Origins (A Demonkin Novel) (17 page)

Matt led us through the restaurant and kitchen and opened a large door marked "exit" in the back. He pushed the large metal bar in and I heard the door unlatch and swing open. He stepped out into the night followed closely by myself and Michaels. Before I had even crossed the threshold, he ran. Fuck. I let go of the door and let it either smack Michaels in the face or let him catch it. I had run fifty yards down the alley, so I couldn't tell. The alley stank of garbage and other things I'd rather not think about, so I tried to avoid the puddles of what I hoped to be water. I'm fast, but I'm only five feet tall, whereas Matt had inhuman speed and a stride which easily doubled mine. I could see a bend up in the alleyway, and I feared it led out to the crowds wandering around the pier. Damn it, I didn't want to lose him. He might have not killed the cop, but he wasn't innocent either. Innocent people don't run. FBI rule number one.

I had to catch him, and I had to do it fast. I timed it so when my left foot hit the ground I pushed off and put myself into the air. What I did next impressed even me. I twisted while in midair and pushed out with both my legs which found purchase on the wall to my right. I launched myself in a maneuver which could have earned me a medal in the Olympics if vampires weren't prohibited from competing. I landed on his back and latched on with tooth and claw.

He fell forward and I rode him to the ground. He held out his arms which absorbed some of the impact, but I still felt his head smack into the concrete. I know because I had my fangs buried in his neck. He didn't knock himself out, but I had him trapped beneath me. I felt his blood flood my mouth with a vanilla flavor I hadn't expected. I should have stopped, but I couldn't. My hunger took control again. I sucked when I didn't even need to. The blood poured freely into my mouth fast, but not fast enough. I had him and he belonged to me. I let go of his shoulder and stomach and moved my hands up to cradle him to me. I could feel his strength leaving him quickly. Michaels' feet striking the ground as he raced to catch up saved Matt's life.

I didn't want him seeing me feed. I withdrew my fangs and licked the wound, watching it close before my eyes. I let go of the mammoth vampire and flipped him over onto his back. He looked up at me like he had just had sex with me. He had that dreamy look on his face and for the life of me, I didn't know why. I heard the cocking of a weapon and I looked up at Michaels who had drawn his weapon and had it pointed at the vampire's head.

"Put it up Pete, he's not going to run again; are you, Matt?" I looked down from Michaels to the prone vampire who still looked lost in what looked like post-orgasmic bliss. I looked down at the front of his pants, and I hoped he landed in a puddle of water. Yuck.

"No, I won't run. I'm sorry I did in the first place. Then again maybe I'm not. If I run again, will you drink from me again?" He sounded a little too hopeful.

"No, I'll just shoot you in the back of the head. Why did you run? I know you didn't kill the cop down by the water."

"What cop?" I don't know how, but I knew he didn't know anything about it without a doubt.

"Never mind, why did you run?"

"We all will. Word is out; any vampire who talks to the police will find themselves strapped to a rooftop just before daybreak. I had to."

"Who told you this?" I already knew the answer.

"It came from Cicero. He's completely lost it. He's holed up somewhere and is afraid to come out because every cop in Chicago is looking for him. Don't ask me where he is, nobody knows, but he's got his goons doing whatever he says, and I believe him. Please let me go. If they find out I've talked, I'm dead."

I felt bad for the massive vampire. I could smell his fear. I had an idea, but I didn't think he'd like it. I stood next to the prone vampire and offered him my hand to help him up. He looked at me suspiciously, but took the offered hand. He seemed to be a little unsteady on his feet, but managed not to fall over.

"You're letting me go?"

"For now Matt, but I'm going to need your help tomorrow, and you're going to say yes, okay?"

"Sure," he replied instantly.

I felt a little confused and I looked at Michaels who looked completely lost. This vampire was scared shitless, and yet he told me he would help me and I hadn't even told him what I wanted yet. Maybe he hit his head harder than I thought. Yeah, it had to be a concussion. Cranial injuries often impair vampiric thought processes.

"Okay Matt, thank you. We'll meet you at the restaurant at sundown tomorrow. For now, if anybody asks, you gave us the slip okay?"

"Anything you want, no problem. Can I go now?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

Michaels and I watched the vampire as he walked away and around the corner to join the crowd. As soon as he stepped out of sight we looked at each other and shrugged. Something weird had just happened and I had no idea what it was. Still pondering what had transpired we walked through the alley, left the pier, and headed back to the Suburban.

We drove in silence back to the office. By the time we got there, I had a new laptop on my desk and a cell phone to boot. Yippee, free long distance. Now I just needed to meet people to call. I flipped through the contacts list and saw Michaels' and Reese's names and contact information. There were also a bunch of names I didn't recognize. I assumed they were other agents at the Chicago office. I called Michaels cell to make sure the phone worked and smiled when I heard it ring. He looked at me as the phone vibrated on his desk and made a little chiming noise. I nodded to let him know not to answer it. He picked the phone up and glanced at the number and frowned. I pressed the "end" button and slipped it into my jacket pocket.

"What?"

"They must not be planning on keeping you here long," he said.

"What?"

"It's not a local number. Chicago's 812 and yours came up 202. I believe 202 is D.C.'s area code isn't it?"

"I don't know, but I can Google it," I replied.

I opened the laptop and pressed the power button. I didn't see any scratches or dings, so I didn't think I had gotten someone's hand me down. In fact, bubble wrap has a distinctive smell when you have vampiric senses, and I swear I smelled it on the laptop. It took only a moment to fire up and I groaned when I saw the Vista logo appear. Joy. I Googled the 202 area code and sure enough Washington DC popped up.

I told Michaels he had been right about the 202 area code and his mouth set in a grim line. I don't think he wanted me to go, sniff, sniff, the big lunk. I decided to worry about it later. We had a very bad man (vampire) to catch before I even had to worry about leaving. I had a plan, and I ran it by Michaels to see what he thought. He seemed skeptical at first, but I promised him I could play my part and play it well. The only unknown in the whole equation would be Matt. Could I trust him? Probably not, but at least my plan put him in a position where he couldn't fuck us if I couldn't trust him.

Before we left we sent an email to Reese covering what we had learned at the pier from Matt, and gave a brief outline of my plan as well. The only one who would be in danger would be our friendly vampire Matt, and I didn't think Reese would be too worried about him. Now I just needed a good day's sleep.

"You ready, Fangs?" I was starting to think Michaels had developed ESP.

"Sure thing, Meat Puppet, let's go," I replied.

"Meat Puppet, really is that the best you could come up with?"

"For now, come on I'm tired," I said and packed up the laptop in its shiny new leather case. Ooh, I had such plans for my shiny new friend. I suffered from acute internet withdrawal, and I finally had a cure.

Chapter 16

Two hours of Youtube and seven hours of sleep later, we made our way back at the office. I didn't expect to start my day with an ass chewing from Reese, but it's exactly what I got. Apparently, I had somehow developed acute brain damage, my plan wouldn't work, and Michaels is missing more than one chromosome for letting me chase after the big bad vampire without backup. I guess he didn't realize exactly how fast I could be when I wanted to be. After the fifteenth minute straight of it I rolled my eyes and then got yelled at for doing that too. I never had a father to yell, "You better not be rolling your eyes at me, missy," and I wasn't sure I wanted one now.

"Reese, calm down! Everything is going to be all right. In case you forgot, I am a hell of a lot faster and stronger than Michaels and I can take care of myself!"

He stared at me for a few minutes and then took a deep breath. "No I haven't forgotten Ash, but you have been an agent of the FBI for all of two days. If anything happened to you, not only would I not forgive myself, but I would never hear the end of it. Please, be careful. You yourself don't know your strengths and limitations, and until you are fully aware of what you are capable of, please play it a little safe for me alright?"

His little speech touched me. "Reese, how am I supposed to find out what I'm capable of if you won't let me do anything? Trust me, if I don't feel comfortable with something, I will be the first not to do it. Trust me for once okay, I promise I won't let you down."

"Fine, just be careful. Please. Michaels make sure she's safe or I'll have you transferred to the Nome Field Office before you can say "Eskimo", got it?"

"Clear as arctic ice, Special Agent in Charge, sir. I'll look after her like she was my girlfriend, or wife, or something," he said. Oops, he probably should have chosen a better simile.

"Have you checked into a hotel yet?"

"Yes I have, sir. See, Clarion and Marriott Hotels merged and started a new hotel line and there calling them the Marion Suites. It's a cute little place, more like an apartment, but I enjoy staying there," I said cheekily. I kill me; the Marion Suites.

Apparently Reese got my joke, and wasn't even remotely amused. I have never seen someone turn a purplish shade of red before. I needed to get out of there before he shot me himself. "Ash," Reese started to say and I held up my hand to stop him.

"Remember Reese, I'm a big girl now. I'm fine, please just let it go. I'll email you after tonight to fill you in on how everything goes. Wish us luck. C'mon Meatstick, we got work to do."

"After you, Fangs."

* * *

We waited outside The Carnival until foot traffic started to pick and Navy Pier became packed full of people out looking to have a good time. I checked the time on my new cell, 9 o'clock. The time had come. Patrons should just be finishing their dinners and looking to settle on something a little more mundane, like drinking. I envied them. I really could use something to calm my nerves. I looked over at Michaels and expected him to be just as fidgety as I felt, but no, he had to be cool, calm, and collected, the dickhead.

I nodded at him to let him know it was time for my little acting debut.
Here goes nothing
. He led the way through the front doors of the Carnival and right past the surprised hostess standing behind her little podium. I followed behind him through the door and then fanned out to walk beside him. Because this wasn't an official FBI sanctioned maneuver, we didn't draw our weapons and we didn't have a warrant, but we didn't stop or pause, lest someone question us. Michaels flashed his badge at the open-mouthed hostess and we walked to the bar.

Matt occupied his spot behind the bar pouring drinks just like I had hoped. The bar patrons, sidled away from us nervously as we flashed our badges at Matt like we had never questioned him before. I didn't pull my weapon, but I wanted to. It would have been much more dramatic. I had my right hand on the butt of my Glock and held my badge with my left.

"Matt, I'm Agent Ashlyn and this is Agent Michaels, we're with the FBI. I need you to come with us to answer a few questions please. Oh, and by the way, don't even think of running away again."

I could see the puzzlement in the blank stare I got from Matt. I almost felt sorry for him, but in this case, the ends justified the means. I'm sure the six dead cops would agree with me if they could. Matt held up his hands and walked around the bar, stopping when Michaels and I moved over to the side exit to meet him there.

"What do you want now?"

"We want to talk to you, and this time if you run I will shoot you myself," Michaels supplied for me.

Matt nodded and started to walk toward the kitchen, but I stopped him and motioned for him to head towards the front door instead The more people who saw this, the better the chance that word would get back to Cicero that we questioned Matt. I hated using someone as bait, but to quote my aunt, "Sometimes you have to do what you have to do."

I watched the vampire as we walked behind him, and I could feel the fear coming off of him in waves. He knew he we had put him in danger. Honestly I'm surprised he didn't just tell us to go fuck ourselves. He had agreed to help, but I don't think he realized what it would mean, until now. We walked the length of the pier and exited out onto the street. Michaels had parked the Suburban in a nearby parking garage, so we headed there. Matt had put his hands down after we left the restaurant, and walked resignedly between the two of us. As soon as hit the street, he started to ask a question, but I shushed him. I wanted to tell him, "Later," but I just kept silent.

It took about ten minutes to get to the parking garage on foot. Matt and I could have made it there in seconds, and I could tell he wanted to, but it wasn't the point of this little operation. I wanted him seen. I wanted him to be seen by as many people as possible, and in my company. We entered the garage and hopped on the elevator to the eighth floor, and no, we couldn't find a closer spot. We walked through the open door and had made it halfway to the Suburban when the camera flashes started going off from the second elevator.

I stopped in my tracks and panicked. If I had thought about it, I would have figured anybody taking pictures of the FBI walking a vampire to their car would be exactly what I would have prayed to the gods for. Nothing could have boosted the chances of my plans success more than Matt's picture being in the paper. Unfortunately, I didn't think before I acted. I ran towards the source of the flashes without so much as a, "Watch him," to my partner. As soon as I turned toward the flashes, the man with the camera frantically started pushing the "close door" button. I wasn't going to make it.