Boris hesitated for a moment, choosing his words. “Do you know of the blood tally?”
I shook my head.
“It’s a collection of documents. Very valuable,” he said. “And an example must be made. Kill him and return the books to me, and I’ll pay you an extra four hundred dollars.”
“A junior reaper makes that in an afternoon,” I told him. My veins had gone cold. Under normal circumstances, Boris’s attack on me would allow me to void the contract without even asking Ada. Under normal circumstances, I could call OtherOps right now and report this whole conversation and have Boris locked up. But I already knew that Jacques wasn’t going to care two cents about this. In fact, this only proved his point that Boris was dangerous. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t ask me that. Get the fuck out of here.”
Without waiting for an answer, I returned to my truck and sat behind the wheel. “You still in here?” I asked out loud.
A few moments passed, then a timid voice came from beneath the bench seat. “Is he gone?”
“He’s leaving,” I said, watching Boris. The vampire stared at the concrete for a minute or two, then finally walked over to his Camry and left, avoiding my gaze as he pulled out of the parking lot. Another minute passed, and then a fluffy head poked out from underneath the passenger seat. “He’s gone,” I confirmed. Eddie slid out of his hiding spot and jumped onto the passenger seat, sitting regal and straight-backed, head high as if he hadn’t been hiding a moment ago. He blinked slowly at me, then began to groom himself.
When no thank-you was forthcoming, I just shook my head and resisted the urge to make a comment to Maggie. Eddie could hear us, after all. I sank into my seat, the adrenaline finally wearing off, letting myself feel all the little aches and pains from being manhandled by a vampire and then tossed across the parking lot by Maggie’s sorcery. The only reason I wasn’t more beat up was because of my troll heritage.
I realized I should check my truck for dents but dismissed the thought. I didn’t want to know.
“I think he cracked one of my ribs. You know, the one that was just starting to heal from that damned ghoul.”
Breathe in deep, Maggie instructed.
I did so, feeling a sharp pain down my left side. “Maybe?”
Just bruised.
I touched my neck, searching for the source of the blood trickling down my chest. Boris had managed to get me pretty deep before Maggie tagged him, but he’d missed my jugular. Probably what Maggie meant when she said he wasn’t biting to kill. I found an old T-shirt under the seat and pressed it against the wound, then searched my face and arms in the rearview mirror for more scrapes and scratches. All told I had seven or eight, and my chest and stomach were going to look like I got kicked by a horse later in the week.
My head cleared enough to think about what Boris had actually told me. Michael has stolen something valuable from him, and it explained Sam’s story about Michael’s disappearance. Boris must have initially written it off as a normal runaway. It wasn’t until after he discovered this blood tally missing that he got truly pissed. I dug the phone out of my pocket and dialed a number. “Jacques, it’s Alek,” I said when he answered.
“Yes?”
“Boris just tried to hire me to kill Michael. Is that good enough evidence for your needs?”
There was a long pause. “I see. Unsurprising, though I suppose that proves that he hasn’t killed him himself yet.”
“Well?”
“No. Unfortunately, that’s not enough for us to act against him. We need proof of him breaking the Rules.”
“Isn’t that conspiracy to murder?”
“In the human world, yes. Among our kind … well, it’s just wishful thinking.”
“Of course it is.” I closed my eyes, pressing the old T-shirt harder against my neck. I took a few calming breaths, then said, “He claims that Michael stole something called a blood tally. What is that?”
Jacques inhaled sharply. “You’re sure that’s what he called it?”
“Yeah.”
“I see.” There was a long, thoughtful pause. “Every vampire has a blood tally. It is a collection of documents outlining every debt owed to and from the vampire, and all past payments. It’ll contain everything from their bloodbags to interactions with other vampires. It’s not necessarily valuable to anyone but the vampire himself, but …” He trailed off. “When you find Michael, bring me Boris’s blood tally.”
“That’s theft,” I pointed out. “I’m not going to steal from a client.”
Jacques’s voice was clipped, professional. “The blood tally may give us evidence that we need to act against him. Bring it to me and I’ll pay you sixty thousand dollars in cash.”
“Oh.” Plenty of people have tried to bribe me. Mostly debtors, but the occasional client. But never for that much money.
“Do we have an agreement?”
“I … uh …”
“Good. Keep up the good work, Agent Fitz.” Jacques hung up.
“Nobody ever says goodbye anymore,” I muttered. I blinked at my steering wheel, then glanced over toward Ted’s cruiser. Ted was back to reading his romance novel. “That was weird,” I told Maggie.
That was beyond weird. You’ve got some wonky shit going on here, Alek.
“Yeah …” I chewed on that for a moment. Sixty thousand dollars was a lot of money. Especially to someone like me, who lives on the bare minimum income afforded to me by my master. Tossing my phone next to Eddie, I gave him a scratch. “I hope you’re worth it, bud.” Eddie shifted around, leaning into my scratching hand but continuing to groom himself. I leaned forward to turn up the radio, whistling along with Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” and headed home.
I live in a run-down old servant’s quarters off one of the big estates in Gates Mills. It’s not much – just a bungalow that belonged to one of Ada’s rich friends – but it was a place to lay my head between jobs. I walked in, leaving the door open behind me so Eddie could follow. He entered hesitantly, slowly, the cat equivalent of a scowl on his face. He kept that look on his face as he did a circuit of the small house, spending a few minutes examining each room until he returned to the front door where I had waited, watching him during his exploration.
“This is not a very big temple.”
“Sorry,” I spread my hands. “It’s all I’ve got.”
“A small temple is easier to guard, I suppose. And I have to admit, the locale is stunning.” He padded over to the window and jumped into the sill, looking out into the deep darkness of the forest outside. “I miss the desert, but these forests are so full of life. I will enjoy exploring. I can sense a river nearby?”
“Yep.”
“Excellent. I shall fish when you are gone too long.” He settled on the sill, fluttering his wings before folding them back along his sides and starting to groom one leg, pausing only to say, “I shall consecrate this as my temple tonight.”
“If you pee on anything, I’m taking you back to Boris.”
Eddie lifted his head, glaring at me. He seemed about ready to snap back when my phone rang. It was a restricted number. I almost didn’t answer it, but I knew I had plenty of informants with unlisted contact information, so I took a deep sigh and answered. “This is Alek Fitz.”
“Hi Alek,” a male voice said.
Is that who I think it is? Maggie asked.
Hell if I know. “Hello? Who am I speaking to?”
“It’s Nick.”
“Nick … ?”
“Nick Dempkin.”
“Doesn’t ring a bell.”
The man on the other end made an exasperated sound. “Nick the Necromancer.”