Freaky Fangs, page 12
part #9 of Mystic Caravan Mystery Series
“I have friends who have been alive for a very long time. Apparently they’ve battled the strigoi previously ... and won.”
“Only because the old ones didn’t have any idea what was coming for them.” Zurie sounded bitter. “They were betrayed on all sides.”
“It’s hard to sell a betrayal storyline when you’re doing the killing,” I countered, pursing my lips. “How do you fit into this? I mean ... you’re a vampire. How did you even hook up with the strigoi?”
“Why do you care? You’re obviously going to try to destroy both factions. We won’t allow that to happen. We’ll fight you ... and we’ll win. We won’t let you steal our territory.”
“You seem obsessed with territory,” I mused, sinking into a chair that looked like a cartoon dinosaur. This was a dream. Instinctively I knew that. Anything she said would be filtered through my brain, and therefore tainted. I still wanted to hear how she would answer. “Why is that?”
“Why is anyone obsessed with stolen land?” Zurie shot back. “Do you know how many homes I’ve lost? Were the Indians obsessed with the Europeans who took what rightfully belonged to them? No. It’s not obsession when an injustice has been done.”
“Native Americans,” I automatically corrected.
Zurie furrowed her brow. “What?”
“We don’t say Indians. It’s Native Americans.”
“Oh, whatever.” Zurie rolled her eyes and pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead. It was a very human reaction, something I might do if I felt a headache building. “I don’t understand why they picked you to lead your people.”
“I don’t technically lead my people. You’re the one who decided that — though I’m not sure why — and put that weight on my shoulders. I never said I was the leader.”
“And yet they all look to you.”
“Yeah, well ... .” I broke off when I heard a noise behind me, jerking fast and frowning when I saw a pair of teeth coming in for the kill. I lashed out with my magic — an instinctive move — and slapped back the invader. When I glanced back at Zurie, she was on her feet ... and darkness had somehow fallen.
“You need to learn your place,” Zurie spat, taking a determined step toward me. “There’s more than one way to solve this problem. I’m surprised you haven’t figured that out yet.”
The dream suddenly felt more real. “Are you really in my head?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps you’re in mine.”
She launched herself at me, but I ducked low and she overshot her mark, landing on the cement chair with a loud thud. I recovered quickly, turning with my hands raised, and unleashed a torrent of magic.
I muttered in Latin, a string of curses that were almost second nature to me. The wall of magic I mustered hit Zurie like a freight train and she let loose an unearthly scream that sounded as if it was echoing between my ears.
“Release me!”
I didn’t let up.
“Release me!” It was worded as an order but I recognized it for what it was ... a plea. On instinct, I dropped the volley and watched as Zurie rolled to her side, making small mewling noises as she clawed at the ground.
“What is this?” I raised my eyes to the sky. It was light again. “Seriously, what is this?”
The glare she pinned me with contained more hatred than should’ve been available inside one entity. “This isn’t over.”
“What just happened?” I was determined to get answers so I strode forward, every intention of shaking her until she answered me. She must’ve realized what I intended, because she growled before rolling ... right into oblivion.
I pulled up short, blinking, and stared at the empty spot. This wasn’t normal ... but it was real. Whatever had just happened was real. But how?
I WOKE MORE IRRITABLE THAN I had been when I closed my eyes. I was cold, to the point of desperately needing something to warm me. I found Kade stirring beside me. He had a sleepy smile on his face and was already reaching for me.
“Good morning.” He hissed when he felt my cold skin against his. “Geez. Did you wander through a frozen tundra in your dreams or something?” He ran his hands up and down my arms as he cuddled me close. “Why is your skin so cold?”
My mind immediately hopped to the dream that wasn’t really a dream. “Something happened last night,” I responded without giving it enough thought. “Something ... strange.”
“We travel with the circus and one of our closest friends is a cross-dressing dwarf who likes to behead things. I think I can handle strange.”
He was going for a joke, but I was in no mood to laugh.
“Baby, what’s wrong?” He sobered almost immediately. “What has you so worked up? Are you still upset about the fight last night? We won. It’s okay.”
“I’m not upset about the fight. Although ... I’m not really happy about it.” I let him draw me close because I really was cold and he exuded heat, especially in the morning. “I had this dream.”
“A dream?” He pulled back far enough so he could see my face. “What kind of dream?”
I told him in halting tones, taking as much time as necessary to put my thoughts in order. When I finished, he seemed baffled.
“That makes zero sense. I mean ... how could you share a dream with another cognizant person?”
“I don’t know.”
“It was just a dream.” He sounded convinced. “It was one of those meta dreams. You know ... it was like you were aware it was a dream and your subconscious adjusted accordingly to make you think it wasn’t a dream.”
“If you say so.”
I could feel his eyes on me but I didn’t meet his gaze. “You think it was somehow real.”
“I know it was real.” There was no doubt about that. “I just don’t know how she pulled it off.”
He stroked my hair, searching for an answer. “Have you considered, if it was real — and I’m not sure I believe that’s the case — that you made it happen?”
That possibility hadn’t even entered my mind. “No.”
He managed a smile. “That’s because you’re stubborn, like a mule.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “What do you think the point of that little exercise was? I mean ... why would she invade your head like that?”
“To taunt me. To terrify me. Maybe to kill me.”
I felt him stiffen next to me. “What do you mean? How could she kill you in a dream?”
“I don’t know. There are any number of ways. Sleep isn’t always safe.”
His arms became tighter. “I don’t like this, Poet. I ... .” Whatever he was going to say died on his lips as the bedroom door flew open to allow Luke entrance.
He was freshly showered, bright-eyed, and obviously had something on his mind.
“Do you knock?” Kade groused, making a face as he tugged the covers tighter around us. “This is our private area. We’ve had this discussion before.”
Luke ignored the admonishment and focused on me. “You need to get dressed.”
Dread pulsed through me. “What happened?”
“It’s one of the midway workers. I ... don’t know how it happened. During the night, somehow, she crossed the dreamcatcher. She’s dead.”
“She was on the other side of the dreamcatcher?”
He nodded. “Yeah. You have to come.”
I was already tossing off the covers. “Just give me two minutes to throw on my clothes. I’ll be right there.”
KADE TOOK THE LEAD as we stalked to the south side of the fairgrounds. As head of security, this technically fell under his jurisdiction. He was obviously annoyed by the crowd that had already started to gather.
“Don’t touch that body,” he barked at Mark, who was kneeling next to a blond woman. It was only when I got closer that I realized who we were dealing with.
“Starla,” I muttered, shaking my head. “I can’t believe it’s her.”
Cole moved to stand next to me as Kade started arguing with Mark. “Did you know her well?”
“I mean ... everybody knows everybody here. It’s like a small community. Sure, we basically break up into four little groups and only interact when it’s absolutely necessary, but we’re still a united community.”
“So ... who was she?”
He was asking questions like a cop, which reminded me that he had an interesting skill set we might be able to utilize — if only I could figure out the right way to do it.
“She ran some of the games,” I replied, shielding my eyes from the early morning sun. I was still waking up and my mind wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders. “She wasn’t one of the bad ones. She was pleasant enough, though I could tell she didn’t want anything to do with us. She wasn’t comfortable with the paranormal aspects of what we had going on here.”
“Then why would she stay?”
“Have you actually looked around? This is a circus. There are only a handful of circuses still in operation. This is a dying field. As the world changes, so do we. If she wanted to make a living, she either had to stick with us or hitch a ride with one of the other outfits. And, believe it or not, there are waitlists to join the circus.”
He blinked several times in rapid succession and I got the distinct impression he thought I was messing with him. Then he regrouped. “I guess that makes sense ... kind of.” He rolled his neck until it cracked. “How did she end up on the other side of the dreamcatcher?”
That was the most important question. “I don’t know. We warned them about crossing. We said it was important they stay on this side during night hours. Mark said he understood.”
The man in question straightened and shot me a murderous glare. “And Mark spread the word,” he shot back, fury evident as he talked about himself in the third person. “Mark made sure all of his people knew that they weren’t to wander around. She didn’t voluntarily cross the line.”
“What are you suggesting?” Kade asked, his tone serious. “Are you saying someone crossed from that direction and dragged her over?”
“That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.”
Raven immediately started shaking her head. “That’s not possible.” She was adamant as she folded her arms across her chest. “There’s no way. We set up the line so that any of those things that tried to cross would be immediately fried. She had to be the one who crossed.”
I held up my hand to still her. I happened to agree, but Mark had lost one of his people, and loath as I was to admit it, the anger on his face made him slightly more human to me. It was important to keep from jumping all over him.
“We can’t know what happened,” I stressed, pinning Raven with a warning look. “Ultimately it doesn’t matter. What do we know about how she died?”
“There are marks on her neck,” Nellie replied. He was unusually sober as he knelt next to the body. “I’m no expert, but I think she was drained.”
“How long would that have taken?” Kade queried.
“No more than a few minutes.” Cole moved to stand next to him. “We need to get this body out of here. We can’t leave it out like this.”
Kade balked. “What are you suggesting? We can’t call the police. I know you don’t want to hear that because of what you do, but ... come on. It’s not safe.”
Cole’s expression was withering. “Of course you can’t call the police. That doesn’t mean that you can leave a body out here in the hot sun all day. We have to get rid of it.”
“Hold up.” Mark lifted a hand. “I’m not going to simply let you get rid of her body. That’s not respectful. Whether you want to admit it or not, she was one of us. That’s more than I can say for you two newbies. She was with this outfit for years.”
“Who are you calling a newbie?” Kade challenged.
I sensed things were about to get out of control — and then some — when I felt a presence move in at my left. I did a double-take when I realized it was Dolph. He looked better than he had the previous day, but he was clearly not one-hundred percent.
“Hey. How are you feeling?”
“Sore.” His smile was short. “I kind of forgot what it was like to hurt like this. I think I got cocky.”
“Is that why you ran out there the way you did?”
He shook his head. “I just reacted. I wanted to help. I thought ... well, you know what I thought. I wanted to be the hero. I guess that sounds lame.”
I ran my hand over his arm and smiled. “No. We all want to be the hero. This situation ... nobody saw it coming. We’re in a bind here and I don’t know what to do about it.”
“Cole is right. You can’t just leave the body out there.”
“Yeah, but that’s not my only concern.” I tugged a hand through my snarled hair. I needed a shower. At least then I would feel human. “She’s not going to rise, is she?”
Kade jerked his eyes in my direction, clearly caught off guard. “I didn’t even think about that. Is it possible?”
“It’s possible,” Nellie replied, staring at the woman’s mouth. “I don’t see any blood, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. I can see them trying to teach us a lesson by planting a spy in our midst.”
“We can’t let her rise.” I was matter-of-fact. “We have to burn the body.”
Mark opened his mouth to argue but I shut him down with a shake of my head. “We don’t have a choice,” I stressed. “She wouldn’t want to rise as a soulless being, and the only way we can ensure it doesn’t happen is if we burn the body. That solves another problem, which is explaining why we’re carrying around a body. It’s our only option.”
Mark jutted out his lower lip, obstinate. “It’s still disrespectful.”
“I don’t disagree but we have no choice. That’s the way it has to be. If you have a problem, take it up with Max. I guarantee he’ll agree with me.” I looked to Dolph and shot him a rueful smile. “You need to rest. Even the world’s strongest man needs to take a few days off. You don’t have to work this go-around.”
“But ... it’s my job.”
“And you can take a break. Besides, I don’t want to explain to the guests what happened to your shoulder. Just ... go back to your trailer. Sleep and watch some bad television. That’s an order.”
He returned the smile. “Well, if you insist.”
13
Thirteen
I had every intention of leaving Kade and Cole to their security posturing — they both had certain ideas about how they should handle things — but something niggled at the back of my brain as I set about breakfast preparations with Raven, Nixie and Naida.
“What are you thinking?” Raven asked, her eyes scanning my face. She could read people well, and apparently I was an open book this morning.
“I don’t know.” That was the truth. My mind was a mess. “Something happened last night.” I told her about my dream, drilling down on the point that I was certain it was real. When I finished, her expression hadn’t changed. “That’s weird, right?”
“It’s weird but not necessarily out of the realm of possibility,” Raven replied. “The strigoi are psychically stronger than normal vampires. You’re psychically strong. If this woman really is a strigoi ... .” She trailed off. “No, that doesn’t feel right. She’s not strigoi.”
“How can you be sure?” I was genuinely curious. “You know as well as I do that certain creatures — industrious monsters — have adapted over the years. Maybe the strigoi have figured out a way to cover their telltale features.”
“That would be very bad for us,” Raven acknowledged, “but that’s not what I feel from her. She’s a vampire ... but different. I can’t put my finger on how.”
“We took out a decent cadre of vampires last night, but they could have thousands tucked away in those caves. My understanding is that the tours stick to the same caves, so if there are others tucked back in the underground ... .” I left it hanging, my mind boggling at the possibilities.
“Maybe we’ll luck out and find we’re dealing with only one strigoi,” Nixie suggested. She was the perky sort who always clung to the bright side. “Maybe this one strigoi convinced the vampires he was some sort of fanged god or something and they’ve been bamboozled.”
I’d been considering the same thing. That would require a stroke of luck, though, and I wasn’t sure that would come together for us. “There has to be more than one. How many is the question. One or two we can most definitely take down. If there are fifty... .”
“The odds of there being fifty are slim,” Raven countered. “The strigoi aren’t known for playing well with others. A lot of strigoi have fallen victim to their own kind because territorial fights break out. I definitely think we’re dealing with more than one. But I don’t think an army could survive without killing each other.”
“Well, that at least is something.” I rested my hip against the small counter area as I started pulling out bread. “What we really need is to capture one of these vampires and torture it for information.”
“Oh, who doesn’t love a good torture?” Naida drawled.
“I didn’t say we had to like it, just that it might be necessary.”
“And I was serious.” Naida’s facial expression didn’t change. “I absolutely love a good torture. I’m good at it.”
“Yeah, but we don’t have anyone to torture,” Nixie lamented. “We killed as many as we could last night — letting that red-haired bitch run back and act as a messenger — and there were none left behind to torture.”
That was true, but still ... . I shifted my eyes to the far side of the fairgrounds, to where I knew Cole and Kade were getting ready to start a bonfire. Burning Starla’s remains needed to be done before random looky-loos decided to drop in and pay us a visit. It wouldn’t take long until our little problem was gone.
“Starla was drained,” I muttered, mostly talking to myself.
Raven slid me a sidelong look. “Yeah. We’ve already figured that out.”
“She was drained, but we don’t know if she was changed.”
The lamia’s eyes lit with interest as she realized what I was getting at. “It would make for a good tactical warfare technique,” she said after a beat. “Zurie might think it will devastate us enough to lose one of our own that we won’t be able to take her out.”
