Angel: Private Eye Book One (19 page)

Benson held the contract and pen out for
several more seconds until he let a heavy sigh shift down his
shoulders. He folded the contract up neatly and pushed it into his
pocket. The thing disappeared almost immediately. Then he unclicked
his pen and pressed it into his jacket. “I’m afraid you won’t be
going to the party, Miss Luck. You’ll be escorted off the premises.
I was wrong – I can’t trust you, you see. You keep poking in places
you shouldn’t. You’re like an innocent mouse dancing in front of
the lion. So, Miss Luck, I must ask you to leave.”

My shoulders deflated but I still managed to
hold my head up. “Fine, I’ll leave. But I have no intention of
dropping this case. I’m going to prove to you and everybody that I
can do this.” I don’t know where the burst of confidence came from,
but suddenly it sparked through my heart like a powerful torch
thrown into a dark basement. It reminded me almost exactly of that
spark of something that had charged through my heart when the
vampire bit me in the alleyway.

For just a second Benson’s gaze unfocused.
He tilted his head to the side, and a crumpled, confused look
compressed across his brow. It was almost as if he were trying to
look through me at something beyond.

I broke the moment when I cleared my throat
and turned hard on my foot. I stalked towards the door on the far
side of the room. Just as I reached a hand out to grab the imposing
silver handle, I heard him swoop in beside me.

He had hold of my sleeve before I could even
dart my gaze to the left.

I stiffened, but not out of fear. “You don’t
have to personally throw me out of your building – I know where the
door is,” I hissed through my teeth, incapable of unlocking my jaw.
It was almost as if I didn’t trust my mouth right now.

“I have no intention of personally throwing
you out of the building. I have every intention of personally
warning you. Remember our contract, Miss Luck.”

I frowned and reluctantly turned to face
him. He didn’t drop his grip on my sleeve, and as I shifted, my arm
almost came in contact with his.

Naturally he shifted back so I couldn’t
touch him.

“I haven’t broken our contract. I haven’t
killed any vampires. I haven’t threatened them with my blood—” I
began.

He cleared his throat, dipped his head down,
and stared at me almost like a man looking down the barrel of a
gun. “I promised to place no charges against you as long as you
allowed me to find out what race you belong to.”

I frowned even harder now, shifting fully
around to face him again. My arm almost brushed his, but he was
quicker, darting out of the way just in time and yet keeping a firm
grasp on my sleeve.

He was like a shadow I couldn’t touch. “I
haven’t broken the contract.”

“You will break it if you fail to live, Miss
Luck.”

I shivered.

“This is the last time I’m going to warn you
off Theodore Van Edgerton. Now, be a good girl, and see yourself
out of the building.” He reached past me, grasped the handle from
under my hand, and opened the door.

He shifted past, only to offer me a smooth,
clearly victorious look.

I stalked after him, even though I was
hardly the kind of girl who stalked after anything. “Not so fast,
Mr Benson.”

He appeared to ignore me as he continued
down the hallway, one hand still locked in the pocket of his
tailored black pants.

“I said not so fast.” I shifted forward and
hurried after him.

He stopped suddenly and turned over his
shoulder. So suddenly, in fact, that I had to slam on the brakes as
I almost skidded into him. “You better not forget your end of the
bargain, either. You said you’d find out what I am, are you any
closer?” I challenged.

This was when he would lock me in one of
those smoldering looks and look me up and down from head to toe. Or
at least that’s what he’d done in the past.

Instead he shrugged as he turned over his
shoulder. “I get closer every minute, Miss Luck. Now, I have to
attend to my party.”

“Really? That’s your answer?” I called after
him.

But this time he didn’t stop. He walked
until he reached a set of lifts at the opposite side of the
hallway. I hurried to take the lift with him, not ready to end the
conversation yet.

I didn’t reach it in time. The doors pinged
and opened with a swish. He walked inside and turned hard on his
foot, the soles of his shoes squeaking over the metal base of the
elevator.

He locked me in his gaze just as the doors
closed in front of him.

“How about I go back and snoop around your
office?” I called before the doors could completely close.

“It’s time for you to leave,” he said. The
doors closed, and the rest of what he said was cut off.

I didn’t need any more explanation, though.
For at that exact moment, every open door along the hallway
suddenly slammed shut and a great blowing wind rushed down,
catching the hem of my jacket and blowing it hard against my knees.
It even grasped at my hair, making it fly around my face until I
gasped and had to bring up both hands to protect myself.

A few seconds later the wind abated, but not
entirely. It still played and grasped around my ankles like a
yapping dog ready to corral me out the door.

Gritting my teeth and grinding my hands into
fists, I reluctantly walked out of Benson’s tower.

For the first time since I’d moved in to the
cemetery side of town, I didn’t feel edgy as I stalked my way back
to the car. Instead, all my attention was locked on that
infuriating Benson. I reminded myself that vampires were meant to
be smooth, so confident that you were meant to fall like putty into
their hands.

I would have been okay if that’s all Benson
was. What was infuriating, what made me second-guess everything I
said around him and everything he said around me, was his
hesitancy. The few meters he always kept between us. And more than
anything, that look right in the center of his deep penetrating
gaze. The look that told me he could be just as scared of me as I
was of him.

Suddenly I shivered and looked up just in
time to see the low clouds slung over the city open up. A few
splatters of rain landed on the window.

A second later, the heavens opened up with a
clap of thunder and a blast of lightning that lit the city streets
and illuminated every nook and cranny. And considering this was the
graveyard side of town, every nook and cranny held some dark stuff
indeed.

I saw a few shady werewolves flitting off
quickly down an alleyway, saw a couple of body witches working on
the corner. And just out of the corner of my eye, I swore I saw a
man staring at me from the car across the road. He was dressed in
leather, with a gaze like two ice picks. He was a vampire.

A second later, the car roared around a
corner and was out of sight. But the effect it had on me was
unmistakable. I wasted no more time. I hurried home, locking the
doors firmly behind me.

I relaxed once I was inside Mr Marvelous’
shop. I wouldn’t say I was starting to like this place – it was
still full of dust and cobwebs and as cramped as a sardine can. But
it was indisputably safe. It was kind of like a grown-up version of
being able to run home and shove your head under the covers.

Mr Marvelous’ shop was built like a
veritable magical strong box. Not only were the walls thick enough
to survive a nuclear blast, but the more attention I paid, the more
magical charms and enchantments I saw. What I thought was just
water damage dripping down the side of the wall in the hallway
turned out to be a permanent drain charm that ensured no tiny
magical creatures would be able to crawl their way through the
pipes and jump out of your toilet seat.

As I ran my hand along the wall and my nails
accidentally peeled back a few flecks of paint, I saw some hastily
scribbled spells beneath. Though at first glance you could easily
mistake them for building measurements, as I squinted, I saw the
unmistakable curve and curl of ancient Aramaic text. No doubt it
was there to help keep demons from pushing their ethereal hands
through the plaster and wood.

Drawing my bottom lip hard through my teeth,
I quickly made my way to my storage room. As soon as I shoved open
the door, I actually let my eyes half roll into the back of my head
as I sighed in relief at the mere sight of my bed.

Instantly my gaze locked on the view, and
kicking my shoes off and letting them bang hard against the wall, I
padded over to it. Securing both hands on the chipped,
water-damaged windowsill, I pressed my face as close as I could to
the glass and I stared down at the city.

Mr Marvelous had been right about one thing:
this really was the best view in Hope City. You could see an army
coming a mile off. And if not an army, a soul-sucking vampire.
Because that’s exactly what I saw.

As my gaze swept off that stunning city and
jerked down to the street corner opposite the shop, I gasped.
Tightness swelled in my chest as I saw a man dressed in leather
with one hand tucked in his pocket.

He was staring right at the building.

“Crap,” I spluttered as I jerked back,
terrified that he’d seen me.

When I gathered the courage to creep back to
the window, practically looming up on it as if I were trying to
startle the glass, he hadn’t shifted.

Mr Marvelous had told me that while this
window offered the best view in the city, no one would be able to
see inside.

Gritting my teeth, I brought my hand up and
began to wave violently. The man down on the street corner didn’t
move, didn’t react.

Though he was far enough away that I had no
idea what his expression was, his body remained just as stiff as it
had been before.

“Stay right there,” I muttered under my
breath as I turned hard on my stockings, the nylons snagging
against a few splintered chunks of the floorboards. I threw myself
out of the room, using the doorframe for support as I swung around
it and shot down the hallway.

I dived into the storage cupboard, falling
down to my knees and grasping at the drawer were Mr Marvelous kept
the magical binoculars.

I snatched them up in a shaking hand and
sprinted back to my room. I flung myself inside and skidded to a
halt in front of the windows.

I jerked the magical binoculars up, twiddled
the bright red and blue tiles just how Mr Marvelous had shown me,
and looked out at the city street.

The guy in leather was still there, and as I
stared at him through the binoculars, I realized he was the vampire
from the car on the street. The same creepy guy who’d sent fear
marching through my gut.

I hissed through my teeth. “Oh God, this is
bad. This is bad. This is bad. Isn’t it?” I asked the room in a
trembling tone.

He was handsome, whoever he was. Hardly a
surprise considering he was an undead vampire.

Now I was starting to learn more about the
otherworlders, I was becoming less and less impressed by the
drop-dead gorgeous vampires you saw swanning around the city. Not
only had they had hundreds of years to perfect their style, they
were all body change junkies – the magical equivalent of plastic
surgery. They layered their face with special magical formulas that
were kind of the equivalent of skin putty. They could use it to
carve any feature they wanted. But get up and close enough, and it
would be like thick foundation. You’d see it caking at the corners
of their necks and around their eyes.

Except for William Benson, my mind suddenly
told me. I’d been more than close enough to him to see that his
skin and face were perfect.

“Not the time,” I told myself around
clenched teeth. As I jerked the binoculars back up to my eyes I
also crammed a thumb into my lips and started chewing on the nail
industriously.

I stood there for God knows how long, just
staring at the guy as he stared at the building.

Should I call Mr Marvelous? He told me on
pain of death not to bother him when he went home. He was very much
the kind of guy who did not take his work home with him, wherever
the heck he lived. Which meant I was on my own.

Though some people may be able to tear
themselves away from the window and try to get some sleep, trusting
in the magical enchantments protecting this building, I was not one
of those people.

I knew myself all too well. I would stand
here, one sweaty hand pressed up against the glass, the magical
binoculars locked over my eyes for the rest of the night. By the
morning I’d be a nervous wreck.

I didn’t have to wait till morning. About
five minutes later, the man casually pulled back his leather jacket
and reached into a pocket. He pulled out several placards, even
though they couldn’t possibly have fit in the space allotted to his
pocket.

He tilted them forward and up, obviously
intending to catch the attention of anyone in this building.

Jerking my thumb from my mouth, I shoved the
binoculars so hard against my eyes it was as if I was trying to
core them out.

Magical writing began to appear over the
placards, curling itself in a neat calligraphic hand.

“Miss Luck,” it began. The vampire tossed a
placard over his shoulder and it struck the rain slicked pavement,
instantly hissing and disappearing in black wisps of smoke.

Another placard appeared in his hands, and
that same, neat calligraphic writing appeared over it. “You have a
meeting with Mr Theodore Van Edgerton tomorrow. Wear a dress.”

With that, the vampire tossed the remaining
placards over his shoulder, threw me a mock salute, turned on his
foot, and sauntered off, easily disappearing into the lines of
streaking rain.

I dropped the magical binoculars. They
tumbled over the floor by my feet.

I crammed my hand into my mouth and screamed
around my sweaty fingers. “What the hell? What the hell?” my voice
echoed around the cramped confines of my room. “I have a meeting
with Theodore van Edgerton. Wear a dress? What does that mean?
Where a dress?!”