Danse Macabre Read online

  Between me and the bloodsucker was a small, pink thing, only a little bigger than a cat, but standing on two legs. It had smooth skin covered in swirling markings that were a shade darker than the rest of it, a long, rat-like tail, and even opposable thumbs on each of its hands. It could also do magick of a kind I couldn’t understand. The creature turned its head to the side and grinned, its small mouth splitting to reveal rows of sharp teeth.

  “I saves you again, master monkey witch,” it said, in a shrill, raspy voice.

  Panting. “Yes,” I said, “Yes, you did.”

  The vampire shrieked as the flames licking at its shoulder grew to engulf its upper back. I stretched one of my hands out toward it, extended my fingers, and then clenched them into a fist. The vampire’s limbs suddenly turned in on themselves, as if it had been overcome with the sudden urge to throw itself to the ground and hug itself. I kept pressing my magick around it, forcing its limbs to remain where they were as the imp’s—Gelrot… its name was Gelrot—magick slowly grew around the vampire, until it was entirely consumed in green flame.

  I watched as the vampire’s skin began to flake off. Light from inside the creature seemed to burst out of it in patches as the rest of it burned. First skin, then bone, all turned to ash right in front of me, but the creature never stopped shrieking. Not even when it no longer had a mouth with which to make that sound, it was like the thing’s spirit continued to shout, and scream, and curse in defiance of what was happening to it.

  Gelrot clicked its fingers, and the green fire that had turned the vampire to ash consumed itself and snuffed out, leaving the light emanating from my hand as the only source of illumination. It turned around and looked at me, large, green eyes glinting against the light from my hand. “We make good team,” it said.

  “Yeah… we do,” I said, smiling at it.

  There was a time where this little creature had wanted nothing to do with me, or at least I had interpreted our relationship that way. But over the last six or seven months, ever since that night in the swamp when, if not for it, I’d have been vampire chow, we’d gotten close. It still called me monkey witch, but occasionally it’d throw the word master in there, too. Probably because I was sleeping with its master.

  “Do you know where the others are?” I asked.

  “I takes you to the master,” it said, stretching a small, clawed hand over to me. “Come.”

  I reached for it, took Gelrot’s hand, and followed it out of the small store room, taking care not to fall into the floor below, and making sure to send a gust of wind into the store room—one powerful enough to kick up the vampire’s ashes and scatter them around. I was sure it was dead, dead, but with vampires you could never be too careful.

  CHAPTER TWO

  “Okay, everybody needs to calm down,” I said, addressing the group gathered in front of me. I raised my glass, and the people arranged around the booth mirrored my movement. “We did something good tonight, but we can’t let our guard down for a second. These things are like hydras. You chop one head off, another two come right up to take its place.”

  “Geez, aren’t we supposed to be celebrating?” Nina said, rolling her eyes.

  “We are. We killed a vampire tonight, and even though two more may jump up to take its place, that’s still something to toast about… so, to the vampire hunters.”

  “To the vampire hunters,” the group echoed, and we all drank together, letting the moment pass through us like a cool breeze on a sweltering Louisiana Summer’s day. Nina chugged what was left of her beer, stood, shook it off, and started moving toward the bar.

  “Any of you want anything? This round’s on me.”

  “I’m okay, thanks,” I said.

  “I’m also good,” Nicole said, “I’ve got a long day tomorrow and I can’t be drunk.”

  “Jared?” Nina asked.

  “I’ll take a bourbon,” he said, then he finished what was left of the one he’d had a moment ago.

  Nina moved away, leaving Nicole, Jared and I at the booth. Gelrot was around somewhere, probably behind the bar siphoning beer directly from the kegs, doing a good job at keeping out of sight. His kind were welcome at the Scarlet Cat, witches, demon-bloods, and imps got along well after everything our kinds had been through, but he liked to keep a low profile from anyone that wasn’t Jared or me.

  I slid back into the booth and set my glass down, then I ran my fingers through my hair and shook the tension out. “That was some hunt,” I said. “I didn’t think we’d catch him.”

  “He was slippery,” Nicole said, “They’re getting better at evading my clairvoyance.”

  “Do you have any idea why they’re able to do that?” Jared asked.

  I watched him as he spoke, saw the way his powerful jaw moved, ogled a little, maybe. He was a treat to look at, I wasn’t gonna lie. His hair was short and black, with stubble growing all around his jaw and chin to match, and eyes the color of a beautiful, cloudless sky [CHECK BOOK 2]. When he spoke, everybody listened. When he moved, everybody watched. Maybe it was his demon blood, or maybe it was just him, maybe he was just one of those naturally beautiful people; whatever it was, I didn’t want to stop looking at him if I could help it.

  “None,” Nicole said, “But I have a theory…”

  “Theory?” I asked.

  “Well… we know the vampires have been feeding on witches as well as humans.”

  “Don’t remind me.”

  When the vampires first made their presence known in New Orleans, they’d been subsisting on the blood of animals and humans, though their attacks on humans were few and far between. Usually, we were either ready to respond or we already knew who the target was. We’d had our best witches establish an early detection system, like a spider web, that alerted the nearest witch whenever a vampire attempted to feed off a human, and even if we couldn’t always kill the vampire, we could at least interrupt their feeding.

  Lately, though, the number of people being fed off was decreasing, but the suspected number of vampires was increasing. This didn’t mean they were feeding less, it just meant they were better at doing it undetected. Three weeks ago, a witch barely escaped an attack with her life after two vampires jumped her in an alley. Two days after that, the same thing happened. We’d been able to detect the first incident and were there to send the vampires running before they could kill the witch, but the second time around? Well… that witch wasn’t so lucky.

  Some of Marie’s last words came rushing into the forefront of my thoughts. It had been a warning. We can make new vampires far more easily than you can make new witches. Her words sent a tiny shiver crawling along my spine.

  “What does vampires feeding on witches have to do with them being able to hide better?” I asked.

  “It’s only a theory, but what if by feeding on us, the vampires have developed a way to sneak through our web?”

  “It’s not something we can rule out.”

  “That means they could be anywhere,” Jared said, “They could be anywhere, and they could be feeding off anyone right now, and we don’t know about it.”

  “We always knew something like this might eventually happen,” I said, “I just didn’t think it would happen so quickly. I mean, one minute we’re able to stop them before they kill someone, and the next minute we no longer have that power.”

  “Alright, well, we should still celebrate the small victories,” Nicole said, “We’re keeping them at bay, and we’re doing a solid job of it.”

  I picked up what was left of my mango daiquiri and raised it to her. “I’ll drink to that,” I said, before finishing the alcohol off. Despite being slightly icy, the daiquiri warmed my throat as it slid down. I set the glass on the table again in time to spot Nina returning to the table with a beer for herself and a neat bourbon for Jared.

  He thanked her, took the drink, and had a sip.

  “So, now that we caught the fucker, what’s next?” Nina asked.

  “Next?” I said, lookin
g at her like she’d just used a word I’d never heard before in my life.

  “Yeah… where’s the next one?”

  “Oh… I don’t think we have any leads.”

  The only reason why we knew about the one we’d just killed was because a woman had been found dead in a pond nearby. She was human, in her late forties, and homeless as far as any of us had been able to tell—the corpse had been found by the cops, so we didn’t have much access to it. I asked Gelrot to do a little recon, and it spotted the vampire as it rose one night. That vampire had been stupid and careless to kill a human and dump the body so close to where it slept, and I hated that this was probably the only reason why we’d caught it at all.

  It represented a dulling of our edge, if we ever had one to begin with.

  Crap, what a downer… so much for victory drinks.

  “I may have something,” Jared said.

  I turned my head to look at him. “Really? And you’ve kept it from us?”

  He shrugged. “I thought we’d all have at least one drink before I said something, I also didn’t wanna bring it up before the hunt. Anyway, it may be something, or it may not be. We’d need to follow up.”

  “Okay… let’s hear it,” Nicole said.

  Jared scanned the table. “Pig’s blood,” he said.

  “Pig’s blood?” I asked.

  He nodded. “There’s a butcher a few streets down from our house that I’ve been keeping an eye on.”

  “That doesn’t sound creepy at all…”

  “No, it’s not like that. A couple of days ago I stopped by to grab a couple of prime cutlets—”

  “The ones you cooked for me on Tuesday?”

  “Right. Anyway, while I was waiting in line, I heard one of the people ahead of me ask for pig’s blood. She asked for all of it. Said she was making a movie, and pig’s blood had the closest color and consistency to human blood, so she wanted to buy it all. It wasn’t until the walk home that I started thinking about it, and the more I thought about it, the weirder I thought it was.”

  “People make movies all the time,” Nina said, “Why’s that weird?”

  “Have you ever heard of movie companies using real blood in movies?”

  “Point…”

  “What if it’s an indie company?” I asked, “Going for that real feel?”

  “I thought that too,” Jared said, “So I looked around, but I couldn’t find any movie sets and anyone I asked didn’t know about a movie being shot. So, I went back the next day on a hunch, asked for some pig’s blood, but the butcher said it had all been bought again during the morning. Turns out that woman had been coming often, always buying large quantities of it saying it’s for a movie. He pays well, so the butcher doesn’t ask many questions. I think that blood’s going to a vampire, but I haven’t had a chance to follow her or learn anything else.”

  “We should stake the place out, then,” Nina said, “Give me the address and I’ll head down there first thing. If the woman shows up during the morning, then I may be able to catch him and follow him; I just need a description.”

  This was all happening too fast, but there was little I could do to stop it. Once we had a lead on a vampire, the best thing to do was to move in on it quickly. These creatures were fast, and if they so much as caught a whiff that someone may be onto them, they had a tendency of retreating back into the shadows and becoming invisible again.

  At least, the clever ones did, but like people, not all vampires were created equal.

  “Okay, I guess,” I said, “We should do what we can to follow this lead… Nina, if you need anything from us, just let us know. And don’t get into a fight with any vampires on your own, understood?”

  She took a sip of her beer. “Relax. I’m going to trail this guy buying up the pig’s blood and see what he does. I doubt he’ll lead me straight to the vampire’s lair, but I may learn a thing or two. Besides, if he’s out in the sun, then he’s probably human anyway so I don’t have much to worry about.”

  “Assume that you do,” Nicole said, “A little caution wouldn’t hurt. In fact, it may just keep you alive.”

  Nina rolled her eyes. “You’re too careful sometimes. What you need to remember is that these things already outnumber us now, we don’t know where they’re hiding, and we have no idea where they’re going to strike next. We have to start taking risks if we want to beat them.”

  Nicole fell silent after that. Maybe she agreed with Nina’s point, or maybe she didn’t want to start an argument; we all knew how passionate Nicole could get, especially when she thought she was right. But we were meant to be celebrating a victory, not squabbling amongst each other. The Gods knew we’d done enough of that here in New Orleans, and so did Nicole.

  I was about to ask Jared if he wanted to turn in for the night, when my phone started buzzing in my pocket. I fished it out and looked at the name on the screen but had to double take. Delphine. That was a name I hadn’t expected flashing on my phone, and not because she was a several hundred-year-old vampire who’d had to be taught how to use flip phone. We’d gotten her an iPhone first, but her cold, dead fingers didn’t register on the screen when she touched it.

  I showed the phone to Jared, who shrugged, then took the call. “Delphine…” I said, “What’s up?”

  “I need to speak with you,” she said, though her voice sounded distant, and low. This was another one of her quirks; you could never properly hear her over the phone, no matter how close she got to the mic. “Urgently.”

  “Okay? Could you tell me now?”

  “I can’t, I need to see you in person immediately.”

  “Alright, but are you in trouble? Is everything okay?”

  “I am not in any danger, no. Neither is Jean Luc, nor are any of the others. But I’ve found something that you need to see.”

  “I need to… okay, where are you? I’ll come meet you.”

  “I am at Lafayette Number One… hurry.”

  She hung up just like that, leaving me with the dead phone pressed against my ear. I slid the phone back into my pocket and looked around at the others. “So… that was Delphine.”

  “We gathered…” Nina said, “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m going to go and check it out.”

  “Do you want me to come with?” Nicole asked.

  I shook my head. “No, the two of you go and get some sleep. Jared and I will go, it’s on the way home anyway.”

  Nicole nodded and went to stand. “Not to sound like a broken record or anything, but… be careful out there.”

  I took her hand and squeezed it. “I always am,” I said, smiling warmly at her.

  Jared stood, finished what was left of his drink with a quickness I hadn’t expected, and then he set the glass down. “We’ll go on my bike,” he said.

  “Your bike? After the way you just downed that bourbon?” I asked.

  He looked around the room like he was watching for suspicious people, then he blinked hard, and when he opened his eyes, they were glowing green from the inside; the same color as the fire the vampire had burned in. The very air around him seemed to tremble, his eyes started to swirl and shift, and then he blinked again and everything was back to normal. Jared took a deep breath, pulled his keys from his back pocket and smiled.

  “Good to go,” he said.

  I frowned. “You expect me to believe you’re sober? Just like that?”

  He clicked his fingers. “Just like that. Shall we?”

  “I’m gonna wipe that smirk off your face when we get home,” I purred into his ear, as warm feelings of want began rising into my chest.

  “And I’m gonna let you.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  New Orleans was deathly quiet at this time of night, but the ghost of music still followed you wherever you went. Even with the grumbling of Jared’s bike roaring all around me, I could still hear the whine of saxophones and trumpets off in the distance, floating on the wind. It was like being inside
an old hard-boiled movie, with my very own backing track accompanying me as I moved through the city and onto my next destination.

  When we arrived at Lafayette Cemetery Number One, I hopped off the bike and gave my helmet to Jared.

  “Go home,” I said, “I won’t be long.”

  “Go home? You want me to leave you here, alone, in the middle of the night?”

  “You know what Delphine is like. She gets spooked around supernaturals who aren’t me, for some reason.”

  “Yeah, what’s with that?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know, but it’s not important. Go home, make sure the house hasn’t been trashed by vampires, and I’ll be there soon.”

  “Be careful.”

  “I will,” I said, already walking through the cemetery’s gate. Normally it would’ve been shut at this time of night. The fact that it was open would’ve been cause for concern, except I knew Delphine was inside. I found her waiting not far past the main gate, standing so quietly beneath a tree, you could’ve mistaken her for an incredibly beautiful, lifelike statue that moved when it saw me.

  “Thank you for coming here so quickly,” she said, her noticeably French accent coming through way more clearly in person than over the phone. “I am sorry if I caused alarm.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Are you okay?”

  “Yes, I am fine. But… it’s better if I show you, come this way.”

  Delphine turned around and headed deeper into the cemetery, moving along the path between plots of above-ground tombs. The cemetery, ironically, was livelier than the ride over had been. Crickets chirped in the night, more than one of them, an owl hooted from a nearby tree, and something moved around in the grassy patches—probably a cat. Hopefully a cat, but I wasn’t about to go and investigate. Delphine led me around the crisscross paths that made up the cemetery until finally she stopped and pointed.

  What I saw took a moment to register.

  “Someone’s vandalized that tomb?” I asked.

  Gravely, Delphine shook her head.