powerful force, she kicked the door in.
Her gun was instantly pointed at the vampire. Jason looked up calmly from his large, overstuffed chair and put his book down in his lap. When he smiled at her, it reached his soft brown eyes. The warm smile caught Amara off guard for a moment. Jason was nothing if not sincere; she met him enough to know that.
"It"s nice ta" see ya" again, Amara," Jason said as he closed the book. Jason was a small man, only five-eight at most. He was thin and just a tad lanky even for his short disposition. He looked so comfortable in his blue business shirt and black pants that Amara could have mistaken them for night clothes. Then again, for a vampire she supposed that anything could be "night clothes".
"Cut it, Jason. You know I"m not here for pleasantries," Amara snapped, the gun still held steady and positioned for Jason.
Amara tried to keep her composition, but the room made her a bit claustrophobic. It was more like a library than a business office. That seemed the theme for his entire house except for a few s.p.a.ces where dull black filing cabinets rested against the blue walls. His desk sat directly in the middle of the room. Easy access she guessed. The vampire was completely at home.
"Yeah, I know," the vampire sighed. "What is it that ya" want?"
"Strangely enough, not something which involves hurting you if I don"t have to. I want a conference with Alexander."
Jason barked a loud laugh. The sound echoed through the room as if the walls themselves mocked Amara.
"Then call," he smirked as he suggested it. "Alexander never denies a request for conference."
"No. I"ll be put on a waiting list for the next four years. I don"t have time. I want to meet with him tomorrow."
Jason laughed again and got up. He shook his head in amus.e.m.e.nt. He wasn"t surprised when Amara followed him with the gun, but he didn"t seem bothered. He pulled a dark blue schedule book off the nearby desk and flipped through it.
"There"s no way he"d be able to see ya" tomorrow. He"s booked solid."
"You"re telling me he can"t take time out of his party life to help solve an ongoing murder case?"
"His *parties" are more of a social obligation," Jason started. "As for-"
"Social obligation?" Amara laughed, "Yes, he"s always looked so upset while he"s drinking and smoking marijuana with his buddies."
"As for the murder case," Jason continued without acknowledging Amara"s remark, "why would Alexander want ta dirty his hands with somethin" like that?"
"He"s familiar with murder," Amara snapped.
"What happened ta" ya" happened twenty years ago." Jason sighed. "People were listening ta bad music and everyone had big hair. Let it go. People, even vampires, can change."
"Let it go?" she shouted. "He killed my family and bound me to him so I couldn"t age. So I can"t die. He tortured them and left me there to find them when I woke up. Don"t try to convince me he"s any better than he was."
"He was with Raina then. Your parents nearly killed her. He was in a rage, and she was screaming for retaliation."
"So you"re trying to convince me Alexander was a puppet?" Amara"s voice held a sharp skepticism.
"I am," he said calmly. "She controlled his entire life. Ya" might be surprised what sorta" person he is now."
"Then tell him to sully his hands a little and help the city that he"s in charge of."
Jason rolled his eyes. "If there"s a cancellation or an opening, I"ll see if I can squeeze ya" in somewhere."
"How about you just write me in now?" Amara*s voice went dark with the unspoken threat. "Call Alex and tell him to meet me."
"Or what? Ya" gonna kill me?" Jason didn"t sound convinced.
"Worse," she said lightly and fired the gun into his right thigh.
Jason dropped to the floor and cried out in pain as the bullet tore through his leg. It left a splatter of cherry red across the once-clean flooring and his neatly pressed clothes. He glared up at Amara angrily.
"Not much incentive to help ya," he hissed through his teeth as he tried to grit through the pain.
"Really?" Amara*s voice was light, almost nonchalant. "Maybe I can give you some more." She fired the gun off into his shoulder, and Jason cried out again and threw his aura at her. It was a psychic attack, concentrating the energy around him into an almost physical force. Vampires like Alexander could knock people out or blow up a building. Jason was much younger though and much more inexperienced. Amara threw her own aura up as a shield and deflected the attack.
"His blood and mine, Jason," Amara sneered. "You think I wouldn"t learn how to use it to my advantage? Call him," she growled as she dragged Jason to his feet. "Tell him to make an opening and to call me, or I"m going to track his lackey down again, and he"ll be collecting pieces of him for weeks."
She slammed Jason into the wall and punched him in the face. When he dropped to his knees again, he held his face in his hands. Amara started to walk away. She knew he would be healed by morning.
The bullets she used were normal. Of course, she kept silver bullets with her at all times, but Jason wasn"t a particularly dangerous vampire. It"s a little-known fact that vampires, like werewolves, have a natural allergy to silver. If it gets into their blood stream, it can be fatal. Keeping the silver bullets just gave her the advantage in both situations now. If it was a vampire, she was ready. If it was a werewolf, she was ready. He hadn"t been a very dangerous human either. The book-loving vampire normally kept to himself unless he was out looking for information for Alexander-and even then, he had a hard time in social situations, let alone battles.
What kept Jason alive all these years was that he worked closely with Alexander. Alex took a liking to Jason while he was human. When he became a vampire, Alexander hired him onto his team of employees, and Jason quickly worked his way up. No one could mess with him without answering to the head honcho. If hurting Jason would get his attention, that"s what Amara had to do.
"Had to", she thought, as if she needed another reason to go vampire hunting.
"I"ll be waiting, Jason," she called as she walked out the front door and back onto the street. Now she could go back to the hotel room and rest for a few hours before the angry phone call from Jason"s master rang in.