Mixed Blessing (Mixed Blessing Mystery, Book 1) (28 page)

I took a useless breath in to clear my head. What did I need to know? Easier asked than answered. I started sorting my thoughts with the question; what did I know already? I knew the murders involved SubZero and in particular Vive La Vodka. The victims were those people who were used by the liquor company to test the product premarket release. The murderer was a vampire, a Rogue with some knowledge of me. The police were holding Stu for the first murder; Alison Danvers the CEO of SubZero, but would not release him despite the continued murders - that he couldn't have performed - and the lead detective's belief he was innocent.

So, who was the Rogue and what was he after? What was his connection to SubZero? Also how did he find out such intimate details such as my and Kara's childhood friendship symbol? And why were the local police being forced to hold the wrong man? And the biggest of all for me right now, what the hell did Jett Vardi have to do with any of this?

Ah, fuck-a-duck. That was a hell of a list. I had actually begun to think I was close to breaking this case, but there were still so many variables that simply did not make sense. And which would this ghoul be able to help me with? All of them? Just one or two? And how much would it cost?

Well, there was no way of knowing unless I asked. That was why I was here after all, pushing my Dark Shadow's patience, walking a tight rope between being civil, getting what I wanted and flat out killing all these disgusting creatures in one hit.

I lifted my head up to meet Pete's gaze, realising I had been quiet and deep in thought for several seconds and he had done nothing but watch. Watch me puzzle through my thoughts and watch Samson, still holding my hand, watching me with deep concern on his handsome face.

"It's been a busy couple of days," I offered as explanation for my little trip into La La Land.

Pete smiled, it was almost believable. "And you are not used to being tasked with such a... job." It wasn't a question, just a statement of fact. And I wasn't really surprised that he'd figured that out about me. If he was Lucinda's eyes and ears in the city, then he'd certainly already know a thing or two about who I was and what I was currently doing. I might have suspected that would be the case, but I didn't have to like it. My hand clenched in Samson’s grip, nails digging into his flesh. He didn't release his grasp.

I returned my attention to what I needed to know from this ghoul. I didn't feel comfortable asking about Jett, even if that was the question foremost on my mind. Jett was the Master of the City, if I had made a mistake and he was somehow innocent - wrong place, wrong time sort of thing - then placing the spotlight on him could be disastrous. For him. For the Nosferatu in Auckland. And most definitely for me. I would have to sort out Jett's involvement myself. Maybe ask him outright? Yeah, that would work. Not.

But, maybe Pete could help out with the other unanswered questions. Like what involvement the Rogue had in all of this. What was he after?

"Are you aware of who is doing it?" I asked, trying to get an indication of how much this ghoul already knew and how much I would be giving away here. Somehow I knew that if I offered any information, I needed to make sure it was... on the books. Not given for free.

Pete blinked slowly at my words, then said, "We have our suspicions."

He liked to play things close to his chest, maybe I needed to be more specific.

"Do you know what species the murderer is?" My teeth were gritted as I said that, somehow this drip feeding of information from him was setting me on edge.

"Now, how about you just tell me what you know and I'll tell you what is new information to me or not."

"Any new information is my payment for any information you give me in return." He nodded agreement, an almost hunger-like expression crossing his face. I wasn't sure if I was doing this right, and even if I set this ground rule in place, who was to say the ghoul didn't just lie about what he knew. And didn't know. I could tell him everything and he could act like it wasn't news. And then expect something more in payment. I was screwing this up, but he held all the cards and I simply had never exchanged information like this before.

I couldn't help feeling though, that if I did establish some sort of relationship with this guy, it would stand me in good stead for the future. Maybe playing it by his rules would help me down the line. Maybe I had to let him have this round, in order to call on him again.

Stuff that. I don't bend to anyone's games.

I'd give him the most basic information and hold on to the rest. "The murders involve SubZero's Vive La Vodka. The victims are all those who were part of premarket research for the mixer. The police hold a human as suspect for the first murder of Alison Danvers, they don't have an answer to the rest. What do you know? What's the connection to Vive La Vodka? Why won't the police let their suspect go now that more murders are being performed after his arrest?"

Pete studied me for a moment and then shifted into a more comfortable position in his chair. "None of this is news to me, you have not paid up for further information."

"I went first, took the chance, opened up. I think it only fair you give me at least something in return. I'm good for it. Lucinda would make sure I paid any debt." All true, but all entirely irrelevant. Right now I didn't give a shit what he told me - well sort of - I was
more focused on making him give me
something
before I paid with everything I knew.

He blinked again and then a slow smile graced his lips. "OK." He sounded pleased, I couldn't quite figure him out. "The murderer is a Rogue vampire."

"Already knew that," I said, giving him a taste of his own medicine. He smiled wider.

"
Touché
." He chuckled, he was having a great time, wasn't he? "I don't know the connection to SubZero, but I do know what the connection is to you."

All that delicious donor blood I had consumed at the beginning of the evening drained from my face. I hadn't hinted at any connection. I hadn't even admitted until now that I knew it was a vampire who performed the kills. I had expected Pete to tell me how SubZero fitted into the picture, what the Rogue was after or trying to cover with the deaths. It hadn't crossed my mind that he would be aware of the marks. And now I had to face up to it, admit that I already knew the marks were a message to me. In front of Samson.

I looked down at my hand still clasping his and flicked my eyes back up to the blonde vampire at my side. He was watching me, intently. A curious expression on his face.

"Can I have a minute alone with the ghoul?" I asked quietly, but before Samson could respond - and by the looks of it, it would have been an argument of some sort - Pete interrupted.

"I agreed to see you with Lucinda's vampire as a buffer, that agreement has not changed. If you want the information, he stays."

I was sure it wasn't because the ghoul was frightened of me. The head of the ghoul community couldn't be afraid of a baby vampire, could he?

I frowned at him and withdrew my hand from Samson's, denying him that touch, a punishment for my current predicament, even if it wasn't entirely his own fault.

I sighed and closed my eyes for a second. "I know about the marks and what they mean," I said, aware that Samson had gone vampire still.

"Yes, I would have thought you'd recognise them," Pete answered with what sounded like layers of amusement and satisfaction. He wanted me to squirm. I licked my lips and prayed he wouldn't elaborate. But of course he ignored my silent prayer. "Seeing as they matched your childhood symbol of friendship and all. A clearer message to you there could not have been."

"He's warning me off the murder cases. I've got too close to the truth," I said, feeling the weight of admission weighing me down in my seat. I hated divulging anything to anyone. And I didn't even know this man before me.

"Ah," Pete said softly. "But there is more to it than that."

I lifted my head and glared at him, sure the red in my eyes gave my anger away. He didn't flinch. He just stared back neutrally, then said the one thing above all else, I did not want to hear. "For this information I have one price and one price only. What exactly are you?"

I held his impassive gaze, knowing he knew there was more to me than being a vampire. He may already have suspected that I was Nothus, but what combination he hadn't quite worked out yet.

This was information I couldn't give willingly. But I didn't really need to know what
more
the marks represented. The fact that they meant more at all, a slip of his tongue which had told me too much already, was enough for now. I'd work out the rest, but whatever it was, it wasn't worth the price of him knowing what I am.

I smiled back at him, I'm not sure if it was at all friendly or not.

"Then I'm sorry to disappoint. I am a vampire, clearly stronger than I realised, but nothing else. I guess I don't have enough payment to offer for the information you want to share."

I stood and turned on my heel, and walked right out the sports bar's doors.

I could have commanded him to tell me. I could have used my
Sanguis Vitam
and influenced him to act. It would clearly have been easy, but I had been rattled. I wasn't thinking clearly at all. I had missed the cues and fallen into a trap. By not commanding him to tell me his secrets, I'd let him know I was more than I'd just said. For if my words had been true, I wouldn't have run, I wouldn't have acted like anything other than a full-blooded vampire.

But I hadn't. I'd acted like a Nosferatin. I'd acted like Lucinda would have in the same situation. Denied all knowledge, not given an inch and simply walked away.

What fucking vampire does that?

I was surprised Samson didn't immediately follow me out of the bar. I'd made it as far as Symonds Street, back in the city centre, by the time I felt his presence nearby. I was using shadows, so he couldn't see me, but somehow he had followed my path.

I watched him slow as he approached, still hidden, still invisible to him. And watched as he came to a stop and took a look around the small park on the corner of Symonds and Karangahape Road, where he had finally caught up with me. He didn't say anything, he just looked around, inhaled deeply and then crossed his arms over his chest and waited me out.

I let the shadows fall away and watched in mild amusement as his eyes widened at the sudden sight of me, not more than four feet in front of him on the grass.

"You're a Shadow Walker," he said, slightly stunned.

"Now you know another secret," I said bitterly, in reply.

I don't know why I had given myself away like that. Why I had lowered my guard and broken yet another rule. I felt as though I was losing grip on reality, as though the me I thought I knew was disappearing more and more each day. It had been that way since I had been turned. But recently it was like a dam had broken and I was drowning in the deluge of rushing water from the other side of my protection, my walls, as they crumbled and fell all around me.

I turned away from him and started walking slowly across the park towards
Sensations
down the street. He fell into step beside me, silent for a few paces and then plucking up courage he started to talk.

"When I found Lucinda, I thought I was already dead. It was my last chance. For survival. A part of me fighting for it ruthlessly, even though the rest of me had already given up all hope. The Dark had taken over completely. It felt like I had a... corruption, a broken line in my binary code. I'd tried to find the error, I'd spent hours, days, weeks, even months holed up in some dingy dive of a hole or other, internalising my Darkness, trying to narrow its location down."

We'd stopped walking, just stood facing each other in the middle of the park. His words the only sound I could hear. The night existed around us, but we were no longer part of it. It was just him, and me, and his secrets. I wanted to tell him to stop. He didn't need to let me in this much. I knew what he was saying was his own private hell. Voicing it, sharing it, would be tearing him apart.

"Every time I came close, felt it, thought I'd found it, it slipped away. All vampyre have Darkness in us, some more than others. But we are all capable of Dark things. Lucinda believes we have a choice. I haven't told her that I disagree. The Dark has a mind of its own and that part of us that is vampyre was born of the Dark. It's not an excuse, I'm not trying to justify all the evil things I did. I
was
trying to stop it though, that's why I answered her siren's call." He was referring to the part of Lucinda that is the
Prohibitum Bibere
, the Forbidden Drink. We all feel that attraction to her, but to let her Light in is to let the Dark out. The Dark doesn't let that happen without a fight. For Samson to consciously have sought Lucinda out, he must have had to fight his Dark within.

What strength would that have taken? How much would that have hurt?

I've said it before and I'll say it again, there is more to Samson than what people see. More than a level four
Sanguis Vitam
Master Vampire. I know this, I can see it. I'm not sure he can and I do believe that
that
something more needs to be triggered, to be let free.

I blinked up at him as he smiled shyly at my face. He'd stepped closer, within a foot or two. It didn't feel wrong anymore, it just was.