Dead and Everything (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 2) (22 page)

There
was a sad smile, “indeed, young Eve. Now we have to but await the setting of
the sun, so that the torture we feel will subside. Then we may go? Unless you
have another plan?”

She
glanced down at the book in her hand.

“If
I can get a bag for this, I think we can go in just at sunset? Or, really just
before. Then we can hit things before everyone knows that we’re there?”

That
got three very precise claps.

“Ah!
Again you impress me, Eve. We shall race into the agony then, and take our prey
by surprise, as you suggest. I must say, it’s most fun, working with you. Most
Vampires are… Rather over careful when it comes to avoiding what is needed.”

She
hoped that was the case.

It
would make it easier for her to get ahead, if everyone else was kind of wimpy.

They
traveled in the dim twilight, pain ripping at them both the whole time. Bey
didn’t respond to it in the slightest, and pushed for Eve to go even faster
than they’d made the first cross country trip. It sucked. The whole freaking
time.

Worse
than anything that she’d ever felt, actually. It wasn’t some kind of small
thing either. Even fighting the pain back more than she’d managed before, it
was
horrible
. The remains of the day ate at her too, so she wasn’t going
any faster than before. The sense was about the same, speed wise. It just
felt
worse.

When
they stopped she didn’t scream though, and she was able to fake being all right
as they walked into a rather nice building. It was at least twenty stories
high, and in Atlanta. That, and the fact that they hadn’t cheaped out on the
decorations, was all she knew about it. It was lovely though. Inside the front
door, which didn’t have a doorman or anything like that, the place was made of
stone. Glossy marble, polished and cool looking. A lot of white and light blue.
Almost like a courthouse, at least to her mind.

There
were stairs and an elevator, but since she didn’t know where they were going,
or what was waiting for them when they got there, she decided not to go up in a
tiny box. It wasn’t a fear of small spaces or anything, just that it would be a
lot easier to trap them in one of those things.
If
there was going to be
an attack. She waved at the stairs, over to the left, toward the back.

“Which
floor?” She was kind of proud that this was just spoken, and that there was no
screaming involved. It was closer than she would have liked, and she did sound
tense, but that none of the other beings in the area…

She
looked around, then shook her head.

They
were all
Human
. Every single person there. She’d thought that it was an
embassy, but this section of it was filled with regular people. The old, and
young, and all ages in between. Not that young, starting at about sixteen or
so, which was a boy that was cleaning something from the floor across the
space. No one seemed to be armed though, except for the two men back behind a
counter that said security. That seemed pretty reasonable to her.

Bey
saw her looking and moved toward the stairs before speaking.

“There
are listeners here. I believe we want the seventh floor? It will be to the
right, if I was instructed correctly.”

She
didn’t ask all the questions she had, just following the other man, his black
suit looking fine, even after all their travel. It would wear out eventually,
just from the repeated friction of movement and rubbing. Her outfit would do
the same. The air inside was nice and cool, and it hadn’t been that warm
outside, but it had been cool back in D.C. when they’d left. Raining even. She
was still damp from it, to tell the truth. That probably meant they hadn’t
taken forever to get from point A to B.

She
turned occasionally, so that she could see if anyone was trying to sneak up on them.
Listening hard too. The place was filled with heartbeats, and movement. There
were a million scents, too. There were three people in the building, above them
though she couldn’t tell how high they were, that were all having sex. Someone,
a man, was on the second or third floor, and hitting the walls in anger. Over a
report, she thought, though it was hard to tell from his muttering.

People
were passing gas constantly too, belching, farting, and in one case doing both
at once. It was gross, but natural, and even interesting, though she set that
aside pretty quickly. Most of the people seemed to speak every few minutes,
that or make some other little noise. When she focused on it, the click of
fingers on keyboards became nearly deafening for a bit.

In
the end she had to pay attention only to the stairwell, until they got to the
correct door. The one to the seventh floor. Inside it was very rich looking
too, but had carpet, fine art on the wall, and sculptures all over the place.
The big kind that claimed to be modern art. They were interesting, but she’d
always wondered if they were also a bit of a scam. How hard was it to make
loopy bits of shiny metal?

Then
it occurred to her that
she
didn’t know how to do it, so maybe it was a
bigger deal than she’d always thought?

It
wasn’t too hard to find the office they wanted. After all, it was the only
place with a dead person in it. She moved as silently as possible, since Bey
was. When they got to the door though, he plastered a cold looking smile on his
face, and knocked, three times. Politely, since he did nearly everything that
way. The sense of a dead man came at the door slowly. At normal Human speeds at
any rate. When the brown and solid wood was opened, he seemed surprised, as if
he’d been expecting someone else. At least people that weren’t like he was.

Part
of that, she knew, was why her head was buzzing,
horribly
. He was a tall
fellow too, which let her pick out what was going on, most likely. He was
Manthori, for all that he looked like a regular enough person at the moment.
His skin
wasn’t
tan though, it was bone white… His eye weren’t brown,
they were blood red. In short she was being compelled. Probably just to see him
the way he appeared however, so she didn’t slap him down instantly. Bey didn’t
either, just bowing a bit.

“We’ve
come to aid you in the situation that was reported to the Council? Perhaps, if
it is no trouble, we could come in?”

The
man smiled, and she saw a flash of fangs. Rows of them, almost splitting his
face. The image tried to twist in her head, and turn the expanse of white flat
and even, rather than the way they truly were. Eve nearly started fighting
anyway, but held on, and focused on the feeling in her head. It was a buzzing,
but what would happen if she changed the tone of it? Concentrating, even as the
man moved back, and she shut the door for them, she pushed the feeling into
being something faster. It didn’t cause the man to change instantly, but after
a moment he seemed to… Melt, a bit. His face turned white, like it should have
been, and after a second, the buzzing still there, the man was a Manthori in
truth.

Bey
glanced at her, and then smiled.

“This
is Eve Benson. I am Bey. You are Donald Moorehand?”

The
man nodded, and seemed ready to crap himself. Eve could see that, being
suddenly hit with a big bad Bey like he was but the words were different.

“You
grabbed the compulsion from me? That’s… I guess it’s to be expected of The Bey.
Please, come this way.”

Bey
smiled, “ah! No, that was done by Miss Benson. She will be in charge of the
situation here, acting for the Council directly. I am here merely to advise,
and to instruct, if we have time.”

That
was news to her, but Eve nodded, and played along. If Bey was running a scam,
that was the right thing to do. If she was just going to be thrown in the water
and told to swim, well, that could be done, too. She didn’t know how to do most
things, as far as investigations like this went though, so hopefully that
instruction would be more than just him making snarky comments about how badly
she was screwing up.

Stepping
forward, she stuck her right hand out. It was a risk, with a Manthori. He
wouldn’t be stronger than she was, not by nature, but he might be a lot more
telepathic or have the ability to redouble his compulsion. She held the buzzing
to her own pattern though, and hoped he couldn’t easily add a second layer to
it.

“What
can you tell us about the new kids? Start from when you first noticed something
was up. We can go from there.”

It
wasn’t all that complex, though she did notice that the man spoke well, and was
pretty good looking for a Manthori man. Some of the women could manage exotic
pretty well, but on guys it just seemed off, as often as not. This one, Donald,
had been just heavy enough in life to stretch upward into a decent looking man.
If too pale, red eyed and with a row of fangs that would give a dentist
nightmares for years.

It
worked for him though.

His
voice was soft, and slightly slurred, but nothing too bad. As she watched him,
concentrating as well as she could, she sort of willed him to just tell her the
truth. There was no reason not to, but she didn’t really want to bother with a
goose chase, if it wasn’t needed.

The
man sighed, and then shook his head.

“I
was actually hired to get you both to come down here. I don’t know who set it
up though. Someone with a lot of money. I asked for ten million, and whoever it
was didn’t even blink to transfer the funds. I guess I’ll have to give it back
now, since I was
supposed
to keep you both running around for as long as
possible. I don’t guess that will be happening now. You know, it’s a rare being
that can trap a Manthori like this. Probably why you work for the Council
directly?” It came out almost conversationally, and Bey started asking pleasant
questions.

Mainly
trying to find out if there was really anything going on at all, and if there
wasn’t who might be behind trying to mess with them like that.

Her
bet was either Gene, or one of the Greater Demons. They were all rich enough to
spend that kind of money just to mess with them. It could also be a lot of
other people she knew though. Someone after Bey, for instance? That didn’t seem
to be the case though. Not in any kind of lethal way. Who would send them on a
trip like that though?

She
thought about it, as they headed back to Vancouver. They’d left Donald alive,
but with broken arms and legs. Bey had suggested it, since he’d betrayed them
of his own free will.

On
the way back he got her to stop in some random town. It was dark out, but there
were people on the streets. It was a small place though. Enough so that she
didn’t bother trying to get the name, which was probably a mistake if she
wanted to travel a lot. It could be important to know things like that. How to find
different places for instance.

Bey
took a deep breath, and spoke as if they hadn’t just been in vast agony.

“We
should work out who has done this thing. One of the Council?”

She
shrugged.

“Would
they really need to? Couldn’t they just have
ordered
us to come down
here? This is probably someone that wants
you
out of the way. That would
be my best guess anyway. I wonder why though? Have you been sleeping with
anyone’s wife?”

That
got a strange stillness to come across her friend, almost like he was offended
by what she’d said. He shook his head slowly, but then furrowed his brow.
Perfectly, like a real person.

“I
have not, but I have been keeping company with Jasmine.” He stopped, and looked
at her closely, as if she were supposed to recognize the name. “Maggie Sims? I
did mention that she has changed her name and appearance greatly over the
years. We have… Grown close, over the months you were away.”

Eve
sighed and shook her head a bit.

“See,
I
knew
I should have gotten you into the shower with me that one time.
Well, at least she’s cool. Nice, you know? So… Who would that leave? Her ex-boyfriend,
Fred… Um, Wilkes?”

Bey
seemed to think that wasn’t a real thing, which it probably wasn’t.

Eve
connected a few dots though, and tried to furrow her own brow. It kind of
worked, she thought.

“Or
Marcus Aralias? I was supposed to be watching him, but he has that kind of
money, and… Well, if that was his deal, getting the competition out of the way,
then he’d need more time than a few weeks.” Like a lot more time. He was still
too chubby, as far as she knew, and while he’d tried to compel Maggie once, and
had actually managed it, he’d been
forced
to do that.

That
probably meant he wasn’t that big of a creep, even though he’d clearly taken
advantage of the situation, once he’d had the woman under his power. That was
hardly all that new of a phenomenon though. A lot of people abused those that
they had under their power. In fact, that was so true that it was virtually
certain to take place, unless a person was very good, or had a different idea
about how to control people. Then it
might
not be about sex.

“I
can’t see that as being too likely, but if I see him, I’ll ask? I need to get
in touch with some of my contacts too. If this is a Greater Demon, and what are
the odds that it really isn’t? If that’s the case though, then… Really, I don’t
think there’s a lot we can do about it. Which one would be doing something like
this though? Putting everyone in front of the world is… Well, it won’t hurt
them at all. If any group can pass,
they
can. It probably only increases
their chance to do business, really. To get willing slaves and all that?”

Bey
just started walking again, doing it at a speed level that made everything in
her burn to try and keep up. Then he pushed on, going faster, losing her
nearly, as they crossed several state lines. She pushed into it, and nearly
wished she had the shoes that Darla had made her on. Not that she needed them
anymore. Except for while she was practicing. It was, in the end, only pain.
She went with the feeling, and made herself increase until she very nearly
couldn’t see anymore. That let her get into the mall just in time to find Bey
speaking to Edom behind the counter. There was no way that she was going to be
able to talk for a bit, at least a minute, while the pain faded. That meant she
had time to listen though and managed a small wave to her maker.