Hide & Seek: Games and Fangs (Ravana Moon #2), page 6
“So, I wasn’t able to find anything regarding who in your village may have been turned.”
“That can’t be the reason for the fritters.” Ravana took one from the bag and inspected the pastry.
“Two more families were attacked today. Some think the hellhounds are a pack of sorts. Rumor is Amanda thought that, too.”
“Do we know when she will arrive?” Ravana bit into the fritter as she asked.
“No, I’m not getting any return calls from the office.”
Massimo cleared his throat. “Where is our house guest this evening?”
Looking around I realized there was a pivotal member to this investigation missing. I hadn’t seen Emerick since the previous day when they had returned to the Tower. Assuming he had gone to bed before Ravana and Massimo had gotten back, we had all turned in. In a flash, the elevator button was pushed and by the time I made it to the hall Massimo and Ravana were entering the doors as they slid open.
Emerick had been living in Massimo’s old apartment since Massimo started staying with Ravana. We all knew he wasn’t happy about it. We also knew he was a wild card and could have possibly left without us realizing it. We entered the apartment and checked the three rooms. A bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen. All of which were empty, and the bed hadn’t looked slept in. Torrid’s apartment was locked and could only be opened from the outside. It wasn’t likely that he’d snuck in for a visit. The next place we looked was the floor below. Emerick had a fondness for the new lab being built and usually spent his free time helping the workers set up, but the level was vacant. Only a few lights were on.
One more floor down to the prison on hand proved fruitless as well. The level was quiet except for the snoring of the dozing agent.
“I’d hate to be the bearer of bad news, love, but it looks like he went home.”
“I guess we knew he wouldn’t stay put for long.” Ravana began to pace the small square space the elevator afforded her. She hit the down button, apparently choosing to go after her sire. When they got off on the ground floor and looked back at me, I was confused.
“I wouldn’t be any help. I’ll stay here and look into the hellhound issue some more.”
Ravana turned without a word and stomped off toward the exit. Massimo’s eyebrows turned in as he looked at me, and I quickly hit the button to close the doors.
There was no good reason for me to go to the Space Needle. I knew that they were headed there to see if Emerick had returned to his home. Ravana found him living there. The Needle was closed down years ago. It was said the building was unsafe. The only problem with the attraction of Seattle was the ancient vampire that took up residence and remodeled it to his specifications. I was curious about the modifications Emerick made, but my fear of unknown variables kept me in the safety of the Tower.
I found myself getting off on the prisoner floor. Kelly was no longer sleeping. It was actually the first time I’d gone down to her level to see her pacing the room. Her lips were moving. More than that she was speaking with her hands. My mother used to do that. A familial trait I inherited as well. Along with speed talking when nervous. Though, Kelly didn’t look nervous. She seemed upset.
I moved closer, forgetting she couldn’t see me, I found myself tiptoeing. I hit the button, and her voice echoed throughout the hall. She stopped, her eyes glaring at me through the glass as if she knew I was standing there. I didn’t say anything but jumped a little when she next spoke.
“I stopped reporting months ago. When they threatened to hurt my parents if I didn’t retrieve the ruby, I had no choice to act. I didn’t want to. I just wanted my parents to be ok. I knew once you found out why I was here, you would want nothing to do with me.” Tears stained her face red blotches covered her cheeks and the tips of her ears. She swiped at her nose. “I just thought if I could explain what the PCI was doing, what they do to get informants, that you’d forgive me. I never worked for them voluntarily.”
I hit the button on the wall and ran back to the elevator. I didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t want to know why she did it. I didn’t want to forgive her. I wanted to be mad at her. For her to leave and never come back. For her to be the hateful woman, she was when she arrived. It was too late, however, and I couldn’t get the words or the tears out of my head. Now when I closed my eyes I didn’t see the blood stain from the bullet wound, but the stain down her face overrun with tears and snot.
Chapter Eight
Massimo
The feeling he’d run the first chance he could was gone by the time Red and I got back from our trip. When Delia had to join us in New Jersey, I thought for sure Emerick would be gone. When we got back he was there in the Tower, overseeing the reconstruction of the new lab and armory. So, the fact that Emerick chose the middle of an investigation to take off was only a little surprising. Unless he remembered the vampire he’d made from the village before leaving with Red and me in tow. He had to have known since the beginning of Torrid’s story of how he’d been hired to find Ravana every couple of years. Torrid thought Emerick, or rather the Ancient One hired him to catch up to his creation, but Emerick never lost sight of Red. He’d had her under his thumb this whole time. Watching. Waiting for the right time to insert himself into her life.
Why now would he be concerned with who this person could be? I wouldn’t think him the type to care for a few human families. He was a human consumer. It was something I’d been thinking about a lot lately. Blood bags would only satisfy him for so long. Emerick loved the hunt. As much as I once did. He was the one who thought me to appreciate the game. The thrum of a beating heart as it fled. Or the way my own would pound in my ears when I moved silently through the night to sneak up on an unsuspecting meal. He’d taught me to savor each movement. There was no way he could live this life for too much longer.
The night Red and I visited his home, he had a live one under glamour and chained to his kitchen wall. She was almost drained to the point of death.
We didn’t speak. Red stomped her way out of the building and down the street toward the Space Needle. Emerick’s way of hiding in plain sight was a clever one, albeit another way to infuriate Ravana. He’d used a beautiful tourist attraction in the city for his home. Ravana made it her job to ensure Seattle thrived. Taking away so much revenue was on her ‘pet peeves’ list. The first time we visited it wasn’t intentional. I’d gone in to find Red. Not knowing if she was alive or not was nerve-wracking, to say the least. This time we knew what we were getting into, and with whom. We also knew we had the upper hand in the event he tried to kill either of us. Two super vamps against one ancient vampire was sure to prove interesting if it came to that.
I could hear Ravana mumbling to herself. Pissed didn’t begin to explain her mood. That would be another difference in this situation compared to before. Last time she’d been too interested in getting her memories back of a life she’d long forgotten about. Now that she had those memories, there was nothing more Emerick had to offer in exchange for his life. I was sure he was about to figure that out as well.
I concentrated on the black stiletto boots she wore. Like all of her shoes, the underside was red, almost as red as her hair and nails. How she got the colors to match was beyond me. That was definitely a female thing. Her red hair flew behind her as she walked. The wind swept it left and right with the changing current. I often thought she colored it. The red being so bright it could never have been a natural growth, but I was wrong. The only summation I could come up with was the ingestion of a particular type of blood she consumed when she’d finally started to drink from human stock. If there was anything special about it, she’d never said.
I stopped fast on my toes when I realized she’d stilled a foot in front of me. The ends of her hair brushing against her round plump buttocks in those tight black pants distracted me from my surroundings. She noticed when she turned back to look and me and gave me a warning smirk. I couldn’t tell if she was warning me to pay attention, or that if I kept looking at her like that she’d have no choice but to change her course of action. I guessed of the former as she pushed hard on the front door at the foot of the building. The elevator stood open as if it had been called and abandoned. Red and I exchanged a look but got on and hit the button that would take us all the way to the top.
“Let me do the talking.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Are you teasing me, Massimo?”
“No, I just know when to concede. If I were to storm in there and start yelling demands, it would hardly be effective. I don’t have your curves or his interest.”
She laughed, and I could see the points of her fangs. It was a glorious sight. She’d become so comfortable with me that she often allowed them to fall. She’d become more comfortable with what she was. What we were.
Even before the doors opened, I could hear the classical tones of Bach coming from the record player in his living room. Once it opened I had to adjust my vision to compensate for the dim lighting supplied by the lit candles placed on various surfaces around the room.
“Emerick?” Red called out first. She moved to the living room, but we heard the familiar sounds of someone cooking come from the kitchen.
The top floor of the Space Needle was like a giant donut. The center was a wall that kept us from seeing to the other side. We had to walk the circle to get to where a restaurant had been transformed into a private kitchen and dining area. The windows covered the outside wall, all of which were tinted to keep the humans from being able to see there was an occupant.
Emerick looked up from the pan in his hand and smiled. “Hungry, you two?”
“No, we’re not hungry.” Red started, but my stomach growled.
“Maybe a little.”
“Massimo!” she lectured.
I opted to stand behind her and allow her to speak. She turned back to Emerick, and I found my eyes wandering back to her legs but snapped them upward quickly.
“What are you doing here?”
“Ravana, I thought we’d been over this. I live here.”
“I know that. We were in the middle of an investigation. You're supposed to be staying at the Tower.”
“I was going to stay until we found answers about the validity of the blood transfer. Massimo and Torrid both seem fine. We haven’t done any work on it, and as I’m not an agent of the Order, I don’t feel I need to be present for your investigation.”
“If that’s true why did you go with us yesterday?”
“Because you asked nicely.”
“I did not.”
“Well, then Delia did. Either way, I can’t refuse a beautiful woman, no matter how hard I try.” He moved the food from the pans to a plate nearby and stepped out from behind the counter to sit at the booth he’d refurbished to match his modern style.
Hardwood floors and stainless appliances filled the kitchen. The upholstery of the booth made it look like oak, almost an orange hue to it. Emerick sat and picked up his fork. Before he could get it to his mouth Red slapped it from his hand.
“Hey! I don’t begrudge you the stale pastries and burnt coffee, do I? Kindly let me eat my omelet.”
“Emerick…who else from our village did you turn?”
Emerick stopped his fork just in front of his mouth, looked at it and set it back down on the plate. “I can’t recall, why?”
I couldn’t help myself, I jumped over to the booth and sat down, folding my hands together on top of the table. “Because whoever it is may be the one breeding hellhounds and controlling the pack.” He still didn’t acknowledge I was there, so I helped myself to a bite of his eggs.
“A pack of hellhounds? That’s not possible. They’d rip each other to shreds.”
Ravana took over while I sipped on Emerick’s coffee. “Well, then I guess whoever it is may just know a way around that.” Red gave me a look before addressing Emerick again. “So, why don’t you think back about a hundred years or so and figure it out.”
“Even if I could recall who it is, why does it matter? Would you remember this person to be able to find them? I say do the work. Hunt them down and take them out. Simple as that. You don’t need me.” Emerick picked up his fork and slouched a little in his seat.
“You know what, your right. I don’t even know why I’m surprised. You made me like this and abandoned me. You told Massimo I escaped, and then you followed me around for a hundred years keeping to the shadows. You know what, just stay in the background. It’s where you excel.”
Emerick threw his fork on his plate and stood with vampiric speed to move in front of Ravana as she turned to leave the room. I followed stopping just behind Red.
“Now wait just a second. I stayed in the shadows to make sure you were excelling at becoming what you are. I always had your back and never let you down, even though you seem to think I did you some great injustice.” He ran a hand through his hair and at his speech even I was beginning to think differently of the male.
“I have other leads I need to follow. I would think by now you would know that I wouldn’t just leave you high and dry.” When his hand reached out to grab hers, I could feel the growl escape my lips, but neither made a move to show they noticed.
“My love for you has lasted all these years. As soon as you see I am not out for personal gain, maybe you can come to terms with that.”
“I don’t see how that’s relevant,” she said taking her hand back and looked over her shoulder at me. “Darling, are you coming?”
I nodded, but at the moment that was all I could muster. I didn’t know if she did that to show him up and use me as a way to get back at him, or because she was actually stating she had already chosen. As a vampire, an immortal creature, sleeping together did not necessarily mean we were mated for eternity. She could still change her mind. I was not looking forward to that.
To top it off when I got closer to her she grabbed my hand and smirked at Emerick as we left his place. The elevator ride down to the ground floor was quiet, as was the walk back to the Tower. Entering the penthouse, I couldn’t take it anymore.
“I think I’ll go check with a few sources to see if I can get any information.”
“Ok, I’ll come with you.” She turned, and I slipped my hand from hers. We walked through the city like that, and I just realized now that her hand was gone, how natural it actually felt.
“No, I think I need to see these ones on my own, love. I doubt they would talk if you were there. Not fans.”
Delia bound into the room, and Red looked like she wanted to say something, but she hesitated. I used it and left without incident. She didn’t come after me either. I wondered for about an hour whether she realized what it was she had done.
Chapter Nine
Ravana
The night was turning into utter shit. So, instead of hanging out and making Delia miserable I decided to head out and take Emerick’s advice. God, I hated that. He was right, and now I couldn’t keep everything he said out of my head. It started the moment we left him there looking smug. The way his hair touched his eyes, and the brooding look in them as I took Massimo’s hand. We had a history just as much as Massimo and me.
There was one problem with getting my memories back of my life with Liam, that was Massimo’s name when we were still human. I also got back all of my memories of my life with Emerick after Liam disappeared on our wedding day. I had feelings for them both. I was starting to have a hard time separating the sentiments between then and now. I knew I had feelings for Massimo because I could look at him as two different people. He was two different people. I was too. I would never be Annabelle ever again, and she was the one who was in love with Liam. So how come I couldn’t associate Annabelle’s feelings for Emerick to that time as well? Maybe it was because he was still the same Emerick, even though I changed.
“Ahh, this is giving me a headache.”
“Ravana? Is that you?” a high-pitched voice asked from down an alley I hadn’t noticed I entered.
“Meralda. You’re not who I expected to run into here.”
“Yes, well I was taking a backdoor approach.”
“Backdoor? My building doesn’t have one.” I looked around at our surroundings. I had walked for some time and was nowhere near the Tower. “You’re pretty far off from it, actually.”
“I’m trying to avoid creatures of this city. I don’t want to run into something I’ve cursed in the past, now do I?”
That wasn’t really a question. With Meralda they never were. She always spoke as if she expected an answer, but if I were to try to, she would just interrupt me.
“So, since we are both here, save me the trouble of having to venture farther into this, god’s forsaken city. What did you need me for?”
“We should go back to the Tower. I’m not comfortable with speaking about it in the open.”
“Why ever not? It can’t possibly be that important.”
“If it were any less important I would have asked for a different witch. I don’t have time for your condescending ways. Are you here to help or not?”
“I don’t think I’m your girl. I am swamped. I only came at the behest of Amanda, and it seems she’s been labeled a traitor in her own company. What would it say of me if I did this for her? For all I know you’re conspiring with the traitor.”
“Then why the hell are you here?” I yelled.
“To be honest, I was on my way when I found out. But you are right. I should go.”
“And what of my matter?”
“I’m sure you’ll find someone.”
The witch disappeared in a puff of smoke just about the time I heard a low growl from the end of the dark alley. I began to remember a similar event so many years ago. A witch I could have used from the very beginning, but my need to keep him out of this fight overpowered my need to get the mystery of the blade solved.
Red beady eyes moved into focus. At first, I thought it a petite vampire heading toward me, but when a massive paw came into view I jumped back, and the beast lunged. It connected with my shoulder as I dodged, but also slammed into the brick of the building I was standing in front of.
