The Last of the Red-Hot Vampires (16 page)

“Not in so many words. You bear the gift of a virtue, though, so that makes you more or less an immortal candidate. You have a bit more stamina than you had before.”

“I'm not going to bicker about that,” I said, pressing carefully on my ribs. Already the pain was diminishing.

“We have come to a decision,” Disin said, gesturing toward me.

I took Theo's hand, my fingers twining through his.

“Child, come forward.” Irina, the white-haired mare, nodded at me.

Disin had her mouth open, as if she was about to speak, but she snapped her teeth closed at Irina's words.

Theo and I walked to the old woman.

“You are too tall. Sit.” She waved a hand gnarled by arthritis toward the grass at her feet.

We knelt before her. She took Theo's face in both her hands, peering intently into his eyes. I felt a jolt of surprise in him at her examination.

What is it?
I asked.

Before he could answer, Irina nodded at Theo and released his face, only to take my chin in a surprisingly strong grip. She tilted my head back so she could look deep into my eyes.

The impact of her gaze on mine shook me to my toenails. If was as if she was seeing everything I was, stripping away all the layers of societal mores and pretenses, of protective layers, exposing my true core to her faded eyes.

“Child, you are lost,” she said, still examining me. I felt like a squirming beetle pinned to a board. “Your path is hidden. You have much to do to find it, but I believe you will. You will be released to do just that.”

Irina released my chin, using both hands on her cane to push herself to her feet. I wobbled forward for a moment, almost dizzy with the relief of having the soul-stripping ended. Theo grabbed my arm, and pulled me up to my feet.

The other two mare stood as well.

“It is decided that the mortal known as Portia Harding will be released,” Disin said in a loud voice, her eyes cold as she turned to me. “The Hashmallim have deemed your being pure, thus you will not be held. Your behavior in this place, however, is beyond tolerance. You are hereby banned from the Court of Divine Blood.”

A hundred whispered comments rippled the air behind us.

Thank them,
Theo ordered.

“Thank you for your generosity,” I said, trying hard to keep any trace of the sarcasm I felt from lacing my words. I turned to leave, but Disin stopped me.

“You may have passed the fifth trial, Portia Harding, but you have not satisfied us that you do not have some involvement in the death of the virtue named Hope.”

“I haven't…” I shook my head, confused. “I don't understand. Doesn't passing the test prove I have a pure heart? How can I have a pure heart and have murdered Hope?”

Disin's lips tightened. “Even purity is subjective to interpretation. What we call a heartless murder, you may truly believe is for the better good. Thus, it is entirely possible that in your mind your heart is pure.”

“But…”

“If you did not kill Hope, the onus is upon you to prove who did,” Disin interrupted. “Should you fail to do so by the new moon, you will be stripped of the Gift given to you, and banished from the Court forever.”

When's the new moon?
I asked Theo, more than a little stunned by the mare's demand.

I'm not sure. A week, I think. Perhaps two.

Like we don't have enough to do, now we have to figure out what happened to Hope?

I'm afraid we're not going to have much of a choice.

“I am a physicist, not a detective,” I told Disin. “Don't you people have some sort of a police force that would be better suited to investigate her death? Aren't those Hashmallim guys your security people?”

“If you are not responsible for her death, then you are in the best position to determine who did cause it,” Disin said dismissively.

“But I have no experience finding murderers—”

“You summoned Hope and accepted her position. With that goes responsibility.”

I felt like screaming. Did no one else see the error in her logic? “I understand that, but it doesn't follow that I'll know how to find out who killed her.”

Portia, do not continue. It will do no good; they've made up their minds.

But I don't know the first thing about detecting!

Then we will learn. Thank the mare.

They're using me as a scapegoat, you know.

I know. But we have no choice.

He had a point.

“Thank you again for your generosity,” I said, hoping that the sarcasm which laced my thoughts wasn't evident in my words.

Disin inclined her head, and left the park with the other two mare.

The officious little man who had started the hearing bustled up to us as the remaining crowd dispersed to their various destinations. “You must leave the Court now. I will escort you to the exit.”

“We can find our own way out—” I started to say.

“I will escort you,” he said with a meaningful look in his eye.

We suffered his presence in silence as we walked through the cobblestoned streets to the wooden doorway that led back to the normal world. I stepped through the doorway, back to the small, unused office, and with my return, the weight of the world seemed to descend upon my shoulders.

“Now what do we do?” I asked, hopelessness welling within me.

Theo smiled and kissed the tips of my fingers on the hand he still held. “Now, sweetling, we find a murderer.”

“I don't know the first thing about solving a murder…” I smiled as a thought struck me. “But I know someone who used to write mysteries before she switched to romances.”

“Right, the first thing we need to do is make a list of people who wanted Hope dead.” Sarah sucked thoughtfully at the end of her pen, then quickly wrote down my name at the top of a sheet of paper.

“Hey!” I protested. “Didn't you hear a thing I've said for the last hour? I did not kill Hope, which you of all people should know.”

“Of course I know it. But all good detectives make a list of all possible suspects, then eliminate them one by one until only one person remains on the list—the killer. What was the name of that man who tried to seduce you?”

I slumped across the table we had commandeered in the corner of the pub upon returning to town, my forehead in my hands. Theo sat next to me, looking wistfully at someone a few tables away who was sipping a whisky and soda. “No one tried to seduce me except Theo, and I seduced him right back. Oh, wait, you mean Gabriel the cherub?”

“That's the fellow.” Sarah added his name to the list, tapped the pen on her lips for a moment while she thought, and added the names of the trial proctors I'd had to date. “Who else have you met?”

“Sarah, you can't list everyone I've run across,” I protested.

“Don't be silly; that's how it works. Let's see, so far we have you and Theo, included for thoroughness, a Guardian, three trial proctors, one demon, and the prince of hell. Anyone else?”

I sighed. “There is no cast of characters you can run down, you know.”

“Yuh-huh. If you didn't murder Hope, and I agree that's highly unlikely, then someone you've met must have.”

The barmaid walked past with a tray holding two glasses of wine and a couple of mixed drinks. Theo's gaze watched the drink tray with an avidity that bespoke a hunger of a different sort than we'd fulfilled before meeting with Sarah.

“This is not one of your books, Sarah. This is real life, my life, and there's no earthly reason to believe that whoever killed Hope is someone I've met.”

The pub owner walked behind the bar and set a pint glass beneath a Guinness tap, the thick blackish-brown liquid slowly filling the glass. Theo moaned softly to himself.

“Would you like me to get you a beverage?” I asked him.

His Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed. It took some doing, but he managed to drag his eyes off the pub owner and turn them to me, shaking his head. “Christian said I shouldn't until I'm used to the new diet.”

I rubbed the leg that pressed against mine, enjoying the flex of his thigh muscles as much as I knew he was.

“Interesting,” Sarah said, watching Theo for a moment before making another note. “Can't drink anything but blood. Very interesting.”

“Portia's right,” he said, ignoring Sarah's note-taking to frown at the tabletop. “We don't know that the person who killed Hope is someone we've encountered in the last few days. We don't even know when or where or how Hope died. For that matter, we don't know if she's really dead. No one has found her body. What we need is solid information, upon which we can base an investigation.”

My heart swelled with delight.
I love it when you are logical.

I'm always logical!

Not always, but when you are, it makes my toes curl.

He gave me a mental eye roll that had me giggling to myself.

“I suppose,” Sarah admitted, pulling my attention back to the matter at hand.

“I agree, it makes sense. Who can we go to in order to get that info?”

Theo averted his eyes as the barmaid walked past with a large martini. “Most of the people who would have access to that information are in the Court of Divine Blood. But with the ban in place, they are out of reach to us.”

“I thought only Portia was banned?” Sarah asked.

“Technically, she was, but I am her champion, and thus represent her. The ban extends to me, as well.”

“Assuming Hope was killed outside of the Court, there has to be someone out here who we could ask.” I looked at Theo. “This is all new to me, so I'm less than helpful when it comes to naming names. Is there someone outside the Court you can think of who we can talk to?”

His eyes lightened, taking on a wary cast.

“What?” I asked him.

“There is a potential source of information,” he said slowly.

“Oh? Who?”

“It's not someone you're going to want to see again.”

I thought back over the people I'd met in the last few days, and shook my head. “Oh, no. I will not go to hell and see Bael again.”

“Not Bael,” Theo said, his fingers stroking mine.

“The demon then, what's his name—Nefere. He's almost as bad as Bael.”

Theo shook his head. “Not Nefere.”

A cold, sick feel crept out of my belly and slipped into my veins. “Sweet mother of reason, you don't mean…you can't mean…please tell me you don't mean them, Theo.”

“I'm sorry, sweetling. The Hashmallim are the only ones who we can approach.”

“No.”

“They are more or less the security force of the Court, which gives them the power to come and go as they please. All we have to do is convince one to speak with us outside of the Court.”

“Absolutely not.”

“They seldom come to the mortal world, but if we can—”

“No!”

He gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. “I won't leave you alone with them this time.”

“I know you're not, because I'm not going to be anywhere near them.”

“The Hashmallim? Those creepy guys that Portia said are made up of silhouettes?” Sarah's eyes widened, a look of delight brightening her face. “Oh, I can't wait to meet them! I have so many questions! Like, why were they chasing us that day we met?”

Theo cleared his throat and studied his hands for a moment. “They weren't actually…er…chasing you.”

“They weren't?” I asked.

“Er…no.”

“But, you said at the time—”

His hands brushed off my question. “Yes, yes, I said that they were, but I couldn't think of any other way to convince the two of you to come with me.”

“So they weren't even there?” I asked, hands on my hips.

“We weren't in any danger?” Sarah asked at the same time.

“They were there. Even unused to the ways of the Court, you two must have felt their arrival. They were following Hope.”

“That's right,” I said slowly. “She mentioned someone was chasing her. I thought later it was you.”

“It was me…but the Hashmallim were also trying to find her.”

Sarah clasped her hands together. “What'd she do? Something horrible?”

“It's some minor point of Court politics that she avoided mentioning to the proper authorities. The Hashmallim were sent to interview her regarding it.”

“Well, I don't care about that. I just want to talk to one of the big scary guys. When can we?” Sarah asked.

“Never!” I said, squeezing Theo's hand back, and not with reassurance, either.

Sweetling, I wouldn't put you through this unless it was the only way.

Theo, I know you've been around a long time, but you have no idea how horrible those guys are up close. They're indescribably awful! It made me physically ill to be near them!

The smile he gave me was sad.
I'm well aware of the Hashmallim, my love. Who do you think was responsible for throwing me out of the Court the only other time I was there?

“You guys are doing that mind-talking thing again, aren't you?” Sarah asked, narrowing her eyes at us.

“I'm simply trying to convince Portia that the Hashmallim are our only hope of getting some answers,” Theo said.
You do believe me, don't you?

I believe that you believe what you are saying,
I answered, well aware I was sounding unreasonably stubborn. The memory of my experience with the Hashmallim was too fresh in my mind, however.

“Don't mind her, she's as stubborn as the day is long,” Sarah said, tucking away her notepad. “There's just one thing I'm curious about.”

“Just one?” I asked.

Sarah gave me a look that said she didn't appreciate the sarcasm in my voice, turning a sunny smile on Theo when he politely asked what was her question. “Correct me if I'm wrong, but these Hashmallim guys are the same ones that you said were dangerous when we first met, right?”

Theo nodded.

“You said you were saving our lives by getting us out of their way.”

“Hashmallim are more or less the police force for the Court of Divine Blood, but their job encompasses more than just policing citizens of the Court. They are also used by the sovereign to exact retribution on mortals for sins committed against members of the Court.”

“We didn't do anything to anyone, let alone a Court member,” I pointed out. “We were just standing around on the hilltop when Hope appeared, and she left under her own power.”

“I didn't know that at the time,” Theo said with a slight twist of his lips. “As soon as you said you were mortal, and yet were clearly a virtue, I reckoned something was not right. When I felt the Hashmallim on their way, I knew it wasn't anything good, so I tried to get you away from them.”

“That's so romantic,” Sarah said, sighing happily.

“It is?”

“Yes, it is. Don't you see? These Hashmallim people are the police in the Court of Divine Blood, and by going against them, he was risking his own reputation, if not life.”

I was shaking my head even before she finished. “Theo isn't a member of the Court.”

“Not yet. But when he does become one, won't that sort of thing be frowned on?”

We both looked at Theo.

“Assuming the Hashmallim know I helped you escape earlier, and that's a pretty fair assumption given their scope of knowledge, yes, it will be one of the issues we will have to overcome in order to get the exculpation granted,” he said calmly. I decided if it wasn't something he was worried over, I didn't need to worry about it yet either.

“All right, then. How do we find the Hashmallim?” Sarah asked him.

“They can be summoned.”

“What makes you think that even if you get one to be summoned, he will talk to you?” I asked.

Theo frowned. I wanted badly to forget all the woes of the world and kiss the frown right off his face. “There is no reason for them not to. So long as the questions are phrased properly, we should get the answers we seek.”

“Great! Let's get to summoning,” Sarah said, grabbing her purse as she rose. “I'll take care of our lunch bill. You guys get your coats.”

“I believe she's the only person I've met who is actually looking forward to meeting with the Hashmallim,” Theo said thoughtfully, watching Sarah as she toddled over to the pub counter and handed over her credit card.

“She's not normal. She was dropped on her head several times as a baby. It left her mentally deranged. We all just pretend she's sane.”

“I heard that!” she shouted, glaring at me from the counter.

“She also has very good hearing,” I said, sighing as I gathered up my things.

“It'll be all right, sweet. I'll be with you this time,” Theo reminded me.

It took some doing, but Theo's powers of persuasion proved to be too much for the Guardian named Noelle who had previously summoned the ill-fated demon.

“Now what happens?” I asked several hours later, as we sat huddled on a fallen tree trunk that edged one side of an empty gravel parking lot for an abandoned fish factory at the far side of town.

Noelle rubbed out the markings she'd drawn in the gravel and dirt with the toe of her shoe. “Now you wait. The Hashmallim has been summoned—he will show up whenever he wants. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“No, thank you for your time,” Theo said, rising to shake her hand. “Er…you didn't tell me what payment we owe you for your help.”

“Oh, don't worry about that,” Noelle said, giving us all a bright smile. It was dark in that corner of the parking lot, long flickering shadows stretching across it from the feeble light attached near a corner of the building, but Noelle's down-to-earth appearance and cheerful personality did much to eliminate the serious case of the creeps I'd had ever since I resigned myself to the thought of having to speak with one of the ghostly Hashmallim. “I get a stipend from the Guardian Guild to be used on such cases as I deem needy. You lot look like you could use a bit of good news, so this one will be complimentary.”

We all thanked her. Theo escorted her across the parking lot to where her little blue Mini sat.

“You got yourself a winner this time,” Sarah said as she watched them walk away. “What does it feel like being a Dark One's Beloved?”

Theo's mind touched mine, warm and reassuring, filled with tender emotions that made my stomach flutter with happiness. “It's…indescribable.”

She peered closer at me. “You love him, don't you?”

“Yes.” I smiled, unable to keep the happiness from spilling out of me. “More than any other man. We had a less-than-sterling start, but I know now that he's the man I was meant to be with.”

“That's so romantic,” she said with a sigh. “Does it hurt when he bites you?”

“Just for a second, then it's really…well, to be blunt, it's pretty darn erotic.”

“Oh, man.” She pursed her lips and looked at Theo as he stood chatting with Noelle. “You have a gorgeous, drop-dead-sexy man who clearly worships the ground you walk on, you're never going to age, never face sagging boobs and menopause and grey hair, and you get your jollies every time he needs to eat. Do you have any idea how lucky you are?”

“As a matter of fact, I—holy cow!”

Some sort of a shimmering portal opened up directly in front of me, so close I felt static from the little snakes of electricity that sparked off it. I fell backward off the log as an empty black shape formed almost directly on top of me, the sudden skin-crawling
wrongness
of the Hashmallim bursting to life in my brain.