Blood Slave: A Realm Walker Novel (16 page)

“Yeah, I can do that,” she answered, trying and failing to imagine what Candy would look like stripping as she chomped her gum. “What’s the story with Kelsey?”

“Don’t know. She’s taken off on me before when her dad had an episode, but she always calls. I haven’t heard from her this time. Talked to her dad and he says he hasn’t seen her either. I’ve got some people out looking for her.”

“Aren’t you worried?”

“Look, I know with your background you’re bound to see the worst in every situation, but odds are she got sick of taking care of her dad and skipped town. See you at seven.”

She slid her phone back into her pocket as she contemplated Kelsey’s fate. Not for a second did Juliana believe the girl chose this particular moment to take off without saying anything to anyone. And maybe it
was
just her seeing the worst in everything, but she only did that because the worst so often came to be.

***

“Charlie is it now?” Thomas said with a sneer.

Her lips twitched telling him his misplaced jealousy amused her. He knew she had no interest in Charles Morgan, but that didn’t mean the intimacy didn’t rankle just the same.

“He told me to call him Charlie. What do you want me to do, say I would but my mate won’t like it? Kind of spoils the illusion I’m running from you doesn’t it?”

Thomas frowned but didn’t say anything.

“I need to get going and see if I can get some more rest. Morgan wants me to cover a shift tonight. See what you can find out about a girl named Kelsey that works at Lust on the pole. She’s missing.”

He straightened and cocked his head to the side. “For how long?”

She shrugged. “As far as I know a couple of days. One of the waitresses missed her shift the other night too, but she must have turned up since she’s filling in for Kelsey. I’ll see what I can get out of her tonight.” The rancid aroma he’d smelled for the past several minutes filled the air again. “What
is
that smell?”

“I have been wondering that myself.” He turned toward the East. “I believe it’s coming from that direction.”

She walked beside him as they searched for the source, occasionally correcting their path when the odor got weaker. Eventually, they came across a small cave in the side of a hill.

They stood a short distance away and studied it. “Well, the stench is definitely coming from there.” Another whiff drifted their way and she scrunched her nose. “Now what?”

“I suppose we should investigate. It’s possible we’ve found another victim.”

Thomas heard a faint clicking from within the dark.

Juliana turned her head to the side as if trying to listen. “Do you hear that?”

He pressed his lips together. “Yes. I do.” Looking around, he found a decently sized stone and picked it up. He hefted it in his hand a couple of times, getting a feel for the weight.

“And what exactly do you intend to do with that?” Juliana asked, laughter coloring her voice.

“I’m going to throw it in the hole and see what happens.”

“Is that the Warden approved method for clearing out a dark cave?”

He indicated the area around them with a wave of his empty hand. “When we are in the Dead Zone where nothing should be living and I hear a noise from said cave, yes, this is the approved method. I have not survived as long as I have by being an idiot.”

They moved closer and he lifted the stone, preparing to throw.

“Wait,” Juliana said, stopping him. His eyes followed her movements as she worked a thin blade out of the top of her boot. Once she had it hand she nodded for him to continue.

He hurled the stone into the darkness. There was a dull thud then nothing. Just as he’d decided to find another rock, a pale mass flew from the cave. There was no other way to describe the flurry of limbs and gnashing teeth that erupted from the dark.

A wight. An ancient, godsforsaken wight. Son of a bitch. I stopped short of them, bobbing and weaving as it stood there. Black, beady eyes darted between the two of them.

“What the hell is it doing out here?” Juliana asked.

That was a good question that Thomas didn’t have an answer for. “The better question is who does it belong to?” The only wights he’d seen since his arrival belonged to Charles Morgan. Could this possibly be one of his as well?

Juliana took a step forward and a knot of fear lodged itself in Thomas’s stomach as the wight launched itself at her sending her crashing back into the dirt.

***

A tornado of legs, arms and gnashing teeth landed on top of her. Its head darted forward and she threw her arm up to protect her throat. Teeth clamped onto it and she screamed at the white-hot pain that lanced through her. A spasm flared through her arm causing her to drop the knife in her hand.

Suddenly the beast was ripped away, taking a chunk of her flesh with it. Tears flooded her eyes and her chest tightened with the new surging of agony. Thomas hurled the thing away from them. It was back on its feet in an instant, scrambling back across the ground to close the distance between them.

Ignoring the fire in her arm, Juliana scooped her knife up from the dirt and turned to face their foe. Thomas got to it first, again picking it up and throwing it away from them. The sound of crunching bones gave her a moment’s hope, but whatever part of the wight had broken didn’t seem to be slowing it down any as again it came.

“Hold it down,” she yelled as Thomas moved forward to grab it again. Flipping it on its back, he pressed its hand into its chest and pinned one of the flailing arms under his knee. It arched its back and jerked against the ground, teeth clicking together as it searched for something to bite.

With one hard thrust she drove her blade into the creature’s eye. Twisting, she leaned forward putting all of her weight behind it. The knife dug deeper into the head. With a grunt, the wight quit moving.

Thomas sat back on his heels and she dropped to the dirt. They just stared at each other over the corpse. “I hate wights,” she said finally and he chuckled.

“You and me both.”

Now that the fight was over and the adrenaline had started to fade, pain flared through her arm. She twisted, trying to get a good look at the injury and Thomas paled. It was never a good sign when your injuries made the vampire ill.

He moved around the wight to her side. After biting into his wrist, he offered the wound to her. “Drink.”

“But—”

“Now,” he demanded, cutting her off.

She pressed her lips to his wrist and sucked, drinking down the offered blood. The rich, coppery flavor filled her mouth and she fought the urge to moan. Warmth filled her and her arm began to tingle. The third time she tried to pull away Thomas finally let her. She swiped the back of her hand across her lips, hoping to remove any lingering sign of her feeding.

“That bad, huh?” she asked.

Thomas frowned and gestured at her. “I think that should be answer enough.”

Juliana looked down, surprised to find herself covered in blood. That answered that question, she supposed. Cursed, asshole wight.

Thomas stood and helped her to her feet, keeping hold of her hand. “I’ll have the techs come pick up the body. Maybe they can find a way to ID it and we can find who it was contracted to.”

He pulled out his phone and called for the techs and a portal for them. As soon as the blue oval opened, they stepped through to the living room of the building where Thomas was staying.

Releasing her hand, he took a step back looking her over. “You’re going to have to take a portal back to your apartment. You’ll cause a panic walking the streets like that.”

She worried about someone watching the apartment and seeing the flow but them seeing her in bloody clothes or clothes she hadn’t left the apartment in would be even more difficult to explain. Thomas was right; a portal was her only option.

He placed a hand at her waist. “What time is your shift tonight?”

“Seven.”

“One of the boys will be there. Are you all right?”

“I’m okay. Just still on a bit of an adrenaline high. I better get back before I crash.”

Bending forward, he kissed the corner of her mouth then rested his forehead against hers. “I don’t have a good feeling about any of this
Joya
. Promise me you’ll be safe.”

She placed her hand along his cheek. “I promise I’ll be careful, that’s the best I can do.”

‘

Chapter Sixteen

When Juliana went downstairs to Lust half an hour before her shift, Clayton was already ensconced at a table in the back corner. It was the one she would have chosen as it was about the only table in the place where no one could sneak up on you. He was already watching her when she spotted him. Once they made eye contact, he looked away as if he had no interest in her whatsoever. She knew if anyone threatened her, he’d be at her side in a moment. Like Morgan, or anyone else for that matter, was going to attack her in the middle of the strip club.

She made her way to the locker room. Candy was putting her purse into one of the lockers and holding on to some elaborate costume covered in sequins and feathers. “Hey, Candy,” she said with a smile. The woman had been anything but nice to her the last time they’d talked but she was where Juliana needed to start if she wanted information.

“Hi, Jenn,” Candy responded quietly, not quite meeting her eye. What had happened to the bitchy, confident waitress Juliana was used to?

“Are you okay? Where were you last night?”

She turned her back on Juliana and started getting into her costume. “Something came up, that’s all. Sorry if you had to pick up the slack.”

“That’s not why I was asking Candy. I was worried about you.”

“Worried, why?” Surprise laced her voice, but she didn’t turn to face Juliana.

Several bite marks became visible as Candy stripped out of her street clothes. Juliana gritted her teeth to keep from saying something stupid. She stepped closer to the other woman and lowered her voice. “Did something happen?”

Candy spun then as she settled the straps for the top in place. She resembled a sparkling parrot. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Jenn.”

Juliana gestured at the bite marks. “That’s what I’m talking about.”

Candy paled but her chin jutted out in defiance. “I said I don’t know what you’re talking about.”  She pushed past Juliana and out the door.

Obviously the girl didn’t want to talk about whatever had happened, but Juliana did. She needed to find out who Candy had been with. The girl had been disgusted when she thought Juliana was a blood slave but now she was one herself? It just didn’t make sense. All the bite marks had looked relatively fresh but it was almost impossible to determine the age of vampire bites without a proper exam.

Not for the first time Juliana wondered if maybe some of the local vamps got off on leaving their marks on people. Maybe they paid for the privilege? It would explain Candy perhaps. Morgan had told Juliana that the other woman was a single mom. It wouldn’t be the first time a parent put their personal values aside for their child.

Several vanities were set up around the room for the dancers to put on their makeup and the like. Juliana dug around on the nearest one until she found a napkin and an eyeliner pencil. She scribbled a quick note to Clayton and tucked it into the pocket of her apron hoping she could find the opportunity to pass it to him. Candy didn't need a full on detail following her, but it wouldn't hurt to have the Wardens do a little digging and maybe put a man on her. All Juliana needed was a single mom's death on her conscious. No thanks, she had enough baggage without adding to it.

Juliana headed out to the floor, smiling as she passed Ginger, one of the other waitresses. Tucking the strands of her hair behind her ear, she headed to the bar to see which tables she was assigned for the evening. Brent smiled and gave her the lay of the land. "Mr. Morgan said to tell you thank you for covering tonight. He’ll be by later to see you."

That surprised her but she tried not to let it show. There was no reason for Morgan to come see her other than he was putting on a show for Thomas. She headed to Clayton's table which was conveniently located in her section. Since she normally started farthest from the bar and worked her way back, no one would think anything out of the ordinary. "What can I get you?" she said with a smile when she reached his table.

"I'm good, thanks," he said without looking at her.

"I don't know. It looks to me like you could use another beer."

Clayton did not need another beer. In fact he'd barely touched the one in front of him. He glanced up at her and she just smiled down at him.

"Yeah, a beer sounds good."

Still smiling, she gave him a nod and moved to the next table, taking the time to visit with the faces she knew and get acquainted with those she didn't. Once she'd hit half of her section she went back to the bar and gave the order to the bartender. Clayton's table was her last stop in the round. She put the napkin on the table and sat the beer on top of it, making sure to position it so he could see the writing. She walked off without waiting to make sure he noticed.

After she made the rounds of the rest of her section, she stood to one side and made a visual scan to see if anyone was trying to get her attention. Clayton was taking a long pull off his beer and she narrowed her eyes. She'd expected him to nurse the bottle and pretend to drink. It was a skill perfected in undercover work, drinking just enough not to arouse suspicion and not enough to feel the effects. But Clayton was a big guy and a couple of beers wouldn’t affect him much, if any.

She continued her visual inspection of the tables and by the time her eyes swept back to him, he was signaling her for another beer with his empty bottle. Nodding to let him know she'd seen she got another bottle from the bartender and made her way back to his table. When she got there, his phone was sitting at the edge of the table.

A picture of a refined blond with a wide smile filled the screen. Their victim when she’d been full of life. Again, Juliana had the nagging feeling she’d seen the girl somewhere before.  Shaking it off, she sat the beer in front of him and placed a hand on the back of his chair before bending forward to speak with him, just as she had with half a dozen other people this evening. "Can I get you anything else?"

"Yeah a glass of water, please."

She scurried off and he grabbed his phone off the table. When she came back he sat it down and she glanced at the screen to see the text he'd written. 
Sherry Jefferson, our victim. Missing several days before she turned up. Trying to retrace her steps.

“Let me know if you need anything else, hon,” she said patting him on the shoulder and going to check on the rest of her tables. This undercover bullshit was grating on her nerves. She liked to hunt, to track, to threaten. Thank the gods she had this crappy job or she’d go nuts.

Halfway through her shift Juliana glanced at Clayton’s table as she had a dozen times during the night only to find it now empty. At first she didn’t think anything of it, assuming he had gone to the restroom or outside to make a call. When a quarter of an hour passed without him returning she began to grow concerned. Not for herself, taking care of her own problems had never been an issue, but Clayton wouldn’t have left unless something major had happened.

Lowering her shields, she reached out for Thomas.
Clayton left without warning. What’s going on?

His reply was instant but did little to calm her nerves.
He will be back shortly. We will discuss what happened later.
This time he was the one to put the wall back in place between them though not before she felt his irritation and anger. It wasn’t directed at her, but she desperately wanted to know what was going on. She supposed asking to leave early so she could check on the big bad vampire would kind of give things away.

She pushed it aside and focused on doing her job, and listening to the idle gossip of those she served. True to Thomas’s word, Clayton reappeared half an hour later. He didn’t even glance at her as he made his way to his still empty table. Being situated so far from the stage, it was rarely filled unless the occupants wanted some privacy. Or, as in Clayton’s case, they were paranoid and didn’t want anyone coming up behind them.

After a few minutes, she made her way over to him under the pretense of seeing if he needed a drink now that he’d returned. “When do you get off?” he asked before she even had a chance to say anything.

“Three.”

He nodded once but didn’t say anything else. “Can I get you something?”

“Yeah, bring me a beer.”

She hesitated wanting to say something, to ask him to explain what was going on, but this wasn’t the time and it certainly wasn’t the place.

Cullen intercepted her at the bar. “It’s time for your break. Mr. Morgan is waiting for you in his office.”

Fantastic. Maybe he’d tell her what was going on. Odds were, he was right in the center of it. “I need to deliver a beer to table twelve first.”

“I’ll take it. You go on back.”

Well, Clayton was just going to love that. She gave Cullen a small smile and headed into the back hall to Morgan’s office. She rounded the corner and let out a little scream when she came face-to-face with a wight. It snarled, breath hissing between skeletal teeth. Thrusting its face closer to hers, it clicked its teeth together. Her heart pounded and she ran the odds of getting to the blade in her boot before the wight ripped her apart. Thomas was not here to help her this time and things were not weighted in her favor. She was pretty sure Clayton would avenge her but that wasn’t much of a consolation.

“Stand down,” Morgan said as he stepped out of his office. The wight dropped its head and backed away from her. “Come on.” Morgan stood in the doorway of his office, the sleeves of his white dress shirt rolled up and a drink in his hand.

Juliana stepped past him into the office and didn’t breathe until he shut the door between them and the wights. As she lowered herself into one of the chairs in front of his desk, she realized her hands were shaking. She pressed them against her thighs in an effort to get them to stop. It wasn’t very successful.

Morgan sat down in his chair, a grin on his face.

“Well, you look happy.”

“I wanted to let you know that Thomas Kendrick won’t be bothering you. At least not for a while.”

Her chest grew tight. “What happened?” she asked, hoping her anxiety didn’t make its way into her voice.

“I am not without my own resources. We both know that his claim to be here at the Council’s bequest was a flimsy excuse to stay close to you. I made contact with the Council and they were not pleased that he was using them as a cover for his personal issues.” Morgan leaned back in his chair and smiled at her again. “As it has been verified that he is not here on Council business, it is my right to ask him to leave my territory and he has done so.”

“What if he didn’t leave, what would happen?”

“The Council would send someone to remove him and he would face disciplinary actions.”

Good luck with that. Thomas was a Warden of the High Order. She was fairly certain he could go wherever he wanted whether Morgan or the Council wanted him there or not. Now, whether Thomas would deliberately go against the Council was another matter. He’d sat on the Council for decades and as far as she knew, he had no interest in giving up the position, no matter what the reason.

Thomas would find a way around it, he always did. She smiled at Morgan as if he’d just made her year. “That’s great.”

“It does make things better for you. However, I don’t want you to get too relaxed. You know Kendrick. He won’t give up so easily.”

She nodded. “I’d say it’s a given that if he’s willing to chase me halfway across the country he’s not going to just leave.”

“I’m assigning Henry to look after you.”

“Henry? I don’t think I’ve met him, have I?”

“You just did, in the hallway.”

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Oh no. No, no, no. She hadn’t liked wights before, but after today she wanted to be as far from them as possible. “You want the wight to watch me?”

Morgan nodded.

“I’m not very comfortable with that. I don’t like wights.”

“I don’t particularly care what you’re comfortable with.” He took a long swallow of his drink. “And no one really likes wights. That’s why they make good guards. Most people just stay the hell away from them.”

Juliana wished she had that option. Thomas was not going to like this. Hell, she didn’t like this.

“No offense, but that thing is contracted to you. What’s to keep it from turning on me?” She rubbed her arm absently where the wound had been.

He shrugged as if it was no big deal. “I will tell it not to. It cannot disobey me, Miss Norris. Even if I tell it to give its life for yours it will do so without hesitation. It is not a person. It is a thing, a tool. It doesn’t reason, it doesn’t think, it simply does as it’s told. And if what it is told is to guard your life with its own, that is what it will do.”

That made her wonder what the one in the Dead Zone had been ordered to do. She wondered if there was a tactful way to ask Morgan if he was missing a wight and how pissed he’d be if she accidently killed Henry, too.

She rose from her chair. “I better get back to work.”

“I’ll walk out with you,” he said and came around the desk. Keenly aware the wights still waited in the hall, she allowed him to open the door. “Henry,” he said and the wight with the beady eyes stepped closer. Juliana’s nose scrunched in disgust before she could stop it. But curse it, that thing stunk.