Revenant's Kiss (Chronicles of the Afterlife) (17 page)

"Yes," she shrugged there had been nothing out of the ordinary, throats torn out, bloodless, the
same as any vampire killing she’d ever seen.

"You need to see the ones from tonight as well, he will have progressed to consuming flesh by
now."

"You want me to go to the morgue," she stopped to think about this, it was something she would
have done eventually anyway.

"It wouldn’t be a bad idea to take your friend in the government with you," he suggested slyly.

"What friend in the government," though she knew damn well he meant the cyborg she was in no
way going to betray the fact that she knew Tom even if the vampire did already know it.

"If he’s occupied I’m more then available," he offered all smiles.

"No thanks, I think I can manage a trip to the morgue without the help of a dead man." She had
meant it as an insult and he apparently chose to take it as one because he was instantly that stone
creature again.

"Tell me Miss Ryan, how can you hunt my kind and be so completely unschooled in what we
are." His feelings were clearly hurt by her last comment and she had no idea why.

"I don’t need to know anything more about a monster than the fact that they kill and can be
killed."

"Of course, and tell me, where exactly does that put you?" He smiled again like he’d caught her
in the act of being monstrous herself.

"It puts me in the business of exterminating vermin," again she said before she thought, a bad
habit of hers to be true, but usually she managed to reign herself in a little better when imminent death
could be involved. He smiled again but this time it was an altogether different expression, there was
nothing but sadness in it.

"Your precious church teaches you we are soulless, yes, devils probably. No need to deny it, I
know their teachings well enough," he stood from behind his desk and Jennifer stayed stalk-still in her
seat afraid that he was going to get violent. "Killers is an acceptable definition, but I hope you’re a fast
learner Miss Ryan because you are about to see what being without a soul really looks like." She was
sure something unpleasant was going to happen but instead of approaching her like she was expecting he
walked past and opened the office door.

Without hesitating she was out of her seat and to the door in case he’d decided that hurting
Marcia would be more fun. She knew that it wasn’t a good idea on her part, but to keep him from
leaving the office she put her hand on his elbow and when it pulled him up short she stepped out past
him. "Marcia, I think it’s time for us to go," she was not looking at the woman when she said it, her eyes
were locked on the new Master vampire.

"Will you take the psychic with you," he watched her shake her head but didn’t seem to like the
answer. "You will go in alone then?"

"It’s only dead bodies," she whispered to him, she knew touching him had been a mistake
because he returned the casual gesture of grabbing her elbow when she tried to move away.

"Not for long Jennifer."

"More reason to leave the amateurs at home then," she squirmed a little because he was
touching her, probably more from the fact that she didn’t find it repulsive in the least like she should. "I
should go," he allowed her to slip her arm away from him and move back into the room where her
companion was waiting. She was just about to tell Marcia again that it was time to go but never got the
chance.

"I would like to stay here and ask more questions if that’s alright?"

"Absolutely not."

"That would be perfectly fine."

Jennifer turned to glare at the vampire behind her, "no it wouldn’t."

"She’ll come to no harm here, or have you already forgotten our alliance?" He didn’t react
when she stormed her way back up to him.

"I don’t put much faith in words," especially not vampires.

"She will have a constant guard if you like," he paused to look at both Marcia and Phineas who
were seated next to each other. "You won’t mind a bit will you Phineas," he smiled when the vampire
simply shook his head in affirmation. "There see, not to worry."

"No," Jennifer objected, what was all this madness springing out of, first zombies and now her
negotiator wanted to stay behind and what, have a tea party with some vampires.

"Jennifer," Marcia interceded, "I am both the Medium and acting negotiator for our group, this is
something that must be done."

"Oh please," she was about to point out that the woman was clearly just smitten with the pretty
vampires and burn yet another bridge when Ethan stopped her.

"Please allow me to offer you something to ensure her safety," Jennifer paused sure that there
was nothing he could offer on the face of this earth that would secure any humans safety.

"This is non-negotiable she’s leaving with me," but he simply smiled and motioned for her to
follow. "Ethan," she called after him more than a little irritated.

"Trust me, you’ll want this bargaining chip, it guarantees her safety and gives you an advantage
that no other vampire will ever give you." Jennifer took pause, trying to think of any advantage he could
offer that would make allowing one of her last standing teammates to stay in potential harms way. "You
look so unconvinced, provide me with a moment if you will." As with everything he’d done so far
tonight he retreated back into his office without waiting for her to affirm that she wanted any such thing.
He wasn’t gone more than the blink of an eye before he returned with a key on a chain in his hand.
"Surprise," he looked so delighted to be handing the key over that she half expected to drop dead just
from touching it.

"A key," she didn’t bother to try and hide her irritation, she was tired, she hurt all over. What
she’d wanted was solid information that she could report back, instead what she’d gotten was a name
and the ridiculous assurance that she was dealing with zombies. "And it opens what exactly that you
imagine it would be potentially worth my friends life."

"It’s the key to my heart of course," he shook his head when she looked like she was about to
protest with violence. "Come, I’ll show you what it’s for," he motioned for her to move off in front of
him.

"No way," she was in no way leaving Marcia alone, or walking with a vampire at her back.

"Phineas, please continue to keep a careful eye on Miss Cruz until we return." It was not a
request and Jennifer hated that Phineas just went about nodding so compliantly.

"I said........."

"Jennifer this is my decision," Marcia interjected.

"Your friend is determined to stay it seems, at least allow me to offer you something to even the
odds stacked against you in ensuring her safety." There he went with that damned sincerity again, it
seemed so real, but she knew from her experience of having met him the first time that he was a very
good liar. She didn’t say anything because she wasn’t agreeing to anything until she saw for herself what
he was offering up to ensure Marcia’s safety.

"Lead the way," because she certainly didn’t trust him at her back.

"My pleasure," without pause he made his way at human speed to the waiting room entrance.
There was no hesitation as he led her out into the black lit hall, his office had allowed for some illusion of
normalcy, but out here it was back to the reality of the situation. He was a vampire, leading her through
some of the same halls that she had stumbled down when she had faced Nickolei.

"Where are we going." she wanted to know, not that she really thought for a moment that he
would just outright tell her, his kind and their need to procrastinate seemed to be ridiculously ingrained.

"And ruin the surprise," he did not look back at her so she couldn’t tell if he was truly smiling or
not but there was a hint of it in his tone.

"I’m not entirely fond of surprises where your kind is concerned," there was no harm in letting
him know, he seemed less prone to take insult than most of the vampires she’d been forced into the
company of.

"Ah, well you see, down this hall there is a door, a door that not surprisingly just happens to be
the back entrance if you will. Someday if you are very nice to me I might show you the secret chamber
from here to my rooms." She made a derisive noise to indicate how interested she was in that event.
"In any case I’m about to give you the keys to the kingdom as it were," he waited until he reached a
heavy looking set of doors that were so obvious she didn’t see how he imagined this was an advantage
of any kind. Instead of addressing her skeptical expression he simply put the key in the lock, twisted,
and then shoved the door aside to reveal the back of the building.

"Really, you think that this is an advantage, having the key to a door that I could probably just
kick down." She was of course exaggerating her own strength but she could certainly attach a chain and
use a truck to bring th door down.

"Come, let me show you," he motioned her forward and though she was hesitant to do anything
he asked she took the final steps that put her by his side. "This is yours now," and of course
dramatically he placed the chain over her neck to rest between her breasts. "It looks lovely right there,"
she wanted to smack him but ignored the fact that his eyes were riveted to her chest. Without her
permission he was touching her again to pull her ponytail from beneath the chain. "Now please take a
look at what you’ll be privy to," he indicated that she should take a better look outside. Suspiciously she
stepped past him outside, she shouldn’t have been surprised so she wasn’t sure why she was when as
soon as she had both feet over the threshold he slammed the door closed and she heard the lock turn.

"Hey," Jennifer spun ready to empty her gun into the lock if that was what it took to get the door
open but when she turned back there was no door. "Holy shit," she charged the single step back the
way she’d come and did her best to try and find a seam, a sliver of light, anything that would show her
where the door lay but there was nothing, then it hit her that she’d left Marcia in there. "No," panic
overtook her, "no..no..no," she pointlessly tried to budge the wall with her shoulder, a stupid mistake
considering it was already damaged. She ignored the considerable amount of pain that spiked through
her entire arm and went to ram the wall with her should again but the door swung open before she made
contact and she would have found herself on the floor if Ethan hadn’t caught her first.

"The entire point of the exercise was to use the key, not yourself as a battering ram," he gave her
a half smile but instead of trying to take advantage of the hold he had her in he placed her back on her
feet.

"There’s no door out there, no handle," she explained even though she was sure that he knew
that.

"Your eyes can deceive you if you don’t know what you’re looking for," he motioned her to
follow and this time he led the way outside. He waited for her to step out behind him then closed the
door again. "Perfect craftsmanship, yes? One might even wonder if it was engineering or magic." He
was teasing again but her shoulder hurt too much not to wish that she could shoot him again. "This is
how you find it," he ran his fingers along the wall, "it’s here," he indicated that she should do the same
and even though she really didn’t want to stand that close to him she did and felt along the wall. For a
moment there was nothing but rough brick then her fingers hit a smooth surface that she couldn’t discern
with her eyes, and on that surface a keyhole. She looked over at the vampire beside her, took hold of
the key around her neck and slipped it into the slot, as soon as she did she heard the tumblers shift into
place and the door slid open a fraction.

"Holy shit," she repeated only this time not because she thought she’d been betrayed. "Why are
you giving me this," it wasn’t an unreasonable question, he had literally given her the keys to his castle,
she could come in and kill him in his sleep.

"Because we are forming a partnership, temporary as it may be, and I’ve always found the best
of alliances always seem to flourish with trust at its foundation." He waited to let that little bit of
information sink in, before he went on. "Your friend can stay, she will be perfectly safe beneath my
protection, and if for some reason or other I prove to be a liar I’ve given you the ability to take your
vengeance."

"He said you were crazy and I didn’t believe him but," Jennifer paused looking down at the key
around her neck, "you are so crazy." She wanted to point out that he was a vampire and she was a
hunter, that giving her this key was a death sentence but she looked back up and he was smiling, again.